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The tune of the wind chime carried on the breeze. A troll held his breath. Fallen leaves roared in his ears as they danced to the tune of the jingle. Calloused hands held a gift wrapped in blue, a green ribbon holding the wrinkled paper together. Karkat’s chase for perfection oftentimes ended in a worse outcome than if he had just let it be the first time. It was a common theme when planning things for her. He felt as though nothing would ever be good enough for her, not good enough to reach the standards that he thought she deserved. It took a lot of will power for him to settle on a single gift, but after the long and heartfelt conversation they had last year he understood that he had to limit himself this year.
The tune started to crescendo, and Karkat found himself amidst a hurricane of foliage. Despite how loud rustling of the leaves was, the wind chime was at the forefront. The wind continued to pick up, and Karkat felt he was almost levitating off the ground. Despite the storm building up around him, Karkat looked up towards the sky with a smile on his face. He felt a tap on his shoulder.
“Hey.”
Karkat cursed and jumped a foot into the air. Karkat could hear his blood pumping in his ears as the wind died down. He scowled, tilting his head back to look at the one he had been waiting for. She had a cheeky smile on her face. The last note of the wind chime rang out.
“What the fuck is your problem? Do you seriously have to appear behind me like that? Such a dramatic appearance just to startle me?” Karkat turned around, bringing his face closer to June’s.
“Gross, Karkat. Did you brush your teeth this morning?” June tilted her upper body away. “Can’t just be getting up in people’s faces with a mouth like that.” Her smile grew 10 times wider.
“You know damn well,” Karkat grabbed June by the collar of her shirt and pulled her back towards him. “If you think you can just appear wherever just to fuck with me-”
Karkat stumbled back as he realized he was losing grip of the present now in his other hand. As it slipped out of his grasp, he dived trying to catch it. He felt the wind rush up to catch the present, leading it straight to June’s hands. Karkat, on the other hand, didn’t manage to catch himself in time before his face met the pavement. He groaned.
June’s laughter surrounded him, and for a moment he laid there absorbing the experience of being in her vicinity. His heart skipped a beat.
“Now, now, what do we have here?” Karkat looked up at June, watching her eyes scan the tag written in Karkat’s scrawl. “I better not see a bunch of tiny little gifts in here. You aren’t hiding more from me, are you Karkat?”
“No, actually,” Karkat pushed himself up off the ground, brushing any dirt off his pants. “Surprisingly, I like to respect my friends wishes when they tell me to lay off on the birthday gifts. What’s the use in celebrating if I’m just going to piss you off to inflate my own ego?”
June’s jaw dropped. “Wait, so you actually care about me? This isn’t going very well for your pitch courting rituals.”
“Okay, fuck you,” Karkat reached for the present back, but June held it away from his grasp. “You know- that was just- it was a stupid grubcrush-” A blush found its way across Karkat’s face.
“Finders keepers, Karkat! No taking it back now!” She pushed up off the ground, floating just out of reach of a jumping Karkat with flailing arms. “Let’s see what you got for me.”
June tugged at the end of the ribbon, letting the present come undone in her arms. Karkat stopped his attempts of sabotage and watched, fingers messing with the sleeve of his sweater. The ribbon fell to the ground, the wrapping paper following soon after. She looked inside the box.
The silly look on her face melted away as she studied her gift. She slowly lowered to the ground. She glanced up at Karkat in awe, switching back and forth between her gift giver and the gift itself. The air was still.
“Well, do you like it?” Karkat stepped towards June, nervously letting his arms cross.
June kept her gaze on Karkat this time, and Karkat wished he knew what June was looking for in him. Wish he knew everything there was to know about her and the wind.
“Karkat…” She closed the distance between them. He felt her breath as lips pecked his cheek. His face was flushed in shock.
“I love it.”
A sigh of relief escaped Karkat’s lips, a gentle smile spreading across his face. “Good. I’m really glad.” The wind started to pick up again, leaving the pair in the eye of the storm. He saw June walk past him and closed his eyes to enjoy the breeze.
When he turned around, she was already gone with her gift. He looked up to the sky once more. He raised a hand to the cheek where June kissed him, his smile growing just a little bigger.
“Happy birthday, June.”