Birds of a feather
Title: Birds of a Feather Part 1/10
Media: Fic
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None
Word Count: 2563
Summary: Kurt's never had a best friend (or even a close one) and he's pretty sure Adam could be the best friend he's ever had, so he begs to go to Camp Falcon with him that summer even though he's pretty sure he's going to hate it. Most of his friends are going and as Rachel points out they have a musical drama program that might actually be kind of fun. He expected the dirt, the disorder, and the constant terror of being thrown in the lake. What he didn't expect was all the weird bird metaphors or Blaine Anderson. With a little summer sunshine, a lot of Berry sized drama, and with plenty of courage Kurt Hummel finds his flock in the most unlikely of places.
Prologue
Kurt had begun to rethink spending four weeks away from home fairly quickly, and he was downright ready to ditch the whole idea after talking with his dad. Burt sat him down the night before they were to leave and apologized for not making things around the house better for them both. Then he went on about how much fun he’d had at Camp Falcon (apparently the biggest summer camp in Ohio) when he’d been Kurt’s age. After listening to his father go on and on about camp outs, nature walks, and pine cone wars Kurt was sure that he’d made a terrible mistake begging for this.
“The guys in the Eagle cabin had this tradition where once a week at midnight we’d sneak over to the Kestrel cabin and abduct one of their guys. We’d take him out on one of the boats tie up his hands and throw him the lake.” Burt reminisced with a laugh.
Kurt had given him such an look of sheer terror that he’d quickly added, “we put a life vest on him first. ‘Cause it’s a harmless prank. Nobody is supposed to get hurt. It’s supposed to be funny you know. Trust me kid, nobody takes it seriously. The Kestrels always got us back. It’s just part of the fun.”
At that Kurt arched a skeptical brow. He wondered who had the most fun, the boys snatching some poor kid from his bed or the kid forced to bob his way back to shore in the freezing cold. Could this get any worse?
“Oh and Kurt, I’d pack some different stuff” Burt said eyeing Kurt’s open suitcases, “you know clothes you aren’t afraid of getting ripped up or stained.”
That time the look Kurt gave him was just appalled.
---------
Camp Falcon turned out to be exactly as horrible as Kurt had begun to imagine. The camp was tucked in between the Leesvile wildlife conservatory and the Leesville lake which meant there was only one way in or out, and that way wasn’t even much of a road. Kurt was staring incredulously at the dirt and gravel they were crunching over (wondering how he was going to keep his shoes from getting ruined if this place couldn't even afford a decent road) when his dad spotted something exciting.
“There it is” Burt exclaimed gesturing excitedly towards a large wooden sign with peeling white paint. “Camp Falcon. We made it kiddo.”
Kurt stared at the sign reading the barely visible words Welcome To Camp Falcon, then he stared at all of the trees surrounding them and tried not to feel claustrophobic. Boys liked this sort of stuff and he was a boy so he would like it too. Adam was probably already there and soon they would be having all sorts of fun together and everything would change. Kurt wasn’t sure what exactly would change, but he was sure the loneliness at least would go away.
His dad drove them past the horse barn (Kurt pinched his nose at the smell but thought it might be sort of okay if he could get to ride one) through more trees and more trees until suddenly camp was all around them. One minute they were alone on a winding dirt road the next little cabins and wood huts were popping out of the trees. Camp seemed to have squat itself in the middle of the woods and begun to burrow out a place for itself.
Everything abut the place was brown and leafy and the smell of wet wood and grass was heavy in the air. Kurt wrinkled his nose at it, but thought intently on Adam and it seemed to help bolster his courage.
------------------------
The receptionist at the camp office was creepy, and she like every other adult person Kurt had seen so far absolutely did not know how to dress herself. He knew it was unfair to judge a person by the way they looked (his parents had been telling him that since he got in a fight with Mercedes Jones back in the first grade when he told her that her pink sneakers looked gross with her fuzzy red sweater) but Kurt thought it said something when he a ten year old boy knew how to put an outfit together and a grown woman didn’t.
Maybe she had no choice when it came to the white staff T-shirt but if she’d been trying to make the ensemble more flattering with that hideous daisy broach she’d failed. Plus the whole daisy for Daisy thing was a bit too much.
