The Form of Things Unknown

You Again Summary:  As the threads of the multiverse unravel, Loki, Mobius and B-15 just want to find each other again. Trouble is, how? Loki got sent back to a very different TVA, and has to start over with a new Mobius, while Mobius and B-15 have no idea what their Lokis really did in the Void—or where they even are, for that matter. And Sylvie? Finally out of plans, she’s starting to recognize another void: the rather aching one in her own, empty heart.

A Getting-the-Band-Back-Together story, but everyone’s got to get their acts together first.

On to Chapter 9, at long last! Another 5,000 words for you, and we’ve cleared 25,000 words for the story so far :) Now we get back to Sylvie, who’d ended up in a version of Asgard with a younger Loki . . . 

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Chapter 9: Manifesting Chaos

Summary: The universe wants to break free.

The trouble is, Loki’s knowledge of magic is far better than hers. 

All other things being equal, Sylvie’s pretty sure she’s faster—and years of being alone, away from palaces and pampering, have made her far more brutal, she thinks. At least compared to what this Loki seems to be like. 

So, she slams him hard enough against the wall for his head to make contact; as he slumps to the floor, momentarily stunned, she quickly pins him with her body. “Just let me explain,” she starts, but she sees his furious, frantic eyes shift toward determination, right before she notices a ghostly double of himself sit upright and begin to get itself off the floor. Oh, he’s quick! “Truly sorry about this,” she says, nearly panicking, before grabbing his shoulder to enchant him again. 

This time, she’s got to go in, if she can, like she’d done with that Hunter. How else is she going to get him to listen to her? 

Besides, she already knows, doesn’t she, that if the tables were turned, she’d be in no mood to listen, either. Isn’t that almost exactly how she’d behaved in that trailer on Lamentis-1, right after Loki had used the TemPad to send them there? She’d been in an absolute rage at having her plans derailed, and being caught off guard had made her even more furious. Surprises are maddening, really, when you think of yourself as someone who excels at observing and manipulating. Surprises are a slap in the face. An insult. 

So, yes, she understands perfectly.   

On to Chapter 8 of my Loki fic, You Again. Another 5,000 words for you :) We pick up with Mobius and B-15 . . . after they’d pruned themselves to get to the Void. 

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Chapter 8: Little King

Summary: You throw a rock out here, you hit a Loki.

Lying on his back, Mobius feels the prickle of drying grass blades against his skin. It takes a moment to pull his thoughts together, as if he’s waking from a bizarre dream. When he finally opens his eyes, he sees the same cloudy, mottled sky he’d found the last time he was in the Void—but it’s got a greenish cast to it now. He turns his head and reaches a hand out toward B-15, whose eyes are blinking in the dim light. Before he actually grasps her arm, though, he registers the unexpected noise of the place.

He props himself up on his elbows to get a look at the terrain of the cosmic dumping ground they’ve landed in, and realizes how thankful he is that he and B-15 arrived here, atop a small, empty hill. That’s because out beyond, he finally sees what all the noise is about: there are loads of people here, for one. Other beings, too. And whereas before the landscape had been mostly barren, now it’s cluttered with a wider assortment of structures and vehicles. It’s a real hodgepodge: he spies an elementary school complete with a playground that’s wrecked and bent, an alien outpost of some sort, and an inexplicably muddy football field. Some of the beings—perhaps the more clever ones—seem to be scrambling over the debris, searching through rubble. He sees one woman using a metal rod to pry open a dented door of a structure; presumably, she’s looking for food. Or maybe medical supplies, judging by the gash on her shoulder. Farther off, he sees a group of humans desperately (and hopelessly, Mobius thinks) fist-fighting a few Kree.

“Is that what I think it is?” asks B-15, who’s leaning forward as she sits, pointing beyond the mess at the bottom of the hill.

Mobius sits up fully, and views the first bit of real data, at last, regarding the whereabouts of the Lokis. He feels justified now for convincing B-15 to come here. It’s the cloud monster, Alioth, only it’s frozen, or nearly so—puffs of what look like green ash slowly circulate in the air, but the monster doesn’t seem awake in Mobius’ view.

