"Have you called your boss yet?" Charlie heard after a tense silence between the two.

Darian had picked them up about an hour after they last exchanged words with each other. Charlie had finished packing five minutes before he knocked on her front door. When they walked downstairs, Charlie wondered whether she should've made them wait for a few more minutes and see her parents. But she decided against it for two reasons: seeing her mother again might have had a negative effect on Charlie. She would've wanted to know what was wrong with her and Morpheus would've still left without her. Secondly, she did not feel the desire to make Morpheus hate her even more.

But as they sat in the backseat of the car now as Darian was driving perfecrly, he seemed to have changed his attitude a little. Charlie looked at him.
"Yes, he called me when you were in the bathroom. He was a little too ecstatic when I told him that I decided to take a week off work. Especially since I told him like a few minutes before my shift would've started." Charlie answered Morpheus, still confused her boss didn't yell at her.

"Was he as weird as your mother yesterday?" He asked and Charlie frowned. Now that she thought about it, she did think so.
"I think. He usually isn't very nice." She admitted to Morpheus and watched as his eyebrows furrowed. He looked at her like that for a second or two before simply nodding and looking out of his window again.

Charlie sighed and followed his actions as she too watched the passing houses and trees along their way to the airport. She wondered what he was thinking about. It was quiet for the next fifteen minutes until they reached the airport's parking area. Darian went out first and opened the door for Morpheus, whilst Miss Denver opened her own. The three came to stand behind the trunk as Darian took out the bags and suitcases.

Since Morpheus had calculated the trip to be around a week long tops, they only packed for seven days. So both only had one medium sized suitcase and one backpack. Which was why it was rather easy for Morpheus to grab a hold of his own as well as Miss Denver's.

"Morpheus, that's mine." She told him,  reaching out for the blue suitcase with the pink backpack on top.
"I am aware of that, Miss Denver." He said before turning towards Darian.
"Go home now." He ordered the Are, who bowed and got back into the Jaguar.

"Morpheus, you don't have to-" Charlie felt uncomfortable having him carry all bags. She could very well carry her own.
"I know that too, Miss Denver. Go and get in line." He told her, dismissing her reaching hand again. Charlie sighed and went to get in line for the check-in counter. She watched Morpheus take out his passport as well as their tickets. He let Miss Denver take out her own passport as well.

The line wasn't as long as he feared, so at least that made Morpheus less annoyed. He glanced at Miss Denver and watched as she too seemed new to this scenario. She probably hadn't been on a plane much either. He wanted to ask her, but felt as if she wouldn't want to talk to him for a while, unless it was important.

Back at her apartment, when Miss Denver walked back into the bathroom after he came out of it, he was about to get upset again since he saw her suitcase still open and unfinished. But she didn't take long and came out a couple minutes later. She had stripped her face off the make up and he wondered if maybe he said something that caused her to do that. He then realized he might've come off as mean again and felt bad. Yes, he could feel bad too. Not very often, but apparently when it came to Miss Denver, his human emotions came through more than usually.

If he was being honest, he didn't mind the silence between them. Seeing as he had never been to an airport- at least couldn't remember it- he needed all his concentration, in order to find everything and not get too overwhelmed. Get to the right gate and take the right plane and all that stuff. It sounded so easy, yet with him having only two hours of sleep- if even. Because the noise in this airport and the ongoing process of adjustment to daytime made it rather difficult to focus.

"Passports and tickets, please." The kind lady behind the counter held out her hand. Charlie and Morpheus handed over their passports as well as their tickets.
"You can place your suitcases onto the belt and keep your handbags with you." The woman looked at Morpheus for a second too long before nodding and giving them their passports back.

"You should really update that photo in there. It's cute, but you've aged a little since then. This is a brochure for recommended and legal passport altering stations." The woman told Morpheus as she handed him the brochure as well.
"I'll keep that in mind." Came his lazy reply and she nodded again.

"Gate C is around the corner on the left. Have a good flight." With that, the two left the counter through a safety pathway and went around the corner. It took them about half an hour and a lot of patience with the security staff in order to eventually sit down at the right gate. Who would've known they weren't allowed to bring more than a few millilitres of liquid?

"How long until the flight?" Charlie asked Morpheus who looked at the TV above the gate.
"It is supposed to be here in an hour." He responded and Charlie sighed.
"Well, at least we're not late." She tried to up their mood. Morpheus chuckled and looked at her next to him.
"Right." His energy was leaving again. But at least he knew what he would be doing on the plane. Catching up on some good sleep. The flight was going to take them 11 hours without a stop. Surely, that was plenty of time for him to recharge.

