logah | SECRET GROUP MEETING at the Cafe

Sollux rolled his eyes at the name for their impromptu group and then snickered at her talking about the furries as if they were actual wolves.

"It's probably more due to kinkshaming than anything else that they revolted," he said. "After the Tony the Tiger incident, they could never love the same way again. They had no choice but to attack celebrators of the holiday of romance after their group heartbreak."

Jade was still nursing the cut on her shoulder, but she allowed herself to be corralled with everybody else. She recognized Terezi from speed dating - the lawyer girl from Skaia U. Well, she seemed to be as good a person to lead this as anybody! Still, she raised an eyebrow as Sollux (he was Crocker for computers, right?) talked about kinkshaming.

"Well... I don't see why wolves would care about kinkshaming or Tony the Tiger," she said slowly. "But those definitely were not normal wolves! They were way too big, for one, and those fur colors are pretty unnatural! They aren't impossible, but it's highly unlikely you'd wind up with two of them in the same area. Not to mention that wolves normally avoid people, and yet they were in the middle of the city!"

Somebody had made her fair share of wolf OCs back in the day. She knew her stuff.

"They're either a new species or... maybe some sort of genetically developed hybrid? Though I would think that any scientists working on super wolves would have the foresight to keep them under control!"

Nepeta was a bit concerned when Terezi decided to gather those who had fought and some who hadn’t back into to the cafe, but, since it was her job to be there anyways, she figured it was best she go along. If for nothing else, but to keep her from taking things two steps too far in a place that she was somewhat responsible for.

She listened queitly as Terezi spoke, but winced when the cane banged against the counter roughly. Not only because of the sharp noise that cut through the air and drew all attention to her, but also because the counters werent anything fancy, and it would not be favorable for there to be lasting damage.

Sollux, the guy who had given her the information for the sims, which she still wasn’t sure she could utilize, said something about furries, which caught her attention, particularly that thing about Tony the Tiger being harassed by them. She really doubted that he had any idea what they had really been facing. She had seen a lot of furries in her time, and those were not fursuiters.

Jade had some good points, and when she was done talking Nepeta added her voice to the conversation, “I agree with Jade, they were definitely real animals. I tried jumping on one of them and they were all fur and muscle. One knocked me down pretty hard too.” He back was still kind of throbbing from the impact. “Whatefur the case may be there’s something really not right about it. I think- I think something is going on here in the city.”

She almost brought up some other weird things that had been happening to her as well, like the dreams, but it just wasn’t really the right time to say anything about it. At least not yet. She really didn’t want to be the crazy sounding one in a group of people who were already tense and freaked out.

Kanaya sat in the cafe, quick flashes of the fight replaying in her mind. Sinking her teeth into the black wolf's ruff. Feferi punching it out of its strange suspended state. The other wolf literally vanishing. The fear that run through her when she saw Eridan lying as if dead in the road. The EMT commenting on how such a shallow wound had bled so much -- Kanaya peeling back the bandage and realizing it hadn't been so shallow when she'd gotten it.

She still felt jittery, and her fangs felt heavy in her mouth. She picked at the threads of her ruined coat, doing her best to listen despite the swirling thoughts. "I'm certain they were real," she said, choosing her words carefully. "The black one's blood was assuredly authentic, although I'm not well-versed enough on the subject to say if it was entirely normal. Recently, it does seem that a multitude of strange events have affected my life. And although it would be wonderful to hear that I'm not just going crazy, if there is a responsible entity behind all this, who? And how was it possible for the white wolf to have evaporated into thin air? I think whatever is ensuing, it's reasonable to speculate that it goes beyond the average science experiment."

She didn't even consider revealing the nature of the strange events. At least two people in the room already knew about her vampiric tendencies, but she had managed to avoid their reactions so far. What if her other friends were grossed out, or afraid that she might fly off the handle at a moment's notice? She didn't want to be viewed as dangerous.

She glanced over at Jade, and remembered how she'd managed to fling nearly 300 pounds of metal without even lifting a finger. Had she been hiding powers as well? Could it be related to the dreamworld somehow? If it didn't come up during this meeting, she planned to text her about it later.

Terezi leaned over the counter, her hand resting under her chin listening to the testimonies of some of the others. Well, it was very certain that the wolves were real and abnormal than the typical animal you'd see at the zoo. They were branching out on ideas but what caught her attention was Kanaya's response. She had no idea the white wolf just simply disappeared into thin air; not to mention it seemed that she had some insight on strange happenings around the city.

She stood up straight and glanced in the direction of the girl. "Kanaya, right? You mentioned that you either believe there's something strange going on due to the wolves and personal experience. Mind if I ask what the personal experience is?"

Kanaya glowed more brightly in nervousness. Well, she couldn't be the only one with powers, right? All the damage done to the street couldn't have been caused solely by the wolves. "I've... changed, recently. In ways that I can't explain, and have only seen before in fiction. It has caused a fair amount of turbulence in my life, and based on what we all witnessed outside, I assume some of the rest of you have had similar developments of your own." The blasts of light were particularly scorched into her memory. She shivered. There was no telling how badly she would've been burned if they'd hit her.

Equius inched closer to the exit door of the bathroom, after all that mess with the speed dating and catching wind of what had happened outside the store with the wild dogs (He would have joined but a pretty nice old lady required assistance with her new phone, an obvious lie to have a closer look of Equius chiseled body) he heard some people talk about a reunion and he could not miss the opportunity to have dirt on random people.

But what was being said was way more of what he had expected, through the crack of the door he could see an odd glow coming from a woman, he could also see the scary barista and some other people he remembers having a glimpse of at the convention but he wasn't sure if they were the same people. Arms crossed and shoulder against the ceramic pieces of the bathroom his ears were wide open as the people kept talking, though as stealthy as he may look his breathing was a bit heavy and the thought of being occupied while his strength could have been of use is making his teeth grit against each other.

Sollux frowned. Apparently the general consensus was that they were real wolves, which was ridiculous. There were no wolves in the middle of a fucking city, for crying out loud.

