[lone]

Originally Posted by lost

The gray cat hadn't realized what sh had said during her rambling until he repeated it. Even though he said the same exact thing to her, she suddenly fluffed up and angled her ears backward, at a loss for words at her foolishness. She really had to learn to stop rambling. It was a bad habit that always left her saying things she shouldn't'.
But, he also repeated the words back to her. Clearly, it worked in her favor.
"Ah, yeah. Best friends do that, right? I mean, of course they do. What are best friends for? Best friends make everyone feel more complete than anything else, right? Or is that a mate? Mates do that, not best friends. But that can't be right, because we aren't mates. We are just best friends. I don't remember anymore. I guess it can be both? It can be, right?" She was going on and on again. "Right, Badgerpaw? I'm not crazy, best friends can feel this way, too? It's not just a mate thing."
She had to stop saying the word 'mate.'
"Any cat can feel like this at any given time, yes! Feelings aren't role specific, they do whatever they want. Cats who hate each other can feel their heart racing when they are around each other. And cats that love each other can. And... and..." She drew off, running out of breath. She had talked way too much, and she was starting to realize that.
She wrinkled her nose, "Sorry, I talk too much. I'm just nervous. I don't know why. Don't ask, because I can't answer. Why am I nervous? Wait, if I don't know you definitely don't know. Ah! I need to stop. Sorry, sorry!"
Sh was embarrassed now.

The black and white tom wasn't quite sure how to respond to her comments. It had always been easy for him to talk to Lostpaw, she was so... eager and sweet, but now he seemed to be having trouble. Tongue-tied, some might call it. Thankfully she continued onwards, giving him a little more time to think of what to say. "You don't have to be sorry!" He laughed, partly amused at her rambling speech.
　
But still, Badgerpaw wasn't quite sure how to respond. Everything she had said, there was a lot he wanted to address, but first he figured he should answer her question from earlier... that was probably a good way to start, right? Answering a question? Maybe it would bring up more subject material, better subject material so that he wouldn't feel so awkward? "Uh - what you said earlier, about best friends and m-mates..." His voice trailed off, cracking just a little at the word 'mates.' It felt so unnatural to say that. He had never thought about having a mate or kits before, so the thought of either one now was a little unnerving. Badgerpaw hadn't really thought that he would settle down and have a family. He didn't really picture himself as the type to 'fall in love.' After all, why would you want a family when you could be free to do as you pleased without one?
　
Though, if Lostpaw were ever to have a family, he would be sure to play 'Uncle' to the kits. Technically Badgerpaw wouldn't have a relation to them, but he could still be their adoptive uncle! Right? That would be fun. "I don't think you're crazy, I'm - I'm pretty sure that's a best friend thing too," He finished after a moment. There. Best friends, just as he had always known. Everything was back to normal.
　
Oh, Badgerpaw hated change... why couldn't it ever be easy? Desperately, his mind raced as he tried to find something else to talk about, and then he just seemed to start talking.
　
"But, you know, I mean it's not always a best friend thing, like my parents? I never really knew them but I'm pretty sure they were together for a really long time and I guess they would have said stuff like that sometimes. They were best friends growing up, did you know that? And then they ended up mates. Can you believe that?" Rambling. Like Lostpaw did, maybe she was rubbing off on him again - was this a bad or a good thing?
　
Right now, he wasn't sure. Right now it felt like more of an embarassment then anything else but maybe, maybe he was wrong. The tom could feel his pelt heating up and his ears turning red. Why couldn't he just have shut up? "Sorry..." His voice trailed off and he tried not to look directly at her. At least she couldn't see his ears turning red, and hopefully couldn't feel the heat that he was positive must be radiating off of him... from how warm he felt, it felt as though green-leaf had just gotten a whole lot hotter.