Daisy (Kurt knew her name was Daisy because it was printed in big letters on her shirt) welcomed him to camp enthusiastically and asked him a bunch of questions Kurt knew he wasn’t supposed to give his real opinion on so he nodded along and smiled as best as he could. He half hoped his father would buy the act and half hoped he’d see through it and offer to take him home.
“Lets see Hummel Hummel....” Daisy muttered to herself as she rifled through a stack of papers on her clipboard. “Ah yes Kurt. You’re ten so that would put you in Kestrel cabin B.”
Kurt’s eyes widened to about the size of tennis balls. He was in Kestrel cabin. The cabin of boys that the guys in Eagle cabin thought it was hilarious to systematically try and drown. Daisy beamed at him like like he’d won some sort of special award and Kurt quickly grabbed his dad by the shirt.
“I changed my mind dad I want to go home.”
As Daisy’s impossibly bright grin got dimmer Burt knelt down till he and Kurt were eye to eye.
“What’s the matter Kurt?” He asked putting hand on Kurt’s shoulder. I thought you were excited about this whole camp thing.”
Kurt knew he’d begged for this, and he knew his dad had payed a lot of money for him to come here but he was terrified. He did not want to get tied up and thrown in a lake. Accidents happened, they knew that better than anyone, and he wasn’t a strong swimmer.
“Nothing, I just... I just realized that no one’s going to be around to help make dinner, or bring you lunch at the shop. And what about Friday night dinner? It’s sacred remember. I should come home with you I think.”
As the words poured out of him, Kurt realized that they were true, that it wasn’t just the stupid pranks that suddenly had him terrified. It was all the trees pressing in around them like a cage, and the distance, and his dad being all alone and even worse not being able to see him whenever he wanted to. Here there would be no way to peek into his bedroom when he woke up from nightmares about accidents.
He was shaking, and to his embarrassment tears had begun stinging his eyes. He glanced around the cramped office ducking his head when he noticed the family behind them watching them curiously.
“Hey kid look at me” Burt entreated his son gently drawing his head up till they were eye to eye. “I think this could be a great thing for you. Camp can be a lot of fun and I think you need some of that right now. But if you’re scared of something I wanna know okay? What’s bothering you?”
Kurt opened his mouth and tried to explain but nothing came out. He didn’t know how to say any of it. He was being silly, he felt stupid, but it didn’t change how scared he was how much he didn’t think he could handle this on his own. He wasn’t an infant he shouldn’t need his dad every second of the day but in a strange way he did. Seven A.M. Kurt would get up and the first thing he’d hear would be the shower running and the barely perceptible tension, the fear he barely knew for what it was, would release. No unfortunate accidents had struck while he slept, no unplanned for tragedies.
He’d make toast and set out the box of doughnuts for his father and wait. They’d breakfast, Burt would drive him to school and school would pass in a blur of numbers, verbs and pop quizzes until the final bell rang. Kurt would take the bus home and throw together an afternoon snack and walk it to the garage. Opening the door hearing the sound of his dad’s favorite classic rock pouring out a boom box, maybe a curse or two as he clanked around under the hood of a car, something in Kurt would ease.
“I don’t want to be in Kestrel Cabin, and I don’t want to get thrown in the lake.” Kurt muttered, the words were true but they weren’t the right ones.
Kurt glanced at the family waiting patiently behind them and cringed. The mother, a petite woman with dark curly hair, watched him sympathetically like he was some big baby afraid of letting go of daddy for the first time. The father, taller with brown hair and green eyes, looked impatient and something about the way his eyes passed over Kurt left him feeling like he’d been kicked. They had three kids with them, a baby that the mother was holding, a girl who looked a few years older than Kurt and a boy that looked to be around his age.
The boy had dark hair like his mother and it was curling around his ears. Springs were jutting out in the back despite someones attempts to wrestle it into submission with hair gel. It was weird but the funny way his curls stuck out actually made Kurt want to laugh instead of you know, fix it like he would if his own hair gave him such a hard time.
Maybe it was the way the boy smiled at him, sympathetic and not the oh poor babysmile the boys mom was giving him either. Like maybe he got it that this whole prank thing was really stupid and kind of scary.
