Roughly three weeks had passed since Blaine’s return from his involuntary hiatus.

Due to the limitations set by both his arm and wrist being in casts, the two boys had been resigned to talking a handful of times via Skype for the first two weeks; however, towards the beginning of the third week, Blaine’s wrist had healed enough that the cast could be removed, giving him enough mobility to type freely again.

As such, they had quickly reverted back to their preferred forms of communication – Tumblr and AIM – that very same day.

In retrospect, Kurt supposed that it wasn’t so much that AIM and Tumblr were their preferred methods of communication, but more so that phone conversations were awkward because they still didn’t know each other very well. After all, while long pauses were acceptable over IM – and even frequent, considering how many different things one could be doing while chatting – those very same pauses could become exceedingly awkward over the phone.

The evening of July seventeenth found Kurt spending some quality time with his father and Carole, an old rerun of Three’s Company playing on low in the background. Finn, much to Kurt’s relief, was spending the night with Rachel, and would not be back for at least another two hours.

Burt and Carole sat in the dining room, a tangled mess of yarn and discarded newspaper spread unevenly across the dining room table. Kurt sat about five feet away from them, haphazardly sprawled out across the living room couch, slowly paging his way through an old copy of National Geographic.

About forty minutes had to have passed in silence before Kurt’s phone suddenly began buzzing. Startled, he quickly sat up and grabbed his phone from the coffee table, his brow furrowing in confusion as he scanned through the messages, all of which were from Unique.

(6:21)
Pretty sure the apocalypse has come down upon us. Twitter, Tumblr, AND Livejournal have all gone offline. They’ve been down for HOURS.

(6:22)
I don’t even know what to do with myself right now.

(6:23)
How pathetic is that? I don’t remember how to function without the internet.

(6:24)
I know! I’ll make a Tinychat for the survivors to gather and figure out what’s happening.

(6:26)
Okay, the room URL is /uniquewillleadusthroughthesedarktimes

(6:27)
You should come so I can stop texting you.

Although Carole was so caught up in her knitting that she didn’t acknowledge the constant buzzing, Kurt was not so lucky with his father.

“I thought that we agreed you would leave your phone and laptop downstairs tonight,” Burt said loudly, lowering the paper so that he could cast his son a disapproving look.

“No,” Kurt replied, gently setting his magazine aside. “We agreed that I would leave my laptop downstairs. You never said anything about my phone.”

“Yes, I did.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I know what I said, Kurt!”

Kurt shook his head. “You never said anything about my phone, dad.”

“I did so!”

“No, you didn’t!”

“Yes, I did!”

“No, you didn’t!”

“Boys!”

Carole rarely ever raised her voice, so the sound of her shouting was more than enough to cut through their quickly-escalating argument, stunning both Kurt and his father into silence.

“I don’t understand men,” Carole said after a moment, setting her knitting aside and fixing them both with a pointed stare. “You always pick the dumbest things to argue over.”

Burt opened his mouth to say something, but Kurt quickly cut him off.

“I just don’t find this fair.”

His dad gave him an incredulous look, but Carole spoke before he had the chance to respond.

“What don’t you find fair, Kurt?” she asked kindly.

Kurt stared at them for a moment before giving in, his shoulders slumping slightly with defeat.

“You have all these rules about when I can and can’t use my laptop – and my iPhone, and my Kindle Fire – which I just don’t find fair,” he said, staring down at the carpet. “I mean, Finn is allowed to run off at a moment’s notice to hang out with Puck and Rachel, but I have to ask permission just to bring my phone upstairs to chat with my friends!”

Burt shook his head. “That’s different, kiddo.”

“How is it possibly any different?”

Carole glanced over at her husband, a nervous look on her face. “Burt, I think that you should just let this go.”

“It’s different because Finn doesn’t spend all of his time holed up in his room!” Burt snapped, ignoring his wife. “You barely come upstairs anymore, and when you do, you’re still online and –”

“ – Burt, please just drop this before –”

“ – Finn actually goes out and interacts with real people, Kurt. You don’t!”

Carole sighed loudly before burying her face in her hands.

Kurt saw red.

“I can’t believe that you would cheapen my friendships like that!” he exploded, his fingers tightening almost painfully around the still-buzzing phone. “So, because my closest friends don’t happen to live right down the street, they aren’t as important?”

His dad looked absolutely startled by his outburst. It was rare that Kurt became angry enough to shout, but when he did, things could get ugly very, very fast.

“That’s not what I meant,” Burt said frantically.

“It’s exactly what you meant,” Kurt replied. “With the exception of Harmony and Unique, all of my closest friends live thousands of miles away; if I want to talk to them, then I have to be online, or on my phone. I don’t have the luxury of just walking over to their houses whenever I happen to feel like it. It doesn’t work like that, dad.”

