Klaine Advent 2018 Day 6: Festival

Dimension four: Famous

When Kurt opens his eyes, he sees his bedroom in the loft. He can’t believe he’s in the loft. Well, maybe not his loft, but the loft in this dimension. Still, it’s refreshing to wake up in a somewhat familiar environment and not in an air craft, or a Ravenclaw dorm, or a hospital in a safe haven.

Wow, he’s seen too much in these past few days.

He slowly gets out of bed to get dressed and he tries to figure out if something’s changed. He knows he’s not really home.

Suddenly, he hears Rachel singing.

Yup, he’s not home. Rachel in his dimension has moved to LA.

Kurt gets dressed and he takes a deep breath before drawing the curtains around his bedroom. It’s time to face the day. It’s time to figure out where he is this time. It is kind of tiring, but Kurt has to keep on going. After all, he really wants to go home to his loft.

God, he misses his dimension, his home, he’s even starting to miss Günther and the Spotlight Diner.

Rachel is making tea in the kitchen. “Oh hello!”

“Hey Rachel,” Kurt says.

He doesn’t know if he’ll get used to this dimension hopping, or whatever this is. In every dimension, his friends are with him. They were his fellow crew members in space, they were his classmates in Hogwarts, and they were part of the same rescue team during the apocalypse. They’re always there, and yet, they also aren’t really there. These aren’t his friends. This isn’t his Rachel. These are the friends of the version of Kurt that exists in this dimension.

Although this dimension looks a lot like his own so far. There are no space guns, or magic wands, or bomb threats.

There is one vital thing missing, though: Blaine.

Kurt looks around while Rachel speaks. There is absolutely no sign of Blaine in this loft. His stuff isn’t here and Kurt’s pretty sure this Rachel has never heard of him. By now he knows it’s useless to ask.

“Don’t you miss Santana?”

Kurt gets pulled out of his thoughts. “Hm, I’m sorry, what?”

“Santana,” Rachel sighs and she looks around, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I miss her. But I suppose we should’ve seen this coming.”

Kurt just nods. He has no idea what Rachel’s talking about.

“Luckily, she isn’t too far away. After all, she lives three blocks away, but the loft is emptier without her attitude,” Rachel says solemnly.

Yes, Kurt is definitely in another dimension. In his dimension, Rachel and Santana are friends again, but Rachel would never speak this fondly of Santana.

“And of course, we’ll see her tonight.”

“Of course,” Kurt says, not knowing what he’s agreeing to.

“After all, I am glad she and Dani finally found a place to live,” Rachel rattles on, unaware of the fact that Kurt is not her Kurt, “They’ve been dating for a while now and honestly, I can hear wedding bells!”

Ah yes, another reminder that Kurt does not belong here. He knows that in his dimension, Santana has left the city to tour with Brittany as Mercedes’s back up. Kurt really thinks he’ll never get used to this. And this dimension makes it quite difficult, since it’s like his own dimension.

Kurt realises this dimension is a lot like his own when Rachel starts talking about their shift at the Spotlight Diner.

Kurt takes it back. He doesn’t miss Günther and the Spotlight Diner anymore. No matter what dimension he’s in, his job is pretty terrible.

“Just think of tonight, Kurt!” Rachel keeps saying during the shift, “We’ve been looking forward to it for ages!”

Kurt has absolutely no idea what she’s referring to and he also has no idea how to ask without raising suspicion. After all, Kurt’s supposed to be very excited about whatever’s happening tonight, so him asking Rachel what is going on is too suspicious.

So instead, he focuses on work and he saves absolutely everything he gets a hold of. He puts his pen in his bag for later. He tells himself to take his nametag with him. In the kitchen, Kurt drops ketchup and he takes it with him. All of this could be his possible object for the book. Since he is stuck here, he can’t go out to look for Blaine, but he also doesn’t want to waste his time, so he saves every small trinket that might be significant.