He was running high on confidence though after turning out to be a superhero, throwing up immediately after notwithstanding. That gave him enough courage to speak up again.

(His therapist would be so proud of how much he was speaking if she could see him now. Also if she hadn't died two years ago.)

"I've been seeing red and blue whenever I have strong emotions," he paused, thinking. "And shit seems to constantly be falling over when I stare at it for too long."

Nepeta glanced at Kanaya, wondering what she had been going through. Then she looked to Sollux, with his odd happenings. Their commentary gave her enough fortitude to bring up her own comments on the same topic.

“You’re not the only ones... I’ve been having a really hard time falling asleep at night lately, which isn’t weird of itself, but when I do sleep, I have weird dreams. Dreams that are still purretty vague and blurry when I wake up, but I’ve realized they’re real. I’ve met real peopawl there. Someone who I nefur met befur in the real world… She thinks there are more.”

She looked around at everyone gathered in the shop, hoping they wouldn’t think she was absolutely crazy.

After the chaos had calmed down outside and the group of young fighters went back into the cafe to discuss the happenings, Tavros separated from the others and disappeared into the bathroom. There, feeling remotely more safe and less anxious in the small, closed off space, he went to the sink to splash water on his face. The mirror was to tall for him to see anything but the top half of his head, but he didn’t really care. He figured he was either pale or green faced from the combination of fear still coursing through his veins along with the choppy sea in his stomach from the vomit on his lap.

“Am I some kind of, uhh, bird master now?” He muttered to himself, but then shook his head at the absurdity of the thought. Instead of dwelling longer on the supernatural subject, he instead unrolled a fair three feet of toilet paper and went to the gag inducing work of cleaning off his jeans.

When he was finished to the best of his ability, Tav came out of the bathroom and looked nervously at the group all talking together. His gaze first dragged over to Sollux, but it snapped to Nepeta when he heard the girl comment about her strange dreams.

“At least I’m not the only one freaking out.”

Tavros didn’t quite feel that he belonged in the conversation, but he rolled himself over anyhow, stopping just behind Sollux.

“Uhhhh. H-hey.” He whispered, reaching out to touch Sollux at his elbow. “Do you, uhhhh, still have those sweatpants in your, uhhhhh.. Your car?”

Feferi had stood by wearily as the paramedics checked Eridan over, and her. They had recommended bandages and maybe some x rays but she waved them off when Eridan refused to be taken for a CT scan. As the paramedics packed up their gear she saw a few more of their fellow fighters trickling into the coffee shop. Without waiting for permission, Feferi scooped him into her arms like a princess and carried him into the shop.

To her surprise there seemed to be an impromptu meeting going on and she carried Eridan to a handy table and lowered him into a chair, fixing him with a stern look. "I need to get cleaned up. Stay. Here," she ordered, eyebrows going up threateningly before she made her slower-than-usual way to the bathroom.

Beyond the scrapes and bruises she was increasingly certain the thrice-cursed wolf had cracked at least one of her ribs when it slammed her and she was beginning to regret not seeking medical attention. Well, always time to do that next. Maybe she'd drag Eridan along to get his head examined.

Feferi was drooping visibly like an orca in a too-small tank by the time she made it to the unisex bathroom, primarily mourning the ruination of her dress. It might not be a favorite but she valued her things and usually tried to take good care of them and this one was torn to bits. She failed to register passing Tavros on the way to the bathroom as she stewed on her unhappiness and her confusion. What had those things been? Could her dress be repaired? Had the water really wrapped around it? What could she wear tomorrow to cover up the worst of her scrapes?

The heavy breathing should have been a clue, as should the fact that the door was cracked open, but her instincts were dulled by weariness and introspection and the door seemed like one obstacle too many to her tired self. With a frustrated huff she shoved the door with both hands, intending to vent a little of her grumpiness on a satisfying smack of door into wall before she got cleaned up. With the lingering adrenaline from the fight, the stocky swimmer put enough force into her shove that she might have done some unintentional damage to the tile.

Between the discussion of the wolves, and side conversations it was hard to make heads or tails of what was going on anymore. Nepeta was about to address more concerns that had been rattling around in her mind for the last few weeks before she saw someone walk off towards the bathroom. Someone trailed by a cloud of hair. She did a double take but by the time she glanced over she was already down the short hallway.

Had it been Feferi or was she imagining things? She shook the thought out of her head. “What does any of this even mean?” She hoped that Terezi would call things to order and that they could all dig a little deeper into the issues of strange dreams, mysterious powers, and the pair of wolves.

Terezi listened to Kanaya, Nepeta and Sollux on their experiences of strange events happening to and around them. She felt like she could also fit in; her sudden experience with a new sense of sight through smell and taste was surely something unheard of. She opened her mouth, "Well, aren't you a bunch of freaks." Terezi cackled, her voice was enough to be a stand-in gavel to gather anyone's attention.

"Strange powers? Sure, I guess I can actually relate though not with much experience." She began, "But weird dreams where you actually meet the people you dreamt about. Sorry to say Nepeta but that sounds like a really bad romance movie." Terezi shrugged, she didn't have much to say on the strange dreams so she decided to go with the strange powers topic to continue. "Now, what do we know about abnormal powers in fiction? There's usually a cause... natural, money, radioactivity, extra-terrestrial." The law student cut herself off; recently there was a meteor that hit the Earth and shortly after that she had experience taste differently. At the time, she made no connection but she wondered if it was more than a mere coincidence.

Her face looked solemn while in thought; her eyes looking off at the floor until she perked her head upwards. "Did anyone's freakish abilities happen after that meteor hit?"

Jade stayed quiet for the most part, pondering what was said. All of this was sounding very familiar - she'd met Kanaya in a dream before, and her ability to move things without touching them was... well, certainly otherworldly. She didn't recognize most of the people here, however, apart from having spoken to them in speed dating.

But then the subject of the meteor came up again. She sat straight up, eyes a bit wide.

