dorothy's slippers.

[highf]

So here's what you missed on Glee:

Puck and Santana have been stranded on an island that kind of reminds them of Lost, except without the cool polar bears and the smoke monster, and both of them are missing home and feeling way out of their league, even if neither will admit to it. ( "Not your type of party, is it?" "If I say no, you're going to

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[vvdanicavv]

To say Danica wasn't in the best mood was an understatement. The reason she lived in the Compound was to be close to modern amenities, but it also meant she had to put up with the various morons, idiots and inbreds that lived there too.

This one was clearly new and Danica wasn't yet sure into which category he fell. Judging by his wailing, she guessed he was an idiot, but she'd leave the choice up to him.

Coming up behind him, she slipped a hand around and over his mouth. "Stop." If he didn't, then she would be proved right.

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Everyone had told him that people on the island were kind, understanding, and generally supportive of personal goals, pleasures, and hobbies. And for those three brief days, Kurt had believed them. Apparently, this was the wrong choice.

Even without the application of great force, a hand over his mouth was an invasion of Kurt's privacy in a sudden and halting way, one that made all his thoughts immediately shut down and turn into panic, breath sharply passing between his teeth. His eyes didn't move their gaze, his shoulders hunched by his neck, and for those precious few moments, Kurt wondered what the proper course of action was for a threat like this. Being thrown against a locker was one thing. Being slushied in the face was another.

But someone was actually touching him, and Kurt felt himself struck with even more fear than Karofsky had ever managed to instill in him. "Okay," he breathed, as soon as he'd gotten even the faintest of grasps on his nerves. "Please... let me go."

[vvdanicavv]

If Danica had a dime for every time she'd heard that... A faint smile passed her lips when she did, pleasant memories flooding back of countless human bloodbags shackled in cells, waiting to be bled dry.

Sometimes she'd done it in front of them; dragged one out and had her meal in public. The screams sure helped her feel warm and happy inside.

"Good decision," she told him, her mouth not far from his ear. She removed her hand slowly. "You're not just a pretty face."

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The very feel of the woman's presence still wrapped all around him, the threat which laced over his skin, was sickening to the point that Kurt's already pale complexion managed to blanch further. He stepped back as soon as she broke contact, his eyes filled with suspicion and his breath only barely managed. This was different than what he'd experienced with Karofsky. That much was immediately clear. There was something very much like enjoyment in her eyes, not the fear that he'd come to recognize in the football player, the fear that only lashed out in anger and frustration like the grating of metal and rock.

Her gaze was predatory.

"You could have asked," he pointed out, hoping that there were people around who could intervene if necessary, though a stubborn part of him refused to back down, arching a brow instead. "I would have stopped singing if you'd just asked."

[vvdanicavv]

"Asking's not my style," Danica replied conversationally, as if it was a fortunate happenstance that they'd bumped into each other. Tilting her head to the side, she began to circle him, looking at every inch. It was probably a coincidence that her hair today stood up in her shark-fin style.

"You're new." The conclusion wasn't hard to come to. He was also particularly well-dressed and as a self-confessed fashionista herself, she was quietly impressed. But terrifying him was far more entertaining than complimenting him on his clothes. For her, anyway.

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The longer she lingered without taking an action, the more Kurt felt frustration bubbling within his chest, his just burning to ring out. After a point, after learning that there were people willing and able to stand up for him and that Kurt was no longer alone in any of it, one didn't deal well with bullying anymore. One wasn't passive, under the pressure. His eyes narrowed and his shoulders were pulled back straight as his gaze followed the woman closely, resolving not to be caught off his guard again.

What could she really do? The building was teeming with people.

"Guess I'll take that as a compliment," he replied, tilting his head pointedly. "Something tells me you're not in the habit of rolling out the welcome wagon to all newcomers."

[vvdanicavv]

"Not unless you're Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny."

Even then she hadn't been particularly welcoming, but she sure as fuck would have been if he'd had a sack full of gifts just for her. She might have been more pleasant to Kurt had he brought the same.

