Loving Adornments [Open]

Hailpaw looked down at his pile of decorations, prodding at one flower with a paw. It was still beautiful, its colors vibrant, but he was noticing its petals start to wilt a bit. It wouldn't be long before it wouldn't be viable anymore, along with the other flowers in his collection. He frowned. They shouldn't go to waste, but he couldn't wear them all either. Even he acknowledged all the clashing colors would be an absolute disaster on his pelt!

But... he could share...?

He paused in thought, looking over his shoulder at some of the other apprentices in the den before nodding to himself. Everyone deserved to be pretty... as long as he was the most handsome, of course. He quickly picked up his collection in his jaws, transporting it outside into a neat pile in camp. There were a variety of colors and objects: flowers, feathers, leaves. He also went about camp, picking up pretty dried leaves or any beautiful foliage he could find before adding it to the pile. Yes, this is good. Leaf-bear would be here soon and there wouldn't be many decorations left, so he wanted everyone to enjoy it now before it was too late.

After making sure his arrangement was neat and sorted by color, he returned to the apprentice's den. "Hey, I got a little something set up outside. Come if you want," he purred. Then, with a flick of his tail, he was walking back to his station. He didn't look to see if anyone was following, fully confident someone would bite his bait.

(OOC: Hailpaw is gathering apprentices simply because they are his friend group, but anyone is welcome to see Hailpaw up to something and join in!)

Antpaw's body jolted awake as her ears picked up Hailpaw's voice even from within her deep slumber. She grumbled incomprehensibly and lifted her head to face the direction his voice came from. "What's all da noise about?" she snapped, blurry gaze sharpening once they found their target. It took a moment for the other's words to become clear in her foggy head. "What's set up outside? Is it a fightin' competition? Need me one o' those to fully wake me up." she meowed with mild interest before being overtaken by a yawn.

The small apprentice slowly stood up on her paws as she hurried to follow her denmate. She didn't bother grooming her short fur. She never did anyway. Once she found him again, her eyes cautiously trailed the foliage he had set up before meeting his eyes again. "Wha-... This ain't what I thought it'd be..." she asked slowly as she began to inch back. She was honestly considering returning back to her nest but curiosity was telling her to wait for his explanation.

Pigeonsun was returning from a hunting patrol, a fat squirrel hanging from his jaws. As he entered the camp, he headed straight for the elder's den - they could use something substantial like this, certainly, and prey was still running well enough that they didn't have to ration it... yet. So he dropped the squirrel off there and turned, intending to head towards the warriors' den and take a quick nap, but as he passed the apprentice den, he caught the tail end of Hailpaw's words.

Intrigued, he flicked an ear their way, and then trailed after the white apprentice as he returned to... a pile of... leaves? "Do you need help?" he queried genuinely, wide blue eyes burning with curiosity.

Driftpaw blinked his eyes open, just about to slip off into a nap when Hailpaw roused him. The white tom mentioned something about a thing outside, which perked his interest...Yawning, the fluffy apprentice climbed to heavy paws, padding after his friend alongside Antpaw. Hailpaw showed them his pile of flowers, bits of leaves, and weeds, and an amused grin spread across Driftpaw's face as he plopped his rump down. "Nice spread y'got here, Hail," he purred, genuine, glancing up as Pigeonsun joined them. Pigeon was a little older than them, but they were close enough in age that Driftpaw would have liked to get to know him better.

"Hi, Pigeon. Hail was jus' about to show us somethin', right Hail?"

Oliverain was in the warrior's den, taking a quick nap before she would go hunt again. She blinked lazily, her rest coming to an end. The flash of a white came from the apprentice den. It was Hailpaw, and he was carrying some herbs. Kits grow so fast. It seemed like just yesterday the snowy tom was barely able to stand. Blue eyes watched him go around the camp, collecting leaves and the like. While lifting her head and stretching her limbs Hailpaw had wrangled together some cats. And what're they up to over there? she asked before walking over to the group.

Oliverain gave a small nuzzle to her brother, then looking down at the tidy piles of feathers and flowers. A brief expression of awe crossed her face. They are so pretty. She ruffled out her fur with a gentle shake, smiling down to Hailpaw. Whatever the youngins were doing she wanted in. "That's a nice arrangement you've got there," she said warmly.

Aha! His first target.

A smile spread across his features as a tortoiseshell she-cat was the first to step out of the den, already looking apprehensive. Unfortunate for her, not only did he want to share his decorations, but he was also bored. An unwilling participant was a fun participant.

