Many Winged Escape - part three
Artist: the lovely littlenim
Author: epicjazzjands/panahemataylor
Rating: (art: g) PG
Word Count: 14765
Warnings (if any): none
Summary: Blaine Anderson was of normal height for his people. He was four inches tall and proud of every single inch.......................
They were two days away from McKinley, and Blaine was pretty sure that he was in love with Kurt. He couldn't get enough; Kurt's laugh, his smile, the way he looked in the morning - all of it was so absolutely gorgeous and beautiful. And it hurt Blaine that he couldn't be part of it for much longer.
“We'll be flying over the river in a few minutes,” Kurt shouted over his shoulder, pulling up his goggles as he pulled back on the reigns of his bird, slowing the speed of their flight. “Rivers have lots of wind and the spray will often shoot up and hit us, so I just want you to be prepared for that, okay?”
Blaine nodded and tightened his grip around Kurt's waist. “Let's do this,” he yelled back. Kurt grinned, then pulled his goggles down over his eyes as he angled his bird to the right, towards the river.
The first few minutes of flying over the river didn't go too badly, only a few bumps as they flew over. Blaine was about to open his mouth, to shout something to Kurt when Kurt suddenly pulled back on the reigns and sat up completely straight.
“Oh no,” he stated, Blaine barely catching the words as they left Kurt's mouth.
“Oh no what?” he called back.
Kurt reached down and gripped both of Blaine's hands tightly. “Hold on as tight as you can, okay? Whatever you do, don't let go!”
Blaine didn't even have time to question further; a split second later a gust of wind hit them, a wind harder than any other that they'd experience. Blaine yelled out and tightened his grip around Kurt's waist as their bird was thrown backwards, the poor thing beating its wings as hard as it could to keep them from getting knocked over any more. And they would have been okay, would have been able to prevent what happened next if it weren't for the leaves.
Kurt got hit first, the leaf scratching a fine cut into his cheek as it went soaring past. The next one hit them on the side, causing their bird to tumble in the air; Blaine gripped Kurt tighter, tighter than he'd ever help anything, turning his head to avoid getting hit by another leaf. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the pouch that carried their Delivery package jolting with every bump, and he knew what was going to happen even before it did, and in that split second, he made a decision that changed everything; he let go of Kurt's waist, holding onto their bird with only his legs as he bent down to grab the pouch, his mind racing Don't lose the package, don't lose the package! His fingers grasped on to it, and that was when Kurt shouted out his name in a warning. Blaine turned his head just in time to see a rather large leaf shooting towards him; it hit him full on the face, pushing him back enough that his legs lost their hold around the bird, and he fell.
“Blaine!”
Everything seemed to slow down in the next few seconds. Clutching the pouch to his chest, he glanced up to see Kurt letting go of the reigns and jumping after him. No! He wanted to shout, but it was too late; Kurt caught up to him in only a matter of seconds, wrapping his arms around any part of Blaine that he could reach, and they clutched to each other as the twisted in the air and plummeted into the river below.
Once he hit the water, Blaine lost sense of everything; he was pushed, dragged, yanked away from Kurt, and pulled in what seemed to be every sing direction until he was eventually pushed up back to the surface, coughing and spluttering as he tried to keep his head above the water.
“K-Kurt!” he called out as he tried to make sense of how close he was to land. “Ku - ” he managed once more before the water pulled him back down for a few seconds. It was a constant battle to keep himself above the water and hold on to the pouch with the package, and he was getting tired faster than he wanted. But he needed to find Kurt, needed to make sure he was still alive.
“...aine!” he suddenly heard above the roaring of the water, and he twisted around, new energy bursting through him at the sound of Kurt's voice.
“Kurt!” he shouted again, and then he saw a hand above one of the waves, a little farther down than where he was. As quickly as he could, he wrapped the pouch around his shoulder and took off swimming towards Kurt, using the current to push him along faster until he was able to see Kurt completely. “Kurt!” he called out again, loud enough to catch Kurt's attention; Kurt's eyes widened and he tried his hardest to swim in Blaine's direction, but Blaine could see that there was something wrong with the way Kurt was moving, like every single movement was causing him pain.
They reached each other eventually, and then they clutched one another tightly as they attempted to swim towards the bank. It was difficult, but with both of them they managed to make it to shore, helping each other up onto the bank and then collapsing from exhaustion, coughing up the water and groaning. Blaine allowed himself a few seconds of rest before he rolled over onto his knees and gripped Kurt's head in his hands.
