From Taipei to LA
Title: From Taipei to LA
Pairing: Henber, Mitoria
Genre: general, humour
Rating: G
Summary: in which Henber first meet at Row 34, Seat E
Henry shuffles down the aisle, squeezing past a middle-aged woman in a bid to reach Row 34. Taiwanese Hokkien, Mandarin and English fill the interior of the plane as passengers chat with their friends and family. Henry scowls at the thought of his traitorous family who got bumped up to Premium Economy, while he’s stuck at least 10 rows back in Economy Class.
Why on earth should his younger sister get more leg room when she’s smaller than him?
--
Amber adjusts her cap while patiently waiting for the tall young man in front of her to move forward. Then she realizes that he seems to have the aisle seat while hers is next to his in the middle. She glances up at the markings and back down to her boarding pass. Damn it, why is hers Seat E and not D?
She swings her backpack around off her shoulders, nearly clocking a middle-aged man behind her who mutters something in Taiwanese which she can’t understand anyway. She eyes the baggage compartment. Her backpack ought to fit in there.
“Do you need help?” The tall young man in front asks her in an accent that marks him as mainland Chinese. His smile looks like it would split his face and she nods hesitantly, handing her backpack over to him. He reaches up and effortlessly shoves it into the compartment. Amber frowns slightly, because she always has to tiptoe to do that.
“Thanks.” She replies.
“Mi, ask her if she’ll switch with me.”
Amber’s already squeezed into the middle seat when the tall man speaks again. “Excuse me, if you don’t mind, can you switch seats with my girlfriend?”
He indicates a pretty young woman on the other aisle, who smiles back at her hopefully and tries to explain their seating arrangements. Amber is a little confused, because her grasp of the language still isn’t very good, but with some hand gestures she gets the idea and nods. It’s a little awkward when she’s not sure whether to let the woman or herself cross first.
“Qian, just go around behind and come to this side.” The man solves the problem and Amber shifts to Seat F with some wriggling involved. A boy on the other aisle stares at her curiously. He’s probably wondering why anyone would move across three seats, Amber decides, and plops herself down.
--
Why would anyone move across three seats? Henry wonders as he puts his cabin bag into the baggage compartment and shuts it with a satisfying click. He sits down on his seat and immediately stands up again, removing the pillow and blanket provided before sitting again. He contemplates putting them under the seat in front, but there isn’t much leg room as it is.
The air stewardess hands them the meal options for the flight, and the pilot’s voice begins sounding over the PA system, instructing them to buckle their seatbelts. It’s going to be a long flight from Taipei to Los Angeles.
--
“I’ll have the steak, thanks.” Henry tells the air stewardess, glad to be speaking English after being forced to speak Mandarin for the entire trip in Taiwan.
Amber opts for the chicken and after the stewardess leaves, she looks at the boy next to her. “Are you American?”
“Canadian.” He replies. “But I’m studying in California.”
“Oh.” She nods. “I’m from LA.” The plane begins to vibrate tremendously as it begins its route down the runway, and Amber grips the armrests tightly.
“Are you scared?” Henry asks in disbelief. He’s never actually met anyone afraid of planes taking off.
“No.” Amber’s voice is as steely as her grip, and Henry rolls his eyes.
--
“You’re not going to throw up, right?” Henry asks in concern. He can’t vouch for the contents of his own stomach staying put if another person’s vomit is within smelling distance.
“Are you kidding?” Amber scoffs.
“Fine. Excuse me for caring.” Henry harrumphs and plugs the headphones into the armrest. “Woah, check out the movies.” He scrolls through the movies on the screen. “Deathly Hallows it is.”
“What, didn’t you see it in the cinema?” Amber raises a brow. Everyone and their brother in her school went to see that movie.
“Yes, but it doesn’t hurt to see it again. Emma Watson is hot.” And with that proclamation, Henry settles into the movie.
Amber shakes her head and picks a foreign film she hasn’t seen before.
--
“This is the stupidest movie I’ve ever seen.” Amber can’t help but say as she rips off the headphones and focuses on her chicken.
“Which one?”
