{A/N: I'm back! Miss me? I know you did - and you totally missed my sprawling mess of an AU with The Baffled King and The Idiot Hero and Wicked Twisted Road, or as I call it, the Hall universe (hahaha get it, Hallelujah). Anyway, as happy as I am to be done with the plot, I spent three years on it, and so I had more ideas than fit into the main plot. This fic will be the dumping ground for anything extra I may have to write, from crazy sex scenes to more chatfic to closing of relationship threads left open by the main plot. I probably won't update often, just when I get in the nostalgic mood, but I still want people to be able to know more if they want to. That said, here is my opening chapter and my entry into the USxUK Anthology Project, a near future airport meeting!
If you haven't already backed out of the window in disgust that I would drag this on even further and ruin my reputation so desperately, I salute you.}
Composing Hallelujah
November 4, 2011
A tall blond teenager, almost a man but mostly a college student - University of Arizona, judging by the t-shirt - bounces on the balls of his feet at the base of the escalators in the Tucson International Airport. He smiles at nothing and paces slightly in place, checking his phone clock between glances up the escalator.
Minutes pass, and he starts to bite his lip and tap his wooden heels against the tile floor. The slow flow of the Arizona airport moves around him, lives independent from his small struggle of patience.
The escalator crowd grows thicker with the occupants of an arriving flight. He perks up, watching the appearing heads with bright eyes.
There. Another blond, a different shade, hefts his backpack on his shoulder, jerks his carryon suitcase onto the escalator step behind him. His hair has the sharpness of a new haircut and his eyes look tired, but when his searching of the scattered ground level finds a beaming blond, they light up. He waves tersely, and the other gestures wildly in return.
He bites his lip and picks his suitcase up by the cloth handle, carefully dodging around the others on his escalator with muttered apologies as he walks down it. His greeter takes a few unconscious steps forward.
When he reaches the base of the escalator and jumps to solid, stable ground, he sets the wheels of the suitcase back on the floor and walks as quickly as he can without running towards the other, who laughs and meets him in the middle, grabbing him around his waist and picking him off the ground in a bear hug. The suitcase teeters, then falls on its side as its owner reaches up to return the embrace, burying his face in his neck.
"God, I missed you, Art." Art - the arriving blond - hums.
"Of course. Now let me down, Al." Al giggles and sets him back on his feet, only to have Art grab his collar with a mischievous twist of his smile and kiss him hard, Arizona mindsets be damned. Al lets out a mfph! of surprise, then sighs and slides his arms back around Art's waist, returning it until Art pulls away, dreamy grins left on both of their faces.
"Y'know, you could have waited until we got home. Or at least to the car." Al relaxes his hold on Art, who lets his hands fall away, running down the chest before him in electric passing.
"Not on your life."
The loud electronic beep of the baggage carousel finally pulls them apart, and Al shoves his hands deep into his jean pockets while Art wrestles the fallen suitcase upright. They don't fully separate as they move towards the conveyor belt, bumping arms with each step.
"So, how was your flight?" Al asks, giving him some space when they find a spot to luggage-watch.
"Boring as hell. Glad to be here." He yawns. "I want a shower."
Al laughs, low. "Well, as soon as we get you settled in you can have as long of one as you want. Besides, you're paying the water bill." Arthur elbows him in the side, but not hard enough to hurt.
"We'll see if you remember that at the end of the month." Arthur smirks up at him when Al sneers, then frowns at the few inches height difference between their eyes. "Are you taller than before?"
"It's a possibility." Al can't stop grinning. "It has been two years, after all."
Arthur glances down at his cowboy boots with a chunk of wood on each heel. "Or maybe it's the shoes."
"Probably the shoes, yeah." They stand in silence for a moment before Al slings his arm around Art's shoulders. "Gosh, I missed you!" He tugs Art into a sideways hug, ruffling his hair before Art pushes him away, yelling at him to get off even as he grins helplessly. He sees Suitcase Number One and pushes forward to snatch it away; Al steps forward to help. Suitcase Number Two follows soon after, equal in its enormous size, and as the crowds part to let them pass, Al jokes, "What'd you do, Art, ship a body over or something?"
Art kicks at him since both of his arms are occupied with handles. "Just be glad I didn't have any furniture to bring! That'd've been a fortune."
"This is very true. Well, c'mon, if we hurry I won't have to pay for parking!" Al takes one of the giant suitcases and heads towards the automatic doors, leaving Art with two suitcases and a backpack to carry. He scowls at his back as he arranges the two rolling pieces in the best way behind him and follows slower.
"Oi, you, slow down! Some of us have more to carry!" One of the suitcases flips on its side from a faulty wheel, and he curses as he fights it back into its proper position. Al chuckles and comes back, taking the offensive one from him with slightly excessive hand-brushing. Art scowls at him and sticks out his tongue. "You better be worth all of that hell getting that immigration visa, boy."
Al grins with a secret and leans in to whisper, "I know how to make it worth it." Art flushes, coughs, blows on by him.
"Well, get me to this apartment you've picked out and you can show me," he calls over his shoulder.
Al flips his hair out of his eyes with a jerk of his head and laughs, carefree. "Yes, sir!"
The doors slide open as they approach, and they race and argue over the first doorstep to the next part of the life together.