~*~ Chapter Nine ~*~

Bill No. Eight calls for new victims

Daly City, California, the sun casts shadows on the introspective market place of a suburb. Today everything seems peaceful here, no sign of the loud and aggressive protests that have taken place not even twenty-four hours ago. Only hours after the announcement that Bill Number Eight has passed yet another station of its critical path, streets and public places were flooded with hybrid-opponents. The police was unable to keep control over the situation, when the number of protestants increased with the hour and during several riots an overall of eight people suffered minor injuries.

As past experiences have shown the public wrath is not estimated to last longer than a few days, but until then Jason and Lilian Honower have called for a counter-movement.

"We expect over ten thousand [hybrid] supporters all around the globe to take part in the planned demonstrations against the injustice that holds our society in a death grip."

This evening starting from six p.m. hybrid campaigners all over the world are invited to join the protestants. "It [the demonstration] will start in front of every local hybrid office and yes – even though most people tend to overlook them, every community is obligated to have one," said Honower during a recent interview with the Washington Post. His goal is clear: Bill No. Eight has to make it past the committee, so it can be presented to the two chambers and elected on in the following week.

Until then, be prepared to stay updated when supporters and opponents will collide in merely five hours.

~*~

Blaine had overslept. He never overslept. Not since his first day of elementary school when his brother had thought it necessary to wake him by slapping an ice-cold washcloth right into his face. But he had been incredibly exhausted the day before, having barely gotten any sleep on saturday night due to an extended video games tournament in Wes' dorm room and it had already been late afternoon on sunday when realization struck that his biology essay was due tomorrow and he had barely outlined his topic yet. As anyone could have predicted the day ended with him asleep on his desk at about midnight the half-finished essay - mostly a patchwork made of copied sentences from various textbooks - used as a pillow.

That was why Monday morning found Blaine, ten minutes before the start of his classes with one leg in his pants, toothbrush in his mouth trying to gel his hair with the one hand, while the other was lost in a tangle of dress shirt, blazer and tie. Five minutes later he was rushing out of his dorm, tie slung over his shoulder, stuffing his shirt into his trouser with both hands, only to turn around after ten steps and run back because he had forgotten his schoolbag. After exiting his room a second time, he promptly ran into Wes and David, sending books and pens all over the floor.

Blaine heaved a deep sigh. This promised to be one of those days.

"Why are you running so fast, B'?" Wes asked aloof, watching David and Blaine kneel down to pick up his friends belongings.

Blaine glared at him from the ground. "Why aren't you watching where you go?" he shot back, straightening up. Just now he got a proper look at his friends. "And what's in those - No, never mind I don't have time for this." He quickly snatched his bag out of David's hands, continuing to speed along the corridor, Wes and David hot on his heels.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Blaine asked. "Shouldn't you both be in class?"

"You weren't in morning assembly." David shrugged. "We were worried."

"Oh, shoot," Blaine murmured. "Did anybody else noticed me missing?"

"Well ..." Wes stretched the syllable in a worrying matter. "Of course Kurt was very troubled about your absence."

"Practically in tears," David added helpfully.

"We could barely stop him from storming out and checking if you were kidnapped by a basilisk."

"Kidnapped by a -"

"Only with both of our inexhaustible wits and charm could we convince him to stay and let us handle this case!" David nodded enthusiastically, while they were rounding a last corner, reaching their classrooms that were thankfully on the same corridor. Now they had a free view on Kurt, leaning casually against a wall, looking not the least bit in tears and scrolling boredly away on his phone.

"Hey Blaine," he greeted as they approached him, taking in the other boys dishevelled uniform and hair. "What happened to your ... to your everything?"

"Slept in," Blaine answered distracted, rummaging through whatever he had thrown into his bag this morning and silently praying that his history textbook had been among those things. "God, this bag is like a black hole!" With a frustrated huff he dropped his belongings to the ground frowning helplessly at the mess of papers, books and parts of his uniform.

"Oh, Blaine." Kurt giggled quietly, pushing himself off the wall and carefully kneeling down. With a few resolute handles he separated Blaine's tie and blazer from his school supplies, sorting most of the latter back into his friends bag. When he straightened up again the pile in front of their feeds was neatly packed away, leaving Kurt with a Dalton tie and Blazer in his hands.

