[Fawn]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

Amberpaw cocked her head to the side, following his stumbling speech. "Hey, don't worry about it. I think it's sweet you were worried about me," She answered, with another bright smile. The smile faded, however, when she remembered she wasn't supposed to be out here on her own - and, although she had never been much of a rule-breaker (she liked pleasing other cats, and cats who broke the rules all the time didn't do that), everyone needed some space sometimes. It had become part of her daily routine, and as happy as she was to see Fawnpaw - her happiness was now mixed with guilt.

"Hey, Fawnpaw, if me being out here doesn't come up, um... would you mind not telling anyone? I mean, don't lie if they ask you, but - maybe just - don't bring it up?" She felt bad for asking him to keep her secret, even partly. She wouldn't have wanted that on her, and she stopped for a minute before giving a little shake of her head and continuing. "Actually, you know what, uh - you don't have to do that. You can tell someone if you want to, I mean - sorry. You, uh, you didn't need my permission for that." Amberpaw didn't like feeling flustered, and she liked it less when she felt cornered, but she knew Fawnpaw hadn't been trying to corner her. He was being nice. She appreciated that, it felt good to have cats care about her.

"Troutrunner, huh?" The name wasn't familiar, but Amberpaw didn't know many of the warriors yet. She had met a few - all nice, really - but no one that she could recall being named Troutrunner. "Hey, I bet you'll make a great warrior. You're trying, right? That's a big part of it," Amberpaw grinned, momentarily forgetting her embarrassment. She was glad Fawnpaw had a new mentor. He was older than she was, and he'd probably get to be a warrior soon - that would be exciting. She couldn't wait to go and watch, and get to congratulate him afterwards. It would be the first time any of her friends had become a warrior, and she couldn't wait for it.

"By the way, I like your new look," She commented a moment later, glancing at the flower petals still stuck in his fur. "It's nice, it accents your fur and everything," Amberpaw added, before leaning forward and gently picking a couple of them off. "As much as I like it, something tells me you don't want to go back to camp like that." The end of her sentence was accented by a soft laugh, a hint of mischief sneaking onto her expression before it disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"I knew you could handle it," he tried to protest while battling the explosion of fuzziness within from being called sweet, "but... I wanted to make sure, I guess." The half-truth rested on the omission of his overworking mind that crafted the most traumatic of situations and devastation, even if there were no clues to suggest such a thing. Anxiety had its teeth sunk into him, only now loosening the grip since Amberpaw was obviously okay.

Her request dragged Fawnpaw back to the present with a puzzled 'hm?' spilling into her words while he attempted to form a better picture of where she stood on this. Until she was finished, he stood silently, mouth working like he was performing an intense calculation needed for comprehension. "Wow, it's... it's actually kind of flattering that you think I talk to others," Fawnpaw said, a laugh intertwined in his partial joke. A preference for logic bypassed the surface-level nature of her wish, instead prompting him to inquire, "Is it because you don't want anybody else coming out here? If it's where you go to have time alone..." That was where it occurred to him to take a step back. He didn't want to be the source of disruption.

Although he murmured his appreciation for the encouragement, Fawnpaw wasn't as convinced that he'd be a great warrior. It was difficult to envision being anything more than he was now, especially when warrior status tended to be incompatible with a peaceful view. "I'm just glad I don't have to worry about it," he confessed, almost guilty in how he peered away over his shoulder, staring at a future he was barreling toward but would've preferred to approach tentatively. "Not for another three moons, at least. I mean, I might not be any good at it-- like swimming? I learned how to with the SkyClan cats, and I swear they're already way better at it than I am." The memory elicited a frown, yet it was quickly startled off his muzzle when Amberpaw complimented his appearance, and he blinked dumbly for a moment.

And then he remembered. It flooded to him alongside the wave of leftover embarrassment. "Yeah?" Fawnpaw was a ball of skepticism, flattered, and shy weaved into one. "Truthfully, I'm pretty sure all they accentuate is my clumsiness since I didn't really intend on taking a flower-bath," he admitted, pawing a few of the petals away himself. When she said he probably shouldn't return to camp like that, Fawnpaw raised an eyebrow in mock offense and replied, "Hey, I'm starting to get the impression maybe you aren't as... uh, enthralled as you've led me to believe. Just for that I should knock you into the flowers too."