Month long Headache (3/?)
Month Long Headache(3/?)
Story 2 in the Kurt can Pwn Universe
Pairing: Kurt/Blaine
Characters: Wes, David, Blaine, Kurt, Warblers, Marne and Death
Rating: PG, maybe swears?
Disclaimer: If I owned glee I wouldn't be playing WoW so much... Well maybe I would but I'd be playing it on a supped up mac laptop sitting on the beach of some gorgeous island with hot men catering to my every raiding need
Warnings: Blaine? And Dalton? Kind of future!fic for those that know WoW considering the endgame raid hasn't come out yet.
Summary: After the take down of Deathwing, Kurt and Blaine have to deal with the after mass of their kiss. A surprise house guess has arrived just in time to help.
A.N. It's better than the summary states...
Master list for 'Verse: Click here
“I swear to Broadway it self if you don’t call me back within the next ten minutes I will find you by any means necessary and strangle you,” Kurt growled out between clenched teeth at his friends voicemail. Blaine sat on Kurt’s bed fiddling with the strap to Kurt’s luggage bag just smiling a wide innocently submissive smile anytime Kurt looked at him.
The night before had been great for Blaine since Gana had topped Kurt’s shit list while completely blowing him out of the water on that one. With Kurt needing a way to vent his hours of built up frustration the boys had ended up playing WoW for most of the night. It wasn’t until David texted Kurt freaking out about forgetting all the French he was taught this past year that Kurt bid Blaine adieu. Kurt may be only a junior but his French was so advanced he was moved up a grade.
With a sigh and a wave Kurt had departed for the night. But here they were after all finals were said and done, with David talked down off the proverbial ledge and all packing completed, trying to get a hold of Gana yet again. And like most of yesterday they were met with a brick wall.
“Kurt,” Blaine ventured hesitantly before standing up and shoving his hands in his slightly beat up blue jeans before walking over to the taller teen. “It’s only a little after noon.”
“Blaine it’s almost one, she should be awake by now,” Kurt cut in, pinning Blaine with a glare. Blaine looked at his alarm clock, 12:14, than back at Kurt while willing his face into a neutral expression.
“Is there a reason you’re calling her this time? We know she’s safe at a friend’s house. She’s probably sleeping off that blue drink of doom.”
Kurt looked at his phone for a moment before sliding it into his back pocket. “Something’s off. I know Marne told us not to worry after they talked last night but I’m just worried that, I don’t know. I have a feeling that the reason she left was for a reason she’s not telling us and my mind’s running ramped with the possibility that it’s something bad.”
Blaine chuckled while standing and grabbing Kurt’s bag. “Something’s always off with her, trust me.” He grabbed Kurt’s hand and slotted their fingers together perfectly. Kurt took his bag from his friend and squeezed their entwined hands before pulling away slowly. “I agree something’s off but Marne can read Gana like a book whether they are face to face or via the phone or Internet. Marne wants to strangle Gana for making us all worried but other than that she told us just to wait. So lets wait and relax.”
“It pains me to say this but you’re right.” He breathed out and tried to relax as Blaine’s smile amplified. “I hope you know that this doesn’t let you off for the shit storm that you caused,” Kurt stated pointedly as he pushed the strap of the bag over his shoulder. He smirked and cross his arms as he raised an eyebrow.
“Oh- About that- Well-“ But Blaine’s fumbling was interrupted as a loud set of chimes filled the room. The taller teen rolled his eyes and pulled his phone back out and read the message from Finn. He shut his eyes and sighed at the depressingly painful Internet speak that Finn texted in.
“He’s outside and says if I’m not outside in five he’s coming up singing Journey, loudly. The problem with this is I know he’ll do it. He’s on this whole ‘Let’s make us like real siblings’ kick and that includes trying to embarrass me when he can.” Kurt glared at his phone with a hint of affection before grabbing his trunk and motioning for them to head out.
Blaine grabbed the trunk from in front out of Kurt’s hand and without a word started walking in front. Kurt did try to protest by reaching for the handle but it fell on deaf ears as Blaine swatted his hand away more than once.
“Finn, why is there a scratch on my baby?” was the first thing Kurt said upon seeing Finn leaning against his Navigator. Since Kurt had come in late and all the parking passes for the year were given out Finn had inherited his stepbrothers car for the time being while Finn and Burt rebuilt his father’s old truck.
