"Come on, Equius! Just wear it for today!" Nepeta shoved the stuffed horse beanie in his face, a smile playing on her lips.
"If I may inquire as to why I must dress as a horse in public, Nepeta?"
He put a hand in front of his face to keep the hat away from him. Nepeta sighed good naturedly, drawing the googly eyed brown hat back towards her and dropping it on Equius's dresser.
"It's a cosplay, Equius! You have to cosplay, it's an essential element to these kinds of events!"
He'll never understand, she thought to herself. But that's OK, as long as he comes with me.
Today was a big day for Nepeta Leijon. Today she was going to attend her first ever comic convention with her best friend in the entire world, Equius Zahhok. Not only that, but they were going to meet their online cosplay buddy at the convention, and she wanted to make a good impression.
"Nepeta, this is a horse costume. I don't think it qualifies as a cosplay. It isn't a character or anything, it's just a horse."
Nepeta looked up at him sweetly, giving him an innocent smile.
"But Equius, we always cosplay as our own characters online and you know that! Your horse isn't just an ordinary horse, and it doesn't matter what the public thinks so long as you know who you're dressed as. Plus I'm dressed up in similar attire!"
Nepeta was in fact dressed in her blue cat beanie, a blue cat tail, shoes to match, and her signature green trench coat.
"Besides, everyone at the place is going to be dressed in funky costumes. If you don't wear it you'll be that grouchy, boring guy who doesn't get involved with anything." Equius gave a resigned sigh. Nepeta knew that she had won the argument. She stood up on her tip toes and with a little hop, slipped the beanie on his head.
"We should get going now, we don't want to keep our friend waiting!"
She dashed our the door, Equius following behind more slowly. The convention was within walking distance of Equius's house. He hadn't been nearly as thrilled as she was about the comic-con, but with a lot of persuasion and a bit of kissing up, Nepeta had convinced him to come. Besides, it was only a few blocks away, and it would be stupid to pass up such a golden opportunity to meet new friends. As she skidded through the door, Nepeta made a mental note to do something extra nice for Equius later. He was the best friend ever, and Nepeta knew he would do anything for her. They fell into step and didn't really talk for most of the way there, but Nepeta made sure to give him plenty of friendly nudges and contented smiles to show her appreciation for what he was doing for her. A smile sprouted up behind his cracked shades, and although she couldn't see his eyes, Nepeta knew that his eyes would be sparkling like the beautiful blue gems that they were. His appearance made him look scary and tough, what with his bulging muscles and broken shades, topped off by an excessive amount of heavy sweating, but once one got to know him, he was a real sweety-pie. Nepeta would never let anything happen to him.
As they neared the entrance, Nepeta quickened her pace. The line was pretty long, and Equius let out a groan of impatience, but Nepeta was excited by the thought of being around so many people. She started to bounce around like a hyper puppy in her barely contained excitement, and nearly smashed into the person in front of her when the line moved. When they were finally admitted, Nepeta immediately searched for the place they had agreed to meet their cosplay friend. Their agreement was to meet where the Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff autograph signings were, since it was the only comic that any of them had actually heard about, or read for that matter. As they progressed through the crowd, Nepeta could tell that Equius was feeling more than a little uncomfortable. He was beginning to sweat, and his face revealed a mixture of nervousness and claustrophobia. He was very anti-social, Nepeta being his only real friend. With a pang of sympathy, she took his hand for support, and he didn't resist. They were almost at the meeting area when they were approached by a girl who could only be their cosplay friend. She was dressed in a red dragon hood and red glasses, and bore a matching dragon cane to signify her blindness. Nepeta knew what she looked like from their frequent video chats, but she was even prettier in person.
"Hey, look who finally decided to show up!"
Their friend grinned to reveal a set of glistening white teeth. Nepeta cringed with shame.
"Sorry we were late, Terezi. Equius was a bit reluctant to wear his adorable cosplay pony hat."
Terezi laughed gleefully.
"Actually, I just got here myself. I'm just messin' with ya!"
Nepeta let out a purr of amusement and relief and adjusted her blue cat beanie.
"I'm just curious, but how did you know it was us? I mean, you being blind and all..."
Terezi gave her a mysterious knowing look.
"I smelled you coming."
Nepeta was about to ask how she knew what they smelled like when she heard a little cough behind her.
"If I may intrude on your seemingly aimless babble about who was late,"
Equius bowed his head apologetically, clearly realizing that what he said was rude.
"I apologize, but what do you hope to accomplish in a place like this? Do either of you even read comics?"
