Kinn Mini-Bang Fic: The Mason Inn
Title: The Mason Inn
Author: AoiTsukikage
Rating: R
Characters/Pairing: Finn/Kurt
Chapter: 1/1
Word Count: ~4400
Spoilers: Nothing specific
Summary: Written for the Kinn mini-bang in November. In order for Kurt to secure a new job as lead costume designer for a small film company, he has to appease their lead actress by spending the night in a rumored-to-be-haunted hotel. He brings Finn along for moral support…and because a night in a deserted hotel with the guy he’s been in love with for years might lead to something a little more interesting than just plain old ghost hunting.
Notes: A big thank-you to Carly (aglassofkurtscomeeverynight on tumblr) for doing a quick proof-read of the final edit for me :)
The Mason Inn
If you asked Kurt Hummel, he’d tell you the reason he agreed to this in the first place was because it almost guaranteed him the role of head costume designer on an indie film starring up and coming actors in the field and spending a night in a small, abandoned motel was well worth it.
If you asked Kurt Hummel, he’d tell you the reason he’d brought his stepbrother along was not only because a night alone with Finn was starting to become more and more of an appealing prospect after years of them skirting around each other (and yes, he’d noticed it more and more with Finn lately and was starting to realize that his feelings, which had never really gone away, were maybe not quite so one-sided in the end), but also because Finn was one of the most steadfast and loyal people he knew.
If you asked Kurt Hummel, he’d tell you that ‘it seemed like a good idea at the time’ and the recorders and cameras they’d had set up for them (“we’d get professionals in, Kurt, but we know you’re perfectly capable!”) had seemed like enough, but now he realized that the two of them weren’t really enough if something went really, really wrong.
If you asked Kurt Hummel, he’d tell you that he didn’t expect his night at the Mason Inn to end up the way it did.
~
Yes, if you’d have asked Kurt Hummel after the fact, this is what he would have told you.
As it was, however, all he said was ‘yes’, which explained why he was here in the first place.
~
“Dude, if she’s just like a minor actress, why are you bending over backwards for her? Can’t you get, like, those dudes from TAPS in or something?” Finn sounded less than enthused on the phone, and Kurt rolled his eyes and curled up in his chair, feet tucked under him as he sipped at a cup of tea.
“Because she’s going to make it big. It’s pretty inevitable, I think, but right now if this movie wants to lock her down they have to accommodate her,” Kurt sighed, shifting the phone a little and wrinkling his nose at the thought of what they had to do. “It’s just a night in an old hotel, Finn. They’re setting up cameras and we’re getting EMF detectors and…EVP?” he tried to remember. “Whatever those things are that record voices normal ears can’t hear. And we just have to spend an hour or two in each of the most haunted areas, with the cameras taping and recording things, and at the end of the night I will buy you breakfast and I get a job,” he hoped that breakfast would incite Finn, because it always had in the past.
“Dude, if there’s food? I’m there!” Finn sounded way too excited now and Kurt had to admit that to him this was probably a dream: sneaking around an old building late at night and not getting in trouble for it.
“Good. I will call you with further details and we’ll go from there,” he set the phone down after he was finished talking, pulling his knees further toward his chest and listening to the wind howl outside.
It was worth it for the job, he kept telling himself.
It was worth it for the job.
~
“Thank you so much for coming!” the proprietor of the establishment, the Mason Inn, was a sweet-looking old lady by the name of Mrs. Huber, hunchbacked and with thick-rimmed glasses, and she clasped Kurt’s hand heartily and Kurt smiled back weakly and nodded, looking behind him to where Finn was staring up at the tall staircase toward the upper balconies. “We’ve been having ever so much trouble finding guests who will stay here and if this movie films it will bring us business again. It’s not the ghosts, you see,” she squeaked, starting to usher Kurt and Finn upstairs toward the rooms, “it’s that people want to know they’re not evil ghosts, so that’s what you boys are here to prove, right?” she looked so hopeful that Kurt swallowed his trepidation and nodded.
“We are, madam. My…director said you’d be so kind as to show us the most haunted areas?” he could feel Finn tense behind him and reached back to touch his arm comfortingly.
“Indeed I can!” she bustled away and Kurt followed, hearing Finn trudging slowly after her. “There are only ten rooms in the motel. It used to be a mansion before it was converted, built in the mid-1800s,” she explained as she pushed open the door to one of the rooms, with rather cheery blue walls and a flowered bedspread. “We found records saying it belonged to somebody named Francis Mason, and there’s been a lot of…deaths on the property…” she stopped and turned back, and Kurt could hear Finn suck in a gasp.
“Dude, I don’t wanna deal with like revenge ghosts,” Finn whined and Kurt reached back again to shush him, patting his stomach.
“Oh, don’t worry! Not murders, just…Francis had a daughter, a girl by the name of Emily. We think this was her room,” she gestured around. “She fell very ill when she was ten or so and never recovered, but people say they hear her laughing, see indents in the bed like somebody is sitting there even when they’re not. She’s friendly,” the matronly woman assured them but from the sickly smile on Finn’s face Kurt could tell he wasn’t buying it.
“Good to know. We’ll be sure to look at this room, then,” Kurt steered Finn out and they followed her down the hall to a much more ornate set of doors.
“This was Francis’ room,” Mrs. Huber told them, pulling the door open smoothly. “It’s the honeymoon suite now, when we get honeymooners, but it seems that old Francis loved this place so much he just never decided to move on,” she walked farther into the room and Kurt followed her in.
“So what happens in here?” Kurt inquired, looking around the rather ornate room.
“Voices, sometimes,” the old lady responded, putting her hand down on the bedspread. “Objects being moved…sometimes the shower turns on in the middle of the night. Some people have claimed to have seen Francis, standing in the doorway watching them.”
“Watching them have sex? Creepy, dude,” Finn muttered and Kurt had to stifle a laugh.
“Okay,” Kurt tried not to feel overwhelmed, but he supposed he should be grateful that the two spirits here weren’t malicious. Just…wayward souls who never found their eternal rest. “Anything else?”
