Sorry for not updating in so long, school has just started and I've come down with a case of being lazy. With school starting I probably won't be able to update as often as I would like so please bear with me. I hope to update at least once every 2-3 weeks just so you guys know I haven't given up on this story. If it takes longer for me to update than that just send me a message or write a review telling me to get my butt in gear and hopefully I will be able to do just that.

Between Jade and Green Chapter 10

Kanaya watched Nepeta as she slept from her kitchen window, and to be honest she wasn't thinking about much, just enjoying the sight before her. She had made a cup of tea for herself, but she mostly spent her time absently stirring the brew around rather than drink it. The last thing she remembered from last night was Vriska crashing through a window and stopping Nepeta from attacking her. It was strange that she couldn't remember anything after that, it was possible that she blacked out, but only a few sips of even Roxy's almost infected blood shouldn't of made her black out like that. How did she get home if she blacked out anyway? Nepeta most likely had something to do with it since they were both asleep in her living room when she had awoken. If that was the case than it was certainly nice of Nepeta to do so, she didn't have to go out of her way to do that. Especially since everyone seemed to think that the two of them were a couple, such an action would only spark more rumors from sources that would be much more believed than Vriska.

But even though she wished Nepeta didn't go through all that trouble just for her, Kanaya felt a bubble of happiness in the pit of her stomach when she thought of Nepeta acting just for her. She tried to push those thoughts away, telling herself that that's what friends do, it didn't mean anything, but even as she tried to suppress it some happiness bubbled up. She put herself to work to get her mind off the mental struggle she was having by making breakfast for the two of them.

Soon Kanaya's hive smelled like bacon, sausage, and fresh bread. Kanaya didn't really know what Nepeta liked to eat for breakfast, if she ate anything at all, so she figured that the best way to find out was to make a little bit of everything. To be honest, she was a pretty good cook, but she was out of practice since she hadn't anyone besides herself to make meals for. Once she finished Kanaya admired the banquet she had made; eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, biscuits, toast, and porridge, perhaps she had overdone it, but she figured whatever Nepeta and herself didn't eat she could save for tomorrow or even the next day. Perhaps all of next week even, Kanaya mused to herself as she stared at her spread with a chuckle.

Kanaya glided over silently to a stirring Nepeta who must have smelled the food. It was quite a cute sight to see Nepeta squirm around straddling the lines between waking and sleep, so cute in fact that Kanaya was almost going to allow her to stay asleep. Unfortunately to do so would give the food too much time to cool, so she chose to bite the bullet and wake the sleeping cattroll. "Nepeta," Kanaya said in her most gentle voice as she stroked the sleeping girl's shoulder gently in an attempt to wake her.

"Not now Equius," Nepeta complained half asleep, "it's too early."

Kanaya had to suppress a reaction that was known as 'squeeing,' as she observed the half asleep greenblood. She resisted the impulse to take Nepeta into her arms and hug her for a good ten minutes. 'But why shouldn't I,' she thought to herself, it wasn't a strictly flushed thing to do. Friends hugged each other all the time, especially Nepeta, Kanaya doubted anyone on the planet wouldn't want to hug a half-asleep Nepeta, and anyone who said they didn't is a liar. Still, she might as well offer Nepeta options of "I realize this is rather earlier for you, but since you've slept so much lately I was hoping you would join me for breakfast. If you wish to sleep some more I would be more than happy to let you, but I prepared quite a lot of food, too much perhaps now that I think about it. I couldn't finish it all myself if I was starving."

At the mention of food Nepeta's ears perked up before the rest of her did. "Food, food sounds good right now," Nepeta still hadn't opened her eyes but she was sitting up vertically. She let out what could possibly be the world's cutest yawn and opened her eyes for real. Her instincts told her that this wasn't her house and she was about to go into an attack stance, but at the same time she felt completely safe. This was Kanaya's house she was able to tell herself, nothing bad could get her here. She suddenly realized that she was being watched and she looked up as far as she could go until she was bending backwards, and she saw Kanaya standing over her trying to stifle a laugh. Not for the first time Nepeta cursed her adorable nature; normally she enjoyed being the cute one, but at times like this where everything she did was so adorable people couldn't help but giggle at everything she did it could be frustrating. However, for some reason it didn't bother her as much as it should right now, perhaps it was because it was Kanaya who was laughing, and not someone who would laugh at her to be cruel.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are adorable when you're sleeping," Kanaya said without really thinking. She hadn't meant to compliment her friend so boldly, but it just slipped out.

Nepeta blushed green at the kind words of the beautiful troll and rubbed the back of her head, "well Equius has before, and so has Aradia, I try not to fall asleep in front of anyone else though. A huntress has to be aware of those around her at all times you know."

"You didn't seem to have a problem with falling asleep in front of me though," Kanaya observed.

