pafp if you can think of a better joke, let minnow

[CLAYFUR]

This month’s gathering had been rather uneventful, but thankfully better than both the gatherings prior. It had still been kind of awful, surrounded by so many cats who couldn’t be trusted as far as Clay could kick them—but he hadn’t been alone. Not only had he seen Rosemire again (not that he’s excited about his absurd, painful joking around with a ShadowClanner) but he’d been joined by Lichen and Ripple. The sibling duo makes for good company, he’s realized, and Lichentail at least had shown some degree of disgust with the stupid joke he’d chosen this month.

The thing is, Clayfur doesn’t only come up with jokes for use at gatherings. He’s already got at least one dumb joke fluttering around in his brain, a one-winged butterfly that makes even the most stoic warrior feel something. Most of his greatest jokes are never told to anyone, like that one saying goes, but sometimes he thinks of a joke so bad that he just has to subject another cat to it before he forgets about it entirely.

The chocolate tabby’s victim should be obvious; he spots their blue-pointed figure from halfway across the camp and strides over with a pep in his step that’s been notably absent for months. "Hey, Lichentail," he greets the other warrior, striped tail flickering invitingly. He gives them no time to respond, though, before launching into a seemingly innocent question. "What do you call a trout that’s, like, super fancy?"

// pls wait for @lichentail
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[ YOU ARE THE STARS TO ME ]​

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[lichenstar]

Casting an idle tongue across their paws in an effort to clean up from the weird sensation river water left on their coat, Lichentail was at present, peacefully minding their business. It had been hard to find moments of silence lately. RiverClan never seemed to fail to have trouble breathing down their neck and despite how (surprisingly) uneventful the Gathering itself had been, it did little to ease the blue point's fears.

Every single face at that event had been wearing a mask. It was a night of pretending and gallivanting about like there was not a care in the world to be had. Like these cats hadn't had claws at each others throats only recently. A shudder ran down her spine unwillingly, but it seemed that train of thought would not be suffered to continue as a familiar tom called out her name.

Round ears swiveling in his direction, her eyes followed suit to land on Clayfur with a suspicious stare at his continuing question.

"Super fancy? You mean like a salmon?" Did he hit his head and forget what they were called?​

 

[► Fluffykins.]

YOU CAN BE YOU - I CAN BE ME
oddpaw | 06 months | agender | they/them/it/its | physically easy | mentally medium | attack in bold #ffdb58

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Oddpaw is a strange creature, always present in only the strangest of moments. Today is one such moment, the apprentice unable to keep from overhearing the two warriors conversation. Creeping over with an odd sort of waddling gait, wide eyes stare, head tipping to the side as it waits for the answer to this strange riddle of a question. Lichentail seems confused, giving her own question in return, but it is only curious, patiently waiting in silence for this knew knowledge to be given to them. It very much wants to know what a fancy trout is called.

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[apricotflower]

There's a certain tone in Clayfur's meow that Apricotflower recognises immediately, perking her ears up from the other side of camp and zeroing in on the conversation with narrowed eyes. This could only go well. Despite bracing for what was about to be a terrible joke, she's relieved to see him up and active again; he hasn't been the same since Clearsight had died. None of them had, really, but Clayfur had been impacted by far the worst. The queen pads over, quiet in the same curious way that Oddpaw is, and fights the urge to butt in with a guess at the answer.

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[Eelcackle]

Eelcackle loves stupid jokes. He likes to laugh because he's happy or when something is funny, not because he's scared or anxious. He doesn't even know why he does it when he's scared or anxious. He bets Starclan doesn't know either. If they did, they should tell him.

His ears swiveled in Clayfur's direction the moment he heard him speak. A joke was coming, he could tell. So, he twisted around from where he sat to listen to the answer.

What WAS a trout that was super fancy????​

 

[CLAYFUR]

Lichentail’s response isn’t quite the amusement he’d been hoping for, and for a heartbeat Clay’s smile withers beneath their suspicious gaze. But then the blue-pointed warrior asks him You mean like a salmon? and the tom tosses his head back and giggles. It’s such a stupid joke, and even before he’s said it he’s laughing, looking over at Oddpaw as though the apprentice should be laughing as well. "Noooo," he says when he’s reigned in his giggles. He draws out the word like he’s annoyed, but a telltale cheeky grin has settled onto his muzzle.

He spots two other warriors, grins at Apricotflower and then Eel in turn, tail flicking behind him. He’s pleased, really, that no one has jumped in to intercept the joke he’s about to tell. Maybe this one will actually send Lichen to Beesong’s den with a stomachache. "You call a super fancy trout… so-fish-ticated!"
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[ YOU ARE THE STARS TO ME ]​

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[FOXKIT!!]

❪ TAGS ❫ — Foxkit trots up next to his mother, not usually a momma's boy but curious as to what she was listening in on at the moment. He sure was nosy and liked listening to the adults talk... sometimes. Their conversations weren't always interesting, but it seemed that Clayfur was attempting to tell a joke.

Once the warrior revealed the punchline, Foxkit gave a puzzled tilt of his head. So-fish-ticated? His vocabulary wasn't too broad at the moment, given his age, so this joke wasn't very funny in his eyes. "I don't get it." Foxkit said, glancing up at Apricotflower before looking back at Clayfur. "Can you tell a funny one?" The red tabby asks, genuine in his intent but worded rather bluntly, as always.​

 

[lichenstar]

Every passing second that others stop to look and listen in, Lichentail grows more concerned. Surely they also all thought Clayfur needed a visit to the medicine cat's den, why else would they be staring? Tilting her head, the molly reached out a paw to gently press at the tom's shoulder as he threw back his head in unsettling laughter. "Clayfur are you ok-"

'so-fish-ticated'

Her paw dropped to the floor, ears flattening with distaste immediately. All moments of genuine concern and care for her clan-mate vanished the moment her ears had been so cruelly forced to hear such a terrible joke. Pausing for a few small moments for dramatic effect, she stared at him dead in the eyes and then just. Fell over.

Laying on the floor absolutely defeated, the molly let out a huge sigh, "I'm done for. That's the one that finally does me in Clayfur... Pray StarClan forgives you," she droned, voice devoid of emotion.​

 

[CLAYFUR]

The blue-pointed feline collapses, and for a moment Clay thinks that he’s actually done it, that he’ll need to go grovel before Beesong to convince them not to him. He’s killed her for real this time, he thinks. But then she sighs and goes on about how she’s dying, and the tom laughs at her dramatics. He’s about to crack another joke, worse than the first, but a small voice speaks up from nearby. He glances down—down, down, down. There’s a small kit, one of Apricot’s, and he looks a bit confused.

Foxkit asks, blunt as ever, if he can tell a funny one, and the warrior grins even wider. Of course the kit wouldn’t understand the joke, no matter how terrible. "Now, listen…" he starts, a chuckle in his voice. "I dunno if you could handle one of my funny jokes." Or understand it, more like. Maybe the kit will make for a good joke-teller when he gets older, but the naïvety of childhood has never been good for understanding humor.

Turning away from the kit, Clay dips his head in the direction of Lichen. "Rest in peace, Lichentail. A good warrior, laid to rest to soon." It’s a bit of a scrape against his heart, to even pretend, but he hopes that no one else notices the way his smile falters.
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[ YOU ARE THE STARS TO ME ]​

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