"They did!" she said. "I even felt a little weird when it cracked open - um, I was actually there, at the park. I don't know what could be inside of it to give us powers, but... maybe it's related?" She shrugged helplessly. "I could probably get in and look at it, anyways. The meteor is at Skaia right now, and the lab I work in is right across the hall. Though I'm not sure what I would be looking for..."

A list of names of people who had powers? An explanation for why the wolves had appeared? It was just a rock. But if it really was related, then there should have been something, right?

"Don't you usually have to at least touch the weird space rock before it gives you powers?" Sollux pointed out. "I mean, I'm not saying that's not it, because it's the best we got but... maybe we should do some research on the people who are actually handling the rock, see if they're getting powers too or if for some reason it only targeted us."

Sollux paused, gathering his thoughts. "I could probably get into Skaia's research files if I had access to a lab computer, and I could definitely check out the texts and IM's of people who have come in direct contact with it."

There would be so much hacking. All the hacking. His mouth was salivating a little just thinking about it, fingers twitching, the urge to drink a monster almost overwhelming.

Terezi pondered what Sollux and Jade had said; they could possibly get more information on the meteor and see if anything relates to the strange phenomenons that have been transpiring in the city. "Well, if we're all on board on learning more about this space rock. I say Mr. Appleberry Blast," That name she had given him at the club seemed to oddly fit him even more now that she was smelling in his direction. She never knew how tasty his hair smelled though the pink was more strawberry than apples she decided not to fuck with perfection on the nickname. "You and Jade will work together. Get Sollux into Skaia and access to one of our school's computers. What do you think? Are you guys game for that?"

Sollux nodded, refraining from saying he literally just offered to do it. He was still kind of confused and frankly impressed about her Daredevil impersonation with the furries, so he didn't say anything about it.

Shit. Daredevil impersonation. She's BLIND.

"Yup," he said in a voice that came out slightly annoyed and sarcastic as he continued to yell at himself silently.

Also, he wished she would stop sniffing everything it was making him paranoid that he hadn't put on enough deodorant. Or worse, too much.

Aradia didn't know what to make of all of this. All this talk of powers and strange things. She didn't seem to know what to make of it. To add another issue to to proverbial problems of stones weighing her down, she couldn't quite be sure of what she had done. For all intents and purposes, it seemed as if she had stopped time. And as she neared this realization, she could feel the panic encroaching. Why now, why in front of all of these people, why in front of the person who may or may not actually be interested in her? She needed to get out of here. As silently as possible, she tried to leave the room without drawing attention to herself. The hallway presumably led to a bathroom, or at least an area with less people.

Stay? Yeah right. He hadn’t needed to be carried inside and he sure as hell did not need to stay put. He was FINE. He didn’t need to be coddled, especially not by Fef who looked to be in far worse condition than was himself. Course he wasn’t going to fight her but the moment she rounded the corner, he was out of his seat, stubbornly ignoring the black spots that edge his vision as he stumbled towards the counter.

He returns to his seat after having ordered an “iced coffee, without the coffee and preferably bagged”, probably the only good drink in this joint, which he eagerly indulges in. He presses the bag of ice to the back of his skull and only refrains from gasping by sheer force of will. Ah yes, that really hit the spot, soothes his mind one could say.

He blearily observes the group, taking in their various states of damage as they talk about dream meetings (rightfully declared to fake by Terezi) and super powers (a ridiculous assertion) and meteors igniting said developments (also ridiculous). And unsurprisingly, they remained ignorant of a key facet of the discussion, more important than all this rubbish talk about being freaks and abnormalities, which they all were before any supposed “powers” were affiliated with them.

Eridan draws himself up, looking about as dignified as one can whilst nursing one’s own head injury, and announces his entrance to the conversation. “Pardon for intrudin’ on your talks of whatever fuckin’ spy mission you’re all plannin’ but have any a you thought about, for even a second, the possibility of a future which doesn’t involve divin’ head first into danger at the smallest provocation? Not that the fuckin’ hackin’ shit and learnin’ about the space rock is dangerous,” He briefs a guilty glance toward Sollux, before continuing on, “though it is likely a waste of everyone’s time, but this entire group is way too eager to start fightin’ wolf monsters and play hero instead of, I don’t know, maybe sittin’ tight an’ lettin’ the appropriate authorities deal with the situation as they are trained to do? Demolition to city elemetns not withstandin' and assumin' those out on the streets were smart enough to head indoors as well, had none a us gone out there, the amount of injured parties would have likely been halved. Even if that meant the wolves were around longer, that seems by far preferable to what happened.”

Terezi glanced over at the man she remembered having a speed date with. She raised an eyebrow and smiled condescendingly on the fellow. She shrugged her shoulders and lifted her hands in the air while slowly shaking her head.

"Well, you're not wrong. I don't think many of us are qualified but when did that stop people from doing something completely outrageous in the past?" Terezi chuckled, "Plus, if you find this all ridiculous then why stay? Whether or not you want to admit you understand to anything we're claiming to be true is no concern to me. Do as you please. You can either join us, or leave and be a good citizen and stay indoors. I, personally, am up for the challenge."

Terezi pointed her cane at the group, "This goes for everyone who has doubts. Think about what just happened and what you saw or seen. We can do as he says and let the police handle it but what if more wolves show up or something worse. If we have the power to stop it, wouldn't you want to fight? I know I'm going to." Her smile turned into a prideful smirk; she had always dreamed of doing something more with her life than being behind paperwork. Sure, the thrill of a court case was enticing but the thrill of the hunt to catch criminals was just as exciting to her.

He bristles at her dismissal, teeth gritting as she continues her grand standing. He sets his bag of ice, his frozen salvation, down on the table with a quiet plop as he glares daggers at Terezi. “If you want to delude yourselves, that’s fine by me but I got my reservations,” He says acridly, shoulders hunching up until his chin is hidden by the red wool of his scarf like the most disgruntled turtle. “You are a very good motivational speaker but that doesn’t mean there’s any sense to your words or your plan. Maybe it’ll work out and you’ll all be successful vigilantes, savin’ the day or whatever, but I ain’t holdin’ my breath.”

