FIC: Forever Home - Chapter 31 of 100
Title: Forever Home - Chapter 31
Author: Shadowc44
Fandom: Glee
Pairing: Kadam (Kurt Hummel/Adam Crawford)
Rating: R (PG-13 for now)
Spoilers: AU. If you’ve seen Kurt and Adam interact, you’re good.
Summary: Adam is bored, and realizes he needs a companion. He decides to adopt a hybrid human/cat.
Warning: Mentions of past abuse (non-sexual) from other canon Glee characters. This fic is not particularly kind to most canon Glee characters.
Length: Over 3,500 words this chapter. WIP; unknown number of chapters. About 114,000 words so far.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story; they're owned by Fox. Any non-Glee characters are my own invention.
Chapter 30
CHAPTER 31
Adam woke before Kurt and recalled he had some important phone calls to make. He wanted to stay in bed and snuggle with Kurt until he woke up, but that might lead to staying in bed way too long. He wondered if he could get out of bed without disturbing Kurt, but it seemed unlikely, given the way he was currently wrapped around his boyfriend. Then Kurt woke and stretched, settling back even closer against Adam.
“This isn’t fair,” Adam muttered. While Kurt was making himself comfortable, it wasn’t doing anything to motivate Adam to get out of bed. Far from it.
“What’s not fair?” Kurt yawned, then turned to face Adam and burrow even closer.
One of these days he’d be able to just enjoy it, without feeling like he was taking advantage of Kurt, but right now, he still felt guilty.
“Never mind. Come on, I need to get up and get dressed. After breakfast, I’m going to make a few phone calls, and set up some appointments.”
“What kind of appointments?” Kurt still sounded sleepy, and wasn’t making the slightest effort to move away.
“Lawyer, veterinarian, and a gym, so you and I can both get in shape and stay healthy.”
“Mm.”
Adam wondered if Kurt had even heard him.
Kurt sat up, threw the covers off, and leaped over Adam to land on the floor. He stretched, then did a few toe-touches, some push-ups, then some ab crunches. “I don’t need to go to a gym,” he explained.
“Show-off,” Adam muttered. He couldn’t even be too envious of Kurt’s ability, because he was too focused on mentally applying his flexibility to other activities. “Well, I need some help. You don’t have to go, but I thought it would be something we could do together.”
Kurt leaped to his feet and started doing jumping jacks. Adam knew he should look away, but couldn’t. “Okay, sounds like fun.”
“Maybe for you.” Realistically, Adam knew he was only 4 years older than Kurt, and he wasn’t in bad shape, it’s just that never on his best day could he look like Kurt. Then it occurred to him…
“Cat genes. I bet that’s why you’re so flexible.”
“Probably.”
Kurt didn’t even sound winded, though he was currently running in place. It wasn’t fair, though he couldn’t say he objected to the show.
“Alright, I obviously have some catching up to do. I’m going to take a shower.”
“Want some company?” Kurt asked, laying on the floor, lifting one leg at a time over his head.
God, yes. “Not today.”
“Your loss.”
It certainly is. Adam resigned himself to a cold shower. How the hell did Kurt have so much energy first thing in the morning? Oh, yeah, part cat.
<><><><><><><><><><>
Adam wasn’t terribly surprised to learn, when he walked into the kitchen, that Kurt had become a cat again. It looked like he was continuing his exercises, this time throwing Harriet around the kitchen, catching her, and tossing her into the air again.
Adam caught Harriet when she was near enough to grab, and grinned down at a frustrated Kurt. “Go play in the living room. I’ll fix breakfast. You get Hybrid Surprise.” He tossed Harriet in the general direction of the living room, and watched Kurt streak after her. He shook his head, and focused on cooking some breakfast.
As soon as he turned on the can opener for the Hybrid Chow for Felines (Beef!), he felt something warm and heavy land on his feet. He looked down.
“Hello there. Did you want something?”
