Chapter Text
When Leo pulls out a perfectly, if not sparsely, packed duffle bag and announced they were soon to leave for the airport for a “very, very super important trip," Otabek only asks one question.
“Right now? At twelve?” Otabek looks down at his laptop, with a half dozen different audio software and samples open.
“The flight is at four o’clock, but you know! Valeria is dropping us off, so make sure to tighten your seat belt!”
“Oh my God, Leo.” Otabek turns to get his essentials as he hears Leo’s youngest sister burst into the room in defense of her driving. He rubs his eyes mildly but smiles still. Leo has always been the more impulsive one between them, and he has been restless lately. And Leo has known him for years, so Otabek resolves to give Leo and this offhand flight a chance. He drops the suspiciously light bag in the back of Valeria's recently gifted truck and gets in, quickly followed by a pair of siblings.
The ride to the airport is only ten minutes long, with minimal banter over “I think you ran that light” and “I think you should shut up.” Valeria whistles at them when they almost enter the building and Leo rolls his eyes without turning to face her. They check in relatively quickly, and Otabek is left sitting and guessing at where they were flying to.
“Hm. Are we visiting Phichit?”
“Nah, but I did just talk to him last night, he says hi.”
"That’s nice of him… Canada? I heard Jean-Jacques is back from touring…. something-- what did he tour?”
“An album he was barely in,” Leo snickers without much audible malice.
“… Is it a press event?”
“No, no, of course not! This will be fun, I promise. or at least I think it will? I hope it will.” Leo slowly loses enthusiasm as he continues his statement, until he comes to a halt. Seeing this, Otabek pulls Leo’s hand into his own.
“I trust it will. I trust you.” He can feel the hand warm in his grip, and it stays there.
They talk like that for a few hours, like they often do, and the three hours pass without a hitch. Their flight is called, and Otabek sneaks a look at the flight menu. He sees LAX Los Angeles, CA to GEG Spokane, WA, and further down, he sees the approximate flight length:
2 hours, 40 minutes
Not bad, Otabek thinks. Neither he nor any other skater is exactly inexperienced in long flights, and to be honest, three hours is relaxing. He doesn’t know where Spokane is, though, but he doesn’t ask as to keep up the idea of reckless travel to nowhere in particular. Leo and he have seats next to each other, as to be expected, and they make themselves comfortable. Leo links his arm with Otabek’s so he can more easily hold on as the flight progresses, and his boyfriend accommodates him as he often has done before. Otabek soon feels him starting to doze off on his shoulder, and before he can fully succumb, asks in a low voice:
“Not even any hints?”
“Nope,” Leo smiles up at Otabek, really only sleeping to pass the flight, and Otabek smiles back. he leans down to kiss Leo’s forehead.
“All right then, sorry for bothering you. I’ll wake you when we start to descend,” he promises, and Leo only nods. Otabek stares out the window, out to the bustling city, from inside the buzzing calm of the airplane. He doesn’t love flying, but it’s all right. It’s peaceful in its own way, like how riding his motorcycle can soothing, and he feels a mild pang of missing his bike. He touches this window like he’s in a 2000’s straight-to-TV movie and he’s in the midst of moving to a new city. In the middle of this, he recognizes how melodramatic he’s being at 10 past 4 in the afternoon, but it’s of no worry to him. He would be back in Almaty soon or later, even if that means leaving Leo back in California.
Otabek doesn’t exactly enjoy that part of returning home. In their almost two years of dating, and even more since Leo befriended him, Otabek has hated leaving him. Even as the ability to communicate and stay in touch has grown exponentially, he still prefers the near perfect silence they have in each other’s company. That part does hurt Otabek more than the bike, and he glances at Leo out of the corner of his eyes. He feels his usual glow of admiration and love under his skin. He looks back out the window and catches sight of the cloudy skies beneath.
