private flashing lights all around 𓍊 twitchbolt

[edenberry ?!]

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 〰 Their whiskers twitch in passive contemplation, staring down the space where swirls of brown and white fur had disappeared to. He is familiar enough, in his shaky stature and stuttered words; someone they deemed kind and reliable in spite of all his troubles. However, they cling to the uncomfortable feeling that suggests he might be frustrated with them- they aren't sure where the feeling comes from outside of the poorly chosen patrol from a moon ago but... but it just doesn't go away.

Stomping after him once they're positively sure he's far enough from prying ears, a more stern amount of weight in their step than the usual, bounce and bubbly nature. "'Ey," they chirp at him once they draw close enough to catch his attention without scaring him half to death through the brush.

"Why'd you send me to RiverClan," the question is pointed, sharp, and yet equally vague as to why that would even be a problem. Other than the obvious fact they were sent there last with Blazestar. "If I... made you upset with me somehow or... was being annoying recently I'm sorry but I'd rather you tell me that to my face... I thought we were friends Twitchbolt."

The habit to reach out and brush their pelt against his in a friendly reassurance of his quivering nerves is withheld, only barely, where they stand awkwardly nearby and refuse to come closer. They'd cuddled up underneath him (hunched over like a little creature of darkness to fit, really, since they were near full grown) at their first snowfall. Had bumped their head against his countless times in greeting and thank you and acknowledgement. As far as they were aware, they were being punished, slighted... and it lacked explanation.

Spite would be an ugly weapon for the bi-colored deputy... and they didn't like to think of him as ugly.

@TWITCHBOLT​

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

In an act of miracle, Edenpaw's approach didn't startle him- it was probably the way they did it. He'd become rather used to the apprentice's proximity- they were one of the few cats who didn't get a negative reaction in terms of physical contact, probably because of some level of desensitisation. There was a distinct lack of lightness in the way they approached him, though... and they stopped a fair distance away. When a question as keen as falcon's sight pierced right into him, Twitcbolt regarded Edenpaw for a few moments with a wide-eyes expression of abject confusion.

I thought we were friends. That stung the most- to be reminded that he was worth liking, and that... some clumsy thoughtlessness had apparently sullied that. An apologetic glimmer took light in wide green eyes. "Of course we're- we're friends, Edenpaw." He assured them, first and foremost.

The bicolour tom's head dipped in apology. "You haven't- you haven't done anything. I promise. It was... it was my mistake. My- my brain was everywhere, and- and I didn't know you hated going there so much." He hoped it didn't sound like he was making excuses, but... it was, wasn't it? Wasn't a deputy, a to-be leader, supposed to know everything about their Clanmates- supposed to make their lives as easy as possible? Yet another reason he was unworthy of this title... he swore, he'd find Orangestar, he'd ask her why- (but then, would she think he thought she was an idiot?)

"I- I won't send you there again, okay?" He tried to hold their gaze for a few moments. The scruffy tom took in a long, deep breath. "Can I... can I ask you why, though?" Did that sound pushy? Like he was bargaining? A hurried correction followed. "You- you don't have to tell me, and- no matter what you say, I'll stick to my word."​

penned by pin ✧​

 

[edenberry ?!]

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 〰 They try extremely hard to pretend they aren't wildly relieved to hear the ruddy deputy confirm the standing of their friendship- pursing their lips to fight back a weary smile that wants desperately to claw itself across their face. A more rational, emotion-controlled part of them (they think this is the grown-up Edenpaw, the yet-to-be-named warrior Edenpaw) knows it's blindsiding him and that they've willfully created this problem in hiding behind their shame. And they feel guilty... to see him upset, to hear the pleading tones that ask for context, for understanding, for patience.

He was just made deputy... didn't have Orangestar's experience and even if he did, it wasn't like she could've warned him either. The truth of the matter had been laid to rest in tufts of daffodil fur.

