[Thistledawn]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

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.

The younger apprentice looked away, a hint of a smile remaining. Her blue eyes were nearly gleaming. She didn't have a witty response- or any response really. Cherrypaw felt a teasing tone sneak into the tom's voice. Normally she'd be upset. She hated being teased. But this felt playful and harmless. Anyways, the white cat was sassy, so she wouldn't be able to be mad at the ginger tom because he spoke the truth. She was beginning to catch onto how Foxpaw was acting. At the same time, she couldn't truly decide how she felt about it. Her mind was going back and forth. On one paw, she wanted to be annoyed with the older apprentice. Too easily had he slipped into his behavior with Cherrypaw. This was hardly a meeting fit for two cats who hardly knew each other. There were too many winks and purrs. At some moments, the she-cat wondered if Foxpaw had rehearsed his act. And the blue-eyed cat didn't like when Foxpaw assumed things about her. She wasn't jealous (her mother did always tell her jealousy would turn her fur green) and she didn't constantly need his attention like he seemed to think she did. Her tail twisted anxiously behind her. On the other paw, Cherrypaw didn't mind the flattery and compliments. Some of his words made her feel good and relatively important. After all, she was in the foulest of moods when Foxpaw first padded into the apprentice's den. She probably would still be in a foul mood had the ginger tom not started talking to her. That had to count for something. Perhaps StarClan had sent her a friend in her time of need. Foxpaw was unique and had made quite the first impression. Cherrypaw wouldn't mind getting to know him a little more at the very least. The she-cat was having conflicting thoughts, and she didn't know which thoughts she wanted to side with. She began to absentmindedly roll a twig back and forth with her paw. There were too many thoughts happening all at once.

When Cherrypaw looked back at the ginger tom, a gigantic smile had taken hold of him. In that moment, Cherrypaw thought she saw pure youth and energy beam from Foxpaw. She'd never seen quite a look like that. It was contagious. And much to the she-cat's surprise, she found herself purring at the tom's expression. It was. . . Charming was the word that came to mind. As the older cat leaned in, Cherrypaw found herself leaning forwards too, putting a lot of her weight on her front paws until she felt like she was going to fall out of her nest entirely. She stared into Foxpaw's eyes. There was a look in the tom's green eyes that the white cat just couldn't figure out. She squinted, wishing she knew him well enough to guess what he was thinking. Not too long after she leaned forward, Cherrypaw jumped back in surprise. Her body straightened and tensed instinctively. Her paws began to anxiously knead the material in her nest. The white cat's jaw fell nearly as far as the floor of the den. "Oh- Foxpaw. . ." She trailed off, unsure what to say. Cherrypaw felt body begin to retreat into itself as if it could just disappear that way.