[active|closed] Yet Another Tea Based Log

[von_habsburg]

Characters:Austria "Antoine" & Kurt "Alejandro" Hummel
Setting/Location: 4th meeting room
Date & Time: Day 8, soon after this thread
Warnings:None? Not unless you think two men having tea needs a warning.
Summary: The two most fabulous men on the Caravan meet and have tea. Leave your conventional ideas about masculinity at the door if you please

Comments

[isfullofennui]

Flirting with the etiquette of being fashionably late, Kurt had taken the time to change into a Vivien Westwood inspired suit ensemble -- Anglomania-esque with Anderson tartan and red trimming, finished with a simple white shirt and cream tie -- just one of many articles he'd stuffed into his messenger bag on his way out of the Beast's castle. Every moment in life was an opening for fashion, and truth be told he hadn't the faintest idea of where he was supposed to be headed, something he realised belatedly as he raked his fingers through his hair, but some affirmations you just you had to suck it up and improvise

[von_habsburg]

It should have occurred to Austria that Kurt would not know his way around the caravan yet, and if it were called to his attention he would have apologized and given the young man directions. As someone who was perpetually directionally challenged, he knew the value of a good set of directions, especially in a new environment. Unfortunately, he had been distracted, and as such had left the young man to find his way with the assistance of someone else

[isfullofennui]

Pocketing his Junogam, Kurt smiled and stepped inside, walking placidly toward the table Austria had set. As far as initial impressions without the aid of temporary aliases went, so far, so good. Maybe even impressive. Taking a seat, one leg habitually crossed over the other and both hands folded over his knee, Kurt looked over the tea and cookies, on the qui vive, and hurriedly estimating how many carbs and empty calories went into just one of those flat-baked desserts

[von_habsburg]

Austria was glad to find that Kurt seemed to have at least some familiarity with basic etiquette, and that he appreciated tea was yet another point in his favor. As for the cookies, it was probably fortunate that Austria tended to stay at the same weight no matter what he ate. He did have quite the prodigious sweet tooth after all, and could perhaps be forgiven if he chose desserts irrespective of anything resembling a healthy diet

[isfullofennui]

"Yes," Kurt replied, tapping a finger against his cup. "A friend of mine from school, Finn Hudson, and the school guidance counselor, Emma Pillsbury. She was here before us."

Kurt sighed and pressed a finger to his cheek, thumb nestled under his chin. It was still unbelievably difficult to bring the existence of parallel universes and separate versions of himself into any kind of sense -- that there might be an exact version of him back home, living his life, living their life -- like the Finn and Emma that were left in his timeline. The truth was, the more he thought about it, the less plausible it seemed, which was the opposite of any kind of desired result. He wanted to just accept it and move on, to not question the logistics and physics behind this whole mess, but he wasn't a sheep and he'd had time to think the whole thing through and it his mind just couldn't comprehend this, it was simply unfathomable

[von_habsburg]

"Ah, you know Emma? That is good that someone she knows was able to be here." The woman seemed highly prone to hysterics, even if he had never personally witnessed them, perhaps having a young man around that she knew would help keep her somewhat calmer. He made a mental note to ask what a "guidance counselor" did at some point.

He nodded graciously. "You are quite welcome, and I did, my wife arrived at the castle and then... well I suppose you could call them colleagues had arrived earlier." Not that he had heard anything from them since, which was surprising, he would have been expecting America to be crowing something about having to go rescue the people in the forest or asking inane questions, it was rather disconcerting. But perhaps he had been one of the people to disappear back to their worlds. Which as far as Austria was concerned, was quite a good thing for his continued sanity, America always managed to give him a headache.

[isfullofennui]

Kurt snapped another section from his cookie and rested his elbows on the table. "You mentioned your wife. It's -- I don't want to say nice that we didn't come here alone, because I wouldn't wish this on anyone, not even Justin Bieber -- the sheer magnitude of his presence in modern pop culture is lugubrious -- but it's comforting." He pushed the chunk into his mouth, eyes on his tea, and rubbed a thumb over his chin.

He could actually feel his blood pressure rising.

"So, this joint wish." Kurt lifted his head, cookie dangling loosely between his thumb and index finger. "Have you thought any more on what you want?" He scratched a crumb from the corner of his mouth and flicked it over his shoulder. Tragic as it was, he hadn't managed to think any more on their wish, too caught up in a purely gratuitous run through of Chicago in his head. A wiser, less bitter man would have thought of options on his walk over. Kurt was not, however, feeling particularly genial and he was certainly not that man

[von_habsburg]

"Yes, I would prefer that she had been able to stay home, but at the same time I am gad she is here. And she is infinitely preferable to some of the others that could have showed up." Like Prussia. He thanked his lucky stars that he did not have to deal with that particular loud mouthed idiot on this journey.

