bakerstreet | Stuck in the airport

[ Find Claire camping by an outlet, playing a handheld video game. She's got a bag full of snacks and a can of AriZona iced tea - she's the best at dealing with airport delays. ]

[[The closest-to-happy option is some kind of survival AU, and that girl in the corner trying not to attract attention is definitely not someone you've seen on the news. The pre-canon option is her dad is somewhere off to the side watching her, and she's been sent to make friends with another teenage girl sitting alone.]]

[Teleporting from one side to the Atlantic to the other would cost a lot of magic, so he's flying. Definitely a hooman. Very hooman.]

(( I am SO DOWN for this! Just gonna AU Mitsuri into modern world. No idea where they flying too so feel free to choose 🤣 Are you more for gen or shipping? ))

...Ano, excuse me? [ Mitsuri tugged on the sleeve of a man standing in front of one of the plane entry gates. She was still out of breath, after booking it through the whole airport to find the correct gate. And even then... she still didn't know where she was.

Had the plane already left? Mitsuri was definitely late... but she hoped, with some luck from god, that she hadn't missed the flight. ]

—W-Would you be able to check my ticket? I have no idea where to go... [ Mitsuri tried to flatten out her creased dress and smiled up at the tall stranger. ]

[I'm good either way though keep in mind Elias doesn't consider himself attractive-only when he's a human as he's mimicking someone else-and will probably take awhile to warm up to]

Elias preferred teleporting to flying, but it would be a long jump from London to the Japan and he'd rather not use so much magic. Besides, he hadn't flown in decades so, might as well. Not as if he didn't have the money.

As he waited in line to hand over his ticket and begin to board, he felt a tug on his sleeve and he turned to the young woman. "Hm? Oh, sure." Normally he'd leave it up to the attendant but there were a few people ahead of him and she might be at the wrong gate, best help her out.

He took her ticket and had a look, comparing it to his then nodded with a smile, which, while pleasant, seemed...fake? Like he was trying to copy someone else's smile. "Yes, you're in the right place, in fact it seems you're next to me." he said, and showed her his ticket and pointed out seat number.

( Elias 😭 I love him! )

—Ah, thank goodness! [ Mitsuri sighed in relief. She could finally relax... she hadn't been expecting the impromptu training session in the form of sprinting around the airport. ]

Oh! I'm glad I asked such a kind person... ee-eh, so many people ran away from me when I asked them! [ Ignoring the fact that Mitsuri would have looked like a manic tornado running up to those poor people... ]

I'm Mitsuri, by the way! We'll be sitting next to eachother neh? What's your name? [ She glanced up expectantly at the man. Mitsuri was a chatterbox and it was a common occurrence for her to entrap people in conversations... whether they liked it or not. ]

Her very perky attitude was interesting to say the least, few were around him, and those that were, knew him for who he was.

Elias nodded, "You're welcome, but why would they run off?" She was in an excited state but it was understanding considering she might be worried about missing her flight. Why would no one help her? That was very rude.

"My name is Elias." he introduced.

Well... [ Mitsuri scratched her hair, suddenly a tad sheepish. ]

Sometimes I don't know my own strength. I think after running into the third or fourth person, people were hesitant to help me out? [ Mitsuri sighed. ] I didn't think they would rebound off me like ragdolls, you see! It was truly an accident! [ She tried to explain, fearing that he would view her as a freak and ignore her for the rest of the trip...

As Mitsuri tried to temper her restlessness, she started fidgeting, looking up and down the boarding line as a means to distract herself. Up ahead however, she noticed a crowd of people all staring up at a screen flashing: 'Flight Delayed.' ]

—Uh oh, Oyakata-sama is gonna kill me...

"They bounced off you? Just how fast were you running into people?" he asked, slight amusement in his voice. But then he caught where she was looking and he tensed with a groan of disappointment

Delayed? Delayed?! Why?! He was already going to be stretching his limits on this long flight...Maybe he ought to just go by magic after all, though the tickets weren't exactly cheap.

He sighed and turned as the staff called an announcement that their flight was to be delayed hopefully no more than an hour, probably less while they waited for the weather to clear for takeoff.

"Figures." he grunted and left to go get himself something to drink.