Daisy’s eyes followed Kurt’s and just like that her 100 mega watt smile was back and this time impossibly maybe even brighter.
“Evie Anderson how dare you sneak in here without even saying hello!” She squealed like she’d just spotted a celebrity crossing the street and moved around Kurt to sweep the girl beside the boy up in a hug.
There was a lot of commotion after that. Daisy giving the boy (Blaine if her enthusiastic squeals were anything to go by) a fierce hug and then turning to shake hands and greet the parents and squeal some more over the baby.
“Must be regulars.” Burt said with a slightly disgruntled look, but Kurt’s eyes were on the boy who was slowly approaching them with a hesitant smile. When he was almost toe to toe with Kurt he stopped and offered another smile.
“Hi.”
Kurt hesitated a moment before he finally found his voice. “Hi”.
“I’m Blaine. Blaine Anderson.” The boy said offering his hand for a shake and Kurt stared at it incredulously for a moment because yeah, it was kind of like something someone would do in his favorite movies (the ones in black and white that he and mom used to watch) not something a boy his age did. The boy even sort of looked like the kids in those movies. White collared shirt with shiny buttons complete with suspenders, black shorts that were obviously not meant to be played in, the attempt at slicked back hair.
Seeing Kurt’s eyes roving over his attire Blaine blushed his hand wavering where it was still extended. “My mom kind of has this rule that we dress up on the first day. She says first impressions are everything.”
Kurt’s spirit brightened. He didn’t know her at all but he though Blaine’s mom was very smart. He shook the other boy’s hand and watched his smile come back. It made Kurt want to smile too, that smile and he didn’t try to stop it. He felt really goofy but in the best way.
“I’m Kurt Hummel” He said, introducing himself, “are you in Kestrel Cabin too?” Much to Kurt’s disappointment Blaine shook his head.
“Kestrel cabin is for boys 8-10 years old, I won’t be in it this year because I’m eleven but I was in it last year.” Blaine replied and Kurt’s spirits dampened considerably. It might not have been so bad if he at least had a potential friend in the cabin with him, but now even that tiny glimmer of hope was gone.
“Did you get thrown in the lake?” Kurt asked Blaine fearfully and the other boy nodded his sympathetic smile returning.
“You usually only get it once, unless someone in the Eagle Cabin really hates you, but I can’t see anyone hating you...’Cause you know, you don’t look mean or anything... I mean you look normal to me, not like someone who people wouldn’t like.” Blaine finished awkwardly. He wasn’t quite meeting Kurt’s eyes anymore, embarrassed that Kurt might think he was lame or something, but Kurt didn’t mind.
All his life it seemed his peers had been telling him how unlike them he was and because of it how incredibly unlikable. He was smiling again, feeling goofy and happy inside just because another boy thought he was normal.
“Yeah...so the lake” Blaine cleared his throat and went on like he had no other choice but wished he did, “it really sucks but it’s over real fast and the Kestrels get to steal the Eagle guys stuff and hide it all around camp and that’s really fun too. So you should stay, if you want to, if you were thinking about leaving I mean.”
Kurt didn’t say anything and pretty quickly after that Daisy had Blaine’s family ready to go get him and his sister settled into their cabins. Blaine was in the Warblers Cabin. After ushering the Anderson family out the door, and promising Evie she’d stop by her cabin later, Daisy turned to them and smiled. Kurt didn’t think this woman could actually not smile.
“So. Are you ready to get settled in Kurt?” She asked. Kurt hesitated and she smiled encouragingly at him. “I promise you’ll have lots of fun here and make lots of new friends. We make it our goal to make sure every child here feels a part of a flock. You’ll love being a Kestrel and I’m sure you’ll come to feel like we do, that your flockmates are family.”
Kurt didn’t get why everything here ran on a bird theme, but he sort of liked the idea of having a flock. Flock meant family right? Or at the very least people who understood you, people that loved you no matter how high your voice was or what you liked to do for fun (Kurt sang, he watched musicals, he took hip hop lessons and he was still kind of upset his dad wouldn’t let him take ballet). A flock meant not just one best friend but a bunch of them. Like other (normal) boys had. That sounded good. It really did.
