We have a lot of announcements to make this month, so make sure to check out the April announcements! We have a brand new, themed thread contest to celebrate all of the new members who have joined our lovely little cat land over the last months, as well as two event reminders, a new organized archives board, a weather update, and our usual round of monthly plot and clan updates. As the weather warms up with the arrival of spring, we also want to encourage all of our members to take some time and step outside! It's been a long winter, and we all deserve some time with nature. Cheers to all!
The Apostles is a warrior cats roleplay based in northern Wisconsin. On Lake Superior, the wild cats have made the Apostle Islands their home. It is on these islands - Rocky Island and South Twin Island - that the clan and tribe cats have lived in a peace and harmony that ebbs and flows with the tide.
But as the tides turn, so does the truce that binds them to one another; and as the water raises, a darkness follows, an evil that will end in bloodshed and violence.
Mintnose was feeling rather purposeless ever since Thunderheart had his warrior ceremony. Every day had been a planned out adventure, tailored by, for a lack of a better term, forced company. The silver tom struggled in feeling friendship or fatherhood toward the now bigger tom, but as the days went by without him, Mintnose realized he did form some sort of friendship with his apprentice. Mintnose was a rather quiet, lonely cat.
But it wasn't out of a distaste for anything but solitude, it was more of a fear. Mintnose was rather acutely aware of other cats thoughts and emotions, and any hint of displeasure in his presence sends him into a nervous frenzy. In turn, not a lot of cats talk to Mintnose, whether it be because he's shy or unapproachable. Mintnose was not the type to thrive in his independence, though.
Now, instead of planning a new and fun training session involving the most favorite part of his brain, Mintnose was politely sunning himself in the streams of sunlight striking through branches and thistles. Mintnose sighed, his green eyes lazily drifting around camp. The warrior was a peaceful cat, easily humbled and pleased by just about anything. But in this particular moment, a hunger ebbed away in an untreaded part of his psyche, a part that craved exercise of the imagination, a work out of the lungs in laugh and play.
He needed someone.
The lone figure of a fluffy warrior crossed into his view as Mintnose adjusted his gaze onto the clearing. Eggpelt was just filing out of the warriors den, heavy eye lids a clear sign his last shift was night time guard duty. Sympathy softened Mintnose's face as he realized he himself had not had an assignment yet today. Maybe he could combine productivity with a little zest.
With an anxious exhale, Mintnose straightened up in the most brave posture he could manage before he ended up shyly approaching Eggpelt. Mintnose silently scratched at the ground, a lump in his throat forming as he fumbled on what he would say. Then with a burst of passion and the boldest face he could muster, Mintnose looked up at the bulky warrior and exclaimed,
"Want to do something crazy?"
FINCHSTAR | ALDER-ROOT | NIGHTCLAW | FALLENFIRE | MINTNOSE | SLEETWING | LIGHTWATER | RIVER WHERE LOTUS FALLS | DECEIT
Not caught in the sense that he had broken a rule and was to be disciplined, but more in the sense he'd backed himself into a corner. Eggpelt was a cat that used words to get what he wanted out of life, and sometimes that approach worked in ways that would drive a leader to abandon clawship altogether. Cats make mistakes, as he especially knew however, and recently, a plan involving some words had gone awry, causing him to end up on an night shift, which would his own version of a painful medicine cat den visit. He detested the cold of the mud that he had to wear, lest the light of the moon give his position away, the arduous hiking along uncontested borders, and the faint smells of other clans, providing him with the bare minimum of reason not to abandon the patrol.
It lacked efficiency, and it lacked sense to him. There was no reason to protect a border that, as far as he knew, was uncontested, while other areas of the clan had become more dangerous. Yet to be posted to the sandbar or the border to the no-cat's-land, he felt that would be a better use of the clan's resources.
"Eh, Firfoot's probably taking care of that himself or something."
As he sloughed out of the threshold to the den tunnels, the spindles of sunlight that twisted about the pine needles warmed his face, an nice contrast to the cool of the earth, but the spindles soon became spears, poking his eyes and crinkling his nose as a cursory search for a gulp of water began. Walking, he nearly bumped into the form of Thunderheart's former mentor, who could barely be seen against the sun.