"It's just decorations. Don't tell me your afraid of a bunch of flowers," he teased playfully, gesturing for her to join him. "I think some leaves would look really nice in your fur." The orange of the leaves would look beautiful with the orange splotches in her fur, or perhaps she could do with a bit of contrast?

However, voices caught his attention before he could fully make up his mind, an excited purr rising in his throat at the sight of more cats joining his little party. He even got a few compliments, which just made his grin grow wider. "Yes! Thank you. Leaf-bear will be coming soon, so finding good flowers and leaves is going to be near impossible when they all die off. I wanted to really celebrate with what I have before the snow comes and share some of my stash. You're welcome to join us, if you are not too busy doing warrior things." The last portion was directed to the two older cats. He hadn't expected adults to be interested in his arrangement, but he wouldn't say no to having more cats to decorate.

"You can pick stuff from the piles here or, you know, you could have the master pick stuff out for you." He did a little twirl to show off his own adornments. He was sparsely decorated for once, saving most of his collection to be shared, but starling feathers were still woven in his fur. He couldn't bear to be void of decoration.

Newtspring had been sprawled out near the fresh-kill pile, enjoying the weak warmth of the sun and taking it as a chance to close his eyes for a moment. Commotion rose near the apprentice's den, effectively ruining his nap, and the warrior rolled over with a grumble to see what it was all about.

Hailpaw was set up just outside, surrounded by some of his fellow apprentices and a couple of warriors. That was... curious. Ears pricked, Newtspring clambered to his paws and made his way over, just in time to catch the end of his explanation– and his little spin. With a snorting laugh, the mottled tabby settled down somewhere between Driftpaw and Oliverain, blinking at the pale apprentice curiously.

"So, you're decoratin' us?" He mused, reaching out a paw to poke at some of the more colorful items in the collection. "I'm certainly down. Not that I need help lookin' good, and not that SkyClan needs me lookin' any better, but I'll play along."

Driftpaw hummed thoughtfully, laying down beside the pile of adornments, as Hailpaw put it. Hail did always look very nice...He wanted to look nice too. The apprentice reached out with a paw and patted some of the flowers, watching how they moved under his weight. They were so delicate, so fragile...Driftpaw pulled his paw away. Newtspring lumbered over to join them, and the gray and white cat raised his head to grin at his mentor. "Aw, c'mon, Newt, you could always look better. Why look jus' plain ol' good when you could look amazing, like Hail?"

Driftpaw spoke truthfully, pale green eyes trailing over to gauge Hailpaw's reaction before he continued. "Hail, I want ya to decorate me, you'll prob'ly have a better eye for it than I do," he purred.

Hailpaw gave a small chuckle at Newtspring's words. Every cat should strive to look their best. It was the first thing others saw, and a great presentation made for a great first impression. Not that they had to worry about that in their own home, but it wasn't bad to create the habit. Who knows when you would meet someone new and need to look your best?

It was Driftpaw's statement that made his brain recompute. They thought he looked amazing? Wait- no- of course they did, because he did look amazing. Driftpaw was just stating the obvious, yet the leaf-fall air seemed to become a few degrees warmer as he tried to find his own voice. "R-Right, of course, I can help you out." He nodded, glancing over his inventory to choose the best decorations. Not because he needed to, he had thought plenty of how to best decorate everyone's fur before he had even considered sharing his stock. He just needed a moment so his voice wouldn't waver. "Really, your pelt would look beautiful with any of these. White makes a good surface for any color, but your gray touches make you pretty all on your own, like you have your own flowers."

Smooth~ Definitely would make up for his earlier fumble.

"But I think these soft blue and pink ones would look the best. Anything too vibrant would pull too much attention from your face. These are decorations meant to enhance what's already there, not become the main event." He didn't usually follow these rules personally, donning himself in a distracting amount of foliage and feathers when he had the chance, but he also lacked much to accentuate. He had no markings of his own, so he had to create them. Driftpaw and the others were lucky with their patterns, but he wouldn't say that aloud unless he wanted to flatter a cat.

He picked up a cluster from the pile and rested next to Driftpaw, starting to tuck some behind their ears and into their fur. It looked like he might have a lot of cats to attend to, but no one could rush perfection.

The ragdoll listened to conversations, thinking what Hailpaw was doing as admirable and cute. Generous, what a great trait to hold. The molly watched him get flustered over Driftpaw's compliment. She thought it was sweet. The white apprentice really seemed to know his stuff, it was quite impressive. Oliverain kept her gaze on Hailpaw, occasionally to the flowers. There were a few pale blue ones that caught her attention. She watched Hailpaw grab them, along with pink ones, and jeweled Driftpaw's fur. It reminded her about the feathers stuffed in her nest, which she decided to later give to Hailpaw.