Nepeta hadn't thought of this before. She had pretty much just assumed that they would meet Terezi, maybe cosplay in real life. Now, looking around her, it seemed apparent that doing something like this in the middle of a public event would be a bit weird, even when most of the crowd around them was dressed in their own costumes. She was thankful when Terezi offered an idea.
"Maybe we could still check out Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff's area. The authors will be there, and it seems like the only intelligent thing to do, being that none of us have heard of any of the other comics here."
So, with a mutual shrug, the three of them once again headed for their original meeting place. When they approached, Nepeta's senses were immediately infiltrated with the choking stench of weed. Nepeta's scent glands were quite strong compared to the average person's, and her throat burned with the intake of these unwelcome fumes. She let out a cough and, breathing through her mouth, turned her head to investigate the source of the foul stink. She immediately discovered that it was coming from a group of boys about their age who appeared to have a bone to pick with what seemed to be the authors of Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff. None of them were cosplaying, but the smoker sure looked goofy. His hair was wild, like it hadn't been brushed in years. He was dressed in a hoodie and spotted pants, and though she had a side view of his face, it appeared as though he was wearing... clown makeup... A smaller boy next to him was yelling at the two authors, and the third boy in the party just stood there coolly, nodding every once in awhile and looking pretty awesome. Suddenly curious, Nepeta scampered closer to them to see what the commotion was about, despite Equius's grunt of disapproval.
"...Seriously, the plots you have for your bullshit comic is fucking stupid, and the art looks like it was drawn by a class of drunk 1st graders! Who the fuck taught you shits to draw?"
The authors looked exasperated.
"Look man, if you don't like our web comic then go and find some other tool to go hate on and leave us the fuck alone."
The two looked similar; they were probably brothers. They were both blonde and with dark shades. The one who had spoken was paler with lighter hair, and wore a red and white shirt with a cracked record on it. The second brother, with slick back hair and pointy shades, spoke next.
"Our comic strips are the most badass and and ironic pieces of art you'll ever find on the internet. Don't hate on the things that are cooler than you are."
The small angry boy looked even more flustered than before.
"Ironic, my ass! I bet you wouldn't know irony if it fucking punched you in the balls! You and your-"
The third kid in the party cut him off.
"KK that'th enough harrathing thethe innothent people for one day, don't ya think? Bethides, it'th thtupid to thneak into an event for free jutht to get thrown out by thecurity."
Angry boy scowled, turning around and allowing for Nepeta to get a better look at him. His face was flushed and his eyes blazed with anger. He had a funny little nose and slightly greasy, sort of windblown hair. He was kind of cute, actually.
"Whatever, Sollux. This place blows anyway. We could have picked a much less lame place to spend our day, but you just had to come to the fucking nerd convention."
He stormed away, leaving Sollux to apologize to the blonde boys himself.
"Thorry about him, he tendth to hate on everything."
He turned to follow angry boy, giving Nepeta a clearer view of him as well. He was tall and thin, with jet black hair that was stunning in contrast with his pale skin. He wore red and blue 3-D glass type shades and two different colored shoes. What a strange group of kids, Nepeta thought to herself as she watched them navigate their way through the crowd. She turned her head back towards the clown guy, who seemed to just have noticed that his friends had gone. He blew one last puff of rancid smoke, murmured "damn straight" and calmly tailed his two companions. Once he too was out of sight, Nepeta decided that she would check up on the blonde boys that had just been harassed by angry boy. As she approached, she could tell that they were mildly flustered, but they didn't seem to be too shaken up. Still, she thought, it might be nice to see if they're OK.
"Hello! Was that kid being mean to you?"
She looked up at them sympathetically. The red shirted one let out a puff of air.
"Just really annoying for the most part. But whatever. Fucking haters gotta fucking hate."
Nepeta jumped as a voice sounded behind her.
"Your language is utterly appalling! Nepeta, you shouldn't be associating with those who speak with such astounding vulgarity."
Oh, my Equius, Nepeta thought with a smirk. Of course he would be opinionated against these people.
"It's OK, Equius, they're nice people!"
She turned to face them again.
"I'm Nepeta, by the way! Nice to meet you!"
The one with the pointy shades nodded coolly, adjusting his shades.
"I'm Dirk, and this is Dave. We make the Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff comics on the web."
Nepeta held a respectful stare, calmly glancing between the two of them.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both. Hopefully we can be good friends!"
She was interrupted by an abrupt tug on her arm.
