I am so, so sorry for how long this took! It's just that it was the holidays and I had it pretty much entirely written but it needed to be betaed and it was originally so long and... yeah I'm rambling. sorry!
Okay so when I first wrote chapter two, it was a little under 7,000 words. I realized tonight that that was a little long for my tastes and cut it into two. So now this is chapter two, and what should have been the second half of chapter two will be chapter three. This works because it gives me more time to work on what would have been chapter three but is now chapter four. So... yeah that's what's happening! (this half is about three thousand words, the next is a little under 4,000 i think)
So in this chapter our two heroes meet, along with our faithful sidekick Finn and a bit more palace guard interaction... have fun!
Kurt raised his hands to his hair, attempting to force the locks into a somewhat attractive style. He might not have been able to afford the clothing that he wanted—the luxurious garments always seen worn by the rich and respected—but at least he could keep his hair looking as fashionable and immaculate as it could be.
He continued to toy with his hair, fighting against the Arabian heat in a losing battle. Beside him Finn sat with his long legs dangling off the edge of the building the pair rested on top of. It had been a long day. Finn had been looking for work since the sun had come up and into the late afternoon. Kurt had spent the day slipping coins from the pockets of inattentive shopkeepers until he had enough to pay for the small meal of bread and cheese Finn was snacking on now, Kurt having wrapped his in a tattered cloth to save for later.
Kurt sat with his legs crossed and back straight, scanning the street below him. It had moved into the time between late afternoon and early evening when the crowds had begun to thin out with some shopkeepers already closing up. No one worth selling honest wares to would be out once the sun went down. This part of the city was far too dangerous to be wandering at night.
"A lot of guards walking around town today. They looking for you?" Finn asks around a mouthful of bread. Kurt stops fooling with his hair to look at his companion,
"Couldn't be. I was too careful. No one could have noticed me today." Kurt looks puzzled. Yes, there was a generous amount of thieves in the area, but he likes to think he would have noticed if any of the usual culprits were out today. It's a close knit community, that of thieves and cheats.
Finn shrugs, "Well they were looking for someone. I don't know who, but he must have been pretty damn important if even the captain is out looking."
This makes Kurt pause. It's fairly rare for the captain to go out hunting thieves. The man rarely leaves the palace grounds unless it's for an emergency. Kurt himself had only had run ins with the man one or two times.
Kurt shrugged, humming thoughtfully and turning his attention back to the street below. Whoever they were looking for best hope they weren't found. The captain of the guard wasn't known for being merciful. Kurt would know for more reasons than one...
By the time the not-brothers finished eating their meal—Kurt forcing Finn to store some bread and cheese in his bag for later—the sun hung heavy and low in the sky. Still high enough to heat the sand but low enough to change the clouds to pretty shades of orange and pink. They pushed off the side of the building, landing in the alley on just the other side.
The plan was to head straight home. They were both exhausted and Kurt didn't think he had ever been more frustrated with his hair in his life. They both agreed it was best to just call it a day.
That didn't happen.
They walked through the alley to come out on the other side of the street. Straight into a large crowd of people whispering to each other over what was happening at the front of the pack.
"Dude, I think someone's getting arrested up there..." Finn said. Kurt was pretty sure Finn was the only one near the back of the crowd who could see what was going on up front. Being the height of the average palace tower had it advantages.
Kurt began to push his way through the crowd, followed closely by Finn. As he got nearer and nearer to the front of the crowd, leaving a string of annoyed people whom they had pushed aside behind him, he saw Finn was right. A group of guard who were looking a mixture of intimidating and excited were advancing on a boy looking to be about Kurt's age, with a darker skin tone and black curly hair. He was handsome, Kurt thought. With a strong jaw and toned arms. He looked much too well thin and healthy for a thief. They were usually too thin with sallow skin and unkempt appearances. Kurt worked hard to keep from letting himself get to such a state, but most of the criminals didn't mind if they looked a little rough.
There was a look of defiance on the boy's face, he appeared to be saying no to the guards. Telling them he refused to go with them or obey their orders. Miraculously, he was still alive.
"Do not touch me," he said, his shoulders square in an attempt to appear confident and intimidating despite his small stature.
"Just come with me boy." The guard nearest him ordered, reaching out to grab the boy's arm, but of course he pulled away. For a moment the guard seems to consider reaching for his sword, but hesitates.
"I said do not touch me." This time his voice is firmer, more confident. He's noticed the guard's hesitation, too.
