What was that noise? Kenny clenched his eyes shut tighter and listened. Seriously, what made that much noise in the morning? After several minutes of nothing coming to mind, Kenny reluctantly opened his eyes and blinked stupidly as he tried to remember where the hell he was. Since when did he sleep in front of a television on a fold out-...ooohhh right.
Kenny propped himself up on his elbow and looked over across the hall to the kitchen where a very familiar red head was making toast. Kyle was dressed in a pair of boxers and an overly baggy T-shirt and Kenny realized it had been a long time since he'd slept over at Kyle's place. The two used to wear formal pajamas, as if hiding their body from one another, but Kenny guessed as they'd aged, it had stopped mattering. Or, more accurately, it had stopped mattering to Kyle. Being clothed or unclothed had never been a big issue for Kenny.
"Morning?" Kyle called, barely looking up from his plate as he smeared some form of jam across the toast.
"Morning." Kenny answered, sitting up properly and yawning. "Thought I'd been kidnapped for a minute."
"Oh yeah, I like to keep my hostages on my couch, it makes them think they're safe." Kyle said with a smile and held up a second plate. "You want some toast? It's about all I can cook well, unless you want instant noodles."
"Toast sounds good." Kenny nodded, lazily falling back onto the fold out bed and throwing the blankets up over him so only his head was poking out from the sheets. "What time is it?"
It took a minute for Kyle to answer, a minute Kenny guessed was spent eying the clock on the stove.
"Ten thirty four." Kyle eventually responded. "I got up at eight, but you were still passed out so I read for a bit on the deck. It's nice and sunny out today."
"Huzzah." Kenny replied without much interest. The weather wasn't a big deal to him. Sunny or rainy, he had a car that modified the temperature to whatever he wanted. "Clyde go to work already?"
"Yeah. He leaves around six in the morning. I think I'd kill myself if I had to work that early all the time." Kyle mused aloud.
Yesterday after Kenny's nap, he'd woken up to find that Stan had gone home and Clyde Donovan had taken his place up on the couch. Kyle had retreated elsewhere and Kenny had momentarily been afraid to say anything that would alert Clyde to him being there.
Eventually though, Clyde had asked if he'd wanted a beer or something, explaining that Kyle had spoken to him about the living arrangements and agreed that it was better for Kenny to be here than at home. The two had drank together for at least two hours, watching the comedy channel, before Kyle came back out of his room and the three of them took turns playing video games until late.
"Poor kid." Kenny mumbled, feeling the fatigue settle back within him and he nearly fell asleep again. At least, he would have if Kyle hadn't chosen that particular time to come to the couch and hand Kenny a plate.
"Move over." Kyle said, throwing the blankets back and idly shoving Kenny's arm until the blonde shifted his body over to let Kyle slip in beside him.
"Oh, Kyle, I didn't know you were so forward." Kenny said with a sleepy grin and received another shove in response. Kyle took up the remote and flicked the tv on, channel surfing until he found the music channel with a show that had little bubbles popping up with information about music videos. Kenny didn't want to pay attention, in fact he wanted to go back to sleep, but with food and the curiosity over what the bubbles were saying, he couldn't. He pushed himself up and put the plate on his lap over the covers, taking small bites as he read the info.
"So I was thinking we could just hang out here today. I figure it'd be a good time to get you sort of used to the place." Kyle suggested, distracting Kenny from reading about how many times some rapper had been arrested.
"Okay. Are there any rules I should know about?" Kenny asked.
"Well, at first I was going to say no, but then I remembered who I'm lending a bed to. No one gets in this bed besides you or me. I don't mind housing you, feeding you or even cleaning up after you, but that courtesy is limited to you and you alone." Kyle said.
At first, Kenny would have taken offense...but he knew as well as Kyle did that it was a valid point to mention. He was kind of sort of having a fling with a certain black haired boy, so it wasn't obscene to think that Kyle might not want to have a whole bunch of explicit action going on in his house. However, one particular set of words made him chuckle...
"So if you and I get in this bed together...that's okay?" Kenny teased, trailing a finger up Kyle's arm.
"Sweet jesus, there's no stopping you, is there?" Kyle asked, but he smiled all the same and smacked Kenny's hand away.
"It's my nature." Kenny said, taking another bite of toast and continuing to speak through the mouthful. "Can't stop it now. What would Stan say if I-"
"Seriously?" Kyle laughed, looking at Kenny with wide eyes. "Really, dude? Gonna go there?"
