Smile

"Nepeta, are you okay?" I ask.

"H-huh? Yeah," she replies. I can hear her sniffing quietly. I know she's trying to hide it, but I'm her moirail--I notice everything.

"Nepeta, I'm starting to get worried about you."

"Equius, you have nothing to worry about." I know she's lying.

"So how come you won't smile?"

"We're on the phone silly. You can't s33 me smile." She doesn't smile either way though.

I sigh. "I haven't seen you in a while," I comment.

"Mm-hm…" she says distractedly.

"I'll be coming over in an hour, okay?"

"Mm-hm…wait what??"

"See you in an hour Nepeta." I hang up and look around my room. It's messy, because of the broken robots. It's an addiction, building and breaking. I can't stop though, just like Vriska and her eight balls.

I sigh at the sight and go get ready.

~**~

I'm knocking on Nepeta's door quite strongly. It better not…the door cracks a little. Okay, a bit too late now.

"Nepeta?" I call out. I hear some shuffling on the other side. The door slowly opens and out pops a messy Nepeta.

"Yeah?" she yawns.

"Were you sleeping?"

She sniffs. "No, just trying to get ready." She opens the door wide to let me in. Once inside, I take in the sight of her. She's in a green robe, her hair is sticking out everywhere. I squint my eyes at her face--her eyes are red from the tears.

"Where's the mutant b100d?" I inquire. That seems to strike a nerve with my moirail. She shrugs and mutters something. She leads me to the living room couch and I sit on it. I pat the area next to me and she sits down as well. "What's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing," she replies. I sigh. She needs to stop lying--I'm her moirail.

"Nepeta, you've been like this for around a month now and I don't like it at all. Go get ready," I order. Nepeta looks at me, her tired eyes filled with confusion. "Go get ready," I repeat. "We're going out."

"Uhh, Equius I don't think I'm in the mood to--"

"Get. Ready. I am going to make you smile no matter what." Nepeta shrugs and shuffles to her room. "And dress nicely!" I call out. She half shrugs and closes the bedroom door.

After two minutes of contemplating what the hell we're going to do today, I call the high blood. Two rings and a half and he picks up. "Yo?"

"High b100d!" I say urgently.

"HeYy EqUiUs," Gamzee greets. "WhAt'S uP?"

"I need your help."

"WhAt dO yOu NeEd Me To Do?"

"Order me on where to gallop--I mean go with Nepeta."

"…WhAt??"

"Order me," I repeat, starting to sweat.

Gamzee doesn't respond for a while. "FuCk MaN, I dOn'T kNoW…I'm NoT tHe GuY tO tAlK tO aBoUt ThIs…"

"I don't care. Nepeta needs my help and I don't know where to take us."

"Is ThIs A dAtE?"

"No!" Then I ponder for a moment. "Well…maybe." I shrug. I never really saw my moirail like that, but maybe this one time…

Gamzee laughs knowingly. "GoOd LuCk BrO, bUt--HoLd Up I'm Getting a CaLl." He picks up the other line, keeping me on. "Yo?"

"Gamzeeeeeeee!" It's Vriska.

"SiS!" Gamzee says happily. "WhAt'S gOiNg On?"

Vriska giggles. I start to get the feeling that this conversation is going to turn very sexual very quickly. "Ohhhhhhhh you knowwwwwwww, just thinking a8out you."

"AwW rEaLlY? I wAs tHiNkiNg aBoUt YoU tOo."

"I miss youuuuuuuu!" I can literally hear the cerulean blood pout. "Send me a picture of you?"

"Of CoUrsE--"

"AHEM," I say loudly.

"Equius????????" Vriska almost screeches.

"Yes," I reply curtly.

"You've 8een--?"

"Yes, so please don't talk about this in front of me."

Vriska and Gamzee awkwardly cough. "So BrO," Gamzee says, "tAkE nEpEtA tO hEr FaVoRiTe PlAcE."

