Apparently controlling my laughter was becoming a frequent problem for me, because at this obvious show of bravado I let out a snicker that sounded like thunder in the quiet plane.
"Sure, I like peanuts…."
The man's eyebrows rose at my obvious British accent, then he smirked, reaching into a compartment near the bottom of the cart. While his back was turned, Sarah shot me a look. Eyebrows upturned, unashamedly mischievous smile on her face, and laughter in her eyes. I returned this with one of my casual 'stuff it pronto!' faces. Sarah sniggered a bit loud; thankfully the man didn't notice do to hitting his head rather hard on the cart as he stood back up, peanuts in hand.
I bit my lip to keep from laughing yet again; I could feel the corners of my mouth turning up into what I was sure expressed a devilish grin. The man licked his lips and nodded, painfully aware of his own clumsiness as the tips of his big ears flushed pink. Another moment passed without either of us speaking a word, Toast and I smirking, the man standing in the aisle beside us embarrassed.
"You may want these." In one swift movement his left arm shot out, handing the peanuts to me, seeing as I was sitting in the seat open to the aisle, it was easy for me to grab them. As I lifted the crinkling bag out of his slender fingers our hands touched and I couldn't control the blush that flooded my cheeks.
The man smiled at my reaction, and thoroughly mortified I tried to recompose myself, "Don't think I've ever seen a bloke for a flight attendant." I smiled.
"Well…I'm not a regular bloke."
I smirked, looking over his trim suit; suddenly I spoke brashly, completely forgetting my manners. "'Suppose not."
Toast leaned over, making no effort to be discreet and giggled "Stop flirting Nicolette!"
There was no mistaking the way the man's eyebrows shot sky high, one corner of his mouth pulling up, grinning cheekily, his tongue peaking over his lips as he tried not to laugh.
"Flirting?" The word was meant casually, but I definitely heard the implication.
"Oh…NO! No I wasn't…" I stuttered out the words, backpedaling furiously.
His face turned to mock seriousness, "Of course not."
I rolled my eyes, "Don't take it personally I mean…I would…"
His eyebrows shot up, his voice peeling up an octave in surprise, "You…would?"
"NO!" I had lost all tact, I tripped over my words. "I DON'T do that kind of thing."
"Oh no, you're far too sophisticated for that kind of behavior."
I could hear the playful sarcasm I his tone. I was having no luck with this situation. "Exactly," I said, "That's, that's what it is."
He nodded unconvincingly, this time it was his turn to wear the devilish grin. "Yeah….you're obviously far too classy to be bothering with a regular bloke like me."
"But," I spoke impulsively, "You're not a regular bloke, didn't you just say so yourself?"
"OH YES!"
At this moment I watched through astonished eyes as he turned to another flight attendant, pulling a small device from his suit pocket and pointing it at her. She barely had time to cock her head before a high pitched whiny noise filled the plane. A tremor ran through her body and she collapsed on the floor in front of her cart. With wide eyes, I resisted the urge to scream. The whole plane was quiet, not one peep from any of the other passengers.
"WHAT? WHAT WAS THAT?" Toast chimed in from beside me, her voice shrill.
"Slitheen Cybermen hybrid, armed, extremely dangerous!"
Finally I managed words, suddenly, inexplicably ticked that this strange, regrettably handsome man, had disturbed my tranquil plane trip. "OH, yeah THAT'S what it was!" I unbuckled my seat belt and stood swiftly, "FUNNY, I didn't know they made THOSE!"
Taken by surprise, one of the man's eyebrows rose confusedly, "Well, me neither exactly….but, but that's not especially the point?"
"WHO ARE YOU!?"
"I'm the Doctor."
I rolled my eyes, "Oh, that's cute! DOCTOR WHO?"
