The Elementals

~12~

// above is a reference as to what Tweek and Craig look like now-

"I bet you can guess" POV:

Craig's eyes shifted back and forth between the two pieces of jewelry laid in front of him.
One was a silver band with three small diamonds imbedded into it, while the other was a regular golden band that was a lot shinier than the silver.
He took the obvious route and chose the silver band. After paying for it, he began the drive back to the small house him and Tweek shared.

Craig had grown tired of certain things him and Tweek both said. "If we ever get married" and "If we ever have kids"...
It was always "if" and never "when".
Craig was about to change that soon. He'd chosen the silver band to be Tweek's wedding ring.
That's right, Craig was gonna finally propose to Tweek.

After what? 10 or 12 years? About time.

As he drove home, he thought about every possibility, and he also tried to think of the best way to go about this. He couldn't just propose to Tweek as soon as he got home. He needed the right place and the right timing, or else he could risk scaring Tweek.
Tweek was always easy to scare.

Suddenly, a familiar sound rung out. His ringtone. He was getting a call.
He was getting a call from his husband, Tweek.

Husband... oh how Craig wanted to call Tweek his husband. He couldn't though, not just yet.

"Hello?" Craig said. That's always what he says when he gets a call, no matter who it is.

"Hey honey!" Tweek greeted, sounding quite happy. However, Craig hear an odd second emotion... disappointment?
Sadness? Worry? Worry. It was worry.

It was Sunday today, which meant they weren't at work. They claimed to be a "religious company" but really they couldn't give two sloppy shits about church. They just wanted extra breaks. But they had to work extra hard to make up for it.

"Where are you? Are you still at the grocery store?" Tweek asked, a bit of concern lacing his voice. Craig's excuse to get out of the house was grocery shopping. It wasn't entirely a lie, they did need more snacks.
He'd been using the grocery store excuse for a while now.

"Yep, on my way home now. I'll be there soon." He smiled to himself while glancing into his backseat, where absolutely zero groceries laid. Oops.

Tweek took in a breath, most likely about to say something, but instead he just went silent for a second. He then spoke, "Hold on, I-I'll call you back, I'm getting a call." He sounded a bit... scared? It was hard to tell.
"Alright, I love you! See you when I get home." Craig told him.
"I love you too!" Tweek shouted before hanging up.

Craig hoped it wasn't anything bad.
Tweek had really improved Craig's life. He'd always been there for him, and vice-versa. Tweek motivated Craig into actually caring about schoolwork, and Craig comforted Tweek when he was feeling overly anxious. The two got along well, and always managed to get through their problems.
So why was Craig so nervous to propose?

Once he arrived at their home, he immediately went inside to greet his beautiful boyfriend. Instead, he was met with a familiar ball of spastic energy running around the house gathering things and twitching violently.
"Tweek-" Craig reached out and touched Tweek's arm, which caused the poor boy to jump back. He was shaking and he looked like hell. In his arms were a few pieces of clothing wadded up into a ball and two pairs of shoes.
"GAH! CRAIG, I HAVE NO TIME TO EXPLAIN. WE HAVE TO GO. GET YOUR THINGS." Tweek demanded in a fearful way before running to a different room.

Now, Craig was a rational man. And in any other case, Craig would stop the person yelling and ask "why? Why the fuck should I do that? You look insane, I don't think I should trust you in this state."
But this was his boyfriend, almost his husband. He'd been with this man for years. He trusted him, no matter what. And sure, Tweek used to spaz out all the time about nothing, but he'd become more calm over the last few years. He wouldn't freak out over minor things as much as he used to. So this told Craig that it had to be something important.

Craig went to their bedroom and grabbed a suitcase out of the closet, along with some clothes. He then started packing in his essentials, like his toothbrush, his hairbrush (have you seen his hair? that hairbrush is definitely needed-), and an extra pair of shoes. Craig made sure to pack lightly. He didn't know what anything was going to be like wherever they were going, but he figured he could tough it out. He packed mainly short sleeve shirts, as it was still a bit warm outside. He wasn't worried though. If he was cold, he'd wear two shirts. If he was hot, he'd wear no shirt. Simple as that. (Why did I go into detail about Craig's packing choices?)

He walked back to the front door area, where he saw Tweek loading stuff into his car. Craig carried his suitcase down their front steps and over to Tweek, where the spaz grabbed his bag and put in in the back with the others. Tweek then went to get in the driver's side, but Craig stopped him.
"I'll drive honey, you really don't look like you're capable of driving right now." He said plainly as he gently pushed Tweek aside.

"But you don't even know where we're going! Agh!" Tweek shouted as he tried, and failed, to shove Craig out of his path to the drivers side.
Craig put his hand on Tweek's shoulder. "That's why you're gonna tell me. And maybe explain why you're freaking out while you're at it." Tweek huffed in response and rushed to the passenger side.

As Tweek struggled to buckle himself in, Craig finally asked, "So where are we going?" And Tweek, still panicking, yelled "South Park! Go!"

South Park? Why would Tweek need to go to South Park?

And then it hit him. Something must really be wrong.
Why did it take him so long to realize it?

Next thing you know, they were flying down the road leading up to the accursed town they'd left long ago.
Craig tried to keep his eyes on the road instead of looking at the passing signs and familiar buildings, and Tweek was clawing at his seat from fear and over all anxiety.
They saw the town come closer into view.

And it was a shit show.

They could see the destruction before they even reached the town limits. Through the pale dusty smoke that surrounded the town, they could see an inferno that was spreading for miles (which is very odd considering the area surrounding the town is entirely snow), and buildings were knocked to the ground, creating rubble that blocked the road's entrance inside the town limits.
Seeing all the chaos around them, Craig suddenly panicked. He, like his almost-fiancé, started to feel quite anxious, a feeling that was brand new to him. He felt like maybe he should say something before it was too late, but before he could, Tweek told him, "Stop here."

They both exited the now parked vehicle, Tweek grabbed Craig's hand and dragged him into town.

The somewhat gloomy madness around them made an anxious feeling grow in the two as they silently walked into town.
Tweek was basically vibrating with fear.
Many things were swirling in his mind, including a fear that a certain someone could be doing... things... when he leaves to "go to the store".
But more importantly, he feared not living long enough to see if his fears were right.

He was nearly certain he would die.

Craig squeezed Tweek's hand. "Tweek, before we go, I have to say something. I haven't really been going to the store, I've been-"

"WELCOME ELEMENTAL MORTALS, AND PREPARE TO PERISH."

In just a fraction of a second, a beam of fire was shot at the two. They had no time to react. But luckily someone, a plantmancer friend of our favorite gays, did have time.

But he was too late, for one of them at least.