Kenny finished his toast and flashed a smile at his friend.
"I go everywhere, bro."
The two finished up the program, which Kenny later learned was called Pop Up Video, and Kyle put the dishes in the dishwasher while Kenny went to the bathroom to change and run a brush hastily through his hair. He really didn't have a particular style, but it tangled like crazy if he didn't keep up with the brush.
When Kenny came out of the bathroom, Kyle had gone missing. Kenny narrowed his eyes. The kid had red hair, how did he ninja away like that so effectively?
"Kyle?" Kenny called, too lazy to look for him.
"I'm in my room." Kyle returned and the sound of a sliding door alerted Kenny to the fact that Kyle was probably going to enjoy the sun he'd mentioned earlier on the deck that he had somehow managed to convince Clyde to let him have.
Kenny tossed his pajama bottoms onto the fold out couch and stuffed his hands in his black jean pockets before idly making his way to Kyle's room. Jesus, the bed was made and it hardly looked any different from when Kenny had seen it last night. Only difference was Kyle's clothes from yesterday on the floor, having barely missed the box Kyle seemed to be using for laundry.
Kyle had set up the little deck space with one chair and a small table that held a single book on top of it. Kenny noticed the bookmark was halfway through the pages and wondered exactly how much of that had been accomplished while he'd been sleeping in. He stepped out onto the deck and Kyle looked up, taking his feet off the railing casing them in and saying, "You want me to get another chair? I can take the table inside."
"Naw, it's fine." Kenny waved a hand dismissively and situated himself in the corner, resting his elbows on either side of the railing. "It's pretty nice, what you've got set up here."
"I like it." Kyle agreed, putting his feet back up and slouching down in the seat.
"Has your mom been up here at all?" Kenny asked. The gang rarely saw the Broflovski's aside from Kyle anymore. Not that they really wanted to; the only reason they'd ever hung out with the family was because of Kyle being there.
"She came to visit after we officially moved in and everything was set up, but she didn't stay long." Kyle shrugged. "She still doesn't like that I moved out."
"Isn't that a dream for most parents? 'My son or daughter moved out, they're growing up, I'm so proud!'." Kenny put on an exaggerated high pitched voice to mimic what must have been some proud mother.
Kyle gave a humorless sort of laugh and shook his head.
"Not my mom." Kyle said. "You know her. I was her only legitimate son, so now that Ike's starting to rebel, as teenagers do, she doesn't know what to do without me."
Kenny nodded. He'd seen Ike a few times, hanging out with friends from school. South Park Middle School was only a street or two away from the grocery store Kenny worked at, so every now and then the little brats would come in and buy energy drinks, which Kenny strongly believed Ike did not need at fourteen years old. How could a kid be tired all the time? Kenny himself used to stay up until three am and wake up at a decent hour perfectly rested when he was fourteen.
He'd written it off because Ike was Canadian by birth. Which was the default excuse whenever Ike misbehaved or acted strangely.
"How's Ike been?" Kenny asked.
"Ike's been a right little shit." Kyle said with a small grin he knew Kenny would see. "His grades are dropping and he's spending a lot of time with friends. Keeps saying YOLO and listening to Nicki Minaj and Weezy and whoever else sings about things that don't make any sense. I only know those two names because they're on the radio all the time."
Kenny laughed at that. Of course Ike did. Kenny knew what YOLO stood for because of people at work. Apparently "You Only Live Once" was today's generations motto. They seemed to believe in living life to the most extremes and Kenny knew this because he could see kids in town doing things he had done as a kid that had literally stunned audiences. Now, people were so desensitized to danger and stupidity that no one even looked over to see what the kids were doing. Kenny had little faith in what was to follow this generation, but he was sure the stupid people would be killed off very quickly.
Leaning back on the rail, Kenny looked up at the nearly cloudless sky. It really was nice out today, even if talking about Ike had reminded Kenny how stupid most of the human race was on a daily basis. Even today, under the blue sky with the sun shining but not cooking civilians, someone somewhere was doing something stupid. He wouldn't put it past his parents to be those someones.
"How's work been?"
Kyle's question brought Kenny back to the conversation and he sighed.
"Work's been work. I've sort of been hanging out with one of my co-workers, so I guess it's not all bad. But still, customer service blows." Kenny responded.
