Tongue Like Honey (closed)

Petalpaw hadn't consciously tried to wander away from his patrol, but it was just so boring and nobody would really notice if he disappeared on them for a small bit. This was this nice part of apprenticehood, the freedom to roam the forest idly, and almost made up for having to get up at the strangest times. Border patrols were the worst, having to go out when the sun was in the sky because that was when the other clans were up. It was quite unpleasant and interrupted his much deserved rest. Usually he would stay with his patrol, if only because of nothing better to do, and try to weasel some gossip out of whatever cats he was stuck with. This time, however, the other three cats were so incredibly boring that he was almost worry that their drabness would spread to him. That environment was one that he had to get out of. Instead, he found himself wandering through the pine trees, mud underpaw. This wasn't much more exciting. While the prospect of freedom and being able to go wherever he pleased did hold some interest, he was a social cat, and freedom was useless without someone to share it with. Alone it was just... trees, he guessed. Still, he wasn't ready to return back to his patrol, so instead decided to broaden his social horizons. The sun was still up, meaning he could probably catch another clan's patrol at the border. While he didn't fully intend on interacting, he could eavesdrop a bit, possibly find out something interesting that he could later tell his clanmates about.

It didn't take long to reach the Thunderpath, and upon arriving, Petalpaw wrinkled his nose in disgust. The acrid twoleg scent was truly horrid, and for a moment he worried it would get stuck on his pelt. That would be such a shame, it would ruin the beautiful appearance and aura he'd worked so hard to perfect. Fortunately, no monsters seemed to be anywhere close by, and the ShadowClan apprentice slipped across without giving too much thought to the consequences. Some part of his mind knew that he'd most likely be challenged for trespassing, but he was a ShadowClan cat for StarClan's sake, he could sneak around without being notice. Yes, he was basically hopeless at that part of his training, but hopefully still better than, well, whatever clan's territory he was currently standing on the edge of. He was fairly certain it was WindClan, though he had a tendency to zone out while his mentor was telling him these sort of things. Hoping his ShadowClanness alone would be enough to hide him, he sauntered along the border confidently, making no effort to sneak around. Where were all the cats?

On the WindClan side of the border, a somewhat gangly-looking tom was also bored out of his mind. Luckily, he was tasked on this chilly day to hunt, and that meant that he could also spend some time exploring. On the first day of his apprenticeship he had decided he would know his territory like the back of his own paw, and he intended for the day that that was true to come sooner rather than later. He was most unsure of the land around the thunderpath. If he was completely honest, he was kind of really afraid of the monsters that roared along it's stinky surface.

Still, the border went close enough that in order to accomplish his goal, he'd have to go near. Wrinkling his nose at the smell of it, Ferretpaw found himself a couple tail-lengths away. It smelled so strongly that he didn't notice the scent of another cat, let alone the scent of ShadowClan. His eyes widened as he saw the other tom long before he would've noticed him any other way.

"What are you doing here?" He still couldn't quite identify the other cat's scent, but he knew he wasn't from WindClan, which meant that he didn't belong on this side of the border.

"Oh! Me?" Petalpaw nearly jumped at the WindClan apprentice's voice, but had much more composure than that, thank you very much. He had been indulging in his nasty habit of daydreaming, imagining a life where he could spend all the time he currently spent hunting and training to merely socialize. That would be perfect. Still, those thoughts were very rudely interrupted by the strange tom. Whipping around to face him, he realized that yes, this was WindClan territory. That came with the sudden reminder that he was trespassing. That wouldn't have been the end of the world if it weren't for the fact that he had little to no fighting skill whatsoever, which was completely due to lack of trying. This tom looked like he could beat him easily, not too muscular but clearly holding strength, lean and slender in a way that suggested speed and agility. It was while making these observations that Petalpaw came to another realization. The WindClan apprentice was quite attractive, which was perhaps added to by the fact that he was unlike the cats he'd see in ShadowClan. This was the kind of tom he'd rant about to anyone who would listen later, if it weren't for the whole WindClan thing. Maybe still. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage. He liked to consider himself pretty good at sweet-talking, and he definitely had a bit of material to work with. Maybe he could flirt his was out of this predicament. His confidence renewed, a sly grin spread over his face as he padded towards the other tom.

