Hoofbeasts and Heartbeats
Chapter 1
Nepeta skipped happily down the hallway of the troll's meteoric hive. She had just drawn a new picture which she was very proud of. Nepeta giggled to herself, imagining the praise she would receive from Equius for her magnificent portrayal of a statuesque muscle-beast haloed in the light of a setting sun. She'd have to make sure to bring a towel with her, just in case…he did have the tendency to get overexcited.
Passing the central room, a solitary shadowy figure hunched over a computer caught her eye. Karkat was mashing away at the keyboard furiously while muttering to himself, as usual. Nepeta's eyes narrowed mischievously. She crept silently across the wide metal floor, hands poised for attack as though she were stalking an elusive prey. Karkat's eyes flicked up to her reflection in the screen just a nanosecond before she pounced. He cursed loudly in surprise as she nuzzled his hair screaming, "Karkaaaaadiiiieeeee! Do you wanna see my awesome mew picture? Do ya? Do ya?" Karkat flailed his arms comically, trying to escape her iron grip. "NEPETA! GET YOUR FUCKING CRAZY-ASS HANDS OFF ME!" Karkat screeched.
Nepeta pouted, "Awwww, but Karkaaaat, it's really good! I'm going to go show it to Equius, do you wanna come?" Karkat just roared in exasperation and quickly absconded to the hallway. Nepeta puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. "Stupid Karkat," she muttered. Spying an air vent, she decided to make her entrance into Equius' room a surprise one.
Nepeta loved scooting unseen through the air vents. It allowed her to traverse the hive as she pleased, observing the other trolls. Occasionally she would play pranks, sneaking down into their rooms and rearranging or hiding items. Vriska blamed her tendency to step on dice on bad luck, but it usually tended to be Nepeta putting them in places most likely to be stepped upon. Equius disapproved of both crawling through dusty air vents and playing pranks.
It was common and pointless, he often stated. He couldn't stop her from doing it though. Nepeta chuckled. He was too big to fit in the vents and come after her. Equius once managed to wedge his shoulders partially into one of the openings, but promptly got stuck and started sweating profusely due to claustrophobia. The sweat did allow him to slip free, but he never again attempted anything involving the vents.
The sound of Equius' voice cued Nepeta to stop and look through a nearby grate. She scratched behind one of her horns, confused. This wasn't Equius' room; it was Robo-Aradia's. What was he doing here? She peeked down and pricked up her ears, curious. Equius looked agitated. He was starting to sweat.
"But Aradia, I don't understand. Why don't you reciprocate my feelings? Is it your blood color? I gave you new blood. We are equals now! And we are both so strong and powerful. Our sparring matches could rival those between dueling hoofbeasts!" He was holding Aradia by her round metal shoulders, sweating more by the second. Her cold metal face remained as impassive as it always did. Nepeta scrunched up her nose. Ever since she had witnessed the sloppy makeouts between the two of them, a twinge went through her stomach every time she saw Equius. Especially when he was with Aradia. She didn't understand it. Nepeta drew back from the grate and curled up in a little ball beside it. For some reason, she didn't feel like showing Equius her picture anymore.