TBC
Media: Fic
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None
Word Count: 2563
Summary: Kurt's never had a best friend (or even a close one) and he's pretty sure Adam could be the best friend he's ever had, so he begs to go to Camp Falcon with him that summer even though he's pretty sure he's going to hate it. Most of his friends are going and as Rachel points out they have a musical drama program that might actually be kind of fun. He expected the dirt, the disorder, and the constant terror of being thrown in the lake. What he didn't expect was all the weird bird metaphors or Blaine Anderson. With a little summer sunshine, a lot of Berry sized drama, and with plenty of courage Kurt Hummel finds his flock in the most unlikely of places.
Prologue
Kurt had begun to rethink spending four weeks away from home fairly quickly, and he was downright ready to ditch the whole idea after talking with his dad. Burt sat him down the night before they were to leave and apologized for not making things around the house better for them both. Then he went on about how much fun he’d had at Camp Falcon (apparently the biggest summer camp in Ohio) when he’d been Kurt’s age. After listening to his father go on and on about camp outs, nature walks, and pine cone wars Kurt was sure that he’d made a terrible mistake begging for this.
“The guys in the Eagle cabin had this tradition where once a week at midnight we’d sneak over to the Kestrel cabin and abduct one of their guys. We’d take him out on one of the boats tie up his hands and throw him the lake.” Burt reminisced with a laugh.
Kurt had given him such an look of sheer terror that he’d quickly added, “we put a life vest on him first. ‘Cause it’s a harmless prank. Nobody is supposed to get hurt. It’s supposed to be funny you know. Trust me kid, nobody takes it seriously. The Kestrels always got us back. It’s just part of the fun.”
At that Kurt arched a skeptical brow. He wondered who had the most fun, the boys snatching some poor kid from his bed or the kid forced to bob his way back to shore in the freezing cold. Could this get any worse?
“Oh and Kurt, I’d pack some different stuff” Burt said eyeing Kurt’s open suitcases, “you know clothes you aren’t afraid of getting ripped up or stained.”
That time the look Kurt gave him was just appalled.
---------
Camp Falcon turned out to be exactly as horrible as Kurt had begun to imagine. The camp was tucked in between the Leesvile wildlife conservatory and the Leesville lake which meant there was only one way in or out, and that way wasn’t even much of a road. Kurt was staring incredulously at the dirt and gravel they were crunching over (wondering how he was going to keep his shoes from getting ruined if this place couldn't even afford a decent road) when his dad spotted something exciting.
“There it is” Burt exclaimed gesturing excitedly towards a large wooden sign with peeling white paint. “Camp Falcon. We made it kiddo.”
Kurt stared at the sign reading the barely visible words Welcome To Camp Falcon, then he stared at all of the trees surrounding them and tried not to feel claustrophobic. Boys liked this sort of stuff and he was a boy so he would like it too. Adam was probably already there and soon they would be having all sorts of fun together and everything would change. Kurt wasn’t sure what exactly would change, but he was sure the loneliness at least would go away.
His dad drove them past the horse barn (Kurt pinched his nose at the smell but thought it might be sort of okay if he could get to ride one) through more trees and more trees until suddenly camp was all around them. One minute they were alone on a winding dirt road the next little cabins and wood huts were popping out of the trees. Camp seemed to have squat itself in the middle of the woods and begun to burrow out a place for itself.
Everything abut the place was brown and leafy and the smell of wet wood and grass was heavy in the air. Kurt wrinkled his nose at it, but thought intently on Adam and it seemed to help bolster his courage.
------------------------
The receptionist at the camp office was creepy, and she like every other adult person Kurt had seen so far absolutely did not know how to dress herself. He knew it was unfair to judge a person by the way they looked (his parents had been telling him that since he got in a fight with Mercedes Jones back in the first grade when he told her that her pink sneakers looked gross with her fuzzy red sweater) but Kurt thought it said something when he a ten year old boy knew how to put an outfit together and a grown woman didn’t.
Maybe she had no choice when it came to the white staff T-shirt but if she’d been trying to make the ensemble more flattering with that hideous daisy broach she’d failed. Plus the whole daisy for Daisy thing was a bit too much.
