Cirque de Joie- Chapter VII.
Chapter VII.
A sigh was the only sound that penetrated the smothering silence in the small tent. The light of a late morning sun illuminated the rust-colored fabric, the shadows of trees from the outside imprinting themselves against its surface. A bird or two chirped before the sound of rustling wings could be heard. Then the sound of a deep breath.
Blaine slowly opened his eyes, pupils adjusting to the light. He willed himself to get up, having half a mind to just lay in his cot all day. But there was work to be done, as always, so with a final sigh of defeat, Blaine sat up in his bed. He stretched and popped his neck before getting up and getting himself ready. He fumbled around for his shoes, once putting one on the wrong foot and twice having to remind himself how to tie his laces. Oh, it was going to be one of those days.
It’d been four days since Kurt’s first performance and Blaine hasn’t been able to speak to him since. After Will saw the tremendous response the young aerialist had gotten from the crowd he’d been pushing Kurt to perfect his routine.
“I saw those slip ups, don’t even try to act dumb about it!” Will had said with a laugh after the show was over. “You’ll have to perfect this routine before tomorrow night!” Kurt had forced a smile and glanced to Blaine from across the ring, who just grimaced and shrugged, not able to help. After that, Blaine had only seen Kurt during the show and fleetingly when the exhausted boy trudged off to his tent afterwards.
After Blaine was sure he hadn’t forgotten any article of clothing, he stepped outside of his tent into the bright summer day. His skin tingled as it warmed under the glow of the sun. He cast his eyes upwards to the sky. It was absolutely beautiful, blue as a robin’s egg and free of fluffy white clouds. It was wonderful.
Blaine set out towards the circus, hoping that Kurt was located somewhere behind its alluring and colorful exterior. Last night had been the final performance for this area- they’d usually have stayed longer but their next stop was a huge money maker and Will wanted to get there a.s.a.p. before the summer was over. Tomorrow would be a day of relaxation before setting off once more. They were nomads, and as such they must pick up their homes and move once again. As Blaine passed a few unoccupied tents, he hoped that Kurt wasn’t still sleeping in his tent. The thought hadn’t occurred to him until now. All he wanted to do was speak to the boy.
Blaine groaned and ran his fingers through his curls, pulling on the tresses. Oh, well, might as well get some breakfast.
And with that thought Blaine set of towards the orange food tent. He could already smell the aroma of ham wafting through the air and tantalizing his senses. He inhaled deeply and licked his lips before stepping inside the large tent.
As Blaine entered the tent he spied many workers and cast members that gathered at various fold-out tables, conversing and eating breakfast. Blaine waved to a few people, noticing that Mercedes and Quinn were sitting at a table near the far right of the tent. He tried to get their attention by waving his hands. He saw Quinn’s eyes flicker before adverting here attention to his waving hands. Mercedes halted what seemed to be an enthusiastic retelling of some event and looked over, a grin spreading across her face. The two girls motioned for Blaine to some sit with them. Blaine laughed and held a finger up before making his way over to the table that was covered with eggs, bacon, ham, pastries, toast, fruit, juice, and bless him, coffee.
Blaine hurriedly grabbed a paper plate and piled it high with eggs, bacon and a doughnut. He filled a cup full of hot, steaming coffee and made his way over to Mercedes and Quinn. As he sat down by Quinn, Mercedes opened her mouth to speak.
“So,” she said, locking her deep chocolate eyes with Blaine’s hazel ones, “Have you spoken to Kurt lately?” Quinn eyed him curiously as he processed Mercedes’s question through his still too sluggish mind and shook his head.
“No, he’s been so busy that I haven’t been able to get a word in,” he said, taking a bite of his doughnut. He swallowed before setting the pastry down and licking the glaze off of his fingers. “Have you talked to him?” Mercedes laughed.
“Yeah, we’re really getting to know each other,” she said. “He’s a cool guy. He’s almost as much of a diva as me!” Quinn laughed and Blaine feigned surprise, his hand flying to his forehead.
“You don’t say!” he exclaimed in mock astonishment. Mercedes rolled her eyes, the smallest of smiles tugging at her lips. Blaine laughed and began to work on his breakfast. He relished the smell of his coffee as he brought it to his lips, sipping at it slowly, savoring the flavor. He could feel the caffeine going to work in his body, that familiar buzz in his veins, causing him to wake up more and more as he chatted about Quinn’s annoyance of Rachel and Mercedes’s new ideas for her tiger act.
