“Um, could you, please, help me?” Blaine asked a man in a purple t-shirt who was walking past him. He looked at him as if he was a slug and walked away.

“Don’t pay attention at him; those ‘purples’ are not worth it,” a voice behind him said and Blaine turned around.

A blond guy, about his age, was standing right in front of him. He was carrying a few laptops as well as some wires. A strange thing about him was that his t-shirt was different – yellow with some thin blue stripes. By that time Blaine had already known the dress code of the place so the boy looked out of place.

“So what help do you need? I hope you don’t mind me eavesdropping. Though you were talking quite loudly so you can’t actually mind. But if you do then I’m sorry. So back to the point, you need help and I can help you. If it’s feasible of course. I won’t be able to do anything if you ask me to help you set some fireworks shoot from your ass without lighting fire. Maybe we could arrange something if it was with fire though. I could check online… You know, internet has some awesome stuff. Like the other day I found out that a pig’s orgasm lasts for thirty minutes. Thirty minutes! Man, that’s a long time. Once I had to wait at a dentist’s for half an hour; I thought I would die. But I didn’t. You probably can see that though. I hope you have good eyesight because you are going to need that here.”

“My name is Blaine. It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” Blaine laughed and the boy’s cheeks coloured dark pink.

“I tend to talk a lot. I’m Jeff,” he said and positioned laptops a bit better so that they wouldn’t fall. “I would shake your hand but mine’s are quite busy. Today is quite an insane day.”

“Tell me about it,” Blaine smiled. “Do you want me to help you with these?”

“Are you implying that I’m not strong enough to carry them by myself?” Jeff asked suddenly offended.

“No, no! I never said that! I just want to help you,” Blaine said in panic. That boy was the only person he talked to except for Fred and his squad mates though so far they were not very talkative. Blaine couldn’t blame them; they had a lot to digest.

“You should see your face, Blainey! Priceless!” Jeff said laughing. Sarah walked passed and rolled her eyes.

“Blainey? Seriously?”

“It sounds more accurate for your best friend to call you Blainey than Blaine. It sounds more personal, you know?” Jeff explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the entire universe. Blaine didn’t question his intentions of becoming besties.

“How about, I help my best friend and you help yours?” he grinned and Jeff nodded. “So I will help you to carry these and you will help me to find the cafeteria. I was going there to have lunch but got lost…”

“Sounds like a plan, bestie! Oh the things we could do together…”

“No fireworks, please. I like my ass the way it is,” Blaine laughed and took a few laptops from Jeff. “So, show where you need to take these.”

“Follow me, Blainey boy. And while we are walking, tell me about yourself. I want to know everything. I mean, you are a ‘white’ and you, guys, usually have nice stories to tell. Are you good at martial arts? Can you kill a man with bare hands? Can you untie your arms? Is your shooting precision perfect? Have you ever lost any fight? Well, overall, are you a killing machine?”

Blaine felt weird. Was it all really expected from him? The C.A.T. must have done some research on him before he came to the base so they had to know he couldn’t do any of that.

“No… I’m actually only good at music, I think. I like singing, I write music sometimes. And I love performing. I have never been good at sports,” he said shyly and looked at Jeff who was watching him curiously. “What? Is it… bad? I’m sure I’m going to go home in no time. Why did I even accept this?”

“Okay, relax. It’s not bad, just odd. Yes, odd is a good word for that. You see, the newbies are usually selected by some criterions. Mostly physical ones. Though it’s not unheard that one newbie in the White Squad is sometimes….average. Though I believe you are one hell of a performer.”

Someone bumped into Blaine. “Sorry,” he apologised though it wasn’t his fault. “From what I’ve seen we are all average. No superhero looking guys or tough girls. Just people you meet every day.”

“You would be surprised what those people, you see daily on a sidewalk, can do.”

“Maybe, but still, nobody looked like a killing machine.”

Jeff thought for a second. He was too curious now – he would have to go see Tom as soon as he can.

“We will see. Now I’m going to give you an insight about this place. There is one thing that Fred wouldn’t tell you. Not because it’s a secret but because he is not one of us. He is the head of the C.A.T. so he usually doesn’t know how things work here. First of all, do you know the meanings of different t-shirts?” Blaine nodded. “Okay. Stay away from the purple ones. They are not what you would call the nicest people. I don’t think there have ever been a decent ‘purple’. If a person is a really good agent but at least a bit kind-hearted, he or she would go to the Green Squad. That’s it.”

Blaine thought for a moment and nodded. He didn’t want to draw any conclusions about the squad just because of one encounter with that man earlier but if that was an indication, then he would probably be better off listening to Jeff.

“Oh, here we are,” Jeff said and doors opened automatically. “We are setting new laptops in the library. These are a bit old and slow.”

