Chapter Text
Waking up before eight am isn’t something that Kurt or Noah do very frequently, not since auditions started in earnest almost nine months earlier. Waking up before eight am on a Tuesday is even less common, since even the days that they get Eliza start around nine am. On this Tuesday, though, Noah has the alarm set for seven-thirty, and Kurt wakes up just before seven, lying awake and unable to get back to sleep. He hears Hannah in the shower and then the door closes behind her as she leaves, about five minutes before the alarm does go off.
“How long have you been awake?” Noah asks through his yawn.
“Half an hour.”
“I woke up at two-thirty,” Noah admits. “Took a Xanax. Maybe I should take another half of one before eight-thirty.”
“I might steal one,” Kurt says, and even though Kurt’s only half-joking, they both laugh.
A few people tried to convince them to have a get-together for everyone affiliated with the show, either at their apartment or at a restaurant over breakfast, but Kurt had quickly squashed that idea. The thought of looks of pity or anger, depending on who was nominated and who wasn’t – no, Kurt doesn’t want to do any of this publicly, which is why the only person with Noah and him at eight-thirty is going to be Finn, and that is also why they’re watching the Tony award nominations announcement on the television on NY1 and not in person.
Kurt’s sure it would be lovely to see Zachary Quinto and Audra McDonald read the nominees in person, or to congratulate anyone nominated right away, but this is what feels right, the two of them at home, waiting for Finn. They have champagne, just in case, but also whiskey, in case Irish coffee is necessary for drowning their potential sorrows. If things go well, they’ll call everyone for a celebratory lunch at Schnipper’s, because they should probably give Schnipper’s some kind of award for feeding the entire cast and crew on a regular basis.
“Either way, we’ll know in less than an hour,” Noah says, bringing Kurt a mug of coffee and sitting on the futon.
“There’s that,” Kurt acknowledges, shrugging and taking his coffee. “Thanks.”
Noah nods and takes a sip from his own mug. “I’m glad you put the kibosh on the get-together attempts. If I had to look at half of ’em this early in the morning, someone would get yelled at. Or I would have had to take an entire second Xanax, instead of just a half of one on top of the first. Probably both.”
Kurt laughs. “That’s the real reason theatre is at night. None of us could tolerate each other if we had to deal with each other too early in the morning.” Kurt turns as he hears Finn’s key, followed by the sound of the door opening and closing. “Morning, darling.”
“Did I miss any announcements?” Finn asks.
“Nothing yet,” Noah answers. “The one time theatre people are punctual.”
“We’re punctual,” Kurt protests half-heartedly. “Or does that just make us exceptions proving the rule?”
“Basically.” Noah shrugs. “Come sit down and reassure us,” he says to Finn.
“You’re gonna do fine,” Finn says, sitting down between them on the futon.
“Uh-huh,” Kurt says, taking Finn’s hand between both of his and leaning on Finn. He smiles a little when he sees Noah do the same thing on the other side of Finn. Once the television cuts to the announcements, there’s a woman who introduces Zachary Quinto and Audra McDonald.
“Here to read the nominees for the 76th annual Tony Awards, to be held Sunday, June fifth, 2022, at Radio City Music Hall, are Audra McDonald and Zachary Quinto.”
Audra and Zachary launch right into it. The first two sets of nominations are for plays, and Kurt tunes that out entirely, waiting for Audra to get through the mouthful of 'Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical' before starting to list the nominees.
Kurt doesn’t really register who the first two nominees are, but the third one is one of the things they were hoping to hear. "Aaron Tveit, Milk," Audra reads, and there on the screens behind her, one of them changes to show Aaron's picture.
"That's one," Kurt says, exhaling a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. "We didn't get completely snubbed, at least."
“I told you it would be fine,” Finn says. “You’re gonna get all the nominations, bossofme. I swear.”
“Even for the plays?” Noah sounds like he’s trying to joke, but it doesn’t quite come out right, and Kurt feels his phone start to vibrate with messages. On the screen, Audra stumbles over reading her own name as one of the nominees for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, for How Stella Got Her Groove Back.
“You’d think they would have had Zachary Quinto read that category,” Kurt says.
“Nah, it was cute,” Finn says. “Look how cute she was!”
“Of course it was, it’s Audra McDonald,” Kurt says. “Still!” The nominations for the revivals are next, then Best Play.
