Blaine had graduated a month ago, and he had been putting off going to Attrition because it was so nerve-wracking. Every time he had almost gone, his ink had gotten runny and he felt a funny bubbling sensation in the area that would one day be his stomach. Some of his classmates had already begun connecting with their attrition-mates, and he tried not to be jealous. It will happen in its own time for each person, he reminded himself. Blaine didn't have to make it into a competition.

He had a few options. He could go to Romantic Dinner, where he would find people who were dreaming of romance and love, and although he was a romantic that seemed a little heavy handed for a first meeting in his opinion. There was always Movie, where he would be sure to find a diverse group of possible attrition-mates. Movie attracted anyone dreaming complete stories that the dreamer was not involved in, and it was known to be a place to find visually gifted artists. He had basically decided that was where he would go, figuring that he might as well avoid Workplace and Sporting Event.

When Blaine was finally out the door of his apartment, ink steady and dry and the strange bubbling at a minimum, he ventured purposefully toward Movie. He felt like a newly sharpened pencil, ready to pierce anything that he might come across. He repeated the rules to himself. Follow your mind, probe gently first to see how they react, only make eye contact if you want to begin a connection, you must be the one to initiate so be confident and sure in your actions. The closer he got, the more sure he was of his goal and his ability to achieve it. This confidence started to fade, though, when he got to Movie. The dream sequences flitting about, overlapping each other, were far too overwhelming for his first search. So, dizzy and a little discouraged, he made his way to the place he thought would help him relax. He had heard that Theme Park had a new race track that could be fun to try out and it wasn't too far away.

Theme Park was huge, larger than he remembered from his school field trip. It was also LOUD. Pings and bell sounds coming from concession booths harmonized with joyful screams from the roller coasters. It should have been unpleasant but somehow the noises fit together well, and as Blaine felt a prickling sensation on his head, he reached up and realized his ears had become more tangible. Suddenly, his confidence was back. This was already working, he could do it. Blaine let himself wander past colorful clowns and acrobats in the circus tent, and past the swishing chlorine of the water rides, trying to figure out where to start. It hit him that his eyes were still open, so he promptly closed them and began to meditate while he followed his mind blindly.

He opened his eyes at the race track, noticing that a motorcycle race was about to start, so he decided to stay and watch. There were dreamers on either side of him, so he looked them over. The one on his right was a tall, ruggedly handsome man in his 30's with a strong jawline and deep brown eyes. On his left, a slight looking boy with auburn hair and bright blue eyes who must have been a teenager slouched and looked down. His decision was obvious, and he began to probe the mind of the taller, older man. He gently let his mind poke into memories and desires, seeing that he was a musician who had a large family, a loyal and loving group of friends, a series of one night stands with men who all had blonde hair, but a wish for more one day. Blaine slowly retreated, thinking that he seemed fine but didn't really spark anything within him. Blaine figured that for a first try, he had done well. He may as well stay and watch the race before trying again.

As he looked up to the participants on their motorcycles, he noticed the blue eyed teenager being probed a bit aggressively based on the pinched look on his face. He felt an immediate, visceral reaction. He wanted to throw rubbing alcohol on that awful man probing his boy so carelessly, wanted him to dissolve and disappear. He very nearly acted on it, but stopped himself in time. There was technically nothing wrong with what the man was doing, and he gritted his teeth waiting until it was over. Teeth? Apparently he now had teeth. When the torturous probing was finally over and the outline of the man drifted away, the blue eyed boy let out a relieved sigh. Then something very unusual happened. The boy looked up, right into Blaine's eyes, and stared. Blaine was so confused, he didn't think it was possible for a dreamer to initiate a connection. But it was happening and he had better get a handle on it fast. Okay, Blaine thought, go slowly, be deliberate and calm. On his first gentle probe, he felt brows grow above his eyes, and the bow tie around his neck flushed pink, then red with Kurt's embarrassed anticipation. His name was Kurt, ok. Blaine was astonished at the speed of their connection, but he didn't want to back out.

He saw that Kurt sketched and drew comics, a talented artist though still young and perfecting his craft. Kurt was lonely, with a few friends but not many, and he saw himself as an outsider in the world he lived in. Kurt was a singer in a glee club at his school. He kept secrets from his family, he was intelligent, a virgin though he had made out with a couple of boys before at various parties, good sense of humor, logical mind that balanced out his creativity. Blaine withdrew, reluctantly, feeling a rush of heat through his body that darkened his entire outline.

Wow, that was incredible. More than enough for the first meeting, Blaine knew. He had to take this slower from now on, but he had found the one. He felt so lucky that it happened on his first search. He knew he shouuld wait but he was suddenly paralyzed with the fear that someone else would get to Kurt before him. The gravity of what he was about to do thrummed through him like oil paint as he leaned over to Kurt and slowly, gently inched forward to occupy the same space, letting Kurt's body exist inside his for a moment, until the promise was recorded and Kurt was sufficiently marked. Blaine had never felt so close to someone before and felt high off of the experience. Kurt began to fade, and Blaine walked home, beaming with his new teeth and excited by the prospects ahead of him.