outliers [klance au]

prologue

"Everything you can imagine is real."
(Pablo Picasso)

The night had an air of the unknown to it. The fluorescent lights of the city streaked past the two passengers as they wove through traffic, their eyes set ahead. Beneath them, the purr of the motorcycle, above them, a midnight sky filled with promise.

An old song was playing on the radio and the cyclist glanced down at it, smiling faintly. He cranked up the volume before putting his hand to his torso, where the passenger behind him had interlaced their fingers for support.

"Remember this one?" he shouted over the wind. The passenger laughed, a sound that the motorcyclist knew he'd never get enough of.

"Of course!" the passenger replied happily, resting his chin on the cyclist's shoulder. "It's our song."

The city was a blur of light and cars but the two on the motorcycle were untouchable. As the music progressed, so did the scenery, and soon the pair was speeding down a seemingly endless road, surrounded on both sides by dessert.

The traffic disappeared altogether and pedestrians were replaced with saguaro cacti, their tall limbs stretching up towards the desert sky. The air was dry and smelled faintly of gasoline, a familiar taste to its breeze.

The wind was soft as it brushed by them, sleek and cool like silk against their arms and ankles. Both riders wore goggles to protect their eyes from the gusts, but their hair was left to the wind and it tousled their locks wildly- brunette and black strands together as they rode.

Leandro lifted his head to the sky and grinned, looking up into the cosmos that cradled him in its star-speckled palms. He slid his hand up to rest against Akira's heart, feeling the steady beat beneath his fingertips, and knew that he would never be happier.

Here, with Akira, together at last after everything they'd been through, not only did it feel safe, warm, welcoming, it felt right. It felt like they were meant to be together amidst all the insane happenings and journeys they'd been through together and that, no matter what, they would stay by each other's sides.

Leandro knew it in his heart- he and Akira were held by fate and tied with destiny, as cheesy and cliche as it may sound. He felt it in his bones.

As the two sped down the long stretch of interstate, the stars shone. Not like diamonds, that was far too cliche. It looked like... the universe had given the night sky a bouquet of baby's breath blooms and the petals had scattered over the inky expanse, covering the darkness with tiny pinpricks of white.

Leandro gazed up at the cloudless sky and sighed. Suddenly, directly above them, there was a flash of light. Leo squinted. A shooting star? No, too big. Leo tracked the shape with his eyes as it came hurtling down from the heavens.

"Akira," Leo called over the wind, tugging on his boyfriend's jacket.

"Hm?" Akira replied, squeezing Leo's hand.

Leandro pointed up at the streak of light blurring through the sky. "Look."

The motorcycle slowed as Akira stared at the shape.

"It's not a meteor, is it?" Leo questioned.

Akira scoffed. "Pretty big fuckin' meteor, if it is." He let out a low whistle. "Hold tight, babe."

Leandro barely had time to latch his arms around Akira's torso before they were speeding off down the interstate. Leo gulped- he loved riding with Akira, but his boyfriend never seemed to have much rational thinking when his mind was set.

Leo instead looked back up at the UFO-looking-thing that was flying closer and closer to the group. He was suddenly thankful that they were surrounded by open desert- at least the thing, whatever it was, wouldn't crash into any buildings of the city.

Meanwhile, Akira was pushing his bike faster and faster, the speedometer climbing steadily. They hit 120 mph and kept going. Akira urged the motorcycle forward, his eyes flicking from the road to the sky to the dial before him in a loop.

Leo squinted as the object flew lower and lower. He knew that it had to be less than a few miles up now- the fighter pilots flew 5 miles up when they did rounds but the object was still lowering. He began to hear the sound of its engines (maybe?) over the motorcycle's.

They were keeping pace with the object and Leandro was trying his best to see what it was, but before he was able to actually recognize the craft, it suddenly shot forward and down. With a crash that shook the ground, the object hit the desert floor in front of the two boys on the motorcycle.

Dirt, sand, and debris clouded the area around the craft as Akira decelerated the cycle to a stuttering stop, hopping off the bike before it had stopped completely. Leo was close behind him as they walked forward through the cloud of sand.

Akira shielded his face, closing his eyes as the wind settled, and reached for Leo until their hands found each other. He heard the sound of the engines of the craft go quiet and, after a few moments, opened his eyes.

Before him stood a giant, mechanical lion. The beast prowled proudly before the two boys, it's eyes trained on them as it moved. Although it was mostly silver and black, there was a yellow patch on its chest and there were giant wing-like structures by its shoulders that were red and a bright light blue.

"Holy shit," Akira heard Leandro breathe.

As if in agreement, the black lion roared.