AITA for accidentally giving my co-worker a panic attack? [silversmoke]

[Johnnyflame]

HE SAID, "WELL MY NAME'S JOHNNY, AND IT MIGHT BE A SIN
BUT I'LL TAKE YOUR BET, AND YOU'RE GONNA REGRET, CUZ IM THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN."​

---

Johnny didn't really believe in 'taking days off'. Not that he blamed the daylight warriors who did. Each cat and their home-life was different, and as far as Johnny was concerned, as long as they left the clan with more than they took, he didn't see an issue with it. But for him personally...?

Johnny had once sat on these fences all day, prowling along them and guarding the twoleg gardens from mischievous cats, curious stray dogs, and destructive critters. Outside of keeping his twolegs happy - which he really only did in the mornings and at night since both were gone during the days- looking after his little chunk of neighborhood had been the only purpose in the bobtails life. It made him feel useful, like he was giving back to the people who'd given him so much, but it was only after joining Skyclan that the patched tabby truly learned the meaning of the word 'purpose'. He was alive in the pine forest in ways the city would never awaken in him, and he had the distinct feeling that if he were to try and spend the day at home walking the fences again, he'd find himself restless and horribly unfulfilled. Lonely, in a way he'd never realized, until at last having cats to surround himself with.

On very rare occasions though, Johnny did show up a bit later in the mornings rather than at dawn like he usually did. He figured this was a fair trade-off though since there were plenty of nights that he'd spent in Skyclans territory, particularly during troublesome times when he might be needed. For whatever reason, his female twoleg would occasionally head off to start her day an hour or two later than usual every now and then, and ever-loyal Johnny always remained with her until she left. Today was one such day. It was still morning, but the sun was well above the horizon and the bitter chill had warmed enough beneath it to make the day at least tolerable for a cat like Johnny. He sat perched atop the white-picket fence of his backyard and found himself gazing out into the woods. How long had it been since he'd done this? He could still remember the first time he'd ever seen a Skyclan cat; Thistleback, hunting in the trees. The tom had joined him on the fence and tempted him with storied of the forest and it's cats, Johnnys own personal snake in the garden of edan.

Glancing up to the sky and judging that it was probably time to go unless he wanted to start feeling antsy, Johnny got to his paws and allowed himself the satisfaction of quickly stretching before preparing to hop down from the fence- only to pause when he caught a glimpse of silver fur off in the treeline. Right away he paused, ears pricking forward in curiosity as he straightened up to try and get a better view of the cat, and it wasn't long before he recognized Silversmoke.

His opinion on his fellow lead warrior was a... complicated one. When Johnny had first joined he'd been eager to earn their approval. The larger tom was one hell of a warrior after all, and like Thistleback, he'd held the other in high regard when it came to cats he respected and wanted to impress. But Silversmoke had taken every chance possible to make it clear to Johnny that no amount of effort would make up for the fact that they were a daylight warrior. Half-loyal. Half-Skyclan. It had hurt, at first. Frustrated him, even. Try as he might he couldn't get his head around why the other tom was so quick to pass judgement on him. And for a while, he'd thought that was just how things would be.

And then Silversmoke went and made him that stupid nest.

A stupid, soft, perfectly comfortable nest that had thrown a wrench right into whatever measly understanding Johnny had of the situation. Because it hadn't just been some shit nest thrown together because a higher up had ordered Silver to do it- it was a legitimately thoughtful gesture, regardless of how the other lead had wanted to spin it. And whether he wanted it to or not, it meant something to to Johnny. It meant that he couldn't just hate Silversmoke because Silversmoke obviously didn't hate him. And that was enough for Johnny.

"Oi! Silversmoke!" he called, lifting a white paw and waving the other tom over. It was an impulsive action that he had no real excuse for initiating- he and Silver weren't friends and there was no official business they had together, and yet Johnny still offered him the same stupid grin he did anyone else, sunny eyes free of any animosity as they gazed at him from atop the fenceline.

@SILVERSMOKE can you tell i'm out of title ideas? lol

---

​

 

[SILVERSMOKE]

Silversmoke had not been assigned work that morning, a fact that gnawed at his brain like a beaver through wood. Oftentimes the spotted tabby threw himself at chores the first opportunity he got, discomfort was always dismissed in front of duty and, when grief was a tepid beast, he found himself enjoying the distraction more than ever. Against the wishes of those who had told him to rest, the spotted tabby found himself close to the Twolegplace, slowly meandering towards the sandy ravine to see who was around to train against. The giant dens to his left were a reminder for the Lead Warrior to be quick, their glass eyes watching him dip in and out of the brush like a silver ghost. Just when he thought he had traversed far enough to avoid an aggressive 'pspspspsps', an attention-grabbing voice called him - thankfully, it was a feline one. Tilting his head, his eyes locked onto an orange and brown figure posed upon the face, calling him over with a gesture as if he had something to say. Silversmoke didn't know if he was ready to hear it, so used to hearing the other tease him these past few moons, he had one of two choices.

