Your name is SOLLUX CAPTOR, and you have just finished picking yourself up off the floor after a certain clumsy, cute, cat-eared girl nearly knocked you over after you accidentally touched her leg.

Hmm, you think, that was a bit strange.

You stand up, brushing the dust off your skinny behind, and turn around and go back to your desk. You take out the little scrap of paper with NP's chumhandle on it and enter it into your phone, grinning ever so slightly at the cute little cat she'd drawn. It was even wearing his glasses! How adorable, you think to yourself. With the information entered safely into your phone, you place it back into your pants pocket and go about your ordinary, mind-numbing duties at the shop.

After evicting Eridan from the break room, you send him out to straighten up the merchandise on the shelves. You definitely don't want another incident like what happened with NP and Karkat. You rub your temples and grimace. The short boy's yelling has left your ears ringing painfully. After taking some Tylenol, you begin to write a new security code for the shop's main computer, with no more motivation than excruciating boredom. You finish this in a disappointingly short time, and decide to break past your new firewall, just for lack of something better to do.

As you sit at the desk, you hear a muffled clap of thunder from outside and hope to God it doesn't rain today, seeing as how you neglected to bring an umbrella to work and had to walk home. Business was slow today, as usual, so you didn't feel very guilty about slacking off. And you especially didn't mind making Eridan do all of your work for today.

Speaking of the fish-brain, here he comes now. You groan and lay your head down on your arms.

"Hey Sol, wwhat wwas the deal wwith that cute little kitten, anywways? I'vve nevver seen you actin' so possessive over such a little thing like that," he mumbles to you as he slumps down into his own chair.

You raise your head halfway up from your arms and snap back,

"Don't call her that, you athhole. And I wath not pothethive. You were being a borderline rapitht, ath uthual, and I wath protecting her from your pathetic advantheth. Now thut the hell up and leave me alone, Ampora. Pleathe."

You mutter the last word grudgingly, hoping he'll go away. To your eternal thankfulness, he does, and you are able to rest, undisturbed, for the next hour. Finally, at six o'clock, you get up from your desk, grab your black jacket off the back of your chair, and follow Eridan out the shop door. He calls out a friendly goodbye, and you half-heartedly wave back before locking the shop doors. As you are doing so, you feel a drop of water on the back of your neck and look up in disbelief, as a monumental rainstorm begins to pour down from the sky.

Just great, you think to yourself. You pull your jacket hood over your head and dart for the cover of a nearby awning. You mutter to yourself for a while, cursing everything from the weather to KK's stupid mouth to your left shoe. When you finish having your hissy fit, you pull out your phone and try to contact your friends to see if they can pick you up.

twinArmageddons [TA] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 6:28 pm.

[TA] KK, can you piick me up plea2e? Iit'2 raiiniing liike all hell set loo2e, and Ii'm trapped under an awning.

[TA] KK plea2e piick up your phone. Ii'm 2tranded here liike a damn kitten afraid of the raiin.

[TA] God damn iit, KK.

twinArmageddons [TA] quit pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 6:45

You decide to see if Gamzee is capable of answering his phone. You normally wouldn't want to trust your life to his driving skills, but seeing as your options are quickly dwindling, you decide to give it a shot.

twinArmageddons [TA] began pestering terminallyCapricious [TC] at 6:50

[TA] GZ, are you there? Can you pick me up plea2e? Ii'm 2tranded underneath an awning iin the miidle of an unbelievably fuckiing huge raiin2torm.

[TA] Come on, GZ, not funny. Ii'm being 2eriiou2 here.

[TA] Diid KK put you up two thii2? Ii 2wear to God, iif Ii ever get my hand2 on him…

[TA] God. Fuckiing. Dammit.

twinArmageddons [TA] quit pestering terminallyCapricious [TC] at 7:12

You grit your teeth in frustration and narrowly avoid throwing your phone into oncoming traffic. Pretty great friends you have, huh? Oh yeah, with you through thick and thin, these guys. You scroll down to Nepeta's number and pause. Should you ask her? You only just met today. You glance out at the rain to see if it has lessened any. As if to humiliate you further, the rain begins to pound down faster, and the awning above you begins to creak ominously. You, however, miss this vital auditory clue, as you are too busy trying to figure out how to dash out across the street without getting too soaked. Right as you are about to make a run for it, the tarp of the awning snaps, and with a glorious SPLOOSH, you are drenched from head to toe in dirty rainwater. You yell in frustration, throw your hands into the air, and with a mighty "FUCK THITH THIT," you dial Nepeta's number.

twinArmageddons [TA] began pestering arsenicCatnip [AC] at 7:20.