So, he deduces, Sylvie actually did it. He smiles fondly, remembering how cocky she’d been when she’d first revealed that plan. Remembers that ridiculous, flabbergasted expression on Loki’s face afterwards.  

On to Chapter 7 of my Loki fic, You Again. Goodness, this chapter is 4,300 words! But we’re back with Our Loki, who has just accosted a variant of his mother . . . No surprise he’d be curious about her. 

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Chapter 7: Not a Pussycat

Summary: She was good. Purely decent.

She’s not your mother. She’s not, Loki reminds himself. 

And really, she isn’t. He abhors looking into her eyes right now, in fact, not only because of the murderous gaze he sees behind them, but because of the total lack of recognition he finds. It hurts. One thing he could always count on from his mother was her regard, her kindness. But to see that face and have it look so vacantly back at him—after a year under Thanos’ thumb no less, and the madness of his time since then, including the recent knowledge that his Frigga is gone, ascended to the stars . . . He can’t stop himself from biting his lip and shaking his head. He can’t stop his own vision from blurring.

It’s too much. 

One of the Hunters is addressing Mobius, and Loki has already missed most of what she had to say. “. . . not a variant. If we don’t figure out how she got here—“

Mobius raises his hand. “I’ve got it. Have a few of your men bring her inside,” he says, angling his head toward the Time Theatre behind him. He pauses to draw out his TemPad, fiddling with it for a moment. “There,” he says to the Hunter, nodding. “Should be a nice Cell waiting for her. After she’s inside, report to Hunter B-15. Take her to where you found Frigg and see what you two can figure out about how she got in. And get word to Him. He should know that someone’s found a way inside the TVA who’s not supposed to be here.” 

With his last comment, Mobius steals a glance at Loki, his eyes betraying mild amusement, but the agent’s expression quickly turns to concern as he does a double take. Clearly, Loki’s not doing a good enough job of controlling his own countenance. Understandable, that. 

On to Chapter 6 of my Loki fic, You Again. Time to find out what happened to Sylvie after she left the Citadel! 

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Chapter 6: Over the Rainbow

Summary: I remember Asgard. 

Seriously. What had she been thinking?

She stands in the middle of a room—her room, it seems. She looks down at the smooth stone floor. It’s empty now, but Sylvie still remembers the toy ship, the tiny, carved Fenris. She crouches down, reaching out a tentative hand. The stone steps are cool and smooth. Familiar. She’d been immersed in her stories that morning. Smiling, she recalls how she’d loved her little playacting. All the heroic tales she’d acted out right here on these steps as a child. Glancing over her shoulder, she sees the very door that Renslayer had charged through that day, an A-23 emblazoned in her Minutemen helmet, with accusations her younger self had no means of even comprehending. She’d been terrified, utterly. And not so long after, utterly alone.

But how can she even be here of all places? How is that literally possible? Knowing what she does now about the inner workings of the TVA, her entire timeline would’ve been fed to Alioth, wouldn’t it have? Of course, as a child, she hadn’t understood that, she recalls ruefully. How many times had she tried to figure a way back to Asgard, only to fail? She’d given up entirely not long after, since she’d never once made it past the Observatory. Almost immediately, the Minutemen would appear out of nowhere, and for years, it was that monster, Renslayer herself, who’d walk through the Time Door right after them, looking for her. What power had they’d thought she even had—as a child? Ridiculous.

Even now, having lived for centuries, she’s hard pressed to see what was so threatening about her very existence that it needed to be wiped out. Sure, she’d just killed the Timekeeper himself not more than an hour or so ago, but so what? It’s not like he was surprised.

And yet, she’s here, somehow. She speculates whether the crossed timelines have something to do with it. But what, exactly, should she do about it?

On to Chapter 5 of my Loki fic, You Again. We’re almost 9,000 words in, and this chapter brings us back to Mobius and B-15! I love this chapter a lot.

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Chapter 5: A Soft Spot for Broken Things

Summary: At the time, I really believed we were one of the good guys.

“You want to what?” asks B-15, and Mobius is sure he detects an undercurrent of contempt in her voice. 

