AN: Hey, I'm pretty new to this site, so forgive any error. I will be doing this theme challenge out of order, in whatever order I'm inspired to do. I will do as many different pairings, in as many different quadrants as possible. I try to be fair. :D
DISCLAIMER: Andrew Hussie owns Homestuck and all related content/characters. I only borrow them. XD
002. Words lie on our fingers
It wasn't what she had been hoping for. Of course, in ways of shipping quadrants, there was room for error. Some sailed. Some sunk.
Some were just destined to lay at the bottom of the relationship sea. She understood this now.
He had been sitting in front of his monitor, scowling as usual. She watched from across the room, absently fiddling with the long sleeves of her coat. Every day, Nepeta watched, and loved Karkat Vantas. His frown, his insults, all the bad and the good.
The paint mixture was cool on her hands as Nepeta spread it in consise strokes onto her wall. There was a plethora of drawings here, in her hive. The walls here were covered in pictures describing some of her more glorious hunts, and stories she wrote within the multicoloured lines. In her respiteblock is where it gets personal.
Now she avoided the main room. Sometimes it was jut too hard. Terezi was so pretty. Karkat yelled at her too, but unlike when she tried, Terezi still made him smile in the end, when he thought no one was looking. It was moments like those that Nepeta savoured. Even though she could never cause them.
Of course, only her very best hunts were illustrated here, along with small stories she was fond of. The wall by her recouporacoon was different though. She had left it blank for sweeps, not feeling able to put anything on it. Today was the day to change that.
Mixing in soot, the mixture turned to a familiar shade of slate grey in her palms. The single picture was complete with a set of arches that drew down into a point. It had taken the huntress almost a full sweep to prepare things for the right colour, but it was worth it.
She was happy for Terezi, really. Nepeta was her friend, and it was her duty to make sure her friends were happy. And her moirail was helping to ease the pain a bit, even though he didn't approve of her unrequited feelings for the 'lowblood'. But no matter what, her furriends were more important, and as long as the ones she held dear smiled, even secretly, Nepeta thought she could handle anything.
As she sunk into the warm sopor slime to rest that night, she was comforted by the red eyes that watched protectiively over her, mouth drawn into a hesitant smile. The symbol drawn onto his shirt was flawless, the dark surrounding it the same shade as the dark mass of hair that was punctured by two small candycorn horns, and as Nepeta began to drif to sleep, she smiled.
In her sleepy mind's eye, the scene had changed. It was her he smiled for; only her. In these moments, she allowed herself to be selfish. In this moment, the boy she felt she needed to be near would be.
Now she can pretend he's there for a little bit. Just for her. Just for now.
"I love you."
The words were written on the wall, and in her heart.