BUG BASH ☆ PRIVATE

[nyme]

AIN'T NO WAY FOR A BOY TO BE

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✧ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──

MOSQUITOKIT . 6 MOONS . HE/HIM . SHADOWCLAN

For the fourth morning in a row, Mosquitokit has woken up outside of his nest.

What little of the sunrise that can make into Shadowclan's nursery-burrow stretches across the reedy tangle of him, slouched and pretzeled like some alien thing in an ink-dark puddle on the soft floor of the nursery. His hind legs are still elevated in the plush moss, but everything else has spilled right out.

He's gotten much too big for it, is all.

Compelled to do a favor for the queens with larger litters, and feeling obligated to show a little independence from the one who'd been gracious enough to foster him until he'd been weaned, Mosquitokit has proudly slept in a tidy little moss bed that is considerably smaller than the ones the queens keep themselves and their litters in. Unfortunately for Mosquitokit, though, he's about doubled in size since making that decision—and it's nearly all leg. Combine the growth spurt with some general nighttime squirminess, and you get a puddle of young cat spilling out across the floor each morning.

It's as he's groggily untangling himself from himself that Mosquitokit thinks, not for the first time, of just how ready he is to move out of the nursery. Then he thinks: stars, I hope I didn't trip anybody!

Once he's right-side up and briskly bathed, it's right to considering the day's agenda. There's a recent promise he needs to uphold, a mission that's been eating at his mind—so it's no wonder that's among his first thoughts once he's properly awake. Make new friends. Don't get hurt.

Well. Alright. Mosquitokit steals a deeeeeep breath in and shoves it right back out as he gets to his feet. Alright!!! It can't be hard. No: it won't be hard. These things are all about, uh, outlook. And if your outlook's good, then so will everything else be. Mosquitokit can't remember if an elder said that or if it was someone's mom, but he's feelin' like today might be a perfect day to put that sentiment to the test. Holding that brilliant and positive outlook tightly in his mind, a flashlight carving out the path ahead, he marches right out there and—

Ope, he's staggered over his own feet and nearly toppled back onto the ground

"Okay, uh, redo," Mosquitokit whispers privately, getting his paws back under himself while his outrageously big ears go hot with embarrassment. That part can't count. He clearly just wasn't thinking positively enough.

@seeingstars ; WORMKIT

[seeingstars]