“I know it sounds unorthodox,” Mobius starts. They sit across from each other in the cafeteria, where there is currently a flurry of activity: above the crinkle of plastic wrappers and the clink of cutlery is the murmur of conversation. All the activity of these last few hours is making people hungry—for companionship as much as food. 

“No,” she interrupts. “Just idiotic.”

“But I thought you liked them?” asks Mobius, tilting his head back to get the last sip of Josta.

“That doesn’t mean I want to prune myself to save one that should have been eliminated. One I know nothing about. And for what, Mobius?” 

He watches the way she makes a fist around her fork. She glances down at her hand, then loosens her grip before placing the utensil on the table. It occurs to Mobius that he’s never really seen B-15 angry. Before the Great Chaos (which is what he’s decided to call the events triggered by whatever the Lokis did) they’d had a more formal relationship. Professional. Now, either she’s lost respect for him, or she thinks of them more as friends. He honestly can’t tell. Granted, what he’s asking would’ve sounded bizarre to him not so long ago. 

The thing is, he feels sorry for the kid. 

He’s not even sure the boy had survived whatever Loki and Sylvie had done. The elder Loki seemed adamant about staying, but what kind of life was that for the kid, with only the old man and a croc for companions? Annihilating whole realities, orphaning little girls. Classic hero stuff. It bothers him, now. And he’s keenly aware that dispensing with Lokis didn’t faze him before. And isn’t that something for him to chew on? Still holding the tin can in his hands, he pushes on it with his thumb, just enough so that the resulting dent makes a metallic pop. 

Here’s Chapter 4 of my Loki fic, You Again, where we pick back up with Loki, who’s trying to understand this new TVA he finds himself in . . .

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Chapter 4: The Primeline Summary: We have a saying on Asgard: “Where there are wolves’ ears, wolves’ teeth are near.”

When Loki and Mobius enter the Time Theatre, it looks identical to the other TVA’s: a bleak cave with a shock of orange at its center. Loki moves to take a seat in one of the uncomfortable metal chairs, as he has so often in his recent life, but Mobius walks silently behind him before making his way to the corner of the room, adjusting his TemPad as he does so.

“Mobius?” Loki takes a step back, unsure, and tracks the agent’s movements. “I thought you brought me here to talk?” he asks.

Mobius snaps the TemPad shut, then stuffs it into his jacket pocket. “I know,” he says, before gesturing vaguely toward the door. “But we’ve obviously got a situation out there that needs our attention, so, Agent—?” he prompts.

Loki pauses for just a moment, calculating, before interjecting, “Oh, of course: er, Loki. Agent Loki.” He nods and adds a faint smile, curious to see Mobius’ reaction to his name. He knows it’s a risk, to use his actual name—but he can’t help his own curiosity about this agent and his world. He trains his eyes on the other man’s, looking for any sort of recognition, but the name—a name, at least, Mobius should be familiar with in general here at the TVA—doesn’t seem to register. At all. It’s disconcerting, that. How has he not encountered even one variant of himself, when it had seemed rather commonplace before? It doesn’t make sense.

(read the rest on AO3)

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Summary: As the threads of the multiverse unravel, Loki, Mobius and B-15 just want to find each other again. Trouble is, how? Loki got sent back to a very different TVA, and has to start over with a new Mobius, while Mobius and B-15 have no idea what the Lokis did in the Void—or where they even are, for that matter. And Sylvie? Finally out of plans, she’s starting to recognize another void: the rather aching one in her own, empty heart.A Getting-the-Band-Back-Together story, but everyone’s got to get their acts together first.

Title: You Again (read on AO3)

Summary: As the threads of the multiverse unravel, Loki, Mobius and B-15 just want to find each other again. Trouble is, how? Loki got sent back to a very different TVA, and has to start over with a new Mobius, while Mobius and B-15 have no idea what the Lokis did in the Void—or where they even are, for that matter. And Sylvie? Finally out of plans, she’s starting to recognize another void: the rather aching one in her own, empty heart.A Getting-the-Band-Back-Together story, but everyone’s got to get their acts together first.

