An: And... the date starts.

Chapter 7

Witch's castle looked hardly welcoming. It was built from a material resembling a black glass, with spiky towers on top of smooth walls. Blaine didn't know how anyone would choose to live in such a gloomy place, especially after seeing Kurt's great taste first hand.

Blaine looked once again at the drawn map at the bottom of the reply to his letter. The neat writing described that the temporary entrance to the courtyard – they didn't want to risk using the main gate – should be around here. He checked if his small dagger is safely tucked behind his belt underneath the finely embedded vest. He didn't tell Rory about bringing a blade with him, but he needed something with him just in case.

After few further steps he found the small door. Its texture weren't different from the surrounding wall, but he could see the outline and subtle hinges. Blaine moved his hand to knock and stopped for a moment. This is it. It could be a trap. If Rory was wrong I could be now killed by the Witch or maybe Kurt himself.

He knocked three times.

Before he stepped back to wait, the door opened and Blaine got forcefully dragged inside. The opening closed behind him with a quiet click while the boy found his arms full of Kurt.

"I'm so glad you came." whispered the witchling before pressing a soft kiss on Blaine's cheek. His hands were distractingly busy stroking boy's chest. "You seemed so upset the last time... But then you wrote to me..."

Blaine allowed himself to enjoy the closeness of the slender pale beauty, before Kurt took a step back to give him some space. The shorter boy finally had a chance to properly look at the witchling since their first meeting. Kurt looked ever more stunning than before. Lavender moonlight brought out a shine of his skin and saturated colour in his eyes. He wore a white shirt that was made of gauzy, translucent fabric. Its neckline was wide, revealing the shoulders. On Kurt's neck was draped a huge teal shawl that was partially falling on his chest and on top of it sparkled the golden pendant. Blaine reached out and touched it lightly.

"You wear it?"

"Of course."smiled Kurt. "I don't really get what this 'Christmas' is about, but if it involves gifts from you then it is from now on my favourite holiday." He hooked his arm on Blaine's and lead them into the garden. "I have a surprise for you in my personal East Garden. I thought it would be a shame to spend such a beautiful night inside and... what happened?" he asked worriedly, seeing the shorter boy's horrified expression. His realized where they were at the moment. "Oh. Oh no..." To get into the East Garden they had to go through the Inner Garden decorated in stone statues of Narnians. "I'm sorry. I didn't thought..."

Blaine shook his head with a weak smile. "It's alright. I'll just try not to look at it too much".

He knew of course they would need to go past the figures. It was for that reason Rory suggested an outside venue for a date to Kurt – just so they wouldn't miss Will. However, it was still a shock to see the Narnians captured in the movement, most of them with fear on their faces. There were quite a few dynamic figures crouching , as if readying themselves for an attack and few kneeling with clasped hands – probably asking for pity. Unsuccessfully.

"What is that?" asked Blaine seeing on their way a tall construction of slender, white ionic columns without any ceiling, making it look like unfinished Greek temple. They were encircling few more statues like prison bars, but they were too densely laid out to make out what exactly were these figures. The boy curiously stepped towards it, but got stopped by Kurt.

"Don't go there. It's just more turned Narnians inside." The witchling surprised Blaine with the sudden tremble in his voice. Pale fingers clamped onto Blaine's coat sleeve. "Let's just go. I don't like this place much either."

Blaine wanted to ask thousands of questions. Why don't you want to see them in particular? Were you the one who changed them? Why do you live in such a place? Do we have to hide so much from each other? Instead he just said "Of course. Let's go."

They turned away from the ominous sight. Blaine looked around searching for Will. It wasn't very difficult – the giant stood out despite being turned in a kneeling position. According to Rory the last part was hidden in the pouch, which was there as well, hanging from Will's shoulder.

Here we go, thought Blaine, As much as I always wanted to be an actor, I didn't expect this as my first test...

"I can't believe it!" he cried, eyes widening "What is he doing here?!"

"Who?" Kurt looked around confused to find what got Blaine's attention.

"Will. That son of a..." the curly-haired boy was sure his angry expression was perfect. "Oh. I'm sorry, Kurt. It's just... " he trailed his voice a bit. Was it too much?