Wormkit • He / It • Shadowclan Kit • 6+ moons
~~~
Wormkit woke up early, the sun hadn't even risen above the horizon before he was stretched and exiting the nursery. His mother had moved back to the warriors den so he'd taken over her old nest. It was lonely though, so he tried not to be in it unless he needed to sleep.

The smoky black and white spotted tom let out a gentle sigh before rising to it's paws and stretching, looks like it was going to be another early morning. The slightly above average sized kit quickly and quietly weaved through sleeping queens and their litters to exit the den. It picked a small mouse from the fresh-kill pile and settled in a mostly hidden spot to enjoy his meal. After it finished, the sun was finally peeking over the horizon. It sighed, 'aaaand that was all i had to do today.' He thought to himself

It disposed of it's breakfast's remains then looked around camp for a place to catch the warmth of the rising sun. Wormkit finally found a spot and settled in, rolling onto his back exposing his silver belly to the rays of the morning sun. It had it's eyes closed firmly and probably looked to be sleeping to anyone who saw it, but despite that he was always listening. It's how he kept himself entertained while waiting to be assigned a mentor.

It'd heard Misquitokit leaving the nursery but remained silent, it's eyes shot open as it heard the other tom's near stumble. The apprentice aged kit's gaze landed on their clanmate, the tom visibly relaxed after he was sure Misquitokit wasn't about to land on him. He noted it seemed the tom had whispered something to himself, though Wormkit couldn't make out the words. He flashed his clanmate a friendly smile "Hey Misquitokit" He said, giving him a nod in greeting.

{ @nyme }

[nyme]

AIN'T NO WAY FOR A BOY TO BE

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✧ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──

MOSQUITOKIT . 6 MOONS . HE/HIM . SHADOWCLAN

Mosquitokit's sharp face snaps upward as though he's been caught in some act, ears airplaning down and eyes moon-wide as he stares and stares at Wormkit. He'll get a better at this someday, but today he looks like a criminal in a searchlight.

"Uh." Is his first, initial response. Helpless and hopeless, Mosquitokit stands and stares and stares and stands. It's not that he's frightened or anything, just that he hadn't actually been ready for an interaction to land so effortlessly at his paws. That positive thinking comes at you fast. Now, like a dog who's finally caught its own tail, he isn't really sure what to do.

...three, four, five...sixseveneightnine...

So for a little bit, there, he just counts Wormkit's speckles. It's a favorite pastime of his, analyzing coats. No deep rationale or philosophy behind it, he just likes to do it. He also likes to focus on tiny, meaningless things like this instead of dealing with stuff that's too hard to deal with—like a totally normal greeting from a clanmate, for instance.

teneleventwelvethir—

No. Okay. Okay. He squeezes his eyes shut to blot out the tempting spots and tries to forget what number he was on because now all he's doing is staring and staring is rude and rude cats can't make friends. Mosquitokit squints his eyes back open and commits to eye contact. Oh. But, see, there's even something interesting to puzzle over, there. Wormkit's eyes are two colors. Despite seeing its spotty coat around the nursery plenty of times, Mosquitokit's realizing just now that he hadn't ever noticed this detail. Wormkit's got two completely different eyes. How neat.

"Why are your eyes like that?" He blurts, wondrous. It doesn't take him long to start floundering, appalled at his own tactlessness: "I me—, uh, hey too, Wormkit. I mean, just hey. S—, um, sorry. About your eyes. Not like, like, not sorry that they're um, like that, just s-sorryaboutaskingabout...them...?"

This is a terrible start, but to Mosquitokit's credit, he's at least good at digging his heels in. He's staring pointedly over Wormkit's ears—since he evidently can't trust himself to be normal if he looks at the other cat head-on—and furiously gameplanning how to fix this mess he's just talked into being.

"They're cool!" He grits out. The least he can do is make sure that Wormkit knows he's not trying to be mean or anything.

@seeingstars ; WORMKIT

[seeingstars]

Wormkit • He / It • Shadowclan Kit • 6+ moons
~~~
The smoky black cat stared back, head tilted. It was unsure if it should say something or if that would make things weirder. As more time passed it shifted awkwardly, what was he thinking? Did I do something weird? Do i have a feather or something on my face?

The tom's thoughts raced and now it realized it was staring, it shifted it's gaze from Misquitokit's eyes to his paws, only returning upon hearing the other's question.

'why are your eyes like that?' The apprentice aged kit was taken aback by the question, he wasn't offended or upset, just surprised. He never really thought about his eyes, nor did it see them much. It watched as Misquitokit's attempted recover, a giggle escaping past the kit's maw as he waited for Misquito to be done speaking. The question almost forgotten by the end of his Clanmate's words "My... eyes?" He paused, tilting his head. what does he mean my eyes? What's wrong- oh- right. He thought to himself, remembering he'd been born with one yellow and one blue eye.

After a silence that probably only lasted a few heart beats but felt like an eternity he spoke "Well- The yellow one is just like my mama's eyes... I don't know about the blue one... I assume it's the same colour as my dad's... never met him so i wouldn't know, as for why, I can't answer that one at all" He gave a half hearted shrug, his tail swaying gently behind him.

He liked this guy so far, he seemed to be a bit rambly but Wormkit didn't mind that all too much. He sat down, looking on at the other tom, he'd seen Misquitokit but hadn't interacted with him all that much, but with his friends all being apprenticed now it was giving him time to meet new cats.

