The Evermore Dissociate(Creek)

0058

Laughing in the crispy, cold air was making Tweek's chest hurt, and the dull throb he felt in both his neck and injured wrist was enough to bring this joyful moment to an end. "Stop." He breathed heavily, with his good arm pressed against his chest as he looked towards his snow covered shoes. He wasn't sure how he'd managed to be sitting down in the middle of it all, but the damp patch on his butt was becoming a reminder that he needed to get up.

Before he could even attempt to get up though, Craig was by his side, dropping to his knees as he too tried to contain his breathing. "I didn't hurt you, did I?" He asked with concern.

"No, I just think I moved my neck too quickly." Tweek said as he made a valiant effort to stand up by himself. He was aware of Craig quietly watching as he failed to do so, and after coming to terms with the fact he wasn't going to be able to do it on his own, he sighed with a mist of hot breath releasing from his mouth like a dragon breathing fire for the first time. "I could use a hand."

Springing straight into action, after Craig climbed to his own feet, he offered Tweek his hand. The blonde took it with his good hand and could only hope his facial expression hadn't given away how much effort it had taken to get back on his feet. For a moment they just stood there, side by side as Tweek rubbed at the side of his neck, while Craig checked his phone for the time once again.

"There's still somewhere I wanna take you, if you're up for it?"

They were both freezing cold, with the snow turning their clothes into a dampness that clung to their skin, and as Tweek glanced down to take in his current state, he lightly grinned. "Sure. Why the hell not?"

The snow that crunched beneath their feet became a tuning point as they walked the streets together in silence. They didn't need any words between them, just the wholesome feeling in their chests from the moments beforehand. It was a feeling that Tweek was grateful to be experiencing. He hadn't known until now whether or not he'd feel as alone and confused as he had been the past couple of days. Then again, he hadn't known that Craig was someone who could change that, and now he was starting to see why that somewhat annoying jerk had been his friend before his memories were lost, so for that, he was grateful to have Craig throughout this.

They made it to the playground in no less than five minutes, and as they stood on the outer territory, Craig couldn't help but feel some foreign emotion as he realised how much smaller it looked now, compare to when he'd only been a kid. He looked beside him as Tweek took in his surroundings, and could only hope for the best that this would spike some memories.

"So this is the place?" Tweek asked with a raised eyebrow, and in that moment Craig felt entirely stupid for being so sentimental.

"Yeah..." Craig scratched his head. "It would mean more to you if you could remember it though."

"I don't." Tweek exhaled. He began to enter the small playground, with Craig hesitantly following behind as he found a small slide to climb up. He watched as Craig tucked his hands into his pockets from where he stood on the ground, and despite Tweek sitting on the top of the slide, it was only big enough to add a couple of inches of height against Craig. "Remind me."

"What?"

"Remind me why it meant something to me."

"How?" Craig frowned as he came closer to the slide.

Looking through the rusty bars to make eye contact, Tweek sheepishly smiled. "Tell me a story."

"No..."

"Fine." He said, faking disinterest by looking away from Craig. He began to mumble a tune to himself as he ignored his friends presence entirely.

"Real mature." Craig rolled his eyes, but Tweek continued to pretend he wasn't there, even throughout the poking to his side through the bars. Being ignored was one of Craig's biggest pet peeves, and as more and more seconds passed, he caved in. "We were ten." He began, capturing Tweek's attention, though the blonde continued to face the opposite way as he picked the paint from the metal slide. "I remember you were dressed up as an elf for Christmas, and I'd been so convinced that you actually were one with your pointy ears."

"I don't have pointy ears." Tweek interrupted with offence, but Craig was too busy watching the rusty swings swaying in the distance.

"For some reason, everyone else was dressed up as either Santa or Rudolph which made you freak out." He snickered to himself, but so far Tweek wasn't amused. "After you complained to me and Clyde about how we should've coordinated outfits with you, it turned out having a different costume made you popular for the day. Key word being 'for the day' but you were so excited to be fussed over by all these people who's names you didn't know. Me and Clyde were jealous when you played with them instead of us."

Tweek glanced over to see Craig so deeply in thought, he was scuffing the toe of his shoe into the pebbled ground, watching his feet as he spoke. The innocent action gained the majority of Tweek's attention like a vacuum sucking in dust, and the more he stared, the more he found it hard to look away. "I was so mad at you, and back then, a day of being mad at someone was like a lifetime, but then you brought this dumb little cupcake you'd made over to me. I was sitting right where you are now, and I remember planning an argument in my head when I heard your footsteps coming up. I was going to call you a traitor, but when you handed over this gross looking alien cupcake over to me, I realised those kids only had that day, and I had my life to play with you." Realising how stupid and mushy that sounded, Craig cleared his throat in embarrassment. "But yeah, um, over there is where you cracked your head open and cried for like two hours straight."

There was a good few seconds of silence as Tweek watched his company with a sense of understanding. He was beginning to put things together. He was beginning to figure Craig and himself out. That didn't mean he was completely aware of the situation, but he was getting close. Ever since he'd had a restart in friendship with Craig, he'd been getting signals that at the time made no sense, and though he wasn't sure himself, he was curious as to whether there was something more than friendship between them.

He pushed himself off, going down the slide, though halfway his shoe squeaked as it rubbed against the metal, putting him into an awkward halt. He glanced over to Craig who'd been watching him the entire time, and felt his cheeks redden as he lifted up his feet to 'not so gracefully' reach the bottom of the slide.

Once he was back to his feet and by Craig's side again, Tweek brushed at the hair sticking in his eye with the pads of his fingers. "Where to next?" He asked Craig.

Craig hadn't been expecting those words from Tweek anytime soon, but as he suppressed the smile that threatened to take over his features, he casually shrugged. "Wherever you wanna go."