Teeth and paws

He unwrapped the plastic that held it and set it on its own on another small plate, the aroma immediately drenching the air. It was one of the strongest cheeses he had ever had, and he was rather impressed that Nepeta had seemed almost to call to it. 

Her expression hardened when he flashed a grin at her- there was no way she was chickening out now. "The huntress stalks behind her prey..." Nepeta walked her hand up to the cheese, "And strikes while it's guard is down!" She picked it up, "Befur consuming it whole, merciless and fiercely."

AKA sugar’s for squares!

He sniffed at the watery, but still surprisingly strong scent a bit before reaching for his own cup. And watery was right. It looks more like lightly-tinted, murky water, but clearly, is his olfactory senses were of any judge, the scent alone was enough to distinguish it from the basic liquid itself. He sniffed a few more times, swirled it around, then sipped, humming quietly as it slipped down his throat and nodding his head, approvingly.

“This is rather nice…Kankri remarks, as he readies himself f9r a sec9nd sip. He finds it t9 6e a simple taste, with underlying hints 9f m9re c9mplex…s9methings. 9verall, this has 6een a successful first taste t9 the w9rld 9f tea and its affiliates, he thinks t9 himself.”

He smiled back over at her a moment and sipped again, set the cup aside and resumed preparing his plate.

She held her teacup in her lap and stared at him, blinking a few times at his questions, resembling something of an antlerbeast in headlights. Strong cheese? Light cheese? Creamy? Don't you have to bite into it anyway if you want to eat it? 

"Um..." Nepeta frowned a bit, putting her teacup down, "The huntress says something strong... and something I must bite into?"

“Mister Vantas replies that he w9uld 6e m9re than delighted t9 6e served 6y the great huntress herself, and remarks that she has pr9ven herself, thusfar, t9 6e a m9st graci9us h9st, that is, when she is n9t planning aerial assault 9r s9me fa6ric-6ased hit and run.”

"The great huntress pours Mistpurr Vantas his tea," She does so, making sure there were enough room for some sugarcubes, "and asks if he would like some sugar? She says, I always k33p sugar in my pawkets, you nefur know when you might n33d some."

“Nepeta I need to-“

"Yesss, okay okay okay, hold on."

Each cheese was lined up, according to size and name, or…generally, however he saw fit. He kept the Swiss close by him, though, eyeing it hungrily. It was his favorite. He didn’t know what Nepeta thought about cheeses, all he knew was, the majority of that slab was going in HIS gullet today. He lined out a few boxes of crackers next, a few small plates on which he arranged a few other items, not taking a bite of anything until he had finished arranging everything accordingly.

"It all looks furry good! You didn't n33d to bring so much," After taking a better look, Nepeta noticed just how much was there. She didn't even know this much cheese existed! "Gosh... oh, I almost furgot."

“Good morning, sillyface” he said with a snort and flipped a flapjack in the same moment.

He stared at her hand for a few moments, bitterly, before smiling, groaning, and taking it, careful to shift his weight so he didn’t pull her over and earn himself a couple more claws to the face. He dusted himself off a bit , hands flying around his face, fixing his hair mostly.

Jesus, she was a tough little cookie, he thought. He supposed she would have to be to deal with Equius all day long. Still, she didn’t look it. Perhaps that was part of her cheeky little charm.

After the blanket was spread good enough, Nepeta sat her rump down and patted the spot across from her, "The huntress demands her guest have a seat and make himself at home, she purromises not to attack and eat him while he has his guard down."

Shaking off his insecurities, he tried to concentrate on making breakfast for them. Although they didn’t like many of the same foods, Nepeta liked flapjacks at least.

She stepped back quickly a few times and a lazy smile graced her features when she saw him, "Equiusss," She half slurred, half purred, and scurried over to his side. There was a relief to a weight in her chest she didn't noticed was there.

He felt a slight gust and a shadow passed over him. He saw the blanket float back down to the grass a few second later and squinted at it, angling his eyes up towards the treehouse suspiciously, a smirk growing across his face.

“Am6ush fail,” he whispered, standing and wandering over to where it had fallen, bending and picking it up, shaking it out a bit. Then he heard it, and looked up, confused, screaming and darting out of the way with the blanket just in time for Nepeta to land gracefully a few inches from where he had just been.

"Ambush success!"

Nepeta 1, Kankri 0.

Finally she took a moment to actually look at him however, and frowned a bit with concern. She hoped she hadn't actually hit him- after quickly gnancing over him she deducted that he didn't look hurt. Aside from appearing as if he had just had major bloodpusher failure, but when you spend a good potion of your time hunting and prowling, it was a look you get familiar with.

