I know I've already thanked everyone for reviewing, but I want to do so again. You've all said such amazing things so far, and I'm very grateful for your kind words. It really makes it much easier to be motivated to write.
Star Consort - Chapter Five
"Well, what do you think?"
Kurt made a face, clearly uncomfortable. "Oh, my. I didn't think it would be this difficult acclimatizing you to 2011 fashions."
Kasha looked down at her ensemble and frowned, clearly lost. What she had tried on matched, and suited both her completion and shape. In fact Kasha thought that she looked pretty good. She didn't know what had disturbed Kurt. "Maybe I should stick with something classic, and leave the big trends for another trip."
Kurt blushed, guiltily. "I'm sorry, mom. You just got back, and instead of being grateful I'm haranguing you for not knowing what not to wear."
Kasha smiled and gave Kurt a comforting hug. "Oh sweetie. This isn't nearly as humiliating as when you did it when you were five."
Kurt laughed. "Was it really that bad? I just remember being so proud because I was 'helping mommy'."
"You did," Kasha assured him. "I just wish I'd had you around in the 80s." They both laughed again, and Kasha twirled around. "So what is it? The hemline? The A-line? I know they still wear skirts in the twenty-first century."
Kurt chuckled, but the more he looked, the more confused and lost he got. "I think-"
Kasha raised an eyebrow when he didn't continue. She'd never known him to be reticent. "Suddenly shy, Kurtling?"
Kurt looked up at her, and he seemed to be embarrassed. "You look amazing. I think the problem may be with me. You don't look like you look in my head anymore."
"Oh." She turned to look at herself in the mirror. She didn't think that she looked that different. New clothes and hair yes, but that was nothing. Wasn't it? It occurred to Kasha that while it might be a simple makeover from her perspective, after ten years- "This must look like putting a miniskirt on the Mona Lisa from your perspective."
"I should be ashamed of myself. I call myself a fashionista."
The comment was a joke, but Kasha felt herself growing sad nonetheless. "Kurt I know this didn't turn out like you'd hoped-"
"-Mom-"
"It's okay," she assured him. "It's perfectly normal for you to wish things were back the way they were. You don't need to apologize for being human and having human feelings."
"I just- I don't want you to feel like I'm disappointed in you," Kurt told her. "I really am grateful that you're back."
Kasha hugged him. "So am I. And I still need your fashion sense far more than you need mine, so that's one thing that hasn't changed."
"Kurt. Kasha. It's nice to see you." Kasha and Kurt looked over to see Jute walking up to them. Kasha was surprised to see the Sateen President's grandson in Lima of all places.
"[Prince Jute. It's good to see you,]" Kasha told him.
"Just Jute while I'm here, please," he replied. He gave Kurt a teasing smile. "I'm incognito here, and it would feel awkward being fawned over knowing it's you and Kurt everyone should be deferring to."
"And what brings you to Lima, Jute?"
Jute's brow crinkled a little. "I'm courting Kurt. He didn't tell you?"
Kasha raised her brow as she turned to her son. Granted, the last few days had been rather busy, so she couldn't be too angry at Kurt. She COULD be a little put out, however. "No. He neglected to mention that."
Kurt blushed and lowered his eyes. "I'm trying to bring you up to speed slowly. Jute hoping he'll marry me one day is not slow."
"Point taken," Kasha said, as she lowered her hackles.
Jute was blushing too, though. "I'm really not working that far ahead. Kurt isn't an adult here, yet. I don't want to push."
"And let's hope you remain not pushing," Kasha smiled, with that playful dangerousness she'd inherited from her mother. "I like you Jute, and I don't want to have you erased if you hurt my son."
Kurt winced, imagining Sateen's worst fate befalling Jute: to be literally stripped back down to being a baby. Such a thing was usually reserved only for serious criminals like those trying to subvert the normal Element Standard transitions by attacking a bearer or heir outside of a formal setting. "She wouldn't really have you erased."
"Of course not," Kasha agreed, though she sounded mostly unconvincing.
"Good god," Kurt laughed. "You and dad are a perfect bloodthirsty pair, you know that."
Kasha froze for a moment. Then she continued, hoping to sound perfectly conversational when she added, "I hope your father continues to think so."
Kurt winced. Jute leaned in behind Kasha and noted, "Really, the reason being calm like that isn't convincing is because it's impossible for people to believe that you don't have an opinion on such things."
Kasha rolled her eyes, all previous angst forgotten. "I'll keep that in mind while you're despoiling my son, Jute." THAT sounded conversational, and much more playful than her earlier threat.