"Well, I was just hoping that I'd come across someone worth my time," Petalpaw explained smoothly, making eye-contact with the WindClan tom and holding it for a bit longer than was comfortable. His narrowed blue eyes accentuated his slight smirk, adding to his overall effect. Continuing to move towards the tom, he only stopped when he was much closer than what was generally considered acceptable. Perhaps he was overdoing, but there was no way that he was backing out of this already. It was actually quite fun. "And it seems like I have. What's your name, gorgeous?"

Well, this meeting was certainly unexpected, and going ever further in that direction with each word that the ShadowClan apprentice spoke. Ferretpaw could feel his pelt prickling with a few different emotions that he was not used to feeling as Petalpaw entered his personal bubble. Which, to be fair, was quite small, so it was pretty impressive that the ShadowClanner had already managed to get that close to him. Ferretpaw shifted without even realizing he was doing it, and it was only then that he realized their fur had brushed. What in StarClan...? Gorgeous?

"I, uh..." Ferretpaw was rarely at a loss for words, but his brain was apparently deciding now to stop working. "Ferretpaw."

Ferretpaw was no stranger to sexualities other than hetero, after all he was adopted by two toms. It was just that he had never thought about any sort of orientation in regards to himself, and certainly had never thought his first encounter with the world of flirting and romance with be with a ShadowClan cat!

"Aw, don't be nervous, Ferretpaw," Petalpaw purred, putting extra emphasis on the tom's name. Internally, he laughed, completely loving the way Ferretpaw seemed unsure of what to do. It gave him a sense of power that he drank in completely, while also not being able to help himself from noticing the WindClan apprentice's attractive qualities. Did he get he get this adorable when a cute tom started a conversation him? Of course, it had never been flirting from any end besides his own, and definitely nothing nearly this forward. Still, he liked to think about about it. "Though awkward is cute on you. My name's Petalpaw, by the way, thanks for asking." These words were accompanied by a grin somewhere between amused and bashful, as well as an exaggeratedly long blink of his eyes.

"So, tell me," Petalpaw continued, a confident smirk playing with the corners of his mouth. "Are all WindClanners this pretty, or is it specific just to you?" As he said this, the ShadowClan ran his tail along the underside of the other tom's chin for a moment before dropping it. Oh StarClan, this was way too fun. Though the main purpose of the question was for complimentary purposes, he was genuinely curious. How many of Ferretpaw's features that he found himself drawn to were things all WindClanners possessed? Long legs, slender build, large eyes. Honestly, if the rest of his clan looked like that, Petalpaw would be hopeless at the next gathering. Especially if the foreign aspect was a part of it, because he was willing to bet there were attractive attributes the other clans held as well. Of course, he wouldn't bring that up now. He had to make Ferretpaw feel special.

The ruddy ticked tom shook his head, a physical attempt to clear his mind. It only somewhat worked, as the inflection on the syllables of Ferretpaw once again wiped his brain of any other thoughts. Frustrated at what felt like the mental equivalent of running in place in a nightmare, Ferretpaw felt himself flush under his pelt as he realized he hadn't returned the favor of inquiring about the other apprentice's name. Then he felt torn when he remembered that Petalpaw was trespassing and shouldn't be here in the first place.

"Pretty? Is this how you try to keep yourself from starting fights when you wander into other cats' territory?" He drew himself up, attempting to appear taller than he was, which was still a decently impressive height thanks to his long limbs. He would just pretend that this tactic had not worked on him, not even a little bit. "I certainly hope you aren't who ShadowClan sent to begin an invasion." Ferretpaw's wide yellow eyes scanned the underbrush on the other side of the border, half expecting to see glowing eyes in every bush. "Wouldn't want to risk your pretty pelt in a skirmish, would you?"

"Perhaps," Petalpaw mewed sweetly, not seeing the point in being anything but honest. "Though it would be so unfair if a strong, tall, capable tom like yourself attacked a defenseless cat like me, wouldn't it?" In an attempt to maximize on the innocent look, he widened his eyes and shrunk down slightly, looking up at Ferretpaw with his ears flattened. It was fun seeing the WindClan tom get so flustered, though he couldn't help but be impressed by how he still attempted to regain the power in their conversation. Yes, he could definitely work with that. He could play the submissive type well. At least he assumed so, it wasn't like he'd ever actually tried before. But it couldn't be that hard, could it? He was already doing pretty well, in his personal opinion.

