reformingfury: (having a beer)
[personal profile] reformingfury
Things were starting to really get busy for Dave, lately. Anderson's arrival, the play, the new school term. Trixa just opened the casino, and now he'll have a job as well. Sundays are his new nights to unwind, and he knows exactly how he wants to spend the first one; relatively peacefully with his share of the cider he and Rachel won for the swing dance competition. He's been hoarding it just for the right occasion, and while some people could argue that there are other nights that could have been just right for breaking it open (like getting out of the mines more or less in one piece), tonight just felt right, especially after more rehearsals. He's just gotten out of the shower and is looking forward to bumming somewhere in or around the compound without a bunch of excitement and new folks about him.

Of course, he thinks as he tosses his damp towel aside, it would be even better to share it with someone.

Kurt has been spotted around the compound more than usual, and given the timing and the tension he's seen in the other, Dave is pretty sure that it has something to do with the arrival of the Mayor of Munchkin Town. If it's enough to drive him from Cassa de Nude Erections, then shit is serious. He might not be the best guy for the job, but he figures Kurt would like someone to talk to and unwind. Plus, there are some things on Dave's mind as well as a result of talking to Blaine Anderson and it'd be good to get things off his chest. He's just hoping that the offer of cider would be tempting enough to get Kurt to join him for a chat.

[OOC: For Kurt, timed to Sunday night.]

Date: 2012-05-22 12:16 am (UTC)
likesboys: (porcelain)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
If Kurt's honest with himself, then the fact of the matter is that living in the Compound isn't half as nice as living out in the Green Arrow Estates. For one, there's no natural island breeze that's able to slip into the building— if anything, being a couple floors underground means that it all smells occasionally of mold and mildew, all until Kurt goes nuts and decides to scrub everything down, as he regularly does, with lemon oil. For another, he feels completely cut off from all of the people he loves and knows best, which can be helpful in terms of having him buckle down to get work done, but gets lonesome late in the evening on the occasions when he finds it difficult to fall asleep.

Tonight's one of those times, and so he finds himself curled up in one of the chairs in the common room, a few books in his lap, mostly there in an effort to help him out with directorial work. Only when he hears someone else heading inside does Kurt realize that he probably shouldn't have ventured out of his room that evening. He's still trying his best not to make much of his move.

And if the person entering is at all familiar to Kurt, well, it's a bit impossible to make anyone believe that he still plans to trek the four miles out to the GAE later this evening.

Date: 2012-05-25 09:01 pm (UTC)
likesboys: (observe)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
When Karofsky's voice filters through the air, Kurt knows that there's probably no avoiding the topic. On the bright side, however, somehow Kurt gets the feeling that Karofsky won't make an overly large deal out of Kurt living in the Compound if Kurt doesn't want to dwell. Carefully closing the books one by one, Kurt's brow raises as he listens to Karofsky, the other boy sounding more than a little uncomfortable himself as he lingers by the side of the room.

Quickly shaking his head, Kurt offers a small smile, moving his books to the table.

"No, no, you're not a bother," he reassures, waving to the spot next to him on the couch. "Please, feel free. Honestly, it's not like there's a ton of homework yet after the first day, but I wanted to make sure I didn't fall too far behind on school with the production and everything."

Date: 2012-05-28 02:28 pm (UTC)
likesboys: (cynical)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
Karofsky's actually got a nice smile, Kurt notices now, when it's unguarded rather than a sneer. He looks genuinely glad for the chance to sit with Kurt, and so Kurt takes the mug with a grateful nod, curiously glancing down at the cider. It's only now that the thought hits him, but even a drink as simple as cider seems genuinely difficult to procure on the island. He remembers, though, Rachel bringing back her share of the winnings for that swing competition. He also remembers feeling slightly strange about her turning to Karofsky as a partner.

But if they worked well together, Kurt thinks, why not?