“What scratch?” Finn asked with fear in his tone, looking over the car frantically. “I didn’t do it! Kurt you have to believe me.” As Finn freaked out Kurt had his schooled bitch face on almost perfectly but Blaine could see the twitch of the lip.
“Kurt you’re evil,” Blaine stated in a dry tone as Kurt finally broke, keeling over with laughter. Finn stopped and turned to his stepbrother. “
“Dude so not cool,” the football player muttered. A small glint sparked in the tall teens eyes before grabbing Kurt’s shoulders and dragging him into what looked like an over eager, embarrassing hug. “Come here little brother I’ve missed you so much!” Finn stated louder than needed. Kurt sputtered and tried to get away as Finn went on, “My little brother is coming home.”
“Finn I hate you so much!” Kurt yelled out from between Finn’s arms as his messenger bag fall to the ground. “And stop acting like a fool. I come home every weekend and Christ! Finn put me down!” Blaine was almost in tears watching the two. He was able to wipe the tears away and breath in time to see David and Wes full out running. They skidded to a stop next to Blaine and looked at him in confusion.
“Wes, David, meet Finn Kurt’s stepbrother.” Both of the new comers nodded in understanding.
“Finn put me down or I’ll tell Rachel!” That did it. Kurt was back on his feet within seconds and straightening up his clothes. “You are horrible,” Kurt muttered while grabbing the bag from Blaine who had picked it up and smacking his stepbrother with it. Finn was bright red with laughter
All stopped when Wes slowly started counting down for some strange reason. 5-4-“ Blaine backed away knowing what was coming, “3-2-“ Kurt figured it out and started shaking his head, watching the two boys get into position. The pleas of ‘Don’t even think about it’ and ‘I will disassemble your engine!’ were soon interrupted as both Wes and David shouted 1 while running at Kurt and grappling him into a three-way awkward and energetic hug.
“Have a great holiday,” shouted Wes.
“See you on the game, Tenor,” David yelled. They pulled away, patting Kurt on the shoulder before turning to Blaine as they started counting down again. His eyes widened as he turned and tried to run but the two seniors were faster than him. They soon over took him and bid him farewell in the same manner as they did Kurt.
“Wow, prep school kids are weird,” Finn muttered to Kurt as he leaned against his stepbrother. They both leaned back against the car and watched.
“Trust me I know. I’ve been told they do the same thing to Blaine every time he leaves for holiday or the weekend. And to think, at one time I thought they were normal.”
Once Wes and David got their little tradition over with they bid everyone a safe drive in a normal manner and with a wave before running off to start their packing. A few moments later Kurt sort of caught up. “Wait, what did David mean ‘see you on the game?” Kurt asked after they settled everything into the car properly.
“Oh yeah, forgot to tell you. Wes and David both play WoW. They just took the semester off because of school.” Kurt quirked an eyebrow. “The guild calls them the Bash Brothers. Wes’s main is Trickster and David’s main is Ripper.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Blaine just shrugged as Finn looked at Kurt questioningly. “Everyone always told me stories about those two and now it fits.”
“They look and act respectable in public but once you become a friend that image gets blown to hell. Marne would once a week boot them from the guild. She said it was her way of smacking them from a distance.”
“Is it true that to screw with Gana they would pull than jump off the edge whenever possible in dungeon?”
“Oh yeah. It was one of the reasons she wasn’t tanking a lot when you joined. They kind of burned her out.” Kurt laughed softly before looking to Finn who was motioning them, not to subtly to get going. The fair skinned boy scrunched up his nose at the football player. “We should get going. Finn and I will see you on game tonight.”
“Wait Finn?”
“Yeah had made a character over Thanksgiving break on a trial account, told him I’d buy it for him for Christmas. We’re setting it up tonight.”
“See you then.” Blaine stepped towards Kurt and lifted his arms but froze when he noticed the fair skinned boy flinched. “Kurt-“ The boy in question stepped back and brought his hand up, fisting the strap that crossed his chest.
“I’ll see you on game, Demon.” A small smile graced his lips as a sad one tugged on Blaine’s lips.
