“You know, that’s not a completely horrible idea. I mean, so long as you don’t try to snort the glue like the last guy, then I think that this arrangement might work out.” Her policy had used to be something along the lines of: you break it, you help fix it. She had thought it would solve all her problems and keep her from doing the work, but it only added to it. The more things people broke, the more work she had to do. The culprits weren’t half as competent as she had given them credit for, and she had drawn the line when she walked in and saw an idiot with the Gorilla Glue bottle up one of his nostrils. “Welcome to the team, Grasshopper.”
“I’m trying to cut back on my glue intake. If I don’t? I might not be able to kick the habit until it’s too late,” he grinned trying not to look as hopeful and hinging on her answer as he–in fact–was. Even his toes curled into the soles of his shoes as he awaited her approval. Or to be–righteously–shot down and clumped with the other klutzes that made her work pile a mountain of fix-its and oops!es that caused them. Cracking a joke seemed the easiest way to put his nerves to rest. It sort of worked. At ‘Welcome to the team, Grasshopper’–Blaine practically beamed with happy relief and hazel eyes sparked with excitement. “Thank you. I promise. I won’t make you regret it as much as Glue Up The Nose Guy.. Um. Did it get stuck up there? Because that’d be an awkward hospital visit I’m sure he’ll never live down. Might serve him right. Okay–what do you want me to do first, Boss?”
“Okay, I’m gonna need a more detailed version of that story.” Amused as that request had sounded, Barry was genuinely curious regarding what all of that had actually meant. The story behind it could have involved two hall monitors, to two kids on a Superhero Club at school -yes, he had seen one of those in his school; no, he had not joined it-, to yet another two vigilantes in the area who were just not as concerned as the current ones about the concealment of their identities. He figured if it really were the latter, he would have heard about it on the news at some point, perhaps even read of it online. At the moment, he could not think about reading anything of that nature; nothing beyond the works of one they called the Hood, whose appearance had suspiciously coincided with Oliver Queen’s return from the dead. Of course it only looked suspicious now, from a distance, when he knew what all of that had been about. He shook his head, realizing how fast he his train of thought had sidetracked. “Hm? Yeah! No, yeah, I’m fine. I’m sorry.” He noticed, to make matters worse, that Blaine must have been speaking the entire time he was unknowingly dragging himself back into his thoughts. “So, where do you perform, exactly?” he asked in order to fill up the information he must have missed. “Now that you’re on a break.” Looking up at the sky, seeing nothing but dark clouds that displayed no intention of letting the sun show any time soon, motionless, like there was not enough wind to carry it away, Barry gathered they were in for quite a storm. Perhaps the wisest thing to do would be to accept Blaine’s offer. “I mean, I don’t wanna impose or anything, if you’ve got stuff to do…” He had run on water before, he could give it one more shot at doing it again. “But yeah. Yeah, if you really don’t mind, that’d actually be kinda great.” He could feel his phone buzzing in his pocket every couple of seconds, probably the work of his concerned foster father. “Besides, you’ve still gotta finish telling me that whole superhero story, so.”
Blaine gave Barry one more measuring glance to make sure that he was–indeed–fine. Not that he’d push the subject if Barry preferred not to talk about it. Instead–he jumped to the next subject as Barry changed it easily transitioning out of his wary look of concern with yet another smile as he started up the stone steps. “The Manhattan Inn. Pretty easy to find. You’re more than welcome to swing by. If that’s something that you think you’d like? First drink is on the piano player. And no–you aren’t interrupting anything. I have nothing going on and the way this storm is picking up? I’m hoping we keep the electricity on,” he grinned warmly and unlocked the door to a slender entry way with a staircase to the immediate right and a hallway stretching out in front of them. “Make yourself at home. I can get coffee going. Let me warn you. Unlike the tale of many-a-very-much-more-known superheroes? Mine’s really not that impressive. I promise,” Blaine toed off his shoes and kept his head down cringing at the can of worms he opened. The idea of explaining his Nightbird days–as amazing as they were because Nightbird would always be dear to his heart–to a near stranger was only potentially embarrassing. Depending on how much he could keep himself from getting too nostalgic. He made a promise to himself he’d keep the sighs of those were the days to a minimum. “It was a high school phase..mostly. But it was a great run with a very close friend of mine. We even started a club and got other kids to join. You wouldn’t believe some of the secret identities some teenagers can come up with when they let go of how,” he made quotations with his fingers, “geeky they keep saying it is. We even got to go on a secret mission once. Super dangerous stuff,” he smirked. Nope. So much for not waxing poetic!! Coming to a stop, he rubbed his forehead and laughed against the inside of his wrist. “Oh wow. This sounds more nerdy with every passing second. Not what I was going for.” Glancing around his fingers at the taller of the pair–Blaine huffed shyly. “Regretting agreeing to dinner yet?”
