Ruffled Feathers Part 9 - Blame It On The Glitter

[cs_kiddo]

AN: I apologize for the lateness, I know I made all of you wait a long time, and I'll have to do it again for next chapter, considering the worst times of Uni are fast approaching, and some other stuff I rather not mention. But I will TRY SO HARD YOU GUYS! Because I love you and I flail when I hear you enjoy this insanity of mine. I also apologize if this is not very polished, or even good. I need to get back a beta so bad. I also apologize for this stupid note. I apologize for apologizing so much. Ok, I should stop. Hope you enjoy, anyway!

Ruffled Feathers

Complexly Simple Kiddo


It is incredibly hard to keep balance on my twig while I reach out from between my bars to steal a bit of coffee from Kurt's cup. If I hook up my wing across one of the golden bars, maybe I can actually accomplish it.

I'll admit I haven't slept at all last night. I mean, how could I? Domingo dropped that bomb on me. I can't stop thinking about it. What does it mean? What kind of love was he talking about? I thought about it all night, and since I wasn't getting it, I tried to compare it with the things I know, and then I thought about Kurt and Blaine, and it dawned on me. I'm not completely sure, but I think what Domingo was trying to say is that he loves me as Kurt loves Blaine. I'm well aware that's a very special kind of love. So far, so good. The problem is, I have no idea what Blaine feels, so how am I supposed to know what I feel? Comparisons will only take you so far, after all.

I mean, I know I insist on the fact that Blaine has to love Kurt, but it's only because it's the most logical of things. Kurt loves Blaine, therefore, Blaine has to love Kurt, because, seriously, who could possibly say "no" to Kurt? Sure, Blaine is taking his sweet time figuring it out, but he'll realize it soon enough. There's just no beating sound logic like that.

But it is equally logical for me to love Domingo? And I mean, that special kind of love?

I mean, what is love to begin with?

Enjoying spending time with that person? Well of course I do, he's my friend and he's super cool. Who wouldn't enjoy spending time with him?

Thinking often about him? Well, apart from the time I spend thinking about new decorations for my cage, worrying about my diet, and trying to guess what Kurt thinks… Well, I guess I do spend a rather large amount of time thinking about him. Mostly, it involves plots to steal things, but there are other times when I find myself just wondering at the puzzle that is Domingo.

He's easy on the eyes, there's no denying that. I mean, I'm prettier, especially now that the awful, shall-not-be-mentioned-again period of molting is over, my feathers are shinier than ever, and I do have gorgeous eyes. Kurt tells me all the time.

But there's this rough quality to Domingo, I don't know. His feathers are never fully put, he always looks like he just woke up, but far from looking untidy, it makes him more interesting. Attractive, even. And his eyes are something special, they're always shining with emotion, mischief, excitement, happiness, sadness, and many others that I don't quite recognize, but the whole combination works, and I don't even notice but my eyes always end up landing on him and…

Oh my god, I do love Domingo, don't I?

"Bye, Dad!"

My cage is lifted, and as usual, the water is slightly spilled.

"Drive carefully, Kiddo!"

"I will, Dad," he says, in that tone of voice that means he's clearly humoring someone.

We get to the car, he leaves me on the passenger seat, and I sigh resignedly.

"Kurt, maybe you could consider training walking with the cage so you don't spill that much water?

He just whistles at me in answer, and I roll my eyes at him. He thinks that's bird language. It's kind of funny, though.

So, anyway, where was I?

Oh, right, I love Domingo.

Well, I've already analyzed why I love him, but I still don't quite get why he loves me. I mean, I'm awesome and everything, but I am aware that I'm something rare that not everyone can appreciate. Kind of, what's the term humans use? Oh, a 'very specific type'. Who would have thought that I was Domingo's type? Does that mean Domingo is my type? Wait, does that mean that the scruffy, wild-looking bird is my type? Because, seriously, no! It works with Domingo, somehow, but that's cause he's cool like that. Other birds? Not so much. That would be scary. I scared myself.

One step at a time, Pav. Find out Dom's reasoning for loving you. Then I will worry about my future.