“Kurt, stop making puppy eyes at Blaine and get into the car!” Finn called from the passenger’s side, holding out the keys. Kurt’s back stiffened as he glared at Finn for a moment. He looked back at Blaine before muttering something in French before pulling the shorter boy into a hug. As quickly as it started Kurt pulled away and jumped into the drivers side and powering the car up. In stunned happiness Blaine stood there waving as he watched Kurt’s car pull out of the lot and then down the street.
It took Finn all of ten minutes to start asking questions in his well meaning but awkward as hell way. Kurt drove and listened, trying to stealthily turn the volume on the radio up and up until Finn realized he was yelling. He smacked Kurt’s hand away before turning the music completely off.
“Kurt, are you going to tell me what that weird moment with Blaine was at the end was about? I thought you two were, like, I don’t know besties and in love.”
“Finn, as much as your concern warms my heart, please do shut up.”
“Did something happen? Like did he make out with someone in front you? Because that is so not cool. When Puck and Rachel were together-“
“-Please stop talking-“
“-I wanted to punch Puck every single time it happened. Because you know it hurt like hell-“
“-And you’re still going-“
“-But, like, I can’t see Blaine hurting you. He always got those big eyes when he looks at you and especially when he doesn’t think you’re looking-“
“-Blaine certainly does not look at me special-“
“Do you not still like him? Is that the reason? That would suck for him and I thought you two would have made an awesome couple, for two dudes I mean.” Kurt gave up trying to interrupt and instead grabbed the CD case from between them and smacked his stepbrother on the arm.
“Finn if you shut up and promise nothing leaves this car I will- can’t believe I am making this deal- tell you what happened.”
“Deal.” Kurt cast a quick glance to his stepbrother and wasn’t too happy with the smug look on his face.
“You know that stupidity of yours covers up how cunning you really are,” Kurt muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing.” A deep breath and then, “A little over two weeks ago we downed Deathwing. Remember I was talking about that raid being harder than I imaged?” Kurt stopped long enough for Finn to nod before continuing. “Well in the excitement Blaine and I were actually jumping for joy when he just- He kissed me.”
“What?” Finn exclaimed almost jumping up in his seat. “And? Are you two together now?”
“Does it look like we’re together, Finn? No, he said it was a accident, a mistake.” Kurt’s voice darkened with anger causing Finn to lean away a bit.
“That’s harsh man and weird...” Finn fell silent. There were a few minutes of silence before Finn started to talk about all the infamous drama of the McKinley.
For the next hour and some odd change of the drive Finn and Kurt exchanged stories of the antics of the Warblers and New Directions. It seemed to Kurt that his old glee club was doing just fine without him while imploding all at the same time. While Finn was shocked at how crazy the prep school kids could be outside of meetings. For the last leg of the journey they decided to run on the iPod again which lead to some playful fighting over the music on Kurt’s IPod.
Just as 3 pm rolled around Kurt pulled into the driveway of the new house. Finn was the first to notice. He smacked the back of his hand against Kurt’s arm causing the smaller boy to wince and grab his arm. Finn ignored the response and pointed at a parked black car in front of their house.
“Whose car, man?” Kurt peered at the 1974 Pontiac GT0 as his eyes widened. He recognized the car instantly. His uncle had a 1972 Pontiac GTO until a few years ago when he had to sell it. Exploring the details of the car gave him the correct year though. A memory was bouncing around in his head but it was blurry. He knew some one with that car but no matter how hard he tried it would not come into focus.
“Uh...” Kurt turned off the car and got out. With his eyes still on the car he grabbed his messenger bag from the back seat before tossing the keys to Finn who went about extracting the Kurt’s trunk. Finn made guesses as to the car’s owner as they walked up the path but all Kurt was able to do was shrug.
As they got closer to the door it swung open and standing there was Burt. Kurt’s face light up as he closed the distance and hugged his father who squeezed him tight before stepping aside and letting both the boys in. Burt turned and walked into the living room with out a word.
“Hey Tenor,” a familiar voice stated. Kurt dropped his bag as he looked towards the couch. Sitting there in ease was a woman of mid twenties with short, wild black, purple and red hair. Her olive skin blended nicely with the dark blue top and black worn jeans she was sporting. There was a duffle bag at her feet and her leather jacket across her lap. “Surprise!” Gana stated as she threw her hands up.
A.N. Hopefully going to be posting a future!fic for this verse tomorrow. I survived the disappointing hurricane Irene.
