Chapter Text
Kravitz was not a fan of traveling. He was even less of a fan of traveling during the holidays, but that was exactly what he was doing now. Not of his own choice of course, but it had been an exceptionally shitty couple of weeks.
Usually he tried to get out early before the big holiday rush, but things had gotten held up at work this year. He wasn’t supposed to spend so long out on this project, he was actually supposed to go home two weeks ago. There had been some complications in the closing procedures though, which threw everything out of whack. Because of all that Kravitz was forced to stay for an extra two weeks to oversee everything.
Now he was flying back just three days before Candlenights, and it was obvious with the rush too. He made sure to leave for the airport two hours before the recommended arrival time, and security plus traffic had proven that it was at least somewhat worth it.
He was waiting at his gate now though, and there was still another whole hour before the flight was supposed to take off. If Kravitz had to wager a bet, a bit longer with the snow happening outside. He’d been keeping an eye on the boards posted up on his flight, and there hadn’t been any official delay announced yet. Even still, Kravitz was prepared to be sitting here for at least double the time they had told him he’d needed to.
One good thing about getting here so early though was that he actually managed to get one of the seats near a working electrical outlet. So he had his phone plugged in, but the internet really wasn’t that great here. It was never great at airports, and he wasn’t about to bother one of the workers for the wifi password. He was pretty sure you had to pay for that anyway, and so he’d just struggle on the flimsy connection he could get.
He wasn’t even sure why he’d decided to get on tinder of all things. Well, maybe because he was heading back home and his mother had been the one to insist he get ‘one of those dating apps’ anyway. He’d barely used it since he’d downloaded it, and he hadn’t actually met anyone with it yet. He’d gotten several people swiping ‘yes’ on him, but uh, it just seemed strange. He knew it wasn't and that lots of people made good, long lasting relationships through the internet now a days, but it wasn't his style he supposed. He was mainly flipping through it now so that he could prove to his mother that he’d used it and it wasn’t for him when she asked.
Except the internet kept going in and out, which was frustrating. Sometimes he’d swipe six times and it wouldn’t work, and then like twelve people would flash past him at once. He guessed it didn’t matter much, since he wasn’t actually looking to hook up with anyone at an airport of all things. He just wanted to go home and rest from an absolutely awful couple of weeks.
The app got stuck again, and Kravitz frowned in annoyance as he swiped pretty rapidly again. Of course, it jumped over to the next person almost as soon as he did that, if he had to guess specifically to annoy him. He only got to look at the new person for longer than a few seconds because it froze again. Even still he’d already swiped no on them because of it, and he definitely would have said no even if he hadn’t by accident, because he wasn’t looking to date right now.
He maybe would’ve hesitated a little bit though, or at least checked out the profile first. Not in a creepy way (a voice in the back of his mind said that if you had to specify that it wasn’t in a creepy way it was absolutely in a creepy way) but just because that man had been really, really pretty. The only photo he was able to see there was only shoulders up, but it was a very good head shot. Thick blond hair pulled into a braid over his shoulder, bright green eyes and freckles across his face. Kravitz wouldn't say he had a type, but if he did this person would be hitting pretty close to it.
“Ouch, hard no on that one, huh?” A voice said, close enough that Kravitz couldn’t safely assume that whoever it was wasn’t talking to him.
Looking up, Kravitz instantly glanced back down at his phone to double check, but it had already unfrozen and moved onto the next person. Still, there was no way this wasn’t the man he’d just been looking at on his phone. It was pretty damn cold in the airport, but Kravitz could feel his face heating up in embarrassment.
“I’m uh- I’m not looking to date um, at the moment,” he stuttered out. The man rolled his eyes, crouching down to the sockets and inspecting it. Kravitz figured (hoped) he’d move on when he saw that it was obviously full and he’d need to look for another one. Instead the man unplugged someone else’s phone and put his own charger in instead. Kravitz kind of felt like he should say something about that, but was still a little dumbfounded. Of course, he actually had to run into someone on that fucking app.
“Dude, you’re literally on tinder right now. I mean, I guess a lot of people aren’t on there to date, but that’s semantics,” he said. Kravitz wished he’d read what this guy’s name was before it changed over, but he hadn’t thought to. He might’ve been too busy staring at his picture.
Which, he was just as pretty in real life. Maybe more so. His hair was in a similar braid as it had been in the picture, and he was in some pretty comfy looking black pats and blue knit top. Those clothes made sense for the airport. He was also wearing sandals, which considering the fact that it was snowing outside was a little bizarre.
