Nepeta Lejion

a closed roleplay blog for crocker institute

[equis-pulcherrimus-blog]

Face to Face

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

“I think we should totally do it!” Nepeta decided, giddily exuberant over the idea. A day to celebrate their friendship, why hadn’t she thought of that sooner. After all, their friendship seemed to defy all odds. Nepeta and Equius stood in stark contrast to one another. He towered over her, standing solemn and grim, while she was a bouncing ball of energetic cheer. While Equius had been drawn to religion, Nepeta had been driven from it. He was reserved and took great care with her words, while she would burst out and say the first thing that came to mind. The two of them certainly made quite the strange pair.

“Yeah, but it’s filled with cream.” She exclaimed with a grumble. “Normally ripping that off would result in the insides, well, you know, not being on the inside anymore.” She shrugged her shoulders, setting the glass back down on the table. “Well, what do you think? Delicious, huh?” Nepeta prodded, taking another bite from the pastry. 

[equis-pulcherrimus-blog]

“It does seem a little…for lack of a better word, egotistical. But I do like the idea.” A day just to celebrate their own friendship? Well, it wasn’t like they were forcing other people to participate, so perhaps thinking of it as a holiday was a little misleading. Still, though they had their differences, he had no closer friend than her. In fact, he would even hazard to say that she was the only person he truly considered a close friend.

Nepeta, in the end, was right; he had to take quick action to prevent the cream from getting everywhere. Equius, of course, didn’t admit that he was wrong so easily. Therefore, he decided to simply not reply to her explanatory warning, figuring that it would be forgotten if he moved the conversation in another direction. “It is delicious! This cafe’s reputation is well-deserved.”

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

“Who the fuck cares if it is egotistical.” She blurted out, pumping her fist in the air excitedly, forgetting that Equius hated swearing. It was easier to censor herself online, but remembering not to slip into crude language face to face when it was part of her everyday vocabulary was proving to be more difficult than she anticipated. Her eyes went wide as she realized what she said, slapping her hand over her mouth. Looking at him apologetically, Nepeta stopped cover her lips, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry, sorry, I know. Just...got excited there. We should do it though, having the friendship holiday I mean.”

Pouting as the cream almost plopped onto the table, only adverted when he quickly stuck his hand under the pastry, catching it with his fingers. “Seems like you have quite the mess on your hands there.” Nepeta said with a laugh, taking a sip of tea. “And yes, this place has the most delicious sweets!”

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Quite the Purrdicament

If one thing was irrefutable about Nepeta Leijon, it was that she loved animals. Initially, people often assumed she only cared about cats and while she did have a soft spot for felines, she found something special and lovable in every species. There was nothing she wanted more in life than to help animals, so in addition to studying veterinary medicine, she masqueraded as the pet vigilante of Crocker Institute. Most of the time that just involved smuggling pets around campus and pairing people up with the perfect pet. Sometimes though, it meant rescuing exotic pets from rich brats who only wanted the animal for bragging rights and had no idea how to properly care for the creatures. Okay, yes, she was stealing, but was it really stealing if they weren’t supposed to have the animal in the first place! 

Recently, she overheard a student boasting about their new pet alligator, which had instantly put her on high alert. People often thought the baby gators were cute, but once they started to grow, the panic set in as people realized that their ‘pets’ were indeed predators. So, Nepeta had done what any sensible person would do, she had observed the persons schedule and broken into the dorm room when no one was there to take the alligator. However, she hadn’t anticipated someone getting home early and having to hide in the bathroom. Nor had she previously realized that the windows in the restrooms were smaller then all the other windows throughout the dorms.

When it became clear the person wasn’t leaving, the young Leijon had tried to escape out the window, only to slip and wedge herself in place. She needed both of her hands to free her body from the frame, but she couldn’t just put down an alligator, the small creature could wander off and wreck havoc on some unsuspecting student and potentially get hurt in the processes. She was in quite the predicament, since she was, quite literally, stuck half way out a window, cradling a baby alligator. She swore the gator was eyeing her thumbs as if they were increasingly appetizing. Nepeta prayed someone would find her soon and, for everyone’s sake, she hoped it was from outside.

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Like a Cat Out of Hell

People often found it surprising how studious the youngest Leijon daughter actually was, forgetting that behind the easily detracted and goofy nature was a woman who desperately wanted to better the lives of animals. Going into veterinary medicine had been the easiest choice she ever made, even if the course work was grueling. With an exam coming up in Animal Anatomy, she was tacking on extra study time where ever she could. Rubbing her eyes, bleary from staring at the countless anatomical diagrams, she grabbed her mug and let out an annoyed groan when she found it empty. Nepeta had been consuming a steady amount of tea throughout the evening and it was finally catching up to her.

Pushing herself from her chair, she made her way across the room, praying the neither of her roommates were using the bathroom. Doing a little happy dance, she waltzed in and slammed the door behind her. Dropping her pants, Nepeta sat down on the toilet, but before anything else could happen, she was startled by a loud POP from underneath her. Screeching, she jumped up and promptly tripped on the pants around her ankles, letting out another shout as landed on the floor. Blinking on the floor in a confused haze, she heard a muffled laugh coming from the common room. “Oh someone is going to be so fucking sorry.” She muttered, hauling herself from the ground and struggling to get her pants back on. Throwing open the door, Nepeta emerged from the bathroom like fury, advancing towards the source of her mishap: John Egbert. 

[professorspiderbite-blog]

A cheeky sneak peek.

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Nepeta stepped inside as the professor threw the door open wider, glancing around. “So, this might be a little out there, but how would you like me to refer to you? I mean, you’re a prof on campus, but we are in your house, which is a lot more casual, so it would be odd to call you Professor Serket, but it would be weird to call you by your first name.” She rambled, setting down the two cat carriers before kneeling in front of them and peering inside. Murmuring softly, she opened up the carriers, letting the cats and kittens wander out at their own pace. 

There were four felines in total, each with varying personality, all of whom got along with one another and would probably get along with Asipha. There was Noodle, a small tabby male who was constantly hiding in the strangest places. Stucks was a chubby kitten with off white fur and a splattering of gray markings. Additionally, there was Morrigan, an older black cat who missing her left eye and part of her ear from her lift as a stray. Lastly, there was Boopsie, a pretty all white cat with blue eyes, who was very energetic. 

Looking up from the cats as Asipha asked about tea, she beamed. “Tea would be fantastic.” Nepeta replied, running her fingers down Stucks spine. “Do you have an Chai?” She asked, as Boopsie jumped up onto a table, walking across the open note book. The cat lover stood up, smiling as the cats meowed at her feet; however, she couldn’t let Boopsie have complete rein of the place. Walking over, she scooped the cat off the table, depositing her back onto the floor. “Perhaps with some milk and-” Nepeta let her eyes scan the page, face going slightly red, “-No sugar!” She finished, continuing to read. The professor was writing smut, very detailed smut.  

