[Jesse]

Originally Posted by Vermin

His happily propelling fan tail slowly waned along with his hearty smile that started to crestfallen as he watched the white tom's eyes flood in dark emotion before looking away. That triggered more questions that bounced around in his brain echoing loudly than before, he shook his head reeling in his breath and puffing out. He didn't want to scare away his new friend. Cowpaw plopped down in front of him, surprisingly waiting for his answers instead of pinning more questions that will only make him more uncomfortable. As he listened, something tickled his skin triggering an aggravating itch that made him instantly scratch pulling some fur strands while doing so. Though, he didn't raise a white flag to him and continued to watch his white fellow friend with a tip of his head.
"White coat?" he repeated, reeling in what he said. White coat? Cowpaw watched the rogue's white fur and it hit him. He means his family, ohhh! "I'm so sorry that happened to you! Family shouldn't do that to each other. Nope!" The apprentice stood up dramatically, lashing his tail with green eyes glowing with kindness. " I'll be your new family. We are friends and all. Friends and family, it kinda means the same and it sounds the same and means the same thing!" He thought about it more, looking up thoughtfully. "Mm, well, I think so." Giggling floated around the young tom, hyperly jumping up as he backed up playfully toward the tall grass. "Follow me! I wanna show you something uhh..," his head swiveled right and left before looking back at Itchy, speaking in a loud whisper again. "Itss a secrettt," he dragged his words looking around once more and disappeared in the greens with tail waving high, gesturing him to follow.

Itchy looked over Cowpaw's puzzled expression as he echoed what he had just said. He could tell he hadn't a clue what a whitecoat was, which made the tightness in his chest instantly unravel. Relief flooded over him as he realized that if Cowpaw hadn't seen a Whitecoat, it was unlikely they were out wandering about looking for him. But his conclusion only drew more questions..

He hadn't any time to dwell on it before Cowpaw interrupted his thoughts with his usual headache-inducing shouts. Oh bother. Now he was going on about family. Family? It sounded like he had drawn the conclusion that Whitecoat's were his family, which couldn't have been farther from the truth. Or, perhaps they had different interpretations of the word. After all, Cowpaw had so far proved to be alien beyond his imagination, it wasn't a stretch to assume that their language was too. No, he thought, just stupid.

Be my family? That was the last thing he'd expected to hear. He almost had to double take and yet, he still couldn't wrap his head around it. Why was this creature who had only met him moments ago, so unconditionally kind to him? It was surreal. He had left a place where being treated warmly- or for that matter, any sort of any interaction at all- was scarce to none. And yet, this complete stranger beamed like the sun in his presence. He noticed a strange fluttery, feeling tickling his stomach and a indescribable warmth swell in his chest. He almost felt as if he might be sick, but it wasn't particularly unpleasant. No, in fact, to his bewilderment, it was quite pleasant. It was a sensation he'd never felt before- and he found himself craving more.

Itchy was silent. He was out of words. What could he say? Thankfully, Cowpaw was more than happy to speak for him. A secret? He didn't know how he felt about that, but reluctantly he wobbled to his feet and followed. He didn't have much of a choice, did he? He was sure Cowpaw would only pester him until he did. Not bothering to keep up, he picked his way through the foliage after him, craning his long, slender neck above the grass to follow the rustling trail as Cowpaw bounded ahead of him.

@Vermin