July 8, 2012, 7:52 a.m.
True Love On A Schedule: Chapter 3
T - Words: 3,054 - Last Updated: Jul 08, 2012 Story: Closed - Chapters: 6/? - Created: Jul 08, 2012 - Updated: Jul 08, 2012 524 0 0 0 0
A/N: Very long chapter this time. LoL.
Disclaimer: I am not the owner of the Glee or TiMER universe. All characters and related material are copyright to their original creators respectfully.
The shrill beeping of an alarm clock began to stretch to the far corners of the dark bedroom. A muffled groan came from the large pile of pillows stacked at the head of the mattress. A manicured hand poked itself from the cushioned cave towards the bedside table, reaching around blindly for the origin of the vexing noise. The hand overshot the clock by a few inches, causing it to fall to the ground with an obnoxious thud; however, it was not obnoxious enough to silence the crude object. Another groan—more disgruntled than the former—rumbled from the pillows as a head emerged. With the power of sight, the clock was able to be discovered at a much easier pace as well as silenced.
A sigh of relief escaped lips as the bed occupant relaxed underneath the swell of blankets. Saturday meant no classes, and at least another hour of lazy sleep before it was time to greet the day. Although, not everyone in the house apparently felt the same as a knock rattled the bedroom door.
"Hey, buddy," a rough voice called from the other side of the door.
"Hhhhhhhhhhhhhmf," was the automatic response.
"Want to help out with some breakfast? Carole took Finn out to his dentist appointment earlier, so it's just you and me this morning, kiddo."
He wouldn't have moved otherwise, but food intake had to be observed in this household. When there was no answer, the voice repeated the request.
"Kurt?"
"Yes, yes. I'm coming," Kurt answered, forcing himself onto his feet and off of his bed. He looked over to his vanity of skin conditioners and lotions and decided against the routine right away, which—if anyone knew Kurt Hummel—was a big ordeal. The truth is, he was dead tired as has been for quite a few days. Blurred faces and ticking began to haunt his dreams; blurred faces with clocks in place of eyes and a mouth to be more precise. It was not the most comforting thing to experience, even in a dream world. He had become just frazzled enough by it to cause curious and embarrassed looks to focus his way. The first disaster was the day his father, Burt, took him, his new step-mother Carole, and her son Finn out to a very nice restaurant prior to their engagement. Unbeknownst to Kurt, the lobby homed a grandfather clocked that always chimed the hour; needless to say, when the tolls of 7pm filled the room, Kurt managed to knock over a chair, trip a waiter carrying a plate of desserts, and ruin a very histrionic woman's white dress all by standing up in surprise. It was the talk of the night on the ride home, especially by Finn who was amused how it was "all-together Kurt" and not "clumsy-feet Finn" who caused the catastrophe. Kurt was not shy to give him a smack to the back of the head when the suggestion of getting a grandfather clock for the living room came out of the teenager's mouth.
Kurt rubbed the sleep from his eyes and dragged his feet towards the steps, cursing the fact that his father pulled himself all the way up just to get him up for breakfast. His heart was not in the condition to be overworked with the tissue scaring from his heart attack just months before. He let gravity do its job to pull him down the steps as he all but galloped down to the first level.
As he turned the corner into the kitchen he recognized the sound of the television echoing from the living room. He peered over his shoulder to the screen and came in contact with the familiar early morning news broadcast. Today marked the 40th anniversary of the accursed "TiMER" creation (30th on the market), and the TV stations were scheduled to show montages of former news updates and biographical segments about the device. Kurt leaned against the kitchen door jam and peered at the screen, humoring himself by watching the coming montage:
A blonde, female news anchor introduced the scene; an image of a heart and a countdown timer was green-screened strategically on the left side of her head.
"If a clock could count down to the exact moment you meet your soul mate, would you want to know? That's the claim of manufacturers of a new device called the TiMER. The next evolutionary step in computer match making, the TiMER lets you know when your perfect match has entered your life."
Cut scene to a pan out of a desk with a few first generation of TiMERs and a scientist in a lab coat, as so many science-based segments do.
"Scientists have discovered that all humans are on a path to true love. Implanted just after the onset of puberty, and powered by body heat, the TiMER monitors level of oxytocin, the hormone of love."
A second voice fades in as images of TiMER prototypes cover the screen.
"It zeros-out at midnight the night before, and then the next day it could go off at any second, and you meet your soul mate."
And cue the cheesy, TiMER Inc. commercial of a woman on a picnic blanket enjoying the sun, a Frisbee falling by her side, an attractive male racing towards her, and the series of happy beeps emitting from their wrists as their eyes find each others.
"Are you tired of sitting around waiting for love? Your days of watching and wondering are over. Say goodbye to heartache and disappointment. Now you can be on the clock - true love on a schedule. Introducing TiMER, a revolutionary device that tells you not onlywhoyour soul mate is, but when you'll meet them. TiMER, take the guess work out of love."
