Work Text:
Craig Tucker is attempting to have a peaceful lunch when Tweek Tweak slams his thermos full of coffee down on the table. The addition of his presence completes his small group of friends. Tolkien jumps at Tweek’s abrupt intro, while Clyde and Jimmy are used to his antics.
Craig looks over at his jumpy, blond friend and sees Tweek’s familiar gleam in his eye. That gleam tells Craig that he will have to listen to another one of Tweek’s theories or conspiracies. Not that he minds. Tweek is always fun to listen to.
Craig sighs and resigns himself to a not-so-quiet lunch. He turns his body towards Tweek and waits for him to speak, knowing full well that he won’t have to wait long.
“There are aliens in South Park,” Tweek says with more confidence in his words than Craig had ever heard.
“How’d you find that out? Did they probe you?” Craig teases.
“They didn’t have to! NGH You can see their UFO in the sky at night, Craig!” Tweek yells. Tweek yells everything he says, even when he’s whispering.
“If you know it’s a spaceship, then it’s no longer an unidentified flying object,” Clyde adds.
“Not funny, Clyde!” Tweek says.
“It’s kind of funny,” Clyde says.
“You won’t think it’s funny when they probe you!” Tweek says, grabbing a fistful of his hair.
“Can we stop talking about probing?” Tolkien asks.
“I’m sure you’re just imagining things, Tweek. I have a telescope. Come over tonight. I’ll prove to you that there aren’t any aliens in South Park or the sky or anywhere else except on planets far away,” Craig says.
“So you do believe in aliens?” Tolkien asks.
“Of course I do. The universe is infinite, and the universe is fucked if the most intelligent lifeform out there is human beings,” Craig says.
“Always the opt-optimist, Craig,” Jimmy says.
“Anyway, what do you say, Tweek?” Craig asks.
“All this is going to do is prove to you that there are aliens in South Park,” Tweek says firmly. “Yes, I will come over.”
And just like that, it’s decided. This is by no means the first time Craig has had Tweek over, but it’s still a special occasion. Craig has never let any of his friends use his telescope. He spent a long time saving up his money for a good one, and he never let anybody touch it.
Craig isn’t sure why he’s trusting Tweek with his most prized possession considering how jittery he is. Craig just knows that this will help Tweek, and that’s all the motivation he really needs.
It’s just barely dark when Tweek shows up at Craig’s house. Craig opens the door for Tweek. The latter enters, but he doesn’t bother taking off his shoes.
“Here’s a cupcake,” Tweek says, handing Craig a chocolate cupcake with messed-up frosting. “They’re leftover from today. If they don’t sell NGH we have to throw them away, and I know you like chocolate. Since I was coming over, ACK I thought I’d bring it with me,” Tweek continued to ramble, eyes darting around the room.
Craig takes the cupcake from him, cutting him off from his ramblings. “Thanks,” Craig says. He peels off the wrapper and puts the entire cupcake into his mouth.
“I hate it when you do that. Your mouth unhinges like a snake,” Tweek says shuddering.
“Fuck off,” Craig says, though it’s hardly intelligible with the cupcake in his mouth. Craig flips Tweek off as he throws away the wrapper.
When Craig finishes eating, he sets about what Tweek came here for.
Craig carries his telescope down the stairs to bring it to his backyard. Despite his usual misgivings, Craig allows Tweek to help by carrying the tripod to the telescope. With the light from his back porch, Craig begins reassembling.
Tweek watches as Craig works. The quiet boy bites his lip as he focuses on collimating his telescope. Out of respect, Tweek tries his best to stay quiet and to let him work.
Finally, Craig says, “Alright, Tweek. It’s all set up,” Craig looks out to the night sky. “It’s dark enough to really see the stars. Which ones did you want to look at?” Craig says walking over to the back porch to turn off the light.
Craig continues finishing his preparations in the moonlight. Tweek can’t help but appreciate the way the moonlight softens Craig’s features.
Tweek smiles as he realizes that this invitation was less about proving Tweek wrong and more about sharing his interests with one of his closest friends. Tweek feels warmth in his chest. Craig doesn’t do this with anyone else. Not wanting to let his perfectly rational concern of aliens ruin this, he speaks.