He grinned, waving his hand in the air to dismiss all ill thoughts about his favorite beverage. “What is the saying? Different f9lks, different str9kes, I 6elieve. What w9rks f9r me may n9t w9rk f9r y9u and I have c9me t9 terms with that. Perhaps my figures were 9ff, haha, I am a de6ater, n9t a mathematician.”

She grabbed a blanket- not a pelt- do you know how hard it is to get food out of some of those furs? Impawssible, it's impossible, and tossed it down at Kankri. She had aimed for it to land on top of him but it ended up blowing past him. Darn!

She had no idea when Equius would be back back, which was problematic for a number of reasons. She couldn’t keep Nepeta locked up in a room for longer than a day—and even that pushing it in her standards. Did she even have food and water? If she didn’t, then Terezi wasn’t sure what she could do about that… Any attempt to give her such necessities would mean risking the door.

On top of that, she had no means to find out what Equius’ condition was; she hadn’t thought to bring her husktop, thoughts away with Nepeta’s saftety. If something had happened to him and he was in another trolls care, how was she supposed to hear about it? Moving on from that, she had no way of telling Karkat that they weren’t in immediate danger—which possibly posed the risk of him coming over and she didn’t want to have to be responsible for the both of them if it could be avoided. To rectify this, she could go back home and collect her stuff, but how was she supposed to leave Nepeta alone? Just because she was locked in a room didn’t mean she was safe, and if the Makara’s felt injustice had been done unto them, then surely Nepeta would not be safe if Terezi left.

She was in a zugzwang position: every option would put her at a disadvantage, but she had to pick one regardless. Sighing, she let her body hit against the door, sliding down it until she was sitting. Might as well get comfortable. Her head rolled towards the door with sympathy, wishing she had someway to make things better—words could be spoken by any fool, and she was about to become a disgusting example.

She shut that thought out too.

She's exhausted every option on getting out, and exhausted herself in the process. With a tired smile and tired voice to follow, Nepeta asked, "Do best friends roleplay together?"

That would be fun, a distraction, especially since there was nothing else to do in this room. She had no computer and nothing to draw with, or better yet, her tablet that she could do both with. Oh well, Terezi was here and she was worth a hundre- er, thirty three thousand tablet computers.

At least Nepeta seemed to be quieter now, if still as heart-breakingly distressed as when Terezi had arrived. No matter how much she wanted to physically reassure Nepeta, it just wasn’t possible. She strengthened her resolve instead: Nepeta was not going to be killed, and neither was Equius. 

“Equius is going to be okay, he can handle his own, remember?” She tried turning the unsure into facts. “Plus Meenah is going to be there; she seemed to get on pretty well with The Highblood and she can help Equius if he needs it. He’s not alone up there.”

It's okay, Nepeta. That's what he would say. He would make little noises and shoosh her and hug her tight.

She sat down, back against the door, and wrapped her arms around herself- trying to mimic the way he does it. But her arms are too small- too short- not muscular enough. His skin is so cool compared to hers too, it always felt so nice and calming; she leaned back and pressed her cheek to the door, it was cool too- but unlike Equius, it was unmoving and uncaring.

She let her eyes drift shut and mentally went back to her time in the vents- hearing their voices, which were curiously followed until she caught glimpses of that bow string wrapped taut around his neck, the arrow forcing him to kneel, and how he did absolutely nothing to stop it. How she had to watch her dearest love literally breath his last breath to the same son of a bitch who took her life moments later.

She tried to blink the images away, but even when her eyes shot open they were still there-

Even with her eyes with open and cloudy with tears, she could see his face- smiling at her from across the room, lifeless, and the sight of her own blood spilling out around her. It was something she had only seen in the deepest of her nightmares but now here it was, flashing in her brain even in the bright lights of this closet. She hated this, but was too finished to do anything about it.

Terezi was right behind her, on the other side of that fucking door, but Nepeta felt so alone. So abandoned and left behind. And helpless, because she couldn't do a god damn thing beside sit here, between these four stupid walls and accept this.

honk. HONK. honk.

She wanted to start trying to escape again, this faint honking from the back of her head was making her heart pump fiercely but she was so so tired. Even with all the adrenaline and panic in the world, Nepeta couldn't get up and try to claw her way out again. She was done. Maybe if she kept crying like this, she could manage to lose a lethal amount of fluid BEFORE having to see his dead body. It was a morbid thought and Nepeta felt bad for thinking it, but she really didn't want to have to do that again.