lounging littermates, sharing tongues [closed]

Rushpaw spotted Kitepaw settled down inside the camp walls. He was still exhausted from his recent raccoon encounter but the wounds were healing well thanks to Cloverheart. Had it not been for Poppyshine, he would have been more downtrodden from the experience, but instead his pads were light. One bad day didn't mean everything was bad. Even if the looming shadows were over his shoulder, it had become easy to ignore them. The only thing that bothered him was the constant pricking of helplessness in his chest. Dark Forest cats had pestered his siblings, and the clan - those he cared for. As much as he wanted to do more, there weren't many options.

For the time being he was contented to spend time with his littermates, and Poppyshine, and any other cat in the clan who would entertain him. The apprentice was far from making close bonds with every cat, given his tendency to stick towards those he was familiar with, but he was open to one day meeting them all. Pausing at the freshkill pile, he gingerly picked up an average sized perch to carry over to Kitepaw. Settling down next to the she-cat, he butted his head into her shoulder, "What's going on in that head of yours, Kitepaw? It's always hard to tell." The smile on his maw said it was all in good humor but what he said was true, and he hoped she'd speak her mind.

Kitepaw picked a few flowers growing alongside camp. Reds, yellows, blues, and purples were all at her paws for her to change and reorganize as she wanted. She tried organizing them in different patterns that she liked, before shifting them away. Hey, wait a second! Shifting the flowers around, placing some here and there while taking others away, the she-cat eventually ended up with a collage of flowers that looked like sundown. Wow, she thought. It's almost as pretty as the real thing.

A bump on her side almost caused her to topple over. Stumbling away, the russet she-cat turned to see her brother with a cheeky grin on his face. "Rushie!" she said teasingly, a grin on her face. "I'm just changing flowers around. If you organize them in certain ways, you can see different stuff! Look at this one! It looks like sundown!" She pointed her tail at the flowers in front of her paws. "Of course, it doesn't blind you if you look right at it." Noticing the fish her brother brought for her, the she-cat grabbed it, taking a nibble out of it. "So, how about you? Recovery's going well, I hope?"

Rushpaw was far from the creative type. Once he'd settled in and began to assess the situation at his paws. Green eyes widened slightly in surprise and his head head tipped ever so slightly to the side. Various colors comprised the freshly budded flowers. He tried to piece together what she had created. The scenery had grown to be something slightly familiar, almost nagging at the edge of his mind. Humming softly, he looked it over and his tail flickered back and forth. After a few moments, the tom gave in, internally.

"Oh yeah, sundown." He muttered with a subconscious smile, eventually finding the hues to be of a similar pattern, "It looks great and definitely not blinding. I'm alright but duties don't stop even for the wounded. I swear I could sleep for the next five moons." Rushpaw let out a slightly exaggerated yawn, stretching out and laying his chin on his paws. Stretching his neck forward, the dark-russet apprentice took a small bite out of the fish before sliding it over to the she-cat. As he waiting for a respond, his eyes looked over the flower. He'd seen so many beautiful things in this life. Poppyshine's pelt briefly flickered through his mind.

Kitepaw giggled lightly at Rushpaw's last comment, turning back to the collage that she had made. Creating stuff helped her get her mind off of other things, like the Dark Forest takeover, or her anxiety when talking to cute cats. Stars, she basically froze whenever she talked to Poppyshine. "Uh... Rushie...?" Was she actually going to do this? Don't actually tell him you have a crush on her! Make it generic if you're gonna say something! "Have you ever... um... how do I describe this? Um... have a crush on someone. Like, is there anyone who you can't seem to get out of your head, who is also someone you'd want to be lifetime mates with?" That was extremely awkward. "Of course, if you don't, that's fine too! I'm just... asking. Out of curiosity." That didn't make it any less awkward. Waiting for a response, the she-cat took another nibble out of the perch that she and her brother were apparently sharing.

The last thing he expected out of his sister's maw was the question that came. Rushpaw blinked in surprise. For several moments, the tom said nothing. His features screwed up slightly in thought. A crush? Were it any other cat, he might have brushed away the notion or given some quick answer befor moving on. But this was Kitepaw, she deserved his honesty. What was his truth? Someone you can't get out of your head... Realizing his mind had easily wandered to a particular pelt, the apprentice's pelt pricked slightly as heat rose to his ears. There was no way, he just liked being around Poppyshine, and he cared about her a lot. He liked her.

Suddenly, it was like he could hear the slow, rhythmic beat of his heart ringing in his ears. There was a certain clarity to the sensation but for the most part, it simply left him daze. Rushpaw's eyes had fixated on the floor of the camp at his mind raced with the realization. They had spent a limited amount of time together but each moment was special, treasured, and above all else he valued her wellbeing. But it did not stop there, no, the she-cat also helped to keep him going even when he felt it to be impossible. He sucked in a slow breath, "Yeah, Kitepaw, I think I have had a crush before."

The awkward silence that continued caused Kitepaw to panic. Why did I say that? Did I have to say something? Am I really that fixated on Poppyshine that I can't think of anything else? Couldn't I have talked more about my flower collage? Why couldn't I have just kept my mouth sh- Rushpaw answering her question, her stupid question that should never have left her head, surprised her. And he did have a crush. Kitepaw didn't want to prod him on who he had feelings for, since she would rather not have hers revealed either. "Wow, that's... cool. I thought other cats felt the same, but... I wasn't really sure." Great, now she could focus on talking about her flower collage.

"Back to the flowers, I'm really proud of my artwork. I had to search for all sorts of flowers across camp to grab them and organize them. And also consult Cloverheart to make sure I wasn't picking anything dangerous." Smiling at her brother, the ginger she-cat explained what she made in greater detail. "Figuring out how sundown should look like was simple, since I had a vivid memory of watching the sun set with Poppyshine. I don't think that I'd ever be able to forget how beautiful sundown was that night."