I can't come up with a cool name for this so ya (Closed for Cat)

A sigh escaped the mouth of the tailless tom as he settled down in camp with a fish. Life was good for Barrenpaw, he had a great mentor, no problems with anyone in the clan, and two friends that were all he needed. Yes, this tom had it good. His life was perfect...or almost perfect. There was one detail that proved to be a gradually growing obstacle for the apprentice. Her name was Slushpaw and she was Barrenpaw's first and only crush. As Barrenpaw bent down and took a small bite of his meal, he pictured the she-cat in his head. Something about the way her silver and grey-brown fur fell across her body, shimmering in the sun and about the way her clear green eyes were always shining with pure beauty stirred something inside him and caused him to become nervous around her. This crush was only a small one, something that the dreary tom wasn't fully aware of yet. Her sweet scent wafted through the air, alerting Barrenpaw that Slushpaw was near. He cleared his mind and relaxed, hoping not to look like a fool in front of her. Maybe they would become friends...

"Hey, Barrenpaw!" Slushpaw said as she walked by him, not too excited anymore. Her ever happy life turned upside down a bit recently, but with support, she was back- enough. With a small smile on her face, she thought about something. She always did like the tom, but when they were kits he always pushed her away... Hopefully, it would be different now. The she-cat sat down next to him. "Care to join me for some fish?" She asked, being casual. It wasn't too hard for her to not be awkward around cats she liked, though truly this was the only one. She too wasn't fully aware of the crush she grew, but she'd know soon enough.

Barrenpaw shrugged, avoiding Slushpaw's green eyes that he liked a lot. He didn't know why, but something about her made him want to be friends. He didn't say anything for a while, which was usual for Barrenpaw. Others might of thought he was stupid, but he was really just trying to play out the situation in his head and figure out the best thing to say. He did a flawless job of hiding his emotions behind his blank eyes and facial expressions, so it was probably hard for others to see the wheels turning in his mind. Weather Slushpaw could see through his skilled work of emotion hiding, Barrenpaw didn't know, but she seemed to like him...in only a friendly way so far. "Uh...sure, I guess. You can have some of mine if you want." Still avoiding her gaze, Barrenpaw pushed his fish toward Slushpaw.

"Thank you." Slushpaw purred in response. She ate a bit of the fish, saving some for him. He looked back up at him, her eyes asking: What next?

Barrenpaw slowly took a couple more bites before it was finished, then he finnaly met Slushpaw's eyes and read her gaze. The tom tried to think of what Troutstep would do, but all the situations that played in his mind ended up with him or Slushpaw storming off. The tom sighed and decided to play things out the way he, himself, would do it for once. "Slushpaw...do you like hunting? Or fighting? We could practice either one together, but just to let you know I'm not such a good hunter." He awkwardly rubbed his front right paw in the dirt and finally met her gaze with a smile.

"Well, yeah, I like to fight. I'm sure you had seen me play fight a lot when I was a little kit." She replied, licking her face of the remnants of fish. "How come you think you can't hunt, though?" She asked.

Barrenpaw laughed at Slushpaw's question. It was a jolly, good-hearted little chuckle that raised his spirits. "Have you ever seen me hunt?" He asked with a shy smile. "My big paws are too clumsy to sneak up prey. I'm better off fighting, but the only hunting I'm good at is fishing." The patched tabby stood and made his hazel eyes shine. "We could go hunting together if you really wanna do that, or we could practice fighting each other." Barrenpaw wasn't sure if this was how people made friends, but it seemed to be working.

OOC: Sorry, I didn't get a notification

IC: Slushpaw smiled. She giggled at his answer. "I mean, I guess I prefer to hunt. I'm not good at fighting, however, I do like it..." She shook her head. "Nah. Show me your fishing skills, ya goofball." She said instead, her mind whirling. I LIKE HIM. I LIKE HIM. I LIKE HIM! Her mind screaming, but she kept a calm smile as she flicked her tail for him to follow.

Barrenpaw padded after Slushpaw, wishing he had a tail to flick like her. He looked back at his tailless behind and his heart dropped only slightly before he turned his focus back onto the she-cat. "Okay, to the river, then!" He laughed and any feeling of sorrow from having no tail was gone. Barrenpaw ran past her, making it a race to the river. His mind screamed his feelings for her too, but he didn't pay attention to it at all, or didn't notice it yet rather. Maybe he just wasn't used to noticing his feelings after hiding them for so long.

Slushpaw realized it was a race. She narrowed her eyes and smiled. "So this is a race, huh?" She teased, and ran. However, being heavier due to her build, she could not compete with his skills at running. She smiled, realizing he might feel pride at running- he seemed to be down a lot. As they reached the river, he got there first. "You got skills, Barrenpaw." She purred, not trying to be flirty, but it might as well have seemed like it.

He stopped at the river's bank, and sat down as he caught his breath. The tom didn't know if she was flirting or not and he didn't know how to flirt back anyway, so he just said; "Thanks, but I only won because I got a head start." Barrenpaw looked at her for a moment, wanting to see what she would say in reply before he showed off his fishing abilities.

"You're welcome, but... Nah. You're faster than me. I'm sure you could beat me in any race- I'm built for fighting and hunting- not for speed." She replied with a purr, smiling. Her feeling grew a bit, and her mind was shouting at her. But of course, she'd ignore it. For now. She was impressed at his fishing abilities. "You're good at fishing." She commented before starting to fish herself. More mind screaming, more ignoring.

Barrenpaw let a smile take over his face as he slowly put his paw in the river and waited for a fish to come by. When one swam past, the tom scooped it onto land and bit it so it would die. He soon made a small pile of four or five and stopped, not wanting to carry a whole bunch back to camp. "Hey, so are you," he replied to Slushpaw's last complement. Man, she's so beautiful. Barrenpaw surprised himself when that statement rang in his head. He took his eyes off the she-cat and hoped it would go away. He wasn't ready for love...yet.

"Thank you." She purred, her ears warm with emotion. She had a goofy smile on her face. She noticed she was staring at him. Her ears grew even warmer, close to blazing hot. She turned a bit, taking her eyes off him, same time as he did. He's so kind, and he's a fast and noble cat and... Oh Starclan, I can't believe I'm thinking this... But she couldn't help it. The goofy smile stayed. She also noticed his pile of fish. And a good hunter. Yup, her ears were on fire, and if such possible, her face would be red. She wanted to tell him her feeling, but turned back, calming down and the fire diminishing. Though she was still screaming, the air was silent besides the birds chirping and the water gurgling.
Oh how I wish I could tell him. But he doesn't like me... As I noted when we were young, he doesn't like me... Right? We're just friends, right...? She wasn't so sure. So, she put her paw in the water again and attempted to catch a fish, and in doing so, she succeeded. She added the fish to her pile. "Sh..Um, Shall we go back? Do you want to carry back the fish in trips to make it easier?" She stammered. Oh great, you're making a stupid little fool of yourself!

Barrenpaw shrugged and met her gaze again. "Yeah, that'd be the best option." That was the stupidest thing you've ever said, Barrenpaw scolded himself in his mind. The tom shook off his regret from speaking what he had said and picked up three fish in his jaws. "Um...It'll probably take one or two more trips after this one to get them all back to camp," he said through the three fish as one slipped from his mouth. He felt an embarrassed blush warm his face and bent down to pick it up, dropping the two other slimy creatures in the process. Nice going, mouse-brain, he thought as he picked up all three and clamped them tightly in his mouth. This time, he made sure that none would slip, but he couldn't get the blush off his face.