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He should have expected Johnny to call him on it.
The acknowledgment only made it to Johnny’s eyes, not out of his mouth, but Hal knew he knew; that was enough.
He had expected a little more embarrassment or something though, honestly, than what he actually felt when Johnny let them in to fly. (Pride. Excitement. Desire.)
And there was the matter of “you’ve never flown with me.”
He wasn’t going to say it. He was pretty sure (completely sure, one hundred percent really) that they were past that point in this… thing, between them. He didn’t need to use pick-up lines to “get” Kyle—Kyle had made that much clear, many times already, in fact. Hal was still working on how to deal with all of this, sure, and sometimes he wavered (suddenly or otherwise falling for a man many years his junior, for a man in his position, brought certain issues with it—he wasn’t unwilling to deal with any of those, of course, but it was still complicated), or had his doubts (commitment to anything was still a nightmare even if it wasn’t a woman involved), but he was always certain about Kyle’s position on the matter. Still, in the moment, with Kyle seriously Not Getting It about flying, his cocksure side won out (and secretly, he was gratified to know it wasn’t only a guaranteed success when used on a woman. Hal Jordan, still batting 1.000). Maybe Kyle had missed his winning grin as he pulled his flight jacket on, but the charm had definitely worked. (And really, he did enjoy charming Kyle. He liked knowing he still had it, after all of… that… and he also liked collecting Kyle’s sweet reactions. He enjoyed those the most.)
Hal wasn’t stupid enough to believe in fairytales or love songs. This… thing, well, it would never be what Hal wanted it to be, deep in his heart. The chance of happily-ever-after was almost zero, considering their line of work. It made him feel something more, though, something different that his other relationships had. Once he’d realized that, he’d decided he wanted to do something a bit grandiose, something to not just tell but show that feeling to Kyle. (Okay, so it wasn’t his first time making this gesture at the airfield, but he hoped Kyle would figure out why it was different, with him.)
“It’s amazing that the stars still somehow feel magical from down here, even though I’ve flown through the whole universe,” Kyle said quietly, standing close to him after hopping down from the plane upon their return to the airfield. He felt the energy bursting off Kyle—it was crackling, intense. (And it was even better than he’d expected, to know that this gesture had worked out the way he’d hoped it would.)
Hal leaned in and wrapped an arm around Kyle’s waist, smiling warmly. “Don’t ever let yourself forget that,” he replied with equal softness. Or this night, he added on in his mind. (He was no Hector Hammond, but he was certain Kyle understood what else they were talking about, too.)
Not that he was worried about that, of course. (Batting 1.000, remember?)