Work Text:
‘Daaaaadddyyyyy!’ the tiny voice of his daughter Ariel preceded her into the house, followed closely by her twin brother Benny. Butters smiled at the earnestly pleading expression already on her face and knew he was in for quite the conversation once she made her request known.
‘What’s up pumpkins?’ he asked, drying the last plate and putting it away before turning to his children with a smile.
‘The other kids are all playing knights and dragons and we don’t have anything to make good costumes with!’ Ariel said, clearly gearing up to lay into the waterworks if Butters was less than cooperative. He smiled wondering just where she’d gotten that – certainly not from either of her parents.
‘Well that’s lucky, because I have just the thing,’ Butters led the kids out to the garage and pulled down a box from one of the top shelves labelled costumes. ‘Your dad and I used to wear these when we were playing a really great game called the Stick of Truth. I think they should fit you and they’ll help you blend in to the world of knights and dragons your friends are dreaming up.’
Butters opened the box, revealing the mess of fabric and toys – mostly toy weapons – from his own childhood. He felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him at the sight of the familiar toys, remembering all the games as if it were yesterday. He rummaged around in the box, pulling out his old paladin costume and shaking it out. ‘Here’s one of them: Paladin Butters, that was me.’
‘Oooh, cool!’ Ariel bounced excitedly, reaching out to take it so her father’s hands were free to reach back in and rummage around in the box for the other costume. ‘Benny, you wanna be the paladin or should I?’
‘What was dad’s costume?’ Benny asked, watching Butters as he rummaged.
‘Aha! Here we go!’ Butters pulled out the familiar dress, bow, and heart themed quiver. ‘Princess Kenny’s dress.’
‘Dad was a princess?’ Benny snorted. ‘Why?’
‘He just wanted to be,’ Butters shrugged, handing over the dress, smirking when Ariel wasted no time in pulling it on. ‘I think he liked knowing it made your Aunt Karen smile; she always wanted a sister. Plus he kept using it as an excuse to try and kiss me.’
‘Did it work?’ Ariel wondered, affixing the quiver and examining the bow closely, tiny fingers running along the heart engravings Kenny had done by hand.
‘By the end of the game he used a charm spell on me alright,’ Butters laughed, remembering their first kiss as if it were yesterday. Kenny was walking with Butters on their way home and being uncharacteristically silent before asking if a paladin would ever have any interest in a boring princess like him. Butters really hadn’t understood what he’d meant until all of a sudden Kenny’s hood was pulled down and their lips were touching and the whole world ground to a stop around them. When Kenny pulled away to ask if he understood, Butters followed, pressing their lips back together to see if that earth-stopping feeling remained. It did. And it hadn’t left since. ‘I don’t think the spell’s worn off even now.’
‘Aww, that’s super sweet and romantic,’ Ariel squealed, rummaging around in the box and finding a crown with a triumphant noise. ‘Totally a dad thing to do.’
‘You sure got that right,’ Butters laughed, helping Benny straighten the cape on his new paladin costume. ‘There we go. You both look great.’
‘Thanks daddy,’ Ariel hugged her father. ‘Now we can go play with the others again!’
‘Have fun kids,’ Butters chuckled, watching them run off. ‘Be home in time for supper, your dad’s bringing home some KFC.’
‘Okay! Love you!’ Ariel dragged her brother off down the street towards where Butters could see the beginnings of a cardboard turret peeking over one of the kids’ houses.
Butters felt another wave of nostalgia wash over him again as he watched the kids go off to their adventure. He missed it sometimes, running around with all his friends, fighting dragons, not having to care about anything in the real world for hours on end. He missed the innocence, the wonder, the absolute perfection of figuring out how amazing it felt to hold Kenny’s hand, to kiss him in the dark shadows of the trees, secretly, away from the other boys. He remembered the fleeting embarrassment of being caught by Tweek and Craig, who appeared to be venturing over into the trees for the exact same reason. He smiled. He missed them. He’d need to call up Tweek and see if he and Craig wanted to come over for dinner one day and catch up. He figured Kenny might like that too.
‘What’s with the dreamy face babe?’ Kenny walked into the garage, jarring Butters out of his nostalgia.
‘I didn’t hear the car,’ Butters shook himself and walked into Kenny’s waiting arms, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. ‘You’re home early!’
‘Yeah, I finished up the server build and Craig said to head home since he’s only got the programming left to do,’ Kenny shrugged. ‘He said Tweek asked about you.’
‘I was just thinking about them,’ Butters smiled. ‘We should have them over for dinner sometime soon. Whaddya think?’
‘You always have perfect ideas,’ Kenny kissed his hair. ‘So what’re the kids up to? Do I see a castle going up in the Stoley yard?’
‘Yeah, the kids came crying about costumes so we’ve finally found a use for our old stuff from Eric’s Stick of Truth game. Ari really likes your dress, sweetheart,’ Butters laughed. ‘She asked me why you were a princess, so I think you’re going to have to tell us all the story at dinner.’
‘You know why,’ Kenny laughed. ‘First, it made Karen really happy to have a sister for a week or so. And second, it finally helped me get you to kiss me. And the rest, like all those dumb Cartman games, is history.’
‘You really meant that? I thought you were joking when you told me you only dressed up as a princess to find a prince,’ Butters looked up at his husband in surprise. ‘I liked you for you, Kenny, not the dress. I would’ve kissed a thief Kenny, or a knight Kenny, or a barbarian Kenny.’
‘Aw, so you’re saying you’re not interested if I said I picked up a little costume set for us to use while the kids are out playing?’ Kenny winked down at Butters, who blushed deep red.
‘I never said that.’
Kenny grinned and took his husband’s hand. ‘Then let’s go, babe. I want you to come storm my castle like you stormed my heart.’
‘You should’ve been a thief instead of a princess, Kenny,’ Butters smiled, allowing Kenny to lead him into the house and up to their bedroom. ‘Because you stole my heart.’
Kenny laughed and held up the nondescript bag Butters knew was from the adult store in town. ‘Thief Princess Kenny, reporting for duty.’