paper mache planes

"That's a relief," the person says, physically relaxing, shoulders slumping and he looks almost like he's falling into himself. "My name is Deidara. I think I am on the same flight as you if you're heading back to Japan."

"Perhaps," Obito responds. He holds his book in his right hand and reaches for his bag with his left, shoving it back inside. There's no point in reading now. He could tell from the way the person — Deidara — is speaking that he has no intentions of leaving him alone anytime soon.

He pauses for a second, settling back into his seat. "My name is Obito," he introduces himself. It would be rude if he doesn't, seeing as Deidara already did. "What's wrong?"

"You can tell, huh?" Deidara laughs, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. "I don't really like the airport much, hm."

"Not a big fan of flying?" Obito smiles, gesturing to the empty seat beside him.

Deidara takes the hint and moves to sit down next to him, putting his bag between his legs. "Yeah, you can say that. I always think it's kind of stupid for me to be afraid of flying, but I can't stop thinking about how high up we are, and how heavy the plane is, hm."

Obito lets out a good-humored laugh, nodding along to Deidara's words. "I understand," he says. "It's natural to feel afraid of flying with so many terrifying news reports of disappearing aircraft and all... but, erm, I don't understand why you said it's stupid for you to be afraid."

"Oh, uh," Deidara seems suddenly shocked, turning away from him and watching something across the room instead. The airport is buzzing with activity, mostly complaints to either employees or family members on phones. It is certainly something Obito is not used to at this time of the hour. "You caught that, huh? Well, it's nothing, really. It's sort of like my life philosophy, that life is fleeting and there's no point in really prolonging something that isn't made to live long."

Obito nods, suddenly finding this person very interesting indeed. "What are you in England for?" he asks.

Deidara turns back to him, looking at him with a pensive expression and blinks at the sudden change of topic but otherwise doesn't seem to think it weird. He shrugs a little and then looks away once more, pink tongue peeking out between his lips that Obito finds almost adorable.

"I study here, yeah," he says, saying it like it's almost something he's not very proud of. "Art. I'm in my final year, hm."

Obito nods once more. It's hard to really find a great art university back in Japan. "Going back home already? It's a bit early." It's the only reason why he'd be on a flight at this time of year.

"Oh, no, not like that, hm," Deidara shrugs, leaning back against his chair and finally turning his head to Obito's general direction. Obito wonders if this person is quite shy. "I'm only going back for a week. Family emergency."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"No, nothing like that, yeah. They just want me to attend a wedding and it's super important because he's the only guy in the family who has a chance of carrying on the family name. I think my parents just want me to go there to further rub it in my face, hm."

Obito blanks for a moment, finding himself unable to keep up with the conversation. He thought himself great at picking up subtle clues in everyday dialogue, but in this case, he finds himself questioning his own title.

Deidara turns to him, perhaps wondering about the silence, and then tucks his lips between his teeth to suppress a smile. "I guess I'm better at hiding it than I thought, hm, or your gaydar is just really bad."

He remains quiet as Deidara's words sink in. It isn't a moment later that his eyes widen and he just blinks, once, twice, then he leans back and lets out a laugh that resembles a puff of air more than anything else.