After the rehearsal, the Warblers walked together across the campus to the dining hall. During the walk, one Warbler after another drew forward or dropped back to talk to Kurt, tell him he had an amazing voice, or even to propose a duet or trio for some upcoming campus performance. At first he was wary of taking it at face value, his past from McKinley making him suspect possible mockery and his present making him suspect some other kind of pending abuse, so he kept his answers light, not letting anything show beyond the most mild pleasure. But by the time they were at the dining hall, he had begun to let down his guard, at least a little. It seemed open and easy and maybe it was.
The cafeteria actually had healthy options as well as plenty of food that had been fried into submission. He selected a stuffed pepper and made himself a salad at the salad bar that actually had something other than brown iceberg lettuce and ranch dressing. He wasn't terribly hungry after the rich lunch but the food actually looked good.
He let the various conversations flow around him, with Blaine on one side or David on the other providing the occasional context. Most of it sounded just the same as at McKinley, grumblings about teachers who seemed to think that they were the only ones assigning homework, fervent sports discussions, and a political debate at one end of the table. But some things were different. The talks about some of the classes were enthusiastic and Wes and a few others seemed to have independent studies that they were actually enjoying. While clearly each table had different groups, there were friendly glances and waves and when people from different tables met at the salad bar or getting another drink, it looked like the differences between different levels of friendliness were whether they knew one another or not. The other difference was Blaine's hand either resting on his thigh or taking his own. Nobody seemed to care or even particularly notice, even the boy who came over to confirm a study group meeting for biology with Blaine. Blaine introduced the boy as Philip, took his hand off Kurt's so they could shake hands, and that was it.
David leaned over after they'd finished dinner and people started to get up. "The coffee here is terrible, unless you happen to like the taste of burnt crayons." Kurt grimaced, "Sounds so delicious I think I'll have to pass."
"You have chosen wisely." David paused after his solemn pronouncement, then reached in his pocket for a piece of paper and pen. "Listen, if you ever need anything and Blaine's not around, here's my cell. You should already be in the records and all that and get your passcard tomorrow or the next day, but just in case." Blaine's face had suddenly gone neutral and Kurt wasn't sure what that meant. Keeping perfectly neutral himself, he casually thanked David and put the paper in his pocket.
Most of the Warblers headed to Davis Hall after they left the dining hall but a few others walked with Kurt and Blaine further north across the campus before splitting off to their own dorm. Blaine had put his arm around Kurt's waist and while it seemed to attract a few curious glances from other students they encountered, Kurt was fairly certain, from the way that they looked at his face, as though it was driven by seeing Blaine with somebody unfamiliar. Blaine pointed out the various campus landmarks and sites of interest.
"That's the library. Your passcard will let you in and let you check things out. If you like that kind of thing, there's a pretty impressive collection of old books, the really old ones. They've also got a great collection of musicals and theater. Some of them you can watch on the campus network but others you have to go check out. Dalton's got a relationship with some of the off-Broadway theaters and so they get a lot of rehearsal recordings."
"That's the music building. If you want a practice room, you can just sign up for one." Kurt could hear a powerful voice running up and down scales. Blaine paused, adding appreciatively, "That's got to be Alex. He's not a Warbler, unfortunately."
"Why not?"
"He's hoping to go into opera and landed a gig with the Cleveland Opera chorus. He didn't think he could handle two schedules." Blaine grinned. "He also, to use his own words, dances like somebody dropping a hippo from a helicopter. He looks like he should dance like a young Ricardo Montalban-"
Kurt couldn't help interrupting. "Did you see that video of him with Cyd Charisse?"
"Yes! But you know what's even better?" Blaine was nearly shouting and stopped walking to face Kurt.
"Nothing could be better."
"Ricardo Montalban dancing with Rita Moreno and showing Lana Turner how to keep her hips loose."
"Why did nobody tell me until now that that exists?" Kurt couldn't help but be a diva about this.
"The library has the entire movie that's from," Blaine answered, with a teasing smile, then again pulled Kurt by the waist closer to him and began walking again.
In the dorm room, Blaine closed the door behind them, put a finger on Kurt's mouth, and then paused as the phone rang with "I Just Had Sex." "That's Wes," he said quickly. "It might be about something important we're planning for David. If you want coffee, you can grab some in the floor kitchen."
Kurt very much wanted coffee and he also wanted a few moments to savor the relative peace and normalcy of the last few hours. Maybe it wouldn't be impossible for him to be, well, if not happy, okay here. In the kitchen down the hall, though, he looked at the coffee machine in amazement. He'd seen some fancy coffee machines in his life but never anything like that. An indicator flashed the message "Carafe empty." Looks like the machine wouldn't even make a pot of coffee, it had to make a carafe.
A cabinet was labeled "The Stuff of Life" and Kurt figured that was where the coffee had to be. He selected a bag of medium roast Kona and a filter, then confidently pulled at the spot on the machine where he thought the coffee would go. There were small compartments with labels for vanilla, orange peel, and cardamon, but no label for coffee. He looked in another part of the machine that swung open, but that was for milk. The next part that opened was a motor.
