Chasing Dreams - Chapter 9
Title: Chasing Dreams
Author: raven_kerry
Beta-reader: onthaedge
Artist: marsmaywander
Word-count: 44’038
Rating: M
Summary: Growing up as a psychic in Ohio is difficult. Throw in being gay and a dream-boyfriend and it’s that much more difficult.
Kurt has always been able to see things through other people’s eyes, hear their thoughts and feel their pain and emotions as if they were his own. It’s difficult to go on when you literally feel how much people hate you. This is his story.
Pairing: Kadam
Warnings: suicide attempt and ideation, mentioned non-con towards adults and children, violence, pagan beliefs
Author’s Note: A thousand thanks to my beta and artist for choosing to work with me. It’s been amazing. :)
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Epilogue | Excerpt: Of Meetings
Chapter 9
Months later, Kurt was in French class when he blacked out for a few moments. He saw himself talking to another man and felt a sudden pain in his chest. He felt himself collapse to the ground, the man’s worried face was out of focus for a moment before everything went black.
When he came back to himself, he noticed that no one in his class had noticed anything. They were too absorbed with the teacher, their conversations, their doodles, staring out the window or watching the clock. Unfortunately, the teacher requested them to speak to each other in French then, so as to actually practice the language. To cover for himself, he started talking at his partner while building in lots of barbs - trying to pass everything off as normal. Still, it didn’t come as that much of a surprise when he was called out of class.
***
As he sat in the waiting room with Ms. Pillsbury and Mr. Schue, Kurt pulled out his phone and dialed Eliza’s work number. The receptionist answered in a bored tone, “McLaughlin Psychiatric and Psychotherapy - how can I help you?”
“Hi, this is Kurt, Kurt Hummel. Could I speak to Eliza please?”
“She’s busy with a client right now. Do you wish to leave a message?”
“Could she please call me back ASAP? I kinda really need her right now.”
“If you want, I can send your phone call on to one of our other psychotherapists.”
“No, it has to be Eliza. She’s my godmother. It’s about my dad.” Kurt choked back a sob.
The receptionist must have noticed something in his voice, because she responded, “I’ll try forwarding your call to her. Please hold.”
A few moments later, he heard Eliza’s worried voice, “Kurt? Are you okay? Shouldn’t you be in school? What’s wrong with your dad?”
“He… he had… he had a heart attack. He’s in the hospital. I haven’t heard anything yet. It was the same thing as with my mom when she died.”
“That means you…?”
“Yeah.”
“Crap. Okay, listen, you don’t know anything yet. Try not to panic. I’m sure your dad will be fine. He’s strong. They’re taking care of him there. He’s in the best of hands. They deal with heart-attacks all the time, I’m sure. I’ll come down as soon as I can, okay? Have you called your other family members yet?”
“Uncle Andy is in a resort in the Caribbean after getting burnt out. Aunt Mildred is at a convention of some sort somewhere and my grandparents are out canoeing in northern Minnesota's Boundary Waters because it’s Indian summer up there right now.”
“So who’s there to take care of you?”
“My friends and teachers.”
“In other words, no one. Hang on a minute.” Kurt heard talking in the background before she got back on the phone. “Listen, my patient told me to skedaddle. Says to tell you that she’s a mother and understands that you need someone right now from what she heard on the phone. Wonderful woman, really. I’ll have my receptionist try to reschedule my appointments for the next few days. Then maybe Jake can take a few days off.”
“That isn’t a very good idea. What if those people come back?”
“Yeah, I see what you mean. Okay, we’ll skip on him coming and I’ll come alone.”
“You don’t have to come… I just…”
“Kurt, I know you. You need me there. I’ll just cut down on my hours a bit. You know, leave earlier than I normally would, to account for travel time and whatnot. The other psychotherapists I’ve hired can take up the slack for me. I’ll just stick to my psychiatrist work for a while. Take one of the anti-anxiety pills I prescribed you, okay? It’ll help calm you down for now. I’ll be there as soon as possible. Okay?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“Don’t sound so defeated. Everything’s going to be fine. If there’s anyone who could get over a heart-attack for their son it’s your dad.”
“Mhm.” Kurt paused, noticing a doctor had come into the waiting area and was heading straight towards him. “Look, I’ll… I’ll talk to you later, okay? Once I know something - anything.”
“Kurt, don’t hang up on me yet. Are you alone?”
“No, Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury are here with me.”
“Okay. That’s good. Try to keep it that way. I don’t want you alone right now. He’s going to be fine.”
“But I saw…”
“Not over the phone, Kurt. You know better than that. You aren’t thinking straight.”
Kurt made a half-hearted attempt at a joke, “I never think straight.”
“Right. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Call my cell if you need me or if you have news.”
“Yeah.”
“Remember it… it doesn’t have to mean death. Just because, well, you know, the thing with your mom.”
“Thanks.”
***
It was while Kurt was holding Burt’s hand, after having sent Ms. Pillsbury and Mr. Schue out of the room, that he heard the ruckus outside. “Mrs. McLaughlin, please, even you have to admit that this is highly irregular.”
“It’s Doctor McLaughlin. And I don’t give a damn how irregular it is. His son is my godson, so until Mr. Hummel wakes up, he’s under my care.”
“But you’re his psychotherapist and his psychiatrist according to our files.”
“Now, look you. I can sure as hell act as more than one thing. It’s not my fault that you can’t keep a distance from your clients if you also know them in personal life. Besides, I didn’t see that kid for at least ten years in the interim before I took him on as a patient. Besides, his father appointed me.”
“You can’t just take custody of him though. His family…”
“His family is out of town and can’t be contacted right now. He only has his father and me. And trust me, it’s better he stay with me right now than anyone else for reasons I cannot discuss. None of us want him back here.”
“I’m just saying that for a high risk person, such as himself this might be…”
“I know what you’re saying and I’m saying you’re wrong. The worst thing to do would be to lock him up in your psychiatric ward and isolate him from his friends, just to make sure that nothing happens to him. I’m fully certified and, frankly, I know my patient better than you do. So buzz off.”
“But…”
“Shut the hell up. I don’t want to hear it. You’re already close to breaking your confidentiality clause by talking about this where anyone could hear you. He purposefully asked that no one at school be informed of the incident last year due to special confidential reasons.”
“Okay, fine, but this isn’t the end of it!”
