private HERE'S THE MOON, ITS ALRIGHT ❆ pinkshine

[FEATHERSPINE]

The cold of the day's hunting began to quiver still on the whorls of Featherspine's pelt; she had delivered a catch to the queens, and made some feeble attempt to interact with the kittens within the den, and felt tense not just from the threat of leafbare as she moved to Pinkshine's side. Closeness was sought, the sharing of their warmth- with the bite of the air, they needed it.

Prey was dropped to share between them, though slitted yellow eyes still wandered to the mouth of the nursery. Horned ears flicked, though he did not know what it was he was listening for. Click of his tongue, a thoughtful sound, her attention wandered to a stray flower threaded into Pinkshine's pelt. A memory of a failed suggestion struck him, instantly... he nearly winced at the recollection, though managed to keep his pupils steady.

There was a bit of humour in her voice when she murmured, "Have you b-b-been hanging out with Silk-kit again?" Pinkshine seemed to click easily, even wading through tougher times, with the company of kittens. It was her playful spirit, no doubt- that which he had once derided. Featherspine was grateful, truly, that bloodshed and his own whipping tongue hadn't pushed that spirit out of her. Where would she seek comfort in tough times then, if she were so fun-averse as himself?

A short breath of laughter left him. A sighing thing, with a fleeting smile accompanying. "I don't think she likes me," was murmured as if it was a secret, and yes, the memory of stark disagreement rang out. Humour twitched against the hard lines of her face ... though faded into something a little wistful as she added, "I don't... think I'm any g-good with kits, really." And would anyone think he even cared about that? Featherspine certainly did not anticipate the small twist of dismay that came with admitting it.

\ @PINKSHINE <3 ...for the family prompt​

✦ penned by pin​

 

[PINKSHINE]

Being in a good mood wasn't as easy as it had been with Sunstar around. She'd almost think that it never would be, if it wasn't a line of thinking she deliberately kind of avoids... But Featherspine helps her plenty. She's always there in that way she's been for Pinkshine's whole life, even when she was a complete grump. Things were a little different, now... Pinkshine wasn't dirty when their pelts touched. Her tail brushes his flank in this still-sorta-new-feeling way... Not like she never would have before, but she got it now. She got why.

Pinkshine trills her thanks, to her and StarClan both, for giving them a nicer Leaf-bare this time around. She didn't have to feel guilty about digging in straight away, or about the greedy swipe of her tongue across her lips. Featherspine's thinking about something, obviously. She knew so cause that's what Featherspine does. These days, Pinkshine's a little bit more like her, she guesses...

Oh! But Featherspine usually thought about big and important things, not about kits. Her ears perk. " How'd you know? " she squawks ( having completely forgotten about her earlier makeover ). She guesses she's been hanging around the nursery a little more lately... Was it that obvious, or was Featherspine just eagle-eyed? Well, she knew he was for sure. Was both possible? Her smile's a little wider now, and Featherspine's own still made her giddy the way it had the first time she'd seen it. Again, she gapes, " Really? " The following assertion... she couldn't let stand. No way. Not at all.

" I liked everyone when I was a kit! " she asserts. So, like, most kits probably thought the same! " Not liking someone feels so... blegh, y'know? Kits looove liking other cats! " She's sure! Pretty sure anyways. Pretty's enough for her.

" If I was a kit, " Pinkshine continues earnestly, and her tail would flick at her mate's flank once again. " I'd be thinking, "Featherspine is sooo tall!" " She was going to ignore that she still thinks this, sometimes... " And I'd think it's like, so unfair, but I'd get over it, y'know? " she giggles. " They usually do. " She knocks her head against her shoulder, hopes that it's comforting, though she'd accidentally said she'd also not like Featherspine if she was a kit, huh... Well obviously, that wasn't true... They had, like, moons of proof. " And I'd think... "I wanna be a great warrior like her someday!" "

