time after time // reddie

｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

♫ If youʼre lost, you can look and you will find me ♫

"Ladies and gentlemen, weʼre landing in Portland," the flight attendant announced, "For your safety and comfort, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the Captain turns off the sign."

Richie Tozier twitched awake, lifting his head rapidly from the shoulder of a young man sitting next to him and, embarrassed, wiped the drool off his chin.

Curious, he glanced at the man to get a better look. He was asleep with his temple resting against the window. The collar of his jean jacket was turned up to hide his face, and his ruffled curly hair was covered by a brown baseball hat.

Richie gulped, adjusting his thick glasses, and shifted his gaze back to the floor. It had been a while since heʼd last been so close to another man. His boyfriend of almost eight months had left him some year ago, and ever since their breakup he had been very cautious about dating. Tyler had broken his heart, and for a man as caring and vulnerable as Richie, it was a tough thing to get over.

He sighed. His choice to avoid relationships didnʼt mean he never missed being in one. He missed cuddles and kisses, having someone to play with his black locks — even hand-holding, which he had always considered a rather repulsive, unnecessary display of affection.

So can you really blame him for thinking that if there really was a God, He wouldnʼt have seated him next to this particularly intriguing person without a reason?

Too tempted to stop himself, he leaned his head carefully back on the shoulder on his left. The denim felt rough against his cheek but Richie barely noticed. He was too distracted by the warmth and the masculine scent mixed with a hint of sandalwood. Holding his breath in excitement, he closed his eyes.

"Dude, what are you doing?"

Richieʼs eyes shot open only to meet a pair of blue ones staring back at him, creeped out. He straightened up and cleared his throat, trying desperately to buy more time to come up with a reasonable explanation for quite possibly the most idiotic, imprudent decision of his life. And that, for the record, was truly saying something. The list wasnʼt exactly the length of a grocery list for one, you see — it was more like a J.K-Rowling-just-published-a-new-Potter-sequel type of roster.

"Oh, that? Yeah, no, don't worry. I do this all the time," he replied, nodding intensely as the words came out of his mouth as if trying to convince both the man beside him but also himself. "Yeah, I love weirding people out. Their reactions are always so priceless. Kinda makes me wish I carried a camera with me, you know. I mean, you're young, you've probably seen those videos online where someone goes around touching random people in public and recording their reactions. Hilarious!"

The man on his left still looked suspicious, to say the least. Dark brows frowned he just kept staring and Richie couldn't even blame him. Even he had no idea what he was talking about. But much to his surprise, the guy moved his head in what seemed like a nod, then turned to the other direction, not saying a word.

Just as Richie was about to let out a sigh of relief, he turned back again.

"You're that comedian, right? You're Richie Tozier."

The sigh Richie now released was far from relieved. "Yup, that's me."

"I was at your gig back in L.A last month!"

"That's... very unfortunate for you but hey, I appreciate it."

"Yeah." Suddenly the guy seemed a lot less excited. "You imitated my mother with a Jabba the Hutt impression."