Fic: Every Word CHapter 3 of 12 - Glee; Kurt/Blaine
Chapter 3
When he’s finished Kurt says an elegant, “Thank you. Thank you”. He tips his head toward them - the curtsey seems to have been refined out of him which is probably a good thing.
There’s a short awkward pause. Usually Blaine thanks people and sends them on their way.
“We’ll be in touch,” says Wes.
Blaine shakes himself a little and stands. They have a bunch more auditions today and he won’t be free until the evening. He meets Kurt at the bottom of the stairs.
“Remarkable,” he says.
Kurt flushes. “Thank you.”
“You really were.” Blaine stops himself from gushing with difficulty, pressing his lips about a smile. “When do you head back to New York?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Would-... we could have dinner? Though you probably have plans or need to rest. You must be exhausted.”
“I do,” says Kurt. “I do have plans.” He looks apologetic. But the door opens to a twelfth Michal audition and Kurt says goodbye and turns to leave.
“We’ll talk soon,” says Blaine after him.
**
Kurt has successfully navigated San Francisco’s public transport. He props his bag carefully against a lamp post and contemplates the south end of Market Street. There are a few suits with unoriginal ties, a girl dressed like she’s going hiking in the Sierra Nevadas, another in a poodle skirt. A guy catches his eye. He’s wearing pinstripes and a lavender shirt that sits just the right side of old lady.
“Kurt,” says Tina and she’s smiling there in front of him.
“Tina!”
They hug tightly. It has been far too long.
“Let’s put some distance between us and the office,” Tina says. She narrows her eyes in the direction of her building. “I’m pretty sure they can smell if I’m in a two block radius and they’ll try and drag me back up.”
“Oh there’s no way I’m letting that happen,” says Kurt.
“Drink?” says Tina cocking her head. “And you can tell me everything.”
Kurt nods. “How’s law school?” he asks as they walk.
Tina has fallen into law, somehow inspired by a mind-numbing job as a paralegal, summarizing boxes and boxes of depositions by victims of asbestos poisoning.
“It’s hard. I’m surrounded by entitled frat boys and opinionated conservatives,” she says. “Worse, half of them are smarter than I am.” She sighs. “Two more years to go.”
“They won’t know what’s hit them when you’re done,” says Kurt. “Ms. Tina Cohen-Chang, defender of the little guy.”
Tina’s eyes laugh across at him. He wonders if she minds that she’s let go of her high school dreams of performing. Even three years ago he would probably have insisted she was giving up on herself and doing the world a disservice. Perhaps he’s toned down. Theater is a harsh, harsh mistress and even Kurt can admit there are other things of value on the planet.
“Do you want to go somewhere fancy or a hole in the wall?” she asks.
Kurt looks her up and down.
“Sorry, stupid question,” she says. “Cocktails at the Top of the Mark, it is. Then later we’ll drop your bags and meet Tex for dinner.”
“Perfect,” says Kurt. “I want to hear all about Tex before I meet him. You look adorable, by the way. Mod meets old school Tina goth.” She’s wearing a black and white dress and seems to have gained insight into perfect fit. Her hair is blunt, cut at an angle with startlingly blue ends.
“No way was I meeting Kurt Hummel looking less than my best,” she says. “You, of course, look textbook.”
Kurt smiles at her.
“So, what are you doing on the West Coast?” asks Tina after they’ve settled above the city with martinis.
“There’s a show opening here. Just a script and a score so far but it looks like it’ll be remarkable. I have a good chance of getting a role.”
Tina clasps his hand across the table. “That’s wonderful, Kurt.”
“Yes,” says Kurt. Then in a rush, “The writer-- is Blaine. Blaine wrote it.” Shifting locations and graduating in different years means Tina is the only one of their old friends who really remained friends with both of them. They’ve never discussed it.
“Oh.”
“He’s the musical director too so he’ll be involved with the production.”
She watches him. “So you two are back in touch?”
“No. No we’re really not. Not until this came up out of the blue. He invited me to audition.”
