Chapter 2 - Of Broncos and Chocobos

“Are you positive that contraption will be able to fly?”

Karkat rolled his eyes, though he knew she probably wouldn't be able to see from her vantage point on the ground below. “Yes, Kanaya. You've asked me five different times in twenty different ways and I've told you the same answer every time. YES, THIS frackING PLANE WILL FLY.”

Kanaya raised an eyebrow, the beginnings of a smile playing around her lips. “For one thing, I thought it was called a 'bronco'. For another thing, how did I say something twenty different ways in the five times I asked?”

He threw his hands in the air in exasperation. “Oh, for the love of all that is sane, will you go inside and make some god-damned tea like you said you would two hours ago? I'm trying to work here!” He ignored the laugh that came from below him as he examined the innards of the aircraft. A moment later he heard the door close behind his sister as she went inside, finally leaving him in blessed peace.

Karkat closed the paneling over the now-concealed engine, fixing the sheet of metal in place carefully, then got in the cockpit and leaned back in the worn leather seat. He was, to say the least, proud of himself; when he'd found the Tiny Bronco in the back of his great-great-grandfather's hangar, behind the Shera and the Highwind, the thing had been nothing but a pile of scrap metal. Old, rusty scrap metal. There was firearm damage done to the tail, the whole bottom of the thing practically made of rust; when he asked his father about it, he was informed that the Bronco had been used as a boat for several months, back before Meteorfall. Karkat shook his head, still appalled that the great Cid (he called him that sarcastically) could allow such harm to come to what was once a beautiful machine.

That was when Karkat had decided to repair it. The thing had taken several months - if not a year - to fix, but it was finally ready. Some parts were brand-new, some were salvaged from slightly newer models that Karkat had never felt attached enough to fix. There was just something about the Tiny Bronco that made him feel good. Not happy - he was never happy, he liked to tell himself - but a state that was less pissed-off than he was usually. Looking at the Tiny Bronco, Karkat was able to think, yes, I can fly, despite past experiences that would serve to state the opposite of that thought.

And, buckling the seat belt-slash-harness across himself, he realized that that particular thought had never been more true until now.

)O(

“John! You left your phone in the barn again!” Jade hollered from said barn. “The caller ID says it's Karkat calling!”

The wild chocobo John was attempting to “break” was finally able to buck him off in his temporary lapse in concentration, and he dodged from its lashing talons skilfully - albeit clumsily - as he grabbed for its reins. It fought him as he dragged it to its stable, and Jade hurried out of the way with a small, newly-hatched chocobo in her arms.

Slamming the stable closed, he wrenched his hand back as the chocobo snapped her beak at him. “Ow!”

“You okay?” Jade asked, the fluffy chick in her arms giving its opinion on John's ringing phone in a high-pitched voice.

“Yeah,” John answered. “Her beak just clipped me.” He examined the small point of blood on his arm with a sigh, and started when he realized his phone had just stopped ringing. “Oh, jeez!” he said, snatching it from the shelf where he'd left it and quickly hitting the “redial” button.

“Way to leave me hanging, Egbert,” a snappy voice greeted him after about half a ring.

“Sorry, I was busy with a new arrival,” John said. “What's up?”

A sarcastic silence was all the answer he received, and he suddenly realized what it was.

“The Bronco's done?” Jade looked up from the chick she was holding, which was starting to fall asleep. The excited grin on her face matched her half-brother's.

“No, frackass, I need about another decade on it. YES, it's done! Jesus.”

John laughed. “That's so great! When are you gonna fly it?”

“I've already flown it; it works great.” Karkat's angry voice barely concealed his own excitement. “Though, I don't know how well it deals with longer distances than a couple laps around Rocket Town; I'm probably gonna have to do some tinkering on it before I want to risk crossing the ocean.”

“Yeah, don't do that unless you know for sure you're not gonna end up crash-landing in the middle of the sea,” John said, mildly disappointed.

“Oh, don't sound like that,” Karkat said, sensing his tone. “I'll come visit you as soon as I'm confident with this thing. It won't be much longer, John.”

“That's so awesome. I'll be sure to have an extra chocobo for you when you come!”

“I've got a fracking airplane, what would I need a flightless bird for?”

“I was gonna show you the cave, remember? We have to cross the swamp to get to it, and I'm pretty sure your Bronco's too big for that tiny piece of solid ground right in front of it. We wouldn't want all your hard work to end up covered in swamp mud!”

“Good point,” Karkat amended. “Well, I'm sure you want me to get there as soon as I can, so I gotta go work on this. I'll see you soon.”

“All right, Karkat,” he replied. “I love you,” he added.

There was a moment's hesitation on the other end of the phone, and John heard a reluctant smile enter his boyfriend's voice. “I love you, too, John.”

Jade was wearing a strange, sparkly-eyed expression as he hung up the phone, and he rolled his eyes at her. “Stop doing that every time I tell him, sis.”

“But you guys are so cute!” she gushed, quiet enough so as not to disturb the ball of downy fluff still cradled in her arms. Her eyes trailed to the wound left by the wild chocobo's beak. “You should probably go wash that,” she added in a more serious tone.

He glanced down; the cut had apparently been deeper than he'd thought, and now his arm was covered in blood. “shoot. I'll be right back, Jade.”

She nodded as he left the barn, gently setting the baby chocobo back in the nest of hay beside its mother.

–

Now sporting a clean white bandage, John sat on the fence bordering the paddock, staring into the sky with a content smile on his face.

Karkat was coming. John still remembered the day they'd met in Edge; John and Jade had been there to visit their friend Dave and his brother, as well as to pick up some seeds from the market there to grow new greens for the chocobos. Karkat had come into the bar while they were reminiscing, complaining about the crowds outside and muttering something about his sister.

To say the two had hit it off pretty quickly would be an understatement; what had started with John playfully flirting under the cloud of a slight alcoholic buzz had ended up with the two waking up the next morning in the same bed – luckily both with their pants still on, though both with headaches induced by the amount of consumption the night before.

Dave still made fun of him about his constant complaining about “not being a homosexual” for years and then making out with a complete stranger. Apparently it was also categorized under “irony”, so John didn't mind as much.

The two had maintained a long-distance relationship for the past year and a half, making plans to visit each other as often as possible, though the fact that they lived on two different continents was a little harrowing. Only a few months later, Karkat had found the small aircraft and saw an opportunity for more frequent visits, and now that the repairs were finally done – or, at least, almost done – John could barely contain his excitement.

I love you, too, John.

Karkat's normally irritated voice always softened when he said those words, and John knew he meant it as passionately as John himself did when he said it.

He couldn't wait.

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