"Aw, you flatter me, Ferretpaw," Petalpaw continued, mock embarrassment in his tone. Shamelessly, he playfully head-butted Ferretpaw's chest before returning to smiling at him through wide eyes. "You think I'm pretty? That really means a lot, coming from someone as good-looking as you. And it's so nice of you to think that anyone would find me important enough to lead an invasion. But luckily for both of us, that's not the case. I honestly don't think I could bring myself to risk hurting any of your beautiful features, darling." His voice had dropped to a low purr, running his tail against the WindClanner's side as he spoke.

Defenseless? Ferretpaw felt like every story he'd heard about ShadowClan had featured them as the big bads, the ones who fought fiercely in every fight. He couldn't imagine that they were neglecting their apprentices' training in such a way that Petalpaw would be anything near defenseless. He just couldn't quite puzzle out what the red and white tom's game plan here was. Ferretpaw wasn't that great at the thinking and planning bits. Action was more his style.

"That still doesn't explain why you are here. Surely there's plenty of cats for you to talk to back in ShadowClan?" The ruddy apprentice flicked his tail, catching Petalpaw's as it tried to run along his flank. He could feel his pelt prickling, not used to this sort of closeness with another cat. He was feeling conflicted, because although the sentiments that were being expressed were incredibly contrived and over the top, he couldn't help but notice that the ShadowClan tom's eyes were very pretty, especially when he smiled through them in that way. Ignore it, he thought to himself, desperately. Unable to remain still any longer, Ferretpaw began to pace, thankful that it kept him further from Petalpaw's reach and also that it felt more like he was doing his job in patrolling his borders.

"Sure, but it get's so boring talking to the same cats every single day, don't you think? And besides, none of them are nearly as gorgeous as you are." That was a stretch of the truth, but he wasn't one to miss the opportunity for more flirting. Still, Ferretpaw seemed to starting to resist him a bit more, so Petalpaw knew that he had to step up his game. As the WindClan apprentice began to pace, the ShadowClanner inwardly groaned. He would couldn't keep physical contact without making it awkward, so he needed to find another way. An idea coming to mind, he sat down and started grooming the fur on his front paws. While doing this, he held eye contact with the other time, eyes wide and innocent, managing to refrain from grinning.

"You must be a great hunter, Ferretpaw," Petalpaw commented after he put his paws back down. He still held eye contact, allowing a playful grin to spread across his face. If he kept just calling Ferretpaw pretty, it would get repetitive and he'd lose his advantage. No, he needed to come up with more creative and possibly more specific compliments. That would be easier if he knew the tom better, but he could manage. "I'm sure those long legs of yours are useful for more than just looking nice. I bet you can run more than twice as fast as anyone else I know, and look three times better while doing it." 

Did he think? He wasn't sure. After all, it wasn't like he spent all day with the same cat everyday, sometimes it was Lightfang and sometimes it was Olivepaw...Not to mention there was plenty of his Clan that he didn't know very well yet. Besides, he was far more interested in racing or chasing rabbits than just talking anyway. He flushed under his pelt at yet another compliment, still unsure how to take them.

He paused, meeting Petalpaw's eyes with a purr. "I am pretty quick. I've yet to miss a rabbit." His chest puffed with pride, unable to keep himself from boasting a little. It was hard for him to listen during training, but catching rabbits? He had that pretty well down.

"Since you're here...And not doing anything wrong, really...Would you like to race? I've not raced anyone in ShadowClan before!" Ferretpaw couldn't help but get excited at the thought. Maybe he shouldn't be offering a game to a cat from a different Clan, but he really wanted to stretch his legs and Petalpaw was quite nice to be around.

"Me, race you? I'd love to," Petalpaw replied, his hesitation not showing in his voice. He had his doubts about this idea, knowing he would lose miserably, but wanting to please Ferretpaw. At this point, he wasn't sure how much of this was about leaving without a fight, as he could have easily walked away without argument by now. But still, he wasn't sure if it was because he'd become enticed in the game he was making out of this or because he genuinely wanted the WindClan apprentice to like him. Maybe it was a mix of the two. "Just warning you, honey, I'm a bit on the slow side. I can't imagine there's any way at all that I could even begin to rival your expertise." The WindClanner was obviously very proud, he could see that by now, and feeding into that would probably gain him some ground.

