Chapter Text
Mid-November was late for the first snowfall in Denver. Craig couldn't say he had an opinion on snow one way or the other, but Tweek was pretty nerved up when he looked out the window that morning. His fingers trembled to some unknown tune, worrying the hem of his shirt, pulling at his hair. Craig laid his hands over Tweek's and felt them flutter one last time before relaxing under his palms.
"I'll clear off the car. See you in a few."
Tweek smiled down at their hands in response. His keys were on the kitchen table, and Craig scooped them up on his way out, slipping his index finger through the keyring. He waited until the door shut behind him to start spinning the keys on his finger; Tweek was always sure in the momentum he was going to lose them and send the keys flying out into some irretrievable place.
The walkway to the parking lot behind their apartment building was shoveled already, but the frosty bricks came to a conspicuous stop once Craig reached the edge of the building. His boot sunk into six inches of snow and crunched. Craig pursed his lips.
He unlocked Tweek's beat-up old car and slid into the driver's seat to rev up the engine and get the heat going. Craig had taken his driver's test twice and failed twice, then relied on Clyde's driving his parents' minivan to get anywhere up until college. The city was great. There were buses and subway stations everywhere, unlike in the suburbs. And you could save yourself the fare and trouble just by walking. Ideal.
The snow brush was in the trunk. Craig got right to work pushing snow off the windows and roof, flipping the brush over and scraping at a few instances of ice collecting in the windows' corners. It was the light, fluffy stuff, which was good. Any rain mix, and it would end up being that slushy crap whose density broke shoveling backs. The wind whipped at Craig's face while he worked, slipping through the worn crocheted holes of his chullo hat, biting his cheeks and nose pink, and chapping his thin lips. His gloved hands stayed warm.
It had been a few weeks since he and Tweek had that talk in the kitchen. Craig didn't like to think about it. Except the part when Tweek curled up against him and helped him sort his pictures. That was nice. Since then, there had been moments between them, hands brushing against each other, huddling together to watch movies on one of their laptops. Little touches that made Craig feel whole in a way he would never admit to out loud. Though he came pretty close the other night when Tweek cradled Stripe in the crook of one arm like a baby and fed him a carrot like a bottle.
The night before, Tweek's fingertips had ghosted over the markings on his arm. Craig wore hoodies all the way through summer so he didn't have to look at them, but now that they were closer to one another all the time, he'd noticed Tweek picking at his sleeves and peeking at his wrists.
"What're you doing?" Craig mumbled amidst the static shock tufts of Tweek's hair.
"Geh...! I like your tattoos."
Craig relaxed his arms under Tweek's curious hands. He focused on keeping his breathing steady as Tweek pushed his sleeves up to get a better look at the markings. Everybody called them tattoos, so Craig went with it, but he was convinced he'd been born with them. He couldn't remember a time when those markings hadn't glared up at him from his arms. Tweek pulled Craig's arm up towards his face, wide eyes bright, lips parted slightly as he examined them.
"What made you get them?" Tweek asked. "Are they significant to you?"
Craig made a noncommittal sound.
"Do you just like getting tattoos?" Tweek asked, voice smaller. Craig tensed. He didn't like talking about his past much, but he could feel Tweek pulling back from him and didn't want that, either. Craig unzipped his hoodie and pulled the collar of his tee shirt down. Tweek squawked in alarm, but the curiosity came back when he realized what Craig was showing him: a little tattoo under his collarbone. A coffeepot full of stars. Breath whistling past his teeth, Tweek reached out and traced the image gingerly. "When did you get this?"
"A few months ago. I like this one."
Tweek's eyes flickered up, hazel threaded with gold. "You don't like the others?"
"I like this one best," Craig said.
Tweek looked down again, but he was smiling.
As opposed to now. When Craig was putting the snow brush back into the trunk, he caught sight of Tweek making his way down the shoveled walkway with two travel mugs in his hands. Tweek's frown deepened when he reached the end of the path. Craig hurt him grunt in annoyance as he stepped over into the snow towards his car. As soon as Tweek was near him, Craig reached out for the mugs and rounded the car to slide into the passenger's seat. Tweek dropped into the driver's seat and waited for Craig to put their mugs in the cup holders. Once Craig settled back into his seat, he waited for Tweek to shift into reverse. He made no movement towards shifting the gear.
"Iwantittoo," Tweek said, a faint tremor running through him. Craig glanced over.
"Want what?"
"That coffeepot full of stars," Tweek said, staring straight ahead through the windshield. His fingers drummed against the steering wheel and wrapped around ten and two. "That's...that's us, right? I want it, too."
Realization dawned slowly. "You want a tattoo?" Tweek wouldn't even get a flu shot.
Tweek's knuckles whitened. "Yes," he croaked. "I want that tattoo."