"Sorry. Mornin'." he mumbled to Mintnose, not really planning to stick around. His figure, taller yet slimmer than himself, stood in Eggpelt's path as he started. Slowly he craned his neck to level his verdant slits to his emerald irises, revealing just how half awake he was.
"Stars, if this guy starts going off about wanting me to answer questions about Nettlepaw or something....Mmm, mmm."
Mintnose continued his shuffling, his brave form losing it's grip while the elder warrior struggled to get words out his strong and and angular muzzle. This felt too familiar.
"I think...I'm really not in the mood to be yelled at by another pensive ass about my personal life."
Priming a less scathing remark that would serve to leave him by himself, he opened his mouth, but the silver-stranded tom seemingly purchased some grip on himself, blurting out his proposition.
"Wanna do something crazy?"
That was not what he would have expected from Mintnose. 'Crazy' wasn't what he expected from the mentor who produced Thunderheart. He didn't know much about him, except that he wasn't the typical brand of jaded. From what he had seen, he was actually quite smart, and knew his way around a problem, though his sensitivity caused him to be less vocal than himself. This cat was obviously shy, and from experience, knew how hard it could be to approach someone. The least he could do was see what his idea of crazy could possibly be.
Invitations were also a rarity for Eggpelt, and for someone to approach him and ask him for his company...even through the torture of waking up in the morning, his excitement and appreciation shone. His back paws were still in dreamland, but a smile began to crack across his face.
"Uh, Yeah. Sure! I'm getting something to drink first, though, come with me."
Now in tow with each other, he shoved off on the path to quench his thirst.
"I have to say, I never thought to put you and crazy in the same sentence. What kind of tricks do you have hidden in that silver coat of yours?"
As humored as Eggpelt seemed, the dull color faded in his eyes was all the proof needed of the tom's poor energy level. The way those eye lids drooped made the warrior look as if he had been sitting vigil for three days. Of course, Eggpelt wasn't one for being the hardest worker in the Clan, so who knows how justified his exhaustion really was, but Mintnose still felt the plummet of guilt as the duo shuffled their way toward their thirst quenching venture.
Mintnose felt his own nervousness falter his footing as he struggled to keep a steady pace beside Eggpelt. He was honestly stunned his invitation went so well. Mintnose had always wanted more personal time with the tom, at least just to hear him talk. There would be times he would catch Eggpelt's banter a den away, and he would just sit and listen. The chubby warrior was fun to listen to, even if the words weren't clear. The confidence was addicting. The way he bounced his voice and reigned versatility in his pitch was savoring. It was as soothing as listening to the soft breathing of a littermate.
It was almost like talking to a cat you've only heard in stories, being so acquainted with the image his voice creates rather than flesh and blood. But with how quiet and boring Mintnose saw himself, it was daring to even think he could be worthy of Eggpelt's time. This itself was an act of desperation. And as Eggpelt questioned him as they walked, he gulped. He had no tricks. No plan. Mintnose had nothing. "I-I...u-um.." I thought you would suggest something crazy! Mintnose desperately thought, feeling himself getting hot. Could he think of something impressively crazy enough?
"L-Let's get a drink first, then I'll show you," Mintnose finally responded, his speed slightly increasing in anxiety. It's okay, it's okay. By the time they stopped and lapped up some water, Mintnose would have the craziest idea to ever be fathomed by any cat ever. Even crazier than going to the flower fields and...okay not that. Even crazier than the time he blindfolded Thunderheart and pelted moss balls at him. Now that was crazy. Maybe if he started throwing something crazier at Eggpelt, like snakes, or a crazy masterful ball made of thistle, moss, rabbit claws, juniper berries, and his own poop.
Now that. That's crazy.
notes | tags | word count | the biz
FINCHSTAR | ALDER-ROOT | NIGHTCLAW | FALLENFIRE | MINTNOSE | SLEETWING | LIGHTWATER | RIVER WHERE LOTUS FALLS | DECEIT
What a morning. His social muscles were still atrophied from sleep inertia, and yet, he anticipated that he was going to responsible for keeping the same aspect of Mintnose afloat while he bumbled through this awkward meeting. Normally, he would be attempting to hold back his annoyance at stammering, but lately it seemed that he was getting to know those in the clan who did, and was finding that, though broken, they spoke more deeply of things than those that didn't.
