[h_ven]

Knowing that villain knows you are c-betting with air, I guess this could be a call sometimes, but I'll let better players discuss that.

Does checking behind become optimal?
If you don't c-bet this flop, and air comes on the turn, I believe this will give villain another chance to steal the pot from you. But, this will also keep the pot smaller giving villain less incentive to steal the pot on later streets.

If villain has a history to crai on boards like this, maybe checking behind would be the best line here, hoping to catch TPTK, or to check down a small pot.