Marblestrike groaned as soon as she noticed the tom approaching. Turning around was supposed to say 'stay away'. Did you not see that? She shifted back around to face Palmettoleaf as he sat down- right next to her. The molly not so subtly scooted away, wanting a bit more space. "Hello," she sighed at his cheerful expression. Was he one of those always happy cats? Because they were annoying and she wouldn't be able to tolerate him if that was the case. Maybe she should just walk away; that would certainly get her point across. That was also what she would do in any other situation, but as her blue eyes locked on his green ones, and as they shined oh-so-brightly, she found herself unable to move. She felt her eyes widen slightly out of her narrowed glare without her allowing it as she stared quite obviously at the tom. Finally, with a blink, she was able to tear her gaze away and looked out at the clearing. Her ears pinned back in anger, but this time with herself for looking like a doe-eyed she-cat. She didn't even like him! He just looked good, that was all.

The molly scoffed at her hypocritical thoughts. You of all cats should know not to act based on looks. Marblestrike turned back as the tom continued talking, an unattractive snort of amusement escaping her as she took in his tone. "The one and only," she replied sarcastically. Her tail flipped, but this time in a way to gesture to the other cat rather than out of irritation. "Yes, I knew your name was Palmettoleaf. Rather unique naming." She was actually being friendly- well, it was hard to tell with her bland voice that made her appear bored. But she was trying to be less grumpy, and she wasn't sure why. But then she caught sight of the tom looking her over and she shook her pelt self-consciously. Are there it goes, she thought. Another chance gone. It was typical for toms to look her over like this, something she was subjected to based off her very unique fur. Her mother had appropriately named her Marble, as her pelt resembled a marbled surface. A white coat was splattered with black and grays, making a beautiful pattern. Her big blue eyes popped out against her fur, bright against her gray scale fur.

Marblestrike's mother had always teasingly said that she would get all the toms, and she hadn't been wrong. That didn't mean that the molly enjoyed it, however. Quite the opposite- she hated it, and now at the first sign of this tom looking her over she considered leaving then and now. But, meeting his gaze once more, he still appeared friendly. There wasn't a trace of flirty attitude, at least not yet, so the molly tried to soothe herself. Gazing into his eyes proved to be dangerous for her, however, so she quickly looked away. She didn't really know what to say, so instead she laid in silence and went back to looking around the clearing, doing as much as she could to ignore the tom next to her. Still she couldn't help but feel as if Palmettoleaf was watching her, even if he wasn't, and moved around uncomfortably in her spot. Maybe she should just leave anyways, since it was starting to feel awkward between them- or maybe that was just her feeling this way? She settled on just waiting for the tom to do something rather than leaving just yet, surprising herself yet again. There were many circumstances like this where she had been long gone, so why not now? Not being able to answer these questions made her uneasy, so she tried not to think about it as she kept her attention ahead of her.

"That she did," Marblestrike agreed, a bit of surprise sparking her eyes as Palmettoleaf returned her sarcasm. Well then, he wasn't one of those ever-cheerful cats. At least that was a plus; she wouldn't have to suffer her way through this conversation. Well, hopefully she wouldn't. "No, 'strike' is because I was pretty much better at battle than my mentor." This may be a bit of an exaggeration, but the molly was pretty good at fighting and had picked up all the moves rather quickly. Unable to resist, she unsheathed her claw and nonchalantly inspected them. Really, she was waiting to see what the tom's reaction would be. He hadn't run of thus far, but would this do it? Or maybe he was more stubborn than a burr and wouldn't leave even if she did claw him. Lucky for Palmettoleaf, while she wasn't necessarily loyal or trusting to Skyclan she wouldn't attack her own clanmates- at least not without reason. She promptly put her claws away and instead tucked her paws under her chest.

The mottled cat noticed that her companion was eyeing the other cats in the clearing, most likely wondering why they were pretty much avoiding her at all costs. Had he noticed the apprentice basically run away from her either? A small chuckle escaped her as she realized that pretty much all the toms out at the moment had tried their luck with her, and had promptly ran away after suffering the brute of her aggression. Palmettoleaf was proving not to be the same as the rest, but then again she hadn't been quite so snappy and challenging with him yet. He hadn't been as outright flirty and obvious as the other toms, though, but they would wait and see if his attitude would change.

Marblestrike's eyes narrowed once more when the friendly tom's gaze fell on her. She found her fur bristling at his questions. "I have friends," she snapped indignantly. Well, namely two- her best friend, Blazingcomet, and her current apprentice, Bouncepaw. But she wouldn't admit to the number being so low, instead her chin was raised in defiance. "They're just not here right now. Besides, I prefer to be alone. Much better than dealing with everyone else." Her eyes glittered as her challenging gaze met Palmettoleaf, daring him to call her out on her rather unpopular ranking in the clan.

"Really," Marblestrike insisted though she knew Palmettoleaf was asking in a playful manor. She surprised herself by almost smiling, just managing to keep it hidden. Normally when forced to converse with others, she didn't even have to fake a frown- it was just there naturally. Mostly because cats had a tendency to get on her nerves, a fact that the whole clan knew. But here she was, fighting a smile beside this tom. She gave the tom a more thoughtful look the next time she glanced his way and she found him already looking at her with a smile.

Weirdly enough, she was satisfied at the fact that the tom got a bit uneasy at her claws, and she took note of his own unsheathed paws. She picked up on his warning as well; while he came off as friendly, he definitely wasn't one of those too trusting cats. She had learned about both this tom and her own standing in one small gesture. It seemed that Palmettoleaf was a logical cat and was quick to react, both were qualities that Marblestrike viewed as important. He would actually have a chance at living as a loner. She also learned that he thought she'd be the type to attack her own clanmate- over literally nothing. The molly knew she was a grump, but seriously had she ever gone on a spree attacking others? She didn't think so, but it seemed that she wasn't put past this by others. Being as moody as she was apparently gave her the viewpoint that she would attack, and she wondered if others in the clan shared this as well. Did this mean her place in the clan was threatened as well? She hoped not; while she wan't loyal to Skyclan it was still safer than out by herself. The feline returned his look with a level gaze, her blue eyes not giving away the thoughts swirling behind them. She made no attempt to pass the move off as a joke. Sometimes it was good for others to be a bit wary of her; maybe this would keep any flirty thoughts he previously had out of his head. And maybe, just maybe, it meant he wouldn't approach her after this encounter. One less cat to worry about, right?

A huff escaped the molly and she rolled her eyes. "Last time I checked, you weren't my father or my mentor." Her eyes still sparked with anger, more so than before. Marblestrike didn't like to be treated like a kit, or looked down on by any cat in this clan. As far as she was concerned, she was better equipped for survival than any other one here and didn't need their advice. She would like to see them try to live by themselves, without the protection of their clanmates. Soon she found herself glaring daggers at Palmettoleaf. "Excuse me, but I didn't ask for your opinion," she snapped. "If I want to be alone then that's just what I'll do. It has nothing to do with believing anything, it's just what I prefer. Not every cat is the same, you know." The she-cat tried to reign her temper back in before she started shouting, but she had a short fuse that had just been lit. It was hard to take back the flame once developed, but she would try to do just that. Looking at the tom seemed to only anger her now, so she turned her head away to angrily stare off into the clearing instead as she tried to cool off.