dorothy's slippers.

[highf]

So here's what you missed on Glee:

Puck and Santana have been stranded on an island that kind of reminds them of Lost, except without the cool polar bears and the smoke monster, and both of them are missing home and feeling way out of their league, even if neither will admit to it. ( "Not your type of party, is it?" "If I say no, you're going to

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[whoneedsadream]

In Anatoly's experience, it was odd to hear someone sing along so gleefully with the jukebox and yet as he peered into the rec room, carefully balancing a cup of tea and the box containing his chess set, that was exactly what he found. Not wanting to interrupt, he slipped into the room and made his way over to his usual table and started setting up the board.

The boy did have a lovely voice and when the song was over, Anatoly applauded. "That was a very lovely song."

[highf]

All things considered, Kurt had felt that he had handled himself well back in the day, upon finding out that Josh Groban was going to be judging the New Directions at Regionals. Given how fond Kurt was of the singer's voice, it was actually rather remarkable that he'd been able to keep his mind centered on the competition rather than the judging, on the choreography and teamwork rather than trying to stand out in order to impress a single judge. But as soon as Kurt turned towards the sound of applause and his eyes took in who exactly it was giving him (or at least his decision to sing along with the song) praise, he felt his heart stop.

"Josh Groban," he whispered, his heart fluttering in his chest. "Oh. My god. I... never really thought that I'd ever hear those six words coming from you. Or, well, at least not until I made it big on Broadway, but I'm not holding my breath on that happening in the next couple of years, so this is still way more than I'm prepared for, but... can I just say that in spite of how you quite possibly voted

[whoneedsadream]

He would never understand what it was about this Josh Groban that caused people to lose their minds. If he was a grandmaster, that was one thing and would be understandable but this was not the case. He was a singer, admittedly a rather good one even if he had the poor taste to be involved in two concert versions of Anatoly's life and all right, they looked alike but that was it.

"I am afraid I am not Josh Groban," he said with a wry smile. "Though I understand I look very much like him."

[highf]

"Well, having... met Josh Groban before," Kurt began with a disbelieving raise of his brow, although his words were careful and measured, as though afraid that Groban had finally snapped or something similar- it wouldn't have been the first time that a performer did. "I'd say that you're really his spitting image. Maybe with a few years shaved off, but unless you've got a twin brother or clone elsewhere in the world, I'm finding it hard to believe that you aren't Josh Groban. Unless-"

He peeked off and to the side, eyes widening as he hoped that he hadn't suddenly made matters very complicated for Josh indeed. On an island of only three-hundred, Kurt could only imagine how difficult life probably was for the few celebrities who'd made their way to Tabula Rasa, flocked by civilians at all times without hope for reprieve. "Unless I was supposed to keep that secret to go with your newfound accent."

[whoneedsadream]

"I promise you I am not Josh Groban," Anatoly said gently as he wondered if there was any way to convince the boy that he was not the singer short of singing a song of his own. He hoped it wouldn't come to that - his voice was all right, he supposed, but it was nothing like Josh Groban's.

"My name is Anatoly Sergievsky," he continued. "Perhaps he is a long lost relative of mine and that is why we look so much alike."

[highf]

"Anatoly Ser-"

Kurt paused. Of course, Puck had warned him about this, somewhere in the rest of the babble he'd tried to pass off as an explanation about the island. He'd mentioned that some of the residents were characters lifted from books, texts, even films, but in all honesty, Kurt had expected that Puck meant that their actors and actresses had been pulled to the island, rather than any actual embodiments of the characters. If he was to believe Josh Groban- or, Anatoly, as it were- then clearly, Kurt had believed wrong.

"As in the grand chessmaster? Freddie Trumper's great rival?" he asked, before pressing his hand to his lips, wondering if he'd said too much. After all, if someone else came up to Kurt claiming that he was from a musical or a television show... well, first, he'd probably apologize, he couldn't imagine that high school glee would make for something very interesting to watch, but then he'd promptly be scared off by all the intimate details of his life that others were apparently privy to.

Quite the dilemma.

[whoneedsadream]

Considering the existence of two concert versions of his life and that the boy had thought he was Josh Groban, warnings bells should have sounded in Anatoly's head. It had never occurred to him that these were anything more than ridiculous propaganda inspired by de Courcey for some fiendish reason or that other people might have watched and knew all the intimate details he would have rather kept quiet. All he could focus was on that he was recognized for the game he played and that made him utterly thrilled.

"Yes, the very same," he answered brightly. "You know of me? Not many do, here. I am honored."

