When the banging started, she was upstairs on her computer. Typing quickly in reply to Terezi, who had assumed the role of the righteous mother dragon, she was about to have her character save a kitten from the cruel grasp of Senator Lemonsnout when suddenly...
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!
Nepeta stared longingly at her blinking cursor, sighing sadly at the thought of all the good stories that could stem from this chat.
AC: :33 *ac rushes in and snatches the kitten from the grasp of the wicked mr lemonsnout, then turns tail and dashes away from the courtr-
BANG BANG BANG SMASH!
UGHHHHHHHHHH!
She held down the delete key, resigned to the fact that she wasn't going to be finishing this chat. Her halfway typed response vanished.
AC: :33 i think i have to go!
Resting her chin in her hand, praying nothing would get cracked or (heaven furbid!) completely destroyed while she paused, she waited for her roleplaying partner to reply.
GC: WH4T? YOU H4V3 TO L34V3 4LR34DY?
AC: :33 i think something is wrong with my meowrail :((
GC: OH :P
GC: 1 TH1NK YOU H4D B3TT3R GO DO SOM3TH1NG B3FOR3 H3 BR34KS YOUR 3NT1R3 C4V3
Frowning at Terezi's aggression, she pushed away from the computer and stood. She padded softly down the stairs, all the while imagining the scenarios that she and Terezi could have played out.
She paused before the hallway ended, knowing that when she continued walking and turned the corner into the open room where she stupidly kept a lot of breakable items, there would most likely be a lot to take in.
SMASH BANG BANG BANG BANG CRASH.
With these sounds, the floor shook- literally shook, making her stumble and fling an arm out to catch herself against the wall.
Okay, fine.
"Equius?" she called out quietly as she approached the room, but the sounds of destruction covered her voice so it seemed as if she hadn't spoken at all.
All right, buster, you asked for it. Purrpare for chaos to ensue. Well... stop ensuing.
Taking a deep breath to prepare herself, she turned the corner.
"You broke my black ink bottle!" was the first thing she heard herself say.
The two lampshades that she had found and decorated herself were lying on the floor, next to the shattered glass from the lightbulbs. The supposedly "damage-resistant" sofa was lying upside down, halfway supported by the crumpling table. The peeling wallpaper had been partially scraped off of the wall by the rectangular mirror that was now flat against the floor like it was praying to be saved from its imminent doom. As she watched, a spray of dirt, clay, and colorful petals flew across the room and ended the short existence of the mirror. Her gaze traveled from the pieces of reflective glass to the bent ceiling fan that was no longer attached to the ceiling, and eventually came to rest upon the remainder of the destroyed flower pots that had been, until this moment, carefully maintained by her housemate.
Said housemate was standing near the opposite wall, back hunched in the posture that meant he was in another one of his moods. Nepeta made careful note of his position. Knees bent slightly, hair swinging in wild knots around his neck. Those absurd socks rumpled around his ankles. In his left hand he was holding the mangled remains of a violin, and in the other-
"Oh! No, no. Equius," she said, voice higher in pitch than she had intended. She shook her head rapidly, hurrying up to his side and grabbing the fist wrapped around her precious belongings. She flinched slightly as she felt his skin, cold and slightly damp in that familiar way. "No. Stop. Please? Let go of my paintbrushes."
He made a noise deep in the back of his throat. It was a kind of growl, the type of sound that her lusus used to make when she spotted prey.
This isn't normal
This is bad bad bad bad bad
She growled weakly back, not sure why, but with the feeling it would help somehow. Then she began to inch around him, trying to get in front of him so she could face him.
"Drop. The. Brushes."
He stared at her, tightening his grip on both the violin and the brushes. She felt all the tendons in his hand stand out, his skin tight around his knuckles. Through her alarm, she heard a faint cracking noise.
Oh no oh no oh no not the brushes god dammit why why
Shifting her weight so that she stood steadily on both feet, facing him, she put her hands flat on his shoulders and stared into his eyes until he dropped his gaze. Underneath her hand she could feel his muscles unclench as he dropped both the violin and the paintbrushes.
His back was heaving as he breathed in-out-in-out, the way she'd taught him, and she could tell he was struggling to regain control of himself again.
His eyebrows knotted in an expression that could have meant anger or concentration. Abruptly, she felt his muscles tense again. She started and took an involuntary step backwards.
Relax relax he won't hurt you he's fine and whatever is wrong can be fixed it's fine fine fine fine fine
Standing in the quiet aftermath, waiting for Equius, Nepeta didn't dare let her thoughts wander. Just in case he needed to break something else.
Eventually her heartbeat slowed and her uneasiness was replaced by aggravation.
He broke the brushes.
Why does this always happen?
"Are you okay?"
The quiet voice broke through her thoughts. She looked up to see that Equius had straightened, his own posture more casual and neutral than her own. When she straightened her spine, she realized her own fists had been clenched and her feet dug into the ground, muscles tense just as his had been.
"Yes." Her voice cracked as she spoke, and she had to stop and clear the emotions that were too apparent from her throat. She needed to be calm for him. Calm and collected.
In-out-in-out-in-out-in-out-in-out.
You got this.
Rogue of heart, remember?
"I'm fine," she said.
And then, after another, shorter pause-
"Feelings jam?"
He stared around the room, taking in the broken mirror, the flipped sofa, the smashed light fixtures.
"Um-"
He swallowed. She knew he hated to see the damage he always did. He never cared when it was the robots, or even his own walls. But when it was her own belongings, he seemed to feel that he had hurt her.
"Yes, Nepeta. We should have a feelings jam."
He set to work moving the sofa back, and as his back was turned to her, she removed and dropped her waistcoat to cover the splintered paintbrushes that he had scattered on the floor.
Doesn't need to see those yet, she thought, ignoring the lump in the back of her throat.
Then she looked up to see him already sitting, waiting for her.
Okay. Feel that ball of emotions? Take it and put it somewhere where you can find and deal with it later. Right now, all you need to focus on is him.
Taking a breath, she went over to sit near him.
"Let's begin."
