Chapter Text
"That's great, thanks everyone," Mr Schuester called out. "Grab yourselves a seat, I've got some news."
Kurt sat himself down with Blaine next to him, happy and flushed from the exertion of rehearsal. It had been a good practice, he thought. The music and choreography were falling into place, neither Finn nor Blaine had accidentally done anything impossible to explain by normal means, and Rachel had only thrown one diva fit. Even that had only been a play for Finn's attention because she thought he was spending too much time with Puck and too little with her. Which might be true, but Kurt couldn't really blame Finn after everything that had happened at their abortive Sectionals. He hated to let Blaine out of his sight, after all.
Puck flopped into the chair on the other side of Kurt. "So what's up?" he asked Mr Schuester.
Mr Schue waited a moment longer for everyone else to find a seat. "As some of you may know, the new school librarian starts tomorrow." This seemed like news to a lot of the others. Kurt couldn't understand how they could possibly have missed poor Mr Frederiks nearly dying because paper dust set off his asthma so badly.
"What you probably don't know," Schue continued, "is that Mrs Grant is a Watcher. She's here to help if anything supernatural happens."
"So we go to her if there's weird shit?" Puck asked. Schue frowned at the language but nodded.
"I'll introduce her to you all at our next rehearsal, but she'd like to see you tomorrow if you've got some free time, Puck. Same for you, Finn, and you, Blaine."
Blaine cocked his head curiously. "Does she want to see us all together?" he asked.
"Not particularly," Schue said. "I think she just wants to talk to you about your individual situations." Or in other words how Blaine and Puck could do magic, and Finn was the son of a really scary demon. Kurt was still adjusting his view of the world to include actual rather than figurative magic. He couldn't imagine what it was like for Blaine, Puck and Finn. It had certainly changed Blaine.
"If anyone wants an adult with them when they meet Mrs Grant, just ask me," Schue continued. Finn raised his hand.
"I'd like that," he said. "I don't think Mom or Burt will have the time tomorrow."
"No problem, Finn," Schue told him. "Anyone else?"
Puck shook his head. Blaine shrugged like he didn't care, something he'd been doing a lot since Sectionals. Kurt resolved there and then that he would go along with his boyfriend, just in case.
"Where do I go to meet her?" Finn asked.
"She's a librarian, brain trust," Santana told him. "Try the library."
"We have a library?"
"Just come and find me in the Staff Room," Schue said before Santana could leap on that gift to sarcasm. "I'll see the rest of you Thursday afternoon."
Schue was barely through the door before Quinn, Santana and Brittany stood and swept out in formation. "There's something going on with those three," Kurt observed.
Blaine looked over as the door swung closed. "They're just going to pass the news on to Coach Sylvester," he said in bored tones.
"Obviously," Kurt agreed, "but there's something more than that. They've been all weird and cozying up to her ever since... you know."
"Maybe she's teaching them how to be bad-ass demon hunters," Puck suggested.
"Terrifying as she is, I can't see Sue Sylvester embracing the uncertain life of the demon hunter," Kurt retorted. "Or training anyone to do something so dangerous."
"Since when has Sue cared about student safety?" Puck argued. "And I saw her during the fight on stage. Demons were running away from her."
"Well, that's just sensible," Kurt grumbled, unwilling to admit that Puck might have a point. He didn't want to believe that Sue had already known about the supernatural, no matter how much it explained about her behaviour. In a surreal way that would make it all much more real.
Blaine looked like he was considering that a whole lot more seriously. "Does anyone know what her attitude to magic is?" he asked.
Puck shrugged. "We're all still alive, so I guess she doesn't hate it," he said. "At least not any more than she hates anything else."
"You think that's reassuring," Finn told him, "but it's not."
"So the new librarian," Kurt said, hurriedly changing the subject before Blaine could decide Coach Sylvester was a problem. "Does anyone know anything about her?"
There were shrugs all round. "I'm hoping for a babe," Puck announced.
"We're all so shocked at that," Blaine said drily.
"Hey, if I'm going to have to spend time with her learning how to protect my body when I'm not in it, she could at least be easy on the eyes."
Puck did have a point, Kurt decided. Not the easy on the eyes thing, that was obviously teenage hormones talking. Mrs Grant was however likely to be the one to teach Puck how to use his abilities safely. The Watchers they had met had been very insistent about that last bit. Kurt privately agreed; Puck generally needed no encouragement to use any of his abilities unsafely.
