AN: this is part of a personal challenge/project filling all the prompts of past Kadam weeks, and posting one every day from March 28 to May 8th, 7 prompts per year 5 previous rounds (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 last two managed by vcg73) the first week of May 2-8 will present to you the offering for the Kadam Week 2021 you can search for more on tumblr.
Welcome to Kadam Week 2021, prompts gently provided by vcg73
day 2: Differing Tastes
Adam had never been a confrontational guy, in fact he had always tried to stay as far away from conflicts as possible.
If something was not of his liking, or too much, he mastered the art of quietly walk away and not let things bother him too much.
All in all he had always thought of himself as a rather patient and quite zen person. That was until he had to reconsider all he knew about himself.
What he had always seen as perfectly strategical retreats, now that the option was no longer available, started to look more like avoidance...
Which all in all it wasn't something that bad per se... It was more the frustration of not really having other choices left.
Point was, even when they started living together, Kurt and he didn't have that much overlapping free time. Their schedules had always been slightly out of sync, giving both of them plenty of time to keep up the habits they had when they were living alone.
Adam himself had been more often than not out the house, between his two jobs and auditions. And Kurt had school and his job at Vogue, where he had gotten full employee status, with the much needed raise that allowed him to stop working at the diner constantly.
All things considered it was not so surprising that for the almost ten months they had lived together the issue hadn't come up before.
The problem was that with Adam landing a role, neither had expected just how much of his time would be freed, time he was going to need to work on his own.
Any other day he could have just walked out and stayed at the theatre. Which he did in the past, and on some days he preferred that choice, because then he could work out not only on the memorising but also on his cues, or getting more comfortable with the acoustic.
The problem however was that for the next couple of weeks the theatre was going to be the domain of the technical team, transforming the bare stage into the brand new world Adam and the rest of the cast would move around.
It wasn't even the fact that the music was a disturbance on itself, even if he was starting to wish for some quiet, as more and more he found himself distracted listening in rather than concentrating on his own work.
Adam used to think that he was pretty good at tuning down the distractions, and maybe if it hadn't been just that single song being played on an infinite repetitive loop, maybe then he could have managed.
Though something deep down in his mind was quickly starting to believe that wouldn't be the case, no matter how much Adam wished for it.
No, what he found as the most distracting factor was that Kurt sang and hummed along with the song.
And not even always on the same point, so there was this infinite repeat of the base song peppered up with snippets of Kurt's voice, that sounded like he was trying to memorise it through repetition.
It wasn't that he didn't love listening to his boyfriend's voice, on the contrary, he adored hearing Kurt sing.
But in that moment he had work to do, and it was more a matter that his frustration was mounting and he couldn't even leave the house.
Well, technically he could, but he had no access to other places where to go and try out lines that were inside, and with the rain pouring outside, other than make it a very cold and damp day to attempt to stay in a park, it was just an invitation to get sick going out in such weather for no good unavoidable reason.
Checking the clock once more Adam saw it was hastily approaching the third hour straight, and what by now Adam was sure it was past the fiftieth time the song played.
Yet Kurt was giving no signs of being done anytime soon.
Adam on the other hand was past done.
He walked to what was their studio slash sewing room, where Kurt was currently residing and knocked three times, without an answer.
Going against every notion of politeness he had been raised with, he opened the door, made a beeline to the stereo and turned it off without saying a single word.
Kurt looked up surprised and asked quite shocked "What?"
Adam tensed up, the moment of silence had been a blessing that got interrupted too soon.
He found himself almost shaking as he hissed between his clenched teeth "If you pop on that song one more time, I'll end up doing something we'd both regret. So please, stop it."
In a way, knowing at least some of the 'friends' that Kurt used to have, should have prepared Adam that any disagreement between them would have needed to be handled with probably more care or at least a cleared head than he did.
In his defence though, Adam really thought that Kurt wouldn't have had the habit to keep a single song in a repeat loop for literally hours. Not when his repertoire was so vast and diverse.
