He scrunched his face, waving his hand and cursing. “Where’s the fun in that?” Just then a fly buzzed past and landed on Callum’s nose. ![]() “One who doesn’t cause their pilot’s engine to explode.”Ĭallum laughed, grabbing the papers from his desk again and tucking them away into a folder. “Some other hot-shot Katolian engineer, maybe,” she said, smiling slyly. Who else will design you the fastest plane there ever was?” “You’re right, I’m a hot commodity after all. Surprised by her own earnestness, she quickly added, “Our team can’t afford to lose you…or replace you.”Īfter a beat of silence, he grinned, all wide, toothy, and cheeky. “You know, except for the part where you almost lost your head.”Ĭallum’s brow furrowed gently, solving some unseen problem. She wondered if she did it to help or to remind herself he was here. She brushed a bit of dirt from Callum’s shoulder. Imagined her seat failing and her safety belt locking. Imagined her parachute chords getting tangled. She imagined herself ejecting from her plane and falling towards the earth. She fell silent for a moment, imagining herself mid-flight and her engine exploding. “Don’t be,” Rayla interrupted, “Better down here than up there,” she said, gesturing vaguely upwards. “I think you might have made it worse,” she said flatly, giving him an amused smile.Ĭallum visibly deflated, “I know, I’m sorry I-” Rayla looked at her plane, all covered in smoke, grease, and oil. “Because they said nothing was wrong with your engine when there was clearly something wrong with it!” Callum insisted, gesturing towards the source of the smoke. “Well then why were you? You could’ve gotten hurt!” “I guess this is why I design the planes, not fix them.” “I’ve already heard enough about it from them,” Callum nodded towards the other workers still gathered outside the shop. “Sounds like a rookie move,” she said, releasing his arm. Safe to say his shirt was ruined, but she was just relived he was in one piece and his usual ranting self. She scoffed, grabbing his arm and noticing all the black oil stains on it. Instead there was a small little leak and before I could stop it and cool everything down, boom!” he groaned in annoyance, setting the papers down on the desk behind him. So I thought, maybe it’s the bugs, as if they could get any worse!” He frowned and continued. ![]() “I was just doing a quick routine check on your engine and I noticed it was overheating which is obviously not good. Surprised to see her, Callum shook his head, “Uh yea, fine, just-” he stopped, looking at the papers in his hand and sighing. Rayla ran towards him, grabbing his shoulders and whipping him around to look at her. Near the back and towards her plane, she spotted Callum hastily grabbing papers and cursing to himself. The fans above were whirling loudly, tousling her hair as much as her speedy ride over here. Most of the smoke had cleared from the inside and Rayla was able to get a full view of the shop. ![]() One of the men coughed again and gestured inside the building. She got off her bike, at least having the mind to kick out the stand so it wouldn’t topple over before running towards the workers. When she arrived on scene, there were a few workers waving their hats to clear the smoke and coughing into their shirts. The warm air was sticky and hot even with the wind rushing past. She cursed the bugs that hit her cheeks and didn’t bother slowing down. She tied her hair back in what was surely a poor attempt at a ponytail and took off toward the shop. Running back inside to grab the keys for her bike, she didn’t even both getting her helmet. She had just been talking with him less than an hour ago. Startled, Rayla ran outside and quickly noticed smoke coming from the shop. Satisfied with her work, she stood to hang it up when a loud bang shook through the base. She polished her gear until she could see her own reflection in them. Nasty little things were causing her to lose her mind. Today she even thought she could smell something funny while flying-sharp and bitter-but one of the workers assured her the engine was fine and it must just be the bugs. ![]() Always getting in the way, wearing patience thin, and causing drag on the wings. The engineers were working tirelessly to find ways to reduce drag and increase speed while maintaining control, and what was their biggest hurdle? Bugs. Their current trainings required them to fly low and fly fast. When she dreamed of becoming a pilot as a kid, she hadn’t ever considered how measly bugs could be such an annoyance. Clouds of buzzing dots that blinded her view. The humid summer air seemed to be every fly’s paradise, and on these lower-flown test flights they were practically apocalyptic-a horrific plague. It was covered in an assortment of squashed bugs-an unseemly sight, really. Rayla mindlessly cleaned her flying gear.
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