Mitsuri internally groaned while staring at the screen. She had already missed her first flight a couple days ago, causing a rather unfavourable phone call from her boss, and now her second flight was delayed for who knows how long.

The silver lining, at least, was that she wouldn't have to face scary boss-man for a while bit longer; and that was enough to absorb all of Mitsuri's worry.

All the previous panic disappeared from Mitsuri's very being; instead, Mitsuri was overcome with the sudden need to eat. And her stomach agreed wholeheartedly when it growled at the thought of it. She turned to her new found friend to ask where that would be exactly.

"Ah. Do you know anywhere I can—" Mitsuri stopped. He was gone? The spot next to her now completely empty and on-lookers worriedly looked back at her, probably wondering why Mitsuri was speaking to thin air.

She coughed, trying to hide her embarrassment, before catching a glimpse of the tall man—he really wasn't that hard to spot—walking away from the boarding gates.

"Oh!" Mitsuri left the line and jogged after him. Honestly, she was too scared now to ask anyone else for help, after facing rejection so many times. And if it happened again, she would resign to glumly sitting in the corner by herself starving.

"...Ano, sorry!" Mitsuri called out as she reached Elias, falling into step beside him. "Do you want to grab a bite to eat? Or... uh, show me where I can get a beer? I'm still a little lost you see..." Mitsuri mumbled the last part, because it was a bit embarrassing how bad her directional awareness was.

Edited 2023-05-30 08:09 (UTC)

It seemed the shadow had a shadow.

Elias paused as she called out and caught up to him, not hard, he was pursuing what was available at the airport, disappointed by how much of it was fast food.

"I was just going to get a tea..." he said, but he was a bit hungry, and if they weren't going to be flying for another hour, that meant who knew how long on the tarmac too before they actually took off.

"Well, the bar is over there if you want alcohol" he said, pointing it out, "But now that you mention it, I think I'm going to get a sandwich." he said, heading for a place that looked like it sold food that wasn't grease in a bag. Not that his body couldn't handle it, but he liked higher end stuff.

Mitsuri followed Elias to the promised land. A small store with a collection of gourmet sandwiches... it wasn't what Mitsuri usually ate—honestly western food was a tad lost on her—but her stomach grumbled regardless, and Mitsuri decided it was worth trying.

"I'll have one of everything please!" Mitsuri declared when the cashier walked over.

"Uh? Everything?" The cashier responded, in which Mitsuri excitedly nodded.

"What do you want Elias? My treat." Mitsuri glanced back behind her to the well-dressed gentlemen, waiting for his reply. He was... quite to the point, Mitsuri had decided. No floundering in his behaviour, which Mitsuri found actually quite funny. Serious people like that actually did exist.

Everything?? He could eat a lot, Silver could make some big meals for him, but probably not one of everything on a menu like this.

It took him a moment to figure out what he wanted, taken aback by both the offer and Mitsuri's unexpected appetite, which worked out because it took some time for the employee to put in such a massive order. Fortunately it wasn't very busy and they wouldn't be holding up a line.

Once everything was set they stepped aside to wait. "Thank you." he said with a nod. "I know airplane food has a reputation, and we have a long flight ahead of us when we do eventually get underway, but why did you order everything?" he asked. His tone wasn't accusatory, merely curious.

"Because I'm hungry, of course!" Mitsuri replied.

"Ee-eh I was actually holding back..." Mitsuri pondered, "My senpai told me not to strain the wait staff too much while in London. It's my first time here, you see. And the portion sizes are so small!"

Thinking back on it, the staff delivering her room service always looked a tad concerned and the buffet chefs in the morning were always agitated when she arrived. "Maybe I shouldn't have ordered as much..."

She turned to Elias, smiling. "-But then... I would always be so worried about hiding it and I don't want to do that anymore." After Mitsuri's husband left her for being too 'boar-ish', she figured that people either her take her as she is or not at all.

"I think everyone should just be themselves!" Mitsuri stated with determination, eyes glittering with passion.

Elias' body was different, even in this form, internally he was not what he seemed to be. What he consumed, was entirely consumed. No waste in any sense of the word. However he'd never tried to become "stuffed" as humans called it. He simply ate until the feeling of hunger abated.