Change took place over time, however, and if he was going to find that change within him today, he would need to dispel this grogginess.
The urge to leave and expedite the journey to soothe his dry throat began to creep, but the beginnings of his companion's sentence were beginning to form.
"Stars bless you Mintnose, you're trying so hard."
"Well, lets go. I don't really like being sleepy like this, 'ff ya couldn't tell." he mumbled
It was just on the outskirts of the camp where Eggpelt began looking for a suitable place to quench his thirst. The first watering hole came upon was stagnant, baking in the sun, and filled with dirt and all kinds of flotsam and parts of the biosphere in it.
"Lets see what else we can find. Please."
Not far away, he discovered another. This one was suitable. The water was clear, with little hint of hatching larvae, or murk, and still cool enough to give him the jolt he was looking for.
Craning his neck down, Eggpelt sipped up the water with tiny, quick, rhythmic flicks of his tongue. He felt better, but really like only shades of his color had returned. Hovering over ther surface, he plunged his head, all the way up to his neck and held it for a few seconds, then came up for air with a big breath. Exhaling and shaking, his bardic voice had seemed to return, although not a it's full strength.
"Woah! Hey, let's scratch all that stuff before up till now. This is where the morning begins. Good morning, Mintnose!" he chirped.
"You know, recently, I did something midly wild. I put fishing spiders in your apprentices den. He came out alright, I think. A little uptight, maybe, but that can be...huh?"
Across the waters, the silver warrior, didn't seem to be looking at him, listening.
To Eggpelt, he didn't look alright. He looked better than he did before they took on water, but still somewhere between lost in thought, and uncomfortably so. Wanting to defuse him before he got any more anxious, he padded up to his drinking partner.
"What's up? I don't really care what it is you want to do, as long as it isn't, you know, hating me for this quirk or that bloodline or whatever. That has to wait until after lunch."
He waited to see if his joke would go over well. Eggpelt threw them like darts, but some targets had potential to be harder to hit.
Mintnose stared dead eyed serious into Eggpelt's own eyes as he took a step forward, his body pushing the other tom further and further against the edges of what could only be described as liquid darkness-
Alright, maybe let's rewind this a bit.
Initially, Mintnose could tell as he desperately studied Eggpelt's drowsy exterior that the chubby warrior was unquestionably humoring him. It was too obvious to understand that if Mintnose led him to a comfy nest instead of water, Eggpelt would greedily take the opportunity. It was all the more reason to specfically do something crazy.
Not just to prove he was capable of exciting detours, but to jolt some energy into Eggpelt's poor dragging soul. Eggpelt's lazy slur announced low expectations, but as the hard thinking Mintnose traced the contours of Eggpelt's chosen water hole, his own mind drowned itself in potential plots and ideas, the real world becoming just a fragment of his subconcious.
"You know, recently, I did something midly wild. I put fishing spiders in your apprentices den. He came out alright, I think. A little uptight, maybe, but that can be...huh?"
This was no training session. There was nothing for Mintnose to teach or give value to. No catalyst for a creative spin. Unless Mintnose really believed that maybe pelting Eggpelt with a random assortment of objects could be projected as a lesson.
It's not like he could just casually propose a nice stroll through the fields and pick flowers for the thrill, as much as Mintnose preferred the activity. It had to be something crazier. Something...dirtier.
"What's up? I don't really care what it is you want to do, as long as it isn't, you know, hating me for this quirk or that bloodline or whatever. That has to wait until after lunch."
Big, expressionless eyes met Eggpelt's as Mintnose absorbed the joke in full, letting his awareness fully develop into his surroundings. Then as the words sunk into his mind, a smile crept along Mintnose's features, followed by a burst of laughter. With a passionate gaunt the silver tom disowned his opportunity for a drink in favor of flaunting a full frontal view of himself. "You sure you don't care?“
Mintnose didn't utter another word, casually turning away and heading off into some unknown direction. He didn't bother offering enough time for a response as he lead the duo through their own territory, providing a walkable but quiet pace. He encouraged silence to drown them as the anticipation built up further and further, it's climactic conclusion closing in on the basis of a few strides.