Characters: Loki & Sylvie, Loki & Mobius, B-15, Kid Loki, Alligator Loki, TVA agents, multiple Asgardians, Stephen Strange, Kang variants, Loki variants

Word Count: Over 20,000 (12 chapters)

Chapter 1: Who Remains Chapter 2: No Turning Back Now

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Chapter 3: Shit Plans Summary: See you soon.

Fuck. That about sums it up, Sylvie thinks, as she sits crumpled on the floor, wiping the last tears from her eyes.

Nearby, the corpse of a purple-robed clown leans forward awkwardly in the desk chair. Silent. Finally. She had been so sick of hearing words come out of that idiot’s mouth.

She sighs. Thinking of idiots and word-vomiting makes her think of Loki. She pushes the thought—and that wave of guilt rising quickly in her gut—to the side.

She’s got to.

Sylvie forces herself up off the floor. She steps over the golden sword Loki had dropped when he’d pleaded with her to stop fighting, then picks up her own blade from where she’d dropped it before kissing Loki goodbye. She sheathes the weapon, then takes a long look out the expansive windows of this Godsforsaken tower. She rolls her eyes—just a bit—as she remembers Loki’s nearly-panicked concern about the spidery veins of time reaching far beyond where they’d always been trapped by the TVA and their endless pruning. As she watches the web grow and weave in upon itself, she finds that she’s not necessarily bothered by it. Should she be? She honestly doesn’t know what to think. And truly, what other choice did she have? Why couldn’t he understand?

This is bigger than our experience.

No, Loki, she thinks. That’s just you wanting to play the hero. She remembers his ridiculous plan to kill Alioth, after all, and his desire to take down the TVA (emphasis on “desire”). And then what? is what she realizes she didn’t ask him enough. Because as much as he said he didn’t want a throne, in the final moments she couldn’t bring herself to actually believe it. Because if not for a throne, then what for? She sighs, again.

She’d need a lifetime just to psychoanalyze that moron. She shakes her head at the thought, biting her bottom lip to stop the smile that wants to bubble up.

Would that she’d had the time.

Title: You Again (read on AO3)

Summary: As the threads of the multiverse unravel, Loki, Mobius and B-15 just want to find each other again. Trouble is, how? Loki got sent back to a very different TVA, and has to start over with a new Mobius, while Mobius and B-15 have no idea what the Lokis did in the Void—or where they even are, for that matter. And Sylvie? Finally out of plans, she’s starting to recognize another void: the rather aching one in her own, empty heart.

A Getting-the-Band-Back-Together story, but everyone’s got to get their acts together first.

Characters: Loki & Sylvie, Loki & Mobius, B-15, Kid Loki, Alligator Loki, TVA agents, multiple Asgardians, Stephen Strange, Kang variants, Loki variants

Word Count: Over 20,000 (12 chapters)

Chapter 1: Who Remains

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Chapter 2: No Turning Back Now

Who said anything about turning back?

“Well,” Mobius says, still standing next to B-15 as they watch the jumble of timelines on the large monitor overhead, “I think we can safely say that they did something.” He pauses and sweeps his hand across his cheek. “I gotta admit,” he starts again. “It was easy to get wrapped up in all that chaos over in the Void. All those Lokis . . .” he nods in her direction. “Many there thanks to your diligence, B-15, I’m sure. But I guess we didn’t really talk about what we’d do after our Lokis made it past that angry cloud. Sure would like to know what happened.”

He hears a rather protracted sigh. A bit uncalled for, in Mobius’ opinion, but then again, they’re in unchartered territory right now. He steals a glance at B-15, and sure enough the loudness of that sigh matches up with the expression currently on her face. She doesn’t look his way; instead, she stays rather stoically fixed on the screen. 

Around them, the TVA is abuzz with activity. With Ravonna gone who-knows-where, there’s no one really calling the shots. But since this place always operated like a well-oiled machine, it’s not a surprise to see everyone simply continuing their work. Or at least trying to, under the current circumstances. 

“They had to have found who was responsible,” she says softly, still avoiding his eyes. She blinks and adds, “I hope they’re both okay.”

