Chapter Text
He heard the sounds he always did. Kids muttering gossip in the hallways away from the prying ears of teachers, some kids eating breakfast at the very few outside tables, and others laughing haughtily at jokes he couldn't be bothered to try and hear.
However, everything felt different. Weighted down and more tuned out than normal. Perhaps it was just the fact he..changed; puberty had finally hit- he was 15 and finally in High School, and the fact he wasn't exactly..human was showing. Albeit pretty slowly. At the time it had hit like a truck, and he would still take all of his car deaths again if it meant being rid of this. Puberty had also hit his friends obviously- Kyle had developed the normal teenage acne [so had Stan] and had gotten taller, while Cartman had gotten a little shorter but had actually managed to put down a couple pounds over the couple years since 4th grade.
Meanwhile he had to deal with constantly being hungry, weird tendrils, and urges he could never properly place. He sighed and kept walking to his locker, near Stan, Kyle, and Cartmans. As usual, Butters was waiting there; smiling as always, his puffy mop of blonde hair swept over covering the eye injury Kenny had inflicted on him playing ninjas when they were 9.
Butters had greeted him enthusiastically, starting to talk about some kind of literature work he had to complete- he wasn’t particularly listening however, instead just looking at Butters. he had grown a lot since elementary, his hair growing longer and fuller, he grew a couple inches, being around the same height Kenny was- and he lost some of the roundness of his face, his jaw being a little more formed. Kenny had known Butters since preschool; not really finding him interesting or pretty [in a sense of the word] until now. He figured it was just a side-effect of the becoming older thing- finding a friend attractive- considering he had never really hung out with Butters until almost a year ago. When the bell rang, they walked to class, starting their mildly repetitive and boring day.
This day came and went however, Kenny leaving to go home, being stuffed in his
orange parka being more uncomfortable by the minute. He didn’t say goodbye to Butters, feeling slightly bad when he looked downcast. He made it to his old, run down home without dying, entering in without needing to unlock it as the lock on the door had broken off a while ago. Karen wasn’t home from school yet, and Kevin was at his 2nd job. His parents were probably at the bar. He went to his room, shut and locked the door, and took his parka off. The godforsaken purple tendrils fell out of the confines, wriggling around like dying worms; he walked to the partially shattered mirror in his room, [he stole it], and looked in. He saw the tentacles first, they were still wriggling around; he saw his eyes, and they were a slight purplish-black color, changing over time. He had surprisingly gotten a little chubbier, but not by much- probably from how much he was eating.
He was quite tired. It was still a little early, but maybe he could manage to fall asleep.
He sauntered over to his rickety old bed and flopped down onto it; It made a loud
creaking noise, dipping under him slightly on the frame. He heard a ding! Sound emitt from the flip phone in his pocket, but he couldn’t be bothered to check.
But what if it was Butters..?
he didn’t really want to leave Butters of all people on hold. He grabbed the ancient phone from his pocket, flicking it open and checking his texts.
Two messages from: Leo ❤️- ‘hey ken do ya want me to bring u food tomorrow?’ ‘I made extra spaghetti last night and i know u like it :]’
Kenny's chest felt fluttery. He appreciated Butters infinitely- Butters didn't know the reason for his sudden spike in deprivating hunger, and he definitely didn’t need to find out, but he was willing to help feed Kenny anyways. It was one of the many, many things Kenny liked about him- he’s nice, real pretty, charitable, humble- Kenny shook his head; he was spiraling again.
He turned to lay on his stomach, face on the pillow, to sleep. ‘Hopefully I won't suffocate tonight..’ he thought as he drifted off.
He woke up in the morning and got ready as always; although with the added extra bonus of having to stuff tentacles in his already stuffy parka. He probably needed to get rid of the old thing soon, considering it was falling apart and poorly sewn together, but definitely not now. He didn't have breakfast, instead just heading out right away, a vague pull leading him. As he stepped outside into the usual biting cold, his eyes widened in surprise as he saw Butters standing by his beat-up mailbox, eyes focused on a Tupperware container he was holding. He looked as nervous as always.
“Leo-? What are you doing here?” Kenny said while walking up to him. “Oh uh well- I figured I could jus’ bring the spaghetti to ya’- and y’know, walk to school with ya’ too-..” Butters was looking down, pressing down the tip of his shoe into the snow, leaving an indent. “Oh- well, we can walk together. It's no big deal Leo-” Butters handed him the container, and they both got set on the path to school, walking side-by-side, making casual conversation.
Kenny thoroughly enjoyed and cherished any time he had with Butters- they were rarely able to properly hang out as most of the time, Butters was grounded for one stupid reason or another; courtesy of his dad. They had organized a sleepover a month ago or so, and the date was finally here- albeit delayed a couple of times because of Butters being grounded. “You have everythin’ ready Ken? You don't wanna show up at my house and realize ya’ forgot sumthin’.”Butters said, still walking at the same pace Kenny was. “Uh- yeah. I have everythin’ I need. Not like I have much anyways-” Kenny chuckled. They kept conversing, finally reaching school in a short time. “Well- see ya’ at lunch Ken-!” Butters leaned up a bit, hugging Kenny around his neck, hanging off a little. Kenny hugged him back “See you Leo- thanks for the food.” They parted ways, heading to their classes.
