Chapter Text
Klavier scuffed his heel against the deep maroon carpet. A faint black shoeprint was smudged into the red polyester loops. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of a hoodie stretched out two sizes too large by time. He pulled them out and gently tugged his hair tie out of his hair.
He looked at his watch. The plane would be arriving any time, though the hands inside were slowed to a crawl. He stretched out his legs a bit, about the fourth time he’d done it in the last handful of minutes. His only companion among the rows of empty seats was a small-ish Khura’inese looking girl with her legs pulled up to her chest.
He watched the bright flickers of light outside the window. Firefly-sized specks of light notifying massive planes descended on the tarmac and waving lines of orange guided them down. He felt his eyelids droop and fluttered them. His consciousness had survived eighteen hours of suffering already. It could take a bit more.
A man’s quiet voice passed over the speakers. The Khura’inese girl jumped from her seat like she’d been spooked and yawned. Klavier opened his phone camera. He looked nothing close to presentable.
Not that the arriving passenger deserved anything more. Muscle memory guided him into a semi-decent bun for the sake of the matter.
The first arrival stepped through security. It was a middle-aged woman wearing a pantsuit and a fraying ponytail. After her followed a Khura’inese man in traditional garb; the girl ran into his arms, and Klavier was alone as the sea of people streamed in. His self-esteem itched to fiddle with his six different social media apps, but he was determined to watch for his passenger. He eventually relented to himself, opening his settings app and tapping in and out of the backgrounds section, his eyes flickering between the default wallpapers and the rows of identical strangers being ogled by security.
There he was.
The last passenger had gotten off, and he was being beeped at by the metal detector. He limply held up a gold bracelet on his wrist, and the officer gave him a pat on the back. The jewelry hardly clashed with the elegantly foreign outfit he wore; the only hint of American goodness was the beaten black duffel bag around his chest. He sighed loudly enough that a random passerby who happened to be sitting near the loading area could hear him. Luckily for him, the only person left was not random.
Klavier held up his hand to greet the tired traveler. Like hailing a cab in reverse. He earned a mumble in response. Together they walked to the luggage area and rolled the sky blue suitcase behind them. He tried not to look too hard at the intricate gold circlet adorning his forehead, instead honing in on the faded permanent marker scribbles on the bag.
“Thank you for picking me up.” They’re the first words the pilgrim says beyond half-hearted platitude. “It spares me a lot of trouble. And I know you’re busy.”
Klavier said nothing, simply nodded, not daring to trust his tongue at this hour. They walked to his car and he popped open his trunk. He hefted the suitcase inside and unlocked his doors. “Look,” he began. He turned his key. “I think we are both exhausted. I for one am barely aware of who I am.” In fact, he was itching to slam his head against his steering wheel to try and remember. “We can have reunion take two another day.”
“That’s fair.” Mister Migrant’s hand was wrapped around his bracelet, a fact Klavier didn’t notice, being a safe and attentive driver. Another detail that evaded Klavier was the slightly sallow cheeks of his passenger, or the way his skin was a tinge paler than when they’d last met, or how his right knee was bouncing with anxiety.
“Where am I taking you?”
The question gave the passenger pause. “The Agency.”
Klavier pressed his turn signal and swallowed the bile of questions burning his throat. He pulled up to the curb and something like a farewell formed. His traveler said the same and slipped into the building.
Klavier slammed his head against his steering wheel and drove home.
Sleep. His body drank in the rest readily. He was sleeping easy for the first time since Apollo Justice left L.A.