The whoosh of the evening air reeked of deceitful peace, dreadful in it's essence and insulting with it's steady yet gentle nature. The Coon knelt upon bended knee at the edge of a building and peered down at the empty streets of South Park, undeterred by it's insistence that all was silent. He was ever so still, a statue of a shadow made dull with observation thanks to much training in patience and stealth. This would be his final night as a solo artist, he would kiss solitude goodnight one last time before taking under his wing a young boy with inky tresses willing to do good.
A breeze ruffled the furry ears sprouted up from a band atop his head, his cape swished with the dark grace of a fallen angel's broken wings, just as the hero was. Not a single part of him was whole, but standing as someone different from Eric Cartman felt even more real than his mundane lifestyle. He lifted up an arm and used one curved nail, sharp as a needle, to cautiously scratch at an itch on the bridge of his nose. Perhaps it would be a rather boring night, perhaps even criminals found sleep to be necessary. His dark eyes sought through the silence, then he noted the figure moving just beneath the lip of the rooftop Cartman was on.
He leaned forward and squinted, it didn't take much focus to realize he recognized the coincidence of this person's presence. He wondered if he had bypassed Kyle this much before actually meeting him, yet never actually came to notice. He considered calling down to the ginger, let him gaze upon all the wondering glory that was The Coon and see if he swallowed his laughter. However, he was suddenly reminded that Kyle was a total assmunch and wouldn't waste his time attempting to impress him. Cartman was against the idea of pointless obsessions, Kyle would slowly but surely come his way all on his own. As stubborn as he was, Cartman knew the other boy was not moronic (at least, not that moronic).
Cartman was about to turn and fall back on this particular area of town, search another place unsupervised and see if he could catch some action before turning in for the night. However, he paused when a smooth, musical voice came from below. Cartman leaned back over the ledge and examined the situation, Kyle was being confronted by an impressively tall boy dressed in an attire clean and white, his hair meticulously cared for and combed. He had a proud arch in his back, one that broadened his chest in a term that could only be used one way: embarrassing. He had a golfer's bag filled up with well polished clubs swung over his shoulder and an arrogant smirk topped off his unblemished features.
Cartman rolled his eyes at his appearance, rich people were quite the rarities in the mountain town, but the lot of them were total ass-wads (he added himself with this label as proof). Some of them happened to enjoy badgering those not of blessed wealth, as pathetic as that sounded, and it seemed Kyle would be their victim tonight. He watched with calculating eyes as the ginger boy was quickly surrounded by three more lads dressed like douchebags, each one chuckling under their breaths. Kyle was obviously unwilling to participate with their bothersome interactions, a grin turned up the hero's lips as he observed the unfolding events. Kyle deserved whatever annoying plot was approaching him, Cartman supposed he could watch for awhile until the rich kids finally released their target. He could use a good laugh after all.
Kyle barked something at the stalking predators, a clear "fuck off" with an extra dash of bitterness to the end. As it turned out, the boys didn't care very much for his salty language and reacted violently due to it. The leader of the quartet reached into his bag and whipped out one of his shiny clubs, then gave a harsh swing straight under the redhead's ribcage, Kyle doubled over and wheezed in surprise by the attack. They gathered in closer, each rich little thug drawing away their own clubs to use as weapons, Cartman felt his heart sink.
Despite his better judgement, it wasn't too heroic to watch a defenseless dude be obliterated by an idiotic group of rich guys. Cartman gripped the edges of his cape and stepped from the edge of the building, then he let gravity take natural control and pull him towards the conflict. His feet struck the concrete just beside Kyle, who was slowly recovering from the unexpected blow, and his silhouette stood out like a black raccoon among the shadows. Uncertain of what to make of this, the antagonists each backed away with exchanged glances of confusion.
Kyle rubbed at the ache in his waist, his unnaturally vibrant eyes stared him down in a torrent of both awe and disbelief, clearly he hadn't taken Cartman's confession to heart. However, the evidence before him was, quite simply, very inarguable. "Cart-" began the stunned boy, but the alter ego silenced him with a harsh look before directing strict attention upon the staring individuals before him.
