[Brilliance]

Originally Posted by Beau

Dovecoo walked along with Honeythistle, corralled by his tail. She listened with amusement as Honeythistle described Papayakit. The she-kit she was certainly an interesting character. Dovecoo had enjoyed the time she spent playing with Papayakit. She cared for the kit now, and would look forward to watching her again. Dovecoo smiled at Honeythistle’s words, glad that Papayakit had enjoyed their playtime so much. She wasn’t too worried about the kitten. Her sister would wake up and occupy her soon. “I want to watch that!” Dovecoo purred about Honeythistle playing with Papayakit and Magnoliakit. He was so gentle with the kits, it was adorable. Dovecoo figures she’d just sit back and watch as Honeythistle waved his tail for them. The two cats reached Dovecoo’s nest before she even realized where they were going. Honeythistle’s response to her question was as expected. Dovecoo wondered if she should ask for more details, simply because she wanted to hear him talk about it. However, Honeythistle started talking about Papayakit and quickly took Dovecoo’s mind off of his day. His words made her smile at first, but the look became more thoughtful with he second sentence. As Honeythistle untwined himself from her and jumped into her nest, Dovecoo remained standing. She looked off into the distance, not really seeing, as she thought about the implications. One day, she’d have kits. She had to. It was her only job. When Dovecoo had first learned that, she had been leery. She wasn’t even sure she wanted kits let alone whether she was ready for them. But, playing with Papayakit and hearing her call her ‘mommy’ and sitting in an empty nest all alone in the nursery with nothing to do made Dovecoo feel things she’d never felt nor expected to feel. The snowy queen gracefully picked her way into the nest and settled down next to Honeythistle, grooming his fur to start sharing tongues with him. The molly paused and asked in a distant voice without looking at him, “When?” She flicked her eyes over to his and asked more specifically, “How far away is ‘someday?’”

Something must had been up with Dovecoo because when Honeythistle looked up at her from laying down, she was staring into the distance. Honeythistle gave her a weary glance, rolling onto his stomach as he was ready to address Dovecoo. She returned to reality quickly, stepping into the nest to lay beside him. Honeythistle let out a faint purr. He kneaded his paws in the nest, trying to stretch them the farthest they would go. Dovecoo started to groom his fur, so it was natural that he would return the favor. His tongue made diligent work, grooming the scruff of her neck and back. When she paused in her grooming, Honeythistle continued to give lazy, soothing licks until her voice floated in his ears. It made him pull away to look at her because he did not understand what she meant. “When, what?” He repeated, his expression contorting into something questionable. The words that followed after, Honeythistle mind clouded into an understanding as he glanced over to two of his daughters who were a bit distanced from them, but their figure was made out easily by the silver tom. Honeythistle’s met her gaze, breathing calmly. “Well, uh, it’s someday for sure. I can’t give you a specific frame, Dove.” Honeythistle didn’t know the fact that after watching Papayakit, it became more of a milestone in Dovecoo’s life. It was no doubt that Honeythistle dearly adored kits. Specifically, his own. The tom really didn’t care for kits that weren’t his, which was why he didn’t have any adopted kits or associated himself with another queen’s kits, a queen that was not his own. What made her ask such a question anyway? Honeythistle didn’t think a sweet, gulliable feline like Dovecoo would ever think of having her own. Honeythistle just saw it as a moment that would appear at her life, but he supposed that every she cat in life had thought about the idea of having kits one day. Maybe, he was just overthinking it, and Dovecoo took his praise literal. For all he knew, she probably was dreading the idea, believing that ‘someday’ was tomorrow, or the next day, or the next...”What’s going on in that pretty head of yours, Dove?” Honeythistle whispered next to her before returning back to her grooming. He started at her shoulders this time.