Burt sighed. “Look, kiddo, I’m sor–”

Kurt held a hand up, effectively cutting his father off. “I just don’t want to talk about this right now, dad. I think…I think that I’m going to head downstairs for awhile, okay? I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

He left the room before anyone could respond. It wasn’t until he was about halfway down the stairs to his bedroom that he stopped to take a look at his phone. Kurt ignored the newer text messages from Harmony and Unique, instead opting to open the AIM app. Once it had loaded, he clicked on Blaine’s username and quickly tapped out a series of six messages.

votestarkforpresident: apparently the internet has died or something?
votestarkforpresident: i don’t know for sure
votestarkforpresident: unique made a tinychat for “survivors”
votestarkforpresident: it’s /uniquewillleadusthroughthesedarktimes
votestarkforpresident: i’m gonna go, once i get downstairs and log on my laptop
votestarkforpresident: see you there?

Kurt locked his phone and leaned back against the wall, staring down at the dark screen with a blank expression on his face.

Finally, after a good two minutes, Kurt pocketed his phone and snuck back upstairs to the kitchen. He stood in the doorway for a long moment, listening intently, but did not hear any sounds from the living room or dining room.

Once he was absolutely sure that his father and stepmother had moved their argument upstairs, he slowly inched his way into the room and headed for the cupboard that housed his vast assortment of teas and coffees.

***

Ten minutes later found Kurt in his bedroom, laptop open on the bed and a steaming cup of peppermint tea sitting on the bedside table.

It took another two or so minutes for his computer to turn on completely, but once it had, Kurt opened a new window in Chrome and quickly typed in the address that Unique had sent him.

guest-219385 entered the room
Type /help for a list of commands
guest-21985 changed nickname to k
adam: wHAT IS HAPPENING
adam: WHERE IS THE INTERNET
unique: oh my god, calm down, adam
k: obviously, considering that we are on a TINYCHAT right now, it's not the whole internet.
k: jfc
k: stop spazzing
adam: no, it's just tumblr
adam: and twitter
adam: and livejournal
adam: and dreamwidth
adam: and insanejournal
adam: all the social networking sites
adam: well, except facebook
adam: but fb sucks
adam: but anyway
adam: it's all the IMPORTANT parts of the internet

Kurt rolled his eyes at the screen. Adam, better known as ‘harrytomlinson4everrrr’ on Tumblr, was a good friend of Unique's from the One Direction fandom. Kurt liked him well enough, he supposed, but Adam had an unfortunate penchant for overreacting to things, which generally tended to annoy others.

shiney: what are we supposed to do???
shiney: i mean, if twitter and tumblr AND livejournal are down...
shiney: :(

In stark contrast to Adam, Kurt was rather fond of Shiney. Her URL was ‘thesunshineinthedarkness,’ and her fandom of choice was Doctor Who; in fact, from what Kurt had observed, it appeared that Shiney was one of Blaine’s closest friends.

adam: this is clearly a conspiracy
layla: omg stfu adam
guest-52196 entered the room
Type /help for a list of commands
guest-52196 changed nickname to JJ
JJ: hello ladies
JJ: and crazies
adam: >:(
JJ: and annoying self-centered bitchy little divas

Kurt huffed.

One of the interesting things about the internet was how similar it could sometimes be to real life; friendship and social interaction, for example, tended to be just as complicated online as it was offline.

In a perfect world, Kurt would only be forced to interact with his close friends. However, as this was not a perfect world by any means, Kurt constantly found himself in situations where he was forced to interact with the best friends of his best friends.

Unfortunately for Kurt, JJ fell into that particular category.

As much as they despised one another, they regrettably ran in the same social circle on Tumblr. At least half of their good friends were mutual friends and, because of that, JJ and Kurt were constantly forced to interact with one another.

Running in the same social circle, and insulting one another every chance they got, was about as far as their personal interactions generally went, though. Despite prodding from his friends, Kurt had blatantly refused to follow JJ – ‘thegreatestrhapsodybohemian,’ which Kurt personally thought was a terrible and pretentious URL – on Tumblr.

Harmony had once joked that Kurt and JJ were archenemies. Neither had bothered disputing that claim.

k: the internet is broken, JJ
k: shouldn't you being off doing whatever it is you do when you aren't online
k: like stealing candy from children
k: and pushing old ladies off cliffs
k: and throwing innocent babies into the ocean?
layla: oh, god, not this again
alex: speak for yourself, lay. their fights are always fucking hilarious!

Layla and Alex were also members of the One Direction fandom, and were good friends with Unique. Kurt didn’t know them very well, though, as they rarely spoke during chats, and he had never bothered to ask for their URLs.

JJ: well well well
JJ: i did strike a nerve, didn't i?
JJ: there's no need to get mean
JJ: it's not my fault that you're a diva
JJ: that thinks you're better than you really are, k
k: i'm not being mean
k: i'm just listing a variety of activities that i assume
k: soulless individuals such as yourself
k: might frequently engage in
unique: STOP
unique: STOP IT RIGHT NOW
unique: i am not going to spend the next few hours listening to you two try to bait each other
unique: pretend that the other isn't here
unique: or i s2g i will move this chat
unique: and forbid everyone from giving either of you the link
k: fine
JJ: whatever
guest-71439 entered the room
Type /help for a list of commands
guest-71439 changed nickname to blaine
blaine: hey everyone!
shiney: blaine, you got my e-mail!
shiney: :D
blaine: hey shiney! :)
unique: stop baiting him, k!
unique: don’t make me kick your asses to the curb

Kurt slumped in his chair, deflating slightly at Unique’s threat. He normally wasn’t so confrontational, but there was something about JJ that just brought out the absolute worst in him.

blaine: o.O
blaine: …did i…miss something?
shiney: they hate each other
shiney: k and jj, i mean
shiney: idk why
layla: i don’t think *they* know why
guest-18692 entered the room
Type /help for a list of commands
guest-18692 changed nickname to harmony
harmony: FUCK ANDERSON’S ARMY
harmony: JUST. UGH.
harmony: leave it to cooper anderson’s minions to destroy the fucking internet

Kurt raised an eyebrow at her outburst.