But for a very long time, nothing interesting happens. That is until two teenage girls and their parents decide to have lunch in the Spotlight Diner. They’re clearly tourists and while the parents are talking about the historical landmarks in New York City, the girls are fawning over something on their phones.

“No, David is totally the hottest!” one girl says.

Her friend shakes her head. “Are you kidding, have you seen Jeff?”

“Yes, but Jeff is dating Nick, so they’re both completely unavailable! Wes is single, though.”

They’re talking about the Warblers, or at least this version of the Warblers. So far, Blaine’s always been with the Warblers. They were his space crew, and they all attended Ilvermorny, and Blaine had mentioned that they had all died to save him during the apocalypse.

Kurt knows this is Rachel’s section, but he can’t let this opportunity slide.

“Hello, my name is Kurt and I will be your waiter today,” he says, “Can I get you anything to drink?” Over their heads, Kurt can see that Rachel’s shooting him a confused look.

The parents order something, but the girls are still giggling about something on their phones. One of the dads snaps his fingers.

“Hello! Earth to Alyssa and Sabine!” he says, “Drinks?”

The girls mumble their orders and Kurt has a hard time understanding them. One of the moms looks apologetic.

“I am so sorry for the girls,” she says, “We’ve come to New York to attend a concert and the girls have been screaming about it non-stop. My wife and I have grown tired of the generic pop music, but if it makes them happy, then we’re happy.”

“This unfortunately means that the girls are a bit occupied,” the other dad says, “Honestly, my husband and I are hoping for the craze to die down. This festival is going to be packed.”

Kurt nods. “Oh, I completely understand. My roommate has had some obsessive moments as well,” he says and they all laugh, except for the girls, who are talking excitedly. Then Kurt asks: “What concert will you be attending?”

“The Warblers,” the other mom sighs, “They’re the biggest boyband right now.”

“We’re from New Jersey, so New York is relatively close. The girls bought the tickets the moment the pre-sale started.”

Even though Kurt has the information he needs, he talks a little bit more. He likes these people. He doesn’t really learn anything new, but these little things make his day better.

After the shift, Kurt’s tired. He really doesn’t miss the Spotlight Diner anymore.

Why is Kurt still working there? Well, money, but his dad is a Congressman, he can pitch in. Kurt’s mood deflates at the thought of having to ask his dad for help. Kurt’s never been good at asking for help, because it makes him feel like a failure.

But the job is really shitty and it does keep him away from Blaine. After the apocalypse, Kurt realised how serious this dimension hopping is. Up until then, he saw it as something annoying or as a joke. Some weird book trying to play with them. But their lives might be in danger and the thought of losing Blaine hurts.

Is his job at Spotlight Diner worth it?

Kurt doesn’t think so. Maybe he should set aside his pride and form a plan with his dad.

Back in the loft, Kurt wants to google The Warblers, but Rachel stops him.

“Get dressed,” she says.

“But we still need to shower?” Kurt remind her. They smell like cheap fries and milkshakes.

“Have you lost your head! There’s no time!”

Kurt doesn’t have the energy to protest, so he does as she says. He feels gross, but he still doesn’t want to seem suspicious. Then again, him agreeing to not showering is suspicious to him, but maybe he’s not as proper in this dimension. Kurt can’t see it happening, but you never know.

Rachel is dressed perfectly so Kurt dresses up as well. He has no idea where they’re heading, but he prepares himself for a night out. Maybe he can find a way to attend that concert of The Warblers.

Others arrive as well. Sam, Mercedes and Santana never left the city in this dimension. Santana has Dani in tow and Sam says Artie is waiting outside.

Mercedes hands Kurt a ticket and Kurt’s jaw drops when he sees that he’s holding a star-shaped ticket to the concert of The Warblers.

“Holy shit,” he says before he can stop himself, but he’s too excited. Maybe reaching Blaine wouldn’t be too hard.

“Oh man, yeah,” Sam says, “I know, right? It’s finally happening.”