The Dalton hallways are already filling in with students, but it's still early. The morning light filters through the windows, giving the whole place and eerie light that I always enjoy.

"Pav, is it ok if I leave you here in the Warblers Hall, or do you rather go to Blaine's room with Domingo?"

"Oh, I don't mind staying here. You guys have practice early today, anyway," I answer to Kurt, thinking that it's better if I think a bit more before facing Dom. It's not like I'm scared or anything, please. Why would I?

"I think he would rather stay here, Kurt"

"Oh, hey Flint," Kurt and I chirp at the same time.

"Hi, Kurt. Hey there, Pav"

Kurt throws Flint an amused look, but before he can say anything, there's a shout from the other end of the hall.

"Kurt Hummel! I was just about to go find you," says that guy who always talks with such pomposity and it's always sitting at Wes's left during Warbler meetings. And, oh, Wes is right behind him.

"Thad, hi. Is something wrong?" asks Kurt with a little bit of worry in his tone. You don't think he might be in trouble, do you? He has the worst luck with those council guys.

"No, no, it's just…" Thad starts, but frowns at the papers he holds and looks confused. I look at Flint and he shrugs at me, as if saying he doesn't know what's going on either.

"Do you know someone called Susan Sylvester?" Wes finally asks, looking serious as always. I bet he has the gavel in his bag.

"I…might," says Kurt with trepidation, sounding wary and suspicious, and I can't blame him. Sue is the woman who was trying to shoot someone out of a cannon, right? "why?"

"Well, she's the new coach of Aural Intensity… It appears that the previous coach suffered from a very unfortunate fall down the stairs"

"We heard through the grapevine that he was pushed," says Wes, and Kurt raises an eyebrow really high.

"You heard 'through the grapevine'?"

"Yes," Wes answers in what's clearly fake innocence. There's a really small smile tugging at his lips.

"I see," Kurt humors him.

"Surely that's fake information," says Thad, sounding convinced of that, as if the sheer idea of it being true was absolutely ridiculous. Kurt lets out a small, short laugh.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure. It sounds like her"

"Should we be worried?" asks Thad, looking from Wes, to Kurt, to Flint, and back to Kurt.

"When Sue Sylvester is involved, it is unwise not to be. But she'll probably reach out to me first for whatever evil plan she's cooking. I'm her obvious link. Don't worry, I'll deal with her," says Kurt, sitting down on one of the tables and taking out a laptop from his bag.

"Thanks, Kurt," says Wes with a brief smile and a nod, and they both leave. In perfect timing, Blaine just came through the door.

"Hey guys," he says, slapping them amiably on the shoulder, and then sitting down next to Kurt and offering him a cup of coffee.

"Hey! I thought you might want one"

"There's never a wrong time for caffeine," jokes Kurt, smiling back "Thanks".

"Can I have some, too?" I ask, and Blaine looks briefly at me, but otherwise ignores me. Old news.

"New computer?" asks Blaine, and you know, I was wondering about that. I thought Kurt had grabbed the wrong one.

"Oh, no, it's Finn's. Mine crashed yesterday, so I borrowed his. I still need to finish my English essay, I was hoping to finish it before first period. I think I can… Oh my god," says Kurt, suddenly shocked. I wish I could see the screen, I can't quite catch what they're seeing from this angle.

"What?" asks Blaine, leaning closer to Kurt to watch, and he smiles, amused.

"Oh, wow. Why were you checking his browser history, though?"

"I can definitely tell you that it was not out of curiosity," Kurt says, and Blaine gives him that look that clearly says 'I don't believe anything you're saying', but politely. Because everything Blaine does is polite. To the point of being hilarious.

"Really?"

"No, really. I was searching for a link I sent him," says Kurt, but he's kind of smiling, and Blaine catches it. Kurt laughs silently, turning his eyes to the screen again "Ok, fine, and a little bit of curiosity," he finally admits, and Blaine nods, knowingly, and they keep staring at the screen, looking amused. Come on, guys, I want to see too! Share the joke, will you?