He could just ignore his peer, pretend the waving of the paw had not caught his eye, pretend his voice had been gulped up by the wind. It was tempting, Johnnyflame had found out his spiky shell was not as sharp as it had once been and the last thing he wanted was for the clan to think he was going soft on a half-warrior. A cursory glance revealed that no one was around to see him give the other a nest, or watch Johnnyflame cuddle up to him as if he had a death wish. 'I can handle it.' Snorting, the spotted tabby moved closer, the shadow of the Twoleg fence feeling like mud for him to traipse through. Slower and slower his paw steps got until the Lead Warrior halted a respectable distance away, hoping his frown exuded a strength he did not feel before the wooden prison. "You won't find any snakes talking to me, guard," he called up the Daylight Warrior, tail lashing. Why was Johnnyflame even defending his Twoleg's home? It was not a territory like SkyClan's, it was owned by a creature that would just replace Johnny should he ever hop down from that fence for good. 'SkyClan couldn't replace you.'

Ears twitched at the thought, warm at the tufts. 'SkyClan could never replace anyone,' was what he had meant. Orangestar was not Blazestar, her Deputy would not be her, Fireflypaw could not replace Dawnglare - they would all be equally important cats, but different ones. It was difficult to admit that a Daylight Warrior had any sort of importance when half of them treated SkyClan like a fun day out rather than a way of life. Bonds formed could not be maintained when they could readily decide to leave at dusk and never return, it felt like a pointless endeavor - bound to end in betrayal. Johnnyflame was perhaps the longest-serving Daylight Warrior, Silversmoke didn't know if he should be impressed or if he should hate the other for it. He guarded his Twoleg's nest as if she was not a threat to the cats in the forest, but... he'd guarded SkyClan just as much, and saved it in ways he hadn't been able to (and therefore couldn't stomach). Silversmoke stared at the other's maw, that impetuous grin upon it, and rolled his eyes. "Why are you still here? The call for the dawn patrol is long over."

​

 

[Johnnyflame]

HE SAID, "WELL MY NAME'S JOHNNY, AND IT MIGHT BE A SIN
BUT I'LL TAKE YOUR BET, AND YOU'RE GONNA REGRET, CUZ IM THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN."​

---

For a moment, Johnny wasn't sure if he'd be acknowledged. Even if the tabby was confident that Silversmoke no longer hated him, the verdict was still very much out on whether or not the odd-eyed tom liked him or not. His bet would probabaly be 'no', but that didn't mean he couldn't try and work on that.

He had to try not to look pleased with himself when the larger tomcat eventually caved and made their way over, not seeming to be in any rush to meet him at the fenceline. Not that this surprised Johnny given how outspoken the other was about not liking twolegs and their pets, and he made sure to let out a little trill to convey that Silversmoke was a welcomed presence on his property line.

"Not likely to see any snakes this time of year, anyways- unless your countin' Windclan." he replied, only half-joking. That was one serpent that was liable to rear its head year-round, and he could only hope that Sootstars final death would by Skyclan some time before the drama started up again.

"Aye, I know." he replied, having the sense to at least look a little guilty about it even though he knew he shouldn't have to. There was nothing wrong with him taking some time every now and then for his twolegs, something that he'd been reassured of multiple times by many of his clanmates. And yet, he had a distinct feeling that Silversmoke wouldn't be as understanding as them. "One of my twolegs ended up leaving a bit later today. I stayed with her just to make sure she wasn't sick or anything, but she seemed okay when she finally left. I was actually just about to head back to camp when I spotted you."

Johnny had no idea what it was his people got up to during the days, but he was pretty familiar with their schedules. They both left early in the mornings and then returned in the evenings, usually the woman first and the man a few hours later. Sometimes, just for the comical mental image, he imagined they were running off to join their own human groups, patrolling borders and hunting prey. He knew that was likely as far from the truth as it got, but it was still a funny thought to think every now and then.

"Speaking of patrols though, I couldn't help but notice that you aren't currently on one." he mused as gazed down at the other. "That means you've got time right?" For what? Johnny hadn't gotten that far yet. He was just sort of... winging it. But he'd gotten the larger tom over to the fenceline and that was already half the battle won, right? Now he just had to be his naturally awesome and charismatic self and maybe Silversmoke wouldn't cringe whenever the daylight warrior was nearby.

He could do this. He could totallydo this.

