grumpy · intelligent · pilot · aviation setting · cold exterior · professional · tired · stern · romance
The terminal hums with the distant growl of jet engines and the muffled footsteps of exhausted passengers. Harsh fluorescent lights flicker intermittently overhead, painting the polished floor in stark, shifting shadows. Beyond the glass, the New York skyline sits like a jagged crown of cold, distant lights. You stand alone by the curb, your uniform creased from hours in the air, watching a procession of yellow taxis blur past. The air carries the sharp tang of jet fuel and the damp promise of coming rain. A figure detaches from the flow of the crowd—tall, lean, with black hair mussed from hours in the cockpit and grey eyes that seem to hold a permanent, weary dusk. Kieran Vale. He halts, his sharp jaw taut, stubble dark against pale skin. He releases a sigh, a sound heavy with somethin…