“I’m so excited,” Rachel says.

Mercedes nods.

Kurt can’t believe he’s in a dimension where most of his friends seem to enjoy generic pop music, but he just rolls with it. He’s going to see Blaine in Madison Square Garden. His heart soars when he sees the venue, because despite the fact that they’re in a different dimension, Kurt feels proud of Blaine.

“Let’s go!” they hear Artie yell.

The music is, quite frankly, terrible.

That one mother wasn’t lying when she described it as generic pop music. Now, there’s nothing wrong with generic pop music, because there are a lot of great pop artists out there, but The Warblers are not that.

Everyone around him has absolutely lost themselves into the music. Kurt’s more focused on Blaine.

Blaine is standing on the stage and he looks very uncomfortable. He’s the lead singer and he plays guitar. Wes is on drums, Trent on bass, David has an electric guitar and both Nick and Jeff provide background vocals.

And they suck.

Kurt dances along because he doesn’t want to raise suspicion. His eyes are on Blaine and he’s trying to come up with a plan, but they don’t have VIP tickets. Kurt knows that fans always tend to wait outside the venues, but he doesn’t want to waste that much time.

The concert slowly starts to finish up, to Kurt’s delight. He has no concrete plan, but he just needs to find a way to ditch his friends and sneak backstage.

On stage, The Warblers end their set and they take a bow. The crowd goes wild. Kurt’s friends are all focused on The Warblers and Kurt sees that as a chance to go away.

As expected, security is tight, so sneaking in wasn’t easy, but it worked out. Kurt has no idea how he did it, but maybe he’s just unnoticeable, or maybe this dimension does have its perks. He walks around and he hears The Warblers.

“Awesome show,” Trent says.

“Yeah, whatever,” David sighs, “Time to greet some money throwing fans and then hit the bed.”

“I honestly can’t wait for this tour to end,” Jeff says sadly.

“We signed up for this,” Wes says, “Literally. We signed that contract.”

Nick says something, but Kurt can’t make it out, because someone taps on his shoulder. A big security guard is looking down on Kurt. “Excuse me, but I don’t think you are permitted here.”

The security guard takes Kurt by the arm and he drags him out of hiding. Kurt tries to protest, but the guard is strong.

Luckily for Kurt, they attracted some attention.

“Wait!”

Both Kurt and the guard look at Blaine. Kurt smiles widely when he sees him.

“He’s with me,” Blaine says quickly and the other Warblers give him a skeptical look. The guard doesn’t buy it either.

“I don’t see a pass, and he was sneaking around, Mr. Anderson.”

“Trust me,” Blaine says, “It’s my fault, but he’s definitely with me. Hey Kurt.”

“Hey Blaine,” Kurt waves with his free hand, “Great show out there.”

Blaine smiles weakly. “Yeah,” he says and you can hear a hint of sarcasm, “Did you, uhm, get here by yourself?”

“No, Santana, Rachel, Mercedes, Sam, Dani and Artie are here somewhere in this mess of a crowd,” Kurt answers and Blaine nods. Kurt nods towards the other Warblers. “You’re with your friends as well.”

“Again,” Blaine says and Kurt knows for sure that Blaine has also realised that both the Warblers and the New Directions are part of this dimension hopping in a way. Blaine turns to the guard. “It’s all good.”

The guard reluctantly lets go of Kurt and Blaine takes his hand before anyone else can grab him.

“Thanks!”

Blaine wants to take Kurt somewhere, but the others stop him.

“Blaine, we have to meet fans, remember?” David reminds him.

“I’ll, uh, catch up. I have to talk to Kurt,” Blaine says.

The other Warblers share some confusing and worried looks.

“Are you okay?” Wes asks and frowns, “You’ve been acting weird. You basically forgot all of our lyrics and you’ve been hovering over that weird book in our dressing room all afternoon.”

Kurt’s eyes widens. Blaine already has the book.