---

​

 

[SILVERSMOKE]

Brows raised and immediately narrowed at the trill, though annoyance did not immediately ripple through the Lead Warrior's pelt. Why the chimera was happy he was close to the Twolegplace was beyond his understanding - the place was cursed, full of careless cats and even more careless Twolegs. Briefly, he wondered if it was satisfaction, that the Lead Warrior did not immediately turn to ash the moment he caught a whiff of something different. Silversmoke rolled his eyes at Johnnyflame's insinuation. WindClan were not snakes, they were rats, plentiful and quick to die, but destroying anything they touched with their bite. For a time, he had done well without the memory of their treachery, and it was only Johnnyflame's explanation that stopped him from thinking unpleasant thoughts about what to do with the rest of the moor rodents. Tufted ears twitched as he tilted his head, unconvinced by his excuse. "There's little you can do for her if she is sick," he pointed out, not as unkindly as his maladroit tone wanted to suggest. It seemed like a waste of time to stay when the Twoleg wouldn't do the same for Johnny. "I've never known a Twoleg to eat our herbs, their medicine is different." He paused in thought, then, quickly added on, "Or so I've heard."

Only twice had he been to the Twoleg medicine cats, both times they'd put something unpleasant on the back of his neck, like teeth that sunk deeper but caused less bleeding. Absent was the smell of herbs or sickness, instead, it had been woefully sterile, woefully unnerving for a cat who relied on his sense of smell to get around. It wasn't a place he'd liked, if he imagined vividly enough, he could picture a Twoleg sitting on that frigid stone, pinned down and forced to endure whatever pain their medicine cats put them through. It was not a thought that filled the vengeful tom with satisfaction, some cruelty was too much, even to inflict upon the worst opponents. Johnnyflame snapped him back to reality and the Lead Warrior blinked fervently, accusation filling his gaze. His tail lashed defensively behind him as if to say 'actually, I am on patrol', but he couldn't deny it, he had been passed over this time, and his loneliness proved it. He waited for a taunt, instead, the other offered a question, and Silversmoke's maw parted. "Time for what?"

What in StarClan's name did the other want him to get up to?
​

 

[Johnnyflame]

HE SAID, "WELL MY NAME'S JOHNNY, AND IT MIGHT BE A SIN
BUT I'LL TAKE YOUR BET, AND YOU'RE GONNA REGRET, CUZ IM THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN."​

---

He knew that technically Silversmoke was right; if his twoleg had turned out to be sick, there wasn't actually anything Johnny could do to fix the situation. Even if he'd been trained by Dawnglare himself -a truly terrifying thought- he'd never in his life seen an ill or injured person using the same herbs that the clans did. But that wasn't Johnnys point.

"I can still comfort her though." the striped tom insisted as he held the others gaze, stubborn loyalty bleeding through his words. "It beats recovering alone." he huffed, golden eyes shifting away from Silversmokes as something flashed within them that Johnnyflame would prefer to keep unseen. Perhaps with another cat it wouldn't have mattered so much, but it would taste too much like defeat to let the other Lead know that there was any part of his twoleg life he might regret.

Before Skyclan though, his recoveries were always spent in solitude, his misery broken up only by the comforting words and hands of his twolegs. Stars, when the rat bites had gotten infected and Johnny had been running fevers that had him drifting in and out of consciousness, all he'd wanted was to be a kit again, scooped up and pressed close to someone he could trust, reassured that he would be okay and that he was taken care of. But the only thing his twolegs could do for him was take him to their own healers less he succumb to his sickness.They had fixed Johnny, but he'd been absolutely miserable the entire time. Kept in a metal box all alone with no other cat or twoleg to find comfort or reassurance in. He hadn't been afraid, but he had been lonely. And he didn't need his twolegs feeling like that when they were ill.

Twolegs were a touchy subject for him and Silversmoke though, and while things had remained on the civil side so far, Johnny was glad when their conversation switched topics to patrols -or lack thereof- without the other tom immediately slinking back off into the pine forest. Another small victory for the bobtail, even if he didn't know exactly what kind of game he was playing yet or how to win it.

"I, um- I need some help choosing something to bring back to camp." he replied, quickly going through his mind for a worthy excuse.
In reality, Johnny had no plan. He'd seen the silver tom alone in the forest, and then made an impulsive decision without really thinking it through, and was now adapting on the fly. "Figured it would be nice to surprise the younger apprentices and future kits with something fun, but I also want it to be something that can help with their training, you know? I'm having a hard time deciding on what to bring though. Thought maybe it would be easier with a second opinion."

Perhaps 'kids' and 'fun' weren't things Silversmoke could relate to, but he had a feeling the other would at least be able to regard things from a tactical point of view. Having a say in what twoleg junk Johnny exposed the clans youth to might be enough of a temptation to keep the other tom present a bit longer, especially when it came to the 'training potential' that came from whatever objects the bobtail would have to improvise with.

