South Park: Dragging Me Down

Discovery

The duo made their way to the tea store. It had just been opened by Michael's mother so the two followed her in and walked over to the counter. A familiar goth kid was standing behind it, looking a little bored.

"Mike."

"Underoos."

"Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Shouldn't you?"

Michael folded his arms. He'd actually booked the day off school today. Yes, booked, meaning he'd made the firm decision that he wasn't going to go to school today. He'd been planning to sneak off to a Deathshead concert with Henrietta. Things had gone tits up at the last minute so she was stuck at home and he was stuck working in his mother's shop. He glared at the hooded figure and then looked over at the timid boy beside him.

"Why's he here?"

"Because he is. What do you want, Pip?"

"Oh! Okay, um-" he leant forward on his tiptoes to get a closer look at the menu.

Michael leant forward on the counter. "I recommend the Ashwagandha herbal tea. For you, anyway."

Pip moved away from him slightly. "Y-You do? What does it taste like?"

"In our recipe it tastes a little like vanilla and coconut."

"O-Okay, I'll try that please. Mysterion?"

"I'll have the same." he agreed, to make things easier.

"Cool." Michael nodded and got to work making their drinks.

Pip watched him with anticipation, bouncing up and down on his tiptoes.

"You're excited." Mysterion acknowledged.

"I-I am not!" he blushed, stopping the bounce.

"Don't stop. You're happy. It's nice to see."

Pip gave him a shy smile and padded over to the table they'd sat at previously. Mysterion waited at the counter.

"Why're you flunking today then?" Michael asked as he prepared their drinks.

Mysterion leant forward on the counter, out of Pip's earshot. "I owe him a favour."

"Must be a pretty big one if you're hanging around with that loser out of choice."

Mysterion felt his temper flare, "He's not a loser."

Michael smirked, "Interesting. Didn't think you'd be the protective sort. Then again, you're very protective of a certain Karen McCormick so I shouldn't be THAT surprised."

Mysterion rolled his eyes, "Whatever. She owed me a favour too."

"Uh huh." Michael poured out the water.

"Well, she did!"

"Uh huh."

Mysterion scowled at the older boy. Michael put their drinks on a tray and slid it over to the hero. As Mysterion was about to take it from him, Michael grabbed his arm and pulled him in close.

"For the record, I don't think he's a loser. He's a little... lost. From what I've seen of him, he could do with the help. Just don't fuck this up." he hissed. "Not that I care or anything. It's just an observation."

Mysterion took his words on board and grabbed the tray, nodding a thank you. Micheal dismissed him and went back to polishing his teaspoons.

Mysterion sat down at the table and placed the tray in the middle of it, taking his cup. He watched as Pip poured the tea from the teapot into his cup before mixing it with his spoon. He picked the cup up and smelt its soothing aroma, holding it close to his face. Mysterion had no idea what he was doing so just copied the Brit.