Chapter Three

A Purr-fect Encounter

Cherubs (Calliope) / Nepeta Leijon

Rated: T

Calliope tapped her orange nails over the keyboard lightly, not particularly pressing anything. She sighed; she hadn't had any ideas at all for her fanfiction about the kids lately. She frowned and opened her GREEN TOME.

It detailed all of the things about the kids from the original session of SBURB, several years before Jane, Jake, Dirk, and Roxy – including four kids of very similar namesakes and twelve trolls. She did love reading about the trolls. She thumbed through as the author made witty remarks about each of the twelve, speaking most fondly about a troll named Kanaya Maryam and least fondly about two trolls named Gamzee Makara and Vriska Serket. Vriska seemed mostly misunderstood and sad about her role in troll culture – a topic Calliope had extensively studied – and Gamzee seemed simply too high out of his mind most of the time to care much about anything. Until the incident, of course. It was very vague, but the references to the Subjugglators were enough to give Calliope chills.

She tried to fit herself into their caste system; she had lime blood, so she'd be... between Kanaya and Nepeta Leijon, a troll that acted much like a cat, prowling across the Alternian landscape, hunting game.

She smiled at the happy thoughts, lying her head in her hands and drifting off into a daydream.

She was in her dream world – her version of Alternia, in which she was Callie Ohpeee. She was in a hive she didn't recognize and slowly got to her feet from the hay "bed" she'd been sleeping on. She stretched and cracked her back as she looked around the hive. It was more a cave than a normal hive, but it was a home nonetheless.

There was a crackling hearth, over which the corpses of hunted animals cooked, filling the room in a rich aroma. There was a Grubtop sitting in one corner, beeping at the noise of incoming messages. The walls were adored with what appeared to be hundreds of symbols with faces inside. Clubs, Spades, Hearts, Diamonds – each with the faces of Nepeta and her twelve friends. Above all others there was a large red heart containing Nepeta and a very short-horned troll kissing.

Callie smiled and dragged her orange fingernails across the wall gently, making sure not to disturb the drawing. Suddenly, there was a noise. Callie spun to see a troll, glaring with deep olive eyes, her recently killed prey dropping from her jaws to reveal bloodstained teeth.

"N-N-N-" Callie sputtered, not able to form the words. The troll's claws came out and she released a savage growl, lunging at the young lime-blooded troll. Callie squealed, dodging out of the way as Nepeta crumpled against the bottom of her precious Shipping Wall.

"What do you want!" she growled. "Get out!"

"P-p-p-p-please!" Callie cried. Nepeta lunged again, slicing against the troll's arm as she dodged. Callie cried out and grabbed her slashed arm, Nepeta growling and looking between her claws and the wounded troll. Nepeta softly sniffed the lime blood on her claws, then stared at the troll, steely glare still transfixed.

"What do you want?" Nepeta repeated.

"J-j-just to talk!" Callie whimpered. Nepeta's eyes still locked with Callie's, she sat back on her haunches.

"What's your name?"

"C-Callie Ohpeee." Nepeta raised an eyebrow. "Three Es in Ohpeee." Nepeta ignored this and moved to a cupboard where she retrieved a roll of gauze.

"Come here, Callie." The lime-blooded troll cautiously did as she was told as Nepeta unrolled some of the gauze and shredded the end with her claws before wrapping it around Callie's wounded arm. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I was afraid you were here to hurt me. A predator can never be too careful." Nepeta gave a grin and the glare behind her eyes slowly dulled into a friendly stare. Callie gave a weak smile and nodded. "So your name is Callie Ohpeee?" Callie nodded. "Strange name. Even by a lime-blood's standards." Callie blushed a soft shade of green.

"Yes, well... I didn't pick it, haha. I sure would feel the fool if I did!" Nepeta cocked her head.

"You have a strange accent."

"It's a Briti-... It's... not from around here." Nepeta nodded and sat by her Grubtop.

"That makes sense. I mean, there aren't a lot of lime-bloods around here at all. So I figure you weren't from here." Callie sat behind her and watched as she typed quickly before turning from her computer. When the two were finally face to face, Callie realized just how attractive Nepeta was. She knew she was feeling some sort of positive feelings – either red or flushed – but she couldn't tell. She wasn't very good at deciphering her daydream feelings, the ones she couldn't feel in real life.

"So, uh," Nepeta started, scratching her neck as she began to flush olive and Callie averted her gaze to the floor. "How did you get in?"

"I, um... don't know? Haha. I just kind of... woke up here." Nepeta frowned and studied Callie, tugging her face up to meet Nepeta's. "Wh-what-what are-?" Nepeta silenced the troll with a kiss and Callie's eyes opened wide, fists clenching at the surprise. Nepeta kissed her and slowly moved back, Callie's lips reluctant to leave them. "Why did... you...?"

"I think I like you," Nepeta said softly. Callie's breath caught in her throat. I like you too, she wanted to say, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything except release a little sigh. Nepeta took this as an acceptance and a reply and softly kissed Callie again, deeper this time, sharp little teeth grazing her lip, then neck, then collarbone. Callie's hands ran through Nepeta's black hair, removing her blue cat-hat and softly tracing her fingers along her horns. Nepeta groaned into Callie's neck as she softly ran her claws along the front of Callie's shirt revealing her shapely breasts and three thin scratches along the troll's chest, releasing a light ooze of lime green blood. Nepeta's hands moved to Callie's chest and she sighed, rolling her head back.

She knew the significance of human breasts, as they were mammalian and used them to feed their young. But as creatures that were more akin to insects than mammals, she couldn't figure out why troll females had them. Were they simply vestigial – perhaps some earlier evolutionary state used them before the queen began using the drones to root out the worst genes? Were they for stimulation only? Nepeta's lips and teeth seemed bent on showing Callie THAT possibility was highly probable – perhaps for attracting the best mates on how well they could stimulate them.

These thoughts were racing through Callie's mind, however, for every fleeting thought on the anatomy of trolls were a hundred thoughts screaming, "MATE WITH HER, MATE WITH HER". She didn't understand the hormonal impulse, but she knew she couldn't deny it any longer. She imitated Nepeta's advance, kissing and nibbling the olive-blooded troll's neck and moving along her chest and collarbone, kissing and licking her chest as the two groaned and rolled around on the floor of Nepeta's hive. Then, as quickly as the fleeting, perfect moment had come upon them-

It had passed, leaving Calliope dazed and confused staring down at her keyboard. Dazed and confused as she was, she began typing furiously, a beautiful new fanfiction idea fresh in her mind.

aUthor's note: cheerio! i figUred calliope was too amazing a character to be ignored whilest beginning my joUrney throUgh the ships of homestUck, so i asked myself how i thoUght she woUld write a fanfiction and viola! hope yoU all enjoy and review! i'll continUe writing as qUickly as my inspiration will allow, which, honestly, i'm not sUre at all how qUickly that will be! bUt, Until the next chapter, i bid yoU all adieU~! ^u^