He pointed a curved claw towards the leader, his stance was tense and ready for anything. "You shouldn't bully people for having less money than you," he growled in a voice that could only be described as cheesy and gruff. "That's just an asshole move. If you don't leave, I'll have to use force against each of you." Behind him, Cartman heard an ungrateful scoff from Kyle and felt the muscles beneath his thick skin coil in frustration. Even in mind blowing situations like this, the stupid Jew boy still managed to find his sarcastic arrogance and use it prominently.
The leader of the rich pack burst into a fit of laughter, it was typically the way criminals greeted him and Cartman was unfortunate enough to be used to it. "Hey look," he pointed his club towards the tubby little vigilant and crept forward ever so slightly. "It's some kid dressed like a merecat. Let's kick his ass too, I don't think he knows what respect is." At the return of his confidence, the rest of his posse appeared to share in the amusement and returned to the upper hand.
Or so they thought.
Cartman saw it, the slight slide of his foot even before he lifted his weapon and, by the time the club was brought up and then pulled down, he was already gone from the space. Cartman had slid to the rich boy's right, then struck out with a sharp claw which bit into his ribcage. The boy let out a cry of both shock and pain as he stumbled from balance, another figure moved from behind The Coon and swung out in the means to crack his skull. However, Kyle rushed forward before even thinking on it and tore the club from out of his grasp. He swung and took out his opponent's kneecap, the other male screeched through clenched teeth and fell from grace, collapsing on his shoulder with futile protest.
Easy, Kyle thought before whirling around to greet his next face off. However, it seemed Cartman was already doing battle with the two remaining rich kids. He was a blur between the two of them, neither enemies had the skill to devastate him no matter how they tried. Kyle was fascinated by the strength of their pride, however, they were so very unwilling to admit a clear defeat. Soon enough, Cartman had beaten them all with their own golf clubs and left the foes fallen in their humiliation. The raccoon attired boy turned slowly to meet Kyle's staring green eyes, he lifted an index finger to his grinning lips and hushed him gently. Then, with a swish of his cape, he turned and fled into the darkness. Leaving a boy to gape in wonderment after him.
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Following the day after, Kyle decided to spend his Saturday doing anything that involved a typical life unworthy of attention. His little Canadian brother, Ike, had requested desperately to be taken to the public library in which to check out the next installment to his favorite series. Of course, it was stories dedicated to children, but Ike had a very impressive level of reading that left even his teachers aghast. Sheila and Gerald must have some sort of special method to raising their children because, all in all, the youth of their household was blessed with marvelous intelligence. Even so, Kyle agreed to his pleas and was now gladly walking through the South Park media center with a little black haired boy clutching excitedly at his glove.
"Okay Ike," Kyle said once bringing him to the children's section, filled with little kids rushing past tall shelves full of fairytales and far fetched fiction. "Pick out whatever you like and I'll check it out for you. There's a book I wanna see if I can find here so I'll be back in about ten minutes. Alright?" Ike responded with a squeal of delight before taking off with the rest of the children, Kyle watched him fondly as he knocked his peers aside for the chance to find his favorite book.
A less than amused mother scowled when she saw Ike shove her daughter over as he ran by, she burst into tears at once. "Excuse me," she stormed over to a grinning Kyle. "Is that your little boy?"
Kyle merely hummed in confirmation before turning and walking away from the aggravated parent. Typically, Kyle would bark at his little brother for displaying such terrible mannerisms, but not today. He was still reeling from the events which transpired just hours before, where he had watched The Coon in destructive action towards a group of boys who had tried to threaten him. Kyle had never felt so foolish, laughing at Cartman for claiming illogical greatness yet witnessing the proof in turn. Kyle shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he approached the desk centered in the library, his mood darkened with thoughts of the dreaded Eric with his surprising quality. He was like a less admirable version of Batman, their very own Bruce Wayne. Kyle hated the idea of it, he was the one meant to be getting all the glory. And he wanted to do it without playing dress up while risking his life under the dictation of an amateur.