[equis-pulcherrimus-blog]

Face to Face

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

“Oh! A friend holiday, I love it!” She said with an excited squeal, kicking her legs under the table. “This day should be an unofficial holiday for the two of us. A celebration of our friendship every year.” Nepeta suggested, using her free hand to ruffle her hair. She realized it was silly, but she really liked the idea. After all, they had known each other for so long, it was an important date in their personal histories that they finally met in person. The pair didn’t always see eye to eye, in a literal sense due to the height difference and in a metaphorical meaning to the saying as they differed ideologically, but Equius was her best friend. 

As he reached out to rip off a piece of the pastry, she shook her head. “You just got to take a bite out of it, otherwise the cream is just going to go everywhere and you’ll make a mess.” Nepeta warned, taking a sip from her glass of ice tea. 

[equis-pulcherrimus-blog]

The idea made Equius laugh. “That would certainly be something, wouldn’t it? A day to commemorate our friendship…we certainly have been friends through a lot together.” When Equius and Nepeta had met, they had been so different. Equius had been irreligious and considering work in the veterinarian field and had been involved in so many more activities. Nowadays, not only did he follow the faith, but he spent most of his time thinking about machines rather than animals and punching people. And, throughout all this change, Nepeta had remained steadfast at his side.

Equius tossed the chunk into his mouth. “It’s only a small piece. I wanted to see what it tastes like before I take a larger bite,” he said, in way of explanation. Though he acted like he was a picky eater, he would in reality eat anything put in front of him that wasn’t meat.

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

“I think we should totally do it!” Nepeta decided, giddily exuberant over the idea. A day to celebrate their friendship, why hadn’t she thought of that sooner. After all, their friendship seemed to defy all odds. Nepeta and Equius stood in stark contrast to one another. He towered over her, standing solemn and grim, while she was a bouncing ball of energetic cheer. While Equius had been drawn to religion, Nepeta had been driven from it. He was reserved and took great care with her words, while she would burst out and say the first thing that came to mind. The two of them certainly made quite the strange pair.

“Yeah, but it’s filled with cream.” She exclaimed with a grumble. “Normally ripping that off would result in the insides, well, you know, not being on the inside anymore.” She shrugged her shoulders, setting the glass back down on the table. “Well, what do you think? Delicious, huh?” Nepeta prodded, taking another bite from the pastry. 

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Purrecious Cargo

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

“There were a lot of stray cats on Derse, but there are stray cats most places, you just have to know where to look.” She lightly scratched behind the ears of the cat on her lap. “I don’t have anything against dogs, I like all animals actually, I just have a soft spot for cats. I grew up with one kitty cat, well...one cat and whatever strays my sister and I smuggled into the house.” Nepeta admitted with a chuckle, a fond smile tugging at her lips over the memory. The two Leijon daughters had built the best blanket forts in the living room, dragging all the cats inside to cuddle as they watched old animated movies, like The Aristocats or Oliver and Company. “I guess, I’ve always had this habit.” She added, gesturing around the room to the cats. 

“OH! Spanish, no wonder I got most of what you were saying!” Nepeta exclaimed, startling the cat on her lap, who jumped down and began cleaning his paw in a disgruntled fashion. “Portuguese, well and Swedish. Mama wanted us to know our roots, even if they weren’t present on that crappy space station. And obviously English, but also sign. It was...a complicated combination. I used to lapse between them all the time when I was little.”  She held her hand out, trying to coax the cat back, but the small creature was having none of it. Sliding of the edge of the bed, she landed on the floor with a small thud, causing the cat to jump and then scamper off. “But yeah, I can relate.” She muttered, shrugging her shoulders. “Always manage to stick my foot in my mouth.” 

Brightening up considerably, she chimed back. “The perhaps the Kitten overlords will spare you, especially if you are willing to bend the knee and serve.” Not realizing the second connotation of her statement. Pausing, Nepeta chewed lightly on her lower lip as she thought. “What’s next for me? I don’t know, didn’t really have much planned. I mean, yes, sometimes I do go out with the express purpose of finding strays, but most of the time, I just stumble upon them, strays are always there if you are looking.” She laughed as the cats approached Gamzee, one even doing so far as to crawl into his lap. “Well, I hope you didn’t have any plans.” She commented, chuckling between words.

[blondrobotics]

Tapped Out

Dirk had been a member of the MMA club for a while, mostly using it as a means of stress relief when he was getting swamped down with one of his projects. Normally he’d do some Kendo in the park, however it wasn’t exactly as fulfilling if there wasn’t an end goal in mind, getting better for the sake of it missed something rather important, a goal. So, Dirk had joined the club as a way of blowing off steam, he felt it worked well, he already had some training in a few different fighting styles so blending them together to make use of them all was pretty nice.

Today the club had decided to do live training. Dirk wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about this, while he enjoyed the thrill of fighting an opponent he wasn’t sure if he felt right about the person he’d been matched up with. His sparring session was between him and a girl named Nepeta, he’d met her a few times in the club and he knew she was strong but Dirk also knew his own strength and simply worried about going too hard on the girl.

As he walked over to the mats that they’d be training at, The Strider pulled on his gloves prepping himself for the match. Dirk was dressed quite simply, after all this was about function not fashion. He wore a pair of orange shorts with black stripes down the sides, a pair of red gloves to cover his hands and a red head piece to protect from kicks to the head, typical safety gear. Other than that he was bare, his trimmed body on display, while incredibly pale he still managed to look quite nice thanks to just how much he worked out as well as being a man who worked with his hands. Looking over at his sparring partner, he held out one of his gloves as was part of tradition for the club to touch gloves before a match started, having done all his stretching before he found out who he was going up against. He looked her over slowly, not realizing his blue eyes were not covered by his shades anymore, before looking up into her eyes, before speaking calmly, “You ready?” He questioned simply, his voice monotone and calm.

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Nepeta had learned to fight out of necessity, skills honed by need and furthered by intensive training. Growing up on Derse had been rough, especially for the two daughters of the woman spearing heading the religious project to clean up the space station. Corruption ran deep on Derse. The illicit businesses funded political campaigns, so politicians in return made sure to turn a blind eye on what was going on underground. Vandals and looters hit their apartment as a regular basis. It infuriated her that her mother never fought back, the she simply scrubbed the graffiti away, replaced the stolen items with donations from the church, increased her volunteer work and prayed. Even the bullying both children faced garnered nothing more then the constantly reassurance from their mother that this was all part of God’s plan, a test for them. Well, if it had been a test, Nepeta was sure she had failed.

