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Fili forced a smile at the gate attendant as she scanned his ticket and handed it back to him. He stepped through the door and it felt as if his stomach had flipped. The sound of jet turbines was louder; the corridor echoed with footsteps and the rolling wheels of carry-on luggage; the floor bounced with every step. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes momentarily and trying to quell the anxiety rising within.
“Hey, keep moving, buddy,” a man hissed, his elbow smacking into Fili’s shoulder.
He opened his eyes to see a tall bald man glaring at him, pushing past and continuing down to the plane. “Sorry,” he whispered, but the man was out of earshot.
He forced his feet to move again, although they felt heavy and it was more of a shuffle. His backpack seemed to gain weight as he neared the door where two smiling flights attendants waited, looking immaculate in their blue and white uniforms. They gestured down the single aisle of the narrow-body plane, and he moved as far as he could before a small family with a crying baby held up the line. The child was screaming, and he felt his breath quicken as the noise alarmed him. He glanced down at his ticket; 34D. His eyes then found the numbers above the seats; he was only at row 21.
There was a sense of relief in that he wouldn't be near the young couple and upset child. On the other hand, it meant he had to travel further into the belly of this beast. It was dark outside and only a false light illuminated the cabin. The walls were off white and curved around, limiting the head room. The seats were a dark tan plastic and rubber edged, lined with a bright blue fabric dotted with yellow, orange and green splashes. It was garish and reminded him of the gummed up, stained seats on his local buses. The filtered air hissed into the cabin, smelling different and upsetting his stomach.
Fili desperately wanted to sit down, find his noise-cancelling headphones, close his eyes and fall asleep until they were at their destination. He brought a hand up to his stomach, hoping the light dinner would remain firmly in place. The line moved slowly as people stopped to find space in the overhead compartments, then took their seats. Fili looked down to his ticket again - Fili Durin, 34D - and realized his hand was shaking. He felt light headed.
The line of people finally moved away, and when he realized he was at the front, he paused to look at the numbers on the overhead storage bins. There it was - row 34, two rows ahead. He paused and looked at the trio of seats. A rather large teenager sat in the window seat, headphones on but music blaring out anyway, head bobbing slightly. In the center seat was a large figure - the tall bald man, Fili realized. He coughed, not realizing he’d been holding his breath.
The man scowled at him, his knees pressed into the seat ahead of him and both arms across the pair of armrests. Fili offered a kind but pained smile and looked up into the overhead locker; it was already full of bags. With a frown he dropped down into the seat, leaning forward to place his bag under the seat in front of him. He sat back up, buckled the belt and found himself leaning as far to his left as he could, into the aisle, to avoid brushing the tall bald man.
Then he realized his headphones were in his bag. He leaned back down again, fishing out the noise-cancelling headphones - purchased especially for this trip - and managing to bump his head on the seat in front of him. He heard a disgruntled curse and sat back up with a meek apology.
“Are you done?”
Fili turned his head to the right, where the pale bald man stared down at him.
“Uh, yes, sorry, just forgot my headphones,” he stammered. “I need them to block out the noise--”
“A simple yes would have worked.”
Fili nodded, scrunching his body even further toward the aisle until a he was smacked by a passing flight attendant. He was a older man, with smiling eyes and white hair. “Pardon,” he said. “You’ll just have to pull your shoulders in. We’ll be moving up and down the aisle frequently.”
“Yes, yes, okay,” Fili muttered, feeling the urge to throw up as he sat up straight, feeling his arm brush the tall bald man. He knew the man was staring at him, but he refused to make eye contact. Fili fished the motion sickness bag out of the seatback.
“For fuck’s sake,” the man beside him groaned. “Get any of that on me and you’ll regret it.”
Boxed in, overwhelmed, anxious and embarrassed, Fili turned red and struggled to keep his eyes free of tears. He was so concentrated on his breathing that he didn’t hear the commotion in the aisle beside him.
