Keith sat in the window seat of his commercial flight: headphones in, unopened book in his lap, and his thoughts a thousand miles away.
Taking this job was probably going to be a mistake, but he really didn't have any other options available at the moment. He sighed, skipping through songs on his playlist, and trying not to let his thoughts lead back to how badly he'd fucked up. At least he was headed to see Shiro.
Shiro's family and his had been friends for as long as he'd been alive, they were raised practically as brothers, and when his father died a few years ago, Shiro was the person who had gotten him through it.
Between Keith's enrollment in the Galaxy Garrison - the world's leading aerospace training program - and Shiro's job on an island a thousand kilometers from the continent, they only really got to see each other once a year or less.
But now, the fact that he would be able to see Shiro everyday was the only thing that convinced him to even get on this plane in the first place.
He just hoped it would be worth it.
His train of thought was temporarily derailed as the intercom sizzled and the overly bright voice of the flight attendant announced that their destination was now visible, if they would all kindly look to their left.
Despite his ongoing dread, Keith's head whipped to the side, and even the bratty kid behind him took a break from kicking his seat to press his snotty nose to the window in wonder.
Keith was a desert man himself, but even he had to admit that they had outdone themselves with this island. The whole thing had to be about the same circumference as New York City, and as the plane did a flyby he drank in the sight.
The whole thing was green, dotted here and there with large buildings and what he assumed were enclosures. The land was patterned with wide fields, densely packed trees, a lake or two, and a winding river running off from the modestly sized mountain.
As the plane arced around the southern side of the island, giving them a view of the back of the mountain, Keith couldn't help but stare; his eyes widening as a group of creatures took flight from one of the giant trees.
"Pterodactyl!" he heard one excited child shout, and Keith smiled wryly.
"Actually," The flight attendant interjected, "that particular genus is called the Quetzalcoatlus Northropi, they're among the largest flying species in the Jurassic period."
Keith admitted grudgingly to himself that at least the employees here were educated on the animals they were selling for spectacle.
He glanced back through the window as they began their descent, noticing that as they got closer to the main part of the park, the number of enclosed habitats increased. He glanced down into one with an open top, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever creature lived inside, but they passed by too quickly.
Oh well, whatever lived in a cage that tall with barbed wire rimming the top had to be dangerous enough to kill him. He made a mental note that this would be his first stop on the tour.
The plane landed a few minutes later, on an airstrip toward the northern end of the island. The passengers all jittered and scrambled about excitedly as the doors opened and they disembarked.
Keith waited in the line crawling toward the exit, trying to ignore the pins and needles in his leg after the nine hour flight.
"Welcome to Jurassic World."
He glanced up as the flight attendant smiled at him warmly. "Nyma," her nametag read. Keith blinked, and the pilot, who was leaning in the open doorway of the cockpit winked at him.
Keith smiled back awkwardly and left the plane quickly, hoping the rest of the employees here wouldn't be so weird.
This thought was driven from his mind however, as he stepped out of the plan, and a wave of heat greeted him like a punch to the gut.
Keith lived his whole life in the middle of the desert in Texas. Heat he could handle. But humidity? Fuck that.
He felt like someone had hosed him down with a spray bottle, and instantly regretted his choice of a black t-shirt and jeans.
He was considering going to the bathroom to change when he heard his name being shouted somewhere off to his left.
"Keith!"
Keith whipped around, a wide grin already in place as he picked Shiro out of the crowd, his prosthetic arm waving above the mass of heads between them.
He jogged over, wrapping his old friend in a giant hug. He hadn't seen Shiro in a little over a year; and sure, they'd talked on the phone just yesterday, but talking wasn't the same thing as seeing, or more importantly, hugging.
"You actually came." Shiro laughed at the indignant look on Keith's face.
"Of course I came, what's that supposed to mean?"
Shiro raised an eyebrow, "Nothing, just that I never thought I'd see the day you came to work for the park… In a job where you have to deal with people no less…"
"Hey," Keith frowned, "The job description said, "animal handler." Nothing about those two words implied human interaction."