The term “Anderson’s Army” was the nickname that Tumblr had given to the horde of fangirls and fanboys that idolized Hollywood movie star Cooper Anderson. Although Anderson’s Army was by no means the craziest group of fans out there – personally, Kurt thought that award should be given to the One Direction fandom, or perhaps the Harry Potter fandom, or even the Twilight fandom, but he would never, ever say that to Unique and Harmony’s faces – they were still fairly high up on the list.

Okay, to be fair, the fandoms he had listed above probably weren’t actually all that crazy. Kurt, unfortunately, just happened to be following the craziest members of the One Direction, Harry Potter, and Twilight fandoms. He was quite sure that there were a lot of sane and normal people involved in them.

Just none that Kurt had the pleasure of knowing personally.

blaine: wait, what?
blaine: how did cooper anderson destroy the internet?
harmony: i don’t have the link right now because im on my phone
harmony: but if you google ‘cooper anderson attack’
harmony: it’ll be, like, the first news link down
k: attack?
adam: wait, someone attacked cooper anderson!?!??!?!??!?!
harmony: yeah
harmony: his girlfriend
layla: …….AGAIN?!

Cooper Anderson, it appeared, had a type.

And that type was, to put it nicely, “batshit insane.”

Every girl that Anderson had dated over the last few years had been some varying level of crazy. Natasha, a former supermodel, had set Anderson’s car on fire because she believed that he was cheating on her. His next girlfriend, Anne, had attacked one of Anderson’s fans outside of a film premiere for “trying to seduce Cooper with her eyes.”

The most notable of his crazy ex-girlfriends was, of course, a makeup artist name Maria. A few years earlier, Anderson had been forced to return home because of personal issues; rumor was that one of his close family members had been viciously beaten and left for dead, but no one knew anything for sure as Anderson, a man notable for keeping his private life private, had never revealed the “personal issue” to the media.

Unfortunately for Cooper, those “personal issues” had occurred the day before his one-year anniversary with Maria. The woman had been absolutely enraged that he would choose visiting a possibly-dying family member over his girlfriend, and had attacked him with a pair of scissors outside of the airport.

That video was still, to this day, one of the most viewed on Youtube.

JJ: i know he likes them crazy, but you’d think he’d have learned
JJ: to gage how crazy is just too crazy by now, wouldn’t you?
shiney: i wonder what this one did
alex: aren’t the last three all in prison?
layla: I’d hope so, considering they all attacked him and/or his property and/or his fans
blaine: ………………………………
blaine: i’ll brb
k: ?
k: blaine?
JJ: OH, I FOUND THE VIDEO
JJ: holy fuck man
JJ: this one is crazy, too
JJ: not maria crazy, of course, but *crazy*
harmony: the news report i saw said he broke his arm
adam: you know, this might be a conspiracy. all his girlfriends being crazy, i mean
JJ: or maybe, adam, anderson just has terrible taste in women
blaine: im back. does anyone have a link to the video?

Kurt immediately switched to a new Chrome window. It took a few seconds of searching through Google, but eventually he found a video that wasn’t down or running ridiculously slow because of bandwidth issues. He copy and pasted the address into the chatroom, and then switched back to the other window and clicked play.

“In breaking news, film star Cooper Anderson was rushed to a Venice hospital after his girlfriend of six months, Anastasia Vaburean, assaulted the actor on the terrace of his hotel room this afternoon.”

Kurt blinked at computer screen, speechless.

“–Vaburean, reportedly, was unhappy with the amount of time that Anderson had been spending with his younger brother in the aftermath of their parents unfortunate deaths –”

shiney: cooper anderson has a younger brother???
blaine: how did they find out about his brother? :/
adam: MEDIA CONSPIRACY
adam: HOW ELSE WOULD THEY KNOW?
adam: ANDERSON HAS NEVER MENTIONED A BROTHER BEFORE
JJ: wow this lady is even crazier than harmony and adam combined
harmony: fuck you, jj!
JJ: no thanks i don’t fuck crazy chicks
k: shouldn’t you be off strangling puppies somewhere, JJ?
k: leave us normal folk alone
unique: seriously you guys, STOP IT

“– in the middle of an argument, Vaburean threw hot coffee in Anderson’s face and then pushed him off the terrace. The actor fell two stories –”

blaine: omfg
JJ: woah

“– Anderson was rushed to a local hospital, sustaining minimal injuries. Vaburean was arrested at the scene, and will likely be charged with attempted murder and public disturbance, amongst other charges.”

