Chapter Text
Another day, another day of practice.
Only a few more weeks until they gave their big performance in front of everyone. It was going to be a day to remember, that is, if the girl they casted as the main role could remember her lines. Weeks into their rehearsal and they have yet to run through the play’s entirety. Now, Butters was the last to point fingers or think ill of someone but, this girl was dragging down the whole performance.
By now she should have at least good portion of the lines memorized. Even he could remember the lines after the teacher corrected since they began running through the acts. And every time she would make a mistake, the director made restart from the beginning of the scene. At this rate, Butters would never be able to get to say his line. He was standing off set with the other peasants, eagerly waiting for this act to end so he could have a chance to show off how flawlessly he could deliver his line.
Eventually, the girl did manage to scrap by, getting them closer to the end of the act. When the final line was performed, Butters prepared to lead the other peasants out on stage when the director call them to gather around. That only meant rehearsal was over for the day. But he didn’t get to say his line. This made Butters a slight irate knowing they were falling behind schedule.
Butters lowly sighed as he gathered with the other theater kids towards the edge of the stage. “Ok, nice work today, kids.” The director praised them for their hard work. “We got a lot accomplished today and closer to making this a success! Ready? Hands in…”
As instructed, they all closed in, placing their hands in the center of their circle. In union they enthusiastically said their theater saying, “No matter what your dreams or who you are, you will always be a star!” At the end of the quote, they threw their hands into the air, finishing off with a jazzy shake.
“Thank you, kids. I’ll see you next practice. And don’t forget to practice your lines!” the director reminded them as they began to pack up. Butters liked nice people and the director was friendly towards them. Butters will admit, he was a little nervous when he heard rumors about theater. He overheard some people say it was a savage activity and not many people had what it takes. He was happy to know that’s all it was, a rumor. Though they were far behind, Butters was happy to be apart of someone’s creative dream. The director was right, negative thoughts and feelings didn’t belong on stage, unless that’s what his character called for, which it didn’t. No, they were all here to have fun and do their best.
Upon leaving the school, Butters’ chest swelled to see Kenny was waiting for him on the other side of the street as he always did. “Hi Kenny!” running over towards him. “You know, you don’t have to wait outside in the cold. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if you can come and get warm in the school.”
Kenny gave the school a hard, empty stare at the school before looking away. “Let’s go.” He said, starting them off on their way to the cemetery. Butters gave a sad grin as he stuck to Kenny’s side. Deep down, Butters subconsciously questioned how much time they had left together. Though they had become close friends, best friends, Butters knew this isn’t where Kenny wanted to be. He was dead and deserved to be amongst the other angel where he belonged.
He truly wanted for Kenny to rest in peace, but at the same time, he selfishly hoped that, that day would not be soon. Or at least, some time so he could give a proper goodbye. The time Kenny asked to bury him, it came as quite a shock. He didn’t know what to think or do besides what Kenny was asking of him. Once Kenny had disappeared underneath the dirt, all his emotions started filling him up. Seeing him laying in that hole felt as though someone was taking a special part of him away. Suddenly, he began crying and acting like a baby, pleading his best friend to reconsider because he would miss him too much.
For whatever reason, Kenny did reconsider. He dug his way up from out of the hole, rising from the ground like those zombies from the movies. Consequently, Butters never felt more like a brat for getting his way. He couldn’t ignore the fact; Kenny’s coughs were getting worst with each passing day. His eyes were sunken in along with their usual hallow dullness, and his skin appeared even pasty than before. It was all a perfect representation of how dead he was.
Lost in his thoughts, Butters didn’t hear Kenny had been calling his name. Instead, Butters kept his half lid eyes directed on the ground as he shuffled down the snow covered sidewalk. It was only when someone abruptly grabbed him that he emerged from his thoughts. “Huh?” Butters eyes widened in a dazed. Taking a breath, he could smell the potent odor of cigarettes and a mixture of other heavy scents. Staring up, he found he was pulled close against Kenny who held him in a protective hold, but why?
