Hearts Over Hawaii

[Alex Peyton]

"It's going to be a very clear day. For those heavy travelers, expect no delays, however anyone on the lower coast, expect long lines due to cancellations. Hurricane-"

Alex raised her eyebrows as she turned around to see the young woman behind the cash register at the coffee shop in the airport who was apparently not in the mood for the morning forecast, which Alex found highly inappropriate considering people wanted to know if there were going to be any sort of delay when flying. It was hurricane season in the south and it was very concerning for Alex, Captain of today's flight to Honolulu, Hawaii, carrying over 98 passengers. The layover allowed her a moment to breathe, four hours to Chicago wasn't something she was looking forward to, so when she remembered she'd have an hour to relax she was all for it before heading back to her seat.

She sighed out, trying to cool off her mouth from the incredibly hot coffee. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a dollar for her coffee and sat it on the marble counter of the coffee shop and turned around, grabbing her hat and fixing it on her head, annoyed that her hair had fallen slightly, causing the cap to be too tight. Alex was tired, no more than usual, morning flights were not really her thing, but she adapted, however being tossed back an hour annoyed her.

Sighing out again simply because she could, she smiled at a rushing family trying to make their way to a flight that had just been given the last call. Without much else, Alex knew that she should head aboard and get everything together before preparing to fly out of O' Hare International Airport.

"Ready?" Captain Gerard looked over at her as she stopped by his side as she looked up at one of the many television screens hanging on a column for passnegers to watch the weather. He looked down at her with a look of annoyance. The two never were truly simpatico with each other, he was a very straight edge kind of guy whereas she was more relaxed and tried to enjoy her job, sadly he made work just that.

"Always. I was wondering where you were! We are late to get on the plane. Come on." She bit her lower lip in response and gave him a curt nod, following close behind before flashing their plastic tags with their identification before moving through the gate and towards their plane. If things kept going they way they were for Alex, she'd be ready to crash it by the end of the day.

A small grin crossed her face as she thought of that. How horrible! She looked around at the people sitting anxiously in the chairs at the gate, some were preoccupied with their iPods, newspapers, cell phones, none of them looked like they wanted to be there. But she figured she'd give anyone who looked her way a bright happy grin.

[Kylie Galway]

Kylie was one of those who was fiddling with his iPod. Video iPods weren't all they were cracked up to be and he was now hankering for the Nano he had left at home. He watched as their pilots got on board. That meant passangers wouldn't be far behind. Their flight had been delayed due to work on the tarmac. The work had ended about twenty minutes before, and soon enough the passangers would be called to get on.

He had been staring at and Asain on the seat across from him for nearly a half hour, watching him play with his blackberry, talk on his bluetooth, fiddle with his computer case, tighten his tie. Kylie was about tired of looking at his face, but there wasn't anything else more interesting to look at. The other passangers that were waiting there were all chattering to the people they knew or were with, about the clothes they had brought, or the many suitcases they would have to get once at their destination. There had even been an uproar with a teenage girl and her mother about the girl's cell phone being left at the house.

Kylie hate flying. In fact, it was the top fear on his list of things to fear. But because of the fact that he was co-owner of The Blue Light club there in New York, and his partner was in Maine for this week, Kylie was being forced to fly to Hawaii to look at the building they were planning on buying to start a Blue Light in Hawaii. Kylie had all the paperwork in his satchel that he was carrying onto the plane, but at the moment he was much too tired to look at it.

He watched as the pilots disappeared down the hall, and fifteen to twenty minutes later, their flight was called. There was a mass of people that shifted, getting up out of their seats, moving their carry-on luggage, chattering, saying goodbye to family. The man across from Kylie gathered up his computer, blackberry, and suit jacket and fell in-step behind Kylie as they formed some semblance of a line to get onto the plane.

Thank God. The sooner this was over the better.