"Those are terribly unoriginal names"

"I doubt he was searching for originality," jokes Kurt, and then grimaces, closing the lid of the computer. Damnit. "Oh, god, I did not want the visual"

Blaine slaps his shoulder amiably.

"Come on, he's young, he's a boy, you can't blame him"

"Oh, I can't. Carole could, though," Kurt says, suddenly smirking. Blaine frowns at him, still smiling.

"You won't." Kurt turns to him, eyebrow high on his face, daring. Blaine lets out an incredulous and amused laugh "Are you seriously going to blackmail your own stepbrother?"

"Watch me"

"Mr. Hummel, you are a scary, scary man, and I'll go to my first class before you drag me into this"

"Oh, consider yourself dragged, sir," answers Kurt, a maniac glint in his eyes that would be scary if I weren't thinking he's a genius.

"Make sure you get us something good out of that," says Blaine, pointing at the computer with his head, standing up.

"You bet"

"See you at practice, Kurt," he says, already leaving.

"Bye, Blaine!" I chirp loudly.

"Bye, Pav!" he shouts back and oh my fucking god. I almost fall from my perch. First time ever that Blaine answers me. We're making progress!

Hold up, did I just use the 'F' word?

Domingo must be rubbing off on me.

I didn't manage to see Domingo in the end, which is bad, because I wanted to ask him, but it's also good because… Remember when I said I wasn't scared? Yeah, well, it might not be entirely true now. And the worst part is that with Kurt living at his house now, I don't quite know when I'll get to see him.

I had finally managed to fall asleep, but there are some noises downstairs that woke me up. It's either Kurt coming back from his party, or burglars. I really hope it's Kurt, because I wouldn't know what to do if they were robbers. I suppose I could try and peck at their fingers, but I don't know how effective it could be.

Oh Kurt totally did good on his threat to Finn, that giant of a brother he has. Clumsy as hell, but such a tall perch! Anyway, New Directions were having a party and Kurt and Blaine were not invited, so he made good use of his blackmail.

"I can totally drive, I don't know what you're talking about"

Wait, is that Blaine? I can hear them climbing the steps, but they seem to go rather slow. I wonder why.

"I'm not even going to let you get close to your car, Blaine. You could kill someone, do you really want that?" Kurt all but whispers, but in the silence of the night, it carries.

"No…" Blaine's voice answers and it's rather hilarious how surprised and heartbroken it sounds. What is wrong with him? I've never heard him sound quite like this. It's like he's having a lot of trouble with talking and thinking, which is strange, cause Blaine is eloquent and smart.

"If that's so, then you're going to crash here and hope that tomorrow you feel good enough to drive"

The door finally opens, and Kurt turns on the light.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I feel awesome!"

"That's because you're drunk. You'll be singing another tune in the morning"

What? Blaine! It makes sense, his eyes are unfocused and he's trying hard to stand on his own and failing miserably. That is so not dapper behavior, Blaine, and I sincerely hope the council doesn't find out or they'll be so pissed. Oh lord, so pissed!

"Tssss impossible"

"Oh trust me, I know. Hangovers are awful things."

Oh boy, not only Blaine is drunk, but Kurt has been before? Kids, you are in sooo much trouble. Youth these days. They are stray and clueless and my boys are being affected by it.

Kurt is maneuvering Blaine as much as he can, and tries to leave him on the bed, but he lands a bit harder than intended. I restrain a laugh.

"Oofff!" Blaine complains, which Kurt ignores in order to go to the bathroom. He comes back a few minutes later, fully changed, and with a glass of water. Blaine hasn't moved from the bed at all, and smiles stupidly at Kurt when he comes back.

"Is that alcohol? Yum!"

"No, it's water, and an aspirin. Take this and go to sleep." Kurt offers the water and the pill, and Blaine does as ordered, smiling proudly when he's done. Kurt simply shakes his head.

"Ok, go to sleep now, I put up some duvet on th-" he started to explain, indicating the makeshift bed that he made up in the corner of the room, but Blaine, at the words 'sleep now', dived further into Kurt's bed, rubbing his face against the pillows.

"Hey, no, you don't get to sleep there!"