"I think I prefer being busy," Kurt confesses, finger running along the lip of the mug. "Maybe not always this busy, but it's nice to have actual classes again. Dancing and singing and playing instruments all of the time last term was nice, but made all of that start feeling like work, which is the last thing I want it to become."

He takes a tentative sip of the cider, relaxing into a fuller smile of his own. It falters, though, at the mention of hanging around the Compound. Conflicted, Kurt gazes down at his mug.

"Yeah, I... I've been trying to keep my space, I guess. Lately. I've got a lot on my plate and not as much time to work through it. Staying with the rest of New Directions started to feel like too much."

Date: 2012-05-31 12:59 am (UTC)
likesboys: (explain)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
"Maybe it was because I was taking three dance classes," Kurt remarks with a good-natured grin. "As much as I appreciate all forms of dance, there's no doubt in my mind that singing and acting rank above in terms of the personal enjoyment I get out of either. And I haven't managed to find someone able to devote the kind of time I'd like for vocal training. There's only so much that you can learn in a two-hour class where the skill ranges from shower singer to Rachel Berry. Even Mr. Schue probably had an easier time of it, what with us always toeing the twelve member minimum and generally being of... an understandable range in talent."

Realizing that he's not only babbling, but ignoring the greater issue at hand, Kurt's expression thins slightly. He knows that talk of Blaine's more or less inevitable; how could it not be, when he's spent so much time obsessing over the guy these past few months? But it doesn't make it any easier to admit to how much trouble he's had. Glad though he might be to have some of it resolved, it's always when he's back on his own that Kurt starts wondering, and that his thoughts start spiraling.

"Anyway, yes. Blaine's currently with the rest of New Directions. It just seemed like the logical choice," says Kurt, even if that isn't entirely true. "He and Puck are both highly appreciative of sports, while Rachel and Brittany both happen to be rather effervescent young women. If there was ever to be a misfit among misfits, it would appear that I'm still it."

Date: 2012-06-01 05:10 am (UTC)
likesboys: (blush)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
There are a couple of key stammers through all that Karofsky has to say, and it leaves Kurt lurching a couple of times. He wants to remark on how it's actually cool that Karofsky likes to sing now and again; while Kurt wishes that he'd never felt the necessity of teasing the glee club relentlessly about it, it's still Kurt's strong belief that music is the universal language, something that everyone can enjoy now and again. He also considers explaining to Karofsky that there's more than the relationship itself that gives Kurt pause when it comes to rooming. But before he can say either, Karofsky's remarking on Blaine's hobbies and likes, and it punches a slight laugh out of Kurt, who glances down at the palm of his hand, buying himself time with a sip of cider.

"He's not a hobbit," Kurt says first, pink dusting his cheeks at the thought of how he's already learned that Blaine's height results in perfect kisses, no need to strain his neck to reach the other boy's lips. "But, yes. He loves football and is a big fan of the Buckeyes. Follows basketball too. If people think that I fit all of the gay stereotypes, then Blaine doesn't really fit any. And I really like that about him, honestly. I like that we have different interests."

Shifting on the couch, Kurt takes another sip of cider, and maybe he should be keeping it to himself, but Kurt's needed to talk to someone about this forever, someone who won't judge, who won't twist everything and make it about them. Maybe here in the rec room, he's finally been presented with an opportune moment. "Anyway, it's not the fact that we're dating that would make living together weird. There's obviously a lot that's happened back home and I don't know if there's anything to be done about it. But if I'm constantly near Blaine, then I'll always be thinking, I guess."

Date: 2012-06-02 02:13 am (UTC)
likesboys: (caught)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
"I wouldn't be surprised if the pink bowtie was my recommendation," Kurt mumbles in consideration; he's seen some of what Blaine prefers to wear on the island, and honestly, there are times when it reminds him of certain outfits he'd cobble together in sophomore year. Quickly shaking his head, Kurt folds his hands on his lap and listens, turning until his side leans against the back of the couch, elbow propped up on the cushions. "But I'm sure that Blaine would love that. A chance to play football, I mean."

