Wow okay so thank you guys for all the follows and favorites! I'm sorry that I'm taking forever to update everything but I guess that's what I get for taking on so many projects at once. *le shrugh* Oh well with summer on the rise I've got more time on my hands so I'll be sure to update as much as I can. Thank you~


That Cool Cat

yo nep wanna hang out today?

hey

heeeeeeyyyyyy

are you even awake yet?

look i know it's only 11 but ya gotta get up

hello?

*sigh* guess i'll just have to tell karkat you aren't coming

Nepeta rubbed her eyes with a groan. She lazily pawed around her bed to find her phone and shut it off. After a few fruitless minutes of searching she sat up and looked around groggily. Of course the stupid thing had to be just beyond her reach. Swiping it from its place Nepeta flopped down and silenced her incessant ringtone.

She would have totally been fine with falling back asleep instead of responding to Dave, if it weren't for his last text.

Now wide awake she quickly responded.

What do you have in mind?

and she lives! yo you were hella dead to the world until mention of your beloved knight was brought up, weren't you?

:3P Was not.

She yawned. Okay so maybe she had been completely dead and would have been content to remain as such if he hadn't mentioned Karkat. But as of late this past week she had been filling up on a lot of feel goods. In her opinion there had been a lot of positive interaction with Karkat, and that had caused her to drop her guard just a little bit. She was starting to become just a little carried away and forgetful of what she shouldn't be doing. Hope was breaching her walls.

we're gonna hit the skate park, trade out fuckin rad tricks, you know the usual

I'll see if I can find my roller blades. What time do you want me to swing by?

well now would be ideal but since you suddenly became alive to the world i'll cut you some slack and say you've got about 5 potatoes worth in minutes to get your cat tailed rear end over to the park

Dork. I assume you're gonna be doing more portfolio work, as if you don't already have enough. ;3P

ladies and germs it seems that today's winner is non other than miss leijon herself

your reward is a gold star

- goldlilnugget (image) -

Smartass

only the smartest damn ass you will find in the country

other titles include fine ass, plump ass, gorgeous ass...

Nepeta buried her grin behind a pillow as Dave continued to apply various adjectives to his ass. Sometimes his weirdness overflowed too much and it made her constantly wonder how exactly it is they became friends. This thought would then sub sequentially be followed by a brief flashback of Dave getting her cat, Pounce, out of a tree and then declaring that they would be sharing custody rights over her. It always made her giggle because of how silly he's always been.

Slowly she got up and stretched. Then she rolled off the bed and crawled towards her closet, opened it, and then pawed around for her roller blades. Whilst pawing through this warzone she produced a cute red, plaid skirt that she had completely forgotten she owned in the first place. Maybe a tank top would work well with it? And some knee high socks? Oo and maybe her black cat hat!

Why are you getting so worked up over your appearance? I thought you had resolved the other day that it didn't matter?

She bit her lip and shook her head. She was still allowed to try and look nice, right?

But are you doing it for yourself or for him?

She frowned and conceded that the annoying voice had a point. So hastily she decided it was for herself, but with a hint of guilt she was secretly hoping that Karkat would like her outfit.

Finally she found her roller blades and she pulled them out of the junk pile triumphantly.


"Dave!" she yelled as she raised her hand up in greeting. The blonde looked up with a grin. Quickly he raised up his camera and snapped a picture of her. A faint trail of fire ran along the bridge of her nose but she ignored it and rolled over to him.

"You are just in time. The majestic Karkles is about to pull an epic faceplant," Dave gestured across from him and she peered curiously at Karkat, who was on a silver bike, readying himself.

"Shut up you prick!" Karkat yelled. Nepeta felt an incorrigible grin pulling at the corners of her and she wanted to giggle at how silly they were being.

"So hot stuff, who are you all dolled up for?" A wiry arm slung itself over her shoulders and she looked up to see Dave's brother, Dirk, grinning down at her. She blushed slightly and tried to indignantly proclaim that it was for herself. Much like the annoying little voice she argued with he didn't believe her.

Dirk nodded and smirked in disbelief. "Your color scheme is very matching to a certain brooding firecracker that's about pull some sweet tricks-"

"Faceplants," Dave interjected.

"-over there. Could this be a possible cry for Senpai to notice you?" She shoved Dirk away and bit her bottom lip, chewing on it with a mounting anxiousness. Was she really that transparent? She didn't want to come off that way. Sure it would be nice if he did notice her, but she couldn't let herself hope for a lucky break. Once was enough with the project, but anymore and she'd be dragging herself through the mud with regret.

"Yo, Earth to Nepeta come in," She blinked as Dirk waved his hand in her face. "I said I was sorry for teasing you. Sheesh for a moment I thought you were a goner."

