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Alex grumbled to himself as he had to stretch to reach the overhead compartment to store his carry-on. At least he made sure to put his phone, earphones and Kindle on his seat before he put his luggage away and soon enough he could get out of the aisle and sit down.
Around him the plane slowly filled up and he heard the usual complaints from people discussing who should really get the window seat, and trying to get past the ones still waiting to get to their seats. The aisle was almost empty and Alex was still alone in his three-seater and he started to look forward to spreading out and maybe having a nap as the plane took him back to New York. Just as he thought he had been lucky enough to get the three-seater to himself, someone stopped right next to him and reached up to put a carryon away.
Alex looked to the side and was greeted by a pale sliver of stomach as a cable knit sweater rose up above the lining of a pair of black jeans that clung to narrow hips. For some reason, Alex felt his mouth go slightly dry and he cleared his throat just as the person closed the overhead compartment and sat down in the seat closest to the aisle.
The cream coloured sweater fell back into place and Alex’s gaze followed the knitted pattern up from a slim waist to broad chest and shoulders. He tore his eyes away before the passenger realized he was staring, but as the flight attendant made her way down the aisle to check in on passengers. Alex once more allowed himself to look over and to his own surprise he was met by the bluest eyes he had ever seen.
"Oh."
He hadn't meant to say anything, but the word escaped before he could say anything and the other man's full, pink lips curled up into a small smile.
"Hello," he said and that word was enough for Alex to catch the hint of an accent.
"Hi," Alex managed to respond but before either of them could say another word, the flight attendant started going through the security speech and Alex forced himself to focus even though he had heard it so often he thought he could recite it in his sleep.
For some reason he couldn't quite keep his gaze off the man one seat away, even as the takeoff pushed him back into his seat. The moment they were at cruising altitude he reached for his phone and connected to the plane's wifi.
To: DemoNora
S.O.S
sharing row with british guy that may or may not be really pretty
He wasn't really surprised with how fast Nora responded, sometimes she just knew when Alex needed her.
From: DemoNora
Alejandro, is this you finally coming out to me?
Alex blinked down at his phone a few times, then once more glanced out of the corners of his eyes to the guy with the British accent, the blue eyes, and hair so blond Alex was sure it would shine gold in sunlight.
Well.
Fuck.
To:DemoNora
maybe? fuck. i guess i may be bi?
From: DemoNora
Oh really? I had no idea. I am so proud of you. Big surprise. Huge.
Alex glared down at his phone, knowing very well the paper dry tone her voice would be in that moment. He might have admitted that thing with Liam to her, but it wasn't really a big deal. It was just something that had happened.
A few times.
To: DemoNora
not the point right now! what do i do?
Before he even managed to close down his phone, the flight attendant stopped beside their seats, asking if any of them wanted refreshments. In his attempts to put his phone away, Alex fumbled it and his eyes went wide as he watched it moving through the air and landing right in his seatmate's lap.
"Whiskey?" Alex managed to croak out, watching as the man in the other seat lifted up his phone, looking down at the message that clearly flashed on the screen.
His blond seat mate looked from the phone to Alex and up to the flight attendant standing next to him, and Alex could feel the silence stretch out between them.
"Gin and tonic, please," the man said, his posh voice sounding slightly strained.
The flight attendant smiled and nodded before she turned away to prepare their drinks and before Alex could figure out what to say or do the man reached out to hand the phone back to Alex.
Nora's latest messages were still clearly visible on the screen.
From: DemoNora
You're stuck on a plane with him, flirt!
Dick him down!
Alex looked down at the phone in his hand. Without looking up, Alex locked the screen and slid the phone down into the pocket of the seat in front. The both of them quietly put their tray tables down and accepted their drinks. It wasn't until the flight attendant had moved down a few rows that his seatmate spoke up, voice carefully even.
"I might be amenable to that."
Around them the rest of the plane seemed to fade away and Alex took a small sip of his whiskey before putting the glass down and looked over to meet bright blue eyes.
"Which part?" Alex managed to get out and he was proud of how strong his voice sounded.
"The first part. For now. I'm Henry."
The name fit perfectly with the golden hair, posh accent and slightly pink cheeks.
"I'm Alex."
~*~
"Wow," Alex said with a laugh, nudging Henry's shoulder with his own. "You're so wrong."
Henry scrunched his nose in the most adorable way and Alex was happy that Henry had abandoned the aisle seat in favor of sitting pressed to Alex's side, the arm rest pushed up and away.
"It's my personal opinion," Henry protested. "How can I be wrong about my personal opinion?"