“And you’re going to take it.”
“It might not be offered to me. But I think I’d be mad not to. It’s going to be more than good. You’ll have to- In any case, we can work together. We’re both adults. We’ve moved on. It’s been six years.”
“Sure,” says Tina. She looks worried.
“What is it?”
“I just don’t want either of you getting hurt,” she says.
“We’re fine,” says Kurt.
“Maybe. Look-- I really only got a chance to see what it did to him, close up, Kurt. You were gone that year. And he’s Blaine. He looks at a puppy or a cloud shaped like a sandwich and it makes him happy. But underneath that he was miserable for months. I think he was piecing himself together. That break-up changed him.”
“He-“
“I know, Kurt. I just-- before that he thought he could be perfect, at least with you. And he loved you; you were his whole world. He wanted to be this perfect thing for you. But he messed up. Suddenly he was the bad guy. He wasn’t used to that. He had to reassess his whole sense of himself.”
Kurt feels bruised. Because of course Blaine had been perfect. And that was what made their break up wretched. Blaine had been perfect. And gorgeous. And safe, always safe. Small town Ohio had given Kurt no safety, little reason to trust people - and yet Kurt had trusted Blaine. He had given Blaine the whole of himself.
“It was a long time ago, Tina. And I truly can’t take responsibility for how cheating on me affected him.”
Tina takes a breath and Kurt knows there is more she could say. There’s more he could say, but he won’t, not yet and maybe never to her. She relents. “I know. I just want you both to be careful.” There’s a pause and she looks out over the city. “I haven’t seen Blaine for weeks. I’ve been caught up with school and he’s been busy. How is he?”
“We didn’t chat much. I auditioned. It seemed to go well. He was in the middle of auditioning another role in the show. But he wanted to get dinner.” Kurt shrugs a little.
“Did you want to?”
“I had plans with my oldest and most fabulous friend.”
Tina wrinkles her brow. “Mercedes isn’t your most fabulous friend?”
“You’re both fabulous.”
“That’s not an answer, Kurt, to either question,” Tina says darkly. “But it’s okay if you wanted to have dinner with Blaine. It might make it easier for you and him to work together if you know you can be in the same room for a meal. Invite him along if you like.”
“I don’t know that I’ll get the role,” says Kurt. “If I do, I’ll have dinner with-“. His phone rings.
Kurt glances at the display.
“Hi Blaine,” he answers.
Tina eyes him and mouths something indecipherable.
On the phone Blaine is saying, “We- They loved you, Kurt. I wanted to let you know. The role is yours if you want it. I know it’s not much now but I can feel it. We’re going all the way with this.”
Kurt takes a breath. “Of course. Absolutely I want it,” he says. He looks at Tina as Blaine rushes on through timing and rehearsals and the rest of the cast. After a moment Kurt interrupts, “I’m having dinner with Tina and Tex tonight. Tina would love- You’re welcome to join us if you can.”
Blaine stops for a second. “Sure. Okay. Sure. Yes.”
***
The restaurant is tiny: Japanese with gaudy paintings of Emperor Hirohito alongside an Elvis clock and a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge with LEDs lighting its bright cables. Blaine smiles to himself as he looks around. Tina waves brightly. Kurt looks up from a conversation with Tina’s boyfriend. For an instant it feels like the old days, Kurt across the Lima Bean, Kurt across the choir room, Kurt everywhere and those clear eyes catching Blaine’s the moment he entered a room. Blaine can’t hold back his grin.
They order shared plates of agedashi tofu and steamed gyoza and fish wrapped in spinach. Kurt and Tina are bright eyed with a couple of cocktails under their respective belts. Tex orders a beer and Blaine follows suit.
Blaine likes Tex. It’s hardly a bombshell, Blaine generally likes people. But Tex has a lot going for him. He’s laid back and smart. He can talk at length about looney tunes or his Malay heritage or being an ally of feminism. He’s kind of cute but incredibly scruffy looking which Tina seems not to mind. Most of all he loves Tina and she is relaxed and still bitingly herself with him.