---

​

 

[SILVERSMOKE]

Johnnyflame held a loyalty that was rare in cats, a loyalty he may have admired had it not been split between enemy and ally. He kept the other's gaze as long as he could before discomfort caused his own to shift away to nothingness, claws adamantly unsheathed. "She'd be fine." Stubbornness and confidence marked his words, he truly believed what he was saying. He'd never wanted anyone to comfort him when he was sick, to be doted upon felt like weakness in a world that valued strength, and if one of SkyClan's strongest warriors needed support, then who was left to be the clan's shield? "I was never lonely when I learned to navigate with half-sight, it was just an expectation that I needed to heal by myself. You have expectations within SkyClan you need to follow too, if she cares for you, she'd understand that." Not that they could communicate with Twolegs, tell them all the awful ways they hurt cats, tell them they deserved penance for what they had done to Daisyflight. The conversation moved on before his limbs grew tenser, though, not to a topic that particularly interested him.

When Johnnyflame admitted why he wanted the spotted tabby to stick around, Silversmoke's face dropped, his tone incredulous when he was finally able to speak. "Seriously?" Bringing something back to camp? Why was he supposed to help with that? Was Johnnyflame upset about offending him? It'd never bothered the chimera before. He strutted forwards, wriggled his haunches, and joined the other on the fence, large paws angled awkwardly on the thin barrier he found himself upon. The Lead Warrior listened with flattened ears as the Daylight Warrior explained himself, blinking slowly and heavily. Silversmoke wished he was busy, so he didn't have to entertain such an obnoxious idea. What was wrong with mossball and bonecatcher? Why did Twolegs have to spread their influence into SkyClan more than they already had? For any other cat, he would've left the conversation there, or answered with such hostility that it would make the other uncomfortable. Johnnyflame was... different, though. Annoying, but different - working alongside him for moons had brought about new perspectives of Daylight Warriors that he'd have never had previously - that they could have a place within SkyClan, even if the path to full acceptance was still shut off to him.

"If you want them to train, you need something as realistic as possible. These kittens aren't going to be fighting clanking snakes or hunting static mice. If you want fun, I'm..." Silversmoke paused, his stare boring into the nest in front of him. A cold lick ran down his spine, the shiver sending his fur bristling toward the sky in a wave. Whatever foul beasts lurked in there were not for his eyes, a house cat turned feral. 'It's just Johnnyflame's den... his scars did not come from there.' Still, it did not satiate the smell of ash he pictured within, the awful noises that could piece one's very soul, the screeches of Twoleg kittens that wanted nothing more than to pull his tail. He realised he was silent for too long, and shook his head vigorously. "I'm not the best judge. I like kittens, but I'll never understand what's fun for them," he admitted dourly as if confessing some great sin.

​

 

[Johnnyflame]

HE SAID, "WELL MY NAME'S JOHNNY, AND IT MIGHT BE A SIN
BUT I'LL TAKE YOUR BET, AND YOU'RE GONNA REGRET, CUZ IM THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN."​

---

Johnnyflame was trying to keep an open mind. More than that, he was determined not to let himself get riled by anything that might be said given his and his co-workers tendency to not always see eye-to-eye (and no, that wasn't because Silversmoke was a fucking giant). It was hard not to feel an inkling of frustration though when it felt like he wasn't being understood. He wasn't dumb- he knew there was nothing he could do to help his twolegs if they were sick, just as he knew that they wouldn't be offended if he wasn't there for them when they were. Of course they'd understand, but did that make it okay to leave them like that?

Silversmoke spoke of expectations, but whose- their own? Johnny couldn't imagine anyone in Skyclan expecting someone to heal in solitude, without so much as well-wishers passing through every now and then. To know you weren't forgotten, that there were others out there who would look out for you when you couldn't do it yourself... Why would anyone deprive themselves or another of that?

"Nobody came to look after you? Not even to- to share tongues or let you know they were waitin' on you to get better?" he asked with furrowed brows, tone bordering on disbelief and being personally offended on the other leads behalf. He couldn't help the soft huff that escaped him. Silver had to have had someone.

And then, very suddenly, he was reminded that he knew nothing about this cat. Nothing outside of his fierce loyalty to to Skyclan and the bitter impatience set upon the rest of the world- which had seemed to include Johnnyflame. But no cat could be angry and distant all the time, surely?

He blinked in surprise when the larger tabby joined him on the fence a moment later, failing to suppress the small grin that settled on his muzzle as he watched them find their balance, larger paws having a more difficult time than Johnnys with finding proper purchase on the wood. It felt like another small victory.

He listened as they spoke, already going through the many toys he had in search of ones that would fit the criteria, gaze lingering on nothing in particular as he considered the options. He hardly even noticed his clanmates trepidation or the silence that stretched between them.

"I''m not the best judge. I like kittens, but I'll never understand what's fun for them."

He liked kittens? Johnny hadn't known that. Then again, Johnny wouldn't have been able to guess what sort of things Slversmoke liked if he was given the better part of a moon. They didn't exactly advertise much about themselves.

"Well they won't look like mice or snakes, but I've definitely got things that move. Could be good for building reflexes?" he suggested, glancing toward the other before pausing, as if to contemplate his next words. "What.. What kinds of things did you like to do for fun as a kit?" he finally asked after a moment.