"Move aside!" Across the crowd another guard breaks though, sword already drawn and face set in a look of anger and determination. A face Kurt knows all too well.
The other guard moved aside immediately to let their captain through. His uniform was different from the others. Instead of the navy vest and red sash of the other guards his is a red vest with blue sash, the sash lined with gold as a sign of authority. His frame was also bigger than the other's. Burlier. Stronger.
The moment the captain stepped forward Kurt knew someone had to do something and fast, or the handsome man against the wall would be dead in no longer than a few short moments, only as long as it would take for the captain to raise his weapon. The burly man stepped close to the criminal, bearing down on him threateningly.
Then, without thinking about it, Kurt's feet were carrying him forward. He acted quickly, before the guard could react and kill them both. Dodging arms that reached out to stop him he darted forward, slipping his hand around the other boy's and tugging him to the side. He caught the boy's eyes, looking back at him with confusion.
"Run."
Blaine was beginning to think he may have made a mistake. He had run from the palace in the early morning, leaving nothing behind save for a short note to his father, He had reached the streets of Agrabah just as the shops began to open and walked the streets for a good hour before realizing he had no idea what the next step was. He had no plan. He had simply stolen a set of peasants robes from the servant's quarters, bid Pavarotti a short goodbye, and left. He couldn't risk telling Wes or David he was leaving. They were sure to try and stop him.
His real problem began when the sun was high in the sky. That's when he first spotted them; the palace guard wandering the market streets looking for someone. A prince who had gone missing from the palace while everyone else was asleep. Of course none of the peasants knew that was why they were looking, but Blaine did. His father would have ordered them out the moment he noticed his son was gone. He knew getting caught meant returning to an angry father, facing punishment for leaving the palace and defying direct orders. Not that it mattered now. He could take all of his father's punishments, the scolding and his consequences, but he couldn't handle being caged up like that. Trapped in his father's perfect, worry-free marble prison. He hated being treated like some privileged porcelain bird in a cage. He needed to get out.
He did everything he could to not draw attention to himself. He avoided being seen at all if he could help it. The last thing he needed was to start a commotion and attract a guard's attention.
So naturally that's exactly what he did.
It was an honest mistake really. He had been walking the streets up and down in the most inconspicuous of ways, when he passed two children who couldn't be over the age of eight begging for money or food. They were much too thin and their faces were filled with much more sadness than should be known by such young children, Blaine thought.
Without giving it a second thought Blaine had grabbed a large roll from a nearby stand and handed it to them. Immediately their eyes had lit up and the two ran off with the food, likely expecting it to be taken from them at any second. Blaine had been incredibly pleased with himself until he felt a strong grip on his arm, a meaty hand turning him to meet with an angry glare.
To say the shopkeeper hadn't been pleased was an understatement. Blaine had assured the man he could pay, only to find all of the gold he had taken from the palace gone from his pockets, stolen.
Despite Blaine's protests, the shopkeeper had called for the nearest guards, who had been patrolling the streets even more thoroughly in search of the missing prince. It didn't take them long to catch up with Blaine, who had never even visited the town, let alone had to run from his father's police through it.
They hadn't recognized him until he was backed against a wall. That's when they began to demand he come with them back to the palace, where his father would be waiting to do gods know what to him.
And that's when he had shown up.
The peasant boy with the shocking blue eyes. Blaine hadn't seen him break from the crowd until he was right in front of him, pulling him to the side and around the corner of the building. He pulled Blaine through alleyways and streets, even darting through a few homes in the effort to shake the dozen or so guards tailing them.
They took a sharp left turn and are met with more guards coming from the opposite direction. Beside him the stranger who had been pulling him along sniffs at the guards sudden appearance.
"They choose now to have a decent plan." Blaine heard him hiss.
"You come in contact with these guys often?" Blaine whispers back. It somehow hadn't occurred to him that the person helping him run from the police might not exactly be trustworthy himself.
"Once or twice." The boy replied sarcastically, "You could say we're old friends." He had begun the back them up, seeing as they couldn't go side to side due to guards blocking both paths. They continued to back until Blaine's back hit the hard wall of the building. Just wonderful. He's gotten himself trapped against another—
"Up." The blue eyed by whispers.
Blaine gives him a questioning look, "Up?"
"Yes. Up!"