“Yes, it is. He is my patient and my godson. I was so appointed by his father, who is currently in a coma. Somehow, I don’t think we can revoke that until he wakes up - and he will wake up, believe me, I know that man. And once he wakes up he will tell you that I was right in what I did. So, please just piss off. I’m really not in the mood for morons right now.”
If it had been any other day, Kurt might have been amused at how territorial Eliza was over him. However, he was just tired and just wanted to wake up from this nightmare. He could only hope that it would be over soon.
The woman marched through the doors to the room, and demanded, “What did I tell you about being alone?”
“I wasn’t. They’re just outside. I just… I wanted a moment alone with him… I thought… I thought that maybe it would work better if I touched him. Maybe I could reach him. But he was so cold. It’s so empty. He’s usually full of warmth. I just… it’s so cold here. It should be warm. It should be warm. I tried, but I just can’t reach him.”
“Oh, Kurt, don’t worry. He’ll find his way back to you. As long as you’re around and need him, he’ll fight for you - against sickness, bullies - you name it.”
“He wouldn’t be able to stop me now if I…”
“Don’t even think about it. He needs someone to come back to.”
Kurt nodded. “Yeah, I guess. If he dies though, I’m not sure that Adam would be enough.”
“And for that reason, if nothing else, he’ll make it. Have faith.”
Kurt scoffed. “In what? God? I don’t believe in that.”
She shook her head. “No, not in God. In your father.”
“The last thing he told me was that I was a disappointment, though.” Kurt’s lip trembled and he sniffed.
“I very much doubt that. What were his exact words?”
“That he was very disappointed in me.”
“That is not the same as being a disappointment, Kurt. Every parent is disappointed by their kids at some point in their lives. Heck, I’m disappointed every time I get a phone call about Simon or Julie brings home a bad grade. But I’d never call them a disappointment because of that, okay?” she comforted.
Kurt nodded slightly. “Mhm. Did I cause this, Eliza? Is he here because he had a fight with me? Because the stress of taking care of me is getting to be too much?”
“Now, Kurt, I don’t think…”
“If I was normal, do you think we’d still be here? If I didn’t care about stupid things like… like sing-alongs or… or DVDs? If I didn’t have those… those…”
“Dreams?” she suggested.
“Yeah.”
She shook her head slowly. “I don’t think so, no. We’ll never know for certain, because what-ifs and maybes don’t hold water. But this heart attack was caused by an arrhythmia.” She picked up Burt’s chart. “He has a ventricular tachycardia. Well, that’s definitely better than ventricular fibrillation. It isn’t always lethal. Eating fish should help him, since the Omega-3 will be good for him and you’ll have to make sure that he gets enough magnesium. The doctor will no doubt tell you that and more later, though, when your dad is better and let out. Still, his previous eating habits can’t have helped that much regardless. You’ll find that vinegar and some other spices are very good at replacing salt. At some point I’ll give you a few cooking lessons on how to make stuff taste good while leaving out the salt.”
Kurt asked, “How do you know he’ll survive?”
“Because I know your father and I trust and believe in him. Has he ever let you down?”
Kurt shook his head.
“There you have it.”
Kurt bit his lip. “I wish I had your confidence.”
She put a warm hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go home and let you rest, okay?”
Kurt shook his head. “No, I want to stay here.”
“You need to rest, Kurt. You get little enough sleep as is. Today was emotionally draining for you. You need the rest more than usual. And you’ll probably be having nightmares tonight.”
“But…”
She insisted, “You know I’m right, Kurt. Staying here won’t make any difference. If anything changes at all - even if it’s just his oxygen saturation levels, I’ll get you back here in a jiffy, okay? But in the meantime you need rest.”
Kurt hung his head. “Okay. I’m coming.”
As they exited the room, they found Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury outside. Eliza introduced herself, “Hi there. You must be Mr. Schuester, the Spanish and Glee teacher, and Ms. Pillsbury, the guidance counselor. It’s nice to finally put faces to the names I’ve heard. I’m Kurt’s godmother, Doctor Eliza McLaughlin. I’m a psychiatrist and psychotherapist.”
Miss Pillsbury asked, “So, you’re his psychiatrist? The one he received after the incident last year?”
“I didn’t know you were aware of it.”
Miss Pillsburry nodded. “I received a report on it because I’m the guidance counselor, with a comment to keep it secret. I’m the only one at McKinley who knows.”
Mr. Schue just stated, “I’m confused.”
Kurt snapped, “Good. I didn’t and don’t want anyone to know.”
Mr. Schue asked, “Is this… incident… the reason why that other doctor was referring to you as a right risk person and want to lock you up in some ward?”
Kurt shook his head. “I’m not a high risk and I don’t need to be locked up.”
Eliza patted Kurt’s shoulder. “You are at risk, Kurt, but I agree - you don’t need to be locked up.”
“I’m not at risk,” Kurt insisted. Internally he continued the sentence with ‘for now.’
“Anyway, I should be getting Kurt home so he can get some rest. It’s been a very taxing emotional day. Goodbye.”
Kurt said, “Thank you for supporting me, Mr. Shue and Ms. Pillsbury. I’ll see you tomorrow in school.”
Mr. Shue gave him a tight smile. “The school faculty will do everything in its power to support you in this, Kurt. Take care.”
Ms. Pillsbury turned a tremulous smile on Kurt. “Now, I know you have nightmares. So, please, take care of yourself. And if you ever need something, my office is open to you. And it’s disinfected. I’d appreciate if you could disinfect your hands before you came in…” she paused a moment before continuing, “but that isn’t really necessary. Most students don’t and I have to disinfect it again.”
Kurt gave her a wan smile. “I know how difficult it is for you to be here, Ms. Pillsbury, even if they disinfect here all the time, there’s still a lot of germs, bacteria and viruses in hospitals. That you’d face that for me - thanks.”
She gave him a half-smile. “Well, you know, it was the right thing to do.”
“Good night.”
“Take care of yourself. Our prayers will be with you and your father. Good night.”
“Prayers. Pft,” Kurt snorted and walked off with Eliza. “As if those are any good.”
***
Later that evening, a few hours after Kurt went to sleep, he woke up crying. He went upstairs to make himself some warm milk, only to find Eliza working on her laptop in the living room, where, as evidenced by the multitude of blankets and pillows on the couch, was where she was going to be sleeping. Kurt gave up the idea of making warm milk for himself, not wanting to disturb her. He headed back towards the basement door.