“The main staircase in the lobby. People say they’ve seen shadow people, just out of the corner of their eye, but when they turn it’s empty. And the front desk, we have some employees saying they feel like they’re being watched, getting nervous, late at night. I think that’s it,” she looked thoughtful before clasping Kurt’s hand again. “Thank you so much for coming. We’re counting on you to help us save the business!”
Kurt smiled, the most sickly smile he could muster, because ‘saving the business’ wasn’t exactly something he felt he was capable of doing. Saving himself maybe not so much, either.
~
“Here’s your equipment,” the one tech they’d managed to get come out told them later that evening, handing them an assortment of meters and boxes. “We’ve got four cameras set up for you: the girl’s bedroom, the honeymoon suite, the main staircase, and the front desk. Those are continuously running, like security cameras. At the end of the night we’ll be back to take everything down and pass the tapes off to you.”
Kurt nodded, glad that they wouldn’t have to remember to keep changing tapes or anything as far as the cameras were concerned. One less thing to worry about was good at this point.
“Okay, your gear: EMF detector, measures electromagnetic fields. Paranormal activity spikes it, the numbers will shoot sky-high. But so do electrical wires and the like, so always check because it’s a real good way to de-bunk claims of paranoia, feeling ill, things like that. EVP recorder, records things not audible to the human ear. Set it up, start a conversation, listen to the tapes to see if you got anything back. K-II meter, kind of like a EMF detector ghosts can manipulate. If something moves in front of it, it lights up, so you can tell if something’s there. And watch your batteries, gents, ghosts drain them like crazy. Something about the energy needed to manifest.”
“Can’t you just stay with us?” Finn looked up, pleading, and the man shook his head.
“Can’t. Got a big case out in Jersey tonight, but thanks for doing this, boys. So you’re on the lookout for voices, objects moving, general feelings of fear, shadow people, and full-bodied apparitions. Here’s my emergency contact,” he handed over a number that Kurt slipped into his pocket. “If anything goes really wrong, leave. Come out to the trailer we’ve got the cables going from and stay there until one of us gets back in touch with you. Sound good?”
“Yes,” Kurt nodded stiffly and the man clapped his shoulder.
“Cool. I hope you guys catch something,” he winked and walked off to his truck, driving away as Kurt let out a measured breath.
“…Dude,” and suddenly Finn sounded awed and not at all frightened. “We totally are on Ghost Hunters!”
“If the ghosts don’t kill me, you will,” Kurt muttered, but Finn seemed to notice his mounting distress and slid an arm around his shoulders, pulling him in tight and curling his body around Kurt’s.
Kurt tried to remind himself that he was getting two things from tonight: a job, and maybe getting closer to Finn, spending the night alone in a deserted hotel.
He only hoped that nothing else was going to wreck his plans.
~
“Where should we start?” Finn asked once they’d gotten the lights off and were back in the entranceway. Kurt surveyed the area, eyes darting between the stairwell and the front entrance desk, and made a decision.
“Let’s work our way up. So start with the desk, then the stairs, then the girl’s room and then the honeymoon suite,” he reasoned, turning his flashlight on and pointing it around the grand lobby.
“Okay. Desk,” Finn agreed, hopping behind it and standing there for a bit. Kurt kept one eye on him and one on the staircase, figuring that it wouldn’t pay to talk to the supposed ghosts here since there was never any stories about direct contact. “So how do you work this thingy?” Finn was waving around the EMF detector and Kurt sighed, making his way over before the doofus broke anything.
“Here, just watch the numbers,” he instructed, tapping the screen, and Finn yelped and shoved it at Kurt. “What?”
“Dude, that’s like…isn’t one like normal? That’s almost at ten,” Finn tapped the screen and Kurt noticed that he was right, the settings were much higher than what he thought would be normal. “Kurt. Kurt,” Finn poked him and Kurt turned to him irritably.
“What?”
“I feel weird,” Finn whispered. “Like somebody’s watching me,” he shivered and Kurt had to admit that he was feeling decidedly uneasy himself.
Still, that wasn’t going to prove anything, and he moved the meter around a bit, finding that the readings were highest when it was pointing to the wall behind the desk.
The wall…
“Finn,” he hissed, and Finn looked back over, eyes wide. “Remember what they told us? That high EMF readings can cause you to feel odd, but sometimes it’s just…”
He ran through the door leading to the back room and held up the detector again, seeing a bunch of wires crisscrossing the wall: doorbell, phone lines, electrical…
“…Oh,” Finn breathed. “So that’s…”
“Why people feel sick when they spend too much time at the front desk,” Kurt added, a grin slipping onto his face. He had to admit, debunking that was kind of fun, and at least it proved that anything going on in the lobby was probably due to the high amount of electricity coursing through the room.
“Awesome, dude!” Finn grabbed him in a hug and Kurt squeaked, holding tight a moment later because, well, that was the reason he’d kind of wanted Finn to come along, and they stood there much too long to be purely brotherly, Finn’s warm breath ruffling his hair.
“So. Does it pay to check the stairs?” Finn murmured against his head and Kurt sighed, fingers curling into Finn’s sweater as he pulled away a little.
“I don’t think so. I think most of what happens in the lobby, or what people think they see, can be traced back to the high EMF field around here. Besides, we’ve got a camera on the staircase so that’ll catch anything. I say we head up to Emily’s room,” he suggested, and Finn grabbed his hand and tugged him up the stairs, Kurt going willingly until they’d reached the girl’s room and had entered.
“Okay. EVP and K-II?” Kurt suggested, hoping he was remembering all the lingo properly, and Finn nodded and took the K-II meter from him before setting it on the desk chair.
“That should be low enough for a little girl, right?” he checked with Kurt, who nodded before going to sit on the bed. The room appeared normal right now, nothing strange in the air, but he turned on the EVP recorder regardless and waited until Finn had seated himself beside him.
“Um…hello? Is anybody here?” he asked, feeling like a fool for talking to himself, but Finn snickered beside him, earning himself a sharp elbow jab to the ribs.
