Nepeta Leijon stalked her way through the marble hall. Her high heels clicked against the stone, the sound reverberating satisfyingly. She ran a hand through her shiny bloodred hair, huddling a bit closer in her green fur coat. It was winter, and the blizzard outside, seen clearly through the huge windows lining one side of the hallway, made it that much colder. There had to be at least a foot outside, covering everything in snow's white, blurry blanket. The forest surrounding her house was out of use, sadly.
However, she was in a good mood. She had just heard from a good friend of hers that there was to be a wedding soon.
So she was famous, and rather ruthless, huntress that had almost no regard for the animals she was killing. That didn't mean she couldn't be a hopeless romantic.
Yes, she had always loved the concept of love. She enjoyed watching others being happy in their relationships. She wasn't entirely sure why, but it was said that it gave her hope that someday her own love would rescue her from the open, barren desert that was her heart. Not that she really liked talking about that man anymore, though he would never be forgotten.
She was off to find her housemate, Equius Zahhak. He had been her best friends since they were small children. He was a bit odd – he was an oversized, sweaty mechanic with a steroids addiction – but Nepeta loved him all the same. He had been abandoned as a baby, and grew up in an orphanage. Luckily, as soon as the two of them had gotten old enough, they got an apartment together. That apartment evolved into their current mansion.
Equius was most likely in the basement. That was where he had his mechanic's station, where he made his robots for companies in Japan. That was his way to rake in his money each year. Nepeta hunted large game and sold the fur to wig and coat companies, while keeping the meat for herself and her staff.
Nepeta made her way down to the basement and, sure enough, found Equius bent over the metal table, mask on and sparks flying out between a robot's lifeless body and a flame. She liked watching Equius work on his robots sometimes – he was so prim and proper and nervous above the basement, sometimes she just needed to see him in his natural element. Once he straightened and lifted his mask, she spoke in her small voice.
"This house is too big for two people."
He glanced over at her, slipping his gloves off. "There are far more than two people living in this house, Nepeta, and you know that."
"They don't live in this house. They work here. They live in the staff house," she walked over to the pile of failed robots, picking up the head of one. The lights where the "eyes" would have been stared at her, empty and dark. "I forget what it's like, to have a family like that."
Equius sighed, brushing some of his long, slightly greasy, black hair back behind his ear. "You have a family. It may or may not just be me most of the time, but I would like to believe I count as family."
She smiled at him. "Of course you do, Equius. You're wonderful family. I'm talking about a large family, surrounding me with love," she sighed, setting the head down on an upright torso. The programs connected to each other, due to Equius' invention of manipulative programming chips, and the robot's eyes lit up. The arms of the torso twitched, then started swinging happily. The head started to spout a checklist of things needed for babysitting.
Nepeta chuckled. "Anyway, the reason I've been thinking that is that some of our friends will now be incorporated in that kind of family."
Equius took off his tank top, and slipped on a crisp, white business shirt. "Really? Who?"
"John and Rose. They're getting married," Nepeta stood up, a grin showing on her face. "I'm so happy for them."
"Were you honestly surprised, Nepeta?" Equius raised an eyebrow. "They've been together since high school."
"Oh, I know, but I can't help but get a little rush every time I hear of another successful relationship," she looked at the robot Equius had been working on when she had entered.
It looked like one of his old robots, the ones his made for robotics team in high school. Those had always been clunky, dark things with bright red eyes. For some reason, he always added a pair of horns to them, as if that did anything.
"Been feeling nostalgic lately?" She asked, smirking.
He grimaced slightly, his usual uncomfortable, "I'm not sure what to say here" look. "Erm… Well…"
She giggled and hooked her arm around his, pulling him up the stairs. "C'mon. Dinner's ready."
*****3*
Karkat Vantas sat in his hotel room, upright on the uneasy, probably bug infested bed. He was staring at the pages of a book, but not reading it. His thoughts were keeping him awake and distracted. Outside was the balmy, warm nights of Bermuda. It was a paradise, really. And he had enjoyed his time there.
However, it was onto the next location. He was known to not stay in one place for very long, moving around every few months. It was part of the job – literally.
He looked up and found his own gaze glaring at him from the mirror across the room from the bed. Who's moronic idea was it to put a mirror right there? Honestly, just because he was in a hotel didn't mean he was using it for dirty reasons.
Well, he had a few times… But he was human. What could you expect from him?
His eyes traveled to the sleeping body next to him. The curved body carried his gaze from her tousled hair to her cold feet. She really was a beautiful creature, the usual staining mischief leaving her face in her sleep. It was such a shame he had to leave her without any notice. Oh well. Soon enough she'd forget about it. She was like that.
He turned to his right and saw the TV still going, the evening news playing. And of course, she was in the news again. Nepeta Leijon. She was such a big face these days for some reason. Her only talent was hunting. She was fucking useless in the grand scheme of things.
But Karkat didn't look at the grand scheme. He focused on details. He focused on how Nepeta's smile looked more condescending than it was, and how the flashes of the cameras showed the warmth in her attitude. She may have been a complete bitch to the animals she killed, but she was such a good person. And she was an animal lover – she just didn't like large game.
He gave a half-smile at her image on the screen. He missed people like her. People who pretended to be stronger than they were, just to protect the ones around them. Nowadays, people just threw their emotions around and gave their hearts out like it was Christmas.
He set his book down on the nightstand, shutting off the light and the TV. He would have to wake up early to leave before she woke up. She was an early-riser. He laid down and turned away from her, closing his eyes.
He dreamt of Nepeta Leijon. It was a good dream.