[Thistledawn]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

The ginger tom laughed - not even just a chuckle, but laughed at her hostile words. He had heard it all over the moons. He'd been called a 'creep,' 'stalker,' 'mouse-brain...' any rude name you could think of, he had been called that. But this was a new one. His actual flirting being challenged, and not him? Redpaw and Silverpaw had done that, but it'd been more of a 'that's a horrible line' type thing and not a 'do you always say this' type thing. "Nobody said you had to be the daughter of someone important to be a princess." Foxpaw was practically crooning the words in as silk-smooth of a tone as he could muster. It was at a medium pitch, the lowest he could go, but at least he had lost his kit fluff. All that fluff had clung onto his pelt for too long, it was about time that he grew up. And grown up he had. He was a lot more muscular now, different from the original squeaky-voiced flirty tom who ran around the clearing throwing out compliments to everyone. He now chose targets, fairly speaking.

If he liked the look of a she cat - he'd test the waters, throw out a flirty comment or two. If she rejected him, then he would flirt harder. The angrier she got, the more persistent he got. "You just have to be beautiful... smart... and important yourself. And to answer your other question, no - not everyone. Just the cats who really deserve it." By now Foxpaw had risen halfway out of the nest and was looking very much like he was about to saunter over to Cherrypaw and give her a lesson in royalty. But instead he stayed where he was, a smirk halfway on his maw in a lopsided, charming rogue kind of way. He was attempting to charm her. Maybe it would work, maybe it wouldn't - generally it was a "hit or miss" thing that Foxpaw did his best to win at every time. As her words got sweeter, the tom purred low in his throat, trying to keep the volume of his purr down. He didn't want her accusing him of leading her on, after all.

Because that wasn't what Foxpaw was doing. If he thought Cherrypaw was pretty, he at least had some interest in her - and that interest could grow. Thinking someone was attractive was generally an opening stage to a future relationship, now wasn't it? "No need to apologize. You're quite pretty when you're angry, you know." The tom winked before she spoke again, and settled back down in his nest in a careless, leisurely fashion. "Oh, I'm doing alright. A lot better now that I have some company, though." A purr rumbled in his throat again as he once more half-rose from his nest.

The younger cat scoffed. "Just those three things makes princess? Perhaps every SkyClan she-cat is a princess then. Anyways, I'm just an apprentice. I hardly mean or deserve anything." It was true. It was true to an extent at least. Apprentices, especially apprentices as young as Cherrypaw, weren't trusted to do anything. They always needed a warrior to leave camp with them and they were always being bossed around. Everyone treated Cherrypaw like she had bees in her brain. All she wanted to do was prover herself and her worth to her Clan, but it was hard to do that when she was never offered the oppurtunity. She shook those thoughts away with a shake of her head. "And how many cats do you think deserve your compliments?" Cherrypaw challenged.

She squinted her blue eyes at the ginger tom. Behavior like his was something she hadn't encountered before. Was he flirting with her? She couldn't understand why. The two apprentices had hardly talked before. The she-cat considered herself pretty. She definitely wasn't the worst looking cat around and her white fur and blue eyes made her stand out. Cherrypaw couldn't think of anything she had done that would have inspired Foxpaw's flirting. The entire conversation between the two just felt strange to Cherrypaw. Maybe he's making fun of me, she thought. Suddenly Foxpaw's compliments didn't mean as much to her.

Cherrypaw was skeptical. She rose in her own nest, trying to meet the tom's height. "I can't tell if you're trying to be a goofy furball or not. Cats aren't pretty when they're angry. Unless you think raging badger is cute." She tilted her head to the side and watched Foxpaw closely. Perhaps something he'd do would give something away. The rising from the nest, the winks, the laughing, and the purrs confused her. "I'll try to be company if that's what you want, but I don't appreciate it if you're just playing games with me." Cherrypaw felt defensive. She really did feel like a princess now. She felt like she was demanding respect from the ginger tom. Oh, StarClan, she'd lost all control her her mood today. Too many contradicting emotions swarmed throughout her head.