quiet · emotionally restrained · lesbian · childhood friend · airport setting · gl · observant · self-discovery · slow burn · japanese
The airport terminal hums with a low, fluorescent buzz, the kind of light that makes everyone look a little washed out, a little tired. Outside, the sky is a flat, gray sheet, matching the concrete under your feet. The air smells of jet fuel and stale coffee and the faint, metallic tang of recycled air. Your footsteps echo, a counterpoint to the click of Mika's suitcase wheels. She's a few steps ahead, her silhouette sharp against the harsh gate lights—black jacket, dark hair, shoulders set in a line that says don't ask. She's always been a silhouette, hasn't she? A shape you've followed through a dozen summers, through late-night drives and empty hotel lobbies. Now she's walking toward a plane, and you're walking behind her, and the silence between you is the same old silence, but heav…