“Oh my god, I was so terrified,” he said, pressing kiss after kiss over Kurt's face; nose, eyes, forehead, lips, any part of Kurt that he could touch, he did. “I thought that I'd lost you,” he muttered, pressing one last lingering kiss on Kurt's lips before pressing their foreheads together as they breathed heavily.
Kurt let out a labored laugh as he brought up a hand to tangle his fingers in Blaine's hair. “That's how I felt when you fell off,” he said quietly, nuzzling their noses together in an Eskimo kiss. “Don't you dare scare me like that again, okay?”
Blaine nodded, letting out a sharp laugh, mostly to calm himself down more than anything. “God yes, I promise...” He breathed out, his hands still caressing the sides of Kurt's face tenderly, his eyes closing as he breathed in everything that was Kurt.
“Hey, Blaine?” Kurt said after a while.
“Yeah?”
“Kiss me again?”
Blaine's eyes opened, immediately finding Kurt's eyes, which were so very blue at the moment. “Okay,” he whispered, before lowering his lips onto Kurt's and holding back a whimper when Kurt's tongue slid into his mouth. Because kissing Kurt was just like he'd imagined it would be; it was just like flying - free and absolutely beautiful.
They kissed each other for a while, their eyes closed as they allowed themselves to feel each other, and in those precious moments, Blaine was able to completely forget about his engagement; he no longer wanted it to happen, no longer wanted to obey the plan that had been set for him the moment he was born. He had found someone that he loved, that he cared deeply for, and he would never allow anything to take Kurt away from him. Moving his left hand from Kurt's face, he gripped Kurt's hip tightly and pulled him up so their hips brushed against each other -
Kurt yanked his mouth away with a yell, but it wasn't a yell of pleasure. Pulling his head back, Blaine watched as Kurt's eyes closed in pain as another whimper left Kurt's lips. “What - what is it?” he asked, pulling back farther to check over Kurt's body, searching for any injuries.
Kurt let out a gasp, “My right leg,” he muttered, and then closed his eyes as pain shot through him again.
Blaine moved over to check Kurt's leg, biting his lip as he took in the angle of Kurt's ankle. “I think that it might be broken, Kurt,” he said, moving back up to Kurt's face in order to place a gentle kiss on Kurt's forehead.
“Broken?”
“Possibly... I'm not sure, though.”
Kurt bit his lip as another jolt of pain shot through him, and Blaine moved to kiss him softly to distract him. “Once... Once Lincoln comes back, there is a pouch on the end of his back and it should have the camping gear as well as a first aid kit too.”
“Okay,” Blaine said, running his hand through Kurt's wet hair, pressing soft kisses to his face while they waited for their birds.
Eventually, Lincoln and Pav located them, and Blaine was able to set up their camp, running back and forth between their campsite and where Kurt was laying on the ground. “I'm okay, Blaine,” Kurt would tell him with a laugh every time Blaine would stop by him.
“I know, I just... I just like hearing it, you know?”
Kurt's eyes softened, and he reached out with both hands for Blaine. “Come here,” he whispered, and Blaine couldn't stay away, moving to crawl into Kurt's arms. “We're both okay, and I know you're still shaky. Me too. So how about we cuddle tonight, just me and you?”
Blaine kissed him. “I'd love that.”
They spoke for hours, about random things; the stars, Pav and Lincoln, their lives at home, and Blaine found himself talking about how he wasn't happy with his engagement. By that point, he was holding Kurt in his arms, propped up against a rock and running his hand up and down Kurt's arm.
“You don't want to get married then, huh?” Kurt asked, shifting around in Blaine's arms, wincing as his leg jolted in pain. “Oh god, I think you might be right about it being broken,” he said, gripping his upper thigh as another wave a pain shot through him. He felt Blaine place a few tender kisses to his temple as his eyes watered; the pain finally dulled to the normal throbbing he'd been feeling before, his grip on his thigh loosening as he sagged in Blaine's arms.
Blaine's arms tightened around him. “I can't believe that you jumped in to save me like that,” he muttered into Kurt's hair, his left hand rubbing up and down Kurt's stomach in a soothing gesture. “And you did it so quickly, no hesitation at all.”