"Well, it's a personal opinion that is bad and wrong," Alex said with a nod. "T-Rex is clearly the better dinosaur."
"Of course you would say that," Henry scoffed. "The most basic dinosaur of them all. Ampelosaurus is much more interesting. The size! The armor!"
"But T-Rex is the queen for a reason," Alex argued. "She's so strong and powerful, and did you know a lot of paleontologists think that T-Rex were good parents?"
"Yes, Alex," Henry laughed, but something in his gaze had turned softer. "That part even made it into the movies. Although velociraptors didn't. I understand that deinonychus is a mouthful but the real raptors were just about half the size of what they put in the movie."
Alex thought he fell just a bit in love at that moment.
~*~
They were somewhere over the Atlantic, heads pressed together to share the headphones while watching Jurassic Park on Alex's inflight TV. Alex didn't mind how their bodies were pressed together, the warmth of Henry's body seeping through the soft material of his knitted sweater.
"Not a velociraptor!" they exclaimed in unison when Alan Grant and the rest of the team watched the tiny dinosaur hatch from its egg, only to get glared at by the other passengers in hearing distance.
After that they kept their voices low, the closeness of their positions allowing for them to whisper along with quotes and Alex thought he had never liked the movie more than he did watching it with Henry.
"Queen," Alex whispered when the T-Rex appeared on screen.
The way Henry grinned, all teeth and gums and sparkling blue eyes, made something settle deep inside of Alex. And he started to dread the moment the plane would touch down in New York.
~*~
As much as Alex loved Jurassic Park, he started to realize that a few whiskeys and the soothing words of his comfort movie were slowly lulling him to sleep. He found his head drooping time and time again until he let his cheek rest against the soft fabric of Henry's sweater.
"Alex?"
With a low hum, Alex pressed his cheek further into the soft material below him, breathing in the scent of linen and clean cut grass. The next moment someone pulled the headphone out of his ear and he found himself nudged up into a sitting position.
"Were you falling asleep?" Henry asked, the smile obvious in his voice.
"No," Alex responded as he tried to subtly make sure he hadn't been drooling in the moments he might have nodded off. "I was just resting my eyes."
That time Henry let out a small laugh but he didn't pull back, instead he paused the movie and took a small sip from his drink.
"Of course you were," Henry said with a smile.
"Well. Right," Alex muttered. "I might have…almost nodded off… but it's really your fault!"
"How on earth was that my fault?" Henry gasped even though he still looked amused.
"It's your sweater!" Alex sighed. "It's so soft, I swear it must be witchcraft."
"We call them jumpers, dear," Henry said, his smile turning brighter.
Alex knew he should think it through further, but hearing the word dear in Henry's posh voice broke down the hesitations he had clung to. He turned towards Henry, his gaze looking down at plush lips and without second guessing himself he leaned in to press their lips together.
For a moment Alex thought he had done the wrong thing, but then he felt a hand curl into his hair and Henry pulled him in to deepen the kiss. Alex found his hand on the soft curve of Henry's hip, tugging him even closer. For a brief moment he questioned how Henry would react, but then he felt full lips part beneath his and a hand found its way into his hair.
The ping of the fasten seat belt sign going on barely registered, but the call to prepare for landing did and they pulled apart, breathing hard as they stared wide-eyed at each other.
"Fuck," Alex breathed out, fumbling with the belt without looking away from Henry.
"Yes, indeed," Henry agreed.
The flight attendant came to retrieve their glasses and neither of them spoke as they handed her their glasses over. As soon as they had passed their glasses over, their hands found each other and they tangled their fingers together as the plane slowly lowered over New York City.
~*~
Alex did not feel anything special about Henry easily reaching up to get both their carryons down, or the way their fingers kept brushing together.
He felt nothing special about them standing shoulder to shoulder, waiting for the carousel to bring out their luggage.
He felt everything special when Henry once more reached out to hold his hand, a small and proud smile on his lips.
"Alex," Henry said softly. "You know, I wouldn't mind doing… more of this."
"I was about to say the same," Alex agreed. "How long will you be in New York?"
"What?" Henry asked, sounding confused. "I live in Brooklyn."
"Oh."
Alex felt himself still for several long moments, long enough for Henry to start to look worried, but then the words fully connected.
"So do I," Alex said before he pulled Henry in for another deep kiss.
By the time they pulled apart most of the people around them had gotten their luggage.
"So,” Henry said with a sweet smile. "Would you like to share a taxi?"
"Yeah,” Alex said. "Sounds like a good start. Well, apart from how my sister is here to pick me up. How do you feel about meeting part of my family?"