"How do you know I'm not the one 'despoiling' Jute?" Kurt asked, trying not to sound offended..
"You're my son," Kasha replied. "It makes no difference to me which position you take, HE'S still despoiling YOU."
"I suppose one can't argue with logic like that," Jute admitted.
Kasha smiled at him. "Let's grab lunch, and you can explain your intentions in further detail."
Kurt went white at that. "He's courting me. What he intends to do to me beyond that is something I don't really want my mother knowing about."
"Of course, darling." It was really good to be back.
Rachel knew that she was risking the wrath of Kurt, but she couldn't help herself. She'd asked her dads about this 'Sateen' that Finn said Kurt was from (after swearing them both to secrecy) but neither of them had heard of it. So she'd taken to her computer to find answers.
After all, she promised Finn she wouldn't tell anyone about the information she had. She never said that she wouldn't try looking for more.
Her search wasn't going very well though. Google had over five million results, most of which were about fabric. Facebook had a lot of people named Sateen but as with Google none of them were places. She even looked up names of countries on Wikipedia in case Finn had somehow mangled the real name of Kurt's homeland. But there was nothing even close.
So there were basically two options. Either Finn had no idea where he'd gone this summer, or Finn had lied to her.
"[Mr. President.]"
Aramid looked up from his desk in the Presidential Palace. "[Captain. Come in, please.]"
The Captain of the Presidential guards entered Aramid's office, though he remained at attention in front of the President's desk. "[Your message said it was urgent, and completely confidential.]" Captain Rush hadn't liked the sound of it.
He was apparently right to feel thusly. "[I'm afraid it's becoming necessary to meddle in the life of Prince Kurt-Hummel, water. Again.]" Aramid took notice of the way Rush's shoulders drooped a little at that. "[My apologies.]"
"[It is my duty to obey your orders]," Rush told him, breezing through his disappointment. "[No matter how much I wish they weren't necessary. Shall I seek out another group of Earthen reprobates?]"
"[No,]" Aramid told him. "[The Water Standard Bearer will have her own people going over this attack. I want as little evidence left behind as possible. And no loose ends.]"
Well, that sounded just awful. But Rush revealed none of his reluctance. And he never would. "[As you wish, Mr. President. What do you want of me?]"
Kurt was sitting in his backyard when Mercedes arrived. "Hey, boo. What's this?"
Mercedes sat down opposite Kurt, who had a child's tea party set up in front of him. Kurt looked up at her and smiled. He was happy as always to see her, but she could tell that he was nervous. "Hello, Mercedes. I went clothes shopping with my mom this afternoon. I guess I was feeling nostalgic."
"I remember you talking about doing this when you were a kid," Mercedes told him. "I never thought I'd actually see it."
Kurt looked down at the empty china cup in front of him. "When you were a kid, did you ever think that maybe your imagination wasn't enough? That you really wanted it to be real?"
Mercedes was confused by the random question. "I- I guess so. I don't really remember. Kurt, why are you asking me this?"
"It's time, 'Cedes," Kurt told her quietly. "Everything you wanted to know. This seemed like the best place to start."
Mercedes' eyes widened. "Okay. So how are we going to do this? I don't really know enough about what's going on to play question and answer."
"Which brings us to the tea party," Kurt replied. "This one, not that inappropriately named political movement." Kurt took the lid off the teapot, making a little show of spinning it upside down before he set it down and put on the lid. "Now tea is a little beyond my skill set. But I can manage a little by way of refreshments."
Kurt filled the cup in front of Mercedes with the teapot that had definitely not had water in it a second ago. There was a moment of stunned silence, then Mercedes quipped, "So that's the big secret. Your grandmother is Harry Houdini's widow?"
Kurt looked up at her, his emotions wavering between hysterical amusement and gaping disbelief. "My grandmother was born twenty years after Harry Houdini died."
"Has it really been that long?" Mercedes was amazed sometimes at the things Kurt had crammed into his head. Honestly, until that moment Mercedes hadn't even been completely sure Harry Houdini wasn't a fictional character.
"Mercedes, I'm trying to tell you something about myself that's incredibly personal. Please try to be serious."
"Sorry. So how did you do that?"
"It's-" Kurt inhaled nervously. "It's part of who I am. I move water, the way my mom does. The way my grandmother does, although they're both better at it than I am."
Mercedes couldn't possibly believe that. "Kurt, what are you talking about? You're trying to tell me you're a mutant or something?"