“Sir, may I see your ticket please?” Fili glanced up to see the flight attendant and a young woman standing back a few steps. Relieved to have a diversion, he nodded, leaning forward to pull his bag out again. He found his ticket on the outside pocket with his passport and handed it up to the man.
“Ah,” the man said. “I’m afraid you’re in the wrong seat, sir. This young lady sits here. You’re across the aisle.”
“I am?” Fili asked, surprised with this turn of luck.
“Yes sir. You’re in 34C. D is just over here,” he motioned to the empty seat.
Fili wasted no time in unbuckling his belt, grabbing his bag and moving into the aisle. Once the young lady was seated where he had been, he slid into the other side. The middle seat was still empty and a man about his age with dark hair sat in the window seat, flipping through the magazine. Fili leaned forward, stuffing his bag under the seat in front of him again, then nervously clutching at the armrests.
“Just put it under here,” he man said, pointing to the middle seat. “Unless somebody turns up at the last moment, it looks like we have some extra room to ourselves.”
Fili leaned forward, seeing another small bag under there and paused.
“It’s just mine,” the dark haired man continued, leaning forward and shoving it to one side before leaning back. “Plenty of room for another.”
Fili nodded, leaned down and and pushed his bag under the seat.
“There we go,” he said with a grin, then sticking his hand out. “I’m Kili. From Brooklyn. You?”
“Uh, Fili. Bayport. Long Island.” He shook the hand, hoping that brunet wasn’t put off by his shaky, sweaty palm.
“I know the place,” he chuckled. “Hoity-toity area. You like it there?”
“Yeah, it’s okay,” Fili said, feeling his stress begin to drain a bit. This was far easier than sitting next to the angry tall man.
“Are you going to Spain too or is it just a stopover?”
“No, going to Barcelona,” Fili explained, trying to buckle his seatbelt. It clicked but then fell apart again. “I’ve never been to Europe. My Uncle has been there for awhile and invited me over.”
“Awesome,” Kili responded with a big grin. “I’m going to Barcelona too! Just to look around for the week. I like to travel, see new places. All before next semester.”
Fili smiled, quite genuinely, then heard a popping noise up front, followed by a more audible woosh of the filtered air. He dropped the buckles and gripped the edge of the seat.
“You okay?” Kili asked, closing the magazine in his lap and stuffing it in the seat pocket. “You don’t look well.”
“It’s, uh, been a long time since I’ve been on a flight,” Fili said, whispering. “I don’t like flying.”
“Oh,” Kili said, looking concerned. The brunet then undid his own seat belt and popped into the middle seat beside Fili. “Here,” he said gently. “Let me help you out.”
Fili nodded and sat back in the chair, allowing Kili to take the seat belt and buckle him in.
“Do you get motion sick?”
“I have in the past,” Fili said, and pulled the motion sickness bag out of the pocket, turning it between his hands.
“Go ahead and pop it open,” Kili explained. “You won’t have time to do that if you do feel sick. Usually people feel sick during the ascent. Once we level off you’ll probably be okay. Do you want some water to sip on?”
“Security made me leave my bottle behind,” Fili explained. “Can I get one from the flight attendants?”
“You’re allowed to buy more once you’re past the checkpoint,” Kili explained, and reached down into his bag, pulling out a slim bottle of water. “See? Take this one. Tiny sips as you need them.” He pushed the bag over to where he had been sitting, then buckled himself in. “I’ll sit beside you. If you want, you can hold my hand and squeeze if you feel nervous, okay?”
Fili turned to Kili, looking dumbly at him in surprise.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to be too forward,” Kili apologized. “I just remember that I wasn’t too fond of flying at first and I wish someone had done this for me. I suppose I was only about nine though, so maybe my approach is a bit too immature.”
“No, it’s good,” Fili said. “Just unexpected. But I really do appreciate it.” They sat quietly as the attendants came through, checking seat belts. Fili watched the safety briefing keenly, checking his nearest exits and testing his seat belt. Halfway through the plane lurched away from the terminal and he gripped the armrests again. Kili’s hand came down on his, gently holding it.