"But it's so fluffy and comfortable, Kurt," he pleads, and I can see from here that the puppy look is doing wonders in Kurt's resolve.

"It's my room, I'm supposed to sleep in my bed" Blaine just smiles drunkly and pats the bed at his side, overly enthusiastic. Kurt's eyebrows rise so high. "Oh. I don't really think that's a good idea"

"Why noooooot?" stretches Blaine, burying his face on the pillows again and inhaling really deep "Gosh this smells awesome!"

"Blaine, really, I'm not going to…"

"Kurt, come on, we're both boys, it's ok"

Kurt lets out an incredulous laugh, and then remembers to keep it down.

"And you don't see anything wrong with that?" When Blaine shakes his head, confused, Kurt sighs "of course you don't. Fine," he concedes finally "but if you hog the covers or kick, you go back to the floor"

"Deal!"

Kurt climbs to the bed and turns out the light, which I hate because it was fun watching them argue and now I don't see a thing. I hear a lot of shifting and a yelp. What the hell, guys?

"Kurt, hey Kurt. You smell…really good"

"I better do. I spent quite a few dollars on that cologne," Kurt answers, but he sounds a bit breathless.

"Nononono…not the cologne, YOU smell like…I dunno. Something good. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Blaine, go to sleep on your side. You smell like alcohol and Rachel. Neither of which are good, let me tell you."
"That's cause I kissed her. I kissed a girl and-" he starts to sing, perfectly on key even while drunk.

Wait, what? He kisse… He kissed Rachel? Brunnette, annoying, bossy Rachel? GIRL Rachel? What the hell is wrong with him! Drunk makes him stupid or what? This is yet another Blaine detour from what logic has been indicating him all along. He has to kiss Kurt, not Rachel. Stupid boy!

"Don't. Please. Don't sing that song."

"Mkay. What song should I sing?"

"Sing the sound of silence," says Kurt, quite acidly. Blaine giggles and explains.

"It's the sound of music, Kurt. I can't sing silence. I could try… But how would we know I did it? We wouldn't hear it."
"I meant that you should shut up and sleep," Says Kurt finally, being brutally honest. Blaine seems to not care, though.

"Hmmkay," he says, sounding quite happy and cooperative. "G'nite, Kurt"

The reply takes a few seconds to come, and when it does, it sounds slightly sad, resigned, and with a little bit of future resolution.

"Good Night, Blaine"

This is it. Blaine is definitely walking with my cage to his room. I'm finally going to see Domingo, after days of… well, not seeing each other. Considering our last shared words were his confession of love to me, excuse me if I'm slightly nervous right now. I stare hard at the floor of my cage, suddenly feeling absurdly shy. I feel my cage steady itself once Blaine leaves me on the desk, and a few minutes later, I hear the door closing.

We're finally alone. Not that it matters. It's not like humans know bird language. Except for Flint, but I haven't made up my mind yet about his apparent ability. Maybe he's just mocking us.

I'm rambling, and the silence is stretching, and I'm starting to wonder why Domingo isn't talking. I finally look up, thinking for a moment that maybe he's not there at all.

But he is. He's standing in the floor of his cage - which is really weird; he's all for the twigs and high perches- and he's not really looking at me.

"Domingo?" I ask, cursing that my chirp sounded way too shaky. I'm better than this! A stupid bird boy won't reduce me to a freaking shy bird. I'm Pavarotti, damnit!

"Hey, Domingo! Talk to me!" I demand, regaining my usual bravado.

"No," he says. Almost pouts. I swear I can hear the pout in his voice.

"What? Why?" I ask, confused, worried, and slightly pissed off. First he confesses his love for me and now he refuses to talk to me? Boys. So damn complex and childish.

"Cause you hate me 'nd it hurts"

"I don't-!" I sputter, trying to make sense of this "Why would you…Domingo are you slurring?"

"No. Why? Do I soun' st'pid? Uhh? You hate me, don't ya?" he tries to rest his head against the bars of his cage and hits it far too hard "Ooww!"

