This one takes place after chapter 80 of Model Behavior.
"Bentley! What are you doing here?" Trevor exclaimed delightedly.
"Don't ask me. I think Blaine's lost his mind. He grabbed me out of bed and stuffed me in his bag this morning before he left for work."
Trevor giggled. "He sent Kurt the cutest e-mail last night. He pretended he was you, secretly writing to me while he was in the shower. Kurt showed it to me."
"Why did he do that?"
"Well," Trevor preened, "it was addressed to me, after all."
"Yeah, but it wasn't really for you. What makes you think anyone would write to you?"
"You're just jealous because you've never gotten an e-mail," Trevor teased. "Anyway, Kurt loved it."
"I don't know about you, but I'm tired of those two," Bentley groused, tail switching angrily.
"Don't get your whiskers in a bunch, old man," Trevor laughed. "And you might as well sheathe those claws while you're at it. You know you aren't gonna use them on anything."
"Hmph. What have you got to be so cheerful about, you stinky old toad? Did you give somebody warts?"
"That's an old wives' tale and you know it. And I don't stink. Kurt takes very good care of me, I'll have you know."
"That still doesn't give you the right to be so ridiculously happy, unless you know something I don't, which is highly unlikely." Bentley turned his back and feigned interest in his right front paw.
"I know one thing: we've got the whole day together, and I don't want to spend it fighting, so why don't you admit you're glad to see me and we can move on to more important stuff?"
"Yeah, but we don't get to go anywhere," whined Bentley. "Remember how it used to be? When Blaine was little, he took me everywhere."
"Yes, and when you got home, all you did was complain about how boring it had been in the car, or how you didn't like the beach or the woods or the museum."
"It was boring in the car. I couldn't see out at all, and half the time I had to ride on the floorboards because I fell off the seat and Mom wouldn't let him get out of his seatbelt to pick me up. I can't tell you how often I almost got motion sickness."
Trevor looked puzzled. "Can we throw up? I didn't think we could do that."
"Of course not," Bentley scoffed, "but it still isn't any fun being nauseated for hours at a time. And don't get me started about the beach! All that grit! I thought I would never be clean again. A hairball is bad enough, but try having a bunch of sand in your stomach."
"I guess I wouldn't enjoy that, either," Trevor admitted.
"When he was about five, we were coming back from somewhere, and it was dark out. We were sunburned and tired and we just wanted to go to sleep, but Dad thought if we slept in the car, we wouldn't sleep when we got home, so every time we dozed off, Dad woke us up again. Well, you can imagine, Blaine didn't like that one little bit. He got grumpier and grumpier, and finally he threw me across the car. Let me tell you, I was livid. I couldn't believe he had done that to me. I hissed at him, and lashed my tail, and his eyes got really big. Then Mom said something about how I wasn't going to like it if he was mean to me, and that's all it took to set him off. He sobbed and sobbed so they could barely understand him. Bentley is mad at me and he'll never speak to me again. I was mean to Bentley and he won't like me anymore. First Dad tried to tell him I wasn't mad, and then he tried to tell Blaine that I couldn't be mad at him because I wasn't real."
"That's terrible!" breathed Trevor. "How could he be so cruel?"
"I know. He didn't mean to be; he just didn't understand. Anyway, Mom just let him handle it until he finally said that if Blaine didn't want to listen, it was his choice to be unhappy the rest of the way home. I couldn't see her, but I know Mom rolled her eyes like she does when he says something stupid. You remember, right?" Trevor nodded. "Then she got Blaine's attention, and when he calmed down a little, she told him that he needed to apologize to me, and that if I accepted his apology, everything would be all right. Well, he did, and I did, and then we finally got to sleep the rest of the way home."
"Was Dad right? Were you guys up all night after that?"
"Of course not. They carried us into the bedroom, and Blaine didn't even let out a peep. After that, at least Dad let him sleep in the car when he wanted to, thank goodness. I don't ever want to go through that again. All that crying and there was nothing I could do to comfort him. I felt terrible."