[Bunny Caldwell]

The sound of a young spunky woman calling for the second class, Bunny was on her feet, almost dancing all the way to the gate entrance as she listened to her cheap wal-mart bought mp3 player, ignoring the man with the mac daddy of all mp3 players to her left. She was jealous, of course who wouldn't be when flaunting a sexy machine like that around, but she was content with her small, simple, cheapo spin off that she could afford. She sighed as she handed the young lady with the plastic face her ticket and then walking down the enclosure to the plane where she was greeted by a flight attendant with all teeth and whose hair was pulled back so tight she wondered if it was her perpetual face lift. Either way, she was pleasant and quick to escort her to her seat, sadly it wasn't window like she had prayed.

"Thank you so much!" Bunny said with a smile as she stuffed her small bag into the overhead storage, falling into her seat and sighing out, ready to get this sucker going so she could get the crap out of Chicago and to Hawaii. Oh how she couldn't wait to see those blue waters and white shores. The pictures she had seen, the stories she had heard, all of them were about to happen to her and she was more than ready to go to a place she had never been unless in her dreams!

She looked around at the small grouping of people huddling down the very small aisle, she bit her lower lip as she looked out the window at the tarmac and she let out a small squee of happiness. She was so excited to be on a plane! To be on her way to Hawaii! She wished she could teleport herself there because it would give her an extra day to lounge on the beach in her bathing suit, sadly she wasn't going to be able to much of that except get a tan standing outside with a picket sign at a national peace rally. She sighed out as she moved back into her seat, looking down at her mp3 player, skipping to a song by a ukelele player from Hawaii, a complicated name she wasn't about to try and speak of herself outloud. She smiled to herself as she got the warm and fuzzies as she looked up to see more people walking into the couch area.

"Lets go! Lets go!" She said lowly as she boucned slightly in her seat. People were going to think she was really incredibly nuts.

[Laurent Flinn]

Laurent was far too old for this kind of thing. This was what young people did. Got in their bikinis, and trunks, got their cell phones and iPods, and went to Hawaii. An old fart like him wasn't in any kind of shape to be going to such a place. But...his hospital required that he take advantage of the week long surgeon's clinic going on. Which, actually, he was looking forward to. But spending a week in a place where all he would be able to do would be to look out his window at the young people running around and wish he was still in his teens, he was not looking forward to that.

Tha plane seemed cramped once everyone got seated. He was next to a woman he--obviously--didn't know, and he felt like his space was being invaded. He tried to not look at her as she fussed around with her things. He watched the other passengers get on and was bumped by a young Asain boy who apologized and seated himself in the aisle seat on the other side of the aisle from Laurent.

He was watching people like a hawk--people-watching was one of his favorite pasttimes--trying to guess what they were going to hawaii for. So far he had counted ten vacationers, seven business people, two honeymooners, and a peppered number of others that he couldn't decide what they were there for.

He turned his attention back down to his lap, where he pulled out the brochure for the clinic he was going to participate in...he hoped it was worth all this hassle.

[Chastity Collins]

She was counting down the moments until she was at the clinic, at the center where her life was to start anew. She was so tired already. Over a week at the facility in Chicago to allow her to go through detox was not very fun. She was exhausted, but she was ready to get to Hawaii to finish what she had never really started in her prior events of rehab. She wasn't suffering from cravings, yet, but she knew that they were a vital part of her recovery and she was told that she'd start feeling the effects after a week or so. She was just hoping it would not happen on the plane because she didn't want to cause any trouble and have the plane land in California or somewhere else.

So far she was having good luck and, despite being a bit tired, she was ready for everything and she was almost halfway excited to be going if not for herself but for the view. She had looked over her pamphlets of the center over a million times, it was like a spa and retreat, yet at teh same time a place she'd seek the help she needed. But hse was very cautious of looking at them in public, she didn't want people to know what she was. She even kept her sleeves folded below her elbows so peopel could not see her track marks, for they had no quite gone away.

She bit her lower lip as she looked for her seat, checking out the sides of the chairs until she saw her row, a man's long legs in her way. She looked up to find a black man leaning his head back, eyes closed, apparently listening to some music, she wondered what it was. She looked up at the overhead and quickly opened it, wanting to get her clunky bag out of the way and to see if the man will "sense" her, but once it was put away and the storage closed, the man was still in his zone. She looked around at the people finding their seats, luckily she wasn't in need of moving, yet. She didn't want to disturb him, but she had to. Slowly, cautiously, she tapped the man on the shoulder.

