They were both wrong when they thought that they'd be the only ones in the theater.

When Kenny offered, Stan just started walking towards the theater doors, picking up the pace once he saw that he followed. Inside, it was almost packed with people.

"Whoa- what?"

"It must be because of the new Terrance and Phillip movie. " Stan pursed his lips, "It came out only a few hours ago...."

His voice faltered.

When Kenny looked over to see what he was staring at, he noticed that there was a whole other group staring right back at him. Kenny recognized them immediately- knowing that they were some kids in his class that he hung out with occasionally.

Stan was looking at Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, Craig Tucker, and Tweek Tweak.

And they were all looking right back at him.

Kenny elbowed him lightly to snap him out of his daze.

"You okay?"

"I'm suddenly not feeling it tonight." He muttered.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned, leaving as quickly as he could. When he spotted the group now giving him a confused look, he shoved his hands in his own pockets with an overdramatic flare that earned some quiet laughs from other people watching the both of them, and stormed out in a similar fashion.

When Kenny was outside, he thanked God that Stan was still easy to spot, jogging towards him.

"Hey, Stan- wait up!"

He noticed that looked a bit more relaxed, holding a hand up and waving it around.

"No, no- you can go home. It's getting late, anyway."

"What's going on?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Kenny was glad that Stan stopped walking once his hand was on his shoulder.

"Can we at least hang out?"

Stan looked over at Kenny. His eyes narrowed, and he shrugged his hand off.

"How old are you?" He muttered, stepping closer to him than he would've liked.

"16?"

"Is there any way you can prove that to me?"

"I knew some of the people at the theater. They go to my school."

"What else?"

Kenny pokerfaced.

"Do I look 80 to you?"

"I need more than that."

"The guys at the theater can vouch for me."

Stan tensed.

"I hope you aren't lying."

"Why?"

Stan pursed his lips.

"Want to watch a movie at my house?"

"As long as it isn't Unfriended, I'm down."

Stan smiled a little, muttering out, "How dare you- insult that masterpiece."

"It's not hard."

"The audacity."

The two laughed for some godawful reason and continued the walk. It was a relief to find a smile on both of their faces.

"You know- you're a lot shorter than I thought you'd be." Kenny offered.

"I'm not short- you're just too tall. Like that fucking lamp post."

Stan jerked his thumb towards a lamp post at the end of the street. It was broken, looming ominously over all of the people walking under it.

"Tall, dark, and handsome?"

"Not very bright."

Kenny rolled his eyes, "I'm barely 5'11- how tall are you?"

"Average height."

"I'm around average height."

He scratched his head, "It's subjective."

"So- how tall are you?"

"Tall enough."

"Come on."

Stan sighed, watching the air blow out from his nose due to how cold it was outside.

"5 feet. Exactly. My mom says I got short height because of my uncle-"

"Well, that's not true."

"Yeah, I doubted it."

Kenny ruffled his hair, almost pushing off his hat in the process. Stan growled.

"Is that a piercing?" Kenny laughed.

Stan cupped his ear.

"Shut up."

"I'm so glad I got to meet you in person."

"So that you could make fun of me?"

"Yeah, exactly."

Stan smiled again.

"I actually have more than one piercing on my ear. The first one I got- I wasn't really thinking straight at the time- but I got the helix piercing on my birthday last year."

"I've always wanted piercings- on my lip or something."

"If you want piercings, then why are you making fun of mine?"

"I don't know. You don't seem like the kind of person to get piercings.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's the height."

Stan lightly punched his arm.

"Fuck you, man."

As they neared their destination, Stan's voice got quieter.

"A fair warning- my family's a bit... strange. Please ignore them as best as you can."

"Okay?" Kenny's met some weird people in this town. He doubted his parents would be any stranger.

Stan approached the door of a dark green house. He knocked on the door a few times, before opening it and letting himself in.

"I'm home." He muttered.

On the couch was his dad. Thankfully, he was fully clothed, though he seemed to be mesmerized by whatever was playing on the television.

"Oh, hey Stan. Could you grab me another beer?"

"Get it yourself."

"Stanley!"

His mom walked out of the kitchen, arms crossed over her chest, and eyebrows furrowed in anger.

"Hi, mom."

"Where the hell have you been?"

"I told Shelly I was going on a walk. I'm back now."

"You didn't bother telling Randy or I?"

"You both were busy."

"You can't keep doing that!"

"Mom- I'm fine."

She suddenly noticed the boy standing uncomfortably near the door.

"Who's this?"

"I'm uh- my name's Kenny. McCormick."

"McCormick?" Stan's dad called out, "You're Stuart's son?"

