Title: Marking a Mate
Author: an-alternate-world
Rating: M+
Characters/Pairings: Kurt/Blaine
Word count: 3,894
Summary: GKM Prompt. In a hybrid animal world, Kurt and Blaine meet on the staircase at Dalton. Overcome by their animalistic instincts, they mate almost immediately and then have to deal with the ramifications of their actions.
Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with Glee, FOX, Ryan Murphy or anything else related to the Glee universe.
The next morning dawned too early and Kurt spent a good twenty minutes whining at Blaine that he didn't want to get up and face anyone and couldn't they just stay in bed? Blaine appeased him with a few kisses and touches, before rolling away and searching for a pair of matching socks.
"Blaiiiiiiiiiine."
"Come on. We need to get you up to the office so you can get your schedule and uniform," Blaine laughed, tossing clothes at Kurt.
"Don't you dare damage my clothes," Kurt huffed, scooping them off the bed and marching into the bathroom to shower and change.
Any excitement he'd had on the drive yesterday was being eroded by the anxiety that was running through his veins. He and Blaine had a hastily eaten breakfast of apple juice and toast before Wes, David, Jeff and Nick accompanied him and Blaine on the walk up to the main Dalton buildings.
"If you need anything…" Wes offered, his expression so damn earnest that Kurt wanted to touch his arm and assure him he'd be fine. Except he was practically shaking with fear and there weren't even that many people wandering the corridors yet.
"We'll see you at lunch," Blaine promised.
Kurt nearly snorted. He didn't think he'd make it to lunch, or to any of his classes after the first one even. There were too many people, too many scents, too much danger. It might be a zero-policy school and maybe Wes and David were safe because they were leaders of the Warblers, and Nick and Jeff because they were so happy and comfortable, but what about newly mated couples? Maybe he wasn't safe. Maybe he and Blaine were going to get thrown into a bank of old wooden lockers, or collide with one of the inevitably expensive statues, or shoved down a flight of stairs with the intention of breaking their necks, or-
"Hey, hey," Blaine said, turning him suddenly until his back was against the wall and he was staring into Blaine's eyes. "I promise you, I promise, Kurt. Dalton isn't like McKinley. You're safe here."
Kurt eyed him dubiously, watching people walk by who seemed to pay barely any attention to him.
"See? Are they bothering us? Have we been bothered so far?"
He didn't want to listen too much to Blaine, because while Blaine had clasped hands or high-fived a few people as they'd walked, he hadn't been able to focus on it. He was still too scared, and he hated himself for feeling so fragile.
"Kurt." Blaine's voice broke into his thoughts again and he tore his eyes away from wherever they'd been staring over Blaine's shoulder. "I get it, okay? I remember how scared I was when I transferred. Remember what happened to me, okay? I wouldn't make you promises that this place wasn't safe unless it was. I've seen it with my own eyes. There are lots of couples here, lots you haven't met yet, lots that I don't really know that well. We aren't the only gay pair. Wes and David, Nick and Jeff? They're okay here. They're safe. Nick's story isn't especially happy either, but he loves it here too." His hand reached up to cradle Kurt's face, the pads of his fingers brushing over the mark behind Kurt's ear. "If it wasn't safe here, we wouldn't tell you it was."
Kurt let his eyes close, trying to block out the feelings that were screaming too much contact in school halls, stop it, stop it, stop it. "I know that logically," he whispered, breathing in unsteadily. "I know that. But it's just hard to really accept."
"I know it is." Blaine's thumb drifted down his nose to his lips, and Kurt puckered them a little to kiss the finger. "You also know you need to face the fear, because running away from it is only going to make it harder to re-integrate yourself the more you put it off."
Kurt nodded slowly, his eyes blinking back open. Still no one seemed to be looking at them, even as they were so, so close and facing each other and Blaine's hand on his cheek in an intimate gesture.
"I'm just scared."
"I know, honey, I know," Blaine murmured, tugging Kurt into his arms. "I can feel it but I can't really stop your thoughts other than trying to reassure you that it'll be okay."
