Pose For Me | K.TH

14

AILA

He takes me back to my seat.

"Sit." He murmurs, taking a place right next to me. "It's too dangerous to stand. How do you feel? Is it your first time on a plane?"

I can't even nod.

I feel terrible. I can't even speak, my thoughts sloshing around in my head with the dizziness. It makes me nauseous— it makes me feel sick.

I'm thankful I hadn't had any food before this.

Something cool touches my forehead. And I squeeze my eyes shut, before opening them again. I can feel myself sweating down the back of my shirt, body heating up and turning my hands warm.

I lean into the coldness.

"Your hands...are cold."

"Oui. Is it making you feel better?" He whispers, but I can't answer that question. Another wave of dizziness sweeps through me, and I fall silent.

I think he understands, though.

His touch shifts to my chin. "Is there anything I can do? I feel like the cause of this, Aila."

My eyes flicker. Why would he think that way? He hadn't even known about this— I hadn't even known about this.

"Will you keep talking...?"

His voice. It just sounds so comforting, deep and husky. The only person who could've ever made me feel this at ease with just their voice had been my father.

"Me?"

I nod, closing my eyes shut again when I feel the plane shift. My clothes stick to my skin, with how much I've been sweating. And it's so cool inside this plane.

"What shall I tell you." He says, not a question to me but more like he was asking himself. "Do you mind if I speak in French?"

No. My head shakes the slightest.

There's a brief silence. And then he starts murmuring into my ear, in that beautiful language that I'd only ever heard snippets of.

It flows like rich silk from his lips.

"The day I first met you is the day I will forever remember. You seemed so harmless, like a frightened little kitten. I can still recall the shaken look in your eyes when you realized that I'd be the one judging you in that room."

"But my, I wonder if you ever realized that I was the more shaken one by the end of that audition."

He sucks in a quiet breath. But I lie there half-unconscious, slowly drifting to sleep with the sound of his French against my ears.

"...but you are so good at that, aren't you? Was it just over a day ago, when you called me asking for help? I had never been more afraid in my entire life."

Some part of me wants to know what he's saying.

But my eyes slowly close, and so does my mind.

"So please."

"Do not do it again."

________________________________

The plane is quiet when I wake up.

It's night, and the only sound in the plane is the soft sound of the engine below. My eyes flicker open, blurry from being closed for so long.