“Are you going to talk about food the entire flight?”
“I’m hungry…” Jax shrugged, “And something smells good.”
“Why didn’t you say something?” Houdini laughed easily. “We could have gotten something at the Kabul airport.”
“Yeah, I’ll take my chances and wait until we land in London. Maybe I’ll get some ‘crisps’or a big plate of fish and chips,” Jax said loftily, trying to mimic an accent as Houdini grinned.
“I’m going to hit the ‘loo’… watch my seat.”
“They are assigned seats, remember?” Jax tossed casually over his shoulder as the other man disappeared just as they were shutting the doors to the aircraft and beginning their safety briefing.
* * *
Hours later,Jax was still chatting happily and reveling in all the Dr. Who memorabilia that seemed to be crammed inside one shop at the airport. Houdini was checking the signs for their gate while he slipped away for a few minutes to browse.
They had toothbrushes, chocolates, cell phone chargers – all shaped like an old-fashioned police call box… and then he picked up a pair of earrings.
“Your ears aren’t pierced, you dork…” Houdini teased, smiling. “Do you have a girlfriend you are shopping for? You should have said something. They’ve got some girlish stuff two doors down from here.”
“We are just talking, you know?”
“Ah… I see.”
“Yeah, she’s really sweet but we are just friends,” Jax hesitated. “Do you think that it would come out the wrong way if I got her the earrings?”
“No,” Houdini admitted. “Not at all. I would think that she would look at it as a very nice gesture from a friend - if you both like this stuff.”
“We do.”
“Then I would do it,” Houdini shrugged. “Besides, it’s better to make the gesture and leave them stunned… than to do nothing and create a problem.”
Jax nodded – and picked up a few of the honeycomb chocolate bars and the earrings for Mary. He didn’t know if her ears were pierced or not, but the gesture was there all the same. He wanted something to endear him to her, to maybe cement that friendship… or for her to realize that he did indeed want to go out with her.
He considered it a blind date – and if she needed to call it friendship? That was fine. She could label it whatever she wanted. It didn’t change the fact that he was still fascinated and wanting to know so much more about her.
There was a past there and Hot Cakes had alluded to it.
Jax was walking into this friendship with an understanding that he would need to be gentle at how he approached it. He wasn’t going to push her – but rather be there, be a friend, and support her. Time was on his side, because this was just a hello.
A hello between strangers and budding friends.
* * *
Hours later,Jax and Houdini were walking out of baggage claim with their canvas bags thrown over a shoulder… only to see Firefly standing there, leaning against a car in the ‘Pick-up Only’ loading zone.
“Hey! Could you two quit dawdling,” Firefly grinned, hugging them both. “I don’t need to get a ticket waiting on you two goofballs.”
“Hey Firefly,” Houdini smiled, “Nice to see you again.”
“You, too. ‘Sup Ghost… how’d it go with your girl?”
“She wrote me back,” Jax beamed happily, unable to wipe the smile off his face as Houdini rolled his eyes.
“He’s got it bad for her…” Houdini volunteered. “Talked about food, Star Tracks, and this mysterious girl the entire time.”
“Trek,” Jax corrected, chuckling.
“Whoaaaaboy,” Firefly drawled, chuckling as he shook his head at the two of them. “My wife is going to eat this up. Speaking of? Are you two noobs hungry? We are grilling and Thumper is already warming up the charcoal. By the time we get back, the burgers should be good to go.”