Tilting his head up towards his friend, Butters silently question questioning him. Kenny looked down at him before releasing him from his embrace. “Watch where you’re walking” He blankly said. Not understanding, Butters turned his head to see a large telephone pole right where he had been walking. If it had not been for Kenny, then he would have run right into that pole.
Kenny saved him. Kenny was like his guardian angel. This thought made Butters grinned as he twiddled his fingers together. “Why are you smiling?” Kenny asked, instantly making Butters disguise his random happiness.
“Oh, um, nothing. I just feel like smilin’, you know?” Butters answered as he marched pleasantly onward as his deep thoughts continued. He couldn’t tell Kenny that he looked at him as a guardian angel. Not after all Kenny has done for him. Since he was a child, Butters had always wanted someone like a guardian angel to spend time and look after him. Someone who was kind and supportive, but also strong and protective.
But Butters knew Kenny was suffering on a level he couldn’t fathom. He was, no doubt, in pain, and Butters believed it was because of him. Kenny chose to endure the angst just to stay by his side and make him happy. Well, he wasn’t going to make his friend suffer any longer. It was then Butters made a promise to himself. The next time Kenny was planning to move on, Butters wasn’t going to stop him. No questioned asked.
When they finally arrived at their spot in the graveyard, Butters settled down and took his prepared baggy of celery sticks from his bag. Kenny, who was using the tombstone as his bed, naturally declined when he offered to share.
Butters ate his snack as quietly as he could while doing both his and Cartman’s homework. As he was doing it he tried to ignore the heavy coughs coming from Kenny. He had his eyes closed but Butters knew he wasn’t going to get to sleep with that cough. Maybe he should bring him some cough medicine?
“Are you ok, Kenny?” He tenderly asked, already knowing what his friend was going to say.
Sitting up, Kenny pulled out a cheap, almost empty, carton of cigarettes from his pocket. He lit one up and inhaled deeply before answering, “I’m fine.” Knowing it bothered Kenny when he asked that, Butters hesitantly kept his mouth closed to prevent from saying something that would upset his friend further. “Are you still doing that other guy’s homework?” Kenny suddenly asked, surprising Butters.
“Y-yes, umm, yes. It’s easy though, so I-I don’t wor-, um, I don’t mind.” Butters stuttered his excuse, trying to convince his friend all while poorly hiding his embarrassment of Kenny calling him out like that. If only he knew what type of person Eric was, then he would understand. Often, he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be as strong and confident as Kenny. Even while dead, Kenny could put anyone in their place just by looking at them. He was certainly glad Kenny was on his side.
Kenny expression didn’t show any indifference as he peaked over Butters’ shoulder while smoking his cigarette. By the time he had all his work done and finished eating his snack, Kenny had smoked two more cigarettes before laying back down on the tombstone with his eyes closed. He hadn’t heard any coughing for a while, so he must have finally fallen asleep. Quietly, Butters stuffed his homework in his backpack and pulled out his script to begin studying it. He would look over all the lines before and after his one line, so he knew exactly when to come and what motivation his character should have.
“Is that the script for your play?” Kenny apathetically voice suddenly came from out of the dead silence.
Not expecting this, Butters let out a profound yelp nearly throwing the script from his hands. “Kenny! Oh, you’re awake. I thought you were takin’ a nap.” Butters exclaimed with relief.
“Sleep does me no good.” He replied in a low depressed voice as he slid off the headstone and sat next to Butters. Realizing this was one of the few things Kenny seemed to take interest in, Butters showed him the script with his one line highlighted.
Taking it from Butters hands, Kenny kept his finger where Butters had marked his line before flipping through the rest of the book. “Yeah, I pretty much have my part memorized. You wanna hear?” He asked proudly, his eyes and smiled large and shimmering.
Not giving him a chance to answer, Butters quickly stood up and got into character. “Ok, read me in!”
