Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Fox and Waldo and the Absolutely Amazing Afternoon belongs to Edward Schmit (I think).
The Waldo short film I'm referencing isn't actually finished. If you google Grant Gustin and Waldo, you'll find it. It's written and directed by Max Cantor and produced by Edward Schmit. I'm taking a bit of creative license in describing it below. The smoking reference is because Sebastian is younger than Grant is…if you get what I mean.
Anyway, much for one-shots. This is going to be a two-part, probably. This premise just simply wasn't enough, I felt, to be entirely complete. It was still an interesting interaction though so I wanted to write it. Make of it what you will.
"It's nice," Cooper commented as he, Blaine, and Kurt stepped into the Lima Bean.
"I'm sure the Los Angeles coffee shops are nicer," Blaine said, rolling his eyes. Sometimes he sorely resented the fact that Cooper lived in L.A. where the world was exciting and adventurous…and Blaine was stuck in Lima, Ohio. Of course, Kurt was here in Lima so it was definitely worth it, but still. There wasn't even anything to do with his brother for the days that he was visiting besides have him tag along on his and Kurt's usual routine – which included getting coffee at the Lima Bean.
"Definitely," Cooper agreed with a smirk. "But this one has its own quaint Ohio charm, I guess."
"Right. Because charming is a word I associate with Ohio on a daily basis, of course," Kurt added dryly. Blaine was glad to see that the shock (and subsequent slight fangirling) over meeting his famous older brother was finally wearing off. It usually didn't bother him (much) that people fawned over his hotshot brother…but his boyfriend? Yeah, he was a little bitter over that.
Cooper chuckled at Kurt's remark but offered no further comment. Blaine saw him glancing around as they got into the queue to order.
"No way," Cooper breathed out, staring at a corner of the coffee shop.
"What?" Blaine asked, his eyebrows furrowed. He looked in the direction that Cooper was but didn't see anything that would cause that reaction.
"I need to see something. Be right back," Cooper hurriedly explained before striding off to whatever he was interested in. Blaine traded confused looks with Kurt, who seemed equally perplexed. They stayed in line, but watched Cooper walk away.
"Wait…it's Sebastian," Kurt said, pointing. Sure enough, it seemed it was Sebastian Smythe that had caught Cooper's interest as they saw him stop at his table.
"Crap," Blaine muttered and he and Kurt swiftly left their place in line. He needed to stop this confrontation from happening. One, because Sebastian had already apologized and everyone was attempting to put the whole slushie incident behind them. Having Cooper dredge it up again wasn't going to help at all. Two, because Blaine was rather fond of the Lima Bean and didn't want to cause enough of a scene to get banned from the premises.
How did Cooper even recognize Sebastian? As far as Blaine knew, Cooper didn't even know the name of the guy who had thrown the slushie – just that it had been one of the Warblers. Was Cooper simply making an assumption because Sebastian was wearing the Dalton uniform? As he and Kurt approached them, though, Cooper didn't appear to be angry…more curious.
"Excuse me. So this is a complete shot in the dark here, but are you by chance the guy who shot a short film about Waldo?" Blaine heard Cooper ask Sebastian.
"You saw that?" Sebastian asked, sounding incredulous. He wasn't even smirking. Cooper nodded with a growing smile.
"It is you, then? In the film?"
Sebastian led out a small laugh and leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, that was me."
"Cooper?" Blaine asked in confusion, inserting himself into the conversation. "Hey Sebastian," he added hesitantly. He was no idea what was going on. It seemed that Cooper didn't have the slushie incident on his mind when he approached Sebastian, anyway. But then what was this all about?
"Blaine," Sebastian greeted warmly but cautiously. "….Kurt," he continued with forced politeness. Kurt nodded back in acknowledgement.
"You guys know each other?" Cooper asked, breaking what had quickly become an awkward silence. "Fun," he commented with a grin. Blaine had no idea if he was picking up on the subtle tension – 'fun' would not be a word to describe the current situation, in his opinion.
"Uh, Cooper this is Sebastian. He's a…friend…from Dalton. Sebastian this is my brother Cooper," Blaine introduced as etiquette demanded.
"And a fan of mine, apparently," Sebastian said wryly as he and Cooper shook hands.
Cooper chuckled and Blaine traded extremely confused looks with Kurt.
"I can't believe I found you in a coffee ship in Ohio of all places…and that you're friends with my brother. Small world," Cooper said.
"Small town," Sebastian quipped. He also seemed to be attempting to check Cooper out, Blaine was shocked to notice. "I have to ask, how did you even find that film?"
