[plum]

Returning to camp was difficult for a plethora of reasons- the prime thorn in the paw here being guilt. Camp was full of cats who knew Stormtalon, and hardly knew Plumstorm. She felt (perhaps wrongly) that she'd be persecuted, accused of letting the tom perish, crucified for her shortcomings as a shield of RiverClan. It felt like eyes would be on her, with Morningpaw in the medicine cat's den and Stormtalon gone... Plumstorm, as far as anybody knew, got away from the whole ordeal easily. She was painfully aware of this. Perhaps she should have stayed away longer. Maybe she and Kestrelstar could have...

With a pang of disappointment, the silvery molly scolds herself inwardly for thinking in such a way. She wasn't keen on facing these demons but at least she had him now. At least she could feel his warmth as they walked back home, and she could focus on the positives that might come of this mess than the negatives she would be facing.

His voice lilts in the murky quiet, and she looks at him. "... Yeah," she whispers, diverting her gaze again quickly. She could have said of course, or made some sort of comment. Naturally she would return to camp. But the way he'd said it, kind of sounded like he was thanking her for being with him, as opposed to letting them both remain individual yet present. She could have followed him back after a spell, or left before him. They could have walked home together but separate. But she returned to the Clan with him. And that was pretty damn significant.

Her gaze sweeps the clearing then, and she wonders how many of her Clanmates were awake. Who was thinking of Stormtalon now? Who was feeling a little peckish? Who was about to get up to use the dirtplace begrudgingly because they were so comfortable in their nest that they'd put it off earlier in exchange for temporary coziness? Blue eyes flash as they flit up to the gray sky. It was chilling to imagine where she'd be if she wasn't found tonight. But...

Gray-dipped paws follow the leader without hesitation. She'd been found, and she didn't really want to go away again just yet. The air between herself and Kestrelstar felt different, charged somehow. And Plumstorm knew he was going to have a hard time. She needed to be with him. Wanted to be.

The tom's den, so apart from everything else, was peaceful. Solitude fell over them after that spell of quiet and excited apprehension, and when Kestrelstar pauses to turn to her and press into her, warmth blossoms like another flower in her chest. His childish giggle draws a smile to her lips and suddenly Plumstorm is holding back a laugh of her own as she lifts her head to his chin in a happy acceptance of his former gesture. The shield continues on to brush her cheek up and across his neck.

His invitation is surprising, but not unwelcome, and before Plumstorm could really think about it at all, she blinks at him, blue eyes round. "Could I?" she asks softly, the hope in her tone nowhere near discreet. Never before had she really felt inclined to spend any length of time in this den. But, if she ever had that'd be a bit... Worrisome. Now, the idea of returning to the warrior's den in silence was disappointing. She didn't feel up to creeping over sleeping Clanmates, settling into a cold nest after everything that happened. And Kestrelstar, alone in his den with no Clanmates snoring or dreaming around him- Wasn't that even worse? "I... Don't want to leave," she finally admits. She'd been doing that a lot today, confessing to things. Being honest. It was new to her, the queen of closed doors and high walls and barbed defenses. Maybe it would be alright though, as long as it was Kestrelstar she was being honest with.