A/N: I watched the promos for Special Education, and this came up in my mind. Maybe it's too symbolic. No idea what's really going to happen, but I just LOVE symbolic gestures and thought this would be nice. Enjoy?
Golden Cage
By ComplexlySimpleKiddo
The sun was already close o the horizon when he got back to his room at Dalton dorms. He was exhausted, after a nerve wrecking day of being the new kid in the new school
where everybody seemed to be… Nice. It was certainly unsettling, and Kurt couldn't figure out why he couldn't feel happier about it.
He dropped his bag carelessly on his bed, and put the cage with his chirping Warbler on the desk that was under the huge window. The bird was adorable, with the orange hue of the sunset making the yellow feathers shine. He thought it was a nice tradition; something living and chirping to represent 'his voice', which he had to take care of.
And yet he couldn't figure out why he felt sad whenever he watched the little bird.
It wasn't that he missed New Directions, even if that was true. It wasn't the guilt of feeling like he had run away from his demons like a coward, though that's how he felt since he said yes to his dad and Carol on the hallway of McKinley. It wasn't even the fact that he was now contemplating wearing the same clothes, five days a week, though that certainly bummed him. No, it was something else.
The decorations of Dalton were the finest he had ever seen, the architecture was certainly richer than the one at McKinley, and it complimented his fabulous self all too well. The people were nice, polite. Perfect.
Unnaturally perfect. So much that Kurt couldn't shake the feeling that it was all very wrong. So very wrong. Fabricated. Unreal.
He stood standing in the room for several minutes, until he realized the nagging feeling in his chest got stronger whenever his eyes rested on the little bird. His 'voice'.
He didn't really hear the door opening, or Blaine's voice asking if he was ok. All he could hear was the happy, nostalgic chirping of his little Warbler, getting louder and louder in his head as he walked to the desk where the bird was. With steady hands, steadier than they had been all day, he unlatched the tiny door, and gave a step back.
The bird chirped a few seconds, unsure, and for a small, tiny moment, it's beady eyes looked at Kurt's, as if the little animal knew.
It took flight immediately, never, ever looking back.
It took him a few minutes to figure out Blaine was talking again. Softly, with a tone that couldn't settle between wonder and confusion. He turned back to look Blaine in the eyes, and he smiled, kind of a sad smile, and shrugged with just one shoulder.
-This is not the real world, Blaine. I need to set my voice free.
-Even if it means getting hurt?- The boy asked, half incredulous and half curious. Kurt smiled again, letting out a small, short laugh, and turned around to face the opened window again.
-It looks like I like challenges more than I should.
The silence stretched after that, for long minutes, and then Kurt suddenly asked, not really needing an answer.
-Tell me, Blaine, are you willing to keep your little, chirping, Warbler voice inside that beautiful golden cage much longer?