Blaine took in a large gulp of air once he had finally made a few wobbly steps away from the packed bus he and Kurt had just exited. Sure he was used to public transportation but he had never been in such a packed bus before, after all most of the Meeting Grounds in Ohio were much smaller than the ones rumored to be in New York. Adjusting his shoulder strap he stood up straight again, thankful that the ground finally stopped spinning a few seconds later.

"Better?" Kurt asked him, his soft melodic voice somehow able to reach his ears over the excited chatter and yelling of the massive crowd gathering around the entrance to the Meeting Grounds. Blaine had first noticed how the tone of the dominants voice had caused a strange but comforting wave of warmth to wash over his body earlier. The sudden rush of feeling seemed to have bubbled up from the pit of his stomach from nowhere and had traveled all the way to the tips of his fingers to the ends of his toes, leaving a lingering tingle behind.

Blaine was surprised but thankful that the effect seemed to have the same amount of power. It helped his chaotic heart beat slow down to a more comfortable rhythm. Blaine couldnt help but smile in response to the gorgeous blue-eyed gaze. Those eyes….secretly he wished he had been able to sneak more glances than the few he had managed earlier because he swore that there was another color mixed within. Though with the taller dominant wearing that stark white dress shirt with the sleeves expertly rolled and cuffed at the elbow, expertly paired with a black and blue checked waistcoat it was hard not to notice such an intense color. The black, skinny cut jeans that seemed to hug Kurts backside and long legs perfectly probably helped a bit as well. Only a bit though, not that Blaine had been admiring the mans backside or anything every chance he got.

Kurts sense of fashion was something he wasnt used to, but he found himself slowly falling in love with the dominants quirky style. The black neck scarf that was tied with a small knot on the right side of his neck had a tan colored floral pattern that matched his white and cream colored Doc Marten boots. The simple white belt around his lean waist also matched what Blaine assumed was an expensive brand-named designer shoulder bag that was white and black with a checkered design on the front flap. Blaine had only seen fashion like this in the very few vogue magazines he had managed to find and had hidden underneath the top mattress of his bed. He himself had always wanted to try something like it, but really couldnt experiment with anything until he had left.

Blaine felt himself jump slightly when a man not too far away began yelling at the large crowd of people, effectively pulling him from his musings. He glanced over his shoulder to watch a few submissives scramble past one another, trying to be the first in line. A flash of blue in the corner of his eyes pulled his attention away from them as guards began to walk their way, pushing a few Dominants and submissives towards their lines. He was finally able to pull his eyes away to find Kurts again, his stomach dropping at the thought that this was probably going to be the last time he ever saw the gorgeous, kindhearted dominant. He still couldnt believe that someone like Kurt had yet to find his submissive, but whoever it was would be the luckiest soul on the planet to have such a perfect soul-mate at their side. There was no chance in hell that Kurt would be connected to him, it just didnt work like that for him. The dominant deserved someone better anyways, someone not like him.

"Kurt." He finally managed to say, in a more level voice than what he was expecting. He could feel the back of his throat tighten when Kurt smiled at him, the taller males full attention on him. It was overpowering in a way, the way those eyes seemed to stare into him. He felt his knees shake slightly and could feel his heart hammering against his rib-cage. "Thank you." Was the only thing he could get out, the smile he received in return making him want to quickly slap his hands over his face to hide from Kurts intense gaze. He managed not to do so, having to squeeze the strap of his messenger bag so tight that he was sure that he would have to get it surgically removed afterwards.

"Anytime." Kurt said, that voice making Blaines toes curl and stomach flip-flop. Yelling caused Blaine to glance towards the submissive line again, eyebrows lifting slightly as he witnessed a smaller girl getting yelled at for trying to crawl underneath the legs of another submissive to reach the front of the line. Blaine just didnt understand, sure he was excited to see everything himself, but he didnt think acting like animals was appropriate.

