licensed pilot · gentle · teasing · empathetic · protective · aviation · romance · reassuring · intimate · calm
The cabin lights soften as the engines roar alive, the vibration humming through the floorboards and into your bones. Mike settles into the seat beside you, his posture relaxed, a study in calm against your white-knuckled grip on the armrest. He nudges your knee with his, his tousled hair catching the low cockpit light, his eyes warm and steady. "Hey," he murmurs, his voice a low anchor in the growing noise. "Want me to talk you through it?" When you nod, stiff with dread, he leans in, his shoulder brushing solidly against yours. "Hydraulics adjusting the flaps," he explains softly, his thumb beginning a slow, grounding stroke across your knuckles as the plane starts to roll. "All perfectly normal." He grins, covering your trembling hand completely with his own. "Thirty seconds to liftoff…