Of Talks And Little Things

Of Marmalade and Red Sweaters

==> Chapter two 

Kankri’s eyes cracked open at the harsh light streaming through the plane window. His brother sat curled up in a tight ball against the soft cottony wall beside the window, his head bent at an angle that was sure to give him a neck ache when he woke up.

A yawn passed through his lips and he stretched over to close the blinds, not wanting the light to disturb Karkat. His joints popped and clicked with the movement and he winced at the stiffness in his shoulder.

He called an air hostess over, her face was a bright orange due to the heavy amount of foundation she was wearing and her eyes were so thick with eyeliner it almost hid the dark bags that hung there. She plastered a too wide smile on her face, bending down to speak to Kankri.

“Yes dear?” her voice was sickly sweet, scraping against Kankri’s ears painfully.

He cleared his throat, still dry from sleep, “I was just wondering if you could tell me how much longer until we land.”

She blinked in surprise, as though she wasn’t expecting such manners from a boy his age, “Of course dear,” pulling her sleeve back she inspected the wide face of her watch, “Just under twenty minutes.”

He nodded appreciatively, “Thank you.”

She smiled again, turning and walking away, huffing softly under her breath.

Kankri sat back again with a sigh, looking around at the dull blues and greys of the plane. A dark cobalt that was faded along the middle due to months of people walking up and down the aisles covered the floor, dark food stains marking where children had once sat on the light grey chairs.

Pulling at a piece of thread fraying at the edge of his shirt he contemplated waking Karkat. He knew the boy needed the sleep, but he was beginning to feel anxious. Anxious that things wouldn’t get better now that they were here. Anxious that they’d sacrificed a chance at a normal family for nothing.

He chewed at his thumb nail in worry, a terrible habit he had picked up from Father Nicholas.

It was his responsibility to raise Karkat now. No one would be there to help them anymore, the only people they had now, were each other. A terrible feeling of panic washed over him and he felt as though he was about to throw up the empty contents of his stomach. His hands shook violently and his face paled.

As he tried to breathe normally an announcement came on throughout the cabin letting all the passengers know that they were to land in fifteen minutes and to please have all you belongings packed away safely. The sound roused Karkat from his slumber and he growled groggily, rubbing his eyes with closed fists.

“What fucking time is it?” he mumbled, adjusting his beanie.

“Around nine in the evening here. We’ll be landing soon.”

He huffed under his breath, turning to his older brother, amber eyes dull with exhaustion.

“As soon as we land we’ll head straight for the apartment, then you can sleep for as long as you want. School isn’t for another few days.”

The only response he received was a short grunt before Karkat began the difficult task of untangling his limbs.

The young Vantas brother wasn’t tall by any means, but his arms and legs had always seemed too long for his body. He was pale and skinny, his dark ashen hair standing out violently against his skin. Amber eyes looked out from under long dark lashes, full of anger and a strange softness.

Father Nicholas had once said how Karkat reminded him of Marmalade. He looked sweet and docile, but on the inside he was rather bitter. His eyes too were a similar colour, but Karkat had denied any resemblance to the ‘disgusting’ spread.