She fought back viciously, getting her ass kicked many times before she started figuring out the right moves. Eventually, she started winning more than she was loosing. Her style was rough and unrefined, but it got the job done. Her mother’s disapproval of fighting and her own growing need to be out of the house as much as possible, finally drove Nepeta to take official lessons. Even once she left Derse, the desire to fight coursed through her body, so joining the MMA club had just fit naturally into her routine on Skaia. The club provided an outlet for her aggression and furthered her skills. 

Rolling her shoulders back, Nepeta lightly trotted over to the mat, eyeing her opponent for the day, who seemed to be sizing her up in return. Tugging the baggy shirt over her head, she deposited the loose garment by the the mat. Anything that could easily be grabbed was a disadvantage. Plus, the shirt just got sweaty and clung to her body uncomfortably. The sports bra and spandex shorts proved to be much more practical for the live sparing sessions. Donning the typical safety gear, Nepeta stepped out onto the mat. She bumped her glove against Dirks, nodding her head and replying in a chipper tone, “Yup, ready as evfur.” 

[equis-pulcherrimus-blog]

Face to Face

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Nepeta grinned happily, nodding her head. “Your schedule better be clear Equius, I’d be purretty upset if it wasn’t.” She declared definitively with a slight frown. “I mean, like I said, it’s not every day that you get to meet your best furriend fur the first time.” She repeated, making sure there was no room for argument as she moved through the cafe.

Setting her plate and glass down, she climbed into the seat, folding her legs underneath her instead of sitting down in the standard method. Clapping her hands together excitedly, she grabbed the sweet treat and took a large bite. “Mmm,” She groaned pleasurably at the taste, licking the confentoners sugar from her fingers. “It’s pawsitively delicious! Would you like to try?” She asked, holding out the pastry across the table. 

[equis-pulcherrimus-blog]

Equius smiled back at her. “Hence why I cleared it. I can agree that today is practically a holiday for the both of us.” He, certainly, had spent the entire day in an almost uncharacteristic state of excitement. Few things he could remember had had such an effect on him, but there could hardly be a better reason than this.

Her pure enthusiasm wasn’t surprising, per se, since all her interactions with him online had been conducted with a similar gusto. He hadn’t quite been expecting that demeanor to translate into real life, though. Equius had hardly had the chance to lift his muffin to his mouth - since he had taken a drink of his coffee first - before Nepeta offered him the pastry.

“There’s no harm in it,” Equius said as he reached out to break off a piece of the pastry.

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

“Oh! A friend holiday, I love it!” She said with an excited squeal, kicking her legs under the table. “This day should be an unofficial holiday for the two of us. A celebration of our friendship every year.” Nepeta suggested, using her free hand to ruffle her hair. She realized it was silly, but she really liked the idea. After all, they had known each other for so long, it was an important date in their personal histories that they finally met in person. The pair didn’t always see eye to eye, in a literal sense due to the height difference and in a metaphorical meaning to the saying as they differed ideologically, but Equius was her best friend. 

As he reached out to rip off a piece of the pastry, she shook her head. “You just got to take a bite out of it, otherwise the cream is just going to go everywhere and you’ll make a mess.” Nepeta warned, taking a sip from her glass of ice tea. 

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Cat Got Your Tongue?

Nepeta loved working as a stage hand in the theater. She got to wear all black and pretend she was a stealthy cat as she moved around back stage, taking care of all the business no one in the audience ever saw, but that was essential to every production. Plus, she was able to go up into the catwalks on a semi regular basis, hanging lights and altering fixtures. Those were the answers she gave every time someone asked why she wasn’t an actor, purposefully choosing silly answers to more easily brush of the question. She wasn’t lying either, both of those were reasons she loved to be in the theater, but neither was the real reason she never acted in a play. Nepeta had stage freight, a fact she had quickly learned back in elementary school when she had been cast as cat number three in the mandatory production. She had only had four lines, but had been unable to get any of them out of her mouth, until she had burst into tears on the stage. Each year followed the same way, with each play she had less lines, but still she had never managed to say them. Even when her teachers had finally conceded and given the young girl non-speaking roles, like tree number four and back of horse, Nepeta still got incredible anxious whenever she stepped out onto the stage.

Luckily, those days were long behind her. She had found her place in the theater was anywhere but the stage. Nepeta kept her stage freight a secret, not wanting anyone to learn the embarrassing fact. She was happy offstage, silently mouthing the lines to herself as she worked and supporting the people who had the guts to walk into the bright lights and act. Sometimes, when the theater was empty, when the actors had received their flowers and gone off with loved ones, when the other technicians had finished their post show lists and left, Nepeta would step out onto the darkened stage. She would say all those lines she had memorized, hearing them day after day, listening to the notes the director gave to the actors. She would practice her intonations and emotional responses, finally able to be on the stage without fear.

It was closing night on a rather grueling production, one where Nepeta had poured extra time and effort to make sure everything went off without a hitch. As the cast took their final bow, applause filling the theater, the visiting director stood to say a few parting words. He thanked people who had worked on the show, calling them out onto the stage to say a few words before continuing onward to talk about the next person. Nepeta wasn’t worried, generally only the actors received attention and on the rare occasion technicians did, it was always the designers, which is why she didn’t expect the pair of hands on her back, shoving her onto the stage. She stumbled, bringing up a hand to shield her eyes from the bright lights, then froze. The director was still droning on, but Nepeta could no longer hear him. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her knees shaking, stomach twisting hard, perspiration beading on her skin, a lump forming in her throat. He fell silent and she was vaguely aware that she was supposed to say something.

A second of silence, drew out into a few seconds, until the silence could officially be declared awkward. Nepeta couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t do anything but stand there frozen. She heard crickets chirping, confusion spreading across her face, the sound drawing a laugh from the audience. Angry, embarrassed tears stung her eyes as she turned and bolted from the stage. As she ran, the tears started to stream down her face, blurring her vision. Nepeta wasn’t sure where she was going, all she knew was that she had to get away from the theater, had to get away from everyone’s judgmental gaze and the laughing crowd. She was moving on autopilot, not even completely sure if she was still in the theater or if she had gotten outside, face downcast to hide that she was crying, utterly mortified as she ran square into someone, sending herself sprawling backward onto her ass.

[crowingtaxidermist-blog]

Dave liked theatre, but the fact that he was the new student director came just by fluke. He hadn’t expected to get caught in the middle of the library writing a screenplay for fun, and he sure as hell didn’t expect that to get him an offer to work as a student director. For the next production, though. Not this recent one. No, David was expected to shadow their current sod of a director to learn the ropes, and fuck were the ropes boring. Or at least, their current director was fucking boring. Everything else was kind of okay and even a little bit cool, but because he was sure the director hated him, the Strider was always given the shit jobs. Which, at this time, included but didn’t only consist of Dave being the light and sound technician for the entire show.