Summary: “Blaine has been like five different characters . . .” —Darren Criss. Ok, Darren, challenge accepted. Let’s do this. *cracks knuckles* All at once, Kurt is confronted with the many faces of Blaine. Literally. Set after 5x16, "Tested"

Characters: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel, Sam Evans, Dalton Blaine, Jukebox Blaine, Sad Blaine, Boxer Blaine, Nightbird 

Word Count: 4,563 (read on AO3)

Notes: I’d almost finished this . . . seven years ago. Feeling nostalgic, I’d looked through old files and found this piece, which I’d always loved but never finished. I finished it now and offer it up with so much Glee love :D 

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Kurt’s pretty much done with Matthew McConaughey.

And that’s because one morning, after taking the disgusting coconut water regiment Blaine had suggested, Kurt goes out for his morning run—just a quick four miles—and comes back feeling lightheaded, so much so that he crumples to his knees right in the middle of the kitchen, palms splayed on the floor, the room spinning.

He’s thankful no one is there to see it.

These days four miles should feel like nothing, given his physical condition. Probably, he’s just dehydrated. Except when he attempts to rise up on his knees again, warm morning sunlight streaming through the loft windows, he starts hallucinating.

At least, that’s what he thinks is happening.

Because what else would account for Blaine suddenly appearing, dressed in his crisp Dalton uniform?

Blaine’s sitting on the armrest of the couch, one leg crossed, his hands clasped around the knee. He’s just smiling at Kurt, who notes with curiosity the look in his boyfriend’s eyes—so happy, relaxed. It’s a look he hasn’t seen there, not to this degree, in a long while.

Blaine looks so young.

What the hell is going on? Kurt wonders, his knees finally starting to register the unforgiving hardness of the floor. “Blaine? You trying to tell me you want to role-play?” he asks, bemusedly. “Can I at least shower first?”

Title: You Again (read on AO3)

Summary: As the threads of the multiverse unravel, Loki, Mobius and B-15 just want to find each other again. Trouble is, how? Loki got sent back to a very different TVA, and has to start over with a new Mobius, while Mobius and B-15 have no idea what the Lokis did in the Void—or where they even are, for that matter. And Sylvie? Finally out of plans, she’s starting to recognize another void: the rather aching one in her own, empty heart. 

A Getting-the-Band-Back-Together story, but everyone’s got to get their acts together first. 

Characters: Loki & Sylvie, Loki & Mobius, B-15, Kid Loki, Alligator Loki, TVA agents, multiple Asgardians, Stephen Strange, Kang variants, Loki variants

Word Count: Over 20,000 (12 chapters)

This multi-chapter fic is nearly finished, with the majority of the chapters fully edited; I’ll be posting pretty regularly. First chapters are shorter/teasers; then we go for the deeper dives.

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Chapter 1: Who Remains

Take it easy. You’re an analyst, right?

It’s a lot to take in.

Heart racing, Loki scans the giant carved figure, his eyes lingering over the mysterious face, searching for any resemblance to the one he’d just left at the citadel. Terrifying, he’d said to Mobius just a moment ago. He blinks at the particular way he’d characterized the man—terrifying—instead of downplaying it like he normally would. Concealing it.

He’s aware of movement behind him, even if he’s finding it a bit difficult (since he’s bent on being honest) to pull himself together. Nonetheless he hadn’t missed Hunter B-15’s call for backup; he can hear now the rustling of fabric and coordinated tread of boots as a small group of Minutemen trot in pairs through the Archives, presumably for him.

He takes it all in, even as his mind works to rapidly determine what precisely has changed. As he’d run up to Mobius minutes ago, he’d overheard B-15 asking the agent whether He expected them to simply let the branches redline. Not Renslayer, not Them: just He. That was before Loki realized what else was different here: in place of time lizards immortalized in statues, only a solitary, solemn figure looms before him. Now, as Loki gazes at the stone giant’s blank eyes, he wonders what else is different about this TVA while simultaneously concocting a plan to survive the next moments of his life.

That, at least, is familiar.

Summary: Inspired by this post. Joy and Sadness are locked away for a lot of Loki’s recent life. An InsideOut/Loki fusion, starting with the moment when Loki picks up the Tesseract in 2012.

Characters: Headquarters team, Loki, Mobius, Sylvie

Word Count: 2,587 (read on AO3) 

Joy sits on the floor of Headquarters, her back against the bars of the cage she’d been relegated to—since how long ago? She doesn’t even know anymore.