“Ow, dude!”
“You do better, then,” Kurt sniffed and Finn sighed, glancing toward the chair with the detector on it.
“Hey, Emily. I’m Finn and this is my friend Kurt. We’d like to be your friends, too,” he said, his voice soft and patient, and Kurt looked at him in awe. “You see that little box on the chair? Yeah, that one? If you wave your hand in front of it a little green light will turn on…it’ll be bright and shiny, but if you do that we’ll know you’re here, okay?” he said, and there was a pause before the string of green lights flickered, the shock enough to cause Kurt to grip onto Finn’s arm.
“Finn. Finn!” he hissed and one look at Finn showed that his face was lit up with elation.
“Awesome! Okay. How about…we’re gonna ask you some stuff and if the answer is ‘yes’, you wave your hand and make the light green. Sound okay?” he asked, and there was a pause before the green lights flashed.
Kurt couldn’t believe his eyes, but the second time was too precise to have been a fluke and this was amazing. His body felt shivery in the best possible way and he couldn’t get over how thrilling the whole experience was.
“Cool. So, Emily, you like living here?”
Green lights.
“This was your room? It’s really pretty.”
Rapid green lights.
“Do you like when people come here? When they stay?”
More green lights.
“Are you lonely?”
A pause, and then a tiny green flash, like she wasn’t sure what to say.
“Yeah, I bet, sometimes. Can my friend and I stay here for the night? Would that be okay with you?”
Really, really rapid green lights, and Kurt laughed.
“Cool! You’re awesome, Emily,” Finn looked so proud and Kurt cuddled into his side, not even flinching when Finn grabbed him in a one-armed hug. “Thanks for talking to us. We’re gonna go check out your dad’s room, okay?”
More green flashes, and Kurt figured they’d stolen enough of the girl’s time so they gathered up the devices, Kurt feeling a tiny chill as he passed by the chair to collect the K-II meter.
“Good night, Emily,” he whispered as they left the room and closed the door, but once they were out in the safety of the hall Finn let out an almighty whoop and threw his arms around Kurt again, who was much more prepared for the hug this time.
“That was…Finn,” Kurt breathed. “You were so good with her, you…I had no idea you could…”
“I love kids,” Finn shrugged. “And it felt really natural, for some reason. But at least we know she’s friendly and wants us here, right?”
“Right,” Kurt agreed, tucking himself into Finn’s side and wondering if he was just making it all up that Finn seemed to be really free with his affections tonight. “Hmm. Honeymoon Suite?”
“Yeah,” Finn agreed, lacing his fingers with Kurt again and heading down the hall while Kurt trailed, his mind working furiously. “Hey, you coming? What’s wrong?” he stopped, glancing back, and Kurt sighed and shook his head.
“Nothing. Just…hugging? Hand-holding? I know ghost hunting is exciting, Finn, but…”
He stopped, and Finn smiled, reaching to loop an arm around his shoulders again and nuzzling him temple. “I know. You, um, didn’t think there was a reason I agreed to come tonight? I mean, besides the free food,” he added with a grin, and Kurt felt something expand in his chest.
“Didn’t think you knew how to be that subtle, actually,” Kurt teased, knowing this was strange to be doing in the middle of the hallway in a haunted hotel, but he slid his fingers up into Finn’s hair and smiled at him.
“Hey, dude, I’m not the one that tried to set our parents up so we could share a room,” he wiggled his eyebrows and Kurt snorted, burying his face in Finn’s shoulder as he laughed. “Look, we…should we check out the last room first? Then we can, um, get some sleep.”
“In the same bed?” Kurt asked carefully, not knowing how far Finn wanted to take this yet, and the other man blushed and nodded.
“I don’t want…I mean, I’m not ready for…but some…” he stammered and Kurt laughed, amazed at how natural this all felt.
Maybe because it had been building up for so long, but he felt…right, standing like this with Finn, and eventually he took Finn’s hand and led him into the Honeymoon Suite, stopping in the doorway.
“Okay. What should we use this time?” Finn asked, glancing around, and Kurt pulled out the EVP recorder again.
“I guess this,” Kurt shrugged in response. “Most of the things in this room will have to be caught by the camera, unless the shower turns on while we’re in here.
“Yeah, probably not, dude,” Finn sank down onto the bed with a groan. “We’re not that lucky,” he swiped irritably at the back of his neck, brow furrowing as his hand came away.
“What’s wrong?” Kurt asked softly, and Finn shook his head.
“Felt like something…there’s nothing there, don’t worry about it,” Finn leaned back on the bed and after a second or two Kurt crawled up with him, laying his head on Finn’s shoulder in a rather bold move but since the other man’s response was to gently stroke his back Kurt figured it was welcome.
“Well, nothing for it but this,” Kurt held up the recorder. “Hello? Mr. Mason? We were wondering if…if you like having people here? If we’re welcome? We promise not to harm anything in this house, we know it’s important to you,” he called out to the empty room, getting only silence in response.
“This is boring,” Finn yawned, and Kurt flicked the recorder off and chanced a look at his phone, realizing it was nearing two in the morning. “Think we can get some rest? Or…” he looked at Kurt and Kurt could see how dark his eyes were, how there was purpose radiating from every line of his body and the air was nearly crackling with the energy between them right now.
“ ‘Or,’” Kurt grinned, having a sudden flash of bravery that he would later blame on being delirious, so he moved his leg to straddle Finn’s waist and gasped when Finn’s hands gripped his hips firmly. “How far are…this is…”
“Weird,” Finn breathed, leaning up, and when their lips finally met Kurt thought that it maybe wasn’t as weird as it could have been, but he was still making out with his first love…his stepbrother…his…okay, he was going to keep all family names out of it for now.
Finn’s tongue flicked across his lips and Kurt groaned, letting him in, and they would have gone farther had a crash not come from the ensuite bathroom right at that moment.
