Winthrop House, Dalton Academy, 124 Washington Avenue, Westerville, OH 18:03:46
When Kurt returned to his room (finally remembering to bring his luggage), Blaine was sitting at his desk, humming to himself (Kurt didn't recognize the song), and biting the end of his pencil as he read. Blaine didn't say anything upon his entry, so Kurt was silent as well, putting away his clothes and uniforms, and unpacking his books from his messenger bag onto his desk. He hadn't brought along many personal items (Agent Berry had advised against it, because he didn't want to be too remarkable... whatever that meant), but he had brought along his collection of Keats (which he acquired the Friday he got his mission) and some CDs that he thought Blaine might like, based on what Director Schuester had told him. Since Blaine still seemed determined not to talk to him, Kurt put on Swedish House Mafia at a low volume on his iPod speaker, and sat down as if to do homework. Of course, the agency was doing all of his homework for him, but Blaine really couldn't know that.
There was a time
I used to look into my father's eyes
In a happy home
I was a king, I had a golden throne
"I love this song," Blaine said, not turning around. Still, the silence became more comfortable.
"It's a great song, for being pop music." Kurt actually did like this song.
"Hey, hey, hey, no need to pick on popularity," Blaine replied, turning around in his desk chair and smiling. "Great music is great music, no matter how infectious the general populace considers it... and it never ages. Great music is like fine wine... and women, when men want to appease them." Kurt laughed. "I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier."
"It's fine. I was being an idiot." Blaine nodded sagely, making Kurt giggle some more.
"Truce?"
"Truce." Blaine stood up and they shook on it. "I'm thinking about joining Glee club," Kurt said as Blaine sat back down.
"The Warblers," Blaine corrected. "No one around here calls it Glee club. Not even show choir." Well, that was weird."
"Okay. Culture-shock, but okay." Blaine chuckled.
"I'll put in a good word for you with the council."
"Council?"
"There are three senior Warblers that make all the decisions. We don't have a director, but Wes, David, and Thad work just as well. Can you sing?"
"Upon a hill across a blue lake," Kurt sang out instead of replying, "that's where I had my first heartbreak." He really didn't like the almost techno-rock that Swedish House Mafia peddled, but Blaine liked popular music.
"I still remember how it all changed," Blaine sang in reply with a laugh. "My father said..."
"Don't you worry, don't you worry, child. See heaven's got a plan for you," they sang together, and Blaine was still laughing.
"A countertenor. Very unique. David will love you, he's always trying to get us to diversify our sound." Blaine rolled his eyes.
"Aren't you diversity enough?" Kurt said before he had thought about it. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Thankfully, Blaine laughed.
"That's not quite what I meant by diversity," Blaine answered. "Honestly, sometimes I wonder if I'm, if we're, not a minority at this school. You'll see what I mean, believe me."
"The more you say about this school, the more scared I am for tomorrow." Blaine raised an eyebrow. "No one has any modesty, more than half the school is gay..." Blaine was laughing.
"Yes, well, just because it's unique, doesn't mean it's scary. It's actually pretty awesome actually, once you get used to it." Blaine looked over at the clock. "My brain's already beat, and I'm hungry. Want to go grab some dinner?"
"Sure," Kurt said, glad he seemed to be back in Blaine's good graces.
Ablewhite Building, Dalton Academy, 22 Warbler Lane, Westerville, OH 18:32:28
It was quite a trek from Blaine and Kurt's dorms to the main cafeteria, which Blaine called 'the Commons,' but Blaine kept Kurt entertained by telling him all sorts of stories about crazy things that had happened at Dalton. Blaine was interrupted every few seconds by someone saying hi to him or wanting to give him a high-five, but the stories were still funny. Blaine introduced so many people and places Kurt was sure he would get completely lost at this school, but he was more than happy to point about and explain. He made an excellent welcoming committee.
"So where were you this afternoon? You just disappeared," Blaine asked as they walked into the Commons, which, oddly, looked just like a normal school cafeteria... minus all the options they had, the wooden, clean tables and chairs, and the giant stage that took up a portion of the room.
