private forging bonds / snakehiss

[CRICKETKIT]

Cricketkit knew his dad was... a little different. Or, at least, that there was something different in the way that people talked to him. Something different in the way that people looked at Cricketkit too; with a milk queen that wasn't his own mother, the sort of... vaguely dismissive tone she had in her voice when she talked to him. That tone followed a lot of conversations that he had with other people. This inherent... something. Something that Cricketkit didn't know how to name, didn't really know what it was, just could tell that they were treated differently than everyone else. But only slightly. Never in a way that made him ever doubt that his clanmates still cared. Probably.

But he tried anyway to be on his best behavior. Because if he was, then maybe he could crack the toughest nut of all: his own father.

"Dad!" he called, though muffled through the fresh prey in his mouth that he pulled away from the pile heaped in the center of camp. There was one cool thing about being a kitten- you got to eat first. Most of the time. He had caught Snakehiss' scent and, spending the next minute or so just trying to spot his father's figure on the edges of the camp, had finally spotted the dark-furred figure. He made his way over, off-balance and a little off-kilter before depositing two mice straight at his father's feet. He beams up at him, maw spread in a wide smile, but really this too is just prefacing something else. The harder thing to ask of his dad. "I got you one too!" His dad would be happy, right, that Cricket was thinking about him? "Sit with me? Please?"​

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[SNAKEHISS]

Dulled viridian eyes flick downward, fixing onto the bright red form of his only son. Dad, he says; Snakehiss feels a twinge in his chest. He doesn't know if he will ever get used to being called such a name. He is reminded of his own kithood, when he would do all sorts of things to try and win his father's attention. Shadowsight did not issue it easily.

Snakehiss frowns at the sight of Cricketkit teetering over, offering a piece of prey to him. Where had this kindness come from? Certainly not from either him or Berrysnap. "I'm not hungry." He lies. The idea of sharing a meal with a sticky little child is unappealing in itself, but another part of him feels a looming dread when he sees his offspring walking and talking and gaining sentience. They were not the babbling little newborns they once were; they were growing. They would want a relationship with him, which made him nervous. What kind of relationship did he even want with them, if at all?

"Why don't you bring this to your littermates?" Anything to get away from me. He doesn't know how to interact with kits. Snakehiss had always turned his nose up to them, ignoring their presence while he could and telling them to bug off when they did get in his way. However, he resides in an awkward gray area when it comes to his own children. He thinks himself incapable of being the father that everyone else expects him to be, but at the same time, he isn't sure if an estranged relationship is what he desires. They are his offspring and therefore his responsibility to help raise. If these kits turned out anything less than ideal, then that would reflect poorly on him. Therefore, Snakehiss cannot bring himself to brush them off entirely.

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾ —— 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙟𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙨

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  ₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾
  snakehiss
  

  — he/him; moor runner of windclan
  — long-limbed black tom with green eyes, a small white chest patch, and multiple scars
  — father to violetkit, waspkit, cricketkit, and privetkit (duskclan)
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — link to full tags; @ on discord or dm @beaaats for plots!​

​

 

[CRICKETKIT]

There's something that twists in Cricketkit's chest when he hears his father's dull answer. <i>I'm not hungry</i>, just like that. At least even Violetkit or Waspkit would say <i>Thank you</i> first. Probably. Most people would, right? Or is he wrong about that too? He must be, because the reality that his father isn't interested in him is something that his mind can't even begin to wrap around. His ears flatten slightly, processing those words more slowly than an adult would.

"Okay..." he starts, glancing back to the prey that he had left at his father's paws. Maybe he just really isn't hungry, or maybe Cricket picked something he didn't like? He feels his nose scrunch as he thinks about this. Why does he dislike his father's dismissive answer? Wait- what about sitting with him anyway? Snakehiss never answered that.

He looks up again, suddenly steadfast. "No. I got it for you! I can't just give it to someone else!" He takes a hesitant step closer, uncertain. He doesn't want to whine or beg because he doesn't think his father would like that, but what other tools does he have at his disposal to get what he wants? He's thinking, rapidly, trying to keep his gaze straight on his father. "Okay, uhm! You don't have to eat it if you don't like it but you'll sit with me right?" The please isn't said but it seeps into his tone anyway. Surely Snakehiss can't say no to that, right? ​

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[SNAKEHISS]

His son is disappointed in his response; that much is obvious. Children aren't very skilled at masking their emotions, after all. Not that Snakehiss has ever cared about what a kit thinks of him, but he cannot help but feel frustrated by how needy his kits are. Violetkit was the same way, except she resorted to biting his tail to get his attention. At least his only son did not do the same.

Maybe, on that basis alone, Snakehiss would be generous enough to grant Cricketkit a sliver of time spent with him. "Only for a short while." The long-legged tom concedes with a sigh. He hesitates for a moment before slowly settling onto his haunches, not quite relaxed as he is eager to get to his paws and whisk toward the camp exit as soon as possible.

A few moments go by, silence filling the space between them. How does one even make conversation with a child? It isn't as if Snakehiss could ask him how hunting was going. Kits didn't do anything but play and sleep all day. Stars, this is painful. He side-eyes Cricketkit briefly, and just as he's about to look away again, he notices how the cream tabby's eyes shift back and forth. "Cricketkit, why do you keep looking around like that?" Snakehiss inquires. Maybe he is simply watching a bug zipping through the air, but whatever it is, it's... weird-looking.

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾ —— 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙟𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙨

•  

• 

• 
  ₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾
  snakehiss
  

  — he/him; moor runner of windclan
  — long-limbed black tom with green eyes, a small white chest patch, and multiple scars
  — father to violetkit, waspkit, cricketkit, and privetkit (duskclan)
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — link to full tags; @ on discord or dm @beaaats for plots!​

​

 

[CRICKETKIT]

"Really?!"

It's not a very reassuring yeild, but he feels a grin break out over his maw anyway when Snakehiss finally says 'yes.' As small as the 'yes' is, even if met with a sigh, Cricket could really only feel as though he had just won a game. Getting his orney father to tell him 'okay' to anything felt more and more like an impossible feat.

So now... he has to keep Snakehiss here as long as possible. It's not exactly a fully conscious recognition in his mind, because he very tentatively steps over towards his father's side, just enough that his back paw pokes against his haunches. It's actually holding back, he thinks. This is very well behaved for him who would normally throw himself against his sister's sides or bury his face into their fur. Here, this tiny miniscule almost claw-tip amount of connection is his own understanding that his father has never... really been the touchy type.

He leans over after that to grab his piece of prey because even if his father isn't going to eat right now it certainly isn't going to stop him. This probably benefits Snakehiss who wouldn't have to listen to him talk while he ate, because even this seems to leave him contented.

So when Snakehiss actually speaks, he looks up a little confused. "What do you mean?" Well, actually his dad made it pretty clear what he had meant but his nose scrunches thoughtfully. Did he... do something wrong? He hadn't really been paying attention, was he looking around? But now he's looking up at Snakehiss, and the back and forth of his eyes continues like the flutter of a bird's wings. "I was probably just looking at my food, right? Are you sure you don't want any?"​