And then, they were here.
Mintnose herded them against the bog's curves, their territory popular for the healthy size of their marshy friend here. Taking a swim in this beast's belly was just asking for a moon's worth of washing. At this point, Mintnose already accepted such a fate. In fact, he internally hoped maybe Eggpelt would ask him to help clean. Even with dirt and grit in his teeth, it would be worth the sensual activity. Of course, that wasn't the goal of all this, right? Mintnose was getting his priorities a little mixed up. "Jump." The tom uttered seriously as his eyes turned to Eggpelt's with scary determination.
And with that, Mintnose himself took a leap, dragging Eggpelt along with him.
notes | tags | word count | the biz
FINCHSTAR | ALDER-ROOT | NIGHTCLAW | FALLENFIRE | MINTNOSE | SLEETWING | LIGHTWATER | RIVER WHERE LOTUS FALLS | DECEIT
Eggpelt's eyes widened in panic as he felt himself slip off the edge of the bank of the abyssal waters below, Mintnose clutching him to his bosom and propelling him into the bog.
"DUDE, WHAT ARE YOU F--"
His sentence was cut off as the air around him was replaced by the grimy water of the swamp.
He closed his eyes, there was nothing to see in the grimy sludge anyway. On the inside of his eyelids, he could see another picture unfolding, and he ruminated on just exactly how he let himself get caught in this scenario in the first place.
"Oh well" he sighed, internally. Not every joke could land.
Eggpelt was used to the more immediate response of his clanmates to his humor. Such was the Thistleclan way, one of fast thought and even faster wit. At first he thought his joke had fallen flat, and he would have soured the mood even more, but then, the edges of his drinking companion's cheeks began to curve, and he matched the smile and laugh, satisfied with the idea that he simply had to wait for the humor to register. Some cats were like that, and while it had the tendency to annoy him at times, he figured he didn't have the right to deride others for quirkiness. He had gotten the smile he was craving, a sign that he might be able to have a better chance at enjoying himself as well.
Mintnose rose, and having a good chuckle seemed to restore his spirits. In his less groggy form, Eggpelt could more clearly see just who he was spending time with. He wasn't sure, but it seemed like the nervousness of the tom had dissipated, and instead, a certain confidence exuded from the from him. It was honestly a bit enticing, and the blue point couldn't help his curiosity, wondering just why he decided to display his...striking figure.
"You sure you don't care?"
"I..."
Before he could answer, he turned and sauntered into the woods, without so much as a sip to quench himsel. Eggpelt was left with no choice but to follow.
"....just got trapped again, didn't I?"
Before he could finish, Mintnose turned tail and headed into the pines. A few times he caught himself asking about the end destination, but he was met with only silence as he plodded on, not wanting to spoil whatever he was taking steps to do.
Just as he was a bout to be driven mad from the silence, he came upon some landmarks that were very familiar, leading to one of his favorite places. The bog where he would laze away the days that he wasn't actively engaged in something, hunting waterbirds, delighting in an especially fuzzy stalk of catmint, or resting in a familiar willow, above where the one that first stole his heart laid in peace.
"The bog? Why the bog? We going hunting?"
His question went unanswered, and soon, the pair were close to the murky depths, too close for his comfort.
"Mint, you uh...doing a little precision edge walking there? Cool, very cool...um-"
"Jump"
"Is he kidding?"
Close and closer to the threshold they inched, until Eggpelt could feel moisture at his heels, and tightness in his throat.
"Uhh, Mintnose?"
"Jump."
Opening his eyes to the sting of something, he frantically rose, breaking free of his grip.
He then broke the surface, his pelt covered with biological sludge and a few twigs, and an aura of confusion and frustration. He drew in a bellows worth of air, and directed his exhale at the cat that had threw him here.
"GAH...MEEE-YOW, THAT'S FREEZING, MINTNOSE!"
