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Keith has always wanted to see the stars. Not in the literal sense, but he wants to fly, to traverse into the unknown depths of space and fly light years away and look out and see nothing but stars as far as the eye can see. But until then, aerospace engineering is kicking his ass.
His latest course in Aerodynamics is a joke and all he wants to do is get behind the cockpit of something and get off the ground. But he can’t. Rules….regulations….requirements….and did he say rules? Oh yeah. Fucking rules.
It’s late on a Thursday evening and he’s just managed to nick the keys from a janitor and sneak into one of the hangers. He only wants to get in the pilot seat, nothing more. He opens one of the bay doors and is met with an unholy screech that has him clutching his ears.
“What the fuck is that noise?”
There’s a shadow and a lanky figure pokes a bony finger at Keith’s chest, “You aren’t supposed to be in here.”
Keith is taken aback but his words are still sharp, “Well neither are you.”
The two stare at each other, neither one willing to back down. But Keith is lost in a sea of blue eyes and doesn’t notice that he’s being asked another question. His lapse in response earns him a flick to the forehead, “What the fuck is that for?”
“I asked if you were gonna turn me in because if you were I was gonna have to report you for trying to sabotage the equipment in here.”
Keith blinks, “Sabotage….what? I was not going to sabotage anything.”
The mystery stranger steps further into Keith’s field of vision and Keith gets a look at glorious brown skin, a smattering of freckles on cheeks, and those blue eyes. God, if there even was a god, he could get lost forever in those blue eyes. Mystery stranger furrows his brow, “Then what were you doing in here?”
Keith stutters for a moment trying to come up with something, “I was….there was….and a test…so…..”
Mr. Lanky Blue eyes has the nerve to smirk at Keith. He crosses his arms, “Sounds legit.”
Keith steps back and looks back between the jet and this stranger in his way, “So what were you doing in here?”
Keith gives a smirk of his own when all he gets in return is a few stuttered words, “I…so you see…..well…..”
There’s a soft sigh and those blue eyes lift to the hanger ceiling, “Yea man, I got nothing either.”
There’s an awkward silence before Keith decides to break it, “I wanted to sit in the cockpit and just imagine what it would be like to actually fly. I just want to fly something.”
Keith gets a nudge in his side and now those eyes are trained on him but there’s a dazzling smile to go with them, “Come on.”
“What are you doing?”
The stranger grabs Keith’s wrist and pulls him along. They make their way around the large plane and the door is opened. They climb in and make their way to the cockpit and Keith can’t help himself. His mouth opens in awe and he slides himself carefully into the pilot seat. He feels another nudge on his arm and he’s met with an outstretched hand, “The name’s Lance, by the way.”
Keith smiles and reaches out to grasp Lance’s hand, “I’m Keith.”
They talk for hours. Lance wants to become a Marine Biologist, but he’s taking a few aerospace courses just for shits and giggles. Keith wants to travel as far as humanly or inhumanly possible. They discover they have some of the same classes and even though they are at different times they figure out a schedule to help each other study. The more they talk, the more Keith is captivated by Lance’s eyes. They are the same color blue as the sky on a clear winter day, they are as deep as the deepest ocean, and they are as calm and comforting as the summer sun.
At the end of his four-year program and even a few more degrees later, Keith is able to travel amongst the stars.
But his favorite stars are found in Lance’s eyes.