layla: …well
harmony: wow, his girlfriends sure like trying to kill him, don’t they?
harmony: no wonder anderson’s army broke all the social media
harmony: i bet they went absolutely insane
alex: they must have overloaded all the servers. they’re all probably *still* trying to get on. i bet everything will be offline until they calm the fuck down
layla: good luck with that. cooper anderson’s fangirls and fanboys are almost as crazy as his girlfriends. i bet it’ll be tomorrow before anything is online again
shiney: D:
blaine: brb again.
JJ: wow that anastasia lady is even bitchier than k
k: again, don’t you have dastardly deeds to be performing?
k: somewhere far, far away from us?
unique: THAT IS IT. THIS CHAT IS OVER.
unique: i will give the rest of you the link to the new one. jj, k, you two can just sit here and think about how to behave around others

The chat emptied out rather quickly at that. Everyone apologized profusely at Kurt and JJ about leaving, but no one was willing to try Unique’s patience. Eventually the room was completely empty save for JJ, Kurt, and Blaine, who had not returned.

JJ: i fucking hate you, k.
k: same, jj, same.
JJ has left the room

Kurt sighed, and was just about to click out himself when a new message appeared.

blaine: okay sorry about that. my brother called
blaine: …where did everyone go?!?
k: unique is “punishing” jj and i for fighting
k: she moved the chat. you could message her for the room. she won’t tell jj and i what it is
blaine: oh, no
blaine: i’d much rather be chatting with you, anyway

Kurt smiled.

***

The next three days were strained in the Hudson-Hummel household. Kurt and his father were practically walking around on eggshells, trying their absolute best not to upset the other. Carole, intelligent as always, had decided to keep out of it completely. Finn, however, was not half as clever as his mother, and was constantly trying to find out what they were fighting over, which just made things worse.

That Friday evening found Kurt home alone; Carole wasn’t home from work just yet, and his father had taken Finn to a baseball game. With free reign throughout the house, Kurt had decided to sit at the dining room table while he worked on some forms for Northwestern and chatted with Blaine.

hiddlestonismyforeverking: plot twist: season 3 of sherlock actually comes out before we all die
votestarkforpresident: hey, come on! what did i tell you about mocking our hiatuses?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: idk i probably wasn’t listening because sherlock is boooooring
hiddlestonismyforeverking: :D
votestarkforpresident: >:(

“Having fun?”

Kurt had been so invested in his conversation that he hadn’t heard the front door open and close. He whirled around, startled, and found himself face-to-face with an amused-looking Carole.

“You scared me,” he gasped, staring at her with wide eyes.

She only smiled, and held out a white bag to him. “I didn’t mean to frighten you, Kurt. I brought home some sushi, if you’re interested.”

Kurt eyed the bag warily. It was no secret that sushi was one of his few weaknesses. He wondered what Carole wanted so badly that she would stoop to bribery.

“I was hoping that, perhaps, we could talk?” she said, sitting down across from him.

Kurt eyed her for a moment before taking a seat.

votestarkforpresident: brb. have to sign off. i’m having a talk w/my stepmom
votestarkforpresident: i’ll message you again when i get back online

Once he sent those two messages, Kurt pocketed his phone and opened the bag. “What did you want to talk about?”

She studied him for a long moment before speaking. “You know that your father wasn’t trying to be insensitive, right?”

“I know he wasn’t trying to be like that on purpose,” Kurt admitted. “It still came off that way, though.”

Carole leaned back in her seat, a thoughtful look on her face.

“I think that it’s difficult for us to truly understand,” she said finally, looking at him. “The amount of time that you spend online, I mean. To your father, it appears unhealthy, almost as though you’re blocking the outside world completely.”

The way she had phrased that sentence made Kurt pause. “Do you…do you see it differently?”

“Yes,” she replied. “There are some long-term patients at the hospital – children, some of them your age, or perhaps a bit younger – that are so ill that they can’t go outside, Kurt. Not long enough to make friends, at any rate. Their friendships are generally confined to family and other patients at the hospital.”

Kurt swallowed a bite of sushi and looked at his stepmother. “Generally?”

“Some of them have made very close friends online,” she said after a moment. “One girl, Nadia, tells me constantly about her best friend, a boy named James. She’s never met him, and likely never will, but the way she speaks of him…you would think they saw each other every single day.”

“But they do see each other every day,” Kurt said. “It may not be in the same way that Finn sees Puck or Rachel, but they talk constantly, for hours upon hours, and they know each other inside and out.”

Carole raised an eyebrow. “You sound as if you’ve been there.”

Kurt flushed slightly before admitting, “You know my friend Harmony? I, uh, I actually met her online. I mean, we met accidentally in person before we became really close, but we originally met online. So, it’s similar, I guess?”

Carole shifted her gaze from Kurt to where his phone had been sitting earlier. “Is she the one you were talking with earlier?”

“No,” Kurt said, “I was talking to another friend. Blaine.”

“Blaine?”

“Yeah,” Kurt replied. “We started talking in May. I like him a lot. I think we could become best friends, eventually.”

Carole stared at him for a good minute, and something in that look made Kurt nervous. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was almost as though Carole knew something that he didn't.

“I believe that you have a good handle on which people you can trust online,” she said finally. “However, I don’t necessarily think that your father understands that.”

