Surprise was definitely something that crossed his mind at the question but it was quickly overtaken by the wondering if she would. "I like to think she would at least give me a chance." It was an apocalypse after all, or very nearly one since they were all still here to talk about it. Once she heard his voice and knew he wasn't playing around maybe she'd want to. How many people would be offering to sing with her in this kind of a world anyway?
"Sounds great!" he really wanted to see them all, he'd always adored gloves but hardly ever found acceptable ways to work them into his outfits. Even today his outfit was stylish and slightly impractical for surviving zombies. He could get away with more elaborate layers and accessorizing now that he was in the safety of the prison.
He nodded along with her obvious southern admission but when she said New York his attention was visibly grabbed and even more so when she admitted to being a mutant. He knew that hesitation. He could imagine exactly what was going through her mind...but she wasn't some monster. She wasn't scary to look at and she seemed like a sweet girl who wouldn't hurt a fly. All of the sudden he couldn't help but draw parallels between them and a softness came over him that melted the edges of his normal very composed and sculpted expression set. Suddenly he was more truly himself. "I was supposed to go to New York for college. NYADA actually. I always thought it would be a place where people would stop looking at me like i'm trying to burn down their houses and poison their kid's minds!" he threw up his hands at the ridiculousness of the idea and then sighed. "I mean i'm no mutant, don't get me wrong, but being a gay kid in Ohio? They sure as hell treat you like one."
It was all he could do to tell her that he wasn't going to look down on her one bit. He wasn't going to run away in fear or deny her humanity. How could he? After being in Glee club for so long he learned that people like them needed to stick together. The outcasts, the bullied, the feared. They needed to grow closer together to fight the idiocy and bigotry in the world. He stood up and stepped up to her "I went to New York once for a competition and it was like heaven. Me and my best friend, Rachel, we even sang on the empty Broadway stage." he smiled and sighed wistfully at the memory, those were the good days. The days when he didn't think Rachel was going to get into NYADA and he wasn't. He never for a second wished ill will on her but he envied her so much. She deserved it...it just made him question why he didn't. And he still questioned that sometimes.