Nepeta changed into her kick boxing gear in the locker room, giving herself a little pep talk in the mirror. She held her fists in front of herself determinedly. "You are a strong lady. You can kick his butt. You will kick his butt because you don't want to tell him." She hit her fists together a few times. "Even if it hurts his pride." She nodded at herself and left the locker room.

When she made it to the ring she saw Karkat jumping around in it, jabbing at the air and ducking and weaving. It was strange to see how quickly he could move, though he looked like he was straining against his shirt when he moved. She stood near the edge, smiling up at him and hoping that he'd stop. She didn't want to throw him off in the middle of something.

After a good ten minutes, he looked down and stumbled back. "Nepeta! How fucking long have you been here?"

She shrugged. "Long enough to have watched you do the same right hook at least ten times."

He laughed a little at himself and put a hand behind his neck. "Yeah I like to work on my right hook sometimes."

"Ooh, and why's that? Is it your weakness?" She let out a diabolical sound in her throat that sounded more like a purr than anything else and she rubbed her hands together.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I bet I'll find out soon enough!" She pulled her way up into the ring and tumbled over to him, springing to her feet easily.

"Whoa that was pretty fucking impressive!"

She giggled. "It should be! I've been in gymnastics since I was three, remember?"

"Oh yeah. You're not just bullshitting me on that one?"

"It's completely true! I was just a little ball of energy as a kid! So my mom decided that it'd be better for me to be in gymnastics to get some of it out."

"That's pretty fucking cool. Did you like it?"

"I still do!" She put her hands on her hips. "I wouldn't be in it if I didn't like it!"

"Fuck that's like me and boxing."

"Then we'll see just how much of a fight you can put up!" She got into a boxing stance, hands and the ready and feet spread apart.

"Not like this we won't."

"Huh?" Her jaw dropped a little. "This is what I wear when I kick-box!"

"Well we're not kickboxing now, are we, kitten?"

"Aw, you called me kitten!" She put her hands on her face and wiggled around.

"Uh, yeah. I always hear you chatting with Equius and you keep using all of those fucking cat puns and talking about cats in general." He snorted. "It just seemed like a good nickname. But I never use nicknames. I'll stop. It was stupid."

"No, it's okay!" She giggled again. "I just think it's great that you remembered that about me." A light blush spread across her face. "Um, you can get in your gear if you want, though."

"Well you'll need gloves, too, you know? I have another pair in my bag. Go get taped up and put those on."

"Oh sure!" She jumped from the ring and landed softly, running over to the bag. She heard a thud nearby and saw that Karkat had also jumped off, though not nearly as gracefully. It was an awfully loud thud for someone so... oh.

He'd pulled off his shirt and was taping up his hands. She couldn't help but to stare. He was... "What?" He looked over as he taped his hands, a scowl on his face

"What?"

"You were staring."

She laughed nervously as she dug through his bag. "I, um, I wasn't expecting you to be quite so..."

"Completely ripped yeah I know." He laughed. "In all honesty if I were to stop boxing I'd be a tiny little fucker. I've got to work out at least four times a week to keep my arms in hitting shape." He frowned. "It's probably why I'm such a shitty programmer. Who has fucking time to program when you've gotta go to the fucking gym to not be a little wimp?"

"I don't think you'd be a wimp! You're feisty!"

He laughed sharply. "I could say same about you." He finished taping his hands. "Do you need any help taping your hands up?"

"Uh, sure!"

He walked over to her and taped her hands up, a small smile on his face. "This is weird."

She scrunched her nose. "Weird how?"

"Just being this much taller than someone. I'm not really used to it at all." He laughed a little bitterly. "Being this fucking short as a guy kinda sucks."

"Well you're tall to me!"

He smiled down at her as he finished taping her hands. "Well bugs are tall to you."

She stuck out her tongue. "Well maybe the two of us should just go find some children's clothes and play dress up!"

He shoved her shoulder, playfully. "Hey fuck you, I wear men's clothes!"

"Well so do I but that doesn't mean that I should!" She giggled.

"Hey I say you can wear whatever the fuck you want. Besides, you look cute." He scratched at the side of his face.

She just stood mouth agape. She couldn't believe that he'd just called her cute. And she didn't even start it! "Well I think that you'd look cute in children's clothes, though maybe with the way you're built it might be more like you'd just look good."

"So, uh, you got a thing for dude's with muscles or what?"

"What?"

"Like you've been beet red since I took my fucking shirt off and you hang out with Equius all the time." He smirked. "Is he the guy you like? Because that's just fucking romcom shit right there. Best friends pining after each other or fits of unrequited love." He nodded his head, his smirk turning into a grin.

"What, no! No no no! Equius has been my best friend since we met in pre-K!" She put her hands over her mouth.

"Ugh, that's good. I'd have to question your taste in men if you liked him."

"Hey! That's my best friend you're talking about, mister!"

"Oh fuck, sorry. I've just got a case of foot in mouth disease." He dropped to one knee and bowed. "Allow me to offer my humblest apologies on bended knee."

