p: kurt afh – pianokeysandbowties

kurt.

Kurt looks at him somewhat curiously, fond all the same. There’s little things Blaine does, things like holding his hand and tracing over his knuckles, that make Kurt wonder what he’s supposed to think. Butterflies flutter in his stomach already and twist around when he thinks on how he’s never seen Blaine do this with his other friends. “Yeah,” He nods. “Sounds good.” He rises to his feet, trying not to pay too much attention to the hand still in his.
It’s a sweet thing to have a friend like this, and to have a crush, but when they’re both the same person it’s a little complicated, isn’t it?

Kurt’s hand in his had a way of making Blaine’s day brighter. Whatever this feeling meant? From day one until now? It only seemed to mean more. How much more–Blaine wasn’t sure. One thing was certain. Kurt wass special. Not only in the hand holding department but–special. The rest could be figured out later. First? Hot chocolate and movies. “Have you had the chance to wander into the theater? Wanna sneak in,” he asked grinning after with that sly–twinkly eyed eyebrow lift. “Best way to see it is when no one else is there. I promise. It’ll be fun?” Would Kurt agree? He hoped so. Blaine wanted to show him all of the hidden spots inside Dalton. Hopefully–he’d soon love it here as much as Blaine did soon. Kurt feeling at home was so important. He deserved that more than anyone.

kurt.

Kurt smiled whole-heartedly in return. As Blaine takes his hand, as he continues, Kurt almost doesn’t know what to do with this. On the inside he definitely doesn’t, but on the outside he knows to smile and try not to blush and shake his head a little humbly at the praise. “I don’t think anyone has ever been as nice to me as you were when we were strangers.” He explains with a light, gentle tone.

Blaine liked the feeling of Kurt’s hand in his. It was warm, soft and he memorized the texture that could only be described as flawless thanks to a skin care regimen the other boy made sure to never miss. Yet? He had no idea how any of his other friends hands felt. Let alone committed it to memory. Thinking on why–he caught himself with a gentle smile before he looked back down at the knuckles he tenderly traced with his thumb. “Why wouldn’t I be nice to you? You’re an amazing person, Kurt.” Licking his lips–he stands up but doesn’t let go. Instead–he gives it a gentle tug. “You know? The vending machine hot chocolate gets a bad rep but it’s not bad,” he hummed, “I think we need to get two each and go for a walk. You wanna?”

kurt.

“You can ask.” He says with a slow nod. Explaining could be a good thing. No more secrets to keep from Blaine – or, well, hardly any more – maybe he could beam about a spell working, actually talking about it at all would be nice.
So long as Blaine keeps it a secret all should be well.. Though Kurt is aware that he’ll have to cover some rules while he’s at it to clarify that he isn’t tormenting anyone.. The rule of three and all of that.

Nerves still buzzing though, he makes his way over to his bed and sits gingerly on the edge. Kurt laces his fingers together on his lap to keep from fidgeting. He can only imagine how obscured all of this must look. It’s most likely that Blaine isn’t thinking magic right now, just that Kurt was up to something odd, and/or Kurt was more odd than he thought. Part of him still wonders if he should just let that be the case and opt out of this conversation again.

Blaine studies Kurt closely looking for any signs that Kurt would rather not talk about what he just walked in on. In spite if he answered that he could. It’s during that close look that Blaine realizes something about himself.
He hasn’t barely moved from the few steps inside he took before their strange situation began. Kurt told him to stay put. He–literally–stayed put. Now that Kurt was back and sitting on his bed–it seemed silly that he couldn’t walk further inside their room. The conversation didn’t have to be held with them feet apart and Blaine suddenly self-consciously wondering if Kurt might think he was ready to bolt.

Finding a seat on the floor in front of where Kurt sat on the bed–Blaine crosses his legs under one another and gently cups his knees. “You don’t have to answer anything. I promise I’m not going to tell anyone but you only have to say what you are most comfortable with.” He keeps his voice purposefully soft and tries his hardest to offer as much understanding as he can. “What were you doing? I mean–I could guess by what it looks like but I’d rather you tell me?”

kurt.

It would be a lot easier if Blaine wasn’t so nice about it- no name calling? Not demanding explanation? No, just manners. He was making this harder than it should be. “I just need to think for a minute, it’s ok, I wont be gone long anyway.” This was a more troubling evening than he signed up for.

