have we met? [c]

Ugh. Auburnflare hated visting the medicine cat's den unless he truly had to. As an apprentice, duties had brought him here a time or two. Every so often he'd popped in to help Echosong but usually would only pester the other tom as they shared tongues around camp. This particular day he'd gotten something stuck in his pad on patrol. Likely a thorn.

The warrior had complained on the way until the patrol leader sent him back. It wasn't that he wanted to leave but the pain was annoyingly persistent. As he padded through the den entrance, injured paw only gingerly brushing the ground, he called out, "Echosong, you better have a cure for- oh." Stunned blue eyes stared into Fawnshine's gaze and he paused. Typically, he wasn't the sheepish type but his ears heated softly.

"You're not Echosong... not that that's a bad thing. I mean, hi, Fawnshine. Can you fix my pad? I got something in it." Auburnflare didn't quite fumble over the words but his lack of certainty showed in that moment. Quickly, the casual expression transformed into an overly confident grin as he regarded the medicine cat. Her gaze had burned in the back of his skull since the clan had first returned to the forest. Talking to her now, on his own, it felt different than their fleeting interactions. He couldn't help but want to know more.

The tom blinked as she asked to see his paw. Of course, was his brain filled with down? Auburnflare lifted his pad, showing her the wound that had sent him limping back to camp like a badger had swallowed his whole foot. Quickly, she nipped the problem from his paw, causing a brief stab of pain to rise up in protest. It took everything in him to not jump back dramatically, instead settling for the fur along his spine raising. His whiskers twitched as the sensation died away slightly, "I thought medicine cats were supposed to have healing paws, not cause pain. You must have been taught by some warrior."

His eyes glowed with a usual level of mischief as his whiskers twitched, the teasing tone obvious as he regarded Fawnshine. She had already set to work smothering the wound in a pungent poultice and quickly wrapping it. A soft exhale at her expertise left the sides of Auburnflare's maw. Some cats took for granted the work of a medicine cat, but having firsthand experienced life without one, he was endlessly impressed with their abilities. Not to mention overwhelmingly grateful. Testing the paw, the brown and white warrior couldn't believe how much it helped instantly.

Meeting the medicine cat's gaze, he tipped his head slightly, "I don't know how you do it, making this look like such an easy feat. I wouldn't even know where to begin chewing on plants... probably end up giving myself a stomach ache several times before doing anything useful. You much have done this for at least a moon or two, right?" He knew full well that she'd been in this position for sometime but couldn't help the natural desire for jest with others.

A wry smile crossed his maw as she finished speaking, "Ah, right, maybe a whole season then?" Somehow the stuffiness of the medicine cat's den hadn't managed to dull the molly's coat. Despite her insinuation of more than several moons, and the knowledge she was well-seasoned in her position, Auburnflare longed to uproot the carefree embers of youth Fawnshine had buried away. His eyes glistened as he leaned back and flexed the paw once again. It would have been the proper thing to return to his duties or do something more fitting of a warrior but he found her presence to be an easy one to settle into.

Reflecting on her previous sentiment, a response to his endless onslaught of teasing remarks, the brown and white splotched warrior meowed, "Mistakes, huh? Can't be worse than a down-brained kit of little more than six moons running off to find a clan whose territory he'd never seen. Foolish thing almost died a few times but it was worth it in the end. Maybe I'll have to tell you about it sometime. The whole thing is quite a story. One that would put even Stoatfur's greatest feats to shame." She likely knew his father, several cats did. Curious blue eyes pried as he waited for her reaction.