M/n pursed his lips, surveying Tolkien's bedroom with a look devoid of judgment. Occupying himself with the posters decorating the walls while Clyde dropped their overnight bags by the air mattress next to Tolkien's queen sized bed.
It was sometime in the evening, the sun scraping the horizon as dusk fast approached. The looming shadows had given M/n a window of opportunity, sneaking out of the Broflovski residence and into Clyde's car unnoticed. A note taped to the basement door was his only goodbye, a courtesy he gave to very few. He knew there was no good reason to be so evasive, it isn't really 'sneaking,' if Mr and Mrs. Broflovski know where you're going and when you're coming back, but he reckoned old habits die hard.
Clyde had announced their arrival, shouting something through the front door once he nudged it open, but either out of disinterest or inadvertence it fell on deaf ears. No one bothered to shout back, so once Clyde unpacked his phone charger he brought M/n through the house with him as he searched. After two hallways, a study, a grand staircase, the living room, and the dining room, Clyde finally found Tolkien and Jimmy in the kitchen. The marble island was a mess. Covered in packets of brownie mix, drops of batter, and used dishes piled up to make more space. Jimmy managed to avoid most of the mess, eating spoonfuls of leftover batter from the mixing bowl. While Tolkien, on the opposite side of the island, tried dusting off the powder staining the front of his shirt. A fruitless effort, only succeeding in distracting him from Clyde as he jumped on his back.
"Boo, what's with the special treatment?" Clyde scoffed through his nose, it turned into a small laugh as he wrapped his arms around Tolkien's chest and leaned more and more of his full weight onto his back.
Tolkien tried to keep his footing, but eventually slipped and brought Clyde down with him. The "Fatass," that escaped his mouth after collapsing onto the tile floor only encouraged Clyde to laugh louder, taking a second to recuperate before resurfacing from behind the counter. Amongst the commotion M/n stood a few feet from Jimmy. The two made short, knowing, eye contact with each other just as Tolkien jokingly shoved Clyde away from him.
"I'm being hospitable, don't be a dick." Tolken swatted Clyde's hand away from the oven with a hand towel, which earned him a deeply offended look. Rolling his eyes they eventually landed on M/n, and the unamused look on his face quickly changed into something more inviting. "I hope you're enjoying Southpark, absolutely nothing changed while you were gone."
M/n grinned and agreed with a nod of his head. Politely taking the batter covered whisk offered to him by Jimmy, whether or not he actually wanted to eat off it. "Other than Cartman's fa- fat ass somehow getting fa- fa- fatter." Jimmy added, lighting up when M/n let a small laugh escape him.
"Tweek and Craig said they'll be here in a few hours." Tolkien explained, giving up on wiping away the stain on his shirt. "Tricia's open house was today so they took her to meet her teachers."
"Are we waiting on them for anything?" Clyde asked.
"Nope, just to grace us with their presence."
Clyde grabbed a soda from the fridge, humming in thought as he opened it. Popping the small tab off the can and pocketing it. "Do you want to go change while I put on a movie?"
"Go for it, just put it on in my room."
"What about the mess?" M/n pointed out setting the whisk down in the sink behind him. Tolkien blinked at him owlishly, once, then twice, realizing at some point that not responding was worse than responding obnoxiously he shook off his surprise.
"Oh, uh, it's fine. I'll get to it at some point." He shot Clyde a bewildered look, and it only worsened once Clyde shot back two thumbs up. With a small scoff he turned on his heel to get changed.
Clyde shrugged, his lips pursed slightly and his hands held out in a 'what did I do?' motion as he watched him leave. He looked back to M/n and Jimmy for an answer but they were more interested in side eyeing each other. "Whatever, I'm gonna go put on American Pie."
"Please don't." Jimmy laughed, grabbing the crutches leaning against the island beside him. As he pulled himself up to his full height M/n noted he was also pretty tall, further convincing him that someone was putting something in the water up there in the mountains.
He silently followed the two upstairs and back into Tolkien's room, listening to them argue over what movie to put on. It lasted a good ten minutes and at some point Tolkien emerged from the hallway, inviting M/n onto his bed with him. Peering over at them as they bickered endlessly.
"Okay, shut up." Tolkien finally snapped. "Let M/n pick."
Jimmy was content, and Clyde shamefully tossed M/n the remote from his spot on the air mattress. He pouted like a wet dog for a millisecond before he heard the unmistakable thwacking noise of a remote hitting a hard surface.
"Ow."
"Why would you hit him?"
Clyde whipped around to look at Tolkien, M/n rubbing his injured knee absentmindedly while flipping through streaming services. "Shit— I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
M/n waved him off, clearly unbothered.
"No, M/n milk that shit." Tolkien demanded, playfully but there was a hint of seriousness in his voice.
With a sigh and a roll of his eyes M/n decided to play along. He clicked a few buttons, playing the first episode of some show he didn't recognize immediately. Dropping the remote he fell dramatically to the side, draping himself over Tolkien's bed limply.
"You killed him."
"Wo- wow those acting skills are top- top- top notch."