The next 2 hours past without much trouble. True to his word, Otabek stirs Leo awake when the flight attendants announce that their plane will begin to descend shortly and they both stretch as well they can in their tiny seats. They get out soon enough, and the Spokane International Airport is nothing spectacular. They make base at a Starbucks, but don’t order anything. Otabek checks the time at the request of Leo, and his watch reads 6:31 PM.
“We’re making good time, then!” Leo beams, flashing a quick OK sign before sitting up even straighter. His comment does set off some lights in Otabek’s brain.
“Good time on w--” He’s interrupted by Leo’s phone ringing, and Leo smiles wider as he picks it up. Otabek pretends to be pressed but leans back in his seat.
“Ramira, ya son las 6:31, pensé que eres un tipo super considerada,” Leo says, quickly and relaxed, clearly making fun of the person on the other side. Otabek can't get very far yet on what Spanish he’s picked up from knowing Leo’s family, but he still likes listening to Leo speak.
“No, no, solo tenemos unas... horas aqui,” Leo changes to sound much more dramatic, and after he hears the reply, Leo clearly gets a kick out of it. “Ya se, blah blah, apurate.” Leo hangs up and grins at Otabek. “What?”
“Stop showing off.”
“Maybe.” Leo stands up, carrying their duffel bag with them and starts walking like he knows where he’s going. To the surprise of no one, Otabek follows.
As they wait at the front, Otabek sees a green pick-up truck roll in. He hears loud music from it, and when he sees Leo’s eyes light up, he wonders why so much of Leo’s family owns trucks. Leo hollers out, “PRIMITA!” and a jumble of words Otabek cannot even try to unwind. A woman jumps out, and yells back, and almost runs into Leo, swinging him up. Otabek at least understood the first word of Leo’s shout, and he doesn’t understand how this woman is younger than him. She and Leo talk for a rambunctious few seconds until she catches sight of Otabek.
“Y este chico? Es él el que nunca te callas?” She looks him up and down and turns to face him totally. Otabek immediately steps back, alarmed. She sees this and laughs until Leo shakes her arm, also laughing.
“Shut up, he’s my boyfriend,” Leo sides himself next to Otabek. She grins, and Otabek recognizes the blood shared, even if her’s is more excitable. She sticks out a hand.
“Ramira Salgado, thanks to be meeting you!” When Otabek takes her hand, she shakes it with both her hands. She has a strong air around her, but her handshake is friendly enough that it takes the edge off.
“Otabek Altin, and, um, me too,” he spits out, and he desperately hopes he doesn’t look like a jerk who doesn’t care about his boyfriend’s family. Instead, Ramira laughs out loud.
“Just as expected! Love it, love it!” She takes the duffel bag from Leo. “I'm guessing y’all don’t wanna be staying longer at some stuffy airport so get in!” She tosses the bag into the back and slides into the driver’s seat. Leo pulls back the passenger seat and pulls himself into the backseat. He motions Otabek into said passenger seat, who follows suit, unsure of his position in the whole dynamic.
“To the house right?” Ramira drives smoothly out the airport parking lot and is waiting expectedly behind dozens of other cars.
“Yeah, then we should be heading out to… you know.” Otabek can feel Leo’s eyes on him, and he smirks. Ramira takes one look at him and smacks the wheel in a burst of laughter.
“Shit, Leo, you didn’t even tell him? Harsh.” Her taking his side lightens Otabek up a little.
“It’s like he doesn’t even trust me.”
“Not even!” she echoes him, and Otabek smiles. He really should try talking to the rest of Leo’s family more.
Ramira, as Otabek finds out, is not younger than Leo, she just used to be shorter. Keywords being 'used to' because she’s flirting with being 5’8” last time she checked, and Leo tries to protest her method of measuring. Otabek takes a great liking to her, and not just for the agreeing with him. She’s boisterous and tells stories from her and Leo’s youth as they drive to her house.
When they arrive, the bright glint of steel catches Otabek’s eye. A motorcycle sits in the driveway, freshly cleaned and shining. Ramira sees him take notice, and claps him on the shoulder.