"Here let me help you," he murmured and Blaine suddenly found himself within kissing distance with the other boy, as Kurt laid both hands on his shoulders. Warm hands grazed his collar, as his tie was placed around his neck and both ends crossed in front of his chest.

"Thanks," Blaine whispered breathlessly, his warm breath ghosting across Kurt's face and he was pretty sure that his eyes were widened almost comically. At least considering Wes and David's not-so-subtle sniggering behind them. Still, Blaine could not help but feel disappointment wash over him, when Kurt finished tying and left his personal space again. Before he could dwell on it though – and think of an excuse that involved plenty of physical contact – the bell rang and students all along the floor groaned and trotted into their respective classrooms. Kurt, too, quickly grabbed his bag, threw a quick 'I'll see you in French' in Blaine's direction and disappeared towards the art spaces.

~*~

Blaine left his history class with a bad feeling in his stomach. David, as well as Wes had taken their usual seats to Blaine's right at the beginning of the lesson, but they had been acting ... weird. And he meant weirder than normally.

For one, Blaine was pretty sure that neither boy would be able to recall a word said during their lesson, if someone - their teacher – asked them. That was nothing unusual, of course, since neither Wes nor David had any sympathy for their slightly disorientated teacher, Mr. Britton and on most days spend the lesson passing whispers, as well as little notes back and forth, until the bell rang. No, what really made Blaine feel uneasy was the fact that every time he had tried to participate in their conversation, catch a glimpse at one of their notes, or even just leaned slightly in their direction to borrow a ruler, his friends fell suspiciously silent, mouths snapping shut like traps and paper slips disappearing in pencil cases. As soon as he was leaning back though, safely out of earshot the hushed murmuring continued and Wes started scribbling something in a tiny black notebook.

Luckily Blaine's next lesson was French. A subject that involved neither of his suspicious acting friends, but instead Kurt, whose only suspicious tendency seemed to be the question how he made Blaine's stomach do this weird back flips whenever he smiled. As expected the lesson went by without a hitch and when Blaine exited the class room sixty minutes later, laughing along to something Kurt explained with a lot of hand waving, his earlier worries were all but forgotten. In the science corridor they met Jeff, who happily tagged along on their way towards the library, where he planed on meeting Nick in order to quickly copy his calculus homework.

"Jeff!" Wes suddenly appeared, squeezing himself between Jeff and Kurt, before slinging one arm casually around the confused looking boy. David, of course just as quick on his other side, grabbed Jeff's elbow. "We need to borrow you for a second." And with that the two boys dragged Jeff behind them to an inconspicuous looking door at the end of the corridor, where as far as Blaine was concerned cleaning supplies were stored.

Kurt blinked a few times, watching them go thoughtfully. "Did Wes and David enter some super-secret sect, or should I be concerned?"

"That was weird, right?" Blaine asked back. "And first I wasn't sure if I was imagining things, but now I'm sure they're up to something."

"I thought the were always up to something?"

"Not the normal something. Something bigger."

"... You don't think they are still onto this whole 'Operation Niff'-thing, do you?"

Blaine sighed. "God, I hope not. I thought they had dropped the idea."

"Well, David had a whole notebook dedicated to it," Kurt murmured, biting his bottom lip contemplatively for a moment, before his eyes widened. "Oh god and now they've kidnapped Jeff!"

"Relax," Blaine said. "They wouldn't be stupid enough to do anything that involves endangering his, or their own health. Especially not on school grounds ... I think."

"You think?!"

"Uhm ... oh, look! They're back. Completely unharmed. See, nothing happened and – Is that blood?!"

"What?" David looked confused down at his hand, that Blaine pointed at in shock. "Oh, no, sadly not. Just raspberry juice. I was all for using real blood, but someone" He threw a meaningful look at Jeff. "Said that that would be 'disgusting' and 'an unnecessary risk'."

"So ... I'm almost afraid of asking, but why did you need a blood substitute?" Kurt asked slowly.

"It's not a substitute," Wes grumbled. "It's a symbol!"

Jeff ignored his friends protest, eagerly licking the sweet syrup from his fingers. "They made me sign some sort of contract." He stopped what he was doing, when Kurt and Blaine exchanged a wary glance. "Wait a second... you two didn't sign this too?"

Both boys shook their heads bewildered and Jeff's expression turned panicky. "What? But Wes and David promised me that those were your signatures above mine! I never would have agreed to do this otherwise!"

"Did you at least read what it was about?" Blaine asked carefully.