"I think she's more likely to be like Mr Jensen," Finn said. "Only a woman, 'cos uh Mr Jensen wasn't like girly at all," he added awkwardly.
Kurt kept his sigh internal. Finn really was trying to be understanding about homosexuality, but sometimes the cognitive dissonance got to him.
"Did you guys think Mr J was hot?" Puck asked. "Then we'd be saying the same thing."
"I was a little busy worrying about the bitch who literally stole my boyfriend's heart," Kurt snapped.
"Finn's right," Blaine said, patting Kurt's hand absently. "Whoever they sent would have to be musical to have any chance of coping with us. Sam, are you OK?"
Kurt turned to see Sam Evans sat with his head in his hands, not looking OK at all. "Just a headache," Sam mumbled. "Everything feels kind of loud right now."
Mercedes was at his side almost instantly. "Oh boo, you should have said," she declared, albeit more quietly than normal. Rummaging around in her purse she produced some paracetamol and a water bottle. "Here you go."
Sam accepted the tablets gratefully. Honestly, Kurt thought he looked better just from having Mercedes' attention.
"I hope he'll be OK," Blaine muttered. "We need everyone in peak condition if we're going to win Nationals this year."
Kurt nodded sympathetically, but internally he sighed again. This was all too typical of Blaine's behaviour since that horrible morning Kurt didn't like to think about. His lovable if eccentrically dressed boyfriend had a ruthless streak now when it came to anything he cared about. The last time anyone had slushied Kurt, Blaine had coldly told the jock he would regret that. The jock had laughed and moved on. The next time the guy opened his locker, it was inexplicably full of blue slushie. Inexplicable unless you happened to have noticed Blaine, Artie, Mercedes and Tina's impromptu performance of Ice Ice Baby in the hallway. Being kidnapped by the witches had changed Blaine just as much as it had changed Kurt. It was just where Kurt now had nightmares, Blaine had magic and a certain coldness towards other people.
The following morning, Kurt picked Blaine up bright and early. They had decided to drop in on Mrs Grant first thing, before homeroom, on the theory that fewer students were likely to be anywhere near the library then. Kurt opted to wear a navy blazer over a white shirt and a pale blue cravat, smart enough to be taken seriously without being intimidatingly stylish. Hopefully he wouldn't be dismissed out of hand when Mrs Grant inevitably focused on Blaine's problems.
"First impressions matter," he told Blaine as they walked towards the library. "We were hardly at our best when we met our first Watcher. This is our chance to rectify that, to get them to take us seriously."
"You're overthinking this," Blaine disagreed. "Mrs Grant is just going to give us information and advice, kind of like Miss Pillsbury. Would you do the same if we had a new guidance counsellor?"
"If I wanted good advice about my future career and how to get there, yes I would!"
"It's hardly that... Is that Mozart?"
It was in fact Beethoven that was drifting gently out of the library. Kurt stopped in his tracks. His mother had loved Für Elise, and it remained one of the few pieces of classical piano music he could instantly identify. It reminded him so much of his mother that it hurt, as he haltingly explained to Blaine.
"That's a good sign, then," Blaine decided. "For her to be playing something that means so much to you... I think Mrs Grant is going to be just our sort of person. Come on." And with that he all but tugged Kurt into the library.
Kurt's first thought on seeing their new librarian was that he had failed to appreciate the armouring qualities of tweed. Mrs Grant was short and dumpy, but more important was the heavy jacket and skirt she was wearing. They were of a decent cut, but they made her look old. The overall effect was mildly horrific.
"Can I help you?" she asked. She sounded businesslike, heavily implying that whatever they wanted had better not be trivial. Kurt suppressed the urge to ask her to change out of those awful clothes.
Blaine switched on the charm. "I'm Blaine Anderson and this is my boyfriend Kurt Hummel," he said, offering his friendliest smile. "You wanted to see me?"
"Ah yes, Mr Anderson," Mrs Grant said. "One moment, please." She reached behind her desk and reduced the Beethoven to more background levels.
