20173/Arrivals and Departures

Arrivals and Departures
Date of Scene:	02 March 2025
Location:	Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO)
Synopsis:	Two travelers come across each other far from home. One arriving while the other waits to depart
Cast of Characters:	Michael Hannigan, Richard Stadler

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Michael Hannigan has posed:
As far as must go to places for tourists, there stands one location that is visited the most.

Rome Fiumicino Airport.

Badumcha.

Okay so that's a bit of a cop out being that this airport, also known as the Leonardo da Vinci International airport is one of the largest hubs for international and intercontinental flights for Italy.

In short, if you want to visit Italy, you're probably coming through here first.

And what airport is not known for the occasional flight delay? This could possibly explain several flights worth of people hanging out in their respective terminals waiting for updates on their trips home. Which ones are delayed? Which are being canceled? And dear god don't let that screaming toddler be seated right behind me on that several hours long flight I'm to embark on.

But it's not all bad as it appears several restaurants and bars are there to soothe with their overpriced food and drink.

As another door opens, there's a flittering of hope for some as a trickle of persons embarking from the large aircraft starts up.

Up to the front of the line, a knit capped man strides in. Upon his back there appears to be both a guitar case and a violin case strapped together.

Accompanying him, a slightly taller blond fellow follows, carrying two backpacks.

Mike Hannigan glances back towards Wade Shaw, giving a slight smile before turning forward once more to make his way to the main walkway of the terminal.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Coincidences happen every day, certainly, driven by a number of factors. Here, it was the fact that Rome was on the Mediterranean coast, and that it was a stopping point for a number of flights from the other side of it... especially ones from the Middle East, after.... he was having trouble recalling if it was two or three airports. He had forgotten what it was like trying to keep customs agents on their toes in regards to your movements.

It meant that being almost done meant only two more layovers and a flight across ocean, and it meant that, at a small bar next to the terminal itself, Rick was sitting over a small cup of Americano, eyes closed, trying to, what it appears, take a short nap. It was enough that he wouldn't notice a collection of musicians and managers walk by from one of the nearby gates, but he was, perhaps, a bit too tired to pull up another mild disguise on himself.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
For the tired professor situated at the bar being too exhausted to hide himself. All it takes is for one rude traveler to cut in front of Mike to enter into the bar to cause the musician to come to a halt. "H-" Eyes narrowing, his glance follows the man, giving a silent admonishment for the behavior before the sleepy face draws attention.

Mike looks over to Wade, causing for the blond to glance over, smile slightly and nod. "...Call if longer than twenty."

With a nod given, Mike and Wade part ways with one heading down the walkway while Mike walks over to where Rick is seated.

"It looks like one cup of coffee might not be enough for you."

Richard Stadler has posed:
     It was a few things; perhaps Rick might have been expecting a bit of a wake up from the server, or the alarm on a watch or a phone. Someone coming up to him in the bar itself wasn't. He jerks up, eyes wide and confused through his glasses, hand working into the coat of a sport jacket for something he doesn't find, a split second of owlish blinking before the confused look turns to one of resigned horror. "Please. Please tell me there isn't some... Greco-Roman warlock that suddenly showed up in Sardina and is making their way here." He says. And perhaps the worse part of that is that he may only be /slightly/ joking, waiting for some confirmation from MIke, suddenly here unexpectedly in front of him, before continuing. His hand moves over to the mug, and he quickly downs what was lukewarm at the moment, before raising his hand to the barista for something else. "Espresso!"

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Mike patiently waits for the slightly dozy professor to gain his wits about him. When the expression upon the man's face contorts to one of horror, the musician offers up as reassuring smile as he can muster.

But the answer to such an inquiry is delayed as Rick tends to the most immediate need for caffeine. Once the order is placed in, the musician looks over to them. "And two American coffees to go!" He tosses in before setting the instruments down and sidling into the seat next to the agent.

"I haven't heard anything about any warlocks in the area." Mike replies, "Much less Greco-Roman. I'm here for the paying work. Got an event with the Roman Philharmonic."

Rick is given a curious look. "...Are you able to talk about what you're doing here?"

Richard Stadler has posed:
     He has enough wits to ask the question that's mostly important, and, while it's unlikely that Mike would order two coffees if this /was/ something important, he does affect just a little bit of annoyance befroe he actually has an answer to the question. "Well... good. Better." He says, shaking his head a bit as if to clear it. "I've had a devil of a time on flights and I really want to save any adernline spikes for when it's really needed. Do you know how out of position I'd be here? Cecchignola is... God, I'm too tired for math."

After a moment, Rick moves to motion Mike a bit closer, as if telling a secret. "I'm always able to talk about what I'm doing in a place, Mike. I'm heading back from some humanitarian work. I have the documentation to prove it, and the right stamps on my passport. Why anyone would think otherwise is rather baffling to me." At least that part was said in a dead pan, indicating he might have a little bit more energy for joking around after attempting to get wired. "Granted it's probably not as interesting as playing for the Roman Philharmonic... I assume some sort of Pops series? But anyone who says what they're doing here is hush hush is probably faking."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Hearing the mention of flight problems, Mike glances back to the chaos that is situated closer to the gates. "Ah yes. Some politician of high authority decided on a last minute trip to JFK which basically shut down all outgoing flights for awhile. So any flights going out that way are probably going to be extremely delayed."

To the gesture Mike tilts his head closer. As he gets the explanation to the humanitarian work, he chuckles. "Ah. Well in that case I'll spare you from talking about your humanitarian work. Well, unless you were really looking forward to telling me stories of that."

Leaning forward, he rests his arms upon the bartop, "As for the orchestra. Yes. They've made some arrangements based off of some stuff I wrote, so I'll be performing with them for a few selections."

Richard Stadler has posed:
     "All outgoing flights?" Rick said, blinking a bit, hand moving to rub his nose below his glasses for a moment. "Wonderful. I still have to connect up to Gatwick before I can head back, and I swear if I have to spend another night in an airport I am going to simply go mad. Madder than I already am." He says, looking down at the laptop bag he's looped tightly around his arm, before deciding aganist pulling it out right now and trying to plan something. "You know, I don't spend a lot of time east, but I really do enjoy the idea of some capsule hotel I can secure for a short bit before a flight. 90 minutes is hardly enough time to do anything of note but try to get wired."

"And I apprecaiate, that. I'd probably not have a whole lot to talk about. Nothing really special happened out there, you know. Boring paperwork, looking at mass casualty event planning, some medication administration. Nothing exciting, I should say. It sounds like you've got the excitement coming up; I'm sure I'll see it on the social media feeds after the performance. It's hard to imagine doing that sort of thing on a regular basis."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Mike nods. "Security stuff. But... being my flight finally got here Your delay is likely about five to six hours if they still decide to have your flight."

There's a shift to his side as he reaches into his pocket to pull out a card. "...But if you end up one of the ones stuck here for an extra day-" The card is set down and slid over to Rick. "My number's on back. We're staying not too far from here and we've got enough space if you need to crash on the sofa."

Pale eyes glance in the direction the server went to prepare the drink orders. "What I'm doing is only hard to imagine because you don't have a career in it. A sizable chunk of my income comes from collaborating with other groups under a different name."