[dionysus]

Originally Posted by Constellation

Not many would know it, but Passionblaze hated grooming sessions. As a kit, he purposely hid from Springingsky to avoid her tongue on his pelt to look presentable. During his apprentice ceremony, he allowed himself to sit still for his mother to make his pelt glossy. Even for his warrior ceremony. Usually his pelt was a glossy dark red, the hue of a ripe strawberry. Right now, he didn’t care much about how his pelt was presented. It dirty, clumped, and sticking up at different angles. That was fine. Passionblaze never really cared much about how other parties saw him. So, while he gave up grooming himself, he looked over to Piperwing. She had finished grooming her own pelt, and Passionblaze had sat there for a moment, admiring her diligence when she managed to get more work done than him. It almost appeared like she never went into battle. Passionblaze was probably admiring her a little too much because when she looked up to gaze at him, the tom tensed. She gave him a look like she was going to laugh at him; stifling in a giggle. Passionblaze knew he must had looked like a complete mess, so he quickly shook his pelt. That should had straightened something out (it did not).
“I’ll take my chance,” Passionblaze’s tongue rolled out his mouth, wetting his jobs. “Just be ready for you to lose.” She was already in a playful crouch. Passionblaze was gonna copy, but he was still a little hurt, so his crouch was askewed, a little lazy, and more so to make himself comfortable. When she commented that he was old and injured Passionblaze gave her a look of disbelief. “Well, you just wait until this old and injured cat is ready to serve his clan once more. Somebody must be asking to have more duties to tend to than the normal warrior.” He teased. No one likes to work all the time, except for Passionblaze. Passionblaze liked to work. He had less time to lounge around because he was a busy bee roaming around and making sure everyone was okay, and that Thunderclan was pleased. He didn’t know if Piperwing valued working more than relaxing, but perhaps she loved relaxing around. “And, I’ll make sure you have a lot of chores from Dawn to Moon high,” he drew out a purr. Passionblaze could imagine giving Piperwing a lot of unnecessary chores because she dared to defy him. It was all out of good fun, however and it was better than sulking around and thinking the worse about the battle. Passionblaze just enjoyed a little action in his life, and being stationary wasn’t his ideal. When he gave her a little wink, Passionblaze never saw the gesture of it being flirtatious. Most she cats might as well think he was flirty since he had no problem in showing his fascination to them. In reality, Passionblaze didn’t know how to flirt. He wasn’t the more chill flirt like Burn was. Passionblaze’s voice was too deep to be mesmerizing in his opinion. Besides that, Passionblaze was too sincere with his compliments. Since he never truly had a crush before, why would it matter? One thing Passionblaze was obsessed about was love. It was such a fragile, beautiful thing. One of the most passionate sides to him...that Burn ruined by clawing the hearts of the beautiful sirens in the clans. Passionblaze honestly felt that if he and Burn were in the same clan, side by side, interested in the same Molly, no doubt would she choose Burn because Burn easily snaked his heart into the beauty, Whereas Passionblaze was more flustered and awkward when trying to impress her. Even though Passionblaze had plenty of molly friends, it never crossed his mind to pursue any of them. He didn’t mind Piperwing’s company. Whether deputy or not, he was a pretty approachable cat and a fun one to get to know if they stuck around. So, judging how easily Piperwing and he clicked, he figured she wouldn’t be going anywhere soon. He didn’t know the fact that she lacked friends, so his friendship and company would had been appreciated by her.
Passionblaze straightened his posture, tilting his head, and giving the she cat a lopsided grin, snickering at her snort. He told her about The Passion. His fierce side that he believed himself to be a beast when he was able to knock others off guard. “No one,” he says. “And, I mean, no one, can predict the Passion.” He states with mock haughtiness. He flashed a comical expression when Piperwing dubbed herself with the spirit of a cheetah. Passionblaze gave her that ‘are you being serious’ expression, and almost bursted out laughing. “A cheetah, yeah sure,” he flicked his tail above him. The tom’s amber-green gaze stared at her. She looked about to pounce at him, but Passionblaze made no sudden movement. He squinted his eyes at her. What was she doing? He was unfazed by her act to make him flinch. Passionblaze had turned to look behind him to see if there were any intruders, but there weren’t. So, he turned back to the Molly. His eyes widened. “Was I supposed to...flinch?” He asked, dumbfounded. Not making fun of her, but completely out of curiosity. “Because if I was, you did a terrible job at trying to scare me,” he purred, taking his time to thunder a laugh. It wouldn’t be bad at all for her to stick around. It’d be nice to have a new friend to chat with after a long day ifnstressing himself with warrior duties. If Passionblaze could read her thoughts, he’d notice she was thinking the same thing of popping out of no where to scare the other. A little laugh that no one else would get but the two of them.
If Piperwing felt she could handle him, why not let her try? So, Passionblaze had rolled his shoulders comfortably and dipped his head respectively towards her once more. She continued, and he spluttered out a laugh. “You certainly are something else, Miss Piperwing.” Passionblaze cleared his throat after a bit of chuckling. She had humor. She was witty. She was feisty. He couldn’t get out of this one, even if he tried, so he succumbed and embraced it.
When she winked at him, Passionblaze let out an exasperated huff. “And, I thought all she cats were supposed to be as sweet as they are beautiful?” He questioned, playfully. His voice a little coy because he knew that wasn’t true. The sweet and shy mollies were certainly gorgeous to him. He found them too cute. But, as Passionblaze view every molly as being beautiful, no matter their appearance, he was more attracted to their attitudes. Whether they were sweet, teasing, flirty, playful, shy, or even feisty. Passionblaze always wondered how much drive did a she cat carry. “You certainly make that stereotype make believe.”
It would had taken plenty of time and reminders for Passionblaze to stop being reckless. He did care a lot about many cats. The main ones being his mother and niece, but being reckless, everything was vanished from his mind. His mind was empty. When time came to hustle, and Piperwing would remind him to come back alive, those thoughts would frequently vanish because all he’s making sure is that the ones he loves and cares for is alive. Passionblaze was truly one of those cats who didn’t care much about his life, but he simmered down over the moons of he were to live long enough to become leader.
They both settled down to eat after Passionblaze playfully responded that his tail must taste good (despite it still being dirty). He quickly maneuvered his tail from being pawed by his new friend, and he shot her a dirty glare, but she began to ear from her squirrel. Feeling a little more comfortable around her, Passionblaze scooted closer towards her, dragging his squirrel to be near him. Passionblaze had eyed the way Piperwing tore the flesh of the squirrel. “You waste no time, do you?” He chuckled, lowly at her ravenous bites. After a battle, wouldn’t they all be starving? So, he copied her. He ate sloppily, the juices of the kill around his muzzle. Not that he cared much. As he swallowed down a bite, he glanced at Piperwing. “So, now that you forced me to be your friend,” He started, snickering. “What are some things you do for fun?” If they were to become friends, might as well get to know each other for a little bit.

