Azure Stars

[ Session I ]

[ Session I ]

Floating in space wasn't fun, especially not after a hit and run with a hauler. The drivers of those oversized, titanium cargo transporters thought the entire universe was theirs. Never mind her one-seat white fin model with its now clipped wing.

She sighed as she watched her ship's silver and black debris orbit past her windshield. She never liked her masquerade mask decal anyway. It was now in pieces and looked like clunky, incomplete stars when drifting in front of the real thing.

Her hands cradled the back of her head as she leaned back on her chair, eyes scanning her control panel. A green blinking light flashed next to the throttle lever. It was her distress signal that had been transmitting for over three hours.

She had crashed four hours ago. That first hour had been an intense contemplation between her fear of being caught warning her not to turn it on and her survival's instinct arguing yes. She went with survival when she realized it would have all been in vain if her end came as a drift into death.

The green light stopped flashing and turned a solid blue. The small screen next to it turned on and displayed the letters TRANSMISSION: AUDIO.

"You still alive?" a voice cracked through the speakers framing the monitor. It was a male's.

She shot towards her radio and flipped a switch. Her hand hesitated over the second one. She left it off, keeping her return transmission as an audio one as well.

"Yes. I've been stranded here for a while. If you could just tow me to Blue Saturn I'd be grateful," she said.

The voice paused. "Well you sound pretty, so I'll let you onboard."

She stared at the screen. "What?"

"You said you've been there a while. You must be hungry. You probably need to at least use the can."

Her face flushed. "I...I suppose. About the hungry part I mean."

The chuckle that came over the communications deepened her blush. "I secured your location and will be there in five. Put on your suit. You'll be zip lining up here."

The transmission cut off along with her screen. She turned off her radio. She had her suit on already. She always had it on. All she needed was to put on her helmet and wait.

Her green eyes gazed at the swirls of stars. Looking at them through her darkened visor dimmed their white glow. The sky then bended and swirled like the birth of a black hole. The darkness spat out foggy colors that inked the black away: the manifestation of a hyperspace jump. A ship emerged from the fading hues. His ship probably. She recognized it as one of the GTX Shark models, called as so because the wings were fitted on the body like fins to a shark.

The massive ship stopped over her own, and she guessed it was at least 500 feet long. So it was one of the later Shark models. Maybe the GTX 0-28. A white cable fell from its belly and latched onto her ship with its end magnet. She opened her cockpit door, activated her own magnets on her boots, and stepped onto her ship's side. She walked up to the line attached to the top of her vessel.

She was familiar with the process of zip lining through space and attached the carabiner to her belt. She grabbed onto the attached handles. Its grip sensors activated and hauled her up. This particular zip line was the fastest she'd ever been on. She flew up into the ship and ended up inside the Shark's hanger before she could even blink.

Standing before her was a tall man. His dark hair caught her attention first. It was combed back but several strands had already escaped his hair gel and danced over his eyebrows. The red glow of a cigarette was nestled between his lips.

"You can take your helmet off now," he said, a red glow bouncing with each word.

It was the same voice from the radio. Without the communication fuzz, she could hear its scratchy roughness. It was rather alluring. She appreciated the dimness of the hanger as she took off her helmet; it would hide her blush.

He grinned. "Red, huh?"

She was taken aback again. "What?"

He took his left hand out of his pocket and pointed at his head. "Your hair."

Her own hand shot to her locks.

"Natural?"

"Yes."

"Good. Follow me." He turned around, smoke chasing after him.

She hugged her helmet under her arm and did. The hanger must've been at the end of the ship because they walked through what felt like an endless hallway until they reached a pair of steps. She went down them to see they led to the lounge room. Two love couches framing a coffee table furnished it. The man sat on one and motioned for her to sit on the other. As she walked in, she saw the wall sized window panning the stars and planets outside.

"So, corazón, what's your name?" he asked when she sat.

She hesitated. "Ena."

He took his cigarette and smashed it into the ash tray on the table. "Well whatever it is, I'll call you Ena just like you can call me Caine," he said through a billow of smoke.

"Okay."

Caine tapped his cheekbone under his left eye. "Even got the green eyes, huh?"

Ena blinked. "What?"

He chuckled and her cheeks reddened at the sound. "A natural redhead with green eyes. You sure are rare."

She pushed her hair back, not knowing what to say. His fuzzy grey eyes were locked on her. She felt herself drawn to the laugh lines framing them. They looked endearing on him and helped her relax in his otherwise intimidating presence.

"But I did promise you food," he said. "Want to follow me into the kitchen and see what you want?"

"What I want?" she repeated.

He lifted an eyebrow and smiled at her. One of his canine teeth was sharper than the other one. "Yeah, what you want, Ena."

Her breath caught at hearing him say that name. She now liked that name. Ena mentally kicked herself. She shouldn't be falling for strangers. It was how she got in trouble in the first place.

Caine nodded at her, insisting for her to come along.

When she got up, she looked at the window again. She noticed something new. "Your window," Ena said walking up to it and placing a hand on the glass. "The stars look blue through it."

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Author's Note: Welp. This is my first attempt at writing something that focuses mostly around romance and feelers and stuff. This short story will be divided into about five parts, so don't think it's done right now.

Hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading. ^-^

P.S. Dedicated to BehindTheNiqab 'cause her story [ s k i n n y l o v e ] finally got me around to starting this story. >:3