“Kurt says mind-blowing things about your show,” Tex says and Blaine can’t not smile as he meets Kurt’s eyes.
“Thank you,” he says to both of them.
“So, tell us,” says Tina.
Blaine tells them. He’s getting better and better at honing his precious show down to a couple of hopefully engaging sentences.
“It’s a bit Baz Luhrmann,” he finishes. “But less spectacular, more about the singing. And gayer.”
“I’m not certain that’s even possible,” says Kurt, sounding amused. He turns to Tex and Tina. “What impresses me is how moving it is. And he’s using pieces of songs everybody knows as a kind of shorthand or a touchstone to really drag people into the emotion of a moment.”
“It sometimes feels like cheating,” says Blaine, honestly. “Like our generation’s too lazy to listen to something they haven’t heard before. Like I’ve just chopped everything into easy pieces.”
“I get that, but you’ve pulled it together perfectly,” says Kurt. “It’s clever; it’s using what you know about music and our generation to bring about bigger, older story than you could otherwise. And it’s not all repurposed. The original material is beautiful too.”
There’s a pause. Blaine looks down for a moment and presses his lips together. He is a little too happy to speak.
“We’re so excited to see it,” says Tina. “And with the special bonus of Kurt.”
“He’s not just in it, he’s going to blow everyone away,” says Blaine and hopes his face isn’t glowing. Kurt looks at the table.
“You sing too, yeah?” asks Tex. “Tina says you’re awesome. Are you casting yourself? Jonathan to Kurt’s David?”
Blaine blushes. “No. No, I’m not really the right fit. I can rock out to a song. Look, I’m not being unrealistic, but I need people on stage who are more than enthusiasm for making everyone dance.”
“You’re more than-“ starts Tina. Kurt’s looking at Blaine again.
“Anyway that role is already filled. Elisha Johnson. He’ll be terrific. He brings all this experience in hip hop, which some of the music is, and he can act. Also he’s gorgeous. They’ll be adorable together.” The thought of Kurt and Elisha on stage makes Blaine’s heart hurt and his face smile. It’s going to be amazing. “I’m truly not talking down the things I love to do. I get to pull this whole thing together. But once you’ve seen these guys you’ll know.”
Kurt blinks at him and smiles. It’s sort of killing Blaine how every look Kurt gives him is one he’s seen too many times before. He takes a breath.
“I workshopped the Jonathan role, though.”
“Workshopped?” Tex asks.
“Played the role in the early runs through, when we were polishing stuff and pulling the score and libretto together. When we were trying to get backing, too.”
“Who workshopped David?” Kurt asks.
Blaine pauses. “The role is-I didn’t know any good countertenors over here and-Kurt you know what this role demands. It borrows from Regina Spektor and Beyonce. Unless I change the key it reaches a high G.”
“You had a girl sing my role.” Kurt twinkles at him.
“If it helps she was the best in the workshop cast.”
“I honestly doubt that,” says Kurt slowly, meeting Blaine’s eyes.
Later Tina and Kurt are discussing someone called Raf. Blaine tries to focus on his conversation with Tex about why Blaine should drive through some giant redwood tree and whether Tex and Tina should move to Marin County. But he catches snippets. “He plays soccer quasi-professionally, can you even believe it? I’m trying to coax him out of Adidas and into something Cristiano Ronaldo would wear” and “We met trying to hail the same cab.”
Then Tina asks, “Are you in love with him?” and Kurt laughs under his breath and doesn’t answer.
Blaine figures it’s time to head home.
He hugs everyone goodbye. Tex slaps him on the back and then kisses his cheek. Tina squeezes him tightly. “We’d better see more of you now,” she says firmly.
“I’ll be in touch about schedules,” says Blaine to Kurt and hugs him quickly. “We’ll have a timetable in the next week or so.” It’s not really all he wants to say. But right now he’s focussing on the good. His show is in production; Kurt is the lead in his show. The fact that Kurt is achingly gorgeous is not the critical issue. Kurt is talented and Kurt is in his show. It is going to be amazing.