But he knew that consuming an entire sandwich shop's menu was not typical of a human. Perhaps Mitsuri too was not what she appeared to be? Hard to tell, she didn't smell like fae or mage, she was very human for what he could ascertain.

The room service at her hotel must actually be delighted by her appetite. That stuff could run expensive. Buffet he could understand, must set them back a pretty penny, especially if she knew to go for the higher end stuff and avoid the pasta and bread.

His new companion was very curious indeed.

"Nice of you to say but society often shies from what they don't like or understand." he said on her note of being themselves. He certainly couldn't. Not physically anyway.

"That is true," Mitsuri nodded in agreeance, "I guess I'll just have to make up for its shortcomings then!" She winked at him, before rushing over to the counter when their food was called.

Mitsuri grabbed the mountain full of sandwiches from the counter, which piled almost higher than her eye-line and awkwardly sashayed over to a table, where she deposited the contents all over it.

"Elias, over here!" She waved at him.

"Ano... I don't know which one is yours, so take your pick?" She tried to scavenge around the food, but no dice. So, Mitsuri sat herself down, almost drooling from all the flavourful smells wafting from the food and waited, as was her custom (even though Mitsuri hated it), for Elias to start eating.

"Do you come to London often? Is it for work?" She asked.

Elias asked for a bag but by the time they brought out one, Mitsuri had carried everything herself to the table.

He followed her over and had a seat, sifting through the sandwiches until he found one he liked. He unwrapped it and opened up a lemonade he'd gotten for himself.

"I live outside the city in the countryside. Heading for Japan for some work." he said

"Ah!" Mitsuri started stuffing her face with food at a lightening pace. Finally, she felt a little better. She was absolutely starving before!

"In the countryside? Neh, that must be nice. What is it like there?" She asked before gobbling down another sandwich. She hummed at all the yummy tastes in her mouth. Maybe she would get her estate to start making sandwiches.

He didn't bother to tell her to stop or slow down, assuming this was normal for her.

"Indeed it is. Quiet, nearest village from home is almost an hour's walk." he said. "Trees curve around the back of the place, my garden has grown quite extensive. Gives me a lot to do in the spring."

He ate a bit, taking a slower time with his own sandwich-mostly because eating in this form was a little strange but he managed.

"That sounds beautiful." Mitsuri mumbled out before swallowing her food. "Secluded and peaceful! And you're a gardener as well? Do you grow sunflowers? They're my favourite..."

Mitsuri put down her half finished sandwich and stretched out. "I can't wait to retire! Not that you are, but it sounds you live the life of one! How does it feel to live my dream?" Mitsuri laughed then, but really she couldn't wait. Only a few odd years of working and freedom would be hers, hopefully.

"—Though I do wonder if being that far from the village is lonely?"

Edited 2023-05-31 10:50 (UTC)

"Not yet." he said "Perhaps someday I might add sunflowers."

He had a lot of variety though, both edible and not, medically used, and best for the local insects.

"No, I'm not retired." He doubted he even could. Can you retire from being a mage? He knew someone who'd failed to become one but that wasn't the same. Why would he want to anyway? This was what he did.

"I do not think I have ever felt that before. I don't much care for being around lots of people." Being here at the airport was enough let alone the flight ahead of him. He was quite sure after all of this he was going to be none too disappointed to return to his remote home and avoid crowds for a decade.

( info in journal! vip lounge bar, get. )

((Either reading a book or pacing/prowling. Probably the latter. Getting stranded at the airport is going to make him fidgetty.))

(Just looking around at all the stores)

[Judge Petrov doesn't enjoy delays, but he does his best to keep his cool as he waits. He's likely to be found seated by the gate—either reading a book, or working on his laptop.

When he takes a break to stretch his legs, you can find him browsing in one of the airport's many stores, shopping for something new to read. Or at a café, ordering the sweetest tea possible.]

Stuck in the airport

Claire Bennet ∞ Heroes ∞ OTA

Abigail Hobbs | Hannibal | ota

Elias Ainsworth // The Ancient Magus Bride // OTA18+

Mitsuri Kanroji | Demon Slayer

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Descriptive text for the win

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gwen wynne-york — original

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Barbie

Izuku Midoriya "Deku" | My Hero Academia

Yuri Petrov | Tiger & Bunny | ota