“MEEEEEP!”
“Oh, you’re hungry. I see. You’ve probably burned off so many calories you’re starving, poor thing.” He emptied half the can into Kurt’s bowl, which he had already washed. He couldn’t set it down on the floor with Kurt sitting on his feet, however.
“Kurt, we have a problem here. Can you guess what it is?”
He tried to flex his feet, in an attempt to dislodge Kurt, who merely grumbled and looked up at the bowl in Adam’s hand.
“MEEEEEP!”
“Yes, Your Royal Highness, as soon as you get off my feet and I can move, I’ll -“
Kurt ran over to where his bowl usually sat, and waited impatiently for Adam, tail thumping in annoyance.
“Behave, and I might give you a treat,” Adam promised, setting the bowl in front of him. “And I don’t mean a kitty treat.”
“Mrrrp?” Kurt asked, lifting his face from the bowl.
Adam refrained from letting him know he had cat chow on his whiskers. He’d figure it out soon enough.
“Give me a minute.”
Adam went back to rescuing his own breakfast before it burned. He put a small amount of scrambled eggs on a saucer. He put the rest of his food on a plate, waiting for Kurt’s eggs to cool a bit. “This is supposed to be good for your fur, maybe your hair as well.” He had barely set the saucer down next to the bowl before Kurt practically inhaled it.
“Slow down, darling, you don’t want to get sick. No point in gobbling down your food and then losing it all.”
Kurt didn’t bother to answer, just flicked his tail at Adam.
“Same to you. And you’re welcome.”
By now Kurt had finished eating, so he came over to visit. He leaned against Adam’s leg and rubbed his face against it, purring.
Adam looked down and sighed. Kurt had indeed found a way to clean the food, now including egg, off his whiskers. He bent down and wiped the bits of food away with his napkin. At least Kurt had the decency to look contrite.
After a few minutes, Kurt lay down to take a nap. As soon as Adam finished eating, he thought it would be a good opportunity to make some calls. He’d already looked up a nearby veterinarian and a gym that allowed hybrids. Now all he needed to do was call and set up the appointments.
He was able to get in to see his lawyer at 9:00 that Wednesday, since he stressed what it was about, and due to a cancellation, scheduled a physical for Kurt that Tuesday, with a veterinarian who specialized in hybrids. He was pretty sure he could get Lily to arrange a play date with Misty during the lawyer appointment. Hopefully the week wouldn’t be too much for Kurt, but at least everything from Thursday on should be fun. He’d do his best to try to make sure Kurt wasn’t too stressed out. The gym would be open all day and much of the evening, so they could come in at any time and sign up.
It seemed like Kurt was content to stay a cat for a while longer, so he woke him up long enough to let him know he had an errand to run.
“I promise I’ll be back in a couple of hours at the very most. Will you be okay if I leave you here like this?”
Kurt nodded yes.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to bring you to Lily’s? Misty really misses you. I think she’s got a crush on you.”
Kurt shook his head, and managed to look horrified at the same time.
“Pretty sure she does, actually,” Adam added. “But if you don’t want to go, you don’t have to. If you want to change while I’m gone, go ahead. We’re going to go to the gym some time after I get back, and you’ll need to be in human form for that.”
Kurt nodded and leaped up into the chair by the door.
Adam sighed. “Kurt, I know you feel like you have to do this. But really, if you want to run around, or play with Harriet or something while I’m gone, you don’t have to wait here for my sake.”
Kurt’s ears perked up.
“Do you want me to bring Harriet to you?” He didn’t wait for a reply, but very quickly located the pink mouse and brought her to Kurt. He set her down in front of the cat, who cooed and murmured to her, and wrapped his paws around her before using her as a pillow.
Adam was so tempted to take a picture, but he didn’t want to annoy Kurt, so he decided this one time he’d have to do without.
