A/N Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter! I'm glad you guys are enjoying the ride. I still don't know for sure where this is going to go, or how long it will be. I think I am finally getting over my writers block! YAY!
Reviews are like Sundaes, ooey and gooey and Yummy!
…
Blaine sat at his work station in the lab that night after dinner, observing the large hares in the wire cage. Bugs and Babs had completely ignored each other for the greater part of the week. He'd been testing different concentrations of pheromones on them, with no results. Today before lunch, he decided to try a different type of pheromone, this one was one that certain types of ants used to make the colony cooperate on specific tasks.
He'd been steadily increasing the concentration through out the day, and had returned after dinner. He was supposed to be observing and taking notes, but his mind kept wandering back to Warbler's rehearsals.
After Kurt's successful audition, the pale boy had seemed almost embarrassed, and had avoided making eye contact with anyone. Was he just shy? He hadn't seemed to be when he was singing and dancing. And all the boys seemed impressed by him. He had overheard Nick and Jeff contemplating if the boy played for their team, and wondered if he'd be interested in a threesome. Blaine had known his two friends were a little on the kinky side, but really wished he hadn't known just how kinky. (And why had they never invited him for a threesome?)
When Warbler's practice (which had mostly consisted of finalizing what songs they'd be doing for Sectionals this week,) had finished, Kurt had rushed out of the room as if he had been shot out of a cannon. Blaine had seen him dashing up the stairs that lead to the dorms, and he hadn't come down to dinner at all. Blaine couldn't help but wonder if it had been that dip he'd held Kurt in at the end of the song that had upset the boy. Had he held him too long? Maybe he was straight and was offended that a gay boy had been touching him.
He was about to give up for the night and head back to his dorm to finish some homework when he heard the door open, and someone muttering furiously under their breath. Who ever it was didn't seem to notice him at his corner station. He peeked through the partition and spotted an auburn head of hair pacing back and forth. He could only hear bits and pieces of what the other boy was saying.
"So stupid, how could I have even... And now he thinks... Why did I even do it? Just because one boy didn't seem to like me... I should never have..."
"Kurt?" Blaine called out softly. The other boy spun towards him, his face crimson, thick glasses making those multifaceted sea storm eyes really stand out. His hair was laying flat, and looked damp, as if he'd just washed it. He was so startled he took a step back and almost tripped over a stool.
"Easy! Are you alright? You really seem upset about something." Blaine smiled kindly at him, moving forward to make sure the taller boy was alright.
Kurt held up a hand as if to stop his progression, and Blaine halted in his tracks. Well, that answered one question, Blaine thought. The pale boy didn't want a gay boy touching him. He was probably straight, and probably had a girlfriend.
…
"I'm fine, thank you. Just regretting a lack of judgment earlier," Kurt said, not wanting the other boy to come closer in case the shower he had taken hadn't removed all trace of the formula from his skin. He'd scrubbed for nearly thirty minutes, all the time berating himself for the unethical way he had behaved.
Blaine just nodded and stopped moving forward, an unreadable expression on his face. "Speaking of earlier, I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. I didn't mean for things to be so awkward, I was just trying to keep you from falling and hurting yourself."
Kurt's face turned even more red, and he had to turn away from the shorter boy. "It's fine, really. I was the clumsy one. Don't worry about it."
There was an awkward silence, and Kurt realized he was being silly. There was no way there was any trace of formula still clinging to him. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, and then turned back to the other boy, smiling. "So, um, what are you doing here at this time of night?"
Blaine looked a little relieved, though Kurt wasn't sure why. "I was checking to see if there were any changes in behavior from Bugs and Babs. The two hares I'm using to test different pheromones on," he explained, seeing the confused look on the pale boy's face. "Just before lunch today I had a thought to test a different type of pheromones. I'm trying out the cooperation pheromone now, slowly increasing the concentration level to see if the two would work together to achieve a common goal, in this case, opening an out of reach latch to release some treats."
Kurt was fascinated. Perhaps he should try using different pheromones along with his formula to see if they would work as well. And suddenly he felt guilty again. He sighed. "Hey, Blaine? There's something I need to tell you, and I won't be offended if you hate me for it."
…
Blaine looked at the taller boy, confused. "Why would I hate you?"
The pale boy sighed. "I-I did come to Dalton to spy, originally. I never really fit in with New Directions. The boys were all afraid to hang out with me because I'm gay, and the girls were intimidated by me. So when they told me to make myself useful and go spy on the competition, I did. Last week I came out here, pretending to be a prospective student, and I heard the Warblers perform Teenage Dream, but I never told New Directions that I came out here. There's more, though. I over heard you and Wes talking about pheromones, and I realized that could be the missing ingredient in the formula I've been working on. And it worked."
