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[turnedtoproust]

Generally, Scripps has found a sort of calling in playing the background for the whimsy of his friends, allowing them to sing and act and be fools around him. It's not to say that he doesn't partake, but every group needs a steady anchor to provide the backing music and the task has fallen to him. It's not as though he's the most responsible, per

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[highf]

It isn't until the last strains of the song are coming to a close that Kurt makes his presence known, a chronic lingerer around the rec room on the best of days, approaching the piano and resting his chin on the instrument with a soft smile and an admiring gaze. He knows, of course, that Scripps can sing. Knows that Jamie Parker, if nothing else, certainly has a set of pipes that Scripps should be able to better train, if he suffers from the same problem as Anatoly Sergievsky does. But there's something especially breathtaking about having it right in front of him, the simple enjoyment of being helping to push all other thoughts and worries from Kurt's mind, and in this moment, he knows that this is the sort of thing he wants to do for the rest of his life. Perform.

It's a hell of a lot better than getting caught up in the mundane.

"And here you've been playing coy, playing accompaniest to my simple voice when you've got the chops to pull it off all on your own," Kurt sighs, shaking his head. "This is quite the blow to my ego,

[turnedtoproust]

"I don't have half the talent you do," he informs Kurt with the air of a man who truly believes in what he's saying. "I might have charisma and charm, but that doesn't mean that I hit the notes as well as others do. People excuse a bit of faltering when you're willing to wink and smile." Not to mention, he's always been told that he has a lovely tone. He imagines that saves him when he's in a pickle of a bind, as well. "Besides, I have to slow the pace horribly to do it and it's no fun at all!"

[highf]

"Nonsense," Kurt shakes his head, unwilling to accept this level of self-criticism from Scripps, especially considering the fact that he doubts Scripps spends the majority of his day trying to refine both the act of singing and the act of doing so while tickling the ivories. For someone who's just going at it like a lark, Kurt knows that there's a great deal of talent there, waiting to be tapped, and it'd be a lie to say that he isn't tempted to push Scripps in that direction through whatever means possible. There's little that he finds more disappointing than talent that goes wasted.

"You have twice the talent that I do, considering you're both singing and playing the piano, and the pace is something that you'd totally improve if you did this more often. Which you should. If for no other reason," sighs Kurt, "than the fact that it makes me quite deliriously happy."

[turnedtoproust]

"Is this the beginning of a terrible friendship in which you whip at me day and night," he intones evenly, "until I improve to your Dear Eliza standards?" He's joking, of course, but there is a touch of fear to his eyes, as though worried such a thing will come to pass. "Now, we should discuss the idea of me teaching you to play the piano. In which case, you'll no longer have reason to praise me for such silly little things."

[highf]

"You know, I've never really tried to coach someone in voice before," Kurt ponders aloud, tapping at his chin. "I'm not sure I'd necessarily be really good at it. I mean, I've trained myself, but with a totally different motivation in mind, and with singing being perhaps the greatest passion of mine. It'd be interesting to see how I can transfer that enthusiasm in someone else. I don't think it'd be half as unpleasant as you seem to think it'd be, by the way. I am a gentle soul, after all."

He laughs lightly at himself, shaking his head to dispel the joke. It's not true, after all- he gets downright vicious when he needs to.

"But I wouldn't mind private lessons in piano, if that's what you're offering. We should totally trade."

[turnedtoproust]

"Provided you aren't terribly frustrated with me when I don't have perfect pitch," he insists, knowing that he'd rather have set caveats before they begin the work. "Posner was always much better at singing than I was. Honestly, part of me thinks that it's the longing. He poured all that love into something else and came away wonderful at it. Poor soul," he intones. "Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, so to speak."

[highf]

Neither wanting to let on just how much he knew of Scripps' life, nor wanting to say too much about Posner's future when he only had so much of an idea of how it panned out from the play, Kurt presses his lips together with a small shake of his head. "Well, everyone can find their time in the spotlight, if only they keep trying," Kurt replies in turn, fully believing the statement. Of course, whether or not the kind of spotlight was desired was another fact entirely. "And don't be silly, I wouldn't hold imperfect pitch against you. Even I've had to work extremely hard to get where I am, not nearly as naturally inclined as a couple of other people at my school, even. It takes practice. Few people are complete naturals."