Her voice made him jump. “Hey, Kurt. Why are you up?”
Kurt turned around, the glistening of tear tracks obvious on his face, as well as his red bloodshot eyes.
“Oh, Kurt, come here.” She patted the sofa next to her and he reluctantly sat down. “Now, tell me, what’s the matter?”
“I can’t find him.”
“Who can’t you find? Adam?”
Kurt shook his head. “My dad.”
“He’s at the hospital, Kurt, you know that.”
“I know where his body is!” Kurt shot back. “I was looking for him. He isn’t there right now. I looked. He was so empty. I thought… I thought maybe he’d gone to my safe place. It’s something I got from his side of the family, you know. I hoped… I thought…” Kurt sniffed. “But he wasn’t there. Neither was Adam.”
“Why exactly did you think he was there?”
“Because that’s where I was when I was in a coma after trying to kill myself.”
She asked, “Do you know for certain that your great grandmother had the same safe place as you do?”
“Well, no, but…”
“Then wouldn’t it be possible that your dad had his own as well and neither of you were aware of it?”
“But… what about Adam? Why does he have the same one?”
“I can’t tell you that. Maybe there’s a special connection between the two of you. I don’t think we’ll ever know for certain. The only person who could answer our questions - your great grandmother - is dead.”
Kurt pleaded, “Do you think I’d be able to find him if I keep looking?”
“I honestly don’t know, Kurt. But you came back to us from your place, albeit reluctantly. Your dad isn’t quite so reluctant to return. I’m sure he wants to come back and it’s just his body that needs more time to heal before it’s ready to house him again.”
“It hurts though! Being near him like that - it hurts! How do I reach him when he isn’t there? How do I help him?”
“Kurt, sometimes things are out of our control.”
“I don’t want our last words to be of anger though, Eliza!”
She frowned and gripped Kurt’s shoulder. “Now you listen here, Kurt. I don’t know where you get this fatalistic thinking from. He’s going to be fine, because he’s strong and he loves you.”
“So did my mom! That didn’t save her! Almost everyone I have visions of dies!”
“Not everyone! Remember the ones you helped save?”
“But I didn’t see them die! I saw and felt my dad’s heart spasm as if it was my own. I felt the pain just as sure as he did - maybe even better because I didn’t have the clouding of my senses due to a lack of oxygen in my brain. I might as well have had a heart attack at the same time as he did - that’s how well I felt it. How can you want to come back after pain like that? What if he’s tired of… of having a son like me? If he lets go he’ll see my mom again. He’ll be free of this miserable place.”
“Kurt, you aren’t a father, so you don’t understand what a parent will do for their child. He knows you need him. He won’t leave you. Unlike your mother, he has a chance.”
“Does he? I never told him how much I need him. I didn’t know. But now everything is falling apart and I don’t know what to do.” Kurt pursed his lips in a grimace.
“Have you tried praying?”
Kurt scoffed at the idea. “I don’t believe in God. Look at what I am - I’m gay and psychic. The church - his followers - would persecute me for something I was born with. Besides, I know better. There’s lots of gods out there. Most of them only have as much power as we give them. Only a few will actually answer prayers and it’s definitely not the Christian God that does. If anyone, I’d ask Eir to help in return for an offering. As a Valkyrie, dying of sickness would not be an honorable death in her eyes, which my father deserves. So, she might be more inclined to help - even if I’m male, I am a virgin. And we’re of Germanic descent.”
“And you think she’d listen?”
“I can only ask. She’s described as being friendly, protective and helpful. As long as I am honest, courteous and polite, she’ll probably at least listen to me. And, hey, people at school call me princess and lady all the time. I might as well do something that was traditionally reserved for women - other than running the household.”
“If people ask you what you believe, what do you tell them?”
“That I’m an atheist. It’s easier than telling them that I follow the old ways and why I do.”
***
They heard a knock on the door and Kurt got up to answer it. A young woman with tanned skin, dark hair and unnaturally pale green eyes was at the door. She was wearing a slightly medieval-looking green dress, however the skirt only came slightly past her knees and it was split up into several pieces of fabric, all in varying shades of green according to length, leaving it looking almost like the petals of a green flower and the neck was laced together but cut fairly deep. Around her neck she wore an amulet with a rune on it. She smiled kindly. “Hello. I’m tired from traveling all day. Would you please put me up for the night?”
Kurt blinked. “Uh, there’s a motel just on the other side of town. I’d drive you there, but my car is still at school.”
“I don’t have the kind of money they’d require there. I prefer to offer my help in return instead.”
Kurt frowned. Something about this woman was off, but he didn’t know what. Still, it didn’t feel bad, necessarily, just off. Somehow he knew that he didn’t want to turn her away. “Alright. Come in. I’m afraid I don’t have much to offer you. Our couch is taken up by a family friend. I’d offer you to sleep in my room, but I’m afraid that wouldn’t be couth, since I don’t know you and you’re female - even if I’m gay.”
“No, I think that would be acceptable. I trust a man such as yourself not to harm a maiden. Let me help you tonight.”
Kurt blinked. “Oh, okay…? Uh, please enter. Is there anything I can get you?”
“I’d like an apple and some tea, please.”
“Sure. I’ll get it for you right away. Please sit down in the meantime.” He gestured towards the living room.
***
As Kurt was preparing the tea and slicing up some fruit for a small fruit salad, Eliza came in to ask him, “What the heck are you thinking, Kurt? Letting some strange person come in here? Agreeing to let her sleep in your room with you? Have you lost your wits? Do you know what could happen to you? What if she’s some kind of killer or burglar or… or something!”
“It won’t. She isn’t bad. I’d know if she was.” Kurt blinked. “Wait a moment. That’s what’s odd about her. I’m not picking up any thoughts or… or emotions off of her. Just a sense of… of a good person. If she knows how to block me from picking that up from her, maybe she’ll know how to block myself from picking that up from people as well!” Kurt smiled.
Eliza sighed in exasperation. “Kurt, you’re entirely missing the point here. Do I have to spell it out for you? She is a stranger. She does not belong in your house - especially not when your father is in the hospital!”
Kurt smiled softly, put the fruits together in a bowl and poured a honey-lemon sauce over it. He mixed it up and patted Eliza’s arm. “Trust me. It’ll be okay.” He poured the hot water into a thermal mug that had a bag of chamomile tea in it waiting.