Mintnose's plan had worked. He was now fully and undeniably awake, but far from ready to face day. The tom was trembling cold, soaking wet and absolutely dirtied. For a moment, his mind took him back to a similar moment, a memory covered in slime and eggshells and blood. He thought at first, he had simply been lured out here to be humiliated by a sociopath, and his face showed as much.
The silver tom, in Eggpelt's opinion, wasn't dirty enough. He geared up to deliver a volley of water toward his pelt, but as he moved, he tripped over some unseen tendril, and tripped. His strike landed wrong, and he sent that volley of cold right back at his own face. He was veritably stunned, and then he did something that betrayed the look on his face.
He laughed. As he did then, he did now, and accepted the absurdity of his own clownery. It was a funny scene after all, and as well, he couldn't imagine this cat being actually mean spirited. He had never done anything that Eggpelt could remember, that remotley resembled antagonism. So...why? It must have been done in earnest, and without malice, he figured.
"Mintnose...heh...I guess you actually mean what you say. This was pretty crazy. You're real interessss...tin'." he said, lightly booping his nose with his forepaw.
"I guess I said I didn't care, didn't I? Sorry for bein' so loud. I doubt this is good for our pelts though, we should try'n clean this off."
Turning, he swam a bit until he reached some solid land again. A look over his shoulder invited Mintnose to follow him. As he waited, he took a moment to inspect the extent of his soiledness, and sighed.
"Heeeyyy, Mintynose." he started, drawing out the first phrase slowly, altering it's pitch up and down."Um...I'll do what I can, but this is looking more and more like a two cat operation. Since you barreled me into the swamp, you think you could help me out? I'll get yours too if you need it." he offered.
Mintnose was ready for a yell, no doubt, when indulging his comrade in some buddy buddy skinny diving without any initial consent. But the scream that Eggpelt produced as he fell victim to the bog's depths was another matter entirely from what he was anticipating for. The element of surprise wasn't exactly what Mintnose was focused on, but that seemed to have unhindered the best results. Maybe. That, or Eggpelt's own greed, for an event unfolded just beyond the silver tom's visual space that unbelievably topped the uncontrolled shock that left his warrior clanmate's lungs. An event so ripe with layers of irony and miracles that it made the entertainer laugh before the spectator. What could have been instantaneous revenge was just another mistake for Eggpelt to reap the regrets of.
But Mintnose didn't laugh.
Not that the scene wasn't hilarious, but the tom was just taking a lot in. The tom fell silent and still as he watched Eggpelt, covered in mud, sit there and laugh at his own unfortune. Something about the gleaming positivity that the chubby warrior bathed in Mintnose found captivating. Like a creature he's never laid eyes on but had heard about from distant tales. A beautiful creature that generated a gentle thermal energy that inspired a drive in his own soul.
How did this cat get to be this calm and collected? It's like Eggpelt was the current to a river and he was debris caught and fighting against its waves. It wasn't until a soft prod to his nose that the true success of his mission sank in. A blush scored across his cheeks, deepening as the warmth of Eggpelt's paw, though wet, absorbed into Mintnose's skin. "Yeah..." was all the silver tom could breathe in acknowledgement to the scrapes of a compliment.
Eggpelt's adoring pitch shifts perked Mintnose's attention, and then, in that very second, was he hit with some sort of reward for his brave indexers straight from Starclan above. Wow, a tom asking to help clean..? It was a sentence Mintnose thought he'd never get the pleasure of hearing. Sure it was...in the context of, not only him literally owing Eggpelt this favor after directly causing this condition in the first place, but also the act of removing what mysteries can only come from the slush they dove into with his tongue. But, in the inspiration of Eggpelt's positivity, Mintnose could only entertain his opportunities when given, right? Besides, he even offered to help clean Mintnose as well!
"You...I...um..." Mintnose began, swallowing any comprehendible words down his throat. The silver tabby forced out a cough, whether to stall time or to physically untighten his esophagus even he didn't know. "Yes." Mintnose greedily declared by the end of his stuttering, lost in the concentration of his excited stare. Without another word, eager paws trotted up to the mess of a warrior (although Mintnose did not took too good himself) and plopped himself next to Eggpelt as comfortably as a sibling would around its own kin.