"Excuse me. Psst!" She leaned up, hoping a smalll shove did the trick.

[Kylie Galway]

Kylie jumped a little when someone poked him. He glanced up, seeing a pretty blonde woman, looking anxiously at him. He leaned up, reaching up and pulling his white earbuds out of his ears so he could hear her. He realized belatedly that his legs were all kinds of in her way. He jumped up quickly.

"Sorry, ma'am," he said, his British accent sounding thick after hearing so many Americans around him all day. He squeezed himself back, making room for her. He felt a little embarrassed that he had been in the zone and she had been trying to get by him. Ah well, it was an airplane, he'd never see her again after this flight. He waited for her to squeeze by before sliding back down in his seat, adjusting his glasses on his face and peering down at his iPod. His urge to listen to music had suddenly gone away, but he had nothing else to do...

[Chastity Collins]

"Sorry!" She said with a warm smile as she squeezed by him, looking down at him as she did, her butt brushing against the seat behind her. She didn't want to have his face smack her butt as she passed, so she figured it would be more curteous to give him the crotch, although both, in her eyes, were incredibly embarassing and humiliating.

"I saw you listening to music, didn't want to really bug you, but you know!" She smiled and sat down and sighed out, looking out the window with a glee of happiness. "I love flying, don't you?"

[Kylie Galway]

Kylie smiled up at her, discreetly looking away from her crotch as he knew it was embarrassing for her, and just as much so for him. When she sat, he looked over and out the window a moment before shaking his head.

"Naw. I'm not much of a flyer..." he said. He didn't expound anymore, as his people skills were not that wonderful. The last time he'd flown had been from London to New York, a long time ago, and he hadn't ever done it since. It scared him a ridiculous amount, which was why he had his music. It was the only thing that would take off the edge of knowing that one was 30,000 feet in the air. He watched the woman for a moment as she settled into her seat next to him. He figured if he was going to be on this flight with her, he might as well try to be nice.

"You're on vacation, yeh?"

[Chastity Collins]

She looked over at him, he was an attractive man, but her mind was too focused on keeping her sleeves down, her urges away, and her anxiousness at bay.

"Oh," She said lowly, nodding a moment, watching a young man walk by their seat. "I suppose I understand." She smiled at him, trying to reassure him. Sadly, being in rehab many times it gave her a sense of being able to share life experiences and give him advice or make him feel better, but this man was a stranger and she was hoping he wouldn't be too harsh on her openess.

"You aren't in control so, you don't know what is going to happen. I completely understand your fear. It'll be okay. I can close the window for you, if you'd like me to?"

[Leo Chang]

Leo was already comfy in his seat, his bottle of water in his hand, his legs crossed comfortably, his foot bouncing up and down in anticipation. He loved flying, he thought it was relaxing. Plus he did it so much, the skies were like his second home now.

He had barely been able to hang up the phone with his assisstant, who was a nervous wreck without him there, but his blue tooth was still stuck in his ear. He knew he would need to take it out, but...not right this moment. He was watching as people filed into their seats. All kinds of people. Businessmen and women, vacationers...in fact most of the plane was taken up with vacationers. Of course, if given his choice, Leo would have been going to Hawaii for vacation too. Unfortunately, his work never seemed to stop. He was sure he had about a year of built up vacation time, but every day seemed so jampacked with work that he never found time to take off.

The seat next to him was still empty. With his luck he'd get a pregnant woman, a teenager with their music blared enough to deafen them, or a chatty older man or woman, who's fear of flying manifested in chattiness. Not that Leo was a non-chatty person. But he wanted to get some valuable sleeping time in during this trip if he could...

[Tayshaun Payne]

Tayshaun Payne was not very happy with things at this moment, so far he has lost his luggage, he had a headache from hell, and he was incredibly tired. He hated flying, not because he was stuck in a small cabin with people he didn't know, annoyed at everything, the food, the air, the noise, everything, he just wanted to relax andrecline in his seat trying to keep his mind busy with thinking of new compositions. He sighed out as she walked into the airplane, shocked to find it wasn't as full as he was expecting. Actually, for a huge plane it wasn't even nearly filled.

