The first ten in, hopefully, 101.


1. Introduction

Another new face approached them from the throng of evening wear. Blaine looked towards him with a question in his eyes so Kurt took the lead.

"Hi Caprice!" he gushed. "This is Bla -"

Caprice cut him off and stepped forward to grasp Blaine's outstretched hand. "Oh come on, Kurt, like you need to do that. I hardly live under a rock!"

It's true that, with his second album just out, Blaine hardly needed introduction – but, after six months, Kurt still liked to do it. He relished the taste of it on his tongue. Hi Caprice. This is Blaine, my husband.


2. Complicated

A couple of days after the performance at Scandals - and the subsequent night of heavy silence - Kurt notices that Blaine has also changed his status to 'It's Complicated'. He almost starts crying all over again. Kurt had wrestled between that option and leaving it blank just the day before. He's no longer in a relationship but he doesn't yet feel 'Single'. In the end he decided there was a complexity in his emotions which wasn't fully covered by simply opting out of the question. But, at least privately, Kurt finds the story of their break up heart wrenchingly simple.


3. Making History

The door closes behind them. Blaine grabs onto Kurt's blazer lapels, pulling their torsos together. He darts forward and steals a kiss before speaking through thick breaths.

"You overslept," he states. Kurt doesn't bother denying it. "Do you have any idea how cute you look running to class all flustered?"

"Yeah, and a detour into the supply closet isn't helping," Kurt whines.

Blaine reaches into his pocket and fishes out his phone. "Kurt, it's already 15 minutes in and you don't even have your books. There's no way you're making History this period."

This time, Kurt welcomes his lips.


4. Rivalry

Sam came flying over the back of the couch landing on both Kurt and Blaine. He wiggled his butt enthusiastically until they parted to let him settle in between.

"I've been thinking," he said, with the kind of wisdom only found at the bottom of a bottle. "And...I don't think I'd have the confidence to be gay."

Kurt narrowed his eyes.

"Listen! I'm serious. I mean, I see the benefits - lifetime of training, if you know what I mean…" He finished off his sentence by raising an eyebrow.

"But, with you two rocking the same hardware…don't you ever...compare models?"


5. Unbreakable

Burt often talks about their visit to CN tower. Kurt's mother held his hand tight as she stepped out onto the suspended glass floor. Apparently, Kurt had taken one look down and jumped backwards with a shriek. Then, with one arm firmly fastened around his father's leg, he tried valiantly to pull his mother to safety. Eventually, he ventured out - standing uncertainly between his parents with tiny hands fisted in theirs. As Kurt watches Blaine finish the song - the last few notes of confession still fading - Kurt again wonders why people try to fool themselves that anything is unbreakable.


6. Obsession

Blaine's childhood is framed by a halo of black curls. His memories are all undercut with hands tugging and teasing as his mother wills them to sit right just once. One his sixth birthday, Blaine takes up her obsession wholeheartedly. Following the example of a classmate's Ken doll - an attraction he won't fully comprehend for another few years - Blaine arms himself with a tub of hair-gel. Over time, Blaine realises that if he sculpts it perfectly - smoothing out the very last of the kinks and bumps - the reduced air resistance cuts an entire 5 minutes off his walk to school.


7. Eternity

He'd turn Blaine….and maybe Rachel. Of course, they would have to give up family and flit from place to place to hide their unfaltering youth. Would they sip cocktails laced with blood in nightclubs across continents or be driven into dark woods at the corners of town? Would they be the eternal lovers and friends as Kurt always felt they were or would they split from time to time with a simple promise to 'meet up next century in a café in...'?"

He leans over to Blaine, slumped in the next desk, and whispers. "Which do you prefer? Italy or France?"


8. Gateway

Songs are the gateway drug.

They lead to Glee, and from there performance which enters your veins hot and fast. It lifts you up to adoration but drags you down down down as you scrabble for your next standing ovation. Which is this? A low or a high? You don't know. Dalton is pulsing with nervous excitement. Which is this? In every corner more people lie in wait - each person hooked on the sharp scent of performance. A high or a low? Too late now - Kurt's car turns up the driveway and the first strains of the song start. Love...Love...Love.


9. Death

Viv and Graham Hummel ran their last stop-sign on the way to meet a new grandchild. Kurt remembers learning this, the pieces finally slipping into place. By then, he had seen his mother, a brother and two further grandparents each take their last. Now, his breath stalls at farewells - willing Death to stay perched on his shoulder rather than follow another. Night is worse. He pulls Blaine to him and hisses at the dark figure waiting in the corner. 'You cannot have him'. And in his sleep Blaine replies with soft strong arms, declaring 'nor him'.


10. Opportunities

It takes a few minutes for Blaine to realises he's being hit on in the grocery aisle. "Sorry…God...no...I didn't mean..." he stammers.

The man raises an eyebrow. "You sure? You're turning down a fine opportunity…"

Blaine laughs quickly and holds up his left hand.

"Five years tomorrow. And tonight…I get to tell him that they've found us a baby." He gestures into his basket at the celebratory champagne.

"And that's worth more to me than a thousand opportunities. So, no…"

The man's eyes soften. "Congrats."

And so Blaine returns home, burdened with a few more bottles courtesy of that missed opportunity.


This is me sticking a toe into writing drabble fiction. 101 stories with (approximately) 101 words. The prompts are coming from the 100 Themes Challenge Writing Prompts which can be found on a wordpress account called kathrineroid. But I'm not certain if the second half will keep me focused so I might change halfway.

I have a book called Anthropology and a hundred other stories by Dan Rhodes which is pretty entertaining and was the inspiration for the title.

And finally, bit of an ass-cover for prompt 4. Sex ain't about what you're wielding, kids, it's about knowing your sparring partner.