"Excuse me ma'am," Kyle folded his arms against the counter, the elder woman typing away on her dusty PC peered down at him attentively. "I came here two weeks ago wondering about The Bluest Eye, I wanted to know if it was still checked out." The elder woman turned back to her keyboard, ever limited on words as she pressed a few keys, then squinted quietly towards the words before her. She exhaled, then turned back towards the eager lad awaiting her response, drowning his hope with a gentle shake of her head. Kyle groaned out his frustrations, why couldn't things just start going his way again?
"Are you kidding me?" He dragged a hand down his exhausted face as his scorn settled deep within. "It's still checked out? Who is taking so long to-"
"I-I believe that's my mistake."
Kyle turned around in surprise when he saw an incredibly petite girl shuffle towards the desk, in her hands she held the novel he had been asking for. Her hair, a mousy shade of faded brown, was messy with high strung curls held back by two red barretts on either side, cautiously pulled away from her face. She had a vicious grip on her bottom lip between two rows of pearl white teeth and she had a tense in her shoulders that spoke of severe paranoia. Still, she looked back at him without fear or any form of real apology, her gaze fell towards the book as she placed it down on the desk. "I-I'll just return it," she stuttered past the way she chewed on her lip. "Although, y-you should know it's r-really out there with i-it's content."
Kyle was too bewildered to respond, although he was already aware of the unashamed literature presented in the book she had given up. He had assumed the one to restrict the novel from his ownership was someone with wisdom years beyond his own, not everyday did someone in his own age group show interest in these types of stories. He shot a sparing glance towards the librarian while she scanned The Bluest Eye as he leaned curiously towards the strange girl. "What's your name?" He inquired casually, the girl tilted her head towards him only for a moment and Kyle caught a whiff of her scent. She smelled of ink and cheap soap, he found himself drawn more to her because of this (though the appeal was beyond him).
"What's in a name?" She shrugged, then abruptly spun away from him and strode off on her own path.
Kyle breathed in and followed after her with eyes widened in wonderment. He didn't partake in activity involving girls, the lot of them tended to bore him gravely and the only one who ever matched his intelligence happened to be a little ravenette he hadn't seen since middle school. And he had hated her passionately. Yet there went a girl lacking in good looks or particular social skills, and he wanted to pursue her. His shoulder was tapped by a skeletal finger and he flinched from his daze, looking back towards the silent librarian while she gestured towards him, expecting his library card. He waved her off and moved away from the desk, quickly going after the girl as she disappeared behind a tall shelf classic novels.
He found her again, her focus dedicated to the spines of books as she trailed over them. Kyle hadn't any talent in speaking with the opposite gender, he didn't do it often enough to say he could. He didn't mind watching her, however, while his mind worked overtime to come up with something clever or witty to hit her with. "Can I help you?" She asked without looking away from her task and Kyle blinked rapidly in embarrassment, he cleared his throat as though to ward off further awkwardness in conflict.
"You're really not going to tell me your name?" It wasn't clever, nor did it come out suave or confident. If anything, his tone declared that he very much wanted to know her name, and she looked briefly towards him from the corner of her eye. With a sigh, she straightened up from her position and stepped towards him, her fingers twiddled in front of herself and her feet pressed together as though nervous. Everything about her screamed insecurity, yet her eyes spoke of clear and booming bravery.
"Rebecca," she revealed.
Kyle couldn't seem to fight it back as a smile slowly turned his mouth up, Rebecca. It would later haunt him as he lulled himself to sleep that night. "Kyle," he responded, rubbing softly at the back of his neck; his voice lower than a murmur. "Er, my name. It's Kyle."
"Okay," she dipped her head in acceptance, then returned to examining the bookshelf.
Kyle inwardly panicked, he hadn't wanted the conversation to cease there, but she seemed so bent on ignoring his interest. Or perhaps he just wasn't applying himself to this, whatever it so happened to be, he quickly approached her. "So, um, have you ever read The Satanic Versus? The romance is tragic don't you think?"