Kurt hid his face in Blaine's shoulder, clinging to his blazer and refusing to peek at anyone who might walk by and sneer at them. At McKinley, he figured they would have been multi-coloured by now after a deluge of slushies, maybe even a broken bone or two for being so touchy-feely. And yet here at Dalton, there hadn't even been an audible slur.
"Blaine?"
Kurt startled at the unfamiliar voice, pulling back and shrinking into the wall as a larger, taller boy bounded up to them.
"Is this Kurt?"
Blaine smiled encouragingly, reaching for Kurt's hand who loosely tangled his fingers amongst Blaine's. "Yes Trent. This is Kurt."
"Oh my God, he's so precious!" Trent exclaimed, grinning and bouncing from foot to foot. "I definitely approve. You're a lucky young man, Blaine. And you," his gaze shifted to Kurt, "you are equally as lucky. Blaine's a very popular guy."
Kurt gave a smile that was probably more of a grimace. Trent wasn't doing much to make him feel better or less territorial over Blaine. No one had said anything about touching and hugging in the halls, but did that extend as far as fucking them to expose ownership?
Blaine coughed lightly. "Kurt, stop whatever it is you're thinking."
Kurt flushed and ducked his head, which Trent laughed delightedly at and clapped his hands together like some crazy wind-up monkey.
"He's like a doll!"
"Well, my name is Hummel," Kurt muttered, shifting his body slightly closer to Blaine's
"Seriously?" Trent glanced wide-eyed back and forth between them. Blaine nodded. "I think they must have been named after you. You aren't a time-traveller or anything, are you? Like, this isn't some sort of Doctor Who world, right? Where you'll disappear on me and leave me alone?"
Blaine laughed, the sound so easy and bright that Kurt felt himself relax a fraction around Trent. "No, man. We all live in the here and now. Although I'm not so sure about Jeff when he's wired on cordial and gummy bears."
"This is true. He probably has enough energy to spring between dimensions." Trent nodded, rubbing his chin in contemplation. "We should set up an experiment to test the theory."
"I'm not sure Nick would appreciate that very much," Kurt said quietly.
"So now I need to figure out how to send two people through time and space? Great. Awesome. How can I do that?"
"Do it when they're connected," Blaine said, a mischievous look on his face.
"When they're-? Oh my God. No. No, Blaine. Bad Blaine. I didn't need that image in my head at all, dammit!" Trent muttered, poking Blaine in the shoulder. Kurt itched to slap Trent's hand away but fought to restrain himself. This was going to be a day filled with people brushing past Blaine. He couldn't get territorial.
"You'll have to excuse us, Mister Trent. Kurt and I were on our way to get his timetable and uniform," Blaine said with a silly little bow.
"Of course, of course. Will I be seeing Mister Kurt at a rehearsal soon?" Trent asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
Kurt blushed. "Maybe." Blaine gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Probably. Wes and Jeff seem pretty obsessed with the idea of me joining."
"We watched some of your performances on YouTube," Trent admitted with a conspiratorial glance over his shoulders. "You were incredible."
Kurt could feel himself squirming under the intensely fond gaze of Blaine and the teasing expression on Trent's face. "Blaine. Uniform. Schedule. Please?"
Blaine nodded. "See you soon, Nixon," he said, nudging Trent's shoulder as he pulled Kurt along with him down the halls. "See? Not so bad."
Kurt hummed but one good experience didn't negate the possibility of a hundred bad ones. He'd had it at McKinley before. What seemed like a ceasefire one week turned into an almost all-out war of attacks the next. It was going to take a lot of time to heal deeply embedded fears like those.
It didn't seem to matter that Kurt shared most of his classes with Blaine, and the two that he didn't – French and History – were shared with Jeff and Trent. By the time lunchtime rolled around, he was barely able to focus on Blaine practically running into the lunch room and cradling him, his bag tossed somewhere under the table.
"Talk to me. Look at me. Shhh," Blaine cooed, his fingers running through Kurt's hair as he rocked back and forth. Dimly, Kurt thought it was kind of ridiculous to say talk and then hush, but he knew what Blaine was trying to get at, because he was so wracked by terror that he couldn't think or operate his limbs properly as they shook beyond his control. "What happened?" Blaine said, looking between Jeff and Trent.