"I agree with you there." Kyle worked in a customer service job too, but it was more a call center than a grocery store. He took calls responding to people with computer issues and knew how to work a computer faster than anyone else Kenny had known. Having said that, Kenny realized he'd noticed a distinct lack of computer in Kyle's room and wondered if the boy had left it somewhere else or if he'd broken his laptop.
"What have you and the co-worker been up to?" Kyle's voice took on a strange tone and Kenny looked away from the cloud and back to him to see Kyle smirking at him.
"Oh, what, you think I can't hang out normally?" Kenny asked, acting offended but he couldn't help but be amused at how intuitive Kyle was.
"Dude, you fucked your boss at the last job you had." Kyle gave him a withering look in response.
"She asked for it." Kenny shrugged, grinning widely.
"Gross, Ken. But seriously, you don't have the best track record for 'just hanging out'." Kyle pressed. "I ask because I want to make sure you...it's hard to explain." Kyle sat up straighter in his chair and took his feet off the railing. "After things at home, I know you like to vent. I also know HOW you vent."
"You know an awful lot about me, sir. Who are you, who do you work for?" Kenny narrowed his eyes and Kyle tried to stifle a laugh. "But seriously," Kenny said, mimicking Kyle's words from before. "I'm fine. And my co-worker's fine and we haven't fucked yet. Not really."
"I don't even want to know what 'Not Really' is." Kyle held up a hand before Kenny could continue. "But okay." Kyle wouldn't ask, he was too polite for that, but Kenny knew by the glance his friend gave him that he was still curious about something.
"I made a deal with Craig Tucker; he works in meats. And I don't mean that kind of meats, but he's good at that too-" Kyle interrupted Kenny with a loud groan and a roll of his eyes, but he nodded and let Kenny continue. "We've been hanging out and messing around so trust me, I'm able to vent if I need it. I really am okay."
Kyle seemed to observe Kenny, as if looking for a sign that he was lying, but there was none. Kenny really was fine, Kyle had to know that, even if things at home were messy. It had always been messy for the McCormick's. If Kenny couldn't deal with it by now, he doubted very much that he'd even be here right now, talking calmly to his friend instead of hiding in an alley with a gun to his head.
"Craig, huh?" Kyle seemed to relax a little and gave a short laugh. "Haven't heard from him in months. Clyde gets calls to hang out every now and then, but the most I hear is a 'Oh yeah, Kyle, Craig says hi and stop being a prude'." Kyle said.
Kenny couldn't resist; he laughed.
"A prude. I would have thought he'd use harsher language, but you're almost too cute to insult, so I guess I see why he went easy on you." Kenny said, pushing himself away from the railing and moving to go back inside. Sure enough, Kyle followed after him, closing the sliding door again.
"I'm not cute." Kyle mumbled, seemingly displeased with the compliment...or maybe joke...who knew, that Kenny had given him.
"Are too." Kenny teased, turning around and smiling at Kyle. "And sweet. Definitely sweet too."
Kyle raised an eyebrow and returned with, "Is this flirting? Because no one calls me sweet."
Kenny just kept smiling and reached forward to pull Kyle to him, wrapping him into a hug. He really hated it when his friends worried about him, it was unnecessary. Kyle was the worst for it, he was always sensitive to what was going on with the people he cared about and Kenny knew he was the one Kyle worried about the most. Once in the past he'd yelled at Kyle to stop caring so much about what went on with him and the red head had full out punched him. He knew Kyle would never believe a single sentence that came out of his mouth that started with "I'm" and ended with "fine" so he tried his best to hide any distress and show Kyle that he was fine with actions.
"Kenny?" Kyle asked, hugging Kenny back, albeit with a lot more confusion.
Tons of things Kenny could say to Kyle flooded his head. "Thank you" and "You don't have to worry so much" were among them. But none of those would work. Actions spoke louder than words and humor spoke to their particular group louder than anything else. It was how they dealt.
So when Kenny pulled away, he snuck a kiss to Kyle's cheek and turned to humor.
"Stan won't get mad at that will he? Does he have cameras over this place to make sure I don't molest you?"
"Good lord." Kyle rolled his eyes and shoved Kenny back without much force, a smile forming across his lips.
"You smell nice. Can I borrow your shampoo sometime?" Kenny continued, even as Kyle walked out of his bedroom and headed to the living room again.