“An’ there’s nothin’ you can say to cover up the fact that you’re showin’ a blatant disregard for safety. However strong we are and whatever fake made-up powers we might have, we aren’t invincible. It’s not about qualifications or challenge, it’s about my friends gettin’ dragged into this bullshit and gettin’ hurt.” Eridan sighs in irritation, running a hand through his hair and wincing as his fingers brush against the bruised scalp. “And,” He mutters in resignation, looking from Sollux to Kanaya before flicking his eyes downward to fixate on the droplets of water that have formed on the plastic of the bag as the ice melts within, “Unfortunately for the both a us, as long as they’re here, so will I be.”

Terezi lowered her cane and bent over slightly to rest some of her weight on the cane while she sniffed the direction Eridan was talking. He seemed like trouble, all his disbelief and need for safety. There was no safety in the life of a vigilante but he had passion and with his last remark about staying for his friends. She gave him an approving nod. "Well, then. Welcome aboard the Super Mighty Rumpus Guild of Vigilantes."

She stood up straight, now recognizing which date he was. "If all else fails, just think of this as extreme possibly fatal LARPing. Or FLARPing. That's easy to say." Her snickers were light and soft; finding minimal humor in the new made-up word. She drubbed the cane on the counter once again to gather everyone's attention.

"Back to business! We had the idea of Sollux and Jade gathering information. Are you two in or out?" Terezi asked, bringing the conversation back on track to learn more about the meteor.

Kanaya sat silently while Eridan ranted. He presented some valid concerns, and when his eyes flickered to hers, she was touched. She sucked at her sharpened teeth. While she didn't want her friends to endanger themselves either, she felt in her bones that she would continue.

"Fighting those creatures may have been dangerous, but I cannot truthfully say I won't engage in battle again should an opportunity arise. Now that I'm aware that I can assist in eliminating these threats, I don't believe I'm capable of standing by while less prepared civilians attempt to tackle the dilemma. In any case, I've come to feel rather territorial about the whole issue. It would feel altogether too reprehensible to leave it the problem in the hands of those who are less knowledgable." Besides, she figured a bit of fighting might help help with the bloodlust. She was already calming down from the battle, and she found the nervous energy that had been threatening to burst out of her for weeks had had lessened palpably.

Edited 2016-03-31 22:29 (UTC)

All this was seriously getting out of hand, all this talk about super powers and dreams were getting him out of his groove. And yet, and yet he couldn't stop glancing at nepeta through the crack before digging his nails into his forearm through the fabric of his shirt.

But before he could give another glance to the lost-and-found friend Equius heard someone else approaching the bathroom, he tries to walk back into the stall but the person impetus is too fast and too strong for him. His forehead meets the angle of the door and the back of his cranium salutes the wall that had held his back for the short time he had been spying. Like a home alone villain his feet sleep on the floor and the tower crashes to his ass accompanied by the painful sound of glass shattering (though he was dazzled by the smack to his whack Equius would later learn that he needs a new phone".

"Mothertrucker" is the guttural whisper that comes from his lips when he feels blood dampening his forehead, his ears buzz and all between his glasses and his dreads sting painfully as he holds his head. Unknown to anyone else his breath and heartbeat become quicker, a sign of annoyance and anger.

Feferi stared incredulously at the tangle of tree-trunk limbs and muscle that had toppled over. Fef's stormy mood evaporated like mist when the sun rises and she clapped her hands over her mouth in shock and chagrin as her brain belatedly put together the most likely series of events.

Unhelpfully her brain noticed the stranger was built like a massive tree and the word "timber" flitted through her mind. She bit her tongue to keep from bursting out laughing which would be... inappropriate to say the least.

It took her long moments before she could be sure she wouldn't share her inappropriate joke and tried to grab his forearms and haul him to his feet, her adrenaline and battle reflexes kicking back in in her flustered surprise. "Oh glub I'm so sorry!! I shouldn't have shoved the door open like that without being shore that there was no one coming out!! Oh no you're bleeding!! Should I get the first aid kit or a towel or somefin oh my cod are you all right??" Feferi burbled, eyes wide with remorse and concern as she grimaced in embarrassment.

"I guess I don't know my own strength..." she said as it finally registered how large the other was, although she was looking at the blood and not at his face, still oblivious to the fact that they had met by chance not long before. "I reely otter be more careful and not flounder about like this... Glub I must have hit you just wrong... Your poor forehead!!"

If he was up for noticing such things he might spot that the exceedingly fuchsia princess and her pretty pink dress were looking rather the worse for wear after her encounter with the wolves and subsequent slide across the pavement.

From all the people that had to drive a door into Equius head it had to be the bum that lived in the old opera house, wait, no that's Feferi. Regardless of the stinging behind his eyes and his dark glasses Equius could notice the small details from earlier, though the biggest indication was her voice. It was quite clear she was about to either snort or let out a heartfelt laugh at any time and Equius could understand why, he was an extra large man built like your everyday terminator and yet he was knocked by a knocking, comedy gold.

He could understand but that didn't help at all, with a grunt he tried to push her away only to have his arm between hers and feeling as she tried to pull up. Equius would have laughed if she weren't actually succeeding, he was yet yo make an attempt to stand and his other hand was busy holding the bleeding wound but his ass was departing from the floor.

In no time Equius was standing, still holding his head and leaning against the wall but standing regardless. he managed to pull himself together even if the tides of her words were making it difficult "No... No, I'm fine, I've had worst hay to deal with" he grunted once again and pulled a clean handkerchief out of his back pocket, the one not holding his cracked screen and complimentary phone, and put the fabric against his wound. A tad too late given that there was an upside down V of blood covering his face giving his angered expression a more terrifying tone.

"You SHOULD be more careful, after what went down outside. I could not be in such a forgiving estate if it weren't for the terrors the other attendees had to go through, maybe you should be out there helping them, don't mind me." His plan right now was distracting Feferi and bail out before anyone else could take notice he was there, she would probably brush it up to be an embarrassing moment and try to forget it. Equius was sad he couldn't become invisible, or let the ground swallow him whole

Feferi huffed and seized him by the wrist to haul him over to the sink. "I whale kelp them too but we should get some of the blood off your face before you go out in public and attract every shark for miles!" she said authoritatively, pulling some paper towels out of the dispenser and wetting them with the faucet.