Story 2 in the Kurt can Pwn Universe
Pairing: Kurt/Blaine
Characters: Wes, David, Blaine, Kurt, Warblers, Marne and Death
Rating: PG, maybe swears?
Disclaimer: If I owned glee I wouldn't be playing WoW so much... Well maybe I would but I'd be playing it on a supped up mac laptop sitting on the beach of some gorgeous island with hot men catering to my every raiding need
Warnings: Blaine? And Dalton? Kind of future!fic for those that know WoW considering the endgame raid hasn't come out yet.
Summary: After the take down of Deathwing, Kurt and Blaine have to deal with the after mass of their kiss. A surprise house guess has arrived just in time to help.
A.N. It's better than the summary states...
Master list for 'Verse: Click here
“I swear to Broadway it self if you don’t call me back within the next ten minutes I will find you by any means necessary and strangle you,” Kurt growled out between clenched teeth at his friends voicemail. Blaine sat on Kurt’s bed fiddling with the strap to Kurt’s luggage bag just smiling a wide innocently submissive smile anytime Kurt looked at him.
The night before had been great for Blaine since Gana had topped Kurt’s shit list while completely blowing him out of the water on that one. With Kurt needing a way to vent his hours of built up frustration the boys had ended up playing WoW for most of the night. It wasn’t until David texted Kurt freaking out about forgetting all the French he was taught this past year that Kurt bid Blaine adieu. Kurt may be only a junior but his French was so advanced he was moved up a grade.
With a sigh and a wave Kurt had departed for the night. But here they were after all finals were said and done, with David talked down off the proverbial ledge and all packing completed, trying to get a hold of Gana yet again. And like most of yesterday they were met with a brick wall.
“Kurt,” Blaine ventured hesitantly before standing up and shoving his hands in his slightly beat up blue jeans before walking over to the taller teen. “It’s only a little after noon.”
“Blaine it’s almost one, she should be awake by now,” Kurt cut in, pinning Blaine with a glare. Blaine looked at his alarm clock, 12:14, than back at Kurt while willing his face into a neutral expression.
“Is there a reason you’re calling her this time? We know she’s safe at a friend’s house. She’s probably sleeping off that blue drink of doom.”
Kurt looked at his phone for a moment before sliding it into his back pocket. “Something’s off. I know Marne told us not to worry after they talked last night but I’m just worried that, I don’t know. I have a feeling that the reason she left was for a reason she’s not telling us and my mind’s running ramped with the possibility that it’s something bad.”
Blaine chuckled while standing and grabbing Kurt’s bag. “Something’s always off with her, trust me.” He grabbed Kurt’s hand and slotted their fingers together perfectly. Kurt took his bag from his friend and squeezed their entwined hands before pulling away slowly. “I agree something’s off but Marne can read Gana like a book whether they are face to face or via the phone or Internet. Marne wants to strangle Gana for making us all worried but other than that she told us just to wait. So lets wait and relax.”
“It pains me to say this but you’re right.” He breathed out and tried to relax as Blaine’s smile amplified. “I hope you know that this doesn’t let you off for the shit storm that you caused,” Kurt stated pointedly as he pushed the strap of the bag over his shoulder. He smirked and cross his arms as he raised an eyebrow.
“Oh- About that- Well-“ But Blaine’s fumbling was interrupted as a loud set of chimes filled the room. The taller teen rolled his eyes and pulled his phone back out and read the message from Finn. He shut his eyes and sighed at the depressingly painful Internet speak that Finn texted in.
“He’s outside and says if I’m not outside in five he’s coming up singing Journey, loudly. The problem with this is I know he’ll do it. He’s on this whole ‘Let’s make us like real siblings’ kick and that includes trying to embarrass me when he can.” Kurt glared at his phone with a hint of affection before grabbing his trunk and motioning for them to head out.
Blaine grabbed the trunk from in front out of Kurt’s hand and without a word started walking in front. Kurt did try to protest by reaching for the handle but it fell on deaf ears as Blaine swatted his hand away more than once.
“Finn, why is there a scratch on my baby?” was the first thing Kurt said upon seeing Finn leaning against his Navigator. Since Kurt had come in late and all the parking passes for the year were given out Finn had inherited his stepbrothers car for the time being while Finn and Burt rebuilt his father’s old truck.
