When they finally arrived at the chemistry lab, everyone else seemed to be there already. Of course all eyes turned to Kurt as he was led in by Blaine, who still had a grip on his wrist. Kurt wanted to tell him to let go so maybe the others would stop staring at the same time that he wanted to twist his hand around and link their fingers with each other. The thought caused him to blush even more and his ears and tail to give another nervous twitch. Which, of course, since everybody's attention was on him already, caused them to look at exactly the parts of him Kurt wanted people to notice the least. As if on cue the whispering started before he'd even taken his seat next to Blaine in one of the front rows.

General nervousness mingled with memories of his old school and Kurt's tail swished behind him threateningly. That was one of the many reasons Kurt hated sitting in the front rows. It put his more abnormal parts on show when all he wanted was for no one to notice that he wasn't completely human, for everyone to see him for the person he was, not his physique.

He hadn't even noticed that his ears were laid back and pressed to his head until a careful touch to the left one almost made him jump in his chair. He spun around in record time, hiss ready to escape, when he was faced with Blaine's shocked, guilty expression.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Kurt! I didn't mean to startle you or make you feel uncomfortable! They just looked so tense...," he stammered, eyes wide and looking so genuinely sorry Kurt couldn't possibly be mad at him.

"It's fine," he sighed. "People do that all the time. Just please don't?"

"Of- of course not, Kurt! I'll behave myself, I swear!" Blaine hurried to say, almost stumbling over his own words. Gone was the confident, flirty boy that had led him through the ‘shortcut' only minutes ago. Kurt had to admit that he liked the stumbling, a little insecure Blaine even better. Chuckling to himself, Kurt offered him a reassuring smile before focusing his attention to the front of the room, waiting for their teacher to finally arrive and simultaneously trying to shut out the mumbling and whispering all around him.

It wasn't long before he caught Blaine fidgeting on his chair next to him out of the corner of his eye. He caught him sending curious looks his way when he thought Kurt wasn't noticing and after playing that game for five minutes, Kurt was fed up with it. This boy was going to be his roommate for a while, after all, so better get it all out now.

"What is it, Blaine?" he asked quietly and in his best disinterested monotone. With an internal sigh of exasperation he braced himself for the usual insensitive questions. Usually, people assumed that just because he had cat ears and a tail they were allowed to ask about every part of his anatomy, no matter how private.

"I- I was just wondering... When you said people do that all the time... What did you mean by that?" he mumbled, so quietly even Kurt's enhanced hearing barely caught the words in the middle of all the background noise.

"Oh, that? Well, most people I've met seem to think that just because I'm part cat they can treat me like they would treat a pet. I don't even know how many times someone, even complete strangers, tried to pat my head or scratch behind my ears or even touch my tail without even asking for permission," Kurt spit out, surprised by his own bitterness. Usually, he was very good at suppressing all the negative emotions and experiences that came with his... condition, for lack of a better word. But Blaine had wanted to know and Kurt was not going to spare him the truth if they were going to live in the same room for the next few months at least.

"I'm so sorry, Kurt," Blaine said quietly, leaning more toward Kurt so the rest of the classroom wouldn't be in on their conversation. "I swear I didn't mean to make you feel like you're not really human. It's just... like I said, they looked so tense and I didn't even think about it, like when I put a hand on a friend's shoulder when they look very tense. I'm sorry." He still looked so guilty about it Kurt couldn't help but put a soothing hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Blaine. I believe you that you didn't mean it like that."

They smiled at each other for a bit, their teacher still notably absent, before Blaine averted his eyes and started getting fidgety again.

"What is it this time, Blaine?" Kurt whispered in his direction, incredibly amused by Blaine's antics.

"I-" Blaine interrupted himself and took a deep breath. "I hope this is not too personal and if it is you totally don't have to answer but... do you generally not like it?"

Kurt shot him a confused look. "Do I generally not like what?"

"Having someone touch your ears. Is it just because people are being insolent or do you really not like it?" Blaine asked, his eyes following the twitch in Kurt's ears.

"If it's someone I trust I like it. But we're talking an insane amount of trust here, Blaine. You'd have to mess up my hair to scratch behind them and that's not something I let just anyone do," Kurt chirped, smirking at Blaine. It was only when Blaine's responding chuckle sounded in his ears that Kurt became aware of what he'd just done. Had he seriously just flirted with Blaine? Jeez, what was wrong with him today? Was that really the same Kurt Hummel who hadn't dared looking up from the floor for more than five minutes only a few days ago at his old school? The same Kurt that had hid under the table and hissed at his father that very morning?

When Blaine smiled at him and conspiratorially leaned in every few minutes after their elderly teacher had finally graced them with his presence fifteen minutes late, Kurt decided that he liked that new, unknown side of himself. Hazel locked with glasz, another exchange of smiles - yes, in fact, he liked it very much so far.