<><><><><><><><><><>
Adam had really only intended to pick up some workout gear for Kurt at the mall, and he’d found a sort of tank top and matching shorts in a deep, vibrant blue, and a sweatsuit in dark green. But as he started to pass by the Build-A-Bear shop on his way to the car, he paused. He remembered promising to buy Kurt a teddy bear, even if he wasn’t sure Kurt had actually heard him. Considering how quickly he’d turned Harriet into a pet, maybe his instincts were correct. Kurt needed something to cuddle and look after when he needed comforting and Adam wasn’t immediately available.
He went inside and looked around, at all the many types of stuffed animals. He saw there were also a tremendous number of clothing options for them. The first animal he considered, because it was so bright it was hard to look away from it, was called the Blushing Beauty Kitty. It was hot pink, with long eyelashes, and lots of bright colors on its feet and inner ears. There were apparently a lot of accessories to go with it, but he decided one hot pink toy friend was enough. He looked at a lot of other options, different kinds of animals, and finally decided on the “Curly Teddy” because it was a fairly standard teddy bear, light caramel in color, with longish, curly fur. It looks like it might be softer to cuddle than the others.
A sales clerk came up to him, a perky girl possibly younger than Kurt, and asked him excitedly what he was looking for, and if she could help.
He blushed, realizing it would sound rather odd to say he wanted a stuffed pet for his hybrid, so he quickly invented a young nephew. He hoped Kurt would forgive him for lying about his age, too.
“Oh, this one should work well, it’s popular with boys. Would you like an outfit, or any accessories?”
Adam decided to let Kurt pick out his own accessories, if he wanted any, and it might be good practice for him to make outfits for the bear, if he were so inclined.
“No, that’s okay. If he wants to add anything, he can pick it out himself. I’m terrible at guessing things like that.” Well, that part wasn’t really a lie.
She explained how it worked, and how he could stuff the bear himself, to get just the right amount of stuffing, depending on a number of factors. Adam thought he got the hang of it, and was rather pleased with how it came out. “The most important thing,” the girl added, as she rang the purchase up and put it in a little box shaped like a house, “is that your nephew will know you took the time to not only pick out the bear, but to make it specially for him.”
“Yes, made with love,” Adam murmured. “As opposed to buying a pre-made bear?”
“Exactly! There are toy stores that sell plenty of bears that are exactly alike, but this one is unique because you made it, or at least stuffed it.”
“I see. Thank you for your help.”
Adam felt slightly ridiculous carrying the box, but nobody looked at him twice as he walked through the mall to his car.
<><><><><><><><><><>
Kurt woke from his nap, but when he lifted his head and yawned, Harriet fell to the floor. He looked at the door, then back at Harriet. He jumped down and held her firmly in his mouth, then returned to the chair. This time he turned around so they would be facing the back of the chair. Then he realized he wouldn’t be able to see the door from there. He wished the chair were bigger, so they weren’t so close to the edge. He curled up as tightly as he could, protecting Harriet as he settled down to sleep.
When he woke up later, he had no idea how much time had passed. He knew he would have woken up if Adam had come back, but he should probably be alert anyway. He tried to look at the clock on the living room mantel, but it was too far away. Since he wasn’t even sure what time Adam had gone, it wouldn’t do much good to know the time, so it didn’t matter.
He looked around the comfortable room, and remembered what it was like in New Directions. It was never entirely quiet, even at night when they were supposed to be sleeping. There were always other hybrids around, in one form or the other, and humans. He didn’t miss them at all. Here he just had one human, whom he loved very much, and Adam was good to him. He had a little pet of his own, and even his own room. Adam gave him all kinds of choices, and introduced him to a lot of people, as his boyfriend, even. He’d never thought he would have it so good.
But he still wished Adam would come home soon.
He sighed, and sat up straighter on the chair. Harriet was now protected by all four feet, and was unlikely to escape.