"Ooooooooh, Equius and Nepeta???????? 8a8e they should dou8le-date with us!"

"NO," I refuse strongly. My cheeks feel very hot. I-I think I need a towel.

Vriska huffs. "Fine then. Take her to Disneyland or something, that'll cheer her up."

I stare at the phone for a moment. "That…is actually not a bad idea."

"Duh, I'm a genius." I raise my eyebrow, even though she can't see me. "Now get off, I wanna talk to Gamzee," she orders. Even though she's below me, I gratefully follow her orders. I hang up, but not before I hear some muffled giggling and whispering. I don't want to know.

Right then, Nepeta comes out in a breath-taking ensemble of a green skirt and a blue one-shoulder shirt with her sign on it. I stand up and stare at her for a while. "W-what?" Nepeta asks, blushing and smoothing down her skirt.

"N-nothing," I say. "You just 100k…beautiful." As always, I add mentally.

Nepeta blushes more and looks down. "Let's go Equius," she mutters, starting to walk towards the front door. I trail after her, promising myself, I'm going to make this the best day for Nepeta.

~**~

"OHMYGODEQUIUSDISNEYLANDREALLY?!?" Nepeta squeals. I grin and nod, causing her to squeal even more. "Nepeta POUNCES on Equius!" she yells, jumping on me. "She hugs him very tightly!" I can't help but blush.

"Equius returns the hug," I say softly, oddly wanting to hug her tighter. I let go though, before this feeling gets the best of me.

Nepeta jumps around, as if she's on a sugar rush and goes towards the ticket line. I trail behind her, and I hear her saying, "Two tickets please!" The lady at the ticket booth pulls out two tickets and starts to hand them over when she looks at us. The lime blood keeps bouncing around, not noticing, but I see the look that lady's giving me. It looks like she's trying to say, "Good luck." She smiles warmly and hands over the tickets as I pay for them. The smile stays on her face even as she gives me my change. I don't like how she's 100king at me…

I back away slowly, pulling Nepeta gently by the hand and lead her towards the gate. She can't stop bouncing. "Nepeta is squealing in joy!" she says excitedly. I laugh under my breath and we go through the gate. What we see completely halts us.

There's a bed of flowers.

With Mickey's face on it.

Nepeta stands there with her mouth hanging open for about five seconds, then:

"OHMYGODAMICKEYFLOWERBEDOHMYGODEQUIUSDOYOUS33THIS?!?" I nod slowly, my attention still on the flower bed. Nepeta runs towards and it and looks like she's about to jump in it when I snap back into reality and hold her back. "Equiuus! I wanna--"

"You know you can't do that," I say.

The lime blood pouts. "Fine…" Then she instantly takes out her camera from her small light green purse and starts taking ten pictures of it, as if it's a model. Really, Nepeta…? I sigh and watch her happily take the pictures. After the mock photo-shoot, Nepeta turns around and runs towards me. "Take a picture with me!" she suggests, already pulling me.

I start getting flustered. "U-uh…"

"Come on Equius! I know you don't do pictures but pwease?" She looks at me with big eyes. I can't help but relent.

"Okay."

"Yayy!" She approaches a random teenage boy and asks him if he could take a picture of us. He says yes and my moirail skips back to me and links her arm with mine. For some reason, my face heats up.

"Smile!" the teenager says.

"Ch333se!" Nepeta responds, giving the perfect smile.

"Ch-cheese," I say as well, focusing on the camera right before the flash.

"Really cute," the boy comments as we walk up to him to look at the image. Nepeta looks very adorable, while I just look awkward. Thank God I have my glasses on… "You two are really cute together," the boy continues. Nepeta and I start blushing hard. We share a look and try to explain.

"U-uh…" I begin.

"We're not…" Nepeta adds, making weird gestures.

"Yeah," I say.

The boy's face turns red. "O-oh, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay!" Nepeta says cheerily, already dismissing the awkwardness. "Have a nice day!" The teenager smiles and walks away. "Now," the lime blood says, "let's go in!"

