I am thinking thoughts about airports and flying again. And Dreamling, of course.
So. Human AU. History professor Hob has to fly around a lot for work, perhaps for conferences or smth of the sort so it's always to a small handful of the same nearby cities. He's pretty neutral on the idea of flying in general, though he wishes it was a bit more environmentally friendly, but Hob is a sucker for a nice airport and especially a nice airport lounge during layovers or before boarding.
Hob has begun to frequent a small local airline (White Horse Air, the logo is a coat of arms with a little pegasus, wyvern, and hippogriff on it, haha) when traveling because he likes their service (they've never lost his bags, not even once!) and their flights are never fully booked, which makes them quieter and easier for hob's chronic pains. He always picks seats with no one next to him so he can sprawl out and so it's easier on his knees.
Until, one day, he boards the little plane and there's someone in the seat next to his. Hob's sure that when he booked his seat, the other one was empty. Oh well, whatever, Hob's not going to bother the other man already sitting there for one flight— he'll just have to be a little more mindful booking next time. Hob shuffles into the seat, and notices that the stranger sat beside him is reading Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur! Hob gets excited because! That's a William Caxton publication! And Hob has so much to say about Caxton! He turns to the stranger to strike up conversation about it and... is immediately lost at how pretty the stranger is. Handsome, gorgeous, yes of course, but pretty, with the shell pink lips and focused blue eyes and slight frown at the book in his hands. Hob picks up his metaphorical jaw off the metaphorical ground and strikes up conversation with the stranger. Though the other man starts off apprehensive, somehow the two hours of flying fly by and the two of them end up talking about all sorts of art, history, and everything in between. Hob learns that the stranger works in publishing, thus his interest in Caxton.
Their flight lands, and the two of them disembark at the gate, still attempting to continue their conversation while Hob tries to wrangle his carry-on bags. (The Stranger only has a small laptop bag on one shoulder and a suit jacket folded over his other arm with him.) Then Hob has to check the time and begrudgingly says that he should probably head towards his next gate soon— this is just a layover after all. The Stranger looks ever so slightly disappointed and admits that this is his actual destination and he needs to meet his sister soon. They part ways, and Hob tries to dwell on the strange warmth in his chest. He thinks about the Stranger for his entire work trip afterwards.
This, somehow, happens a couple times. Turns out they both frequent White Horse Air, and though they're never in booked seats next to each other again, the flights are always empty enough that they can shift to sit next to each other once the plane's in the air. They chat the flight away, and then part ways once they disembark, with the Stranger headed to the baggage claim and Hob to his next flight. One time, the Stranger even requests the hostess to bring out a special bottle of Chateau Lafitte 1828 just for the two of them to share. Hob's in awe. He really enjoys their conversations, it's nice to be able to talk about his interests in a non-academia environment. The Stranger always has the most intriguing and eye-opening perspectives on everything, too. It doesn't really help that Hob thinks... maybe he's developing a tiny, teeny, really inconsequential really crush on his Stranger. He's not in grade school anymore, how does he feel like this about someone he doesn't even know the name of yet!
This all comes to a head when Hob mentions to the Stranger that his layover is a bit longer than it usually is, and if the Stranger is in no rush, they can continue their conversation in one of the airport's lounges. White Horse Air is a bit too small an airline to have their own lounge, but Hob's collected enough miles to get into one of the other airline lounges and is fully willing to pay to get in one if it means more time with his Stranger.
The Stranger is extremely enthusiastic about the idea— which shows up physically as a subtle, coy upturning at the corner of his mouth and a little sparkle in his eye. (Hob feels proud that he can read this reaction so well.) He's so enthusiastic, in fact, that the Stranger offers to get them both into a first-class lounge. Hob doesn't even pretend to hesitate to say yes.
Let's just say they get to the lounge, split some cheese and wine, and the proceed to get even more enthusiastic with each other in a private room. Hob's lucky he brought a change of clothes in his carry-on. (Maybe Hob's not so lucky and can't sit comfortably during his next three-hour flight.)