Not that Loki needs her. He hasn’t for years.

When Anger and Disgust locked her up the way they did, they at least offered her two courtesies: one, they let her remain in Headquarters, so from a distance, at least, she could see Loki’s life unfold on screen. In practice, though, it’s less a courtesy and more a punishment. Take today, for instance; Joy knows it will be some time before she’ll forget the sight of Loki’s reflection off the glass at the top of Stark Tower—his eyes somehow full of both ferocity and pain. And beneath that, fear.

Still, she watches. She can’t not.

The second courtesy she was granted was to be allowed a single memory orb. She holds the yellow sphere in her hand, then tosses it before catching it again, the images inside spinning as she does. It’s a Core Memory—or was. Grasping the orb, she rubs her thumb across its smooth curves and watches her darling, just a child, as he sat along the water’s edge next to Frigga, watches Loki’s amazement at himself as he conjured a tiny firework above the rippling waves. You can do anything, Frigga had told him, and at that moment, the orb had rolled down to take a place in his Core Memories set. Joy had been so proud. That memory had launched Magic Island, and the entire Headquarters team had celebrated.

So much has changed—the five Core orbs are now a blend of red, green and purple, the old Islands long gone and replaced by new, worrisome ones. She lets out a long sigh.

Joy leans her head back, the orb still in her hands, and glances at the oval screen above the control center. She watches Loki toy with his chains and get muzzled by Thor, as he waits to be brought back to Asgard. Odin, she assumes, will not be happy to see his son return. Sadness would have a lifetime of work ahead of her with that—if she wasn’t currently holed up in a closet. At least Joy is allowed a spot right on the main floor of Headquarters.

Disgust levels a glance her way. “Ugh, he was so close! He would have been happy finally—we probably would’ve let you out again,” she offers.

“Hmm,” Joy says, still gazing at the orb. “I think I gave up on that possibility a long time ago.”

“Of what?” asks Disgust, curious. “Of him being happy—no thanks to you—or you being let out?”

Joy pauses, her head still resting against her cage. “Both,” she says. “Also, you’re wrong.”

“About what, smartypants?” croaks Anger, folding his arms in front of his chest.

“You actually think winning this battle would have made him happy?” she asks, trying to not let too much contempt creep into her voice. “Relieved. Relieved is the word you’re looking for.”

Disgust shakes her head, turns back to the control center. Anger glares at her a moment before doing the same.

Joy leans back and simply closes her eyes.

Summary: Pam Anderson wasn't expecting her son to get married. But then again, she wasn't expecting a lot of things. 6x08 reaction fic. 

Characters: Pam Anderson, Carol Hudson-Hummel (sort-of background Blaine, Kurt, and Puck)

Word Count: 1,102 (read on AO3) 

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It’s when she hears him say his vows, when she sees his lips move as they form the words, I honestly never thought I would find real love. It’s that comment in particular that causes a tightening in her chest, a rolling of her insides.

Because what does it mean when your own son admits that to the world?

Her sit bones press against her plastic seat as she glances up, past the glowing lights and toward the rafters of the barn. She knows what his words mean, she remembers how it was for him, a boy whose every friend had a date to the dance. Just not him. “How am I supposed to even find a date?” he’d asked her, and she knew his heart—knew already that what he really wondered was, how am I supposed to find my true love?

Miraculously, he did find a date.

Miraculous, and unfortunate. Her eyes well up at the thought of it, and it hits her that the pain her son had experienced that night eventually led him to Kurt. She smiles through her tears as she sees Kurt place the ring on Blaine’s hand, sees the way Blaine seems to marvel at the ring finally (suddenly!) there on his finger.

Series Title: Very Married

Summary: Written for Klaine Advent 2014. Snippets from the lives of mid-40’s Klaine. Because, why not? 

Word Count: 407

Catch Up if You Missed Them: Ache, Balance, Cloud, Dessert, Evening, Fall

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Spidey Sense

“Look, Kurt,” says Blaine. “There just isn’t any way to do this gracefully.”

