RiverClan Territory

[Fawn]

Oh. Oh.. Right. There was the matter of that. Fawnsqueak's throat was dry again, his pupils darted to a side. "Yeah?" he intended to confirm but it morphed into a whine of a question. "You...."

He hung on that, unable to look at Flyfur. This was so not his element, hardly his business. Hated this job. Oh starsohstars...... Okay. Professionalism, he could do that. It was a pained glance at Flyfur that was all bravado and fake courage as his whisker twitched against his cheek, grounding him when he felt dizziness edge into the corners of his vision. The lines of age on Flyfur reminded him of the importance of this conversation, one he should've had sooner but he was a coward, an absolute coward.

"You. You don't have to?" It was tossed out there like a suggestion, and he cleared his throat. He had to do this fast. He was losing his nerve. "I'm-- I believe, in she-cats' rights, and.. and their health, and I'm here if you need anything or want to go back to your warrior duties early.. or.. maybe you need some time, I don't want to assume--"

Perhaps it'd be best to stop there, clock his head at Flyfur and desperately sink his claws into the Earth. He couldn't.. say it any more concisely, it felt so wrong coming from him, he'd never understand.. but he hoped with all his being that she did.

@Rainquail

[Elementals]

~Silentpaw~

“Yyes pllease, ma’am. Ttthat wwould be helpful. This fflap doesn’t want to be tucked in,” Silentpaw stuttered embarrassed that he couldn’t do a simple task any other apprentice could do. He held out the flap for Fennelheart as he held the ball in position to be stabilized.

{ @Zesty Mango @Whiteystripes }

[Abyssopelagic]

Flyfur stopped. Actually stopped mid step, brows furrowing and eyes squinting. She turns to look at Fawnsqueak, completely forgetting about the Marigold plant.
"I'm sorry, what?"
What exactly did that even mean? What was this about?
She hadn't meant to sound so forceful or appear offended, really she just didn't know what he was talking about, but she just didn't understand what he was getting at.

@Dipper

[Fawn]

Fawnsqueak faltered. Hesitant, he tried to fornulate words too stubborn to come to intelligible fruition and was left sputtering, cheeks heating under the judgment-less scrutiny. "Your pregnancy?" he raised the end to a higher pitch and blinked at her, thoroughly stupefied. "I thought.." His jaw set, teeth grinding. This was.. painful and only partly chalked it up to his own awkwardness.

There were several logical elements that'd led him to this--now possibly--inappropriate albeit well-intentioned discussion. It was the physical factors like age, the absence of a mate, the seeming-distaste for motherhood. It'd led him to a conclusion that was apparently.. a bit off the mark.

"I just.." he tried again, scuffed at the ground. Carrying on from here required persistence, and he was seconds from shaking his head and telling her to never mind. It was nothing. "Didn't know if it was a welcome change, everything.. I mean, you were such a good warrior, y'know?" Dutiful, intelligent-- those things simply didn't align with Fawnsqueak's view of a willing parent, and it was with some heartbreak to recognize this error. The embarrassment was one thing, manageable enough, but another entirely was a future of reprieve that burned before his eyes. She was so skilled, too skilled, and.. and honestly beyond helpful, could do his job with profound ease, and he wished he could say that as a compliment--really did--but closed his mouth again. Even Fawnsqueak realized it'd be downright terrible to position it against an alternative route of life. Unfair, maybe.. A strangled noise from his own throat brought him out of his thoughts only to notice his legs were trembling. Questioningly distant, he said, offhand, "But you'd.. have told me if that wasn't the case.."

@Rainquail

[Abyssopelagic]

Flyfur blinked, realizing his meaning and suddenly feeling horrible about her reaction. Her face softened and she made her stance less aggressive.
"Fawnsqueak, I wanted this litter; planned for it, even. When I had Featherpaw, she had been unexpected. That is not the case now."
She wasn't complaining per se, she loved Featherpaw dearly, even if she had struggled to be a proper mother for her. In truth, maybe that was why she had adopted so many kits, such older kits, even and nothing to do with the fact she had practically raised her own brother since her parents were utter failures.
No, maybe both factor in.
"I enjoy being a warrior too much to just stay in the nursery and we have queens that are far more capable of caring for young ones than me."
There, maybe this would make the conversation subside soon. His worry was touching, but unnecessary.
She blinked slowly a few times and looked back at the Medicine Cat. It was..... still weird thinking of Fawnsqueak as such, but she preferred him to Otterstone.
Otterstrike.
"I was not.... pushed into having kits, if that is your concern," she murmured. She tried to keep her sudden and unwarranted anger for the previous Medicine Cat from her tone.