"I don't know," Trent apologised, twisting a napkin between his fingers. "He just stopped responding and we had to get him out of the room but it was a bit of an effort."
Nick walked over with a tray of food for him and Jeff, sitting opposite Blaine who was struggling to maintain his composure when the feelings belonging to Kurt were so overwhelming. Kurt's eyes timidly met Nick's through Blaine's arms, and something about the intrigued, curious look on Nick's face registered clearer in his mind than the words Blaine was saying in an attempt to calm him.
"You have classes with him the rest of the afternoon, yeah?" Nick asked, maintaining his eye-contact with Kurt as Jeff stole some of the food off the tray in front of him.
Blaine nodded, dropping his head down to press kisses to the top of Kurt's hair.
"Stay with him. Leave the classrooms later than everyone else, or ask to be let go a few minutes early so you can avoid the crush of the crowds. There are too many people and he's not handling it well." Nick's eyebrow raised at Kurt. "Are you?"
Kurt shook his head the tiniest bit, cuddling tighter into Blaine's body as he began to regain control over his breathing and shaking. Moving around the halls with or without Blaine had been torture. There were so many people touching him. They'd all been harmless, but he was waiting, just waiting, for someone to catch him off-guard and hurl him into a wall the way Karofsky or Azimio used to do. The prospect of getting to classes without shoving through the current of other boys sounded like a blessing, an option he didn't even consider was available to him until Nick had offered it.
By the end of lunch, he had managed to eat half a slice of pizza and an apple that David had gotten for him. Blaine was watching him with concern but he did feel better, even though he still wasn't participating in the discussions that flew back and forth between the Warbler boys that were sitting with them. The bell rang and Kurt jumped, the buzz of anxiety starting up again.
"Hey now, don't do that," Nick said, handing his tray to Jeff to dispose of and tilting his head to meet Kurt's eyes. "I'll wait here with you and Blaine. We have English together, did you know? So what if we're a little late? Markham's won't mind."
Kurt's smile was weak as Blaine wrapped an arm around his shoulders to hold Kurt into his side. When the bustle of bodies beyond the lunch hall abated, Blaine coaxed him to his feet while Nick chattered about the texts they'd studied so far and where they were up to in studying Lord of the Flies. Blaine was smiling gratefully as Nick continued to babble, skipping around them in dramatic representations of Ralph, Piggy and Jack's arguments. Kurt almost forgot why he was even anxious as they entered the classroom.
"Ahh, at last a chance to meet Mister Anderson's mate." Kurt assumed it was Markham's, a female teacher in her forties who had apparently decided to wear the most hideous skirt Kurt had ever seen. "Welcome and take a seat. I'll find you a book and some of the notes to catch up on."
There were three seats left, seated together on the other side of the room. Kurt figured it had to be deliberate but couldn't quite grasp that the other Dalton boys had done so to be considerate and keep the mates together. It seemed, to Kurt, such a ridiculous notion that others were going out of their way to be supportive.
The rest of the day passed in a similar manner. Blaine would stay with Kurt until the rush of students began to die down and together they'd walk to class. It was far from ideal, and certainly not a solution that could be maintained indefinitely, but for now, Kurt's anxiety wasn't as out-of-control as it had been that morning.
"You survived."
Kurt rolled his eyes at Blaine as he hung up his blazer and grabbed at his pyjamas. "Congratulations to me for having multiple meltdowns though. Hurray. Day is over. One down, a hundred more to go."
"Hey." Blaine frowned as he hopped off the bed and pressed his hands into Kurt's waist. "Don't be negative about this. I know how hard it was for you to face that. I know how tempting it can be to throw it all in and want to be home-schooled, but you kept your head high and made it to all your classes except the first one because we were sorting everything out." His thumbs pressed into the softness of Kurt's hipbones. "That's something to be proud of, not beat yourself up over."
"What if I can't get over it though? What if-" Kurt swallowed roughly as his voice cracked, tears shimmering in his eyes. "What if he broke me and I'm going to live in fear forever now?"
Blaine shook his head, moving his hands to cup Kurt's face and hold it steady so he could stare into Kurt's eyes. "You won't. I won't let you. What Karofsky did to you… It's so rare. It's so unusual. It's not going to happen here and it's unlikely to happen again. Assaults on marked people… Well, it usually leads to their deaths by the mate."