“Shit,” Finn pulled away, running to the room, but there was nothing out of place. “Um. Guess this is Francis’ way of being a cockblock, huh?” he chuckled and Kurt shook his head.
“Yes, maybe we shouldn’t do this in a haunted room.”
“Creepy,” Finn decided, and they quickly gathered up their equipment and headed into the room allotted for them, luckily on the other side of the building from Francis and Emily’s rooms.
Kurt shortened his nightly routine because of the late hour, slipping into his pyjamas, but when he came out into the main room to see Finn seated on the bed in only his boxers he began to feel a little overdressed.
“I wasn’t sure…should we be taking this slower?” Finn asked, wrinkling his nose adorably. Kurt headed for the bed and leaned down over Finn again, kissing him sweetly and shaking his head.
“We’ve known each other for years, Finn. And I…” he paused before slipping his shirt over his head, hearing Finn gasp before there were hands on his chest and he melted into it, gripping at Finn’s strong shoulders and letting the other man all but hold him up.
Somehow he got out of his pants and he and Finn were pressed together, only their underwear separating them, as Finn stared up at him reverently and Kurt leaned to kiss him once more, savouring the taste of his lips.
“Can you…I mean, I’m not ready for…it’s easier if I don’t…”
“Think about my cock?” Kurt raised an eyebrow but from the bashful flush on Finn’s cheeks he knew that was what Finn was thinking about. “It’s okay, Finn. I didn’t expect you to suddenly realize you were okay with everything. I thought it was a long shot bringing you tonight in the first place, but…” he lowered his hips, their clothed erections pressing together, and Finn’s eyes shot open as he moaned. “Can I do this?”
“Yes. God. Please,” Finn clutched at him a little harder and Kurt obliged, driving his hips down, and he knew that they probably should think this through more, probably should take a little more time, but God, he’d wanted it for years and as long as Finn did, too, he didn’t see any problems with it at all.
He kept grinding his hips, feeling Finn rise up to meet him, and his mouth sealed over Finn’s to muffle their moans. No, nobody else was around, but he still felt rather shameless about the entire situation and when Finn whined into his mouth, tearing away to mumble, “Fuck, Kurt, I’m so…” that was all it took for Kurt and he came with a cry, keeping his hips pressed down to get as much contact as possible.
Finn gripped at his arms and bit down on his shoulder, the pain sharp and startling and Kurt bucked his hips without meaning to but that seemed to be all Finn needed as he reached his orgasm with a low, muffled groan.
“That was…” Kurt shook, finally letting himself collapse, and Finn’s arms came around him as he hummed happily. “Finn, you…”
“Yeah. Awesome,” Finn replied, and Kurt couldn’t even disagree.
~
“Okay,” Finn settled in next to him the next morning after his promised breakfast, smiling and reaching over for a small kiss that Kurt returned on instinct. Sleeping wrapped in Finn’s arms had been a blessing, and while he knew both of them wanted to explore this relationship further first they had to go through all the tapes and recordings and see what they could find.
Finn nudged him a little while in and held out the headphones, Kurt slipping them on as his eyes widened. “Is that…”
“Emily’s room, yeah,” Finn’s eyes were shining, and Kurt shook his head in amazement.
Clear as day on the tape was a young girl’s giggle, just as Finn had told her she was awesome. Kurt made a note of the tape and they kept watching, seeing nothing for the longest time until Kurt noticed the cameras cut out and blinked, realizing why a moment later as he let out a tiny, embarrassed laugh.
“What? What is it?” Finn leaned over and Kurt snorted, pointing at where there was about a five-minute gap in the video feed. “Dude, was that when we were making out?” he asked, and Kurt nodded. “Guess old Francis was lookin’ out for us after all! And speaking of…” he held out the headphones again and Kurt listened, breathing a sigh of relief at what he heard there.
After he’d asked Francis if they could stay, the unmistakeable whisper of a man’s voice saying, ‘you are welcome’ drifted through his ears, and then he couldn’t stop himself from throwing his arms around Finn’s neck and mashing his mouth against his.
Kurt Hummel officially loved ghost hunting.
~
He thought about it again a few mornings later, wrapped in Finn’s arms as the sunlight filtered through his blinds.
Mrs. Huber had been ecstatic with their findings and happy that they’d debunked the feelings of paranoia from behind the desk. The ghost hunting guys had been impressed with their EVPs and had jokingly asked if they wanted to join, to which both Kurt and Finn said they’d be glad to help out if they ever needed more manpower.
The lead actress was appeased, Kurt had his job, and most importantly, he’d gained a new boyfriend out of it all.
Yeah.
He was pretty thankful to Emily and Francis.
“Dude, thinking too hard. C’mere,” Finn rolled him over and kissed him, sleep-sated and lazy, and Kurt let himself sink into it and started looking forward to what was next in his life.
As long as he had Finn by his side, he knew he could face anything.
Glossary:
EMF (Electromagnetic Field) Detector: measures the electromagnetic field of the area it’s pointed toward. It is thought spirits need energy to manifest and so high readings could indicate the presence of ghosts, but also could be attributed to electrical wires in the area. Prolonged exposure to high EMF readings can result in nausea, feelings of dread, feelings of being watched, hallucinations, etc. and are often used to debunk claims of paranormal activity.
K-II (K2) Meter: a type of specialized EMF detector that uses lights instead of numerical readings and is easy to manipulate by waving something with a high EMF rating in front of the sensor. Since ghosts are thought to have high EMF readings surrounding them, if they pass by the sensor the lights will turn on.
EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) Recorder: A special type of sound recorder that can capture sounds inaudible to the human ear, or sounds that don’t make any sense within the context of the surroundings.
TAPS: The Atlantic Paranormal Society, investigation group made famous by the popular TV show ‘Ghost Hunters.’
Also, this should go without saying, but don’t try this at home. Kurt and Finn should not have been ghost hunting without any formal training, but for the purposes of this fic, they had to be ;)
Final Note: This is the last substantial Kinn-fic I wrote, and may be my last long-ish Kinn-fic ever, so I really wanted to post it so people could read it, and I thank you if you did.