~**~

"Oooh! Equius can we go on this ride?" Nepeta asks, pointing at some mini roller-coaster ride.

I shrug and say, "Of course Nepeta." Nepeta starts going towards the ride until she sees a sign that points to a house where one can apparently meet Mickey Mouse. The cat-eared troll immediately goes in that direction instead. I follow, letting my thoughts wander. Disneyland sure seems to be cheering her up really well so far…it's such a happy place here. You can let go of your worries and be a little kid again. I guess that's all Nepeta really needed… I realize that I've been staring at Nepeta's butt for a while. I blush hard and look away, even though no one mostly likely noticed. I really need to get my head out of the gutter.

We reach this large, cartoon-like house and thankfully the line's short, so we go inside quickly. Inside, everything seems realistic, from the piano to the T.V, even the little memos on the walls. Nepeta's in awe and can't stop taking pictures. I chuckle at her. She's so cute when she's happy.

After twenty minutes of going through the house we finally go into a room and right in the middle of it was Mickey. If I didn't have such a reputation to keep up, I might have squealed like Nepeta is doing right now.

"3333333! MICKEY!" She jumps in his arms and gives him a big hug. "OhmyGOSH can I PLEASE have your autograph?" Mickey nods and signs a piece of paper she takes out of her purse. Nepeta giggles and asks for a picture. He nods again and I suddenly realize there's a attendant in the corner of the room. The happy troll gives the attendant her camera and goes back to Mickey's side. She motions me over to them and I stand on the other side of the mouse, facing the camera. I try to smile the best I can, but I feel like I cringed when the flash goes off. We smile and leave the room, Nepeta bouncing on her feet again.

When we make it back outside, I ask, "Would you like to go on the roller-coaster ride now?" Nepeta shakes her head and makes a bee-line to some far-off area. I jog to catch up to her. Where is she going now? "Nepeta wait up…!" I call out. Only then does she slow down. I make it to her side and she links her arm with mine again. I feel a warm rush, but I push it away, deciding not to think about it right now. She leads me through Disneyland and we pass by food courts, little kids, and so many rides.

We eventually stop in front of a castle-looking structure. Nepeta looks up at me expectantly. "What is this?" I ask, not getting it.

"It's a small world!" she exclaims. I stare at her blankly. "Oh come on Equius! You know the song! It's a world of laughter, a world of tears…"

"I know. What does it have to do with this?"

"Everything!"

"I'm not understanding." The cat-eared troll rolls her eyes and leads me in. We have to walk through a maze-like hallway before going to a large room filled with water. I can smell the strong chlorine. The line snakes out to dozens of boats. The walls are covered in paintings of kids all around the world, being as happy as they can be. "Ne--" I start to say, but she pulls on my arm and we quickly get to the front, where we're met by a smiling attendant. He takes one look at our linked arms and his smile gets larger. What the hell is he smiling about?

"Welcome!" the attendant greets. Nepeta responds back happily while I mumble. "There's a boat ready for the two of you, just go to the end of the dock," he continues. We walk past him to the end, where there's a small boat. Perfect for just two people.

Just.

Two.

People.

My eyes widen at the sudden realization. Oh my, the attendant thought that Nepeta and I are going out. So THAT'S why he was smiling so much… I start to tell her what just happened, but she just goes in and sits down. She pats the seat next to her. I awkwardly get in, and it immediately feels cramped, but maybe it's because of my muscles.

Our thighs are pressed together, and there's no room for me to cross my arms, so I loosely put one arm around Nepeta's waist. She puts her head on my shoulder and our boat sets off on its course.

We pass through many areas created to be a specific part of the world. We pass through Egypt, Paris, Tokyo, London, Hawaii, Switzerland, and some that I don't even know the name of. All the while, the song "It's a Small World" plays on repeat and my moirail keeps singing along. Eventually, I sing along too.

