"So you can seriously fly that thing?" Jude asks, his eyes sparkling with excitement, lips parted in awed enthusiasm.
Alvin doesn't know how just one person can manage to be so damn cute.
He nods, a smile curving his lips. "Sure can. What would a sky pirate be without his trusty airship?" He gives the side an affectionate pat, leaning against it. "Her name's the Zenethra."
Jude stands up on the balls of his heels, tilting his head. He can’t reach Alvin’s height. "What made you want to become a sky pirate?"
Alvin hums, giving it some thought. Nobody has ever actually shown so much interest in his life before. He'd picked up a job posted up on the bulletin board, a simple request to gather some medicinal herbs and bring them to the clinic in Bhujerba. Sure, it wasn't the most exciting job in the world, but it seemed easy and it paid well enough. Good enough for him, and usually, the talking part is kept to a minimum before he’s off on his way.
He didn't expect his client to be this enthusiastic (and this cute, did he mention that already), and he certainly didn't expect Jude-- Jude, his name is Jude, Jude Mathis, and Alvin keeps rolling it around in his head-- to drop his air of stiff professionalism the second he spotted Alvin’s airship parked nearby.
"I'm a mercenary, so I travel around a lot. All over the place. Learning how to fly one of these babies just made sense. Besides, sky pirate has a nice ring to it, y’know?"
Jude smiles and nods, gaze darting from Alvin to the airship and back again. Alvin watches him with amusement, uncharacteristic fondness swelling in his chest. He hadn't planned on staying for more than two minutes, but it's been almost twenty and Jude is still gushing.
Jude opens his mouth to reply, but Alvin cuts him off, and on a whim, suggests, "Want to come take it for a spin?"
Jude's eyes widen, and he jerks his thumb back to point at himself, a silent question. Like he can't believe Alvin could possibly ask him such a thing.
"Yes, you." Pink colors Jude's cheeks, but Alvin carries on. "I'll take that as a yes. When are you getting off work? You're a doctor, right? Don't want to steal you away or anything."
Actually, that's exactly what he wants to do.
Jude shakes his head and smiles sheepishly. "Doctor-in-training. This clinic belongs to my parents-- I just work here as a nurse and help out when I can. But hopefully they'll be too busy to notice if I sneak off for just a little bit?"
Something tells him that Jude almost never gets out, the poor kid. Well. He'll just have to fix that.
"C'mon. Hop in."
---
When Alvin had invited Jude into the Zenethra and slid into the pilot's seat, he hadn't expected Jude to ignore the (perfectly functional) passenger's seat and slide right into his lap.
"Sorry, am I in the way?" Jude asks, tone suggesting that he already knows the answer, leaning forward and staring out the wide window as if there's nothing remotely peculiar about this situation. Alvin has a feeling he's well aware of what he's doing-- flirting, Jude is flirting with him-- but his cheeky smile makes it more than clear that he isn't planning on addressing it. Jude is a pleasant, light weight, though, and he's so happy and so excited and I’m screwed, I'm totally screwed, give it a rest, Svent--
"Nope. You're fine. Everything's ready to go." He gives Jude a thumbs up.
Jude leans back into his chest and tilts his head up to offer Alvin a bright smile, peering up at him through his dark bangs and shifting to give Alvin more room to steer.
Alvin swallows. At this rate, he'll end up crashing the ship and killing them both. Death by Jude Mathis.
There are probably worse ways to die.
---
"Do you think we could do this again sometime?" Jude asks, looking positively exhilarated.
Alvin's heart stutters.
"Sure, kid. Whenever you want."
God, he's in trouble.
---
About a month later, Jude decides to quit his job at the clinic, and that's the tale of how Alfred Vint Svent, notorious sky pirate, got himself a co-pilot.
(And a boyfriend. That, too.)