Chapter Text
it was only the beginning of the holiday season, but traveling was just as bad as ever. two hours of airport security coupled with dozens of cancelled flights and missed connections made it a nightmare to be surrounded by seas of angry strangers.
it was in the first hour of sitting on the tarmac that sol swore they’d never fly home for the holidays again. it’s not like they particularly wanted to see their family, nor did their family particularly want to see them, and heavens forbid their mother keeps her opinions to her—
“good news folks, we’re next in line for takeoff.” the flight crew announced and sighs of relief bounced through the cabin. “we’ll be taking off in approximately 40 minutes.” a chorus of groans echoed the annoyance bubbling through sol. they rolled their eyes and was ready to pull out a book when the flash of a phone screen caught their eye.
sol did a double take, unsure if it was intended for them. the man next to them had his tray table down with his arms folded across it, chin in his hand and eyes seemingly pointing down at his phone. he nudged it closer to the corner of the table with his elbow for emphasis.
eyebrows furrowed with confusion and curiosity, sol leaned forward slightly to take a look. five dashes stretched across the bottom of the screen in what appeared to be a blank game of hangman.
it took a moment for sol to understand what was happening, not because it wasn’t obvious but because it was so incredibly bizarre.
they looked the man dead in the eye.
“are you serious?” sol asked dryly. the man tried to hide his smile.
“R or U? you can only do one letter at a time.” he replied and it was something about the absolute delight in his eyes, or maybe the innocence with a hint of mischief in his voice that made a smile pull at sols lips too.
“Y.” sol countered defiantly. the man grinned and dove in to work on his phone.
“c’mooon,” he began, a thick accent stressing the vowels. “that wasn’t one of the options we discussed.” he said softly, almost to himself rather than to sol. he drew a small circle to signify a head and showed the phone again.
“oh.”
“the letter?”
“no; do L.”
he huffed a laugh and scribbled down two lines.
__ __ L L __
sol rolled their eyes.
“hello?” they guessed.
“hey how ya doin’?” he asked and sol burst into genuine laughter.
“idiot,” sol sighed with a smile. “you could have just started with that.”
“i like to make a good first impression. here,” the man replied and hands his phone over. “your turn.”
sol takes the phone and it feels heavy in their hand. it’s awkward to hold a strangers phone.
“shouldn’t we know each other’s names?” sol asked and the man shook his head furiously.
“no, i’m saving that for my next turn.”
sol mused over the screen for a few moments before finally they finally settled on a word. they strike five fresh dashes and display it back on the tray table.
he pours back over the phone, squinting down at the lines in intense concentration. a minute passes before he snaps his fingers.
“it’s idiot isn’t it?” he guesses and sol lifts their eyebrows in equal parts shock and amusement.
“wow, yeah actually it is.” they say and the man pumps a fist in the air.
“you’re too easy to read. alright my turn.” he quickly goes to work and sol’s chest feels tight at the mans familiarity. the phone is soon placed back on the table with only four dashes this time. “i already gave you a hint, it’s my name.”
sol rolls their eyes with an exasperated sigh.
“four letters, really? you could have literally any generic white guy name. mark, john, eric, sean—we’ll be here all day.” sol huffs and he laughs.
“judging by these delays, i think we have time. and those names were all wrong so keep guessing.”
they play through takeoff, sol panicking and eventually losing when they run out of vowels and sensible guesses.
S __ E N
“i give up, just give me the damn letter.” they grumble, and the man is smug with victory.
“it’s W.” he gives, scribbling it down and displaying the name proudly.
sol sits up right, glaring at the phone.
“swen?”
“you’re supposed to say it with a v, like sven. but yeah.”
“that’s so unfair!” sol exclaimed with arms crossed. “are you kidding me? no one would guess that!” and somehow, his smirk gets even smugger.
“that’s why it’s such a good one to play. let me guess your name now.” he, swen, says and hands the phone over.
“my name is sol.”
swens jaw drops, and it’s hilarious how genuinely upset he looks.
“now look who’s being unfair!” he nearly whines as a flight attendant makes her way to their row.
“excuse me,” the woman interrupts, smile large and forced. “there’s been a few noise complaints from other members in the cabin, so we kindly ask that you two keep your voices at a reasonable volume.”
swen apologizes, looking a little guilty with an embarrassed pink flush on his ears. sol nods politely, not feeling sorry at all.
when she walks away, swen elbows them teasingly. “nice going sol.” and before they can argue, the phone is back in their hands. “your turn.”
they play back and forth, starting with difficult words and slowly getting simpler and funnier.
POMEGRANATE
THANKSGIVING
GENOCIDE
TURKEY
CLOUDS
DINGLE
DANGLE
DONGLE
by the end of the flight, they were both in tears of hysteric laughter and received two more noise complaints. their laughter doesn’t die down until they unboard and get a chance to catch their breaths.
“where are you heading anyway?” swen asked as they finish up claiming their bags.
“upstate to visit the relatives. you?”
“brooklyn, i’m surprising my ma.” he answers and sol is annoyed with how charming that is. “i gotta catch this train before dinner, actually.” he slows his pace to a stop where their paths part.
“yeah, i should be making my grand entrance pretty soon here.” sol commented, glancing at their watch with no real urgency.
“this was fun. let’s do it again sometime.” swen said with a smile and it gave sol butterflies.
“oh, sitting on the flight deck for two hours? yeah i thought it was an absolute joy.” sol deflected, struggling to look at him. they saw his smile grow from the corner of their eye.
“i can’t think of a better way to spend the holidays.” he laughed. “hey, you know what? we should exchange conta—“ swen snapped his mouth shut, eyes wide at the tracks behind them. he looked so stupidly adorable sol could punch him. “oh man that’s my train. i gotta run sol, i’ll—“ swen rushed forward, hand patting their shoulder as he passed. “i’ll see you around?” he called, shuffling away. it came out more like a question than a statement.
“where on earth are you going to see me around?” they called out.
“i told you! we’ll do this again sometime!” he called back and sol rolled their eyes. “i’ll see you around, i promise!” and with that he slipped onto the crowded train car and disappeared from sight. sol watched in a daze, unsure how to unpack the weight of disappointment on their chest. they were unsure of the spark of hope that bubbled up and made their heart race wild.
i promise.