"I got my luggage from my car and called my very concerned parents to tell them that the Dalton students aren't trying to convert me." Thankfully, that made Blaine laugh.
"To Catholicism or heterosexuality?"
"Either." Blaine smiled.
"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself then. We can talk to Wes, David, and Thad after dinner about you joining the Warblers. They're usually very picky about audition dates, but they might allow it because you're a mid-term transfer. Plus, they love me." Blaine led the way through the tables, which seemed more clique-oriented than the Warbler's performance had, to the back of the cafeteria, where the food was, saying hi to everyone. He seemed to be just a genuinely nice person.
Blaine piled up his plate with just about everything, and Kurt was relieved to find that they had organic options along with all the greasy pizza that Finn could dream of. "Oh great, you eat like a bird," Blaine commented with a grin. "I swear to God, all skinny people think that counts as food. He's on me," Blaine directed towards the lady who was at the cash register. She nodded, and Blaine walked off as she pressed a few buttons. Kurt saw Blaine's name flash on the screen briefly. "It's a first day tradition to be bought your food," Blaine said as if he sensed Kurt was going to object. "I'm not making a pass at you or anything."
Blaine led all the way back to the stage, where there was a clump of students sitting at a bunch of tables that were pushed together. Kurt recognized most of them as Warblers. "Hello, Blaine," an Asian boy greeted him calmly.
"Blaine, did you pick up a new puppy?" an African-American boy asked with a grin, and he appeared to be referring to Kurt. "Honestly, every time there's a new student, he ends up over here, desperately in love with you."
"Very funny. Kurt Hummel, meet Wesley Montgomery and David Thompson," Blaine introduced the two, gesturing to the Asian and African-American respectively. "I apologize now for anything you might here, and I assure you that none of it's true." He glared at David as he said that.
"It's very true, Kurt," David assured him in return. "Sit down." He gestured to the chairs next to them, and Blaine sat down, gesturing for Kurt to sit down next to him. "So, is this one actually a potential Warbler or did you really just pick up a stray again?"
"Ha ha," Blaine said dryly, not even bothering to make it sound like a laugh. "Actually, Kurt did say to me earlier that he was interested in joining the Warblers."
"Were you entirely clothed?" David asked with a raised eyebrow, and Wes smacked him upside the head.
"I apologize for my boyfriend's behavior," Wes said calmly, and Kurt tried not to look surprised. "Yes, unbelievably, I do love him dearly," Wes said as if he was reading Kurt's mind, smiling a little. Kurt looked at them both briefly and realized that based on the angle of their shoulders, they were either holding hands or... doing other things under the table.
"I am interested in becoming a Warbler," Kurt repeated what Blaine had already established, having no idea what to say.
"Does he have a problem?"
"He's gay."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Dave, Blaine, shut up," Wes said rather fondly, cutting off their little exchange. "The Warblers, unfortunately do not accept mid-term applicants. Perhaps next year."
"Wes, come on, he's a transfer. Cut him some slack." Wes looked at him impassively. "David, help me out."
"Come on, Wes, if he can sing we should give him a chance." David turned to look at his boyfriend while he was saying this, his shoulder shifted, and Wes' eyes widened slightly.
"L-leniency policies would dictate an audition for next semester," he choked out.
"Stop that, David, we still need him to be coherent," Blaine admonished.
"Sorry, sorry," David said with a very unapologetic grin, moving his hand away again. "Come on, babe, just let him audition."
"Fine. You may audition tomorrow. I hope you have a song prepared," Wes went back to sounding impassive, and David rolled his eyes.
"That's the best you're going to get, new kid."
"He has a name."
"Too bad."