"You can borrow anything you want, Ken, but it's nothing special. I buy the cheap stuff so we can afford shit like cable and internet." Kyle replied, and as Kenny followed him, the blonde could see Kyle was making the fold out bed up and lifting it up so he could put it back to the couch.
Kenny leaned forward to help, folding over the bottom end and slipping it into the groove under where the couch cushions usually sat. He caught his phone as it nearly slipped off the arm of the couch as they moved it and noticed his message light blinking. Lighting the screen up, Kenny saw the text.
Did you know that today's a no school day? Park near work is free. Meet up?
Aww, Craig was asking him out. Well, sort of.
Kenny grinned and sent back, On my way.
"Text?" Kyle asked, sitting down heavily on the couch, now complete with cushions, and flicking through channels on the television again.
"Yeah. I'm gonna go out for a bit. You gonna be home to let me in when I get back?" Kenny asked, sticking his phone in his pocket and looking around his bag for the black jacket he'd packed in case it got cold.
"I'm home all day," Kyle waved his land lazily, as if shooing Kenny out the door. "Just call or text me when you're back and I'll buzz you in."
"Thanks." Kenny said, reaching forward to muss up Kyle's hair, laughing as the red head glared at him and lifted his hands to fix it. Kyle had gotten much more self conscious about his hair and instead of letting it curl and bunch up, he'd gotten it thinned out a bit and began using flat irons. It still never got perfectly straight, but the minor waves were much nicer than the full out tangled mess he'd had when he was a kid. Unfortunately for Kyle, minor waves were much easier for Kenny to mess up and the blonde boy took full advantage of that.
Stepping out into the sun, Kenny decided walking to the park might be a good idea. It was nice out, what the heck, right? It didn't take him long to get there, it was near his work and closer to Kyle's than his own house. He was actually surprised when he saw the park come into view so soon and had to look back to remember he'd covered only about half the distance he usually did from home.
Craig was on one of the swings, decked out in his usual blue shirt and some dark jeans that could have been black with various rips in them. The funny thing Kenny had learned about Craig's ripped jeans, of which he had at least three pairs, was that they weren't purchased like that. Craig had ruined his first pair like that while playing a mean game of paintball with Clyde and Token Black. There was still a little yellow paint on them, as well as rips from where he'd fallen or gotten caught on something. Kenny only knew this one because Craig had been telling that spindly kid from work about it and Kenny couldn't help overhearing. Or more accurately, was so mind numbingly bored that he'd purposely hidden behind the counter and eavesdropped.
As Kenny approached, Craig either didn't notice him or didn't care to look up to acknowledge that he'd noticed him until Kenny reached the swing beside him and took a seat.
"Hey." Kenny started lamely, unsure of how best to initiate conversation when they weren't immediately fondling each other or teasing via texts.
"Hey." Craig responded with just as much disinterest as always.
Luckily before Kenny had to come up with a unique way to say 'nice weather we're having', Craig started in on something else.
"Your face doesn't look as terrible as it did before."
Kenny stared deadpanned at Craig for a full thirty seconds before he said, "Yeah, I heal quickly. Jerk."
"You coming back to work soon?" Craig asked, finally looking up to properly look at Kenny.
"I think so. I'm going to wait another day or so and then go back." Kenny shrugged.
"Good. Reggie's being a little shit, I'm bored as fuck there." Craig said, pushing the swing back and letting it fall forward, kicking off to push himself higher as he swung back again.
"Oh poor you." Kenny chuckled, watching Craig swing higher and higher. The whole set seemed to sway slightly in response and Kenny didn't risk joining Craig. The set was made for kids in middle school, not nearly full grown people in their twenties.
"I'm gonna go on the actual playset. The one made of strong wood that won't break if I touch it." Kenny said, standing up and moving to the obstacle course of things made for children to play with. Rope ladders, slides, a zipline-esque feature that wasn't half as boring because you actually had to hold onto it...though, as Kenny slid along the line, holding on to the handle, he supposed it was still pretty dull.
A thump made Kenny look up and he saw that Craig had jumped off the swing, heading towards him while the seat still swayed back and forth uncontrollably.
