Kurt and Adam move ahead with their plans for a murder mystery dinner party as well as make some new friends in their neighborhood.

The invitations to their murder mystery housewarming party were done and had been put into envelopes with the recipients' names written with a black calligraphy pen in Kurt's best attempt at creepy lettering. Adam had just placed them in a basket on the large wooden storage unit Kurt had kept from the loft that they had placed along the wall near the door, which the large sofa from the loft sat in front of.

Kurt took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he stood from the table and stretched.

Adam crossed the room, wrapped his arms around Kurt from behind, propped his chin on Kurt's shoulder, and looked around the room. "I'm still shocked at how much closet space this place has."

"I agree," Kurt said. "It definitely has the weirdest layout I've ever seen, but kudos to the creative person who turned less than 400 square feet into a 2-bedroom apartment with two really nice closets, a real kitchen area with a full-sized fridge and stove, and lower cabinets, and a small coat closet."

"And you're going to cover that empty space under the lower half of the stairs with a curtain, so all of those storage boxes we just filled and put under there will be hidden from view."

"I just need to bring my measuring tape down and get the exact measurements. Although, looking at it now, there's room at the front to put shoe shelves if we build them ourselves."

"Ah, that's an interesting idea. We can think about it." He kissed along Kurt's neck up to his ear, then whispered. "But right now, you and I have a date with that lovely shower that fits the both of us so nicely."

"Hold that thought."

"Why, love?"

"We need to go make one more sweep through my old place before we turn the key in and the super inspects the place. I don't want to leave a speck of dust that I could get charged a cleaning fee for."

Just as Adam pulled his phone out to look at the time, his alarm went off. "Yes, right. That. We didn't have to be so crazy with the cleaning in my place since Sam took over the place. Let's go have a look, then, before the inspection." He turned Kurt in his arms and kissed him gently. "I think it looks great in here. A bit of artwork and we'll be set."

"Sam said he's almost done with the painting for the wall behind the table."

"Excellent. We can look for a frame while we're scouring the secondhand shops for a sofa table to put the TV on."

"Works for me." Kurt kissed Adam. "Let's go finish this up."

Adam let his hands slip down past Kurt's waist and pulled him closer.

"Sweetie?"

"Hmm?"

"You have to let go of me for us to get going."

"Nope. Never letting you go, love." He slipped his right hand down and took Kurt's hand instead and kissed him on the cheek quickly. "Let's go, then."

A few minutes later, they were standing inside the empty apartment waiting for the super to arrive.
Kurt took his phone out and browsed the IKEA website while Adam was staring out the window at the street below.

"Instead of a sofa table, we could buy an old 6-drawer dresser and put the TV on that. Our place has a lot of storage compared to most places here, but we could always use more."

"Sure, love. Whatever you think will work."

Kurt crossed the room and wrapped his arms around Adam. "What are you thinking about so intently?" he asked as he tried to ascertain what it was that Adam was looking at. He scanned the area and saw a few kids outside.

"There was that big bucket of sidewalk chalk that we found in one of the boxes we brought back from Ohio. Instead of showering, what if we take them outside and see if we can get those kids to draw with us?"

Kurt's face lit up. "That actually sounds like fun." He knew that he had absolutely needed a break from the crazy of everyone from Lima, but he also still felt adrift in many ways. He had been in the city for going on 11 months, and other than spending time with the Apples occasionally, he hadn't really made any connections with anyone. He turned and leaned back against Adam's chest and remained lost in his thoughts for a few minutes.

"I'd like to get to know more people."

"That's what I was just thinking about. I pulled away from the frenemy situation with people from Lima, but I've been emotionally distant, not investing myself in anyone or anything at school, with the exceptions of you and the Apples. I've wanted to live in New York for so long, but I've been here for nearly 11 months, and I feel like I've mostly just been chasing my tail."

Adam chuckled. "But it's such a lovely tail." He kissed along Kurt's neck.

Kurt had long given up deflecting Adam's affectionate teasing. He swaggled his tush slightly. "Thank you." He turned his head enough to peck Adam on the lips. "I've been doing a lot of thinking."

"Mm-hmm. One of your more frequent pastimes."

"Hush, you."

Adam kissed him. "Go on, love."