Kurt let out a pained breath of air. “I couldn't let you fall alone, Blaine. We made a pact that we would finish the Delivery together, and I will not break that. I don't go back on my word.” He held up his hand, and Blaine stared at it for a moment before taking his left hand and gripping Kurt's tightly. Kurt grinned up at him before taking their joined hands and pressing them to his mouth. “We started together, we'll end together,” he said firmly. “Plus, I have to get you back to your fiance.”
Blaine sighed, a wave of sadness hitting him. “I shouldn't be doing this,” he said sadly, staring at the ground. “I have a fiance.”
“What do you mean by 'this', though?”
“I shouldn't be falling for you like I am; I have a duty, a responsibility to marry my fiance for the sake of our homes. But I'm falling for you so quickly, and I don't want to ever let you go, Kurt.” He let his head fall down to rest on top of Kurt's and inhaled, taking in all that was Kurt. “Your smile makes my day brighter, even though the wind when we fly is horrible and there's a chance that we'll crash; your singing voice is magical and lifts my heart, and I could listen to you talk for days on end. I just don't want this to stop.”
Kurt was silent for a moment before he shifted, grimacing at the pain that shot through his body as he turned to look at Blaine directly. “I know,” and in that moment Blaine knew that they both wanted it, felt it, and the fact that they couldn't have it was tearing them both up.
I'm pretty sure that I'm in love with you, he thought as he allowed his eyes to slip closed, his arms tightening around Kurt's waist as he relaxed himself enough to sleep. They had a long flight tomorrow, and Blaine would need all of the sleep he could get seeing as he would be the one to take the reigns of Lincoln. Maybe Pav's wing will be healed enough in the morning so Kurt can fly on him... There'll be more room if he's alone on the bird, so that should make it so his leg isn't jostled as mu-
“Blaine!” Kurt suddenly cried out, and Blaine jumped, his hand automatically reaching for Kurt's thin sword he'd placed to his side, just in case insects showed up. He put Kurt down as gently as he could, but as fast as he could, pushing himself up to look around for any signs of danger.
“What? What is it; what did you see?”
Kurt let out a laugh and held out his hand for Blaine to take. “Calm down, silly. There's nothing out there. I just remembered something.”
Blaine took a few deep breaths, then slid his fingers into Kurt's hand and sat down. “What is it?”
“Who did you say you were engaged to again?”
“The prince of McKinley. The actual agreement was, Blaine Anderson is to marry a Prince of McKinley, and the Peace pact will stay in place. Why?”
Kurt tilted his head to the side, the way he usually did when he was thinking of something rather amazing. “Oh... I just wanted to know who you were marrying, that's all. I didn't think I'd remembered what you'd told me correctly.”
Blaine raised an eyebrow, crawling closer to Kurt slowly. “Kurt,” he said, dragging out the 'ur' as he spoke. “What are you thinking about?”
Kurt bopped him on the nose. “Something,” he teased. “You'll find out later, I promise. Now let's get some sleep. We have a long flight ahead of us in the morning.”
Sighing, Blaine nodded, moving so that he could pull Kurt towards him, spooning him as he tried to not jostle Kurt's leg.
“What are you doing?” Kurt asked quietly, not moving from Blaine's grasp.
“It's going to get cold tonight,” Blaine said softly into Kurt's hair. “We don't have anything to make a fire with, so we're going to use each other to keep warm. Are you okay with that? Besides, you said we would cuddle tonight.”
Kurt nodded, and Blaine grinned. “Okay, goodnight Blaine.”
“Goodnight, Kurt.”
Kurt fell asleep a few minutes later, exhausted and in pain, but even though Blaine himself was completely wiped of all of his energy, he stayed awake, listening, feeling; he had one hand on Kurt's stomach, feeling it rise and fall with each breath that Kurt took, his other hand up on Kurt's chest, resting over his heart, feeling it pump. “You scared me,” he said softly, his face pressed into Kurt's hair. “Even though I was falling, it scared me even more when you jumped off after me. Nobody has ever done anything like that for me before, and I have to admit, I love you even more because of that.”
He exhaled into Kurt's hair, and then lifted his face up so that he could place his chin on top of Kurt's hair; he shivered as the wind blew over them, curling up closer to Kurt's back until it passed. God, I don't want this to end, he thought. They had one more day together, and then Blaine would be getting married. He wouldn't be able to hold Kurt like he was, wouldn't be able to think the things he did because it'd be wrong.