{ @nyme }

[nyme]

AIN'T NO WAY FOR A BOY TO BE

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✧ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──

MOSQUITOKIT . 6 MOONS . HE/HIM . SHADOWCLAN

His hackles bristle, anxiety puffing him up big as though his body's anticipating some kind of fight. Mosquitokit bites the inside of his cheek, willing his coat to lie flat and sleek. Nobody wants to talk to someone who looks like he's bowing up at them! And Wormkit...does want to talk. It does.

Thank goodness. He's relieved before he's overjoyed. Wormkit must be especially kind, then, or maybe just accustomed to this kind of question? Mosquitokit finds himself hoping that it's not the latter; he's already upset on Wormkit's behalf to think that lots of cats might approach it like this. Why do you look like that? How awful. Mosquitokit'll be embarrassed about doing it, himself, for moons to come.

Ah, but there he's gone, thinking too hard and not saying anything again. Wormkit's been nice enough to pick up the conversation like it's a normal one, too. Mosquitokit swallows and nods enthusiastically.

"Oh! O-Okay, so...so it's uh, s'like you have two cats' eyes—that's neat! Uh, d'you see different outta them? Like...l-like is it like two different cats seein' stuff?" He's really not sure that that's how it works but the idea that it could be has Mosquitokit lurching forward eagerly to try and get a closer, better look at Wormkit's face.

@seeingstars ; WORMKIT

[seeingstars]

Wormkit • He / It • Shadowclan Kit • 6+ moons
~~~
Wormkit tilted his head as he simply watched Misquitokit, amusment glittering in it's eyes as he looked on at his clanmate. It hadn't seen a cat this anxious ever in it's life, it was kind of cute in a way though.

The silence wasn't as long this time, or at least it didn't seem like it to Wormkit "haha I guess in a way" He said with a smile and a chuckle "naw- They're both still my eyes so i see like any other cat! At least I assume i do" He said furrowing his brows.

The Shadowclan kit had never actually really thought of it, did he see the same as every other cat? he didn't see many cats like him, ones with different coloured eyes and he'd never actually asked what others see. He assumed how he saw was normal, but was curious regardless.

{ @nyme }

[nyme]

AIN'T NO WAY FOR A BOY TO BE

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✧ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──

MOSQUITOKIT . 6 MOONS . HE/HIM . SHADOWCLAN

"Ohh. Huh. I-I guess tha' makes sense—prrrrrobably more sense than if, uh, if y'saw different." Mosquitokit's head drops to one side, cocked like a dog's. His nose has wrinkled just a touch. Being so close to Wormkit, now, he can smell...mud?

Not that it's abnormal to smell mud around this plce, but it's like...well, it's almost like...is it...?

"D'you smell dirty?" He asks, really shooting for a high score in Consecutive Poorly Worded Questions. "Like—muddy, I mean. Y-You, or, somethin', smells, uh." His teeth click with the force of how hard he snaps his mouth shut, expression crumbling into a focused grimace. He knows what he's trying to ask, he's just worried there's no polite way to ask it. "Didja maybe fall into some mud? Lately?" There, that feels a little classier. Less accusatory, maybe. "Mmm, m'sorry if that's, uh. If that wasn'nice, 'm not tryna be mean, swear."

He's a little—a lot—mumbly at the end there, but he means it. Mosquitokit would hate to upset anyone, but he has to know these things. All of them.

@seeingstars ; WORMKIT

[seeingstars]

Wormkit • He / It • Shadowclan Kit • 6+ moons
~~~
Wormkit laughed at first, then the next sentence left Misquitokit's maw 'd'you smell dirty?'. It generally knew what he was talking about. He'd loved digging holes and playing in mud from the day he could walk. The scent always clung to his pelt, no matter how much or how often it washed it

"Oh- uh" It furrowed it's brows as he searched for any words to respond with. He knew it's denmate's intentions weren't negative but the comments wording admittedly stung. Wormkit sucked in air through it's teeth, How long had it been since it'd spoken? Was time moving as painfully slow for Misquitokit or was it just him?

