Chapter Text
(cover art by sweet-peach-tea on tumblr)
The second act was starting.
Kurt cracked the kinks out of his knuckles before crawling between the stands and settling into his usual place underneath the second and third rows on the left hand side. It was usually less-populated with the circus-goers so he was less likely to be dowsed in popcorn or soda.
He sat quietly through Santana's contortionist routine waiting for the second performance impatiently. He smiled slightly when the lights dimmed after she'd taken her bow and the crowd grew very silent.
There was the sound of a match striking and suddenly a ring of fire appeared around the circus sands. A lone figure stood in the middle, wearing only black pants that tied well above his ankles.
Blaine grabbed hold of two torches and lit them in the fire, before grabbing a third and juggling them with ease, his bare chest gleaming golden orange in the firelight.
Kurt leaned forward, his eyes widening in awe as he watched Blaine manipulate the flickering fire into a spectacular light show.
He drank some sort of liquid from a bottle, his entire body arching back like a bow as his cheeks bulged before he snapped forward and blew all of the liquid out of his mouth and into the torch in his hand, causing a giant river of fire to reach out and lick playfully at the audience.
And all too soon, all the fire went out until there was a single match that Blaine held over his head that provided the barest hint of light. Blaine tilted his head up to look at it curiously before blowing and the tent was bathed with darkness.
Cheers filled the air and Kurt smiled as he crawled through the stands back to the waiting area so he could relax until the final bows.
***
It had been a good night overall and the crowd had loved them. It was Kurt's turn for clean-up so he found himself in the tent after hours sweeping up all the excess popcorn.
He was about to go to bed when he paused. There had been a move earlier that he'd messed up and he should really practice it tonight because there was an afternoon show tomorrow and he probably wouldn't have time in the morning...
With a sigh, he pulled the chord by the back of the tent that released the silks from the ceiling. He'd shucked off his costume before cleaning, but he was able to tie up his pants and strip down to his undershirt. He stretched his hands high above his head and cracked his back before running his fingers across the nearest silk and bunching it in his hand, taking off running until he was able to glide in the air.
He lost himself in the movement, arms straining familiarly as he reached out and grabbed another, sailing smoothly through the sea green and lavender and periwinkle streams, releasing air slowly in and out of his nose. Climbing higher and higher, until he could get a perfect view of all the stands within the tent, he created a slip knot for himself to stand in, looking down on the tent. One of his rolls earlier hadn't been up to par and he should--
There was a loud ripping noise from above him.
Kurt looked up in alarm as he saw that the silk he was on was half-torn from it's holding. But that was impossible unless someone cut it off--
The entire cloth tore.
Kurt let out a sharp gasp, his scream slamming in his chest and refusing to come out of his throat as he was suddenly falling through the air. He reached out blindly, grabbing ahold of fabric and gripping tight, the weight of his body causing his hands drag against it, unable to slow himself and he was coming at the ground way too fast--
He slammed into something that most definitely wasn't the ground and all the breath was knocked out of him.
Blaine. Blaine was standing there, still in his costume from earlier, red and gold makeup yet to be washed off his eyes.
Blaine had caught him.
"Kurt, are you okay?" he asked quietly as he set Kurt on his feet.
Kurt breathed heavily. "I...I think so, I--" He hissed as he looked down at his hands which were red and raw from trying to grab hold on one of the silks.
"You're hurt," Blaine murmured, gently holding his wrists. "We have to get you to Emma."
"Okay," Kurt nodded slowly, still rattled.
Blaine put a gentle hand on his back and led him out of the tent.