Kurt swallowed another bite of sushi and peered up at her through his lashes. “What do you mean?”

“I think that Burt is just worried,” she explained. “As parents, we don’t necessarily hear many good things about the internet. We hear stories of children being abducted, of predators pretending to be teenagers…things like that don’t exactly paint a picture of sunshine and rainbows, Kurt.”

“Yes, I understand what you’re saying, but not everyone on the internet is like that.”

“I know,” Carole agreed, “but I don’t think your father differentiates well. With Finn, he can actually see the people that Finn associates with. Burt doesn’t have to worry about Rachel secretly being a sixty-year-old predator, because he can physically see that she isn’t.”

Kurt pursed his lips. “It’s not the same with me.”

“No,” Carole said, “it isn’t. With you, your father doesn’t know your friends. He wants to keep you safe, and make sure that you’re associating with the right people, but he can’t do that.”

“So it makes him nervous about all the time I spend online.”

“Yes.”

Kurt stared down at the table for a good minute. “Closeness has absolutely nothing to do with physical proximity, Carole.”

“I don’t disagree with that.”

“You guys have to trust that I’m responsible enough to make these decisions for myself. I’m nineteen now; even if dad doesn’t like me spending this much time online, there’s really nothing that he can do about it,” Kurt said, looking up at his stepmother. “I am very, very careful with the information I give out to people. I have to know I can trust them before I give them anything important, like my phone number – hell, I’ve been talking to Blaine for two months, and he still doesn’t know my real name!”

"I trust you, Kurt," Carole said. "I truly do. I'm just saying that it's difficult for your father. I think that you need to sit down and talk with him about this. Try and make him understand."

"I will," Kurt grumbled.

Carole smiled at him. "I would wait a few days, though, before you bring it up. I would definitely talk with your dad like you normally would, but…just avoid this subject for at least a few more days, all right?"

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to go upstairs and take a shower,” Carole said, leaning down to press a quick kiss against Kurt’s forehead. “You know that you can always talk to me about these things, right? I’m always willing to listen.”

Kurt smiled. “Thanks, Carole.”

“Anytime, Kurt. Anytime.”

***

hiddlestonismyforeverking: so, i came to a realization last night
hiddlestonismyforeverking: that although we’ve been chatting for
hiddlestonismyforeverking: what, two and a half months now?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: that we never really talk

Kurt frowned slightly as he scanned through the series of messages that Blaine had just sent him. More than a week had passed since ‘Cooperocalypse’ – as most people were now referring to it as – had taken Tumblr, Twitter, and Livejournal offline, and they were talking as often as ever.

As such, Kurt couldn’t help but be extremely confused by the other boy’s statement.

votestarkforpresident: what do you mean?
votestarkforpresident: we talk all the time.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i know that we *talk*
hiddlestonismyforeverking: but we don’t talk about anything that important or personal

Kurt leaned back in his chair and bit lightly at his bottom lip, a nervous habit from his childhood that he had never quite been able to shake. He took a sip of chamomile tea, his fingers clenching tightly at the still-warm mug, and thought back to some of their previous conversations.

votestarkforpresident: we’ve had personal conversations before!
hiddlestonismyforeverking: no, we haven’t.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i mean, we talked about my parents once. and about their…well, you know.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: but that’s it.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: otherwise, we only really talk about online/fandom stuff
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i’m just saying that for someone i consider a friend, i know considerably little about you, katniss.

He mulled over that for a moment before grudgingly admitting that the other boy had a point.

votestarkforpresident: so what do you suggest we do to fix this?
votestarkforpresident: also, my name is not katniss.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: SEE. MY POINT EXACTLY! i don’t even know your real name!
hiddlestonismyforeverking: and you *wish* your name was katniss

Kurt shook his head at that, amused.

hiddlestonismyforeverking: hmmmmm
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i know
hiddlestonismyforeverking: let's turn it into a game!
votestarkforpresident: ?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: let's play twenty questions!!!
votestarkforpresident: ...
hiddlestonismyforeverking: don't judge me! i know that you want to do it, k.
votestarkforpresident: ...
hiddlestonismyforeverking: we can even modify it slightly, okay? so that it's not super awkward.

Kurt stared at the screen for a long moment, contemplating; while he had to admit that he was very interested in learning more about Blaine, he was still a bit iffy on giving out detailed personal information.

He suddenly wished that he could talk to Harmony, because she always seemed to know the right thing to say in situations like this. However crazy she could be at times, Harmony had an amazing grasp on interacting with people in an online atmosphere – especially with knowing when it was time to take a friendship to the next appropriate level – and seemed to be a pro at making and maintaining numerous online friendships.

Unfortunately for Kurt, however, Harmony was currently on vacation; about a month ago, her mother had decided that the two needed “together time,” and had booked them a small cabin somewhere in the mountains for a week.

Harmony had originally been very excited about the trip; that was, until she had learned that her mother – wholeheartedly disapproving of the time that her daughter spent online – had specifically orchestrated things so that there would be no internet and very, very little phone service.

Needless to say, Harmony had not been happy with the prospect of being completely cut off from civilization for a full week.