There was no judgement in his tone. If anything, it was another moment of realization for the daylight warrior- another point of difference in their worlds and the lives they'd led. Johnny, who'd grown up with gentle hands to stroke his fur, and warm, plush beds to fall asleep in, and an entire damn basket and house littered with toys and climbing trees, and all manner of things to do.

"I just mean- I didn't grow up in the clan, you know? Or even with other cats around. When I bring the kits stuff to play with, it's always the things I considered fun. I don't.. I guess I don't really now what non-kittypet kits do for fun outside of kicking mossballs around."

Most of his previous gifts had been received well, but there was never a gift that won everyone over. The snake had been too scary for some of them, and even the food he'd brought during the famine had been ignored by some. He supposed that was the world though- you couldn't please everybody.

---

​

 

[SILVERSMOKE]

Johnnyflame reacted with shock instead of understanding, and the Lead Warrior felt anxiety slither into his head as if he'd done something wrong. He'd never considered how it would look to an outsider before, Silversmoke gave his next words more thought. "No... I turned it away. If I couldn't learn to navigate by myself and if I couldn't heal using my strength, then I did not deserve my life." He spoke in the past tense, but shame still burned like a fire within the tom's soul. It was difficult to consider oneself worthy of anything when they could not succeed at the one thing they had been born to do, he should've been strong enough to deal with the rogues, he should've been smart enough to free his friends from the traps, instead, others had put themselves in danger for the clan, even died for the clan. It was a double standard that left his paws twitchy as they balanced upon the fence, experience had not done a good job of ridding him of a rogue's mindset. His mind didn't linger on the toys that Johnnyflame may have had, he doubted anything other than a real mouse would impress him. Still, the Daylight Warrior tried, after a long time of staring into the distance, his narrow pupils shifted towards his peer.

"It's better than nothing." He rolled his shoulders in a shrugging gesture, utterly unenthused. His haunches wiggled precariously on the fence, instinct driving the Lead Warrior to try and sit down and wait for the chimera to collect whatever items he had in mind. One near-misstep and a sloppy balancing act later, Silversmoke committed to standing, too busy with his struggles to recognise the pause in the Daylight Warrior's words. He'd have snapped something out quickly, had he known what would come next. What kind of things did you like to do for fun as a kit? The question caught him off guard, his glare cast towards the nest in an attempt to conceal its surprise. No one had been nosy about his childhood before, he was sure to the rest of the clan, he'd been born a surly adult. "I..." The house ahead seemed to shift and contort, small, blink, large, his mind wrestled for its comfiest perception of the danger as his heart rate began to increase.

'They're not in there...' He comforted himself, the tentative bristling of fur looking more like static than agitation. 'No one's in there...' Silversmoke found himself silent for too long again, cursing the thick air his lack of answers had caused. "The clan is younger than me, the games they play aren't ones I grew up with." There was a mental block to his answer - surely there were some games he'd played as a kitten. The longer he searched, thinking of things his brother and sister may have done, the more he recalled his fun being snuffed out by shouting and cold claws throwing him into a dingy crate. Why hadn't he been allowed to climb the curtains? Challenging himself to reach the top would've been the best game a kitten like him could play. "But, to answer your question, I didn't play. I was on my own most of the time, and a rogue's idea of a game is seeing how cruel they could be to a rat before it died. Even as a kit, I had standards." Granted, they were not as rigid as they were now - Silversmoke could not claim he'd been a saintly rogue, but he'd better than some he'd met, and that mattered. An ear twitched as he shifted uncomfortably.


​

 

[Johnnyflame]

HE SAID, "WELL MY NAME'S JOHNNY, AND IT MIGHT BE A SIN
BUT I'LL TAKE YOUR BET, AND YOU'RE GONNA REGRET, CUZ IM THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN."​

---

Thats not true, he though vehemently. Slversmoke might be a prickly pain in the tail sometimes, but he didn't deserve to die over a lack of strength. No-one did. But he held that thought, because he wasn't sure how the other would take it. His fellow led didn't exactly seem like the sort who enjoyed having sentiments thrown their way- not by just any cat, at least. So, instead he cracked a little half-smile. "Leave it to you to try and cheat death without an extra eight lives to spare." he huffed with a light-hearted shake of his head. And cats called Johnny stubborn.

And maybe it was because he was was so keenly awaiting the answer to his next question about their past, or maybe it was just good old fashioned intuition kicking in now that he was past his initial disbelief that that lead was even entertaining this talk, but suddenly... Silversmoke didn't look.. comfortable? Not in the sense that he was standing awkwardly on a fence or that he was forcing a conversation he didn't want to have, he just seemed.. uneasy? upset?... afraid?

Again, Johnnys gaze followed their own distracted one back toward his twolegs nest, and something uncomfortable settled in his chest as realization began to dawn.

His gaze shifted back to them as the conversation picked up again, and he tried his best to focus on what was being said instead of his own spiraling thoughts. But he couldn't deny what he now knew; Silversmoke didn't just hate the twolegs, he feared them. Which only left a ravenous desire to know why.

