Quote:
Originally Posted by Thistledawn
Foxpaw's moment of silence made Cherrypaw shift uncomfortably. I must've sounded seriously lame, she thought with a groan. Perhaps the older tom was only interested in talking to "popular" cats. The she-cat certainly was friendly, and she enjoyed making friends and spending her time with them, but she didn't consider herself popular. All the popular cats were always together and stayed together in groups. Cherrypaw never had that number of cats by her side at all times. She always thought that that was a good thing, however. She didn't want to be like every other cat. Cherrypaw was proud of who was (most of the time) and she didn't need any other cat to prove that. Though, another cat's approval of her always made her feel good.
A name? He wants a name? A little bit of panic began to bubble in the white cat's chest. She tried her hardest to suppress it by taking a big gulp, but that only made her cough. "No certain cat comes to mind," Cherrypaw told her companion, trying to sound as confident as she could. Her blue eyes began to roam the den, trying to look disinterested in what they were talking about. She wondered if she should have tried to manage a couple names of SkyClan toms to try and seem cooler to Foxpaw, but Cherrypaw didn't want to lie like that. It probably wouldn't get her anywhere anyways. With her luck, Foxpaw would know the tom that she named, or perhaps he'd ask to meet him, or ask about how they were getting along. Coming up with a believable lie good enough to pass by the older apprentice seemed impossible. "But I'm not sure I'd tell you even if I had a name. I wouldn't want to jinx my chances." A hint of amusement hung from the end of her sentence. Her tone was sweet, but should couldn't recreate the smoothness in Foxpaw's voice. She wondered if the ginger tom's tone and way of talking was natural, or if he'd grown into it.
Cherrypaw studied the tom's expression as she waited for an answer to her question. He seemed to be calculating his answer, though she wasn't quite sure why. What could he possibly have to hide? But the blue-eyed cat ignored her own observation. She'd probably imagined it. After all, her imagination often did get the best of her. Instead, the she-cat nodded her head and thought about her own answer. "We're both young, after all. No need to rush into any serious relationships." She meowed. "Right, Foxpaw?" Oddly enough, Cherrypaw didn't really like talking about other cats with Foxpaw. That confused her. The younger apprentice loved to talk and enjoyed her fair share of gossip every once in awhile. She liked knowing things about other cats. But, for whatever reason, Cherrypaw just didn't like topic of their current conversation. "Oh, I'm not jealous." The white cat mewed matter-of-factly. "Though, I do guess it's good to hear that I'm one of a kind." Purring, she smiled at the thought. Selfishly, she liked being singled out every once in awhile. Cherrypaw was beginning to feel like herself again. It seemed like her foul mood passed moons ago. |
If he could have, the ginger cat would have raised an eyebrow at her remark. Right... he had heard that one before. Shifting his weight so that he was sitting a little more comfortably, Foxpaw leaned forward in his nest. There was a hint of mischief twinkling in his eyes, and perhaps he was just a little more happy-looking then before. "Riiight. No name." Her next comment changed the smirking, mischievious expression into a happy one that made him look much younger. Foxpaw's green eyes lit up, sparkling in the way only a true smile could light them up, and it sounded like there was a purr rumbling in his throat as well. "You're a sassy one, aren't you? I like that." The cat mewed with a wink. Unsure as to whether Cherrypaw was still confused about whether he was flirting with her or not, the tom struggled to think of some way to make it clear that yes, he was, in fact, displaying interest in her and not just being a weirdo.
Not that he was... the tom considered himself to be quite good at flirting and convincing other cats of his interest, even when he wasn't all that interested. However, Foxpaw usually did have some amount of interest invested in a she cat he was flirting with - whether appearance-wise, or personality-wise, or maybe they were just sweet and he thought it would be cute to see them giggle and blush - in a way - and tease one another after he had come over. That never happened, though - it was a mere figment of his imagination. Yet Foxpaw continued trying, knowing that someday he would hit just the right line with just the right cat and then everyone would be really impressed. Yep, that was Foxpaw for you - daydreaming away. Perhaps that was why he struggled in the real world from time to time, he was too busy thinking about his fantasy life and fantasy world to wake up and pay attention to what was right in front of him.
Cherrypaw's last comment put an even bigger smile on the tom's maw, his eyes still sparkling with pleasure. Yet he wasn't purring, now... there was an almost hard, determined gleam in his eyes at the same time, a roguish appearance to his smile, like he was making a transition from kithood compliments to warrior compliments. He had seen the way that young warriors, middle-aged warriors tended to flirt with each other... even some older ones, though Foxpaw found that just a little weird. He had no doubt he would still be flirty when he was older, but he probably wouldn't be as bold as that. He would be more careful with his flirting at that age, just as he was now. The ginger tom leaned forward once more, this time looking more like he was about to entrust Cherrypaw with a secret that could potentially save the Clans. Not that they were in any danger at the moment, or at least, SkyClan wasn't as far as Foxpaw knew.
"Oh yes, you're one of a kind alright, Cherrypaw. And it's never too early to think about relationships - you and me, what do you say, love?" That one line in particular never worked. He'd tried it time and time again on so many cats, and most of them would either push him away or stammer around for a while, but never did he get a direct positive answer. Come to think of it, he'd never gotten even a stammered positive answer, it was always the sweeter cats who were hesitant to tell him "no," but had the idea in mind anyways.