“I refuse to give—" insists Kurt, before several coins fall from his pockets. They hit the theatre floor with a quick succession of jingles and plinks.

Kurt’s upside down, dangling a few feet above Blaine. Even though it’s just the two of them in the quiet space, Kurt can feel his cheeks burn with embarrassment as he tries to keep his body from spinning in the malfunctioning harness. 

Somehow this all seemed easier years ago.

Then again, years ago he’d never imagined he’d one day direct a revival of this God-awful Spiderman musical.

What was he thinking?

“You know,” says Blaine, who’s now walking a ladder across the stage. “I kind of like you like this.”

“Hmm,” is Kurt’s noncommittal response. Irked, he jabs back, “Did anyone ever tell you how tiny you look from this angle?”

Blaine’s quiet as he sets up the ladder. “You’re lucky you didn’t fall,” he says, climbing. “And I’m not sure about safely getting you down, like this. What’s the plan, exactly?” 

Kurt crosses his arms. “The plan is ruined!” he says, melodramatically. He is excited about this musical, about the prospect of doing it and making it actually work, in spite of its horrible history.

The truth is, he’s running out of musicals involving harnesses. 

This one’s starting to make him nervous, though. His quick showcase to Blaine this morning, of how he was envisioning some of the stunts—to be simplified, of course, for his community troupe—seemed a little foreboding, to say the least. 

It takes Kurt a moment to realize Blaine’s still waiting there on the ladder. “What?” asks Kurt, with a bit more acid than he means.

“Nothing,” says Blaine. “Just letting you think.” But Blaine’s gaze is soft and wanting, as he reaches out gently to grasp the back of Kurt’s head. 

“Jesus, be careful.” It’s so damn easy to forget where they are. “Don’t fall!”

“We can’t not do this,” says Blaine, leaning in for the inverted kiss. He pulls away briefly to add, “Honestly, it’s the only reason to do the musical at all.” 

This time, Kurt reaches for Blaine, careful not to tug. How he’d love to flick his wrist and spin a safety net below them, a glimmering, tensile web. 

Series Title: Very Married

Summary: Written for Klaine Advent 2014. Snippets from the lives of mid-40’s Klaine. Because, why not? 

Word Count: 272

Catch Up if You Missed Them: Ache, Balance, Cloud, Dessert, Evening

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The In-between

It was bound to happen, sooner or later, with the recent rainstorm that turned every walkway into a sheet of ice. 

Standing outside the hospital waiting room, Kurt wonders, when did their parents become children again? He checks his phone briefly, then texts his own kids: Gram Crackers fell on the ice, he writes. Pop will be waiting for you at home after school. He sees Blaine approaching from the corner of his eye, so he adds quickly, She’s fine—just a little unnerved, even though that last comment is more about Kurt than Blaine’s seventy-year-old mother.

Because she really isn’t okay, and Blaine’s face is awash with worry. 

“She broke her hip,” he says, before burrowing himself into Kurt’s open arms. Blaine adds, muffled, “She’s wondering where you were.”

“Tell her I was just texting the kids,” he says, one hand resting atop Blaine’s head. 

But really he’s just buying time. He’s not ready for this. 

Blaine lifts his head, and Kurt can tell he’s not ready either. It’s only been a couple of years since Blaine’s dad passed; his mother’s decline has been rapid. “She’s waiting for us,” Blaine says. Clearly sensing Kurt’s mood, he adds, “She’s of surprising good humor about the whole thing. I don’t know how.” Then he draws back from Kurt and squeezes his hand, before heading back down the hallway. 

Kurt glances out the window, where it’s raining again—or is it snowing? It’s neither one nor the other at the moment. It’s simply cold. That much, at least, Kurt knows, as he turns to follow his husband.

Series Title: Very Married

Summary: Written for Klaine Advent 2014. Snippets from the lives of mid-40’s Klaine. Because, why not? 

Word Count: 370

Catch Up if You Missed Them: Ache, Balance, Cloud, Dessert

—————

Contact

It’s late in the evening on a Saturday, and Blaine’s already buried deep under the covers by the time Kurt enters the room. Blaine’s bone tired and not ready for Sunday’s errands—he’ll have lesson plans to prep for Monday, and there’ll be a full laundry room and empty fridge to deal with, too. 