No noise escaped M/n, instead his chest bounced as he chuckled through his nose.
"Oh no, my insurance won't cover this." Clyde replied sarcastically. "How will I ever atone?"
"Robux." M/n's still limp body replied.
Clyde smiled, making a spectacle out of thinking about it. "Robux is a new one, usually people ask me for free shoes." He watched M/n prop himself up with his elbows and and grin at him, assuming that that was the end of it till Clyde started again. "Fine, you've convinced me. I'll buy you robux."
"You're so generous." Tolkien scoffed, but M/n seemed content as he sat back up.
"I try."
Jimmy quickly shook his head 'no', just out of Clyde's peripheral which made the other two laugh. A noise from the tv caught their attention and Jimmy immediately tuned into the show, lowering himself onto the couch in the middle of the room.
"Did you pu- pu- put on '90 Day Fiancé,'?"
M/n shrugged blankly and just like that they were hooked for the next hour and a half.
They were only interrupted once when Tolkien's brownie timer went off, and to M/n's amusement he took the remote with him to the kitchen after Clyde threatened to unpause it before he got back. Reality television was unsurprisingly addictive, like watching a train wreck, and at some point M/n managed to tear his eyes away long enough to check the time. Eight, or eight-ish. Late enough to justify changing into something more comfortable. He slipped out, bag in hand, without pausing the show or saying anything. He was more focused on the texts he received a few minutes ago from Stan.
'Kyle says ur at Tolkien's,' 'Txt me if they suck, I can come get you :)'
M/n smiled, replying quickly once he found the bathroom. 'Worried?'
'You might get bored,'
Once he washed his face and slipped into his pajamas he typed up a reply, his thumb hovering over the send button longer than he would've liked. He debated it before ultimately hitting send and to his surprise Stan responded almost immediately.
'Sounds like you miss me.'
'Maybe I do ;)'
M/n scoffed, replying with a short 'You'll live.' before slipping his phone into his pocket and his bag over his shoulder. He pulled the door open a bit abruptly and jumped back when someone on the other side screamed.
"Ack, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have screamed!"
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine! Are you?!"
M/n nodded and they slowly calmed down. Tweeks hands came up to tug at his blond hair until Craig intertwined his fingers with his own, unfazed by the slight overreaction and looking between the two with nothing but disinterest. In his other hand he was holding a pretty large chunk of brownie that had already been bitten into.
Tolkien partially leaned out of his bedroom doorway to peer down the hall at the three. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah, they're fine" Craig answered for them once he swallowed the bite of brownie in his mouth. Guiding Tweek by the hand into the bedroom where they dropped their bags. M/n followed closely behind, quietly taking back his seat on Tolkien's bed, and watched Tolkien as he pulled out a sandwich bag from the drawer of his nightstand and tossed it to Craig. He nodded blankly, the closest to a thank you he'd ever give before slipping it into the pocket of his jacket.
"Wanna smoke, now that you're here?" Clyde asked and Craig shrugged.
He looked towards Tweek, silently asking for permission and the blonde immediately nodded. "Sure, Tolkien?"
"As long as I'm not rolling." He got up from his bed and stretched, grabbing a jacket from the small pile of clothes on the desk chair by his bed before turning to M/n as he put it on. "We're going down to the creek, it's in the woods by my backyard. Do you wanna come?"
M/n thought about it for just a second before softly shaking his head 'no,' a small apologetic smile on his face.
"Alright, just text me if you need anything." He lazily waved the room goodbye and the three filed out of the room right after each other. Leaving M/n, Tweek, and Jimmy to converse amongst themselves.
Jimmy was still enthralled in the dumpster fire that was TLC's most ambitious show and Tweek began rummaging through his bag. Setting aside quite a few things before finally pulling out a small cream colored envelope, yellow star stickers decorated it in a trickling pattern from one corner to the other. He quickly got up and handed it to M/n, jostling Jimmy as he stepped onto the air mattress.
"Here! It was Craig's idea."
M/n smiled politely at him and used his nails to open the top of the envelope, careful not to rip any of the stars that might've overlapped the lip. Inside was a small card, the "Happy Birthday," on the front in big lettering was obscured by a sticky note with "Welcome Back," hastily written on it. Inside was a gift card for Tweek Bros. Coffeehouse.
"It has thirty dollars on it. Sorry if you hate coffee! I probably should've thought about that, if you hate it I can-"
M/n interrupted his rambling with a small wave to get his attention. Bringing a flat palm up to his chin and then down in a consistent motion, signing 'thank you,' in Tweek's direction. That eased his racing thoughts in a way and his face, which was usually scrunched up in frustration, finally relaxed.
"We're glad you're back, Both of us, even if Craig doesn't act like it."
M/n snorted quietly which made Tweek laugh. He left M/n alone on the bed after that, opting instead to occupy the air mattress by Jimmy since he was worried about invading M/n's space.
Once again enthralled by the show, none of them heard the footsteps approaching Tolkien's bedroom twenty minutes later. A light knock on the door had finally caught their attention and they all turned to see Mrs. Black poke her head in.
