Danny notices the change in Isaac the second they set foot on the plane.
His whole body goes stiff. That usual easy grace he's got when he walks is gone, and every step seems like Isaac's having to make a conscious effort to make it. Danny can't really tell more than that until they get to their seats – at the very least, they're first class, because Danny hates to admit it, but seeing Isaac now, he's not actually sure he could handle coach – but when they get to the front of first class where their seats are and Danny can finally see his face, what he sees isn't good.
Isaac's eyes are wide, and that would be bad enough, but it's the look in them that makes Danny's chest tighten. He's pale as a ghost, too, except for the shadows under his eyes and the ones his jawbones are making, the way he's got them clenched. His nose is flared, and Danny can actually see his shoulders move with each breath he's taking.
All in all, not good.
"Hey," he says as Isaac stops dead in the aisleway. His fingers are clamped on the back of the seat, and even though Danny doesn't see claws, he knows that if Isaac grips much harder, something might tear. In the spirit of not ruining a probably very expensive airline seat and also not having to explain how it was even possible to ruin said seat, Danny quickly slips his hand around Isaac's and pulls it away from the seat. He knows he only could because Isaac let him, but he's actually taking that as a good sign.
Although, the whole 'wolfing out' scenario is suddenly a whole lot less funny than it was at Danny's house earlier.
"Isaac, it's okay," he says softly enough that his parents in the row behind them won't hear, knowing that Isaac will hear him just fine. Just in case he doesn't, though, in case all the other sounds are maybe too much or something, Danny gives his hand a little squeeze, and he's relieved when Isaac actually manages to look at him. He favors him with a smile that he hopes is reassuring, despite the nervous churning he can feel in his own stomach. Maybe Isaac on an airplane wasn't such a good idea. An elevator's one thing. It's like, five minutes.
This is five hours. With no exit. And if Isaac does wolf out—
No. Danny throws the thought out before he can even finishes it, because that's not going to happen, and him getting worked up isn't going to help. Of course, neither will sitting down, but he figures that's as good a place to start as any.
"Do you want the window, or the aisle?" he asks.
He can see Isaac's Adam's apple bob before he speaks. "Window." Just the one word, but Danny can hear how tense it sounds, and his voice is kind of hoarse. They've barely been on the plane three minutes, and Isaac's already freaked out. And vows of calmness aside, Danny can't help thinking he never should have dragged Isaac into this.
God, he's an awful boyfriend.
He quashes that thought, too, and instead focuses on sliding into the seat next to Isaac and shoving his bag under the chair. They're in the very, very front row, which is cool because there's only the two seats, whereas all the others have three, and there's way more leg room. He's pretty sure his mom might've done that on purpose, because she's the one that books the flight and, well, she knows things.
Unfortunately, the cure to claustrophobia is not among them.
Isaac's in his seat, now. His leg's bouncing freaking allegro, and if the way his nose is flaring is any indication of how fast he's breathing, then Danny's really not sure how he hasn't hyperventilated yet.
He actually jumps when Danny puts a hand on his knee. Not the bouncing one, because he's not going to try to restrain his nervous energy. That doesn't help anything. He doesn't pull his hand back, either, just waits patiently until he looks at him again.
"You sure you're up to this?" Danny asks, still quietly.
For a single, arrhythmia-inducing second, Isaac doesn't respond, but then, he gives a stiff nod. "Yeah," he says, and he's still nodding, and Danny's thinking he might be trying to convince himself, too. "Yeah, I'm sure. I'm okay."
Danny wants to believe that, but that would mean convincing himself that Isaac's only shaking because his leg's bouncing. And Danny's never really been great at lying to himself.
It doesn't help that, not even a handful of seconds after Isaac finishes saying that, some jackass drops his luggage from the overhead right above their seat. Isaac jumps again, and Danny puts his other hand on his shoulder, because, he doesn't know, that one felt like a little less of a jump and a little more of a pre-lunge.
"Maybe closing your eyes would help?" Danny suggests.
But Isaac shakes his head, and it's the kind of headshake like he doesn't really trust his voice. He's got his hands on his knees, fingers digging into fabric of the track pants. Still no claws, which Danny decides to be relieved about.