As Kurt left the room, he heard Eliza’s exclamation, “Ah! Teenagers! Why can’t they ever listen?”
He handed the woman the fruit salad and tea and warned her, “Take care, the tea is hot. I hope it’s to your liking.”
She smiled at him and responded. “I’m sure it will be. So, tell me about your father and why he’s in the hospital.”
“He… he had a heart attack earlier today after we had a fight. I mean, not right afterwards. I was in school. He had a client there with him. That’s probably how he was able to survive. But he’s in a coma now. Eliza, the woman you saw here earlier, she’s my godmother. She’s taking care of me right now.”
“What is his prognosis?”
“They don’t know. He’s… he’s just not waking up. And it’s like he isn’t there right now. They said that there wasn’t enough oxygen reaching his brain for a while, so there might be brain damage. But they don’t know. They won’t know until he wakes up - if he wakes up.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Kurt. Tell me more about him.”
Kurt smiled softly. “He’s a wonderful man. According to him, he used to be a bit homophobic when he was a teenager, but he’s managed to grow and get over that. He’s changed. He supports me like no one else. I’d never ask it of him, but whenever I’m upset about something - he’ll get up and fight for me. Like this one time, I wanted to sing a song sung traditionally by a woman in Glee Club, that’s show choir, and our teacher wouldn’t let me. But my dad went toe to toe with him and the principal to get me the chance to at least audition for it. I threw the chance away, because of the hate phone calls we get - and I could see how much they bothered him. I knew that if I sang that song at a competition, it would just get worse. And… I didn’t want to do that to him. So I let it go. He’s always there, always supportive, kind, loving, caring. He can be a real bear though, if I’m threatened or hurt in any way. He’s the sort of father people dream to have. I tried so hard to get him to change his diet, because I was worried about him. But the other stuff just tastes better to him and he just wouldn’t listen to me. I love him so much. We already lost my mom - I don’t think I could handle losing him.”
“He sounds like a wonderful person who would be sorely missed by the world - not just by you. The sort of person the world needs more of - not less; a warrior for justice and peace - well deserving of a place in Valhalla if he were to die fighting.”
“Yeah, but he’s sick instead.”
She finished her food and drink before requesting, “I’m tired. Let us retire for the night.”
He guided her down to his room, ignoring the disgruntled look on Eliza’s face. He gestured at the bed, “You can sleep there. I won’t be sleeping very well tonight regardless, so you might as well be more comfortable than me.”
“That is not necessary.”
“Please, I insist.”
She took her shoes off and laid herself down on his bed. “What would you offer in exchange for your father to have a healthy heart again?”
“Anything within my power to give.”
“That’s a silly answer. You have to be more precise.”
Kurt walked over to his shelves and pulled out his hope chest. Inside was a bottle of perfume along with several tiaras, some photos and various other knickknacks. “This bottle of perfume belonged to my mother. When I open it I feel connected to her. I spilled another bottle of it in her dresser when I was a little, but this is a more intense version of it for when I’m feeling my worst. I’d offer this, as my most prized possession, for my dad’s health.”
“Is there anything else?”
“Nothing else has anywhere close to the same value of my dad being around. Whether I like it or not, my mom is dead and she’s not coming back. My dad, on the other hand, is still alive, albeit in a coma. A parent who’s alive is worth more than the memories of one who is dead - no matter how dear they are to me.”
“Accepted.” The woman’s eyes flashed a dark green for a moment so short that Kurt was sure he’d imagined it. “Now sleep.”
Suddenly Kurt felt exhausted as he lay down on the sofa in his room. For once in his life he had no dreams and when he awoke he felt more refreshed than he could ever remember feeling. Strangely enough, he found himself on his bed and the bottle of perfume had disappeared along with the woman. There were no traces of her left.
He rushed upstairs to talk to Eliza and found her cooking breakfast. He asked her, “Did you see the woman from last night off?”
“What woman?”
Kurt frowned. “The one who came here last night.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You went to sleep last night, came up for a short talk and then went right back to sleep. You must have dreamt about her.”
“But…”
She handed him some pancakes. “Here’s your breakfast, Kurt. Now eat up. I have to get you to school early, so I can head to work. You can drive your car home tonight, so you won’t have to get up quite as early. How did you sleep, other than this dream of the woman?”
“Really well. I can’t remember ever sleeping so well.”
“Well, that’s good. You’re going to need the rest to stay strong for the days to come.”
Kurt just nodded and ate his food, taking note that the fruits he’d cut up the night before were gone and the dishes he’d used were in the draining rack. He wondered why Eliza couldn’t remember the woman though.
***
It was about a week later, after his father awoke, that Kurt found the answer when she came to him in a dream. She smiled at him and said, “Hello Kurt.”
“Hi. Who are you really?”
“You didn’t guess? I’m Eir. You invoked me by calling my name - even though it was by accident, I decided to stop by and see if you were worth helping. You offered me food and shelter and in exchange I’ve given you a little more control over your powers. I healed your father, and guided him back to his body, for you in exchange for the perfume, which really does have a wonderful smell and so many beautiful memories attached to it. The love held in it is soothing for the soul. It was wise of you, though, exchanging old memories for the chance to make new ones. The memories are still with you, of course - I would never take those away from you - but the distilled essence of them is also held within the perfume because you held it so often thinking of them.”
“I’m sorry for not treating you better.”
“You made me feel more welcome and acted more selfless than many I’ve visited in the past millennia have, Kurt. You gave me your own bed to sleep in and served me very good food.”
“Why did you take Eliza’s memory of the event from her?”
“Because she was not accepting and friendly like you were. Besides, she never would have understood how you knew that I wasn’t bad. She isn’t like you or your parents. But she has her heart in the right place.”
Kurt smiled. “Yeah, she does.”
“I’d have returned your father to you earlier, but there were some lessons you had to learn first. I’m glad it didn’t take you too long to learn them, though it was interesting talking to your father in the meantime. Did you know that he’s actually very good at playing tafl? It took him a bit to get the hang of it, but he got really good.”
Kurt blinked. “Tafl?”
“Yeah, it’s a board game. I’ll teach it to you.” She pulled out a board and various pieces. “Now, you see, the pieces in the center have a king and it’s his goal to escape, while the other pieces that start out on the sides of the board’s goal is to capture him…”
When Kurt awoke the next morning he knew how to play tafl and planned to try playing it with his father as well, once he was better. That is, if he could find the board and its pieces.
