Shifting Emotions -a Kyman fanfiction

Chapter 11- Waltz #2

~~~NOTE FROM AUTHOR:
Hello!! Hope you're enjoying my story so far. You don't know how badly I've been wanting to itch my creative urge to write. Just a little side note, if you don't know the song "Waltz #2" by Elliott Smith, I highly recommend listening to it to get the full effect of this chapter! You'll see what I mean when I reference it below, Enjoy!! ~~~

Cartman rustled through his drawer until he found his deck of uno cards confined by a wilted rubber band. He had the Uno Spin edition, so some of the cards had a swirl decoration detail in addition to the classic design. He lost the contraption with the spinning wheel years ago.

"Found it Kaaaahl" Cartman said happily

They sat on the floor. Kyle meticulously browsed his playlists while Cartman attempted to shuffle the cards.

Cartman tried to do the trick where you would spilt the deck and place your thumbs on the top of both decks and let them flick down, thus intertwining the two decks.

The cards went flying everywhere, Kyle chucked instantly.

"Here Cartman, I can show ya" he smiled at him. It was nice to not use as much aggression as usual.

Cartman blushed a bit, slightly embarrassed but also grateful that Kyle is showing him such patience.

Kyle split the deck and performed the shuffling trick seamlessly, Cartman watching in awe.

"No waaaay duhde how did you do that"

"The trick is to not rush through it, or else your cards are gonna fly everywhere.. like yours. Hahaha"

"SHUTUPJEEEW"

"hehehe"

Kyle put on his playlist that was intended for relaxation. He hoped for Cartman to be mentally and physically at ease after baring his heart out.

The first song to come on was "Suzanne" by Leonard Cohen.

Cartman stops what he's doing and listens to see if he recognizes the song that came on.

"I don't think I know this song, it's really peaceful" Cartman told Kyle

"Oh yeah Leonard Cohen is amazing. A beautiful storyteller" Kyle said while he finished dealing out the cards. Cartman listened to what Kyle said, absolutely infatuated with Kyle's love of music; it's never something he really observed about Kyle. All he knows is it makes Kyle seem wise beyond his years.

The game has begun. The first card is a green 9. Kyle let Cartman go first, bless his heart.

Cartman put down a green 3, followed by Kyle putting down a green "draw 2" card.

"NO THEFUCK YEW DIDNT"

"Yes. The fuck I did." Kyle laughed.

The next song was "Wild World" by Cat Stevens.

"OOO I KNOW THIS ONE!!" Cartman exclaimed

Cartman began to sing:

"OOOOO BAYYYYBEH BAYBEH ITS A WIHLD WORRRLD"

Kyle smiled at the sight of Cartman singing Cat Stevens. What a sight to see, considering Cat Stevens is an advocate for spreading peace.

The next song is by one of Kyle's favorite artists, Elliott smith. The song is Waltz #2, from the album XO

"Cartman! This is one of my favorite artists!" Kyle says excitedly.

Cartman loves witnessing Kyle geek out over his favorite artists, and he loves that Kyle wants to share this knowledge with him even more.

"Kewwwl!"

The song begins, sounding true to the title, a beautiful rendition of a waltz.

Kyle puts his cards down and stands up, holding his hand out to Eric.

"Eric, would you like to join me?" Kyle's too nervous to say the word "dance"

Cartman is instantly flooded with butterflies at the sound of Kyle saying his first name. He can't even remember the last time Kyle said his first name. Has he ever? Holy shit.

He looks at Kyle, showing a shy smile, and takes his hand.

Kyle took a moment looked at Cartman. Now that they were 16, he's gotten taller. Not taller than Kyle, though. He had a similar haircut as when they were kids, just a little bit styled with fluffy layers. He was wearing a Scarface shirt and faded black jeans. Cartman has definitely taken interest to cinematography in his adolescence. He also was wearing red cat socks, which Kyle thought was very cool.

Over the past 4 years, he did end up losing a bit of weight, though Kyle never saw him for only his weight despite calling him fatass every two seconds. He looked good, Kyle thought.

Both boys wouldn't have a clue about waltzing, so they slow danced. Kyle took Cartman into his arms, Cartman holding onto him, resting his head on Kyle's oddly comfortable shoulder.

The chorus of Waltz #2 played.

I'm never gonna know you now,
But I'm gonna love you anyhow

There was an unspoken beauty within the room. The nurturing of someone who has wronged you in the past, the electrifying power of forgiveness. It was the essence of love.