[TA] Nep, thii2 ii2 2ollux. Can you plea2e come and get me? Ii'm trapped iin the raiin, and your douchebag cou2in won't an2wer hii2 gogdamn phone.

[AC] :33 Oh hey, Pawllux! *ac waves excitedly at her furrend and offurs him a cute green umbrella* What can I do to help mew?

[TA[ Oh thank God you an2wered, Ii wa2 begiinniing to give up hope of ever being found. Ii'm 2tuck under the awniing above the new22tand, on the corner of-

You crane your neck, trying to make out the street signs without becoming even more wet.

[TA] –on the corner of Hu22iie and Alterniia.

[AC] *ac gasps in amazement and jumps up and down happurrly*Oh Pawllux! My apurrtment is only a couple of blocks away! I'll come get mew!

[TA] Oh my god, thank you 2o much NP. You are a liife2aver!

[AC] *ac giggles* H33h33! S33 mew in a bit!

arsenicCatnip [AC] quit pestering twinArmageddons [TA] at 7:26.

You sigh in relief, and sit down on a relatively dry patch of cement to wait for your friend. After about twenty minutes, however, you begin to get worried. You take your phone back out and call Nepeta's number this time. You hear ringtone a few times, and then her breathless voice.

"Hey NP, ith everything okay? You're taking a long time to get here. Do you want me-"

"P-Pawllux! Someone's following me! I think-"

You hear a shrill scream, a crackle of static, and the line goes dead

"Nepeta!" You yell into the now useless phone in a panic, before running out into the rain. Completely disregarding the downpour, you begin to sprint down the sidewalk, squinting left and right through the haze. Suddenly, a tall figure crashes into you and you both fall into a crumples heap on the puddle-covered cement. A harsh female voice cuts through your confusion.

"Out of my way, you weak, pathetic wimp!"

She uses your prostrate form to push herself back up onto her feet, then turns and kicks you in the side before darting away into the deluge, a wicked laugh following her retreating form.

"Thtupid bitch!" You yell back at her, slightly out of breath from being knocked down and having a boot planted squarely in your ribcage. As you lift yourself up off the ground, you hear a whimpering noise coming from an alley nearby. Your pulse quickens in anticipation as you make your way carefully over to the source of the noise. As you enter the alley, you stumble over something on the ground, and as you lean over to pick it up, a shock runs through your body and leaves you feeling as helpless as a wingless bumblebee. The object you recovered from the mud was an eerily familiar pair of blue cat ears.

"NEPETA!" You yell out, your voice weak with fear. A weak whimper weaves through the wet air, and you follow it over to a crumpled heap lying in the mud of the alley. You bend over the broken form, turning them onto their back so you can see their face. You feel hot tears of relief dripping from your eyes to mingle with the raindrops on your skin as you recognize the face before you. Nepeta's own beautiful green eyes flicker open to meet your rain-spattered glasses, and a weak smile escapes from her lips.

"H-hey, Pawllux… Looks like you're the lifesaver… this time"

Her eyes suddenly roll back into her head as she loses consciousness. Her body goes limp in your arms, and as you lift her into your arms you realize that not only does she appear to have several injuries, you have no idea where she lives. You contemplate taking her to Karkat's house, but it's on the other side of the city. Suddenly, there is a break in the storm, and as the rainfall begins to lessen, you decide to try and carry her to your apartment, and then call KK from there. From what you can see, Nepeta is pretty badly beat up. As you begin to carry her down the sidewalk, you feel something beneath her skirt, right where her right calf should be. However, you push aside your curiosity and focus on the matter at hand.

After about 12 minutes of careful walking/carrying, you arrive inside your apartment. You gently lay Nepeta on your couch, shut the door, and try to contact Karkat. For some reason, he won't answer his phone, so you leave him a message, trying to make it as explanatory as possible.

You start to walk over to Nepeta, with the intention of moving her to your spare bed, when she suddenly jolts awake. Her wide olive eyes focus on you approaching her, and she suddenly pierces the air with a terrified, bloodcurdling scream.