After what seemed like hours, but probably wasn’t, he heard Adam’s key in the lock. He wished he had a mirror, to make sure his fur was smooth and shiny. He licked his paw and tried to run it over his head, but wasn’t sure how good a job he’d done.
Adam held a bag in one hand, and was hiding something larger behind his back. Kurt tried to crane his neck around to see, but Adam turned so he couldn’t see anything.
“Nope, it’s a surprise. But this is something you can have now.” He started to hand the bag to Kurt, probably expecting him to change and take it out of his hand. But for some reason, Kurt was feeling stubborn, and wasn’t quite ready to change yet. Maybe by the time he got to the bedroom he would be. He carefully pushed Harriet to the back of the chair, then leaned his neck out and took the bag in his mouth. It was heavier than he thought, but maybe partly because Adam wouldn’t let go.
“It’s heavy. You might need to carry it in your hands.”
Kurt didn’t let go of the bag, even though the plastic didn’t taste very good. Adam had two good hands. He could set the other present down, and maybe then Kurt could see what it was.
“I suppose you’re expecting me to carry this into your room for you?” Adam asked with some amusement in his voice.
“Mrrrp,” Kurt replied, though he thought the plastic probably muffled it a bit.
Adam sighed, but gently pulled the bag from Kurt’s mouth. “Follow me.” He set the intriguing box down, and shoved it around to the back of the chair so Kurt couldn’t see it. Humans could be very tricky sometimes.
“Well, come on.” Adam walked toward Kurt’s room, so he followed, and raced him there, even though he wasn’t sure his human knew it was a race. He did move aside so Adam wouldn’t trip over him when he walked in.
Adam set the bag on the bed. “I don’t think you’ll need any help from here, as long as you change back to human. When you’re ready, meet me in the living room. I’m going to get changed, too. But just into workout clothes,” he sighed. He walked out and left Kurt alone in the big, cold, empty room.
Kurt trilled mournfully, but there was no one to hear him, so he stopped. He leaped up onto the bed and nosed his way into the front of the bag. It held clothes of some sort, in pretty colors. In moments, he was human again, sitting on the bed and pulling the clothes out. He set the bag aside to play with later.
“Oh, wow, love these!”
He quickly had his clothes off, except for his underwear.
When he tried on the shorts and top, they fit well. They were loose enough he could move around well in them but when he checked himself out in the mirror, he saw his ass looked really good in them. Excellent. The top showed off his arms. He wished he had at least a little bit of a tan, but he hadn’t spent enough time outdoors to get one. Besides, he usually freckled, burned, and when that peeled away, had such a faint tan that it wasn’t worth the pain. He found some nail scissors in the bathroom and cut away the store tags.
He slipped the sweatpants on over the shorts, and they fit well, and then slipped on the hooded sweatshirt. It fit better, but he still thought he liked wearing Adam’s better. But this was more practical for actually working out. Once he had those tags off as well, he found some athletic socks and the yellow tennis shoes. They didn’t really go with the rest of the outfit, but he liked them, and they fit better than his old ones.
In the living room, he saw Adam wasn’t there yet, so he looked for the box in the hallway. It wasn’t where it had been behind the chair. He picked up Harriet and petted her for a minute, then put her in his sweatshirt pocket.
He sat on the sofa, but had barely gotten comfortable before Adam appeared. He was wearing regular clothes, just very casual. Kurt was disappointed. He’d been looking forward to seeing Adam in workout clothing.
“Ah, it fits, good. But I think we’re supposed to wear regular clothes, and take the workout things with us in a duffle bag or something. I should have explained that.”
Kurt shrugged. “Okay. Give me a few minutes.” It didn’t take long to locate his New Directions bag, and put the clothes in there. He put on Adam’s slightly loose-fitting jeans, a t-shirt, and Adam’s hoodie, and felt better. He decided he didn’t need to wear different shoes.
