Started my daily ficlets to make the
hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a
second cycle, and then a
third and
fourth cycle. Now here comes cycle 5!
Found this list I had a while back, of colors and connotations, and I decided to make a series around it! So...
Colors of Glee: 5 of 12: Yellow: Joy & Optimism
"YELLOW: JOY & OPTIMISM"
Tina & Brittany
Semi off-shoot to
Frenzy For Five The first of the ‘original’ members of New Directions to have made a connection with one of the ‘intruding’ members was Tina, with Brittany. It was never stated as such, it just was… it was very much in their nature. There was just a willingness to appreciate people and things as they discovered them.
So in a sense it had started in how Tina had found Brittany and, in watching her dance, had brought her to Kurt’s attention for his ‘Single Ladies’ project. Tina had seen her, knowing Brittany was not aware she was being watched, and for that she had seen her for who she was, when no one else was looking. It was a small moment, but it had opened up Tina to Brittany’s presence.
In the months that followed, the pattern continued to expand. When on their trek for yellow dresses, ‘vitamined’ Tina and Brittany had been off like twin rockets, weaving through the round displays, calling what they found to one another, the others doing their best to keep up with them.
“Light blue, darker blue!” Tina called.
“Darker, darker blue!” Brittany passed the other side of the same display before moving on. It was not long before they spotted…
“Yellow!” they called at once.
“Over here!” Brittany called to the others, waving with one hand and pointing with the other.
“Where’s Quinn?” Tina asked and, before anyone could reply, “I’ll get her!”
It had gone on like this through their trip through the mall and in waiting for everyone to arrive for their mash-up. Tina, in her infinite flitty vitamin state, had moved to line up the chairs perfectly to receive their audience. One by one she would nudge the chairs a little to the side, step back, then resume. Nudge, nudge, nudge… Eventually, Brittany had come to investigate. Tina heard a giggle and sprang up to look.
“What are you doing?” Brittany asked.
“Fixing the chairs,” Tina nodded four times in the span of two seconds. “M-maybe to the right, o-or… or the left…” she gasped to herself, nodded four times, then nudged the chairs along back to the left.
“One more,” Brittany nodded, stepping up to help. Once they were done, they stepped back. “Better?”
“Better,” Tina breathed. Brittany held out her hand and Tina high-fived. The chairs were back where they’d first been. As their audience was arriving, Brittany snatched up Tina’s hand and pulled her to go stand in position with the others.
The whole experience had appeared to cement their semi-friendship. After that, Brittany would wave if she saw her, and if she’d leave… their covert jam session had seen Brittany make for dramatics as their group had been forced apart.
Tina knew just as well as any of the others how Brittany and the other Cheerios were spying on them for Sue. It had never hurt them too much, so they could ignore it. Of all of them, she didn’t see how they could hold it against Brittany. She knew she simply didn’t know any better. She’d been with the Cheerios before New Directions… Besides, if there was any blame to be laid out it would be towards Coach Sylvester.
After Mr. Schuester had been forced to step aside, there may have been an urge out to blame their resident spies, but really this one setback had landed squarely on their shoulders. It was a whole other matter once they got to Sectionals and found themselves without the ability to go through with their original set.
As the group had filed into the green room, the tension was hanging heavily in the air. Santana and Brittany stood with all eyes turned on them. Eventually, they had come to stand facing the others, the jury of their peers.
The crisis was averted with Finn’s arrival. Brittany had gotten to work with Santana, Mike, and Matt on the choreography, while the others scrambled to go over the new lyrics. Once they’d all been run through how the number would go, they had all gone to change into their costumes. Brittany was the first of the girls to be ready, and she’d been standing just outside the restroom, repeating the lyrics to herself, when Tina stepped out next.
There was a brief moment of silence as they stared at one another. Tina could see what she came to realize was concern on her face. She could imagine what the concern was about. Tina gave her a reassuring smile.
“I think this will be better than what we had planned. The concern melted away and left her with a smile.
“Thanks. I really want us to win,” she nodded.
“Well, I don’t see why not,” Tina beamed, just as Rachel emerged from the bathroom, soon followed by Mercedes, then Quinn, and finally Santana. They were all set.
All of them were just a ball of nerves, leading up to their cue. But then before they knew it, they were done, waiting on the results…
The ride home was a mighty raucous celebration. At one time, Tina had turned back in her seat to look at Brittany. She’d given her a smiling nod as though to say ‘See? What did I tell you?’ Brittany laughed.
It was on the bus ride back to Lima that the idea of their piece for Mr. Schuester came about. There were calls back and forth from all points in the bus, about what pieces of choreography they should include, all dutifully noted by Rachel.
As they performed their thanks, it was injected with the joy of gentle souls as Brittany twirled Tina around, no one but them knowing how it mattered.
If given the chance, and through Glee it was now very much a possibility, they could be dear friends. If not for where they had been led to, split by social circles around them, that friendship would have already taken shape years before. But things had a way of rectifying themselves. Paths now united, the chance was there for them to grasp at last.
THE END
PREVIOUS DAYS
[Cycle 1] [Cycle 2] [Cycle 3] [Cycle 4][Cycle 5]
[85] [86] [87] [88] [89] [90] [91] Suggestion Drop Off Title: "Yellow: Joy & Optimism"
Pairing: Tina & Brittany
Rating: G
Summary: Tina and Brittany are kind of friends.
Spoilers: 1x13 Sectionals