“Which ones are your favorite?” Tweek asks.
The faintest of smiles graces Craig’s lips, and he begins adjusting his telescope. “Well my favorite to look at is Jupiter, but we won’t be able to see it until 5 am. We can see Mars right now, though. I’ll show you.”
“How do you remember all that? Which stars and planets are out at night?” Tweek asks. Craig blushes.
“I googled what would be out tonight before you came over,” Craig says quietly. “Come here,” Craig says gesturing Tweek over.
Tweek blushes slightly as he feels Craig’s hand on his back guiding him to the telescope in the center of his backyard.
Tweek looks through the eyepiece for a moment. He sees a small, brown sphere. “This is Mars?” Tweek asks.
“Yeah,” Craig answers.
“I thought Mars was red. This looks brown,” Tweek says.
“Well, I can’t exactly fit the Hubble in my backyard for you. You’re right, though. Mars looks really brown through a telescope,” Craig says.
The night continues like that. Craig points the telescope in a new direction, Tweek looks at it, and Craig explains what he’s looking at.
Craig was almost finished telling Tweek about the Andromeda Galaxy when Tweek looks up at him. Craig’s words get stuck in his throat when he sees how brightly Tweek’s green eyes were shining.
For a moment, Craig swears he sees the entire universe in Tweek’s eyes.
“It’s beautiful,” Tweek says in a whisper. An actual whisper, too. Craig barely even registered that Tweek has spoken, having never heard him speak this quietly.
“You’re beautiful,” Craig whispers back, color flooding his cheeks.
Before either of them realizes it, they’re kissing. Tweek is holding Craig’s face so delicately, and Craig feels like he’s floating. Craig’s hands make their way around Tweek’s back, and Craig pulls him closer. Shooting stars bounce around inside his chest, and the rest of the world disappears.
For this brief moment, it’s just Tweek and Craig, and they’re kissing, and it’s beautiful.
As they pull apart from each other, Tweek realizes that he’s never felt so solid. Here, wrapped in Craig’s arms, Tweek feels grounded, feels like he’s finally home.
However, as Craig holds Tweek’s gaze, the familiar panic that comes with doing something new overcomes Tweek. He jumps back with a squeak that Craig can’t help but find endearing.
“Aliens!” Tweek yells.
“What?” Craig asks.
Tweek gestures towards the one part of the sky Craig had yet to point his telescope.
“There are aliens, and their ship is over there,” Tweek says. “You can see the blinking lights and everything.”
“They’re probably just satellites. I’ll show you,” Craig goes to adjust the telescope again, and Tweek stands close beside him. Much closer than he had been all night.
After a moment, Tweek sees Craig tense up. “What the fuck?” Craig says to himself.
“What is it?” Tweek exclaims. “Do you see the ship?”
“What the fuck?” Craig says in response. Tweek pulls Craig away from the telescope and looks into the eyepiece himself. Sure enough, there was a spaceship hovering above their town.
“I told you! I told you there were aliens,” Tweek shrieks.
“I fucking hate this town,” Craig says.
“What do we do now, Craig?” Tweek asks. Tweek’s jittery demeanor returned, and Craig shrugged his shoulders at him.
“I refuse to be a part of it,” Craig says simply.
“What? We just ignore it?” Tweek asks.
“Yes. We go to sleep tonight and pretend like we didn’t see anything. With any luck, this is something Stan’s gang will get dragged into, and we’ll be fine,” Craig says simply.
“Go to sleep? Do you really think I can sleep? I can’t sleep by myself! They’ll abduct me! They’ll probe me, Craig!” Tweek says.
Craig, in an unusual display of emotion, pulls Tweek close to him. “Then don’t sleep by yourself,” Craig says gently in Tweek’s ear.
“Huh?”
“Stay with me tonight. I’ll protect you, ok?” says Craig.
And just like that, it’s decided. “Ok,” Tweek says.
Together, they bring the telescope back inside and get ready for bed. Whatever came of the alien presence, the two never found out. The next time they went stargazing together, the spaceship was no longer there. Regardless, Tweek still found himself staying in Craig’s bed.
Wrapped in Craig’s arms, Tweek felt safe in their own little universe.