“Leo told me some about your thing for bikes, isn’t she sleek?”
Otabek tightly presses his mouth and nods. “Suzuki V-Strom… right? I think 1000, it does look a little older,” he mumbles to himself, but Ramira still confirms his suspicions. Even as they walk in, past the bike, Otabek pauses to look it up and down until Leo tugs his arm teasingly.
“I know our tita is still with Leo, so y’all should be able to stay in the guest room if you want,” Ramira calls out from the house as Leo and Otabek walk inside. Leo starts saying something about “it’s literally the same furniture from ten years ago” when Otabek wanders to a wall of framed photographs. He recognizes Ramira in some of them, and he does see she how short she used to be. There are aunts and uncles and parents and dozens upon dozens of different people, some who don’t even look like they’re related. There are awards and certificates hung up, with the occasional photo of a child holding up a trophy or medal. One catches his eye, one that doesn’t look like it’s in a grassy field or school gym. It has a backdrop of a bright white rink, and it’s not taken very well. Otabek steps closer, and he easily recognizes the kid with cropped hair posing dramatically.
“Not really much of a good look on me, huh?” Otabek feels Leo before he hears or sees him. Leo’s head makes its rightful home on Otabek’s shoulder, and his arm comes up to sling around Otabek’s neck.
“The hair?”
“Yeah.” He's not very far off from the truth, it did look like a very awkward time in Leo’s life, but Otabek can’t pretend like he was very fashion-forward at that age.
“You look… fine.” Otabek looks away from the photo and turns to Leo. “Can’t complain when you look like this.”
Leo’s eyes widen by the millimeter before his face breaks into a grin. “You big sap.”
“I'd do it more if you told me we were just going to see your family. You didn't have to trick me.”
“I wasn't tricking you. Besides, this isn't our last stop!” Leo pats the side of Otabek’s face. “ I’ve got another trick up my sleeve.” His head points down as he pulls out his phone and starts typing.
“Aren’t you just full of surprises?” Otabek speaks into Leo’s hair
“I can feel your sarcasm, but I know you love it,” Leo promises as he pokes Otabek with his phone. “Read it.”
“ ‘Get ready for a month of screams as the theme park you thought you knew just became the nightmare you'll never forget.’ Blah blah, ‘try to survive the night because you'll be lucky to make it out alive. Select a day on the calen-’ ”
“You don’t have to read the whole thing, but how does that sound?”
“Not bad.”
“Great, ‘cause I’ve already got tickets!”
Otabek raises his eyebrows, but he isn’t surprised. Truth be told, he does have an affinity for horror, one that Leo certainly knows about, and it's a nice treat on Leo’s part. Impromptu and unexpected, but he appreciates it. He scrolls through the site a little more and sees the address.
Idaho.
He’s fairly confident Idaho is not abbreviated to WA if he’s learned anything in his years in America.
“How far is… Idaho.”
“Oh, like an hour, why?”
Otabek frowns. “How are we supposed to get there…?”
Leo winks and turns to follow Ramira’s voice, who has been calling for him to meet her in the kitchen. Otabek takes another few seconds looking over the photographs before wandering to the cousins in the middle of instructions.
She’s lecturing Leo in Spanish, talking about some guy named Saul and this into that, but she interrupts herself when Otabek walks in. “Ah, Otabek! El debe saber cómo hacer mucho de que te hablo. Right, kiddo?”
Otabek unsurely nods, and Ramira laughs. “Alright! That should be all, I’ve got some helmets in the garage, and you’re sure you’ve got your license?” she directs the last part to Leo, and he nods rapidly.
“Don’t tell me...” Otabek begins, only to stop as Leo starts walking to him. Leo fiddles with his wallet, and when he reaches Otabek, he pulls out a card and holds it steady onto Otabek’s check with a single finger.
“Take a guess on how we’re getting there, sweetheart.”
“You did not.”