To : Kurt Hummel (KurtEHummel) and Marley Rose (arosebyanothername)
From: Luke Gautier (LGautier)
Subject: Mr. Peterson
Hey Kurt and Marley,
I've added Kurt and Darcy to the larpwriter, which means Kurt, you are all set to start playing as soon as you like. Our Monday session will be at Ethan's house this week, but we totally understand if you don't want to start until our Wednesday session at the park.
If you have any questions, just let me know.
Luke
To: Luke Gautier (LGautier)
From: Kurt Hummel (KurtEHummel)
Subject: Questions
Hi Luke,
I was just wondering what the actual process of the LARP is? No one has ever actually told me what I'm meant to do- so how exactly does a normal session go? Sorry if that's a bit vague.
Kurt
To : Kurt Hummel (KurtEHummel)
From: Luke Gautier (LGautier)
Subject: RE: Questions
No, I get what you mean. You've just watched a couple of sessions and need some clarity about what happens.
So on Wednesdays (would I be right in assuming that you're skipping Monday because otherwise you'll be at a near stranger's house?) we all meet at the park about five (our Dalton students need to drive over, plus many of them have other commitments earlier in the afternoon), arriving in costume. Once enough people arrive, we opt to begin the session, and then as the others arrive they simply join in when they're ready.
Once you're IC (in character), we discourage going OOC (out of character) until the conclusion of the LARP session, although there are exceptions. To end the session, usually after about three quarters of an hour, we all tap the bench twice, to signify that we are going OOC. Once the whole group has ended, we have a little debrief, any major plot developments can be discussed, and we decide details for the next sessions. After the session people tend to stick around for a bit to chat with one another.
During the session your character simply interacts with others. Try to have discussions with several other characters. Develop relationships. It will all come together in the end. To begin with Darcy will probably interact a lot with Constable Carlton (he has some drinking issues), and soon enough the heroes for news articles. Don't be too surprised if the villains attack the bar, however...
Hopefully that cleared it up a bit. The best way to learn is just to play!
Luke
The next Wednesday became a very busy one for Kurt. All morning he was excited for his first proper LARP session that evening, he was refusing to speak in English until after his French presentation at ten, and he had glee after school. He barely had time to listen to Mercedes and Tina as they chatted away by his locker in between classes. "I'll be right back," Kurt announced, closing his locker, much to the surprise of his friends.
"Where are you going, Kurt?" Tina asked, sounding concerned.
"I just have to say hi to someone. I'll be right back." He didn't even give his friends a chance to reply before he darted across the hallway. "Marley, hi!" he said, startling the girl. She turned quickly, her guard clearly up, before she saw Kurt and softened.
"Hey, Kurt!" she replied.
"I never see you at school. This is kind of weird, huh?"
"It's a little bit weird," Marley said with a laugh, "you can go now, if you want. I know hanging out with a freshman won't help your social status."
"Honey, I'm in glee club. I can't get any lower around this place."
"Are you coming to the LARP tonight? I can't wait until Glam and Darcy have the chance to interact. I just really love him as a character already."
"Yeah, of course. I've been looking forward to it all week-" Kurt didn't even hear the sound of footsteps behind him, didn't feel the looming presence of his tormentor. He was simply cut off mid-sentence by a cascade of frozen slush being tipped down the back of his shirt.
"I thought you didn't like pussy, fairy! No need to lead little girls on, homo!" Karofsky said, "What happened to all your glee fags? None of those boys would sleep with you and you had to turn to a girl who would suck your dick?" Karofsky swiped Kurt behind the knees, sending him to the floor to sit the puddle the red dye that had dribbled from his shirt had formed. When Kurt dared to look up, Karofsky had faded into a swarm of red letterman jackets, and Marley was looking horrified.
"Are you okay?" Kurt asked up at her. He was used to dealing with Karofsky and his group of jocks, but he hated to think that he had just dragged another innocent person into it with him. He clambered to his feet and repeated his question, "Marley, are you okay?" She nodded timidly.
"Kurt, oh my goodness... you should go and get cleaned up. I'll see you tonight." Marley was gone before Kurt could reassure her that he was okay. Mercedes and Tina were still standing at his locker when he got to it to retrieve his spare clothes. They barely even noticed the way he squirmed, and seemed to let it go a whole lot more easily than they used to. He wondered when they stopped acting as if they cared.