Winthrop House, Dalton Academy, 124 Washington Avenue, Westerville, OH 23:03:46
It had taken Blaine almost five hours to do the rest of his homework, so Kurt had spent the time researching Stheno (the company that wanted to kill him, not the mythological monster). The agency had been more than right. Stheno had a history of being ruthless, and Kurt couldn't even count the number of smaller companies they had either destroyed and re-built under their name, or absorbed without buying. The fact that the government hadn't shut them down as a monopoly yet was amazing, but the fact was that they controlled so many factions of so many different processes, it was hard to pinpoint what the company actually did.
Sue Sylvester seemed to be a mythological monster in her own right. She had reportedly been '29' for about twenty-eight years, and all sorts of rumors had circulated about bad things she had done to either curry favor or eliminate competition. There was a publicized rumor that she had slept with the President of the United States. The newspaper that had published the rumor first hadn't survived her wrath, but there were carbon-copies of the article all over the Internet. She had a twistedly-admirable criminal record and community service record, but nothing could be called philanthropy. Public accusations had been made to the murder of a prominent lobbyist who had fought against her, but the charges had never stuck because not one bit of the man's corpse had been found.
Dustin Goolsby was the only man the company had mentioned to him that he couldn't find on the payroll, which wasn't all that surprising. Judging by the way Agents Lopez and Berry had described him, he sounded quite a bit like a trained assassin and a begrudging henchmen. However, it was quite easy to find the last name, his grandfather was Raymond Goolsby, a former Major league Baseball player, and the family was very wealthy. Kurt wondered briefly what exactly made him work for Sue Sylvester, because it couldn't be the money. What did she have over him, and if she was out of the picture, would he still be a part of the organization? Kurt filed the information away for later.
"Done," Blaine announced finally, turning around in his spinny-chair quickly and causing Kurt to slam him laptop shut. Thankfully, Blaine didn't comment. "Do you have a song for your audition yet?"
"I was thinking about doing Defying-"
"Oh, no, no, no," Blaine interrupted him halfway through the song title. "I mean, obviously that's an amazing song, and if that's your range it would be amazing to hear you perform it-"
"That is my range-"
"But not for an audition for the Warblers," Blaine interrupted. "The Warblers are so afraid of becoming 'privileged porcelain birds' that they insist on doing all of the most current music. If you try anything that hasn't made the Hot 100 in the last five or so years, Wes will just cut your music off."
"So I basically have to sing some awful pop song to appease your crazy student director?" Kurt worried for a moment Blaine was going to take offense to that (the agency had informed him that Blaine liked pop music) but it didn't even seem to register.
"Yeah, pretty much."
"What did you audition for the Warblers with?" Kurt asked, and Blaine sighed.
"I did Jason Mraz's I'm Yours," Blaine said with a smile. "It's a great song, completely tolerable," Kurt couldn't argue with that, "and it was really big that year."
"Any suggestions, Warbler guru?" Blaine snorted at that.
"Far from it, and no, not really. I could think of about a hundred if you weren't actually a countertenor, but only you can know what shows your voice off best."
"So helpful," Kurt turned back to his computer, opening it and very subtly closing the window on the Goolsby family history, or so he hoped.
"Goolsby?" Blaine asked, walking across the room to peer at the web page just as Kurt closed it. "Why are you researching the name Goolsby?"
"Curiosity," Kurt lied, not able to think of a better reason. "My cousin married a Goolsby."
"My dad has a Goolsby over all the time," Blaine responded. "He's really weird. He doesn't talk much, when he does it's sarcasm, and my father doesn't actually seem to enjoy spending time with him... I guess he's one of my father's science buddies."
"What's his name?" Blaine looked at him curiously. "Maybe we're related."
"Dunstan or something," Blaine said with a shrug. "Apparently he researches the same sub-atomic particles my father does, and they're collaborating. He always mentions some third party, but he never mentions her by name." So, Blaine knew Dustin Goolsby, and he obviously knew about Sylvester too. "All people that have money know other people with money. It's just fact," Blaine said with a laugh.
"I bet."
Blaine went to sit on his bed, and Kurt pulled up his iTunes, thinking about his audition for the first time. It was a key part of the plan that he got into the Warblers, and he hadn't been worried about it until now.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" Blaine asked unexpectedly, and Kurt started.