The relief lasts all of about six minutes. In those six minutes, two people have dropped their luggage, two people have bumped into Danny on their way to their seat, and one baby has decided that now would be an excellent time to show it's mommy and daddy and the rest of the whole west-freaking-coast just how loud it can cry.
Meanwhile, Isaac's sitting there, taut as a bowstring, staring pointedly out the window like he's trying to imagine he's outside, and he's still breathing just as fast as before, and Danny's kind of having his own little freak out, because he trusts Isaac, he really does, but this is also kind of a really craptastic situation they're in, and he feels guilty for it.
Honestly, he didn't think Isaac would have this reaction, or else he wouldn't have invited him. Isaac meeting his grandmother isn't worth seeing Isaac suffer like this, and he knows if it wouldn't be, like, a massive bitch slap to Isaac's pride, he would probably be throwing outs at Isaac like confetti at a Pride parade. But Isaac's already said he's good, and Danny…Danny has to trust him. He does trust him.
That doesn't keep his heart from stopping when some plus-size asshole practically body checks him. Which in and of itself would only be annoying and not really cardiac-arrest-worthy.
Only, Isaac's suddenly on his feet, and he practically shoves the guy out of the way getting out to the aisle, and Danny's not really sure if he's about to make a break for it or what, so he stands up, too.
But then Isaac turns on him, and his eyes flash gold for just a second, and there's the heart attack, and even when they go right back to their normal blue, Danny's stomach's somewhere down in his toes.
And then, "Switch seats with me."
It's not a request, and it's not a suggestion. Isaac's voice is low and strained and everything that suggests he is about one second from chasing that guy down and really ruining his day. So, Danny does the only rational thing.
He sits his ass down in the window seat.
That, mercifully, seems to appease Isaac, at least enough to get him to sit down, and okay, yeah, once he's done having his mild cardiac event, he'll probably think it's kind of amazing that, of all the things Isaac's got to freak out about right now, Danny getting bumped into is the one that he can't stand. But for the time being, he'd kind of like to bring Isaac back off the ledge a little bit. Especially since he's pretty sure his parents are looking at them.
"Okay, come here." And that also is not a request, because Danny knows what he's freaking doing, goddammit. Isaac is his boyfriend, and as such, Danny's well-versed in his particular breed of werewolf-taming.
When Isaac doesn't move immediately, Danny very pointedly closes his fingers in the front of Isaac's shirt and tugs him forward. It's not hard – not enough to actually even make Isaac move any; just enough to make his point – but Isaac relents anyway, and with a little bit of twisting around in his seat, Danny pulls him into a tight hug.
Isaac's really tense at first. Like, stone wall tense. But Danny cups his hand on the back of his neck, brushing his fingers through the shorter hair at the base of his neck, and after a few seconds, he starts to relax. And yes, Danny knows his parents are watching, as are about half the other passengers in first class. He just shoots them – the gawkers, not his parents – a look that says 'look at all the fucks I do not give' and goes back to ignoring them, because they really couldn't be less important right now.
"Deep breaths," Danny whispers into Isaac's curly hair. He can feel him panting against his neck where his face his buried, and he's letting out these quiet, heartbreaking whines from low in his throat. But Danny thinks that if he can get his breathing down to a slightly less distressing rate, then maybe he can get his heartrate down, and maybe he'll settle down a little.
"Is he okay?" Leila mouths over the seat when Danny catches her eye.
"He's claustrophobic," Danny mouths back. It's not like it's not just a little bit obvious, and it's better than 'he's a werewolf, and he may or may not be turning,' which is definitely a conversation Danny's really not ready to have. That one's not his secret to tell, anyway.
Leila frowns sympathetically, but she doesn't look like it's news, so yeah, Danny was right: she definitely knows something. She doesn't say anything, though, and Danny's grateful for it, because he thinks Isaac's starting to calm down, and he doesn't want him getting embarrassed or anything. It's not really anything to be embarrassed about, but Danny knows that won't stop him.
Thankfully, by the time the flight attendant gets up to the front and starts her usual safety spiel, Isaac's calmed down enough to sit back. And when Danny hears his dad quietly speaking along with the attendant – because he really does travel way too much – Danny joins in – because even if he doesn't travel as much as his dad, he's only heard this spiel about three dozen times – and he catches Isaac looking at him and flashes him a smile.
