Bonding over herbs [closed]

The sun high in the sky, Smallbean sat inside the medicine den, leafing through a pile of herbs. Even though he enjoyed the warmer weather of Greenleaf, he still found himself enjoying himself inside. Softbreeze wasn't around at the moment, she was likely out herb hunting, taking advantage of the warmer weather and gathering freshly grown herbs. He made a mental note to go out with her and gather herbs sometime, maybe he could check up on her. He'd been worried about her lately, especially since she broke down during their discussion about one of the previous medicine cat meetings.

It wasn't long until he heard pawsteps nearby the den entrance. Focusing on the herbs, he only muttered a soft "hello?", not taking time to spare a glance behind him. If he was needed he would be told, after all.

"Just me, Smallbean." Fawnstep grunted as he padded into the den. Bruised pride caused his gait to be stiff, pushing away the pain even as he entered the healer's den. The healing process had been brutal on his malnourished frame despite the vital youth that still coursed in the young tom's veins. It had taken quite some time for him to consider visiting the den and did so when he knew it was just Smallbean. Softbreeze's elder apprentice seemed to talk less and after the dreams with Starclan, there was a frail sense a familiarity. Flickering his tail, the slender warrior settled back on his haunches and attempted to draw himself to his full height. Subconsciously his teeth clenched as he looked down the bridge of his nose at his clanmate, "Even the clan's best warrior could use poppy seeds every now and then, alright? Don't make a thing out of it." He huffed, mostly at himself, as his sharp gaze raked through the den, avoiding Smallbean as he waited for  a response.

At the sound of Fawnstep's voice, he turned around, finding the young warrior standing in den entrance. A small smile formed on his maw. He muttered a small greeting to the him, quickly silencing himself so that the tom could explain what he needed. He didn't seem to be particularly hurt or sick in any way, but Smallbean was well aware of the fact that he was among the warriors taken away to the Asylum's prison. The cats who came back didn't seem like they were in very good shape, and if he recalled correctly, most had come to see the him and Softbreeze. However, he didn't recall seeing Fawnstep stop in, so he was glad that he finally decided to come for some treatment.

When the warrior spoke again, he couldn't hide an amused twitch of his whiskers. "Yeah, i suppose so." He stood up, stretching out his hind legs before turning to the herb stores. "I can give you poppy seeds, but know they'll make you a bit drowzy." He picked up a couple of the seeds, placing them in the center of his paw pad. After taking a moment to think, he picked up a few chamomile flowers, deciding that Fawnstep could eat them if he wished. "Y'know," He ventured, trying to fill the silence, "You don't need to be ashamed to visit the medicine den." He pulled a beech leaf from it's pile and placed both the poppy seeds and the chamomile on it. He pushed the leaf toward Fawnstep, sitting down in front of him. "The flowers are chamomile, by the way. They'll give you strength if you feel like you need it. I know that the asylum wasn't exactly kind to you."

He'd hope that Smallbean would simply give him the herbs and let him be on his way; apparently, that would not be the case. Fawnstep let out a low agitated grumble at the medicine cat's words. Attention to his weakness or even acknowledgement of what he had been through was entirely off-putting. Already he was regretting relenting to the call of relief. But, the warrior supposed this was better than hearing Softbreeze go off on one of her endless monologues.

Tail flickering with annoyance, Fawnstep regarded the medicine cat for a moment. Smallbean was unimposing and rather unimpressive in his eyes but there was an underlying measure of respect for the tom who'd trained as a senior warrior before becoming a medicine cat. As Asylum had proven, that kind of knowledge could be as useful as it was lethal. After a moment of not speaking, he hummed softly and considered the other tom's words, "If I fall asleep, tell other cats you ordered me to do so but I highly doubt that will happen anyways."