He looked around, raising an eyebrow as she moved between the ailse, slightly nodding at a few people, trying to find his seat quickly. He wanted to sit, sleep, drink, anything to keep his mind off of the hell week he was going to endure at the benefit for music, a fundraiser that was filled with nothing but boring people and even more boring speakers. He wanted some fun, but these people were all old and halfway out the door, unfortunately he had to represent one of the biggest musical schools in the US, he was the only representitive. He had been twice and he knew that this year was going to be just as horrible as the last.

"Excuse me," He touched a flight attendant shoulder, "Can you help me find my seat?" The young lady snatched his ticket out of his hand and immediately pointed. He saw a young Asian with a bluetooth instrument sticking out of his ear. He couldn't express how ridiculous he looked, it was like a growth! Sadly, he had one, sadly he was as attached to it as it was him. He nodded at the woman and walked to the seat.

"Afternoon." He said to the man as he stopped by his seat. "Mind if I climb over you?"

[Leo Chang]

Leo glanced up, fluttering his eyes slightly as his mind registered the words. He stood up immediately, sucking it in--even though...he really didn't have much to suck in--and smiled, waving at him.

"Climb away," he said cordially. He did hate having to be in such close quarters with other people, as much for their sake as for his. He was sure no one wanted to sit next to the businessman with all sorts of gadgets hanging off of him. Oh well, planes were just that way.

He stretched his arm up to touch the cieling and give the man a little more room. He waited for a moment after the man got by him before sitting back down, shifting in his seat and resuming his position, crossing his legs, and bouncing his water bottle against his leg. He gave the man a sidelong glance as he situated, wondering breifly what he did--he looked too casual to be on a business trip, but too formal to be on vacation. Honeymoon maybe? But he hadn't seen a woman attached to him, or sucking his face off before he sat down...

Leo stilled his preoccupied mind, and shifted a little away to allow the man more elbow room.

[Tayshaun Payne]

"I hate planes," He said in a gruntled sigh as he leaned forward, putting a small satchel under his chair, not really caring for putting his stuff in a storage bin above his head that anyone could take if he fell asleep. He looked over at the man as he situated his bag till he was happy with where it lay.

"I take it you are on business?" Tay wasn't one for having the most tactful way of asking questions, but he enjoyed talking, helped ease his mind considering he wasn't partial to liking hour long plane rides that scared the bejesus out of him. Not only were planes feeding off of his deeply embedded phobia of being in small places, it was also feeding on his fear of heights and flying. Nice. Triple whammy! God hated him today.

"You don't peg me for the type of man who travels with all your...accessories for pleasure, unless of course you just really enjoy technology?" He smiled as she sat up, putting on his seatbelt too familiar with the instructions that were actually going on as they spoke, well he spoke to the man. He prayed he spoke english, how bad would it look if he was carrying on a one sided conversation?

[Leo Chang]

Leo smiled, glancing around at the things he had around him. He did look rather foolish with his computer, blackberry, bluetooth, and various other gadgets laying around. He buckled his seatbelt and shrugged a little, looking back over.

"Business it is," he said with an enthusiastic nod. He was glad he at least got a pleasant seatmate, or else the trip might have been miserable. "Contracting..." he paused. "Yourself? You don't look much like a businessman," he said with a smile. And if anyone knew another businessman, he was sure it would be him. He worked around them so much it made him ill to think he was one himself.

[Tayshaun Payne]

He nodded in response to his question.

"Not exactly business. I am a composer and teacher for Juilliard in New York City. I uh," He looked around out of sheer curiosity and out of seeing if he saw anyone he knew who happened to be going to this crap benefit this year. "Heading to Hawaii for a music benefit. Rather boring." He sat back in his chair and sighed out, trying to get comfortable at the air blowing on his face from the small vent of air above him.