Bright dandelions sat in the bundle, which made her think of her friend. Maybe she could find some for her after this. For now she would wait her turn, and perhaps she could decorate Hailpaw. She'd like to take a go at it, and those snowy blue petals matched his eyes.

He hadn't even noticed what he had said, so in his mind, Hailpaw had gotten flustered over something he couldn't decipher. The white apprentice agreed to decorate him, though, so he grinned, eager to get started. Quietly, he watched as Hailpaw gathered flowers, talking as he worked.

Now, it was his turn to be flustered. Driftpaw felt heat rise to his face, surely visible beneath the white fur on his cheeks. Hailpaw thought he was pretty? Shocked into silence, he simply stared at his friend, blinking. Finally he found his voice again, whispering, "Y'really think so...? No one's told me that before..." Suddenly aware of their audience, he spoke up, clearing his throat awkwardly. "I'lll let ya do yer thing, Hail, you got a better eye for this than I do." Hailpaw began delicately placing flowers behind his ears and into his fur, and he involuntarily purred at the soft touches.

"Hello, Driftpaw," the tabby tom replied to the apprentice with a smile. As his sister approached, Pigeonsun purred quietly, leaning in to her touch and flicking her gently with his fluffy tail. His eyes swept over the piles of feathers and flowers that Hailpaw had gathered for them, and his head tilted ever so slightly.

"N-no... I'm not too busy!" he said genuinely at Hailpaw's comment - he'd noticed that the white apprentice tended to stick flowers and stuff in his fur, but hadn't thought about doing it himself... and he didn't know where to start. "Someone else can pick for me, too, I'm not sure where to even start."

As Hailpaw moved around Driftpaw, Pigeonsun's eyes followed, appraising. "I think this one will look good on you, Drift!" he scooped a bluejay's feather off the ground and then nosed it towards Hailpaw.

The ever so bold Lionkit inched forward into the group of gathering oldest cats. His pale green eyes eyed up Hailpaw, a handsome tom like himself, and then the pile in front of pretty things. Hmm, curious. Is this what warriors did? Adjorn themselves in soon to be dead items? Did it have meaning? Perhaps, if older cats were participating, he should as well. With a flick of his fluffy tail, Lionkit tapped his paw and looked up to the older white apprentice. "What about a lil' kit like me? Does these makes you stronger?" Yes, perhaps this is why these cats were doing this. To make them stronger in battle! And he wanted to be strong too!

No one's told me that before...

Lies. They had to be. Really no one had called Driftpaw pretty before? Perhaps he would have to smack some sense into other cats, or teach them what pretty was since clearly they didn't know... Or maybe they were just too shy to say when a cat was lovely. Regardless, he would have to make up for the sheer lack of compliments the cat was getting. "Of course I think so. Other cats have been silly not to mention it yet." He met Driftpaw's low volume. Perhaps more compliments could be dealt without a crowd. He didn't want him to feel awkward or put on the spot.

Hailpaw's ear flicked back at the sound of a suggestion, setting one last flower in Driftpaw's fur before turning to acknowledge it. A bluejay feather. "Ah, perfect!" he chirped. It would add a bit more visual interest, the color going well with Driftpaw's fur, vibrant enough to draw attention, but not so much that it would draw the eyes away from his face in favor of the feather. "I think you have a better eye than you give yourself credit for." He purred the praise before accepting the feather, tucking it in behind Driftpaw's ear.

"There, almost as handsome as me." He teased, taking a step back to admire his work and... perhaps a bit of the cat beneath the flowers. It wasn't often he got to really get up close to a cat and see them without the blur. He wanted to memorize what every cat truly looked like before the detail got swept away with distance. After gently adjusting a few flowers to be at a better angle, he was satisfied. The flowers beautifully framed Driftpaw's face and the feather added some nice visual interest.

Looking around his audience, he started to gauge the colors needed before another voice interrupted his mental work. Lionkit, he believed? "Well, they don't make you physically stronger," he confessed. His lithe frame was definite proof flowers did not grant muscles when worn. "However, when you look good, you get more confident. The stronger you feel on the inside, the stronger you become on the outside, you know? You feel that you can do anything, so you do!"[/b][/color] That was certainly how he felt at least. When he was fully adorned in his favorite pinks and purples, the tallest trees couldn't match how magnificent he felt, like the flowers were lending him the power of their beauty.