He blinked, "You know my dad?"

"You know his dad?" Stan asked.

"Yeah- yeah we hang out sometimes." He slurred.

Stan sighed loudly. He resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, turning back to face his mom with a forced smile.

"I was wondering if I could hang out with him. In my room, I mean."

"Is he spending the night?"

They both turned towards Kenny.

"No- don't worry. I'll be out of your hair soon."

She visibly relaxed.

"All right, you two have fun."

Stan ran up the stairs.

Kenny couldn't keep up, walking around, hoping that he would've gotten the right room.

When he entered, he got something he wasn't expecting.

Stan was bending over, looking for something in the box below him. With the type of jeans he was wearing it was easy to see how great his-

What? No. Stop.

Kenny averted his gaze, biting down on his cheek.

"I don't think I have anything bad in here."

"That's just a matter of opinion."

Thankfully, Stan stood up again.

"We could always watch shit on Netflix." Stan fished around for a remote.

"Alright. What movies are on there?"

Stan shrugged, flipping through some titles.

"How about Titanic?"

"Nah."

Kenny then noticed the big fish tank just casually sitting on top of the dresser. As he got closer, he also noticed a small box sitting next to it.

Said box was smooth, with a name printed on the top in legible cursive.

"Sparky?"

He learned to regret it seconds after he said it. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that it was a box that carried an animal's ashes.

Stan's head snapped towards him.

"Hey- stop harassing my fish."

He turned his attention back towards the tank, squinting.

"What fish?"

Stan got closer, an apparent grin on his face.

"You scared them away." He flicked a light on.

"You kidding? Animals love me."

A few seconds later, a small goldfish made itself known, along with some other types following it.

"That one's Dominic, Demetrius, Darren... I named the goldfish Joe because it was the most boring name I could think of..."

"You should've named it Stan if that was the case."

He earned that jab Stan gave him with his elbow.

"The one in the separate bowl is named SpookyFish."

Boy, did that one look miserable.

Unlike the fishes swimming happily in the big tank, this one was confined to its own hell. He had a dusty bowl to his name, no decorations, just him swimming in place.

When Kenny came into view, he felt as if the thing was staring right into his soul.

"Why's he by himself?"

"He kept..." he bit his lip.

"What?"

"Fish. He kept killing the other fish."

"He doesn't seem that dangerous."

"Trust me, he's dangerous. Don't- don't judge a book by its cover."

Kenny stepped closer to the bowl, not liking the sound of Stan's breath hitching in surprise.

"What's with the lid?"

"He, uh, he kept jumping out!" He stepped in between them, "Believe it or not, I've actually gotten really attached to him, and- him leaving isn't something I want."

Kenny's eyes narrowed.

"Why the hell did you name him SpookyFish?"

"I was ten." He deadpanned, leading him away, "All the cool names were taken, and I had a killer fish. Stop asking about him"

"Okay?"

Stan shook his head.

"Want to see my other animals?"

Kenny froze.

"Other..?"

"Yeah, dude. You think I just got some fish?"

"I hoped that you just had some fish."

"I have a snake, a rat, some crabs? I also know that there's a cat somewhere around the house, but that belongs to my sister."

"How do you give these animals the attention they need?"

"I'm not spending my time doing anything else."

"Okay, uh... where's the rest?"

A squawk sounded from the closet, and Stan's face lit up.

Because there was no door on his closet, Kenny could see the inside perfectly. It was mostly empty, with a shelf that carried two cages.

"Hey, Buddy." Stan cooed, reaching into the cage on the right.

"Buddy?" Kenny laughed.

When Stan showed the rat resting in his hands, Kenny jolted in surprise, stepping as far from him as possible.

"What? He's friendly."

"I'm not a fan of animals."

At those words, his expression dropped.

"...oh."

"What?"

"I love animals. A lot."

He placed the rat back into his cage.

"I mean- I'm afraid of most animals. You know- the ones that can kill you if they wanted to."

"Buddy's mostly harmless."

"Mostly?"

"I can't guarantee anything."

At Kenny's concerned expression, Stan's smile returned, and he changed the subject.

"I've got a giant beanbag chair in front of the screen if you're willing to share it. Though, I'm not really sure about a movie yet."

"How about Sharknado?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Sharknado."

"Never seen it."

"And you call yourself an animal lover."

"What's it about?"

"Go turn it on, you'll find out along the way."

Stan sat on the beanbag chair, soon followed by Kenny. They made sure to stay at a safe distance away from each other before pressing on the suggested movie.

Stan could barely keep his eyes open when the light turned off and the movie started. By the time his head hit the pillow with promises of being able to rest his eyes, he was out like a light.