"It sounds like you never had any fun on trips. Was there anything you enjoyed?"
"The theatre. Movies. Concerts. Anything where we could sit in the air conditioning and stay clean." Bentley smiled fondly. "For his sixth birthday, we went to a college production of The Ice Queen. After it was over, the actor who played Nick the Troll came out and sang Happy Birthday to him. He was so excited. That was back when he still went to public school and he had five or six friends along. I think it was the first time any of them had ever experienced live theatre. They enjoyed it, but it went way beyond that for Blaine. He was completely captivated by the idea of putting on a costume and becoming someone else."
"I guess that was before my time," Trevor sighed. "I never really got to go anywhere with him. It sounds like it was fun."
"I remember the first musical we saw. It was just a local production of The Music Man, and it wasn't even that well done, but Blaine was fascinated. I'm pretty sure he was too young to follow the plot, but he loved the music. The set was very minimalistic, and you had to use your imagination, but that just made it better for him. I think it was the first time he ever heard barbershop. One of the main characters is a little boy, and all the way home he was telling Mom and Dad that he could have done a better job. He probably could have, too."
"Oh, yeah! When he got home, he kept singing that song. What was it?"
"It was called The Wells Fargo Wagon. Remember how he did different voices for each of the characters? And then he carried that clarinet around for a week to see if Professor Harold Hill's Think System of learning to play an instrument would really work." Bentley sighed. "It was so easy to make him happy back then. We'd talk and snuggle, and I'd tell him a story and purr him to sleep. Now all he wants is Kurt, but he refuses to do anything about it. I'm tired of listening to him moon over how talented Kurt is, and how beautiful Kurt is, and compassionate, and smart and creative and perfect, and I don't know what all."
"Blaine's right," Trevor said loyally. "Kurt is all those things."
"Maybe so. Okay," he conceded when he saw Trevor's frown, "yes, he is all those things, but that's not my point. My point is that he should quit moping around and do something about it. How hard can it be? Four words: Kurt, I like you. That's all it would take, right? Kurt feels the same way, so it's not like Blaine needs to woo him or anything."
"Yeah, but you don't get it, Bentley. Blaine wants to woo Kurt. He wants to whisper sweet nothings in his ear, and surprise him with little gifts. He wants to see Kurt's eyes light up when he walks into a room, and know that the smile on Kurt's face is just for him, and he's the one that put it there. He wants to gaze into his eyes and fall into their depths and never come back up."
Bentley snorted. "And how could you possibly know that?" he asked sarcastically, twisting his neck to wash the itchy spot between his shoulder blades. "You don't even live with him any more."
"Because that's what Kurt wants," Trevor said quietly. "He wants to make Blaine feel special. He wants to know Blaine's heart beats a little faster when he touches his hand. He wants to spend cold winter evenings cuddling together in front of a blazing fire, talking for hours about everything and nothing. He wants to give Blaine things that no one else can give him. And most of all, he wants Blaine to be happy, and he's willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen."
"So why doesn't he do it? It would be so much simpler if they would just say what's on their minds. Judging from what he told Wes, Kurt knows he's gay, everything is out in the open, and no one was upset, so what's the big deal?" Bentley held his tail down with one paw so he could wash the tip.
"Kurt's on the show," Trevor patiently explained. "If everyone knew Blaine liked him best, it wouldn't be fair to all the other contestants. It would be a conflict ... a conflict of ... well, a conflict of something. Kurt told me about it, back when he was trying to figure out how he felt about Blaine. He says even if he does have feelings for Blaine, he has to wait until the show is over, and he has to see if Blaine gets over the guy he likes."
"Well, that's just dumb! Kurt is the guy he likes."