Somehow, with a lot of difficulty, Kurt dragged himself through the rest of the school day, counting the minutes in all of his classes. He made it to glee in one piece and clapped along with everyone else at the end of a solo performance by Rachel which maybe wasn't completely on theme, argued half heartedly about song choices for Sectionals and didn't even bother to put up his hand when they voted. He spent as much of the time as he could manage scrolling through plot summaries in the Dreamweaver Facebook group of past sessions, trying to get some grip on the history of the town. Darcy was about to be thrown into the deep end, and Kurt wasn't sure whether to feel thrilled or terrified.
He arrived at the park a little bit earlier than Luke had told him to and waited, in what little costume he had designated to be Darcy's look. He had chosen a leather jacket that he seldom wore and, as an extra accessory which he felt he might need come summer time when the jacket was too much, a pair of aviators.
Luke, Erica and Hadley were the first to arrive at the park, and they instantly approached Kurt. Luke was in his full white spandex suit, complete with cape. Erica was wearing her black body suit and cat ears, which had an elaborately bejewelled J on the back. Hadley was in much the same position as Kurt and wore simply her leopard print cardigan by way of costume. "Hey Kurt!" Erica greeted, "I looked over Darcy's profile. Nice work."
"Thanks," Kurt replied, "Marley was really helpful. I'm still not really positive I know what I'm doing."
"Just make yourself completely and utterly the character. The second we start the session, you leave Kurt behind. Everything Kurt might be thinking and feeling is irrelevant, because Darcy is in control."
"What if I'm not good enough at acting for this?"
"Then Darcy becomes sort of a reflection of you, which isn't that terrible. He can be a bit like you, so long as he's still his own person, in a way. But it's improv. There are no scripts for you to memorise. Just do whatever you feel like doing." Kurt nodded, hoping that what Erica said would prove to be of some use to him.
Blaine, Nick and Jeff all arrived at the same time, each in costume. Blaine was the only one with a bodysuit, whereas Nick and Jeff were both in civilian costume- each with a signature piece here and there, same as Kurt. Blaine's dark spandex wasn't something Kurt felt as though he could get bored of, and it certainly showed of that Blaine had some nice assets. Marley and Unique walked up to the slowly growing group together, too.
"Haven't Leo and Ethan come in yet? Ethan's car is parked out there," Marley informed the group.
"Who knows what they could be doing?" Hadley said, with an air of absolute innocence. No one else seemed to feel the same way.
"Honey, everyone knows what they're doing," Unique replied, earning an mmhmm from Erica.
"They'll turn up in their own time. I think we should get started, anyway," Luke said authoritatively, and the group quietened, "as most of you are aware, today is Kurt's first LARP with us. Darcy will be working in the bar here in Dreamweaver and has a bit of a journalism thing, but let's not spoil his whole life story for your characters, hmm? Okay, let's get started." The group dispersed, and Kurt watched as the characters that the group adopted grew on them. Marley's broad smile dropped to a smirk as she followed along behind Erica, whose eyes began to pierce through the heroes. Nick and Jeff were obviously the most similar to their characters, as they both immediately raced for the small playground. Soon Kurt was left standing by himself, helplessly looking around at the smaller groups, knowing that he had to wait for the others to come to him.
Kurt felt a tap on his shoulder, and he turned to find Hadley and Unique, each looking purely bitchy. "Can I help you?" Kurt asked.
"Strawberry daiquiri," Unique said, "and the best gossip that you can serve up."
"And a Cosmo for me," Hadley added. Even with some confusion, Kurt suddenly caught on to what was happening. He wasn't sure how to feel with his first encounter, but he realised that his own thoughts and feelings didn't matter. It was all down to what it was that Darcy felt about the situation. And to Darcy Peterson, serving women cocktails was just daily business.
"Do you have an ID to go along with that order?" he asked, looking up and down at Hadley. The blonde was tiny and really didn't pass for anything over fourteen, let alone twenty-one. Her mouth dropped open in surprise, which Kurt mentally reminded himself wasn't Hadley's reaction, but her character's. He wondered when this kind of acting would begin to feel natural to him, because at that moment everything felt forced- but whenever he looked at anyone else, it seemed like it was the easiest thing in the world.
