Kurt & John | Monday Afternoon

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'The difficulty with this conversation is that it's very different from most of the ones I've had of late. Which, as I explained, have mostly been with trees.' -Douglas Adams-


There was something therapeutic about slamming a basketball against a brick wall that John hadn't even tried aiming for the hoop.

Kurt didn't often venture over to the basketball court - for no specific reason, just that his wanders around the grounds didn't usually take him there. The sound of someone practising was enough to draw him out of curiosity, though, so he appeared in the gap of the wall a few minutes later.

John had been in mid throw when he'd caught sight of the German. The ball was released in his surprise and he watched as it lamely bounced and then rolled across to Kurt.

Kurt picked it up and bounced it back to him, automatically. "I did not mean to interrupt. Hello, John."

He caught the ball and let out a wry smile. "Interrupt?" John gestured at the lack of a hoop before shrugging. "I'm good for company."

"All right, then", Kurt answered, relaxing. "How are you settling back in?"

There was a sigh followed by a slight wrinkle of his nose as he took a seat on one of the benches. "Y'know that saying -- third time's a charm?" John managed a half-grin as he looked up at the other. "Well, it's hard to say just yet," he answered.

"Fair enough", Kurt allowed, wandering over to sit on the other end of the bench, tail curling through the gap at the back. "You are always welcome here, at least." As far as he was concerned, anyway.

John pressed his lips together in a tight smile before glancing over at Kurt and then away again. "So I heard that you're officially a Mr. Sefton now?" His brows furrowed slightly. "You're not related to Amanda, are you?"

"By adoption", Kurt told him. "To put it simply, I was adopted by her parents, we were raised apart after she was two, but now we count each other brother and sister again."

He raised his eyebrows at hearing that. "Small world, huh."

"Especially here, it seems", Kurt agreed wryly. "We do seem to have a pattern of unexpected discovery of long-lost relatives."

"Both good and bad," John added, with a nod. "For what it's worth -- you've got a pretty cool sister." He lit himself a cigarette and offered Kurt a stick.

"Thank you", Kurt said again, pleased to hear him say it, then shook his head. "I do not smoke, but thank you." Drinking was his only real vice.

"You didn't actually hear me say that, aight?" John chuckled, slipping the extra cigarette back into his almost empty pack. "I've got that shittier than thou reputation to uphold."

"You do seem to work very hard at it", Kurt observed calmly, settling back on the bench and turning his face to the sun.

"Hmm." John shielded his eyes as he arched his head back. "I don't know," he ventured. "It's probably that or nothing."

"Why should the alternative be nothing?" came the mild question. "You know, not everyone here dislikes you."

"And that's supposed to matter?"

"Perhaps. It depends on what you meant by either that or nothing." It was a prompt, but a gentle one.

He glanced over at Kurt. "Not everyone wants to fit in."

Kurt smiled wryly. "And some who want to cannot, without the help of an image inducer. I just do not understand why."

"I think you do," John said, with a knowing smirk. "Sometimes it's easier to try?" He flicked the remains of his cigarette away. "Sometimes it's easier not to?"

"In different ways... I suppose you are right", Kurt acknowledged. "But there is not trying and then there is trying for the opposite."

John turned to look at him. "You always try so hard to please?"

Kurt blinked at him, then after a moment said slowly, "Not consciously. But perhaps... often, if not always."

He flicked his lighter open and close. "...can't be bothered."

Kurt laughed faintly. "And I say again, there is a difference between not trying to be liked and trying not to be liked."

John couldn't help but let out a smile. "They both sound equally good to me," he said.

"But the second, I think", Kurt said carefully, "is more likely to be... lonely than the first."

"...I happen to like the solitude," John replied, nonchalantly.

"Of course you do", was the answer after a moment of Kurt looking over at him, half-amused, half... sad?

John bristled slightly at the look but ignored it for the most part.

Kurt seemed to have nothing to say to that, just turning his face back to the sun and letting the silence continue.