aviation! ↳ phan ✓

i.

Wandering around the airport was not how Phil usually spent his Friday night. A typical Friday night consisted of him at home, having a movie marathon alone in his apartment. Yet here he was, with nothing but a small suitcase and a backpack to keep him company.

On this particular day, the London City Airport wasn't packed, which he was grateful for. It wasn't traveling season, and he didn't feel too comfortable near crowds anyways. His flight wasn't set to board for another half hour, so he sat down at a small restaurant inside the airport and passed the time by watching Netflix on his phone and eating pocky.

Eventually, he decided to go to the Starbucks in his terminal. When he got there, he walked up to the front of the line, smiling widely at the lady behind the counter. Phil loved smiling—he smiled at anyone and everyone he encountered. After complimenting her on her vibrant green eyes, he ordered a hot chocolate, trying to warm up as it was especially cold that day. That was another thing Phil did a lot, compliment people. He loved making people feel good about themselves, and the way people's eyes seemed to light up after he complimented them gave him a feeling of content. It pleased him knowing that it only took a few seconds to make someone's day.

After paying for his drink, he walked back to his gate, where they had already started boarding. He sat against the wall, sipping his drink and going through his social media. When they finally called his zone, he stood up and threw away his empty cup, walking to the back of the long line. After he handed his boarding pass to the lady at the desk, he made a flattering remark about her freckles. A blush immediately broke out on her face, making him satisfied with himself. She scanned his boarding pass and returned it to him, wishing him a lovely flight. Phil gave her a smile before thanking her and striding through the open door.

As he was walked through the boarding bridge, he looked down at his boarding pass and saw he was assigned to seat 21b, which was near the middle of the aircraft. His row was next to the wings of the plane, so that was where he headed to. Once he reached his row, he put his luggage in the overhead compartment and slid into his seat, which was in between the window and aisle seat. Sitting in the window seat was a brown haired boy, around his age, who was looking out the window and bouncing his leg up and down at a fast pace. He looked agitated, and Phil didn't blame him. While he had been on many flights before, this was going to be the longest flight he'd ever been on, and he was quite anxious himself.

Phil held his backpack in his lap while he buckled his seatbelt. He decided to listen to music while everyone else boarded, so he fished his earbuds out of his backpack before sliding it under the seat in front of him. While listening to his playlist, he examined the small tv attached to the back of the seat in front of him, noting all the movies available to watch. A little later a dark haired man, who appeared to be in his early 40's, sat down in the aisle seat next to him. He was dressed to the nines, wearing an expensive looking suit and tie. He seemed to be very stressed and worn out, looking relieved when he sat down and could relax. Despite his formal attire, he immediately fell asleep in his seat, wrinkling his suit in the process.

A few minutes later the plane door had shut and the seat belt light was on. A female's voice was heard on the intercom, causing Phil to pause his music to listen. She had a chirpy voice, and Phil could see the stewardess at the front. She went over the safety guidelines, while another stewardess held up a safety life jacket and pointed to the emergency exits.

After giving a brief lecture on the safety procedures, the flight attendants disappeared to the back of the plane. Not long after, the intercom turned on again, this time followed by a different voice.

"This is your pilot speaking: Welcome to flight 253, a direct flight from London to Sydney, Australia. It is currently 5:57 pm and the weather is mostly cloudy, with a small chance of rain in the upcoming hours. We should arrive in Sydney in approximately 22 hours, and food will come by once we're at peak height. Electronics must be in airplane mode, and wifi will be available once we're in the air. While we take off, we ask that you wear your seat belt and do not get up till the seat belt light turns off. On behalf of Northern Airlines, we hope you enjoy your flight."

When the intercom turned off, Phil turned his phone on airplane mode and put it back in his bag, along with his earbuds. The brown haired boy next to him was still bouncing his leg up and down, more rapidly now. Once the plane started backing up, he began gripping the armrests tightly, looking absolutely terrified.

"Are you okay?" Phil asked.

"Y-yeah I'm great, sorry if I bothered you," the boy stammered, looking down at his leg. He was no longer bouncing his leg, instead choosing to tap his foot briskly.

"Oh no, you're fine," Phil replied. "Is this your first time flying? You look pretty jumpy."

The boy laughed nervously. "Is it that obvious?"

Phil placed his hand on his arm, reassuringly. "Hey, it's going to be fine. We'll be there before you know it, you'll see."

The boy looked at where Phil had placed his hand, then back to Phil. He gave him a small smile, and seemed to calm down at Phil's words. He took a deep breath, and turned to face him. "Thank you."

Phil beamed at him. "You're welcome! I'm Phil by the way." He held out his hand.

The boy shook his hand, a grin on his face. "Hello Phil, my name is Dan Howell."