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
Author: raven_kerry
Beta-reader: onthaedge
Artist: marsmaywander
Word-count: 44’038
Rating: M
Summary: Growing up as a psychic in Ohio is difficult. Throw in being gay and a dream-boyfriend and it’s that much more difficult.
Kurt has always been able to see things through other people’s eyes, hear their thoughts and feel their pain and emotions as if they were his own. It’s difficult to go on when you literally feel how much people hate you. This is his story.
Pairing: Kadam
Warnings: suicide attempt and ideation, mentioned non-con towards adults and children, violence, pagan beliefs
Author’s Note: A thousand thanks to my beta and artist for choosing to work with me. It’s been amazing. :)
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Epilogue | Excerpt: Of Meetings
Chapter 9
Months later, Kurt was in French class when he blacked out for a few moments. He saw himself talking to another man and felt a sudden pain in his chest. He felt himself collapse to the ground, the man’s worried face was out of focus for a moment before everything went black.
When he came back to himself, he noticed that no one in his class had noticed anything. They were too absorbed with the teacher, their conversations, their doodles, staring out the window or watching the clock. Unfortunately, the teacher requested them to speak to each other in French then, so as to actually practice the language. To cover for himself, he started talking at his partner while building in lots of barbs - trying to pass everything off as normal. Still, it didn’t come as that much of a surprise when he was called out of class.
***
As he sat in the waiting room with Ms. Pillsbury and Mr. Schue, Kurt pulled out his phone and dialed Eliza’s work number. The receptionist answered in a bored tone, “McLaughlin Psychiatric and Psychotherapy - how can I help you?”
“Hi, this is Kurt, Kurt Hummel. Could I speak to Eliza please?”
“She’s busy with a client right now. Do you wish to leave a message?”
“Could she please call me back ASAP? I kinda really need her right now.”
“If you want, I can send your phone call on to one of our other psychotherapists.”
“No, it has to be Eliza. She’s my godmother. It’s about my dad.” Kurt choked back a sob.
The receptionist must have noticed something in his voice, because she responded, “I’ll try forwarding your call to her. Please hold.”
A few moments later, he heard Eliza’s worried voice, “Kurt? Are you okay? Shouldn’t you be in school? What’s wrong with your dad?”
“He… he had… he had a heart attack. He’s in the hospital. I haven’t heard anything yet. It was the same thing as with my mom when she died.”
“That means you…?”
“Yeah.”
“Crap. Okay, listen, you don’t know anything yet. Try not to panic. I’m sure your dad will be fine. He’s strong. They’re taking care of him there. He’s in the best of hands. They deal with heart-attacks all the time, I’m sure. I’ll come down as soon as I can, okay? Have you called your other family members yet?”
“Uncle Andy is in a resort in the Caribbean after getting burnt out. Aunt Mildred is at a convention of some sort somewhere and my grandparents are out canoeing in northern Minnesota's Boundary Waters because it’s Indian summer up there right now.”
“So who’s there to take care of you?”
“My friends and teachers.”
“In other words, no one. Hang on a minute.” Kurt heard talking in the background before she got back on the phone. “Listen, my patient told me to skedaddle. Says to tell you that she’s a mother and understands that you need someone right now from what she heard on the phone. Wonderful woman, really. I’ll have my receptionist try to reschedule my appointments for the next few days. Then maybe Jake can take a few days off.”
“That isn’t a very good idea. What if those people come back?”
“Yeah, I see what you mean. Okay, we’ll skip on him coming and I’ll come alone.”
“You don’t have to come… I just…”
“Kurt, I know you. You need me there. I’ll just cut down on my hours a bit. You know, leave earlier than I normally would, to account for travel time and whatnot. The other psychotherapists I’ve hired can take up the slack for me. I’ll just stick to my psychiatrist work for a while. Take one of the anti-anxiety pills I prescribed you, okay? It’ll help calm you down for now. I’ll be there as soon as possible. Okay?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“Don’t sound so defeated. Everything’s going to be fine. If there’s anyone who could get over a heart-attack for their son it’s your dad.”
“Mhm.” Kurt paused, noticing a doctor had come into the waiting area and was heading straight towards him. “Look, I’ll… I’ll talk to you later, okay? Once I know something - anything.”
“Kurt, don’t hang up on me yet. Are you alone?”
“No, Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury are here with me.”
“Okay. That’s good. Try to keep it that way. I don’t want you alone right now. He’s going to be fine.”
“But I saw…”
“Not over the phone, Kurt. You know better than that. You aren’t thinking straight.”
Kurt made a half-hearted attempt at a joke, “I never think straight.”
“Right. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Call my cell if you need me or if you have news.”
“Yeah.”
“Remember it… it doesn’t have to mean death. Just because, well, you know, the thing with your mom.”
“Thanks.”
***
It was while Kurt was holding Burt’s hand, after having sent Ms. Pillsbury and Mr. Schue out of the room, that he heard the ruckus outside. “Mrs. McLaughlin, please, even you have to admit that this is highly irregular.”
“It’s Doctor McLaughlin. And I don’t give a damn how irregular it is. His son is my godson, so until Mr. Hummel wakes up, he’s under my care.”
“But you’re his psychotherapist and his psychiatrist according to our files.”
“Now, look you. I can sure as hell act as more than one thing. It’s not my fault that you can’t keep a distance from your clients if you also know them in personal life. Besides, I didn’t see that kid for at least ten years in the interim before I took him on as a patient. Besides, his father appointed me.”
“You can’t just take custody of him though. His family…”
“His family is out of town and can’t be contacted right now. He only has his father and me. And trust me, it’s better he stay with me right now than anyone else for reasons I cannot discuss. None of us want him back here.”
“I’m just saying that for a high risk person, such as himself this might be…”
“I know what you’re saying and I’m saying you’re wrong. The worst thing to do would be to lock him up in your psychiatric ward and isolate him from his friends, just to make sure that nothing happens to him. I’m fully certified and, frankly, I know my patient better than you do. So buzz off.”
“But…”
“Shut the hell up. I don’t want to hear it. You’re already close to breaking your confidentiality clause by talking about this where anyone could hear you. He purposefully asked that no one at school be informed of the incident last year due to special confidential reasons.”
“Okay, fine, but this isn’t the end of it!”