A single look at Kurt was all it took for Adam to see how clearly pissed off his boyfriend was when he replied "The heck are you talking about? I haven't done anything out of the ordinary."
Adam released a frustrated breath "It's been hours, literally three damn hours of that song playing in constant repeat loop and you randomly singing along with it"
Kurt passed in a flash from mad to briefly hurt before assuming a defensive stance Adam recognised all too well…
After all, he had been there, around Kurt's supposed friends enough times to see it appearing.
He had also always been there to pick up all the pieces afterwards.
Having his boyfriend react that way with him, in their home, hurt, badly.
And he knew, right there and then, that they were both handling this situation badly. So he kept his lips pressed into a thin line, refraining from saying anything until he had allowed Kurt to say his piece of mind.
"I didn't know my voice would be so annoying to you, could have fooled me… Fine, I'll shut up, now could you please go? I'd rather not fight anymore and I need to be alone now, don't worry you won't hear another peep from me."
Any other moment Adam would have been more than willing to allow Kurt the space he needed.
However, on this particular occasion, leaving was exactly the worst thing he could do, because either Kurt had not understood what he meant, or Adam himself had not been clear enough, leaving half of his thoughts in his mind. Either options were equally possible.
Kurt was standing in front of his sewing machine, rigid as a statue, his defences up.
Adam moved from the stereo to the door, grateful for the first time that it opened toward the inside of the room.
Once he was standing in front of the door, he turned and leaned on it, keeping his hands behind his back resting on them. Adam took a deep breath forcing his own tense body to relax.
Looking up at Kurt, who now had his lips pressed and his arm crossed defensively at his chest, Adam let out another soft sigh and licked his lips "Kurt it's not your voice, if anything that was the only delightful part of that torture."
Kurt snorted immovable "That's not what I've heard you saying"
Adam offered a small scoff "Love what I've said and what you've heard are two different things. And no I cannot get out of here letting you think what you heard is correct. Not when it's miles and miles away from what I was saying, or at least what I was trying to say."
And for the first time, looking at the doubts crossing Kurt's face was a sight Adam never knew he would come to rejoice in seeing.
Kurt slowly unclenched his arms and took a small step toward Adam, just enough to step behind the chair he had been sitting before, his hands holding on its back.
While both Kurt's and Adam's own position were not exactly mirroring each other, their stance was open enough that it gave Adam some hope, even more when Kurt finally asked concisely "Then what were you trying to say?"
Adam could see the refrain it took Kurt to not launching another attack, after all Adam had seen 'friendly sharing of opinions' that in his view of the world looked and sounded more like full blown fights.
At least he was being given the benefit of the doubt, and not considered directly hostile anymore. It was progress…
Adam pondered on how to answer that without raising again all of Kurt's defences.
"I never expected how landing a role would allow me to be more at home than I had before. Nor how much more of our time at home, would be time during which we both have things we need to do."
Kurt nodded with a small frown, one that Adam couldn't really fault him. This far Adam had tried to not be invasive and allowed his boyfriend to keep going on as usual, and that was all on Adam himself.
"I know now this is on me, I didn't want to be a bother and disrupt what must have been solid habits for you. If that was what you needed for school, I certainly didn't want to risk messing that up for you. What I had not considered, was that the way I've dealt with it, might not be always possible..."
He saw the moment when his words started to sink in and Kurt's frown deepened, his lips parting surprised "Wait, you mean the past few weeks you went to the theatre even if you didn't have to?"
Adam looked down, feeling a little ashamed, said it like that, it sounded more like he was avoiding to be with his boyfriend, while in his intention it was more like letting Kurt keeping his safe space to study.
He nodded while adding softly "That was the final result yes, but not because I didn't want to be with you, I just didn't want to disturb you"
Looking up he was surprised that Kurt took few steps toward him, releasing and leaving behind the chair he was holding on "And you kept trying to do that even when I was the one disturbing you while you were trying to prepare for work..."