It wasn’t a hard job, just follow the cues written on his version of the script and actually listen for his cues and shit, but it was still mind numbing to the point where Dave just ended up wrangling a nervous stage hand into doing the job, him sneaking out and heading into the costume lab for inspiration as the show went on without him. Walking into the dressing room, the Strider looked around at the shelves and racks of outfits, all expertly categorized by type and size by none other than the Strider himself. Well, that was due to the fact that the entirety of the prop and costume rooms were left looking like Hell on Ice™, but now both were acceptably organized so as to make his life suck increasingly less. Either way, he already knew the costume he wanted to try on, having seen it while he was working on cleaning a few days prior and setting the oddly well fitting outfit aside to try on again later. It was just a white suit and matching dress pants, but paired with the black button up shirt and red suspenders he found, Dave admitted he thought he looked pretty fucking sharp for once, instead of just looking like God shat out the stereotypical hipster teen trend blogger and decided that adding douchey shades might lower the trashiness. Well God was wrong, much like Dave had been so many times before and would continue to be.

In fact, Dave was so fucking wrong that he had miscalculated the time he had to put on something decent and head backstage, him reaching for his phone that he had set on a table and letting out a long string of curses as he grabbed his jacket and started out of the room quickly, not really thinking about wether or not it would be a good idea to run in the halls, or wether he should be watching himself, the Strider running and reaching for the stage door, only for it to slam open on him - someone on the other side beating him to it and promptly smacking solidly into the Strider as they bolted. Grunting and feeling the other very very solid person headbutt the wind right out of Dave’s lungs, the Strider ragdolled, slamming into the adjacent wall and slumping with a shudder and a hard gasp, trying to blink away the stars behind his eyes as he pushed his shades back up on the bridge of his nose, looking up and grunting while huffing out breathlessly, “… F-Fuck, you okay? I’m s-sorry…” Feeling his face go dark with a blush as he started to stutter like an idiot, really not sure what else to say after colliding with someone in the back fucking hall of the theater.

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Nepeta winced, the floor impacting hard with her tailbone as she landed, scrambling back from the other person as the stage door swung shut behind her. Her hands trembled from the conglomeration of emotions coursing through her: the embarrassment, the rage, the disappointment. She wiped angrily at the tears still streaming down her cheeks, refusing to raise her eyes and look at the person she just crashed into full force. All she wanted to do was disappear, escape the scorn and judgement of her peers, so that she could escape back to the safety of her room. She wasn’t sure how’d she every step into the theater again. 

Lifting her head in confusion as she heard a familiar voice apologize, she gawked at Dave, who was attired in a full suit of white fabric from the costume department. “A-aren’t you s-supposed to be in the boo-” She managed to start asking before the words died on her tongue, immediately adverting her gaze again. Clenching her hands into first, Nepeta tried to take deep, measured breaths. She needed to calm down, needed to get away, but her mind was still reeling wildly. “I’m fine.” She mumbled, finally processing what he had said. “I’m fine, I’m sorry for running into you, I wasn’t watching where I was going. I just...I just need to get away from here.” 

She was mortified that she was sitting on the ground, crying in front of Dave. Yes, she had just broken down into tear on stage in front of an entire audience, but the lights were near blinding, turning everyone sitting in the house into a faceless mass of bodies. This felt so much more personal. Well, he would have found out what happened either way. “Fuck, this is so embarrassing.” She whispered, finally pushing herself to her feet before extending a hand in an offer to help him from the ground. “Why are you wearing a suit?” Nepeta sniffled, trying to change the subject as she awkwardly shifted back and forth.

[crustaceousgenesis-blog]

Page Turner

Working at a library had it’s benefits that were suited specifically for Karkat. For example the place was normally quiet, or kept at a reasonable low volume that ensured to not feed or make a headache ache and throb between his temples. Most of the time people came in to either read, use the computers for research, or the few who had actually bothered to come for a isolated session to let their minds work without the pressures and distraction of common background noise.

The next thing had to be the books. They had such a wide variety of genres in the library, although his personal favorites were the ones that hovered their foot in the romance section with a side order of actual good plot. It seemed these days it was hard to find something like that these days and it was painstakingly difficult to rearrange the romance aisle from books with actual good plot and realistic romance in them to general shit holes within his first week. 

He’s learned to put up with it now even if he gives it a grimace now and then when his eye catches a particularly distasteful book.

Currently Vantas found himself with a large pile of books that had next to him that were returned at the end of the day. Most of them were the typical research books no one in their right mind would read without being forced at a gunpoint if they wanted to even so much as earn a respectable grade. He saved the more personal reading books for last though just to get an idea on what people seemed to enjoy looking at.

He’s not at all surprised at seeing the abundance of young adult novels in his pile. For now he goes through them with a silent nod of approval from him as he sets it into it’s rightful place. He comes across a romance YA novel called Hush, Hush while looking at it’s dreadful cover of a shirtless and shoeless angelic man with wings that looked diseased to have that little feathers and black as night. (Seriously what’s with this trope of having angels be shirtless and shoeless? They understand the concept of pants so why not other articles of clothing?!) and he snarls. “God, who the fuck actually read this?” Karkat hisses to himself although he’s cautious to raise his voice up to it’s normal louder level. 

The book is opened and he’s thumbs to a random section of the book and nearly cringes at it’s righting. He was right, this was shit. “So forced. Why would you fall for someone who is clearly stalking you, you crazy broad.” During his complains of the shitty book in hand he’s too engrossed in disgust and sick amusement to continue going through to hear muted footsteps walk towards his direction until it’s a bit too late and he’s caught red handed reading the clear abomination in which he snaps shut and his cheeks burning with embarrassment. 

“It’s not what it looks like. I was just… Looking at how atrocious this piece of shit was,” he mumbled out in defense with his perma-scowl planted on him. “And whoop-de-fucking-doo I was right. So, what do you want?”

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Strolling into the library, Nepeta slipped a pair of sunglasses up from her eyes, enjoying the shade and the blast of cool air from the air conditioning. Even dressed for the weather, the summer heat was sweltering, but a trip to the library had been necessary. She had finished books to return and needed to pick up some new novels. While she still had work at the veterinary clinic, summer break meant there were no classes, which left her with quite a lot of free time. Nepeta increased the number of hours she was volunteering at the local animal shelter, but even still, there were more hours in the day than she knew what to do with, so she had fallen back on a guilty pleasure to pass the time. She had started reading romance novels again and it wasn’t the kind of literature she would be okay with her literary professors catching her read. Certainly some of the novels she was reading over the summer would fall into that category: anything by Jane Austen, older English novels, like Jane Eyre or Gone With The Wind, or some Russian novels, like Anna Karenina or Doctor Zhivago; however, that wasn’t the only kind of romance literature Nepeta was enjoying.

