"Oh that can't be right."[P]

[Idiotic.Bean101]

Leopardflight-She/Her
16 Moons
PURRKS
Chill of Death-Inactive


--------------------


Leopardflight stretched as she woke up.
Honestly, she wasn't sure what to do for the day.
Things seemed pretty fine for the time being, so who knows.

For now, she just walked over and sat by the entrance to the den with a yawn. She was kind of in the entrance, but far enough to the side to where she didn't think she was super in the way.

She needed to wake up the rest of the way before doing anything, really.


@nyme

[nyme]

I'M TOO SMOOTH, YOU NEVER SEE ME COMING
NEVER IN A HURRY, I'M JUST MOVIN' FAST

──

REDFACE . 28 MOONS . HE/HIM . WINDCLAN?

Hah—so. So, uh.

Hm.

It isn't as though Redface had thought he'd never have to face this peticular situation, just that he'd really, really assumed that he would know how to handle it when it happened. Or that it would happen in a way that was far more controlled and deliberate than, uh. Than this.

He could easily slip past her. She's hardly filling up the entire entryway, after all, and she can't see him and it's not like she'd even know, would she? Redface is a rusting ghost, petrified in his nest as he assesses Leopardflight's back and the predicament he's in because of it. Just squeeze right through. He could do it. Bumrush the exit and leave no time for questioning.

But then what? What about when they're both in the den? What if they're both put on a patrol together? What if, stars forbid, this exact situation occurs again—then what? Redface swallows, mangled throat working hard to push down his rising frustration. He's getting ahead of himself. Suppose she's forgotten? In a bizarre twist of luck, his return to Windclan has been greatly facilitated by the fact that his death was barely registered in the first place. His forgettability has made it so easy to get back into the swing of things that he just hadn't been all that worried about—

this.

And maybe there's no need to be. So, nice and easy and only somewhat cautious, Redface lifts and stretches and eases right past Leopardflight.

@Idiotic.Bean101 ; LEOPARDFLIGHT

[Idiotic.Bean101]

Leopardflight-She/Her
16 Moons
PURRKS
Chill of Death-Inactive


------------------


Leopardflight wasn't thinking about much as she sat, when-
A vaguely familiar scent seemed to brush by her, snapping her into being fully awake.

She's not sure why.
She couldn't pick it out.
But it caused a pit in her gut.

Leopardflight couldn't stop herself.
She suddenly had to know who it was exactly that was passing her.
"Hey, wait-"

She stopped for a moment.
Okay, she doesn't know where she was going with this, but she just hopes the other cat will stop.

"Uh, sorry, which-which cat are you?"
She was starting to memorize some scents, but she still had to ask sometimes.
And this one... she's really gotta know.


@nyme

[nyme]

I'M TOO SMOOTH, YOU NEVER SEE ME COMING
NEVER IN A HURRY, I'M JUST MOVIN' FAST

──

REDFACE . 28 MOONS . HE/HIM . WINDCLAN?

Ah. He's been caught.

Redface halts midstep, a one-eyed look of distress flashed over his shoulder and a thin ridge of alarm spiking down his back (which he promptly forces to lie flat; she's a clanmate, not a badger, for stars' sake).

This...right. Well. This had to happen some time. He just wishes it could be happening to someone else...and then he gets all annoyed with himself. Where's your nerve, Redface? Where's your damned spine?

A thick swallow, and he's rocking back to settle onto the ground near Leopardflight. Close enough to project his dry whisper as best he can, far enough that she's not deaing with a cat who should be dead right up on top of her. And he sits, and he's thinking, and he's just. Quiet. For a little longer than he wants to be.

"S'up." Right, so, that's probably not the way to go about this. He coughs. ".....................Sorry." That isn't, either. He hasn't even answered her question. He's not sure that he even wants to. The apology gets out first.

@Idiotic.Bean101 ; LEOPARDFLIGHT

[Idiotic.Bean101]

Leopardflight-She/Hed
16 Moons
PURRKS
Chill of Death-Inactive


-----------------


It's quiet, for a long moment, before she finally gets a response.
A very... rough response. Sounds like it's difficult for this cat to talk.
But also... the voice strikes her as familiar, just as the scent did.

She can't... it's a voice she feels like she should remember.

Anyway, the response definitely isn't to her question, though.
A greeting, and then an apology, for some reason.
"Uh, it's fine?" She said, a little confused, but she's more in a 'I gotta know who this is' curiosity now that she is not letting go anytime soon "What's your name?"


@nyme

[nyme]

I'M TOO SMOOTH, YOU NEVER SEE ME COMING
NEVER IN A HURRY, I'M JUST MOVIN' FAST

──

REDFACE . 28 MOONS . HE/HIM . WINDCLAN

He can't help his choked little laugh. Part of him wonders if he could get away with just saying no. Just, nah, don't worry about it. Just, go on ahead and live your life, kiddo. But that's weird and patronizing and he really just needs to get over himself and—

"Rr—ghuhm," that's a hoarse cough, "red. F–ss. Face." It hurts less to just swallow that long a and push out a watery hiss for the end of his name, but if he's going to do this then he'll do it right. Neither of them will be done any good by reluctance.