"I'm going to stay on at Vogue, but I'm going to see if I can find a shop that needs someone for maybe ten hours a week. Even less if I can manage it. I spent years working to learn everything I know, and the pay is so much better than working for Vogue or the diner. I wanted to be someone I couldn't be in Lima." He sighed heavily. "But I am a mechanic. It's part of who I am." He thought back to defiantly stating that he couldn't be put in a box when Mr. Schuester had been displeased with his performance of "Pink Houses". "I want to get off the hamster wheel. My expenses are going down by about $200 a month with us splitting the rent and utilities. And I need my evenings free for rehearsals. I didn't work so hard all summer to get sophomore standing just to have to bow out of auditioning because I'm working when I need to rehearse."

"Very true." Adam had been thinking the very same things but had refrained from saying anything while they were apart for so long. He had hoped that the stress of the summer would begin to ease up and Kurt would come to the realization on his own.

"I hate to give up my Saturdays, but it seems like the only real option."

"I'm in the same boat. I need to audition and hopefully get a role in something, whether it's a professional role off-Broadway or in a school performance. I'll look at getting a Saturday job as well. Let's try to keep Sundays just for us?"

Kurt nodded. "I think that's a good goal."

The knocking on the door made both of them jump a bit. Adam let go of Kurt and they both turned to face the door just as the super unlocked it and stepped inside. He didn't say anything and immediately headed into the bathroom. When he stepped out, he went up into the lofted area briefly, then looked around the main area.

"Well, I don't think I've ever seen a place this clean, even when I know the tenant hired a cleaning company."

Kurt waited and gave him time to say anything else.

He filled in some information on a form, then held out the clipboard and a pen. "Your deposit can either be returned to you via check in a week or so, or I can apply it to this month's rent."

"Actually, that would be fine. Applying it to the rent."

The super filled in a few more spaces. "Just sign here, then."

Kurt looked the form over and saw that no damages or fees had been assessed and signed on the line.

"Thank you," he said as he handed it back.

"Yeah. You're welcome."

Kurt pulled the two keys that he had for the place out of his pocket and handed them to the super.

He took them both and put them on a temporary key ring and fastened it through the ring on the clipboard. He opened the door and waited for Adam and Kurt to step out into the hall.

"Have a good afternoon," Kurt offered.

"Yeah. You too," he said as he turned back to lock the deadbolt.

Kurt ran up the stairs and changed into sweats and was back downstairs in a flash. "I'm ready." He stepped closer to Adam, who already had the bucket of sidewalk chalk in his hand, and kissed him. "Let's go draw before the kids go in to eat dinner."

"After you, love." Adam opened the door and let Kurt walk through, then locked it and took Kurt's hand.

Once they were outside, they headed directly to the area they had seen out the apartment window. There were still a group of kids outside. Several of them were jumping rope Double Dutch style. Kurt stood back watching them, awed at how coordinated the youngest one, who looked no more than nine, was as she jumped with some older kids.

The kids stopped when they noticed that they were being watched.

One of the older ones said, "We're allowed to play here. We asked. The super's cool with us."

"We're not here to tell you to stop," Adam said immediately. "We wanted to know if we could join you.

"We brought a bucket of sidewalk chalk to share."

Several of the younger kids approached.

"We can use them?" One of the younger girls asked.

"Yeah, sure," Kurt said. "If you're allowed."

One of the younger teens spoke up. "Yeah, it's fine, CeeCee."

Her face lit up and she pointed. "How about over there by the wall more so they can still jump rope?"

Adam handed her the bucket. "Sure. Can I draw with you?"

"I guess. Are you any good?"

Adam laughed. "Not really, but it's supposed to be fun, yeah?"

She shrugged. "Come on, then."

Kurt didn't immediately follow, mesmerized again by the kids who had returned to jumping rope.

One of the kids stepped just a little closer. "Do you know how?" she asked.

"Nope. Well, I mean I can just a single rope, but not two like that."

"Wanna learn?"

"Actually, yes."

"Rodrigo. Slow up. He wants to learn how."

Five minutes later, Kurt was jumping with the younger girl who had been the one to have the patience to show him.

She had a huge smile on her face. "You got it finally!"

Kurt smiled back. "Thanks for showing me. I want to learn to do a whole routine. I think I can do it. I was a cheerleader for a while."