"I wanted to, but it was far too dark in that closet and since I thought you two were okay with it ..."

He trailed off and all three boys turned accusingly towards Wes and David.

"Uuh ... what do you mean Kurt, we didn't hand you the paper this morning?" Wes blinked innocently up at them. "We'll have to correct that immediately!"

"Later," David added.

"At lunch."

"After class."

"Or, just tomorrow."

"Definitely soon- Oh, look there's Nick!"

"Hey Nick!" Wes waved exaggeratedly at his friend. "We need to talk to you for a second."

David nodded encouragingly, hot on Wes' heel. "Catch you later, guys!"

Jeff, Blaine and Kurt looked after them, as they sprinted out of eyeshot.

"You were right," Kurt stated after a moment, turning towards Blaine. "They are definitely acting weird."

~*~

Later that day Blaine and Kurt were on their way towards the cafeteria, shoulders heavy from carrying their books all day and stomachs aching for some sort of food.

"Ugh, I'm hungry," Blaine said, accompanied by an approving growl of his stomach. "I hope they still have these tuna-sandwiches for lunch."

"Blrgh, I hope not!" Kurt let out a disgusted snort. "They were polluting the whole room last time. David smuggled some of them into our English-class and made it impossible to concentrate on anything but his food. ... Or the very loud and messy way he was consuming it, for that matter."

Blaine grinned widely, obviously not in the the least concerned about the contamination of their class rooms, before sticking out his bottom lip and pouting a bit at his friend. "But I really like tuna!"

"Everybody really likes tuna," Kurt stated, trying, but spectacularly failing in looking annoyed at Blaine's whine. "That doesn't mean that I support eating it in class."

Blaine let out an exaggerated gasp. "So, you're saying you aren't a tuna-supporter?"

"I never -" Kurt started, cheeks puffed up in indignation, before he noticed his friends teasing smile. "God, you're a dork," he huffed, crossing his arms with an amused smile.

"And you're adorable."

Blaine screwed his eyes shut at his own words. Real smooth, Blaine. The whole not coming on too strong thing is clearly working spectacularly. After a moment, he opened them again, carefully risking a peek at his friend's reaction. To his surprise Kurt hadn't run off screaming so far, but was still walking peacefully next to him, the only indication that he had heard Blaine's last sentence a burning blush on his cheeks and the way he was biting his bottom lip and avoiding Blaine's gaze. Still, Blaine was almost sixty percent sure that a pleased smile was playing at the corners of his mouth and an almost inaudible 'thanks' was send into the silence between them. All in all not the worst that could have happened.

They rounded a corner and every attempt at breaking the heavy silence that had settled between them was thankfully forgotten, when Kurt suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Blaine nearly bumped into him, only preventing a collision by hopping to the side and squeezing against the wall instead. His mouth was already opened in protest, when he got a good look at what exactly made Kurt halt and he squinted his eyes in disbelief, before heaving a deep sigh. "Wes. David. What are you doing on the floor?"

Said boys, half-lying on the dusty tiles whizzed around simultaneously, looking confused for a moment, before making exaggerated shushing motions and gesturing them closer. Apart from the fact that his friends were laying on the floor – and were probably on their best way towards a cystitis – Blaine was not able to make out anything out of the ordinary and that seriously worried him. Wes' and David's plans were normally risky and unexpected enough, even if everybody could see them. He and Kurt stepped closer, carefully avoiding any outstretched extremities, even though Blaine could not help but think that some well-placed bruises would only serve them right for all the worries they caused their environment. Part of him didn't even want to know what his friends were up to this time. Sadly an even bigger part of him was incredibly curious – always his downfall – and before he knew it, he was crouching down next to Wes, trying to follow his line of sight. Kurt gave him an amused look, but his expression quickly changed into one of disgust and he wrinkled his nose. "Ugh. What's this smell?"

"What smell?" Blaine asked, sniffing and turning his head questioningly. "I don't smell anything?"

"No, no, no! There's definitely something. It smells like oranges and ... Christmas? Why does it smell like Christmas?"

"Uh ..." David murmured, eyes flickering suspiciously towards the doorway. Kurt and Blaine followed his gaze towards a little bunch of greenery, bundled together with a thin string and fastened at a small nail. The construct was small and at a closer look, also withered enough to be easily overlooked by anybody walking by.

Kurt narrowed his eyes. "Is that ... a mistletoe?"