"What? Did he do something to you?" asked sharply Kurt. He looked ready to worsen the giant's fate even more. Good. It works.

"Oh, this bastard stole something precious of mine and now I see I'll never get it back...And it was a family heirloom... My gram would be so upset..." Blaine wondered if they had Oscars in Narnia, because he surely deserved one right now with all the sadness pouring from his voice. If only he could feel happy about his performance...

"Can't you get it back from his house somehow?"

Blaine shook his head with resignation. "The last time I saw him with it he was putting it in his bag." he pointed the stony pouch. "But it's a stone now. I guess I'll have to forget about getting it back..."

Kurt bit his lips staring at those glassy hazel eyes. He knew he shouldn't. His mother would be beyond angry... but there was that boy standing here, who made him feel all those emotions unknown before.

"I probably could help you." He whispered, tapping his fingers shyly on Blaine's arm "I can't change him whole back or do it permanently, but I could change the pouch to find... your precious thing." Kurt's heart started beating faster seeing how his guest's handsome face lit up with hope.

"Are you sure, Kurt? I don't want to get you into trouble." and Blaine truly meant that one, mission forgotten for a second.

"Well... Neither of us is going to tell my mother, so it should be fine. I'll just jump up there, change the pouch, take out your treasure and everything will be back as it was." Kurt actually was a bit excited. It's been awhile since he did something to disobey Jadis and it felt good. "Just tell me what am I looking for there."

Blaine didn't expect to not be the one getting the missing mouthpiece, but went along with it. "A... metal whistle?" it looks a bit like one, right? He didn't know if Kurt was aware of Susan's Horn's existence, but hoped he wouldn't guess it's something related to the Resistance.

"Great. One whistle coming right up." Kurt grinned, showing teeth. He analyzed quickly the giant – he was kneeling on one knee, the other one covered with a hand. Kurt climbed on the huge boot, which fortunately was loose and full of wrinkles making great foot supports. Blaine was observing him from below, admiring Kurt's great form and those legs. The witchling apparently had an affinity for tightly fitting pants which looked even better from Blaine's current perspective.

Meanwhile Kurt got to the giants waist, were was hanging the enormous pouch. He took out his bottle of magic, filled to the brim with emerald liquid. Kurt poured it on the pouch, which soon started to soften and gain a leathery texture. When the transformation was complete, the witchling slipped his hand into the bag's opening and rummaged for a bit until finding a smooth and cold object shaped like a funnel. He took it and waved it at Blaine.

"Is that it?"

Blaine has never seen the whole Horn before, but he's seen quite a lot of hunting instruments and it looked like what he was looking for, so he nodded vigorously.

Kurt's smile widened. He tucked the mouthpiece at his pant's belt together with the already empty bottle. It was fortunate the part was found so quickly, as the pouch slowly began to harden and loose it's brown colour. Kurt was wondering how many centuries it would take him to gain as much magic power as his mother to easily transform objects for infinite amount of time. The witchling made his way down towards his guest. When he reached the end of giant's boot he curled his lips mischievously and jumped into startled Blaine. The shorter boy gasped at the sudden sweet weight and barely managed not to fall back. His hands instinctively supported Kurt's thighs and spun him around before gently putting down.

"Wow" breathed Kurt. "I thought I would tackle you, but you are stronger than I suspected after our little duel."

"It was dark then and you were using some magic on me." pouted Blaine "It's good you recognized me early enough."

"Very good, indeed." Kurt handed the small metal object to Blaine "Care to double check if that's yours?"

The mouthpiece was made out of a bright, almost white, metal and covered with delicate golden leaf design. It certainly looked like a blowing horn's part. The size matched too. Blaine with a smile put it in his vest pocket and patted it lightly through the fabric. "Yes, this is it... Thank you so much Kurt. It means a lot to me!" In a flash of courage he took Kurt's hand in his. "It seems Lady Luck is with me when you are around."

The witchling blushed deliciously. The red hue got even on the shoulders and Blaine had to control himself really hard to not tug on the teal shawl to see just how far down it went. "One more reason for me to be near you."

Kurt tightened his hold on Blaine's hand and gently led him down the path, towards the East Garden. "Let's go. The night's just started."

Next chapter: Pillows and pleasures - yep, what says on the tin:P