The next set of scenes that followed were filled with the public: those who talked up the device as the greatest thing in the world; those who were uncomfortable and confused about the technology; love stories; stories of conquest and waiting; and more scientific talk.
Kurt shook his head as he entered the kitchen, heading over towards the fridge to retrieve a bottle of orange juice. "Can we not have that on all day? I just hate listening to it." He moved over towards the cabinet and poured himself a glass of juice, holding the door open with a hip before returning the bottle to the shelf. It wasn't one of his most glorious habits, but he was too tired to care. He took a sip and placed it on the island counter before turning to help his dad with the eggs. "Every time I hear about it, it just freaks me out."
Burt chuckled as he took a mixing bowl from the cabinet. "I don't see why you have a problem with this sort of stuff, buddy. Aren't you into all that romance and soul mate stuff?"
Kurt sighed, and took the bowl from his father before reaching for the measuring cup. "Yes, dad, which is why I see the TiMER as barbaric." He reached over and grabbed a whisk from the utensil drawer, wielding it around like an exaggerated extension of his arm as if to emphasize his points. "It completely removes the idea of the search and the speculation, or the heart pounding questions like: 'maybe this will be the one', or 'will I meet them today'? That is old fashioned romance; otherwise it's just making fun of the whole thing. No offense, anyways."
A small smile crept onto the corners of his father's lips as he filed the measuring cup with water up to the appropriate point. "None taken."
After working in silence besides the gentle tapping of kitchen utensils and the hiss of the eggs meeting the gently Crisco coated pan, Kurt looked up to his dad placing the used bowls in the dishwasher. "I'm not going to lie, dad, but you just never seemed like the kind of guy who would be into that sort of thing. TiMERs I mean. So, why did you?"
Burt closed the dishwasher and grabbed a towel to wipe the excess moisture from his hands. "Oh, I know I've told you this before."
Kurt shook his head as he watched the egg whites cook, spatula in hand. "I think I would have remembered something like that."
"Are you serious," Burt asked with a shocked laugh, tossing the towel onto the counter much to Kurt's disapproving stare. "I think this is something I would have told you."
"Dad, you're stalling."
Burt walked over to the island counter and leaned back against it, arms crossed over his chest. He took a deep breath, rubbed a hand over his balding head, and placed it back into the crook of his elbow. "Well, it's actually kind of a crazy story. You see, your mom and I met when we were pretty young. Late teens, early twenties; the young and crazy years."
Kurt smiled as he fiddled the eggs with the spatula; stories about his late mother always brought a grin to his face, especially when his father was the narrator of the tale. "She was a knock out; could stop the damn Macy's Day parade with a smile if she wanted to. For some reason she chose me, out of all those other guys with the bikes and the muscle cars, while all I had was a rusted pick-up my dad helped me fix from the junk yard a neighbor owned and helped out around the yard to pay off the parts. Apparently, she thought it showed character, that I worked hard for the practical things I wanted instead of having some flashy, useless things handed to me by my folks."
Kurt grabbed a few pieces of fat-reduced cheese to strip down for the eggs; knowing that, even though it was more on the healthier side, his dad would appreciate the additive to normally bland eggs whites. After mixing it well together, he filled the two plates with the scrambled eggs and toast he had prepared during his father's story. Burt thanked his son as he grabbed his plate off the counter and sat on a stool at the island, watching Kurt grab an orange to cut out of the fruit bowl.
"After a few days meeting up at the town In and Out Burger, sharing a cola or two, we sort of started getting more serious. I mean, here was this perfect woman, there was no way I was gonna give up someone as incredible as her. And I guess she felt the same about me. We'd been throwing around the idea of TiMER's when they were the new thing-"
Kurt made a small noise at the mention of the device as he sat across from his father, placing the sliced of fruit between them.
"Hey, now, you're the one who wanted to hear this story, kid."
Kurt rolled his eyes with a smile and picked up a fork."Fine, I'm sorry. Go on."
After taking a mouthful, much to Kurt's disgust, Burt continued to talk between chews. "I mean, it was just a damn crazy idea; this thing that would let you know when you'd meet your soul mate. We laughed it off at first, but then one night we had a few too many and walked ourselves down the street to the Matching Clinic an hour before it closed for the night. We weren't thinking about what if it worked or if it didn't; although, in hindsight, you'd think that would have been a smart idea. She got hers first, but it was still blank. Then, when it was my turn and I was lying down on that bench with them holding my arm down, I thought, 'Shit, what if this is actually going to happen? What if this girl who I am desperately in love with was The One?' All I remember is shutting my eyes as tight as possible, expecting this searing amount of pain like a stab in the arm. Then, all of a sudden, Liz started to breathe really jagged-like. It's usually what she did before she started to let the tears flow, remember? So, I opened my eyes to ask her what was wrong and it just went off. The place went crazy, there were people asking us all sorts of questions. Apparently this hadn't happened in the clinic before."