For a moment, she stutters on a thought. Pinkshine blinks, wide eyed, as those moments pass. A calico head still at her mate's shoulder blade, looking for the yellow of his eyes, never once does her smile stutter. " You'd be a great, um, what d'you call it? " She pictures a kit, trying to make themselves stand the way Featherspine did. Maybe they'd try licking their fur the wrong way to give themselves spines... Pinkshine giggles. " A role model."​

 

[FEATHERSPINE]

"Just a feeling," murmured deadpan... though he supposed that flower was a little out of Pinkshine's periphery. She blinked at that shock of colour, wondering foolishly whether it might make her look prettier, whether Silk-kit's tastes were right. And part of Featherspine wanted to compliment that the blue brought out the ring of colour in Pinkshine's eyes, a part that warred with the humour of letting her think that he was psychic.

She chose to let it slumber; to lie in wait like a huntress. When dried petals fell from her pelt later, it would click together. There were plenty more compliments to give, besides... whenever she could find a moment. Disbelief flew from her mouth, then- horned ears angled to the ensuing flood of explanation intense eyes focused upon her argument, slit pupils lingering. It hardly bothered Featherspine, of course... Pinkshine was right, that dislike felt blegh. Apt, as ever...

Warmth spread at the playful tick of her mate's tail, bringing a quiet, seldom-heard laugh from her, breathy and stuttered through the nose. The knock of Pinkshine against his shoulder brought his head down to meet hers before he could really think about it. A rare sort of instinctual movement, always in her presence. She did not have to think about actions so intensely before she did them, in the shining light of this presence alone. It was, as ever, a great relief- a tender knock of skulls, the rubbing of Featherspine's cheek against her head. "You've always thought I'm tall," Featherspine argued, refusing to ignore what Pinkshine had.

It was a brief caress- maybe Featherspine felt, through some buzz of ever-there connection, that Pinkshine had been seeking her gaze. "How do you do it?" he murmured, voice lilted sweetly, smile curving her eyes. "Either you always know the right thing to say, or you've just irreversibly weakened me." Her tone was humoured, and swept through with affection.

Pride sat on Featherspine's lips, though she wished slightly for it not to be so plain. In any other company it might have been stifled in favour of a scowl, but... not here. "Maybe, he sighed, "In a warrior sense. B-buh-but... I think you would b-be a buh-better... p-puh-personality role model." There was a hum in her voice, contemplative... an idea that seemed sudden and strange, but swept into her head easily.

He remembered his parents, kind and warrior-like all at once. Snarling and sweetness swathed in the same tones... he'd come out with wit but no warmth, but there might be some way to re-balance the scales. Together. "Have you ever thought about kits?" Direct, as ever... he swept his tail around her. Softly swelled her purr- it would not be heard, but felt in the pressing of their bodies. "I think we'd make... a b-buh-balanced combination." It wasn't really very romantic- Featherspine cringed at herself. "I, uh- I mean, I think... we'd be good at it." And that wasn't much better. She closed her eyes, pressing her muzzle to Pinkshine's again, silent love and apology. ​

✦ penned by pin​

 

[PINKSHINE]

Pinkshine has no choice but to marvel in wonder after that. Cryptic... but uttered so casually like it isn't actually cryptic at all! She must be missing something... or maybe Featherspine was just impossibly perfect. Like, not just sharp on the outside. Attuned to the twitch of her whiskers and the tap of her tail, or something... Both those things happened pretty often, really.

Again, Featherspine just knows things straight away, with a dip of her head that hardly waits a moment to meet her own. Pinkshine always— well, usually purrs easily, around Featherspine... There was nothing wrong enough to make that too different today. Not like before... His laugh warms her further, and Pinkshine closes her eyes, swelling further into her mate's touch. Her reply is a lazy, hmm? All clueless sounding, cause she totally is. Pinkshine would never be jealous about something like that. Nuh-uh. No way...

