Blaine woke up Saturday morning after his date with Kurt with a goofy grin. Last night had been incredible. Amazing, thrilling, like the fates and the universe collided and exploded in fireworks.

He stood in front of his mirror in his boxer shorts for about 10 minutes, examining different angles and wondering how he would look to Kurt if they were undressed together. He experimented with angling his mark in different lights. Finally, he put on a white T-shirt, shorts, and slippers. He found himself humming as he walked downstairs to get breakfast, only to be startled out of his reverie when he saw his father and mother waiting for him at the kitchen table.

"Blaine, sit down. We need to talk," His father said in a soft voice.

Blaine knew where this conversation was going. It had been an entire week since the incident, and he couldn't avoid this forever.

"It's time for a candidate counselor, Blaine. No more putting this off," his father continued. His mother sat silently with a smile painted on.

"Okay, we can look into it, Dad, I spent time with Kurt last night and I do need one."

"We made an appointment for 11AM today, go get dressed," his dad said with an air of finality.

Candidate counselors were respected in the community as a whole, since their services were often necessary in order to keep candidate competitions from clogging up the legal system. Their job was to evaluate situations with multiple candidates and work toward a beneficial resolution. An interesting personality type tended to be attracted to this particular job, usually strict and gruff, and able to speak about love objectively. Feelings needed to be evaluated, not followed blindly.

The candidate counselor's office was small and plain, with a couple of armchairs, a couch, and a plant. It could probably double as a psychiatrist's office, except there was a sink and hazardous waste bin in the corner. The counselor herself was tall and thin, with short blonde hair and a stern expression. Blaine could tell she meant business.

"I'm Dr. Sylvester. You must be Blaine. Please, have a seat and we'll take a quick history." They shook hands and Blaine sat on the couch, while the counselor chose an armchair. Her eyes barely left the notebook in front of her as she went through a standard list of questions.

"Number of current candidates?"

"Two," Blaine replied.

"Both with reciprocity?"

"Sebastian has my mark too, yes. But Kurt doesn't. Well I mean, he wore long sleeves last night, but I guess he probably would have told me if...I mean..I don't know if Kurt has my mark, I guess."

"That was irresponsible of you not to ask. How long have you known each candidate?"

Blaine bristled a little at the criticism. "Um, I guess Sebastian for about three years, but as friends. His mark just appeared a couple weeks ago. And I have only met Kurt twice, his mark appeared just a week ago." Blaine was beginning to feel pretty uncomfortable. He crossed his legs, then uncrossed them.

"I see. And how much time have you spent with Kurt?" the counselor continued.

"Not very much. We only officially met on two occasions, once when the mark finished, and again last night on a date."

"Do you have a clear preference between candidates?"

This question made Blaine pause. Yes, he had a preference, but it was embarrassing. How could he have such a huge crush on Kurt after knowing him for such a short period of time? It made him look young and inexperienced, and maybe a little creepy.

"No, Dr. Sylvester. No preference yet."

"Does either candidate have a competitor?"

"Yes, Kurt does. A long term boyfriend actually. But Sebastian doesn't."

"Well Blaine," the counselor began, looking up and into his eyes finally, "this seems pretty straightforward. Sebastian is the one you have known longer, there is no competitor for him, and you don't have a preference. Sebastian is the reasonable choice. Lets take a quick look at the marks."

Blaine blushed. He knew this is where the appointment would get serious. He tried to focus on his breathing, as he lifted his sleeve to show his forearm.

Dr. Sylvester looked briefly at both marks, put on gloves, and began to prod the marks, shining a small light to look at them more closely. Her expression remained stern, and Blaine realized she had probably seen a lot of these before, so he couldn't be a very unusual or surprising case.

She threw away the gloves and washed her hands again as she began to speak. "I see that Kurt's mark is crossed out. I take it the boyfriend did that?"

Blaine nodded, looking down at the floor. This was so embarrassing.

"And did you consent to it?"

Blaine shook his head, still looking at the floor.

"I see. Well I can't say I haven't seen that happen before. I'm sorry Blaine, that can be a very difficult experience to go through. People say it makes us stronger. Now just for my records, what is Kurt's full name? Is it Kurtis?"

"No," Blaine said. "It's just Kurt. It's all... there." He nodded towards his forearm.

The counselor looked genuinely interested for the first time. "The full mark, really?"

Blaine nodded.

The counselor scribbled a few notes and looked thoughtful. "That's quite unusual, Blaine. Talk to me more about Kurt. What did you feel like when you met him?"

They spoke for about a half hour, which involved quite a bit of lecturing from the counselor, and agreed to meet again in a week for a progress report.

Blaine had homework. He was supposed to spend as much time with Kurt as possible, find out what his goals were, and to get a straight answer about whether Blaine was a real prospect for him. He was also supposed to make more of an effort to speak with Sebastian, and explain what was going on.

The euphoria of the previous night had left him completely. This felt like a science experiment now, not like real life. His excitement was replaced by nerves. Blaine reasoned that it actually was a science experiment, and he was the damn guinea pig. Well, time to be a good guinea pig, he thought darkly, and called Kurt to invite him to lunch.