Chapter 4
When he’s finished Kurt says an elegant, “Thank you. Thank you”. He tips his head toward them - the curtsey seems to have been refined out of him which is probably a good thing.
There’s a short awkward pause. Usually Blaine thanks people and sends them on their way.
“We’ll be in touch,” says Wes.
Blaine shakes himself a little and stands. They have a bunch more auditions today and he won’t be free until the evening. He meets Kurt at the bottom of the stairs.
“Remarkable,” he says.
Kurt flushes. “Thank you.”
“You really were.” Blaine stops himself from gushing with difficulty, pressing his lips about a smile. “When do you head back to New York?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Would-... we could have dinner? Though you probably have plans or need to rest. You must be exhausted.”
“I do,” says Kurt. “I do have plans.” He looks apologetic. But the door opens to a twelfth Michal audition and Kurt says goodbye and turns to leave.
“We’ll talk soon,” says Blaine after him.
**
Kurt has successfully navigated San Francisco’s public transport. He props his bag carefully against a lamp post and contemplates the south end of Market Street. There are a few suits with unoriginal ties, a girl dressed like she’s going hiking in the Sierra Nevadas, another in a poodle skirt. A guy catches his eye. He’s wearing pinstripes and a lavender shirt that sits just the right side of old lady.
“Kurt,” says Tina and she’s smiling there in front of him.
“Tina!”
They hug tightly. It has been far too long.
“Let’s put some distance between us and the office,” Tina says. She narrows her eyes in the direction of her building. “I’m pretty sure they can smell if I’m in a two block radius and they’ll try and drag me back up.”
“Oh there’s no way I’m letting that happen,” says Kurt.
“Drink?” says Tina cocking her head. “And you can tell me everything.”
Kurt nods. “How’s law school?” he asks as they walk.
Tina has fallen into law, somehow inspired by a mind-numbing job as a paralegal, summarizing boxes and boxes of depositions by victims of asbestos poisoning.
“It’s hard. I’m surrounded by entitled frat boys and opinionated conservatives,” she says. “Worse, half of them are smarter than I am.” She sighs. “Two more years to go.”
“They won’t know what’s hit them when you’re done,” says Kurt. “Ms. Tina Cohen-Chang, defender of the little guy.”
Tina’s eyes laugh across at him. He wonders if she minds that she’s let go of her high school dreams of performing. Even three years ago he would probably have insisted she was giving up on herself and doing the world a disservice. Perhaps he’s toned down. Theater is a harsh, harsh mistress and even Kurt can admit there are other things of value on the planet.
“Do you want to go somewhere fancy or a hole in the wall?” she asks.
Kurt looks her up and down.
“Sorry, stupid question,” she says. “Cocktails at the Top of the Mark, it is. Then later we’ll drop your bags and meet Tex for dinner.”
“Perfect,” says Kurt. “I want to hear all about Tex before I meet him. You look adorable, by the way. Mod meets old school Tina goth.” She’s wearing a black and white dress and seems to have gained insight into perfect fit. Her hair is blunt, cut at an angle with startlingly blue ends.
“No way was I meeting Kurt Hummel looking less than my best,” she says. “You, of course, look textbook.”
Kurt smiles at her.
“So, what are you doing on the West Coast?” asks Tina after they’ve settled above the city with martinis.
“There’s a show opening here. Just a script and a score so far but it looks like it’ll be remarkable. I have a good chance of getting a role.”
Tina clasps his hand across the table. “That’s wonderful, Kurt.”
“Yes,” says Kurt. Then in a rush, “The writer-- is Blaine. Blaine wrote it.” Shifting locations and graduating in different years means Tina is the only one of their old friends who really remained friends with both of them. They’ve never discussed it.
“Oh.”
“He’s the musical director too so he’ll be involved with the production.”
She watches him. “So you two are back in touch?”
“No. No we’re really not. Not until this came up out of the blue. He invited me to audition.”
“And you’re going to take it.”