@Dipper

[Fawn]

Overshadowing his gratitute for her straightforwardness was the announcement that the litter was planned and unwanted, Fawnsqueak's eyes bugged out. He blinked, dumbfounded. Of the outcomes he'd been expecting, that'd been at the very bottom of the list with no doubts about Flyfur's judgment but thinking too highly of her to believe it. "W-what?" he asked, breathless. That might've been the wrong thing to say, a tidbit of knowledge that occurred to him too late, but he tried to fix it. "Oh, that's-- good. I'm. Glad. About the planning. And the wantedness." Well, that.. was sort of better?

Fawnsqueak mentally debated for a moment, his irritation with himself winning over alongside the desire for a more honest articulation of his reaction. "It's not like, I thought you were.. careless at all! Or anything like that. I thought you were.. focused on other things?" He should have known the universe wasn't so kind. His face fought him the whole way through his attempt of a casual smile, genuine in the sense he was relieved she hadn't been coerced into this. The rest was grayer. No use dwelling. Fawnsqueak cleared his throat, blinked at the forest surrounding them to focus on what was rather than could be.

"Let's.. find the marigold, yeah? And maybe see if there's anything else useful." There was time for self-loathing and pitying later, always more time. Fawnsqueak took a tentative step forward, then another, stiff in his observation of the nearby plants.

@Rainquail

[Abyssopelagic]

Flyfur's whiskers twitched with amusement as he kept trying to reassure he wasn't judging her.
"You're.... you're fine. I hadn't thought you were."
Judging her, that was. But he seemed all too disappointed about it all the same. Which was definitely weird, but she didn't know him well enough to judge what he might be thinking.
"I do, but my opportunities and ambitions don't dissapear just because I have kits. They just need to be put on hold."
Cats.... most of them, at least, seemed to think their life and any chances of returning to a normal life and being allowed future chances to move foward in the clan disappeared the moment they had kits.
She could sort of see where that came from.
It was still a bit ridiculous.

"Very well."
She got the sense he was avoiding something, but wouldn't press him. She doubted it would do any good and began moving foward with Fawnsqueak and went back to looking for marigold.
A few fox length in, she spotted a very familiar golden colour poking through the vast amounts of greens and browns and broke off to inspect them. Carefully picking them and securely weaving them into her tail, she only counted 2 marigold and among them was a dandelion, which she went ahead and picked that, too and returned to Fawnsqueak.
"I only found two, but there was also a dandelion."


@Dipper

[Mango]

@Elementals @Whiteystripes

Fennelheart gave a nod to Silentpaw giving him a gentle smile as she carefully tucked the end in. She was glad to help the nice and obedient apprentice, she decided to ignore Echopaw and just hope the got lost while she helped Silentpaw.

[Madelaine]

[ @Whiteystripes; ]

(hunting patrol)

Cottonstrike padded out into the riverclan territory, turning around to see if his apprentice was following. He wouldn't wait if she was late. He already got in trouble the first time and he didn't want to this time. Echopaw would learn that sometimes you gotta leave without them. It wasn't a problem right now as long as she had followed.

[Cobra]

[ @Sparkling Flower ]

~~Echopaw CLONE~~

Echopaw followed right behind her mentor. Every once in a while she would let out a little giggle, than stop and stare at the ground nervously. "Hey, Cotton-guy," Echopaw meowed. "Can we catch fishies this time?" She had eaten fish once...not very good but it would be mega-fun to catchhhhh oneeeeeeee!

[ @Zesty Mango @Elementals ]

~~Echopaw~~

Echopaw kept looking, silently for once.