"Blaine."
"What? It does!" Blaine shrugged, tilting Kurt's face so he could kiss Kurt's forehead. "But I realise you don't want me to leave him in a pile of bloodied limbs so I will respect that and choose to reassure you that it's going to be okay."
Kurt sighed, his eyes blurring as Blaine's forehead rested against his own. "Do you think if I hadn't mated, it would still have happened?"
Blaine's posture stiffened and Kurt wanted to take back the words he'd said. He didn't blame Blaine. He didn't resent him. It wasn't his fault this had happened.
"I don't know," Blaine said finally, kissing Kurt's nose. "I don't know him. I don't know what he is capable of, or what he could have done. But you know what? I also don't want to think about it, and I'm glad neither of us had to find out, because whatever might have happened, if you'd been alone – without a mate – it could have created a lot more problems that it already has."
"Like what?"
Blaine pulled back, turning away to look out the window. "I can't speak for you. I know you well but it's a what if that doesn't have an answer, that doesn't need an answer. I can only speak from experience that I've seen it happen and it's not something I like to think of my mate dealing with, alright?"
Kurt glanced down at his pyjamas and dropped them on the bed, walking over to Blaine and sliding his arms around Blaine's waist, his chin hooking over Blaine's shoulder to look out the window too. "I'm sorry. Sometimes I just-"
"I know, I know, I get it," Blaine said, quiet but firm. "It'll take time. I respect that. I'm not going to push you. I'm not able to push you. But the idea of you being hurt like that…I can't even think about it."
"Okay," Kurt murmured, far from being done with the questions but knowing that Blaine was drawing a line in what he could handle and realising that if he needed answers, maybe Kurt had to ask someone else. "I love you?"
Blaine twisted in his arms, a playful smile on his face even though there were glistening tear tracks on his cheeks. "Why is that a question?"
"Because I wasn't sure what to say?"
Blaine's lips lightly touched Kurt's, chaste and undemanding. "Telling me you love me is never a bad thing to say."
"So even if we're like, ripping each other's limbs off in frustration, I could shout 'I love you' and it would make it all okay?"
Blaine nosed at Kurt's jaw until his tongue could lick over the marking behind his ear. "You really like dealing in hypotheticals, don't you baby?"
Kurt's fingers tightened into the fabric at the small of Blaine's back. "What if I stopped posing possibilities and we took all our clothes off and had sex like I was thinking of doing this morning in front of Trent?"
Blaine paused and then erupted into laughter, pulling back for a moment to catch his breath and then dissolving into giggles again.
"What did I say this time?" Kurt pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I knew I felt a spark of arousal and desire. I knew it," Blaine explained, trying to keep a straight face. "And I started thinking of the look on Trent's face and how he'd probably want to join in instead of be horrified, as you probably would hope."
Kurt pulled a face. "He wouldn't really."
"Kurt, honey." Blaine stifled a snort at the look that was apparently on his face. "Trent's been chasing me since I transferred to Dalton. Maybe he thought I'd change my mind and mate with him."
Kurt felt a surge of territorialism tingle through his veins, mixed in with a suitable dose of fear. What if Trent hurt Blaine? What if Trent attacked Blaine like Karofsky had attacked him? What if Trent attacked him as a means to get to Blaine?
"Kurt." Blaine shook his shoulders. "Trent…oh God, Kurt. Trent's animal is a mouse, okay? Rather than be scared the first time he exhibited signs around me, I burst into laughter and he ran away in tears. It was really quite embarrassing for both of us." Blaine's lips twitched at the memory. "He's as harmless as a fly and he told me on the Monday when I was here that as much as it pained him that I hadn't returned his feelings, he just wanted me to be happy and content with my mate. He's not a threat."
Kurt blinked, carefully considering what Blaine had just told him. "Hold on, a mouse?"
Blaine started laughing again and Kurt heard his own helpless giggles spill from his lips.
When they'd calmed down, Blaine's arms wrapped around Kurt's neck. "I love you," Blaine said, his cheek rubbing gently against Kurt's. "I love you so much."
