Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/7005712.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      F/M
  Fandom:
      Homestuck
  Relationship:
      Nepeta_Leijon/Karkat_Vantas
  Character:
      Karkat_Vantas, Nepeta_Leijon, Equius_Zahhak, Kanaya_Maryam, Terezi
      Pyrope, Vriska_Serket, Dave_Strider, Additional_Characters_-_Character
  Additional Tags:
      Humanstuck
  Stats:
      Published: 2016-05-28 Updated: 2016-06-17 Chapters: 2/? Words: 1798
****** Not all ships have canons. ******
by 2iimplyCaptorvatiing
Summary
     Although it was sixteen years ago that Karkat Vantas and Nepeta
     Leijon were given life, it is only today that they are given a chance
     at true love. Will they be able to make it work, or will they let the
     opportunity slip from their grasps?
***** The Birthday Present *****
Nepeta woke up with a frown on her face, feeling like she had forgotten
something important. She looked around her dimly lit room, trying to remember
what it was. Her room was much like one taken straight from a storybook, with
the canopy bed, picture window, and large collections of stuffed animals
scattered across the room, and she was the princess, being a petite doll of a
girl, with a chiseled jawline, perfect eyebrows, and forest green eyes one
could get lost in for hours. She had short curly brown hair, and mocha skin,
making it easy for her to slip through the woods unseen, which was good because
she loved to hunt. Almost every other weekend she would disappear for days at a
time and come back with good cooking meat. In addition to her stuffed animals,
Nepeta had a large easel in the corner and boxes of different kinds of paints
and paintbrushes on a shelf next to the easel. Nepeta got out of bed and looked
out the window, admiring the autumn view, when suddenly she remembered what she
had forgotten. She put on a black t-shirt with her favourite design, the Zodiac
symbol for Leo, as well as a pair of jeans and ran down the stairs to the
kitchen, sitting impatiently at the kitchen table, bouncing up and down while
she waited for her best friend, Equius, to wake up. Ever since her parents had
died when she was a young child, Equius had taken care of her like she was his
little sister, being incredibly protective of her, choosing who she could and
couldn't be friends with and making sure she didn't get mixed in with the wrong
crowds. Equius had taught her almost everything she knew, and has saved her
from danger on multiple occasions. He was about 6'5" at the age of 19, heavily
muscled, and had rich ocean blue eyes and shoulder-length chocolate hair, which
complimented his Mediterranean complexion. After about 20 minutes Equius
emerged from his room, carrying something behind his back in one hand.
"Equius!" Nepeta exclaimed in delight as he entered the kitchen, and
immediately tackling him with a hug. Equius caught her easily, and hugged her
back. "Happy Birthday, Purrincess," he said softly, referring to her by his pet
name for her. "How old are you again? 413?" Nepeta laughed and smacked Equius'
shoulder. "No, silly! I'm 16 today!" "I knew that. Here, I got something for
you. It's not a cat, like you wanted, but I hope you'll like it anyways."
Equius smiled and pulled a neatly wrapped box from behind his back, setting it
on the table before Nepeta and giving her a warm smile. Nepeta squealed and
opened it, stopping to play with the ribbon as she took it off. "Equius, these
are purrobably the most beautiful presents anyone ever gave me," she exclaimed
as she pulled a pair of cat's eye earrings and a matching necklace out of the
box. "Thank you so much!" Equius grinned and ruffled her hair. "You're quite
welcome, Nep. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a prior engagement to attend. I
will see you later, okay? Try not to do anything too lewd." Equius kissed her
forehead, grabbed his stuff, and left the house. Nepeta put on the earrings and
necklace, and started to head back to her room when there was a knock on the
door. She figured it must be Equius having forgotten something, so she went to
the door and opened it with a grin. "You silly thing," she purred, eyes half
closed, "It's so irresponsible to leave things at home." "Um, I'm pretty sure I
didn't leave anything here." Nepeta opened her eyes in surprise. That wasn't
Equius, it was Karkat, the boy next door she had a crush on for the past three
years. He was tall and lanky, his limbs a bit awkward for his body. He had
crystal clear silver eyes that could resemble either a calm lake at dawn or a
thunderstorm depending on his mood, tousled black hair, and freckles all over
his translucent skin. In addition to being her neighbor, Karkat had been her
second best friend after Equius since they were little, and he knew her like
the back of his hand. His understanding of her antics was the only thing that
kept him from bursting into laughter, although he looked like he was trying
hard not to laugh. "Oh, Karkitty! I'm so sorry! I thought you were Equius!"
Karkat had a smirk on his pale face, his silver eyes crinkling. "Well, that
does make more sense than me leaving stuff at your house. I just stopped in to
wish you a happy birthday and give you your present." Nepeta blushed deeply,
feeling her whole face go red. "Karkat, you didn't have to get me anything."
