Chapter 2

Kurt bolted down a long corridor that had several covered openings. He didn't want to try magicking any of them without knowing what might lurk on the other side. Spotting an open one, Kurt flew through, scanning the room for the tallest thing he could find. A shelf high up by the celling ran the length of two and a half walls. The strange human treasures decorating it would have left him awed if he weren't scrutinizing them to figure out which ones he could hide behind.

An object that resembled a toad, if toads were furry like mice, appeared to be the best choice. Kurt landed on the back and peered between the toad's unblinking eyes. He watched the boy enter the room, the rectangle of symbols in his hand, and his eyes darting around. Kurt shrank back, hiding his head under his arm. He huddled there, listening to the boy making noises he couldn't identify, wishing he could wake up and find he'd dreamed all this and was safe in his bed.

When he couldn't stand the suspense any longer, Kurt peeked over the top of the toad again. The boy lay on his bed, naked, gripping his erection and moaning softly. The wand slipped from his hand and hit the shelf with a soft thump. Mesmerized, Kurt watched the muscles in the boy's arm flexing with each stroke. He felt hot and shaky all over as he continued to spy on the boy. Kurt could feel himself becoming hard. He rubbed the heel of his hand against his crotch, trying to relieve the pressure. Here he was in a life or death situation and he was thinking about touching himself while watching the boy.

He ducked his head down again, attempting to ignore the moans from across the room. Kurt gave up and reached under his clothes, wrapping his hand around himself. Feeling guilty, he looked over the top of the toad, staring at the boy. Kurt guessed the boy was close to the tingly sensation by the way he began moving his arm faster. He tightened his grip, jerking in firm, swift strokes.

The boy let out a muffled cry and Kurt watched the creamy stuff spurt from the boy's body. Kurt gasped, finding his own release, wishing he could have seen the boy from up close. He ripped a small part of his belt off to clean up and lay back against the frog, panting.

Between the panic at being seen receding and the fading tingly sensations, Kurt felt sleepy. It was warm by the ceiling and, while he knew the boy could get up here to him, humans were so clumsy and loud, he hoped he would have enough warning. Aware that he was rationalizing because he was tired, he snuggled down into the furry skin of the toad, closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Confusion greeted Kurt when he woke up. His bed felt softer than usual and he was missing his favorite blanket. He blinked his eyes several times and groaned softly when he remembered where he was. He was in the beautiful boy's home, hiding by the ceiling, realizing he hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday.

He needed to figure out how to get home and something to eat would be nice, although he could go without food for at least another day if necessary. Leaning forward on the toy, he almost wished he could take the toad with him. It was too big to fit comfortably in his home and he'd never hear the end of if, but it made a comfortable bed. Fumbling about for his wand, he tried to come up with a plan.

The boy snored softly, asleep in his bed, his hair a wild mess of curls sticking out of the top of the blanket. Early morning light shown faintly through the cloth over the clear covering. With a quick glance at the opening into the room, he sighed in relief to see a space large enough for him to fit through. Allowing himself one final glimpse towards the human boy as he lifted off the toad, he paused. The rainbow band sat on the table next to the bed.

Kurt hovered in the air, debating. He'd gone to all this trouble to get here. Unbelievable temptation to swoop down and snatch it on his way out came over him. It was right there, within reach if he dared.

He knew he shouldn't. The boy was asleep and he needed to get back in the transportation thing if there was any chance of seeing his friends and family again, but band continued to call to him. He would give it to Finn, who would realize he loved Kurt and not one of those bickering girls. Drifting closer, he remained undecided. He knew he could fly fast, but he didn't know how heavy the band might be. Hesitating only a moment more, he made up his mind. He needed it. So, swoop down hard and fast or slow and steady? If the band weighed more than he anticipated, he could hurt himself trying to fly off with it. Slow it was. He tucked his wand into his belt to keep it safe.

Closer, closer, closer. He landed on the table next to the bed. The colors were so vivid. He touched it, reverently. Finn would love it and love him. He carefully picked it up. Kurt had been wise not to grab it on the fly. He could lift it, but it was a little awkward. There was a soft snort and he looked up into the eyes of the boy, instantly regretting the impulse he'd followed to take the band. The boy said something in a quiet, gentle voice. Kurt, of course, didn't understand.

"I don't speak human," Kurt said, apologetically, in a loud voice. The boy jumped at his words. He said several other things and Kurt shook his head each time he paused. The boy wasn't trying to harm him, so far, but he should go while he still could. He was in way over his head. The boy might get angry when he realized Kurt had attempted to steal. He held the band out to the boy and the boy shook his head. Kurt stretched his arms out farther. The boy slowly moved his hand closer to Kurt, not actually touching him. Kurt set the band on top of the boy's fingers, pushing it so it wouldn't slide off. The boy shifted it, holding it between his thumb and finger and, unless Kurt was mistaken, held it out to give it back.