“Oh, fuck,” Noah says as they’re reading out the Best Play nominees.
“Is the Best Musicals one up next?” Finn asks. Kurt just nods. “It’ll be fine. They’ll say Milk.”
"And the nominees for Best Musical. There And Back Again,” Zachary Quinto reads, and Kurt feels like there’s a definite pause before he reads the next title. "Fenway." Another pause. "Turn of the Centuries." No, Kurt decides, there’s definitely some completely unnecessary pausing that is occurring. Kurt closes his eyes, waiting for the last two to be read. “How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and Milk.”
“He just said Milk, right?” Noah asks, and Kurt opens his eyes, staring at the screen.
“It’s there,” Kurt manages, staring at the five screens arrayed behind Zachary and Audra.
“See?” Finn says. “Everybody worried but me.”
Kurt half-heartedly punches Finn’s leg. “It’s not over yet. There’s still more. And we’re allowed to worry, I think.”
“Nope,” Finn insists. “You aren’t allowed to worry because I’m telling you that you’re getting nominated for, I don’t know. Everything.”
“The nominees for Best Book of a Musical,” Audra says on the television, and Kurt refrains from replying to Finn in order to hear what Audra says. This time, they don’t have to wait through an entire list, because the next thing she says is “Milk, book by Kurt Hummel and Noah Hummel.”
Noah laughs suddenly. “I just got nominated for an award involving writing. I think I should send a link to every English teacher I ever had.”
“Also your professor that first semester at Mannes,” Kurt agrees.
“Shhhh,” Finn says. “They’re doing Best Score!”
Kurt misses the first two nominees, but he does hear “Milk, music by Noah Hummel, lyrics by Kurt Hummel,” and he stares at the television for a few seconds before blinking.
“That’s four already. Right?”
“Yeah.” Noah nods slowly. “That’s four.”
“Everything,” Finn sing-songs.
Kurt starts to think that Finn might, in fact, be correct, because when they start the nominations for Best Choreography, Zachary Quinto reads out “Mike Chang”, and they sit there on the futon listening as the crew of Milk gets nominated for Scenic Design, Costume Design, Sound Design, and Lighting Design.
“I should get nominated for something,” Finn muses.
“What?” Noah asks.
“Best Supporting Person Who Fucks the Writers,” Finn suggests.
“Well, you’re the only nominee, then, at least from Milk,” Kurt says.
“Yeah, but I bet Fenway’s got one, too,” Finn says. “They look feisty.”
“You’d still win,” Noah says. “Wait, why are you trying to see how feisty they are?”
“I wasn’t trying! I just noticed.”
“Hmm.” Noah frowns a little, then falls silent.
“The nominees for Best Direction of a Musical are Angela McIntyre, Milk,” Audra reads, then continues.
“Well, damn, go Angela,” Noah says. “Only three women have ever won that one.”
“What did you say Syd said, darling?” Kurt asks. “About her needing an award?”
“She said Angela should get an award every day for dealing with such a heavily male cast,” Finn says. “But you know that was a pickup line, right?”
“Well, let’s see.” Noah frowns exaggeratedly. “Angela’s a girl, and Syd was talking to her.” He nods. “Yep, probably a pickup line.”
“Your best friend’s a player, Finn,” Kurt says, giggling.
“Somebody’s gotta get the ladies,” Finn says, shrugging.
Noah nods again. “Better her than us.”
“The nominees for Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical,” Zachary says on the screen, and Kurt shushes Noah and Finn, admittedly unnecessarily. One of the people from Fenway is mentioned first, then Zachary reads “Jamie Robins, Milk. Kurt Hummel, Milk,” before naming off a hobbit actor, somebody Chris.
“No one getting snubbed, blue eyes,” Noah says, grinning.
“I wasn’t expecting this many,” Kurt admits. “Not for the entire musical and then this too.”
“Ev-er-y-thiiiing,” Finn sings.
“The nominees for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical,” Audra says, and Kurt reluctantly makes himself listen. The second name is “Rachel Berry, Milk,” which finishes all of the nominations and Kurt’s lost count of how many the musical overall got.
“Maybe if she wins, she’ll be nice for a while,” Finn offers.
“Or she’ll talk about why she should have been the only one nominated from the entire production,” Noah says with a snort. “Fourteen. Blue eyes, I think it’s champagne and not whiskey.”
Kurt giggles and stands up. “And we’re definitely having lunch.”