"Here." Kurt said, holding his long-fingered hand up in the air. He was a little confused at first but quickly made the connection as the dominant began to explain and had to hide an excited smile. He slowly unwound his shaking fingers from his bags strap to press the palm of his hang against Kurts, marveling at how soft and smooth the skin that pressed back felt. The rings flashed almost immediately, a small vibration of confirmation accompanying it. Once Kurts hand left his all he could do was stare at his ring, amazed that now he actually had a way to talk to Kurt after this. He would be able to hear his voice and maybe even see him again now.

He tiled his head up to tell him thank you again but rough, calloused fingers suddenly grabbed on to his forearm. His stomach churned sickeningly as he was basically dragged down the sidewalk away from Kurt. Kurt Hummel. The man who had helped him when no one else had bothered earlier. He quickly dug his heels into the ground trying to stop himself from being pushed towards the end of the submissive line and actually managed to do so for a few brief seconds where he rolled onto his tiptoes to wave over the guards shoulder, trying to tell Kurt goodbye.

The guard grunted and easily overpowered him considering he seemed at least a foot taller and much muscular than he was. Being as short as he was he wasnt able to see if Kurt had even seen him, and thats what replayed over and over in his mind as he waited at the end of the line. He sent a few dark looks towards the guard that had grabbed him, but the taller man simply ignored him in favor of making sure he and all the submissives behind him stayed in their place as they waited for the gates to open.

Would he ever see Kurt again? He looked down at his right middle finger when his basic issued identification ring buzzed a short heart-beat like pattern indicating that it was now half-past the hour. He smiled slightly at the thought of Kurts information stored there now, next to the few contacts he actually had. Would he himself ever get the courage to call or text the man? Probably not. Would Kurt actually contact him? Never. He sighed, really what was he expecting? The man seemed important and with the obvious wealth and the last name of Hummel he was pretty sure that the dominant would never have time to even think about him the way he did the other.

Kurt was a Hummel. A very important family, but there were also many lines meaning even if Blaine wanted to he would never be able to find out which ones he was associated with. There were the Hummels who had first invented the identification rings almost two hundred years ago, then there was the line that had created 3-D holographic projections and so on. The point was that Kurt was just out of his league.

Thankfully the line began to shift forward, Blaine still a little upset that he didnt have Kurt by his side anymore but he began to get excited again. After all he had waited all his life to come to one of New Yorks Meeting Ceremonies. Ever since he was younger he had fantasized about running away to New York to meet the man of his dreams and live happily ever after with maybe a few kids and a dog. His stomach churned uncomfortably when Kurts flawless face suddenly came to mind once more. He had already met the man of his dreams, he knew whoever he actually connected to would never be able to compare to the taller dominant.

He took another step forward, shaking his head slightly in an effort to clear his mind of Kurt but of course it wasnt working. How could someone forget about someone like that? Soon he made it to the front of the line, quickly shoving his ring beneath the sensor. He ignored the sneer the woman gave him once his information popped up on the screen, thankful when the gate opened to finally allow him inside.

Blaine knew it would be big, but he was not expecting this. Hundreds of buildings must have been in the massive space, all built side by side with no gaps between. They were all the lifeless slate-gray color that he hated, mainly because he had dealt with that same shade most of his life and could care less if it just mysteriously disappeared all at once. Some had a single letter of the alphabet floating above them which he was used to considering this was what the Ohio Meetings had. The others ones though had numbers and symbols that Blaine couldnt make sense of but thankfully he didnt seem to be the only one.

There were many large holographic directory panels all over the place for people to read, quelling the slight panic he was starting feel. Blaine slowly made his way towards one of the ones that seemed to be a little less crowded, having to weave in and out of other small groups and throngs of people as he did so. It wasnt helping his claustrophobia any but at least he could move and didnt have to stand in one place like he had to do on the bus earlier. He finally made it to the board, a little agitated when someone decided to stick their hand through the display, scattering the information for a few seconds. When it blinked back into existence once again Blaine quickly read over it, trying to see what the heck he was supposed to do.

