anything you want [C]

Nectarflower’s kits had finally been born. Yet more bodies to crowd the already overflowing nursery. They weren’t too bad, though; their existence meant more playmates, too. They were old enough now to leave the nursery and to properly enjoy a real game. Falconkit wanted to get to know them. His target was Moonkit, one of the daughters; sullen, quiet, and oft-sleepless. She seemed the least inclined to accept his invitation to a came, which, of course, made her the most enticing prospect.

Falconkit found her in camp and padded over with a mossball held gingerly between his teeth. When he reached Moonkit, he set it down and issued a nod. ”Hey, Moonkit,” he greeted warmly. His forelegs reached out in front of him and his back arched in a luxurious stretch. After Falconkit shook himself out, he refocused on his quarry and purred, ”Fancy a game? We’ve got a few options. Could bat this mossball around--that’s nice and easy--or we could have a race, maybe a little spar… whaddaya say?”

Moonkit sat up to greet him, and Falconkit let his smile grow a little wider as she did, but… she declined his offer? His tail swished slowly behind him. That rarely happened. Falconkit kept the surprise from his face, but he tilted his head curiously to the side. It did look like she’d been sleeping… and she couldn't stop yawning as she spoke. He supposed that was on him for disturbing her. He shrugged, unbothered, and gave a toss of his head. ”Right, then,” he said. ”Something more lowkey. We could chat, if you’d like.” He winked and puffed himself out a bit. ”I certainly wouldn’t mind getting to know you better.” He relaxed from swelling up and shook himself out. ”Or… we could just lay down together. I can let you get back to sleep.”

Falconkit had never seen someone wrinkle their face up at him like that. Even Leo and Thistle had the decency not to wince at him when he let the bees in his brain do the talking for him. It made his ears twitch, made something tight clench in his chest. He felt worse now, however fleetingly, than he had even during his dramatic altercation with Creamkit. “Weird” was only a nicer assessment than “freak” by margins, but somehow, it aggravated him worse than his spat with Creamkit had. At least he could reason that she wasn’t all there--Moonkit seemed like a perfectly fine, respectable cat. Be normal. Falconkit’s ears twitched again. Was he not normal? He wasn’t going to ruminate over it or let Moonkit see him wilt. Falconkit just dipped his head in a respectful nod, smiled gently, and said, ”Right, sorry. Won’t do it again.”

After settling down and tucking his paws under his chest, Falconkit looked up at Moonkit and cocked his head to the side. ”So, tell me about yourself.” Considering his usual energy, the level tone he spoke with was a surprise. ”Whaddaya see in your dreams? You’ve gotta be almost six moons--y’lookin’ forward to getting your mentor?”

Falconkit’s ears twitched at Moonkit’s response. His ever-present smile grew a little wider. ”Excited?” He echoed. His shoulders rolled in a loose shrug. ”Well, I don’t about all that.” A laugh rumbled out of Falconkit’s chest and he squinted with amusement. ”Honestly, I agree with you. I’m not looking forward to all the work at all. Whoever my mentor is, I hope they’re lax in training. I don’t really care about it.” His eyes drifted away from Moonkit for the first time since his approach. Falconkit lifted his head and turned to look toward the path leading out of camp, where a hunting party was returning through now, rabbits and birds clutched in their maws. ”But the freedom...” He could practically taste the sweeter, open-moor air from here. ”That, I’m excited for.”

Falconkit turned back to Moonkit. She was… tough to talk to. Nothing on her face spoke of interest, but she’d decided to indulge him, so she must have seen some worth in the conversation--right? Falconkit shifted around before deciding to just roll over onto his side, forelegs stretching out in front of him. ”Want to know a secret?” He asked. Before she could answer, he went on anyway, ”I’ve been outside camp before. It’s gorgeous. Really, you gotta see it--it’s a pretty good reason to become an apprentice. Maybe we can just skip training together and swing by the flower fields or something when we’ve got our names.”

There it was.

The usual lopsided grin broke out across Falconkit’s face again. Finally, something he’d said caught Moonkit’s attention. Her voice, already subdued, was barely a breath; her eyes were wide as the moon. All the nerves he’d been dutifully ignoring fled from Falconkit’s body as he rolled over to sit upright again. ”Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe it,” he purred, tail waving cheerily. ”I won’t forget it.” The promise came with a serious nod. Grin growing wider, Falconkit went on, ”I’ll find a way for us to skip out on training as much as we can.” And I’ll get you to like me, somehow. He withheld the last words, if only because they surprised him when they crossed his thoughts. Why did he care if she did or not, and when did he begin to? From the moment he sat down?

Falconkit gave himself a small shake. ”It’ll be great,” he drawled on. ”Really--it’s wonderful out there. I guess y’just gotta see it, though.” He wanted to wink, but he had promised Moonkit he would be normal, so that, too, he refrained from. ”Y’know, I even caught a rabbit while I was out there? Stars, it’s work, but hey--how many kits can say they’ve caught a whole rabbit, eh?”