Flamingo, a Glee fiction

I do not own Glee. Correlates with Purple Piano Project. Please leave a review!

Blaine entered the commons room and shut the door. The Warblers, although he was a good ten minutes late, were still making small talk. Topic of the day?

Flamingos.

More specifically, why do flamingos stand on one leg.

Wes sat in his usual spot, gavel at the ready. He noticed Blaine's entrance and called him over.

"Perhaps you could settle a little debate we're having." He banged his gavel to gather their attention, cutting off any chance he had to turn him down. The group quit their bickering. "Each of you will state your case and then we will decide who is right."

Trent groaned in frustration. He knew he was right. The boys took their seats, some sitting down on the floor. Wes motioned for Trent to begin. He straightened his tie and stood.

"Well, I think they do it to conserve heat and energy. Minimized surface area, only using half the brain. It makes sense." He sat back down.

Wes, who was keen on using logic liked the idea. He was probably right. He had been his partner for their biome project and Trent had known all about the flora and fauna. Then again, he had done his research. There was nobody to say he hadn't researched flamingos in his free time. Not that there was any particular reason he should. He stopped overanalyzing Trent's possible secret worship of flamingos and decided it was someone else's turn.

Thad stepped out from behind the council desk. "It's pretty obvious they do it for camouflage. Helps them capture their prey."

One of the Warblers raised his hand. "What do flamingos eat?"

Thad uncrossed his arms and shoved his hands in his pockets. He leaned back into his I know it all pose. "Shrimp, mollusk and algae."

"Algae have eyes?" He asked. Thad shrugged, unphased.

"They must not be pretty good if they believe in bright pink trees." David argued. Thad whipped around to halt the high fiving in process.

"Then what do you think? Share with us the magic behind the one legged stance." He leaned in to meet David's face. He accepted the challenge.

He brushed his shirt off and opened up to his audience. "Remember how at Wes's pool party he stayed in the pool too long and his skin got all pruny?" They all laughed at the memories of stolen Spongebob swim trunks and pool party mischief.

"What does this have to do with anything?" Wes gripped his gavel tightly.

"How pruny would a flamingo's foot be if it was in water all day? He probably dries it off." He gave a pointed glare to Thad. Almost as if to say, ha, my stupid idea was slightly less stupid than your pink tree idea. Thad shook his head at him. He wasn't satisfied.

"Because we all want mismatched pruny feet. One all shriveled and one not." Nick commented from his seat across Jeff's lap. If you asked him, he'd say there was limited seating. There was room on Jeff's lap and he was his best friend. Plus it was more comfortable. After all, who doesn't like to sit on a cute boy's lap? He wouldn't admit that out loud, but certain summer events lead the Warblers to believe something more was going on.

"Enlighten us boys." David took a seat. Jeff pushed Nick off to the ground. He landed with a thud.

"As you can see," Jeff started as he gained balance on one leg, "with half of your legs down you have half the risk of a duck ramming into you." Nick waddled over to demonstrate.

"Because all ducks are brave enough to run toward a mob of flamingos." Randy knelt down to pat Nick on the head. "Such a brave duck."

Nick got back on his feet. "Jeff's about as scary as a puppy."

Jeff lowered his leg to the ground. He came closer to Nick, just missing stepping on his toes. He looked him dead in the eyes. "How about now?"

Blaine faked a cough and they separated. "Why are we arguing about flamingos?" Here he was coming from the office to tell the guys he was leaving and he had spent the past ten minutes studying legs.

And they weren't Kurt's.

"We were waiting for you and somebody," he took a moment to eyeball David, "mentioned it. Where were you anyway?"

"I finished my transfer papers. I'm officially going to be at McKinley tomorrow." Blaine studied his feet. It was hard to leave his friends. It was harder to stay apart from Kurt.

"First Warbler meeting of the year and you're quitting. You were going to replace us in council this year. We were going to coronate you today before heading back to college." Thad turned to Blaine.

"He finally convinced you?" David made his eyes rise back up to meet his. To think he had brought party hats.

"I need to face my past and stand up for myself. And yes, I do want to be with Kurt." A few of the boys cat called and wolf whistled.

"You better keep in touch." Thad said. "That's an order, straight from the council."

"I thought your council powers expired when you graduated." Nick called from his seat back on Jeff's lap.

"It's not over until the fat lady sings." Thad defended.

"It's an all boys school." The Warblers murmured in agreement with Randy.

"Let's go see if the lunch lady is still here!" Jeff jolted. Nick held onto the arm of the couch this time and kept his balance.

"I was going to make you a council member." Thad gasped in shock. Wes banged his gavel yet again to stop the commotion.

Blaine smiled sadly. Arms enveloped him in a hug. "I look forward to Regionals. You guys are tough to beat." He headed to the door.

"We're going to miss you Blaine Warbler." Wes called out.

Blaine turned around. "Don't you mean Anderson?"

Wes stretched an arm out to reach him. "Once a Warbler, always a Warbler. Even if you join a show choir in college or at our rival school."

Blaine sniffled. "The rival show choir that you invited over for pizza and swimming? Yes, they really seem like a dangerous group." He let a low laugh escape his lips.

He took his leave, a chorus of goodbyes followed him. The door shut behind him. The room was taken over by a short silence.

As he made his way outside he noticed an array of noses pressed against the window. His phone buzzed in his pocket. He stopped to check it.

Wish you were here to see the purple pianos. –Kurt

David took the opportunity to take a quick poll. "All those in favor of kidnapping Blaine for party hats and impromptu singing before this year's auditions start?" The lot of hands went up.

As soon as his phone was tucked into his pocket it buzzed again. He took it out.

Can you wait to transfer until after cake and impromptu jamming?

He looked up to the window. Noses were replaced by hopeful eyes watching him read his message. He turned on his heel and headed back in.

"Somebody mentioned cake?" David broke out the box of party hats and Wes went to retrieve the cake.

Things can change. It's a fact of life. We try not to dwell on the past for too long. It's nice to see the memories, how far we've come. We look to the future to see where we're going. We can guess and pray, but there is never a guarantee. He has all of their phone numbers. He plans to keep in contact. And he will, because he promised he will.

But it's unhealthy to focus too hard on the future. There's a time called here and now. His musical brethren singing carelessly arranged tunes, cake coming through the doorway. It's in the here and now that we experience this thing called life.

It's a beautiful gift, and Blaine wouldn't trade it for the world.

After all, what more could a boy want?