Daisy (Kurt knew her name was Daisy because it was printed in big letters on her shirt) welcomed him to camp enthusiastically and asked him a bunch of questions Kurt knew he wasn’t supposed to give his real opinion on so he nodded along and smiled as best as he could. He half hoped his father would buy the act and half hoped he’d see through it and offer to take him home.
“Lets see Hummel Hummel....” Daisy muttered to herself as she rifled through a stack of papers on her clipboard. “Ah yes Kurt. You’re ten so that would put you in Kestrel cabin B.”
Kurt’s eyes widened to about the size of tennis balls. He was in Kestrel cabin. The cabin of boys that the guys in Eagle cabin thought it was hilarious to systematically try and drown. Daisy beamed at him like like he’d won some sort of special award and Kurt quickly grabbed his dad by the shirt.
“I changed my mind dad I want to go home.”
As Daisy’s impossibly bright grin got dimmer Burt knelt down till he and Kurt were eye to eye.
“What’s the matter Kurt?” He asked putting hand on Kurt’s shoulder. I thought you were excited about this whole camp thing.”
Kurt knew he’d begged for this, and he knew his dad had payed a lot of money for him to come here but he was terrified. He did not want to get tied up and thrown in a lake. Accidents happened, they knew that better than anyone, and he wasn’t a strong swimmer.
“Nothing, I just... I just realized that no one’s going to be around to help make dinner, or bring you lunch at the shop. And what about Friday night dinner? It’s sacred remember. I should come home with you I think.”
As the words poured out of him, Kurt realized that they were true, that it wasn’t just the stupid pranks that suddenly had him terrified. It was all the trees pressing in around them like a cage, and the distance, and his dad being all alone and even worse not being able to see him whenever he wanted to. Here there would be no way to peek into his bedroom when he woke up from nightmares about accidents.
He was shaking, and to his embarrassment tears had begun stinging his eyes. He glanced around the cramped office ducking his head when he noticed the family behind them watching them curiously.
“Hey kid look at me” Burt entreated his son gently drawing his head up till they were eye to eye. “I think this could be a great thing for you. Camp can be a lot of fun and I think you need some of that right now. But if you’re scared of something I wanna know okay? What’s bothering you?”
Kurt opened his mouth and tried to explain but nothing came out. He didn’t know how to say any of it. He was being silly, he felt stupid, but it didn’t change how scared he was how much he didn’t think he could handle this on his own. He wasn’t an infant he shouldn’t need his dad every second of the day but in a strange way he did. Seven A.M. Kurt would get up and the first thing he’d hear would be the shower running and the barely perceptible tension, the fear he barely knew for what it was, would release. No unfortunate accidents had struck while he slept, no unplanned for tragedies.
He’d make toast and set out the box of doughnuts for his father and wait. They’d breakfast, Burt would drive him to school and school would pass in a blur of numbers, verbs and pop quizzes until the final bell rang. Kurt would take the bus home and throw together an afternoon snack and walk it to the garage. Opening the door hearing the sound of his dad’s favorite classic rock pouring out a boom box, maybe a curse or two as he clanked around under the hood of a car, something in Kurt would ease.
“I don’t want to be in Kestrel Cabin, and I don’t want to get thrown in the lake.” Kurt muttered, the words were true but they weren’t the right ones.
Kurt glanced at the family waiting patiently behind them and cringed. The mother, a petite woman with dark curly hair, watched him sympathetically like he was some big baby afraid of letting go of daddy for the first time. The father, taller with brown hair and green eyes, looked impatient and something about the way his eyes passed over Kurt left him feeling like he’d been kicked. They had three kids with them, a baby that the mother was holding, a girl who looked a few years older than Kurt and a boy that looked to be around his age.
The boy had dark hair like his mother and it was curling around his ears. Springs were jutting out in the back despite someones attempts to wrestle it into submission with hair gel. It was weird but the funny way his curls stuck out actually made Kurt want to laugh instead of you know, fix it like he would if his own hair gave him such a hard time.
Maybe it was the way the boy smiled at him, sympathetic and not the oh poor babysmile the boys mom was giving him either. Like maybe he got it that this whole prank thing was really stupid and kind of scary.