She was also devouring trashy or popular romance titles, even occasionally dipping into the Young Adult literature. Nepeta wasn’t proud, but that’s why it was her guilty pleasure. Novels provided an escape from reality, a chance to slip into a character’s life and not worry about what was going on with her own. Back on Derse, she tried to spend very little of her time with her mother, choosing to fill the free hours of her day with extracurricular actives and volunteer work. When she had to be home, Nepeta often buried her nose in a book, blocking out the rest of her family, well, expect for her cat. She read whatever she could get her hands on, which often meant cheap romance novels from yard sales as both her school and the public library were greatly underfunded. Attending school on Skaia had come with a lot of perks, Nepeta just never realized that access to giant library would be one of them. 

Stopped by the bin labeled Book Returns, she stealthily extracted the finished novels from her bag and slipped them inside. So far, no one had caught her with romance novels and she wanted to keep it that way. She even went so far as to avoid asking for help finding books and using the automated check out machines to avoid to library staff. Running her fingers through her short cropped hair, she weaved her way around study tables and the high stacked shelves, making her way to the section where she knew the romance novels were located. Nepeta rounded the corner and froze, not expecting to find anyone in the aisle. Glancing at the book in his hand, she laughed, hand flying up to cover her mouth and muffle the sound. Her taste might be trash, but even she would never be desperate enough to read that garbage. Pulling her hand away, her lips quivered in an attempt to keep the giant smile from her face. “Of course, because it certainly looks like you were seriously investigating that shirtless angel, let me guess, he follows the heroine around like some psycho, yet she think it’s a sign of true love.” She held her hands up like she meant no harm before gesturing down the aisle. “I’m just here for some books, you know, what people in the library are generally here to get.”  

[crustaceousgenesis-blog]

The sharp cut off of laughter only causes Karkat to scowl as he nearly tosses the book over his shoulder. Except he doesn’t and puts it back in it’s place despite how much regret he feels having to put this up for some unfortunate fool to pluck from the shelves and read. When the book leaves his hands, he’s given the ability to cross his arms as he stares at the girl who walked in with an an unamused look, which was practically his default look by now. “How the fuck did you know? Actually, no wait, don’t tell me. I saw enough taking a glimpse into that atrocious writing and it’s made me wish I was blind.” Karkat comments as he glares back at the book resting innocently in it’s spot. When she speaks again, the sass filled tone despite raising her hands up in a sign of peace.“In the Young Adult section, right?” He chimes back as an eyebrow raises. 

Okay, so maybe he was being a bit antagonistic after being caught with a shitty book, but he’ll be damned to be dragged to hell without taking someone with him. “Well, if that’s you’re thing whatever. We just got a few new books in like Legend by Marie Lu, Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi , The Demon King by Cinda Chima. Pick your poison, though I guess. Most of the books in here have shitty romance plot lines anyways.” It’s been a long time since he had seen any good romantic plot devices in a book. Reading the Mortal Instrument series had Karkat nearly reeling from the genre in the first place with how idiotic the love triangle was and all the tossing around from the main power couple’s sibling relation to be true or not. It frankly hurt his head and he was a bit annoyed. 

He also wasn’t going to read through any romance novels that just seem too fake, too artificial for his tastes despite never finding himself actually in love. Karkat exhales and rubs the back of his head. Might as well leave her to her thing. “Well, if you need anything I’ll just be going back to work on putting these things back.” His head motions to the pile next to him of books that needed to be placed back onto the shelf. He wasn’t going to make the effort to talk to this stranger, especially not after she had caught him with that book. 

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Looking sheepishly down at her feet, Nepeta shrugged her shoulders before glancing at the book, which was now shoved back onto the shelf, wedged between others of the genre, “Well, it is a common trope of the literature, so I figured there was probably at least a seventy five percent chance that was the case.” Arching a brow, she continued in a teasing tone, “But you were the one so meticulously checking out that ‘hunk’ of an angel, enjoy your romantic interests shirtless and not so subtly stalker-esque?” Scowling, she took a few steps forward until she was in the middle of the aisle. “So what if I like to read YA novels. They balance out the other literature I read, which, don’t get me wrong, is mostly fantastic, but can be very taxing.” 

Listening as her began to list off all the new arrivals, she chuckled. “Oh, and can you list off all the new books the library has gotten? Or just from your favorite section?” She ran her fingers through her hair, glancing at the pile of books that needed to be re-shelved, wondering how many were ones she had slipped into the Book Return. She squinted, trying to make out the titles or recognize the cover art, a light blush of embarrassment tinging her cheeks.

Nepeta crouched down, lazily scanning the titles, looking for nothing in particular. Many of the books hit upon common themes: the special protagonist, a budding love triangle, a cliche plot line. Trailing her fingers over the spines, she pulled out a few books to read the blurb before sliding them back into place with a look of disgust. Nothing was catching her eye. Letting out a frustrated groan, she stood up. All she had wanted was to find a new book to get lost in for a few hours, but instead she had found a grumpy asshole of a librarian and nothing worth reading. 

[equis-pulcherrimus-blog]

Face to Face

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Nepeta pouted, tugging a little harder on Equius’ arm as he continued to debate what to eat. “There might be plenty of time left in the day, but I feel like I have to make every second count! It’s not every day that you get to meet your best furriend for the first time!” She exclaimed, finally releasing his arm as her order was brought to the counter. Letting out a soft “oooooh” as she fawned over how delicious the pastry looked, she took hold of the plate and glass before returning to scouting out a sitting location. 

“Yup!” She replied cheerfully with a nod of her head. Weaving through the tables and people, Nepeta made her way towards the seats she had picked out. The table was towards the back of the cafe, in an area that was slightly more secluded so that the pair of friends could actually talk without interruption. 

[equis-pulcherrimus-blog]

Equius chuckled at Nepeta’s impatience. “That’s true. But don’t worry; my schedule is cleared for you.” Not that his schedule was that busy, of course, but it was the thought that counted, wasn’t it? The pastry give to Nepeta looked delicious, and he was happy that his came not too long after that. It was not, perhaps, as fancy, but Equius had always thought that the greatest beauty was in simplicity.

But perhaps that was getting too philosophical over a muffin.

Taking the muffin and coffee, after paying, he followed Nepeta towards the seat she had picked out. He was pleased to note that it was as secluded as a seat could get in a busy coffee shop. Equius took his seat carefully, like he was worried he might break the chair.

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Nepeta grinned happily, nodding her head. “Your schedule better be clear Equius, I’d be purretty upset if it wasn’t.” She declared definitively with a slight frown. “I mean, like I said, it’s not every day that you get to meet your best furriend fur the first time.” She repeated, making sure there was no room for argument as she moved through the cafe.