“Just don’t touch anything?” He isn’t really waiting for a reply as he crosses to the door and slips out. There’s vending machines down the hall, he can get some water at least and think by himself before having this talk. It feels like quite a lot of time passing by though in reality it’s less than ten minutes before Kurt is reigning himself in and making the walk back to their room.
He’s screwed, truly, but at least he can be honest about the situation. Worst case scenario this gets out and he’s mocked as much as the no bullying policy will allow for believing in magic and no one will be the wiser.

Blaine nods and thumbs the side of his nose and sniffles trying to act as casual as possible about a rather bewildering situation. Hazel eyes toss a glance to Kurt’s back as he retreats out of the room. Left alone with what’s remaining on the floor and his curiosity? All he can do is tilt his head to the side, cross his arms over his chest and not touch anything.

He listens, of course. Why would he want to risk messing with some cosmic weirdness he has no idea what would happen if he did anyway? Not that any of this was much to freak out about. And he wasn’t freaking out per say. Baffled. He was baffled. That’s a better word for it. What was Kurt working on anyway? It probably was breaking some sort of etiquette to ask but he really wanted to know.
If he had the slightest clue at what he was looking at other than it was some sort of ritual? Maybe he could figure it out. But..nope. He was out of his element on this one by a long shot. Blaine was in the same spot Kurt left him–not touching anything when he heard Kurt coming up behind him. “So… Um–. Am I allowed to ask a few questions? Or.. Is that a no-no?”

kurt.

He can’t help it. Blaine comes back looking like he ran to the vending machine and Kurt has to smile, even briefly, while trying not to chuckle. It was sweet. Maybe a little too sweet for Kurt’s current state. His eyes water a little and he rubs at his nose, letting the upturn of his lips fade again.
It’s obvious how reluctant he is to ask, eyes shut and question following a sigh. “Can you stay? I just- you don’t have to, I’m not exactly good company but I don’t think I want to be alone.” He explains with a cautious glance back to Blaine’s face as he fiddles with the cracker package.

Seeing Kurt smile–briefly as it was–made Blaine smile right back. If he made him feel a little better by coming back in the room breathless and trying to look like he casually strolled in? He’d take the small amount of embarrassment that being busted brought. But then the smile is gone and Blaine’s head moves to the other side–a frown on his mouth, too.

Not wanting to push him for an answer–Blaine turned to go like he offered to but then stopped immediately soon as Kurt shut his eyes.
He bit his lip to keep from asking Kurt if he was okay when the obvious answer was no. “Kurt, you’re sick. It’s fine. You don’t have to worry about what kind of company you are.” His expression melted into a gentle reassuring smile as he sidestepped to the foot of the bed and sat down. “All you had to do was ask. Want me to find something to watch? We could use my laptop? Might get your mind off things.”

thank you.

“Positive.” Kurt was rarely rude without cause, but he still might not be the best person to ask. Of course, Blaine and his oh so kind heart might not even be aware of that, so he doesn’t say so. “Decent people have done way worse than you could do, believe me.” Maybe he’s biased, but Blaine was too hard on himself.

“Thanks, Kurt.” Letting go of the last of his guilt was going to take time. What would be worse was shirking Kurt’s attempt at making him feel better by continuing to mope around. Reaching over–he scooped up Kurt’s hand and covered it with his palm. “I don’t know what I did for you to see me the way you do. Whatever it is? I’m glad I did..” Thinking hard as he watched his fingers drum silently against Kurt’s hand–Blaine whispered quietly. “I’m so lucky to know you. You know that–right? Anyone’s lucky to know you.”

kurt.

“You think you haven’t sinned? Blaine, everyone does bad things. All the time. Intentional or otherwise.” He says with a shrug. “It’s no big deal.”

“I know everyone does bad things,” Blaine ran a palm across his mouth, “I get that. I just–.” Running out of words–he meets Kurt’s eyes with guilt still lingering in his. “You’re sure it’s not a big deal?” The problem was? Blaine hated making mistakes. Intentional or not–like Kurt said. It doesn’t matter.

kurt.