Blaine looked at the ‘old’ ones. “Mine is much older than these.”

“Take one. No, seriously. We change them every year so it’s not a big deal.”

“Um, thanks,” Blaine smiled. “So why were you given this task?”

“Haven’t I told you I work with computers here?” Blaine shook his head. “Well, I’m telling you now. And it means I’m not in any squad. I’m a free bird. I like it because I can wear what I want. Not like you. You are stuck with white for a year and then with another colour for a very long time hopefully.”

“If I make it to a squad at all given that I only have music talents,” he smiled sadly as Jeff was setting laptops instead of the old ones.

“Relax, I’m pretty sure you will be good. You will just need to work a bit harder. I will help you,” he said and suddenly facepalmed himself. “I forgot to help you. So cafeteria, huh?”

“Oh, yes, I forgot as well,” Blaine laughed.

“Let’s go then, I will finish here later,” Jeff said and they entered the corridor again. “Just so you know, the Blue Squad has hottest girls. Pay attention at them.”

“And which one has hottest guys?” he asked sheepishly. He was out and proud but it was still strange to tell people he was gay because you could never know how someone would react.

“Green and Purple mostly,” Jeff said calmly. “But pay attention at ‘greens’ then. As I said, stay away from anything that’s purple. That’s just a disgusting colour.”

Blaine smiled and promised to take a good look at the ‘greens’ at which Jeff giggled.

<~*~>

“Don’t be a baby. Think of it as a practice. You will improve your acting skills,” Jeff insisted. He was sitting on Blaine’s roommate’s bed while Blaine was changing for lunch after taking a shower. He was lucky to get a dorm room with a shower – most people had to use common bathrooms.

“You want me to make out with you in the cafeteria in front of everyone… Am I right?” Blaine asked confused.

“Just think about it. You kiss me a few times, we pretend to be in love and he will get jealous. Then he will be after you, we will break up, even though it will break my heart, and you two will live happily ever after. That’s a perfect plan, you have to admit it.”

“Jeff, you are straight, remember?” Blaine rolled his eyes and put a clean t-shirt on. “Let’s go.”

Jeff stood up and followed Blaine out of the room.

“I can start telling people I’m bi. Or that I was confused and wanted to try being gay. Or that I thought you were a girl. Besides, no one will care about me; everyone thinks I’m crazy anyway. You are the star here,” Jeff smirked. He was right – Blaine was stunningly popular as a newbie.

“No, just no, Jeff. I don’t want to make out with you.”

Jeff sighed excessively but didn’t say anything. They both entered the cafeteria in silence and went to grab some food. Blaine chose chicken salad because he didn’t want to eat too much before the karate class, while Jeff took a huge plate of pasta. Blaine wondered sometimes how he stayed thin.

They chose a table and sat down. At that moment Jeff noticed they had forgotten drinks and went to bring some. Just then another boy approached.

“Hey, Blaine,” he said smiling. He was nothing if not gorgeous. “Bon appétit.”

“Um… ah… thanks,” he said and scolded himself immediately. Jeff chose that exact moment to come back with drinks. He placed the drinks on the table, sat next to Blaine, and before anyone could say something, he took Blaine’s face with both hands and kissed him passionately.

“I guess, I’ll be going. It was nice to see you, Blaine,” the boy said and left quickly. Jeff opened one eye to check if he was gone.

“Clear,” he stated and turned to his food tray. “It really looks delicious.”

<~*~>

I can’t believe it, it can’t be happening, Blaine thought running to Jeff’s room where he was supposed to be. He will hate me forever.

Blaine reached the doors of Jeff’s room and threw them open without knocking. He stopped immediately because of what he saw: Jeff was naked in his bed, stroking himself in quick strong movements.

“Close the doors, Blainey, I’m almost done,” he said and moaned loudly.

“I will wait outside,” he said and left. No awkwardness at all. It had been one year and nothing one did could make the other uncomfortable. Five minutes passed and Blaine heard a very loud moan. He giggled knowing that Jeff was being louder just to make fun of him. A few more minutes and Jeff opened the doors.

“Please, come in, person who can’t knock on the doors,” he said and let Blaine in.

Blaine came in and looked around. “There is some come on the wall, Jeffy,” he said and laughed. Jeff growled and went to clean it.

“Who do I owe the pleasure?” he asked.

“Your hand,” Blaine laughed.

“Yeah, as if you can get laid. Why did you come?”

Blaine stopped laughing as soon as he remembered the reason. He inhaled deeply.

“Did you forget what day it is? The sorting…” Blaine looked at his feet. “I got into the Purple Squad.”

Blaine raised his head slightly scared to see Jeff’s face. But the boy was smiling.

“Have I ever told you that purple is my favourite colour?”