They sat for the longest time, not really talking.  Kurt hummed a little as he slowly fed Thrand little bites of donut. He watched with satisfaction as Thrands lips and eyes relayed his pleasure at being so pampered and indulged. The interlude felt slightly hedonistic, but also very innocent.

Everything about Thrand just made Kurt want to wrap him in his arms, pick him up, and carry him home with him. Kurt had almost always dated men who were at least his height, if not taller. Thrand, on the other hand, while not fragile (indeed, he seemed quite fit), still made Kurt feel as if he could tuck him into his arms and carry him with him wherever he went.

Instead, he contented himself with occasionally and languidly licking stray smears of donut glaze from Thrands lips. This usually elicited a small "mmmm" of appreciation or a tentative return flick of Thrands tongue. And once, Thrand had sought Kurts mouth more voraciously than he had the donut, although he quickly retreated as if afraid of seeming too assertive.

Kurt popped the last bit of donut into Thrands mouth, and Thrand pulled a handkerchief-an honest to goodness cloth handkerchief-out of his pocket, offering it to Kurt so he could wipe his hands.

Their quiet moment was interrupted when a duck suddenly came charging at them, quacking furiously and flapping its wings as if in some kind of attack mode.  They were both startled, and Kurt recoiled a little.  Animals always made him a little nervous, and this one obviously had some anger issues. Could ducks carry rabies? 

Then, just before the duck reached them, it whirled around and began waddling the other way, still quacking furiously and flapping its wings.  After a few feet, it changed direction and came back, quacking very insistently at the men. 

"What do you think is wrong with it?" Kurt asked, trying to keep his voice from betraying his apprehension. 

"Im not sure," Thrand sounded puzzled, but not at all nervous.  "Do you think shes hungry?"

"How do you know its a ‘she? It seems ferocious enough to be a ‘he, if were going by stereotypes," Kurt responded as he tried to regain his Kristoff-like composure.

"Shes all dun-colored-she doesnt have the bright coloring of a male," Thrand explained as he reached into a bakery box and pulled out a small piece of donut.  He tossed it at the duck, but she only glanced at the piece of dough and then ignored it.  She continued with her frenetic back and forth pacing, quacking, and flapping. 

"I think she wants us to follow her," Thrand said at last to Kurt. 

"Thrand, this isnt an episode of ‘Lassie," Kurt replied. He wanted to add that he wasnt about to be lured into the lair of the evil Duck Queen, but Thrand was already on his feet and moving; so Kurt left the donuts on the bench and quickly caught up with him.  The duck was still moving back and forth, but she went farther away each time, always returning as if to make sure the men were still following. 

"Whats wrong with her?" Kurt asked in a quiet voice. 

"I dont know...oh!" Thrand pointed. 

Next to a sidewalk that traversed the park was a sewer grate.  Under the grate and just a few feet down, at the bottom of a pipe, there were six little ducklings alternately lying on top of each other and milling about furiously in their efforts to escape.  Their mother continued her agitated behavior, quacking and flapping her wings, although she didnt come any nearer.  She seemed torn between wanting to go to her babies and needing to keep her distance from the men.

"Aw," Thrand breathed. "They must have been following their mother, and she crossed the grate not realizing that they would fall through."

Kurt opened his mouth to say, "Yeah, but what can we do about it," but closed it again when he realized Thrand had already pulled his phone out of his pocket. 

"Hi, this is..." Thrand glanced at Kurt and turned a bit so he was facing a little away from him; he cleared his throat without finishing the sentence.  "Im going to need you to send animal control and a sewer or road engineer to my location to rescue some ducklings that have fallen into the storm sewer."  Thrand relayed the exact location with a calm efficiency that surprised Kurt; his demeanor seemed a little unusual for a man who had always seemed so tentative. 

"No, you cant just send a patrol car.  We need someone who can pry the grate off the sewer, and we need someone from animal control to safely bring the ducklings up."  Thrand paused, listening. "Yes, I realize its a Saturday, but surely theres someone in the DEP whos on call." 

There was more listening, and then Kurt heard Thrand say with a slight edge, "This is a city with over eight million people.  There are government employees who do work on Saturdays.  Im sure you can think of someone to call."  Another pause and then, "No, they cannot just stay here until Monday; theyll starve if the cold doesnt kill them first.  Theyre babies."  Thrand let out a huff, and then Kurt heard him repeat a series of increasingly exasperated "Nos" to the voice on the other end of the line.  When he finally thumbed off the call, Kurt was surprised to see tears lingering on his eyelashes. 