“You’re doing fine,” he whispered. “We’re backing away from the terminal, and going to taxi to the end of the runway. It’s a busy airport, so it could be a little while before we reach the end, then longer before we take off.”
“I just want to get this over with,” Fili muttered.
“But then I won’t get to know you better during the flight,” Kili smiled.
The blond once again found himself wordless and just nodded, but Kili grinned back, content with this response. He sat quietly as the plane rocked its way to the beginning of the taxi queue, but shut his eyes tightly as the engines suddenly increased in power.
“Here we go,” Kili said. “Time for an adventure.”
The plane accelerated and Fili was pressed back into the chair; he shut his eyes tightly but once the wheels had left the tarmac, he opened them again and turned to Kili, who was watching him. “Are we in the air?”
“Yep. That was takeoff. We’ll gain altitude for a bit, then we’ll settle in for the trip and they’ll serve up dinner. No so bad, huh?”
“I feel a little queasy.”
“That’s okay. So do I; I don’t like the gravitational forces during takeoff. They’ll go away soon.”
Fili gripped Kili’s hand. “You said you were nervous once. How did you get over it?”
“Just doing this over and over again. Honestly, I hate flying too. But I really like travelling, and it is the most efficient way to get from point A to point B. And I think that a few hours at the beginning and end that I don’t like is worth the enjoyment and memories in the middle.”
“That’s a nice way to think about it,” Fili said, feeling the plane level off and his stomach relax.
“See? Now we’re at altitude. You shouldn’t feel much until we land.”
The blond sat up straighter and nodded in relief. “Thank goodness. This part isn’t as bad as the takeoff part.”
“Just keep sipping at that water. Hydration is important on flights, you’ll feel better.”
Fili took another sip from the bottle, then decided the best way to make the flight pass was to distract himself. “So you go to school in Brooklyn? What do you study?”
“I live in Brooklyn, but I study at the New York School of Design in Manhattan,” the brunet replied. “Fashion design.”
“Really?” Fili asked, surprised. “You don’t look like a fashion-conscious, I mean fashion forward--” he stuttered and blushed. “Sorry, that came out all wrong. You look fine.”
Kili looked down at his old t-shirt, cargo shorts and a flip-flops. “No, I don’t look like I’m into fashion, do I?” he laughed. “I dress up for the classes and the work, but most of my designs focus on women’s fashion, although I’m just trying my hand with men’s fashions this semester. But I prefer to dress other people, not myself. There’s nothing better than flip-flops, or even better, barefoot.”
“True. I have to dress with a tie for work most days, I wish I could go barefoot!”
“What do you do?”
“Property development, with my Uncle. He’s been doing some work in Barcelona while I held down the fort at home. But he wants me to come and give some input on a project.”
“Ooh, sounds important.”
“It’s all right. Interesting,” Fili grinned.
“Tell me more about it,” Kili leaned closer.
And for the next several hours, Fili forgot he was on an airplane. They had dinner, talked about their families and jobs, about their childhoods, and finally realized they could play games together on the entertainment system. It seemed far too quick when the captain announced their descent, and Kili held his hand again when they landed. They processed through customs and passport control together, until finally entering the terminal. Along the rail stood several drivers with signs; one reading Fili Durin.
“Well I suppose that’s that,” Kili grinned, pointing to the placard. “It’s been a good flight. Maybe I can get your number and we could keep in touch back at home?”
Fili took a deep breath. “Definitely. But why don’t you come stay at my Uncle’s place for your holiday? I need to repay you for helping me through the flight. And maybe I could visit some of these great places with you and we could talk more.”
“I don’t want to be a burden,” Kili shook his head.
“Believe me, you won’t be,” Fili said. “Your presence will be welcome. My uncle always rents homes far larger than he needs. Or you can share my room,” he grinned. “Please?” He held out his hand. “I really do want to keep in touch. Now seems like a fine time to start.”
Kili tilted his head to one side, then smiled broadly. “Yeah, you’re right. Maybe our adventure starts now.”