He couldn't help but perk up a bit at the revelation that the clans were younger than the other tomcat, because in truth Johnny had always thought they were here. To know that they were so young- younger than himself, even- was a bit of a shock. Which only made that curious streak of his all the worse, because just what kind of life had this cat lived if he hadn't always been a Skyclanner? He wondered, if they'd met sooner- before the clans- if they would have been the kind of cat Johnny chased from the twoleg gardens. Would they have been enemies? Or would they still have found their way onto his fence, like now?

"Well, we're gonna fix that- the you never playing thing." Johnny replied, likely with more confidence than he had any right to have. In reality though, the bobtail was just looking for an excuse to let Silversmoke put some space between himself and twoleg place without it being too obvious. "I've got just the thing for the kits, and we're gonna give it a test run before we hand it over- make sure it's up to code and all that." he announced with a grin as he glanced back toward his nest before golden eyes met with Silvers. "You can wait for me back in the treeline if you want- unless you fancy seeing how long you can straddle this fence without falling off- ya bloody giant." he chuckled before easily slipping down the side of the fence and landing in the grass of his yard.

Johnny quickly bound through the yard and up the back steps, slipping into the catdoor and disappearing inside the house. He made quick work of tracking down the toy in mind, having remembered it rolling behind the couch the last time he'd played with it, and soon enough he was carrying it back out the catdoor, intending to go an meet Silversmoke by the treeline-that is, if they hadn't left while he was inside.

---

​

 

[SILVERSMOKE]

"You have to when you're a rogue... cheat death, I mean. No one will care for you when you fall sick or get injured, you're on your own.." In a world where bones fractured like twigs and relationships could change overnight, mindsets were the toughest things of all to break. Unlearning individualist behaviours had taken time, while now he could say that his life belonged to SkyClan, he did not know if he'd accepted that it meant being a part of it - having creatures that would protect him just as much as he wanted to protect them was still a terrifying prospect. Lives should not be in his paws. "It's a self-made isolation though, I don't pity myself or anyone else who lived that lifestyle." It was better than some alternatives but still fundamentally flawed, near-monstrous sometimes. Even as he lived in a clan full of discrepancies, he could not think of an alternative to having a community when he'd seen the effects of unchecked morals within the Twolegplace. Slate had only just started becoming more tolerable, but he'd been so quick to try and ruin another's life for a piece of prey that Silversmoke didn't know if his guard could ever truly be down around the maine coon.

It was the same reason he didn't think he'd ever be truly comfortable knowing that Twolegs resided close to their camp. His throat grew barren in the quiet, swallowing felt like clumps of ash had begun to stick to the sides of it, then, Johnnyflame broke the silence. Silversmoke's head turned quickly, awkwardness briefly distracting him from his plight. "What? I never said I wanted it to be fixed." It was not only that he'd never had the chance to play, the Lead Warrior himself simply... didn't. He led a life where recreation was an afterthought to self-betterment and working for the clan, by the time both of the latter were done, he saw little enjoyment out of engaging in the former. Thoughts raced through the spotted tabby's head like scurrying mice: How did one play? What was one supposed to do? What skills would improve if he indulged himself? Silversmoke didn't like to be a made a fool of - the idea was even more horrifying when he stood before one of the clan's biggest teases. "I just don't play, is there anything wrong with that?" Eyes widened, flustered.

Then, Johnnyflame framed it as being for the kits. The other's grin was met with a pending frown, if it was for the sake of the clan, he couldn't argue against it... but why did it feel like the chimera was doing this for more than just SkyClan? He rolled his shoulders in a faux dismissiveness, speaking like a kitten unhappy about having a bedtime. "Fine." The breath hitched in his lungs as Johnnyflame hopped down from the fence and towards the nest, respite shattered as the Twoleg's house came back into view. A white paw tentatively reached out after the minimising figure, as if by grasping the thin air a mouselength in front of him, he could drag the Lead Warrior away from a place where few things ever returned. 'His Twolegs aren't in... nothing will hurt him... nothing will hurt me...' Silversmoke kicked away from the fence and jogged towards the forest, not safety, but safer. The chatter of morning birds did little to stir the spotted tabby, blood thumped in his ears so hard that briefly, he wondered when it had started thundering. He needed to leave, he needed to leave, he needed to...

Claws unsheathed, he couldn't leave. He had a duty to SkyClan to make sure Johnnyflame's toys were enriching enough for bored kittens. It was a damned stupid reason, but he clung onto it as if it were the edge of a cliff he was dangling over. Veins felt scorched by fire, demanding him to move, demanding him to run. Silversmoke turned his head and looked back towards the fence where, any minute now, he hoped to see Johnnyflame hop back over.