"You are right that I should have been more careful and I shell be in future," she said with a sigh, her head tipped back as she squinted at his handkerchief and wondered if she could actually reach his forehead now that he was standing up. Rather than risk trying and failing she put the damp bundle into his hand and pointed at the mirror.

"Now you work on that whale I avail myself of the facilities and then we can sea if this place has a proper first aid kit!!" she said cheerfully before turning to pull open the stall door. It shut behind her and clicked as she locked it. It was a sign of her upbringing that it didn't occur to her that she wouldn't be obeyed.

She had finally recognized Equius from earlier and felt all the guiltier to have assaulted him by accident. He certainly had rotten timing.... Safely out of sight, Feferi frowned a little as she tried to construct a timeline in her head for why he would have been in a position to get so slammed if he had just intended to walk out of the bathroom and the first inkling that he might have been lurking scuttled across her mind. She dismissed it offhandedly. What would be the point of that? So rude.

Nepeta puffed out her cheeks at Terezi’s commentary. Of course this wasn’t a romance movie. Romance movies very seldom involved terrible man sized wolves, or generally any kind of monster. They also usually didn’t have any supernatural awakening subplots going on.
The meteor? She tried to think back to what happened that day. She’d worked at the coffee shop in the morning and the animal shelter that afternoon. Was that the day the animals had been acting up?

She was trying to piece the day together when a loud thump came from the back corner of the shop, where the bathroom was. And the bathroom just so happened to be where that familiar looking person went. giving Nepeta just the cause she needed to investigate. Hoping that curiosity wouldn’t kill the cat, she stood up and ducked past a couple of the others who had been collected to talk, giving some apologetic looks for ditching in the middle of such an important conversation.

The bathroom door was still ajar, which was a bit concerning since it meant that no one had bothered to actually close it, and that meant that the thump could very well have been someone falling and knocking themselves out on the corner of the sink, or worse. She very cautiously approached, nudging the door open a bit more and peeking in to see what was going on within.

Nepeta saw who it was before she saw just what he was doing. She was almost sure that it hadn’t been him she saw disappear back here, but she’d only seen them from the corner of her eye, and she supposed weirder things had been happening lately than a case of mistaken identity. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t Asshole himself.”

Aradia didn't know what was happening here, but this certainly didn't seem like a situation that she wanted to be in. Nevertheless, she found herself here anyway, in the middle between a towering sweaty individual and the one she thought was named Nepeta, both who seemed ready to tear the other's heads off. That certainly couldn't be good for anyone involved. Trying to measure her breathing as the panic was getting worse, she tried to defuse the situation. "Um....if there's something going on here, I can just..you know...go somewhere else?"

Equius felt the girls hands around his wrist and was about to pull back from the unwelcomed contact, though he wouldn't have asked either of he felt the need to get a hold of someone, but before the signal reaches his muscles he felt an incredible force dragging him to the sink; His mouth hung open in awe as he never believed such strength could come from a girl of her mass.

Still dazed by the buzzing in his ears and the buzz of her words he didn't think before answering "I could fight a shark" An awkward silence followed before the wet splorch! of the damp paper hit his hand. He looks down at it for a moment before processing her order. He can't help but lean forward (Few cafes had floor to ceiling mirrors) at her command, the rush of her words and the sudden interruption of his "Peace" of mind making him oddly compliant, either that or there was something about her that made him do it, an unspoken fact of superiority. Regardless of the reason, the handkerchief was replaced with the wet mess of paper and like sweat blood and water streamed down his face.

His hand worked diligently and much to his disappointment the wound beneath the blood was bigger than he had expected it to be, rather than being hit with the broad side of the wooden slab his perfect am had driven his forehead to the angle, but the pain was lesser than one would expect. Thanks to the mirror he saw Feferi disappear into the stall, Equius decides to take the opportunity when he hears the creak of the door.

He doesn't even need to turn his head to see who it is, His mouth had hung in awe to Feferis strength, now it hangs in terror to Nepetas presence. He lets out a long sigh trying to avoid her eyes but his own disobey him; He wants her to remember but he can't do it now, he isn't sure how he will but he will make her. His head shakes and he stands straight again before turning to face her, his face a cold mask trying to conceal the disappointment he feels for himself, he isn't strong enough to face her "Hello nepeta, if you will I was about to leave, I have much too important business to attenbbbbbhhhh" His excuse is cut by the stream of blood that enters his mouth, his hand moving up to cover the wound before more of it gets on his clothes.

His embarrassment much too great now, locked in such a small room with a girl that treated him well with practically no reasons and another that had all the right in the world to treat him like she did. He stood there holding the handkerchief against the wound while his other hand cleaned the blood of his nose bridge and lips, his face covered in water.

And now there was this awfully pretty girl, what the hell, what sins did Equius commit to find himself in such position?.... Oh yeah, all of those. "Nothing is going on,Stranger, I was about to go see the paramedics outside. All of this is a match of poorly timed natural needs. If you excuse me" It seemed he wanted to steamroll past Nepeta and the new girl but his feet were nailed to the ground, he couldn't approach Nepeta and she was right in the doorway.

She was so focused on hearing what was going on that she didn't register that she was completely dampening the sounds of her activities until the flush was silent too, the water flowing with greater determination and harmony and managing barely a quiet hiss.

Feferi filed the information as something to study more later and then adjusted her attire, wincing as she disturbed her various scrapes and swept out of the toilet stall as regally as possible.

She considered the sizeable number of people sardined into the very small room and decided that there was nothing to be gained by being shy. Fef nodded to Nepeta in acknowledgement and greeting before bumping her well-rounded hip against Equius'... well closer to his knee than his hip but the message was clear as she edged him bodily away from the sink so she could wash her hands.