“Yes, it is. He is my patient and my godson. I was so appointed by his father, who is currently in a coma. Somehow, I don’t think we can revoke that until he wakes up - and he will wake up, believe me, I know that man. And once he wakes up he will tell you that I was right in what I did. So, please just piss off. I’m really not in the mood for morons right now.”
If it had been any other day, Kurt might have been amused at how territorial Eliza was over him. However, he was just tired and just wanted to wake up from this nightmare. He could only hope that it would be over soon.
The woman marched through the doors to the room, and demanded, “What did I tell you about being alone?”
“I wasn’t. They’re just outside. I just… I wanted a moment alone with him… I thought… I thought that maybe it would work better if I touched him. Maybe I could reach him. But he was so cold. It’s so empty. He’s usually full of warmth. I just… it’s so cold here. It should be warm. It should be warm. I tried, but I just can’t reach him.”
“Oh, Kurt, don’t worry. He’ll find his way back to you. As long as you’re around and need him, he’ll fight for you - against sickness, bullies - you name it.”
“He wouldn’t be able to stop me now if I…”
“Don’t even think about it. He needs someone to come back to.”
Kurt nodded. “Yeah, I guess. If he dies though, I’m not sure that Adam would be enough.”
“And for that reason, if nothing else, he’ll make it. Have faith.”
Kurt scoffed. “In what? God? I don’t believe in that.”
She shook her head. “No, not in God. In your father.”
“The last thing he told me was that I was a disappointment, though.” Kurt’s lip trembled and he sniffed.
“I very much doubt that. What were his exact words?”
“That he was very disappointed in me.”
“That is not the same as being a disappointment, Kurt. Every parent is disappointed by their kids at some point in their lives. Heck, I’m disappointed every time I get a phone call about Simon or Julie brings home a bad grade. But I’d never call them a disappointment because of that, okay?” she comforted.
Kurt nodded slightly. “Mhm. Did I cause this, Eliza? Is he here because he had a fight with me? Because the stress of taking care of me is getting to be too much?”
“Now, Kurt, I don’t think…”
“If I was normal, do you think we’d still be here? If I didn’t care about stupid things like… like sing-alongs or… or DVDs? If I didn’t have those… those…”
“Dreams?” she suggested.
“Yeah.”
She shook her head slowly. “I don’t think so, no. We’ll never know for certain, because what-ifs and maybes don’t hold water. But this heart attack was caused by an arrhythmia.” She picked up Burt’s chart. “He has a ventricular tachycardia. Well, that’s definitely better than ventricular fibrillation. It isn’t always lethal. Eating fish should help him, since the Omega-3 will be good for him and you’ll have to make sure that he gets enough magnesium. The doctor will no doubt tell you that and more later, though, when your dad is better and let out. Still, his previous eating habits can’t have helped that much regardless. You’ll find that vinegar and some other spices are very good at replacing salt. At some point I’ll give you a few cooking lessons on how to make stuff taste good while leaving out the salt.”
Kurt asked, “How do you know he’ll survive?”
“Because I know your father and I trust and believe in him. Has he ever let you down?”
Kurt shook his head.
“There you have it.”
Kurt bit his lip. “I wish I had your confidence.”
She put a warm hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go home and let you rest, okay?”
Kurt shook his head. “No, I want to stay here.”
“You need to rest, Kurt. You get little enough sleep as is. Today was emotionally draining for you. You need the rest more than usual. And you’ll probably be having nightmares tonight.”
“But…”
She insisted, “You know I’m right, Kurt. Staying here won’t make any difference. If anything changes at all - even if it’s just his oxygen saturation levels, I’ll get you back here in a jiffy, okay? But in the meantime you need rest.”
Kurt hung his head. “Okay. I’m coming.”
As they exited the room, they found Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury outside. Eliza introduced herself, “Hi there. You must be Mr. Schuester, the Spanish and Glee teacher, and Ms. Pillsbury, the guidance counselor. It’s nice to finally put faces to the names I’ve heard. I’m Kurt’s godmother, Doctor Eliza McLaughlin. I’m a psychiatrist and psychotherapist.”
Miss Pillsbury asked, “So, you’re his psychiatrist? The one he received after the incident last year?”
“I didn’t know you were aware of it.”
Miss Pillsburry nodded. “I received a report on it because I’m the guidance counselor, with a comment to keep it secret. I’m the only one at McKinley who knows.”
Mr. Schue just stated, “I’m confused.”
Kurt snapped, “Good. I didn’t and don’t want anyone to know.”
Mr. Schue asked, “Is this… incident… the reason why that other doctor was referring to you as a right risk person and want to lock you up in some ward?”
Kurt shook his head. “I’m not a high risk and I don’t need to be locked up.”
Eliza patted Kurt’s shoulder. “You are at risk, Kurt, but I agree - you don’t need to be locked up.”
“I’m not at risk,” Kurt insisted. Internally he continued the sentence with ‘for now.’
“Anyway, I should be getting Kurt home so he can get some rest. It’s been a very taxing emotional day. Goodbye.”
Kurt said, “Thank you for supporting me, Mr. Shue and Ms. Pillsbury. I’ll see you tomorrow in school.”
Mr. Shue gave him a tight smile. “The school faculty will do everything in its power to support you in this, Kurt. Take care.”
Ms. Pillsbury turned a tremulous smile on Kurt. “Now, I know you have nightmares. So, please, take care of yourself. And if you ever need something, my office is open to you. And it’s disinfected. I’d appreciate if you could disinfect your hands before you came in…” she paused a moment before continuing, “but that isn’t really necessary. Most students don’t and I have to disinfect it again.”
Kurt gave her a wan smile. “I know how difficult it is for you to be here, Ms. Pillsbury, even if they disinfect here all the time, there’s still a lot of germs, bacteria and viruses in hospitals. That you’d face that for me - thanks.”
She gave him a half-smile. “Well, you know, it was the right thing to do.”
“Good night.”
“Take care of yourself. Our prayers will be with you and your father. Good night.”
“Prayers. Pft,” Kurt snorted and walked off with Eliza. “As if those are any good.”
***
Later that evening, a few hours after Kurt went to sleep, he woke up crying. He went upstairs to make himself some warm milk, only to find Eliza working on her laptop in the living room, where, as evidenced by the multitude of blankets and pillows on the couch, was where she was going to be sleeping. Kurt gave up the idea of making warm milk for himself, not wanting to disturb her. He headed back towards the basement door.