~**~

We're in line for the teacup ride. Watching the spinning cups make me dizzy, I think, sighing. I turn my focus towards my moirail; she's contently texting on her phone, probably telling everyone that she's in Disneyland. I start to admire how her hair looks in this slight wind. She has a small smile on and her cheeks are flushed. I smile to myself. She 100ks so happy. She hasn't been herself lately, I wonder why…

I open my mouth to ask her, but I stop myself--I might make her lose her smile again. I just keep looking at her instead, thinking about how wonderful she is. "Equius?" Nepeta suddenly asks.

I snap myself from my thoughts. "Yes?"

"The line's moving." I turn around and realize that there's a huge gap between me and the person in front. I blush and close the gap. Nepeta goes in front of me. "Just in case you space out again silly," she says, smiling. I stare at her lips; they look so soft and inviting. Wait, what am I thinking? She's my moirail! I chastise myself. I let out a small breath and try to think of other things, but they keep going back to Nepeta. I really need to stop.

We get to the front of the line, and the attendant gives us a bigger smile than usual, just like the one in the boat ride. Why does everyone keep thinking we're together? I wonder. "Hello!" the attendant greets. "There's one more teacup just for you two!"

"That's great!" Nepeta says. She pulls on my arm, on the hunt for that teacup. We find a pink one with hearts all over it. "It's so cuuute!" she squeals, getting in. I slide in the seat across from her. There's a wheel in the middle. What's this for? I question myself.

Nepeta's spazzing in her seat. "Take a picture of me Equius!" She hands me her phone, already in camera mode. I raise it up to eye level. I stare at her through the lens, knowing how beautiful she is. Nepeta shifts in her seat and pats down stray strands of hair.

"Smile," I say. She grins widely and I take the picture. I give the phone back and Nepeta looks at it, her smile getting wider.

"I look so cute!" she says. "Now let's get one of the both of us!" She goes to my side of the cup and tries to sit next to me. There's not much space, so she settles for sitting on my lap. She puts an arm around my neck and raises the phone. "Smile Equius!" I half-smile as I put my arm around her waist. Nepeta takes the picture and lets go of me. I release my hold on her slowly, not wanting to let go. She goes back to her side, and I'm thinking to myself, I want her back on my lap. I realize what I just thought and I mentally slap myself. Don't think of her like that!

Thankfully, the ride starts and we're spinning, albeit slowly. I look at the other teacups and they're spinning wildly. Nepeta notices too and she frowns. "I wanna spin fast too…" She looks at the wheel between us and wonders out loud, "What does this do?" She starts spinning the wheel and immediately the teacup spins faster. We fall against our seats, but the cat-eared troll clings on to the wheel, spinning it more. "Help me spin this Equius!" she yells. I spin the wheel along with her, the teacup going wild. Nepeta lets out a whoop that dissolves into laughing. I laugh loudly as well, feeling the rush.

All too soon, the ride ends and everyone has to get out. I get out first, feeling dizzy. I shake the dizziness away and help my moirail get off. She stumbles and falls on me, but I really don't mind. I relish in her warmth before letting her go. "Where to ne%t?" I ask her.

"Well…we haven't eaten, so let's get a snack or something!" she suggests.

I nod. "Okay. Off we go."

~**~

"Mmmm this is so yummy!" Nepeta exclaims, munching on blue-green cotton candy. I'm eating caramel popcorn. They're really delicious…

Nepeta offers me the cotton candy. I take a small bite. It tastes like green apple and blueberry, all at the same time. She takes a few pieces of popcorn and pops them in her mouth.  "Wow, they're really good!" she muses. I smile at her, looking at her lips again.

"Ooooooooh look at these two 8a8e!" My eyes widen at the voice behind us. Oh God no. Nepeta and I turn around at the same time. Sadly, the voice matches the person we see.

Vriska.

And she's with Gamzee.

"WaSsUp MoThErFuCkErS?" Gamzee asks, his arm around the cerulean blood.