“What scratch?” Finn asked with fear in his tone, looking over the car frantically. “I didn’t do it! Kurt you have to believe me.” As Finn freaked out Kurt had his schooled bitch face on almost perfectly but Blaine could see the twitch of the lip.
“Kurt you’re evil,” Blaine stated in a dry tone as Kurt finally broke, keeling over with laughter. Finn stopped and turned to his stepbrother. “
“Dude so not cool,” the football player muttered. A small glint sparked in the tall teens eyes before grabbing Kurt’s shoulders and dragging him into what looked like an over eager, embarrassing hug. “Come here little brother I’ve missed you so much!” Finn stated louder than needed. Kurt sputtered and tried to get away as Finn went on, “My little brother is coming home.”
“Finn I hate you so much!” Kurt yelled out from between Finn’s arms as his messenger bag fall to the ground. “And stop acting like a fool. I come home every weekend and Christ! Finn put me down!” Blaine was almost in tears watching the two. He was able to wipe the tears away and breath in time to see David and Wes full out running. They skidded to a stop next to Blaine and looked at him in confusion.
“Wes, David, meet Finn Kurt’s stepbrother.” Both of the new comers nodded in understanding.
“Finn put me down or I’ll tell Rachel!” That did it. Kurt was back on his feet within seconds and straightening up his clothes. “You are horrible,” Kurt muttered while grabbing the bag from Blaine who had picked it up and smacking his stepbrother with it. Finn was bright red with laughter
All stopped when Wes slowly started counting down for some strange reason. 5-4-“ Blaine backed away knowing what was coming, “3-2-“ Kurt figured it out and started shaking his head, watching the two boys get into position. The pleas of ‘Don’t even think about it’ and ‘I will disassemble your engine!’ were soon interrupted as both Wes and David shouted 1 while running at Kurt and grappling him into a three-way awkward and energetic hug.
“Have a great holiday,” shouted Wes.
“See you on the game, Tenor,” David yelled. They pulled away, patting Kurt on the shoulder before turning to Blaine as they started counting down again. His eyes widened as he turned and tried to run but the two seniors were faster than him. They soon over took him and bid him farewell in the same manner as they did Kurt.
“Wow, prep school kids are weird,” Finn muttered to Kurt as he leaned against his stepbrother. They both leaned back against the car and watched.
“Trust me I know. I’ve been told they do the same thing to Blaine every time he leaves for holiday or the weekend. And to think, at one time I thought they were normal.”
Once Wes and David got their little tradition over with they bid everyone a safe drive in a normal manner and with a wave before running off to start their packing. A few moments later Kurt sort of caught up. “Wait, what did David mean ‘see you on the game?” Kurt asked after they settled everything into the car properly.
“Oh yeah, forgot to tell you. Wes and David both play WoW. They just took the semester off because of school.” Kurt quirked an eyebrow. “The guild calls them the Bash Brothers. Wes’s main is Trickster and David’s main is Ripper.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Blaine just shrugged as Finn looked at Kurt questioningly. “Everyone always told me stories about those two and now it fits.”
“They look and act respectable in public but once you become a friend that image gets blown to hell. Marne would once a week boot them from the guild. She said it was her way of smacking them from a distance.”
“Is it true that to screw with Gana they would pull than jump off the edge whenever possible in dungeon?”
“Oh yeah. It was one of the reasons she wasn’t tanking a lot when you joined. They kind of burned her out.” Kurt laughed softly before looking to Finn who was motioning them, not to subtly to get going. The fair skinned boy scrunched up his nose at the football player. “We should get going. Finn and I will see you on game tonight.”
“Wait Finn?”
“Yeah had made a character over Thanksgiving break on a trial account, told him I’d buy it for him for Christmas. We’re setting it up tonight.”
“See you then.” Blaine stepped towards Kurt and lifted his arms but froze when he noticed the fair skinned boy flinched. “Kurt-“ The boy in question stepped back and brought his hand up, fisting the strap that crossed his chest.
“I’ll see you on game, Demon.” A small smile graced his lips as a sad one tugged on Blaine’s lips.