In response, Kurt purred softly into Blaine's ear.
"Why is that such a turn-on?" Blaine muttered, his fingers drifting down Kurt's back, over his hips and then to his chest, where he swiftly unbuttoned Kurt's shirt. "I don't understand it."
Smiling delightedly, Kurt purred louder until Blaine shifted him to the bed and he squealed as he fell onto the mattress, screeching at Blaine to get off, oh no, please, stop, tickles, help, oh God, but Blaine was damned relentless in his tickling and pinching of Kurt's sides until Kurt managed to get enough leverage between them to shove Blaine off him. He could see Blaine was hard in his slacks, knew that even though the tickling kind of hurt, Blaine's hands on his skin was better than anything else.
He wriggled out of his own slacks, discarding them by the bed as he crawled on top of Blaine's body. Blaine hummed in approval, his fingers skimming over the soft expanse of Kurt's skin and leaving trails of warmth and chilled goosebumps rising to the surface.
"I'm in too many clothes," Blaine complained suddenly. Kurt wholeheartedly agreed, helping Blaine out of his clothes until they were both naked and Kurt was laying against Blaine, his tail wrapping around Blaine's wrist while he listened to the steady pound of Blaine's heart beneath his ear. "I love you."
Kurt kissed Blaine's chest as he sat back up again, letting their erections slide together against Blaine's stomach absently. "I love you too."
"So I'm just gonna…" Blaine wrapped his arms and legs around Kurt and rolled, flipping them over as Kurt shrieked in surprise. "Much better," Blaine nodded, kissing Kurt as he encouraged Kurt to bend his knees and raise his hips. "So beautiful."
Kurt could feel the flush in his cheeks, could see the pink of his skin in the light of the bedroom, but his inhibitions were fading as Blaine's fingers began to slide within him, warm and soothing, pleasure-pain building until he was pleading with Blaine for more.
"Shhh," Blaine hushed, one hand splayed across Kurt's lower back while the other guided his cock to Kurt's entrance. Their simultaneous breaths of relief as he slid in, deep and smooth, made Blaine seriously reconsider exactly why he had to attend school when he could just spend his days having sex with Kurt.
Kurt whimpered a little, rolling his hips as he adjusted, and between Blaine's wet but sinfully good kisses and the steady slip-slide of Blaine's damp skin against his, he soon forgot about the anxiety of the day, of everything else that could go wrong, as he lost himself in Blaine's eyes, Blaine's kisses, Blaine's touches.
When Blaine's hand wrapped loosely around his cock, his tongue teasing at Kurt's mark, it felt like a fire had erupted beneath his skin. "S-shit Blaine, I'm…God, c-close, I-"
"I've got you," Blaine promised, his mouth moving lower to suck a hickey into Kurt's throat. "I've got you, baby."
He alternatively purred and whined, his back arching as he sought more even though he felt like he was going to snap into pieces at any moment.
Surprisingly, he felt Blaine come moments before he did, Blaine's mouth covering his in a messy, desperate kiss as the tremors of pleasure burned along his nerves.
"I love you," Blaine whispered, again and again between kisses and licks over his neck, his mark, his face.
Kurt stretched out his limbs as Blaine relaxed into his chest, ignoring the mess in favour of the more pressing urge to cuddle. "I love you too."
His chest rumbling in contentment, Blaine's fingers found his. When Blaine's body had settled, he slid free of Kurt's body and cuddled him close as they drifted off to sleep.
A/N: Well at least it didn't take a month this time! *lamely fist-bumps self*
I hope Kurt's first day seemed acceptable and believable, and you laughed as much as I did over Trent being a mouse. Next chapter has their first real argument and a little bit of delving into Nick, because I have a problem with liking Nick more than is normal (probably due to my adoration for Curt which increased exponentially after he RT'd me, who knows).
I've hit a minor roadblock in writing out chapter fifteen, but I figure I can probably afford to put this up because I'm frustrated with myself at the moment and maybe in the morning my inbox will be filled with lovely encouragement...hinthint.
Thank you for supporting my forays with this strange story and I shall see you all next chapter! (I hope you'll be back next chapter?)