Kenny had his head in his arms, listening to his teacher drone on about history. It’s not that he didn’t like it, in fact he liked most subjects, but it was just the teacher made it.. well extremely boring. The other contributing factor was that he had an extremely painful headache- these happened a lot more than he preferred since the whole growing tentacles thing started; it felt like those deaths where his head would be busted open. Kyle and Cartman were quietly arguing about something next to him, while Stan was actually listening to the teacher; although not taking notes.
Kenny looked at the clock hanging above the class door; it was 11:30- about 20 minutes until lunch. He wanted to leave already.
It felt way later than 20 minutes when the bell rang for lunch; Kenny got up from his cramped seat, swaying a little from the headache, and grouped with Kyle, Cartman, and Stan, who were all heading out the door. Kenny pulled out the container holding the spaghetti as soon as he sat down, Kyle saying he would get a plastic fork for him in the line. As he popped open the lid to the Tupperware, Butters, Craig, Tweek, and Clyde sat down with their trays. Besides Butters, they never really sat at their table. Craig spoke up in his usual monotone “some other kids took our table, and Jimmy and Tolkien aren’t here today. Sorry.” He didn’t really sound sorry, but that was pretty normal for Craig.
Craig, Tweek, and Clyde started conversing about some new video game that was coming out, while Butters turned to Kenny, sliding him a plastic fork. “I forgot to get ya’ a fork, so just thought I could get it now-“ “oh- thanks Leo.” He replied, mouth in a grin, ripping open the plastic surrounding the fork, stabbing the food and starting to eat. It was pretty good food.
The others soon enough made it to the table after a long wait at the line, and all was peaceful. For about 6 minutes. Kenny and Butters were talking about the sleepover they had planned that night, and Kenny would admit, he was shifting a lot in the seat. Cartman apparently noticed, and decided to point it out by saying: “Damn Kinny, yew got something shoved in the coat again? Hope it’s not another ugly ass possum.” Kenny tightened the hood of his parka out of embarrassment. He had brought a possum into school when he was around 9 or 10, and stuck it in his parka [for some reason he didn’t even know] to sneak it in, and Cartman didn’t want to let it go.
Through the hood, he mumbled “No. The seats just uncomfortable. I ain’t got nothin’ in my parka fatass.” Cartman immediately shot back “Well, Kinny, you’re being awful suspicious. Yew sure ya’ ain’t got nothin’ in there?” Kyle finally spoke up “Shut up fatass and let us eat in peace. You’re ruining lunch with your squealing.” Stan laughed, and Cartman just looked pissed off.
Thankfully however, lunch was over quickly. Kenny considered it way too close of a call. He had two more classes until he could go to Butters’ house, and the ratty parka was getting uncomfortable again from the tendrils. He had to figure out how to hide them there, because he was not wearing the parka all night. The last time he did that, he died in the middle of the night from either suffocation, or something else. He doubted dying was really much of a problem at Butters’ house, considering his house was pretty safe, but weird things have happened before, and he wasn’t going to take a chance.
Soon, [after Kenny zoned out the whole time,] classes were over. He quickly headed out of the classroom with his bag slung over his shoulder, going to his locker; where, of course, Butters was waiting. “Heya Ken! Ready to head over to my place?” He sounded happy as always, but Kenny liked to think it was because of him coming over. “Yea, just lemme take my stuff outta my locker.” Kenny rummaged through his locker, pulling out a couple of badly torn books, and a pair of tattered clothes, which were hand-me-downs from Kevin. “Okay, let’s go.”
Butters led the way to his house, talking the whole way about what they could do inside, sounding enthusiastic. Kenny always enjoyed just listening to Butters talk. After about 10 or so minutes, they arrived at the familiar house; Butters then opening the door, gesturing for Kenny to go in. When they both stepped foot inside, Butters closed the door a bit too hard, the noise echoing throughout the house, him then muttering a “sorry” after hurriedly stepping forward. “Mom and dad said that they’d stay upstairs in their room or downstairs in the livin’ room the whole time so we can do whatever, but they’d prefer we stay in my room-“ he then added quickly, “Y’know, so we ain’t gettin’ in any trouble.” Kenny just nodded, silently agreeing.
He didn’t actually really mind being stuck with Butters in his room. As long as he was allowed to get food; he just realized how hungry he was- it was gnawing at him all the sudden, and part of him could only think about that.
Butters seemed to be able to tell, considering he quickly disappeared to the kitchen and came back a couple minutes later with an armful of different snacks; He had some fruit gummies, some chips, and something else Kenny couldn’t identify.
They quickly headed up to his room; shutting the door quietly, Butters dumping the array of snacks on the carpeted floor. Kenny realized the food he couldn’t identify earlier was fruit in small containers.