Fef pretended not to be listening in on Equius and Nepeta as she cleaned the dirt out from under her nails and checked her hair and face in the mirror. She tried to surreptitiously check out her abraded elbow but grimaced at the rawness of the wound and decided to leave it alone for now and go see a doctor later.

Feferi turned the sink off and considered, her hands dripping as she pursed her lips, glancing around for a towel or an air dryer distractedly. She eyed Equius' shirt as the nearest piece of fabric but on second glance it did not qualify as clean or dry enough to wipe her hands on... or touch... She gave a delicate shudder and took a big step back from where Equius was waffling about shoving past the diminutive Nepeta.

Her chin went up unconsciously as she surveyed the scene and Equius' heavy nosebleed, narrowing her eyes slightly as she regarded Nepeta's hostile stance and debating intervening. Her hands settled on her hips as she waited to see if she should launch herself forward as Equius' defense or join Nep's line. Their dream-friendship tended to sway her toward Nepeta but the blood was a definite tick in Eq's favor. For now Feferi would bide her time.

Nep paused for a second. She didn’t remember having given this guy her name, and she definitely didn’t know how he could have gotten it otherwise. She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to put pieces of a puzzle together when she didn’t even have half of them to begin with.

Her attitude towards the fact that he was here again, and bleeding was an icy indifference. She would probably be regretting it later when she finally realized just who Equius was, but as far as she knew in the moment, he was a big hulking asshole.

The way he looked at her made her prickle, “Hey dumbass, is there any purrticular reason you’re staring at me that way?” Another remark delivered with scorn, which she would later come to regret. She almost entirely ignored Aradia, to no fault of her own. There were simply too many other important things to fixate on.

The sight of that much blood seemed to bring Aradia back to reality. She didn't know what she had wandered into, but the tension was clear. Had there been another sort of fight in here? Or was everything simply a result of the larger scuffle outside? At least the jolt of adrenaline of someone covered in blood seemed to quiet the increasingly loud ringing in her ears. How much blood loss was it again before someone went into shock? 30%? 40? that sounded about right. This certainly didn't look like that much but head wounds could be deceiving.

"Are you sure? That does seem like a large amount of blood. And I can't say that large amounts of blood loss has positive results. Unless you see death as a positive. In that case, you may certainly be on your way."

She tried to move out of the way before the pounding in her head returned. And of course, as luck could not hold out forever, it did. It returned with a vengeance, as if thousands of needles were being shoved right behind her ears. And the static. She couldn't seem to stop the static. It was as if her brain had become a radio and couldn't find the right station to turn into. No one else seemed to hear anything. It couldn't just be her. That couldn't make sense. How could one person hear something that no one else could? She braced a hand against the wall to try and ground herself. Hopefully this would pass and no one would notice.

His hand manages to cover the wound well enough as to keep the blood from flowing out like the red rivers of hell. But now Equius was really getting into a panic, if there was something he hated it was lazy people, then people who mistreat animals and in third place there was people who stared intensively at him for any reason even if that reason was a good one.

Body shaking a bit as sweat was starting to prick out from his skin, even in the dimly lighted bathroom it was obvious his dark skin was becoming brighter, his view was becoming more fuzzy thanks to heightened heart beat . Lucky for him the bump from Feferi's hips managed to break him out of the lock down state he was slipping into (a pretty dangerous state to be in when adrenaline and harsh feeling are filling the ambient) and so he took a deep breath in.

"Yes, there is a reason. And if you would stop your astonishing RUDE behavior I would be able to explain " He took a step forward without realizing the threatening stance he had put himself into, a very poorly grounded and likely to fail stance before the three others that could most likely put him down with little effort. Mostly because if fighting came to the table Equius would turn his face from it, sure he would offer potato salad but that's as far as pleasantries would go.

He was getting annoyed by his blood, bothered even. His left-hand reaches for his right arm and unrolls the sleeve of his shirt before pulling and ripping it apart from the rest of the cloth, then he rolls the sleeve along its length before wrapping it tight around his forehead closing the wound temporarily, though soon enough it too would find itself soaked in blood.

Not even waiting for her reply or even the other girls reactions he takes another step towards Nepeta ready for whatever consequences his actions have, he is just too shaken by the series of events that brought them to this point. Starting with the despicable rules of the dreams and ending with the slam to his face brought by Feferi. His hands raise and full palms face each other before slamming together in a definitive clap to clear any other thought from his or Nepetas mind "We knew each other, we were friends. In the moon named derse that I thought was but a dream... We were friends" he repeats feeling something wet in the corners of his eyes, it wasn't sweat this time around.

Feferi's eyes went huge, her mouth dropping open in an o as she stared at Equius. Derse. Derse. She glanced furtively at Nepeta but some instinct pulled her attention to the stranger who appeared to be having a quiet breakdown or a headache, her face screwed up in pain.

Instantly on alert, Fef flowed around Equius and Nepeta. She caught hold of Aradia's steadying hand and pulled her toward a corner away from the meeting between apparent friends.

"Glub you don't look like you feel very whale," Fef murmured, gently putting a hand on Aradia's forehead to feel her temperature. "If it's a headache..."

She pulled back a bit and shoved her hand down the front of her pink dress, tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she squinted, concentrating on sorting through the various items she had stashed there. They had gotten a little more jumbled and moved around during the fight but at last she pulled out a small metal cylinder triumphantly and unscrewed the lid, pouring a couple of (warm) white pills into her hand and offering them to Aradia. "Just acetominophen!" she said quietly. "Might help with your hull headache fin?"

Feferi kept one eye on Aradia while also watching what would come of Equius' declaration to Nepeta. She knew as well as Equius that Nepeta knew about the dream moon, knew that people from there walked on the green earth. Her pink eyes darted quick as minnows from the hulking, bloody, sweat-drenched figure to the diminutive barrista with the forceful temperament.

With every step he took closer, the tighter Nepeta’s fists balled up, and the more visibly agitated she became, due to her interpreting his own stance as aggressiv. God this guy is SO fucking WEIRD. She stared at him defiantly, wholly ready to fight someone who was a solid foot and a half taller than herself.

