I hate sand [Sombraaaaaaah]

On the edges of the river, Frogjaw batted at the sand on the earth as he walked along the border perimeter with Tawnystorm. He sighed for the fifth time as another grain of sand managed to wedge itself between his paw-pads, leaving a gritty feeling with each step. The tabby swore internally when he found himself walking funnily to try subtly shake off the sand but in the end, he came to sudden halt.

"Okay, I need to get this sand out of my paws. Do you mind?" He turned to ask Tawnystorm, sounding quite bothered as he shook furiously at his right forepaw that was dropping grits of sand like wet moss being squeezed of water. It was a little ridiculous how easily his thick fur seemed to take in sand.

Tawnystorm sighed with a small smirk. "And this is why I'm glad my fur's short." She frowned as she saw the clumps of sand fall from his paws. "I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and gets everywhere. Let me help you with that." She quickly gave his forepaw a lick, spitting out the sand that remained on her tounge. "Better? Let's keep going, these borders aren't going to patrol themselves." The warrior strode along, keeping a brisk stride. They had time on their hands, but she preferably wanted to finish the patrol early. Get more done that way, maybe have a little time to relax. How do you cope with fur so fluffy anyway? Gets caught in everything and I'd imagine it's not the best for swimming."

Frogjaw was grateful for the help, since he personally was very against trying to clean himself up the old fashion way. He found the sensation of sand on his tongue was about as pleasant as inhaling water whilst being scratched along his belly by hungry foxes. The way the granules rubbed against his teeth, eck, he couldn't stomach it. He was touched at her sacrifice in an attempt to help him. "Thanks. I can always rely on you." He meowed warmly.

When he finally set his paw down again to keep moving, he deliberately hopped from grass patch to grass path like his namesake. He didn't care if he looked ridiculous, Tawnystorm had seen him at his worst, what was there to hide? "It's not that bad for swimming, actually. Water doesn't even reach my skin so I'm pretty warm even in icy waters. Helps me float too. The problem is Greenleaf. The heat, ugh. How do you survive Leafbare? These cold snaps must be awful with your short coat." He commented as he froggy jumped behind her.

Tawnystorm laughed a little. "You get used to it. More you move, the warmer you are, and you've got to work twice as hard during Leafbare." The warrior let her tense muscles relax as they settled into a casual conversation. It wasn't often that this happened, she noted, that she ever let herself relax. She was always on-edge about something, alert, on guard. It was only really when she was with Frogjaw she wasn't, the only time she ever really let herself enjoy herself.
Oh, she hadn't felt like this in a long time.
"Well, anyway, anything interesting happening in your life that I don't know about?" she asked, her tone half sarcastic. She knew he liked to talk about himself if asked, and from all the time they'd spent together, Tawnystorm felt as though she knew everything. That was unusual, too. Normally she wouldn't really inquire into the lives of others much, only seeking out information if she needed to, nor would she share much about her own life to those she wasn't very close with.
Frogjaw was different, she knew that much.

"Hm." Frogjaw contemplated for a moment, was there anything about his life that Tawnystorm didn't already know by now? They did spend a lot of time together, she was always dependable and refreshingly honest in her judgement of others. "Ivyfall mentioned I might get an apprentice soon. It's a mundane thing, but I can't help be a bit excited. What about you? I always see you running in and out of camp, up to anything?"

Though he didn't mean too, he often found that the she-cat caught his eye when he was just lazing about at camp. Perhaps familiarity bred a sort of sixth sense, but he didn't have this problem with his siblings. Nor did his siblings make him feel validated or intrigued, however, he'd be the first to admit that he wasn't all too close with his siblings these days. They were always busy together, being born of the same litter tended to mean they were closer. When he was hunting fish, they were still suckling on milk.