Burt took a swig from his water glass and placed it back onto the counter top. His eyes didn't stray away from the glass right away, but lingered on the reflective liquid. "I guess I always sort of knew. But, that right there, it was something solid. It was real. We wasted no time and got married a week later. Her folks weren't too happy about that, but it was okay. We didn't do anything too crazy after that; we waited some time before you came along. We were just so excited that we found each other so early. After she died, I just didn't want to see that blank screen and think about how she isn't here anymore. So, first chance that came around, I got it removed."
Burt peered up from the glass and settled his sights on his son across the way. He moved his plate away from him slightly to cross his arms over the surface. "Apparently that doesn't happen too often, you know? People finding their soul mates early without the help of some TiMER to give them a hand."
Kurt worked on his final bite of egg slowly and sighed after the last swallow. "And that's nice for you, dad; but it's just not my cup of tea," he smiled weakly as he stood up to grab his father's empty plate. As he crossed to the sink to rinse off any residue before placing them into the dishwasher, he heard the musical interlude of a news update. He peered up curiously, his dad still facing the TV.
A set of duo anchors for the morning news segment appeared on the screen, settled professionally at their desk.
"For those of you who are unaware of the most recent update to the TiMER software, the device is now familiar with the concept of multiple soul mates. Now, this does not mean that if you were to get more than one implant they would have different times."
"Multiple implants? Do some people really do that?"
"There are the eager bodies out there, John. However, it's not recommended that you receive multiple TiMER's on a body, as it could cause serious damage to the nerves. Upon implantation, the TiMER is supposed to count down the time of your meeting the individual whose soul is the MOST connected to your own."
"Well, if the TiMER only picks up one soul mate, how does it recognize others?"
"If your soul mate were to pass on before you, the TiMER is now indeed capable of resetting to the next individual who may have lost their own primary soul mate or in fact received a TiMER implant after your own soul mate's passing; however, the chances of this occurring are very slim. Not everyone who loses their soul mate will be able to find a second match."
"How does the TiMER decide whether or not you have another match?"
"The TiMER can recognize the connection between two souls due to the percentage of functioning body chemicals, personality correlations, among other things. As expected, the connection between you and your primary soul mate is at it's highest at 100%. With this new update, the TiMER can now find new connections up to 98%. Anybody outside this range, however, will not be picked up."
Kurt scoffed and raised a hand towards the television. "Look at that. It's not even a set in stone. There's more than one out there which continues to augment conclusion that these things are absolutely ridiculous."
"I bet if I kept mine and Carole recently got one, mine would have restarted."
Kurt stood still a moment, staring at his father whose eyes never left the screen, even after the segment switched over. He wasn't really watching it at this point; Kurt could tell he was lost in thought with the way his eyes glossed. His father was so big on this TiMER business that it sometimes broke his heart he didn't feel the same way, but he couldn't help it. The idea was insane and confusing. This soul mate is usually a complete stranger, and talking to his friends now was awkward enough for him at times. Although, despite his negative attitude towards the device, he had to agree with his father. Carole was perfect for him; well, the both of them really. The whole thing started out as a stupid rouse to get closer to Finn; however, even though his father fell instantly, the plan backfired due to an important factor: Finn was undoubtedly, and undeniably straight.
It took a while, but they all settled in together and got more comfortable; Kurt, with having a woman in the house, and Finn with having a father figure. Finn could be best described as a tall (very tall), stereotypical jock. Meaning that, he wasn't exactly the brightest Crayola in the crayon box. He had a good heart, though; it just took a bit for his head to catch up and realize that bullying wasn't who he was no matter what the other guys did. Like Kurt, he didn't have a TiMER either, but that wasn't really due to avid protest about the device. TiMER's weren't exactly given away off the street; well, legally and safely anyways. They were a bit pricey, especially for a high school student. Also, it wasn't really something he had pondered over; he just wanted to pass high school. His girlfriend on the other hand—the ever-so-talented and boisterous Rachel Berry—begged her fathers for one as soon as she hit the legal age. Unlike most people, she didn't see the TiMER in a romantic fashion. Instead, it was more of a way to schedule her path to stardom; with the advantage of knowing when she would meet her soul mate, she could easily plan around them and work on herself without the worry of searching for a perfect partner. The only problem was that it was still blank. She consistently urged Finn to get one, completely obsessed with the idea that he was the perfect someone for her. Even though he continues to explain how he can't afford it right now, there's no denying that he'll get one for her at some point.
Kurt, however, would never succumb to such nonsense.