Written for a self-set Kurt Hummel challenge to include 1 random dictionary word per day for 30 days. Dictionary word: sentient

Pairing/Chars: Kurtbastian (friendship)
Words: 1370
Genre: general
Rating: PG
Summary: Set directly after s4; Kurt finds an unlikely ear for his woes.

The Hallway of McKinley

"Ughn, come on….come on, you stupid machine, that was my last quarter. Please, work!" Kurt groaned in frustration, glaring at the vending machine in the hall of McKinley. It wouldn't budge, and he rested his forehead against the glass in resignation.

"You do realize, I hope, that vending machines are not sentient beings?" a voice drawled from behind him, and Kurt closed his eyes tightly. It had been months, but he recognised that taunting lilt from anything. Smythe.

"They react only to brute force," Sebastian continued, walked up to the machine, and kicked the side hard. The jolt made Kurt's forehead bump against the glass – but it also dislodged the coke can he had been praying for, and it fell into the drop shoot. Kurt sighed and stepped back, rubbing his head.

"Thanks," he mumbled, not sure if he was being sarcastic about the bump (if it was going to swell he would kick Sebastian's ass) or if he was actually grateful for getting his diet coke. He took it from the machine and held the side to his face, cooling the skin.

Sebastian stood watching him, his hands casually in the pockets of his Dalton trousers. Kurt looked different, more grown-up, and he was coming up empty for insults about his clothes. Weird.

"I thought Dalton was excluded from the competition," Kurt remarked, needing to fill the silence.

Sebastian shrugged. "We are. Still wanted to see the show, though."

Kurt scowled. "You mean you wanted to see Blaine," he corrected. He still wasn't convinced Sebastian wasn't the one Blaine had cheated on him with. Sebastian frowned.

"Not really. I haven't talked to him in months."

Kurt nodded, not sure what to say about that (or if he should believe him). He lowered the can and carefully tried to open it. Just as he thought he had avoided the thing exploding in a fountain of fizz, the coke shot out of the small opening and started bubbling over his hands and the cuffs of his shirt. Kurt cursed loudly and thrust the can away from himself, holding it out at arm's length. As he saw the dark stains seeping into his shirt, something broke inside of him. Though he really wanted to keep it together in front of Sebastian, he couldn't. He racked out a sob. And then another. After that, it was hard to stop. He turned away from his old rival and slid down against the wall until he was sitting on the floor, the dripping, half-empty coke can still in one hand. He clasped his free hand over his face, mostly to hide himself from view, and started crying. It was too much. Being in Lima, the stress about his dad, the weird way Blaine had been acting around him, the excitement of Regionals. The surprise wedding…

Sebastian stood next to the vending machine, feeling useless and lost for words. One moment, they had been warming up for what seemed like an enjoyable round of good old mutual insult-flinging, and the next, Kurt was crying? Sebastian had never seen him like this. He was generally awkward around people showing emotions, and for a while he just stood there without doing anything. Then, he slowly walked up to Kurt and sank down next to him until they sat side by side with their backs to the wall.

"What happened?" he asked.

Kurt lowered his hand and looked at him. Sebastian could have chosen from a whole world of jokes to mock him, but he hadn't. It surprised Kurt so much that he answered truthfully.

"Blaine proposed to me."

Sebastian blinked. That was maybe even more unexpected than seeing Kurt cry. "I thought you guys broke up?" he said slowly.

Kurt scoffed. "Yeah," he agreed. "I thought so, too."

Sebastian chewed his lip. "I don't get it."

Kurt slowly turned to face Sebastian. "Me neither," he whispered, hating how vulnerable he sounded. He quickly looked away again. "I mean, I kept telling him we were just friends but he doesn't seem to understand." He took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. "I always dreamed about him proposing to me, but I never imagined he'd use it as some kind of ploy to make up for cheating on me."

"He cheated on you? After giving me all those lectures last year about how he could never be with anyone else and you were his soul mate and all that crap?" Sebastian let out incredulously, and regretted it immediately as he saw Kurt wince. "I'm sorry," he quickly offered, not thinking about it. He had never apologised for what he had said to Kurt before, but this was different. He hadn't been aiming to hurt this time- he was just surprised.

"I thought it was you," Kurt admitted. "When he told me, I just assumed-"

"It wasn't. I swear," Sebastian cut him off. "I backed off after the slushy thing, it just…felt too weird. And a guy can only hear 'no' so many times, right? And it's not like there aren't enough volunteers aching to get up on this-"

"Okay, okay, I get the picture!" Kurt interrupted him quickly, his disgust for the blatant references to Sebastian's sex life making him forget the proposal for a moment. "But that doesn't make it better. What we had became less special because of what he did, and a proposal isn't going to make that go away."

"Not to mention that it's creepy as fuck to propose to your ex," Sebastian added helpfully. "You should have told him you're seeing someone else." He smiled with satisfaction at his own solution. When in doubt – lie. It always worked for him.

"I did. I am," Kurt replied.

"You are?" Sebastian repeated. Kurt scowled at the surprise in his voice.

"Thanks for that. Yes, I am. And he's great actually. He's a senior at NYADA and we've been seeing each other for a while now."

Sebastian smirked. "He's an old guy?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "No, he's mature. He's 22."

Sebastian whistled through his teeth. "Well, then you have a few years left before his stamina is out of the window," he remarked.

"Oh, he manages to meet your twenty minutes, Sebastian," Kurt bit back prissily, but a smile was beginning to form on his lips. He didn't want to admit it, but talking to Sebastian – and thinking about Adam – was actually starting to make him feel better.

"I'm flattered you remember that," Sebastian replied.

"It was definitely some first impression." Kurt chuckled and looked down the hallway. His expression fell a little as he remembered they weren't here to catch up on memories. "Maybe I should get back to the rest," he said quietly. "I kind of ran out earlier."

Sebastian nodded and got up, dusting off his pants. "Do you need, uh…" He ran a hand through his hair and grimaced. "Do you want me to come with you? For distraction, I mean. I'm sure Berry and that Aretha chick would love to have a go at shouting at me, and Blaine might want someone to talk to afterwards…or you know….kill twenty minutes." He winked at Kurt.

"Rachel's not here," Kurt replied, getting up too. "But thanks." He straightened his back and looked at Sebastian. "I think I should talk to Blaine without any distractions, though. I owe him that."

Sebastian shrugged. As far as he was concerned, Kurt didn't owe Blaine anything. "So…" he trailed off, as if reaching a long overdue conclusion of some kind of long point. "Good luck with your old guy, then."

Kurt smiled. "Adam. His name is Adam."

Sebastian smirked. "Okay. If he's really as good as you say he is, maybe I'll come check him out next year. I applied to NYU."

Kurt shook his head a little. The idea of Adam falling for someone like Sebastian seemed ludicrous. It was a relief to realize he no longer felt threatened at all. "You're welcome to try," he replied. "I can always use a laugh."

Sebastian grinned. "See you, Kurt."

It wasn't until Kurt reached the choir room that he realized Sebastian hadn't once called him anything but his actual name.