Pairing/Chars: Kurtbastian
Words: 19K (14 chapters)
Genre: romance with some added lolBlaine, lolRachel and lolSchue
Rating: PG
Summary: Set S6 ep1; Kurt is freshly single in NYC. Blaine wants him back, but Kurt is looking around for better prospects. When a song competition requires him to get in touch with former friends, Kurt finds an unlikely duet partner…

A/N: Written for Dillon's Fic Drive. If you like this fic, please consider leaving a small donation there; the fund is still open. Send me a PM and I'll give you the link.

Fire & Ice

Kurt browsed his new favorite website, NewYorkers-to-go-dot-com. If anyone had told him a few years ago that he'd ever be speed dating in New York city, he would have directed them to Miss Pillsbury's office. New York, the Big Apple, home of so many love-stories; Serendipity, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Kate & Leopold, West Side Story, Sleepless in Seattle... who needed speed dating when all you had to do is wait for true love to find you on the Empire State building or in rainy Manhattan?

But as it turned out, it wasn't that easy. Somehow, all those people in the movies had all day to sit at diners pretending to have orgasms, or stroll down Central Park with a well-groomed dog. Kurt was pretty sure none of them worked as a personal assistant at Vogue-dot-com during the day and a singing waiter at night and attended a prestige performing arts school while they waited for their chance meeting with Mr. Right.

No, if Kurt wanted to meet someone, he'd have to squeeze it into his lunch breaks and sparse nights off, and speed dating had turned out to be the most efficient way to go about it.

NewYorkers-to-go-dot-com had been a tip from Chase. It listed all speed dating occasions per week per area, sorted by popularity and fees. And though Kurt hadn't found his Mr Right yet, he'd collected a few phone numbers and been on a few follow-up dates- and all of them had been better than his recent nights out with Blaine...even the accountant-slash-hobby-taxidermist, or the guy who only spoke Polish. His dates had had one thing in common: they actually wanted to be there. They didn't spend all evening complaining about the state of their living room ("My advanced classes at NYADA are like, super hard, Kurt, I don't have time to pick up after you") or about what a chore it was to find a decent organizer board for their bow-tie collection. Instead, Kurt dates had showed up on time, asked about Kurt's day, and complimented him on his outfits- even with no Polish, Kurt had been able to make that out.

So far though, no real spark.

Kurt smiled as he thought about the exchange with Chase that had lead to him speed dating in the first place. Chase had walked up to his desk at Vogue, tilting his head a little as he always did when he talked to Kurt, and said conversationally:

"So...I just got back from Paris and the first thing I hear from Isabelle is that you got rid of that pest problem in your home." He waggled his eyebrows and grinned.

"Pest? What- oh," Kurt replied, catching on. He had been in the middle of an email to one of their advertisers and his mind had skipped to the bedbugs in Blaine's horrible couch at first- but that had been back at the loft, and the pest Chase was referring to was actually... human. He scrunched up his nose. "That's not really fair," he said, defending his ex more out of habit than anything else, and then sighed. "But yes, Blaine is gone. I tried not to take it personally when more people showed up to help him move out than when we moved in together." Kurt offered Chase a small, slightly weary smile.

"And you're ok?"

Kurt nodded. "I'm actually kind of relieved. I haven't figured out how to pay next month's rent yet without Blaine's share, but at least I no longer have to save up for a marriage we couldn't afford in the first place." His tone was light and cheerful, but he could tell Chase was catching the darker undertone.

Chase pursed his lips. "Pay still sucks, huh? Want me to talk to Isabelle? I'm sure we can work something out." He paused and seemed to be weighing his chances. "Or there's always plan B..."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. He kind of expected what was coming next.

Chase lowered his voice a little. "I know this guy, really handsome, well-dressed, nice job...great apartment in Manhattan. I could tell you about him over dinner."

God, how Kurt had been tempted to take that offer! But he had told himself from the start of his New York career never to start anything with someone at his workplace. Chase knew this already - he had already tried his chances the last time Kurt had broken up with Blaine- but Kurt had reminded him of his good resolutions anyway. Chase had playfully offered to resign, but then relented and told him about the website instead.

Kurt's eyes wandered down the list of new occasions, mentally checking them against his calendar, when he saw something new: one of the gay bars in his area had a new karaoke night?

"Duet Roulette," Kurt read out loud, "huh."

It sounded a little like something Mr. Schue could have come up with, but he continued reading.

"Serenade a stranger and let the sparks fly where they may! Participants get assigned a song and duet partner by chance, fee 25$ + one free drink per participant, yada yada- the winning couple receives 400 dollars?"

Kurt sat back in his chair. Meeting guys, getting to sing, and possibly winning money. What was the catch? He read through the disclaimer twice but couldn't find anything fishy. It was a pretty straight-forward competition. The winners were determined by the applause-O-meter, which was an obvious (but expected) tactic of getting people to bring their entourage to the bar so they could sell more drinks. Not exactly in his favor when he could count the people who'd join him to such a place on, well, maybe 3 fingers, but what he lacked in friends he could make up with sheer talent. Karaoke was his game, after all. And even he didn't win, the bar would be filled with gay men who shared his number one interest: music.

Kurt marked the night in his calendar and made a mental note to make sure he'd plan his shifts at the diner so that he could keep that night free.