The boy swivels around and jumps, clamouring onto a rope ladder hanging from the roof of the building they had their backs to. It hung about five feet off the ground, and the slender stranger had to pull himself onto the first rung with strength Blaine hadn't realized he had. Once he was up, he immediately started to climb toward the rooftop only looking down when he realized Blaine wasn't following him.
"Hurry up! You don't have all day, you know." He said, rolling his eyes.
Blaine was frozen for a few moments. There were angry guards running toward him on both sides and a stranger urging him to climb up the side of a building using a ladder which he knows can't possibly be secure. He looked back and forth between his two options, took a deep breath, and jumped.
His hands only barely reached the first rung of the ladder, and it takes him a fair amount of effort to pull his body up to join them. By the time he's making his way up the palace guard has reached the bottom, one of them beginning to follow.
Blaine hurried up, for the blue-eyed boy was already waiting at the top. At one point, his foot almost slipped and he was sure he was done for, but he regained his balance and continued up. The guard was close behind him but Blaine is almost at the top now, only a few more rungs to go.
He felt a hand brush his pant leg and looked down, immediately regretting it. The ground seemed so, so far away. He felt a bit dizzy just thinking about it. He barely had time to deal with fear of heights just then, though. The Guard was only a short distance away from him. The burly man was reaching up, grabbing for Blaine's foot to pull him down. The man stretched, his hand about to close around Blaine's ankle when suddenly Blaine found himself being pulled into the air and off of the ladder. He's dropped onto the stone of the roof roughly. He could hear the guards yelling from below.
He looked up at the person who had lifted him from the ladder. It's not the boy who had pulled him from the street. This boy is taller, more muscular, and has a light tan.
"Uh…" He said dumbly, and the other boy just shook his head.
"You are so lucky I pulled you when I did, man."
Blaine looked around for the first boy, to find him leaning over the edge of the building, tossing the rope away and pocketing a short knife. He turned to find both Blaine and the taller boy watching him. "I cut the rope. Should slow them down," he explained.
Blaine looked between the two strangers, trying to catch his breath from the climb. "It's not that I'm not grateful for your help but... Who are you guys?"
The taller boy smiled, reaching out his hand "I'm Finn and this is—"
"I'm Kurt," the other boy finished for him. "Can we do this later? They are still after you, after all."
Blaine nodded and followed Kurt and Finn, who were already running toward the other side of the roof. Blaine watches with wide eyes as they both jump and disappear over the edge. "Oh Gods..." He said to himself. Who the hell had he been following around? Someone who ran all around Agrabah just to jump off the top of a building when they're about to get away? Slowly, he made his way toward the edge where they had disappeared "Please don't be dead please don't be dead please don't be-"
"What are you waiting for?" Oh. Down below on a rooftop about one story lower than that of the building Blaine still stood on, Kurt and Finn were waiting.
"You're alive!" Blaine said dumbly.
"Of course we're alive! Come on!" Kurt called up, "Jump!"
Blaine's eyes widened immediately at this. He looked down. The gap between his rooftop and theirs was about eight feet by his estimations, and the fall to the ground something like twenty. He can already feel his head spinning. "I... Do I have to?" he asked.
"Dude are you serious right now?" Finn replied, looking supremely confused, "you don't really have any other option."
Blaine exhaled heavily. Finn was right. He could hear the guards yelling from the other side, and he could only assume they'd find a way to the roof at any moment. "I... I don't know if I can do this," he said nervously.
"Dude, I..." Finn started, but Kurt cut him off.
"Listen, Blaine. It seems a lot higher to you than it is. You'll be okay, alright? Trust me." Blaine turned his eyes to Kurt, who was looking at him with an expression of concern on his face. They locked eyes, Kurt trying to convey as much comfort as he could and Blaine trying not to appear as terrified as he really was.
He looked down once more and then back to his destination, taking a second to glance behind him and watch as a rope and hook were thrown over the roof, likely for the guards to use as a way to reach the top. He turned to face forward again, squeezing his eyes shut tight.
One... two... two...two...
"There he is!"
Three.
Okay! So there's chapter two! (or at least the first half of it...) I hope you enjoyed it!
In the next chapter: Kurt and Finn lead Blaine back to their home for the night. Kurt and Blaine get to know each other better, Blaine realizes he may have feelings for the handsome street rat who saved his life.
Also there's some big Klaine development at the end, nbd.
Thanks so much for reading! It means a lot!
And thanks again for your reviews! It makes me so happy when I get them!
See you next time!
