All of a Sudden [C]

Woolywing looked at the sky, mewing with alarm at how high the sun was. He wasn't running late but he was awfully close to not being early, and given that he'd arranged this whole spar with Yarrowblossom it wouldn't be right to show up after him. Normally he'd just go out to the river with the tom, but he had to make special preparations today; a bushel of violets hung from his jaws. He'd spent the majority of his morning searching for the perfect flower, which was harder than he'd thought with his limited plant knowledge. He really ought to ask Dovesight to show him. He spent about an hour scouring the ground, passing on daisies and dandelions and even roses before he found the violets. Roses were pretty, but the deep purple violets would look wonderful with Yarrowblossom's fur. Uh, not that they were for him to wear. If anything, it was a joke about his name. He dismissed thoughts of Flutterpaw and his yarrow. This is entirely unrelated, he thought. Besides, if he was going to fight Yarrowblossom, it was only polite to give him something! Yeah, he was being funny and polite. That was all.

He arrived at the spot by the river they'd agreed to meet, relieved to find no sign of the lanky tom. He gently placed the violets at his feet and began to hastily groom his fur. Why was he grooming himself for a spar? He hadn't the foggiest, but it felt important. He listened to the water rushing past him, waiting patiently for his friend.

Woolywing almost missed Yarrowblossom's entrance. His peripheral vision was obviously not what it used to be, and that coupled with his current fixation on making his chest fur look just fluffy enough meant that he only spotted Yarrowblossom right before he spoke. He stifled a yelp of surprise, slightly embarrassed that he'd been caught grooming by the very cat he was grooming himself for. He still had no idea why exactly, but still.

His ears pricked up a tad at Yarrowblossom's words, surprised. Why would Yarrowblossom think he was waiting for a she-cat, of all things? Was he not allowed to try and look good for his friend? He looked down, remembering the violets. That did look a bit more suspicious. But Flutterpaw had given Yarrowblossom flowers and Woolywing had assured himself that that was strictly platonic, so these had to be too! He cleared his throat, at a minor loss for words. He was just surprised that Yarrowblossom would think he'd hide a she-cat from him, that was all. Yeah, when he found a nice molly to settle down with, his best friend would be the first to know!

"How could I forget? It's all I've been thinking about all day." He smiled and then realised how that sounded, so he hastily tacked on a "Er, thinking about our spar that is! How I'll beat you, et cetera." He nudged the flowers aside, suddenly feeling silly for having brought them. This was a spar, not a date. The thought of the latter made his fur grow warm. Why was he being all weird today? He really needed this spar. To clear his mind, that was.

"I'm not trying to impress anyone. These were just... Never mind. Come on, let's spar! You can go first." He was mindful of his friend's leg, not wanting to attack first and possibly damage it. The wounds had scarred over, but Yarrowblossom still had a limp. Not to mention, Woolywing had caused the injury in the first place. He owed it to Yarrow to let him have the first go. He widened his stance, claws sheathed and eye glinting excitedly.

(roll)

The member 'Muggy' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Effect Dice' : 5

Woolywing grinned at Yarrowblossom's rambling, eloquent as always. It was really quite adorable (in an entirely platonic, friendly way), how Yarrowblossom tried so hard not to say anything rude or mean. In reality, Woolywing did see his eye as a major disadvantage- depth perception was quite useful, it turned out. Just the other day he missed a mouse by about a foxlength after completely misjudging his distance from it. It was a good thing Yarrowblossom hadn't been there; Woolywing quite liked the idea of his friend thinking him cool. "It's alright, Yarrowblossom," he chuckled. "We're even, you have the height advantage after all." His whiskers twitched. He did think they were about evenly matched, though he still found himself worrying about Yarrowblossom's leg. What if he got hurt again?

He hesitated for a split second. Maybe this was a bad idea? But his worrying was cut short by a meow of surprise as his best friend leapt at him, paws outstretched. His breath left his lungs with an audible 'oof' as he was pinned abruptly to the ground by the taller tom. He blinked with surprise. He didn't think Yarrowblossom was weak, by any means, but he had to admit he'd expected something less... Confident. He had no air with which to respond to his friend's assertion, though he found himself agreeing- Woolywing did worry about Yarrowblossom's leg, but clearly he was very capable of holding his own.