Setting her plate and glass down, she climbed into the seat, folding her legs underneath her instead of sitting down in the standard method. Clapping her hands together excitedly, she grabbed the sweet treat and took a large bite. “Mmm,” She groaned pleasurably at the taste, licking the confentoners sugar from her fingers. “It’s pawsitively delicious! Would you like to try?” She asked, holding out the pastry across the table. 

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Purrecious Cargo

[unclassyclown]

As they finally sort of arrived back at Titan, Gamzee let out a slow breath that he didn’t realize he’d been holding. Looking down at Nepeta for perhaps the first time since their little impromptu kissing moment Gamzee thought for a moment in silence before nodding his head, “Y-yeah, uhhh….shit listen I gotta apologize, it was a shitty thing of me ta put pressure on you in a situation like that and I just…” Gamzee grumbled and held the box carefully, hearing the faint sounds of a snoozing kitten in the box. “…I’m really sorry I fucked up, you seem like a real cool chick and if you wanted ta hang out a bit more later I’d be down but I really don’t wanna leave you with the first memory of Gamzee Makara bein’ some amazingly huge douche lord.”

Letting out a breath as he looked around, Gamzee looked down at her once more before speaking softly, “I ain’t used to this place yet…so just…havin’ somethin’ to do, someone to chill with was pretty cool. If you never wanna hear from my ass again I feel ya but I’d dig it if we could be friends?” Gamzee offered, clearing his throat. The Makara really wasn’t good at this whole talking thing, punching things? Sure. Lifting boxes? He’s your dude. Making up for someone’s hurt feelings? Gamzee struggled, it wasn’t because he wasn’t aware of emotions or anything like that but rather because the more he lingered on things like that the worse he seemed to get emotionally stable.

Letting out a slow breath Gamzee thought about the moment in silence as they walked down the hall, perhaps it was best that he was quite now he’d fucked up enough for one day did he really need to start opening his big mouth again so he could stuff his foot in it? Gamzee grumbled to himself as he looked around waiting for Nepeta to tell him which room to bring the box too, assuming she’d actually show him to her dorm though he wasn’t expecting any sort of invitation in.

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Nepeta flinched as he finally started to speak, expecting to get berated for her impulsive actions and invasion of personal space. Even if he has suggested the distraction, it should have been clear that he was only joking and hadn’t intended for her to actually follow through on the suggestion. Clearing her throat, she kept her gaze adverted. “No, I should have realized that you were only joking.” She replied, scuffing the bottom of her shoe against the ground as they stood outside the dorm. “Fuck, I mean really, how oblivious could I get there. You probably cold have had a giant, neon sign above your head that said ‘this is a joke’ and I still would have missed the point.” She turned to open the door since Gamzee was still caring the box. “Plus, just…” Nepeta sighed, voice dejected, “it makes sense, why would you want to kiss some random, weird girl you just met?” She shrugged, slipping into the common space and heading towards her room. 

Laughing, she stopped outside the door again, taking a moment to continue. “So, really, if anyone needs to be sorry here, it is me. So…well yeah, sorry, for just…not thinking things through and kissing you” She took a deep breath, letting it out in a rush as she tacked on, “and sorry it was so bad too.” Nepeta’s cheeks flushed red again, purposefully keeping her gaze off of her new acquaintance as she ran her fingers through her short cropped hair. “So um, you want to see what’s in the box?” She asked timidly, chewing lightly on her lower lip. “What all the sneaking, hiding, running away from people, and awkward kissing was for?”

She pushed open her door carefully, eyes darting about the room until she found the one other cat she was currently fostering. They gray cat was sleeping, curled up on on of the pillows. “You can set the box just down there.” Nepeta said, gestured at the foot of her bed as she closed the door behind them. Pulling back the top flaps, she revealed the small kitten snoozing inside. He was a small, fluffy tabby cat, who was just starting to wake up. “Hey there little fella.” She cooed, carefully extracting the purring animal from the box. “Do you want to hold him?” Nepeta offered, her voice still slightly strained and uncomfortable.

[unclassyclown]

Gamzee let out a breath he knew he’d fucked up, but he didn’t know he’d fucked up so bad that other people were going to blame themselves for his initial fuck up. Gamzee waved his hands slightly trying to defuse the situations but by the time she’d fully decided it was her fault there wasn’t much he could do at all. Grumbling to himself slightly he looked down at Nepeta, deciding to interject with one point, “That was probably the best kiss I’ve had in about three years so I wouldn’t say it was a bad time.” He stated firmly though he was sure that she wouldn’t believe him.

As Nepeta lifted the small kitten out of the box Gamzee let out an audible “Awww….” Rather unfitting for the huge man, taking the tiny Kitten from Nepeta holding him in his hands to slowly stroke the fur on the Kitten’s body, “Cats are really great.” He whispered “So cute and adorable….” He smiled softly watching as the kitten nibbled at Gamzee’s thumb. Looking down at the little fur ball and chuckling softly.

Looking around Gamzee noticed the few other cats that were lounging around, “They going to be cool with a new cat joinin’ your little cat army? I mean, not to assume that you’re slowly ammassin’ some Kitten armada to eventually take over Skaia like you’re some sort of cat themed superhero or somethin’ though both of the really good cat themed super hero names are trademarked so…” Gamzee realized he’d been droning on about something for a bit before clearing his throat. “I…shit…listen I’m sorry I talk a lot when I get nervous or when I feel like I’ve upset people, my Madre always used to tell me I did that all the time as a child, ‘Gamzee…’ she’d start off, ‘Ejecuta la boca como un elefante en un centro de la ciudad, relajarse mi hijo’….heh.” Gamzee shook his head a bit not realizing he’d done it again, only this time in Spanish.

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Nepeta felt her cheeks heat back up in response to his commentary on the kiss, waving her hands foolishly in the air as if she were physically trying to push his words away. “Can we just...drop it?” She asked, shifting awkward back and forth on her feet, purposefully avoiding his gaze. The cat lover had a tendency to act or speak before her fully thought things through, which had lead to the destruction of many budding friendships and even a few firmly established relationships. She just hoped that wasn’t the case here. 

“They really are great.” She replied, letting out a happy sigh as she tip toed up to lightly scratch at the top of the kittens head. “A lot of people think cats are unloving, espeically in comparision to dogs.” Nepeta scowled, pulling her hand away. “That just isn’t true. I think those people have just never been nice to a cat.” She dropped her bag by the desk before shrugging free of the sweatshirt Gamzee had leant her. Holding it out, she mumbled out her thanks. “Sorry you had to go without it, the weather has been so fickle recently. I should have just brought a jacket with me, but I was running late on my way to class...I got kind of distracted by cat videos on the internet.” She admitted sheepishly, ruffling her short cropped hair.  