Thus, without his best friend available to give him advice, Kurt was at an absolute loss for what to do. He debated the pros and cons for a few seconds, and then finally decided to get more information before he agreed to anything.

votestarkforpresident: what do you mean by modifying it?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: well, when i've played twenty questions before, it's always been like this
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i ask a question, the other person answers, then they ask a question, i answer, etc.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: so, we could alter it slightly to make it less intimidating, i guess? obviously, we each get twenty questions total. i don't mind us asking *some* fandom stuff, but some of our questions should be personal/rl related
hiddlestonismyforeverking: actually, how about we make it so that that 10 of our questions HAVE to be rl/personal related, but the other 10 can be online/fandom related?
votestarkforpresident: ok...
hiddlestonismyforeverking: and they can't be yes/no questions. i mean, we don't have to write a novel or anything, but our answers have to be at least a few words.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: and we BOTH have to answer each question.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: that way, you only ask something that you're 100% willing to answer, too.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i think that will eliminate one of us being more nosy than the other, and make it less intimidating.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: like, okay, for example, my first question could be "how many brothers and sisters do you have?" and i would answer first - i only have one sibling, my older brother - and then you would answer. then you would ask a question, answer it first, then i answer.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: make sense?

Kurt thought that over, eventually deciding that the game seemed safe enough. Except, of course, for one small issue.

votestarkforpresident: it sounds okay, i guess, but what if there is a question we really, REALLY don't want to answer?
votestarkforpresident: you know, one that makes us truly uncomfortable
hiddlestonismyforeverking: hmmmm
hiddlestonismyforeverking: how about this
hiddlestonismyforeverking: we both get three passes
hiddlestonismyforeverking: so if it's a question you really feel uncomfortable answering, you can say "pass"
hiddlestonismyforeverking: but then that question doesn't count
hiddlestonismyforeverking: and the person gets to ask a different one in its place
hiddlestonismyforeverking: and once your three passes are gone, you don’t get anymore
hiddlestonismyforeverking: and you have to answer
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i mean, you can choose how much you reveal
hiddlestonismyforeverking: but you still have to provide *some* sort of answer

It doesn’t sound all that bad, Kurt thought to himself, leaning back in his chair and studying the screen intently. Why not?

votestarkforpresident: all right, let's give it a shot.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: YES
hiddlestonismyforeverking: dskjlghkjshgslhdjghaldshgf
hiddlestonismyforeverking: give me a second to open notepad so i can keep track of how many questions we've asked/how many are fandom vs personal
votestarkforpresident: ...you're actually going to keep track?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: indeed.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i take learning about my friends very seriously, okay
hiddlestonismyforeverking: :|
votestarkforpresident: ……..
hiddlestonismyforeverking: all right, i'm ready
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i'll ask the first question since it was my idea to do this
hiddlestonismyforeverking: ummm...what is your favorite color?
votestarkforpresident: you're seriously wasting a question on that?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: shut up, my question is amazing! besides, i'm working my way up to the hardcore stuff
hiddlestonismyforeverking: anyway, my favorite color is blue. specifically navy blue, but i like pretty much all shades of blue, i guess.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: ok, your turn now
votestarkforpresident: well, okay, i guess if we're going by a color that i like *all* shades of, probably green
votestarkforpresident: but my favorite particular color is actually burnt orange
votestarkforpresident: i don't really like any other shades of orange, and i don't like wearing orange clothing, but i think that particular shade is a beautiful color, and i would totally paint a room in my future house that color
hiddlestonismyforeverking: :D :D :D
hiddlestonismyforeverking: see how painless that was!
hiddlestonismyforeverking: okay, it's your turn now

Kurt stared at the screen, his mind racing as he tried desperately to come up with some sort of question.

votestarkforpresident: what is your favorite food?
votestarkforpresident: i like salads because they're customizable.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: omg it's totally cake
hiddlestonismyforeverking: like, seriously, ALL cakes. i don't care what kind or flavor.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i’m an equal-opportunity cake enthusiast
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i'd eat them all if i could
hiddlestonismyforeverking: nom nom nom nom
votestarkforpresident: did you seriously just go "nom nom nom nom" at me?!
hiddlestonismyforeverking: ...no?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: look, man, cake is DELICIOUS
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i have a lot of cake feelings, okay.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: have you ever seen “cake boss”
hiddlestonismyforeverking: THAT SHOW IS AMAZING
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i wish that i could eat all the cakes they make omg
hiddlestonismyforeverking: but they're all so *pretty*, and i think that i'd feel bad destroying them
hiddlestonismyforeverking: but they just look so YUMMY

Kurt raised an eyebrow at that, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Maybe it had been a good decision to do this; after all, they were only two questions in, and Kurt could already tell that Blaine was, apparently, quite passionate about food.

