Author's Note: This chapter includes direct quotations from page 5338 of Homestuck, "Seek the highb100d." Which is owned by Andrew Hussie. Not me.

Nepeta sprinted down the hallway, mashing her hat onto her head and throwing on her trench coat as she went. She realized much too late that she had left her laptop in Gamzee's room. She hadn't even noticed it that morning. Sometime during the night the playlist must have run through all the songs and stopped. She was in half a mind to retrieve it, in case she couldn't find Equius, but she shook the thought away. Of course he would be back at their apartment. He had been anxious to let her stay the night at Gamzee's. He would be waiting up for her.

She burst into their apartment, and, for some reason, dead bolted the door behind her. "Equius!" Nepeta screamed, spinning around. He was not in the entrance room. She flung open the door to his room. He wasn't there. After scouring the rest of the apartment, she came to the conclusion that he was elsewhere.

Setting her jaw, Nepeta once again dashed out of the apartment and sprinted down the corridor. She ran to the transportalizer terminal, and took the transportalizer pad to the unused laboratory where Equius kept most of his extra robot parts. Happily, she saw him in the center of the room, leaning against a pile of metal scraps.

Now that the immediate panic was leaving her body, Nepeta was able to think straight. If she told Equius about Gamzee, he might never let her see her matesprit again, even if he recovered. She decided to keep quiet until she knew more, and approached her moirail as if nothing was wrong.

Unfortunately, it seemed somehow, word had already traveled. Had Gamzee left his room? Nepeta began to wring her hands worriedly. As Equius began to lecture her about the new danger, Nepeta's mind raced a million miles an hour. She decided to play dumb, and changed to topic by asking about Aradia. The original Aradiabot had exploded the day before, leaving Equius feeling quite blue.

However, he insisted on discussing Gamzee instead.

"Nepeta, I think it would behoove us to address the extreme danger in a serious matter," he stated, crossing his arms.

"You mean about Gamzee?" she questioned, as if she had already forgot, and giggled nervously. "I'm still not sure I can believe it!"

"That's because you still refuse to look upon our bloodlines as the deciding behavioral factors they are," he announced. Nepeta fought the urge to scream at him. "His is the richest and most noble blood possible among the high land dwellers. As such, he is prone to being more violent and unpredictable than any of us."

It seemed he noticed and placed the look on her face, so he added, "Not everyone has been as lucky as I in the domain of moirallegiance. I shudder to think what I might be without you, Nepeta."

She snorted internally, seeing right through his ploy. But she played along, pretending to become cheery again and saying, "Oh! That's so sweet of you Equius! You know I will always be ready to tacklepounce you when you start getting especially furious." Which was true, she reasoned, and therefore she was not lying.

Equius looked at her stoically. "Yes, which is among the reasons why I must make your protection a high priority. The highblood is becoming increasingly volatile and murderous as we remain stranded in this laboratory. I command you to steer clear of him, do you understand?"

Nepeta's jaw almost hit the floor. She was used to Equius bossing her around, but this time he was going too far!

"I would prefer you hide," Equius continued, oblivious.

"Hide? Where?" Nepeta shot back, regretting the obvious sharpness in her tone. Thankfully, he did not seem to notice.

"Behind that door," Equius answered, gesturing behind him.

"Door? What door? What are you talking about?" Nepeta asked, forcing a giggle into her voice.

"I mean the grate over there, you goshdarned sillyface!" he replied.

"Oh, okay!" Nepeta conceded, seeing the grate to the vents behind him.

"I will now seek the highblood, Nepeta," Equius said after a few moments, as way of bidding her adieu. "I command you to go hide, as we discussed."

"Sure!" Nepeta replied cheerfully. She was about to turn away when she considered the fact that perhaps Equius was right, and Gamzee was actually trouble. So she added, "Just don't stick your neck out and take any big risks!"

"I will exact caution," he assured her. "Even so, I would still like the opportunity to say…." He trailed off.

"What?" Nepeta said casually, heart beating quickly.

"Goodbye," he finished, with a deep breath and a peculiar expression on his face. He really believed there was grave danger, Nepeta realized.

"Well, okay. Goodbye," she tenderly replied. "But you had better believe I will see you again soon, Equius!" With that, she pecked him on the cheek and scurried off into the air vents.