Her voice made him jump. “Hey, Kurt. Why are you up?”
Kurt turned around, the glistening of tear tracks obvious on his face, as well as his red bloodshot eyes.
“Oh, Kurt, come here.” She patted the sofa next to her and he reluctantly sat down. “Now, tell me, what’s the matter?”
“I can’t find him.”
“Who can’t you find? Adam?”
Kurt shook his head. “My dad.”
“He’s at the hospital, Kurt, you know that.”
“I know where his body is!” Kurt shot back. “I was looking for him. He isn’t there right now. I looked. He was so empty. I thought… I thought maybe he’d gone to my safe place. It’s something I got from his side of the family, you know. I hoped… I thought…” Kurt sniffed. “But he wasn’t there. Neither was Adam.”
“Why exactly did you think he was there?”
“Because that’s where I was when I was in a coma after trying to kill myself.”
She asked, “Do you know for certain that your great grandmother had the same safe place as you do?”
“Well, no, but…”
“Then wouldn’t it be possible that your dad had his own as well and neither of you were aware of it?”
“But… what about Adam? Why does he have the same one?”
“I can’t tell you that. Maybe there’s a special connection between the two of you. I don’t think we’ll ever know for certain. The only person who could answer our questions - your great grandmother - is dead.”
Kurt pleaded, “Do you think I’d be able to find him if I keep looking?”
“I honestly don’t know, Kurt. But you came back to us from your place, albeit reluctantly. Your dad isn’t quite so reluctant to return. I’m sure he wants to come back and it’s just his body that needs more time to heal before it’s ready to house him again.”
“It hurts though! Being near him like that - it hurts! How do I reach him when he isn’t there? How do I help him?”
“Kurt, sometimes things are out of our control.”
“I don’t want our last words to be of anger though, Eliza!”
She frowned and gripped Kurt’s shoulder. “Now you listen here, Kurt. I don’t know where you get this fatalistic thinking from. He’s going to be fine, because he’s strong and he loves you.”
“So did my mom! That didn’t save her! Almost everyone I have visions of dies!”
“Not everyone! Remember the ones you helped save?”
“But I didn’t see them die! I saw and felt my dad’s heart spasm as if it was my own. I felt the pain just as sure as he did - maybe even better because I didn’t have the clouding of my senses due to a lack of oxygen in my brain. I might as well have had a heart attack at the same time as he did - that’s how well I felt it. How can you want to come back after pain like that? What if he’s tired of… of having a son like me? If he lets go he’ll see my mom again. He’ll be free of this miserable place.”
“Kurt, you aren’t a father, so you don’t understand what a parent will do for their child. He knows you need him. He won’t leave you. Unlike your mother, he has a chance.”
“Does he? I never told him how much I need him. I didn’t know. But now everything is falling apart and I don’t know what to do.” Kurt pursed his lips in a grimace.
“Have you tried praying?”
Kurt scoffed at the idea. “I don’t believe in God. Look at what I am - I’m gay and psychic. The church - his followers - would persecute me for something I was born with. Besides, I know better. There’s lots of gods out there. Most of them only have as much power as we give them. Only a few will actually answer prayers and it’s definitely not the Christian God that does. If anyone, I’d ask Eir to help in return for an offering. As a Valkyrie, dying of sickness would not be an honorable death in her eyes, which my father deserves. So, she might be more inclined to help - even if I’m male, I am a virgin. And we’re of Germanic descent.”
“And you think she’d listen?”
“I can only ask. She’s described as being friendly, protective and helpful. As long as I am honest, courteous and polite, she’ll probably at least listen to me. And, hey, people at school call me princess and lady all the time. I might as well do something that was traditionally reserved for women - other than running the household.”
“If people ask you what you believe, what do you tell them?”
“That I’m an atheist. It’s easier than telling them that I follow the old ways and why I do.”
***
They heard a knock on the door and Kurt got up to answer it. A young woman with tanned skin, dark hair and unnaturally pale green eyes was at the door. She was wearing a slightly medieval-looking green dress, however the skirt only came slightly past her knees and it was split up into several pieces of fabric, all in varying shades of green according to length, leaving it looking almost like the petals of a green flower and the neck was laced together but cut fairly deep. Around her neck she wore an amulet with a rune on it. She smiled kindly. “Hello. I’m tired from traveling all day. Would you please put me up for the night?”
Kurt blinked. “Uh, there’s a motel just on the other side of town. I’d drive you there, but my car is still at school.”
“I don’t have the kind of money they’d require there. I prefer to offer my help in return instead.”
Kurt frowned. Something about this woman was off, but he didn’t know what. Still, it didn’t feel bad, necessarily, just off. Somehow he knew that he didn’t want to turn her away. “Alright. Come in. I’m afraid I don’t have much to offer you. Our couch is taken up by a family friend. I’d offer you to sleep in my room, but I’m afraid that wouldn’t be couth, since I don’t know you and you’re female - even if I’m gay.”
“No, I think that would be acceptable. I trust a man such as yourself not to harm a maiden. Let me help you tonight.”
Kurt blinked. “Oh, okay…? Uh, please enter. Is there anything I can get you?”
“I’d like an apple and some tea, please.”
“Sure. I’ll get it for you right away. Please sit down in the meantime.” He gestured towards the living room.
***
As Kurt was preparing the tea and slicing up some fruit for a small fruit salad, Eliza came in to ask him, “What the heck are you thinking, Kurt? Letting some strange person come in here? Agreeing to let her sleep in your room with you? Have you lost your wits? Do you know what could happen to you? What if she’s some kind of killer or burglar or… or something!”
“It won’t. She isn’t bad. I’d know if she was.” Kurt blinked. “Wait a moment. That’s what’s odd about her. I’m not picking up any thoughts or… or emotions off of her. Just a sense of… of a good person. If she knows how to block me from picking that up from her, maybe she’ll know how to block myself from picking that up from people as well!” Kurt smiled.
Eliza sighed in exasperation. “Kurt, you’re entirely missing the point here. Do I have to spell it out for you? She is a stranger. She does not belong in your house - especially not when your father is in the hospital!”
Kurt smiled softly, put the fruits together in a bowl and poured a honey-lemon sauce over it. He mixed it up and patted Eliza’s arm. “Trust me. It’ll be okay.” He poured the hot water into a thermal mug that had a bag of chamomile tea in it waiting.