“It’s the Korean one in the foreign movie section. I thought it was going to be about terrorist attacks.” She explains in disgust. “All it’s got is high school kids throwing shit at each other.”
“Damn, that’s weird.” Henry agrees.
--
“I’m sorry sir, but we can’t serve alcohol to minors.” The air stewardess apologizes, and Amber tries unsuccessfully to stifle a laugh.
“This is ridiculous.” Henry growls. “I’m legal in Taiwan.” He eyes the champagne glasses of the happily chatting couple next to Amber with envy.
“Want my bun?” Amber offers, and he takes it, along with the butter.
--
The plane seems to be experiencing some turbulence, and every time it takes a dip it feels like her stomach is flying up into her mouth. Amber vows to drink less water the next time she’s on a flight as she unbuckles the seatbelt and stands up shakily. “Can I get out?”
Henry reacts to her hand waving in front of his face, and pauses his movie to pull his legs in as close as possible. Amber clings onto the headrest in front of her as she attempts to crabwalk past Henry’s seat to get out to the aisle.
The plane suddenly lurches and Amber loses her already precarious balance. Henry’s eyes widen, his arms shooting out to prevent her fall, but he’s not quick enough and Amber falls onto his lap. Her back collides with the armrest and Henry accidentally smacks her with his arm in the front. He draws back his hand quickly as if he’s been burned and stares at her.
“You’re a girl?”
Amber whips her head around to stare back at him. “You thought I was a guy?” She looks almost murderous and Henry winces, because this is not how he envisioned having a girl in his lap for the first time, even though it feels kind of nice.
She struggles to get up and out onto the aisle where she can head to the toilet in peace. Damn these blind Canadians.
--
“Excuse me.”
Henry turns to his left to look quizzically at the Chinese couple.
“Is your friend alright? She’s been gone for quite a while.” The woman explains, pointing at Amber’s still-empty seat.
Henry wants to reply that that girl (girl!) isn’t actually his friend at all, just a stranger he met on a plane whom he managed to insult by getting her gender wrong. But he just smiles politely at the nice lady and goes to the toilet cubicle.
He knocks on the door tentatively. “Hey, are you okay in there?” There’s no reply, and he frowns, wondering if perhaps she’s still mad at him. “I’m sorry for what I said.” He offers, hoping she’ll take his apology.
“What are you doing?” A now-familiar voice behind him asks, and he whirls around in shock to see Amber emerging from the other toilet cubicle.
“I…that is…” Henry glances to and fro from the unknown toilet user he was just disturbing and the girl. “I just came to check that you were alright, that’s all.”
“Oh.”
“And to apologise for what I said earlier.”
Amber shakes her head. “It’s not the first time someone’s mistaken me for a dude.”
“So…we’re good?” Henry just has to check to be sure.
She tilts her head to one side in thought. “Well, I won’t say anything about the chest-groping-” Henry chokes at that. “-if you don’t mind how I nearly crushed you with my weight just now.”
She wasn’t actually that heavy, he thinks, but decides to accept the deal. “My name’s Henry.” He sticks out a friendly hand.
“I’m Amber.” She shakes it firmly.
--
“Hah! Take that, sucker!” Amber’s tongue pokes out to the side as she viciously presses on the controls.
Henry groans as the words ‘Game Over’ flash mockingly at him on the tiny screen.
“I beat you!” She sing-songs in a way that makes him want to chuck his controller at her.
“You didn’t beat me; this is a one-player game.” He jabs a finger at the screen. “It’s Tetris.”
She shakes her head sadly at his stubbornness. “When I get home and add you on Facebook, I’ll introduce you to Tetris Battle, my friend. We’ll see how long you can keep making excuses.”
--
“Mi, look at them. Aren’t they cute?”
Zhou Mi turns from the entertainment screen to the boy and girl on the right side. They’ve both fallen asleep and the girl’s head is resting on the boy’s shoulder. “Aww. Reminds me of us when we were younger.”
Song Qian giggles and adjusts the blanket over the sleeping couple.
**
A/N: this was just something I thought of when I was in the plane. the part about the Korean movie actually happened to me :P
Please comment - that would make me really happy!
