She never meant to beat his high score.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDyCf50nV5g
She was just messing around with zero expectations. She didn’t even realise what she’d done until the confetti exploded & a fanfare blared. "New record! You’re cleared for takeoff!" Martin showed up, half-amused, half-flustered, with his signature goggles crooked on his head. "You’re better at this than I am," he said, watching the scoreboard. He forgot her name, but he recognised her at this point. Glykós Langrine, black-haired girl with dark, slanted eyes. She’s so competitive at every festival.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3MqdCnj73E
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNt3LC1zYI3
Later that night, she found him sitting outside the festival grounds, cross-legged near the exit, a tangled mess of earbuds & phone wires in his lap. The screen lit up his face with soft waveform patterns—digital brushstrokes of sound he was still shaping.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EkVdj9aKd
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGH6qCsFhgn
She recognised the beat.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKG7Okj28f
The sample, it was in that remix.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzzZ9ED8snT
The one that had gone viral years ago.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAPsWevZoql
Plane engines, chopped & pitched. That iconic "BRRRRT" drop. His voice layered over it all: "Welcome aboard."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrcyE20wQ8
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7YFzh7DLH
She didn’t know he made it until this moment. "You’re the plane remix guy!" she said, laughing as she sat down beside him. His entire face stiffened. "•••Wait. You saw that?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcL3I0ChEOu
"Everyone saw that," she grinned. "It was stuck in my head for weeks. 'Cabin pressure rising!' or whatever you said—gold."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQSQZG1Rymg
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMbR1MsJdN2
She meant it.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnDVynhe4I
She really meant it.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ09VtxmsFTH
Not as a joke. Not as irony.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqn9Wi3cWRo
Because it was clever, it was strange, it was musical, it was him. But he laughed too. A weak one. Hollow. & suddenly she realized—he didn’t take it as a compliment.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJAQTZnI10
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnsLUc596pD
Martin shrugged, gaze flicking to the editor. "I hate that video."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3yg4akF51
She blinked. "What? Why?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH3nTGhYMbU
"Because it’s the only thing people liked. I uploaded it as a joke, & now it’s what I’m stuck with. The moment I try to make anything else, people lose interest. ‘Come on, Martin, make Plane Remix 2.’ No one cares that I actually love aviation. Or that I take it seriously. Or that flying means more to me than just a meme."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnfhCozu8s
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4BIjB0Nsf9
He wasn’t angry at her. But he wasn’t okay either. His voice sped up—agitated, self-contained, like he was spiralling & trying to stay upright mid-air. "& when I hate what I make, I hate myself. & when I hate myself, I stop flying. & when I stop flying, I start thinking. & when I start thinking—" He stopped. Covered his face with both hands. Glykós sat beside him in silence. She wanted to tell him that she cared. That he wasn’t just a remix guy, or a minigame host, or a guy with good one-liners & sarcasm for sale. That she saw his rhythm, the way his thoughts came in unpredictable gusts, how every time he tried to show something of himself to the world, he buried it under a layer of irony just to keep it from getting hurt.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdD7khq0la3
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZR07AANQYL
That she saw it. & loved it.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUddz5TQxn
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbQpSII01b
But he looked at her again—& smiled.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYprE7C6bu7
It was small. Defensive. The kind of smile people give when they want to leave a moment before it means too much.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGaZ7W7FLTb
"Thanks for playing the game today. You crushed it," he said.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdkfWNJxEaX
She smiled back, careful. "Yeah••• you’re welcome."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ959YR7ePB4
& just like that, he looked away.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡliAH1RAMcl
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJgZawVdnaa
That was the night she realised she loved him.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8vsEc4t91T
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikf2U1FNY5
He didn’t think she cared.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YFdNV9GTx
He thought she laughed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Vqhcu2tPr
He thought he was still the remix guy.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQ1wc1ZPA3
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtKXODqSYm
But Glykós knew the truth. She was in awe of his mind, his talent, his zeal•••26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPg7dEQzB4e
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKafHLKx9Z
She hadn’t laughed at him.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzilOjIdZi0
She lit up.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNebHKNh2V
& he missed it.
Penana
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