But he never even tried it, instead he clapped his hands and looked at her sternly, and started talking about… a dream..? Nep glanced over at Feferi, who she had met in similar circumstances, and back to him, her confusion evident on her face as she starts thinking about the implications of his words.

She looked between the two of them again, and bit down on her lip to try and focus on what was happening. If one looked closely they might even be able to see the wheels in her head grinding and clicking as they processed it. Another, more confused, look on her face as her eyes again flicked over to Feferi, and back to him. He seemed to be crying? It was then that realization struck her square between the eyes. Her eyes went wide and her face dropped in a look that was equal parts horror, embarrassment, surprise, and confusion, all mixed up and layered on top of eachother. She didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything.

Instead she just took a step forward to close the gap between them. Almost tentatively, she wrapped her arms around him, in what was surely the most awkward and emotionally charged hug ever delivered.

Aradia took the medicine from Feferi. Normally she would think twice about taking medicine from people she had just met, but there was something about the girl that seemed unable to do harm. Like she was trying to care for everyone in the way that they needed. In any case, it would distract her for the time being. With practiced ease, she swallowed the pills and hoped for the best.

Clearly she had stumbled into something that she didn't know the details of. And judging by the conversation, and the context of the meeting, there was something bigger going on. They seemed to be saying that they met in a dream, but that seemed like something straight out of a bad television romantic comedy for it to be real. Even given the events of the night, he surely couldn't think that line could work to pacify....what was her name again....Nepeta, that's right, the one who was interested in larping. But for all intents and purpose, it seemed to have worked, as she was now hugging him, whereas moments before she was ready to tear his throat out with her teeth. Aradia just stood there, in dumbfound surprise, not really knowing what to make of this twist in the story. Either way, she wasn't going to interrupt, hoping to make some sense out of this paradox.

O happy day , O happy day! Equius was about to break down, to lose Nepeta (To lose her once again and even more) Would have broken him, to lose his only friend (Like literally only friend , no one else seemed to like him and he was dumbfounded as to why) would have probably sent him into a depression pit so big that he might have had even moved back to his parents place.

But to see her face break in the realization of the truth about their relationship, though Equius knew further apawlogies were in order. brought such joy into his heart; To feel her arms against his considerably moist body made his growing headache and rage fit disappear. He could not return such heartfelt hug with just the length of his body, so heart filled arms could only be reciprocated in one way and one way only.

Equius leans in and slides his own treetrunks under Nepetas own and lifts her up while a smile joins the tears on his face, being mindful of his surroundings he starts spinning and gaining velocity (Headache threatening to return) as he laughs something like a starting up engine "You remember! You do remember!" he smiles before bring his lips against her cheek while her feet are still off the floor. Had he knocked one of the other two out wouldn't have mattered in such glorious moment, to have one friend was more precious than all the horses in the field.

Feferi watched with sympathetic tears in her eyes as the beautiful moment unfolded... and then transformed into a cyclone of danger. She muffled her surprised glub and pulled Aradia into the far corner, sliding in front of the other and holding up her arms defensively in case the oblivious spinning boots came any closer.

She eyed the door, but there were too many whirling feet and other obstacles between her and escape and she didn't want to abandon the dazed-looking Aradia to her fate.

Feferi leaned back a little. "I fin his superpower is dolphinately that strength. I'm worried they're going to forget they're not abalone and whale be lobstertrapped here until one of them finally loses their lunch from all the centrifuge spinning," she murmured in an undertone to Aradia though Fef kept her eyes on the danger boots.

She narrowed her eyes pensively and began to concentrate on the wetly glistening forehead when it rotated past, attempting to harness the gross sweat water to perhaps apply the brakes on the spinning murdertops of friendship and doom.

Nep screamed giddily as he lifted and spun her in such an unexpected fashion. “Yes! I do reempurr you, you big tall dumby, now put me down!” She said between her laughter. She hadn’t been sure what to expect when she hugged him, but she was glad she was met with such elation. She was still not entirely sure what any of this meant. What it meant to have met in the dreams before meeting in the real world, and the block that seemed to occur between there and the waking world.

When he finally stopped their spinning Nepeta leaned against him, in a similar fashion that an overly affectionate cat might rub against someone’s legs for more attention. She made eye contact with Aradia and then Feferi, suddenly aware once more that her and equius were not entirely alone in their moment of joyous recognition. The awkward feeling was slowly setting in making her shift somewhat uneasily, since she hardly knew Fef, and knew Aradia even less.

This was clearly a touching reunion for most parties invovled. At least Feferi was here as well, granted the girl was still very much a stranger. Still, she felt inclined to respond to Feferi's observations. "it does seem likely that this will continue for a while. however i am hesitent on the entirety of superpowers, despite my tendancy toward disbelief."

Seeing the tension building as the pair remebered that Aradia and Feferi were still present, she decided to take the initiative. Whispering to Feferi, she suggested "Perhaps it is for the best that we retreat for the time being. It seems these two would prefer a reunion without prying eyes." She crept towards the door, wondering if Feferi would follow her lead. While she still had a dull ringing in her ears, the commotion back in the shop seemed to mostly dissolve into a dull roar.

Sollux's eyes snapped toward the hand on his elbow, having felt the touch before realizing that someone was talking to him. He jolted in the chair at the shock, heart beating so loud he couldn't hear for a second before he saw the body attached to the hand.

And wow panicking was WAY better than this pit of terrible self loathing he'd just dived straight into.

Because he'd kind of.. totally forgotten about Tavros. After throwing up on him, he was so busy calling the cops and then watching the fight and then TALKING to the cops to even remember that Tavros was a thing. A thing that he'd thrown up on, the dried coffee stains on the pants underneath making the vomit look remarkably like chunks of diarrhea.

"Aw, shit, I'm - I'm so fucking sorry, I didn't even check on you I'm a useless waste of space, fuck, are you okay? I just was - no there's no excuse, shit, fuck, I fucked this up didn't I?" Sollux said in a voice just a little above polite whispering range.