"Hi boys." She smiled sweetly towards the three. "Where'd Tolkien run off to?"
"He went out to get sna- sna- sna... He just went out to get sna- sna- snacks." Jimmy lied.
"What were the brownies for then?" She joked, opening the door a bit more now that she had kicked off a small conversation.
"M/n and C- Craig, I think."
"Oh that's right," the corners of her lips turned down in a slightly exaggerated frown. "Laura told me about his braces. I hope he's feeling alright."
"He's fine, he's always grouchy after an appointment." Tweek finally chipped in.
"Alright, well we're going to bed. Could one of you tell Tolkien to clean the kitchen before you guys leave tomorrow?"
"Yeah, no pr- problem."
She turned to leave before ultimately stopping herself and turning back around to look at M/n in particular "Hey, M/n," she spoke softly and it did little to soothe him as he instantly stilled. "If you need anything you can always come to us, okay?" He nodded stiffly. It was a rather straightforward comment but as his knuckles turned white from how hard he gripped the blanket in his hands it was obvious that it had some weight to it. She left quickly after, neglecting to shut the door like parents often do, not wanting to overstay her welcome.
The other two stayed silent, ignoring the little interaction as best they could, while the obnoxiously dramatic music from the TV filled the room. Giving M/n something to listen to as he silently decompressed. He sat there biting the inside of his cheek until the door creaked open and the three absent teens reentered. Red-eyed and bushy tailed, they hung off of eachother, reeking of febreeze. Clyde's hushed giggling was cut off with an elbow to his side, a result of Craig reading the room.
"We miss anything?" Craig asked and Tweek quickly shook his head, bouncing a little when he fell next to him on the air mattress.
"Not really! Just Tolkien's mom."
"Oh shit, what did she say?" Tolkien asked.
"You need to do the dishes."
"Ugh," He tossed his jacket and plopped down onto his bed. "Tomorrow."
No one had a problem with that, Craig even sarcastically replied with a quiet, "Sounds great, dude," which earned him a pillow to the face. He gratefully put it under his head, passing out once Tweek began running his fingers through his hair.
In the next hour and a half they all started to drift off. Tolkien, after turning the lights off, offered to share his bed with M/n who accepted with a small smile and a nod. Tolkien noticed how tense his shoulders were, and how uncomfortable he seemed, but against his better judgment he decided to let it be. He passed out soon after, and in an attempt to distract himself M/n listened to the others shuffle around until they all fell asleep too. The waiting game he played against himself eventually became unbearable, the blankets felt like they were suffocating him and he had to admit defeat. He wasn't tired.
Sitting up he surveyed the floor beneath the bed, realizing the air mattress was pushed so far against his side of the bed that there wasn't a spot to step down without ruining the weight distribution and waking everyone on it. He quietly crawled to the end of the bed, stepping down over the footboard and out of the room as silently as possible. Retracing his steps till he inevitably made his way back to the kitchen. He got to work immediately, anything to preoccupy himself until he's finally exhausted enough to sleep. It was a relatively mindless task, hand washing, towel drying, and stacking them on the counters he had first wiped down.
Footsteps had caught his attention when he turned the sink off, and by the pattern he quickly realized it was Jimmy. His head poked through the entryway after a minute or two, smiling brightly towards M/n once he found him. "I th- thought you might've take- take- taken the couch."
M/n shook his head no, scrubbing the sink as Jimmy took back the same seat from earlier. After rinsing the sponge and setting it down on the rim of the sink he sighed, thinking for a second. "I couldn't fall asleep." He spoke barely above a whisper, drying his hands off with a decorative towel hanging off the oven.
"I'm sure, we used to-, we used to ma- make Cly- Cly- Clyde sleep in the garage and we could still hear him snoring."
M/n laughed a little through his nose, leaning towards Jimmy from the opposite side of the counter. "I missed you."
Jimmy hadn't expected that, flushing slightly as he blue screened. "Re- really?"
M/n nodded back enthusiastically. "Speech therapy was boring without you."
"Really?"
Another nod.
"Do you st- do you still go?"
And another, although it was less enthusiastic. He grinned still, watching Jimmy turn just a little more pink.
It took a second for him to realize just how flattered that made him, and it made his chest feel light. "That's ama- ama- amazi-, That's great! You're do- doing great!"
It was M/n's turn to become flustered, his nose scrunching up for a second as his grin widened just a bit. "Maybe you're just easy to talk to."
Jimmy laughed, it was short but loud and it surprised them both. "Ok- okay," he chuckled quietly, bringing a hand up to cover his face and it was then when he noticed how hot his face had gotten.
"Sorry, too much?"
"N- no," he pulled his hand away to smile at him and picked up his crutches. "Let- let Tolkien put the dishes away t- tomorrow, we ca- can, we can watch TV on the couch till you're ti- ti- tired."
M/n glanced between Jimmy and the dishes before nodding and following him back upstairs. Whatever was bothering him earlier wasn't forgotten about but it wasn't at the front of his mind anymore either, and that's all he really needed. They fell asleep shortly thereafter, leaning against each other as YouTube continued to play in the background.