ten thousand hours

In the face of Blossompaw's request, especially knowing it was born purely of concern for him, Wolfcall couldn't bring himself to deny her. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to see Sagelight, perhaps get a poppy seed or two for the ache in his jaw, make sure he hadn't chipped a tooth. He shook his head slowly, an amused glint in his amber eyes. "Alright, fine. But... if anyone asks, the squirrel was massive, no - half my size!" Wolfcall smirked, gently headbutting her shoulder as they walked.

He waited as Blossompaw led him to her catches, bending to pick up the squirrel to help her carry it back. His eyes met hers, and he smiled reassuringly. "Hey, you don't have to worry about sounding like a mouse-brain around me, okay? I... I'd love to, too." He grabbed the squirrel, tilting his head back towards camp in a "let's go" sort of gesture.

Together, they headed back towards the SkyClan camp, and he let Blossompaw pull ahead of him a bit so he could watch her without worry of her seeing him stare, see the sudden worry in his eyes. Something in the back of his mind poked at him, told him that it could be seen as inappropriate for the clan deputy to be spending so much time with an apprentice that was not his own, but Blossompaw was nearly a warrior... so surely there was some wiggle room, right? She certainly didn't seem to mind.

Maybe he'd speak to Spottedstar about it. See what his stance on it was. If anything, he could trust his father to be honest with him.

As the tom's eyes took on an amused glint, hers did as well. A small sigh of relief as he agreed and head butt her shoulder, and she touched her tail to his gently. "Yes, of course. I saw it, it was almost as big as I was! I didn't even know squirrels could get that big, how do they climb the trees like that?" She purred, giggling as they walked together. 


Wolfcall reassured her gently, and she felt her heart swell with joy as he said he'd enjoy the same. Unable to stop the grin that spread across her expression as her belly fluttered, she picked up the mouse and walked beside him as the two made their way back to camp. As they made their way closer to camp, the wind felt so much colder than it had before, and without even realizing it her pace had quickened slightly. Intent on getting Wolfcall and herself to Sagelight's den, she didn't notice Wolfcall falling back slightly until they were almost to the camp entrance. When she turned, the tom was a little far behind, so she waited at the entrance to camp for him, smiling at him once more before leading the way into camp to deposit the catches and see Sagelight.