Piperwing finished her grooming of her chest, though her back and sides were still dirty. She guessed Passionblaze couldn't see that though since when she looked up, she noticed him staring at her. If cats could blush, Piperwing's cheeks would be crimson. She didn't know why it made her so embarrassed, but Piperwing had always been easily affected by such things. However, she then noticed his tuft of hair between his ears. Passionblaze shook it out, but his fur was still sticking up and Piperwing couldn't hold in a chuckle. "Hold on. I'm sorry, I just need to-" Piperwing reached up to flatten that piece of fluff, smoothing it down to his head again and puling back to look at him. She felt a little awkward, but she moved past it easily. Piperwing wasn't one to let situations embarrass her for too long.

Piperwing laughed playfully and teased Passionblaze back, "I'm prepared for you to lose!" As he threatened to give her extra work, Piperwing gasped in feigned shock and asked teasingly, "Is that a threat, Mr. Deputy? I think that can be classified as an abuse of power." Piperwing smirked at Passionblaze and wiggled her shoulders playfully despite the pain. "Well," she added with a glimmer of amusement, "If you give me chores to do from dawn to moonhigh, then I'll make sure to do them as close to you as possible in order to annoy you the whooole time!"

Piperwing found Passionblaze cute. She liked his flirty wink and deep voice. She didn't have a crush on him or anything, but she could see where one might. Though she didn't know it, Piperwing shared a quality with Passionblaze. She loved romance. She couldn't help it! Little winks and smiles made her heart glow like the sun. Piperwing returned Passionblaze's snickering and said, "I'll be the first, then. I will predict the passion!" The sandy warrior didn't even know what she was saying. It didn't make any sense, but it didn't need to. They were just teasing each other. "Do you doubt me!" Piperwing asked as he repeated her cheetah statement, acting like she was offended. The molly was disappointed when Passionblaze didn't flinch, but didn't let it ruin the mood. "Oh shut up!" She playfully hissed at Passionblaze with a barely stifled smile.
Piperwing accepted his statement as a compliment and laughed at his joke about stereotypes. "One thing you should learn about me is that I'm far from stereotypical." Piperwing boasted with a flourish of her tail.
She was glad that they could both settle down to eat. Neither of them were moody anymore and the friendliness was refreshing. Piperwing laughed at Passionblaze's comment on her eating. It might have made her self-conscious that he noticed her large bites, but they were friends and in a happy place. Piperwing simply nodded along and continued to eat her squirrel with sloppy bites. Passionblaze followed her example and ended up with blood all over his muzzle again, making the sandy feline smile as she ate her own squirrel. Passionblaze's question got a chuckle out of her and she thought for a moment. She responded after swallowing, "I like running. I run through the forest sometimes, it helps me clear my mind. I like to explore the territory and try to find abandoned dens in trees to check out. I also like to spar with other cats. What about you?"