“It might not be offered to me. But I think I’d be mad not to. It’s going to be more than good. You’ll have to- In any case, we can work together. We’re both adults. We’ve moved on. It’s been six years.”
“Sure,” says Tina. She looks worried.
“What is it?”
“I just don’t want either of you getting hurt,” she says.
“We’re fine,” says Kurt.
“Maybe. Look-- I really only got a chance to see what it did to him, close up, Kurt. You were gone that year. And he’s Blaine. He looks at a puppy or a cloud shaped like a sandwich and it makes him happy. But underneath that he was miserable for months. I think he was piecing himself together. That break-up changed him.”
“He-“
“I know, Kurt. I just-- before that he thought he could be perfect, at least with you. And he loved you; you were his whole world. He wanted to be this perfect thing for you. But he messed up. Suddenly he was the bad guy. He wasn’t used to that. He had to reassess his whole sense of himself.”
Kurt feels bruised. Because of course Blaine had been perfect. And that was what made their break up wretched. Blaine had been perfect. And gorgeous. And safe, always safe. Small town Ohio had given Kurt no safety, little reason to trust people - and yet Kurt had trusted Blaine. He had given Blaine the whole of himself.
“It was a long time ago, Tina. And I truly can’t take responsibility for how cheating on me affected him.”
Tina takes a breath and Kurt knows there is more she could say. There’s more he could say, but he won’t, not yet and maybe never to her. She relents. “I know. I just want you both to be careful.” There’s a pause and she looks out over the city. “I haven’t seen Blaine for weeks. I’ve been caught up with school and he’s been busy. How is he?”
“We didn’t chat much. I auditioned. It seemed to go well. He was in the middle of auditioning another role in the show. But he wanted to get dinner.” Kurt shrugs a little.
“Did you want to?”
“I had plans with my oldest and most fabulous friend.”
Tina wrinkles her brow. “Mercedes isn’t your most fabulous friend?”
“You’re both fabulous.”
“That’s not an answer, Kurt, to either question,” Tina says darkly. “But it’s okay if you wanted to have dinner with Blaine. It might make it easier for you and him to work together if you know you can be in the same room for a meal. Invite him along if you like.”
“I don’t know that I’ll get the role,” says Kurt. “If I do, I’ll have dinner with-“. His phone rings.
Kurt glances at the display.
“Hi Blaine,” he answers.
Tina eyes him and mouths something indecipherable.
On the phone Blaine is saying, “We- They loved you, Kurt. I wanted to let you know. The role is yours if you want it. I know it’s not much now but I can feel it. We’re going all the way with this.”
Kurt takes a breath. “Of course. Absolutely I want it,” he says. He looks at Tina as Blaine rushes on through timing and rehearsals and the rest of the cast. After a moment Kurt interrupts, “I’m having dinner with Tina and Tex tonight. Tina would love- You’re welcome to join us if you can.”
Blaine stops for a second. “Sure. Okay. Sure. Yes.”
***
The restaurant is tiny: Japanese with gaudy paintings of Emperor Hirohito alongside an Elvis clock and a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge with LEDs lighting its bright cables. Blaine smiles to himself as he looks around. Tina waves brightly. Kurt looks up from a conversation with Tina’s boyfriend. For an instant it feels like the old days, Kurt across the Lima Bean, Kurt across the choir room, Kurt everywhere and those clear eyes catching Blaine’s the moment he entered a room. Blaine can’t hold back his grin.
They order shared plates of agedashi tofu and steamed gyoza and fish wrapped in spinach. Kurt and Tina are bright eyed with a couple of cocktails under their respective belts. Tex orders a beer and Blaine follows suit.
Blaine likes Tex. It’s hardly a bombshell, Blaine generally likes people. But Tex has a lot going for him. He’s laid back and smart. He can talk at length about looney tunes or his Malay heritage or being an ally of feminism. He’s kind of cute but incredibly scruffy looking which Tina seems not to mind. Most of all he loves Tina and she is relaxed and still bitingly herself with him.