"Domingo, are you drunk?" I wasn't even aware birds could get drunk, but he's acting practically like Blaine did the other day and-"Oh my god! Did Blaine give you alcohol!"

"F'course not! D'nt be stoopied! I…I ate…glitter," he confesses, almost ashamed and barely audible. But I heard perfectly.

"Why would you do that! Who gave you glitter anyway?"

"Flint, the fucki…you don't like bad words," he says, explaining why he stopped in the middle of what was sure to be a very crude curse.

"Glitter is for decorative purposes only, Dom! Why would you eat it?"

"I w's sad, ok!" he spats, finally turning around, clumsily so. He almost knocks over his water container "You ignored me f'r days and it w's obvious you hated me 'nd it was shiny and there and it reminded me of you and I missed you so much and you hate me and I ate it and life freaking sucks"

I know it's totally rude, and I shouldn't do it, but I can't help myself. I start laughing.

"Oh my god, Dom, you are the stupidest bird alive," I say, and he pouts, hurt, but I can't help but laugh. He's being such a baby! His hurt face stops me, though. I don't want him to be hurt.

"I don't hate you, Dom! And I was most definitely not ignoring you. I was with Kurt, I couldn't escape and fly all the way back to Dalton, and I didn't dare escape when he brought me here, because I'm still worrying that Wes will kick him out if he finds out I've been roaming around"

"But you hate me, you said I was stupid"

"And that you are, but I don't hate you. In fact, I must say I find your stupidity quite adorable"

"So you don't quite hate me?" he asks, his eyes big and shiny and there's so much childish hope in them. How could I possibly have not noticed before?

"No, in fact, I do quite love you," I'm totally not looking at him right now. The floor suddenly fascinates me.

"Oh," he just says.

"Yeah, 'oh'" I repeat, and oh look, the floor of my cage needs some cleaning. I should talk to Kurt about this matter of utter importance.

"Pav…Pav, Pav," he says, quite desperately, and my face feels kind of warm. Must be the upcoming spring, so near us already. Time flies so fast.

"What?" I snap, mostly out of embarrassment.

"I feel…awful."

What? I confess my love for him and he feels…

"Oh…Oh! The glitter!" I remember, and I fuss with the latch of my trap door. By now I opened that thing so many times, I could do it in my sleep. In one perfect leap, I fly to Domingo's cage, and start working on his latch.

"What are you doin'?" he asks, genuinely confused.

"Helping you, what else?"

"You can't help me. I already ate the glitter. I'm gonna die." His dramatic but genuine voice makes me laugh again. Glitter-drunk Domingo is fast becoming my favorite state to see him in.

"Oh, Dom, you are being such a drama queen. You won't die from eating a bit of glitter. It just hurts like hell," I explain, managing to finish unclasping the latch and pushing upwards the trap door.

"Oh, I'll live? Cool. That means you're my boyfriend, right?"

"…I guess?" I answer, unsure because I seriously never considered it like that. But I guess we are.

Huh.

"Will I remember things tomorrow?" he asks, and I remember Blaine couldn't remember half of it. Chances are glitter induced drunkenness will erase part of his memory as well.

Oh no.

"Oh my god," I say, once I'm inside his cage, and I glare at him "I did not just confessed my love for you while you're drunk and you will forget. I'm not doing it again."

"I won't forget," he says, with such intensity in his black and slightly unfocused eyes that it awes me and makes me blush like hell. I hate blushing. It clashes horribly with my yellow feathers.

"You better not. Here, drink water," I say, guiding him to his water container and stretching one of my wings over his back so he won't trip. He tries to drink but he ends up sinking his whole head inside the container. I start laughing again, while he sputters water in confusion. My laughter stops with a gasp when he shakes his whole body, soaking me with drops of water.

"Bitch, you did not!" I complain, but I can't stop laughing again, and Domingo joins me. We are so stupid.

Is this what love feels like? This complete sense of freedom and joy? It's really stupid and childish.

But I would be lying if I said I don't like it.

AN: Get ready for more bird speculation and evil plots for next chapter! (Which I hope I manage to write faster, but considering how life is treating me lately…