"What is it, Honey?" Kurt asked, putting out a hand and gently rubbing Thrands back. 

Thrand just shook his head and stared at his phone. 

Something about Thrands frustration made Kurt want to move heaven and earth to ease this gentle mans obvious distress.  He looked once again at the sewer grate.  Where it met the sidewalk, there was about a foot and a half of empty space.  Kurt assessed it for a long moment.  Then, making his decision and acting before he gave himself any time to reconsider, he unwrapped his scarf and thrust it into Thrands hands as he began unbuttoning his coat. 

"What...what are you doing?" Thrand asked, wide-eyed.

"Im rescuing ducks." Kurt now had his coat off, and he was stripping off his sweater, trying to ignore the chill that ripped through his body at the sudden loss of clothing. 

"What? You cant...you...youd have to be a contortionist."

Kurt paused his stripping long enough to grin at Thrand. "I know."

Putting words to action, Kurt extended his body on the ground directly across the grate. The mama duck quacked even more loudly and flapped her wings anxiously, but she kept her distance. This was somewhat reassuring to Kurt, who was feeling a bit vulnerable since he was now at eye level with her. Taking a steadying breath and hoping he wasnt going to make a fool of himself by getting stuck, he proceeded before he had a chance to change his mind. 

Using his hands, Kurt pushed his body forward so that his head and arms moved into the space between the sidewalk and the grate.  He turned his head sideways and tried to keep calm about the tight squeeze and the fact that he was getting utterly filthy. Once his head and shoulders had cleared the tight space, he pushed forward even farther and began bending at his waist, letting his torso hang down and into a jackknife position.

It became difficult to see into the pipe because his body was blocking the light. Now, in addition to regretting the dank and dark hole in which he found himself, Kurt began to worry that his whole body might slip down into the sewer. Just as he was beginning to think this was one colossal mistake and was preparing to back out, he felt surprisingly strong hands grip his calves and hold him steady. 

"Can you reach them?" Thrand asked.

Readjusting his body a little while also readjusting his thoughts back into rescue mode (as opposed to "What the hell have I gotten myself into?" mode), Kurt replied, "Im not sure.  Its hard to see."

"Just a minute," Thrand called, and suddenly Kurts legs were being shifted a little to one side. Kurt was never so appreciative of the incredible flexibility hed kept from his youth because he was now bent in directions nobodys body should go.  Still, the shift allowed light to pour in, and Kurt saw that the little ducklings were very much within reach. 

He worried a little that they would run away from his hand, and he was shocked when he was able to just reach out and grab one.  With strength borne from adrenaline, he twisted, lifting the bundle of fluff upward, until he felt Thrand-who was now anchoring Kurts legs with what felt like his own legs-reach down and take the duckling from him. 

A few seconds later he heard Thrand breathe, "Oh, the mom is so happy!"

The happiness in Thrands own voice made Kurt smile, and he reached for another bundle of down. 

It took a while, and the sixth duckling was really uncooperative, scrambling about the limited recesses of its prison. Finally the last of the babies was rescued, and Kurt began the slow, laborious process of pulling himself out of the grate. Thrand helped by putting his hands in a lot of different places-Kurt filed the memories of those touches away for future reference-and pulling with all his might.

Kurt had just completely emerged from the hole, rolling over onto his back and panting, when a policeman showed up.  Thrand pointed to the duck and her family and explained what had happened. The officer spoke into his shoulder mic and cancelled the order for animal control and a DEP work crew, which apparently was on the way, after all. 

Kurt looked over at the mother duck, who was inspecting her brood of babies while making what could only be interpreted as happy quacks.  Thrand stood over Kurt, reaching down with both hands to pull him up.  Kurt rose slowly to his feet, and suddenly his arms were full of the curly-haired man who was hugging him so tightly that a little "oof" escaped Kurts lips. 

Reluctantly, Kurt gently pushed Thrand away. "Im filthy," he laughed. "I dont think you want to get this all over you."  Now that the adrenaline was dissipating, though, the cold was becoming an issue.  He rubbed his arms.  "Not only am I filthy; Im also freezing." 

Blaine held out Kurts coat, sweater and scarf, but Kurt shook his head. "Those will never come clean again if I put them on," he said with a twist to his lips. "I better just tough it out until I get home."  He gingerly took the items from Thrand but held them away from his body. 

Thrand looked at him as though weighing several options.  Then, with a look of firm resolve on his face, he pulled the garments out of Kurts hands, clutching the bundle against his chest.  He reached out, took Kurts hand, and tugged him forward.  As Kurt followed, Thrand quietly said, "Come with me.  Ill explain everything when we get there."