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?”
Nick grinned. “Yes, I did. It will make my life crazier but I can handle it.” He said. Sometimes he was even ahead on all his Dalton assignments. He had a perfect grade point average, got high scores on the Ohio graduation tests. He had always been a smart guy but now is when it really mattered. “Well I think I have officially decided. I want to help people, always have. I am
seriously considering med school to become a doctor.” Nick gave him a smile. “I will do it for fun, but I have no interest in starting a career in music.”
“You’d be a great doctor, Nick. Especially a pediatrician,” Blaine hummed lowly as he stuck one arm out from his blankets and wiggled his fingers around until he was able to latch onto the bend of Nick’s armrest. A mind-numbed tug gestured for him to scoot closer and Blaine wouldn’t be satisfied until he did. Just close enough to snag Nick’s hand palm to palm for something to hang onto. “Singing for fun is fine. I just want to make sure the world doesn’t lose your voice. I’m going to New York City. One more year and then–. I never wanna stop singing. Or being around music. As long as I have that? Things like this just don’t seem impossible to overcome,” he smiled but his eye closed sometime during his rant. His thumb traced the soft skin covering Nick’s wrist. “I’ll fix Sebastian,” a yawn pinched his eyelid tight, “As long as no one does anything rash. Okay?” Excuse the rambling. AKA: Blaine’s way of warding off sleep that wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Least it is a valiant try?
It was still the first night of their Paris getaway and after checking into their hotel and Sebastian finding it to be an event in itself to watch Blaine’s adorable fascination with the room, the view, and the city in itself— they were sitting for a nice glass of wine over candlelight and a beautiful overlook of moonlight dancing in a reflection on the water. As luxury of a dining experience as you could find. It still seemed insane that after they finish their glasses, Sebastian will be leading Blaine out to the Eiffel tower to ask the biggest question he’s ever asked in his life and the question he’s been waiting to ask for so long. But for now? He can soak in the visual perfection that is all his. Leading up to now, Sebastian thought he would be eaten alive by nerves on the night that he’s going to ask. But now that it’s happening? He feels content, he knows he has Blaine as his and he knows he can do this. His mind may be racing but his heart is beating just right. His soul is keeping him calm. From Blaine’s hazel eyes, to the way his olive toned skin looks so seamless under the lighting, to the way his lips never looked unkissable. Eyes refused to take themselves off his soon to be fiancee as he smiles just slightly across at him.
❝It’s funny how we’ve been together almost four years and I still don’t understand how one man can be so flawlessly beautiful inside and out.❞
he says in a musing but calm tone, tilting his head down a bit and holding the wine glass to his lips with a ever so cheeky grin that said “I love you” and “I want you tonight” all at the same time.