The black and white speckled time finally spoke after another chunk of silence "I like tunneling and stuff like that" He said plainly, glancing over at the other tom. It tried to play the silence off cooly, and for the most part succeeded "my ma says i get that from my dad, don't know though" it said with a casual shrug.

Despite the sting, he couldn't help but smile as Misquito's voice faded into a mumble as he continued "Hey don't worry about it, I guess it's not the most normal thing for a cat to do" He said with a reassuring purr.
{ @nyme }

[nyme]

AIN'T NO WAY FOR A BOY TO BE

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✧ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──

MOSQUITOKIT . 6 MOONS . HE/HIM . SHADOWCLAN

Mosquitokit is painfully aware of Wormkit's pause. He's almost compelled to hold his breath, to close his eyes, to will the ground to open up and swallow him whole. He's done something pretty rude, hasn't he? Even if he didn't mean to. He doesn't want Wormkit to think he thinks it's dirty, that'd be horrible! He just—he just needs to know.

But he could definitely stand to work on how he says things, because that stuff matters, too.

"Tun-nell-ing. Oh, like digging? Like..." Mosquitokit scuffs at the ground with his big, awkward forepaws. "That? Tha's cool, you're like...um." He tries to think of a flattering comparison but he can't think of anything that digs and is also cool. Worms live in the mud, so at least Wormkit's living up to his name, but would that be another mean thing? Calling Wormkit a real worm? This is tough...

"...Not a lotta cats can do that, I bet," he continues carefully. "Y-You're...like...like a badger. Or a fox. Which, uh, which is good 'cause then you'll be real good at fightin' them...someday." Foxes have fox holes and badgers have badger setts—he knows that, at least. He's not thrilled about comparing Wormkit to something that the clan knows to fear, but plenty of cats get named Fox- or Badger- by queens who probably hope to instill even a fraction of that kind of ferocity in their kittens, so maybe a comparison isn't that bad.

He's not really sure what a queen would name their kitten Wormkit for, though. But, then, neither does he know the point of a name like Mosquitokit.

"Uh, sorry also. F'r callin' you dirty. Or, I mean—I-I shouldn'ta asked it like that, is all. I know I just said I wasn't, uh, didn' wanna be mean but I still said it. Like that. Which is plain mean even if, uhm, ev'n if I didn't want it to be." He scuffs at the ground again. "Can I see how you dig? Is that okay?"

This is gonna be a real sucky way to start a friendship if he just sits here and makes Wormkit accept a bunch of fumbled apologies over and over so Mosquitokit does his best to move on quickly. He'd like to see some digging, now, because it isn't very normal—outside of Windclan, at least, but Mosquitokit doesn't know anything about that—, but it sounds very cool.

@seeingstars ; WORMKIT

[seeingstars]

Wormkit • He / It • Shadowclan Kit • 6+ moons
~~~
"Y-yeah- My ma taught me how to when i was younger, it's pretty fun, also you can find some cool stuff under ground! I found a cool shiny rock once" The kit said puffing his chest out.

The 'like a badger or fox' comment struck it as a bit funny "I guess so- though I don't think i'd ever stand a chance against a badger, maaaaybe a fox, but not a badger" He said with a chuckle, sitting down and neatly wrapping his tail around it's paws. It could tell that more questions were going to follow this one.

Wormkit let out a soft sigh followed by a chuckle "Don't worry about it Misquitokit" It said, flashing his denmate a friendly smile "Honestly, i've probably heard worse asked" He joked, for the most part at least- He was being bullied and still was. He thought he was at least, he did his best to avoid the cat who caused the injury to his ear all those moons ago.

It's mind was pulled from it's bully at Misquitokit's last question "oh- uh yeah i guess... I probably shouldn't be digging random holes in camp though- I have a cool place a bit outside of camp that i go to dig all the time, if you don't mind sneaking out of course" He said, straightening up a bit as he'd begun to unconsciously slouch.
{ @nyme }