considering where this ended up i'm gonna blame it on a few too many nights staying up till past 3 a.m. and i apologise for nothing.

***

"Planes suck. No, don't argue, planes fucking suck and that's fucking it."

James sighed from the other end of the phone. "Yes, Sirius, planes suck."

"And now I need to go on one for a full eleven hours! What the fuck?"

"Yes, Sirius, eleven hours."

"All by myself!"

"All byyyyyyy youuuurseeeeeeeelf - "

"I'll shoot you if you don't shut up."

After a bit more inane chatter that did nothing to calm his nerves, Sirius hung up, then swallowed nervously as the tinny announcement was made which informed him that his flight to Japan was beginning boarding.

Don't get me wrong, he was very excited to go to Japan. Who wouldn't be?

Just... planes. Like, actual, big metal birds rocketing through the sky, able to crash at any moment, and there would be no one there to pat him awkwardly on the back as they hurtled towards their inevitable doom.

He was terrified of them.

His seat number was called out. Taking a long, slow breath, Sirius stood up, grabbed his hand luggage tightly, sent a quick prayer up to... wait, whoops, never mind, he wasn't religious.

Erm, anyway, he did all of that, then made his way to the queue of people who were boarding with him.

I'm gonna die, he realised blandly. Yippetee-fucking-do.

***

Remus was annoyed, because his fucking suitcase had fucking got stuck on another person's seat for the third fucking time and there was the boring stench of air freshener and the flight was for eleven fucking hours.

And he was by himself, so there would be no one there to make the whole ordeal even a little less mind-numbingly dull. Then again, he dreaded to think who he would be sat next to.

Scanning the numbers above his head, he found his seat, and shoved his suitcase into the overhead... thingy. What are they called again? Oh, who cares, I don't, you probably don't either.

Remus sat down, glanced at the person next to him, grabbed his earphones, then froze and looked at the person again because hot damn those were some fine cheekbones what the fuck -

"Hi," Remus said.

The man jumped, his dark hair bouncing around his face. "O-oh, hello, sorry, wasn't... didn't see you there," he stammered, grey eyes wide.

Remus smiled. "That's alright." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm Remus, what's your name?"

The other man grinned sheepishly. "Sirius Black, at your service."

"Pleased to meet you, Sirius."

After shuffling around a bit in his seat, Sirius asked, "Where in Japan are you going?"

"Tokyo, you?"

"Same, although I'm all by myself."

"All byyyyyy youuuurseeeeeeeeelf - "

"Oh, shush, I've already heard that rendition today."

Remus snorted. "Aw, how sad. If it makes you feel better, I'm in the same situation."

"That's a weird coincidence," Sirius said, eyebrows raised.

"Indeed."

They continued to natter on, and Remus found out that Sirius was going to Japan as a holiday, and Sirius was told that Remus was on a photography field trip, and that they were the same age and they both liked Radiohead and hated peppers, and when they thought the other wasn't looking they would sneak a sly, appreciative glance at their companion, because planes fucking suck so any positives were welcome.

Except now Sirius was no longer able to stare up at Remus' face (up, because Remus was a bloody giant, apparently), because the plane was about to take off.

He closed his eyes tightly, breathing hard through his nose and gripping the armrests.

The low rumble of the motor and the weird quivery movement of the plane seemed to twist his stomach tightly into tangles. Sirius quietly begged for it to be over - it was a little less horrifying in the sky, at any rate.

A small bump in the runway made its unwelcome appearance and Sirius jumped in his seat again.

Remus watched the man beside him with worry. The crease between Sirius' eyebrows looked like it would never be rubbed away.

I mean, he understood his fear. Planes were very scary to a fair number of people, just not usually to this extent.

Then, suddenly, like a lightbulb going off in his head, Remus had the genius, uncharacteristically bold idea to help Sirius feel a little better.

He gently rested his hand on top of the other man's, and felt Sirius tense and twitch beneath his touch.

Then, after a moment, Sirius opened his eyes, though he kept them on the ground. He turned over his hand, letting their palms press together and fingers tightly interlock.

The plane finally pushed off the ground, and Sirius squeezed hard, back rigid but mind less frantic with terror.

"You alright?" Remus' voice was naught but a soft murmur, barely audible over the roar of the engine.

"I... yes. I am now, I mean."

Another quick squeeze, from Remus this time, and their hands fell to their respective sides.

After a few moments of silence, within which neither talked or even looked at each other, Remus made some lighthearted comment about musicals and Sirius swiftly joined in, and soon their animated chatter was pissing off the people around them to no end.

