Desolation //Imp Tweek x Pastor Craig //

Schlep.

                        - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

What am I going to do? What am I going to do?

Craig paced continuously beside the demons lifeless body, the fingers of his good hand gripped his own dark hair as he worriedly walked up and down. The floor was far from an accommodating place for the imp to recover but the pastor could barely fathom a way to drag his body up the basement stairs without more injury.

Injury...

Mind wandered to the pain in his own palm, the blood had dried but the wound was still exposed to the elements. Another setback, he'd struggle to even lift him with just one hand. His gaze moved back and forth between his hand and Tweek repeatedly. 'Bandage...' Craig whispered low and slowly, his thoughts and thinking still catching up with him. 'I'll- I'll be back in a moment... Just stay there...' What a stupid thing to say but his feet carried him up the concrete steps as quickly as they could manage.

...

Upstairs, drawers rolled open and slammed shut as the priest searched high and low for a simple bandage. He'd been stabbed a little under a month ago, where on earth was the stupid bandages?! Craig continued his search, eventually stumbling upon them in the last drawer he checked in the kitchen.

He briefly doused his hand under the tap in an attempt to wash out anything that might of worked its way inside his slice before speedily wrapping his palm with the cotton white bandages. It still stung but he hoped it could alleviate some of the pressure of lifting his counterpart up the stairs. Certain his wound was covered and the bandage was going to hold, he proceeded to make his way down to the depths of the basement.

...

'Why are you so heavy?' The pastor strained between gritted teeth, attempting to heave the imp to rest against his upper back. Craig managed to swing Tweeks arms over his shoulders, a pack strap style, keeping a firm grip on them while supporting his gangly frame - his hooves would certainly drag against the ground but he hoped they were as sturdy as they looked. He'd previously tried to cradle the other by attempting to drape the others body across his shoulders army man style but weight combined with the mighty pair of leathery wings, horns and claws sunk that idea dead in the water.

With Tweek secure as could be, Craig began his ascent. It was a slog, his muscles ached with every step he climbed, his nasally voice whispering the odd sorry whenever he felt the imps feet collide with the concrete. But, they managed it. Craig dragged his cargo over to the living room, finding the first couch and rolling Tweek onto it with a thud. Himself quickly found the floor today, slumping into the floor to catch his breath again.

Recovering enough to stretch his limbs, Craig carefully turned on the spot on the floor - facing his demon that lightly snored into the couch cushions. That was a good sign, right? He pondered about how long the imp would need to be out before he really needed to get concerned - because there was no way he'd get him into a hospital in this form.

Studying the others gaunt face, he couldn't help but notice the darkened bruises that scattered his skin - even their hands and the tops of their collar bones that peered through tattered top. Signs of inflicted wounds, blood soaking the clothes that remained on his battered body - why had this happened. Craig felt a pang of guilt, if he hadn't of been such a jerk in the first place - none of this would of happened. It was such a strange connection to this creature, the past three weeks felt like something was missing - a void inside his soul. And despite all the nightmares and terrible thoughts he had about this creature, Craig weirdly felt some relief to have Tweek back and especially this close. The demon scared the life out of him, but he wasn't opposed to it. The church would likely banish and cast out himself for if they ever found out about Tweek - he began to wonder if anyone in his clergy had witnessed an actual devil before or was it just him. He of course couldn't ask that for fear they'd assume Scotts words were right and he was part of some occult.

Whatever, fuck Scott.

Finally finding some composure, Craig made it back to his feet. He dug out a blanket from the corner of the room and dropped it over the demon in an attempt of some form of comfort before he went about ensuring all the doors, windows and curtains were shut tight - ensuring nosey neighbours would keep from seeing his demon inside.

...

A couple hours had passed. The pastor had spent time rearranging the basement; tidying away candles and scrubbing any trace of the sigil. In an old trunk, he locked away the old golden book and the blade - no one else was getting their hands on it, it'd been used for what it was needed for - nothing else needed to be unleashed on the world. Stepping back while wiping his brow, he was proud of his work - no one would suspect a thing.

Making his way back upstairs, he decided it was probably worth making a batch of coffee in case the demon stirred. He remembered the night he first came back from the hospital, the living room was filled with used mugs stained with old coffee - he wasn't very happy about it at the time but he could see the lighter side of it now. Placing the water on to boil, he set about wasting time by checking his phone. He had the usual texts from his sister, gossip and when could they next hang out - Clyde had spent the night sending a million Facebook memes and videos over WhatsApp because for some unknown reason his best friend was clearly experiencing a midlife crisis at twenty five. And a text from an unknown number sat in his inbox, however upon opening it realised it was just Kenny with another burner phone number. He was asking if he wanted to meet up sometime... Weird. They got along okay throughout most of their lives but over the last couple of weeks he had got rather friendly. Maybe business was just slow.

The kettle finished boiling and Craig set about making a pot of coffee. The smell was always just too much for Craig, he didn't drink it himself but rather kept it around for any guests that did. He preferred tea anyway. Letting it brew, he decided to check in on the sleeping demon. There wasn't much difference in his state other than the demon had sprawled its limbs out at all angles. That was somewhat of a relief to Craig, at least he had motor function. Perhaps he would wake up then too...

Quietly making his way across the room, weaving between the couch and the coffee table, Craig slowly reached out a hand towards Tweeks shoulder - he really didn't want to startle the beast. 'Hey Tweek..?' He lowered his voice, hoping for a response. His fingers just brushed contact with the imps shoulder and he received a response he didn't want to get.

It was quick and Craig had no recollection of getting to where he was now. His body was pinned against the nearest wall, head slammed into the brick wall, clawed hand squeezing the life from around his throat while red eyes stared into his mind. But as quickly as he was throw backwards and pinned, the glowing eyes had faded and a panicked look was etched upon the imps face.

'C-Craig?' Disbelief at what he had just done, Tweeks grip loosened, retracted and caught the coughing pastor instead. 'I-I... I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I thought you were...' Helping to steady Craig, the imp guided him over to the armchair and settled him down. 'Craig... Are you okay? Talk to me please?'

'Th-that's a little hard... right now...' Craig's good hand rubbed his throat, the words spluttering from his mouth as he heaved breaths between them.

'I didn't know it was you! Gaaah! I could've killed you! Oh Jesus!' The blond continued to panic, his hands continued to grip the pastors arms to aid steadying him. 'Are-are you okay..?'

Craig nodded a few times, still clutching his throat. 'I'm-I'm good... Might have a headache but I'm good...'

'Oh god... You're head!' With that the imp shrunk down in size, the miniature version of himself fluttered around to search the back of Craig's skull to ensure there wasn't any visible damage. 'It's okay... It's okay...' And returned to normal size behind him. 'Argh... I'm so sorry, Craig!'

'It's okay... I should of probably shouted before entering the room, you were sound... Won't creep up on a sleeping demon again, that's for sure...' Craig croaked a reply, but actually managed a faint smile. 'Are you okay though..? You're really beat up, Tweek...' He turned his head to look back at the shaking imp behind him. The imp just twitched and shrugged. 'C'mon... I've got some coffee in the kitchen... You can tell me about it...'