Blaine had to sit down. He hadn't really paid attention after Kurt had admitted to being gay, but then the full extent of what the other boy had said had hit him.
"So, you stole my research?" He asked calmly.
"Not exactly," the other boy said, looking chagrined. "I wasn't sure if it would work. Human's olfactory senses are so poor, I never thought of that factoring in to my research. But I thought I would try it out on mice, and it worked to a degree. It had no affect on the female subjects, but it did work on the males."
Kurt indicated the three cages on his workstation. "I was going to run more tests with the mice, but as I was putting things away, my friend Noah, the only boy in Glee club who wasn't afraid to hang out with me, startled me, and I spilled the formula and some pheromones on me. At first I didn't even notice that Noah was being even more friendly than usual as we went over his math homework. After he left, I remembered I was still covered in chemicals, so I went to the locker room to shower. Unfortunately there was someone else in the locker room."
The pale boy shuddered and had a far away look on his face. Blaine couldn't help staring at the beautiful boy as he continued talking in a monotone. "Karofsky had always been my worst tormentor at school, constantly throwing slushies in my face and shoving me into lockers and calling me derogatory names. He didn't notice me when I first entered the locker room, and I tried not to let him see me. But apparently he could smell the formula and the pheromones on me. He pinned me against my locker and k-kissed me." The boy stuttered on the words.
Blaine was confused. "The mixture made a straight boy who tormented you constantly suddenly become gay?"
Kurt shook his head no. "Apparently Karofsky is in the closet. The formula doesn't change your orientation. At first I didn't even think about what him ki-kissing me meant. I was too shocked to even think. He was angry when he realized what he had done, and punched the locker beside my head. I took my shower, and that was when I realized he had to be reacting to the formula and pheromones. I went back to the lab and tested it again, this time putting the male mouse from my xy/xx control in with the xy/xy control, and reintroduced the modified formula. While the xy/xy pair showed an increase in libido towards each other, the third mouse only showed an increased interest in affectionate behavior, but no sexual interest in either of the other two mice."
Blaine was intrigued in spite of himself. "Fascinating. So what did you do next?"
"I didn't get the chance to do anything else. I had to get to my next class. But I never made it. Karofsky grabbed me and dragged me into an empty classroom. He threatened to kill me if I told anyone what happened, and then punched me and broke my other pair of glasses. My father was enraged that the school had failed to protect me, and threatened to sue. They wanted to hush things up, and offered to pay restitution. It was enough to pay for my transfer here, so I agreed. But there was another reason I wanted to come here, and this is the part you are going to hate me for..."
Blaine just sat quietly, waiting for the other boy to continue. Kurt took a deep breath, and looked him in the eye. "I wanted to see how the formula would work in a school environment, to test it's potential as a way to stop bullying in schools. But when Wes seemed to not want me to join the Warblers, I decided to test the formula during my audition."
Blaine was confused at first, and sat there, thinking back to the audition. Wes had been a bit rude and condescending towards the pale boy, not trusting him. And then during the audition, all of them had seemed to be drawn to the boy. "You cheated," he stated calmly.
…
Kurt hung his head in shame. "I know, and I fully intend to withdraw from the Warblers tomorrow. And I am sorry the formula unduly influenced you, too. I know you didn't really feel attracted to me."
The shorter boy blinked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Kurt blushed. "You were just reacting to the pheromones like all the others. You were all compelled by inhaling the smell of the pheromones on my skin. I showered them off as soon as practice was over, so you don't have to worry about it now."
Blaine just stared at him in silence for a few minutes. Kurt couldn't read the expression on the other boy's face. Kurt was surprised when the other boy finally spoke. "We should combine our experiments."
"What?" Kurt asked, unsure he had heard correctly.
Blaine just smiled at him. "Well, you've basically already proven my hypothesis, so there is no need for me to continue. And since you used my theory to create your formula, it is only fair that I get partial credit for it. So let's work together."
Kurt couldn't believe this. Not only was Blaine not angry at him, but was offering to work with him. He smiled shyly back. "Okay."
"Good. And you are not dropping out of the Warblers. You were really good. No arguing," He said before Kurt could interrupt. "Yes, you may have used a little undue influence, but you had the talent to back it up. So that's final. We just won't mention this to Wes. Now, show me your notes."
Kurt smiled, and the two boys began to compare notes.