Author: AoiTsukikage
Rating: R
Characters/Pairing: Finn/Kurt
Chapter: 1/1
Word Count: ~4400
Spoilers: Nothing specific
Summary: Written for the Kinn mini-bang in November. In order for Kurt to secure a new job as lead costume designer for a small film company, he has to appease their lead actress by spending the night in a rumored-to-be-haunted hotel. He brings Finn along for moral support…and because a night in a deserted hotel with the guy he’s been in love with for years might lead to something a little more interesting than just plain old ghost hunting.
Notes: A big thank-you to Carly (aglassofkurtscomeeverynight on tumblr) for doing a quick proof-read of the final edit for me :)
The Mason Inn
If you asked Kurt Hummel, he’d tell you the reason he agreed to this in the first place was because it almost guaranteed him the role of head costume designer on an indie film starring up and coming actors in the field and spending a night in a small, abandoned motel was well worth it.
If you asked Kurt Hummel, he’d tell you the reason he’d brought his stepbrother along was not only because a night alone with Finn was starting to become more and more of an appealing prospect after years of them skirting around each other (and yes, he’d noticed it more and more with Finn lately and was starting to realize that his feelings, which had never really gone away, were maybe not quite so one-sided in the end), but also because Finn was one of the most steadfast and loyal people he knew.
If you asked Kurt Hummel, he’d tell you that ‘it seemed like a good idea at the time’ and the recorders and cameras they’d had set up for them (“we’d get professionals in, Kurt, but we know you’re perfectly capable!”) had seemed like enough, but now he realized that the two of them weren’t really enough if something went really, really wrong.
If you asked Kurt Hummel, he’d tell you that he didn’t expect his night at the Mason Inn to end up the way it did.
~
Yes, if you’d have asked Kurt Hummel after the fact, this is what he would have told you.
As it was, however, all he said was ‘yes’, which explained why he was here in the first place.
~
“Dude, if she’s just like a minor actress, why are you bending over backwards for her? Can’t you get, like, those dudes from TAPS in or something?” Finn sounded less than enthused on the phone, and Kurt rolled his eyes and curled up in his chair, feet tucked under him as he sipped at a cup of tea.
“Because she’s going to make it big. It’s pretty inevitable, I think, but right now if this movie wants to lock her down they have to accommodate her,” Kurt sighed, shifting the phone a little and wrinkling his nose at the thought of what they had to do. “It’s just a night in an old hotel, Finn. They’re setting up cameras and we’re getting EMF detectors and…EVP?” he tried to remember. “Whatever those things are that record voices normal ears can’t hear. And we just have to spend an hour or two in each of the most haunted areas, with the cameras taping and recording things, and at the end of the night I will buy you breakfast and I get a job,” he hoped that breakfast would incite Finn, because it always had in the past.
“Dude, if there’s food? I’m there!” Finn sounded way too excited now and Kurt had to admit that to him this was probably a dream: sneaking around an old building late at night and not getting in trouble for it.
“Good. I will call you with further details and we’ll go from there,” he set the phone down after he was finished talking, pulling his knees further toward his chest and listening to the wind howl outside.
It was worth it for the job, he kept telling himself.
It was worth it for the job.
~
“Thank you so much for coming!” the proprietor of the establishment, the Mason Inn, was a sweet-looking old lady by the name of Mrs. Huber, hunchbacked and with thick-rimmed glasses, and she clasped Kurt’s hand heartily and Kurt smiled back weakly and nodded, looking behind him to where Finn was staring up at the tall staircase toward the upper balconies. “We’ve been having ever so much trouble finding guests who will stay here and if this movie films it will bring us business again. It’s not the ghosts, you see,” she squeaked, starting to usher Kurt and Finn upstairs toward the rooms, “it’s that people want to know they’re not evil ghosts, so that’s what you boys are here to prove, right?” she looked so hopeful that Kurt swallowed his trepidation and nodded.
“We are, madam. My…director said you’d be so kind as to show us the most haunted areas?” he could feel Finn tense behind him and reached back to touch his arm comfortingly.
“Indeed I can!” she bustled away and Kurt followed, hearing Finn trudging slowly after her. “There are only ten rooms in the motel. It used to be a mansion before it was converted, built in the mid-1800s,” she explained as she pushed open the door to one of the rooms, with rather cheery blue walls and a flowered bedspread. “We found records saying it belonged to somebody named Francis Mason, and there’s been a lot of…deaths on the property…” she stopped and turned back, and Kurt could hear Finn suck in a gasp.
“Dude, I don’t wanna deal with like revenge ghosts,” Finn whined and Kurt reached back again to shush him, patting his stomach.
“Oh, don’t worry! Not murders, just…Francis had a daughter, a girl by the name of Emily. We think this was her room,” she gestured around. “She fell very ill when she was ten or so and never recovered, but people say they hear her laughing, see indents in the bed like somebody is sitting there even when they’re not. She’s friendly,” the matronly woman assured them but from the sickly smile on Finn’s face Kurt could tell he wasn’t buying it.
“Good to know. We’ll be sure to look at this room, then,” Kurt steered Finn out and they followed her down the hall to a much more ornate set of doors.
“This was Francis’ room,” Mrs. Huber told them, pulling the door open smoothly. “It’s the honeymoon suite now, when we get honeymooners, but it seems that old Francis loved this place so much he just never decided to move on,” she walked farther into the room and Kurt followed her in.
“So what happens in here?” Kurt inquired, looking around the rather ornate room.
“Voices, sometimes,” the old lady responded, putting her hand down on the bedspread. “Objects being moved…sometimes the shower turns on in the middle of the night. Some people have claimed to have seen Francis, standing in the doorway watching them.”
“Watching them have sex? Creepy, dude,” Finn muttered and Kurt had to stifle a laugh.
“Okay,” Kurt tried not to feel overwhelmed, but he supposed he should be grateful that the two spirits here weren’t malicious. Just…wayward souls who never found their eternal rest. “Anything else?”