Tavros felt a mish mosh of feelings bubbling in his stomach- or that might have been another wave of nausea?- he didn’t really know at this point. But regardless, he looked up at Sollux with an expression of green faced fear.

“No!” He whispered back, shaking his head, hands moving to writhe together in his lap but before he touched his jeans, they snapped back to his arm rests in order to avoid the mess.

“I’m okay, I, uhh, I didn’t know if you were okay. I’m sorry.” Tav looked more and more concerned and close to either throwing up or crying the more he talked.

“Uhh. You uhh. You didn’t fuck anything up. Really, please don’t think you did. I’m sorry. This has just been a really, uh. A really crazy ass day.”

Tavros brought his hands up to his head then, resting both on either side of his head, cradling it for a moment before he dragged one hand up further, through his hair. However, he stopped when his fingers grazed across the forgotten barrette holding his floppy mohawk back from his eyes. That second of touching the small metal clip calmed down his nerves just enough so he had guts enough to look back at Sollux and squeak out another response.

“We never got lunch, ‘cause of those, uhh, furries. Or whatever you called them. Maybe, if you, uhh. If you wanted too still. Uhhhhh. We could still get lunch and talk sometime? No pressure, if you, uhh, don't want to. I understand if you, uh, if you don't want to.”

"No!" Sollux burst out. He was briefly distracted by a flash of pink as Fish-pun Princess walked towards the bathroom, but quickly turned his focus back on Tavros. "No, seriously, I'm the one who should be apologizing! And um. If you - I mean, after you change clothes obviously, and after this post Attack of the Furious Furries meeting gets out we could..."

He trailed off in his best attempt at invitingly. It sounded more desperate but meh Tavros was a mess in more than one way than the physical right now, so he doubted the other man would even notice. Um. Actually he might try and stumble through a question asking for clarification, and that would take a long time, and he kind of wanted to tune back into the meeting.

(Preferably while holding Tavros' hand, but his palms were all sweaty and he doubted Tavros' were any better and you know what nevermind EW hand holding should be outlawed in Sburb City, just like it used to be between non-married couples in the good old days.)

"Lunch. I mean we should have lunch." Sollux offered a smile that felt rather like the muscles should be creaking in protest. He'd gone through so many facial expressions today.

Tavros didn’t feel any less sick at the smile Sollux offered him, since in his mind he was certain that he’d done something wrong to mean any future between them would exist only in his sad dreams. The only light, he realized, was that if he was borrowing the other man’s sweats and with the barrette still in his hair (which he secretly not so secret wanted to keep), he would eventually have to return them. That thought in itself guaranteed a second meeting- not a date- Tav wouldn’t dare call anything between them a date at this point, but he had back of the mind hope.
Being the natural nervous wreck Tavros was, the sound to come out of his mouth in response to Sollux agreeing that they should get lunch lacked words.

“Uhhh.” He gave the teeniest nod, feeling his face start to turn a deepening shade of red.

“Your, uhh, your sweats then? Sorry, uh. I just want to change out of this.” Tav stuttered, hoping that he wasn’t making Sollux cranky by asking him to retrieve the change of pants from his car. He’d picked up that Sol wanted to tune into the meeting, and while he also cared to listen, he would also have been fine rolling himself out into traffic as to not bother anyone else.

"Shit, yeah, fuck, here," Sollux said, wiggling down in his chair and spreading his legs a little and lifting his hips so he could dig the keys out of his pocket. He made a quiet noise of triumph once he got it out, and handed them over.

"Do you want me to walk you there? I don't mind," Sollux said, but his attention was drifting back to the meeting just a little before he snapped his focus back onto Tavros with an apologetic smile. He felt like shit about it, but he had been hyperfocused on what happened and it was hard to just divert that to think about something else.

"It's a blue jeep with a red tire case on the back, and red leather interior," Sollux said, pressing the keys into Tavros' palm and giving the hand a reassuring squeeze before he thought too hard about it. The poor thing looked like he was going to throw up or something, and Sollux kind of wanted to pet him like a small animal, his crush toned down by sympathy and distractedness. "You can't miss it."

Tavros had slightly widened eyes as he watched Sollux wiggling and shifting in order to find his keys, and for a moment he swore that his heart stopped, he’d died, floated out of his body to look on, and then been slam dunked back into his mostly useless form.

“I hate my life. I hate my life. I hate my life. Dying doesn’t seem like a, uh, bad option here, Tav. Maybe consider it. Or just live in the library for the rest of forever. Uhhh.”

“Okay.” He replied, voice coming out somewhere between a croak and squeak. “I’ll, uh, go on my own. Be back in a bit.”

By some grace of a God Tavros didn’t believe in, he forced a smile at Sollux and kept his eyes on his face even though the feeling of Sol squeezing his hand sent him near into cardiac arrest.

“Thanks.” Tav spoke that time with slightly more confidence, although the level was still that of a twelve year old girl. He closed his hand around the keys and then moved to back his chair up, gaze falling away from Sollux now so that he could safely back away from everyone and head out to find the jeep.

Sollux grinned at Tavros and waved politely before turning his attention back to the group. Nothing important seemed to have happened while he was talking to Tavros, but he'd just wait and see what these crazy people would come up with next.

Wolves.

Pffft.

SECRET GROUP MEETING at the Cafe | Open to Everyone

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Pay no attention to the man in the furrcoat.

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Princess is as princess does

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MOR3 B4NG1NG

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This is like a bad romance alright, slightly more blood than recommended.

It's a real meet cute if by meet you mean assault and by cute you mean bloodied hostile stranger.

Florida man goes into a rampage in aquarium, no fish was hurt.

Is that head trauma or are you happy to see me?

Knock knock mother furickers. I'm here for the bathroom party.

by the horrorterrors what have i stumbled into

I hope there isn't a time tub in this bathroom.

It's a royal flush

Re: It's a royal flush

now i am a sucker for a pretty face (covered in blood)

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Carry things close to your heart

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Welcome to the feels carrousel!

Spectators to the Horse Tornado

Well, this is awkward.

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