Blaine now understood the need for so many buildings. Going by age groups as well as last names simplified things with the thousands of people that seemed to be walking about. The list continued on like this for quite a ways down, Blaine quickly skimming through trying to find the other information he obviously needed. The little crowd he had joined was quickly growing larger, making his knees feel week and hands shake.

The board went into more detail about safety precautions for submissives and how to get help if it was needed afterwards so Blaine quickly pushed through the crowd to leave. He found a little section of the grounds where only a few people were standing, chatting with one another. He took in a breath of fresh air, slowly releasing it as he hunched over to rest his hands upon his knees. He hated small places to begin with thanks to multiple hours of being locked in a closet or other rooms back home. Combining that experience with strangers pushing and shoving against him almost made it unbearable.

After a few more deep breaths he managed to stand up straight again, nodding to a guard who was watching him closely. The blue jacketed man probably thought he was about to pass out or something, which Blaine was sure he had been pretty close to that point. He was thankful he had left when he did. After watching him for another twenty or so minutes the guard finally looked away from him in favor of watching a dominant who seemed to be getting too close to a group of submissives near one of the buildings close by.

Blaine began to look around again, people watching ironically being one of his favorite things to do. Even though he hated to be in large crowds, he liked watching them interact with each other from a safe distance away. A group of women who were chatting in a little circle next to him started to giggle when two dominants walked passed them, batting their eyelashes and playing with their hair. His nose scrunched up slightly in disgust when another female in a different group decided to flash them as they passed. The two dominants ignored her, not even giving the submissive a glance. Blaine would never understand submissives like that.

There were a lot of male submissives here, he knew there would be more in New York City of course, but the amount still surprised him. In the Ohio meetings there would be only a handful that would cling to one another throughout the whole Ceremony in fear of overly aggressive dominants or nasty anti-same sex groups. Blaine was thankful he didnt see any of that crazy group here so far. There were no large signs saying that same-sex soul-mates were against natures design, no degrading name calling or boos as they walked around. It was also nice to have so many guards who actually seemed to care on the lookout. In Ohio it wasnt unheard of for a guard to accidentally let their male submissives be attacked and kicked around their ceremonies.

Besides the multitude of Meeting buildings there were other ones on the grounds that Blaine hadnt seen at first. Little shops and even restaurants were sandwiched together along the walls of the grounds, reminding Blaine of the few carnivals he had been to. None of their lights were lit though, indicating that they werent open yet and that was probably why he hadnt noticed them before. Some had moving displays though, holograms and 3-D projections of ads and menus. Blaine figured they would probably be opened after the first Ceremony.

Glancing around Blaine also noticed some hover carts stationed around the grounds as well, but these were in full operation with lines of people waiting to buy something to drink or a snack. The few carts that hadnt gained a line were floating around on their own, waiting from someone to approach them to make an order. Blaine loved the way they could work without someone having to actually control them. All you had to do was press the button of what you wanted and press your ring on the little pad to pay. Depending on the cart you could then watch small robotic arms cook and prepare your food in the glass chamber within it. Other were simple vendor carts that just dispensed drinks or bags of chips and cookies which were the ones he was used to seeing in Ohio.

A hover cart floated by him slowly, pausing for a moment. Blaine licked his dry lips when the cart projected its menu for him. He was thirsty and this cart seemed to know exactly what he wanted as it began to advertise all the drink options it had. Blaine stopped himself from making an order knowing that he only had a limited amount of money left to his name. He bit his bottom lip as he watched the cart float away from him, sighing as he rubbed the back of his neck. It wasnt like he hadnt tried to find a job it was just that most places wanted written consent from the submissives dominant before they would allow them work, that or a parents. He didnt have either at the moment so it was very hard to find a place that would hire him, he couldnt even find anywhere that would hire him as a janitor.