Kenny gave him a serious deadpan look before turning to the page his finger marked. With that, Kenny read the line before his own with hardly any personality behind his voice. “I understand your concerns, but there are two sides to every story, this being no exception.”
“I agree with the princess” Butters spoke his line without hesitation or a single stutter. It was the first time he had delivered his line in front of an audience and he couldn’t have been more pleased with himself.
That was until Kenny looked from the script back to him and asked, “That’s it?
“That’s it” Butters repeated but not quite as rudely as Kenny had stated. “I’m one of the only peasants who have a line, though, it would be nice to have more.” He tried to make his words sound less greedy, but no matter how he said it his true feeling would sink through.
Suddenly, he thought of something. He only hoped Kenny would agree to assist. Sitting on his knees, Butters smiled sweetly in front of his friend. “You know, Kenny, you made a pretty good princess.” Though his face stayed expressionless, his dead friend raised an eyebrow that read how strange his statement was. Realizing how odd his comment must have sounded, Butters blushed while now looking at the ground in embarrassment as he continued. “I-I just meant, you read the lines well, and well, if you’d like we, umm, could keep going?”
Kenny blinked once, giving him a long pause as though he was thinking of his answer. “You have no more lines” Kenny explained flatly as he handed the script back over to him.
Butters smiled dropped, but only for a second, before reemerging. “Bu-but there are, um, are other parts I can play too. You see here? The Paladin and The Princess have the most lines together.” He stated as he showed the script where it was pages with dialogue between the two of them.
When Kenny didn’t agree or disagree, Butters flipped to a random part of the play where there was the most dialogue. He gave the full script to Kenny since he already knew the dialogue. “Ok, so in this scene the loyal Paladin had just delivered the message from the Princess to the other towns. Aaaand, Action!”
Kenny let out a scoff, or could have been a cough, as he began reading script with Butters. “Paladin, you have returned. I presume you have delivered the word as requested.” Once again, there was no expression given in his lines.
Butters, getting into his character, bent a knee in front of Princess Kenny and bowed his head. “Rest assured, Princess. In mere hours your message will have reached the ears of every townsfolk in all the lands.”
“I am truly…grateful for your loyalty to-to the kingdom...” At the end of Kenny’s line, the script directed him to bow, however, Butters knew better not to wait and continued with the show.
“Please raise your head, Princess. I, a mere loyal Paladin, live only by your word.” Butters kept his knelt pose as he waited for Kenny to say his line. But when it never came, Butters looked up in horror. Kenny’s head was dropped down on the tombstone while his legs shook and struggled to support his weight. “Kenny!” Butter cried in panic as he rushed over to his friend.
Helping him to the ground, Butters could feel his skin was like ice. His body severely shivered in his hands, trying to warm itself up. However, with as skinny as Kenny was it wouldn’t be enough to warm him up on his own. He had to get Kenny inside and warmed up soon. But then he remembered the promise he made earlier.
“Kenny are you heading towards the great beyond? If so, say yes or no” He asked for his friend to confirm who still has not regained consciousness. Unsure of what he should be doing, Butters sat down next to Kenny’s unresponsive frozen body with his knees pulled close to his chest as he ran a finger into snow. About twenty minutes passed and still no movement from Kenny. His chest rose and descended, indicating he was still breathing, but his lips were now a bluish-purple tint, and what little color there was in the beginning was lost from his face.
Fighting back his tears, Butters decided time to give his friend a proper goodbye before it was too late. “Kenny, I…I just wanted to thank you and say that I’ve really enjoyed the time we spent together. I’ve never met anyone else you, and well, I’m happy that I got to know you...a-and I know you’re happy so that makes me happy.” Never being good at goodbyes, Butters cease speaking for a moment before crawling over to Kenny, lowering his face next to him. “Goodbye, Kenny…I’ll never forget you.” He sincerely said as he gave the cold corpse a tender kiss on the cheek. The kiss lasted longer than it should have but Butters didn’t seem to mind.