"Yep!" Wes exclaimed proudly. Blaine gave his friend an odd look, not sure if he was more surprised at a mistletoe hanging in the middle of a corridor three month after Christmas, or Kurt's ability to identify said mistletoe through it's smell alone. A smell, he still was not able to detect, by the way.

"O-kay ..." Kurt said slowly. A moment of silence passed between them, in which all four boys stared wordlessly at the plant in front of them.

Wes and David exchanged a look. David's finger started drumming impatiently on the floor. Wes's leg twitched restlessly next to them. "So ..." said David after a few more moments, syllable stretched annoyingly.

He looked expectingly between Kurt and Blaine.

When both boys stayed silent he huffed frustrated. "Aren't you going to ask?"

"Ask what?" Blaine said back innocently.

"You know what!" Wes snapped irritated, throwing his hands in the air and declaring with an unnatural high voice. "Why is there a mistletoe hanging from the ceiling? What are you doing here? Isn't this dangerous?"

"My voice does not sound like that!" Kurt exclaimed at the same moment as Blaine said: "Oh, so you do realize that your behaviour isn't perfectly normal?"

"Acknowledgement is the first step towards improvement," added Kurt.

"Oh, come on!" David cried out. "We spent a lot of time planing this, so at least have the decency to ask!"

"Fine, if you insist," sighed Blaine, clearing his throat and striking his best surprised pose. "Oh, Wes! David! Whatever might be happening here? Was it your crazy, but kind of amusing idea to put a mistletoe on top of the cafeteria-door in the middle of march?"

Kurt started to giggle into his hand silently, while Wes considered Blaine with his best 'See, was that really that hard'- look. David grinned at them, about to say something, but then his eyes landed on something at the opposite side of the corridor and he hissed excitedly.

"Wes, Wes, Wes! It's starting!" he ... well Blaine would have said 'squealed', but David himself would certainly rather have used a word like 'called', or even 'growled'. However it may be, his voice was dangerously high, one arm flailing in the air, while the other tapped rapidly against Wes' leg.

"Uh, let me see! Let me see!" Wes quickly robbed forward on the ground, stretching his neck to catch a glimpse at the on-goings around the corner. Kurt and Blaine followed his example and soon enough all four boys were watching as Nick and Jeff came into view, obviously engrossed in conversation.

"Target detected," David whispered. "Waiting for collision."

"Really?" Kurt whispered back. "That's what this is all about? You're still not over your 'Operation Niff'-thing?"

"'Operation Niff' is awesome. Now be quiet!" Wes hissed, nervously edging closer to the scenario.

"Oh, they're nearly there!" David giggled excitedly.

"Oh my god, I'm so excited!"

" ... and they're getting closer, and clooser. Soon they're gonna' be there! Just a few more meters aand ... they ... just walked past it? What? No! That wasn't planned!" David exclaimed.

"Come on!" Wes urged. "We need to do something."

"Right, of course. Let's go!" David jumped up, quickly jogging after their targets.

"Nick! Jeff!" Wes shouted after them. "Wait up." Both boys turned and watched as Wes and David jogged in their direction, stopping right in front of the doorway.

"Wait," Blaine murmured, as Kurt stepped forward to follow them. "Let's ... better stay out of this, okay?"

Cocking his head, Kurt considered him for a moment, before shrugging. Their hiding place gave them an excellent view on the happenings and Blaine was not at all opposed to the way Kurt leaned into his side to talk quietly. They observed curiously as their friends stared at each other for a moment, Nick and Jeff looking bewildered at the large distance between them.

"What's up, guys?" Jeff asked after a moment of confused silence.

David cleared his throat, eyes flickering panicky. "Uh, er, well ... you see Wes and I were just ... talking about you and how you two should really ... walk through this door ... again."

Their friends blinked at them. "What?"

David elbowed Wes in the side and the boy quickly started nodding. "Erm, yes totally!"

"What're you guys planning?" Nick asked slowly, precautionary taking a few steps back.

"N-noothing! Absolutely nothing! We swear!" David said quickly. A little too quickly and Nick observed his surroundings warily. Craning his neck in the search for anything out of the ordinary, he took a few more steps until he was standing mere centimetres from the doorway.

"Really, it's nothing," Wes said quickly. "Only ..." He looked around wildly, before his gaze settled on Kurt and Blaine huddled in the corner. "Blaine here ... really wants to talk to you. Both of you."