Austria nibbled a cookie thoughtfully before setting it down on his plate. He had forgotten napkins it seemed. "Well, if we are unable to wish ourselves instantly home... then perhaps there might be the next best thing." The man had said anything after all, and if what they both wanted was to go home, why not wish to go to the woman that was supposedly capable of such a feat? It made perfect sense to Austria at least. If both of them couldn't go home, then they could get the entire caravan to the person that could do such.

[isfullofennui]

"The next best thing?" Kurt questioned, back straightening. "And what, pray tell, might that be?" He placed the remainder of his dessert down and reached for his tea, raising it back to settle under his nose.

Optimism was a wretched approach to life and Kurt wanted nothing to do with the hope and promise it induced, but there was something in Austria's tone that suggested there really was a next best thing in all of this that wasn't some overwrought exaggeration and it piqued whatever optimism Kurt had buried in the back of his heart. At the end of the day, there were worse things to be hopeful about.

He could do with an injection of cheer in his life.

[von_habsburg]

Austria tended not to be overly optimistic, or at least he tried not to be. SO many things could and did go wrong that it was stupid to believe that people could stop being idiots long enough for everything to go perfectly right. So while he was wary of the thought he had actually working properly (he had had doubts about Cid's competence from the start after all) this seemed like the best option they had for both of them, and indeed everyone else on the Caravan, to get what they wanted

[isfullofennui]

Maybe he caught on little too enthusiastically, but of all the possible ideas to acquiesce, this was the most appropriate. It was almost brilliant, or in the very least thoroughly plausible, and while he wasn't entirely sure on the logistics or particularly well versed with the Loophole, it seemed straight-forward enough, if not entirely too simple. Though Kurt was under the impression that most good things came out of decisions you didn't expect to work out anyway - like karma was punishing you for being over-confident - and pushing the theory of Ockham's razor aside it almost seemed too easy for something with the ability to suck people through multiple dimensions and into a new world not to notice the gaping hole of obvious

[von_habsburg]

It was true that it was sadly rare that things worked out the way they had been planned. Things always happened, a wrench was thrown in things through chance or much more often, through someone messing everything up. Kurt's wariness was warranted, and while Austria was reasonably sure his idea would work, he had no guarantee that Cid's prize was anything more than some elaborate joke, or something that would go horribly wrong if they passed some border that neither of them were aware of

[isfullofennui]

Kurt laughed dryly, tapping his thumb against the rim of his cup. "I can't think of anything else that would benefit the both of us, or any person here, that isn't unavoidably trivial. But I imagine if we took a survey - despite our relative anonimity - almost everyone in the caravan would come to the harmonious agreement that 'wishing the caravan to the Loophole' was their number one priority. And if what you suggest works -," his voice trailed off, strained.

If it worked, they'd get to go home.

If it worked, he'd get to see Mercedes, Quinn, Tina, Artie, his dad..

Kurt took calming sip of tea and licked his bottom lip, eyes closed. "If what you suggest works, we could be home by the end of the week."

[von_habsburg]

"And if it does not, then there is no telling where we may end up." He took a sip of his tea, trying to think. It really was almost too good to be true, too easy as Kurt had mentioned. But Austria's dynasty had ruled over an empire before, nevermind a caravan containing a hundred or so disparate individuals. Sometimes, it was better that someone step forward and decide something, and sometimes democracy was the best solution. In this particular case, Austria was unsure if he and Kurt really wanted to shoulder the brunt of the caravan's disapproval, should something go wrong

[isfullofennui]

Kurt glanced down at the hand on his arm, expression horrified, then swiftly snatched it back. The cup in his hand dripped tea onto his thumb, cool enough not to burn, and his eyes locked onto the wall; he didn't have the presence of mind to reprimand Austria for having a flawed concept of what was and wasn't appropriate for someone you'd just met, but the Look he'd given his arm as he folded it into his shoulder spoke volumes.

He didn't even want to think about where that hand had been.

Still, in the very least, he bit back a what do you think you're doing? in an attempt at civility, because civility never hurt anyone, and resolved that if Austria touched him again - camaraderie aside - he'd have to blacklist him