Something white suddenly flashed on the edge of his peripheral vision, causing him to turn quickly. His heart hammered as he found himself looking for Kurt, frowning when he noticed it was just another submissive who was wearing a white hat. He sighed, shaking his head. He was pathetic really. Did he really think Kurt would actually take the time to seek him out? Still…he had hoped.

A hush fell over the grounds as Blaines identification ring began to vibrate continuously, marking the beginning of the first Ceremony. He took in a deep breath and readjusted his bags shoulder strap before walking towards the building he had seen earlier with the large 3-D A floating above it. As he got closer the air seemed to become thinner as more and more submissives gathered around him, pushing and shoving trying yet again to be first.

The loud chattering began again as people walked in, quickly being directed to stand side by side in groups of ten in separate parts of the large building. Blaine managed to be placed in a group with two more male submissives out of ten, his ring finally becoming the guard, this one a pretty redheaded female submissive with a kind smile, seemed satisfied she dropped a circular disc on the ground in front of their feet.

Blaines world was suddenly shrouded in a black sphere, making it to where all he could see were the other nine people in his group and silencing all the background noise at once. Blaine was used to this, after all this was used at any Meeting Ceremony. It made it easier for the dominants to view a small section of submissives at once so that they wouldnt become overwhelmed and could accurately view each submissives mark.

A large box suddenly hovered into view, it basically identical to the vending carts outside. It slowly hovered in front of the first person from the right, waiting for the girl who was standing there to deposit her bag,t-shirt and bra. This didnt faze Blaine at all, he had already had to do this multiple times before but a few of the younger submissives kind of hesitated before throwing their belongs in as well. The women quickly covered their breasts, waiting until they absolutely had to expose their bare skin so that the dominants could look at their marks.

Some of them had very beautiful marks, a shorter blonde having what looked like a flower blossoming in the center of her chest with a thorny vine curling around her torso and all the way down her right leg in a bright pink and blue lining. Another submissive had splattering of various sized stars from the base of his neck traveling across his neck to his right cheek where they resembled small freckles. One girl had delicate looking feathers floating down her shoulder on both arms and down the center of her back, stopping right before her bottom.

Blaine didnt have time to admire the others before the box was in front of him, patiently waiting for him to deposit his own belongings. He reluctantly pulled the strap of his messenger bag above his head and off his shoulder, hesitantly placing it within. Even though he was used to this he still hated seeing what little belongings he had left be taken from him. After watching his bag be consumed into the dark pit of the container he slowly pulled his shirt over his head, throwing it in. It floated away from him to the next submissive beside him who did the same.

The stares were normal as well, though it still made him self-conscious. He never understood why everyone seemed so fascinated with it. Blaine didnt think it was any different from another submissives mark but apparently it was. He looked straight ahead into the black void trying to ignore the stares that were obviously directed at him. He heard someone in line whisper softly, no doubt about his mark. Sometimes he hated the thing and wished he had been blessed like a simple flower or something.

"Welcome to the first Ceremony everyone! Im Claire your Meeting Specialist who will be walking you through the first Meetings today!" an overly chipper automated voice announced across the P.A. system of the building. "I know a lot of you know the routine by now, but we cant forget that some of us are new here!" Blaine looked down the line, noticing a few girls had become very attentive to the voice. "Its very simple! All you have to do is listen for this sound," a loud ding sounded over the speakers, Blaines head aching slightly from the grating sound. "Once you hear this that means you have to turn around so that your back will be facing the dominants." Claire continued to explain. "The bell will sound again and you will turn around to face your front again. Of course you will not see the dominants but they are there and they are watching, so lets all try to be on our best behavior!"

Blaine held back the urge to roll his eyes. He never understood why submissives had to appear perfect at these things, half of them did what they wanted anyways. The unclaimed ones did anyways, a lot of dominants liked to refer to them as wild or untamed before they are what they called groomed.