He’s half asleep when he feels the rustling of the covers next to him as Kurt settles in.

There’s a lot of rustling.

“What are you doing?” mumbles Blaine, his face half pressed into the pillow.

“It’s freezing in here!” replies Kurt, who’s busy lifting his legs so he can arrange the blankets beneath his limbs. “I’m making my cocoon.” 

There’s no argument from Blaine regarding the temperatures, which have finally hit below zero for the first time this season. It’s funny, Blaine thinks, drifting off, how much of their lives go on without any real connection to things like seasons. They get their strawberries no matter what, even if they taste less-good for a while. But when the air dips the way it did today, so suddenly, it’s like . . . Armageddon. Well, it is if Armageddon involves frantically searching the house for a lost mitten and matching scarf, or watching in horror as both kids try their old winter coats on, only to find that the sleeves are several inches shorter than they should be. As he lies there in bed, Blaine keeps remembering the look on Kurt’s face at the sight of William and Audrey.

Flabbergasted. That’s what it was. Blaine smiles.

“Wait,” says Kurt, finally, in the dark. “Why am I making a cocoon? I have you.” 

“Come ‘ere,” says Blaine without actually moving at all, as he’s beginning to nod off again. 

There’s more rustling as Kurt nudges his body closer to Blaine’s, bringing welcome additional heat beneath the covers. “Better,” Kurt says, resting a hand on Blaine’s hip.

They lie there in the dark, ready to rest, but Blaine can already hear Kurt’s breathing start to change—not with sleep, but arousal. 

All it takes is a touch—a thumb, gently rubbing Blaine’s hip—and Blaine’s soon pushing Sunday from his mind. 

And sleep. 

And, well, Armageddon. 

Series Title: Very Married

Summary: Written for Klaine Advent 2014. Snippets from the lives of mid-40’s Klaine. Because, why not? 

Word Count: 434

Catch Up if You Missed Them: Ache, Balance, Cloud

----------

Life Goes On

In the restaurant, Blaine scrapes his fork through the chunk of cheesecake still on his plate. As usual, he can’t finish it.

“Quit playing with that and hand it over,” says Kurt, reaching across the table. Blaine barely removes his fork fast enough for Kurt, who drags the plate over to his side. “The dessert doesn’t go home,” he says, stabbing his own fork into the cake. “The dessert never goes home.” 

Blaine laughs. “This was nice,” he says, cupping his chin with one hand, his elbow resting now on the table. “We should do this more often,” he says, pensively. Sometimes it feels like they’ve simply lost time—lost a whole decade, even. To careers and kids. Juggling all of that seemed much simpler, in theory. In reality, their lives have taken quite different paths from what they’d imagined when they were still McKinley kids. 

Kurt nods. “I know,” he says, taking a bite. “Don’t you think it’s going to get easier for us, though? In a couple of years?” 

Blaine reaches across the table to wipe a smudge of whipped cream from Kurt’s lip. Kurt leans in for it. “But then we’ll be sad,” Blaine says, licking his thumb. “A couple of years after that and we’ll be official empty nesters.”

“Ugh,” says Kurt, folding his napkin and placing it on the table. “I hate that phrase. Although,” he adds, “I’m definitely experiencing some 80’s sitcom nostalgia now, thanks to you.”

They stand and grab their coats, and as they head for the door Blaine asks, “Is it wrong that I know this?” before softly singing Empty Nest’s lyrics. He can’t quite remember the melody, so he wings it a bit—just as they have always done. 

Rain or shine, I'll be the one, to share it all as life goes on. 

We share it all, as life goes on.

Kurt’s singing, too, by the time they get outside. “It’s horrible that we know anything about that show,” he says. 

“I guess,” says Blaine. “My parents watched it. I liked the dog. I have fond memories of that dog.”

He and Kurt exchange glances, then begin walking toward the car.

“He was a widower,” Kurt says. “I remember that much. He was a dad whose kids came back to him, because he was alone.” 

Blaine reaches for Kurt’s hand and gives it a squeeze before reaching for the keys. “Well, we can only hope William and Audrey come back to us someday,” he says, smiling.