"Ok, youve been in a pissy mood all day. Lets go for a drink and talk." Tina was taking off her apron, and throwing it into the laundry bag. 

Kurt leaned back in his office chair, stretching his back. He'd been hiding in the back office as much as he could. Luckily, it wasn't too busy in the store today, or Tina would have bugged him earlier. 

Kurt got up and grabbed his messenger bag. “Are you sure Mandy can handle it for a bit?” 

“Yeah, there's only a couple people in the café, lingering over their beverages. One lady in the bookstore.” Tina pulled on her coat, and grabbed her purse. 

They walked over to the pub one block over. It was a weekday afternoon, so they had the place mostly to themselves. Soon, they had their drinks and Tina was giving Kurt her full attention.

Kurt rolled his eyes, embarrassed. "You know that guy who youve been teasing me about? The stalker?"

Tina smirked. "Blaine, Mr. Try-Everything-on-the-Menu guy." She nodded. 

"His name is Blaine?" Kurt rolled his eyes again. "Well, he showed up at the book club last night."

Tina laughed. "Hes stepping things up. You are in his sights!" She mimicked shooting him with her fingers. 

Kurt sighed. "Where are all the cute gay men you promised me? This is San Francisco for fucking sake! I must have pissed off some ancient god, if Blaine is the only thing coming my way."

Tina shrugged her shoulders. “I think hes cute, in a preppy, earnest kind of way. “ 

"You are quite welcome to him." Kurt scrunched up his face in disgust. "So, hes at the book club, and hes giving me creepy looks half the time. Hardly participates in the discussion at all, and when Marie asked him something, he gave this super vague answer. He totally didnt read the book. So I went up to him after and told him that."

"Kurt!" Tina laughed. "You went to one of our regular customers and told him... what exactly?"

"That he didnt read the book and was a big Faker." Kurt laughed as he took a sip of his drink, enjoying Tina's look of shock.

Tina shook her head. "Oh Kurt. I cant believe you sometimes. Did anyone else hear that?"

"No, it wasnt like I jumped up during the book club, pointed my finger at him and tried to get the group to shun him or burn him at the stake." Kurt chuckled. "I went up to him once everyone had walked off. Nobody else heard anything."

"Seriously Kurt, whats this all about?" Tina gave him a look, deep into his eyes. This was Tina. Theyd known each other through some pretty crazy times. 

Kurt sighed, folding the paper napkin into little squares. "He just comes across as a pompous ass. Like hes some corporate suit. I dont know why hes suddenly set his sights on me, but it creeps me out."

"Ahhhh... So you were a shit to him to dissuade his attentions? It wasnt that he offended your…intellectual... honor? If thats what youd call it?"

Kurt took a deep breath. "Yeah, it was part of it, maybe."

Tina took a long drink, looking at her friend. "I dont want to stir up old issues, but do you think this is some old unresolved stuff maybe, popping up it's evil head?"

Kurt gave her a steady look. He knew what Tina was tiptoeing around. Hunter. Really? After all this time? Was it spilling over and casting shadows on how he was acting now? Still?

Kurt sighed, putting his empty drink down. "Maybe, Tina. Ill think about it."

He got up, throwing down a few bills. "Thanks for being my shrink, Tina." He leaned over, giving her a tight hug, which she returned gladly. They had been through a lot, and she was way more than just a business partner. She was truly his best friend.

Kurt headed back to the store alone, as Tina was heading home now. It was a quiet night, and it was nice to leave the customers to Mandy to deal with as he handled some paperwork in the back, and then doing some stocking. Anything to keep his brain or body busy. Distracted.

---
‘….the enraged Athena transformed Medusas beautiful hair to serpents and made her face so terrible to behold that the mere sight of it would turn onlookers to stone…'

Kurt looked up from his book, looking around for what had distracted him. His eyes were drawn to the line for the café, landing on Blaine, who was looking his way. 