Kurt stared in surprise, was the boy going to let him keep the band? The boy spoke again in his oddly beautiful language. He set the band down on the table and pushed it towards Kurt, smiling. Kurt gently picked it up, hugging it to his chest, looking for confirmation that he could keep it. The boy nodded.

Backing up slowly, he carefully watched the boy's expression. The boy climbed off of bed on the side opposite Kurt, exposing his naked chest and loose pants. He made several strange gestures and walked out of the room. Curiosity made Kurt want to wait. But. He needed to starting behaving sensibly. Clutching the band, he flew to the clear covering in the wall. There were two pieces to it, overlapped, exposing a black part that reminded him of a spider's web, but the material was much stronger and not woven in a spiral. Gritting his teeth, he used his magic to cut a hole large enough for him to escape.

Kurt poked his head out and noticed trees, a square pond, grass and flowers. Flying outside, he quickly relieved himself and considered what to do next. The boy hadn't acted angry and he'd given him the band. If they could figure out how to communicate, Kurt could learn human magic before returning home. Going back inside, he settled down on the table near the bed to wait.

The boy came back with a plate full of what smelled like food, but looked like nothing Kurt had ever eaten. Setting the plate on the table, the boy kneeled on the bed watching Kurt intently. He placed the band on the table and flew over to the food, jumping slightly when the boy gasped. Kurt stepped closer, examining his breakfast. There were small pieces of apple, some lumpy white stuff that smelled off, and several oblong purple fruits bigger than his head. The flat round thing, light brown in color with light pink fluffy stuff on top and small round red things on top of it, was the most interesting. Kurt picked up one of the red circles, pulling some pink fluff with it. Tentatively, he licked it, surprised when the sweet flavor hit his tongue. All thoughts of hurrying home fled as he took a large bite.

He tried at least a nibble of everything, although it was more food than he could eat in a week, even if he shared it with all his friends. The fruit definitely wouldn't upset his digestion, but he had no way of knowing about anything else and he wouldn't be eating the white stuff again. He couldn't resist the pink fluff and he ate more of it than was probably wise. The boy had also brought a small container with water and a second with a dark red liquid that smelled similar to the purple fruit. He drank some of the water to wash down his strange meal.

Kurt said, "Thank you," wishing the boy would somehow understand. He pulled his wand out, drew the symbol for thank you in the air in pink light, and startled violently when the boy yelped. Had he offended? The boy looked anything but upset, his smile radiant and he laughed. Kurt drew more symbols, which hovered in the air for a moment before dissipating. He continued to talk, telling they boy about his home and Finn and why he was so grateful to be gifted the band of rainbow colors because he knew stealing wasn't right.

The boy said "Blaine" in a clear voice and pointed at himself. He repeated this several times, looking at Kurt expectantly.

"Blaine," said Kurt, pointing at the boy. He nodded and smiled. Kurt hoped that was his name and not the human word for human. Kurt pointed at himself and said, "Kurt."

"Kurt." Blaine pulled a shinny black rectangle out of a drawer, said, "phone," and slid his finger along it. He held it several inches from his face, pushing at it a few times. Blaine said, "picture," as he turned it around and showed Kurt an image of himself. His hair was messy from not being styled after sleeping and his clothes were slightly rumpled, but not too bad. Kurt stepped closer to the picture. There was pink fluff at the corner of his mouth. He pointed at the image, shook his head, wiped the pink fluff off and smiled. Blaine stared at him for a moment. Kurt pushed on one corner of the phone and Blaine angled it so they could both see. He pointed to the pink fluff in the image, shook his head and gestured to his now clean face.

Nodding, Blaine pulled the phone back, and fiddled some more. He turned it around, showing Kurt an image with a clean face. Kurt nodded and smiled.

He touched it several more times and when he showed it to Kurt, he let out a cry of surprise when the image moved. Blaine, worried, started to pull the phone away. Kurt flew up and grabbed his hand to stop him from taking the human magic away. Blaine set the phone on the table, propping it up so Kurt could see it easily. Kurt sat in front of it, laughing and clapping in delight.

The fairies in the moving picture had wings like him! There was a fairy girl who had blonde hair the color of Quinn's, but it was pulled up and tied with a vine. And her green dress was so short. The points at the bottom barley kept her decent. Even Brittany, who sometimes forgot to wear undergarments, would never wear something that short. Kurt was fascinated by her shoes. They were the same green as the dress and had little yellow puff balls on the toes.

