[P] A Sleek In Crisis

[Dust]

Cherryswirl let a soft sigh fall from her lips, her eyes scanning quickly around for a familiar figure. She had... been neglectful in her friend duties for way too long. Sleekfur had been suffering and Cherry hadn't been there for him - how could she even argue with herself that she was a good friend. Well... That would change today. After almost a moon and a half, she was finally ready for face and process what had happened.

"Sleekfur?" The warrior called to the other feline, approaching slowly, "How are you feeling?" Cherry gave a genuinely warm smile to the other, hoping to get a real answer from the stubborn boy. Only this time, she might have to use her stern voice to make sure he was being honest.

[ @The-Almighty-Sleekster - Sleekfur ]

[Sleek]

Sleekfur had been sitting around, as he had been for the past moon and a half or so, ever since....the Incident. Now, he had always despised his injury, but that wasn't the true reason for his sadness. No, his true depression was due to his friend abandoning him. And this certain friend was now addressing him. "Huh?" he mumbled, glancing up for a second before staring at the ground again. He had lost all his protection that he had set up around himself, all his confidence, everything that made Sleekfur Sleekfur. Through all this trauma, he had expected Cherryswirl, his friend, to help him. Be a shoulder to lean on. Instead, she had avoided him. Avoided him at the meeting, avoided him in the clearing, avoided him in the den. So why the hell was she speaking to him now? "What do you know?" he spat, putting his fury into words. "You abandoned me, left me for dead. All those times you went and turned around just because I was there." He paused, panting, knowing he must look psycho right now but not caring. "So why the sudden interest?" he demanded, eyes narrowing.

@Dust

[Dust]

"I..." She seemed to choke up momentarily, her eyes searching the ground for the right words to even say. Despite Sleekfur's biting words, He was right. Cherryswirl really had abandoned him. And she was trying so very hard to bite back her own biting words about how she had saved him. It wouldn't be fair to Sleekfur. He had been dealing with his struggle all alone... She had been avoiding him. Not because of his injury... but because of her... fear and uncertainty following the fox attack. Time had given her the chance to process through her feelings... but in turn had left Sleek alone to deal with his alone.

"I'm sorry, Sleekfur." Cherry meowed finally after an long, heavy moment of silence. "I don't know how you feel right now... I did avoid you. I was scared. I was trying to process how I felt about the situation, but I left you to deal with something so tragic all by yourself... and that was wrong of me." She paused a moment longer. Would honesty help...?

"Sleek, even as I carried you on my back... to the medicine den - I was scared. When I learned you had lost your limb... I felt responsible that I hadn't been able to fight as viciously as you had, that I hadn't been able to prevent your injury..." Cherryswirl raised her gaze to meet Sleekfur's.

"You shouldn't have to be or feel alone... I want to be here for you, if you'll let me..." She would understand if Sleek didn't feel ready, if he was unable or needed time to process his clear anger and upset to someone who was supposed to be a friend. As much as it hurt.

[ @The-Almighty-Sleekster - Sleekfur ]

[Sleek]

[Sorry I haven't replied in so long - Thanksgiving week and all]

Sleekfur stared at the ground crossly. His anger slowly dissipated, though, with each word exchanged. All this confession and apology mumbo jumbo...it wasn't for him. And as much as he wanted to forgive her, and to finally have his friend back, he hadn't felt this in control in...a long time. His self-confidence had crumbled over the days, but now it seemed it was finally building itself back up. So he wouldn't let this moment slip from his grasp.
Narrowing his eyes, Sleekfur lifted his burning gaze up to Cherryswirl. "See, you can say what you want, but it doesn't replace your actions. A simple 'sorry' won't just change what you did. And yes, that was wrong of you." Sleekfur paused, taking a moment to recollect his thoughts. Holding a grudge against a clanmate wasn't very great...especially when it was one of his friends. Hard as it was, Sleekfur had to admit that he still couldn't get over the fact that deep down, buried low, he still thought of Cherryswirl as a friend, even if she abandoned him. But maybe that was just the type of cat that he was.
"Look, Cherry. I...I don't think its very intelligent of me to keep this against you. But...I don't know if I can forgive you for this. It...It might take some time for me to process this. I hope you understand." It seemed as if Sleekfur's tone had dialed down a bunch, becoming much softer and understanding. He had evidently cooled down a little, and he watched Cherryswirl's reaction.

[ @Dust ]

[Dust]

[ So sorry Sleek!! ;-; December has been crazy busy!! ]

Though her fur bristled, it was in recognition of her poor actions. It hurt knowing that her words couldn't mend what had happened, what he had felt... but she had already expected that... Didn't mean it didn't hurt. Lifting a genuinely apologetic gaze up to the other, Cherryswirl nodded slowly,

"You don't have to forgive me Sleek. Take as much time as you need... If you want, I can wait for you to come to me? I still want to help you and be here for you. But... I want to make sure that you're comfortable doing so."

[ @Sleek ]

[Sleek]

(heh heh, no problemo)

SLEEKFUR

The tripod raised his muzzle, surprised that Cherryswirl didn't disagree with him. While most of what he said had been true, he was still over exaggerating a little bit. "Thank you for understanding," he said, nodding. "I will talk to you again when I feel comfortable. But, as I said...it will still take me some time, and I am glad that you respect that boundary." He sighed, "So I guess that means we have cleared things up. Talk to you later...whenever that may be," he said, dipping his head and signaling an end to the conversation.

@Dust