hey there delilah | bobbie

[Howlfire]

Since Bobbie had taken up residence in the nursery, Howlfire had admittedly not spent much time with her. On occasion she would pop her head in, usually bringing food or supplies. but she never stayed for long. Usually if she did stay, it would be to speak with Butterflytuft and her kits, with some smalltalk reserved for Bobbie if she was in the mood. Truth be told, she wasn't entirely sure how to speak to Bobbie in the wake of certain things, not wanting to push the older she-cat into a lengthy conversation when they were both lost in their grief.

Today though things were going to change. Finding a suitable bird in peace offering, Howlfire went into the nursery seeking Bobbie out, pleased to see the queen was actually awake. "Heeeey, Brobbiiee," Howlfire greeted, voice muffled from the bird she carried. She set it down gently before the queen, giving it a gentle nudge with a paw to see if she'd be up for eating. "How are you feeling today? Are you up for eating this bird with me?" The chocolate torbie flashed her a genuinely innocent smile. "I thought maybe we could talk...you know, if you wanted to of course."

@bobbie ​

 

[DOEBLAZE]

Bobbie is unsure how to treat Blazestar's previous children. Those across the border had long made it clear that they wanted nothing to do with their " kittypet " father and siblings, to the point that Bobbie wonders whether they know of her and the previous leader's entanglement—that is, until the thought is cut off as swiftly as a snake's head from its body. Irregardless, she treads delicately around Howlfire and Fireflypaw—distantly, mournfully, she's cognizant of the fact that Crowpaw has slowly grown closer to the latter than to Bobbie herself.

She does not labor under the pretense that she should act motherly to them—she is not Little Wolf and she has no desire to be, she knows that much, of what little she knows of herself. It's still surprising when she rolls over in her nest, blinking slowly, to find Howlfire venturing into the nursery with a bird between her jaws. The queen settles onto her elbows so as to address the torbie appropriately, wincing in discomfort as a heavy kitten - blow seems to land somewhere approximately around her sternum.

" Howlfire, " she greets, clearing the rasp from her voice. A green eye scrutinizes the younger she - cat's face for any sign of malice, of distrust—and shockingly, even Bobbie's jittery psyche finds nothing to doubt in the open, honest smile Howlfire tosses her way. She blinks slowly and nods, bending her head to take a hesitant bite of the bird. Her appetite, though waned by grief, persists largely due to the kits that grow ever closer to joining her in SkyClan. " I feel .... better, I guess. It waxes and wanes, you know. "

She tries to shrug offhandedly, but her heart twists. Howlfire is surely familiar with the lapping waves of grief. Bobbie's heart pulses in her throat—she had sworn to avoid the subject, but she feels beholden to Howlfire somehow. She sucks in air through long fangs and nods again, " Sure. About ....? " Her eyebrows raise. There's much unspoken between them, she supposes—her and Blazestar, the absence of him, the half - siblings soon to come.

" speech "

​

 

[Howlfire]

Bobbie's response is short but it tells Howlfire all she needs to know. She bobs her head along to the words, understanding in her expression. She knew all too well how grief came and went, eating away at the very fibre of your being as though some horrid disease.

At Howlfire's own request to talk she can see the other she-cat hesitate before finally asking what she wanted to speak about. Suddenly, it is Howlfire who doesn't know what to say, looking at her paws as though suddenly stricken with a bout of shyness. Which, for Howlfire, would have been very unusual. After a long, drawn-out moment, Howlfire finally lifts her head and looks at Bobbie again. "I guess I just wanted to see how you were and check up on you," Howlfire admitted. "And to give you my sympathies that dad isn't here to greet the new kits." Her expression shifts to a more saddened one. "I know he would have loved them with all his heart."

Howlfire hadn't really thought much about her new half-siblings. The last time she had learnt she had half-siblings - or at least she had thought they had been half-siblings - she had reacted poorly. Granted, she had been younger then and still grappling with the concept of being torn from the family and home she had once known. This time it did genuinely feel different. She had watched the love blossom between Blazestar and Bobbie slowly. Once she would have abhorred the idea of her father being mates with anyone but her mother, but she was glad in the end he had found Bobbie. "I miss him everyday you know," She mutters sadly. "But I'm glad he had someone like you to cherish in his final moons."​