He tries to fight the flush that threatens his cheeks again. His boy? Kurt's still not quite used to that thought yet.

Taking a sip to hide his embarrassment, Kurt takes a deep sip of cider, staring down into the small ripples caused by the movement.

"I don't think cornering him is a good idea. I don't think that's the best way of getting information out of people, generally, although I know plenty of people who'd try," Kurt considers, thinking about the long lengths to which any of New Directions can be willing to go for the right cause. "I can understand why he's hesitant, anyway. We're living different lives on the island, aren't we? Nothing that we do back home will necessarily even matter here."

Date: 2012-06-09 02:41 am (UTC)
likesboys: (confront)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
"Kicker for the football team?" Kurt asks skeptically, bringing his hand behind his neck to rub as he considers the thought. Truth be told, he knows that he's not a terribly bad athlete. He knows that the coordination skills he's learned as a result of all that choreography and the endurance he's accumulated through practice would make him fairly decent at the finer points in football, ones that don't require heavy tackling. But the enjoyment, it's just not really there. "I don't know. It would feel strange not playing alongside Finn and also not having my dad around to watch. I doubt that you guys will find yourselves short on players, anyway."

Leaning back, he considers what he thinks is the more contentious issue. Because he gets it. He gets what Karofsky's saying, completely, and to a large degree, Kurt feels all of that himself. A desire to know what happens back home, and to see, if nothing else, how different of a person he's become compared to that. Is he the same young boy who's slated to head to New York? Honestly, Kurt isn't sure. He doesn't feel like it, at any rate.

"The longer we go separate from what happens at home, the further the gap is, I guess," Kurt says, lips drawn thin. "I don't think I've ever worried about it half as much until... until someone came from a time when the relationship's entirely changed. With everything I've been told, I don't really feel like the same guy. I keep on wondering if whatever I'm up to back home has made me the better person."

Date: 2012-06-12 01:09 am (UTC)
likesboys: (attentive)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
Kurt's brows raise slightly in surprise. It isn't that Karofsky's praises come entirely as a shock— it's been pretty clear for a while that Karofsky feels grateful for all that Kurt forgave him for, and maybe Kurt seems like the bigger man for having done so in the first place. But this specific type of praise feels different. Blaine, an idiot for not loving Kurt as much? What does any of them know of love though, really? To Kurt, who's only even begun to feel the emotion out, it just feels impossibly complex. It feels like chance as much as it does fate, even. "I had no idea I had people who would be such advocates of my being date-worthy material," he jokes with a slight shrug, although he quickly leans his head against the back of the couch, exhaling slow and steady. "But I have no intention of giving up without trying, you're right. I guess that's the risk you take for someone you love, right? Better to have tried than to have never tried at all."

Taking another small sip of the cider, Kurt tilts his head away from the couch, listening carefully with a knit brow to what Karofsky has to say. "I don't think you necessarily need to have had some major epiphany," Kurt carefully points out. "If someone saw you in a compromising position... word spreads fast. It can easily force you out and into the open when you haven't quite prepared yourself for it. It sounds entirely plausible to me."

Date: 2012-06-14 04:53 am (UTC)
likesboys: (reassess)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
Kurt's lips fall agape at Karofsky's words, mostly because he doesn't really know what to say. It can't be a crush, right? There's just no way. People who've shared the kind of history that Kurt and Karofsky have don't fall for one another; it doesn't work like that. Karofsky's kiss, Kurt tells himself, was only because he was confused, only because Kurt was the only one who could probably even begin to understand, or at least certainly the only one willing to admit to his sexuality in the school. Kurt's brow knits briefly, but he decides that maybe Karofsky's this adamant because he wants to make everything up to Kurt. Help boost his self-confidence or something to repay everything Kurt's endured and the forgiveness Kurt's extended.