"I am Yvonne Tigressa! I shouldn't require identification, thank you!"
"Excuse me, miss, but you don't look twenty-one. I can't morally serve you alcohol without ID." At that Hadley giggled.
"Oh, you really think so?" she turned to Unique and said, "I think the snake venom facials are working, darling!"
Unique lifted her hand to her face. "Mm, still so smooth," she agreed.
"And are you over twenty-one? I can't morally seduce you without ID," Hadley purred flirtatiously to Kurt. He cleared his throat.
"Uh, yes, but that's beside the point. ID?"
"I don't have ID, but I have a Wikipedia page. And if that says that I started modelling at eighteen, and that was five years ago, do you think that I'm younger than twenty-one?"
Kurt sighed, rolling his eyes. "Alright, ladies, it's a small town, I'm new around here, no one else seems to ever ask for ID... I'll let it slide. But if word gets out about this and you two are actually underage? Then you're filling my pay check in the event my parents won't."
"Money isn't an issue with us, darling," Unique said, "You can have a generous tip, too." After a small pause in which Unique mimed handing over cash and Kurt in turn mimed mixing their drinks, Unique spoke again. "You didn't fill the gossip order."
"I haven't been here long enough to really know anything that's been happening. You two are the town's rumour mill?"
Hadley nodded. "Mmhmm. Being the rich, famous actress that Unique Hutchsworth is and the rich, famous model that Yvonne Tigressa is, it's a miracle you haven't heard of either of us."
"I've been living under a bit of a rock, lately, I was studying overseas," Kurt explained on Darcy's behalf.
"Oh, well that makes perfect sense then. My film didn't really make it very big internationally," Unique said.
"Maybe you two need to get me caught up. Are you regulars at the bar, or-" Kurt stopped midsentence as Hadley and Unique looked shocked at something happening behind him. He hesitated for a moment before turning around to find Marley standing behind him.
"Hello," Marley said calmly, but with a countenance completely different to what he would expect from the shy girl. Everything about her felt villain, in the way she carried herself and addressed him. It amazed Kurt how solidly Glameow she could be. She slowly stepped closer. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Peterson."
"What do you want from me?" Kurt asked, taking a step back, only to be pushed forward again by a gentle shove from Hadley.
"I don't care for you. I care for the money in the register behind you."
"How did you even get in here? We didn't hear the door," Kurt said. How was he supposed to play interaction with a villain? Was stalling until some form of help arrived what he was meant to be doing? No one seemed upset with his choice of words, and so they continued. Marley pointed above them to nothing in particular.
"I'm a good climber. And your skylight is open, which did make this easier."
"You don't want my money," Kurt said, though he turned his head to see what the disturbance on his left was. Blaine and Luke were talking near them, probably 'outside the bar'. He tried not to focus on them, and instead on Marley who was slinking closer, "the alcohol... the spirits are probably worth more than you'll find in the register." The buzz from the boys was constant, and Kurt picked up a "First solo mission," alongside a declaration that "Glameow is my rival; I need to do this sooner or later, White! You can't keep taking all the glory!"
Marley cocked her head at Kurt in intrigue. "Bottles don't transport as well as cash."
"And how are you transporting the cash? You don't have a cliché bag with a dollar sign on."
"My bra. It helps that Nightbird is terrified of breasts," Marley said plainly. She stepped left, and Kurt stepped to meet her, blocking her path again. "Hey, play nice now, Darcy. Let me get close enough to touch it before your beloved heroes show up."
"How do you know my name?" Kurt asked. They hadn't discussed any back story between them.
"I know a lot of things. I have tabs on everyone in Dreamweaver, don't flatter yourself. So now, if you would be so kind as to just-"
"Yeah right," Blaine said, stepping neatly behind Marley and restraining her hands. She fought against it and Kurt turned back to Hadley and Unique.
"Sorry for the disturbance," he said, as Marley jumped onto Blaine's back, and he fell down at the impact. Kurt wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond, or even whether he should inquire about Blaine's safety. He seemed okay, though Kurt was soon distracted by the girls.