The hours of the sleepover were highly enjoyable; Kenny enjoyed spending time with his blond haired…friend. He couldn’t tell if he was anything more. To him it was more; but to Butters it probably wasn’t. He was naturally just a nice person, willing to help. Kenny honestly didn’t get why he was so nice to people, considering the track record of what kids tended to do to him, but he honestly adored it. It was weird, how a year ago from now, Kenny would barely talk to him. He would barely acknowledge Butters in the hallway, but he faintly remembered Butters trying to talk with him. He wondered why he even tried.
The sleepover mainly consisted of the two eating food [mostly Kenny], watching dumb shows to laugh, and just.. talking. Soon enough however, the clock read 2:36 AM, and they needed to both get sleeping clothes on. The whole day, Kenny had kept his ratty parka on, but had taken the hood off, exposing his face and dirty blond hair. Butters had insisted several times he could just take the parka off, but he had went against it, having to restate several times that it was fine.
He had brought his own clothes instead of potentially having to borrow Butters’ [which he really wouldn’t have minded that much but he’s sure Butters would have], and they were baggy enough to be comfortable but they were tight enough to keep the tendrils in place, so they weren’t seen. Kenny went to the bathroom to change, while Butters stayed in the room; Kenny quickly changed, managing to keep the tentacles in place by lightly wrapping them around his torso.
He exited the bathroom, seeing Butters changing his shirt at the dresser; he didn’t know whether he shouldn’t look or not. He just decided to head to the bed, flopping down while Butters put his pajama shirt on. It was around 2:42 at this point, and honestly, Kenny was a little tired- usually he tried staying up all night during sleepovers, because he didn’t know if he would die or not, but he felt safe here with Butters.
Butters soon was on the bed with him, on the open side of the bed not closed by the wall. Kenny was grateful Butters took that side- Kenny probably would’ve fallen off the bed and split his head open. It’s happened before. Butters reached over beside him and turned his small light off, now just leaving a dull nightlight on that was plugged in near the bathroom door. “Night Ken…” Butters whispered; “G’night Leo..” Kenny replied.
As he drifted off a couple minutes later, he was smiling and thinking, ‘maybe this won't be that bad.’
As morning hit, soft sunlight peeked through the drawn curtains of the bedroom, bathing Kenny’s face with light yellow rays. He slowly blinked his eyes open, narrowing them against the sliver of light blinding them. Butters wasn’t sleeping next to him, so Kenny assumed he was either in the bathroom or the living room. He slowly got up, sitting on the side of the bed and stretching, hearing his back make a faint pop sound; he winced, hoping not thing ended up happening. Spine deaths sucked the most. He had an odd feeling about today, but he brushed it off, considering that was everyday he felt weird. He knew eventually later in the day, something was going to happen, whether he wanted it to or not. Death was inevitable for him.
He sighed heavily, and got up from the bed, it creaking slightly; he went to the bathroom and then headed downstairs, smelling semi-burnt chocolate chips and cooking butter. He went into the kitchen, seeing Butters bent over a pan, tending to something in the pan Kenny assumed was pancakes due to the pancake mix on the counter. Some had spilt out of the box, leaving white powder on the counter.
He decided to clean it up for Butters while he was cooking, because he knew if Steven walked in on this, Butters would be grounded for a while. He took a paper towel, and managed to clean it all off while Butters finished the food. A couple minutes later, after Kenny decided to just sit down at the dining table, Butters brought two plates of pancakes; he set one in front of Kenny and one in front of himself.
“I made ya blueberry cause’ I remember you sayin’ you liked em’ better than chocolate chip- hope you like em’ Ken.” “I'm sure I will Leo..” They ate in peace, Butters parents surprisingly not coming down to the kitchen, although Kenny figured that was more on purpose so they didn't have to interact with him or their son at all. When they were done, Butters washed the dishes while Kenny managed to be able to dry, even though Butters had insisted on doing everything; he put them away in their respective spaces and then got all of his things together, packing them in his backpack. Butters was waiting at the door, knocking his fists together-
Kenny slipped his worn shoes on at the door, Butters holding it open for him. Kenny shielded his eyes against the daylight baring down on him with his hand, and he felt that familiar pit in his stomach that formed whenever the inevitable was going to happen. He sighed, faintly listening to Butters starting to talk about a chemistry assignment that was due in two days; he walked up to the hard asphalt road, covered in some snow although a little was turning into slush, and looked both ways, although he knew it would be useless. Why the hell would road safety apply to him?
He stepped onto the daunting, hard road while Butters looked both ways, gathering himself. he heard a loud engine barreling down the road, definitely over the speed limit, and he faintly heard Butters screech in terror, "KEN-". He felt the truck slam into him at full force, Kenny unfortunately not powerful enough to stop the familiar taste and feel of death. He had died this way countless times before, but it felt exceptionally painful with Butters seeing it. He started seeing the familiar light forming in his vision, faintly seeing death gesturing.
God damn it.