"Do you think something more country would be what the Warblers want?" he asked instead of answering.
"Probably not. Country's too slow for a cappella. When you get into slower songs, it just gets boring." Blaine sounded slightly dejected.
"No, I don't have a boyfriend. What about Alicia Keys?"
"She might work. Would you maybe-" Kurt's phone rang.
"Excuse me," he said as his new mobile command center flashed the agency logo. "I should take this."
"Uh, okay." Plus, it gave Kurt a reason to not have to answer Blaine's question. He certainly didn't want to say no, but he couldn't say yes.
"Hello?"
"I'm your mother, do you understand?" Agent Lopez asked without pausing to say hello.
"Hi, mom," Kurt said, swallowing down just a hint of guilt. "How are you?"
"Come down to your car, we have your homework. And you weren't kidding about the amount even a little, were you?"
"Not even a bit," Kurt said with a grin. "I'll take this out in the hallway," Kurt whispered to Blaine, who nodded, pulling out his computer without another word. Kurt waited until he was a good twenty feet away from their dorm door to whisper, "my mother's dead."
"Oh, and I'm an insensitive bitch. What a shock."
Winthrop House, Dalton Academy, 124 Washington Avenue, Westerville, OH 21:45:33
By the time Kurt got back to the dorm he shared with Blaine, the tenor was already asleep, the lights off in their room and Blaine's soft breath the only noise. Kurt tried not to look over at Blaine's bed, knowing everyone looked ten times cuter when they were asleep, and instead grabbed his pajamas in the dark, slipping into the bathroom. Agent Lopez had brusquely given him his homework (which Sam and Puck took the credit for in a yell), and told him that all subsequent tests and quizzes would be managed in much the same manner (she didn't specify). She then gave him a thirty minute brief on how she thought he was doing, revealing that she had very purposefully cut Blaine off from asking him out, once again stressing that Kurt wasn't to date him for fear of antagonizing Dr. Anderson towards him. Kurt was kind of tired of getting the warning. He got it.
Kurt got ready for bed quickly, forgoing his normal moisturizing routine because his products were still on his bed and he didn't want to wake his roommate. Plus, it was almost midnight and he was tired. It had been a very interesting few days.
Kurt made sure to turn off the bathroom light before he opened the door, slipping back into the dark room. There was a nice wide window between the beds that illuminated Blaine in moonlight and Jacobs, he was cute. He looked so young in the moonlight, his almost criminally-long eyelashes shedding dark shadows across his relaxed face. His hair was un-gelled, curly, bushy, and a little bit mussed.
"Goodnight, Blaine," he whispered as he climbed into bed.
"Night," Blaine muttered sleepily, rolling over and out of the moonlight.
Girard Building, Dalton Academy, 94 Warbler Lane, Westerville, OH 14:59:05
Kurt was standing outside the door, waiting for his Warbler audition. He hadn't asked Blaine to clear his song, and it was a little outside the five-year range Blaine had given him, but it had been popular in its day, and most people knew and liked the song.
"Kurt Hummel!" Wes' voice called out from the room, and Kurt opened both doors for himself, attempting as dramatic an entrance as possible when he had to open the door for himself. "Kurt Hummel, a countertenor, will be auditioning for the Warblers this afternoon. I expect you all to give him your respectful attention." Kurt expected Wes to say something more, but David nodded at him expectantly. Okay, that was it.
Kurt handed his karaoke track off to a very helpful blonde Warbler and stood in front of the room, prepared to wow them with his voice. Hopefully.
Some people live for the fortune
Some people live just for the fame
Some people live for the power, yeah
Some people live just to play the game
Jazz perhaps wasn't his best genre, but it was a great song, and easy enough to pull off on the fly. It was an unusual feeling to have no one looking at him in awe or surprise. Kurt kind of hated Wes for announcing that he was a countertenor. Shock value was the best.
