When the co-pilot walked inside the cockpit, he saw an empty chair and two cups of coffee. He wasn’t sure if the other cup was for himself, or if the pilot, whom he had never met before, was a coffee freak. He sat down in the co-pilot's' chair and started inspecting the dials. Brushed his hands along the control. The last time he flew the wheel jammed a bit above the target airport. 

The flight would be from 7:00pm to 1:00am. The co-pilot had never flown at night before. He looked at the coffee cups, thinking that it would be a good idea to prepare himself.

The co-pilot heard a laugh behind the pilot cabin’s door. He figured it was the pilot and turned in his chair to greet him. A man in a suit walked in, with honey-colored hair and navy eyes. 

“Hey man! How’s it going?”

“Howdy,” replied the co-pilot.

“I’m Brody.”

“Rick.”

The two shook hands. The co-pilot did not release, so Brody squeezed his hand and let go. When the pilot sat down, the co-pilot noticed he was likely ripped. 

“You got your coffee yet?” said Brody.

“No, but I can get some from the attendants. I see you got your fix there.” He nodded to the two cups in their holders. 

“Yeah, no I like a lot.” said the pilot. “And, um, I’d like to show you something while we’re up there.” 

“Right.” 

They talked amiably but reserved while the passengers arrived. Though soon they were off the ground, floating around above the clouds. The co-pilot wondered what the pilot wanted to show him. 

In the air there was little small talk. The co-pilot was in a daze, pensively staring at clouds and bits in the sky. He’d requested coffee a small while ago, and was waiting for it. The pilot didn’t start any conversation either, though every so often the co-pilot would find him glancing at him from the corners of his eyes.

The sun went down in a dazzle. The actual sun was on the left of the plane, so they weren’t blinded by the glare, but all the colors growing out of the thing were spectacular. 

“It never gets old,” the co-pilot heard the pilot murmur to himself. The co-pilot nodded though he knew the words were not meant for him. 

For what seemed like an hour they gazed at the multicolored stripes, watching each one sink below the horizon. 

It was dark inside the cabin, the only light coming from the dials and the windshield, which was slowly fading. The co-pilot, having drunk a large cup of coffee, desperately needed a trip to the restroom. 

“I’m gonna go ahead,” he said to the pilot.

The pilot hesitated for a moment - or perhaps was awakening from a daydream, the co-pilot couldn’t tell - and said, “Okay.”

When the co-pilot returned, the cabin’s only light were the dials. The moment he got to his chair the voice beside him whispered, “This is what I wanted to show you.”

“What?” he said.

“Look outside.”

The co-pilot looked up. They were under the milky way. A thousand glittering stars plastered the windshield. To him, Brody and himself were sewn in a cool black fabric, marveling at the shimmering stitchwork that held them together. The co-pilot took a deep breath. The cabin smelled of coffee.

“It’s...wow.”

“I know.” said Brody, “I figured that, you know, you’d never had a night shift before...and we were heading in the right direction.”

The co-pilot’s heart was pounding. He focused on a blank portion of the sky and managed to slow it. He took in deep breaths, breaths that would have made his mother proud. 

After a while he realized that the man beside him was mimicking his breaths. The pilot returned his glance and smiled. The co-pilot smiled back. 

The co-pilot was the first to make conversation this time.

“How many constellations do you know?”

The pilot was quick to reply, “Not many, actually. I know the basics. Orion, Big Dipper, Draco. Um, but I do know the planets.”

“You can see other planets?”

“Yeah, like that one there. That’s probably Jupiter.”

“Where?”

The pilot pointed to a point toward the right side of the windshield. He described what it looked like, and the colors of the surrounding stars. 

“I still don’t see it.”

“Ah, that’s okay. It’s your first time?”

“Naturally.”

When the plane landed, the cabin was still black, but city lights illuminated the sky. It no longer felt like a fabric, more like a cockpit in a plane in a city. The co-pilot turned the light on in the cabin, and they sat there doing bits for the plane and packing their stuff while the passengers filed out. Once the plane was empty, they shook hands. The pilot had a transfer, while the co-pilot had to book a hotel. They departed in different directions. When leaving the plane the co-pilot looked up, but as expected, there were no stars.