Hob gets a bit emotional when he has to leave for his next flight (already missing being able to hold his Stranger's face so gently, being able to card his fingers through his soft, smokey hair) and gets his guts together to ask if the Stranger wants to exchange phone numbers or something, so they can be in contact more regularly. Perhaps even, meet on purpose maybe? The Stranger smiles and kisses him lightly on the cheek when he slips a business card into Hob's hand.
Hob's so caught up in it all that he doesn't check the business card until he's fully boarded and sat on his next flight. And he gawks.
Morpheus Aion
The Dreaming Publishing House
As in, one of White Horse Air's biggest shareholders? Aion, as in, probably the sibling of Teleute Aion? As in, Teleute Aion, the CEO of White Horse Air?! Hob almost passes out.
In the end, Morpheus and Hob laugh it out. Morpheus promises he never abused his sibling privileges to invade Hob's privacy, but used the sibling perks to frequent White Horse Air flights a little more than he even needed to just for the chance to see Hob again. They're both happy to not need to keep flying just for that chance anymore, haha. Idiots in love! Turns out, while Teleute lives where Hob keeps having his layovers, Morpheus and Hob actually live just a few hours driving from each other from their shared initial departure location. It all works out perfectly, and Morpheus self-restraint from inviting Hob to move in (so they don't have to keep travelling to see each other, no matter how small) lasts not even a year after they officially start dating. Hob doesn't even pretend to hesitate to say yes :)
(Years down the line, much after they're married, Hob finally has enough miles to get them back into those first-class lounges to have more fun. It's all very lovely.)
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ᴠ ᴀ ʟ ᴇ ɴ ' ꜱ ʟ ᴏ ʀ ᴇ 007. ⁺ ───────────── ⁺
⤷ ℑ 𝔡𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔞 𝔠𝔥𝔬𝔦𝔠𝔢. ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔡𝔬 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱
ℑ'𝔪 𝔟𝔢𝔰𝔱 𝔞𝔱
I'm reframing how I describe Valen's particular set of skills. He was raised in a criminal syndicate, his dad taught him how to be a good criminal, he routinely does criminal things. I think he tries to keep it contained and be civil, but there's times where he can't and doesn't want to. He spent 8 of his formative childhood/teenager years in a gang being taught by a father who wanted nothing more than to see him become a useful piece of said gang.
Valen is a gangster/thug at his core whether he likes it or not (spoiler: he does).
Imagine someone's bothering his husband Nathan while they're out, or maybe someone from his past returns and scares/upsets him. Or maybe somebody is threatening/interfering a person close to him, or he's working with Reid and it feels really good being in a gang again.
Guess Valen doesn't have a choice and has to act like a thug again.
Truth be told, Valen enjoys being a threat. Enjoys the aggression and the violence. It's in his blood, it's where he came from. He gets a certain kind of charismatic assuredness when he's given the green light to be a thug. He's a violent, loyal guard dog who's so devoted that it corrupts him, so of course he gets a bit of delight from doing what he's made to do.
The situation happens where someone doesn't listen when he tells them to leave, let's say Vesper, alone, only for them to continue being a pest and harassing him, then Valen will just have to act like the gangster he was raised to be. I think the criminal in him comes out a little too easy and I think he enjoys it more than he lets on. There's a large part of him that rejoices because it feels right.
Afterwards, there's not much guilt at all. There's the feeling of satisfaction knowing that he protected someone he loves. But there's also the feeling of relief. Valen relieved because he was able to do what he's best at and he feels like himself again. All because he got to be a gangster again, like he was raised to be.
Maybe it's not good, but Valen doesn't mind. He's always known that he's the one who can do all of the bad things and dirty his hands just for the benefit of someone else. He'd rather he be the one labeled as a mean dog than someone he loves. Valen can handle it, can handle the weight of his actions, not everyone else can. If him being a gangster keeps someone else safe, then there's really no reason for him not to.
(Both Valen and I are well aware that this isn't exactly healthy, but he genuinely doesn't care that much. Valen is very self aware and knows what he is. He makes sure others know what he is and allows them to choose whether they stay or not. He enjoys that part of him too much to ever just put it down. He's unable to anyway. He's tried, and it felt like losing a limb. Completely ceasing that kind of behaviour would be cutting off a substantial chunk of his personality.)
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