"You could um...just let me do it all," Mintnose suggested under his breath as he started on his work in untidying the ball of mud that was Eggpelt. The suggestion was less of a favor to Eggpelt as it was a safeguard for himself, not daring to even imagine the fondness of inhaling each others breaths or accidently brushing each others whiskers. There was only so much Mintnose could allow himself to indulge in without being too covetous. Besides, it was the least Mintnose could do for, in the most literal terms, throwing him into a bog.
FINCHSTAR | ALDER-ROOT | NIGHTCLAW | FALLENFIRE | MINTNOSE | SLEETWING | LIGHTWATER | RIVER WHERE LOTUS FALLS | DECEIT
Across the bog, sat one of the many birds of the swap, a wren that had taken an interest, in the demure sight of the two lightly colored toms. If it had any stake in Eggpelt's perspective, if would have beheld a very curious sight indeed, and the way it's beady eyes regarded them seemed to reflect the intensity of focus that they had as well, both on their current level of cleanliness, and other things related to the complicated dance they were about to engage in.
It had seen the pair climb out of the murky sludge separate, but with a sense of togetherness, and the chubbier of them asses what damages had been done, issue a dressed up plea for help, and both of them feel a bit uncomfortable while Mintnose tried his best to come to the terms of what the lynx-point had asked of him. The wren flew off before it's drama had completely unfolded, and the silver grey one fumbled out his reply, now alone with the object of his obligation.
Before he knew it, he was committed, and Eggpelt internally sighed.
"Yeah. I trapped myself."
He had to wonder though, what was he trapped in? Something had dragged him out of bed that morning, a nest that he spent a lot of time padding and layering for his comfort. It was his respite and is anchor, an inanimate object that couldn't speak out of turn, judge him unfairly, or perform acts of violence toward him. It simply supported him when he was feeling like the world at large hated him, and every morning he tried his best to squeeze every last millisecond of time before leaving it and facing the clan that both raised him, and claimed his happiness. There was something about this morning that was different, however. Whether it was the pointless, tiring work in the dead of night, or the amount of low-quality catmint he consumed to get him through and tune out the others, something about him felt disgusted at the prospect of staying in the den.
Even if he was alone, he would be out and alone, away from a reminder of what the isolation he felt, where cats would come and spend a few moments issuing their directives and leaving, or rolling their eyes and humoring the tom with some unwanted conversation. It too, was becoming just as much a symbol of his decline, extensions of the needles that he ran into every time he had wanted to share something with the others if his clan.
He had no notice that another was listening in, or that the one listening was one of his few appreciators, Just as he was unaware, there would have been no way for the listener to gain the insight of his conundrum. Their meeting today, was by chance.
Some part of him, that morning, pleaded with him to try again. It bade him to leave the place, with the search for a drink only a secondary objective. A deeper need for proximity and a compelled him to take a chance that today might have something else in store than his normal life.
This feeling had trapped him, a feeling that he needed something more than the idle diversions that he would be okay with losing if he did.
Somehow the chill of the water had gotten baked into his fur. After Mintnose agreed, he approached him and sat down.
"He's...really close...and he's so warm."
The warmth was the most pleasant aspect of his closeness. It seemed to melt away whatever coolness the bog had brought over him, and it was a sensation he didn't really want to end. The warmth of another was something he didn't know he missed, a sensation he had felt before, but that was relegated to his past. He'd only truly felt this warmth from ones that he would never see again. The last time he had from another cat, they had betrayed him, and left him alone. Mintnose's comforting presence was more like a For once, it was being given to him, freely, without anything asked in returned, almost as if it was a reward for daring to go through with a connection. Eggpelt would have been content to sit there with him, enjoying his presence for all time, or at least the rest of the day.
"Mee-Yow, who is this cat? More than interesting, that's for sure..."
"You could..all"
The warmth was only the tip of the iceberg for him. Despite the inherent nature of his request, the presence of Mintnose's tongue on the nape of his neck surprised him, and dumped a helping of red pigment into his face. He tensed his shoulders and gasped, frozen for a second. Clearing his throat, he craned his neck back at him.
"S..Sorry." Eggpelt swallowed.
