A/N Sorry this chapter's so short. A lot of these are going to be relatively short because I feel like only snippets of these events are required to effectively tell the story, but whatever, have fun reading!
He was so funny. It made her snicker the way he lumbered through the woods with such little grace he looked like some sort of ox plowing his way through the underbrush. She giggled a little bit and peeked out from behind the tree, the enormous troll stopping at the sound and glancing around, a visible sheen of sweat covering his forehead.
"Who's there?"
She only giggled quietly in response, smiling as she skirted her way through the underbrush, peeking up over the shrubbery to watch him as he stood quietly, trying to look commanding despite his shaking hands and the beads of sweat dripping down his face and neck.
"I order you to show yourself!"
She poked her head out from behind the tree with a grin and climbed out from behind the vegetation to crouch on the side of the path through the forest, staring up at him, amusement written clearly over her face and he stared down at her, raising the lenses of his cracked shades from his eyes and blinking down at her.
"What is your business here, lowblood?"
She raised her eyebrows at him and stood up straight, "I live here, dumb-butt. What are you doing here?"
His cheeks flushed a light shade of blue for a moment before he shook his head, as if trying to dismiss the idea that such a thing had ever happened. He straightened his shirt out a bit and cleared his throat, "I am... well, not that I owe someone like you anything, but I have come here in an attempt to scout out this area for... uh... well-"
"You're lost, aren't you?"
He sighed and nodded a bit as he slid his shades back down over his eyes, "I hate to admit it, but yes. I do appear to have gotten myself rather lost," He cleared his throat and straightened himself up, brushing his hands over his stomach, "Lowblood, I order you to give me directions out of this forest."
She snickered a little bit and crossed her arms at him, "I have a name you know?"
"Yes, but it is... uh... inconsequential to my well-being."
"What if I refused to give you directions, since you're being such a rude butt-face?"
The guy straightened up a little further and crossed his arms, turning his attention elsewhere, "I'm sure I'd find some way to get out on my own. I don't need help from someone as low as yourself. Though I suppose you do have some merit for blood."
"Well in case you were wondering, I'm Nepeta."
He opened and closed his mouth as if trying to figure out what to say before managing to blurt out, "Equius... uh. That's my name."
She snickered, "God you're really nervous, huh? Is it the adrenaline from being lost in the middle of the woods?"
His face twisted in indignation, "Of course not! I simply... have not met a young lady of your... low caste who expressed such... confidence."
Nepeta raised her eyebrows, "Caste has nothing to do with it."
"What do you mean? Caste has everything to do with everything."
She rolled her eyes a bit, "Whatever you say Mr. Grumpy-butt."
"My butt is not grumpy. Now if you please," He took a deep breath, as if his patience were beginning to wear thin, "Would you kindly show me the way out of this forest?"
Nepeta nodded and ran up to him, grabbing his hand, "Sure thing, come on! This way."
She pulled him along as he stumbled through the underbrush, "Slow down!" He held gently to her hand, worried he'd break it, though he found her unflinching even as he held normally to her hand.
"Alright, so this is gonna take about half an hour if we run and an hour or two if we walk."
"I suggest we walk, after all uh-" He wasn't sure why he preferred that this journey take so long, "It'd be nice to observe the scenery."
She chuckled a little and nodded as she slowed down, still holding his hand, his grip just a bit too firm to pull it away. Besides. It was nice and cool and it wasn't like she minded. She could just flick out her claws and skewer his hand if she really wanted him to let go.
They headed along through the greenery quietly at first, just in awkward silence before Nepeta attempted, quite successfully, to make small talk, "So, Equius. What do you do for fun besides get yourself lost in forests?"
He huffed a little bit at the comment, "Well if you must know, I'm quite the collector of art and a bit of a mechanic myself."
"Oh man! You like art things? I love painting shit!"
"Language. It's unbefitting of someone as confident as yourself."
She raised her eyebrows a bit and then sighed as she rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say. But yeah, do you do art?"
"What? I- no of course not. I simply appreciate the aesthetic."
She pouted a little bit, "You've never even tried painting something?"
"Preposterous."
She continued to pester him for information about himself, asking what his favorite color was, how hold he was, how he shattered his glasses, silly little trivial things and soon enough the two of them emerged onto a road and she smiled up at him, "It was nice to meet you, Equius. Feel free to try to find me if you get lost in there again!"
She grinned at him as he nodded and reached a hand out to shake hers, "That was indeed... more enjoyable than I expected. You are quite a nice young lady. Take care of yourself in there."
She snickered and nodded, "I will. Um... If you want, you could talk to me over that trollian thing. I'm arsenicCatnip on the chat client."
"Oh uh... I don't know of that particular application... I'll look it up maybe."
She grinned and nodded, "Alright, sounds good... Have a nice rest of your night!"
And she waved as she scurried back into the forest, her bushy hair tangled up with leaves and twigs.
He watched after her and waved back at her in a bit of a daze before turning and leaving, heart a bit lighter than when he'd arrived.