envy in your irises [c]

Louse’s tail lashed angrily, in unsuccessful attempts to ward off the flies that were assaulting him. He was sure he didn’t smell, but the pollen and the hot weather seemed to bring them out in swarms. He was beginning to deeply regret trying to find Auburnpaw. He didn’t want anything to do with her really, but the idea of seeing a familiar face that would stay where they were suppose to, and that didn’t demand anything from him was very appealing. She was so straight forward, and he liked that. Yes, she probably wanted to wear his skin and eat his heart, but he knew that and so that hiccup in their relationship wasn’t even a hiccup at all. What he needed right now was straight forward interactions, even if they were tinted with a hint of murderous desire. Sadly, he had attracted only pests, and there wasn’t a single russet pelt in sight. Louse sighed, a growl stuck in his throat, as he swatted at the flies with his forepaws now. It did little to rid himself of them, and so he took off at a sprint deeper into WindClan territory in hopes of escaping them.

He came to a rest under a solitary oak tree, and thankfully, the flies had not followed him. The rogue began to clean his pelt, swiftly licking his chest, until he realised there was another cat beneath this tree and she was staring right at him. He exhaled through his nose, this was not the she-cat he wanted to see. Amber eyes slid over her form, assessing his options. It was hot, Louse didn’t particularly want to fight, but he wasn’t in the mood for talking either. He could attack now while she gawked at him, and end her life and be done with it, but given his current circumstances he didn’t want to make trouble with the clans. “It is rude to stare.” he finally said, ears falling back “Can’t you go mind your own business? I’m only sitting under a tree, hardly a crime. I’ll be out of your way soon enough.”

Laurelpaw didn't expect to see a rogue in the middle of WindClan territory, hiding under the Lonely Oak (as far as she knew, it didn't have a name, but it was an oak tree and it was alone so that's what she called it). She wanted to sneak up on one of her clanmates who was lurking near the oak, not a random rogue who was here... for some reason?

"My apologies," Laurelpaw said, in a voice that was way too formal for her liking. "I didn't mean to... disturb you." She didn't really want to antagonize him - not while she was all by herself - so she slowly started backing away, but she was also... curious. About what life was like for the tom. It seemed like he had experienced a lot.

Sitting down a few fox-lengths from him - long enough that she could bolt if she needed to, but short enough that she could hear him if he wanted to talk - the calico she-cat gave him a compassionate smile. "How... why did you come all the way here?"

His lips quirked up as she hastily choked up an apology, backing away from him. Usually it wasn’t this easy, it was quite surprising she’d actually listened. Louse was very much in the wrong, but somehow he’d managed to actually scarambled together some sense of authority and power, even if it was only over this one cat. He returned to cleaning his chest, only to hear the shuffling of lead matter, and the snap of a twig underfoot. The calico’s head shot up, a warning growl already making its way out of his throat. Despite her apologies, the WindClanner had stupidly inched her way back over and was now questioning him. Despite his grievances, her curiosity was a little endearing and so he sheathed his claws, but not before issuing a warning of “That’s close enough.” He may be tolerating her now, but that didn’t mean they were going to be buddy buddy. Louse needed his personal space.

“I was running away from the bug infestation.” answered Louse as a half truth. He wasn’t going to get Auburnpaw into trouble, that would definitely result in her hunting him down. She would be a lot more troubling to kill than this apprentice if it came down to it, whether that be her skill as a fighter or the inkling of affection he felt for her.

Laurelpaw saw the rogue tense up. She had zero intention of getting closer to him - from here she could still run away if he attacked. As he explained why he was there, it left her with more questions than answers. And despite her wariness of the rogue, she was still curious about him. Besides, she could still run away if he made a move. "Bug infestation?" she repeated. "Could you explain a bit about that?"

Was she completely thick skulled? The novelty of her curiosity had quickly worn off. Louse blinked, amber eyes moving from her to the vast sprawling territory. “Did you not…?” he trailed off. Clearly she hadn’t if she was doing such questions. He sighed heavily, tail thumping. “There were a lot of flies on the territory, and the foxing things would not stop landing on me, so I ran over him to escape them.” mewed Louse, a whining annoyance to his tone when he spoke of the pests. ”How do you live here by choice when you have to put up with that.”