[turnedtoproust]

"I like to think I'm completely natural in other elements," he muses, half-in his own thoughts as he thinks that if there were competitions for devoutness in prayer, he might be capable of achieving, perhaps, a bronze. "Get me on my knees," he says with the hint of a wicked smirk, "and there's no catching me."

[highf]

"I... am going to take a completely wild guess and say that you probably didn't intend for the double entendre right now, otherwise I, uh- I've clearly lost my skill at reading people, or something," Kurt replies helplessly with a raise of both brows, furrowing after the initial couple of seconds. Contrary to what some members of the New Directions may think after the past year, Kurt doesn't mind when other people worship, nor finds that type of faith to be anything that deserves to be stopped. So long as they stay on their grounds, Kurt will stay on his, and Burt's been well enough for some time that the sores have started to fade.

"But, assuming that you mean prayer, I guess I just wouldn't be the best judge of that," he admits.

[turnedtoproust]

Scripps is smirking in that genial and smug way he often has about him when he's pleased. Yes, he is religious and he spends half his days praying to God on all subjects, but he's also been Dakin's friend for so long that he feels as though a little piece of his soul has been forever corrupted. "And yes, prayer. I wouldn't know about anything else, admittedly. Not with all the things I'm not doing."

[highf]

Kurt takes a slow breath; he knows the play, he knows that the likelihood that Scripps turns him away for this reason alone isn't high. He hopes. And he finds himself centering on the issue that he's had for years, that he doesn't mind it when other people can find faith in someone intangible, unreachable to them- if anything, he's glad for them, desperately so. But he just can't do the same. No matter how hard he tries to speak to a voice up above, he ends up feeling forlorn over the fact that he's been left behind in this way, given a proclivity that so many people across the world think of as a sin. Why would God make someone who is naturally inclined to go against what's, by His definition, right?

He blinks a couple of times, rapidly, trying to bring that train of thought to a halt.

"Well, just... as an aside, I'm not a particularly religious person. I don't even believe, and that's not something I like to spend too much time discussing," he notes, not unkindly. "But different strokes for different folks."

[turnedtoproust]

Scripps gives Kurt a faintly bemused look. "I spent my time around some of the crudest arseholes I've ever met. Honestly, I had to pray to God that he forgive me for my sin of bad judgment, but I never asked to be changed and I never asked for them to be changed." He reaches out to squeeze Kurt's shoulder briefly. "I understand and we don't have to talk about it at all," he promises. "Let's discuss something else! How are your classes? Any teachers you particularly like?" he asks, with the smug smirk on his face that belies he's asking selfishly.

[highf]

"You're more accepting than some of my friends have been, in that case. It's always interesting to think about how some of them truly believe that there's nothing good waiting for me at the end of the yellow brick road, just because I haven't made up the mind to pray to some tangible force above," Kurt replies, his look distant for a moment, distracted, perhaps even displeased. But what is there to be done about it? Scant little. Regardless, he pushes through with a smile at the rest of the conversation, more than willing to share his thoughts on his classes. "Anyway, when it comes to school, it's still totally weird to be focused almost entirely on the courses I like, rather than foundational work. But there's this one class I really like particular, you see. Guy's terrible talented, capable of accompanying just about any singer, even himself. Works marvels with the piano, I tell you."

[turnedtoproust]

"Does he, now?" Scripps replies, leaving all talk of religion behind as he welcomes the far brighter subject of music. He's played since he was a boy and has amassed a great deal of hours practicing, so it's good to see it paying off. "Well, I'm sure he'd be pleased to know. Years and years of being the go-to man has made him somewhat...unappreciated? I suppose that's the word. Not that he doesn't find his own fun in it."

[highf]

"Believe me, I know how underappreciated people become when they're not in the spotlight. And what people never realize is that the supporting people, they're just as crucial to the show," he says, more animated now for how personally the statement hits. In the past year, he's finally been able to branch out a little, more so at McKinley than at Dalton, but being in the shadows is practically like being ignored altogether. Just a harmony. Just a faceless body. But without them, where would the show be? Where would solidarity lie?

"But this one's noticed, at least," Kurt concludes, clapping a hand on Scripp's shoulder with a grin.

[turnedtoproust]

"You're kind to do so," Scripps says and it's without jest. He means it, he really does. The boys, they always appreciate his accompaniment, but it's one thing to have it tacitly and another to have it so strongly in words. "And besides, it's a pleasure to do it to such a strong and capable voice."