Internally Nepeta berated herself for having an episode here of all times and places, but on the outside she smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. It's cool."

It doesn't fail to escape her notice that both Dave and Dirk share a concerned glance with each other. So quickly she adds something she would normally say. "Well I'm gonna spit some rad tricks out there without you two losers if you're just gonna stand there. See ya!"

With a giggle she pushed forward and left behind indignant cries the wounded. She kept a smile on her face, but focused on keeping her mind as blank as possible. She couldn't be getting upset here. There would be too much on display and she didn't want her friends to know just how weak she really was.

Nepeta absently rode along the swells of the park, only stopping when Karkat called to say he was going to perform his trick.

She pulled herself up to the top and sat to watch him as he launched over the edge and up a swell to perform a youth roll combo. She watched in awe, admiring his form but also noting he was a bit stiff. That meant his landing would jar him loose and sting a bit. When he finally came down she applauded with Dave, Dirk, and-

"Sounds like Karkles has got some sweet moves. Pretty fly for a white guy if you ask me," Her gaze hones in on the incoming trio with mixed feelings. Latula and Mituna, the older siblings of Sollux and Terezi, were walking hand in hand with their skateboards hanging at their sides towards everyone. While their frequenting of the skate park wasn't unusual, it was their tag along and speaker that held most of Nepeta's attention.

" 'Sup TZ, Tula, Tuna," Dave offered everyone a fist bump, 'ironically' missing Terezi's hand the first time before hitting it on the second round. She caught sight of Karkat going up to great them. It dawns on her suddenly that one of the mixed feelings she has is irritation with the new arrivals, particularly Terezi. It bugged her how Karkat always seemed to be eager to talk to Terezi, yet with her he seemed to only want to engage in conversation if he needed something from her. Mortified by the onslaught of anger, Nepeta hurried to conceal the feelings and hopped down from her perch to meet up with everyone.

Mituna saw her and grinned, waving the hand that clutched a skateboard in the air furiously. Exuberantly he yelled, "Kitty!"

When they had first met he couldn't pronounce her name very well without tripping over it constantly. The solution had been to call her by what he identified her with. Kitty became her pet name and he never gave it up, even after he finally managed to say her name right. She didn't mind at all, because in all honesty she just wanted to spoil Mituna rotten. Really she had encouraged him to keep calling her Kitty.

"Hey Tunafish," she laughed and gave him a hug. He wore his Bumblebee stripes today, his favoritest shirt ever, and his handsome curls were mostly hidden by his expressive helmet. They boy gives her a sloppy kiss on the forehead before pulling away with a large grin.

"So you were having this rad party and you didn't think to invite us? What a shame," Latula cleared her throat and flashed a cheeky smile.

"I was just about to page you to get your asses out here," Dirk joked accordingly in response. The banter carried on and Nepeta lets her gaze drift over to Karkat.

A strong tinge of jealousy rang through her as she watched him converse with Terezi. She hated how easy it looked when the other girl spoke to him. They could be talking about anything and Karkat would still be interested in what she had to say. Nepeta felt like she couldn't hold a good conversation with him anymore to save her life, and it was frustrating.

She turned away and skated back into the park, not really caring if she was being rude or not. Her own feelings were making her feel uncomfortable and it made her worry that the longer she stood there the more apparent it would become that she was an awful person.

Nepeta pumped her legs quickly and picked up speed. She needed a release, and pushing herself to the max sounded like a great idea at the moment.

I don't even care if I gt hurt. I bet it would make me feel better, even if it's only just a little, if I did.

She didn't have ideas like that often, and when she did get them she just shoved them away like always. But she felt too tired to fight them off. She was drained already and the day had barely even started for her. The short pockets of actual happiness hadn't been enough for her. A sinking feeling infiltrated her heart.

She sighed and pushed up a swell, deciding she should go get a drink before doing something stupid. Unfortunately the nearest water fountain was at the Aquarium next door because the skate park was cheap like that. So she followed the sidewalk and left the skate park. Nepeta rolled up to the big glass doors of the Aquarium, peeking in to make sure there wasn't any staff hanging around to get her into trouble for wearing her roller blades inside. The cost appeared clear so she opened the door and maneuvered around on the sleek floor to the water fountain. She took a generous drink when she got there, and when she was done she decided to examine the nearby fish display. The feeling of avoiding responsibility-a.k.a Procrastination- settled on her shoulders and she guilty silenced it by telling herself she was jsut preparing to fake being normal before she went back.

She rolled close to a display and watched the colorful fish swim about in their dull way, lacing her hands together behind her back. Once upon a time she would have felt more keen on tracking individual fish and pretending she was on a hunt, but now... Now she couldn't even focus worth a darn on a single one of them. All she could do was stare blankly at the moving creatures and feel empty.

