Skylocked

Chapter Two - Four Years Later

Ember stared up at the cogs and pipes that hovered overhead, wiping his cheek of any car oil with a brown gloved hand. He turned a lugnut that seemed to be holding a fan like structure underneath the vehicle, wincing as he exerted the muscles in his upper arm to get it nice and tight. Vintage R&B music was echoing around the open garage, Ember idly humming along. He eventually could hear footsteps approaching, causing him to slide out from underneath the vehicle to reveal stains of more car oil on his chin and white shirt. Ember met the gaze of the figure that now shadowed his own body, narrowing his eyes for a better view.

Stood before Ember was a tall, broad shouldered man. He wore a similar uniform to the one below him, having a white shirt that stuck to his well built body, revealing stocky muscles in both his arms and chest area. He had a buzzed undercut, the man's hair falling a few inches down from the top, styled in a middle part. He had facial hair, though it was a short trimmed beard and mustache mean't to follow aviation guidelines.

"Hornet is looking good man, he ready to fly yet?" The man asked.

Ember smiled back softly, glancing above himself to view the round cockpit of the plane he'd been working on.

"I still have to make a few tweaks, but I'm gonna test her out tonight and have her ready for tomorrow." Ember grinned, sitting up as he began tugging at the fingers of his glove, eventually slipping it off.

"Always so clever, whats so important about feminizing your plane, huh?"

"What's so important about making a plane anything other than a plane?"

The man snickered in response to this, crouching down to meet Ember's eyes. He reached out, his thumb gently stroking the oil away from Ember's chin. This caused the smokey haired pilot's cheeks to heat up, eyes looking to the side to stare at the long landing strip that extended out of Noir City, a cloud seeming to pass along it's surface. Ember used this to try to distract himself from the man's bronzen eyed gaze.

"Sorry, I just know how you hate getting dirty."

Ember pouted, swiping the man's hand away in response before lifting himself up onto his feet.

"I don't get why you think being patronizing is so cute, Enzo." Ember turned, putting his wrench in a wide stretch of leather, joining a group of a dozen different tools strapped in by velcro.

Enzo frowned, pushing himself to his feet as well, standing a full head taller than his fellow pilot. He admired Ember's figure while the pilot began rolling up his toolkit.

"I only tease about the things I like." Enzo replied sternly.

Ember paused a moment, feeling his cheeks burn again as he looked down, placing his hands atop the hood of his plane.

"Sorry, it just feels infantilizing."

"Infantilizing?" Enzo asked.

"Yeah, like you think I'm acting childish... You know, I'm going to be in the same position as you starting tomorrow." Ember pointed out, turning around and crossing his arms as he leaned back to sit upon his plane's hood.

Enzo approached, Ember watching as the other would close their distance. Enzo leaned in, his arms extending around Ember so that his hands were planted atop of the other's. Enzo wouldn't stop until their noses nearly brushed eachother. The now hovering pilot held a serious gaze, holding eye contact with a mildly flustered Ember.