His first star is obtained while playing 'Space Cadets,' a scenario game that fueled his imagination while he spent the time frolicking in his backyard. The current playing field set the mood to an investigative one, and the cadet found himself having to cover uncharted territory on a planet simply deemed 'Smiley Town.' The crisp red and brown leaves that signified the arrival of autumn intertwined with the yellow-turned grass, and it allowed the spaceman to picture a world much similar to the planet Jupiter. As he jumped from stone to stone—his mouth mimicking the static of a spacesuit—his eyes scanned the horizon in front of him: empty, bleak, absolutely no sign of intelligent life anywhere. While preparing to document the initial impression of such an extraterrestrial planet, he quickly realized the environment was a lot emptier than he supposed it would be.

"This is Spaceman Craig, do you copy?" He began. "Do you copy, space ranger?"

His response arrived in the form of silence.

"Space ranger? Hello? Are you there?"

More silence.

The atmosphere no longer felt mysterious, and Craig's make-believe setting evaporated into thin air as the boy peeked behind him. A small huff escaped his lips as he was, once again, greeted by barren land, officially confirming the absence of his mandatory expedition partner. Despite his newfound sour mood, he decided on a contrasting approach to the situation, allowing himself to re-enter his imaginary sci-fi world. In doing so, a new mission is established, and it was up to Spaceman Craig to look for his recently lost companion. As he began his new trek, an influx of scenarios began to flood the boy's mind; what if he had gotten kidnapped by aliens? What if he had gotten absorbed into a black hole? Or even worse, what if the support system they had used to travel together broke apart, leaving his one and only friend to drift across outer space alone forever?

Craig steadily bounced his way back to the tree symbolizing their spacecraft, keeping aware of his surroundings to avoid meeting a similar fate. Upon reaching 'Home Base,' thinking of such atrocities proved futile, as he eventually stumbled across the one person he searched the galaxy for.

Sitting behind the tree with knees pulled towards his chest, was none other than the boy he had first mistaken for the sun: Tweek. After a somewhat speedy conversation taking place the morning following their initial encounter, Craig came to terms with reality; the supposed sun he had aided was simply a child, a boy with a name much peculiar than normal. Said child was strange, sometimes jittery, and his parents evidently paid him no mind as it was revealed he was left on his own, time and time again. He genuinely loathed that there was nothing he could do except offer his friendship, the idea of the lonesome child having someone to play with being his only comfort. And yet, the boy seemed completely unenthusiastic and disinterested towards the game he was invited to play; leaving the astronaut to begin doubting his proposal. He never once considered such a game to be boring, but one look at the blond's body language was enough to trigger second thoughts. Tweek had his body turned away from the other, back firmly pressed along the bark, his shoulders slightly trembling.

He couldn't deny the action pierced a hole in his heart, especially since Tweek had been the one to encourage the idea of playing Craig's favorite game. Of course, that didn't mean such a reaction was unexpected. Being used to others quickly quitting the game out of boredom, he recognized that he should have foreseen a similar outcome, having Tweek over for a playdate truly making no difference. Why would he think one boy could change anything?

Perhaps it was because Tweek wasn't just any boy. They had been introduced by overlapping opinions regarding the rain, similar feelings, and they had helped each other mold a distressing day into a joyous one. A sliver of hope shined brightly inside him, desperately longing for this situation to be a misunderstanding. And it was in times like this that the boy in blue knew he needed to be confrontational, a trait stemming directly from his father. He also knew he needed to tread carefully, and so he begged the universe to bestow upon him the gentle and graceful tone that flowed off his mother's tongue.

"Tweek?"

The young boy on the ground turned around, a soft gasp escaping his lips. "Craig…" he croaked, voice noticeably faltering. Another sound, this one incomprehensible, emits from the blond as his head suddenly jerks to the side.

"Hey, what's wrong?" the astronaut asked. "I thought you wanted to play with me?" His universal request is unfulfilled as his inquiries are relayed monotonously. Instead of sounding concerned, he sounded demanding, almost angry, and he knew the other would not be fond of such a tone.

"I do…" Tweek responded feebly. "But—"

"You don't like playing Space Cadets?" He interrupted.

"No! It's not that! I just—Ngh!"

Any and all pessimistic sentiments currently overcrowding the spaceman's body rapidly vanished as it appeared that the seated boy was on the verge of tears. Had he been too harsh? He didn't mean to sound rude or condescending, and he most definitely didn't want to chase away the only kid willing to put up with his cosmic obsession. While mentally cursing the universe for denying him the chance to sound comforting and kind, his mind transported him back to the day he met Tweek's mother. Her voice was soothing while her actions were cold, revealing herself to be nothing more than a breathing oxymoron. Was he no different? Could he be no different?

His hypothesis is put to the test as he kneeled down beside his counterpart, his arm finding a home on the blond's shoulder. His eyes met with the other's, and time found itself standing still.

"Please," Craig pleaded. "Tell me what's wrong. It's okay if you don't want to play with me."

A lie. It wouldn't be okay, it would be disappointing.

Tweek sniffled as he turned his head to face the grass once more. He inhaled and exhaled deeply before answering. "I… I look silly, Craig."

"What?"

"I think I look silly."