Shiro just smirked at him, which did nothing to assuage his steadily growing concern, and clapped a hand on his shoulder, "Come on, let's go get your bag… Hey maybe we can leave my car here and just catch the tourist trolley on the way in."
Keith just glared at him as an answer and Shiro chuckled, ruffling his hair, "You haven't changed a bit."
Shiro decided to take him the scenic route on the way to his new home away from home; and by scenic route, he meant driving past the main activity square so that Keith could get an eyeful of the thousands of people buying triceratops stuffed animals, and lollipops shaped like T-Rex heads.
Amusement parks were never really Keith's thing; it was too loud, too brightly colored - and most unfortunately - too packed with people for his taste. Not to mention the food was gross, not only in taste but in pricing as well.
He turned back to Shiro as they left the main park area and headed along the road toward one of the employee residential areas. According to the online maps, there were about three residential areas scattered around the island, and depending on where Keith ended up spending most of his time he would have his pick of any of them.
"There are also a few single cabins here and there," Shiro rolled his eyes as Keith's head perked up, "But those are mostly in use at the moment. If you wait a few months though, one will probably open up."
Keith frowned, "Is the turnover rate that fast?"
"Well, Shiro grimaced, "When you work in a job where you could potentially be eaten on a daily basis, people tend not to stay long."
Only crazies, or people with no other options would take a job like this. Keith thought, feeling another wave of regret pass through him.
"Hey," Shiro glanced over at him, "I was just kidding, you'll be fine… in fact, I bet you ten bucks you'll love this place by the end of the week. The people are great, the dinosaurs are cool, and have you ever tasted a stegosaurus burger?"
"You better be joking!" Keith punched his shoulder and Shiro cracked up.
"I am, but I'm pretty sure Hunk could make even that taste like goddamn ambrosia."
Keith raised an eyebrow. What's a Hunk? Did they have their own private chef or something?
They pulled up outside a group of buildings, and Shiro wasted no time in hopping out and grabbing one of the suitcases out of the back, "Come on, for now you'll be staying with me, since my apartment has two bedrooms anyway."
Keith nodded and moved to pull his only other bag from the trunk as Shiro checked his watch.
"We'd better hurry, I know you just got off the plane, but Allura wanted to get you acquainted with the park as soon as possible."
Keith groaned, and Shiro rolled his eyes affectionately, "You know we're all really grateful you accepted this position. We've been shorthanded on handlers ever since my accident," he waved his prosthetic grimly, "and poor Allura's been running around day and night trying to fill the space and run the park at the same time."
"Oh, yeah," Keith rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, suddenly feeling bad for all of his complaining, "It's no problem really, I needed the job anyway."
"Yeah," Shiro avoided his eyes, "We can, uh… chat about that later, for now let's just get you settled in."
Keith felt a wave of shame slam him, and felt for the millionth time that he didn't deserve a friend like Shiro.
Keith only had two suitcases and a backpack with him, so it didn't take them long to dump his stuff in the spare room. He took an extra minute to put on shorts and grab a pair of sunglasses, but it was still less than ten minutes before they were back in the tacky orange jeep and headed out to start his new job.
Keith had expected Shiro to take him back to the shopping district, but instead took a side road leading to a large building off to the left of the bustling attraction center.
The building was huge, with a glass dome spanning the roof, reminding Keith of a snow-globe; fragile, and prepared to shatter at a moment's notice.
The interior was about as clean and polished as a hospital OR, and filled with screens and people typing, and talking, and bustling around with tablets glued to their hands.
Keith's head spun, and Shiro chuckled to himself, "A bit much, right? Let's go meet the woman that runs all of this."
When the elevator doors swished open on the top floor, Keith was greeted by a slightly less overwhelming room. Inside were rows of computers facing one large screen at the front, kind of like the NASA launch room.
