Chapter Text
Craig Tucker had always liked boring, but not THIS boring.
It was only the second day since Tweek and Stan had left on a week long camping trip with some people from their AA group, and, admittedly, Craig had no earthly idea what to do with himself in his husband’s absence. Luckily Kyle was in the same boat.
Well, figuratively speaking, at least. His friend and neighbor was a lot more flexible and receptive to change than Craig was, not to mention the fact that this wasn’t the first time he had been apart from Stan for more than a day. As attached at the hip as both couples were, Craig without Tweek was definitely the more unusual occurrence. It would take some getting used to, but he wouldn’t be lonely, anyway.
He and Kyle often found themselves hanging out on evenings when their husbands were at the meeting hall, and had kind of fallen into a routine over the past couple of months. If Craig thought about it, this week was just a longer version of that.
“Hey, man, you good?” Kyle’s voice broke through his thoughts. “You’re kinda quiet.”
Craig shrugged and took a sip of his beer. “What else is new?”
Kyle rolled his eyes. “I mean more than usual, smart ass. What’s up? You missing the boys?”
“Mmhm.”
“Yeah,” Kyle sighed. “Me too.”
They were at one of their favorite spots to kill a few hours: a local bistro within walking distance from the apartment complex. Craig liked the calm atmosphere of the place, and the local drinks. He and Kyle came by often enough, had what Stan and Tweek referred to as “nerd boy time” where they had deep talks over drinks and bar snacks.
Less than a year ago, when Tweek had first come clean about his drinking and started his sobriety journey, Craig hadn’t been sure of the “rules” that applied to the spouse of an alcoholic. He had never had the same problem himself, or gone through anything similar, but he liked to have a beverage on occasion.
Naturally he had asked Kyle about it, since his friend had more experience with the matter and was generally better at understanding the unspoken social rules that Craig never seemed to pick up on. Now, the two went out every once in a while. They never drank around their husbands, of course, and always made sure they were cool with it, but it was a nice, to indulge every so often while still respecting Stan’s and Tweek’s sobriety.
“You think Tweek’s doing okay?” He asked.
“Craig.” Kyle smiled knowingly at him. “He’s fine, I swear.”
“It’s just… weird. Not being able to see him, or even talk to him.”
“I get that.” And Craig knew that Kyle did. He empathized with people in a way that honestly made him a little jealous.
“We’re all a bunch of codependent bastards, aren’t we?” The redhead was saying with a laugh.
“But Stan’s gonna keep an eye on him, dude. I’m sure they’re both having a great time.”
Still, Tweek camping? Even with Brother Nature himself, Craig’s notoriously anxious husband was completely out of his element. Still, Kyle was probably right. Didn’t make it any less weird, though.
“What’re we gonna do all week, dude? They’ve been gone for less than two days and I’m going crazy.”
Kyle swirled his wine glass thoughtfully.
“That first year Stan went on the retreat, the whole “no service at the campground” thing freaked me out. I almost called the rangers office a couple times before it clicked that if anything happened, they could reach me with the landline. It’s really just a matter of finding something to do without the boys; self care or shit like that, I dunno.”
Yeah, Craig couldn’t really picture the two of them taking a spa day.
“God, I wish it wasn’t summer. Then we would at least have work to distract us.”
He and Kyle both had time off between semesters, since they worked at schools. Maybe next year, Craig would volunteer to teach a summer astronomy course or something.
Kyle suddenly sat up straighter, green eyes bright. “That’s it!”
“What’s it?”
“Work, man!” He grinned. “We need something to work on, a project of some kind!”
Craig furrowed his eyebrows. “You know damn well you’re gonna have to spell it out for me.”
“Okay, okay. I’m saying, what if we took advantage of the guys being away, and put together some kind of surprise!”
Immediately no. “That might work for Stan, but Tweek-“
“I’m not talking about a big party or anything, dude.” Kyle interjected. “C’mon, I know how you guys are. Give me some credit here.”
Craig smiled sheepishly. “Gotcha, yeah.”
Kyle leaned forward. “We could do something nice for them. Just like, a thoughtful, heartfelt gesture of some kind. Any ideas?”
He thought about it for a moment, an idea springing forth. “Actually, yeah. I’ve been wanting to fix up the office, make it into a real art space for Tweek to work.”
Ever since he stopped drinking, Tweek had taken to creating and designing for more than just his job. His husband’s creative streak was back, and Craig loved to see it.
“That’s perfect! We could go to that big art supply warehouse in Denver, really do it right!”
“Wait.” Suddenly that seemed like… a lot. “A road trip? Isn’t that kind of sudden?”
Kyle was quick to propose a plan. “It’s only four hours. Plus, that’s where Kenny and Marj live, and I’ve been meaning to have Ken make a custom guitar strap for Stan for a while anyway. It would be a quick quest, nice and predictable like you like.”
Hmm. Craig did like the idea of getting everything done in one place, and the drive would be more or less a straight shot. He had met Kenny and his wife at Stan and Kyle’s wedding that spring, so it wasn’t like he’d be forced to make small talk with strangers. Plus, knowing Kyle, there would be a detailed trip itinerary; a definite course of action.
“When would we leave?”
Kyle practically radiated with excitement; even Craig could see that. “Day after tomorrow? Early in the morning before traffic hits?”
“Deal. But I’m driving.”