Prompt: AU
Note: Wrote this on a plane, go figure.
xxxxxxx
"11D, 11D" the copper-haired girl mutters to herself as she hauls her carry-on bags down the narrow aisle of the plane.
Upon some more stumbling and struggling with the heavy bags, she eventually finds the row of blue seats labeled as number eleven. Nobody else is sitting in the row yet, so she plops her green backpack down on the seats and begins wrestling with the overhead container.
Unfortunately, her little rolling suitcase is a bit heavier than she remembers and shortly after picking it up, it comes crashing back down.
Luckily, however, a pair of strong arms reaches from behind her and grab the runaway suitcase. Her face burns red in humiliation and she turns to face her rescuer.
He is very handsome with short dark hair and stern eyes. He is dressed a bit like a businessman with black slacks and a white button up shirt, and Petra has to snap herself out of her daze to keep from staring.
"Um- thanks," she manages to choke out through her embarrassment before sliding across the row to the seat by the window.
"My seat's next to yours," the man says, and by his tone, Petra can tell that he is already annoyed with her.
After he places his own briefcase up next to hers and settles into his spot, (without even getting a speck of dust on himself,) he pulls out a newspaper and begins reading. While to anybody else, the atmosphere would seem perfectly fine among strangers, Petra finds herself bursting at the seams. It is her first time flying and a mixture of nerves and excitement gnaw away at her stomach.
"So… uh…" she begins, trying to sound way more composed than she actually is. "Where ya headed?"
Dark eyes glance up at her for a moment, studying her. "Business trip."
"Oh, wow!" she exclaims, even though it is not that impressive of an answer. "You must fly all of the time. I'm going to visit my father, I haven't seen him in a terribly long time and-" she cuts herself off when she notices the look the man is sending her. "Sorry, I babble when I'm nervous," she offers as explanation.
With an indignant sigh, her new seat buddy folds up the paper and shoves in the pocket in front of him. Petra figures that this signals the end of their one-sided conversation, but is contradicted when he turns to her.
"Is this your first time flying?" he asks.
She smiles broadly, glad that she had not upset the man that she is stuck next to. After all, they literally have to rub elbows for the next nine hours.
"Yes!" she nearly shouts. "My name's Petra."
"Levi," he replies curtly. "Don't eat the breakfast sandwich," he warns before pulling out his paper again and resuming reading it.
Having brought plenty of sketchpads along, Petra figures she will be mostly occupied throughout the daunting journey, and worse comes to worse, she can always re-watch the latest episode of Game of Thrones on the nifty televisions embedded in the headrest. However, two hours in and several crumbled up papers later, Petra realizes that she left all of her inspiration back on the ground.
She sighs and flips through the movie options, but nothing sounds particularly appealing, not even watching the Mountain get stabbed through his gut again.
So, she decides to take a nap. Now, Petra is a fairly petite woman, but even the tiny airplane seats are too small for her to cuddle up in. She tries various positions: legs up, legs down, one leg up, at one point she even cuddled on the floor – only to get scolded by the flight attendant and scoffed at by Levi.
After many twists, turns, and even some contorting, sleep seems like a long way off.
"What's a five letter word for a type of wheat?"
She glances up at Levi, confusion visibly etched on her face.
"I'm sorry?"
"A five letter word for a type of wheat, do you know any?" the man says as he peers up from his touch tablet.
"Durum?" Petra suggests.
"Perfect," he replies entering in the word. "What about a type of flower used in perfume, seven letters?"
"Jasmine?"
"Correct again. Want to help me with some more?"
After several rounds of Seven Little Words, Petra finds herself drifting off.
Her eyes slip shut, her head nods off, but the cramped seat just is not very comfortable. She shifts around, trying to find a good position to sleep in until she finds one that might just work. Sure, her neck will most likely cramp up, and her knees might be pulled up to her chest, but it will do.
xxxxxxx
A tremendous shake wakes Petra up with a start. Her eyes fling open and she finds herself leaning on somebody's shoulder. It takes her a moment to get her bearings, and she finally remembers that she's on an airplane, so the person she had been using at a pillow must be Levi.
Shit, she thinks to herself. Now he'll really hate me.
She leaps away from her seatmate as if she's been burned. But in reality the "leap" turns out to be more of an awkward shuffle of about two centimeters since that is all their close quarters allow.
She looks up to find stormy eyes just looking at her passively.
"Uh…" she pauses for a moment, "I have to use the restroom.
Without saying anything, Levi unbuckles and rises from his seat, allowing the girl to pass. She pivots around him, ignoring the way their chests brush together, before walking down the aisle to the lavatory.
After figuring out how the door works, she examines the small water closet, unimpressed. The plane begins rumbling once again, so Petra sighs before washing her face and exiting the room.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please return to your seats with your seatbelts fastened, we are experiencing heavy turbulence," the voice on the intercom says.
A series of large quakes cause Petra to nearly fall over in the aisle, but luckily, she returns to her row intact. Right when she is about to ask Levi to let her back in – he is leaning back on the seat with his eyes shut – the plane convulses again, and she tumbles onto his lap.
He lets out an "oof" and looks up to find hazel eyes staring up at him in mortification. A slight blush appears on his face as he takes in her position – sprawled on top of his crouch.
"Oh my god," she exclaims in panic. "I am so, so sorry. The plane shook and I –"
"Don't worry about it," Levi coughs out, turning away to hide his own embarrassment as she scoots across his lap – god damn her tight yoga pants – and tries to regain her composure in her own seat.
"Um…" Petra begins, trying to overcome the awkwardness that is weighing on her shoulders. "Thanks for letting me sleep on you."
He gives her a funny look before muttering, "Don't mention it."
More turbulence rocks the plane and Petra's mind begins running through worst-case scenarios. What if we crash and die? Fuck! Daddy, I'm sorry!
"Are you okay?"
She turns to see Levi staring at her.
"Y-yeah, just worrying about the p-plane crashing," she bites out as she clutches to the armrest tight enough to turn her hands pale white.
"It's just some turbulence," he says in a tone that almost seems consoling, "It happens all the time."
"Really?" she asks, her voice strained, "all the time?"
"Yeah, don't worry about it," he states.
Just then, a particularly sharp jerk of the plane causes Petra to panic and grab Levi's hand, holding it securely in hers. She squeezes it tight enough that Levi can feel his bones rub together.
He clears his throat before shifting his hand around so that he is holding onto hers rather than being in a death grip. It is a bit more comfortable this way, and the frightened girl does not seem to notice yet. Her body shakes and her eyes widen as she watches lightening flash outside.
"It's okay," Levi soothes in a kind of awkward manner, he is not very good at this type of thing. "Just turn on some music and shut your eyes."
Finally glancing down at their hands, Petra's face turns beet red, but her fear seems to trump her embarrassment for the moment and she just sends Levi a gracious nod.
At some point, she must have fallen asleep again because she opens her eyes to a flight attendant asking her to put her seat back in the upright position.
"We're landing," Levi informs her, his newspaper back in his hands. "You, eh, slept through breakfast."
After a yawn, she looks out the window to find the runway coming closer and closer. With a large bump, the plane is back on land and Petra lets out a huge exhale of relief.
"If you're not in a rush," Levi begins as the plane taxis to the gate, catching her off guard. "I know a good breakfast place in here."
She just stares at him with an open mouth, here she thought he would hate her and he is actually asking her out.
"I'd love to," she responds with a smile as the plane dings and everybody rises from their seats.