Music played while she talked. A boy fairy flew into the image. Oh, he had a hat made of an acorn and a red sleeveless shirt over his white shirt, what a great idea. Kurt was going to find an acorn when he got home. He would look much better the boy in a hat like that. And he knew the perfect tree to go find one at. It was enormous with hundreds of nuts on it. He'd make a day of it, and maybe bring Mercedes, she never minded helping him search for the perfect materials for clothing. He would also need to figure out how to construct a sleeveless shirt. While he was here, he should find something that would work, in blue if at all possible.

Kurt sat cross-legged, fascinated by the moving images. The screen faded to black, white symbols appeared briefly, and it faded to black again. "Noooo," he yelled, "where did they go?" He wanted to see more of their clothes. He was going to make a red dress for Mercedes like the fairy with the brown hair wore, only longer. He had so many ideas and questions. Where did those fairies live? He wanted to go visit and ask how they made their clothes.

Blaine picked up the phone again. A few taps later and he set it back in front of Kurt. Several boys in blue tops and grey bottoms began singing. Kurt moved closer, how did he do that? Blaine danced in the middle of the singing humans. His voice, amazing and beautiful, stood out from the rest of the group. Song after song played. When the last one ended, Kurt wanted to see more and he realized he had no way to ask. He crossed his arms and stamped his foot in frustration.

Kurt said, "phone," but Blaine had started walking to the other side of the room, returning with a large brown object. Settling himself on the bed, Blaine placed the object against his chest and across his lap. "Guitar," said Blaine, pointing to the instrument.

"Guitar," repeated Kurt. He wasn't certain if guitar was the word for the instrument or the music. Either way, it was stunning to have Blaine sing for him.

Blaine sang, playing along and Kurt never wanted him to stop. Kurt danced in the air, flying with the music.

When Blaine eventually set the guitar down, Kurt landed on it and tugged on a string, trying to figure out how to make a fairy sized version. Finn played the flute, so he might be interested in learning a second instrument, although he would never be as good as Blaine.

Making the same gesture he'd made when he'd gone to get the food, Blaine left the room. Kurt took the opportunity to flit from one item to another, happy that he could look to his heart's content.

Blaine came back with a basket. Kurt flew down from the shelf where he was examining a wood object. He pointed at it, wondering what it was for. "Top," said Blaine, as he picked it up and twisted his hand, causing it to spin in wobbly circles on the table. "Earring," was made of a clear faceted stone bigger than the one Kurt had at home. The second thing, "Button," was round and flat in a shiny red and had four holes in it. The last thing was pink and round with a strange texture. "Ball."

"Ball," said Kurt and was rewarded with a smile. Finn wasn't going to know what hit him when Kurt got home with all this new information.

Kurt frowned. He'd been having so much fun, he'd hardly thought about Finn. Was Finn wondering what happened to him, or was he once again caught up in Rachel and Quinn's struggle to claim him as a mate. Blaine pulled more things out of the basket. Kurt immediately recognized the the next one - a bowl so large compared to Kurt that he could take a bath in it. He blushed, imagining himself naked, bathing, while Blaine watched. It made him feel warm to think about. Kurt leapt into the bowl, walking along the sides, stroking the smooth material. When Blaine carefully lifted him out and set him next to it, Kurt estimated he was about as tall as Blaine's hand. Using one arm to keep Kurt back, he poured tiny flattened balls into the bowl. "Beads," said Blaine.

There were hundreds, if not thousands of small shinny beads in more shades of blue, green and purple than Kurt had ever imagined. They resembled marriage bracelets, but they looked too small to fit on his wrist. He picked one up and found it only had enough space for two of his fingers. Blaine babbled in human language, ran out of the room and returned with larger beads in his palm. Gesturing for Kurt to hold his arm out, he held each one in turn up to Kurt, letting him try to fit his hand through. The one that fit best was a swirl of green and purple like the colors in the bowl.

Unaware of Kurt's distress, Blaine took a long silver thing, "needle," a piece of cord, "thread," and pushed it through the slit on the bottom of needle and slid a bead onto the thread. The thread appeared long enough to fit around Blaine's wrist. This must be how humans create their marriage bracelets. Kurt would need to take the bead off now if he wasn't accepting Blaine's proposal. Finn was never going to give him a bracelet or accept one from him. He'd always known, deep down, that he'd been deluding himself. That it was safe and easy to pretend he could have a future with Finn. But it was never going to happen. Finn would spend the rest of his life bouncing between Quinn and Rachel and whichever he settled on, he'd always wonder what could have been if he'd chosen different.