Kurt's hand lifted up and reached behind them, grasping onto the hair at the bottom of Blaine's neck and tugging gently. “Shh,” he said, and Blaine could hear the exhaustion in his voice. “I can hear you thinking. Don't worry,” He said it with such a firm tone that Blaine was inclined to believe him. “Everything will be okay.”
Blaine fell asleep repeating that in his head.
Everything will be okay.
..
They arrived at McKinley late the next day, a group of people waiting for them at the castle gates as their birds landed. Blaine slid off of Lincoln first, rushing over to where Pav was standing to help Kurt get off. “He injured his leg,” he said as a few people moved forward to help him hold Kurt up. “He really needs to see a doctor.”
Kurt held up his hand, stopping the two people from taking him away. “Wait, Blaine. We have to deliver the package first. It's to the King, right?”
Blaine nodded, tacking the package out of the pouch that he'd been carrying around his shoulders. “Yeah, it's for him.”
Kurt nodded, his face firm. “Okay, to the King then. If you help me, I can hop there.”
Blaine moved his hands to Kurt's waist. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely positive.”
The King was sitting on his throne, speaking to a rather tall young man when the two hobbled into the throne room. He paused in his conversation, then sat up straight, taking in the two of them as they made the last few steps to end up in front of him. “Hello,” he said kindly. “To what do I owe this...” he paused, then stood up. “Are you injured?” he asked, gesturing at Kurt.
Kurt shrugged. “I did something to my leg,” he said nonchalantly.
The King frowned and Kurt waved the hand that wasn't holding onto Blaine.
“I'll be okay, really. I have to finish my job.” Kurt inclined his head towards Blaine, who pulled out the package and held it towards the King. “We have come to deliver the package from Dalton. It is high priority, and we've taken great care to make sure that no harm came to it.”
There was a small smile on the King's face, one that made Blaine want to smile as well. Instead, he tightened his grip on Kurt's waist and moved them both forwards so that they could hand the package over to the King. He took it, smiling gently at the both of them, and then frowned as he felt around the entire package.
“It's wet,” he stated.
Blaine ducked his head. “There was... there was an accident, your Majesty.”
The frown on the King's face deepened. “What kind of accident?”
Kurt spoke up a second before Blaine was able to. “We fell into the water; the wind got too strong and we got hit by leaves and we fell off,” he said, giving Blaine a sharp look. “It's how I injured my leg.”
The King raised his hand and gestured at someone near the door, calling out, “Get him to the castle doctor; that leg needs to be looked at.”
Blaine could feel Kurt tighten his grip on him, moving forward on his own a bit “No, I'm fine, really, there's - ” but he didn't finish his sentence as he tightened up in pain, reaching down with his right hand to grab onto his leg. “Okay, okay, I'll go.” He allowed himself to be picked up by the man who was taking him to the doctor, squeezing Blaine's hand one last time before he went.
Once Kurt was gone, there were a few seconds of silence, Blaine not really knowing what to say. He'd delivered the package, was there something else that he had to do before he left? Did the King have to sign off on the delivery? Before he could work himself up to say anything, though, the King spoke once again.
“What's your name? Full name?”
“Blaine Anderson, your Majesty.”
“Ah, the boy who is going to marry my son...”
Blaine gulped. “Yes, your Majesty.”
The King stood up from his seat and took the steps needed to stand in front of Blaine; Blaine ducked his head a bit. “Tell me, Blaine, why were you on this Delivery? I didn't know that you were a Mail Runner?”
“Oh, no, sir, I'm not,” he said quickly. “See, I lost a bet with my friend, and the deal was that I'd take his next Delivery job. I don't think that he knew it would be such an important one; otherwise he wouldn't have had me take it. I... I really enjoyed doing this Delivery.”
The King raised an eyebrow. “I see...” and there was a tone to his voice, something that made Blaine flush.
“Uh, your Majesty, I-”
“I saw the way that you were looking at him, son, there's no need, or way, to hide it.”
Blaine let out a sigh. “I'm sorry.”
That seemed to baffle the King. “What for?”
“Because I'm supposed to marry your son, and yet here I am, already fallen in love with another.”
The King let out a “huh”, a hand moving up to his chin and an intent look falling upon his face. “Would the other person happen to be the boy that was your partner on this Delivery?”
Blaine flushed. “I'm afraid that you've caught me.”
“Blaine-”
“I - I'm still going to go through with this marriage, though, Your Majesty,” Blaine said firmly. “It is my duty.”