Adam bit his lower lip, then looked into Kurt's eyes saying sincerely "I wasn't disturbed by your voice."
Kurt took an almost exasperated look and huffed out a breath, that still managed to sound fond, "Ok, it was not my voice that disturbed you, but clearly we wouldn't be here if everything was fine, so what was wrong? The song? The volume? Me singing on top of the song only in certain points?"
Adam offered a small smile in return "The fact that you played that one single song in a loop. I didn't expect that from you, and it's not a bad thing per se. But I find it too distracting, because it registers into my mind as an attempt to master it, which then means I need to listen to it to find out where is the thing that sounds wrong so it could be fixed..."
Kurt closed the remaining distance between them standing right in front of Adam "And your natural inclination of wanting to help first everyone else but yourself worked against you, because then you were focusing on it and not on what you needed to do. The situation had probably not been helped by the fact that it went on for further than the two consecutive hours vocal sessions are suggested to last, at their longest. It must have driven you up the wall…"
Adam nodded, the last bit of tension finally starting to leave his frame
"I guess it did a little, yeah, and then I didn't know how to come in here and ask, so I simply kept waiting and hoping you'd be done soon."
Kurt hummed softly, his body as well more relaxed than it was since the moment Adam had walked inside the room "And when I didn't you came in. And here we are."
Adam gave a short nod but quipped "On my defence, I did knock before coming in, three times and you didn't answer"
Kurt shook his head with a fond smile on his face "You don't have to knock in our home luv, I had the door closed hoping the noise I was bound to make wouldn't be too much, I didn't want to disturb you while you were working for your role. Usually when I'm home alone I leave the door open"
Adam was surprised by this new piece of information. "I didn't notice that"
Kurt nodded and smiled softly "That's because usually I try to be done before you return home, or at least to have reached a point where it's fine to stop at a moment notice so that when I hear the keys on the door I can set everything aside. I just wanted to make sure that we could have time together, especially when our schedules kept us apart."
Adam nodded and stepped away from the door to stand right in front of Kurt "Would it be ok with you to use the headphones if you have to keep a song in a repeat loop?"
Kurt raised a hand to caress Adam's cheek "Are you sure that me randomly singing snipped of the same song until I'm done wouldn't be just as disturbing?"
Adam turned his head and placed a kiss on the palm of Kurt's hand answering honestly "No, I am not sure, I don't know if I'd end up being just as distracted or frustrated in that scenario. I am just assuming, that I wouldn't register it in such a much different way than rehearsing with other actors on stage, while we each work on different pieces. If I'm mistaken can I come and say something then?"
Kurt rested his forehead against Adam's and nuzzled the tip of their noses together "You can come and talk to me anytime. Next time please come talk to me before you feel this way."
Kurt then closed his eyes taking a ragged breath before letting the words coming out as raw as the thoughts that generated them were " I - I'm not good with confrontations. I know I take things too personally. And I know, I do know you are not like them. It's just, at times it's so difficult to remember that. And I never seen you so short tempered before. Not that I want you to be cross with me, but don't let me push you so hard and so past your lines in the sands that I lose you, I don't think I could stand that"
Adam raised his hands to cradle Kurt's face in them and pressed a small loving kiss on Kurt's lips before closing his own eyes. Without moving he said softly "I am not going to walk away from you without a fight. But I prefer avoid confrontation myself, so please still check from time to time? Let us give the chance to learn how to push and pull just enough that neither of us reaches the point of feeling it's too much to bear"
Kurt nodded and then with a smile he placed a small kiss on the tip of Adam's nose before booping it gently "Now I am going to find myself a pair of headphones to take in here and then start on preparing lunch, while you get back to work until the food is ready and we take a break before getting back to work. How does that sound?"
Adam smiled and tilted his head up so he could leave a kiss on the finger still resting on his nose "I love that plan."