Her eyes are back on Featherspine just in time to see her smile. Just in time to look all wide-eyed and confused ( —and happy; she feels like her old self... normal self, for the first time in how long? ). When Pinkshine hums this time, she really doesn't know what she means. And then she's laughing, " How do I make you smile? " She pairs the question with a playful shove at his shoulder. It felt like the silliest question in the world, now, even if a little Pink-kit had thought weird Featherkit in the Medicine Cat's Den had no idea how to smile. Featherspine deserves a mysterious answer too, she thinks. " I have my ways... " she can't manage the casualness that he had mystified her with. She feels too warm not to giggle.

Maybe. Pinkshine cuts in, " Definitely! " but lets him keep totally overthinking, and stuff. But he's putting her in a tough spot, now... caught between reminding Featherspine that she thought her personality was great, and feeling flattered... Pinkshine blinks up at her, smile unsure " ..Really? " Hasn't she been... Hasn't she been ugly lately? She hasn't cheered as loudly as other cats deserved, and she hasn't smiled as brightly... She guesses Silk-kit has been making her prettier, but was that enough?

The brief quiet is mutual. Comfortable...ish. If it wasn't, it wasn't 'cause of Featherspine. Not at all.

Her ears prick at the question. She blinks, nods. It was hard not to, when Bluefrost's kits were the cutest, and Silk-kit was the cutest. Really, it was a dilemma... Not everyone could be the cutest, could they? But her mate's tail finds her in a way that makes her pause. Pinkshine is held, gathered close. The rumble between them makes her heart skip a beat. Again, she blinks; once, twice. Featherspine is already pressing her muzzle to her by the time she understands.

" Wait— " Butterfly's wings; only Featherspine made her feel them. Why be nervous doing the things she loved? Or doing things she knows how to do, or doing things that are easy... Why be nervous now, when Featherspine hasn't said anything bad at all? " Like... " She forgets how to talk for a moment. Her smile doesn't drop cause she isn't happy. It's not that at all...

She thinks about Brightshine; about her mama. The kindest cat she knew, with a smile that rivaled the stars. She wonders if Heavy Snow had told her something similar... She wonders if she was proud of Pinkshine and Downyfur; if she was proud of herself too, for doing just what Heavy Snow must've told her she would. Pinkshine thinks about her brother on the other side of the world, a cat she'd only met once, but that she knew loved their mama, just from that night.

Only one of them was dead, but if the happiest cat in the world couldn't keep smiling in WindClan anymore, wasn't she dead in a way, too?

But she didn't have to stay dead, Pinkshine realizes. She looks at Featherspine, and she realizes Sunstar didn't have to stay gone, either.

" 'M sorry... " She's crying all of a sudden, and she'd promised Featherspine that she wouldn't anymore. For a moment, she thinks she can hold it, but her cheeks are made wet with her blink. " 'M sorry, " She doesn't want her to worry. " 'M just happy. " She thinks she's telling the truth.

It's a familiar gesture, seeking out tabby fur with the white of her muzzle. There, Pinkshine buries her head. " I- I wanna be good at it. " she smiles when she says it. Her tail seeks out her mate's; not just to tease, but to hold. " ...I think I need to be. " For Brightshine... For herself, she needed to be.
​

 

[FEATHERSPINE]

Featherspine found he could not disagree- and so long as Pinkshine kept her ways under wraps, cushioned between them only, he would never complain about not being able to understand. How she had managed it, and why she had even bothered... not just to see her smile, but to keep doing it. A chuff of amusement left him at the mirrored mystery. A mostly-silent giggle, given only in the shudder of his shoulders- he could never be as vibrant as she managed to be, not outwardly, but it shimmered within him just the same, even when it struggled to push out of him past sharpened eyes.

Really- there was something not-innocent about it, a tiny wobble of hesitation. "Of course." A nod moved his head, the slightest flutter of a frown knitting his brows together. Not in unhappiness, but in seriousness... assurance merely in the twitch of his face that he wasn't lying to her.