"If a dominant thinks that you are his soul-mate we will have a guard come within your sphere to pull you from your line. From there procedure will be explained to you as you are being transported." A pause in Claires instructions and a ripple along the walls of the black sphere signaled that the dominants now had full view of them. "Alright we are ready to begin. Remember each bell means to turn!"

Blaine waited patiently for the first bell, turning on his heel when it finally sounded. A few more rounds into the ceremony and no one from his group had been pulled. He figured it had only been about fifteen minutes by the time the line was turning around to their front for the third time when a guard appeared in the sphere from the outside. He wondered which one of the submissives would be leaving first. He was normally one of the last few submissives still in the line by the end of the Ceremonies so he was used to watching other submissives being collected.

The guard kept walking towards his spot in the line, making Blaine wonder if it would be the short brunette next to him with the large paw print mark in the middle of her shoulder blades or the red head next to him who had a strange looking triangle symbol on her lower back. When the guard grabbed his arm he looked up at him in shock. Was this a mistake? He glanced at the other people in his line, still very confused as he the guard began to pull him towards the edge of the sphere gently.

Blaine concluded that this really was happening once he was finally pulled from the sphere and back into the massive building. He looked around quickly as he was led away, seeing nothing but individual black spheres that contained the other groups of submissives. "A-Are you sure this is right?" he finally asked the taller dominant in a whisper.

The man looked back over his shoulder at him, a firm hold still on Blaines upper arm. This guard seemed much younger than most of the ones he had encountered with kind brown eyes framed by large round glasses that had slipped down his nose slightly. The man didnt speak up until they had stopped in front of what Blaine assumed was a blank wall, but was quickly corrected after the man placed his hand on a square tile. Elevator doors quickly appeared, the large metal panels sliding open to reveal a tiny box-like room.

"The dominant in question seemed to be very sure." The guard finally said, pulling Blaine into the elevator. He pulled Blaine closer to his side when another submissive accompanied by a taller guard walked in moments later. Blaine glanced at the girl, noticing the way the brunette girl held her chin up proudly. Her mark seemed to only be a simple little star right beneath her neck, but he wasnt sure considering something else could be on her back that he couldnt quite see at the moment. Honestly he was surprised he wasnt having some sort of mental breakdown himself, perhaps it was because he was still in shock considering he had begun to think that this would never happen. The other guard had to hold out his foot to catch door so another group could walk in, this guard shorter and thicker. The blond woman seemed a little older than he and the brunette, but she seemed more visibly shaken by the way her shoulder trembled. Her mark was sort of unfortunate in his opinion, it being just a circle around her belly button.

"Congratulations!" Claires chipper voice announced over the intercom in the elevator once the doors had finally closed and had started to descend below the building, making both Blaine and the other two submissives jump in surprise. "You have been selected from the advanced screening." The overly chipper voice continued. "In this stage you will still be blind from the dominant and completely unclothed so that your mark can be completely displayed if it is in areas otherwise covered." Blaine looked to the ground nervously, trying to calm the panic attack he finally felt welling up in his chest. He had never made it past the first screening, he had heard something like this happening but he had never paid much attention to it.

"If by then the Dominant is convinced that you are his he will be allowed to touch your mark. If the connection is made further instruction will be given, if not you will be taken back to your group after the first break has ended." Then the elevator was silent once more.

They would just take you back if you werent the right one? That must be what was going to happen to happen to him. Blaine felt the small ball of hope that had welled up in his stomach suddenly deflate. Great. He was going to go to wherever these guards were taking him, show off everything he had to offer just to be turned down. By the time the elevator had dinged Blaine was more than ready to just get this done and over with so he could have time to wallow in despair before the next Ceremony began.