"Oh get up, you silly butt!" She pulled him up. "Let's just get into our gear and try to beat the shit out of each other!"

He laughed as he got to his feet, standing remarkably close. "I don't think I've ever heard you swear before."

"Maybe you're just a bad influence." She bit her lip as she looked up at him.

"Yeah I know I am." His eyes darted around her face a little. "Let's go get our gear on." He turned quickly and threw her a pair of gloves and a helmet. "You have a mouth guard, right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." She pulled the green guard out of her pocket. "See!"

"Good. You're gonna want that in."

"I know that, Karkat, I'm not completely new to this. I know what I'm doing."

He smiled a little. "All right, fine." He pulled his own helmet on, the mouth guard hanging from a strap on it. "Then get your shit on. We're gonna spar in ten."

"Sounds good to me!" She attached her mouth guard to the helmet and pulled them both on. Then she put in her mouth guard and pulled on the gloves. The whole get up felt cumbersome. She really wasn't used to wearing full boxing gear. She sure was glad that she took up kickboxing. This shit was uncomfortable!

They went up into the ring and stood across from each other. Karkat stood at the ready in one corner, and she stood diagonal from him positioned to strike. She could see his muscles moving from flexing his fingers or rolling his shoulders. In her distraction, she almost didn't notice when he finally lunged forward with a determined right hook.

Fortunately she did notice and could dodge it.

And so their match began.

He would lunge and she would parry, matching blow for blow. Occasionally one of them would land a solid blow and send the other one stumbling. Nepeta kept having to remind herself not to kick at him. It wasn't kickboxing, afterall.

He was surprisingly light on his feet and was managing to almost keep pace with her movements, though his blows definitely had more power behind them. One had almost managed to knock her off her feet, and she couldn't have that! That would be the end of the match!

All of a sudden she felt a left hook that sent her stumbling and she retaliated by kicking his legs out from under him. He manged to catch himself but he'd spit out his mouth guard. "I thought this was a boxing match not UFC!"

She spat out hers as well. "Sorry! Habit!"

"Fine, then let's just beat the fucking shit out of each other!" He ran forward with a wild swing, but, at least in her mind, all the rules were out the window. She started to roll to get away from him, though somehow he'd become a little more sporadic. From the way he'd moving she could see a sheen of sweat on his body and it beginning to become a distraction, though he seemed to be slowing down.

At some point they'd both fallen to the floor, bruised and laughing. Karkat rolled over next to her, laughing hysterically. "Holy fucking shit, Nepeta!" He gave her a playful nudge with a gloved hand. "That was amazing! It's been a while since I've sparred like that." He started to breath a little more regularly. "I didn't expect you to put up a fight like that."

"Excuse you! I'm a force to be reckoned with!" She pulled her gloves off and threw them aside in favor of flexing her fingers. Karkat did much the same, though he went more for cracking his knuckles.

"You sure as fuck are." He grinned and rolled onto his side. "So I guess neither of us won this match, huh?"

"No I don't think so." She smiled back at him.

"Uh, I guess you don't have to tell me about that guy you like if you don't want to."

"Oh no I was going to tell you anyway!' She giggled nervously and poked at a blooming bruise on his shoulder. "Sorry about those bruises."

He shook his head. "No it's fine. I'm a big boy I can handle some bruises." He brushed his fingers against her face, where a bruise was forming and her lip was a little cut. "Are you gonna be okay? I hit your face pretty fucking hard back there."

"No it's fine! I've had much worse. Equius and I used to spar so this is nothing, really!"

He chewed on his lower lip. "If you're sure then I guess it's fine." He pulled his helmet off and ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't know about you, but I need like a fucking shower or something."

"You could come over to my place and shower! Then we could talk about things." She smiled, hoping to sound nonchalant.

"Uh, yeah sure. I don't see why not."

"Oh and you can meet my kitty cat!"

He laughed again. "Of course you have a cat."

"Damn straight! Pounce de Leon!"

"That's clever, actually. My family car is named Princess Fluffle Fantastico. To this day I have no fucking clue how she got saddled with that name. I usually just call her Fanny, though."

"A pussy named Fanny? Very subtle."

His eyes widen and his jaw dropped. "You!"

"Me?"

"I meant Fanny like Fanny Bryce in Funny Girl not fanny like British slang!"

She cackled at him. "I'm sorry! You brought that one on yourself!"

He shook his head as he sat up. "Maybe I did. But you were the one that brought it up you little perv!"

"I'm not a perv! I'm just... liberal!"

"No I think you're still probably a perv, cat girl." He shoved her shoulder playfully with a smile on his face.

"It's so strange seeing you smile!"
"What?"

"Every time I've gone to your suite you've just had this scowl on your face like Equius always does!" She laughed a little. "You two are such sour pusses."

"Yeah maybe we are." He stood up. "Now let's get to your place. I really need a fucking shower."

He grabbed his gear and jumped form the ring. He threw it in his bag and pulled on the shirt he'd been wearing. Nepeta followed after him, excited to show him her place, but terrified to tell him about her crush.