roachflare wasnt really the guy for events, especially not those that attracted the attention of elites and thereby drew in a lot more cats, but they did want to stay up to date on their battle skills. bug wasnt ready to let themselves be defenceless again and perhaps he could use this as a fun bonding moment to get mudslides mind off of her recent troubles.

it didnt look like she was out here yet so they tentatively took a seat near hawkbite before beginning to vigorously groom their pelt in order to look at least somewhat presentable. as bug went through the motions, he remembered the usual gaggle of children seemingly glued to hawkbites side and cringed internally.

roach was going to be trapped near a bunch of screaming kits and apprentices any moment now, too scared to move until the event formerly started or he spotted mudslide in the crowd. i mean, how awkward would it look for him to leave now that he had sat here for a couple of moments.

rookfire returned the look sleepysunrise gave him, angular head tipped sideways to match hers.
"its practically nothing, 'dont see why it should put a stop to my regular activities" he replied neutrally, striped tail flicking dismissively and the simple suggestion of resting due to the cuts he had earned the sunrise prior. rest would only stiffen his muscles and joins, causing more complaint from his bad shoulder and paws used to moving all day everyday. the enforcer turned to remove himself from the den once more, telling himself he didnt care whether or not she'd follow.
there had been worse things he had worked through anyway, worse things he had ignored until bones mended. he may have been a overly careful medicine cat when it came to his patients, but his own health was fair play and always less important than staying on top of his duties.

luckily for him, of course simply because searching for a worthy partner in the gathered crowd would be fruitless work, sleepysunrise had appeared to have taken pity on him, followed and sat next to him.
rookfire shook his head dismissively, almost angry at himself that he knew the answer to this. "mossfreckle had no family" he replied, too quick to be casual, intentionally ignoring any and all connection mossfreckle mightve fostered with lostspark or any other cats, they shouldnt count, he had been barely present anyway.
though he was pleased to find sleepysunrise willing to move on from the topic that presented to be a very much still sore spot to rookfire, he cocked his head to the side in confusion. what the hell was she even saying? 'bath, talk, eaten, wounds' sounded like either a plan of what she was going to do after this or, judging by the raise of her tone at the end, a question.

eyes narrowed, he made an attempt to figure out a cohesive reply to this very much not coherent question. "err im doing fine the-" rooks eyes remained glued to the soil next to sleepy before slowly turning his head towards the cat daring to interrupt his very (much not) important conversation.

ah she came because of his observation. what a pity, he'd hoped to would at least be something more interesting. anyway, shame was not a language commonly spoken in rookfires household, not that his mother wouldve accepted it anyway, but instead of the very human (caT?) reaction of discomfort at being caught red-pawed, he simply exhaled in displeasure at the disruption. stars forbid he stares down a clanmate to his hearts desire!

"your face." the enforcer replied without thought, before promptly regretting the words that exited his mouth. not that it wasnt true, it was simply the fact that this could ruin his reputation even more and he was not very keen on fighting his way up to enforcer another time before the current season cycle completed. "ah sorry that was supposed to be an inside thought, its err..you remind me of someone" wow that wasnt even really an excuse, great job rook, just great. cool grey eyes darted over to sleepysunrise as if seeking some sort of escape from this 'confrontation', not like he couldnt deal with it himself, his eyes just did that themselves sometimes..

[ @Estelle - sleepy ; @namen_roodles - mosstangle ]