A/N And look, another story to work on! As if three aren't enough! LOL, I hope you all enjoy this one. This was inspired by a strange dream I had last night about the movie Simply Irresistible.

Reviews as always are welcome!

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A Crabby Introduction

Kurt loved going to the open air market in the morning. It was one of his favorite parts of living in New York. But this particular morning he was much too stressed out to enjoy the usual sounds and scents and sights.

He'd received a notice from his landlord saying that the rent on the building was going up. He could barely afford the cost of keeping The Southern Cross open as it was. The thought that he might lose not only his apartment above his business, but also the restaurant that had been his mother's dream broke his heart. He remembered how she would always talk about owning a small bistro in Greenwich Village. Some place small and artistic, with a stage were local musicians could perform. He had watched her cook the most amazing things, and had learned at her side.

Elizabeth Hummel had died before she could ever see her dream fulfilled, but her son had carried it with him when he had moved here after graduating high school. He had scrimped and saved every penny he had earned since his mother passed away when he was eight. The first year had been great, the locals had flocked to the place. The food had been well received, despite the fact that Kurt had never gone to culinary school. The recipes he used had all been his mother's, with just a few of his own modifications.

But then tragedy had struck. His stepbrother, Finn had died, and Kurt had realized that he was twenty two years old and had never had a relationship, and that life was fragile. He'd slipped into a mild depression, and had lost his inspiration to cook. The food lost some of it's appeal, and the customers slowly began to decline, until only a handful of faithful regulars was left. If he didn't get himself together and start drawing in new customers soon, he would be forced to close down in a little over a month.

Today he was determined to find something to inspire him once more. He stopped by the produce area first, smiling at the middle aged woman behind the table and the young girl beside her. "Hello, Maggie, Allison. What's fresh today?"

The older woman, Maggie gave him a motherly smile. "Morning, Kurt. The raspberries are fresh, just picked yesterday!"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Allison roll her eyes, he turned and looked at her, and behind her mother's back she mouthed the word "blackberries."

"Uh, you know, I think I'm going to go with blackberries today. And how about a few of those peaches as well." The older woman shrugged and bagged up his order, handing him his change as they talked about the weather. As she turned to help the next customer, he winked at the younger girl, and gave her a high five.

His next stop was the mushroom vendor. He thought he might try making the golden mushroom soup his mother used to make, but when he reached the fungus guy, his stall was nearly wiped out. "Hey Sam, where are your Crimini?"

The blonde man laughed. "You're too late today, Kurt. Delcroix has swept through and rounded up every mushroom I had except the enoki and a few snow white."

"What?" Kurt said in frustration. "Who the hell is Delcroix?"

Sam just shrugged. "Some fancy schmancy French Chef. Apparently they're opening a new restaurant inside Duvall's Department store, and he's going to be the head chef."

"Great, now what am I going to do with no criminis?"

"Sorry, dude."

Kurt rolled his eyes and walked away, not even bothering to tell the blonde man not to call him dude. Fine, so the mushroom soup was out. What about the squash bisque?

He was distracted from his thoughts when he heard someone calling his name. He turned and saw a blonde woman gesturing him closer. "Hi Kurt!"

"Uh, do I know you?" He asked, not recognizing her, though there was something vaguely familiar about her.

"No, we haven't met yet. I'm Brittany S. Pierce, and your mom asked me to say hello for her!"

"Oh, I think you've mistaken me for someone else. My mother is dead."

"I know, but that doesn't mean she's not concerned about you. Now these are what you need today. Peekytoes." She all but shoved a basket full of live crab at him.

"Um, I don't think so. I wouldn't know what to do with them even if I wanted them."

The blonde girl just smiled at him. "Come on, Kurt. You need to start living your life again. The wind from one door slamming opens another."

Kurt frowned in confusion. "My mom used to say that all the time."

"She still does. Now, take the crabs, and be inspired. Oh, and watch out, that one is escaping!"

Kurt looked down just in time to see one of the crabs scuttling under the table. He reached down to grab it, but the little thing was quicker than expected, and easily dodged his hand, disappearing into another stall behind the one he was standing at. He chased the little creature down, though he didn't know why he bothered. He didn't want them.

But he continued to chase the bastard, kneeling down and almost ruining one of his favorite pairs of jeans crawling under a table clothe just in time to see the sea monster disappearing out the other end. "Oh no you don't!" He shot out his hand and snatched at the tiny menace.

"Gotcha!" He yelled as he pushed the table clothe off his face, and came face to foot with a very expensive pair of loafers, his hand wrapped tightly around the man's ankle. His eyes very slowly made their way up the man's body (and a very nice body it was, too,) until they met a pair of melted gold eyes.

"I'm so sorry, I was just trying to..." his voice trailed off as his face flushed red, finding it almost impossible to look away from that handsome face.

"You were just trying to?" The voice was light, and sounded like it was always on the verge of laughter.

"I was just trying to catch my crab," Kurt said, glancing back down at the creature, and realizing he still had his hand on the man's calf. He yanked his hand back and stood up.

"Your crab?" The man said, the laughter bubbling up, and then was cut off as said crab bit his ankle. Kurt reached down and grabbed it.

"Uh, yes. He's going to be lunch today in my restaurant."

"You have a restaurant?" The man asked, sounding curious.

Kurt smiled. "Yes, The Southern Cross."

"And what are you going to make with the crab?"

Kurt's mind went blank. He had no idea. He'd never cooked crab before. "Uh, something very delicate and flavorful" a sign on a passing bus caught his attention, advertising Neapolitan ice cream. "Crab Napoleon, actually."

The dark hared man smiled again. "Sounds wonderful. I wish I could try it." Someone called out from the crowd and the man turned to look over his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I have to go. Good luck with your crab!"

Kurt watched him go, a bemused expression on his face, until Brittany came over with the rest of the crabs in the basket. "Oh good, you met him. You two have big things in store for you!"

Kurt looked at her, frowning. "I barely met the guy. I don't even know his name! And we'll probably never see each other again." Kurt felt a small pang of regret at that thought.

The blonde girl just smiled airily at him and handed him the basket of crabs. Kurt sighed and took them reluctantly. Really, what on Earth was he going to do with the things?