Pairing: Henber, Mitoria
Genre: general, humour
Rating: G
Summary: in which Henber first meet at Row 34, Seat E
Henry shuffles down the aisle, squeezing past a middle-aged woman in a bid to reach Row 34. Taiwanese Hokkien, Mandarin and English fill the interior of the plane as passengers chat with their friends and family. Henry scowls at the thought of his traitorous family who got bumped up to Premium Economy, while he’s stuck at least 10 rows back in Economy Class.
Why on earth should his younger sister get more leg room when she’s smaller than him?
--
Amber adjusts her cap while patiently waiting for the tall young man in front of her to move forward. Then she realizes that he seems to have the aisle seat while hers is next to his in the middle. She glances up at the markings and back down to her boarding pass. Damn it, why is hers Seat E and not D?
She swings her backpack around off her shoulders, nearly clocking a middle-aged man behind her who mutters something in Taiwanese which she can’t understand anyway. She eyes the baggage compartment. Her backpack ought to fit in there.
“Do you need help?” The tall young man in front asks her in an accent that marks him as mainland Chinese. His smile looks like it would split his face and she nods hesitantly, handing her backpack over to him. He reaches up and effortlessly shoves it into the compartment. Amber frowns slightly, because she always has to tiptoe to do that.
“Thanks.” She replies.
“Mi, ask her if she’ll switch with me.”
Amber’s already squeezed into the middle seat when the tall man speaks again. “Excuse me, if you don’t mind, can you switch seats with my girlfriend?”
He indicates a pretty young woman on the other aisle, who smiles back at her hopefully and tries to explain their seating arrangements. Amber is a little confused, because her grasp of the language still isn’t very good, but with some hand gestures she gets the idea and nods. It’s a little awkward when she’s not sure whether to let the woman or herself cross first.
“Qian, just go around behind and come to this side.” The man solves the problem and Amber shifts to Seat F with some wriggling involved. A boy on the other aisle stares at her curiously. He’s probably wondering why anyone would move across three seats, Amber decides, and plops herself down.
--
Why would anyone move across three seats? Henry wonders as he puts his cabin bag into the baggage compartment and shuts it with a satisfying click. He sits down on his seat and immediately stands up again, removing the pillow and blanket provided before sitting again. He contemplates putting them under the seat in front, but there isn’t much leg room as it is.
The air stewardess hands them the meal options for the flight, and the pilot’s voice begins sounding over the PA system, instructing them to buckle their seatbelts. It’s going to be a long flight from Taipei to Los Angeles.
--
“I’ll have the steak, thanks.” Henry tells the air stewardess, glad to be speaking English after being forced to speak Mandarin for the entire trip in Taiwan.
Amber opts for the chicken and after the stewardess leaves, she looks at the boy next to her. “Are you American?”
“Canadian.” He replies. “But I’m studying in California.”
“Oh.” She nods. “I’m from LA.” The plane begins to vibrate tremendously as it begins its route down the runway, and Amber grips the armrests tightly.
“Are you scared?” Henry asks in disbelief. He’s never actually met anyone afraid of planes taking off.
“No.” Amber’s voice is as steely as her grip, and Henry rolls his eyes.
--
“You’re not going to throw up, right?” Henry asks in concern. He can’t vouch for the contents of his own stomach staying put if another person’s vomit is within smelling distance.
“Are you kidding?” Amber scoffs.
“Fine. Excuse me for caring.” Henry harrumphs and plugs the headphones into the armrest. “Woah, check out the movies.” He scrolls through the movies on the screen. “Deathly Hallows it is.”
“What, didn’t you see it in the cinema?” Amber raises a brow. Everyone and their brother in her school went to see that movie.
“Yes, but it doesn’t hurt to see it again. Emma Watson is hot.” And with that proclamation, Henry settles into the movie.
Amber shakes her head and picks a foreign film she hasn’t seen before.
--
“This is the stupidest movie I’ve ever seen.” Amber can’t help but say as she rips off the headphones and focuses on her chicken.
“Which one?”
