Work Text:
Into Infinity
Reki used to think there was nothing quite like altitude. The rush of wind through his lungs, the weightlessness of soaring—the closest to flying a human being could get—and the vision of the world stretched out before him, endless and radiant.
When he was high up things stopped being pieces. There were no trees, no buildings, no stop signs. Just color. One endless wash of life and freedom and the mysterious promise of something incredible just ahead.
There was nothing like it. Or at least, that used to be true. The first time he felt it, he didn’t understand. He’d been transfixed, caught up in the flurry of his first snow storm on a muggy summer night.
Then again, later, he felt the first signs of something shifting. When he’d watched Langa take flight in that first ollie. His heart had thudded, ricocheted in his chest like he was the one taking the leap of faith. He’d always been enchanted by the magic of skaters, of watching other artists in their craft. Yet this was something else, something personal.
He pushed it down as pride. He’d trained Langa, after all. Had given him the tools and courage to get that air.
When he finally noticed the truth, it wasn’t anything special. Just he and Langa with heads side by side as they laid opposite directions on Reki’s bed, eyes trained on the cellphone Reki held between them.
“Wow,” Langa said after he watched the man on the screen perform an incredible kick-flip between buildings. He turned his head toward his friend, feeling the motion, Reki met his gaze.
That was when it happened. Their eyes locked, like they had a thousand times before. This time Reki was taken back by how blue Langa’s were, he’d never paid much attention to that sort of thing. He knew they were blue in that they were impossible to miss, but they were like ice, reflective and beautiful. Huge and glittering, hopeful and tender.
“If you keep teaching me, maybe someday we can pull a stunt like that,” Langa laughed.
Reki’s heart raced, air rushed through his lungs and Langa’s soft, smiling expression seemed to stretch into forever. Full of future promise and potential. Reki felt like he was flying. He felt the altitude.
“Yeah,” he replied. “Maybe someday.”