Blaine's eyes widened and he quickly shock his head, backing away. "Uh, uh leave me out of this guys!" he called across the floor.

"You traitor!" David shouted back.

Wes, next to him finally seemed to have enough and pulling his hair in frustration he exclaimed: "Oh, for god's sake! Just step under the doorway!"

Nick's eyes narrowed warily. "Why?"

"Because you'll get a cookie?"

Jeff's eyes lit up. "Really?" He took a step forward, but was stopped by Nick, who still looked suspicious. "Not any further, Jeff. ... There must be something with that doorway," he murmured thoughtfully. It only took him mere seconds from that, before his eyes widened and he withdraw even further. "Wes. David ... Is that a mistletoe?"

David humpfed depressed. "We just wanted you guys to step under it ..." he admitted quietly.

Nick sighed. "I hate to repeat myself, but ... why?"

"Uh, because ... it was a bet?" Wes said slowly.

"A bet if we would step under a mistletoe?" Nick asked warily and Jeff next to him laughed.

"No, Nicky, I think they rather bet on us kissing," he stated amused.

Wes and David exchanged a quick glance, before nodding. Nick sighed again and opened his mouth, ready to give their friends the whole lecture about 'endangering and embarrassing other people for their own amusement', when Jeff spoke up.

"Well, we are standing under a mistletoe." he blinked innocently up at Nick. The latter frowned confused, throwing a quick look towards the door frame, still several inches away from them.

"Uhm, no. Technically we're no- oh." He silenced when he caught on and met Jeff's eyes.

His friend smirked at him, mouth soundlessly forming the word 'okay?'. Nick, eyes still wide nodded frictional and then soft lips were pressing against his check. His eyes closed on their own accord and before he knew it the pressure was gone and Jeff was leaning back, smiling softly, before turning towards their baffled friends.

"Happy now?" he asked cheerfully, linking his arms with Nick's. Wes turned perplexed to David, their faces a matching expression of disbelieve.

"Y-yes, of course," David murmured monotone, still far too shocked to show any real emotion.

"Wonderful! Let's go eat, then." Jeff grinned, skipping towards the cafeteria. "I'm so hungry I could eat a whole cow!" Nick laughed quietly and let himself be pulled along, out of the room. Their four friends were left behind in stunned silence and in the end it was Blaine who spoke up first, not sure if he was more surprised, or amused by what had just happened. "Well, that ... didn't go as expected?"

"Didn't go as – that was an absolute disaster!" David cried out, while Wes searched frantically something in his bag, murmuring conspiracies under his breath.

"Oh, come on guys. Even you have to admit that the plan was idiotic – and incredibly clichéd, if I may say so –," Kurt said with a roll of his eyes, "I mean, what did you expect to happen?"

David blinked at him like it was the most obvious question in the world. "Well, they would kiss, realize their undying love for each other and thank us for all of eternity."

"Obviously," Wes added, pulling out the small black notebook, dedicated to their current operation.

Blaine shook his head in disbelief. "Obviously."

"But from all the possible outcome ..." David mused, while he watched Wes flipping through the book, adding scribbled notes every here and there. As David got out his own pen, Kurt stepped behind them, reading over their shoulders and raised a sceptic eyebrow.

"You expected the attack of a tiger, but not that reaction?" he asked incredulous, causing Blaine to laugh baffled and exclaiming "Seriously?", while he tried to get a better look at the page titled 'Operation-Niff -Plan A -Part B – 26: The sudden appearance of exotic predators'. David snaps the book shut with a piqued face. "Well, since that didn't happen," he said, ignoring Wes' murmured 'Or at least not yet' and pressing his hands together enthusiastically. "How about some lunch, now?" He turned to leave, Wes right behind him. Kurt and Blaine exchanged a resigned look, before following and Blaine thanked the stars that he didn't share any classes with Wes or David later on. This would at least give him another two hours of freedom, before he had to deal with their scheming again.

Because when something is already titled with Plan A, Plan B cannot be far. And Plan B, Blaine really did not want to see in action if Plan A was any indication.

~*~

It took Blaine precisely two more hours to finally find out what Wes and David had been up to.