"M'glad. Yh...safe. Grew. S'good." He says it quickly, as if to confirm, yeah, that Redface. Not that he has any place to really go gushing about her progress. He's just some guy that died in front of her one day, right? Even so, Redface feels compelled to congratulate her somehow. Maybe to make this less weird. Maybe to make it a good thing. Maybe because, even with a mangled throat like his, he can't help but babble under stress.

@Idiotic.Bean101 ; LEOPARDFLIGHT

[Idiotic.Bean101]

Leopardflight-She/Her
16 Moons(as of rp)
PURRKS
Chill of Death-Inactive


-------------------


It was quiet for a moment.
And then, a name she definitely recognized struggled to come out of the other cat.
Redface.

He continued, only clarifying as he said he was glad she was safe, and had grown.

Leopardflight is dead silent.
That's why there was some vaguely familiar stuff.
And there is this... pit in her stomach.

She hasn't thought about that day in a while...
But it's not like she can forget.

She doesn't want to make him talk more, it sounds painful, but she has... so many questions.
Mostly one.

After a very long moment of just silent 'staring', she finally manages to get one word out.
It's quiet.
"How...?"


@nyme

[nyme]

I'M TOO SMOOTH, YOU NEVER SEE ME COMING
NEVER IN A HURRY, I'M JUST MOVIN' FAST

──

REDFACE . 28 MOONS . HE/HIM . WINDCLAN?

How. How.

If he could, he'd talk for a day straight. Until her ears fell off and she told him to get lost. Really, he would, but even the tight swallow he forces down just then has him cringing at the thought of making even another peep. He will—stars, of course he will—but it'll be nowhere near what he wants to tell her. Nothing like how she should hear it.

There's a price for everything. They've both paid theirs.

"Lucky." He grits out, then coughs, then swallows again. "S'diff rent. Dyin'. Diff rent than y'think." Because they all have the chance to ask to come back and...and he vowed to himself that he wouldn't dwell on how easy it'd been for him, how odd that was, so he doesn't. I earned this. I did. He didn't. But things happen. The sun still sets at the end of the day. Bigger things to worry about than worth.

"I'unno. S'weird." Maybe that's all that needed to be said. It's just weird. Redface pulls a dark paw up, idly tracintg it through the air in front of the younger warrior's face, maybe testing to see if she's got any vision left at all. That rogue sure did on a number on her.

"Hurt? Okay? Y'good??"

@Idiotic.Bean101 ; LEOPARDFLIGHT

[Idiotic.Bean101]

Leopardflight-She/Her
16 Moons(as of rp)
PURRKS
Chill of Death-Inactive


---------------------


Lucky?
She's not sure lucky could describe anything.
But... since he came back, maybe it could.

He said it was weird.
And then he asked if she was okay?
Her?
Why?
He got... the worst of it.

She had just been... stupid.

"I just..." She was having trouble finding words "I'm sorry."


@nyme

[nyme]

I'M TOO SMOOTH, YOU NEVER SEE ME COMING
NEVER IN A HURRY, I'M JUST MOVIN' FAST

──

REDFACE . 28 MOONS . HE/HIM . WINDCLAN?

His head cocks dramatically to one side and a gravelly hrr? of confusion crackles out. Sorry. She's sorry? What in the world could she...might she be...

Oh. She can't possibly feel responsible, does she? Nah, kid, you were an apprentice! A young one! That was totally on me 'n Ravenhawk; it was two on one versus that little punk who hurt you! Frankly, the loss was a humiliating one. Having the odds pointed out and the outcome chastised by Ye Olde Council Of Dead Cats had Redface so retroactively mortified that he'd almost totally forgotten what it might've felt like for Leopardflight. Leopardpaw.

Stars almighty. He's shaking his head furiously, knowing she's got no way to tell.

"Not you. S'our fault. W— ... " Redface breaks off with another hard, pained swallow and a huff of frustration because he just wants to talk. Tell her that no matter how you spin that day, the blame was on the warriors present. "S'our jobta—keepya—ssssfff." He strains. "Cost y'r eyes. Shouln'ta h—a," — hack — "'appened. S'not on y-ou, th ough." So, she'd gotten excited and run off. So, she maybe even knew better at the time. The kid should've had to watch two competent warriors fend off an easy threat and then lost a few days to cleaning out the nursery, not her eyes. He's got this whole colorful rant about it welling up in his chest—but there's no longer the room there'd once been to let it out.

@Idiotic.Bean101 ; LEOPARDFLIGHT