It isn't necessary, Kurt thinks, but it's a nice gesture... and again, he's just not sure what to say to it. So he presses his lips, decidedly moving onto the next topic.

"Should and would don't really count though, when it comes to dating. I mean, if you ask me, legions of men should be asking Mercedes out, yet they bound for Quinn first," he points out, tone wry before he shakes his head. "Anyway, the answer to that one is simple. Running gets really tiring. And, counterintuitive though it may sound, it does make you stronger. You step away once, you learn from it. And you tell yourself you'll be stronger next time."

Date: 2012-06-16 09:30 pm (UTC)
likesboys: (moderation)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
"I don't see any reason why you wouldn't have," Kurt replies with a shake of his head and a raise of his shoulder. "I mean, admittedly... our numbers aren't great there. At least, numbers of those of us willing to be open and on the market. But you're a football player, good student, you're good-looking and tall." Not Kurt's type, he thinks to himself, but then again had anyone asked him who his type was back in freshman year, he would've described someone like Finn. And he knows better now. Finn's not right for him at all, sexuality aside.

Glancing up, Kurt shrugs. "You know, you should consider dating here on the island. There's little risk of bigotry, and the portion of the population either knowingly gay or at least willing to experiment is pretty big," Kurt nods to himself, wrapping his hands more wholly around his cider and taking a deeper swallow.

"Granted, you can't let yourself be too easily discouraged, though. I didn't have the best of luck before Blaine got here," Kurt grins wryly. "Or maybe I had the best luck of all, forcing me to wait."

Date: 2012-06-18 07:29 am (UTC)
likesboys: (concerned)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
To Kurt's credit, he manages not to wince. Because there's a fine distinction between calling someone good-looking, and then applying it to one's own tastes. Objectively, Kurt knows that Karofsky is far from the least good-looking guy out there, that his features are well proportioned and, again, he has height going for him. But he's also far from Kurt's type.

"Well, I mean, you're tall, you've got nice shoulders. And you look far better when you're smiling than when you're trying to overwhelm people by force," Kurt says with a softer tone. He's not trying to make the other guy feel guilty. If anything, he's trying to soften the opinion he tossed at Karofsky all those months ago.

He wouldn't have said those types of things, Kurt knows, had Karofsky not been so much of a bully.

That said, it's easy enough to find another detail to cling to as Kurt watches Karofsky mutter into his mug. "Wait, what was that?" he asks, eyes narrowing. "Did you just say... again?"

Belatedly, the full thought hits Kurt, and he can quickly feel himself flushing as he determinedly drops his gaze back into his mug.

Date: 2012-06-20 10:38 pm (UTC)
likesboys: (scream)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
There's a part of Kurt tempted to wipe his mind clean, sing in protest, anything to block out thoughts of how lucky Karofsky might have gotten. It's not really specific to the guy. Well, it is— in as much as Kurt never really wants to think about his acquaintances in bed, never even really fantasized about Finn beyond kisses and hand-holding and the things that are permitted in a PG-13 rom com. More importantly, though, it just feels like such a private matter, something that he shouldn't be allowed to know about another person. It's also for this reason that porn is practically impossible for him to watch.

And at least there, people generally consent to being filmed and showing themselves off to others while so compromised.

Cheeks and neck and ears all flaring red, Kurt continues to stare into his cup and nods. "Yeah, okay," he stammers, biting down on his lips.

Date: 2012-06-24 05:35 pm (UTC)
likesboys: (surety)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
Pausing, Kurt gratefully turns his attention to the song playing on the jukebox, sipping at his cider before he sits up a little more, finally recognizing the strains. "This is by that group that was recently making it big back home, right? Um... Mumford, was it? Mumford and Sons?" Kurt asks, recognizing the lead vocalist, if not necessarily able to sing the lyrics of the new song at will.

"It does seem like the sort of thing you'd enjoy. That's the great thing about music. There's always something for everyone."