"Th-that was barely the point of the book," Rebecca answered, quick and certain.
Kyle flushed and swore under his breath, he had heard somewhere that girls liked it when boys showed a soft side towards things like "love" or whatever. Kyle wasn't very active in the whole idea of it all (especially assuming scientific investigation proved love to be nothing short of a chemical reaction in the brain) and The Satanic Versus had been one of the few stories he paid the involvement of romance much mind to. Clearly, Rebecca wasn't going to fan herself over a boy speaking sadly of some sort of tragic tale of love, that which it very much wasn't. But Kyle knew nothing of things like Twilight and preferred to keep it that way. It didn't appear Rebecca would know anything about it either.
"No no, of course not!" He waved two hands in a show of protest, erasing his mistake as much as he could. "No, but, I mean, didn't you think it was pretty sad? The way Farishta and Allie practically destroyed one another? Although, I guess that entire book was filled with sadness..." He was rambling now, Kyle mentally scolded himself for being so laughable in his performance. "But, well, I mean-"
"If you're so obsessed with sad romances," Rebecca interrupted as she finally selected a book from the shelf, "th-then you should really read a- A Tale of Two Cities." She walked away from him and Kyle felt a strong dosage of dread at the idea, he truly hated the prospect of a pitiful love triangle. A girl unable to decide who her heart beat most for, yet going through making such a decision by kissing both love interests in each chapter; what a bore. Kyle preferred something to challenge him, make his toes curl with excitement beyond something along the lines of oh em gee, she went with that one!
He stepped forward with the means to follow after her, but his path was intercepted by an energetic little boy tugging ruthlessly on his sleeve. "Kyle!" Ike exclaimed, demanding his prominent focus no matter his clear struggle. "Kyle I wanna check out this book! Come on!" He proceeded to drag the older boy towards the center of the library, his emerald shining eyes watched in displeasure as Rebecca began to walk down yet another row of books, farther and farther out of his reach. Under a dire spell of desperation, Kyle dug in his heels to stop Ike from pulling him onward, momentarily ignoring the way he whined and protested their sudden halt.
"Can I see you again?" He called to her.
Many eyes turned to give scolding glances of irritation at his careless volume, Rebecca whirled around to acknowledge him with an air of surprise. Kyle had never seen this girl around his school, certainly he'd recall her, so he couldn't take the chance of never seeing her again if it came to that. Of course, he realized what a hazard it was to show interest in girls like this, what with his very upsetting handicap and all. But Kyle would forever scramble for just a taste of something ordinary, and letting himself fall into a daze over a girl of strange behavior yet wild intelligence seemed much more normal than the current turn his life had taken.
She breathed in, but a faint color of pink dusted the edges of her cheekbones just slightly enough for Kyle to glimpse it. "W-well," she began quietly, she had a grip around her book that seemed to turn her knuckles a severe white and Kyle felt a longing to be closer. "I come here every two weeks to check out a book, b-but I suppose I wouldn't mind coming again i-in two days." It wasn't a promise, but Kyle felt an inside flutter of excitement which pulses adrenaline through his veins. She turned on him without even a smile, then continued back on her own trail.
Kyle felt momentarily dizzied, disbelieving that he had become so frazzled due to the nature of a mere girl. Still, he enjoyed the feel of this, ecstatic and new as it was, it reminded him of an electric charge shocking the ivory of his bones. Grinning, he allowed Ike to drag him off towards the desk once more to check out his precious book. Screw Cartman, he would find normality even with that godforsaken kite growing out of his spine.
A/N: FOR THOSE UNAWARE: Rebecca is not an OC. She was present in season three of South Park as a homeschooled little girl with a serious lack of interaction with other children- her parents rarely allowed her and her brother outside. Kyle showed great interest in her and ended up being her first kiss, to which she realized she really really liked kissing boys and ended up dressing scantily while kissing anyone at the elementary school dance. Really funny episode, I recommend it if you haven't watched it.
ALSO: The plans I have for this story and the ones following are gonna be dramatic. If you don't like things like that, you might wanna quit on me.