"The things I would do to that boy," Hadley said, "shame he won't let the Tigress prowl."
"This sort of thing happens a lot around here?" Kurt asked. Unique nodded.
"All the time. It's almost unusual if you don't witness a break in of some sort in a week."
"You win!" Marley yelled, catching the attention of all three of the bystanders. Blaine was standing above her, his foot resting on her stomach. She held up an imaginary wad of cash, which Blaine took from her. He lifted his foot, and Marley clambered ungracefully to her feet. "What are you doing with me this time, huh?"
"You don't have to do this," Blaine said calmly, a hand on her shoulder, "You know White Wings would train you up, too. JetCat doesn't want a villain to contend with."
"I just have to prove that I can do it," Marley said, "it's important to me." Blaine sighed, and released his hand. He stepped around her to restrain her hands again, but as soon as he moved, she ran away, only stopping when she hit the spot that Erica was sitting in.
"She got away again. Well, at least she was empty handed," Blaine said, stepping towards the small group. "You're new in town," he stated, looking Kurt over.
"I am," he replied. Blaine raised an eyebrow at the girls, who quickly left the pair alone too. Blaine cleared his throat.
"Well, first thing first. This belongs to you," he said, passing Kurt the imaginary money, which he in turn put into the imaginary cash register. It felt silly, but then again, it had been Blaine who had passed it to him.
"Thanks," Kurt said, "I didn't even notice her taking it."
"She's agile, to say the least. Did you hear her breaking in?"
"Not at all."
"She's good, but she isn't the best that Dreamweaver has... not to scare you away again or anything. We don't get many attractive guys around here, it would be a shame to lose you," Blaine said. Kurt blushed furiously, unsure how to properly respond to such a blatant flirt. He shook it off, reminding himself that it was for Darcy, from Nightbird. He needed to separate the two- otherwise his attraction to Blaine would only become more heartbreaking in the end.
"You must scare them all away with how high the standard has been set by the heroes," Kurt flirted back. He was surprised he had ever even managed to think up a line like that. Maybe Darcy really was growing his own person after all.
"I bet you say that to all the heroes who save you from robberies."
"This would be my first robbery to be saved from."
"That's not a no," Blaine said, winking at him. How could Kurt possibly top that? It didn't even come off as trying too hard or an inappropriate come on- it felt like it stepped out of an old movie and Blaine was the charming boy with a leather jacket.
"It's not."
"I'm Nightbird," Blaine introduced.
"The nocturnal avenger," Kurt supplied, to which Blaine grinned, "I've heard plenty about you. I'm Darcy."
"Well, Mister Darcy, I hope to see you again. Maybe under more pleasant circumstances, with less victimisation; though I don't mind coming to your rescue."
"All part of the job, right?"
"The rescues, sure. But not often the saving cute boys." Kurt felt a blush rise in his cheeks. Blaine cleared his throat. "Well, I'd better be going. Have a nice evening, Darcy." Blaine saluted Kurt quickly, before turning to leave himself. The way he said his name so softly made Kurt wonder if there was something more to all the flirting- because he knew that he definitely wouldn't mind if that was the case.
He filled up the rest of the session by sitting down with Unique and Hadley again, as they filled him in on the recent events in Dreamweaver. They had plenty of questions to fire his way about Darcy's encounter with Nightbird, and he was more than happy to share some of the basics. He kept a small few words to himself, the tiniest details that he was storing away so that he could use them himself later. Blaine had a way of making him feel like he could actually believe that he was as attractive as the flirts suggested that he was.
"I just have one question to ask," Kurt said, and the girls turned to him attentively, "is Nightbird gay?"
Hadley sighed. "No one knows for sure. He hasn't ever had a girlfriend, and I've never managed to seduce him."
"Honey, you've never managed to seduce anyone," Unique replied.
"But labels just aren't a big deal in Dreamweaver, though I get that they are elsewhere. It's just that if you like someone, then you should date them, and no one really cares who makes the couple."
"That's... really great. No one here really cares?" Kurt asked.
"Not at all." And that was when Kurt realised that maybe he had finally found a place- even the most fictional of towns- where when he was told no one cared about his sexuality, he actually believed it.