"Right daredevil, you are." Kenny teased with a smile, grabbing a hold of the rope and planting his feet on the tiny protrusions from the wall that allowed kids to push up to the platform above. Before he reached the top, however, Kenny felt a hand on his shirt and Craig tugged him down from the wall. Kenny nearly lost his balance and landed hard on the sawdust littering the playground floor. He'd barely righted himself before Craig had pushed him back against the wall with more force than Kenny thought should be necessary among friends, or whatever they were at the moment.
"Craig, what the fuck?" Kenny snapped, straightening up properly and glaring at the darker haired boy.
Craig didn't say a word, but his hands rose up to slip under the shoulders of Kenny's jacket and he pushed it back. The heavier fabric fell easily down Kenny's arms to the crooks of his elbows and Kenny held in a breath as Craig leaned in. Instead of his usual tactic of going right for the neck, which Kenny was sure even a blind man would eventually be able to see hickies on at this point, Craig pressed his lips to Kenny's shoulder. Even over the fabric of his shirt, Kenny could feel Craig's breath warm over the area he was kissing and he let out the breath he'd been holding slowly.
"Miss me?" Kenny murmured, but he regretted speaking because Craig pulled away to glare at him.
"You talk too much." Craig said and Kenny blinked stupidly for a second before opening his mouth to retort. Craig immediately silenced him with a hand over Kenny's mouth and a raised eyebrow. Kenny frowned, staring Craig down until the darker haired boy sighed and pushed Kenny closer to the rope wall with one hand while expertly twisting the rope around his free hand and wrist. He pulled himself up, careful not to hit Kenny, and climbed up onto the platform. Footsteps on the wooden course indicated that Craig was walking away.
Well, that wasn't fair.
Kenny cursed under his breath, quiet enough for Craig not to hear and dropped his jacket onto the sawdust. He'd have a hell of a time picking that stuff out of his sleeves later, but right now he wanted a word with Mister Tucker.
As he reached the platform and rolled his body onto it, Kenny saw Craig waiting for him across a few thin lines of rope that served as a very shitty ladder. There were four ropes in total, side by side along the length of the open space between platforms and Kenny guessed there had to be more than one so the kids wouldn't fail miserably at trying to balance across. They had even installed rails on either side for cheaters who held on to guide their way across.
Cheaters like Kenny. Kenny gripped the rail with one hand, spreading his weight across the ropes and trying to take long strides so he'd be finished with this damn thing already. Successfully reaching the other platform, Kenny looked up to scold Craig for leaving him just cos he was talking, but the boy was already moving on. Kenny quelled the urge to shout at him and settled instead for running to catch up to him.
Kenny kept quiet as Craig slowed and glanced over at him. An exaggerated sigh followed and Kenny wordlessly flipped Craig off, which the darker haired boy returned almost immediately.
"You can talk, I didn't mean you had to be a fucking mute. You just talk a lot about useless things." Craig clarified, stopping on the playset next to the slide and leaning on the wooden planks that walled in the platforms so kids wouldn't fall off.
Kenny just made a face and sat down in the entry way of the slide.
"Everything anyone says to you is useless, right?" Kenny said, more just frustrated than actually angry.
"Not everything." Craig shrugged.
Kenny raised an eyebrow and said, "That narrows things down."
Craig ignored him and changed the subject, much to Kenny's annoyance.
"How does your face feel?"
"Fine. It's kind of ached itself out by now, it's just the color that's still a problem." Kenny answered regardless of how tired he was of answering people's questions about his face. Come to think of it, the only person who hadn't asked him about it was Clyde. "I'm staying with Clyde and Kyle for the time being."
Craig nodded slowly and for a minute, kept silent. He looked like he was thinking, but Kenny knew that was sort of just how Craig looked when he wasn't annoyed.
"Clyde told me about you coming over. Texted me last night." Craig eventually spoke up again.
"He did?" Kenny asked. Clyde didn't seem the type to gossip, so why would he have told Craig about something so trivial?
"Yeah. He was asking me about you and work and stuff. He visits me sometimes for lunch so he sees you in bakery." Craig explained.
Clyde had time to visit people on lunch breaks? Kenny racked his brain for a way that would work, but he supposed with how early Clyde worked, he could potentially take his breaks around the same time Craig did. There wasn't really a set schedule for breaks, Kenny had realized, so maybe Craig was just arranging his time table around Clyde. That thought bothered Kenny a bit. No one came to visit him at lunch, why didn't Craig and him just eat together?
"Come slide with me." Kenny said, swinging himself around to let his legs rest on the downslope of the plastic plaything.