Some people think that the physical things
Define what's within
And I've been there before
But that life's a bore
So full of the superficial
Kurt started weaving around his audience at this part, and the council didn't look thrilled with his performance thus far. The one on the left end, the only one he hadn't met, looked kind of interested, but both Wes and David had completely blank expressions. Great.
Some people want it all
But I don't want nothing at all
If it ain't you baby
If I ain't got you baby
Some people want diamond rings
Some just want everything
But everything means nothing
If I ain't got you
Kurt did his best to belt out the chorus and keep up with the tempo, using the most of his rather impressive lungs, and David nudged Wes. Kurt had absolutely no idea what they were saying with their couple telepathy, but it seemed to favor him.
Some people search for a fountain
That promises forever young
Some people need three dozen roses
And that's the only way to prove you love them
Kurt loved the note on 'roses,' because it was the longest belt in the song, but other than that, the second verse was mediocre compared to the first.
Hand me the world on a silver platter
And what good would it be
With no one to share
With no one who truly cares for me
David was smiling now, but Wes still looked unimpressed. Kurt had yet to look at his roommate, because, well... he really hadn't thought his song choice through so well. Considering Blaine had almost asked him out last night, singing a romantic song the next day that had related to that conversation maybe was a little indicative of his answer... which couldn't, for national security reasons, be yes.
Some people want it all
But I don't want nothing at all
If it ain't you baby
If I ain't got you baby
Some people want diamond rings
Some just want everything
But everything means nothing
If I ain't got you
Yeah
If I ain't got you with me baby
So nothing in this whole wide world don't mean a thing
If I ain't got you with me baby
Kurt ended the song as strong as possible with the weird outro Alicia Keys had chosen, but his song was only followed by polite clapping. Maybe the Warblers were more restricted during rehearsals than they were during performances?
"Thank you, Mr. Hummel. Please wait in the hall while we deliberate."
Kurt hadn't been waiting in the hallway for very long before Blaine came out. "Hello."
"How goes it in Warblerland?" Kurt asked, feeling pretty confident about his chances, but his hopes were quickly dashed.
"Not very well," Blaine answered. "The Warblers, as a show choir who believes very much in synergy and absolutely abhors drama, doesn't exactly feel comfortable..."
"What?"
"Shall we call it 'inviting a diva into our midst?'" Blaine asked with a sigh, sitting down next to Kurt on the bench he had chosen outside the rehearsal space. "Kurt, you have an amazing voice, and you obviously know that, but you might just be a little too... flashy for the Warblers. I mean, we depend on how well we sound together, we don't want anyone to stand out too much."
"What about you?" Kurt asked, a little annoyed and trying not to be too insulted.
"I'm the Vocal Captain," Blaine said with a shrug. "That's my job, and no one seems to care. The fact that you do almost exacerbates why Wes thinks you might not make a good addition to the team." Crap, crap, crap.
"Blaine, it's not like I was the number one soloist at some other show choir," Kurt argued. "I wasn't even part of the show choir at my old school because it was run by a gay child molester," Blaine opened his mouth to react to that, but Kurt continued talking, "I'm fine with being in the background. It was just a question." Blaine opened his mouth again, but closed it, as if he had decided not to say something.
"Fair enough," he clearly decided on. "Come on, its expected that you're in the room for your... well, I would call it a vote, but it's more like a trial. At least you get a chance to defend yourself." Blaine stood up and held out a hand. Kurt did his best not be petty and accepted the help. He needed to be a part of the Warblers, and the government definitely couldn't help him with this one. "Out of curiosity, why did you sing that song?"
"The actual song choice, or just my decision in general?"
"Weirdest question ever, but I think the second one. Your... thematic decision, shall we say." Blaine hadn't let go of his hand, and Kurt really needed to find the strength to pull away.
"I wanted to be outstanding. Usually, as a countertenor, I have shock value on my side, but since you even knew what a countertenor was, I wanted to make an impression. I guess I did-"
"It just wasn't exactly the one you wanted to make," Blaine said, nodding in understanding. "It'll be all right. I'm sure David's sheer desire for your voice will make his decision, and he always seems to make Wes'. Wes is so whipped." Blaine sounded a little wistful, and that was enough to make Kurt pull his hand away as Blaine opened the doors. Thankfully, the tenor didn't say anything.