[highf]

So... his mind had decided to bring in Josh Groban as Anatoly Sergievsky. Kurt could accept that. (After all, this had to be a dream; for there to be people such as Harry Potter and Anatoly on the island surely suggested that his mind had simply grown tired of the worn and weathered life he left back in Lima and decided to plunge him into a world of greater adventure.) After all, Anatoly was the one with the exotic accent, with the sharp intelligence which allowed him to be one of the best-known chess champions in the world, and on top of that all, could singOr so Kurt hoped. The entire situation would lose much of its magic if the singing which characters were capable of in musicals didn't extend to the flesh and blood which stood in front of him right then. It was his mind- surely, it'd be kind enough to go with his whims

[whoneedsadream]

This was a dream come true and Anatoly didn't think he could stop beaming. The boy knew him and followed his games. His games, not Freddie. There was no way that he could not share this little tidbit the next time he ran into his opponent. It was something he needed to know, after all.

"You did? I am honored to hear this," he said, putting a hand to his heart. "I cannot imagine it was easy to do this considering the... feelings between our countries."

[highf]

The smile on Anatoly's face was... well, Kurt couldn't say that he felt too bad about coaxing it onto that face. Though he did feel marginally guilty. Felt as though he wasn't presenting the whole truth, and that perhaps in time it would backfire- but Kurt had never been one much for restraint, and seeing other people happy wasn't something that he would ever argue against in the slightest, so he played along with it, all of it, and if he was to be honest, it wasn't too hard to turn on the smiles around Josh Groban, wearing the mind of a fictional character or otherwise.

"Well, I didn't watch them at the time," Kurt clarified with a tilt of his head. "I was a little young back in the Cold War days to really process chess, but even decades later there was still, ah, coverage that people could watch at will."

[whoneedsadream]

"It is gratifying to know my games are still studied," Anatoly said, his happiness growing by leaps and bounds. This was something that he had never dared to hope for even during his most hopeful moments. He was remembered and more importantly, his games were remembered. This was a higher honor than being named world chess champion.

"I suppose Trumper's games are studied as well, as perhaps as a sort of how not to behave?"

[highf]

Oops. And there was the bit of hot water that Kurt hadn't been expecting to fall into, blinking as he tried to determine if there was any easy way out of their topic of conversation. Kurt had no doubt that, were he in Anatoly's shoes just then, he would have done the exact same thing: ask at length about the sort of coverage he'd gotten, about public reviews and opinions. If nothing else, it would serve as a means of leaning where else to go with one's art, of finding out what errors and missteps he'd taken, and making sure that he wouldn't repeat them while on the island. But how was he supposed to keep moving forward with these vague and tenuous lies without all of it caving in, sooner or later?

All he could see himself doing was sidestepping the matter, then hoping that Anatoly wouldn't pry too far.

"Well... I mean, conduct is something that each person judges for his or herself," Kurt offered with a nervous smile and a shrug. "But you can't deny that he's still a pretty good chess player, right?"

[whoneedsadream]

"But he makes a mockery of the game!" Anatoly blurted out before he could stop himself. It was true that he and Freddie had come to a sort of truce here but he could never forget or forget the outrageous behavior that had made him such a notoriety in the chess world.

"He might have occasional flashes of brilliance," he railed on, gesticulating wildly. "I will even admit that he is a challenge for me at times. But chess... it is more than just a board of sixty-four squares and pieces facing down each other. It has a life, a history of its own and to fling all of that aside just for money as he has done is a disgrace - a complete and utter disgrace."

He stopped for a moment and ducked his head, feeling a little embarrassed. "Please forgive me, I did not not mean to go on so. You have studied my games then you know my... relationship with Trumper has not exactly been an easy one."

[highf]

Blinking, Kurt managed to keep his immediate response down to a small tilt of his head; he supposed that off the stage, pretty much any character would lose a bit of their shine. Be rendered more human, as it were. Still, it's more than a little jarring to find himself distracted from Josh Groban's curls, from his eyes, from the desire to hear him sing, and instead be confronted with a man clearly bitter. (Though, from what Kurt remembers of the plot, he can't say that Anatoly is completely unjustified in his frustration

[whoneedsadream]

In truth, Kurt had a very reasonable point but Anatoly was not quite ready to subscribe to any positive notions about Freddie's quest for money, even despite the tentative truce the two of them had. Freddie might be his equal on the board but in terms of motivation, there was no doubt in Anatoly's mind as to who was the superior player.

"Forgive me," Anatoly said humbly. "I did not mean to - what is that word? Vent. I did not mean to vent at you. He and I... the history has been difficult as you know. He is here as well, you see."

[highf]

As soon as it seemed that Anatoly's temper had subsided, a smile worked its way across Kurt's expression again. Not quite proud- he only knew the guy as a fictional character, after all, and were he to be honest with himself and about his expectations, then in truth, he'd expect the conciliatory words to come in the form of song- but still glad nonetheless for the rocky bridge to be smoothed over to an extent. Glad, too, that he wouldn't become the point of contact for any venting that needed to be done.

If only because, well, it would be pretty hard to be angry with Adam Pascal's face, if any middlemanning was required.

"It's fine," he shook his head, waving a hand dismissively. "Trust me, I'm still in high school, the whole venting thing happens everywhere you turn and you kind of get used to it. And, for anyone who doesn't want to bend over at every negative emotion, you learn how to employ it as well. I know how cathartic it can be."