Well it was a nice attempt. But the fact remained that Kurt was caught…Blaine wouldn’t freak out, he’s pretty sure. If anything he’d probably just be curious. Kurt isn’t supposed to tell anyone though. He was afraid of getting out of practice at Dalton, and so far he hadn’t but that might change if he has to dodge questions..

“It wasn’t anything important, don’t worry.” He says, biting at his lip. Chances are, with Blaine’s manners he wont even ask for weeks and just give him questioning looks. Letting that happen would give him more time to think about it but… He isn’t sure that it would help. There wasn’t a particularly good outcome, but at least there wasn’t a horrible one either.

Tomorrow. He’ll decide what to do tomorrow. For now.. “I’m gonna go- eat, or something..” He trails off.

Not wanting to make Kurt even more uncomfortable–Blaine stopped watching him. Period. Not that the faint scent of oils and wax was something either one of them could ignore. But–he could pretend like it wasn’t there and maybe Kurt would forget about that part?

Oh, what a mess.

You don’t have to,” Blaine’s attention snapped from the wall he stared at. Like not watching and doing that was going to make things any awkward?!

He was thrown off–okay? Thinking on his feet in a rather I never saw this coming situation was something he could normally pull off. This though? This was up there in the I never saw this coming category to pull off. All he planned on doing was to come to their room, see Kurt and enjoy some quiet time to shake off his adrenaline from practice so he could sleep. Under prepared? You could say that.

I mean–unless you want to?” Honestly? He really hoped Kurt would stay so he could try to ease his beyond frazzled nerves.

none of my business but..??

Shit. This wasn’t how the evening was supposed to go. Kurt looked up at Blaine from where he was sat on the floor and felt an embarrassed blush rise on his cheeks. This didn’t look bizarre at all… “Um..” His eyes flickered between his roommate and the still burning feather between his fingers- Kurt blew out that flame first, followed by the candle.

Thank god he wasn’t doing anything actually important…

“I’m- it’s nothing! Really just something to um…” Nope, no excuses come to mind. An odd smelling candle sure, but using it to burn things, the straw sitting beside him waiting to be added to the flame, the little white notebook open with instructions, not so much. “I got nothing.” His shoulders dropped and he sighed. Kurt started to pick up his supplies, nerves just concealed while he pulls out the drawer under his bed, moves the folded blanket sitting on top to reveal the rest of his various herbs and candles and rocks, and puts away what can be used later.

Obviously he walked in at the wrong time. Granted, when you live in a dorm full of boys walking in at the wrong time usually meant a much more embarrassing situation. Not that it ever happened to him. –It didn’t.– But this wasn’t so much as an ‘embarrassing’ situation than it was a hellishly awkward one. Blaine was curious to say the absolute least. He couldn’t stop glancing from Kurt to the various items. Or smelling the strange scent in the air.

All this time Blaine thought Kurt was into weird incense. Or was trying to make his own oils to wear. Nothing that ever stood out enough to hold his attention. By now, he was used to the faint scent lingering now and then. It wasn’t unpleasant. He liked it. Just never would have connected the dots in the way that he was now.

Kurt’s reaction made Blaine’s heart sink. The last thing he wanted was for Kurt to be embarrassed of who he was. Or what he found interesting. Lifting a hand–he motioned for him to stop. “You don’t have to quit. I can go. I–What were-? Sorry–. None of my business.”

kurt.

Kurt nodded a little, swallowing thickly and pursing his lips. He’s almost positive that being left alone would be easier. Almost. “Okay.” Ginger ale didn’t sound bad at least. Kurt doesn’t drag his feet moving to the bed, sighing a little when he settled on it with his back propped up with a pillow between him and the wall. He’s still for a moment before drawing his knees up towards his chest. He tries to get comfortable, but it’s not as easy as it seems in concept.

“Be right back.” It took him a few minutes to grab some change, jog through the dorm to the vending machines and grab a package of crackers and ginger ale. When he returned–his cheeks were a shade of pink and he was breathing a bit fast–a huge hint that his jog was more of a run once he was out of sight–but he walked close to the bed and sat them on Kurt’s nightstand. “Hey,” he spoke softly taking a step or two backwards so he didn’t crowd him in. “There you go. Try those out. It should help a little. I–um–can go bug Jeff and Nick if you want to get some sleep.”