"The sky!" Nepeta jokes. Really Nepeta?

"Is anyone else with you two?" I question.

"No, JuSt Me AnD mY gIrL," the high blood answers.

"You're enjoying Disneyland too?" Nepeta asks, eating that cotton candy so innocently.

"Yup!" Vriska says. I know she's lying--she's only here to stalk us. My love life really shouldn't be so interesting to her.

We all just stand there, staring at each other, not moving, until Nepeta says, "Wanna join us?"

"BuT sIs, I wAnNa Ch--" Gamzee starts to protest.

"Nono 8a8e, we should leave them alone," Vriska says, giving him a look. He seems to understand as well, because he laughs a knowing laugh and agrees with her.

"Awww," Nepeta says. "Well, enjoy your day!"

"Oh. We will," Vriska answers, raising an eyebrow suggestively. She winks at me and walks away, Gamzee trailing behind.

Nepeta and I walk the other way, wandering around, still eating our snacks. I think I fell in love with the popcorn, because I'm just shoving them in my mouth at this point. The lime blood looks at me and giggles. "Equius, you have some crumbs around your mouth!"

I blush. I can't be so untidy around her. I try to wipe them off, but it doesn't seem to be working. "I-I'm really sorry Nepeta…" I pray that I don't start sweating again.

"It's okay Equius I'll clean it off furr you!" she says, leaning close to my face. My cheeks heat up so much, I think I could've fried some eggs. I pull away from her a little bit so she doesn't see my blush; she only keeps getting closer. "Stay still Equius…!" Nepeta says. I see it as an order and I stop. I expect her to brush it away, but what she does completely surprises me.

She licks the crumbs away like a cat.

My face heats up so much that it's like I have a fever. I pull away quickly, not looking at her. From the corner of my eye, her face falls. "I'm…I'm sorry, I guess it was a reflex or something." She thinks that I'm disgusted by it, I realize. But I'm not; I want her to do it again. I want her lips on my cheek--I actually want them on mi-- What the hell am I thinking? I can't be having these thoughts! Nepeta's my moirail! What is wrong with me?!

I guess my expression was scaring Nepeta, because she asks me, "What's wrong Equius?"

I look at her yellow eyes, my heart softening. "It's nothing Nepeta, don't worry about it…"

"You sure? I mean, I really am sorry…" She bites her lip, blushing.

"No Nepeta, you didn't do anything wrong," I assure her.

She nods, smiling. "Okay then! I'm glad!" She then skips away. I follow her, smiling to myself.

~**~

Random music is playing on the speakers and the song "Honey and the Bee" by Owl City is currently playing. I don't understand why it's even playing--it's a little too romantic for little kids in my opinion. Nepeta doesn't seem to mind; she's twirling with her arms spread out. Little kids are just jumping around for no reason. I'm on a bench, watching her spin in such a carefree fashion. I wish I could dance with her… Right that second, the song ends and "All About Us" by He Is We starts playing.

As if answering my wish, Nepeta comes up to me and pulls on my arm, saying, "Let's dance Equius! I love this song!" I blush hard and try to resist. This is a really romantic song; who's playing this?

"I-I'm okay," I say, even though I really want to dance with her. Nepeta doesn't take no for an answer and keeps pulling on my arm until I get up. We walk to the middle of the crowd of naïve kids. Nepeta wraps her arms around my neck and I put mine loosely around her waist. I try to keep a distance between us as to not tempt myself. We slowly dance for half the song, and then:

"Ah!" Nepeta yelps, falling on me. I place my hands on her shoulders to steady her.

"Sorry miss!" a small blonde boy says.

"It's okay!" she says, smiling down at him. He smiles back and resumes jumping around. The cat-eared troll looks back at me. "Thank you Equius!"

"You're welcome," I say, not releasing my hold on her.

"You can let go Equius, I'm fine," Nepeta says, letting out a small laugh. I blush.

