A/N: Well, quick note! Long story short, if you're on Tumblr and are familiar with the Equara tag, you know there's some anon that goes around sending hatemail to anyone that posts in the tag. After looking for blogs to follow that post my ships, I was also contacted by this person. People have already posted small essays about why it's not right to hate or ships and all, but I decided that instead of responding, I was going to write a drabble (though, the way things are going, it looks like they're going to be short one-shots instead) for every piece of hatemail I get instead, and contribute to the tag! Currently, I've gotten three pieces of hatemail, so there will be at least three drabbles/one-shots in this.
I do need ideas for stories, so if you want to leave me a message on Tumblr or drop a review or send me a PM with a prompt, please do! (I prefer Humanstuck prompts, as I'm fairly new to Homestuck and am learning the lingo, but I'll try anything if you want me to.)
This was actually going to be posted, like, a month back, except I got a prompt for a lemon. I've never written a lemon before, but thought I could do it. Long story short, I've gotten to the part where they're going to do the do in that prompt, and I go to write it, and then I decide I can't, and then I tell myself not to be such a baby, and on and on. This yes-no-yes-no thing has been going on for a while, so I decided to leave that one alone for a little while and come back to it in a couple prompts! That is also the reason why this story will be rated M, but this particular drabble is about as tame as can be.
In any case, I hope you enjoy!
Prompt 1: A day at the zoo. Childhood!Humanstuck.
After almost an hour of staring into their enclosure, Equius Zahhak decided that zebras were almost as good as horses.
"They don't quite have their – Nepeta?" When he turned to tell his friend his opinion, however, she was not there. She had been standing right next to him a moment ago. Where could she have gone? Most likely back to the portion of the zoo containing the big cats.
After checking the tiger, jaguar, and leopard enclosures – and going back to the zebra enclosure once more for good measure – Equius was beginning to worry. Their parents had allowed them to wander off into the zoo on their own – quite a surprise, considering the two of them were only seven, yet they had anyways – but he was fairly sure that being given free reign of the place was conditional on the two of them staying together.
Finally, a sign he passed by informed him that the lions were most visible during the hours directly after noon, when they took to sunning themselves out in the open. He remembered Nepeta had mentioned something about the zoo's prize animal, a white lion named Pounce de Leon. She had been the reason that Nepeta had been begging to go to the zoo for two weeks now – an act too childish for her age, Equius had deemed it, but the plot seemed to have worked. Perhaps she was visiting the lions now.
However, she was not there either. Neither were most of the lions – except for that fabled white lion, laying out in the shade of a tree. Equius turned to leave. He would try the zebras again – maybe she had gone back looking for him?
Then, a flash of movement off to the right – was there a girl inside the enclosure? Within a second, Equius' nose was pressed up against the window, his jaw hanging open and his breath fogging up the glass.
She was young – maybe his own age – with tangled, thick auburn hair. She glanced from side to side, then raced across the enclosure toward the lion, who perked up and focused on the girl heading toward her. What was she doing? The lion would eat her alive! Equius glanced from side to side, trying to find a zookeeper but not wanting to take his eyes off the spectacle.
The girl slowed as she approached the lion, until she was standing at a full stop about three feet in front of her. Then, she held out her hand – was she holding a sandwich? Equius stared, not wanting to see the lioness snap the girl's hand off but unable to tear his eyes away.
Instead, Pounce de Leon sniffed at the sandwich, plucked it delicately out of the girl's hands with fangs the size of his fingers, and swallowed it. The girl's shoulder shook in a strange way that Equius recognized as laughter, and she reached out to scratch the lion behind the ears before running back from whence she came.
What had that been? Nepeta would have loved to see that, but she would never believe him if he told her now.
Finally, he found her in the reptile house, her eyes glued to a boa constrictor draped over a log. "Nepeta, where have you been? I looked everywhere for you."
Nepeta jumped at the sound of his voice, and turned to face him with an expression that was almost guilty. "Equius! I'm just waiting for my furriend."
"Your friend? Who – "
All of a sudden, a grate dropped between the two of them with a clang. Both Equius and Nepeta glanced up, and Nepeta gave a gasp of joy as two feet emerged from the now open vent in the ceiling. After a moment's struggle, the person in the vent dropped down, to reveal the girl who had been inside the lion enclosure.
"Aradia! You made it! Did she like it?" Nepeta rushed up to her.
"Yeah, I think she did," the girl smiled. Then she wrinkled her nose – a very, cute, delicate nose, Equius noted. "Ugh. Snakes. Now I remember why I don't like this building."
"I'm so glad! I almost made her peanut butter and jelly, but I thought a lion would prefurr tuna. Oh, Equius!" Nepeta turned back to him, as if finally remembering he was there. "This is my furriend Aradia! I made Pounce a sandwich this morning, but the zookeeper wouldn't let me give it to her, so Aradia offurred to take it to her."
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"Not really," Aradia replied. "My mom works with the animals here, and she says Pounce is pretty tame for a lion. Um, but could you not tell her I did that? I'm not supposed to go into the enclosures without her. Actually, I'm not supposed to go into the enclosures at all." Then, she snapped her fingers. "Oh, I know! I'll give you a full tour of the zoo if you don't tell anyone! I know when all the animals are awake and where to find them. I might even be able to let you see behind the scenes."
And that was how Equius and Nepeta spent the rest of the day enjoying the zoo with Aradia.
At the end of the day, Nepeta hugged Aradia tightly, and turned back to wave enthusiastically at her as they walked out the zoo's front gates.
"Let's go back soon," Nepeta suggested.
"Yes," Equius agreed, "Let's."