"Gay." Craig said, but he lowered himself down beside Kenny anyway.
"Put your legs around me." Kenny instructed and though he got a very strange look from Craig, the boy moved in behind Kenny, situating himself with the blonde between his legs. "Mm, this is kind of hot." Kenny teased, though instead of the taunt he had been expecting, Craig looped his arms around Kenny and said, "Kind of" right next to Kenny's ear.
Kenny felt Craig nibble at his ear and, caught off guard, his whole body shivered pleasantly in response. Using the opportunity given to him, Craig ran his hands along Kenny's stomach and thighs, keeping most of his weight on the platform so Kenny couldn't overbalance them and send them sliding. Kenny reached up to put a hand to Craig's head, keeping him in the general vicinity and letting him kiss and bite along his ear lobe and neck.
It was wildly inappropriate; doing this here on a children's playset, but that was probably half of the reason Kenny felt so good doing it. Though he secretly hoped no one would come around and catch them doing this, he sincerely didn't want to move as Craig's fingers pressed lightly to the space between his legs.
"Guess we're not sliding just yet." Kenny said with a laugh, though it came out just a little shaky as he tried to maneuver his weight back against Craig without hurting him or accidentally pushing them down the slide.
"Guess not." Craig replied, his voice low.
Within a matter of seconds, Kenny really didn't have to worry about accidentally going down the slide. Craig pulled Kenny back to lay against him and rolled them so Kenny was on his stomach on the platform. Craig's weight disappeared from Kenny's back and the blonde turned himself over to see what was going on. Craig couldn't seriously leave again once he'd initiated something, could he? Nope.
Craig wasn't leaving. He was straddling Kenny's legs, and as Kenny turned to lay on his back, Craig slipped his fingers under Kenny's shirt and lifted it. He pressed kisses to Kenny's stomach and hips, sticking his fingers purposely under the waist band of Kenny's jeans and underwear to tug them down just an inch. Craig looked up, flashing what might have actually been a form of smirk at Kenny before kissing the newly exposed parts of Kenny's hips.
Kenny knew they shouldn't be doing this. Really, he did. This was wrong in all sorts of ways on a playground and any minute now a parent or teenager could come strolling around the corner and see them. But he didn't stop Craig. Even when his pants were successfully unbuttoned and Craig had managed to once again surprise Kenny with that usually sarcastic mouth of his, Kenny couldn't stop him.
He moaned and shifted uncomfortably on the wooden platform, managing to last longer than he had the last time at least. A particular difference that Craig didn't hesitate to comment on, once he'd hastily used saw dust to clear away any evidence that may have made it onto the playset that obscenity had been going on here.
"Well, you're improving." Craig said with that almost smirk again.
"Shut up, you." Kenny scolded lightly, laughing through the fatigue that had settled over him. He looked down at himself with a grimace and reluctantly asked Craig, "Can you bring me my jacket?"
Craig noticed where Kenny was looking and actually gave a short sort of laugh.
"You honestly think I'm going to keep using our clothes to clean you up?" Craig asked, sticking his hand into his torn jean pockets and pulling out a little package of tissues. "Thought something like this might happen."
"You planned on blowing me at a park?" Kenny asked, taking the package gladly. "How sweet."
"Not really planned, dumbshit." Craig returned, but there was little malice in his voice. "Just kind of thought we might end up doing something."
"We're lucky this place is deserted today." Kenny voiced his earlier concerns and received another short chuckle from his companion.
"You think I would have chanced it if I hadn't known that?" Craig arched an eyebrow. "I circled this place like four times before texting you. No one was around."
The idea of Craig circling the playground made Kenny imagine him as a vulture, creeping around for dinner, which only made him laugh out loud. Craig looked confused.
"You don't wanna know, seriously." Kenny got out between his spontaneous laughing fit. "Just...thanks, I guess. For doing all of this."
"You have to ruin it, don't you?" Craig asked, to which Kenny frowned. "We made a deal, McCormick. You don't have to thank me for getting you off, that was kind of the whole point of the deal, remember?"
Kenny shrugged and reassembled his clothing once he was sure he'd gotten all or at least the majority of the mess off himself.
"Well, this is the second time we've met up where you haven't got off and that was part of the deal too." Kenny pointed out.
"Whatever." Craig didn't seem too preoccupied with the subject now that Kenny had turned it to him. "Next time, I guess."
