Gravity (Male x Male)

Chapter 11 - The Experiment

At 13:00, Mia and I approached Keleon in the hanger. He was standing next to the door of the Pavo, with one foot and his back resting on the entrance as he calibrated a small piece of equipment.

As soon as he caught my eye, I was mesmerised by his perfect features, and couldn't believe this Adonis was mine. I wondered whether there was any way to tell whether I was actually dreaming or not, because sometimes this still didn't feel real.

As my insides were turning gooey, Mia linked her arm through mine and put her mouth close to my ear. She must have noticed the way I was staring at Keleon.

"You're so whipped," she teased lightly, so that only I could hear her.

I turned to face her, slightly aggrieved that I'd been caught. But I softened when I saw her huge grin and mischievous eyes under her ginger curls.

"Yeah, I think I am," I reluctantly agreed, turning back to face the guy who was making me feel things I'd never felt before.

Keleon pushed himself away from the wall with the foot that had been resting against it, taking his eyes away from the device he was holding to look at us as we approached.

"Hey," he greeted as we reached the door.

I really wanted to kiss him, just a peck on the lips to return the acknowledgement, but I felt a little self-conscious with Mia there, so I put my hands in my pockets instead.

"Hey," I tried to sound casual.

"I've put some rations in the ship, along with some water, just in case we get delayed," Keleon informed us. "You never know what might come up."

"Cool," I said. "Did you get done everything you wanted to?"

"I did," he replied.

"OK, sounds like you guys are all set," said Mia. "Good luck Keleon, not that you'll need it. I'll do the docking clamps and hatch. See you this evening!"

I walked towards the door of the craft, looking behind me to wave at Mia as she danced away, ginger curls bobbing. She looked back and saw me looking at her, and grinning, mouthed the word "whipped" at me as she waved back. I rolled my eyes, but it wasn't like I could deny it.

I slipped into the co-pilot seat and started to buckle-up. Keleon followed me into the cockpit.

"You didn't want to take her out?" he asked.

I looked at him blankly, and he gestured towards the pilot's seat.

"You mean, me flying the ship?" I clarified.

"Yeah, you know enough to do this," Keleon replied. "And you're quick learner. I can talk you through the rest. Only if you want to."

"Oh my God, really?" I gasped. "Awesome!"

I unbuckled myself from the co-pilot seat and shifted over to the pilot's seat, while Keleon took the co-pilot seat, grinning.

Keleon talked me through the safety checks and what information Mia needed from us to release the docking clamps. When everyone was satisfied, I started the ship's ascent, under Keleon's detailed instruction. The island we had been docked on became smaller as we pulled away, and soon Epsilon 4 was melting away into the distance. Keleon showed me how to set the right course using the auto-pilot, and I could release control of the ship.

"That was amazing," I giggled, as I swung round in the pilot's chair to face Keleon. "I can't believe I did it!"

"You're a natural pilot," he said. "Do you want to land it as well?"

"Definitely!" I confirmed.

Flying a ship for an entire journey was such a great experience.

"I know you've read lot of books, but unless you put the theory into practice, it's sometimes hard to see how it all fits together," Keleon rationalised.

"Lots of things are like that," I replied. "Talking of which, don't we have a theory of our own that needs investigating?"

I couldn't help grinning. I was in a good mood after taking off successfully from Epsilon 4.

Keleon raised an eyebrow.

"You mean you want to investigate whether the gravitational abnormalities are linked to the kissing?" he asked, probably already knowing the answer.

"Maybe."

Or maybe I just wanted an excuse to kiss him.

"It will be about an hour before we need to start the landing process," he smiled, and the dimple was back. "We could investigate in the meantime."

We both unbuckled our straps and I leaned forward towards him, and he mirrored the action. I closed my eyes and as our lips touched, we gave each other a couple of chaste kisses. I pulled back and looked round.

"Nothing appears to be moving," Keleon observed.

We kissed again, lightly. But when we looked round, everything, including us, stayed put.

"You're right, it doesn't look like anything's happening," I remarked, surveying the cockpit for anything that looked like it was detached from where it should be. "Maybe this would be more comfortable on the bed. If we wanted to carry on, that is. You know, purely in the interest of science."

"In the interest of science, if we're doing an experiment properly, we should recreate the original conditions as much as possible," confirmed Keleon as he stood up.

I couldn't tell whether he was joking or not, but I didn't mind either way, as we made our way to the little pull-out bed where we had our first floating experience.

As we lay down together, I touched his perfect face, wrapped my arms round the back of his neck, and started to kiss him. After only a couple of minutes, curiosity got the better of both of us and we looked around, but nothing was happening.

Maybe Keleon had been wrong. Maybe something else was causing the gravitational anomalies and the timing was just coincidence.

Our mouths met again. This time I focused on how he felt when I touched him, how soft his cherry lips were and how his tongue felt when it met mine. Our legs intertwined, the kisses deepened, and it became easier to drift to a place where Keleon was everything. Our hands found each other's skin. My fingers started exploring just under the waistband of his jeans. My breath shortened, and my pants tightened as I thought about how close my hand was to unfastening his zip. Instead I forced my hand to curve round his waist and up his back to join my other hand.

Which is about the time that I realised that one of my arms should have been feeling the pressure of his weight, trapping it between him and the bed. I pulled back and looked down to where I thought the bed should be, and as soon as I did so, it came rushing up to meet us. We landed with a gentle bump, since we'd not been very high, and looked at each other. I propped myself up on one elbow.

"Looks like your theory was right," I sighed as the moment was lost.