Ah. Truth be told, there was one tiny detail Craig had withdrawn from their present circumstance. Out of all the reasons he could muster as the root of his friend's despair, he never once questioned it would be because they were wearing space helmets made from cardboard boxes, designs drawn on with markers. It never deterred anyone else from playing with him, and he certainly didn't mind running around with a box covering his own head. In fact, not once did it prove an obstacle, his mother making sure to cut out a squared hole so as not to obstruct his view. The same had been done for Tweek, although in his case, it had been done in vain. A quick glance at the blond's helmet, and Craig found one of his designs: a pointy-rayed star. But it wasn't just any star, it was the sun, and the space cadet had drawn such a star following the outline of his friend's face.

'I think the sun is beautiful.'

"You're not silly," he said flatly.

Eyes that matched the sky met his own.

"You're not silly, Tweek," he echoed.

The sun replied with a weak laugh. "Mom and Dad… they say I look silly all the time." Small teeth gnawed at his bottom lip as he hesitantly debated on what to say next. "I do look silly. You're probably just lying—"

"I hate lying," Craig cut him off before he could go further. "I hate it as much as I hate the rain."

The next two minutes were spent in silence, the only noise being the soft breathing stemming from their noses. The boy on his feet watched intently as Tweek's eyes took turns blinking, a behavior he found captivating upon first notice. He examined the way his hands reached towards his head with the intention to tug on hair, but instead bumped against the box that stood in its place. Contrary to the star-loving space cadet, the timid space ranger had a difficult time remaining still, and it reminded Craig of the famous saying 'opposites attract.'

"Y-you," Tweek stammered. "You don't think I look silly?" He asked, one side of his lips curling upward in a half smile.

"I think you look like a space ranger," he answered with a grin. "An awesome space ranger that has to help Spaceman Craig explore space."

The remaining silence is soon filled with laughter, neither of them mentioning the silliness of sporting cardboard over their heads again.

The rest of the afternoon is spent playing Tweek's new favorite game, and boy did they truly enjoy the moment. Craig eagerly soared across the solar system while his right hand space ranger shot at asteroids potentially blocking their path. The duo negotiated treaties with aliens, seeking and granting permissions to claim foreign land. They cruised through the milky way, discovering and investigating extraterrestrial wonders to add onto the spaceman's scientific journal. But most importantly, Spaceman Craig had finally found someone who would willingly explore the cosmos with him. Space Ranger Tweek, on the other hand, had finally encountered something he never expected: a friend.

Deciding to end their playdate with an indoor activity, the two found themselves sitting at the Tuckers' dining room table; paper and drawing supplies littered across it. One entertained in the beautiful pages of a coloring book, while the other was entranced in drawing a radiant picture of the sun and its surrounding solar system. As hard as Craig tried, he found it difficult to break his gaze away from the boy sitting across him, who frequently drank from a small green thermos. He thought it was a bit peculiar the way he repeatedly brought the bottle towards his lips .

"Hey," he blurted out. "You sure are drinking a lot of water."

Tweek looked back at him with a confused expression. "Oh, it's not water. I'm drinking coffee!" He said enthusiastically.

"You drink coffee?!" Craig couldn't believe what he was hearing. He never knew six year olds were allowed to drink coffee. After all, his mother always told him he had to wait until he was much older to even try it.

"Yep!" The blond exclaimed cheerfully. "Mom and Dad make coffee all the time, so they let me drink it as much as I want to." He hummed as he took another sip.

Further examining the container, he noticed a sticker with the name of the coffee shop they had barged into a month or two ago, 'Tweak Bros. Coffee.' He continued to think the name was strange for a cafe. Tweak Bros. Coffee. T-W-E-A-

"Why do you spell your name differently?"

The question was shot out of nowhere, and the blond stared at him with wide eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"The sticker," Craig points. "T-W-E-A-K. I thought your name was spelled T-W-E-E-K. You say them the same way, but you spell them differently."

"Oh," replied the other. "Well, Tweak is my last name."

He blinked in bewilderment upon hearing the response. "I thought Tweek was your first name?"

"It is."

"So then, what's your last name?"

"It's Tweak."

Having no idea he would learn what homophones were in a year or two, his brain felt like it was splitting in half. What if Tweek wasn't understanding his questions? He had asked specifically regarding his first and last names, yet the sun responded with the same name both times.

"My name is Craig Tucker. Craig is my first name, Tucker is my last name," he said desperately. "What about you?"

"I told you. Tweek is my first name, and Tweak is my last name."

Craig could only respond with a horrified look. Why was asking this one question so difficult?!

Tweek sighed as he snatched up a blank piece of paper followed by a blue crayon. Sapphire Blue. The same color as the chullo offered to him on that one rainy day.

The confused child now looked on as he began to drag the crayon across the sheet. While observing the way Tweek held the crayon, his entire fist wrapped around it, he remembered his father and the many nights he spent drilling, over and over, the proper way to hold a writing utensil.

"Here," The blond said as he turned the paper in Craig's direction. "My name is Tweek Tweak. Tweek is my first name, Tweak is my last name, and Mom and Dad named work after our last name."

One look at the page was all it took for him to fact check the statement. Sure enough, scribbled in messy handwriting was the name Tweek Tweak.

"They are said the same way, but we spell them differently."

He nodded.

'The sun is a boy named Tweek Tweak.'

"Hey, Craig? Can I ask you something?" This time it was Tweek's turn to pose a question.

"Okay."

"Would you ever want a real space helmet?"

And Craig allowed a wide smile to spread across his face. It was a question not only for him, but also for Spaceman Craig. It was a perfect question with an obvious answer, and so he stared into the curious cerulean eyes of his new best friend.

"Of course! I know I'll get one soon because I'm gonna touch the stars someday."

A/N: Thank you for reading, and rest assured I won't make you wait longer than before for the next update.