"That's better," she continued. "My name is Penelope Grant, and I've been assigned as the Watcher to McKinley High School. I wanted to assure you in particular that if you have any questions regarding your... condition, you should feel free to ask me. Given your unusual circumstances I may not have ready answers, I'm afraid. How much do you already know?"
"How much do you know?" Blaine challenged.
"I did the follow-up research based on the reports of your competition," Grant said drily. She left the 'so more than you' as implied. "You seem to be able to channel music into magical effects. I suspect you will need others to create that music for it to be effective."
Blaine scowled. Kurt couldn't help but look surprised. Now he thought about it other people had always taken the lead when Blaine did something unusual. Artie had certainly been doing his best impression of Vanilla Ice. "Why is that?" he asked, well aware that Blaine would never be happy giving up the spotlight.
"No one is quite sure, but it seems to be a common problem for those who channel power," Mrs Grant replied. "Perhaps it's best to imagine it as being able to achieve results by standing on the shoulders of others. Standing on your own shoulders might be rather difficult.
"You will probably find you are most effective at manipulating the thoughts and perceptions of other people," she continued. Blaine nodded thoughtfully. "That's something music is quite capable of doing unaided by magic, and it is a very traditional approach for bards to take."
"Is that what I am, then?" Blaine asked. "A bard?" He looked pleased at the thought.
"The term gets rather abused," Grant replied, "but we may as well use it. However I would caution you not to perform any magic without an extremely good reason."
Blaine frowned again. "Because we don't know what effect it's having on me?" he asked.
"Because we do know your judgement is impaired," Mrs Grant said bluntly.
If Blaine was frowning before, he looked thunderous now. "What do you mean?" he demanded, and Kurt thought he might be just the tiniest bit afraid of his boyfriend in that moment.
"You may have noticed that you are more self-centred than you used to be," Mrs Grant said, not giving an inch. "Perhaps you think of it as being more careful with the things you care about. I'm sure your friends will have noticed that you are quicker to anger and more likely to hold a grudge." She looked significantly at Kurt.
Kurt thought about the Slushie-filled locker and shuddered. "Blaine may be a little colder towards people who aren't our friends," he said diplomatically, "but it's not as dramatic as you're implying."
Mrs Grant raised a sceptical eyebrow.
"Is that true, Kurt?" Blaine asked. He sounded genuinely concerned. "Have I changed?"
"Having your heart ripped out would change anybody," Kurt replied. Seeing it happen had certainly changed him.
"I'm afraid it's a little more than that," Mrs Grant told them. "The heart you restored to your chest is a crystal. You quite literally have a hard heart, and it is making you less capable of empathy and forgiveness."
Blaine looked at Kurt, really looked. "I could believe that," he said slowly. "Kurt, is that really what's happening?"
With Blaine staring at him so closely, Kurt didn't think he could get away with just dismissing the claims, not when he could see some evidence. "Perhaps," he offered. "Maybe you are a little less inclined to help out other people? Only a little," he added quickly. He wasn't going to touch the idea of Blaine being more self-centred. After all, a certain amount of stubbornness and a thirst for the spotlight were only natural in someone of Blaine's ability. Or Rachel's or his own, for that matter.
Blaine looked stricken anyway. He turned back to Mrs Grant. "What can I do about this?" he asked.
"In the first instance just keep this all in mind," Mrs Grant replied, not without some sympathy. "Being aware that your reactions may be skewed is probably the most important step you can take. Perhaps you should discuss any significant decisions with someone you trust, like Mr Hummel." She nodded in Kurt's direction.
"I am always willing to listen," Kurt agreed readily. "If you want my opinion on anything, you only have to ask." Blaine smiled at him, and Kurt could have sworn he felt his heart flutter just like the first time they met.
"There are some things we can try," Mrs Grant continued, "But I should caution you now that we may never be able to return you to normal."
They were silent for a while, taking it all in. Then Blaine gave a little laugh. "At least it's not as bad as it could be," he said. "My magic might be making me selfish, but it needs other people to work."
There was hope if Blaine could still laugh at himself like that, Kurt thought. He would still have to be vigilant and as tasteful as possible to keep Blaine from doing something they would regret later. Not just with Blaine either. This could turn into the plot of Wicked if they weren't careful.
Well, he always said he was up for a challenge. And if anyone was going to be defying gravity it would be Kurt Hummel, not Blaine Anderson.