"Alright, are you ready?" Nepeta asked, getting into a perfect hunter's crouch as she prepared to roleplay.

It had been a few days since Nepeta had joined him in his hive. There had still been no word from Equius, or really any troll. It made Karkat nervous, but at the same time, he was enjoying spending his days with her. It was better than being alone. They had been acting out a roleplay similar to the one Nepeta had done with Terezi, with a hunter and another hunter/friend sort of being. Nepeta, of course, was the fierce lioness creature, while Karkat had settled on being a crab monster. Just like his lusus.

"About that... Not that I don't enjoy our roleplays but," Karkat paused, slightly nervous about asking. Then he saw Nepeta's expression turn to worry. Oh no, she probably thinks that I don't want to roleplay with her anymore. Stupid! Karkat thought. He gathered his courage again and continued, "I was wondering if we could try something else today."

Nepeta looked relieved and he saw her muscles relax. She stood. "Sure, what did you have in mind?"

"Umm... Well do you remember that romcom we saw the first day you were here? Do you think we could do that?"

Nepeta gasped. "I love that movie! I must've seen it a gazillion times before! Pounce and I used to watch it all the time. Sure! Who do you want us to be?"

Karkat felt his cheeks grow warm and he knew that he was blushing. "Well, I was thinking we could be the main characters." He was referring to the two love interests in the movie. Karkat looked down and waited for her response, not wanting to see the rejection on her face. When she didn't replay immediately, he glanced up.

She was blushing. Her face was accented in olive green and she looked away slightly, not meeting his gaze. She was surprised, but in a good way. She was smiling, and her mouth was slightly opened in her shock. She looked up at him, and nodded slightly.

They proceed to roleplay the movie as best they could with only two people. They started from the beginning, when they first met, all the way through them falling in love and overcoming all the obstacles so that they could end up together. There were a few awkward spots, but Nepeta seemed pretty adept at keeping things moving along. She had even managed to make him laugh a few times at her impression of the movie.

And then it was time. Time for the ending scene: the walk out into the snow, holding hands. Karkat took a deep breath and slipped Nepeta's hand into his, nervous and hands shaking slightly. She returned the gesture and looked up at him, her blush hadn't left her face since the start of the roleplay. Karkat did his best to smile as his heart beat fast. Hand in hand, they walked to the pond that Nepeta had sketched on the floor, just like the characters in the movie had, but with a real frozen pond. Then they stopped. This was the part where the couple had kissed and the movie had ended.

Nepeta was looking away, still blushing madly and nervous, but in the cutest possible way. Her mouth was curved into a smile that she tried hard to hide, but Karkat could see her happiness from a mile away. Her hands were shaking a bit, just noticeable to him through the light squeeze of her hand in his, which he held gently. She is beautiful. Karkat thought, and he knew that he had to go through with the end of his plan. With his palms sweating, mind racing, and heart beating, he turned toward her and, with his free hand, touched her cheek softly, turning her face so he could see it. She looked hopeful, but also doubtful as she looked up at him. Gently, he nudged her chin up and met his lips with hers.

It was a light kiss, a brush of the lips at first. When she didn't return it, he felt his heart sink and he began to panic, but within a moment, she leaned up toward him, pressing back. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she carefully put hers around his neck. He hadn't noticed when his eyes closed, but he was now blind to everything but his love for this cat troll, and the relief that she loved him back, just like the movie.

No. Better than the movie.

After a few seconds, kiss ended. He didn't want to impose on her, or push her into anything, and quite frankly, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to go any further in that moment. Karkat touched her cheek gently. She smiled up at him, a welcome sight after the last few days of her sadness. She leaned her head against his chest and he kissed the top of her head lightly. He still wasn't quite sure what had made him love this cat troll. Perhaps it was her cute, and almost naive, charm. Or perhaps it was her inner strength and independence, despite her apparent reliance on others. Perhaps it was simply everything about her, and how vastly different she was from Terezi, but at the same time so similar. Regardless, he knew that for now, he wanted her to stay with him no matter what, even if he had to fight her protective moirail, fist to sickle.

Wow, no months long wait! Well, it helps when you have pre-written chapters. I will warn you though, the next chapter has a lot of plot in it, so it will take a while to write. Hopefully not months. Hopefully.

Anyway, thank you for everyone who participated in the giveaway, or even checked out my blog. This chapter is pretty short, but consider this fluffy bit a break from the angst that came before (and that will come again!) and a thank you for continuing to follow this story. As always, favorites, reviews, follows, ect. are greatly appreciated!

Edit:

Chapter 14 is one of the chapters that I wrote way back in the beginning of Olive Tears (which originally was supposed to be a long one shot; that was before I ended up with a fairly solid idea of what I was doing). I didn't really revise it before I posted it, which is why it had a few errors, which have been corrected in this version of the chapter (no new plot, just some new lines and a few word substitutions). The sickle/scythe thing was one of those such errors. I feel like I make that mistake a lot actually, so I apologize if I mix up Karkat's weapon of choice!

Pacing/character development/characterization. I know its been a bit slow in some parts and fast in others, and because of that the relationship between Karkat and Nepeta is a bit odd (and overdramatic) but hopefully the next chapter will help clear that up (hinthint)! Honestly at this point, they don't even know themselves what their true feelings are, and that attributes to the disorder in the tone. I do try to stay as cannon as possible as far as characterization, and I almost always re-read parts of the comic while I'm writing to make sure everything is accurate. However, you must understand that I am human and I make mistakes, and also that this is fanfiction, and in the case of my story, it strays from cannon quite a bit as far as plot and relationships.

Thank you for all the lovely reviews/favorites/follows, and I hope you'll stick around until the end (which is still a ways away)!