"Well yeah, but you're different Kanaya, I know you would never hurt me," Nepeta proclaimed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh I don't know Nepeta," Kanaya flashed behind her with her rainbowdrinker speed and sniffed her friend's neck, "you smell good enough to eat. If you fall asleep in my presence again, I might not be able to help myself." A moment after she realized that this may be a bit far to go for a joke she quickly moved back to her previous location. "Umm, perhaps you would like to have breakfast now."

"Yum," Nepeta said trying to alleviate the awkward feelings that Kanaya's actions, but she couldn't deny that she was still enjoying being complimented, even if it was playfully like that. But still, she thought back a moment to when Kanaya was at her neck and she let out a slight shiver of pleasure. They walked over and sat down at Kanaya's table, and even though Nepeta had already said yum, she was wondering if that had been an understatement to describe the spread Kanaya had prepared. Every fiber of her being told Nepeta to dig into the feast with gusto and she wanted too, but that wouldn't seem very lady like and she didn't want to look like a fool in front of Kanaya. Instead Nepeta forced herself to eat slowly and carefully, cutting her food with a knife rather than tear at it with her teeth; she hoped she was the image of a dainty lady.

She didn't hide it well, as Kanaya noticed what she was doing quite early, "we aren't at a fancy highblood banquet Nepeta, we're just two friends having breakfast, no manners are needed see," for emphasis Kanaya stabbed a large piece of bacon with her fork. It was too big for her mouth, but instead of cutting it with her knife that was at hand she tore it in half with her fangs. Even though she had done it for Nepeta's benefit, she couldn't help but feel empowered when her fangs tore the meat of her breakfast.

After that Nepeta dug in and ate as she normally did, she was surprised how good Kanaya's cooking was and the variety. "By the Sufferer and human Jesus, this is the best thing I have ever tasted Kanaya," she exclaimed excitedly. Now that she tasted what she could only assume would be what angels eat for breakfast, she couldn't help it and went into overdrive.

"Thank you very much Nepeta," Kanaya said happily eating much less than Nepeta, but enjoying herself nonetheless. "I'm glad you like it, I fear that normally I only make simple fair for myself usually, but I'm happy when I have guests to feed actually. I hope that you accept this meal as a thank you as well."

"A thank you for what," Nepeta asked curiously through cheeks stuffed with food.

"Well for bringing me home last night, to be honest I can't remember much after Equius and I stopped you and Vriska from killing each other. I must have blacked out or something. But I woke up safe and sound on one of my couches and you were on another sleeping so I can only assume that you were the one to bring me back correct?"

For a moment Nepeta contemplated telling Kanaya about what happened, but decided against it she should be spared from Vriska's antics and her own drunken groping. She swallowed her food in one gulp, "normally, I would say that you didn't need to thank me, but your cooking is too good. I may actually be tempted to be greedy and say that just a single breakfast is not enough," Nepeta giggled.

Kanaya smiled and let out a good full bodied laugh as well, "well, Nepeta if that is the case than I must truly owe you quite a bit. If you would like I'd be more than happy to make you a meal any time you wish."

In the past day Kanaya in Nepeta's books went from a friend who she didn't know that well but wanted to know more, a friend who is very strong and can scare off a threat, a person who she trusted with a secret that could mean her life, a potential red partner, to now the best person in the world. "Really Kanaya you mean it," Nepeta asked and somehow her eyes literally became star shaped and spinning.

For a moment Kanaya just watch Nepeta's eyes in fascination, the spinning stars were almost hypnotizing, but eventually she shook herself out of it. "Really Nepeta, I can't promise that there will always be this much food, but you are welcome to a meal at my table at any time," she promised.

For several minutes they ate wordlessly, but it was a good kind of quiet where you enjoy another's company instead of just their words. Until Nepeta asked a question that had been worrying her, "How did you sleep last night Kanaya?" It may have seemed like a weird question, but Nepeta was worried if she had done the right thing by letting her sleep on the couch instead of putting her in her recuperacoon. "I know you had a weird dream earlier yesterday that you weren't sure about and I hope that last night was better. I would have put you in your recuperacoon, but I know you love that dress and I didn't want to ruin it."

Kanaya thought back to the dream and she could almost hear the moans of the jadeblood and her warg lover and she instantly blushed. "It was quite alright Nepeta my dreams were unusual, but not at all unpleasant," she couldn't meet Nepeta's eyes when she said this, but she managed a smile nonetheless. "And thank you for taking my attire into account it was rather sweet of you."

"No problem Kanaya, I'm just glad that the cat monster didn't chase you this time, we can be quite scary when we're hunting," Nepeta proclaimed proudly.

Kanaya imagined for just a moment Nepeta in Artemis' place and herself in Minalu's and suppressed a shiver. "How did you sleep last night Nepeta dear? I noticed that you also slept without the aid of sopor slime as well, you didn't have to. You could have just gone to my room to sleep."