He heard a soft cough behind him and turned. Another student was watching and said, with a lyrical Middle Eastern accent, "You have not yet met Josephine, I see. Allow me to make the introductions." Kurt stood aside and the student continued, "Josephine is the lady of our floor, the goddess whose whims we fear and obey." He pressed a button that Kurt had passed over as unlikely to be useful and a door opened with a whirr. "Her anger is to be dreaded and yet the rewards of her favor are so exquisite that we serve her without question."
"She must be something else." Kurt was laughing as he leaned back to watch.
"She and her sisters on the other floors are the gifts of her inventor, a former student here. Josephine, or as I should call her, the Empress Josephine, is sister to Empress Theodora on the second floor and Empress Jingu on the fourth floor."
"Are they all empresses?" The student laughed and stepped closer to Kurt as he finished with the machine.
"When you taste her coffee, you will chide yourself for such a question. And I, by the way, am Hamza, one of her servants." He extended his hand, needing only a few inches to close the space between them.
"Kurt." As he waited, Kurt looked at Hamza. He was tall, dark, and would have been almost ridiculously handsome except for his huge, undisciplined eyebrows and the glint of self-mockery in his eyes.
"Are you a transfer or are you visiting somebody here, Kurt?" Hamza had dropped his reverent tone and asked casually.
"He's the Warbler's Trophy. And he's with me." Blaine crossed the room to stand next to Kurt, then cupped Kurt's buttocks with his hand before squeezing hard, almost viciously. Kurt tried to turn his head to look at Blaine but Blaine kept close behind him. He watched the emotions rush across Hamza's open face, first confusion, followed by recognition, then comprehension, and finally distaste.
"You will excuse me," Hamza said and left without looking back.
When Blaine released his hand, Kurt turned to face him, angrily, but the coldness in Blaine's eyes was frightening and the sardonic smile as he said, "Your coffee's ready" scared him even more. Kurt's hands were almost shaking as he took a mug from the shelf and poured it as deliberately as he could. Blaine sat down at the table and watched his every motion. Kurt wanted nothing more than to run to somebody, anybody, for help and comfort, but there wasn't anybody who could and would protect him. He finished, washed the mug, put it back on the shelf, and Blaine silently led him back into the dorm room.
After the Glee kids had left, Will and Sue went up to talk more with Rachel's dads. They didn't offer any real hope, but promised pro bono work if it looked as though there was the least possibility of getting Kurt back that way. He'd not been able to reach Kurt at all on the phone and didn't want to say too much in a message, just in case.
Sue had made him participate in the physical exercises she had demanded of the kids and he was exhausted and sweaty. She'd also explained that this was a warmup session and that next time, she'd put them through a real workout. Tina had started to protest but Sue had stormed over to her, leaned over, and pushing her finger into Tina's chest, barked, "This will help you control your breathing better, which you'll need to sing, make you more athletic dancers, and also make you ready for a physical fight. Do you want me to beat you into paste now so that the rest of them can see what happens when an athlete who knows how to fight dirty takes on a muscle-less overcooked Chinese noodle like you?" Tina shook her head silently but vehemently and Sue continued with the exercises. Will had thought that dancing and the occasional run had kept him in good shape but he hurt in muscles he hadn't even realized he possessed.
He and Sue went to their cars and then she shouted at him, "Dinner. My place," and drove off, leaving him no choice but to follow. Walking in, she told her housekeeper, "Two of us tonight," and went to shower, telling him to shower in the guest bathroom and for God's sake to wash his hair. He had to admit that he felt more than a little naked without even a little gel as he got out.
As they sat down to eat, Sue looked at him with an expression that, on anybody else, he'd have considered mournful. "I'm going to miss Porcelain. He might have been stupid about it, but he did have guts."
"He does have guts, Sue," Will gently said. Sue looking sad was all wrong, like a duckling with a machete.
"That's something to hope for, but I'm not sure." She poked her food around her plate with her fork, then looked up and glared at him, which made Will feel much more comfortable. "Fortunately, I'm still angry enough with you to make me want you to stay the night." She took a deep breath. "Is it just that you're so unfamiliar with being propositioned that you're looking at me like that?"
Will closed his eyes for a moment. He was so emotionally exhausted that he could barely process what she'd said. But he realized that he knew one thing. In a world that offered so little of either solace or connection, if she saw some in him and he saw some in her, that was to be embraced.
AN: Another longer chapter-I hope you're liking that, though concluding part was a bit short. But then, it was a rather abrupt moment.
I really, really, really was not expecting that Will/Sue to happen, but the plot bunny took over. (I think the plot bunny for that part might be related to Sue.)
What do you think of the extra twist to Blaine? Does it work? Do you want to read what happens or does it work better as implicit?