“Kurt, stop making puppy eyes at Blaine and get into the car!” Finn called from the passenger’s side, holding out the keys. Kurt’s back stiffened as he glared at Finn for a moment. He looked back at Blaine before muttering something in French before pulling the shorter boy into a hug. As quickly as it started Kurt pulled away and jumped into the drivers side and powering the car up. In stunned happiness Blaine stood there waving as he watched Kurt’s car pull out of the lot and then down the street.
It took Finn all of ten minutes to start asking questions in his well meaning but awkward as hell way. Kurt drove and listened, trying to stealthily turn the volume on the radio up and up until Finn realized he was yelling. He smacked Kurt’s hand away before turning the music completely off.
“Kurt, are you going to tell me what that weird moment with Blaine was at the end was about? I thought you two were, like, I don’t know besties and in love.”
“Finn, as much as your concern warms my heart, please do shut up.”
“Did something happen? Like did he make out with someone in front you? Because that is so not cool. When Puck and Rachel were together-“
“-Please stop talking-“
“-I wanted to punch Puck every single time it happened. Because you know it hurt like hell-“
“-And you’re still going-“
“-But, like, I can’t see Blaine hurting you. He always got those big eyes when he looks at you and especially when he doesn’t think you’re looking-“
“-Blaine certainly does not look at me special-“
“Do you not still like him? Is that the reason? That would suck for him and I thought you two would have made an awesome couple, for two dudes I mean.” Kurt gave up trying to interrupt and instead grabbed the CD case from between them and smacked his stepbrother on the arm.
“Finn if you shut up and promise nothing leaves this car I will- can’t believe I am making this deal- tell you what happened.”
“Deal.” Kurt cast a quick glance to his stepbrother and wasn’t too happy with the smug look on his face.
“You know that stupidity of yours covers up how cunning you really are,” Kurt muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing.” A deep breath and then, “A little over two weeks ago we downed Deathwing. Remember I was talking about that raid being harder than I imaged?” Kurt stopped long enough for Finn to nod before continuing. “Well in the excitement Blaine and I were actually jumping for joy when he just- He kissed me.”
“What?” Finn exclaimed almost jumping up in his seat. “And? Are you two together now?”
“Does it look like we’re together, Finn? No, he said it was a accident, a mistake.” Kurt’s voice darkened with anger causing Finn to lean away a bit.
“That’s harsh man and weird...” Finn fell silent. There were a few minutes of silence before Finn started to talk about all the infamous drama of the McKinley.
For the next hour and some odd change of the drive Finn and Kurt exchanged stories of the antics of the Warblers and New Directions. It seemed to Kurt that his old glee club was doing just fine without him while imploding all at the same time. While Finn was shocked at how crazy the prep school kids could be outside of meetings. For the last leg of the journey they decided to run on the iPod again which lead to some playful fighting over the music on Kurt’s IPod.
Just as 3 pm rolled around Kurt pulled into the driveway of the new house. Finn was the first to notice. He smacked the back of his hand against Kurt’s arm causing the smaller boy to wince and grab his arm. Finn ignored the response and pointed at a parked black car in front of their house.
“Whose car, man?” Kurt peered at the 1974 Pontiac GT0 as his eyes widened. He recognized the car instantly. His uncle had a 1972 Pontiac GTO until a few years ago when he had to sell it. Exploring the details of the car gave him the correct year though. A memory was bouncing around in his head but it was blurry. He knew some one with that car but no matter how hard he tried it would not come into focus.
“Uh...” Kurt turned off the car and got out. With his eyes still on the car he grabbed his messenger bag from the back seat before tossing the keys to Finn who went about extracting the Kurt’s trunk. Finn made guesses as to the car’s owner as they walked up the path but all Kurt was able to do was shrug.
As they got closer to the door it swung open and standing there was Burt. Kurt’s face light up as he closed the distance and hugged his father who squeezed him tight before stepping aside and letting both the boys in. Burt turned and walked into the living room with out a word.
“Hey Tenor,” a familiar voice stated. Kurt dropped his bag as he looked towards the couch. Sitting there in ease was a woman of mid twenties with short, wild black, purple and red hair. Her olive skin blended nicely with the dark blue top and black worn jeans she was sporting. There was a duffle bag at her feet and her leather jacket across her lap. “Surprise!” Gana stated as she threw her hands up.
A.N. Hopefully going to be posting a future!fic for this verse tomorrow. I survived the disappointing hurricane Irene.