Nepata Leijon was a curious part of Equius Zahhak's life. On the lower end of greenbloods, he would never have expected somebody so close to him to be so low on the hemospectrum. Still, Nepata, drowning in her huge, oversized coat and hiding under her floppy blue hat, with her ridiculous games and relentless cat-puns, with her relatively low blood status and stubborn attitude, managed to stir some deeply hidden, otherwise untouched part of Equius's heart.
And maybe, to be perfectly honest, his feelings might have been bordering on something a bit redder than he was letting on.
When Equius arrived at her cave-which was also a hive, but mostly just a cave-she was sitting comfortably with her knees up, leaning against one of the cold, smooth walls, completely immersed in the drawing that was propped up against her legs.
"Evening, Nepata," Equius announced his presence, causing her head to snap up, bright eyes landing on him and mouth breaking into a wide grin, which revealed her pointed teeth. "Excellent to see you."
"Purrfect timing!" She leapt up, looping her arm through his.
She was tiny, well over a head shorter than him, but he knew for a fact she packed a surprising amount of power behind her punch. Her short, wild hair stuck out from under her blue hat, and the hem of her coat was grimy from dragging along in the dust, but he couldn't find it in himself to chide her for it at the moment.
Another thing to add to the list of odd things about Nepata was her insistence on spending as much time with him as possible, and for no other reason than to do just that: spend time with him.
She flashed him a wide smile before pulling him down to sit back down next to her up against the wall, which he identified as her infamous shipping wall after catching a glimpse of familiar faces with little red and black symbols between them. He could feel the familiar feeling of sweat gathering on the surface of his skin, and he was itching to take a closer look at the wall-although why, he wasn't quite sure. He had been to Nepata's hive numerous times before, and the seemingly childish drawings had never much interested him until now. However, he kept his gaze on the small figure of Nepata, and she looked back up at him, seemingly satisfied.
They talked for awhile-or rather, Nepata talked and Equius supplied a nod or two of encouragement whenever he sensed she needed it. It wasn't until the subject of her friends, namely Tavros, came up that he finally spoke.
"...and we were roleplaying of course, but-"
"I don't understand why you insist on associating with him so much," he interrupted.
Nepata rolled her eyes, used to his frequent comments on her friends. "Equius, I don't care about the hemospectrum like you do!"
"It is not only-"
"Then what else?" She wasn't angry, but Equius still felt a sudden, and rather unfamiliar, pang of regret at having spoken. He himself wasn't even sure what he was getting at. Of course the hemospectrum was the reason-
"Equius! Are you...jealous?" she suddenly squealed, a gloved hand flying to her mouth, yellow eyes widening in realization.
By now, Equius was sweating copiously. He felt unreasonably nervous, and he couldn't place the exact reason.
But he didn't deny the accusation.
"Equius, Equius, Equius!" She was grinning again, as if the whole situation wasn't already mortifying enough.
Equius still said nothing, but he was beginning to begrudgingly accept that perhaps she wasn't too far off the mark after all. In fact, she may or may not have hit the bull's eye.
"There's pawsitively no need to worry, silly!" she assured him, shaking her head and giggling. "Tavros is just a furend. And I think he has his sight set on somebody else anyway-" she nodded knowingly, grinning mischievously for a moment. "-So there's no reason to be jealous!"
Silence fell. Equius made no effort to break it, although Nepata waited patiently. He was very aware of her arm still linked with his, and her tiny body pressed comfortably against his side.
When she finally realized he wasn't going to be the first to speak, she shifted a bit, releasing his arm to kneel in front of him instead, so they were facing each other, almost eye-level. He couldn't help but realize how close she was.
"Hey, Equius," she said softly, her smile still present but gentler now. She was no longer teasing. She seemed almost careful, as if weary of hurting him. A ridiculous thought, really, until he considered the fact that physical strength was not what counted in situations like this-Equius was rather inexperienced in the matter of emotions.
"Equius," she repeated. "You know you're my very furvourite, right?" With her huge cat-like eyes so close, Equius was almost surprised not to see whiskers sprouting from her face.
"I..." he faded off. "Nepata."
She blinked in response, waiting for him to continue. "Yes?"
He opened his mouth as if to speak, but no words came. Instead he sat there with his lips slightly parted, tongue suddenly paper dry as trickles of sweat dripped down his forehead and the nape of his neck under his thick hair.
"I have something to show you!" she told him suddenly, grabbing him by the hand as she stood up, tugging to indicate he should do the same.
She spun to face the wall, pointing to one of the many little squares. He immediately recognized the two of them, her grinning like a cat and him scowling deeply. Between them were two symbols: a diamond which he had seen countless times before, and a heart, painted faintly, almost like a question.
"This..."
Nepata grinned a bit sheepishly. "I thought that maybe..."
Equius felt blood rush to his face. "Matesprits?" he manged.
She giggled nervously. "Maybe," she admitted, nodding. "If that's what you want too!"
"I...of course." He couldn't seem to form complete thoughts, much less proper sentences.
Her eyes lit up eagerly. "Fur real?" Her hands, curled like paws, flew to her mouth once again.
He nodded, looking away from the wall and straight down at her instead.
In one fluid motion, she buried her face into his chest, nuzzling at him fondly, her arms wrapping tightly around his middle. She was stronger than she appeared, but he was still careful as he lowered his own arms to hold her close.
They stayed in that position for a long time, scarcely moving. Equius marveled at the feeling of her arms around him, and learnt that even the strongest, toughest troll's heart can flutter like the lightest feather.
Finally, Nepata looked up. "Equius?"
"Yes?"
"Do you purrhaps want to kiss me?"
"Do you want me to?" he choked.
"Kiss me, silly!"
So he did.
He leaned down while she stood on the tips of her toes, and he cupped her face in a large hand before their lips brushed together.
That first kiss was softer than cotton, tickling both of their lips, scarcely touching. Equius was careful as always-Nepata looked so tiny, felt so fragile.
For a moment their eyes met before Nepata reached up, flinging her arms around his neck to keep him at her level and smashing her lips against his with surprising force. Although he was still cautious, after a moment of hesitation, he responded with equal eagerness.
It was several minutes until they parted, breathless and dizzy. Nepata was smiling wider than ever before, eyes shining. Equius kept a calloused hand in her soft, black hair. Her hat had long since slipped off.
"That was..." she breathed. "Purrfect."
"Yes. Yes it was."