He gets so happy when Isaac smiles back, even just a little, that he totally forgets what comes next, and ends up just shrugging and laughing sheepishly. Which actually has the unexpected benefit of getting a sort of huff-laugh out of Isaac.
Okay, Danny thinks. Okay. They can do this. This is totally going to going to work.
Feeling his smile widen a little bit, he finishes strong with the safety spiel and reaches a hand over the back of his chair to fist-bump his dad, while his mom rolls her eyes at the both of them.
"Just how many times have you done this?" Isaac says suddenly. His voice is quiet, and Danny can tell he's still pretty stressed out, but hey, that was a full, coherent sentence. That's progress.
Hello, silver lining.
"Way too many," Danny admits, and then, when he sees Isaac's eyes flit out to the window, he turns and sees they've started moving. And claustrophobia aside, Isaac seems to think that's pretty freaking amazing, so Danny makes a point of pushing up the armrest between their chairs so Isaac can lean over.
He takes the cue – he's smart like that – and leans over Danny's legs to stare out the window, and between the throwback of the fascination from before and the way his tongue darts out to wet his lightly-parted lips, Danny gets kind of a funny thought.
"So," he says, his voice lowered and a teasing sort of smile on his face when Isaac turns his head to look at him, "if we could roll this window down, how fast would you be putting your head out of it?"
Isaac answers with a deadpan look that clearly reads, 'did you really just say that?' before he lets out a huff, shakes his head, and goes back to staring out the window. But he's definitely smiling, now, and this time, when his eyes widen, it's not fear. They plane's made it to the right strip, and they're picking up speed, and then there's the familiar lurch of them lifting into the air.
And okay, yeah, Isaac doesn't care for that too much. He sits back a little, his face falling and shoulders hunching, and Danny's reminded a little bit of a puppy that gets startled mid-investigation of some new and wonderful thing.
He puts a hand on his back, and Isaac turns to look at him. "Isaac Newton can totally suck it, right?" Danny says, and boom, there's the smile again.
Eventually, they get to altitude, and Isaac has to stop staring out the window, because the clouds are so bright they make his eyes water. Danny almost feels a little guilty when he has to slide the window cover down, if only because he feels like he's taking away some sort of safety blanket.
It's true, too, that Isaac tenses up a little bit after that, but then Danny reaches under his seat – Isaac's, because that's where his stuff still is, and his head kind of ends up pretty much in Isaac's lap, and that'll give the gawkers something to look at – and when he comes back up, he's got his iPod, a head pillow, and a blanket. They actually hand them out, but Danny doesn't like the fabric, so he brings his own.
Angling himself in the corner formed by the wall of the cabin and his chair, he gets comfortable before patting his shoulder.
Isaac doesn't need telling twice. He turns around in his seat a little bit, until he can lean back against Danny, his head resting perfectly in the cradle of Danny's shoulder and one of the earbuds in his ear. And yes, Isaac does root around like a puppy. Between nosing at Danny's neck and getting the blanket they're sharing spread out just right, they get through two songs on Danny's iPod.
"Comfy?" Danny teases when Isaac finally settles down, and Isaac hums in response. "Music okay?" He's got it on shuffle, and he's figured out a good volume where it's loud enough for Danny and not too loud for Isaac, and Isaac hums again, nodding. "Want me to wake you up for lunch?" Another hum. It's a good thing, Danny thinks, that he's fluent in Isaac-speak, because otherwise, this could be a very ambiguous conversation. "Want me to stop talking and let you sleep?" He's expecting another hum, maybe a smile, but Isaac actually peels an eye open.
"I like your voice," he says simply, and then he closes his eyes again, shifts a little, and settles back down.
Danny chuckles. "Well, okay then." He's also apparently a pretty big fan of Danny's heartbeat, or so he's been told. It must do the trick, because in a little while, Isaac's breath evens out, and all the stress lines still lingering on his face relax.
Danny's awake for maybe one more song, during which he's vaguely aware of the flash of a camera somewhere over his head, but then he's out.
