private crocodile tears; vulture

[SUNFLOWERMASK]

( ❁ ) Enough time has passed that the excitement of Vulturemask's promotion had begun to wear off, with the reality of a medicine-cat-in-training's duties beginning to set in.

Namely: he never seems to have time for Sunflowerkit anymore.

Vulturemask is always preoccupied with herbs now, with every cat who so much as coughs (and at this time of Leaf-Bare, with the clan still recovering from greencough, there's quite a lot of them!) It makes the kit yearn for a time when they were younger, in a manner typically reserved for the Clan's eldest. They miss when they were still new and wobbly on their legs, when Vulturemask was an apprentice with little better to do than look after them and their siblings.

Sunflowerkit barrels into the medicine den, intent on getting their half-brother's attention. "Vulturemaaaask," they whine, soft but insistent, syllables drawn out in uncharacteristic lament. They surge forwards, butting their head against the tom's leg. It's not fair, him being so busy all the time.

Well, they know one way to get his attention: if a cat is sick or injured, he can't ignore them. It's playing dirty, they know it is, and it pains them to do so, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Sunflowerkit falls over suddenly, though with little fanfare. They merely flop down onto their side, pressing one small paw against Vulturemask's. They peer up at him from their new place on the medicine den floor, eyes wide and beseeching. "Hurts," they say in a small voice, offering no elaboration. That should get his attention.


// @VULTUREMASK​

 

[VULTUREMASK]

It was true...he was busy, awfully so and he hated how much time his training took him from his own siblings. He had to keep on reminding himself it was all for a good reason though. The faster he could learn the better it would be for all of them even though his siblings never might know the sacrifices he was doing for them. The only reason he had accepted this forced role and not having run away was for them to give them a good life. As long he could provide that for them who cared if he couldn't be much in thier lives..They had Snowfeather, a mother who loved them as far he could tell, and it hadn't even cross his mind how depanded they actually might be on him. Vulturemask had always been there like a shadow, a guardian angel but he wasn't aware on how much influence he had in their lives. Soon they would become apprentices and he was sure he would not have much room in their lives anymore, and he would be fine with that. Watching them from the sidelines was good enough. At least he wanted to convince himself that.

Vulturemask had been organizing the herbs to put them on the shelves in the way he liked to them to be so he could memorize them better on which herbs help with which.The wound healing herbs on one shelf and the infection ones on another and so on. There was alot to remember to memorize, alot more then it had been as an apprentice. Now it felt like becoming a warrior was so easy if comparing to all stuff he was suppose to learn now. As a warrior he had just needed to learn how to hunt and fight but now there was so many things he had to be able to tell apart. It really was giving him headaches.

Just when he was about to put some marigolds on the shelf small tiny pawsteps could be heard entering the den and soon after his name was called out for attention. Instantly he stopt with what he had been doing to drift his attention back over his shoulder to glance down at the lilac tortie. Sunflowerkit. What were they doing in here?. It had never crossed his mind they might be here to see him, that they missed his company. " Yes?. " his rough voice would speak softly and stared down at the kit as they headbutt his front leg wondering what was wrong.

The answer he got was a surprising one indeed. Vulturemask with a puzzled expression watched as his younger sibling fall over out of the blue before pressing their tiny paw above his own. Hurts. They said and the medicine cat looked baffled. What?. By the looks of it they looked fine but Vulturemask took this seriously although he was suspecting this just was for show. Kits could be unpredicable like that at times. Still he wasn't gonna risk anything.

" Let me take a look." he lowered himself down closer to Sunflowerkit's level to sniff them. after possible injures. " You do look fine... Where does it hurt?." he asked them, and behind that cold gaze rested concern. Now his attention was fully on them just like they had wanted.


​

 

[SUNFLOWERMASK]

( ❁ ) They've got his attention! All is going according to plan... And Sunflowerkit has no idea what to do next. Vulturemask looks them over, and Sunflowerkit doesn't dare move. They have to really sell it, they think, lying on their side on the medicine den floor. If Vulturemask realizes that there's nothing wrong, he'll have no reason to pay attention to them. The thought scares them, and their tiny frown is nothing but genuine. The kit wants nothing more than to spend time with the brother they've been missing so much.

" You do look fine... " he says, and it's somehow disappointing to the kit. Oh, this would be easier if they were somehow injured without realizing it. ...Wait, actually that'd probably be bad. They don't like being hurt. He's asking them where it hurts now, and there's the issue. It doesn't, and they didn't actually plan this far. But they have to convince him! The second he realizes they're fine, he's just going to go back to his herbs.

Sunflowerkit thinks for a moment, eyes unfocused. They don't like lying, is the problem. Unable to settle on an answer, they merely let out a small whine and curl around Vulturemask's paw.​

 

[VULTUREMASK]

Vulturemask tensed up when the kit curled themself around his paw and let out a whine which left a unsettling feeling in his chest which the medicine cat didn't like. No not at all. He didn't move standing there like a frozen statue to just stare down at them unsure of what exactly to do now. Vulturemask had never been good with showing affection or to be physical with others. He liked his personal space and most of the times felt repulsed when others dared touch him. With Sunflowerkit though it was different but it still made him feel a bit...weird. The lack of an answer was concerning as well. How was he suppose to help if his younger sibling refused to tell them?.

It took a moment or two before the tom started to slowly lay themselves down on the ground beside the kit while not moving their paw to allow them to contunie on to cling to it. For some reason it didn't seem like Sunflowerkit wanted to let go of him and...whatever was troubling them if clinging themself to his paw would help them in any way....he wouldn't take that away from them.

" Snowfeather...has she...been treating you well...?" he almost felt sick asking that question but that was the only thing he could think about that could possible be wrong and if he was correct. That unsettling feeling in his chest returned again. It would be his fault after all if his sibling had any emotional scars he had been unable to see. If it was true...if it was true. Rage boiled inside of him just thinking about it.



​

 

[SUNFLOWERMASK]

( ❁ ) Vulturemask's question catches the kit off-guard. Is Snowfeather treating them well? Why... wouldn't she be? Sunflowerkit extracts their face from where it is buried in their half-brother's fur, blinks up at him curiously. His expression is one of turmoil and rage, face contorted in a way it rarely is with his younger siblings. They resist the urge to shrink away. He's not mad at them, surely? He's never really gotten mad at them, despite his short temper with everyone else. They're special, they thought.

Is he mad at Snowfeather, then? She didn't do anything wrong... Uncertainty coloring their gaze, they give a tiny nod in response to his question. "Mhm," they hum. She's been treating them just fine. Maybe he thinks she should pay more attention to them? They don't want Snowfeather's attention, though, they want Vulturemask's! Is he annoyed with them? Does he want them to stop bothering them and go back to Snowfeather? ...Has he gotten sick of them?

Sunflowerkit's brow furrows as they look up at Vulturemask. They begin to feel guilty for their lie. He'd tensed up when they grabbed onto him... Maybe he just doesn't want them to be here. The kit looks away shamefully. They're just wasting his time. "Sorry," they mumble, nearly inaudible.​