"Where to?" Physical challenges such as racing had never been Petalpaw's strong suit, so he hoped it wouldn't be too far. While he knew there was no hope of him winning at all, he didn't want to embarrass himself too much. He also needed to make the decision of how hard he would try. If he very clearly did his best and still lost by so much, it would be humiliating. However, if he put no effort in at all, Ferretpaw would most likely grow annoyed with him. Probably if he put in just enough effort to look like he was trying his best, he could feed the other tom's ego while not tiring himself out too much. Yeah, he'd probably do that.

Ferretpaw already knew he would be the winner, he was just that confident in his speed. He was also more used to the terrain, although being so close to the thunderpath made the apprentice a bit uneasy to say the least. He remembered learning that monsters didn't leave the path, but somehow that wasn't reassuring when you were so close you couldn't help but taste their filthy stench.

The ruddy ticked tom gestured a sweep of his tail towards a rather sad looking bush a few fox-lengths away. Clearly leaf-bare was not the best friend of the plant-life either.

"To that bush, and back." Ferretpaw decided, bumping his shoulder playfully against Petalpaw's, "May the best apprentice win." And he got into position, ready to race. "I'll let you do the countdown."

"If you insist," Petalpaw purred, unable to resist sending another long blink and sly smile at the other apprentice. Gazing towards the bush Ferretpaw had indicated, he let out a small internal sigh of relief. That wasn't too far, and while that didn't make him any more likely to win, it made him much less likely to embarrass himself, which honestly was a lot more important. It'd be better if the WindClanner won anyway, as it would give him more material to draw compliments from. Besides, if he was a little behind the whole time, he'd have a better view of the other tom running, which he was sure would be a sight he definitely didn't want to miss out on.

"Ready," Petalpaw began, getting himself into position next to Ferretpaw. He already felt vaguely ridiculous, but if this was what the other apprentice wanted, who was he to judge. "Three, two, one, go!" Yeah, that didn't help him feel any less absurd. The moment he had finished the countdown, he took off. Well, that was an overstatement, because as hard as he tried to go fast, there were a million other things he had to worry about. Was he going to trip, or get mud on his pelt, or start panting too heavily, or forget to watch Ferretpaw? They were all very valid concerns that weighed equally as heavily as actually trying to run his fastest.

In contrast, Ferretpaw forgot every worry he had ever had when he ran. It was like his paws beating against the ground drove out every negative thought in his head. As he picked up speed, he felt a pang of sadness that he had picked so short of a distance. He was just hitting his stride when he had to round the bush, heading back to their starting position.

To be honest, he didn't even pay attention to where Petalpaw was, as he was so into the running aspect of the race. If he had lost to the ShadowClan cat, he'd be shocked, but also probably wouldn't care that much because his heart had lifted so as he ran. Skidding to a stop, he glanced about to find his opponent.

"Woah!" Petalpaw panted when he finally reached the bush, having taken almost twice as long as Ferretpaw to get there. He was panting slightly, but controlled enough that he'd be able to stop if he tried to. After a few moments of exaggerated exhaustion, he slowly started to appear to recover, looking up at the other tom with wide, awe-struck eyes. It was almost amusing how easy that look was to pull off. "I knew you were fast, but I didn't know you were that fast! Dang, scratch what I said earlier, you're at least ten times the speed of any ShadowClanner." He had no idea if that was true or not, but it seemed close enough and he doubted he was going to get fact-checked. An impressed grin spread across his face, this time at least a little genuine. While most of this was an act, he couldn't deny that the WindClanner had been faster than any cat he'd seen run before, and he couldn't forget the image of his long legs moving across so much space in so little time like that. It honestly was impressive.

"I'm actually not at all upset about losing," Petalpaw confessed, as if that weren't already obvious. "It's not like I expected to win, and after all, I can't complain about the view I had." Perhaps that was a bit too forward, but what had he said that wasn't? Still, he'd realized before the race that he'd began to lose his control over Ferretpaw, and he guessed that would become more so the case the longer he stayed. Maybe now that he'd diffused any chance of violence he should slip out as he'd planned, quitting while he was ahead. "As much as I would love to spend more time with you, Ferretpaw, my clan will probably be missing me soon enough. But don't worry, I promise I won't be forgetting about your pretty face anytime soon."