"Really?" she asked as they continued to jump."Really. I can show you the video if you want."

She jumped her way out of the turning ropes and Kurt followed her. Three girls moved into the ropes and began doing an impressively complicated dance while jumping as the ropes sped up to their original pace.

"So?" the younger girl said, impatiently.

"Oh, right." Kurt smiled at her and pulled his phone out. He found the video quickly and held his phone where she could watch it.

After a few minutes, she reached out and pressed pause. "Fine. You're right. You were a cheerleader. I'll teach you. I'm Jennessa. J—E—N—N—E—S—S—A. I'm eight. And you are?"

He smiled and managed to keep himself from laughing. "I'm 20. And my name is Kurt."

"Well, Kurt, you might be able to learn this one. Pay attention. I'll go a little slow at first since you're new to this."

He nodded and watched carefully. When she finished a 16-count, he did what she had shown him.

"Well, maybe there is hope for you."

Kurt nodded, still keeping his laughing under control. "You think?" he asked, sounding as hopeful as he could muster up.

"I do. Do it again. Let's see how long you can remember something."

Kurt dutifully did the steps again, still correctly.

"Alright. I'll teach you the rest." Kurt looked over and saw Adam drawing still. When he glanced up, Kurt winked at him and followed Jennessa closer to the building.

"How old are you anyway?" The boy Adam was drawing with asked.

"I'm 22."

"You talk funny."

"I do. I'm not from New York."

"Well, duh."

Adam chuckled. "I'm from England."

"That's far away. Across a huge ocean."

"It is. I flew on a plane, though. No boat for me."

The boy laughed at him. "I'm Benny, and I'm seven. What's your name."

"Adam."

"Like in the Bible?"

"Exactly like that."

Benny put the blue piece of chalk he had back in the bucket and took out a white piece and went back to work on the clouds he was drawing. "Why'd you come all the way over here?"

"To go to school."

"Aren't there any schools in England?"

Adam chuckled again. "There are. Loads. I just want to perform and write plays that will end up on Broadway, so I came here to study."

"I've never been to a play. Are they cool?"

"I think so. People get dressed up and pretend and tell a story while they do it."

"Oh, like a movie?"

"Yep, except they do it live, which means that they do it while people watch them instead of having a video camera record what they do."

"So, like a movie you watch while the people do it?"

"Yes."

"Sounds hard, but it might be fun. I like to dress up for Halloween and pretend to be somebody else."

"Me too."

"What were you last year? I was Spiderman. He's cool."

"I dressed up as a knight last year."

"With a sword and everything?"

"With a sword and everything," Adam answered. "I borrowed a sword from my stage combat class."

"What's stage whatever you said?"

"Stage combat is a class where we learn how to fight without hurting each other for when we need to do it in a play. It's a lot like your friends jumping rope over there."

"Huh?"

"All three of those girls have to know what the others are doing. They can't just jump around wherever. They have to do the movements right."

"Yeah. When they don't, they trip and then fall sometimes."

"Same thing with the class to learn the sword fights. Everyone has to be in the right place, moving the right way—"

Benny interrupted. "Or someone gets their ear chopped off. Whack!" He cracked up laughing at himself.

"That's exactly what happens, except that no one's ear gets chopped off because the swords we use in class aren't sharpened. But they end up with a nasty bruise."

Benny twirled his head a bit, imitating someone being dizzy from being hit. "And a headache."

"That too."

"What's it like in England?"

"Have you been to Central Park?"

"Yeah."

"Well, parts of it are like that. Lots of grass and gardens and trees. But London is a lot more like the rest of this city but much, much older."

"Older?"

"Built before building here were built. So there aren't as many skyscrapers. But it's crowded with lots of people and lots of buildings."

"In third grade, we get to go out to a farm in New Jersey. My sister told me about it. She got to touch a real sheep. She even brought home a little ziplock bag with sheep fur in it. We get to stay all day."

"That sounds like a cool way to spend the day. My grandparents had sheep when I was a kid. Just a few."

"Like pets? Like a dog?"

"Well, yes, mostly. My grandma like to knit—"

Benny interrupted. "I don't know what that means."

"Oh, do you own any jumpers?" He caught himself quickly. "I mean sweaters."

"No, but my momma does."