Shiro wasted no time in dragging Keith to the front, making his way toward a woman standing with her back to them, talking into a Bluetooth, typing on her tablet, and reading the big screen in front of her all at the same time.
She didn't seem to notice them for a few moments, so Shiro cleared his throat a few times before giving up.
"Allura!" Shiro shouted, and the woman jumped, turning around and smiling widely.
"Sorry, I'll have to call you back, our new handler just arrived." She pressed a finger to her earpiece and grinned at him, "You must be Keith! Shiro's told me so much about you, I'm Allura."
Keith shook her hand awkwardly, unsure how to act before this terrifying yet enthusiastic person, "Thanks so much for hiring me on such short notice."
Allura waved a hand dismissively, "Nonsense. We're thrilled to have you here, we've been short a few staff members for about…" for a quick moment her expression turned weary, though Keith must have imagined it, because a second later she was smiling brightly again, "Too long. In any case, I don't expect you to start work right away. Take the day to have fun, get to know the park, and the animals, meet some of your new coworkers! I know Coran for one was excited to meet our new handler, though god knows where he's run off to now."
Keith nodded, already anticipating the three hour nap he was planning to take the second he left this building. Judging by the expression on Shiro's face, he knew exactly what Keith was up to, but Keith knew he'd relent eventually if he complained enough.
"Here's your ID," Allura carried on as if she hadn't noticed the silent threats Shiro was sending his way, "as an employee all rides, food, drinks, and attractions are free, and if you want a souvenir from one of the gift shops you get a 50% discount."
"Oh, thanks." Keith raised his eyebrows, surprised at how generous she was being to a new employee.
"Of course, and since you're a handler this ID will also allow you access to the areas and equipment used in each habitat to take care of the animals."
Keith nodded, "I'll probably stop by a few exhibits and make sure I know where to go when I start work tomorrow."
"Excellent." Allura beamed at him, "I believe Shiro gave you my number? If you have any questions feel free to ask."
"Alright, thanks. Nice meeting you." Keith smiled as she waved goodbye, already back to talking into her earpiece, relieved as they finally turned to head out, tired just from the effort of keeping his eyes open.
"Shiro!"
Keith nearly groaned as another voice caught their attention.
Shiro smiled, shooting Keith a "there's no way you're getting out of this now" look as he turned, "Hey Coran, how's it going?"
The guy approaching them was strange to say the least. He was wearing a full park ranger-like getup, khaki vest and all, and his orange handlebar mustache looked way too bushy to be real.
"Keith," Shiro gestured to him, "This is Coran. Coran, Keith."
Coran shook his hand, grinning brightly, and Keith wasn't quite sure what to make of him.
"Coran is second in command after Allura, and in addition to managing park affairs, he also runs a lot of activities and events like the weekly kayaking expedition, and the waterworks show."
Coran nodded eagerly, "Nothing brings me more joy in life than the laughter of thousands of children as they watch their parents get drenched by the hainosaurus!"
Coran must have mistaken Keith's confused expression with a concerned one and added hastily, "Oh but I should mention that our aquatic habitat is incredibly large and well equipped, and all of our shows are humane. Nothing like that awful place you Americans call Seaworld."
"Oh, uh, okay…." Keith looked to Shiro for help and Shiro chuckled, clapping a hand on his back.
"That's nice Coran, would you mind showing Keith around a bit today? I've got my hand pretty full with the new exhibit going up."
"Of course!" Coran hopped forward excitedly, gesturing for Keith to follow along, already halfway through a lecture on the history of the park, and the un-extinction mission itself.
As they left, Keith turned back to shoot his traitorous friend a scowl, reluctantly following Coran out of the air conditioned room, and into the sticky park beyond. This was going to be an interesting day.
A/N
Hey guys! I just got the urge to write a Jurassic World au today, and I have lots of ideas, but I'm not sure if it's something people will be interested in?
So if you liked this chapter and want to read more, let me know down in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
- MDL