“I mean, I wouldn’t know. I’m uh, pretty new to the site. Site? App,” he said, not sure what was happening or why he was trying to continue this conversation. The outlet was at the end of a row of seats, and so Kravitz expected this man to put his phone down and go sit somewhere. Maybe if he was worried about someone else unplugging his phone like he’d done (which, was honestly pretty damn rude) he’d sit on the floor by it.
He didn’t expect him to go and sit in the empty seat immediately next to Kravitz, his phone charger cord stretching across him and the man having to lean a little bit too close so that it wouldn’t fall out.
“Um, do you mind?” he asked, pressing back in his chair some.
“Huh? Not at all bubula, you just keep doing you,” he said, and Kravitz let out a sigh of frustration at that. He wasn’t sure if this guy was just this callus and oblivious to other people’s feelings, or if he was deliberately trying to bother him. There was no way someone would take being turned down on a dating app like tinder as that great of an offense though, right?
Which, looking at his phone now, Kravitz got out of the app. Maybe he’d look at it some more a bit later if the internet stabilized and this guy left. Otherwise it really wasn’t worth it.
“Aw, that’s all? Was hoping to see what your taste actually is instead of just ‘definitely not Taako,’” the man said, and Kravitz could hear the air quotes around the end there.
“Not what?” he asked, not quite understanding what he meant by that.
“Taako, cha’boy, sorely unappreciated in his time and sorely tired of these shitty airport chairs,” he said, and oh. His name was Taako, that made sense now.
“Yeah they’re uh, not great?” Kravitz said, not sure if that had been an attempt at small talk or not. He briefly considered giving him his own name, but he was hoping not to talk to this guy for much longer. Sure, he was very, very pretty, but this was also a prime example of why he wasn’t interested in internet dating. Especially through an app that at least to him, seemed to prioritize looks over everything else.
Taako was very nice to look at, but so far he’d been nothing but rude and irritating. Not really someone Kravitz was interested in dating, even if he was looking for that.
“Come on, come on, fucking, turn on already,” Taako muttered, smacking his phone. It was obvious at least now that he wasn’t talking to Kravitz anymore. He was still leaning with both of his elbows up on the armrest though, so it was a little hard to ignore him. Kravitz only had to lean back the slightest bit to see his phone screen, which seemed to be an unhelpful black void. There was also a huge spiderweb of cracks running across it. Sure, Kravitz had seen phones working in that condition before, but it wasn’t looking too good for this one.
He didn’t comment on it or anything though, since it wasn’t his problem. Sure, it sucked if he broke his phone or something, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it.
“Fucking- damn it,” Taako said, finally seeming to give up on his phone. He still left the wire running across him, but he put it down on the armrest and slumped back down in his seat so that he was no longer hovering on the edge of Kravitz’s vision. Which honestly, that was good enough. He wasn’t expecting to have an enjoyable time in the airport, so he might as well be glad the guy was no longer actively antagonizing him.
Kravitz wasn’t surprised when a few minutes later there was an announcement over the loudspeaker and across the departure and arrival time boards. Flight delayed an hour. He’d been expecting it, but it was still frustrating.
Next to him, Taako let out a very loud groan and threw his head back, letting it hang there in the air for a long moment. The act made several other people waiting for the flight to look over in confusion and annoyance, and Kravitz tried to shift as far as he could away from Taako. Just, trying to channel as much ‘I don’t know this guy’ energy as possible towards the rest of the people here.
“Hey, Picky Pete, can I use your phone for a minute?” Taako asked, and Kravitz frowned at that.
“What did you just call me?” he asked, blinking in dumb confusion.
“High Standards Stu, my dude, can I please use your phone? Mine’s busted to the ninth layer of hell and back and I need to let my sister know my flight was delayed,” he said. Despite the annoying nicknames he actually sounded pretty desperate about wanting to call his sister.
Kravitz swore he was too nice. He could’ve told him to go ask someone who he hadn’t been a jerk to for their phone instead.
Having a broken phone at the airport was pretty horrible though. Kravitz honestly wouldn’t wish that on most people, let alone some guy who was vaguely rude to him over some dumb dating app misunderstanding. With a sigh, he unplugged his phone from the charger and held it out for him.
“Kravitz,” he said, and Taako gave him a confused look as he took the phone.
“Huh?”
“My name is Kravitz, not picky Patrick or whatever it is you said,” he explained. The look of confusion on Taako’s face shifted into a wide grin at that. He leaned back in his chair again, pulling up the dial pad on Kravitz’s phone.