"Right." Charlie repeated his words, feeling the awkwardness settle in between them again. Don't get her wrong, she hated it when he was rude to her. But anything would be better than this weird energy between them. So she looked around physically and mentally in order to find a conversation starter.

"I thought the guy at the security gate was going to kill you." She let out an amused breath.
"I know. He seemed furious about my water bottle." Morpheus agreed, making Charlie giggle. She shook her head at the sound and looked away from him. He probably hated that too, she thought.

"Have you ever been on a plane before?" Surprised, Charlie looked back at Morpheus when he asked her that.
"Uh, no." She answered, making him nod and look back at the TV.
"Have you?" She asked when he didn't appear to carry on this conversation.
"Not that I remember." He said, looking at the passport in his hands. She watched as Morpheus threw her a side glance and it seemed like he refrained from doing something.

"Can I see your passport photo?" Charlie asked as she remembered the woman behind the counter.
"What? Why?" Morpheus seemed to be weirded out by that.
"You can see mine too." She held out her passport to him, feeling like a child at the playground exchanging toys.
"Why would I want to see yours?" He frowned.

"Oh, forget it." Charlie sighed and looked the other way. There he went again. She wondered if they would ever be able to hold a decent conversation without him being weirded out or rude to her.
"You don't have to be upset again." Morpheus told her, giving her the passport and taking a hold of hers.

"I wasn't." Charlie's features softened when she opened his passport.
"Aw." She couldn't help her initial reaction. Morpheus seemed to be around five or six in that picture. She didn't even know you could still use a passport with such an old picture of yourself. She just remembered her parents bringing her to the passport picture photographer every seven to ten years. She thought that was law.

"How old were you?" She asked Morpheus, who was grinning down at her picture.
"What?" She asked, taking offence.
"You look so badass. Did you have to take it with your uniform?" He asked, making Charlie shrug.
"I could use it as my passport photo as well as my work photo. Killing two birds with one stone." Charlie smiled at her picture and then looked back at Morpheus'.

"I was like six I think. I don't remember." He shrugged as well and Charlie nodded. Her thumb grazed over his name and frowned. Was that his legal name?
"Nathaniel?" She tried and from the corner of her eyes, Charlie saw his body stiffen. Her head turned towards him.

"Don't call me that." He told her, another harsh tone. Charlie let him take his passport again and watched him put it in his bag. She expected him to give back her own, but he was still looking at it.
"Why do you want to be a police officer?" He wondered aloud, still looking at her picture. Charlie leaned back in her seat and looked up at the high ceiling of the hall.

"It was all I ever knew. My father was the Sheriff of the City Department. I always looked up to him and I remember when I was a child- I- I think I always wanted it." Charlie frowned when she forgot why she wanted to become a police officer. She knew there was a reason, one particular thing that made her become who she was today. But she just didn't remember. Morpheus nodded anyway.

"Your father is retired now?" He asked and Charlie gulped.
"Yes after he was diagnosed with lung cancer." She shrugged, feeling her throat tighten up.
"Didn't you know that? Since you even know my sleep schedule." Charlie wanted to change the topic.

"No, I didn't. I observed you, not the people around you. I apologize." He said, making Charlie shrug again.
"It's okay. Can we just not talk about it?" Her hopeful eyes met his sympathetic ones. Did he really feel sympathetic?
"Of course." Morpheus answered with a nod and closed her passport.

"The picture is still horrid." He gave Charlie a small smile, telling her he was joking. She smiled back and took her passport from his hands.
"Whatever. At least mine isn't twenty years old." She commented.

"Fair enough. But I never had to use it before, so I suppose I never really cared to change it." Morpheus informed Charlie, who sighed again.
"Great, two complete strangers to flying take a flight for eleven hours. I wonder how this is going to go." She said, making Morpheus chuckle slightly as he leaned back in his seat as well.

"It's part of the adventure, eh?" When Charlie looked at him, she was once again reminded of how handsome he looked when he was smiling. He didn't have to show his teeth in order to stun her. Just the way his eyes locked with hers as the left corner of his lips lifted up into a smug and confident half smile. It was honestly so attractive.

This was going to be a long flight. Charlie and Morpheus both didn't know it, but they would soon find out that those eleven hours were going to feel like the longest eleven hours ever.