“It’s the Korean one in the foreign movie section. I thought it was going to be about terrorist attacks.” She explains in disgust. “All it’s got is high school kids throwing shit at each other.”
“Damn, that’s weird.” Henry agrees.
--
“I’m sorry sir, but we can’t serve alcohol to minors.” The air stewardess apologizes, and Amber tries unsuccessfully to stifle a laugh.
“This is ridiculous.” Henry growls. “I’m legal in Taiwan.” He eyes the champagne glasses of the happily chatting couple next to Amber with envy.
“Want my bun?” Amber offers, and he takes it, along with the butter.
--
The plane seems to be experiencing some turbulence, and every time it takes a dip it feels like her stomach is flying up into her mouth. Amber vows to drink less water the next time she’s on a flight as she unbuckles the seatbelt and stands up shakily. “Can I get out?”
Henry reacts to her hand waving in front of his face, and pauses his movie to pull his legs in as close as possible. Amber clings onto the headrest in front of her as she attempts to crabwalk past Henry’s seat to get out to the aisle.
The plane suddenly lurches and Amber loses her already precarious balance. Henry’s eyes widen, his arms shooting out to prevent her fall, but he’s not quick enough and Amber falls onto his lap. Her back collides with the armrest and Henry accidentally smacks her with his arm in the front. He draws back his hand quickly as if he’s been burned and stares at her.
“You’re a girl?”
Amber whips her head around to stare back at him. “You thought I was a guy?” She looks almost murderous and Henry winces, because this is not how he envisioned having a girl in his lap for the first time, even though it feels kind of nice.
She struggles to get up and out onto the aisle where she can head to the toilet in peace. Damn these blind Canadians.
--
“Excuse me.”
Henry turns to his left to look quizzically at the Chinese couple.
“Is your friend alright? She’s been gone for quite a while.” The woman explains, pointing at Amber’s still-empty seat.
Henry wants to reply that that girl (girl!) isn’t actually his friend at all, just a stranger he met on a plane whom he managed to insult by getting her gender wrong. But he just smiles politely at the nice lady and goes to the toilet cubicle.
He knocks on the door tentatively. “Hey, are you okay in there?” There’s no reply, and he frowns, wondering if perhaps she’s still mad at him. “I’m sorry for what I said.” He offers, hoping she’ll take his apology.
“What are you doing?” A now-familiar voice behind him asks, and he whirls around in shock to see Amber emerging from the other toilet cubicle.
“I…that is…” Henry glances to and fro from the unknown toilet user he was just disturbing and the girl. “I just came to check that you were alright, that’s all.”
“Oh.”
“And to apologise for what I said earlier.”
Amber shakes her head. “It’s not the first time someone’s mistaken me for a dude.”
“So…we’re good?” Henry just has to check to be sure.
She tilts her head to one side in thought. “Well, I won’t say anything about the chest-groping-” Henry chokes at that. “-if you don’t mind how I nearly crushed you with my weight just now.”
She wasn’t actually that heavy, he thinks, but decides to accept the deal. “My name’s Henry.” He sticks out a friendly hand.
“I’m Amber.” She shakes it firmly.
--
“Hah! Take that, sucker!” Amber’s tongue pokes out to the side as she viciously presses on the controls.
Henry groans as the words ‘Game Over’ flash mockingly at him on the tiny screen.
“I beat you!” She sing-songs in a way that makes him want to chuck his controller at her.
“You didn’t beat me; this is a one-player game.” He jabs a finger at the screen. “It’s Tetris.”
She shakes her head sadly at his stubbornness. “When I get home and add you on Facebook, I’ll introduce you to Tetris Battle, my friend. We’ll see how long you can keep making excuses.”
--
“Mi, look at them. Aren’t they cute?”
Zhou Mi turns from the entertainment screen to the boy and girl on the right side. They’ve both fallen asleep and the girl’s head is resting on the boy’s shoulder. “Aww. Reminds me of us when we were younger.”
Song Qian giggles and adjusts the blanket over the sleeping couple.
**
A/N: this was just something I thought of when I was in the plane. the part about the Korean movie actually happened to me :P
Please comment - that would make me really happy!