"You know that, and I know that, but Kurt doesn't know that. When he looks in the mirror, he doesn't see the same guy Blaine sees. Kurt sees a man who's not very muscular, a guy who knows how to be fashionable but not sexy. He sees a person with a weird voice and a lot of flaws. He sees himself as smart and funny and a good friend, but not as someone who will ever have romance in his life. He hopes he will, but he has a hard time believing it."
"When Blaine looks at Kurt, he sees perfection. He sees everything he's always wanted," Bentley sighed, "but he's not sure he'll ever get it. I just don't understand this waiting thing. Why doesn't he just go for it?"
"That's the difference between cats and toads," Trevor stated sagely.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, but whatever it is, I'm sure there are a million differences between cats and toads. For one thing cats are intelligent. And graceful. And beautiful."
If Trevor noticed the implied insults, he didn't say so. "Cats go after what they want. They stalk and run and pounce, and about nine times out of ten, they miss. Toads understand waiting. We sit quietly in one spot, pretending to be a rock, until the time is right. Then, when you least expect it ..." Bentley jumped as a long, sticky tongue hit him on the nose. "... we strike."
"Don't ever do that again!" he hissed furiously. "That was just nasty! Yuck! Toad slobber. I'd bite you, but I'm sure you'd taste terrible." He licked his paw and swiped at his face, lips curling in disgust.
"That's what you get. Next time, don't be so rude to me," Trevor laughed smugly. "Now, what are we gonna do with our boys?"
"Yours needs to realize that he is attractive and desirable, and that he's the one Blaine wants."
"He also needs to stop focusing on trying to be sexy. It worries me, and it makes me a little uncomfortable. We're supposed to be retired before they get to this stage."
"Would you rather be in a box in the attic, waiting for the grandchildren to show up? Not me!" Bentley retorted. "And why does that worry you?"
"Because this shouldn't be all about sex. He shouldn't be thinking that he has to be sexy to attract a man, and I'm scared that if he starts acting all suggestive and flirty with everyone, someone might get the wrong idea about him. He's spending too much time thinking about it. He practices in the mirror sometimes when no one is around. I don't like it."
"I wouldn't worry about it. It's probably just a phase. Maybe he's never had the opportunity to flirt before. Is he taking forever to get ready in the morning?"
"No more so than usual. Why?"
"Blaine is driving me crazy. He's always been nicely dressed, but he would just pick an outfit, put it on, and go to work. Now he changes three or four times before he makes it out the door. He's even divided his closet into sections: clothes Kurt's seen and liked, clothes he hasn't seen, and clothes that he wasn't too impressed with. And you should see him with that shirt Kurt gave him. Sometimes after supper, he'll put it on and just sit there with a goofy smile on his face, stroking the fabric with his fingertips." Bentley shook his head. "I don't know what's gotten into that boy."
"He's in love," Trevor laughed. "They both are. So what are you planning to work on with yours?"
"I guess I'll just keep reassuring him that Kurt does like him and they'll be together eventually, and stop pushing him to make a move, since you think they need to wait."
"I'm positive. If Kurt knew how Blaine felt about him, he'd distance himself. He thought about it when he found out Blaine was gay."
"Oh, no! He can't do that. Blaine would be devastated."
"I know. You should be proud of me. I did the whisper thing all night, and the next day he figured it out."
"What did you say?"
"I just kept repeating 'Blaine already knew' and I guess it was enough."
"I think yours might be a little smarter than mine."
Trevor smiled smugly. "I think so, too, at least about some things." He sat for a moment, pensive. "Hey, Bentley. I was wondering ..."
"What?"
"If this works out for them, will Kurt still be my boy?"
"What do you mean?"
"If he gets his 'happily ever after', will he still need me?"
Bentley gently licked Trevor's forehead. "They'll always need us. Maybe not as much, but there's no such thing as 'happily ever after'. The best you can hope for is 'happy most of the time'. And besides, doesn't he tell you about the good stuff, too?"
The little toad brightened. "Yeah, he does. And lately, all the good stuff's been about Blaine."
"Good," Bentley purred. "Let's keep it that way."