It was at that time that the bell rang, announcing the end of their chemistry lesson and he and Trent, the only one of his friends who shared the lesson with him grabbed their bags, threw a quick goodbye in the direction of their teacher's desk and headed out of the door. Kurt awaited them in front of their class room and together they continued their way, soon joined by a glum looking David, who was still dwelling on the failure of 'Operation Niff'. Conversation flowed easily between them, teasing banter exchanged just as fast as complains about various teachers, when they suddenly stumbled over Wes in an abandoned corridor, that was rarely used for any lessons, but an effective short-cut on their way out of the building. He was standing in front of a wall, staring transfixed at the closed door of one of the unused classrooms a few meters away.

"Uhm, what're you doing?" Blaine asked carefully, stepping closer and Wes quickly shushed him.

"I saw Nick and Jeff disappearing in there a few minutes ago," he explained in a whisper, "They haven't come out ever since and I don't know what's going on!"

David nodded slowly, considering his friend with an odd look. "Have you thought about ... opening the door?"

"But ho-ow?" he whined and Blaine and Kurt exchange a look.

"Well, in normal cases the person would probably cross the corridor, stretch out their hand and lie it on the doorknob -"

Wes interrupted him, looking offended. "Hardy-har-har. But, do I knock beforehand? Just bark in? Announce myself?"

Blaine rolled his eyes. Sometimes he seriously asked himself how any of his friends even survived ... school ... their social life ... anything really. Anyway, since non of the others made any attempt at advancing the situation, Blaine decided to take it upon himself to make the few steps until he was in front of the room and carefully opened the door.

He was met with the sight of Nick and Jeff. Nick and Jeff kissing. Lip-locked, in a tight embrace, very obviously having been at it for more than a few moments.

Blaine, hand still on the door handle, froze in his movement and couldn't do anything but stare at the scene on front of him. Even Kurt, stumbling into his back and silently cursing, until his eyes flickered over Blaine's shoulder and all his breath left him with a perplexed 'oh', was not able to snap him out of his trance. He felt a push from behind, quickly followed by another, that announced the arrival of Wes and David.

"Oh my god," Wes breathed behind them.

"It worked!" David exclaimed, much louder, sounding just as baffled as Blaine was feeling and causing Nick and Jeff to break apart. They stumbled back, hair and clothes messy and heads whipping in the direction of the sudden noise.

"W-what worked?" Jeff asked confused after a moment, blushing under his friends stares and discretely whipping at the corner of his dark-red mouth.

"Our plan," David answered, eyes transfixed on their kiss-swollen lips. Blaine elbowed him in the side, murmured 'Stop staring' in his direction and willed himself to follow his own advise. It was not any help that Kurt next to him had not stopped muttering 'I can't believe that worked.' under his breath, over and over again ever since they had entered the room.

"Hah, I knew there was a plan," Nick said triumphantly, though he is still busy fixing his dishevelled appearance, "Wait ... what was the plan?"

David opened his mouth, probably about to get out his notebook and 'The something mission to make Nick and Jeff stop doing something to get them together'-speech, that Blaine could not remember correctly if his hair gel depended on it, but Jeff – always the only one able to follow the operations of his friend's brains – suddenly started laughing. Nick looked even more confused, as his eyes flickered between the giggling Jeff, Kurt and Blaine who still did not seem sure if they could believe their eyes and Wes and David, practically gloating with pride as they studied the outcome of their mission.

"I would say we can declare 'Operation-Niff' a total success!" Wes announced happily, pulling out their notebook and flipping towards the last few pages. Jeff was still cackling manically beside them, but managed to catch his breath long enough to consider his friends with a sly smile.

"Well ...," he stretched the syllable delighted, "You could. If ... it weren't for a tiny-winy, absolutely important, little fact that you ... somehow managed to overlook."

David frowned at his expression, capping his pen which had already spelled the words 'Mission ac-' and turned towards the boy.

"What ... fact?" Wes next to him asked, carefully keeping any emotion out of his voice.

"Oh!" Nick exclaimed. He had mouthed the words 'Operation-Niff' thoughtfully during their little exchange and finally puzzled the pieces together. A wide smile overtook his features. "This is too good! But guys, seriously: You could've just asked."

"Yeah, because that would have saved you lots and lots of planning, preparation, thinking about possible operation names ... all that and Nicky and I could've simply told you that 'Operation-Niff' as you call it has already been completed weeks ago." He grinned triumphantly, intertwining his hand with Nick's.