Karkat shook his head. "Yeah, I did. You got me a birthday present, so I had to
repay the favor. Um, here. this is for you." Karkat got even more pale, if that
was possible, and kissed Nepeta on the cheek. "When you open it, call me and
tell me what you think, okay?" He turned and walked away, leaving Nepeta
speechless in the doorway, wondering what had come over him and, more
importantly, what was in the box. She went inside and opened the neat silver
wrapping to reveal a diamond pendant in the shape of a cat atop a piece of
paper that simply read, "Do mew want to go out with me?"
***** Chapter 2 *****
Nepeta gasped at the note in front of her, blushing furiously at the thought of
Karkat actually wanting to be with her. Ever since they were little, Nepeta had
a crush on him and the very idea of her feelings being returned was almost
enough to make her faint. She quickly composed herself and, looking into the
mirror on the dresser, told her reflection, "You are good enough for Karkitty,
which is why he gave you this note. You are more than just a fangirl, you are a
strong independent young woman. Now go act like one and tell that boy you like
him!" Nepeta fastened the necklace around her neck, stood up and, before she
could doubt herself again, walked downstairs and headed across the street to
Karkat's house. She took a deep breath when she reached the doorstep, closed
her eyes, and rang the bell. Instead of Karkat answering the door, like she
expected, his older brother Kankri flung the door open like he was expecting
someone. "Cronus, you are nearly half an hour.....Oh. Hello Nepeta. I was not
expecting you to be here. Is there anything I can help you with? Has Equius
sent you to borrow a wrench again? Because I keep telling him that we don't
have toolboxes lying at the ready for his beck and call, but he keeps insisting
on-" "Hi Kankri! No, Equius didn't send me, I'm actually looking for Karkat. Is
he home?" Nepeta knew that it was rude to interrupt people, but if she let
Kankri talk, he would most likely keep lecturing her on the importance of
independence and not relying on neighbors for help until Cronus actually DID
arrive. "Oh. Well, I suppose, although I could probably be more beneficial to
your knowledge than he, but he's in his bedroom. I could-" Nepeta pushed her
way past Kankri and found her way to Karkat's room. It wasn't that hard,
considering that his was the only room with "KEEP THE FUCK OUT" signs in three
different languages posted on it. She knocked lightly and heard a muffled
response. Confused, she knocked again, only to hear, "GO AWAY KANKRI. FOR THE
MILLIONTH TIME, I HAVEN'T HEARD FROM YOUR FUCKASS BOYFRIEND. WHY WOULD I? NOW
STOP BEING A BLISTERING WET BAG OF HORSESHIT AND LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE."
Nepeta barely suppressed a laugh as she knocked for a third time, hoping that
he would get up from whatever he was doing to answer the door. When he refused
to respond, she opened the door to hear the soundtrack of "Twilight" blasting
on his stereo. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT COMING IN MY ROOM, KANKRI? GO THE
FUCK AWAY!" Karkat practically roared as he turned around in his swivel chair,
eyes shut in frustration. "Um, I'm purretty sure that you never once told me
not to come in your room, Karkitty," Nepeta purred with a grin, even though she
was shaking badly. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry Nep, I didn't know it was you. Sorry
for screaming at you, and for the profanity I guess. Are you here about the
note? Because if you don't like me like that, it's cool. Just thought it might
be a nice present is all. The note isn't really that important in the grand
scheme of things, so-" "Shh. Yes," Nepeta could barely manage. "I do want to go
out with mew. But what about Terezi? Won't she be kinda upset?" Karkat and
Terezi had been going out, as far as Nepeta could tell, for the past three
months which practically broke her heart.She knew it was petty to be jealous of
a blind girl, but she couldn't help it. Even though Terezi's eyes were
permanently ruined, tinted to a dark red colour from all of the scar tissue,
she was incredibly beautiful even with the messed up eyes. She had bright red
hair, and the pale skin with freckles that was so common to Irish girls. She
was about 5'6", which meant that she was taller than Nepeta, but shorter than
Karkat, and she had a figure like an hourglass to top it all off. Nepeta was
barely 5'3", and was flat as a board in the chest department, so she had very
little to offer, unless Karkat was a fan of plush rumps. Karkat blinked in
confusion, "What about me and Terezi? Why would she be upset that I would date
you? It's not like we're together or anything. That Strider fuckass started
going out with her about a year back, so we're just friends." Nepeta heaved a
sigh of relief that she hoped wasn't too audible. She was finally going to have
Karkat all to herself! "Oh," she said, trying to keep from jumping up and down
in jubilance, "In that case, I guess are we dating now? Because I have no clue
how these things work, so. Does this mean that we're officially a couple?"
Karkat looked at her happily, a genuine smile spreading across his face for the
first time in a very long while. "I guess we are, Nep. How does it feel to be
in a relationship?" She smiled at him, gazing into his eyes as she replied,
"Purrfect."
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