She wondered what it would be like to be a fish. They probably didn't have romantic problems or social stress in their one track lives.

"Hey! You can't wear those in here!" She snapped out of her revere, whirling around and almost falling over. Her eyes narrowed and a heavy frown tugged at the corners of her lips. Across the lobby is Eridan Ampora wearing what looks like the Aquarium uniform; a three piece suit that consisted of a grey shirt and coordinating navy blue slacks and vest. It actually made him look responsible, even with the violet streak running through his slicked back hair.

"Since when do you work here?" She asked with a hiss. "Or work at all for that matter."

Eridan scowled, pushing his bulky hipster frames up the bridge of his nose. "I've been working here for the last couple of months, thanks for listening to me when I announced that I got a job here."

Nepeta clamped her jaw shut, fighting the urge to say something mean to him. Just because he was a dick to her didn't mean she had to stoop completely to his level. She clenched her hands and turned them into fists, letting her nails did into the palms of her hands. Nepeta turned to go, lightly gliding across the floor to the exit.

As she passed Eridan he said, "Look, Fef told me to apologize to you again so I'm sorry."

Nepeta ground her teeth in irritation. What is it with people not giving her a proper apology lately? Did they just not wish to acknowledge the fact that there was something specific that had bothered or upset her? Saying sorry just didn't cut it anymore, because that just meant people could apologize to her for anything but what they needed to apologize for.

"Keep it, I know you're not being sincere," she spat. Nepeta reached the door and wrenched it open, escaping to the outside.

She didn't want to be here anymore. She just wanted to go home and be surrounded by her blankets and pillows, looking at memes and laughing at them to make her forget she felt like shit, or drawing more things for her blog. Anything to distract herself.

Her heart started to pound against her chest as she let her thoughts overwhelm her. Slowly her calm breaths turned ragged as her feet led her back in the direction of the skate park.

"Nepeta, wait!" She looked over her shoulder and saw Eridan jogging out of the Aquarium. No. She didn't want his apology. She just wanted him to leave her alone!

She faced forward again and raced to the park. Eridan swore and then picked up his pace, the sound of his feet pounding against the concrete as he chased after her. Panic skyrocketed in her veins and mixed with the wrathful fire within her to create a turbulence of negative emotions that threatened to engulf her if she didn't calm down.

She was almost in the park when a hand wraps firmly around the crook of her elbow and she jerked backwards, her wheeled feet scrabbling to remain upright. The other hand belonging to Eridan pushed between her shoulder blades and tilted her up. When she was absolutely certain she wasn't going to fall over she turns around and starts to hit Eridan.

"Let go of me!"

"Not until you accept the apology!" Eridan clenched his teeth and winced with each hit he took. Her temper flared to outrage at his audacity. How dare he try to force her to accept an apology he didn't even mean!

"Why should I when you're just going to turn around and bully me again?! If you actually meant it you wouldn't keep repeating the offense!" She finally made him go and she slowly rolled backwards. "And why just me? What did I do to be the one you have to use as an emotional tantrum punching bag? Just because Feferi chose Sollux over you doesn't give you the right to be an ass to whoever you feel like!"

At this point her volume had escalated to a shout, having boiled over the critical point with now stopping now. She was breathing hard, her lungs seizing up and choking her. Tears burned the rims of her eyes and she fought to keep herself under control. Behind her she could hear her friends calling up to her, asking what was going on.

Eridan opened his mouth to protest but closed it in acknowledgement to the fact that she was right.

"Don't you realize that your words and actions actually affect me? Even if you think I've got a thick skin and can get over it?" her voice toned down to a whisper and she cursed herself. That was revealing too much to the last person she wanted to know that she was breaking.

Eridan looked like he wanted to say something again, this time about her previous comment. His gaze shifted to something behind her on the ground and his eyes widened a fraction before he shouted, "Watch out!"

Nepeta felt the back of her wheels slip off the lip of the skate bowl and her heart flew right out of her mouth and choked a scream. While she had been busy getting angry she had also been slowly inching backwards. The sound disappeared all except for the air rushing by at what must have been a million miles per hour. For a split second all she saw was the bright blue sky.

The next moment blurred together. Eridan ran forward and was above her blocking out the light. She glimpsed his eyes, a powerfully strange look confusing her just before he pulled her closer to him. They were both falling. And then they both crashed against the wall, rolling the rest of the way down. The air rushed out of Nepeta's lungs the moment she made contact with the ground. Her hat was tugged off her head and her hair flied freely. Her ears rang, and when they had come to a stop she struggled to breathe just like a fish out of water.