All in all, Sirius was quite surprised, in a nice way. His hand tingled warmly from Remus' touch, and he kept remembering the quiet concern in those amber eyes, which weirdly made his throat feel all dry.

Anyway, the eleven hours passed by. Both of them had dozed off at some point, and Remus had been awoken by a stewardess to find Sirius leaning heavily on his shoulder, snoring softly.

Awwwwww - wait, shut up Remus, peanuts.

It was comforting to have someone there to make the ride feel a bit less grey, and Remus found himself actually enjoying the flight, rather than just hating everything about it.

They both watched movies, starting at the same time and making snarky comments on literally everything.

Sirius found his anxiety dissipate slowly, and every time there was some turbulence or he started to feel scared, Remus would put his hand on Sirius' knee or arm and ground him to the moment.

And then, all too soon, the plane had to land.

This time, Remus and Sirius held hands from the start, Sirius blushing heavily (and Remus admiring his blush, which made up for the crushing pain his hand was enduring).

The plane rolled about like a drunk on the runway for a bit, during which Sirius felt his insides do backflips in his abdomen, and then it was finally time to go.

They got off the plane, then made their way together to collect their luggage and do everything else you do in an airport.

As they stood outside, waiting for their taxis, Sirius felt a faint sadness in the warm air. He didn't want to say goodbye to this tall, kind, pretty stranger.

Of course, they'd exchanged numbers. But realistically, the chances of them actually staying in contact were very slim.

A taxi pulled up, and Remus sighed beside him, pushing his luggage trolley forward.

"What's your hotel?" Sirius heard the old driver ask.

"Hamacho Hotel, please."

Sirius froze. "Wait, I'm going there too!"

Remus turned, eyes wide. "Really?"

"Yes!" Sirius bit his lip, feeling strangely elated.

"Come with me, then." Remus had a large smile on his face that seemed to have disappeared briefly, but was now back (and just as beautiful as before, if not even more so).

As they settled into the backseats, Sirius let out a breathy laugh. "What are the chances of that?"

"Fucking slim, honestly."

"Next you'll be telling me you just happen to live near Oxford University and are a student there." He was joking, because that would be impossibly lucky.

A silence. "You aren't joking, are you? Cos I actually do."

They stared at each other, completely thrown.

"Dude, what? Really?" Sirius flopped back into his seat, deflated and exhilarated all at once.

Remus rubbed his eyes. "I think the universe is trying to tell us something."

"And what would that be?" Sirius rolled his eyes playfully. "You don't think - "

The way Remus looked into his eyes, so deeply and with so much warmth, made any extra words Sirius wanted to add crumble like cookies in his mouth.

Grey met amber in a knotted, overwhelming mess, but neither dared to move, in case they threw their whole world off the map.

Shit like this didn't happen. And yet, somehow, inexplicably, it had.

Their driver coughed intently, making them both jump. The car had been stopped for a while now, though neither had noticed.

"You know," the old man said, tapping the steering wheel thoughtfully, "sometimes, the universe wants something to happen, that could never happen if everything else happened normally. But it is the universe, and that probably means you should listen to what it is telling you." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Sorry, it is just my opinion."

Sirius bit his lip. "I think he's right."

"As do I." Remus smiled a little, in a baffled sort of way.

Both shaken, all three got out the car and took out the luggage from the boot.

When Remus tried to give the driver his fee, the old man pushed it away and smiled, wrinkles ever more pronounced around his eyes and mouth.

"Live your life with the least amount of regrets you can. That's all the payment I need from you."

With that, he got into his car, smiled at the two dumbfounded men and drove off into the distance. A blink later and he was gone.

"Did... I feel like we just met God? Is that just me?"

"No, it's not just you."

It was a stupid notion. Why would God bother with them? Remus didn't believe himself to be of any importance to any omnipotent being, if such a thing even existed.

Then again, just in case it was God, who was Remus to deny His wishes?

"Erm... R-Remus?"

"Yes?"

"We're not in a plane right now," Sirius said, looking down at where Remus was suddenly holding his hand.

Remus exhaled. "Yeah, I know."

They both looked off to their separate sides, smiling softly, heads buzzing with the newfound information that someone, somewhere, thought they were meant to be, hearts beating wildly in their chests.

Maybe planes weren't so dreadful, after all.

Walking into the hotel, they let their hands stay intertwined, their footsteps falling easily into time.