"That's enough. Come on, Nepeta, let's go check out some other place."
He continued to pull her away. She knew that he just wanted to get her far from Dirk and Dave, thinking that they were a bad influence on her, and he was just being protective of her. She didn't resist being forced away, but managed to yell a final "bye" over her shoulder. When they were out of earshot, Terezi spoke quietly to Nepeta so that only she could hear.
"That argument back there sure was tasty. What do you make of that shouty kid?"
Nepeta was taken aback by the sudden question. She stumbled over her words in an attempt to find a proper answer.
"Uh... I dunno... He seemed... angry...?"
She winced at the lameness of her reply and could feel her cheeks growing hot. For a moment she was glad that Terezi couldn't see her. Terezi grinned.
"I thought all that anger was adorable, like the temper tantrum a child would have. And that smart ass response from Dave, was it? That was adorable too. Too bad I couldn't have seen them myself."
Nepeta smile with amusement. It was nice to know that Terezi could be so light-hearted talking about her own blindness.
For nearly an hour the three walked and talked, catching up on everything that had been going on in school, cosplaying a little with just their voices, and drinking beverages that none of them had ever heard of. Then when rounding a bend, they came face to face with none other than the group of strangely dressed boys who had harassed Dave and Dirk. Nepeta felt she had to say something to them.
"Hey, you're those guys from Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff's area."
She knew that Equius wouldn't approve of her talking to such people as these, but her curiosity got the better of her.
"Yeah, and what the fuck is it to you?"
The angry kid spat. Nepeta could see Equius's fists clench, but wasn't fazed the kid's spite herself. She put a hand on Equius's shoulder to calm him.
"Well, we saw your... uh... disagreement... and were just a bit curious, I guess."
Nepeta had absolutely no idea what compelled her to speak to this group of boys, but she felt the strange desire to befriend them, to get to know them. Something about them screamed for her attention.
"Curious about what?"
She cringed at the fierce irritation illuminating his eyes.
"I... uh..."
She was saved by Sollux, the red and blue glasses guy.
"Lay off, Karkat, She obviouthly doethn't mean any harm by talking to uth."
He turned to face her.
"Don't mind KK, he'th jutht an irritated bitch at the betht of timeth."
He shot Karkat a warning look, and extended his hand.
"I'm Thollux, the thtupid bathtard ith Karkat, and the thmelly ath wipe ith Gamthee. I'm thorry for any trouble we've cauthed you."
Nepeta shook his hand, attempting not to giggle at his lispy way of speaking. She knew it was wrong to judge people and laugh at things that were a potential insecurity, but but voice was just so funny.
"It's nice to meet you all! I'm Nepeta, and this is Equius and Terezi!"
She could tell that she was really testing Equius's patience once again, but she felt an intense draw to these people that she couldn't understand, almost like she was meant to talk to them, to get to know them. Karkat was glaring at her with such scorn that it made her feel sad. Without thinking, she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. She felt his body tense with shock, and felt a wave of satisfaction flow through her. He smelled of cheap cologne and laundry that had been deprived of a good wash for just a little while too long, but Nepeta didn't care. She kept hugging him until she was sure that she had made an impression, if even just a small one. When she stepped back she could see that it had worked. Or at least done something. All signs of bitterness had vanished, replaced by a stunned shock. His eyes were wide, darting back in forth in his confusion.
"What... What the fuck was...?"
His friends snickered as he fumbled for the correct words. Nepeta shrugged.
"You seemed like you were in need of a good hug, so I delivered."
It was as simple as that, really. Terezi, realizing what had just happened, joined in with Karkat's friends as they laughed. For the first time in a while, Gamzee spoke his mind.
"I'd say that this is the work of motherfucking miracles, bro. Random strangers giving out hugs, that is like a personal invitation to join the miracle parade. How is this not magnificently delightful? I suggest that we all take a moment to relish the wonders of the motherfucking miracle."
His heavily made up lips spread into a wide and doubly creepy smile. Wow. He certainly is high, Nepeta thought. Oh well. She smiled at him kindly. He seems nice enough, so who cares if he's sober or not? Equius, his patience finally up, broke in.
"Nepeta, we should probably hit the road soon. Terezi, are you going to accompany us?"
Terezi nodded, and Nepeta was pulled away once again. She looked behind her shoulder, gave one last friendly smile and wave, and followed Equius, Terezi walking beside her. As they made their way down the sidewalk back to Equius's house, Nepeta's thoughts were a mess. All that went through her mind were thoughts of irritated, raging Karkat.