It would be madness, complete and utter lunacy, getting married to a human he'd known a few hours. But, his dad and mom had married on the day they met and he would never find anyone else as special as Blaine. Kurt floated up and gently pulled on the thread in Blaine's hand. Blaine set it down next to the bowl and showed him how to unwind the spool while telling him the word. Kurt picked up the end and began carefully selecting green and purple beads for Blaine's matching bracelet.

After a few failed attempts, he got the hang of stringing beads over the needle, until he guessed it was long enough. It had taken several gestures for Blaine to realize that he shouldn't help and Kurt was tired by the time he finished.

A few more gestures and Blaine held one end of the thread against his wrist. Kurt took the other end, flew around Blaine's hand, removed three beads, and he tied the ends together in a secure knot. Kurt tugged. The bracelet would hold. He pressed the bracelets against each other and recited the marriage charm that would keep the bracelets secure. He giggled. Kurt's father had always said he would know when he met his mate.

Darting forward, Kurt kissed his husband's cheek. Blaine jumped causing Kurt to back up quickly. Did human's not kiss to show affection? This was so frustrating.

Blaine smiled, touching his cheek reverently. He then kissed his finger and brought it to Kurt's cheek. Kurt leapt up to Blaine's shoulder and nuzzled his husband's neck. It would be awkward being married to someone ten times his height, but surly Blaine had this figured out or he wouldn't have given Kurt a bracelet.

Blaine picked up the rectangle with the symbols and the image of the fairy Kurt had seen last night, and he said, "book." Kurt hopped down to get a closer look than he'd been able to before. Blaine rose, keeping the book level so Kurt wouldn't fall, and walked into the other room. He pointed to several other rectangles on the shelf in assorted sizes and colors and repeated the word.

Kurt flew up to one Blaine hadn't pointed to. "Book," he said touching it. Blaine nodded, smiling brightly. Kurt stepped over to the long waxy thing he's been looking at yesterday. He said, "book," and shook his head.

"Candle," said Blaine. Kurt clapped in delight, he would be able to talk to his husband after all, he just needed to learn how. "What's this?" said Blaine, indicating the candle again. "Candle," he said. He repeated this process a few times until Kurt caught on.

Kurt flew around the room, pointing at things, and saying, "what's this?" He repeated the new words he learned until he had them memorized. There were several times where his pronunciation was off and Blaine would patiently say it again until Kurt said it correctly. Kurt landed on the book with the picture of the fairy girl. Waving his arms over it, he said, "book." He pointed to himself and said, "Kurt." He pointed at the image and said, "Kurt," shaking his head.

"Tinkerbell."

"Tinkerbell," said Kurt. All his doubts about his sudden marriage faded away. He communicated better with Blaine than he ever had with Finn.

Blaine spoke quickly, excitement in his voice. Picking Kurt up, he placed him on his shoulder and took them to a different room. The bed and shelves were similar to the ones in Blaine's room, but this one wasn't lived in. It had an empty, abandoned air to it. Blaine set Kurt down on one of the shelves and Kurt nearly fell off when he saw what he was standing next to. "Doll house," said Blaine

It was a tiny human home. One wall was missing and he could see beds, tables, chairs perfectly sized to fit Kurt. He flew to the second level, took a few tentative steps and then sat on the bed, laying down on his stomach and stretching out. He fit, barley. His bed at home was much bigger, large enough for two, even if he slept alone. Still, this was amazing. Is this where fairies disappeared to when the wandered too close to humans? It was difficult to imagine a fairly actually living in one of these. Fairies craved wide open spaces and this felt cramped, even with the missing wall. He tried to sit on a chair, but he couldn't fit his wings. He wandered from room to room, picking things up and admiring the details. Blaine showed him two dolls slightly shorter than Kurt, that he posed in the chairs. Humans were so strange.

A rattling sound startled Blaine, and picking Kurt up, he ran for his room.

Blaine carefully set Kurt up on the shelf, gestured for him to stay, and hurried out. He could hear muffled talking muffled through the mostly closed door that sounded like Blaine and his dad arguing. A few minutes later, a female voice joined in. His curiosity about Blaine's parents, warred with being told to stay. Well, he rationalized, he'd probably been told to stay. Blaine let out a sigh of relief a few minutes later when he returned to the room and saw Kurt still hiding on the shelf next to the toy frog. Kurt had made the right decision and was glad he'd remained where Blain left him.

Distressed, Blaine tried to explain something. It was annoying not to understand. He had learned so many words today and none seemed to help in this situation. Blaine pulled several things from the basket he'd had the beads in earlier and placed them on the shelf next to Kurt. He nodded and smiled when Kurt sat down and began to inspect the new treasures. Blaine left the room, again closing the door most of the way. The message was clear. He wasn't forced to stay in the room, but he should.