“Kurt says mind-blowing things about your show,” Tex says and Blaine can’t not smile as he meets Kurt’s eyes.
“Thank you,” he says to both of them.
“So, tell us,” says Tina.
Blaine tells them. He’s getting better and better at honing his precious show down to a couple of hopefully engaging sentences.
“It’s a bit Baz Luhrmann,” he finishes. “But less spectacular, more about the singing. And gayer.”
“I’m not certain that’s even possible,” says Kurt, sounding amused. He turns to Tex and Tina. “What impresses me is how moving it is. And he’s using pieces of songs everybody knows as a kind of shorthand or a touchstone to really drag people into the emotion of a moment.”
“It sometimes feels like cheating,” says Blaine, honestly. “Like our generation’s too lazy to listen to something they haven’t heard before. Like I’ve just chopped everything into easy pieces.”
“I get that, but you’ve pulled it together perfectly,” says Kurt. “It’s clever; it’s using what you know about music and our generation to bring about bigger, older story than you could otherwise. And it’s not all repurposed. The original material is beautiful too.”
There’s a pause. Blaine looks down for a moment and presses his lips together. He is a little too happy to speak.
“We’re so excited to see it,” says Tina. “And with the special bonus of Kurt.”
“He’s not just in it, he’s going to blow everyone away,” says Blaine and hopes his face isn’t glowing. Kurt looks at the table.
“You sing too, yeah?” asks Tex. “Tina says you’re awesome. Are you casting yourself? Jonathan to Kurt’s David?”
Blaine blushes. “No. No, I’m not really the right fit. I can rock out to a song. Look, I’m not being unrealistic, but I need people on stage who are more than enthusiasm for making everyone dance.”
“You’re more than-“ starts Tina. Kurt’s looking at Blaine again.
“Anyway that role is already filled. Elisha Johnson. He’ll be terrific. He brings all this experience in hip hop, which some of the music is, and he can act. Also he’s gorgeous. They’ll be adorable together.” The thought of Kurt and Elisha on stage makes Blaine’s heart hurt and his face smile. It’s going to be amazing. “I’m truly not talking down the things I love to do. I get to pull this whole thing together. But once you’ve seen these guys you’ll know.”
Kurt blinks at him and smiles. It’s sort of killing Blaine how every look Kurt gives him is one he’s seen too many times before. He takes a breath.
“I workshopped the Jonathan role, though.”
“Workshopped?” Tex asks.
“Played the role in the early runs through, when we were polishing stuff and pulling the score and libretto together. When we were trying to get backing, too.”
“Who workshopped David?” Kurt asks.
Blaine pauses. “The role is-I didn’t know any good countertenors over here and-Kurt you know what this role demands. It borrows from Regina Spektor and Beyonce. Unless I change the key it reaches a high G.”
“You had a girl sing my role.” Kurt twinkles at him.
“If it helps she was the best in the workshop cast.”
“I honestly doubt that,” says Kurt slowly, meeting Blaine’s eyes.
Later Tina and Kurt are discussing someone called Raf. Blaine tries to focus on his conversation with Tex about why Blaine should drive through some giant redwood tree and whether Tex and Tina should move to Marin County. But he catches snippets. “He plays soccer quasi-professionally, can you even believe it? I’m trying to coax him out of Adidas and into something Cristiano Ronaldo would wear” and “We met trying to hail the same cab.”
Then Tina asks, “Are you in love with him?” and Kurt laughs under his breath and doesn’t answer.
Blaine figures it’s time to head home.
He hugs everyone goodbye. Tex slaps him on the back and then kisses his cheek. Tina squeezes him tightly. “We’d better see more of you now,” she says firmly.
“I’ll be in touch about schedules,” says Blaine to Kurt and hugs him quickly. “We’ll have a timetable in the next week or so.” It’s not really all he wants to say. But right now he’s focussing on the good. His show is in production; Kurt is the lead in his show. The fact that Kurt is achingly gorgeous is not the critical issue. Kurt is talented and Kurt is in his show. It is going to be amazing.
Chapter 4