Adam was just putting his cell phone away when he came out. “I just talked to Lily. She’s going to have you come over early on Wednesday morning for a playdate with Misty, while I go see the lawyer.”
“Okay. This week?”
“Yes. It’s going to be a busy week. We have an appointment at the vet tomorrow at 8:30. It’s going to be very long, a two-and-a-half-hour appointment, because he’ll be examining you as a human, and as an animal, and will need to talk to us, together and individually. He stressed that you should be allowed to answer as honestly and frankly as possible when I’m not there, which makes perfect sense to me. If you have any issues or problems, questions, whatever, that you don’t want to talk to me about, or want to know more about, you can ask him.”
“Really? That might be a good idea.” He saw Adam’s worried expression. “It’s not that there’s anything I’m going to complain about, I just might have some questions you might not be able to answer.”
“I want you to know, even if you do have complaints or problems, while I’d prefer you talk to me directly about it, please don’t feel you need to hold back with the doctor. Be honest with him. It might be easier for him to explain things to me than for you to try, I don’t know. I just want you to know it’s okay, you don’t have to be scared or worried that anything you say will get you in trouble with me.”
“Good,” Kurt sighed. “I’m not really that worried about that, anymore, but it will be nice to feel I can talk freely.”
“Maybe after that we’ll go somewhere for lunch. Or come straight home for you to rest, whatever you want to do at the time. Does that sound alright?”
“Sure. And we’re going shopping and to lunch with Lily on Thursday, right?”
“Yes. And I’ve got something special planned for Thursday night, so make sure you get a good nap in as soon as we get back on Thursday afternoon.”
“Oh? What are we doing?”
“It’s a surprise, but don’t worry, while we’re shopping, we’ll find you some appropriate clothes.”
“Thank you!” Kurt had a feeling it would be a nice surprise. “And Dad’s coming this Friday!”
Adam held up one hand to slow him down. “Yes, there’s a lot of exciting things happening, so I want to make sure you get plenty of rest and food. If you feel like anything is too much, just let me know.
“In the meantime, speaking of surprises - wait right here.”
Kurt was bouncing up and down on the sofa as he waited, trying to keep his feet on the floor. He bet he could have bounced a lot higher as a cat, and decided to try it some time, to make sure he was right.
Adam came back with the intriguing box from before. It looked a little bit like a house.
“What is it?” He couldn’t wait to play with the box. It should be plenty big enough for him to sleep in it.
“You’ll have to open it to find out.” Adam looked nervous, like he wasn’t sure Kurt would like his present.
He looked at the box, slowly reading the outside.
“Build-A-Bear?” He’d heard of them. “Did you get me a stuffed toy? And stuff it for me?” he asked excitedly.
Adam nodded, and coughed. He was still nervous, though Kurt didn’t understand why.
He lifted the bear out of the box, stroking the soft fur and examining it carefully. It was a beautiful color, and a nice size to hold. “It’s so cute! Thank you, Adam!” He gave him a hug, then hugged the bear, rubbing his face over the top of the bear’s head. “So soft,” he murmured. “I love it! He can keep me company when you’re not here.”
“That’s the idea. Does he have a name yet?”
“Nope, not yet,” Kurt admitted, “but I’m sure it will come to me soon.” He took out the paperwork, including the certificate of adoption, and laughed.
Adam winced. “I didn’t realize that was part of it. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine, it’s just that now I have my own pet to adopt.”
“Well, at least he’ll be there when you need a friend. They wanted me to buy some outfits, naturally, but I decided if you wanted him to wear anything, you might prefer to make him something. It might be good practice before you start on the people clothes.”
“That’s a great idea!” He knew he didn’t have time to let himself start thinking about outfits just yet. He should wait until he could actually start drawing them.
“Now, why don’t you go put him in your room, then we’ll go to the gym.”
Kurt set the bear gently on the bed, resting against the pillows. He’d introduce him to Harriet later, once he knew the bear’s name.
Next - Chapter 32