​

 

[Johnnyflame]

HE SAID, "WELL MY NAME'S JOHNNY, AND IT MIGHT BE A SIN
BUT I'LL TAKE YOUR BET, AND YOU'RE GONNA REGRET, CUZ IM THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN."​

---

While Johnnyflame never liked to see any clanmate in duress, had he known that Silversmoke was fretting over him like he was, the bobtail would have probably been left secretly smiling to himself for the next moon. After all, it was only confirmation that under all that grouchiness and the endless frowns was a cat who gave a damn beyond just following orders. He wondered if he should start trying to wear Slate down as well? The thought was more than amusing. He and the other lead hadn't interacted much outside of formal matters, but they held a very similar attitude toward kittypets that Silversmoke did...

Whiskers twitching with amusement at the thought, Johnnyflame crossed the yard and jumped back up onto the fence, bright eyes immediately scanning the treeline for his fellow lead. In Johnnys mouth was a small rubber ball. Too big to be a choking hazard, and very unassuming looking- just a normal, red ball, right? Wrong.

The moment he spotted his clanmate he lept down and made his way over to join them, white chest puffed out proudly as he strutted forward with his prize and placed it on the ground between them.

"Back in record time- usually the little buggers harder to find." Johnny said, lifting a paw to rest it on top of the small ball so it didn't roll away. A glance toward Silversmoke told him the other ws still looking off- it wasn't as clear to him as it had been on the fence, but there was still some level of intuition picking up on it. Hopefully now that they were closer to the trees and heading back toward camp things would relax a bit.

"Looks like any old kittypet ball, right?" he sked, trying to distract them. " Well, you'd be dead wrong. This is one of my favorite, most bounciest balls- the perfect thing to build reflexes and help with tracking skills." he explained. The rubber smell left a very distinct smell behind that was a good starter for tracking once it rolled out of sight, and it tended to do that often since the bounce factor was.. pretty damn impressive. It technically wasn't even a cat toy, but an actually high quality bouncy ball that had been given to him from his twolegs as a rowdy kit. He was only allowed to use it in certain rooms though, since he'd broken several things with it in the past by being reckless.

Thankfully, camp had a lot less breakable things than a twolegs nest- no glass tables or tvs, or that one window that had let the rain in all night....

"Watch- the harder you hit it, the crazier it goes." he explained, shifting a bit and drawing his paw back from the ball to line up his hit. With a swift strike the small rubber ball went shooting forward, pinging off a nearby tree, and then another, and thena rock, before flying back toward the right of Johnny. His paw shot out to the side lightning fast after the small object, losing his balance in the process and half falling on top of the streak of red, but he did manage to pin the thing, a near lifetime of practice, after all.

"She's a beast for such a little thing, aye? Here, you give it a try. Pretend it's a crazy mouse or something" he offered with grin, carefully rolling the thing toward Silversmoke.

He was hopeful, if only because the ball was something that could potentially pose a challenge to the other lead. There were many ways to use it and the ball itself was as fast as it was unpredictable, meaning it was hard to anticipate where to be or what to do. You had to rely on sharp sight and instinct, honing your natura reflex and speed.

Maybe batting at feathersticks all day wouldn't be the sort of 'fun' or 'play' that the larger tomcat would enjoy, but maybe something like this.... Who knows.

OOC- Johnny has presented him with a fucking insane bouncy ball.

---

​

 

[SILVERSMOKE]

After what felt like hours to the silver tom, a familiar figure finally hopped back onto the fence. The lashing in his tail began to still as the chimera took away his view of the Twoleg den, for the moment, the flighty feline would stay where he was. He nodded towards Johnnyflame and watched as he dropped the red ball. A brow shot up, unimpressed. If Johnnyflame had sought to distract him, it'd certainly worked; he'd gone from worrying about the chimera's existence to doubting that he had any idea what would help kittens. At first glance, it was no different than a moss ball, only saturated in a smell that made his pale nostrils flare and significantly more colourful. Sharp eyes shot to Johnnyflame for an explanation, which the other tried to give quickly, much to the gratitude of his staccato heart. "Do you know what also builds reflexes and helps with tracking skills? A mossball." Kittens these days - did they need their fancy smells and bright colours to stimulate them? Was a good old mossball just not enough anymore? He worried for the next generation if that was the case. Eyes turn to the ball expectantly as Johnny moves his paw.

He didn't know what Johnnyflame had done to it, but, in the blink of an eye, he watched a red blur fly right past his face. Silversmoke hissed and dropped to the ground to avoid the projectile, doing his best to track it with limited peripheral vision. The fur upon his tail had bristled to twice its size, the hairs along his spine curled to the sky like a hyena's mane. "What manner of fiend is this?" He protested over the sound of the ball colliding with seemingly every obstacle in the territory. Then, he watched Johnny pin it to the earth in a gesture so well-practiced that he briefly forgot his fear. He watched the chimera for some time, eyes wide with awe. He could only imagine how fast his reflexes would be if he got to practice with the red ball, the potential to hone another aspect of his combat left a singular forepaw kneading the earth. It'd been a WindClanner's speed that made his last fight with the moor-rats come to a stalemate, but... what if he could be faster? So fast that not even the leopard-blooded WindClanners could get a free hit on him?

