Brighten your day [closed]

"Hey uh, Brackenpaw!" Smallbean called out, immediately recoiling at the attention he attracted. Ever since the dark forest cats had made themselves at home in the clans, the tom found himself on edge. It reminded him too much of when the Asylum had infiltrated the clans, he was even starting to loose sleep.

Even though he was affected by what was going on, he knew that everyone else was too. So maybe, he thought, he could try to cheer them both up. He would imagine every cat in Windclan was having a hard time right now, so some light-hearted conversation could do some good. "Do you think you could, uh... y'know, come over here for a bit?" He called out again, this time softer. Cheering up his friends wasn't something he was good at, but maybe he'd have fun trying. He quietly chuckled to himself.

"I wanna tell you a joke."

Not even training could distract her from what happened, it seemed. And sitting around with nothing to do made it borderline impossible not to think of. The cats that had killed Magpiesight, Swiftspirit and Mistysky roamed camp as if they owned the place, and Brackenpaw wasn't thrilled to admit that, at the moment at least, they kind of did. She wished that they would just go away, but it seemed that wish wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Each day they spent in their camp was more disheartening than the last.

"Smallbean? What are we doing?" Brackenpaw's ears pricked at the sound of her mentor's voice and she trotted over to him. She was finding it difficult to work up her usual enthusiasm recently, but Smallbean had been kind enough not to comment on it.

He wanted to... tell a joke? "Oh, okay." A joke wouldn't bring mom back or get rid of the dark creatures skulking around camp. A joke wouldn't feed the clan, and most of them were thin despite the warmth and prey newleaf brought. He was trying to make her feel better, she reminded herself. Snapping at him (or anyone else) would accomplish nothing.

His grin widened when Brackenpaw approached. It was a relief to him that she even agreed to come over, he hoped he wasn't pulling her away from any duties. "Okay, okay, so." His eyes drifted upwards as he tried to remember what jokes he had heard from his parents when he was younger. One soon stuck out to him and others soon followed. He was giggling at himself before he even told the joke. "OH, oh, so, first one. What is it called when a feline has a really bad day?" He meowed, looking at his apprentice with expecting eyes. "Go on, guess."

A moment passed as he waited for her to answer, then he finished the joke. "A CAT-astrophe! Get it?" He cackled. Smallbean didn't honestly think the joke was as funny as it seemed, but it reminded him of his kit-hood and provided him with comfort that was hard to find during times like these. "Wanna hear another? I have a couple more up my sleeve, I'm sure you'll get a kick outta them."

"What?" She could think of an answer, but decided to play along. Smallbean, Brackenpaw decided, couldn't possibly be taking himself seriously with that pun. Cat-astrophe. Amazing. Like what had-

No, not like that. It was just a pun. A terrible pun.

"Oh, ha." Brackenpaw managed a small smile and an eyeroll in response. Smallbean's joke hadn't been... great, but he was at least trying. And didn't seem to be walking on eggshells with her at least. Abruptly tired of standing, the marbled apprentice plopped down in front of him. A distraction in the form of terrible jokes would be welcome.

When Brackenpaw sat down next to him Smallbean took it as a signal to continue, casting a smirk over to his apprentice. "Hmm... so..." He thought about what joke he would use next, absentmindedly digging his claws into the sandy camp floor. "Okay, I think have the next one ready.... What did the cat say when his friend stepped on his tail?" He paused and waited to give Brackenpaw a chance to think about it. "Me-OW!" He choked back giggles. "You get it? Because we meow, and you say 'ow' when you get hurt?"

The giggles he had been holding back were let loose, but he managed to keep himself from disrupting the camp. "What about you, Brackenpaw, you gotta have a joke or two, right?" He lightly nudged Brackenpaw.

Smallbean continued, and while it wasn't the usual conversation Brackenpaw would've expected, it was distraction enough. Her whiskers twitched at his next few, "Oh, those are terrible, Smallbean," Brackenpaw smirked at the question posed, "I'm just kitten around. They're purrfect."