Kurt lowered his head again. "Alien, actually."
Okay, Kurt was clearly messing with her. Mercedes was actually a little annoyed. "Come on. Did Finn put you up to this?"
Kurt frowned at her, confused. "What?"
"Kurt, I know you've got a lot to deal with right now," Mercedes reminded him. "And I told you I'd wait until you were ready to talk about it. You don't have to be telling me all kinds of crazy stories in the mean time."
Kurt winced. "I know this sounds like a crazy story. But it's the truth. That's why they were able to save my mom. It's why Finn hasn't been able to tell you what happened this summer. And why I didn't tell you about Jute earlier."
"Jute." That's when it clicked. "So Jute's from outer space too? That's why Finn was so surprised when he showed up here."
Kurt nodded. "Going back and forth isn't that hard. But setting up on Earth for any length of time is a big deal. You need ID, money-"
"Kurt, I don't really care about how hard it is to get a work visa here!" Mercedes exclaimed.
Kurt jumped, startled. "Right. I'm getting off track. What do you want to know?"
Mercedes couldn't believe that Kurt was being so calm about this. "I can't believe you didn't tell me about this. No, never mind. I'm glad you didn't tell me about this."
Kurt's face paled. "What?"
In the back of her mind, Mercedes knew that she should feel badly that she was putting THAT look on her best friend's face. But she was completely freaked out. "I've always known you were different; even before you came out I knew you weren't like all the other guys. But I didn't mind, because I knew deep down that you were a good person."
"Mercedes-"
"I thought that no matter what else happened, deep down I knew who you were."
"You do," Kurt insisted. "I was born on Earth, I've spent most of my life in this little hick town. Except for the odd trip someplace else, you know everything there is to know about me."
Mercedes cut off Kurt's declaration. "Stop it! This isn't like you being gay, or not believing in God. I don't even know you!"
"I'm still the same person I've always been," Kurt declared.
"No, you're not!" Mercedes replied. "You're not a person at all!"
Kurt recoiled like he'd been slapped. "No."
Mercedes pulled her emotions back as far as she could. She couldn't get over how she felt, but this WAS still her friend. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I need to go, before I say something else I regret."
She headed for the back door of the house, and Kurt panicked. Bad enough that Mercedes was upset with him, he couldn't let her leave if she was going to tell everyone his secret. "Stop!"
Mercedes did stop; she literally couldn't get past the top step of the porch. She held out her hand and pressed, it was like pushing against a brick wall. "What is this?"
"Mercedes, I can't let you leave like this," Kurt told her frantically. "It's more than just my secret. It's my mom, and my dad. I need you to promise me you won't tell anyone where I came from. No matter how much you despise me."
"I will," Mercedes promised, her voice quaking. "Just- Just let me go. Please."
Kurt dropped his hand and shield, shocked to realize that Mercedes was actually afraid of him. As soon as she realized she could get back on the porch she ran.
Kurt ran after her. "Mercedes, wait."
But it had been too long a week. With Jute, his mom coming back, and now Mercedes rejecting him Kurt was completely exhausted.
It only took a half-glance into the kitchen as he passed it to be thrown into a full blown panic attack.
Mercedes was at full gallop and didn't see Kurt crumple to the ground.
Water materialized around him, shielding him as he tried to get his tumultuous emotions back under control. He'd put this behind him, he'd thought. He knew he wasn't responsible.
Blood on his hands. Blood he could make dance if he wanted to.
He wanted it off.
And it came off. That night he'd wiped his hands clean with his powers, and months later Jute had wiped the rest away. He wasn't a monster. Just normal. He was safe.
"Kurt? Baby what is it?" Kasha was there; she must have heard Mercedes making a break for it.
That was enough to center him. His mom didn't know, but his dad did. Bebe did. Jute did. And they didn't blame or hate him. The water shield splashed to the floor, an accurate depiction of his strength and energy levels. He may be able to pull himself out of a flashback, but his relationship with his best friend was completely screwed up. And he was too tired to do anything about it.
"Kurt, what's wrong?" Kasha asked again, growing more worried. "Is Mercedes still here?"
That question was enough to break Kurt's last reserves. "Mommy," he sobbed as he curled up into a ball. Kasha wrapped her arms around him and let him cry himself out.
Kurt felt safe. He knew better though. "She hates me. Mercedes hates me."
(to be continued)
Sorry, this was supposed to be less angst ridden for Kurt. I didn't want to end another chapter with Kurt crying. But as soon as he ran past the kitchen I knew it was going to trigger something.