The promise is really all they need anyways... an assurance not to be dragged where they don't want to be if it can be avoided. They won't pretend they'll never encounter RiverClan again but... Their forehead creases in a thoughtful frown, weighing the consequence of their vulnerability and the heaviness of the soul they'd be dumping it onto. Twitchbolt had enough problems but... he'd said they were friends.

Scrunching up their nose, the apprentice stands up from their stubborn sulking to close the gap between them, headbutting a scruffy, pale chest in a display of forgiveness and reassurance before letting out a long, dramatized sigh. "There's no laws about making friends across borders. I don't love RiverClan... or one of them.. or anything," they feel the need to preface, feel the hot embarrassment of soft-spoken scolding that dripped with pity. "I thought I'd made a friend."

"I was wrong." Their lips thin, jaw clenched with an unaddressed furiousness they opted not to acknowledge. "And I came home looking like this and Tawnystripe died." They tilt their chin, a tattered face and scarred back their only explanation. "Had to study the warrior code a little more closely after that... Blazestar knew. And that's it. Now it's just you."​

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

He did not do quite as well of a job hiding his relief at Edenpaw's forgiveness. Twitchbolt's shivering became less fevered and panicked, and more... the regular speed of tremor. Ears angled to hear their explanation, head very-slightly tilted. Friends, across borders. In a rather depressing way, Twitchbolt had never had to struggle with anything like that. He'd always been too... unapproachable, too frazzled, too suspicious to strike any sort of conversation up with anyone from another Clan. Even when they'd stayed in the marshland, he'd stuck very close to Quillstrike, though that had likely had something to do with being in the honeymoon phase.

Concern furrowed Twitchbolt's brow- and a light ache, that Edenpaw had learned a lesson the hard way. Wide, olive eyes traced the claw marks strewn across Edenpaw's body, feeling a spark of disgust within him that someone considered a friend would do that to them. He swallowed away the dryness in his throat that had built, letting out a soft, shuddering sigh. Now it's just you. A cloud carrying a storm rested on his shoulders, but for once it was one he was happy to carry. To be trusted with information like this- a tale Edenpaw clearly wasn't keen to tell- it was not something he would shrug away.

"I see," he murmured gently, merely imagining the emotional toll sending a flinch though his heart, one that made him feel a bit sick for a moment. For a cat who trusted so cautiously, to imagine having that trust thrown back at your face by the clawful was nauseating. "For... for what it's worth... I'm sorry that happened."

He fumbled for a second, trying to find something to say. "Other Clans... rr-rush to belittle us, a lot of the time. They.... they like feeling better. I'm sorry you had to find out first-paw." The next sigh Twitchbolt let out was a heavier one. "I won't send you back there, if I can help it." An affirmation. ​

penned by pin ✧​

 

[edenberry ?!]

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 〰 The pity never felt good... they always hoped it might, to serve as some kind of emotional release to know someone out there knew and felt bad and didn't think they deserved it but. It changed nothing... and Edenpaw just stares at Twitchbolt with a vacancy that betrays a lack of willingness to acknowledge the painful reality that it wasn't fair. Admitting that to themself would just open up the whole can of worms again. What were you meant to do when bad things happened regardless of how much good you pressed into the cracking seams of the world?

Swallow it.

"Tsk," they huff, listening to the deputy's offer of empathy with a feigned indifference to the subject, "Not just the other clans in my case." The freckle-eyed tom didn't understand what it meant to be a kitty-pet by night either... a wholly different struggle that just pushed them lower on the proverbial food chain of their peers. Their ears flatten slightly before perking up again, shaking their head to dismiss the bitter comment, "Thank you... I really appreciate it."

They lift a paw, hesitate, then press it gently to his chest, "I'm glad we're friends Twitch! I hope you know... you can trust me too!" Not that they expect some big adult secret to befall them anytime soon but... maybe someday, when they were a bit older... when it felt less like leagues of time split them apart in experience.​