▸ @phooenixia ⟶ ❛ “You smell that?” / “Yeah. Death, rain, or dinner. Hard to tell anymore.” (Is Fury talking about her brother or actual death, who knows. Anyways, at Craig!) ❜ ╱ ( two-line exchanges , accepting . )
The stench of death plagues South Park more than it probably should, given the town’s small population. It is strongest around Shady Acres Retirement Home for obvious reasons because that’s where everyone shoves their decrepit relatives while they wait for them to kick the bucket. It’s completely depressing, and Craig is glad that Grandma Tucker hasn’t gotten to a point where they have to send her there yet. The idea of going to Shady Acres to get his birthday money from her makes him shiver.
But that’s not the only place. There are a few spots around town where the air hangs heavy with questionable stenches, like the bad part of town, where Kenny’s house is located. There are always fumes leaking out of the crevices of the garage there, which smell chemical, and very few people are allowed in there. Craig tries not to go to Kenny’s house much, but Tweek goes quite often and apparently goes in the garage, too. Maybe that’s why he’s so messed up…
“It’s definitely not dinner,” he says, wrinkling his nose. It does smell thick and damp, so he can believe rain, but he can also believe the kind of decomposition that turns people into soup, like when they’ve been in a river or barrel of acid forever. It is a little strong for an ordinary rainstorm.
“Should we check it out?” he says, looking up at Fury. It’s probably a bad idea, he realizes that, and he really is not the kind of kid who goes around and sticks his nose everywhere it doesn’t belong. But he is only human, and sometimes curiosity gets the better of him. Besides, it has become a little hard to ignore, and if it is a body, they should probably report it to the police, even though that will do fuck-all. The Park County Police are notoriously unreliable, always chasing the wrong leads, so it is extremely unlikely that any potential murder will actually get solved.
Deciding that he will not be able to sleep at night if he does not at least look, Craig trudges forward without her. Dark clouds loom overhead, lending credence to the theory that it is just rain, but it is not at all uncommon for the sky to be overcast in fall and winter. Temperatures have been plummeting, and they are more likely to get their first snow of the season than rain, in Craig’s own opinion. But until it officially freezes over, there is still plenty of time and opportunity for shit to rot.
Craig waves Fury over to a thicket at the edge of the woods and says, “Come on!”