Chapter Text
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Felicity wasn’t sure why she decided to use the in-flight communications system that was, quite frankly, an insult - when the airline said it allowed technological communication in the air she thought it meant she could access the internet to get up pictures of motivational cats as she recomposed drafts on her laptop whilst thirty five thousand fraking feet in the air; but no, instead there she was on seat 23H trying not to grab the middle aged man in the seat next to her as the plane made that noise again that is definitely not normal ohgodohgodohgod.
Point is, she used it. She logged in with the name ‘Pilot’ because humour is her coping mechanism, okay? And she needed to indulge in her gallows humour because yep, plane moving faster than can possibly be controlled; she was going to die at the hands of a computer system and if that isn’t a stab in the back then what is?
Not that she was scared of flying. At all. In any way. Because she wasn’t. But if typing out messages into the void in a plane chat room (which was glorified advertisement if) anything helped even out her breathing even the slightest, then she wasn’t going to complain.
Pilot | 23H says
gonna take off soon. psyched.
OQ | 23J says
I’m not entirely sure the pilot should be sitting in 23H
Pilot | 23H says
just kicking it with my p-gers
that’s what i call the passengers
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Oliver couldn’t help it; he laughed. Why he responded to the stranger - and likely the only person indulging in the chat room instead of taking advantage of the myriad of films the flight offered - was a mystery also; but if anyone were to suggest it had something to do with the way planes (despite being a fixture in his life since the age of three; an unavoidable fixture when your parents insisted private jet was a necessary mode of travel in completely unnecessary circumstances) made his thumb reflexively rub against his index finger, he might be hesitant in denying it.
He was glad he answered though - the Pilot, whoever they were, helped still his fidgeting hands and allowed him to smile, even when the plane was speeding down the tarmac and yep, okay now it’s tilting.
Pilot | 23H says
don’t get scared homies
nothing to fear i’ve been told that these noises are completely normal even if they do sound like maybe there’s a bird in the engine inconveniencing our journey and our lives : )
OQ | 23J says
That’s completely and utterly reassuring
Thank you for your truly spectacular take off, Sir
Pilot | 23H says
oh so just because i’m pretending to be a pilor i have to be mele? How presumtioss and rusw
OQ | 23J says
I’d apologise but I’m not entirely sure what you wrote just then
But also – pretending?! Don’t do this to me
Pilot | 23H says
sorry the plane did that creak think did you hear that????? my fingers reacted horribly because they have a mind of their own when i’m terrified apparently which is strange because not to brag or anything but i have got magic fingers, like you wouldn’t believe
BY THAT I MEAN I AM REALLY GOOD AT TECHNOLOGY AND WIRING AND THINGS THAT REQUIRE STEADY AND CONTROLLED FINGERS
CONTEXT IS SO IMPORTANT
oh my god you’re a small innocent child okay time to stop using this thank you and goodnight
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Felicity was torn between being ecstatic and slightly afraid when the seat-belt light went off and an air hostess began to walk down the aisles towards her seat -- because on the one hand, she could seriously go for one of their (again, insulting) tiny wines; but on the other hand, she isn’t entirely sure that she’s not about to get told off for abusing the plane’s family-friendly chat room with her inappropriate babbles which, she was glad to know, couldn’t even be thwarted by the fact that she wasn’t speaking out loud to anyone.
So much for that last thought - the man in the seat next to her (who had been sleeping since the minute he sat down, the lucky bastard) abruptly snapped his head towards her, his beady eyes springing open to deliver her what would be an incredibly intimidating death glare if she wasn’t already preoccupied with wondering how exactly she could get punished for ruining the mind of an innocent in British airspace.
Okay, so maybe she hadn’t been speaking in her mind after all. Luckily a wince and a whispered sorry was all it took for the man to sink back into oblivion, and suddenly Felicity was overwhelmed with gratitude that he was not a more curious being. The air hostess finally reached them - Felicity got her wine, and the woman continued down the aisles.
She let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding, reaching down for her carry on bag to get out a book or something else to distract her that was less public than an in-flight chat room; when a buzz of the console -- which, okay, maybe shouldn’t have been put between her legs -- caused the red liquid to slosh over slightly and make her cute panda flats more gory than they initially had been. If the journey wasn’t already off to a bad start, then cute animal shoes beginning to look like they’d walked into someone’s knife several times would certainly do the trick.
OQ | 23J has invited you into a private chat room
OQ | 23J says
Don’t panic, I’m not an innocent child. Simply an incredibly amused adult
Pilot | 23H says
as pleased as i am that i am safe from angry parents, are you aware how creepy ‘has invited you into a private chat room’ sounds because for all you know ~i~ could be an innocent child and you could be bordering very dangerous territories
OQ | 23J says
In all fairness I did not mean to be creepy – and this likely won’t help my case, but I know beyond a reasonable doubt that you’re either a sleeping middle aged man or a ‘frazzled but very cute blonde’, but most importantly, not a small child
Pilot | 23H says
?!
OQ | 23J says
My sister’s words, not mine She went to go to the bathroom and I maybe asked her to check who’s sitting in seat 23H
Pilot | 23H says
well in that case tell her i’m flattered and that her brother is slightly creepy but also a great distraction to the fact that we’re sososo fraking high in the air right now
OQ | 23J says
Wouldn’t think a pilot would have a fear of hights, exactly
And you’re quite a good distraction also. It’s quite remarkable
The smile that appeared on her features was entirely involuntary but definitely welcome - and if it wasn’t for the fact that she was still unsure as to how safe it would be for her to take off her seat belt when they’d barely been cruising for 20 minutes - though, now she thought about it, she was a lot calmer than she usually would be - then Felicity would not have been able to stop herself from marching over to seat 23J and putting a face to the seat number.
Pilot | 23H says
thank you for remarking on it : )