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Orphaner Dualscar stood triumphantly on the deck of his mighty schooner, gazing into the depths of the black Alternian sea in quest for the mighty and deadly Alternian catfish, who had evaded his attempts to hunting her for two sweeps now.
In the last sweet however, he had tracked it to its nesting grounds at this particular sector of the ocean. As his boat closed in, the tension that Dualscar was feeling was absolutely palpable. This fish had become his sole obsession, his driving purpose. As he carefully scanned the waves, he caught the tell-tale disturbance of the mighty sea-beast.
Just then she leapt out of the water, smashing up against the Orphaner’s ship and cracking some of the wooden planks that made up the outside of the boat. Her mighty toothed mouth craned over the port of the ship until her monsterous whiskered face was almost pressed against the Orphaner’s. As their eyes locked, there was a bestial understanding between them, that their conflict would continue until one of the two perished.
Then the catfish beast puckered her lips and laid a monstrous sloppy kiss right on the Orphaner’s cheek!
Eridan became totally indigenent.
“NEP
thats not wwhat wwe planned
the monster cant kiss dualscar theyre enemies”
Nepeta’s tail swished impatiently.
“eridan but why?
i think it would be cute if maybe the two could get to like each other!
maybe they become furriends and live in the ocean together!”
This sounded stupid to Eridan.
"but neeep theyre famous rivvals
its a historic black romance and thats why i wanted to roleplay it”
Nepeta frowned for a minute and considered what Eridan was saying. She could understand the appeal of a well written and conducted black romance, there was certainly something graceful about a fight between two perfectly matched rivals, out for blood!
But the more she thought about it, the more she thought maybe the catfish beast could have had something more red in mind for the Orphaner! It was sort of sad how the two were kept apart by being from different worlds, and she thought that maybe there was some sort of romantic potential there.
Of course, the more she thought about it, the more willing she was to admit that perhaps her own personal feelings were leeching over into her roleplaying. While she was willing to admit that that was one of the worst things a dedicated roleplayer could do, it didn’t change how the catfish beast felt about Dualscar, or perhaps more importantly how Nepeta perhaps felt about Eridan.
Karkat had been so distant and abrasive, even after the game was over! And while she would always have a special place for him on the wall, a girl has needs, and sometimes a distant crabby customer is not the best place to find mutual romantic pity, especially of the concupiscent variety!
But Nepeta knew that she could not simply snap her clawed fingers and wish for a whirlwind romance with a silly fish wizard, especially not one as difficult as Eridan. But the more she thought about the possibility of romance, the more attractive the idea seemed. As she curled into her place in Equius’ robot pile that night, she couldn't shake her thoughts of Eridan Ampora. There was something real about him, beneath the silly acting and the shows of desperation. Somewhere there was a real troll who just just genuinely enjoyed wearing capes and really did need someone to care for him.
Nepeta feel asleep that night dreaming of seducing Eridan, with her plans becoming more and more contrived as she got closer to her dreams.
The next morning, Nepeta was up early to continue her plotting and scheming. She carefully timed bumping into Eridan at breakfast and slyly mentioned in passing that she wanted to speak to him in private. A few hours later, she arrived at Eridan’s quarters, pleased to find him waiting for her.
“oh hey nep
wwhat did you wwant to talk about
did you maybe wwant to roleplay some more”
Nepeta moved quickly and as quietly as she could into the room, keeping her eyes locked on Eridan.
“thats one idea mr ampurra
but i was thinking something a little more paws-on if you catch my drift”
Eridan was utterly puzzled.
“you mean like larping or somethin
yeah i could maybe get down wwith that”
Nepeta closed the door behind her, hoping that would give Eridan a slightly better picture of what exactly she intended to do with him. As the door clicked shut, she studied his face again, looking for any sign of recognition. Then, a single eyebrow arched upwards.
Purrfect.
She walked towards the pile of shitty wands that he was lying in in the center of his room. She had to move slowly, showing just enough interest to keep him hooked without spooking him. It was was stalking prey...or fishing.
Once she was standing over him, she crouched down, stroking her face with her hand, moving carefully towards his gills and lightly tickling them. It was a risky play, but it paid off. Eridan squirmed with a small amount of pleasure and looked expectantly at Nepeta. After analyzing the situation for a moment, Nepeta opted for the direct approach. She lowered herself right onto Eridan, straddling either part of his torso with her thighs and ending up face to face with him.
“hey”
Eridan blinked a few times, breaking eye contact with her.
“hey there nep
i uhh
i dont suppose you know wwhat comes next”
Now it was Nepeta’s turn to break eye contact. She honestly had no idea what to do next. She supposed at some point there would be kissing, but she was rather confused as to how to initiate that.
“i actually have no idea!”
At this point the two of them were terribly embarrassed, but Eridan spoke up again in an attempt to recover the spark between them.
“okay wwell
i dunno how comfortable this pile is for you
but these wwands are jabbin into me and its gettin kinda annoying
ivve got a scarf pile around here somewwhere if you maybe wwanna sit there and talk”
That idea sounded delightful to Nepeta, who was getting annoyed by the wands that were jabbing into her thighs and calves.
A few minutes later, the two had reconvened on a pile of scarves Eridan had found nearby, and after Nepeta had satisfied her playful urges by batting a loose thread on one of the scarves a few times, the two lied down next to each other for another talk.
“so wwhats the deal then
cause im pretty confused myself"
"well i just think youre purrty cute!
and i thought maybe it would be nice if we could hang out together
and maybe hold hands or kiss each other or something!”
That was alright then, thought Eridan. He could work with that.
“wwell okay then
i wwould be totally alright wwith that
cause i think youre a pretty swwell gal
and ivve found myself pretty attracted to you too”
Nepeta brightened up immediately. Though she still wasn’t sure where she stood or what to do next, she was fairly positive that this was an excellent step in the right direction! She stretched out her hand and took Eridan’s open hand, which she found warm and inviting, and not at all like the cold sliminess she expected. From there, the two simply started talking, and once they did that, they found they couldn’t stop. They spoke about everything, from their teammates and their trials in the game to their life on the meteor, and even their favorite movies. As the time passed, the connection between them solidified and intensified, turning into a bond forged by understanding and mutual appreciation.
After a two hours of talking, Nepeta slid as close as she could to Eridan, pressing her side against his. He responded by putting his arm around her shoulders, and drawing her even closer. Nepeta released a small trill of pleasure, which Eridan couldn’t help but chuckle at. Then she kissed his neck, and finding nothing wrong with that, she kissed him a few more times, moving progressively up his face and eventually ending on his lips.
It was that last kiss that sealed the two. Eridan and Nepeta both felt a surge of playful pleasure and delight that they had never felt before; it was the simple joy of finding a compatible other. As they continued to kiss, Nepeta found herself rolled onto Eridan again, straddling him as she had done before. But this time, the position felt natural, not forced. Eridan’s hands moved over her body, carefully navigating her extremely well defined back and leg muscles, while Nepeta wrapped her hands around the back of his head, continuing to kiss him as passionately as she could.
The two remained like that for a little longer, kissing in a silence punctuated only by the occasional giggle. After the two felt satisfied for a moment, Nepeta rolled off of Eridan and back into the pile, dragging him a little with her as she moved. When they finally stopped moving, Nepeta pulled herself right up to Eridan’s ear and whispered to him:
“not that im any kind of judge
but you are a really really good kisser”
That of course only served to give Eridan another surge of confidence, with which he drew Nepeta close for more kissing, twining his legs between hers.
Between them was a fire of satisfaction and pleasure, a reassurance that what they had found in each other was both lasting and delightful.
And purrhaps that was what they both needed.