“Sasha and Nadua need something new,” she said, pointing her fork at Blaine. “I think they’re getting bored.” Blaine raised an eyebrow and listened to Mercedes’s new plan for her act. Quinn only half-listened, playing with a perfectly curled strand of hair in disinterest. As Mercedes finished, Blaine nodded in approval of her plan and gulped down the rest of his coffee. Quinn politely excused herself and strutted away from the table, empty plate in hand. Mercedes waved and then looked at Blaine with a peculiar expression.
“I know that look,” Blaine said, mouth turning up into a smile. “What are you up to Mercedes?” Mercedes laughed.
“Nothin’ bad. It’s just, you know how we all have the day off tomorrow?” Blaine nodded, wondering where this was going. Mercedes continued. “Well, I was thinking that you, Kurt, and I could go into town and hang out instead of staying around here. It’d be good for Kurt, ya know?” Blaine’s face lit up at the idea. This did not go unnoticed by Mercedes, whose mouth twisted into a sly smile.
“So, you interested white boy?” she asked. Blaine chuckled and nodded.
“That’s a great idea!” he said as he stacked his utensils onto his now empty plate. “It’d be a great opportunity to get to know Kurt. He seems like a cool guy.” Mercedes arched an eyebrow and followed Blaine’s movements, stacking her utensils and napkins of top of her empty plate. Blaine stood up and held his hand out, offering to take Mercedes’s plate for her.
“You’re so sweet,” she said, handing it to him. He stacked on top of his own plate.
“I know,” he said without modesty. Mercedes laughed and bade him farewell, telling him not to forget about the plan for tomorrow. He promised he wouldn’t and headed towards a trash can, dumping the paper plates. As he started out the tent, he collided with something taller than him. The taller being stumbled and fell backwards, hitting the ground with a soft ‘thud’. Blaine, momentarily dazed, looked down to find Kurt looking up at him with a mixture of surprise and mild annoyance. Blaine immediately thrust his hand out for Kurt to take.
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” he said as Kurt took his hand. As soon as Kurt was vertical once more he checked over his outfit, making sure there weren’t any grass stains on the seat of his jeans or his impressively spotless white shirt.
“Guess I subconsciously like you helping me up,” Kurt said with a laugh. “Thanks.” Blaine flashed a smile and shrugged.
“No biggie. You want to sit down and get some breakfast?” Kurt lit up to the idea of food.
“I thought you’d never ask,” he said with a smile, immediately making his way over to the breakfast table. Blaine grabbed another cup and filled it with coffee as he waited for Kurt to finish gathering sustenance. After Kurt finished piling fruit onto his paper plate, Blaine led him to the table that he, Quinn, and Mercedes had occupied mere minutes ago. Kurt began to eat his food without hesitation, neatly picking up a grape and popping it into his mouth. Blaine sipped his coffee as an awkward silence ensued.
“So,” Blaine said, after a while. “I haven’t been able to congratulate you on how awesome you’ve been doing in the show. You’re really amazing, Kurt!” Kurt looked up from the orange slice he’d been sucking on as a smile widened across his face.
“Thanks,” he said, wiping his hands with a moist towelette he seemed to have produced out of thin air. “That means a lot, really.” Kurt had a look of pure sincerity in his eyes. Blaine smiled and took another sip of coffee, concentrating on how its heat radiated through the cup and into his fingers that were wrapped around it.
“So I was thinking,” Blaine said after another moment. “Since we’re all off tomorrow, I was wondering if you’d like to join Mercedes and I. We’re going to go into town and act like normal teenagers for once. Are you interested?” Kurt seemed to think it over for a moment before breaking out into a smile.
“Sure, that’d be great!” he said, laying the towelette onto his plate. “It’ll be nice to take a break. When tomorrow?” Blaine furrowed his brow. He and Mercedes hadn’t really discussed a time- or anything come to think of it. Blaine sighed.
“We haven’t really discussed a time yet, but I’ll let you know when we figure it out.” Kurt nodded and stood up from his seat.
“Well, you know where to find me,” Kurt said, smiling down at Blaine. Blaine looked into Kurt’s blue-green eyes and grinned. Kurt waved and walked away. Blaine watched Kurt walk away, admiring the lithe, almost silent way he moved. Blaine wished he moved in such an alluring way.
Alluring?
Blaine sighed. He seemed to be doing a lot of that today, but this time it was for a completely different reason.