Pride severed the notion as the ball went rolling towards him. He caught it in a broad, silver paw before recalling the appendage immediately and tucking it beneath himself if it'd touched thorns. "That's not a toy, that's a weapon." It could take an eye out just as easily as claws or teeth if the kittens weren't careful. 'Kittens aren't strong... it won't go as crazy for them.' An ear twitched in uncertainty. 'For SkyClan...' Silversmoke edged his paw towards the ball, tentatively wrapped around the side of it, and gave it a good thwack. The crouching tom entered a proper hunter's stance as he did his best to track the toy as it ricocheted, heart stopping whenever he saw it whizz past him once more. Suddenly, it looks like the crimson blur was about to fly over his head. He extended two limbs to try and grasp it out of the air, instead, Silversmoke caught the ball with his nose. Colliding with his nostrils and rolling a short distance away, the Lead Warrior soon forgot the ball as he landed awkwardly on the ground, a paw covering his muzzle.

The pain was instant and throbbing, Silversmoke only moved away for a second to see if blood speckled on alabaster paws but thankfully, there was no change in colour. Sharp eyes glanced at Johnnyflame out the corner of them, then, looked away in shame: he was less upset about getting hit as he was losing to a Daylight Warrior in a reflex game. "We'll go again, just... give me a moments," he huffed.

​

 

[Johnnyflame]

HE SAID, "WELL MY NAME'S JOHNNY, AND IT MIGHT BE A SIN
BUT I'LL TAKE YOUR BET, AND YOU'RE GONNA REGRET, CUZ IM THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN."​

---

Johnny couldn't recall the lst time he was so eager to watch something happen. He wasn't exactly sure why it felt so important that Silversmoke like his stupid little toy- hell, of all the things the bobtail could have asked for, playin was probably the most unreasonable thing to expect of a cat that had expressed nothing but a general dislike for him thus far. And yet, against every odd stacked against him, Johnny seamed to have somehow pulled the winning card as he watched the larger tom finally smack the ball and drop into a crouch.

And then, it went just about as poorly as one could expect.

Lady luck left him standing there, horrified, as his favorite ball cracked Silversmoke right in the nose. Johny couldn't help but wince a bit, every muscle in his body tensing as he watched the other lead grasp at their muzzle, the toy momentarily forgotten. Yup. Johnny knew that feeling. Several thoughts entered the bobtails head simultaneously in that moment-; about how he'd royally fucked this up, and how he was probably going to get an earful if the other didn't just outright storm off, and that Silversmoke was most definitely never going to humor Johnnyflames stupid kittypet antics again. Yup. That had certainly been short-lived. At least nobody could say he didn't give it his best shot-

"We'll go again, just... give me a moment,"

"Aye?" Johnny replied, perking up almost immediately upon realizing he wasn't about to be scolded or ditched. Sunny eyes landed on the ball which had rolled a little ways off after it's untimely meeting with his fellow lead warriors face, and he quickly rose to his paws and dropped into a hunters crouch of his own. " Then I'll show that dumb ball what happens when it messes with a lead warrior from Skyclan." he huffed with a smirk, the fur along his back bristling in faux-anger as if he were preparing to avenge a fallen comrade in battle.

He sprung forward, smacking the ball and sending it shooting through the grass in a straight shot. Rather than waiting for it to bounce off something and return, Johnnyflame instantly tore after it, chasing the red blur down and lunging with outstretched paws at the last second to try and pin the thing- only he wasn't so used to the terrain out here when it came to chasing his ball. On hardwood it went much faster, and Johnnys severely overestimated his own speed when he lunged.

Long story short, he overshot and ate dirt.

A surprised yelp escaped him as he tumbled through the grass, limbs flailing as he instinctively fought to right himself only to be stopped by the sudden impact of a tree.

"Playin' dirty now, I see.." grumbled Johnnyflame as he rolled back to his feet. Embarrassment burned at his ears for wiping out in front of a clanmate like that, and he winced as he rubbed a spot on his head from where he'd essentially head-butted a tree. "Told ya she's beast." he chuckled as he mde his way over to the ball and carefully rolled it toward Silversmoke.

"Here, we can throw a little spice in it." he suggested, making his way over to where two trees were growing before setting himself right in between them- goalposts and a goalie. "Since your such an advocate of mossball, this should be right up your alley. Just try and shoot that ball between these trees without me catching it." he instructed. " It's a great ga- I mean, training technique for accuracy. And it's perfect for teaching an apprentice or warrior how to weaponize a well aimed rock or clump of dirt in a fight." he explained, eager to show them just how versatile and useful his toys and games could be for this sort of thing.

After all; if you could precision swat or block a high speed ball, you could probably block or swat an enemy.

---

​