“Ah, you are mistaken on one very important detail. I already have a cat army.” Nepeta said with a laugh, then continued “So really, you should be thanking me for not already having taken over Skaia.” She stuck her tongue out, sitting down on the edge of her bed and pulling a cat onto her lap. “Ah, it is really catasrophic that they are all taken.” Nepeta mused, lips twitching as she repressed a smile over her cat pun. She wrinkled her nose, struggling to translate. A few of the words sounded close to ones she knew in Porteguse, but there were at least two she knew for certain. “What are you saying about an elephant in a city center?” She asked, lightly scratching under the cats chin as she spoke. 

[equis-pulcherrimus-blog]

Face to Face

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

“Yup, this place is really great, everything is high quality and delicious. Plus, it’s nice to grab a coffee and snack here when you’re burning the midnight oil.” Nepeta commented, her voice chipper once more. Peering through the glass, she eyed the pastries, trying to figure out what she wanted to eat. “They all have some savory stuff too, if you aren’t a fan of sweet.” She said to Equius, gesturing at a few things in the case. There was also a rather comprehensive menu posted on the wall.

Moving from the display case, she ordered an ice tea and cream puff. She had changed her mind at least four times before settling on the custard filled pastry. Nepeta tried to be patient while her friend made up his mind, rocking back and forth on her feet while looking around the cafe for a place for the pair to sit. “Cooooome oooooon, don’t take furever.” She whined, tugging on Equius’ arm again. 

[equis-pulcherrimus-blog]

Equius nodded as Nepeta described the coffee shop. It didn’t strike him as the sort of place he would frequent, but he had been wrong about such things before. His eyes traveled over the display case, wondering what would be the best. There was a wealth of options, just as he liked in his dining establishment (though he wondered if a coffee shop could really be called such). And, since they mostly seemed to have pastries, he didn’t have to worry about something not being vegetarian.

“Settle down, Nepeta. There are plenty more hours in the day.” Equius ended up ordering something exceedingly simple; just a muffin and a cup of coffee that was more milk than anything else. He wasn’t tired, but Equius usually drank coffee for the taste, not for the caffeine. With that done, he turned to Nepeta. “Did you already have a seat claimed for us?”

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Nepeta pouted, tugging a little harder on Equius’ arm as he continued to debate what to eat. “There might be plenty of time left in the day, but I feel like I have to make every second count! It’s not every day that you get to meet your best furriend for the first time!” She exclaimed, finally releasing his arm as her order was brought to the counter. Letting out a soft “oooooh” as she fawned over how delicious the pastry looked, she took hold of the plate and glass before returning to scouting out a sitting location. 

“Yup!” She replied cheerfully with a nod of her head. Weaving through the tables and people, Nepeta made her way towards the seats she had picked out. The table was towards the back of the cafe, in an area that was slightly more secluded so that the pair of friends could actually talk without interruption. 

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Purrecious Cargo

[unclassyclown]

As they finally sort of arrived back at Titan, Gamzee let out a slow breath that he didn’t realize he’d been holding. Looking down at Nepeta for perhaps the first time since their little impromptu kissing moment Gamzee thought for a moment in silence before nodding his head, “Y-yeah, uhhh….shit listen I gotta apologize, it was a shitty thing of me ta put pressure on you in a situation like that and I just…” Gamzee grumbled and held the box carefully, hearing the faint sounds of a snoozing kitten in the box. “…I’m really sorry I fucked up, you seem like a real cool chick and if you wanted ta hang out a bit more later I’d be down but I really don’t wanna leave you with the first memory of Gamzee Makara bein’ some amazingly huge douche lord.”

Letting out a breath as he looked around, Gamzee looked down at her once more before speaking softly, “I ain’t used to this place yet…so just…havin’ somethin’ to do, someone to chill with was pretty cool. If you never wanna hear from my ass again I feel ya but I’d dig it if we could be friends?” Gamzee offered, clearing his throat. The Makara really wasn’t good at this whole talking thing, punching things? Sure. Lifting boxes? He’s your dude. Making up for someone’s hurt feelings? Gamzee struggled, it wasn’t because he wasn’t aware of emotions or anything like that but rather because the more he lingered on things like that the worse he seemed to get emotionally stable.

Letting out a slow breath Gamzee thought about the moment in silence as they walked down the hall, perhaps it was best that he was quite now he’d fucked up enough for one day did he really need to start opening his big mouth again so he could stuff his foot in it? Gamzee grumbled to himself as he looked around waiting for Nepeta to tell him which room to bring the box too, assuming she’d actually show him to her dorm though he wasn’t expecting any sort of invitation in.

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

Nepeta flinched as he finally started to speak, expecting to get berated for her impulsive actions and invasion of personal space. Even if he has suggested the distraction, it should have been clear that he was only joking and hadn’t intended for her to actually follow through on the suggestion. Clearing her throat, she kept her gaze adverted. “No, I should have realized that you were only joking.” She replied, scuffing the bottom of her shoe against the ground as they stood outside the dorm. “Fuck, I mean really, how oblivious could I get there. You probably cold have had a giant, neon sign above your head that said ‘this is a joke’ and I still would have missed the point.” She turned to open the door since Gamzee was still caring the box. “Plus, just...” Nepeta sighed, voice dejected, “it makes sense, why would you want to kiss some random, weird girl you just met?” She shrugged, slipping into the common space and heading towards her room. 

Laughing, she stopped outside the door again, taking a moment to continue. “So, really, if anyone needs to be sorry here, it is me. So...well yeah, sorry, for just...not thinking things through and kissing you” She took a deep breath, letting it out in a rush as she tacked on, “and sorry it was so bad too.” Nepeta’s cheeks flushed red again, purposefully keeping her gaze off of her new acquaintance as she ran her fingers through her short cropped hair. “So um, you want to see what’s in the box?” She asked timidly, chewing lightly on her lower lip. “What all the sneaking, hiding, running away from people, and awkward kissing was for?”

She pushed open her door carefully, eyes darting about the room until she found the one other cat she was currently fostering. They gray cat was sleeping, curled up on on of the pillows. “You can set the box just down there.” Nepeta said, gestured at the foot of her bed as she closed the door behind them. Pulling back the top flaps, she revealed the small kitten snoozing inside. He was a small, fluffy tabby cat, who was just starting to wake up. “Hey there little fella.” She cooed, carefully extracting the purring animal from the box. “Do you want to hold him?” Nepeta offered, her voice still slightly strained and uncomfortable.

[equis-pulcherrimus-blog]

Face to Face

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

“It isn’t inappropriate at all.” Nepeta shot back, frown tugging at the edges of her lips as she folded her arms across her chest stubbornly. “I mean, it’s just a furriendly greeting, what’s inappropriate about that?!” She grumbled, meeting his gaze with defiance, before quickly looking away. “You really, really don’t like that I’m excited to see you?” She asked, voice slightly deflated, shuffling back and forth awkwardly.