"I have to admit that I didn't actually find it as much as it was shown to me. Never underestimate the research powers of the ambitious," Cooper said with only a slight rolling of his eyes. "The clip was brought to our attention by an assistant of my manager's. He always has us on the lookout for fresh faces especially with the trend in today's film industry. We were impressed by you."
"Is this a joke?" Sebastian asked, looking from Blaine to Kurt to Cooper with a skeptical expression.
Blaine shook his head in denial. "I have absolutely no clue what either of you are talking about," he admitted. "Cooper does have a manager for his acting career but what clip?"
Cooper gestured for Sebastian to explain, then actually took a seat at the table. Cooper even looked interested in hearing what Sebastian was going to say. Blaine traded glances with Kurt before shrugging and they pulled chairs over to sit as well.
Sebastian still seemed a bit skeptical of the situation, but apparently didn't think that Blaine was the type to pull such a trick on him…or at least didn't think that answering the question would be any harm. He started explaining, at least. "It was just something to do this past summer, really. My cousin and I were extremely bored – it is Ohio – but one day we were just sitting around chatting with a friend of hers who was into film. Somehow between talking about France and the kids my cousin had been babysitting we thought it would be funny to do a film about Waldo and his international travels. I was Waldo and I basically go around a do a bunch of random stuff."
"Like apparently smoke illegally?" Cooper added with amusement. "It's actually pretty good though for simply messing around."
Sebastian shrugged. "That friend was really into film – I think she was actually planning on submitting it to a few festivals or something. I honestly didn't even know she posted it online."
"I didn't know you acted," Blaine said, still in shock. He thought he and Sebastian were friends – admittedly better ones before the whole Michael Jackson/slushie thing, but friends nonetheless. Starring in a short film, especially a good one if Cooper was to be believed, seemed like something Sebastian should have bragged about before now.
"It was just a short film," Sebastian commented and it almost seemed modest. "It's not like acting is hard." There was the usual smirky confidence that Blaine knew the guy was full of.
Blaine felt that Cooper should take offense at this statement, being an actor an all, but he merely laughed. "Glad you think so highly of my career," he said but with humor.
Sebastian seemed unapologetic. Cooper analyzed him, a more serious expression on his face. His fingers tapped rhythmically on the table and he seemed to be debating something. Blaine didn't know what to do with the conversation or really what to do in this entire situation. "Tell you what," Cooper finally said. "If you give me your number I'll pass it on to my manager. He'll be thrilled that he's found you. I think he actually tried to contact whoever posted the video but didn't get a response."
Blaine – and probably Kurt – gaped at Cooper in shock but the look on Sebastian's face was unreadable. "If this is an elaborate prank in attempt to humiliate me, it isn't very well planned. I feel flattered that you even bothered to research me far enough to find that video," Sebastian said calmly. "Or if you really just wanted my number, all you needed to do was ask. Compliments are unnecessary with a face like yours."
Blaine felt extremely uncomfortable with Sebastian obviously hitting on his older brother – but Cooper, again, merely chuckled. "I'm flattered, really, but my tastes run on the more…feminine side. And this isn't a joke. I really am an actor – I can do my free credit rating jingle for you as proof – and I really do have a manager who is interested in you."
"You want to hook Sebastian up with your manager?" Blaine was finally able to articulate incredulously. If Cooper – or Cooper's manager – was looking for new talent, shouldn't Blaine have been at the top of the list? Or heck, even Kurt had talked enough about his dreams about performing (and Blaine had no doubt that Kurt would undoubtedly pause his Broadway dreams to put a film on his resume) for Cooper to all about them. But no, Cooper was offering to put Sebastian Smythe in touch with his manager!
"You have potential, kid," Cooper said to Sebastian, ignoring Blaine's gaping expression. "Your talent is raw but it's there. That's what a lot of directors are looking for now. This isn't a joke. I'm already doing my best to not be offended that you don't recognize me so be careful about how much more convincing you're going to need."
Sebastian smirked at the comment. He looked from Cooper's serious face that still had some amusement to Kurt and Blaine's equally shocked and horrified expressions. Blaine saw his green eyes evaluate Cooper for another long minute before he seemed to reach a decision. "I suppose it can't hurt. Whether or not your story turns out to be the truth, in the end I'm simply giving a hot guy my number."
Cooper chuckled and shook his head. "I'm straight and you're the same age as my brother." Sebastian's obvious flirting didn't stop Cooper from handing over his phone, though.
"Call me if you get curious, then – manager or no," Sebastian replied with an audacious wink. "And age doesn't bother me if it doesn't bother you." Sebastian returned the phone, having entered his number.
"Sebastian – The Hot Waldo," Cooper read with amusement from his phone.
"Just to make sure you remember me."
"If that ego you have can handle some rejection, you'll have no problem in the business."