As Kurt left the room, he heard Eliza’s exclamation, “Ah! Teenagers! Why can’t they ever listen?”
He handed the woman the fruit salad and tea and warned her, “Take care, the tea is hot. I hope it’s to your liking.”
She smiled at him and responded. “I’m sure it will be. So, tell me about your father and why he’s in the hospital.”
“He… he had a heart attack earlier today after we had a fight. I mean, not right afterwards. I was in school. He had a client there with him. That’s probably how he was able to survive. But he’s in a coma now. Eliza, the woman you saw here earlier, she’s my godmother. She’s taking care of me right now.”
“What is his prognosis?”
“They don’t know. He’s… he’s just not waking up. And it’s like he isn’t there right now. They said that there wasn’t enough oxygen reaching his brain for a while, so there might be brain damage. But they don’t know. They won’t know until he wakes up - if he wakes up.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Kurt. Tell me more about him.”
Kurt smiled softly. “He’s a wonderful man. According to him, he used to be a bit homophobic when he was a teenager, but he’s managed to grow and get over that. He’s changed. He supports me like no one else. I’d never ask it of him, but whenever I’m upset about something - he’ll get up and fight for me. Like this one time, I wanted to sing a song sung traditionally by a woman in Glee Club, that’s show choir, and our teacher wouldn’t let me. But my dad went toe to toe with him and the principal to get me the chance to at least audition for it. I threw the chance away, because of the hate phone calls we get - and I could see how much they bothered him. I knew that if I sang that song at a competition, it would just get worse. And… I didn’t want to do that to him. So I let it go. He’s always there, always supportive, kind, loving, caring. He can be a real bear though, if I’m threatened or hurt in any way. He’s the sort of father people dream to have. I tried so hard to get him to change his diet, because I was worried about him. But the other stuff just tastes better to him and he just wouldn’t listen to me. I love him so much. We already lost my mom - I don’t think I could handle losing him.”
“He sounds like a wonderful person who would be sorely missed by the world - not just by you. The sort of person the world needs more of - not less; a warrior for justice and peace - well deserving of a place in Valhalla if he were to die fighting.”
“Yeah, but he’s sick instead.”
She finished her food and drink before requesting, “I’m tired. Let us retire for the night.”
He guided her down to his room, ignoring the disgruntled look on Eliza’s face. He gestured at the bed, “You can sleep there. I won’t be sleeping very well tonight regardless, so you might as well be more comfortable than me.”
“That is not necessary.”
“Please, I insist.”
She took her shoes off and laid herself down on his bed. “What would you offer in exchange for your father to have a healthy heart again?”
“Anything within my power to give.”
“That’s a silly answer. You have to be more precise.”
Kurt walked over to his shelves and pulled out his hope chest. Inside was a bottle of perfume along with several tiaras, some photos and various other knickknacks. “This bottle of perfume belonged to my mother. When I open it I feel connected to her. I spilled another bottle of it in her dresser when I was a little, but this is a more intense version of it for when I’m feeling my worst. I’d offer this, as my most prized possession, for my dad’s health.”
“Is there anything else?”
“Nothing else has anywhere close to the same value of my dad being around. Whether I like it or not, my mom is dead and she’s not coming back. My dad, on the other hand, is still alive, albeit in a coma. A parent who’s alive is worth more than the memories of one who is dead - no matter how dear they are to me.”
“Accepted.” The woman’s eyes flashed a dark green for a moment so short that Kurt was sure he’d imagined it. “Now sleep.”
Suddenly Kurt felt exhausted as he lay down on the sofa in his room. For once in his life he had no dreams and when he awoke he felt more refreshed than he could ever remember feeling. Strangely enough, he found himself on his bed and the bottle of perfume had disappeared along with the woman. There were no traces of her left.
He rushed upstairs to talk to Eliza and found her cooking breakfast. He asked her, “Did you see the woman from last night off?”
“What woman?”
Kurt frowned. “The one who came here last night.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You went to sleep last night, came up for a short talk and then went right back to sleep. You must have dreamt about her.”
“But…”
She handed him some pancakes. “Here’s your breakfast, Kurt. Now eat up. I have to get you to school early, so I can head to work. You can drive your car home tonight, so you won’t have to get up quite as early. How did you sleep, other than this dream of the woman?”
“Really well. I can’t remember ever sleeping so well.”
“Well, that’s good. You’re going to need the rest to stay strong for the days to come.”
Kurt just nodded and ate his food, taking note that the fruits he’d cut up the night before were gone and the dishes he’d used were in the draining rack. He wondered why Eliza couldn’t remember the woman though.
***
It was about a week later, after his father awoke, that Kurt found the answer when she came to him in a dream. She smiled at him and said, “Hello Kurt.”
“Hi. Who are you really?”
“You didn’t guess? I’m Eir. You invoked me by calling my name - even though it was by accident, I decided to stop by and see if you were worth helping. You offered me food and shelter and in exchange I’ve given you a little more control over your powers. I healed your father, and guided him back to his body, for you in exchange for the perfume, which really does have a wonderful smell and so many beautiful memories attached to it. The love held in it is soothing for the soul. It was wise of you, though, exchanging old memories for the chance to make new ones. The memories are still with you, of course - I would never take those away from you - but the distilled essence of them is also held within the perfume because you held it so often thinking of them.”
“I’m sorry for not treating you better.”
“You made me feel more welcome and acted more selfless than many I’ve visited in the past millennia have, Kurt. You gave me your own bed to sleep in and served me very good food.”
“Why did you take Eliza’s memory of the event from her?”
“Because she was not accepting and friendly like you were. Besides, she never would have understood how you knew that I wasn’t bad. She isn’t like you or your parents. But she has her heart in the right place.”
Kurt smiled. “Yeah, she does.”
“I’d have returned your father to you earlier, but there were some lessons you had to learn first. I’m glad it didn’t take you too long to learn them, though it was interesting talking to your father in the meantime. Did you know that he’s actually very good at playing tafl? It took him a bit to get the hang of it, but he got really good.”
Kurt blinked. “Tafl?”
“Yeah, it’s a board game. I’ll teach it to you.” She pulled out a board and various pieces. “Now, you see, the pieces in the center have a king and it’s his goal to escape, while the other pieces that start out on the sides of the board’s goal is to capture him…”
When Kurt awoke the next morning he knew how to play tafl and planned to try playing it with his father as well, once he was better. That is, if he could find the board and its pieces.
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