Woolywing looked up, having caught his breath, and prepared a retort now that caution had been thrown to the winds and they weren't dancing around each other anymore. But he found that the words died in his throat as he looked up at his friend. Yarrowblossom's face was awfully close to his, and stars his eyes were pretty. He had this... determined look on his face, and for some inexplicable reason it made Woolywing's heart skip a beat. The smaller tom faltered, failing to come up with either a retort or a counterattack as he lay there.

It took him about 3 excruciating seconds to get his bearings and react. He tried to twist onto his stomach, aiming to get Yarrowblossom off of him. Once he was unpinned, he could think clearer and actually respond to the tom.

His maneuver worked and he shot to his feet, throwing Yarrowblossom off. He turned back around to face him, a playful smile on his face hiding his sudden inner conflict. What... was that? He'd had odd moments around Yarrowblossom, sure, but never like this. He could talk to him about anything, so why had he been so speechless just then? He wasn't sure friends were supposed to make him feel that way.

Then Woolywing had a terrible, wonderful thought. Did he... like Yarrowblossom? Of course he liked him, they were best friends, but what if... He'd always expected that it would be a she-cat, like Minksplash or Sleepycloud. Not his best friend simce kithood. But as he thought about it, the pieces all fell into place. He stared at the taller cat, lost in thought for just a second more before realising that it had been a good few seconds since he'd escaped Yarrowblossom's pin and he still hadn't said a word.

He reinforced his playful grin, pushing his thoughts somewhere deep down where he could think about them after the spar. "R-remind me not to underestimate you, Yarrow!" In his mess of feelings and revelations, that was all he could come up with to say. Instead he relied on body language, tensing his body and pricking up his ears in anticipation of Yarrowblossom's next move. He wouldn't let himself get caught off guard like that again, lest he stand there gazing at Yarrowblossom for another half-minute.


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Woolywing used Duck and Twist on Yarrowblossom, dealing 7 HP and costing 5 SP. Woolywing is no longer pinned.
Woolywing
HP: 18/25
SP: 45/50 (-5)

Yarrowblossom
HP: 18/25 (-7)
SP: 35/50

The member 'Snickerdoodle' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Effect Dice' : 4

Woolywing appreciated Yarrowblossom's clear effort not to bring up the staring. He needed to keep his pride, especially in present company. He dreaded the thought of Yarrowblossom seeing him as some sort of weirdo, though it was a silly thought as this was far from a first impression. Still, the smaller tom felt like he had something to prove. "Oh come on Yarrowblossom, it's not that bad! Imagine you'd been Yarrow... dirt or something. I like your name! It's uni-" He didn't finish his sentence as his friend charged forwards and slammed into his chest at full force. He wheezed, again not expecting the attack.

He cursed himself for underestimating Yarrowblossom for the second time. It was just so hard to focus, especially since he found himself gazing at his silky fur more than was reasonable. He coughed once, taking a second to catch his breath. "Hah, an attack mid-compliment! You wound me, Yarrowblossom." He swooned dramatically, feigning weakness, and fell to the ground. He lay there silently, peeking through his one eye until Yarrowblossom was close enough. Then, with a dirt-eating grin, He twisted onto his belly and sprang up at his friend. He grabbed him around the neck, bringing both Yarrowblossom and himself hurtling to the ground. He tried very very hard not to get lost in his eyes again, though he allowed himself an admiring glance before getting swiftly to his feet. "You didn't see that one coming, did you? Come ooonn, I know I got you for a second there." He teased, grin still stretching his muzzle.


Woolywing used Play Dead on Yarrowblossom, dealing 8 HP and costing 5SP.

Woolywing
HP:12 (-1 for slamming himself to the ground)
SP:40 (-5)

Yarrowblossom
HP:10 (-8)
SP:30