A nod, and then a huddled silence; her lungs twisted in weighty knots, given the thought that she'd said something wrong. Or that... that she'd delivered it in such a clumsy way that Pinkshine didn't even know what he meant. That particular concern was washed away the moment he heard her voice buzz softly against the fur of her cheek. Ah, a realisation ... his lips trembled, warring with the want to smile and the apprehension that sponged every word out of him. She let Pinkshine's words hang in stasis, pendulum between them... in the absence of her grin, Featherspine could see the whirring of cogs. A march of contemplation, and then-

Glimmer of tears. In dark tracks, they crawled down her face- Featherspine's jaw shuddered open, worry briefly flickering. But Pinkshine knew, she had to know, and it was stupid she should have to comfort him as she nestled her head against him and muttered muffled apology. Happy, she said, and Featherspine... he had to believe her. Had to, when all of a sudden he felt the lurch of his own heart- was slammed, swiftly, with the actual weight of what she had just proposed.

And he knew it wasn't sorrow, the wetness of his own eyes. Knew, yet felt Sunstar and Wolfsong's absence in the swallow she forced down, in the words that would not leave her. The wit of her parents, drowned in a lake of tears. A silver tongue was bit through with mourning. Admiration burned in both of them, Featherspine was sure, for idols that were no longer here. For a WindClan that seemed no longer theirs, familiarity rooted near-solely in each other. "I'm- I'm happy too," Featherspine murmured, voice holding an unmistakeable rasp of emotion. "Don't b-buh-be sorry."

The twine of their tails was something easy; one of the few things in this world that always would be. He stretched his nose to brush the point of Pinkshine's ear- rasped her tongue over the top of her head. "You... you would... b-be. You will b-be." Was that it, then? Cementing of a future, something that wasn't could but would? In their anxious kneading, his paws suddenly felt, for a flash of a moment, that they might fit on the soils of these moors again. No longer heir of WindClan's leader, but just Featherspine. And she thought, with the clasping of their bodies, that she might be able to be just Featherspine. "You- you wouldn't even need to try, you know?" The rake of tears in his voice never quite left, but Featherspine tried his best not to let them rain on Pinkshine's fur. "They'd love you. They'd love you."

And was that what they needed, to feel their own feet in WindClan again? Love, the same they'd grown up with- not just what had grown between each other? Featherspine held Pinkshine's tail tight, feeling in the thumping of her heart the want to forge certainty alongside her, to give her every kind of love she could possibly manage. ​

✦ penned by pin​

 

[PINKSHINE]

Pinkshine has never needed Featherspine to smile with her. She doesn't think she ever would've seen his smile if she did. Her own grin's an invitation, encouragement, comfort... That's what Brightshine's had been, at least, and someone would have to keep it up for her while she's gone. Someone would have to keep smiling when the clan needed it most... when her kits needed it most. Someone would have to WindClan home in her stead. And it makes Pinkshine sad to realize WindClan had never been her mama's home. It was even more impressive then, that she'd made it home for Pinkshine.

She smiles for her mama, and she smiles for WindClan— but it's a lot better like this when she and Featherspine twine their tails together. She can't imagine what it would be like to hoard her happiness all to herself, but she's sure that someway, somehow, she'd be miserable doing it. Pinkshine curls further into her mate, nudging at the jut of his chin with the crown of her own head. Clinging to Featherspine's words is the same teary residue to sticks to her own; and Pinkshine doesn't rush to fix it as she normally would. They're just sharing, she knows.

Her purr rolls from her despite her crying. It catches on the word- will, said with certainty, and she surges toward it with eager breaths. It's settled, isn't it? Certain. Warmth settles in her belly, and she lets herself gaze down at the curls of her coat, a deep black where she hopes their kits would one day nestle themselves. The last of her tears trail down her warmed cheeks, flattered. If she could be as good of a mother as Featherspine says she will be, she think's she'd be the happiest she could ever be.

"I hope..." Pinkshine breathes. "I hope so." She feels the squeeze of her tail, and she feels confident the two of them could do anything together. "They'll love you, Featherspine." she says it so there'd be no uncertainty between them, and because it's the truth. And most importantly, of course, "I love you," she purrs, and she lets herself be held.