"W-what?" Wes stuttered, looking helplessly towards David, who looked back just as helplessly and Kurt leaned close, into Blaine's personal space to whisper excitedly: "Oh god, this is soap-opera-gold! Is anybody writing this down?"

"Wes," David whined pitifully, "They've destroyed our plan!"

"I think you destroyed your own plan to begin with," Kurt corrected amused, "You seriously have never considered talking to them directly?"

"Directly-schnirectly," Wes murmured, "Nobody could've suspected that." Jeff had to hide his grin in Nick's shoulder.

"So, hold on," Nick said, one hand coming up to rest on Jeff's neck. "I get the whole mistletoe-thing, but what did you make us sign?"

"Oh, that?" David said, "That was just precautionary for Plan B."

"A shame that there was no need for that," Wes sighed, looking wistfully down at their notebook, "It was brilliant ...Oh! Here's your dorm key, by the way." He pulled a small key out of his pocket, handing it towards Nick.

"I-what? How did you even?" he stuttered and Jeff curiously accepts the key, observing it carefully for anything out of the ordinary.

"Well, as amusing as this has been," Kurt interrupted, shouldering his bag. "I'm afraid I've to head home now, before something truly disturbing happens."

"Already?" Blaine can't help but pout at that – something he seemed to be doing increasingly often in the other boys presence -, but Kurt just smiled apologeticly at him.

"I'll see you tomorrow, though?"

"'Course," Blaine answered and following an inspiration, leaned forward and hugged his friend briefly. "See you then."

Kurt considered him with a last look Blaine couldn't really define, before calling a quick goodbye to the rest of them and skipping out of the room.

~*~

This week's Warblers practice seemed to drag on forever. A week ago, anticipating his audition and taking in all the unfamiliar processes had made the two hours practically fly by, but today every second seemed hours long. This could have something to do with the fact that this day's agenda was the exact same as last weeks. As Wes had explained enthusiastically that the council was not quite satisfied with their at that time final version of Bruno Mars' 'Treasure' and had added three different harmony options during the week. That left them practising the same song again and again over the course of the two hours practice, until Kurt was ready to punch someone in the face if said someone would suggest 'Good job, but let's try this again, altering ...' one more time in that irritating cheerful voice.

Finally ... finally practice came to an end and Kurt, keen on finally getting home was already on his feet and halfway through the room when David called him back.

"Kurt, wait up for a second!" Kurt's shoulders slumped, as he turned around once again.

"Erm, yes?" he asked carefully, eyeing the door hopefully. David's grin was dangerously bright, as the rest of the Warblers gathered around them.

"Kurt 'I still don't know your middle name' Hummel –"

"Oh my god. You are going to sacrifice me."

"What? Why would we- Never mind. It's fish and chips tuesday and if we don't hurry there'll only be brown fries left. You know, the mushy ones, always left at the bottom of-"

"David," Wes warned.

"Right ... what I wanted to say was, that among the Warblers there has been a tradition to welcome our newest members with a special gift."

Blaine stepped forward, proudly presenting a cage-shaped form, covered by several white clothes. Muted chirping could be heard from underneath it.

"Warbler Kurt. Will you accept the ongoing tradition-"

"Is that a bird?" Kurt interrupted, eyes wide.

"Erm .. yes, but I was coming to this. So, Kurt will you continue the tradition and accept our offer of-"

"You can't give me a bird!" Kurt's voice was unnaturally high and he slowly started to backtrack, taking step after step away from Blaine and the cage in his hands.

"I- what? Of course we can. Now, Kurt, one last time: Will you accept this Warbler as a representative of –"

"No! You don't understand! You. Can't. Give. Me. A. bird," Kurt repeated very slowly.

Irritated, David finally dropped the ceremonial behaviour,looked unsure throwing his hands up in frustration.

"And why the heck not?!"

"Uhm ... because – I- just ... don't like .. birds?"

"You don't like birds?" Blaine asked slowly, while David next to him seemed to have a tiny break-down. "Doesn't like birds ... that has never happened before! What to do? Has there ever been a reference case? Oh god, how are we going to explain this to -"

"Deep breaths, David. Deep breaths," Wes instructed, soothingly rubbing a hand up and down the other boys back. "No need to hyperventilate. We're prepared for this kind of situation."

"We are?" David asked bewildered, while Wes flicked open an used looking little booklet.