"Let us begin," Wes said as soon as they entered. "Senior Warbler David, what do you think?"
"Wessy, we've discussed this," David said with a grin, making the rest of the Warblers snicker at the little nickname and Wes glare at his boyfriend.
"Senior Warbler David, what is your official opinion?" Wes said coldly, and David rolled his eyes, kissing the pout off Wes' lips and making Kurt's eyes widen slightly despite his professionalism. Jeez.
"Since Wes seems to be making us into the judges for American Idol, it's a yes," David said with a grin, but Wes didn't look mad. Just kind of blissed. "Since Senior Warbler Wessy seems a little out of sorts, Senior Warbler That-"
"It's Thad, David. We've known each other for ten years!" Oh, so the last member of the Warbler council was Thad. Blaine had mentioned that before, right?
"Whatever. Senior Warbler Stick-Ass, what is your official opinion?" David mocked his still-unfocused boyfriend.
"I... Pass," Thad said, looking guiltily at Kurt.
"Not-Really-Senior-Warbler-But-Close-Enough Vocal Captain Blaine, I'm guessing I know your opinion, but I'll still give you a chance to say it."
"It's a yes," Blaine said, but he had put distance between himself and Kurt to do so. A lot of distance, considering they had been holding hands only moments ago.
"Senior Warbler That-Meister, we're returning to you." At that point, Thad gave up. "What is your opinion?"
"It's a yes."
"Senior Warbler Wessy-poo, you're technically the deciding vote, since this is actually a dictatorship. I warn you, revolution is possible." David was teasing Wes, who looked annoyed again.
"It's a no."
"Too bad," David said. "Congratulations, Kurt Hummel, welcome to the Warblers."
Winthrop House, Dalton Academy, 124 Washington Avenue, Westerville, OH 16:27:33
Blaine was doing his homework again, and Kurt had already passed his off to the agency and been informed to retrieve it after dinner. He had his first test in Precalculus the next day, and he was interested to see exactly how the government agency would handle it, because he was so over his head in that class, it wasn't even funny. Thankfully, the teacher had seen his homework and seemed to think he was a genius, thus she was bitter and never asked him questions.
Kurt had absolutely nothing to do, since his research was done and the Warblers practice had ended after David had made the executive decision to allow him into the club... but it had been close, he knew that. What the hell had happened?
"You just need to learn to fit in," Blaine said, as if he could read Kurt's mind. "Dalton is a great place, but there can't be a zero-tolerance bullying policy if people aren't willing to conform a little. It's about being part of the team."
"I've never been very good at that," Kurt admitted, sensing Blaine's annoyance with him.
"You'll figure it out," Blaine said coldly. "Besides, you already took the first step by joining the Warblers. Anyone who goes to this school and can sing is expected to. You'll do all right, Kurt Hummel. Just, don't try do hard next time."
There were about a hundred thousand things Kurt could say to that, but it wasn't necessary to say any of them. Blaine didn't want to hear them, and they wouldn't make a difference.
"I'm sorry." After all, Blaine had staked his reputation to get Kurt the audition, and while he hadn't exactly blown it, the Warbler council probably wasn't looking too fondly on his roommate at the moment.
"I know it's gonna take some getting used to, but you'll fit in soon enough. I promise." Blaine gave him a quick smile before turning back to his homework.
A/N: Yay! This may be the first chapter that I've posted on time. So, my keyboard iss acting wonky, and you guys are subsequently saved my normal amount of author's notes.
Songs used/mentioned:
'Don't You Worry Child' by Swedish House Mafia feat. John Martin
'Defying Gravity' from Wicked (mentioned)
'I'm Yours' by Jason Mraz (mentioned)
'If I Ain't Got You' by Alicia Keys
Reviews are Love.