Date: 2012-06-25 09:41 pm (UTC)
likesboys: (clarity)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
"Much Ado About Nothing, if memory serves," Kurt nodded with a grin, although he missed a fair amount of the lyrics in the song while paying attention to Karofsky's words instead. "I do love Shakespeare. Granted, I'm probably not half as familiar with his works as some of the people here on the island, but if Geoffrey Tennant moves forward with his desire to direct a Shakespearean play, I'll be auditioning no matter how unlikely they are to cast me."

Shaking his head to brush away all the more self-centered thoughts which swirled there, Kurt glanced up to meet Karofsky's gaze, lips pressed thin in curiosity. "So what part of it do you relate to the most? Which view of love?"

Date: 2012-06-26 01:32 am (UTC)
likesboys: (porcelain)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
"I'm pretty sure he's thinking about a tragedy or history play," Kurt muses, tilting his head at the thought of playing Claudio. He knows that it wouldn't be an easy role for him, at the very least because of the countless preconceptions people are certain to make about the ability of a guy like him to play a heterosexual character. It'd be interesting, though.

He'd certainly learn a lot.

But he glances up in time to catch Karofsky's thoughts on love, gaze slowly dropping down to his knees as he processes all of it, and... frankly, when realization starts to strike, his immediate reflex is one of denial. Brow furrowing, Kurt simply— he can't fathom it. Surely, Karofsky can't be talking about him.

"I... I guess I've never really experienced it in that way," Kurt muses slowly, a half-truth. He's pretended to date girls before, of course, but that was—

"Well, no, I suppose I did pretend to date Brittany for a while because I thought it was what my dad wanted. Fortunately, he helped pull me out of that."

Date: 2012-06-27 03:12 am (UTC)
likesboys: (rescind)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
Blinking, Kurt's gaze shifts off to the side for a moment. He has the option of saying no right now, right? He has the ability to say no, to refuse to listen to what it is that Karofsky's about to share with him, because there's just something about the way he's carrying himself that feels strange. Like he has a secret to tell.

But Kurt also tries to be there for his friends as often as he can, so he meets Karofsky's gaze again, tilting his head.

"Sure, I guess," he says.

Date: 2012-06-29 05:38 pm (UTC)
likesboys: (confusion)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
...what?

Kurt listens carefully to Dave's explanation, taking in every word, and yet somehow it feels like he's trying to push together pieces that don't quite manage to fit. His hands remain politely on his mug, but his fingers start to press against the surface with greater force, as though that might help anchor him through the confusion. He's pretty sure that most of the bullies at McKinley didn't bully Kurt because they thought of him as better, smarter, or enviable in any way— he's pretty sure that they saw him as wrong, as easy pickings.

Maybe he scared them, but only in the way that Kurt honestly wishes he wouldn't scare anyone— the kind that lodges itself in one's stomach and turns nausea over fresh. He scares people sometimes, but only because they think him unnatural.

With a slight inhale, Kurt glances up, tilting his head. "You're telling me... that the bullying, all of the name-calling and the threats, they were because you liked me?" he asks incredulously.

Date: 2012-06-30 05:40 pm (UTC)
likesboys: (repeat)
From: [personal profile] likesboys
"Dave," Kurt finally manages to stammer, rising to his feet, the mug still held between his hands. He wasn't want to make Karofsky feel bad, at the end of the day. They're tentative friends, they're doing their best to patch things up after everything that's happened, and Kurt doesn't want to completely toss that aside. Taking a deep breath, he shakes his head. "I'm flattered that you feel that way, I really am, and I don't think you're the guy you think you are. You were confused, and scared, and being what we are is scary in Lima. I'd be the first person to tell you that. The fact that you didn't know how to get through that on your own doesn't make you an awful person."

Sighing between his teeth, Kurt shakes his head. "But... I'm with Blaine. You know that, right? And I hope you're able to find something like that, I know you can, but I can't return your feelings. I think of you as a friend."

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David "Dave" Karofsky

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