As if remembering suddenly Smallbean had told him not to be ashamed, his features screwed in disgust, "I'm not ashamed, I just hardly need it. You might have some cats in here all the time after patrols but I won't be one of them." The words grew snappish at the end as his lip curled ever so slightly before turning back to a neutral expression. A nearly inaudible sigh ensued, "Chamomile sounds nice. Not because Asylum or anything." Glancing back and forth between the presented herbs and the medicine cat, the brown and white warrior finally dipped his head to lap up the delicate flowers and seeds. If there was any resulting bitterness left in his maw, he showed not sign of it.

Smallbean averted his gaze when Fawnstep responded to him with an irritated tone. He always felt a bit hurt when a cat was cross with him, but deep down he had the feeling that the other tom didn't really mean it. Whether or not the feeling was true, he didn't know. He quickly brushed it off, pleased to see that the warrior decided to eat the chamomile. After a moment he reached out and grabbed the beech leaf between his claws, pulling it back toward him so that he could set it back on the pile. "Let me know if you feel like you need anything else, we have herbs to spare." He chuckled, gesturing to the herb stores in the back of the den. They had stocked up on herbs the moment they started re-growing. "Or, if you want, you could stick around for a bit. It's nice to have company every now and then. If you have any questions, i'd be happy to answer them! Otherwise you're free to go." He paused for a moment before continuing. "If you do choose to leave now, i wouldn't suggest going out on a patrol for a bit. The poppy seeds take effect rather quickly."

Stick around for a bit. Already, he felt a weary calm come over him. The tom had to admit that the idea was enticing, even if he would never explicitly let Smallbean know that. Fawnstep felt himself sinking further into the shallow earth. This was perhaps the most contented he had felt in a while. Through a half-lidded gaze, he regarded the medicine cat. His clanmate had provided this sensation, one that helped the achiness of his muscles melt away and the burden of his own ego disappear into the air like a light morning fog. It was better to stay here than let some other cat see his weakened state in leaving the den. After a long drawn out pause, the brown and white tom glanced away and heard himself mutter, "Thank you."

Absentmindedly, his claws began to pick at the earth, scoring it with tiny marks. This was perhaps the most still Fawnstep had been for any extended period of time. Even when he had been restricted to the confines of the Asylum cage, his paws had been constantly busy with curious pacing in spite of the growing weakness of his limbs. For once, he didn't try to fight the exhaustion and even relished in it. Perhaps Smallbean knew what he was talking about after all. Finally, he spoke, meow drifting through the still air, "So what do medicine cats really do all day? I know Softbreeze talks all the time but that's all I've ever heard. Surely you're more fun than that, Smallbean." It was a genuine question and a teasing jibe all at once. Blue eyes sparkled with a devilish intent as he glanced back to the medicine cat.

Smallbean sat in silence, expecting to hear a rejection, or even just no response from the other tom, but was pleasantly surprised to instead hear a quiet 'thank you.' He smiled as he turned his back to Fawnstep, muttering a small "You're welcome," in response to him. Quiet fell between the two as he continued sorting through herb piles until Fawnstep broke the silence, asking him what medicine cats do. He let out a small laugh."Oh, well..." he began, pausing for a short moment. "I'd assume every medicine cat has different routines, but i can tell you what i do." He picked up a leaf between his claws and moved it from one pile to another. "I personally like to spend a good amount of my time sorting through herbs. I go through the same piles over and over again, and although it might sound purposeless and boring, i find... comfort in it. It just makes me happy to know that everything is where i remember it and to know that it's still there- if that makes sense." He finished sorting through the pile and turned back to Fawnstep before speaking once more. "Sometimes i visit the flower field and look at the flowers though, they're quite pretty during newleaf. That probably doesn't seem too fun, but i don't really find myself doing things like competing in races or climbing trees." He stopped, hoping that was a good response. Now that he thought about it, he really didn't spend too much time 'having fun' like he used to- although back when he was an apprentice he was too afraid to do things like that with anyone. Perhaps he should try going outside the den more and spending time with other clanmates apart from just healing their wounds.