Finn pulled up in his driveway. "It might be a little cramped. We have to share a room as is, but I'm sure you'll fit."
They walked up to the door, and Finn slotted his key in. "Finn? Is that you and your friend?" they heard his mother call from inside. "Yeah Mom, we're here!"
She walked to the front door as Finn opened it. "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Carole."
"Ben. Sorry to impose like this, my accommodation plans sort of fell through."
"That's okay. My husband Burt is still at work, but Finn's brother is in their bedroom. I'm sure he'd like to meet you."
"Thanks," Ben replied, and Finn walked off. "Guess I'd better just follow him!" he said, and did. "Why does everyone just assume..." he wondered, mumbling. Finn opened the door to his bedroom and led Ben inside.
"Hey Kurt, this is Ben. He's going to be staying with us tonight." Kurt looked up from the magazine he was reading. He gave Ben a smile that didn't convey much pleasure.
"Nice to meet you," he said. "You can take the mattress. Finn will pull it out from under the bed."
"I guess I will then," Finn said. Ben was puzzled – the two looked like droning automatons in their routine. Nothing was elaborate, or interesting. He watched Finn pull the mattress from the bed.
"Could you point me to the bathroom? I sort of need to freshen up." Kurt, without looking up, simply pointed to a door at the end of the room. "Right then," he said, and walked into the room.
After dinner, the three boys retired to the bedroom. "Can I take the bathroom first?" asked Kurt. Finn and Ben nodded, and sat on their beds. Ben began to take things out of his duffle bag. Slowly, he removed masses of hulking technological equipment, and then neatly placed clothing and toiletries on the floor. He pulled out his phone, and placed it on the bed.
"What do you need all that equipment for?"
"When assembled, it's a very low space, low tech, high efficiency tracking deflector. I can't have the Presidential TARDIS landing in your room, now can I?" Finn just nodded. Something was off – Ben could tell. "You okay?"
"Yeah... I don't know. Every time I get home, I just – something feels wrong."
"Like school gives you some kind of kick?" Ben sat next to him on the bed, at a comfortable distance.
"Yeah." Finn started to perk up. "I think I'm feeling a bit better." Ben noticed him take a very deliberate sniffle. "Do you smell that?" he asked. Before Ben could answer, he heard a noise from his bed – his phone! The ringtone was still what it had been before – Last Christmas, with Rachel and Finn singing! He hurried to answer it, but it stopped ringing. The display read – Missed Call – Blocked. Great, he'd missed it. And revealed that he had Rachel and Finn singing on his phone.
Finn, however, didn't seem to notice – he didn't seem to be doing anything. He was just staring straight ahead. Ben, however, didn't notice that, either. "Well, you know, school can be great, but it can get really challenging. When I would get home from school back home, sometimes I would just feel so drained, that my back was stiff, and my hands were tired, and I just need a good hug, you know? But I got through it..." He turned to look Finn in the eyes. "Finn? Are you okay?"
"Need a good hug... stiff back... challenging..." He was simply mindlessly repeating what Ben had said, only staggered. Ben waved a hand in front of his face. "Okay, something's certainly wrong with you."
At that point, Kurt emerged from the bathroom. "Is everything okay in here? What's going on?" He looked at Finn and Ben on the bed. "What are you two doing?"
"Umm... I think there's something wrong with your brother," Ben said, looking up to face him. "He's just sort of... mindlessly staring. He's not talking back to what I'm saying – well, he is, but he's catching glimpses and most of it's not getting through. He's not responding, just repeating." Ben was beginning to speak quicker and quicker. "He looks like he's in some kind of trance but I've no idea what would induce a state like that. He's totally just"
"Stop!" Kurt interrupted. "Calm down, it's going to be okay," he said. "Now, tell me, what happened."
"Well, we were talking about how Finn was kind of feeling a bit down, and then he said he was feeling better – after I sat next to him on the bed. And then he said he smelled something, and then my phone rang, so I went to get it, and when I got back to the bed I kept talking, but I realised that he wasn't showing any signs of being in a conversation. He was looking listless. So I went and waved my hand in front of his face but he totally didn't respond."
"Do you think it might have been something he smelled?"
"Whatever it was hasn't affected me. But I doubt that a state like this could be induced by some kind of narcotic."
"Well, what's your ringtone?"
"My ringtone?"
"That's the only other thing that happened – your phone rang. Play the ringtone." Ben navigated to the settings, and suddenly Last Christmas rang out from his phone. Finn began to giggle, but slowly again retained the state of non-responsivity he'd been displaying earlier.
"Well, he responded to it," Ben said, but Kurt was simply looking at him.
"How do you have Finn and Rachel singing as your ringtone?"
"It's complicated. Now, we can establish that whatever's happened could be connected to the ringtone..." he trailed off. "Let's try something else." Once again, he looked on his phone, and found a clip of Rachel singing Gives You Hell. Once again, Finn started to smile, and his foot started to tap. "It's not the ringtone – its Rachel singing. That's what's put him in this state."
"So how do we reverse it?" Kurt asked, thoughtfully.
"I don't know, but I have a feeling that if" he was interrupted when a purple jolt ran through him as he tapped Finn on the cheek. Suddenly, Finn sprang to life.
"Oh, Kurt, you're done with the bathroom. Mind if I go next?" Finn asked, and walked off without waiting for a reply, leaving Kurt and Ben stunned in his wake.
Ben turned to Kurt slowly. "I think I have an idea."