"Next time." Kenny agreed, trying to think of creative ways to seduce Craig the next time they met up. "This should be all better soon, so I won't have to worry about hurting myself." Kenny gestured to his cheek and sat up, pressing his back against the slide entry way again.
"What kind of crazy sex acts do you think up, huh? Why would anything we'd do hurt your face?"
Kenny honestly couldn't answer that. Well, he could...but he really didn't want to.
"You don't want to know." Kenny responded with a coy wink, even though he knew half the dirty things he knew about he'd never use on Craig. The boy would probably up and break bones for even suggesting some of them.
"You heading back to Clyde's later?" Craig asked, all too glad to not ask any questions pertaining to what Kenny had probably learned from porn as a kid. It hadn't been a secret that he'd...well...blossomed earlier than others.
"Yeah. Kyle told me to text him and he'll buzz me in. I don't have a key." Kenny nodded.
"I'll walk with you there when you want to leave." Craig said in what could have almost been a kind tone of voice. Almost.
"Why?" Kenny asked, not buying the 'I'll walk you home' shit real gentlemen pulled.
Craig sent Kenny a look that Kenny had seen Kyle make a few times before. It was the "I can't believe you're an idiot" look.
"Clyde has one of my video games. I want it back." Craig eventually explained with a sigh that Kenny didn't really feel was necessary.
"Aha. Ulterior motives." Kenny reached forward to playfully smack Craig's arm. "Don't fuck with me, I know a bullshit excuse when I see one."
"Whatever, McCormick." Craig stuck up his middle finger in response and Kenny stuck out his tongue.
"And it's Kenny. I call you by your first name, don't be a bitch and use my family name." Kenny said, flipping up both of his middle fingers in return.
"I'll call you whatever I want." Craig snapped, and Kenny actually felt a little sting of annoyance.
"My family gave me a wicked fucking bruise on my face and it's not the first time I've had one from them. Call me 'McCormick' again and I'll punch you myself." Kenny knew his voice was coming out harsher then he'd intended it to and he recovered by adding, "Seriously, just Kenny is fine."
Craig seemed to analyze what Kenny was saying but eventually he relaxed and rolled his eyes.
"If you're gonna whine about it, fine. Kenny." It seemed to take visible effort for Craig to say Kenny's first name, despite how close he'd come to saying it the first time they'd hooked up in Kenny's car. Craig wasn't a first name guy with many people, but while this mess was going on, Kenny didn't want to hear his family name coming from someone who was supposed to be fun to hang out with.
It took a few more minutes for Kenny to feel up to strength again and he idly made conversation before suggesting the walk home. Walking with Craig, the walk took almost twice as long as it had when Kenny had made it alone. Seriously. Kenny knew that he walked fast, but Kyle kept up with him just fine. Why was everyone else so slow?
Kenny supposed it made sense for Craig; the boy was so indifferent that him being fast or enthusiastic about anything was practically as believable as South Park ever being considered a normal town. Which was utterly unbelievable.
Kenny called Kyle as they neared the front door and the phone didn't even pick up. Kenny was about to call again when the buzz of the doors caused him to instinctively pull open the doors instead. Apparently Kyle hadn't felt the need to talk on the phone. Kenny guessed he must have had caller ID and knew Kenny needed in.
"Do you want me to go and get the game or do you want to come in and hang out for a bit?" Kenny asked, turning to Craig as he held the door open.
"Just tell Clyde he needs to bring it to work for me tomorrow, okay?" Craig said, waving to Kenny and turning to head back up the parking lot.
"Wait, did you seriously just walk all the way here with me just to not get what you came for?" Kenny called after him, an incredulous laugh escaping with his words.
"No, I got what I came for. It's standing at the fucking door like a moron though, so maybe I made a terrible decision." Craig responded in...was that supposed to be a joke?
Kenny was struck mute for a moment in response to the actual teasing tone that had come from Craig. And then it hit him. Wait...
"See you later, sweetheart!" Kenny shouted loud enough for the bottom floor above the door to hear through their open windows.
He could see Craig flip him off but the reply came in the form of a text, just as Kenny was closing the door to head into the elevator.
You're a fucking idiot. See you later.
0000000
Author's Note:
And here is the chapter for this week! The next chapters will be out on a weekly basis, so please check in next week for chapter 5 :)