Blaine was enthralled with the smallest detail of everything. From their arrival, to the taxi ride through the thin Parisian streets with their sidewalks full of store fronts, restaurants or slender buildings years and years old spliced in with newer, modern restyles–Paris was another world that he was instantly caught up in. He couldn’t stop being fascinated with the way people spoke. Or the taste of wine that–somehow–was so much better when he shared it with Sebastian on their balcony overlooking the Jardin des Tuileries. Or how Sebastian kept staring at him. Ever since they got to the restaurant. Not in a bad way. Never in a bad way. Sebastian always looked at him with a mix of love beyond measure, want that no matter what they did to each other or together seemed could never be sated, possessiveness that made Blaine’s insides twist deliciously, and gentility that told Blaine no matter how often he fell–Sebastian would be there to pick him up and set him on a path built on a little more solid ground than before. This was–just–different. So close Blaine could feel Sebastian’s gaze never waver even when he sipped his wine or took a bite of the most delicious food he’s ever tasted. His face went red when his boyfriend’s voice broke their quiet. Hazel eyes peeked up and he smiled gently before his senses went for a Tilt-A-Whirl ride at that expression. Blaine’s lips parted, his eyes widened with an expression that said “I love you. I’m yours. Tonight–I’ll show you again and again”. “Four years and you’re still under the delusion that I’m flawless. Either I’m great at pretending. Or you are hopelessly never going to catch on that when it comes to the beautiful one? That’d be you. But thank you. I love you, too. I..still don’t know what to say about all of this. I think thank you is wearing out. I just–I love you and I’m still waiting to wake up.”
Nick laughed “you’ve just met Jeff and i’ll give you this warning as his room mate if you see Candy in the room I suggest you let one of us know or confiscate and run for your life” he added the last words as whisper when he noticed his friend pout. Jeff’s pout followed by a whine “Nicky, don’t scare him” His eyes connected with Blaine’s and let his lips twitch out of their pout into a smirk before rolling his eyes at his friend “I’m not really THAT bad with my candy intake I just have a little sugar problem” he confessed at the others around them mouthed “little sugar problem”
Wes coughed loudly to mask the laugh he was hiding. “Blaine, you are definitely in for an interesting year here at Dalton and I’m glad that you’ve got a good roommate you won’t ever be bored with this blonde puppy” He reached his hand across the table and mussed up Jeff’s hair. Jeff swiped playfully at the seniors hands and smiled “They’re making me out to be this horribly hyper and weirdly obnoxious person and I’m not I promise, but I will make it my mission to make your time here at Dalton as fun and boredom free as possible.”
“So, we should probably get back to Dalton.” Trent finally spoke up “Let Blaine get use to the campus and all of us have homework to do and perhaps Jeff can help Blaine get caught up with where we are in our classes?” he suggested and Jeff nodded “Yeah, we should probably get back to the campus besides you guys probably scared him into asking the dean for a change of room” He said making a face towards his friends
Blaine grinned from ear to ear as Wes promised him that his year at Dalton was going to be an interesting one. Looking at all the faces around the table and listening to how they bantered back and forth–he could tell the love they had for each other ran deep. Brothers. They all acted like brothers. It was equally alluringly comforting to think he might be welcome into their group and utterly intimidating all at once to walk into such a tight knit crowd and hope he fit in and could catch up to the ties they had to one another.
The thing was? As the hours went by and he watched the hair ruffles, playful prods and adoring glances shared between them? This is what he wanted. Somewhere to be like them. Finding it felt unreal. “That’s okay, Jeff. I promise to only hide your candy if you start bouncing off the walls. Once the deal was made–Blaine wasted no time trying to finish up his dinner so he wouldn’t hold everyone else up.
Fair enough,” he hummed back over the rim of his glass before washing down the last of his food. Trent was given a quick nod. “Sure! Sounds great. I’d like to wander the halls and see where everything is so I don’t get lost an embarrassing bunch of times tomorrow. Dalton is massive in comparison to Central. You guys can get your work done and Jeff can catch me up tomorrow. Deal,” he asked his roommate following the others out of the bench.
Blaine’s eyebrows inched higher and higher the longer Barry drank. The speedster had him beyond curious and he wished he would just come out with his question. Then wanted to take back that wish as soon as Barry spoke up. After licking his lips to buy a thoughtful moment–Blaine squinted and cocked his head to the side. “I think that would depend on what you think, Barry.. What are we?”
pianokeysandbowties back up 