At the beginning, he didn't say anything, caught up in the the blissful feeling of sharing tongues. After a few moments however, he noticed the silence had gone on too long, but his tongue had failed to start up. It had been so long since he had done this activity with anyone, he had forgotten what sort of things to say when in these kinds of intimate settings. His heart rate began to quicken, but then he was reminded of the question that his partner had asked.
"All? What do you mean by all?"
There was a feeling that he had, that locked his neck in place, preventing him from turning again. An understanding of innuendo and social graces. This gift of intimacy was so much for him already, but was he was privy to the fact that Mintnose wasn't the most forward cat. Was he asking for...more? If he was, he couldn't think of a more awkward way to approach the issue.
"I guess this is the kind of situation where he thrives. Bad at dancing the dance though..."
If it was a dance however, Eggpelt decided he would have to show his confidence, and lead. A chance was in front of him, just like the one he had taken earlier, one laden with more risk than simply getting out of bed in the morning. He was already this far in however. If he got rewarded for taking a chance, maybe there was still in his run of luck to take another. There would be a bit to go before he'd find out, but it was something he wanted. If his intimacy was being offered, he couldn't think of a reason to deny himself a reminder of that feeling he craved.
A more assertive, and confident response came out, lower in volume, but with all of the classic Eggpelt sound.
"Do you think you can handle that, Mintnose?"
A purr mixed with a sly chuckle escaped from him face. Underneath, he hoped he made the right decision.
At first, Mintnose wasn't sure if he had said the right thing. He could tell by the stiffness in Eggpelt's nape as he diligently worked through the mud coating his fur. As if Mintnose's offer visibly made his clanmate uncomfortable. Another wave of heat developed over the silver warrior as he pulled away from his work, eyeing Eggpelt with a worried gaze. How could he even answer this? What else could he possibly mean? Was Eggpelt just offended by the concept of needing another cat to clean himself to its entirety? Or--
"Do you think you can handle that, Mintnose?"
Before Mintnose could even begin to balance any words of defense onto his tongue, Eggpelt spoke. His characteristic cadence was there, but his tone was much deeper, a depth that caused a sly shiver to caress his spine. What met his eyes wasn't a cat who was upset or confused. What met his eyes was a cat that glowed confidence like a flames bouncing brashly from a fire. Eggpelt's gaze oozed like honey into his own. Mintnose was almost dumbfounded by his comrade's sudden change of character.
But he couldn't help but consume the image of the tom before him. It was like staring at a legendary leader about to make a victorious final blow in a well fought war. The coy smile, the humbling purr, the contagious laugh. It was like seeing Eggpelt for the first time. Like melting into a pool just to capture the ground Eggpelt walked on was just too easy. Mintnose straightened up after that thought, his long stare casted aside for other priorities. Like the ground. That Eggpelt's cute little paws were connecting with. Ok, no. Maybe the sky was a better subject for his hungry eyes.
Nevertheless, whether locked into Eggpelt's eyes or not, he was locked into something. Maybe Eggpelt's special chub was poisoning his brain. Or maybe his voice. Or maybe his paws. But Mintnose couldn't let it get to him like this. He wasn't an apprentice experiencing a crush for the first time. He was an adult. A single adult. A virgin adult. Man, maybe he really was still just a kit. "O-Of course I can handle it!“ Mintnose, still not looking at his audience, countered, his voice a little too loud for comfort to falsely emphasize assurance.
No, he was a big, grown adult. Mintnose could take on this challenge. Eggpelt wasn't going to see how much of a quiet loser he was. Not today. In fact, he was going to take this challenge head on. Eggpelt wouldn't be able to get away from him even if he tried. With his most confident huff Mintnose sprung on Eggpelt, pinning him to the dirt. "I'll clean you so hard you won't be able to get my saliva out of your skin!“ It was then Mintnose's cheeks darkened again, his confidence lessening as he hovered over his victim. With a shy bow of his head he smiled, "did I come off as confident as you?"
FINCHSTAR | ALDER-ROOT | NIGHTCLAW | FALLENFIRE | MINTNOSE | SLEETWING | LIGHTWATER | RIVER WHERE LOTUS FALLS | DECEIT