"Or Manolo Blahnik." She sniffed and came to a stop in front of him, cocking a hip and crossing her arms over her chest. "Possibly Christian Louboutin."

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To Kurt's credit, he didn't back down. Didn't flinch. Hardly even blinked. Perhaps she was nothing that he'd ever encountered before in life, but if life was all an act, then Kurt had to be prepared for practically anything, surprises and curve balls alike. He'd keep his chin up, he thought to himself, and he'd parry every blow from her, stashing away the feel of his heart thudding and the dizziness of fear for a later date, in case he needed it on the stage. It was the ideal state of events (best of all would still have been if she left), but if one was to be in a difficult situation, the least he could do was learn from it.

"Darling, as much as I love a pair of sensible heels and or fantastic pumps, if you were aiming to hook in a designer, you might as well have gone big. Take for instance, Alexander McQueen," he replied, slowly and carefully crossing his arms in front of his chest.

[vvdanicavv]

"Don't darling me," Danica warned, leaning in slightly to make sure he took her seriously. A flash of fang usually worked on most people. "You'll be lucky if the clothes box gives you anything better than Sears."

[highf]

Wrinkling his nose, Kurt leaned back, struck more immediately with curiosity than with fear as his gaze traced down the length of the woman's fang. He knew that there were plenty of people crazed enough to get their teeth filed down to points, but her canines were far longer than human teeth were supposed to be- perhaps ceramic inserts? Vampires didn't exist, so they couldn't be real.

Maybe she was more crazed than he initially thought.

"Guess I'll have to find out for myself," he remarked with a raised brow. "Or trust that someone on the island has a sewing machine."

[vvdanicavv]

"I would love to be there when you do." The clothes box might be stupidly generous to Danica but she knew she was one of the lucky few. The look of disappointment on his face would be worth the effort.

[highf]

Pausing, Kurt weighed his options. Certainly, he had no desire to run downstairs and peek in the clothes box right then; ultimately, whether or not it chose to cough up outfits easily mattered little to Kurt. He'd always been able to manage a nice outfit and style on a dime, and in a region where good hand-me-downs were hard to find. He didn't doubt that he could pull the same magic again, sewing where necessary.

So in that sense, he probably could have left right then and there, simply refusing to engage with any of it.

But he couldn't just end the conversation without first pointing an observation out.

"You really love to scare and otherwise dishearten people, don't you?"

[vvdanicavv]

It was an astute, if glaringly obvious, observation.

She smiled, though it wasn't particularly friendly. "It's hard to find a good hobby around here." But Danica was happy with hers.

[highf]

"Because terrifying people is just a hobby to you, is that it?" He couldn't help it. He couldn't keep some of the bitterness from his voice, anger that had made its way there after the glee club had undergone relentless bullying for months, and himself for years beyond that. People always trodded down on those who were different. Those who didn't have what it took to appeal to the school as a whole.

"Sooner or later, someone will stop you," he assured her, already wondering if there was any resource that he could find in particular to keep her from making this a regular occurrence, circling around him much in the way that any predator would.

[vvdanicavv]

"Someone?" Danica echoed, looking him up and down with a smirk. "You always let other people fight your fights for you?" All she had wanted to do was stop the singing and she'd been successful. But as far as she was concerned, he was the one that had kept her there. Now she was only sticking around for her own amusement. "That's so sad, sweetie."

[highf]

"In case you didn't notice," Kurt fired right back in return, eyes narrowing as he rested his chin against the back of his fingers, stubborn streak suddenly showing a mile wide in spite of the slight weakness in his knees, "I said someone. I never said that someone couldn't be me. Believe me, I know what it's like to fight my own battles." He tilted his head, a small amount of confidence worming into his stance.

Ultimately, it was true. Although he'd found more support over the last couple of years than he'd had all throughout middle school, the fact still remained that no one had ever stood up for Kurt more than he had himself. The school wouldn't take a firm hand. His father... well, Kurt had never wanted to push Burt to that point. His lips lightly curved, tense.

He'd dealt with bullying all his life in one way or another, and even though he wasn't fool enough to take all of this on his own, he also wasn't about to let it all sit.