They're on the plane out of Amsterdam, heading towards Nairobi. Stiles is next to Scott, while Allison sits a few rows behind with Lydia.
Scott had, of course, tried to swap seats to he could sit with Allison, but hadn't been allowed.
Still, Stiles is glad he gets to sit with him, because as much as he adores Lydia, sitting next to her for over eight hours is not something he's keen to repeat, not after their flight from the States.
They're tired, but excited about spending five and a half weeks in Kenya and Tanzania – including Zanzibar.
The trip wasn't planned, but winning it had been a pleasant surprise and a chance to experience something different – something most American students never got to do, either due to money or opting to go to Europe instead.
This is different, but welcome. It's a chance to get away from wet and dreary Beacon Hills in the winter, and to experience things.
It's noon in Europe – they're expected to land before nine that night – and they should be tired due to the time difference because it's the middle of the night in Beacon Hills.
But Scott and Stiles can't sleep; they're both hyper, talking excitedly about the trip – and apparently they're talking loudly too, because the guy behind them taps Stiles on the shoulder and glares at them.
The man looks tired, and the woman beside him – sister? girlfriend?- is sleeping, her eyes covered from the light seeping in through the windows and the bright lights above.
"Sorry," Stiles mouths at him, and when he turns back he starts exploring the movie screen in front of them, trying to find something to watch to make the time move faster because he's too jittery to sleep.
Stiles puts on the first boring movie he finds – doesn't even bother finding out what it's about, only that it's not in English – and plugs in the headset they were given at the start of the flight.
He falls asleep maybe half an hour into the movie and doesn't wake up until Scott elbows him to let him know there's food.
Stiles goes for the chicken variation of the meal, and it comes with buns, crackers, butter, cheese and a chocolate dessert. Eating makes Stiles realise how hungry he is, and it only takes him a couple of minutes to eat it all up.
Scott had looked through the movie selection while Stiles was sleeping and suggested they watch The Amazing Spider Man together. They'd both seen it before, so they spent most of it talking about the movie and how they liked this Peter better than the last Peter and Stiles went on and on about how he likes Emma Stone better as a redhead ("No, Scott, I don't have a thing for redheads!" "Whatever you say, dude."), much to the annoyance of the grumpy man behind them.
Stiles could swear he felt the glare of him through the seatback, but only lowered his voice instead of stopping altogether.
They both accept free water at any chance they get (for some reason the water comes in small plastic cups with lids – like yoghurt, only bigger – and not in bottles), because the air on the plane leaves their mouths dry and also it's free.
Stiles ends up having to go to the toilet a lot – his bladder capacity's not the best to put it mildly. At least it means he gets to stretch his legs a lot, so it's good for something at least.
The next meal comes and goes (pizza, salad, crackers and fruit), and this time both Scott and Stiles falls asleep.
It's dark outside when they wake up next, and Scott takes time to talk to Allison before they land. He ends up spending so much time that he's hounded back to his seat by a member of the crew because "Sir, you need to sit down because we're going to land."
By nine they've got their bags and have met their driver for the trip. They're eager to get to the guesthouse they'll be staying at for the first five days, but it turns out there are two other people who will also be joining them so they have to wait until they arrive as well.
Five minutes later the other two arrive, and Stiles curses his luck, because of course it had to be the brooding, scruffy, good-looking guy from the seat behind him and his girlfriend or sister or whatever.
Stiles and Mr. Broody looks (glares) at one another, and both wonder how they'll survive over five weeks together.
This, Stiles thinks, will be the toughest weeks of his life.