"I don't mean to make it sound like I hate helping schools getting music equipment. Sorry." He sighed. "But I am sure you go to benefits and gatherings and come across rich, pompous people who think nothing but themselves. These people I am going to be with...yeah they hope that the more money they donate, they'll get some award." He shook his head, looking out the window for a moment, his mnd taking a moment to register they'd be off in no time flat.

"You heading to Hawaii for.....?"

[Leo Chang]

Leo listened intently. He was so odd for the fact that he loved listening to people talk. It was a weakness. It was why he always listened to talk radio before he went to sleep at night. So he was interested in what the man was saying because it was another human being talking. He nodded after a moment, before shrugging and chuckling a little.

"Yeah, benefits..." he shook his head. "Not my thing. I leave that to my partner," he said with a smile. After a moment he nodded. "I'm heading there for a meeting with these big company owners that want to contract their businesses with us. They won't settle till they get us..." he paused. "I'll trade you trips." He smiled, leaning his head back against the seat and swallowing, allowing the words of the past few moments to settle into his brain before leaning back up and looking over, his brow furrowed.

"You said you teach at Juilliard?" he said interestedly. He smiled. "You must be some guy, teacher and composer."

[Tayshaun Payne]

Tayshaun laughed at his offer. He liked this guy, glad to have someone worth talking to and who talked back it was something he rarely got anymore, seemed people were no longer as friendly as they used to be.

"IIIIIII think I'll stay with what I am doing!" He laughed lightly as he became more relaxed as the attendants continued their mandaroty speech, he barely paying any mind to them, did anyone? "If you want you are more than welcome to come with me! I could use someone to talk to at these things! You are a lot more interesting than those wet rags who are more worried about their image."

He sighed out as she watched the young attendants point to all the exits. He laughed lightly. Who actually needed exits on a plane? They were just to ease people's minds. If the plane went down...it was gonna go down without any survivors, in his opinion. He looked back at the man, he didn't need to think about that kind of thing right now before take-off.

"Uh, I do, I do teach at Juilliard, but I promise you it is just like any other college except no general education classes, just music. All the time." He laughed. "But your business is good, too, you are professional, sharp suits, cool gadgets. Women are probably lining out your door wanting to get a date." He laughed lightly.

[Leo Chang]

Leo laughed lightly. At first he didn't take the remark seriously, but then he remembered that not everyone in the world was a super-closeted homosexual as he was. He shrugged a little.

"They line," he said simply. He pushed that subject from his mind quickly, instead returning back to the music thing. Although never any good with writing it, Leo appreciated music, loved symphonies, and any music really, in any form. He paused a moment before he said anything else, giving all parties a moment to regroup.

"So you said you compose?" he asked. "Might I ask what sort of music? I don't know much about it myself," he said with a smile.

[Tayshaun Payne]

He looked over at the man, taking in more than his gadgets hanging from here and there, he was an attractive man, he'd date him, but it was apparently he was not the kind of man who was gay, unlike himself. Apparently, he had hit it right on the money, the do line, if he played his team, he'd definitely fight to be the first one.

"I compose anything and everything. I have subjects, so from one chapter to another I teach the class to compose. I have...rock music, symphonies, latin, dance...anything. Now, me, personally, I love piano pieces and quartets. Anything that comes to mind." He smiled. Boy, he loved talking music, life, jobs, it was a great thing he realized in his moment of happiness and his freedom of a brewing headache. This is why he enjoyed flying amidst it's horrors. The people you met, unmatched by all means.

"Everyone knows music, just some don't know how to make it!"

[Leo Chang]

Leo couldn't help but smile as he watched the man talk about music. It was obviously something he was very passionate about. Leo listened as he talked about the different things he composed. Leo wished he had the talent to write music. It would be the one gift that God had failed to give to him. Ah well.

"So it just comes to you?" he asked, very interested now. He found himself unconsciously finding the man very attractive. He had to keep it in check, but he figured if he wouldn't ever see him again, he might as well look. He shook his head a little. He didn't get how someone could just be sitting there and how music could just attack their brain. He imagined it was much like him sitting there considering a math problem and the solution just coming to him. He smiled.

"The symphony is my first music love. I admire you for being able to just write something like that."