A sigh met his ears, and when he looked up it wasn't into the stern look of a King. Instead, he found himself looking into the face of a tired man. “Blaine Anderson, you are one dedicated and honorable boy. I like that. A lot, actually.”
Blaine gave him a small smile, not really sure how to take the compliment.
“I heard from your father that the wedding should be moved up, because you're already here?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The King hummed for a second, and then nodded. “Well, then we'll do just that. We'll spend the week preparing for the wedding, and you'll be a part of this family by the end of it.”
Blaine gulped.
“Are you okay with that?”
No, no I'm not. I want to marry Kurt, not this faceless prince I've never met. I want to spend the rest of my life with Kurt, see him wake up in the morning and go on Deliveries with him. I want Kurt and not your son!
“...yes.”
..
Kurt's leg hadn't been broken, but Blaine hadn't been allowed to see him much. He'd gotten about two hours a day before the nurse shooed him out of the room, telling him that Kurt needed his rest. It left Blaine to wander around the palace aimlessly, sometimes visiting Pav and Lincoln, but other than that, there wasn't much for him to do. He saw his wedding being prepared for, heard the gossip about how excited everyone was - It seemed like the only person who wasn't excited for this marriage was him.
And how could he be? His soon-to-be-husband wasn't Kurt.
His friends arrived near the end of the week, and while Blaine was grateful to see them, they didn't help cheer his mood up much. Before he knew it, his wedding day was upon him.
I'm going to be married, he found himself thinking as he was getting dressed that morning.
I'm going to have a husband, came later, as he was pulling his wedding attire out of his closet.
And my husband isn't Kurt, joined his thoughts minutes before he was to be married. It's not Kurt...
“You're about to be a married man soon, Blaine,” Wes was saying, patting Blaine's sleeves down, while checking to make sure that his outfit was as perfect as it could be.
Blaine nodded, letting out a shaky breath. “I know... I'm going to be married...”
The tone in his voice must have been something that gave him away in his voice, because Wes froze before moving in front of Blaine. “Hey, Blaine? What's going on?”
“I think - no, I know - that I've fallen in love with Kurt.”
Wes let out a very long breath of air. “Blaine.”
“I know, I know,” he exclaimed, tossing his hands up into the air. “But how could I not, Wes? The longer I spent with him, the more I fell; he's intelligent, bright, kind, and the most beautiful human being I've ever met. He risked his life for mine, Wes. I've never met anyone like him before. I'm so in love with him, and after my marriage, my feelings will not be acceptable; I'm also afraid of how me being married will affect our relationship.”
Blaine moved over to the couch and sat down heavily; Wes sat down next to him, silently giving him support.
“I want to marry him,” Blaine continued slowly. “But I can't. He's the one thing I've wanted most in my life, just to be with him and love him, and I can't even have that.”
Wes let out a sigh, and then turned to face his friend. “Honestly Blaine, I don't know what to say. There's nothing that I can do to change the fact that you are literally seconds away from being married. I'm sure that it'll be difficult at the beginning, but I believe that you and Kurt will continue your friendship. Who knows? You might fall completely head over heels for your husband and forget about what you've felt for Kurt.”
Blaine knew that it would never come to that; he might fall in love with his soon-to-be-husband, but he doubted he'd ever feel the same to him that he felt for Kurt. But he shrugged his shoulders and exhaled. “Okay,” he said, standing and moving over towards the main hall. “Let's get this going.”
Before he made it up to the big doors he'd enter in, he turned around and pulled Wes into a hug. “See you on the other side,” he told his friend, squeezing him just once before pulling away and facing the two large doors.
He exhaled, and then motioned at the two guards there to open the doors; once they were opened completely, he squared his shoulders and took his first steps into the room.
The first thing he noticed was his fiance, standing there with his back turned to Blaine. He was too far away for Blaine to make out any signs of who it could but, but with each step he took he was able to see more. His fiance was tall, dressed in the finest clothing, and wearing the nicest pairs of shoes Blaine had ever seen. When he was only a few steps away, his fiance turned a bit, and Blaine was able to make out a large bow made out of ribbon, the bow tied to his neck; his fiance turned completely once Blaine was standing right beside him, and he held out his hand for Blaine to take. Once Blaine had taken the hand, he looked up and into the eyes of his fiance for the very first time; he let out one stream of air, and then together they turned to face the King.
continue to part four...