Sighing, Kurt looked back down at his book, picking up where he left off. If only he had Medusa's power at times. But then again, maybe it would be more useful to have the invisibility cap in the legend of Perseus. Kurt would happily be invisible at times like this. 

Blaine had continued to come in for his morning coffees, but he no longer was sitting in the café to drink his beverage du jour, pretending he wasn't staring at Kurt. For that, Kurt was relieved. But Blaine would still look towards Kurt at times. But worse was that Kurt felt it. He was aware of it. A tingle that always cut through his concentration. 

Usually Kurt would ignore it, refusing to look up and meet his glance. But sometimes, his glance flicked up, before he could think and stop himself, and their gaze would meet. And Blaine would look away before Kurt could read his expression.

But it screwed up his concentration every time it happened. It left him feeling unsettled.

---

“So, what's the tip challenge today?” Kurt pulled up a stool, behind the café counter, looking over as Tina chopped up vegetables. It was early afternoon, after the lunch rush, and she always prepped the ingredients for the next day's soup at that time.

Tina looked over, smiling. “Puppies vs. Kittens. Any guesses how it's going so far?” 

Looking up at the ceiling, Kurt thought for a second. “Hmmmm…, I'd say puppies would win normally, but our clientele has a higher percentage of women than the general population. So I think it's 60% for kittens.”

“But maybe the puppy people gave bigger tips than the kitten people, swinging it to their side.” Tina laughed, scooping the cut vegetables into a plastic tub and snapping the lid on. She tucked it into the fridge, and wiped down the counter.

“Are you saying its like the ‘Star Wars vs. Star Trek' challenge? Trek winning because those tippers gave more per tip?” Kurt smiled. 

The tip challenge was another one of Tina's fun ideas that made Fitzpatrick's different than their big name competitors. Every day, she put out two glass jars, each with it's own label, and let people vote with their tips. It triggered a lot of fun debates with the customers, and Tina would post the results the next day on her menu board. Sometimes she would do something seasonal, like The Scrooge vs. The Grinch. Or music-related, like Katy Perry vs. Lady Gaga. Anything was fair game.

Tina checked on the oven, and then pulled out the cookies. Grabbing a flipper, she moved them over to the cooling rack. “Well, right now puppies are winning, but we have the mystery book club tonight. I'd say they are mostly ardent cat lovers.” 

“Care to make it interesting?” Kurt leaned over and grabbed a cookie with a broken edge. It was still very hot, almost burning his fingers, but he couldn't resist taking a little bite, savouring the melted chocolate. He moaned around his full mouth. “Mmmmmm so good, as always, Tina.”

She nodded, pleased. Although most of the baked goods she sold in the café were from an outside bakery, she made a dessert after lunch every day. The smell of brownies, cake or cookies spread throughout the whole shop, and brought a lot of people in for a fresh baked afternoon coffee treat. It made the store feel more homey, inviting.

“I'll take kittens. And if I win, you take out my garbage for a week.” Tina moved all the dirty dishes to the big sink, letting them soak a bit. 

Kurt held out his hand. “OK, and if puppies win, you sweep the sidewalk each morning.” 

Tina shook it. Grabbing the other stool, she sat down with a sigh, stretching her legs out in front of her body. She gave Kurt a sideways glance. “I'm surprised you didn't pick something like making me warn Blaine off. Or arranging for him to be shanghaied.” 

“Do people still do that? Is there a number you can call? ‘Hello, Shanghaiing or Us? Yes, would you please come by and pick up my stalker?'” Kurt said drily.

She nudged his shoulder. “Come on, now. Weren't you a bit surprised that he kept coming here for coffee after your rude behaviour?”

Kurt sighed. “A little, but obviously he comes for your great service and coffees, not for the eye candy.” He waved a dismissive hand down his body.

“I'm not so sure about that. I've noticed he spends a lot of time in line looking your way.” Tina just loved bugging Kurt. And the topic of Blaine was just too good to let go, because Kurt wasn't as indifferent as he pretended to be. 

___

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

-Perseus killing Medusa scene in 2010 movie Clash of the Titans clip here.