"The twenty-second of September Nineteen-hundred-eighty-five; Newest Warblers addition Geoffrey Williams proves his incompatibility with his Warbler companion by a severe feather allergy. It is decided among the council that Warblers can be exempted from their care-duty by presenting a reasonable cause for their declination. It is among the council to determine a suitable replacement." With a defying thud the book clapped shut and Wes raised his head to look at them. Blaine frowned thoughtfully for a second, before saying: "So, that means if we find someone who is willing to take care of little Pavarotti here -"

"You already named him?" Kurt asked amused.

"And after an Italian opera singer, nonetheless," Wes added. "He seemed to be more the British country singer – type to me, but to everyone their own opinion."

"But that would work, wouldn't it?" Kurt asked. "Not the name – even though its a nice one -, but if we find a substitute for me?"

Wes nodded decisively. "In reference cases other new members just were assigned to take over the duty, but since you're our only addition these days ..." He trailed off, fixing his gaze pointedly on Blaine.

Blaine stared back at him. Then his eyes flickered to the cage in his hands, still fully covered much to the dismay of its inhabitant. Accompanied by irritated chirping Blaine lifted his gaze again, eyes finally widening in understanding. "Oh. Oh! Well, I would be honoured to take care of Pavarotti. That is, if Kurt doesn't mind?" He looked questioningly at the other boy, who quickly shock his head.

"Oh no, no, no. No! Not at all! Keep him! Forever!" He all but screamed, waving his hands panicked in front of him and carefully bringing more distance between him and the cage. The Warblers stared at him, bemused. "Erm ... only as long as you want ... is what I meant to say ... of course."

"Alright ..." David broke the tense silence. "I then consider this matter decided? Yes? Yes. Excellent! Let's go and eat!" And with that he rushed out of the door, the rest of the Warblers hot on his heels. In the end the only ones left were Kurt, blinking perplexed, Blaine, finally freeing the bir- Pavarotti and Wes, who looked a bit confused as to what had just happened and hesitantly banged his little gavel on the council table. "Uh, meeting dismissed?"

"Excellent," Kurt smiled relieved, grabbing his bag. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." He headed for the door, only stopping when he was already in the floor. "Oh, and Blaine?"

Blaine looked up, from where he had tried to stick one of his fingers through the bars of the cage, petting the little birds beak. "Uh, yes?"

"Thanks for ... you know – the whole bird-thing." He performed a little hand-dance that could be interpreted as a thanks, as well as a goodbye and disappeared into the corridor.

"That was odd," Wes stated moments later, after they had left the room and were walking side-by-side to the cafeteria.

Blaine, cage in hand and bag slung over his shoulder, nodded. "I don't know what has gotten into him."

"Maybe it has something to do with his old school," Wes said thoughtfully.

"The fact that he ... doesn't like birds?"

"Maybe there was an incident .... With birds." Wes shrugged. "A visit to the local zoo and somebody locked him into the cage."

"Well, he seemed to be quite panicked," Blaine admitted. "Maybe we should ask him tomorrow."

"You think he would answer us?"

"We are his friends, after all." They rounded another corner, before reaching the Dalton cafeteria, already packed with loudly chattering boys.

With a relieved sigh Blaine closed the door of his dorm behind him. Most of the other boys were still downstairs, trying to trick the woman behind the counters into giving them a second, or in some cases even third helping, so the floors were still thankfully silent. Quietly humming to himself, he dropped his bag on the floor and his body on his bed. With practised ease he grabbed his laptop from his night stand, placed it in his lap and opened his internet browser, where a silent ping informed him about the arrival of three new emails. One was a simple prom dress commercial, that wandered into his spam-file, just as quickly as it showed up. The second one informed him of the availability of an ordered DVD, but it was the third that made his breath hitch and hands shake as he clicked to open it.

From: s.fabris@yenoha.net

To: blainedanderson@hokal.net

Subject: Please

Dear Blaine,

I have to say, I honestly have no idea how to start this mail. I know, I'm probably the last person you expected, or wished to hear from, but I still feel guilty over breaking contact between us back then.

Tell me, how are you? How has your year been so far? Let me tell you, mine has been un inferno of a year. That's also one of the reasons why I'm writing this.

The last few months have been rough for me and I would really like to talk to you. Just two friends getting coffee, I promise. Maybe it would help you as much as me.

Mi manchi,

Seth

Wide eyed, heart pounding loudly in his ears, Blaine looked up.

He had been right, after all. It was one of those days.