hiddlestonismyforeverking: all right, i’ll stop fanboying over cake now
hiddlestonismyforeverking: and take my turn
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i'll do a fandom question this time, i think!
hiddlestonismyforeverking: ummm, what is that one show/book series that you are secretly OBSESSED with, but you don't tell anyone about because you're sort of embarrassed?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i'm in love with dance moms
hiddlestonismyforeverking: it's this terribly ridiculous show about a competitive dance team and their crazy mothers and equally crazy coach and, just, omg
hiddlestonismyforeverking: seriously, you have no idea. i caught a random episode on lifetime one night when i couldn’t sleep and instantly got hooked
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i now follow it obsessively
hiddlestonismyforeverking: anyway, your answer, k?
votestarkforpresident: please don't judge me
votestarkforpresident: but i really, really like twilight
votestarkforpresident: i know that the books are terribly written and all, but i can’t help myself
votestarkforpresident: i don’t really like bella or edward, because together they are absolutely ridiculous
votestarkforpresident: but i like the cullens a lot, and think that their back stories are sort of interesting, i guess? also, the movies are okay (the soundtracks are amazing, though)
votestarkforpresident: and, okay, taylor lautner is *ridiculously* attractive
votestarkforpresident: :">
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i am judging so much omg
hiddlestonismyforeverking: but, it's okay. i wouldn't expect anything less from someone who picked tony stark over steve rogers
votestarkforpresident: LEAVE THE AVENGERS OUT OF THIS
votestarkforpresident: besides, you're the one with the bad taste in avengers!
votestarkforpresident: i mean, captain america is adorable and cool
votestarkforpresident: but he is no tony stark
hiddlestonismyforeverking: >:(

Kurt shook his head at the screen, amused.

votestarkforpresident: it’s my turn again, right?
votestarkforpresident: ummm…coffee or tea?
votestarkforpresident: no matter what anyone claims, we *all* like one just a bit more than the other
hiddlestonismyforeverking: are all of your questions going to be about food?!
votestarkforpresident: well, if you keep it up with that tone, maybe they will be
votestarkforpresident: >:(
hiddlestonismyforeverking: woah woah woah
hiddlestonismyforeverking: just *who* has a tone here?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i’m pretty sure that they could feel the burn of those words all the way in europe, klove.
votestarkforpresident: i’m just saying that you should appreciate the flawlessness of my questions, blaine.
votestarkforpresident: also, tea. i mean, i absolutely love a good cup of coffee, but i like the variety of tea. plus, it’s super, SUPER relaxing.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i think i have to go with coffee on this one. i like peppermint tea and green tea (especially iced green tea...have you ever tried the iced green tea at panera? it is SO DELICIOUS), but those are really the only two. i like every kind of coffee that i’ve tried, though.
votestarkforpresident: your answer is acceptable

A good minute passed without any new messages from Blaine. If it hadn’t been for the bottom of the AIM screen, which said ‘hiddlestonismyforeverking is typing...,’ Kurt would have been worried that he had suddenly disappeared.

The message flashed across the screen a few times, and Kurt knew that Blaine was likely erasing whatever he had previously wrote.

votestarkforpresident: problems?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: oops, sorry
hiddlestonismyforeverking: this is harder than i thought it would be
hiddlestonismyforeverking: like, the coming up with questions part, i mean
hiddlestonismyforeverking: and deciding if it’s appropriate
votestarkforpresident: well, that’s what we have the passes for, right?
votestarkforpresident: if your question makes me uncomfortable, i’ll just use that
hiddlestonismyforeverking: …i may have forgotten about those, lol.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i know you mentioned, at some point in the near past, that you just graduated from high school in may
hiddlestonismyforeverking: but, tell me about your high school experience, anyway!
hiddlestonismyforeverking: like, what was your favorite and least favorite classes?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: my least favorite class is math. i am TERRIBLE at it.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: like, you have no idea. i’m pretty sure that a preschooler could legitimately beat me in a math competition
hiddlestonismyforeverking: my favorite class – well, okay, it’s not really an actual *class*, but i really like it
hiddlestonismyforeverking: is glee. i really like singing and performing and it’s just a lot of fun
hiddlestonismyforeverking: but, i guess if we’re talking actual classes, then i really like art
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i’ll be in art IV next year

Kurt leaned forward in his chair, suddenly very interested in this particular part of their conversation.

votestarkforpresident: you draw?
votestarkforpresident: that’s really cool! i can barely draw stick men, let alone make actual art
hiddlestonismyforeverking: oh, no
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i’m notte
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i’m not any good at all*
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i just doodle for fun, really :”>
hiddlestonismyforeverking: sometimes my followers will send me a request and i’ll draw something for them, but it’s just for fun
votestarkforpresident: i bet that you’re amazing
votestarkforpresident: they wouldn’t ask you to draw for them if you weren’t, right?
votestarkforpresident: ...can i see something that you’ve drawn?
votestarkforpresident: only if you’re comfortable showing me, of course. i don’t want to force you or anything

There was a long pause before a response popped up on Kurt’s screen.

hiddlestonismyforeverking: when is your birthday?

Kurt raised an eyebrow at Blaine’s response, which had absolutely nothing to do with their current conversation, but decided to humor him.

votestarkforpresident: may 27th
hiddlestonismyforeverking: …i missed it? :(
votestarkforpresident: well, in your defense, you were kind of in the hospital, blaine
votestarkforpresident: and you didn’t know
hiddlestonismyforeverking: …
hiddlestonismyforeverking: brb!
hiddlestonismyforeverking: :D

Five minutes passed, but no new messages appeared. After a second of hesitation, Kurt decided to use the opportunity to run upstairs and get some more tea and snacks.