“The main staircase in the lobby. People say they’ve seen shadow people, just out of the corner of their eye, but when they turn it’s empty. And the front desk, we have some employees saying they feel like they’re being watched, getting nervous, late at night. I think that’s it,” she looked thoughtful before clasping Kurt’s hand again. “Thank you so much for coming. We’re counting on you to help us save the business!”
Kurt smiled, the most sickly smile he could muster, because ‘saving the business’ wasn’t exactly something he felt he was capable of doing. Saving himself maybe not so much, either.
~
“Here’s your equipment,” the one tech they’d managed to get come out told them later that evening, handing them an assortment of meters and boxes. “We’ve got four cameras set up for you: the girl’s bedroom, the honeymoon suite, the main staircase, and the front desk. Those are continuously running, like security cameras. At the end of the night we’ll be back to take everything down and pass the tapes off to you.”
Kurt nodded, glad that they wouldn’t have to remember to keep changing tapes or anything as far as the cameras were concerned. One less thing to worry about was good at this point.
“Okay, your gear: EMF detector, measures electromagnetic fields. Paranormal activity spikes it, the numbers will shoot sky-high. But so do electrical wires and the like, so always check because it’s a real good way to de-bunk claims of paranoia, feeling ill, things like that. EVP recorder, records things not audible to the human ear. Set it up, start a conversation, listen to the tapes to see if you got anything back. K-II meter, kind of like a EMF detector ghosts can manipulate. If something moves in front of it, it lights up, so you can tell if something’s there. And watch your batteries, gents, ghosts drain them like crazy. Something about the energy needed to manifest.”
“Can’t you just stay with us?” Finn looked up, pleading, and the man shook his head.
“Can’t. Got a big case out in Jersey tonight, but thanks for doing this, boys. So you’re on the lookout for voices, objects moving, general feelings of fear, shadow people, and full-bodied apparitions. Here’s my emergency contact,” he handed over a number that Kurt slipped into his pocket. “If anything goes really wrong, leave. Come out to the trailer we’ve got the cables going from and stay there until one of us gets back in touch with you. Sound good?”
“Yes,” Kurt nodded stiffly and the man clapped his shoulder.
“Cool. I hope you guys catch something,” he winked and walked off to his truck, driving away as Kurt let out a measured breath.
“…Dude,” and suddenly Finn sounded awed and not at all frightened. “We totally are on Ghost Hunters!”
“If the ghosts don’t kill me, you will,” Kurt muttered, but Finn seemed to notice his mounting distress and slid an arm around his shoulders, pulling him in tight and curling his body around Kurt’s.
Kurt tried to remind himself that he was getting two things from tonight: a job, and maybe getting closer to Finn, spending the night alone in a deserted hotel.
He only hoped that nothing else was going to wreck his plans.
~
“Where should we start?” Finn asked once they’d gotten the lights off and were back in the entranceway. Kurt surveyed the area, eyes darting between the stairwell and the front entrance desk, and made a decision.
“Let’s work our way up. So start with the desk, then the stairs, then the girl’s room and then the honeymoon suite,” he reasoned, turning his flashlight on and pointing it around the grand lobby.
“Okay. Desk,” Finn agreed, hopping behind it and standing there for a bit. Kurt kept one eye on him and one on the staircase, figuring that it wouldn’t pay to talk to the supposed ghosts here since there was never any stories about direct contact. “So how do you work this thingy?” Finn was waving around the EMF detector and Kurt sighed, making his way over before the doofus broke anything.
“Here, just watch the numbers,” he instructed, tapping the screen, and Finn yelped and shoved it at Kurt. “What?”
“Dude, that’s like…isn’t one like normal? That’s almost at ten,” Finn tapped the screen and Kurt noticed that he was right, the settings were much higher than what he thought would be normal. “Kurt. Kurt,” Finn poked him and Kurt turned to him irritably.
“What?”
“I feel weird,” Finn whispered. “Like somebody’s watching me,” he shivered and Kurt had to admit that he was feeling decidedly uneasy himself.
Still, that wasn’t going to prove anything, and he moved the meter around a bit, finding that the readings were highest when it was pointing to the wall behind the desk.
The wall…
“Finn,” he hissed, and Finn looked back over, eyes wide. “Remember what they told us? That high EMF readings can cause you to feel odd, but sometimes it’s just…”
He ran through the door leading to the back room and held up the detector again, seeing a bunch of wires crisscrossing the wall: doorbell, phone lines, electrical…
“…Oh,” Finn breathed. “So that’s…”
“Why people feel sick when they spend too much time at the front desk,” Kurt added, a grin slipping onto his face. He had to admit, debunking that was kind of fun, and at least it proved that anything going on in the lobby was probably due to the high amount of electricity coursing through the room.
“Awesome, dude!” Finn grabbed him in a hug and Kurt squeaked, holding tight a moment later because, well, that was the reason he’d kind of wanted Finn to come along, and they stood there much too long to be purely brotherly, Finn’s warm breath ruffling his hair.
“So. Does it pay to check the stairs?” Finn murmured against his head and Kurt sighed, fingers curling into Finn’s sweater as he pulled away a little.
“I don’t think so. I think most of what happens in the lobby, or what people think they see, can be traced back to the high EMF field around here. Besides, we’ve got a camera on the staircase so that’ll catch anything. I say we head up to Emily’s room,” he suggested, and Finn grabbed his hand and tugged him up the stairs, Kurt going willingly until they’d reached the girl’s room and had entered.
“Okay. EVP and K-II?” Kurt suggested, hoping he was remembering all the lingo properly, and Finn nodded and took the K-II meter from him before setting it on the desk chair.
“That should be low enough for a little girl, right?” he checked with Kurt, who nodded before going to sit on the bed. The room appeared normal right now, nothing strange in the air, but he turned on the EVP recorder regardless and waited until Finn had seated himself beside him.
“Um…hello? Is anybody here?” he asked, feeling like a fool for talking to himself, but Finn snickered beside him, earning himself a sharp elbow jab to the ribs.