"That's okay Kanaya, I don't mind slimeless dreams, sometimes they can be exciting," Nepeta replied emptying her plate. "If you didn't dream of the big cat again then, what did you dream about Kanaya," she asked curiously noticing Kanaya's flushed face.

"Well I did dream about the cat again actually, it just turns out she was friendly than I first thought," it wasn't exactly a lie, at least not completely, but that was all Kanaya would say about her dream. "Are you finished Nepeta," she asked trying to change the subject.

Nepeta gave her plate one last lick, "yep all done. I've never felt so full and so happy," she said sitting back and patted her still slim belly.

"I'm glad that you enjoyed yourself," Kanaya said bringing over the now empty plates to the sink to clean them.

Feeling guilty Nepeta asked, "do you want any help?"

"No, don't worry, I've got everything covered," Kanaya said sweetly still standing in front of the sink with her back turned.

Nepeta tried not to be discouraged; she didn't want Kanaya to think that she wasn't interested in being here other than the food and protection. "What are your plans for today Kanaya?"

"Oh nothing much, I had planned to spend today sketching out a few new dress designs that I thought of a day or so ago," Kanaya replied.

Nepeta let out a soft, "oh," when she heard. She didn't want to sound rude, but to be honest that sounded like a waste of a day to her. Sitting in a small room and drawing all day didn't sound fun, and Nepeta loved to draw, just not for hours on end without stopping. She had been hoping to spend the day outside doing something, but with Gamzee was out there and not knowing if his insanity was all in his head or her own, she didn't quite feel safe alone.

Kanaya stopped her washing for a moment to consider Nepeta's tone; the cattroll wanted to spend time with her. Most of the other trolls wouldn't be up at this time and Nepeta had wasted last night because she had to carry her home. It wouldn't be right to ask someone as energetic as Nepeta to stay cooped up in her hive just watching Kanaya draw; the least Kanaya could do was entertain her for the day to make up for her lost night. "I was planning on going outside to do my sketches. I don't think that I'll be too inspired creatively if I just stay in the same room every day. It's a beautiful day and I'm hoping that some fresh air and the beauty of the great outdoors will inspire me to do some work. Would you like to join me?"

"Yes," Nepeta shouted excitedly, and far louder than she wanted to. "I mean yes," Nepeta said quietly this time, "I'm okay with going outside if you want," she said almost silently. Kanaya almost wanted to reach out and hug her right then and there, but it probably would be more awkward.

"Let me just change my dress and grab my sketchbook and we can leave," Kanaya said glad that Nepeta was okay with her plan. She raced up to her respiteblock and quickly replaced her slept in dress with a new one. She was rather glad that Nepeta didn't place her in the slime last night, she had cleaned worst things out of her red dress, including her blood and other's blood, but it was nice to have one less chore to do. She chooses another dress the light green one that would be pretty to wear on a day like today, it was functional as well, as it was light and didn't hinder her movements too much. She grabbed her sketchpad and headed back down stairs to where Nepeta was.

Nepeta waited as patiently as she could, which admittedly wasn't that long, it seemed like forever since Kanaya went upstairs to change. She didn't see why the rainbowdrinker needed to change, the dress she was wearing was pretty already and since they were going outside it didn't matter if it was already dirty since it was only going to get dirtier. Perhaps that wasn't the right way to phrase that, Nepeta thought to herself. Kanaya would always be Kanaya though; coming back from the dead had proved that, she would probably never get over this weird fashion obsession of hers. Not that it was a bad thing of course; just that she was the only troll who probably cared about such things, except maybe Feferi and Aradia on occasions.

But then she heard Kanaya come down the steps and she turned around to see what dress she had chosen, she convinced herself to at least try and be interested, but what she saw shocked her. It was something out of one of Karkat's stupid romcoms; Kanaya strolled down the stairs looking so beautiful in her green dress it seemed like she was walking in slow motion.

"Are you ready to go Nepeta," Kanaya asked breaking Nepeta out of her stupor.

"Um yeah, I can go whenefur," Nepeta said clumsily.

"Then let us depart," Kanaya said taking Nepeta by the hand and taking them out the door. "By the way, would you like to stop by your hive before we get too far to change as well?"

Nepeta knew that Kanaya was only being thoughtful, but she couldn't help but feel like she was saying that her outfit wasn't good enough when compared to her own. Nepeta would admit that when compared to Kanaya at all she felt ugly when measured against the beautiful troll girl. She would normally say no to wasting time to just change clothes, but she felt like now she needed to. "Yeah maybe, that would be good, the stuff I'm wearing now is kind of itchy from sleeping in it, changing would be good," Nepeta said pawing at her own clothes.

"I know the feeling," Kanaya said not judgmentally at all, "I love your outfit, but I don't think I could stand wearing the same thing two days in a row, even if I looked as cute as I did in it as you."

Nepeta could only blush at Kanaya's compliment and she turned even greener when she noticed Kanaya was still holding her hand, but she didn't say anything since she was enjoying it so much.