Chapter Seventy One – To Fly or not to Fly

"Someone looks pensive this evening," Ben said.

Olivia glanced up from her phone and looked at him. She'd curled up on one end of his couch and started working on her phone soon after they'd had dinner. Ben hadn't seen any real movement or activity since she'd started. Whatever she was working on, it was holding her full attention. At least it had been until he'd spoken.

"Pensive? Since when do you use the word pensive?"

Ben shrugged and walked further into the room so he could lean up against the edge of the couch.

"Since it seemed to fit," he replied.

"Hm."

Olivia's eyes had already returned to her phone screen, and most of her attention had gone with them. Ben kept watching her, but she gave no sign of noticing. The closer inspection definitely proved that pensive was the right word.

"I could always go with something more like me if you'd rather."

Again Olivia only made an indistinct "hm" noise and continued working. Ben grinned and dropped down onto the couch next to her. Even though she was sitting with her back against the arm rest and her legs tucked up in front of her there was more than enough room for Ben. He didn't care if there was enough room; he simply ignored it and sat down on her feet. Olivia merely pulled her feet out from under his legs and draped her own legs across his lap without being at all distracted from what she was doing.

"Someone looks like a cart horse this evening," Ben teased.

That caught her attention, and she met his eyes, finger still poised over the screen. She lifted an eyebrow.

"Cart horse?"

She said it a bit sharply, like what he'd called her was an insult.

"Yeah. With the blinders on so they can only look at one thing and will concentrate on it really intensely."

He extended his hands like blinders from the side of his head and outward until his arms were straight to emphasize what he'd said. It was actually pretty comical. Olivia smiled and rested her phone on her thigh. It was the first time Ben had had her full attention since dinner had ended.

"What do you know about airline travel?" Olivia asked.

Ben blinked in confusion. Where had that come from? Probably not anywhere important. If Olivia didn't want to talk about something, she usually wouldn't no matter what Ben did. He had learned that pretty quickly. More likely than not this was just a random avoidance question.

"That was a really bad attempt at a topic change you know."

"Actually it's not a topic change," she replied with a grin.

"It's not?"

"Nope."

She held her phone out to him. He took it from her and glanced at the screen. As she'd said, the airline comment wasn't a topic change. It was what she'd been so focused on. An airline website was pulled up on the screen. The question was why. As far as he knew Olivia wasn't much of a traveler. He decided his best option was to answer her previous question.

"I've flow a few times before, but I don't know everything. Don't tell me you've never been on a plane."

"I have. Just not a lot."

Ben nodded and handed her phone back to her. She took it and was immediately engrossed in scrolling through the site again. Despite that she was still at least paying some attention to him because she continued the conversation.

"I've never been with Suvi before though."

"You're planning on flying somewhere with Suvi?" he asked curiously.

He realized a moment after he said it that it was a bit of a stupid question. If she was planning on doing any flying now it would have to be with Suvi. There was no way she would leave him behind. Olivia, however, didn't even appear to notice that the question didn't truly deserve a response.

"Mm. Maybe."

Ben just stared at her. This was new. She definitely hadn't mentioned taking a trip anywhere.

"Care to explain that a little bit more?"

"What?"

She looked up at him and was just as confused as he was.

"Explain. You know. Try to form words to describe what's going on in your head so someone else can understand it."

Understanding and amusement flashed across Oliva's face. She smiled apologetically at him.

"Sorry. I guess my head's been so involved in this that I didn't even think about the fact that you didn't know."

Ben dropped his head into his hand and looked at her side long. While he was slightly frustrated, seeing her so focused on what she was doing that she was mostly oblivious to everything else was kind of adorable.

"Olivia?" Her eyes flickered to him. "Explain. E-X-P-L…"

"Thank you. I do know how to spell it."

"You're just having trouble with the definition."

"You already told me that definition," she teased. He did have a point though. She hadn't done any actual explaining yet. "There's a conference in California coming up in March. I was invited as a speaker. Obviously I would have to fly there."

"Unless you magically learn teleportation in the next month and a half."

She laughed softly.

"Considering that isn't likely to happen, I have to go with the plane thing."

"Or build a jetpack."

Olivia shoved her foot lightly into the side of Ben's face. He grabbed her foot, grinning, and forced her leg back across his lap so he could rub her leg.

"You were the one that wanted me to explain. Are you going to knock it off long enough for me to do that?"

"Sure."

"They said they would pay for my ticket, but money's not really the problem. I have Suvi, and that…"

She didn't get a chance to finish. Ben had started tickling her feet, and there was nothing she could do. Immediately she started laughing and attempted to squirm away from him. She couldn't even get a word out around her hysterics, so she lashed out with her feet. Ben simply pinned her legs between his arm and chest and continued tickling her with his other hand. Barely able to breathe around her laughter, Olivia kept flailing until she toppled off the couch. Wanting to keep tickling her, Ben followed her down to the ground. He'd barely gotten off the couch when Suvi pounced on Olivia. This looked like fun, and he definitely wanted to be involved. Ben released Olivia's feet and started laughing. Suvi was standing over Olivia and sniffing furiously. He was so excited that he kept changing position, basically stepping on her and beating his tail into her face as he did. Olivia wrapped her arms around Suvi's neck. He flopped down on top of her, his nose resting against hers. If she tried to speak she would end up with a mouth full of fur. She could, however, glare at Ben.

"Sorry," Ben told her, though he didn't look very apologetic. "I couldn't help myself."

Olivia squeezed her arms out from under Suvi and shifted his head so it was lying on her shoulder instead of her chin. She wrapped her arms around Suvi and stared up at Ben. It was a strange feeling.

"Of course you couldn't. No more explanations for you."

"I think I have a good enough picture."

Ben wasn't sure how he could help her. He'd never taken a service dog on a plane before, and he didn't know anybody who had. Maybe that was the answer. She should talk to someone who had flown with a dog.

"Have you talked to Marshelle?" he asked.

Olivia's forehead wrinkled in confusion. There was definitely something she was missing here. Ben noticed and tried to fill in the holes.

"About flying with Suvi. She would know how that works."

Understanding clicked, and her eyes lit up. Yes, Marshelle would know. Why hadn't she thought of that option earlier? She would probably still need to call the airline like she'd been planning, but Marshelle could give her a more personal and realistic view. It was a great idea. Already her uncertainty about the California conference was easing. She felt like she could think clearly again. Everything tumbling around in her brain had finally settled down.

"That, actually, is perfect. Thanks."

"Of course. Glad to help." He shifted closer so he was sitting at her shoulder and reached over to pet Suvi's back. "So, are you going to go?"

"It depends on what Marshelle and the airline say, but yeah, probably."

"You'll do great."

He leaned down to kiss her. Olivia's lips immediately locked like a puzzle piece with his and her eyes fluttered shut. Heat rushed through her. It felt so good to be kissing him, even in the slightly awkward position. That was okay though. She would make good use of it. She pulled one hand off Suvi and wrapped her arm around Ben so she could cup the back of his head. If Suvi weren't partway in the way, she would have pulled him right up against her. Eventually she would have to move Suvi even if it meant letting go of Ben for a moment because pretty soon what they were already doing wouldn't be enough. That desire for more was already growing fast and hot inside of her.

Author's Note: So my internet just crashed and you're getting this from the library. If they don't get my net up and running tomorrow I wouldn't expect an update until they do.