“Ow, dude!”
“You do better, then,” Kurt sniffed and Finn sighed, glancing toward the chair with the detector on it.
“Hey, Emily. I’m Finn and this is my friend Kurt. We’d like to be your friends, too,” he said, his voice soft and patient, and Kurt looked at him in awe. “You see that little box on the chair? Yeah, that one? If you wave your hand in front of it a little green light will turn on…it’ll be bright and shiny, but if you do that we’ll know you’re here, okay?” he said, and there was a pause before the string of green lights flickered, the shock enough to cause Kurt to grip onto Finn’s arm.
“Finn. Finn!” he hissed and one look at Finn showed that his face was lit up with elation.
“Awesome! Okay. How about…we’re gonna ask you some stuff and if the answer is ‘yes’, you wave your hand and make the light green. Sound okay?” he asked, and there was a pause before the green lights flashed.
Kurt couldn’t believe his eyes, but the second time was too precise to have been a fluke and this was amazing. His body felt shivery in the best possible way and he couldn’t get over how thrilling the whole experience was.
“Cool. So, Emily, you like living here?”
Green lights.
“This was your room? It’s really pretty.”
Rapid green lights.
“Do you like when people come here? When they stay?”
More green lights.
“Are you lonely?”
A pause, and then a tiny green flash, like she wasn’t sure what to say.
“Yeah, I bet, sometimes. Can my friend and I stay here for the night? Would that be okay with you?”
Really, really rapid green lights, and Kurt laughed.
“Cool! You’re awesome, Emily,” Finn looked so proud and Kurt cuddled into his side, not even flinching when Finn grabbed him in a one-armed hug. “Thanks for talking to us. We’re gonna go check out your dad’s room, okay?”
More green flashes, and Kurt figured they’d stolen enough of the girl’s time so they gathered up the devices, Kurt feeling a tiny chill as he passed by the chair to collect the K-II meter.
“Good night, Emily,” he whispered as they left the room and closed the door, but once they were out in the safety of the hall Finn let out an almighty whoop and threw his arms around Kurt again, who was much more prepared for the hug this time.
“That was…Finn,” Kurt breathed. “You were so good with her, you…I had no idea you could…”
“I love kids,” Finn shrugged. “And it felt really natural, for some reason. But at least we know she’s friendly and wants us here, right?”
“Right,” Kurt agreed, tucking himself into Finn’s side and wondering if he was just making it all up that Finn seemed to be really free with his affections tonight. “Hmm. Honeymoon Suite?”
“Yeah,” Finn agreed, lacing his fingers with Kurt again and heading down the hall while Kurt trailed, his mind working furiously. “Hey, you coming? What’s wrong?” he stopped, glancing back, and Kurt sighed and shook his head.
“Nothing. Just…hugging? Hand-holding? I know ghost hunting is exciting, Finn, but…”
He stopped, and Finn smiled, reaching to loop an arm around his shoulders again and nuzzling him temple. “I know. You, um, didn’t think there was a reason I agreed to come tonight? I mean, besides the free food,” he added with a grin, and Kurt felt something expand in his chest.
“Didn’t think you knew how to be that subtle, actually,” Kurt teased, knowing this was strange to be doing in the middle of the hallway in a haunted hotel, but he slid his fingers up into Finn’s hair and smiled at him.
“Hey, dude, I’m not the one that tried to set our parents up so we could share a room,” he wiggled his eyebrows and Kurt snorted, burying his face in Finn’s shoulder as he laughed. “Look, we…should we check out the last room first? Then we can, um, get some sleep.”
“In the same bed?” Kurt asked carefully, not knowing how far Finn wanted to take this yet, and the other man blushed and nodded.
“I don’t want…I mean, I’m not ready for…but some…” he stammered and Kurt laughed, amazed at how natural this all felt.
Maybe because it had been building up for so long, but he felt…right, standing like this with Finn, and eventually he took Finn’s hand and led him into the Honeymoon Suite, stopping in the doorway.
“Okay. What should we use this time?” Finn asked, glancing around, and Kurt pulled out the EVP recorder again.
“I guess this,” Kurt shrugged in response. “Most of the things in this room will have to be caught by the camera, unless the shower turns on while we’re in here.
“Yeah, probably not, dude,” Finn sank down onto the bed with a groan. “We’re not that lucky,” he swiped irritably at the back of his neck, brow furrowing as his hand came away.
“What’s wrong?” Kurt asked softly, and Finn shook his head.
“Felt like something…there’s nothing there, don’t worry about it,” Finn leaned back on the bed and after a second or two Kurt crawled up with him, laying his head on Finn’s shoulder in a rather bold move but since the other man’s response was to gently stroke his back Kurt figured it was welcome.
“Well, nothing for it but this,” Kurt held up the recorder. “Hello? Mr. Mason? We were wondering if…if you like having people here? If we’re welcome? We promise not to harm anything in this house, we know it’s important to you,” he called out to the empty room, getting only silence in response.
“This is boring,” Finn yawned, and Kurt flicked the recorder off and chanced a look at his phone, realizing it was nearing two in the morning. “Think we can get some rest? Or…” he looked at Kurt and Kurt could see how dark his eyes were, how there was purpose radiating from every line of his body and the air was nearly crackling with the energy between them right now.
“ ‘Or,’” Kurt grinned, having a sudden flash of bravery that he would later blame on being delirious, so he moved his leg to straddle Finn’s waist and gasped when Finn’s hands gripped his hips firmly. “How far are…this is…”
“Weird,” Finn breathed, leaning up, and when their lips finally met Kurt thought that it maybe wasn’t as weird as it could have been, but he was still making out with his first love…his stepbrother…his…okay, he was going to keep all family names out of it for now.
Finn’s tongue flicked across his lips and Kurt groaned, letting him in, and they would have gone farther had a crash not come from the ensuite bathroom right at that moment.
“Shit,” Finn pulled away, running to the room, but there was nothing out of place. “Um. Guess this is Francis’ way of being a cockblock, huh?” he chuckled and Kurt shook his head.