“Excellent, well thanks a bunch for the save Krav,” Taako said before turning to the phone and quickly dialing a number. “Come on, don’t you dare not answer cause it’s a weird number,” he muttered as it rang several times. His phone volume was up just enough that Kravitz could hear when the ringing stopped and it clicked, someone having answered it.
“Oh thank fuck Lup,” Taako said, and unfortunately Kravitz couldn’t actually hear his sister well enough to understand her through the phone. “It broke, fucking long story, someone’s letting me borrow theirs. Anyway, important shit, flight was delayed,” he added. Kravitz wasn’t actively trying to eavesdrop, for the most part at least, but Taako was talking really loud and it was kind of hard to ignore.
“I know, I know, okay? Look, I’ll fill you in once I get home, promise… it says only an hour, but it’s snowy as fuck right now, so I don’t know… Yeah, just keep an eye out for any weird numbers, I’m gonna have to bum off other people until I get back… Uhuh, you too. Later,” he said, hanging up at that and holding the phone back out for Kravitz to take. “Thanks again my dude, you have no idea how much she’d have my head if I didn’t let her know shit was gonna be late,” he said, addressing Kravitz now.
“Not a problem,” Kravitz said. Once he had his phone back he figured he should send a text to his mother letting her know he’d be late as well.
A few minutes later he got a text back from her saying ‘Sorry to hear that dear. Hope things clear up soon. Can’t wait to see you <3’ which was about what he expected.
The next twenty minutes or so were actually pretty quiet. Kravitz went back to futilely trying to use the internet. Taako had stopped bothering him and pulled some book out of the carry on duffel bag he had with him. From the cover it looked like it was some young adult series, which didn’t seem like this guy’s style. He guessed some of those books could actually be really good though, although Kravitz was pretty sure he’d never read that one.
The relative quiet was interrupted when someone came over to the outlet they were sitting by. Kravitz hadn’t paid him much attention at first, people were constantly coming up and checking their phones. It wasn’t until the man let out a pained sound of frustration did he look up.
“Did you unplug my phone?” he said, and Kravitz expected him to be looking at Taako. Since Taako was the one who'd been unplugging people's phones. Instead the short old man was glaring directly at Kravitz, and he could feel himself bulk.
“I- no. No, that wasn’t me,” he insisted, because it wasn’t. The guilty party was sitting right next to him, his broken phone still uselessly plugged in. He was also avoiding all eye contact, very interested in his book at the moment from the looks of it.
“Well, did you see who did?” the old man snapped, glaring at him and frowning deeply behind his beard.
“I hadn’t been paying attention,” Kravitz blurted out. He should have pointed straight at Taako, so he better appreciate that he hadn’t. The man was glaring absolute daggers at him at this point.
“Are one of you done with the outlet?” he asked, finally looking at Taako as well.
“Oh yeah man, you can undo mine. My phone’s busted anyway, no point in having it plugged in,” Taako said, cheery as anything. The old man sputtered wordlessly for a moment, before finally unplugging Taako’s phone and putting his back in. Kravitz quickly grabbed the charger and handed it over to Taako so that it would stop pressing into him.
Kravitz watched as the old man walked a bit away and sat down at an empty seat, his eyes glued to the outlet now.
After maybe a minute, Taako broke into a fit of laughter next to him.
“Holy shit. Fucking hell dude, I appreciate you not ratting me out, for real. God, that dude was so pissed off,” Taako said in between bouts of laughter, shooting Kravitz a big grin once he managed to pull himself together. Which, okay, Kravitz still was not a big fan of this dude. The facts hadn’t changed though that he was just, unfairly attractive.
“I was not about to get dragged into the middle of an airport argument over outlets,” he said simply, which was the truth. Taako shrugged, rolling up his charger and sticking it and the broken phone back into his bag.
“Hey either way, no skin off my bones,” he said. It was quiet for a few minutes, and Kravitz was pretty sure that Taako had gone back to his reading or something.
“So, would it be fucked up or what if I unplugged that dude’s phone again the next time he looked away?” Taako asked suddenly, and Kravitz snorted, trying and failing not to laugh.
“Please don’t,” he managed to choke out after a moment. “I don’t feel like getting shouted at by angry old men in an airport anymore than I already have been,” he added. Taako started hemming and hawing like he was actually debating on whether or not he was going to. Kravitz did not know this guy well enough to be entirely certain that it was an act either.
“Fine, I guess I won’t. Only cause you let me borrow your phone and covered for me just now though. Otherwise I would’ve thrown you to the fucking wolves my dude,” he said, and Kravitz rolled his eyes at that. He might’ve been smiling more than he intended though. Okay, this guy was an asshole, but he was a pretty amusing asshole. He couldn’t deny that.