"Well, knitting is when someone uses yarn to make stuff like sweaters and blankets. Yarn can be made out of sheep fur."

"How?"

"Well, how about when we're done drawing I'll find a video on YouTube that will show you? I don't think I can explain it."

"Yeah, sure. So your grandma made yarn and then made sweaters out of it?"

"She did. I still have a couple of them. They're very warm."

"Do you like my sheep?"

Adam looked down at the sidewalk. "They look great. Is that what you imagine the farm will look like?"

"I think so. My sister described it. She said there was lots of grass and barns. The pictures she drew looked like this."

"Can I add a cow to the drawing?"

"Sure. I'm going to draw a pond with some ducks. I like to take peas to Central Park to feed the ducks. Have you done it?"

"They like peas?"

"Well, yeah," Benny said, rolling his eyes. "What else would you feed them?"

"I hadn't ever really thought about it, to be honest."

"Well, now you know. We both learned something new."

"I suppose we did."

"Benny! Jennessa!" a young woman called out from a window three floors up.

Adam looked up. "Is your sister calling for you?"

Benny laughed at him. "That's not my sister. That's my momma. Jennessa is my sister. She's teaching your friend the jump rope routine. I gotta soon. Show me the yarn video real quick."

Adam took his phone out.

Jennessa looked up. "That's my momma calling for me and my little brother. He's drawing with your friend. We've got five minutes to stop what we're doing. When she calls up the second time, we have to go upstairs."

"Well, thank you for taking the time to show me the routine. I'll practice it and if I see you outside again, maybe you can teach me the rest."

"Yeah, sure. Do you live around here?"

Kurt pointed to the building across the street diagonally. "Down there. We saw you out the window."

"Cool. Well, if you see us out again, come down and I'll show you the rest. And bring the chalk. Benny loves to draw, but we don't have any more paper. I brought home all of my stuff from school and so did he, but he ran out a few weeks ago and school doesn't start for another week.

"I'll be sure and bring the chalk."

"See ya!" She took off towards the steps and waved when she was about halfway up. Benny followed her into the building.

Kurt walked over to where Adam was sitting on the sidewalk. "Nice farm drawing there."

"Thanks. It was mostly Benny's work."

He sat down next to Adam and picked up a piece of chalk. He began to draw a tractor, followed by a large tree with a tire swing. Once he was starting to draw some corn growing in the background, he started to talk. "Jennessa said that he likes to draw and we should bring the chalk back when we come back out to play."

"We can definitely do that." Inspired by Kurt's cornstalks, Adam added some sunflowers next to the barn.

Kurt added a few chickens, then stood up and pulled his camera out. He took a few shots.
Adam looked up at Kurt. "Shall we, then, darling?" He asked as he brushed his hands together to get some of the chalk off as he stood up.

"Well, we both definitely need that shower," Kurt said quietly.

"That we do, love. That we do." He leaned over and picked up the chalk pieces and put them back in the bucket and put the lid on. "This was fun."

"It was." He took a few steps, then stopped to watch the two girls who were still jumping rope for a few minutes before walking away. Once they were down the street a bit, he said, "I'm going to practice and wow Jennessa." He turned and winked at Adam.

Adam reached out and took Kurt's hand. "I'm sure you will, darling." He loved seeing that spark of determination in Kurt's eyes. It had been a rare occurrence since the spring, but Adam was hopeful that it would eventually be seen more often since Kurt's insane idea of taking six courses in six weeks wouldn't be using up every waking moment of his time. As crazy as the idea was, Adam knew that Kurt had needed the constant distraction that only school deadlines could impose upon him. The lack of time to do anything that wasn't school-related kept him from being able to think about everything he had lost, the weight of which had nearly pulled him under in the late spring.

They continued to walk hand in hand, both caught up in their own thoughts until they stopped when Adam unlocked the door.

Kurt let go of his hand once they were inside the apartment and began stripping as he sashayed across the living room towards the bathroom. Adam quickly put the bucket of sidewalk chalk on the bottom stair, awaiting a designated space in the apartment for future use, then quickly followed Kurt, collecting his clothes from the floor leaving them in a pile outside the door with his own, then followed Kurt into the shower.

Kadam Week 2023 Day 1 Prompt
Kadam playing with sidewalk chalk like they're kids again.