By the time that Kurt made it back downstairs, a glass of iced green tea in one hand and an assorted platter of vegetables balanced carefully on the other, he had four new messages from Blaine.

hiddlestonismyforeverking: okay it’ll just take a second to load
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i was saving this for your birthday
hiddlestonismyforeverking: but obviously i missed that :( :( :(
hiddlestonismyforeverking: this was saved on my external harddrive…i left it in my dorm that weekend, mostly because i forgot to grab it, lol (i forget stuff a lot). which i guess was actually pretty lucky, since it helped me to back up a LOT of my stuff. not everything, but enough that i didn’t lose *all* my files when my laptop went up in flames

Kurt stared at the screen for a moment, baffled.

votestarkforpresident: what are you talking about?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: for you
hiddlestonismyforeverking: click the link!!

He hesitated for all of a second, and then clicked on the underlined link, which immediately took him to Blaine’s blog.

Whatever the bulk of the post actually was, it was apparently a larger file, and was loading rather slowly. Kurt sighed, annoyed at the wait, and decided to scroll down towards the bottom of the post. He stopped when he made it to the post information, and raised an eyebrow at what he saw.

posted 6 minutes ago with 456 notes

He scrolled back up and looked at the image that had just loaded. It was a screencap of Jim Moriarty, from Sherlock; more specifically, it was a scene from “The Reichenbach Fall,” where Moriarty sat on a throne, a crown on his head and a scepter in his hands.

Kurt tilted his head to the side, puzzled. Blaine’s birthday gift was a screencap of Moriarty? And why did it have 456 notes?

He leaned forward in his seat to study the screencap more closely. It took all of a minute for his eyes to widen in shock.

votestarkforpresident: OH MY GOD
votestarkforpresident: BLAINE
votestarkforpresident: YOU *DREW* THIS?!?!?!?
votestarkforpresident: …YOU DREW THIS FOR *ME*
hiddlestonismyforeverking: :/
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i knew you wouldn’t like it. its not really that good
hiddlestonismyforeverking: his face didn’t come out the way i wanted
hiddlestonismyforeverking: but i know you mentioned you liked moriarty so i googled a picture of him to try and draw…
votestarkforpresident: ARE YOU INSANE?
votestarkforpresident: BLAINE
votestarkforpresident: IT’S SO GOOD THAT I LEGITIMATELY THOUGHT IT WAS A SCREENCAP FROM THE SHOW
votestarkforpresident: ;LDFHLJAHDSGJ;LDSKLGHADSKLH

Kurt gaped at the screen, so fascinated by the image that it took four messages from Blaine before the beeping pulled him from of his thoughts.

hiddlestonismyforeverking: really? :/
hiddlestonismyforeverking: you’re not just saying that?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: because it’s really okay if you don’t like it
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i won’t be upset
votestarkforpresident: who in their right mind *wouldn’t* like that?!
votestarkforpresident: no, blaine, seriously, this is one of the most amazing things anyone has ever done for me. thank you so much.
votestarkforpresident: can i…can i use it as a header in my theme when i change it?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: of course! keeta, it’s yours. you can do whatever you want with it.
votestarkforpresident: have you considered going to college for art? or animation or something?
votestarkforpresident: because this is absolutely amazing. if i could draw 1/13873 as well as you, i would be all over an art major.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: oh, idk. i never really thought about it. i don’t think i’m the best artist or anything.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i always thought i would do law or medicine or something, i guess
votestarkforpresident: you should seriously consider art, blaine. this is amazing
hiddlestonismyforeverking: lkdhgjksdghds maybe. idk. i have time to decide, though.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: anyway, it’s your turn to answer!

Kurt paused for a moment, considering his answer.

votestarkforpresident: my least favorite class was history
votestarkforpresident: it just doesn’t interest me that much
hiddlestonismyforeverking: awww, that sucks. :( i like history a lot – not as much as glee or art, but it’s probably my third favorite class.
votestarkforpresident: i guess my second-favorite class would be french. third would be english.
votestarkforpresident: i guess my favorite class would have been glee.
votestarkforpresident: well, when i took it, anyway. there were some…complications early in my junior year the resulted in my leaving glee for the rest of the year
votestarkforpresident: i won’t get into details just yet, but basically my glee club split into two at the start of my senior year. i rejoined the new group.
votestarkforpresident: i really like music, though. so much. i actually decided to go to college for musical education
hiddlestonismyforeverking: woah, that’s cool! are you starting in the fall?
votestarkforpresident: yeah, i am :)

There was a moment of silence on Blaine’s end before a new message appeared.

hiddlestonismyforeverking: hey, i have to run. my brother just got home from his business trip.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i have to go lecture him on informing me about important issues in a timely manner
votestarkforpresident: ?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: lol nevermind. anyway, i’ll catch you tomorrow. night!
hiddlestonismyforeverking: oh ps, don’t think we’re done with the game
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i told you i would keep track
hiddlestonismyforeverking: we’re only 5/40
hiddlestonismyforeverking: we’ll continue this later. it’s your turn next to ask a question!!
hiddlestonismyforeverking: night!