The blond submissive had tried to turn when the elevator sounded, the ding sounding like the one they had been listening to just moments before. Her guard laughed loudly causing the girl to blush and duck her head ashamedly. Blaine frowned, casting a dark look towards the short man. His own guard made a disapproving noise which made the other mans chuckles stop. The poor girl, it was an honest mistake.

They were then led out and down a brightly lit hallway, none of them having time to look at anything before they were brought into another room. This room seemed strange to Blaine, with its elegant decorations and plush carpet. There was an ornate stair well to the side of the room and a comfortable looking couch near the back. The only part of the floor that wasnt covered in the cream colored carpet was a long rectangular square in the very center of the room that had black and white checkered tile.

A hovering box like before floated from the back of the room towards them, stopping in front of the blond. She glanced to the guards who only stared back before she slipped out of her shoes and pulled off her simple blue jeans. She placed them in the box, looking up at the guards again when it didnt move towards the other girl.

"You have to take off everything." Her original guard said, rolling his eyes. The blond bit her bottom lip for a moment before complying, Blaine looking away to give her at least some sort of privacy. The box then went to the girl standing next to him, this time he was able to catch a glimpse of her back and noticed random music notes scattered along her back and down her left leg. She showed no hesitation in pulling her skirt and polka-dotted panties off and throwing them in the box.

When the box finally hovered in front of him he kicked his shoes off and shimmied out of his skinny jeans, throwing them in. He only hesitated for a moment before pulling the simple gray boxer briefs he had decided to wear that day off before chucking them in as well. The box then floated back to its original spot in the back of the room as the guards moved away from one another to different spots. The guard who had accompanied him was standing near the bottom of the stairwell while the other two walked back to the door they had entered from.

"Please stand on the tile in the middle of the room." Claires automated voice sounded throughout the room, the three of them complying quickly and moving to stand on the checkered tile. Another sphere suddenly surrounded them once again, shrouding them from the guards and everything else in the room.

Blaine looked down to the tile beneath his feet as he waited for one of the guards to pull him away to bring him back to the Ceremony but nothing happened for a while. He wiggled his fingers as he continued to wait, looking up when he heard the girl on the other side of the brunette squawk in protest when a hand suddenly grabbed her arm. A second later and she was gone, leaving only Blaine and the other submissive standing beside him. They both glanced at each other, the girl crying out in surprise a few minutes later causing Blaine to jump. He turned in alarm when this girl suddenly disappeared as well.

Now he was pretty sure that panic attack was about to return, but the familiar ding sounded again. Blaine blinked slightly confused but soon understood when it sounded again, slowly turning back to his position like he had been doing upstairs when that noise sounded.

Then he felt it, a smooth warm palm pressing in-between his shoulder blades where part of his mark rested. He cried out as a sudden rush of heat seemed to travel along the massive amount of lines his mark had causing his knees to wobble and his vision to blur. What was happening?! He fought to keep himself upright but couldnt help but stumble slightly, warm gentle hands grabbing a hold of his waist to steady him.

"I cant believe its actually you." A familiar beautiful voice said from behind him softly. Blaine gasped, turning around so quickly that the hands around his waist had lost their hold there and were now steadying him by holding on to his forearms just below his elbows to keep him from falling backwards.

Intense blue met his gaze, Blaine finally close enough to finally see the beautiful gray, amber and green flecks of color that made his eyes so fascinating. Kurt. It was Kurt Hummel. The same Kurt Hummel who had helped him, who he thought he would never see or hear from again. The only dominant he had every wished was his from first sight.

Kurts shirt was off and he could see the matching mark, but on the dominant it just seemed to belong. Somehow it seemed beautiful and elegant but so strong at the same time, something his could never amount to. He could see the red and gold lined wings of the large phoenix curling over the pale, muscled shoulders. The lines seemed to end and begin right where his did, and he knew the rest of the mark like his own covered all of Kurts back. He could even see some of the same flames peeking out on the sides of the dominants hips that wasnt covered by the dark skinny jeans.

Then his seemingly perfect moment went black.