She perked up considerably at the suggestion of food, bouncing on the balls of her feet and attempting to tug him towards the counter. “Basically anything you try is going to be delicious.” Nepeta proclaimed, making no progress in her forward movement, feet sliding on the floor and Equius’ not budging at all. She was far from weak, in fact most would consider her to be in excellent shape, but he was built like a mountain. He started moving on his own and despite her pulling have nothing to do with him moving, Nepeta gave a small cheer.

[equis-pulcherrimus-blog]

“It absolutely is,” Equius said, remaining adamant. “There’s so much physical contact!” He had always had a conservative view of things…at least in personal matters. Politics was another subject entirely. Nepeta’s deflated statement made Equius jerk. He hadn’t realized that was how she viewed it! “No, no, your excitement is…I have no issue with that! I was just commenting on…bah! Let’s forget about this entire conversation.”

He lacked the know-how to get himself out of that bind, so he chose to move on from it entirely. Luckily, Nepeta seemed to think the idea of food was pleasing enough to accept his offer to move on; she seemed happier already. “I have no doubt about that. The tales I have heard of this place have all been positive. So far.” Skaia truly spared no expense when it came to anything.

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

“Yup, this place is really great, everything is high quality and delicious. Plus, it’s nice to grab a coffee and snack here when you’re burning the midnight oil.” Nepeta commented, her voice chipper once more. Peering through the glass, she eyed the pastries, trying to figure out what she wanted to eat. “They all have some savory stuff too, if you aren’t a fan of sweet.” She said to Equius, gesturing at a few things in the case. There was also a rather comprehensive menu posted on the wall.

Moving from the display case, she ordered an ice tea and cream puff. She had changed her mind at least four times before settling on the custard filled pastry. Nepeta tried to be patient while her friend made up his mind, rocking back and forth on her feet while looking around the cafe for a place for the pair to sit. “Cooooome oooooon, don’t take furever.” She whined, tugging on Equius’ arm again. 

[equis-pulcherrimus-blog]

Face to Face

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

“Hm, you can expect to be greeted in this manner for a time, yes. Though, I don’t know how long it will last and I can’t say that I’ll never do it again after that time has expired either.” Nepeta said, tapping lightly on her chin and then giving a definitive nod of her head. That certainly felt like a fair statement. She was glad to finally meet her friend face to face and that excitement wasn’t about to wear off any time soon.

She started up at Equius, talking in his hawkish features, nose slightly crooked from an old break, and what seemed to be a permanent scowl on his face. Had that look not been in near every picture she’d seen of him, Nepeta probably would have thought he was disappointed in who his best friend turned out to be. Not cursing so frequently in front of Equius was going to take some getting used to. “Sure, we can sit, but do you want anything to eat or drink first?” She asked, jerking her thumb in the direction of the counter. 

[equis-pulcherrimus-blog]

“I suppose it would be beyond reason for me to convince you that such a manner of greeting is highly inappropriate and that you should not do it?” Though he liked to think that his wishes held a great deal of influence with how Nepeta acted - in his presence - some things he feared were simply too fundamental to her being to get her to change.

Equius’ face may be often formed into a frown when he had sent her the pictures, but hopefully she would learn eventually to see the signs of happiness in him. It wasn’t that he was a sour man; it was just that he displayed emotions more subtly than other people. Well…except for anger. “Come to think of it, I am a bit peckish. I have never been in a coffee shop quite like this. Do you recommend anything?” He asked, as he started to move towards the counter.

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

“It isn’t inappropriate at all.” Nepeta shot back, frown tugging at the edges of her lips as she folded her arms across her chest stubbornly. “I mean, it’s just a furriendly greeting, what’s inappropriate about that?!” She grumbled, meeting his gaze with defiance, before quickly looking away. “You really, really don’t like that I’m excited to see you?” She asked, voice slightly deflated, shuffling back and forth awkwardly.

She perked up considerably at the suggestion of food, bouncing on the balls of her feet and attempting to tug him towards the counter. “Basically anything you try is going to be delicious.” Nepeta proclaimed, making no progress in her forward movement, feet sliding on the floor and Equius’ not budging at all. She was far from weak, in fact most would consider her to be in excellent shape, but he was built like a mountain. He started moving on his own and despite her pulling have nothing to do with him moving, Nepeta gave a small cheer.

[equis-pulcherrimus-blog]

Face to Face

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

“Of course it is necessary!” Nepeta exclaimed, still holding on tightly and completely obliviously to the fact that both of them had nearly gone crashing to the ground. “I am meeting my best furrriend for the first time! If anything I would say this is a tame reaction!” She couldn’t keep her tone quiet, too much excitement bubbling in her voice, which was only drawing more attention towards the pair from the other individuals in the coffee shop. 

Finally, he hugged her back and Nepeta saw fit that she could let go. Unwrapping her arms from around his neck, she slide back down towards the ground. “Fuck, I can’t believe you are finely here.” She said, forgetting in her enthusiasm that Equius disliked cursing, calling the language lewd and inappropriate. “It is so good to see you, I mean, I’ve seen you before, in the pictures and stuff we exchanged, but I mean, to actually see, you in person.” 

[equis-pulcherrimus-blog]

Equius didn’t agree with her use of ‘of course,’ but he would admit that he was excited to. In fact, though he didn’t show it, he couldn’t remember a time when he’d been more excited! The idea of meeting Nepeta had been a major pull factor when considering whether CI was truly where he wanted to go. “Can I look forward to always being greeted in this manner?” He hoped the answer was ‘no.’

Finally free, he could get a good look at her. There was something different about seeing her in person; sure, he had seen her in photographs plenty, that really didn’t convey her energy, for lack of a better word. Her cursing did make him frown, though. “Language, Nepeta.” Even before he had become religious, he hadn’t been a fan of foul language. “But I agree. Shall we take our seats?”

[aestheticallycatastrophic]

“Hm, you can expect to be greeted in this manner for a time, yes. Though, I don’t know how long it will last and I can’t say that I’ll never do it again after that time has expired either.” Nepeta said, tapping lightly on her chin and then giving a definitive nod of her head. That certainly felt like a fair statement. She was glad to finally meet her friend face to face and that excitement wasn’t about to wear off any time soon.

She started up at Equius, talking in his hawkish features, nose slightly crooked from an old break, and what seemed to be a permanent scowl on his face. Had that look not been in near every picture she’d seen of him, Nepeta probably would have thought he was disappointed in who his best friend turned out to be. Not cursing so frequently in front of Equius was going to take some getting used to. “Sure, we can sit, but do you want anything to eat or drink first?” She asked, jerking her thumb in the direction of the counter.