Eventually, Butters did pull away, looking down at his friend, thinking about all the good times they shared together. It was then he carefully dug through and pulled out the nearly empty package of cigarettes and lighter from Kenny’s coat pocket. In his final tribute to his best friend, Butters lit the last cigarette and watched in silence until it burnt to the filter. The whole time, Butters debated on what to do with Kenny’s body. He wouldn’t feel right leaving Kenny here, and his parents would ground him for life if he brought his dead friend home. Making up his mind, Butters lifted Kenny’s light but lanky body on his back, carrying him to his home. He hoped Kenny’s parents wouldn’t be too heartbroken.
Once he arrived at Kenny’s home, he used his foot to knock on the door since his hands were occupied keeping Kenny on his back. After some time, an older man in a ball cap with an open beer in hand answered the door. Biting his lip, not sure what to say, Butters swallowed hard before opening his trembling mouth, though the words took some time to leave. “Um, Mr. Kenny’s dad, umm, I’m sorry to say I have some bad news, but Kenny, he…he’s…”
Butters couldn’t get the last part out as his eyes burned with tears. It was too hard to say out loud and though he had already said his goodbyes, he was not ready to accept the harsh reality. The man took a drink of his beverage, wiping his chin with his sleeve. “Yeah, I see him, he’s right there. Just take his to his room, he’ll be fine.”
His slurred words both confused and bothered the young blond. Without another word, Butters entered the musky smoke-filled home of Kenny. It was as dirty as the last time he was here. Trying to breath in the putrid smells as little as possible, he headed in the direct of Kenny’s room. If he remembered correctly, his room should be right down this hallway.
As luck would have it, Kenny’s mother was putting away towels in the hall closet the same time he turned the corner. She turned her head and their eyes met. At first her eyes widen in apparent shock, but soon transformed into anger. She slammed the closet door that was half off its hinges and stomped over, angrily approaching them. Butters knees were close to buckling from the fear and the added dead weight of his friend.
“Dammit Kenny, not again! How many times are we going to have to go through this? And look, you even got your little friend involved.” Her tone was loud and stern, the opposite of his own mother which made it even scarier. Even in the menace of being scolded by his parent, Kenny didn’t respond. She let out an exasperated sigh. “Well, let’s get him into bed.” She instructed. Being told what to do allowed Butters once paralyze legs to move again.
In Kenny’s room, his mother and he helped put her son into bed. Butters took off his shoes while his mother removed his wet jacket. Once in bed, his mother left to find another blanket. As he waited for his mother to return, Butters fluffed his pillow and smoothed out his blanket, making sure he was comfortable. It was then, he softly brushed the loose strands of blond hair from Kenny’s face. Seeing more of his pale face, Butters suddenly bent down, giving another sweet kiss to his friend’s cheek.
Kenny’s skin was clammy and cold, but he wanted to believe he saw some natural colors coming back into his face and lips. Using his thumb, he ran it over his cheek where he kissed him then over his bluish chapped lips. Feeling his own cheeks heat up, Butters licked his dry lips, wondering what he was doing.
He was thankful when Kenny’s mom returned. He instantly withdrew his finger from his face and all the abnormal thoughts disappeared. “We’ll let him rest for now. You should be getting him too.” She stated as she entered the room tucked her dead son in with a worn blanket.
Butters’ face dropped. “Ca-can’t I stay here a little longer with him?” Butters asked desperately wanting to stay by his side until the end even though it was already past his curfew and surely his parents were waiting to ground him.
“No, he needs to get some sleep. You two can play tomorrow when he’s feeling better.” She said in a raspy voice before leaving the room. Her words made Butters heart hurt more. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that there was a chance her son was going to wake up. Not wanting to argue, Butters nodded sadly as he gave one last look at Kenny before slowly dragging himself out of their house with his friend’s welfare being the only thing on his mind.