“Yes, maybe we shouldn’t do this in a haunted room.”
“Creepy,” Finn decided, and they quickly gathered up their equipment and headed into the room allotted for them, luckily on the other side of the building from Francis and Emily’s rooms.
Kurt shortened his nightly routine because of the late hour, slipping into his pyjamas, but when he came out into the main room to see Finn seated on the bed in only his boxers he began to feel a little overdressed.
“I wasn’t sure…should we be taking this slower?” Finn asked, wrinkling his nose adorably. Kurt headed for the bed and leaned down over Finn again, kissing him sweetly and shaking his head.
“We’ve known each other for years, Finn. And I…” he paused before slipping his shirt over his head, hearing Finn gasp before there were hands on his chest and he melted into it, gripping at Finn’s strong shoulders and letting the other man all but hold him up.
Somehow he got out of his pants and he and Finn were pressed together, only their underwear separating them, as Finn stared up at him reverently and Kurt leaned to kiss him once more, savouring the taste of his lips.
“Can you…I mean, I’m not ready for…it’s easier if I don’t…”
“Think about my cock?” Kurt raised an eyebrow but from the bashful flush on Finn’s cheeks he knew that was what Finn was thinking about. “It’s okay, Finn. I didn’t expect you to suddenly realize you were okay with everything. I thought it was a long shot bringing you tonight in the first place, but…” he lowered his hips, their clothed erections pressing together, and Finn’s eyes shot open as he moaned. “Can I do this?”
“Yes. God. Please,” Finn clutched at him a little harder and Kurt obliged, driving his hips down, and he knew that they probably should think this through more, probably should take a little more time, but God, he’d wanted it for years and as long as Finn did, too, he didn’t see any problems with it at all.
He kept grinding his hips, feeling Finn rise up to meet him, and his mouth sealed over Finn’s to muffle their moans. No, nobody else was around, but he still felt rather shameless about the entire situation and when Finn whined into his mouth, tearing away to mumble, “Fuck, Kurt, I’m so…” that was all it took for Kurt and he came with a cry, keeping his hips pressed down to get as much contact as possible.
Finn gripped at his arms and bit down on his shoulder, the pain sharp and startling and Kurt bucked his hips without meaning to but that seemed to be all Finn needed as he reached his orgasm with a low, muffled groan.
“That was…” Kurt shook, finally letting himself collapse, and Finn’s arms came around him as he hummed happily. “Finn, you…”
“Yeah. Awesome,” Finn replied, and Kurt couldn’t even disagree.
~
“Okay,” Finn settled in next to him the next morning after his promised breakfast, smiling and reaching over for a small kiss that Kurt returned on instinct. Sleeping wrapped in Finn’s arms had been a blessing, and while he knew both of them wanted to explore this relationship further first they had to go through all the tapes and recordings and see what they could find.
Finn nudged him a little while in and held out the headphones, Kurt slipping them on as his eyes widened. “Is that…”
“Emily’s room, yeah,” Finn’s eyes were shining, and Kurt shook his head in amazement.
Clear as day on the tape was a young girl’s giggle, just as Finn had told her she was awesome. Kurt made a note of the tape and they kept watching, seeing nothing for the longest time until Kurt noticed the cameras cut out and blinked, realizing why a moment later as he let out a tiny, embarrassed laugh.
“What? What is it?” Finn leaned over and Kurt snorted, pointing at where there was about a five-minute gap in the video feed. “Dude, was that when we were making out?” he asked, and Kurt nodded. “Guess old Francis was lookin’ out for us after all! And speaking of…” he held out the headphones again and Kurt listened, breathing a sigh of relief at what he heard there.
After he’d asked Francis if they could stay, the unmistakeable whisper of a man’s voice saying, ‘you are welcome’ drifted through his ears, and then he couldn’t stop himself from throwing his arms around Finn’s neck and mashing his mouth against his.
Kurt Hummel officially loved ghost hunting.
~
He thought about it again a few mornings later, wrapped in Finn’s arms as the sunlight filtered through his blinds.
Mrs. Huber had been ecstatic with their findings and happy that they’d debunked the feelings of paranoia from behind the desk. The ghost hunting guys had been impressed with their EVPs and had jokingly asked if they wanted to join, to which both Kurt and Finn said they’d be glad to help out if they ever needed more manpower.
The lead actress was appeased, Kurt had his job, and most importantly, he’d gained a new boyfriend out of it all.
Yeah.
He was pretty thankful to Emily and Francis.
“Dude, thinking too hard. C’mere,” Finn rolled him over and kissed him, sleep-sated and lazy, and Kurt let himself sink into it and started looking forward to what was next in his life.
As long as he had Finn by his side, he knew he could face anything.
Glossary:
EMF (Electromagnetic Field) Detector: measures the electromagnetic field of the area it’s pointed toward. It is thought spirits need energy to manifest and so high readings could indicate the presence of ghosts, but also could be attributed to electrical wires in the area. Prolonged exposure to high EMF readings can result in nausea, feelings of dread, feelings of being watched, hallucinations, etc. and are often used to debunk claims of paranormal activity.
K-II (K2) Meter: a type of specialized EMF detector that uses lights instead of numerical readings and is easy to manipulate by waving something with a high EMF rating in front of the sensor. Since ghosts are thought to have high EMF readings surrounding them, if they pass by the sensor the lights will turn on.
EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) Recorder: A special type of sound recorder that can capture sounds inaudible to the human ear, or sounds that don’t make any sense within the context of the surroundings.
TAPS: The Atlantic Paranormal Society, investigation group made famous by the popular TV show ‘Ghost Hunters.’
Also, this should go without saying, but don’t try this at home. Kurt and Finn should not have been ghost hunting without any formal training, but for the purposes of this fic, they had to be ;)
Final Note: This is the last substantial Kinn-fic I wrote, and may be my last long-ish Kinn-fic ever, so I really wanted to post it so people could read it, and I thank you if you did.