People rushed over, standing above her and blocking out the sun. Their faces were dark and she squinted to try and see better. She was good at reading lips thanks to her sister, Meulin, so she knew they were asking if she was okay.

Multiple hands pulled her away from Eridan and him away from her to help them sit up. The blood rushed back down and with it her hearing returned.

"Nep, you okay?" Dave? Yeah that was Dave. He waved his hand in front of her face.

"Am I bleeding?" she mumbled. Her whole body had gone numb so she couldn't feel any pain.

Dave checked over her in concern. "No. It doesn't look like it."

"Then I'm fine," she blindly reached forward and undid the straps on her rollerblades. Her feet slid out and she tried to stand up, looking at Eridan.

He was busy checking his uniform and making sure it hadn't torn. Some of his hair had come loose and fallen into his tan face, his glasses slightly askew. her mind felt sluggish and she dimly wondered what possessed him, the snooty no good prince, to put himself at risk while trying to save her. A half formulated plan told her to reach out and help him up, but based on how light she felt the action was stopped before it started.

"Oh my god your shoulder!" She looked around thinking she had heard Karkat. In the process she checked her right shoulder. A very fine layer of skin had beeen removed and it its place was a very angry looking mark with tiny beads of blood making their way to the surface. She brushed it and the area prickled with the return of feeling.

"I think...," she said slowly, her vision blurring. "I think I'm gonna go home now."

The ringing in her ears returned and her heart beat accelerated to that jumpy-achy tempo she hated so much. She took a few steps away from everyone, unaware if she was being followed or not. One of her legs buckled and she sank to the ground. Nepeta stared at the concrete, which felt very warm underneath her, and thought about how this would be an excellent place and time to take a nap. She closed her eyes and fell over.


Nepeta woke up with a start and a throbbing headache. Scratch that, a throbbing everything. Even her lungs hated her, not processing the oxygen correctly and forcing her to take deep breaths that made her sound like she was hyperventilating. It took her several minutes to bring it back to normal.

By the time she had succeeded that then she was able to take in her surroundings. To her surprise she found that she had somehow made it to her bedroom. Nepeta pawed around her bed to look for her phone, wincing as pain shot through her shoulders and ran all over her upper back. Her hand hit the cold metal of her phone and she grabbed it. A little light flashed in the corner and she knew that she had missed some messages. She turned it on and the little clock read a quarter to one. How long had she been knocked out? Swiping the lock she opened her messages to see that they were all from Dave.

That Cool Cat

hey when you wake up just know i'm gonna be coming over

we're chillin' at your place for the rest of the day

i'm probably just gonna stay and crash for the night

yeah actually that's a brilliant plan go me

Dave you don't have to do that, I'm fine.

too late your cat already has me arrested at gunpoint on your couch sayin' love me you piece of shit

gimme cuddles, belly rubs, the whole shebang or you're gonna get it

That's a pretty compelling argument.

how often does your cat make deals with the devil to get to this level of cuteness?

More often than you apparently.

"Touche," She jumped when Dave walked into her room holding Pounce in one arm and his phone in the opposite hand. He plopped down on her bed and Pounce wriggled away from him to sit in her lap. Nepeta ran her fingers through Pounce's soft white coat. She could feel the purr between strokes and found it calming.

"What happened after I blacked out? How long was I out?" she asked. Her memory seemed to have a thick barricade of cotton and fuzz surrounding it at the point she had fallen with Eridan. It made figuring out what happened a pain.

"I brought you back here, Eridan went back to work, and the others stayed there trying to figure out what the hell just happened," Dave shrugged. "You've been out for a good solid 20 minutes. Did ya have a nice cat nap?"

She chuckled lightly at his cat pun but didn't respond. Perhaps her body was trying to take every opportunity it could to catch up on sleep, and that included passing out apparently. In all honesty it just made her feel even more tired.

She turned to look at Dave. "So cool cat, what now?"

He grinned. "Mouse trap!"

"Brutal edition?"

"With sick beats provided by yours truly."

"Done."

She snickered and pushed Pounce back over to Dave so she could crawl off the bed and retrieve the game, distracting herself once again.


Okay so I'm gonna try something out with the next chapter (cause it's mostly just going to be Nepeta's activity on her blog); anybody wanna try making this fic an interactive one with me? You can ask questions for either me or Nepeta and she'll answer them as if you had sent them into her blog. Please? I really wanna try this just cause I think it'd be a cool/fun thing to do. Also, if you could send me ideas for blog names for everyone else (i.e Eridan, Jane, Dirk, Karkat, etc.) that aren't their chumhandles that'd be great. Anyways, thanks for reading and supporting this fic!