Daisy’s eyes followed Kurt’s and just like that her 100 mega watt smile was back and this time impossibly maybe even brighter.
“Evie Anderson how dare you sneak in here without even saying hello!” She squealed like she’d just spotted a celebrity crossing the street and moved around Kurt to sweep the girl beside the boy up in a hug.
There was a lot of commotion after that. Daisy giving the boy (Blaine if her enthusiastic squeals were anything to go by) a fierce hug and then turning to shake hands and greet the parents and squeal some more over the baby.
“Must be regulars.” Burt said with a slightly disgruntled look, but Kurt’s eyes were on the boy who was slowly approaching them with a hesitant smile. When he was almost toe to toe with Kurt he stopped and offered another smile.
“Hi.”
Kurt hesitated a moment before he finally found his voice. “Hi”.
“I’m Blaine. Blaine Anderson.” The boy said offering his hand for a shake and Kurt stared at it incredulously for a moment because yeah, it was kind of like something someone would do in his favorite movies (the ones in black and white that he and mom used to watch) not something a boy his age did. The boy even sort of looked like the kids in those movies. White collared shirt with shiny buttons complete with suspenders, black shorts that were obviously not meant to be played in, the attempt at slicked back hair.
Seeing Kurt’s eyes roving over his attire Blaine blushed his hand wavering where it was still extended. “My mom kind of has this rule that we dress up on the first day. She says first impressions are everything.”
Kurt’s spirit brightened. He didn’t know her at all but he though Blaine’s mom was very smart. He shook the other boy’s hand and watched his smile come back. It made Kurt want to smile too, that smile and he didn’t try to stop it. He felt really goofy but in the best way.
“I’m Kurt Hummel” He said, introducing himself, “are you in Kestrel Cabin too?” Much to Kurt’s disappointment Blaine shook his head.
“Kestrel cabin is for boys 8-10 years old, I won’t be in it this year because I’m eleven but I was in it last year.” Blaine replied and Kurt’s spirits dampened considerably. It might not have been so bad if he at least had a potential friend in the cabin with him, but now even that tiny glimmer of hope was gone.
“Did you get thrown in the lake?” Kurt asked Blaine fearfully and the other boy nodded his sympathetic smile returning.
“You usually only get it once, unless someone in the Eagle Cabin really hates you, but I can’t see anyone hating you...’Cause you know, you don’t look mean or anything... I mean you look normal to me, not like someone who people wouldn’t like.” Blaine finished awkwardly. He wasn’t quite meeting Kurt’s eyes anymore, embarrassed that Kurt might think he was lame or something, but Kurt didn’t mind.
All his life it seemed his peers had been telling him how unlike them he was and because of it how incredibly unlikable. He was smiling again, feeling goofy and happy inside just because another boy thought he was normal.
“Yeah...so the lake” Blaine cleared his throat and went on like he had no other choice but wished he did, “it really sucks but it’s over real fast and the Kestrels get to steal the Eagle guys stuff and hide it all around camp and that’s really fun too. So you should stay, if you want to, if you were thinking about leaving I mean.”
Kurt didn’t say anything and pretty quickly after that Daisy had Blaine’s family ready to go get him and his sister settled into their cabins. Blaine was in the Warblers Cabin. After ushering the Anderson family out the door, and promising Evie she’d stop by her cabin later, Daisy turned to them and smiled. Kurt didn’t think this woman could actually not smile.
“So. Are you ready to get settled in Kurt?” She asked. Kurt hesitated and she smiled encouragingly at him. “I promise you’ll have lots of fun here and make lots of new friends. We make it our goal to make sure every child here feels a part of a flock. You’ll love being a Kestrel and I’m sure you’ll come to feel like we do, that your flockmates are family.”
Kurt didn’t get why everything here ran on a bird theme, but he sort of liked the idea of having a flock. Flock meant family right? Or at the very least people who understood you, people that loved you no matter how high your voice was or what you liked to do for fun (Kurt sang, he watched musicals, he took hip hop lessons and he was still kind of upset his dad wouldn’t let him take ballet). A flock meant not just one best friend but a bunch of them. Like other (normal) boys had. That sounded good. It really did.
TBC