“I, uh…”

“Also, you’ve been weird around Wes all day, man,” David says, “Like, you literally started crying during our meeting this morning.”

Blaine’s grip in Kurt’s hand tightens. Blaine’s still not over Wes’s death from the apocalyptic world. Kurt squeezes Blaine’s hand in support.

Nick’s staring at them holding hands. “Oh.”

And then, all The Warblers start to smile.

“Congrats!” David pulls both Kurt and Blaine in a hug.

“Dude, we had no idea!” Wes says happily.

“This totally explains your distant behaviour,” Jeff says and Nick nods.

“Oh my god, I am so happy for you!” Trent says and he claps his hand, “We know you’ve been lonely.”

The mood has completely changed and The Warblers are basically pushing Kurt and Blaine towards the dressing room.

“Go, we won’t disturb you!” Wes laughs, “We tell the fans you’ll be a bit late.”

“Only if you introduce your new man to us when we get back,” Jeff adds.

“We do have to discuss this with Gilbert later, but go have fun for now. The PR madness and all that professional shit will have to wait!”

Blaine nods. “Thanks guys.”

Blaine takes Kurt towards the dressing room and some of The Warblers whistle, but Blaine seems happy. Once they’re in the dressing room, Kurt can see the book lying on a chair.

Blaine closes the door. “The music is terrible.”

Kurt laughs. “I wasn’t going to tell you that,” he says.

“Like, there’s great, beautiful, awe-inspiring pop music that completely breaks the barriers of music and then there’s this,” Blaine rants, “As a music lover, it was an absolute pain in the ass to perform. Can you imagine this many people came to see us for this crap?”

He shakes his head disapprovingly. Then he grabs Kurt and he pushes him against the closed door and he starts kissing him.

Kurt’s a bit taken aback, but he kisses back.

“The others already think we’re making out, so we might as well do so,” Blaine says and Kurt laughs, “It’s been too long.”

They continue kissing, but Kurt also can’t help but think about the book. It’s within their reach.

Blaine pulls back and he frowns. “You’re not into it.”

Kurt slowly shakes his head and the disappointment on Blaine’s face is palpable. “Look, sweetheart, I desperately want to kiss you right now, but I also desperately want to continue our trip. The sooner we get home, the better.”

Blaine’s still disappointed, but he understands.

“The sooner we get home, the sooner we can continue making out.”

That puts an extra bounce in Blaine’s step. He eagerly opens the book to the right page. Kurt can see a line and a star. The star is pretty easy to figure it out: it’s the weirdly shaped concert ticket, but the line confuses Kurt.

“Yeah, I’ve been staring at that line all afternoon,” Blaine says and he sighs, “I gave an awful performance, because instead of learning the lyrics, I was staring at a line.”

“The fans still loved it.”

“Yeah. Weird,” Blaine shrugs, “People in this dimension have a bad taste. I also have to work on my autographs, because people desperately want them. I think I’ll get some bad press now that I am not greeting fans at an instant.”

“Oh, we’ll be gone soon,” Kurt says, “No worries.”

“Wait. Autographs!” Blaine says suddenly.

“Yes, what is with autographs?” Kurt asks.

Blaine walks around the dressing room.

“What are you looking for?” Kurt asks.

“A pen!” Blaine says and just then, he finds a Sharpie.

“What are you doing?” Kurt asks when he watches Blaine scribbling in the book.

“I am signing this stupid book,” Blaine says.

Kurt moves to the book and he watches over Blaine’s shoulder. The autograph doesn’t really disappear into the page, but the line slowly fades away.

“Yes!” Blaine says happily. Kurt immediately searches for his ticket in his pocket and he puts it on the page at well. As expected, it disappears into the page to reappear as an image.

Blaine flips the page and a new word has appeared. Blaine laughs when he reads it.

“What is it?” Kurt asks, but Blaine’s still laughing, so Kurt takes the book out of Blaine’s hands. When Kurt reads the word, he laughs at well.

“What does ‘Pokémon’ even mean?”