[lone]

Originally Posted by Doodle

Marblestrike looked up as a tom entered the clearing, her gaze following him as he sat. The molly herself had laid down in a more secluded, shaded area in the clearing where she was less likely to be disturbed. She was often found in similar situations- off in less crowded areas around the clearing, by herself. It was the way she preferred it, as she wasn't an extremely friendly cat. She didn't seek out company and other cats certainly didn't seek her company. Not with her grumpy attitude and sharp tongue. No, many of her clanmates had learned that Marblestrike was not a cat to approach and certainly not one to be flirty with or even friendly with. She could find just about anything to snap about, anything to keep others away from her. The molly always sat alone, and that was the way she liked to be. Secluded, alone, isolated, it was all things she considered to be comforting and peaceful rather than lonely.

So why did she find herself suddenly wanting to reach out and talk to this tom? Marblestrike found that her eyes couldn't leave the cat, who she knew was named Palmettoleaf despite the fact that the two hadn't ever had a real conversation. Perhaps it was his pelt, unique in its splatters similar to the way that her coat was? But this was no excuse to be staring, and so she forced her blue eyes off of the cat and back to the rest of the clearing. Her tail flicked as if irritated, and perhaps she was. The she-cat always seemed to have something on her nerves, whether it be another cat, the weather, or even herself. Her irritated expression was what caused a young cat, who had been headed over to Marblestrike's secluded area, to suddenly swerve and head off in a different direction- away from the grumpy molly. The patched cat rolled her eyes and plopped her head down on her paws.

Slowly her gaze dragged back over to Palmettoleaf, and when she realized this fact she narrowed her eyes as if blaming the tom for her attention being drawn to him. She quickly snapped her head up, her tail giving another flick of frustration. Why was it that she couldn't keep herself from staring at him? He was going to think that she was interested- and Marblestrike told herself she had no interest at all in talking to the tom. Except that she did, and the molly had no clue why. Angry at the unknown, she turned pointedly away and begun to groom. Perhaps keeping herself busy would in turn prevent her from looking in his direction again.

A friendly smile settled over the tom's features as he saw another cat from across the clearing - and, thinking that she was interested in having some company - his company - the feline got up and padded over, his expression excited and pleased as he sat down next to her rather quickly, his tail sweeping the ground in a broom-like motion. Marblestrike, her name was, wasn't it? He'd always had a pretty good memory. "Hi!" he purred, green eyes lighting up as he looked over at her. A friendly expression met her narrowed eyes and angry one. What was she so upset about? Palmettoleaf had experience with these types of cats, angry at the world... not happy about anything... they could be hard to deal with.

The tom knew it. He didn't like trying to befriend them, because it had ended up in a clawed muzzle before, and he could expect it to happen again. Yet, perhaps if he were friendly, this time would be different. Perhaps this time he would hold a chance with making a new friend anyways. Maybe if he tried really, really hard he would be able to finally make friends with one of the grumpier cats in the Clan. "You're Marblestrike, aren't you?" The way he said her name made it sound as though he found her to be the most interesting cat in the world. Just his tone of voice, being the type of cat that he was. Although at the same time, Palmettoleaf was known for sarcasm. Still - Marblestrike had done nothing to make him want to be playful with her. He was just testing the waters at this point. Green eyes did a quick look-over of his new companion's pelt, as though he were checking her out... but the tom had never been a cat to do that. Partly because he knew there were cats who weren't happy with it (and, not to his knowledge, his current companion was one of those cats) and partly because he didn't agree with it personally.

"I'm Palmettoleaf. In case you didn't know. But I'm guessing you did - you know, living in a Clan it's kinda hard not to know things," the tom chuckled with a bright smile on his features. He was the type of cat to continue being friendly under all circumstances. Well... sort of, it was a complicated type of thing if he were being honest with himself. The tom wasn't sure why she wasn't being friendly. He hadn't thought of himself as hard to be around before!

Calm down. Think of this rationally. She might just not like other cats, or maybe she's heard bad things about you. It doesn't make them true. In real life, you can just hate someone for no reason too. Maybe she's been hurt - or she's upset about something - both of those things are totally possible. So just breath, Palmettoleaf. Breathe. It could be hard when the tom didn't know what the trouble was, but he was aware that it wasn't his fault. So far he had said nothing offensive. And if she was offended by his presence then she could walk away - if not, then it wasn't his fault. The tom was just glad to have some company.