"Oh…right…" I reluctantly let go. We go back to our original position, still keeping that distance. I look everywhere but her face, not wanting to lose myself in her eyes. I start to notice that the little kids…are surrounding us? What the hell? Soon enough, more kids start bumping into us, and we keep almost crashing into each other. "Wow, these kids sure are clumsy," I muse.

"H33, yeah!" Nepeta agrees. I realize that the distance we had has diminished; there's barely an inch between us. My eyes widen. I really can't have my moirail pressed against me, I don't think I can handle it…

Once more, some child bumps into us and that one inch is now gone; Nepeta and I are pressed up against each other. "Oh!" Nepeta says. "Sorry Equius!"

"I-it's okay," I reply.

"I guess we have to stay like this for a while," she comments, pressing her body against me more. I feel like I can't breathe.

"Mm-hmm…"

Nepeta looks up at me. Her face is really close to mine. I could kiss her right now if I want to. And I really do. "Thank you so much Equius," she says, her bright eyes so full of happiness.

"You're welcome Nepeta." I smile at her softly, feeling a sudden urge to kiss her. The song is almost ending and I start leaning closer to my moirail.

"Equius…?" she asks, her nose wrinkling a little. But she's leaning towards me too.

"I can't…" I don't finish the sentence, because my lips are met with hers. Her lips really are soft, I think in awe. She tastes like the caramel popcorn and the green apple-blueberry cotton candy. I feel like she's giving me a sugar rush and I can't get enough. Our tongues find each other and we're exploring the feel of it. It's too surreal but we go with it. A thought fleetingly goes through my mind. So is this what a sloppy make-out is? If so, I love it.

We tighten our grip on each other. I know neither one of us want this to end. Sadly, it does. A human adult couple coughs loudly and Nepeta and I slowly break away from each other, facing the couple. They look upset, probably because we might be getting a little too PG-13 for five-year-olds. We blush and start stuttering. "U-um, u-uh…" we begin.

The couple won't have any of it though. They huff and walk away, dragging their children with them. I look around and see that most of the kids have dispersed, so now we're able to pull away completely. We look at each other and look away, our cheeks flushed. Does this change anything? I question myself. I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I take it out and stare at the screen. It's a text from Vriska. I sigh. What does she want now? I open the text.

[Sent: 6:08 p.m.]

[From: Vriska]

[Was the kiss awesome???????? You should 8e thanking me! ;;;]

I stare at the text in confusion. The hell is she talking about? I get another text from the cerulean blood.

[Sent: 6:08 p.m.]

[From: Vriska]

[Took a lot of mind control to make the kids 8ump into you, so you 8etter have used it to your advantage! Well……..it seems like you did, that was some sloppy make-out ;;; Good thing I played romantic music or else you wouldn't have done anything!!!!!!!!]

I look around for the spider troll. I catch sight of her with the high blood. She makes eye contact with me and she snickers and winks at me. She did all this? I can just hear her laugh mocking me. But maybe it's not so bad, I finally got to kiss Nepeta…

I face Nepeta. She's looking down at the ground. "Nepeta, let's go home," I say, taking her hand. She looks at the gesture and smiles up at me.

"Alright!"

~**~

We're in her bed, not doing anything. My hand is playing with hair short black hair, and her head is resting on my chest. When we got back, Nepeta asked me to stay with her. I asked about Karkat, but she wouldn't answer and asked me to stay with her again. I accepted. I have to be STRONG for her, I think to myself. She seems so vulnerable again.

"Equius?" Nepeta asks after a silent moment.

"Yes?" I look down at her. She leans in and kisses me on the lips. She still tastes sweet.

"Thank you," she says, snuggling close to me.

"You're welcome," I whisper. I pet her head, thinking about our relationship. I love Nepeta, I know that now. But either way, she's going to be my moirail. I guess it was nice knowing how we would be like if we vacillated to the flushed quadrant…it would be sweet, just like Nepeta.

I fall asleep with that on my mind, holding my dear moirail.