perfect to me

03 | lucky

The tall, ginger male stands in front of the tall windows. The sky outside is dark, and his reflection stares back at him. His hair is tousled and he has a fair amount of stubble covering his jaw. His brown eyes are bloodshot from the lack of sleep. The time on his phone reads 3:46AM, and he lets out a sigh.

His gaze goes past his own reflection, settling on the many planes on the tarmac. His eyes trace the logo of British Airways, KLM, AirFrance, and the countless other airlines present. His eyes ache as he watches a plane zoom by on the runway before its wheels lift off the ground.

Another glance at his watch. 3:50AM. He lets out a quiet groan, rubbing his sore eyes. His plane back home only departs at 4:30AM, which means he would be home around 6:00AM, since London was five hours ahead of his usual timezone, and a flight back home takes around six and a half hours. His brain begins to hurt as he continues to do the math. He had been in London for a month, which means he'd be horribly jetlagged for a little bit when he gets home. Shai had been in Egypt for a month and a half, and he is almost 100% certain she's on her second flight, being somewhat aware that she had a layover in Israel. Of course, things happen and flights get delayed. But, if everything goes according to plan, he and Shai should arrive at their destination at the same time.

The thought of seeing Shai so soon after landing fills him with more energy, and he sits down in one of the chairs closest to the boarding area. He begins to play a game on his phone, quickly losing track of time as he redecorates virtual houses, occasionally playing a minigame full of colorful little squares. Before he knows it, the P.A. system crackles to life and announces that his plane is boarding. He jumps to his feet, picking up his half-full backpack and swinging it over his shoulder. Strolling over to the boarding area, he presents his airplane ticket and passport to the flight attendant. Once the attendant returns the items to him and gives him the OK, he steps onto the jetbridge, taking one deep, final breath of the London air before advancing to the plane itself.

He arrives at his seat, smiling at the people sitting in the aisle and window seats before sitting in the aisle seat, stowing his bag underneath the chair in front of him. "Lovely day for a flight, isn't it?" he asks the two people next to him.

They both give him a slightly empty look, before muttering something along the lines of, "Yeah, totally." The man in the aisle seat readjusts his headphones, while the woman in the window pulls a pillow out from her bag and rests it against the wall of the plane before closing her eyes and leaning against it.

"No matter, then," Oliver states happily. He unfurls his own pair of headphones, plugging them into the headphone jack for the TV planes, and begins scrolling through the options available. He finally settles on Spiderman: Far From Home, and shifts around in his seat, finally getting comfortable. Before the movie even starts, he finds his eyelids drooping, and, after deciding that sleeping would make the time pass quicker, he succumbs to his exhaustion, the sounds of the Marvel theme lulling him to sleep.

---

Shai grips the edges of her seat on the plane as it shakes due to turbulence. The seatbelt sign reappears with a rather loud ding, and she tries to take deep, calming breaths. No matter how many times she flies on a plane, each trip seems to become harder than the one before it. She's not exactly afraid of being on the plane itself; it just happens to be that she gets severely nauseous for reasons she knows are purely psychological, and, more often than not, finds herself spending a majority of the flight time in the bathroom, emptying her stomach. Because of the unfortunate events that happen to Shai on airplanes, she more often than not goes the entire flight--or flights--without eating or drinking, which really only adds to her problem.

The sudden shaking of the plane as it flies through turbulence upsets her already distressed stomach, and it takes everything she has in her not to upheave then and there. Luckily--and thankfully--Shai's desire to make sure she doesn't disrupt other passengers on the plane manages to keep her writhing stomach in check, as she doesn't want them to be disgusted by her habits.