“Really? Just because I didn’t, fuck, which way is it? Just because I didn’t ‘swipe right?’ You wouldn’t have even been able to see it you know, your phone’s broken,” Kravitz said. Honestly, this whole thing was pretty funny once Taako had stopped being actively irritating to him.
“It’s a matter of pride my man, and more importantly than that it’s a matter of taste,” he said, and Kravitz genuinely couldn’t tell what was exaggerated annoyance and what was real. He guessed it didn’t really matter.
“I think I have pretty good taste actually,” Kravitz said, and he could see out the window now that at least their plane had pulled up to the terminal. Hopefully they might actually only be an hour or so late. It would be a miracle if it happened, but Kravitz was still optimistic enough in the day to be willing to hope.
“Oh really now? I still don’t know what your taste is my guy, cause from where I’m standing right now it looks pretty bad,” Taako said. Kravitz leaned back in his chair, humming thoughtfully as he tried to figure out what to say.
If he was going to be honest, he could start listing off some of Taako’s features. Most or all of Taako’s features actually. He wasn’t going to do that, because one, it was a little weird to start flirting now. He also wasn’t going to start flirting with a random guy he met in an airport that he wasn’t ever going to see again after this. And two, that would be letting Taako win.
“Hmm, I would say my type typically is someone who has the self confidence enough not to get petty over something as insignificant as being rejected on tinder,” he said. He couldn’t say he was surprised by the outrageously offended expression on Taako’s face at that. He had to quickly raise his arm up to block him when Taako started trying to swat him with the book he’d been reading.
“Fucking rude! Well my type are guys who aren’t huge dickwads, how about that? I guess it’s good for both of us that you swiped no on that one, huh?” Taako said, continuing to smack his arm and whatever else he could get at with his book. Kravitz was pretty sure he was just being dramatic, and was having a hard time not laughing before he realized how many people were looking at them.
“Taako could you please- Taako stop, you’re causing a scene,” Kravitz hissed at him. Taako huffed, still looking peeved and Kravitz suddenly got the feeling that maybe this wasn’t all funny dramatics. Which, shit. He hadn’t meant to genuinely offend the guy. This was why he kept his mouth shut around anyone he might be the slightest bit interested in. Didn't do that well for dating, but it did keep them from automatically hating his guts.
“What was that? You’re gonna have to speak up my dude, can’t hear you over how petty and insecure I am,” Taako said. He wasn’t hitting him with the book very hard, but there was definitely an irritated tone to his voice that didn’t sound fake.
“No, it’s not- people are staring,” Kravitz tried to insist. When it didn’t seem like he was going to listen to that Kravitz managed to snatch the book from him.
“Excuse you! Give that back!” Taako said.
“Only if you promise to stop hitting me,” Kravitz said, leaning away as far as he could and holding the book up out of Taako’s reach. Not that that seemed to deter Taako any. He was practically climbing over the arm rest and onto Kravitz as he tried to grab his book.
“I don’t gotta promise shit, it’s my boo-”
“Sir! Could you and your boyfriend please stop,” a very tired looking woman snapped at the two of them. It was enough to get them both to freeze, and Kravitz could feel his face heating up again. Taako for his part at least also looked embarrassed, his ears in particular going bright red.
“He’s not-” Taako started to shout, and then seemed to realize he was still fucking half on top of Kravitz and scrambled off into his own seat again. Kravitz instantly dropped the arm holding up the book, and then proceeded to hide his face in said book. He was done interacting with people. He was never going to interact with people again as long as that was cool. “He is not my boyfriend,” Taako finished.
“I don’t care, please just behave,” the woman said. Taako huffed, but thankfully didn’t seem like he was going to try and continue that argument. Kravitz wasn’t looking up to see if everyone had stopped paying attention to them yet. He lived in this book now.
“Gimme my book back,” Taako grumbled after a moment. There was a part of Kravitz that wanted to argue and continue to keep the book for himself. That part was weighed out the barest amount by the part of him that didn’t want to risk starting another argument and annoying everyone at the gate again.
“Here,” he said, handing the book back to Taako, who smacked him in the arm with it once more for good measure. He then proceeded to start doing exactly what Kravitz had been. Hiding himself in it and avoiding all eye contact.
It was very quiet and very awkward between them for a few excruciatingly long minutes.
“Flight 46290 to Neverwinter has been delayed another hour. The new boarding time is now 3:53pm, I repeat, Flight 46290 to Neverwinter…”
Kravitz sighed heavily, letting his head fall into his hand in frustration.
“Hey Krav? Uh, could I borrow your phone again?”
This was going to be
such
a long day.