border KING OF THE EYESORES — "slate be nice" challenge

[SLATE]

The rules were simple — be nice to your clanmates for a day, and you must go out of your way to be nice. The fact that this was only a challenge couldn't be let on to anyone. There was no physical incentive to win this trial, but Slate simply felt the need to prove Applefrost wrong. He could parade around as someone he wasn't for a day. He could stand to be a decent clanmate without needing to dish out insults or sarcastic remarks. At the end of all of this, he would be able to turn around and laugh in her face about it.

Now came the hard part — committing to the act. As much as Slate would rather just sit on the outskirts of camp like he normally did, he was reminded of the challenge's rules much to his dismay. After spotting a group of SkyClanners gathered near the center of camp and sharing tongues, he heaved a sigh and padded over whilst managing a rather relaxed expression. His brows remained unfurrowed, gaze mellowed and void of a temper, gruff frown not as prominent as it usually was. "Good morning." Slate rumbles to the others, flicking an ear out of habit before turning his head to view the sky above. "It's... nice out today." Well, aside from the frozen ground and cold air and everything.

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾ —— 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙘𝙠, 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚

• 

• 

  ✰ SLATE
  —— he/him; lead warrior of skyclan; former rogue
  —— bisexual; single; not looking
  —— hulking, scarred charcoal-black colored maine coon with amber eyes
  —— "speech", thoughts, attack
  —— link to full tags; @ on discord for plots.
  —— penned by beatles

​

 

[Howlfire]

When Howlfire had returned from the Shelter, it was deemed necessary for her to receive another mentor to fill in the gaps of her training and catch her up with her peers. In all that time, she had never known him to be a particularly sociable creature. They had gotten on well enough, sure, but beyond that Howlfire hadn't really seen him much besides when they passed each other in camp or made small talk.

She's gathered with her clanmates sharing tongues that morning, with Roseblaze kindly offering to keep an eye on her kits. She was talking with another clanmate when Slate approached, turning her head slightly to look at him, when he rumbles off a greeting. "Good morning to you too, Slate," Howlfire responds, chuckling slightly at his remark about the weather. "Not sure I'd call it a nice day though."​

 

[BLAZESTAR]

There are cats of all temperaments on Blazestar’s council, but perhaps the cat with the gruffest tongue is Slate—by far. Silversmoke is dour and serious, Orangeblossom taciturn and disciplined, Johnnyflame well-governed, Twitchbolt on-edge and frayed like a live wire, Bobbie and Greeneyes new to their responsibilities but coming into their own. Slate, though, has always had an aggressive edge to him; even Blazestar has felt the rough side of his tongue on occasions. The Ragdoll has never minded, so long as the massive dark warrior remains relatively respectful (which he usually manages). He doesn’t expect to see him approach the group of cats sharing tongues, and when he does, he waits for Slate to begin berating one of the cats in the group.

To his utter surprise, Slate offers a pointless nicety. Good morning, he tells the group, before tilting his face to the bleary sky and offering an observation about the weather. Blazestar huffs with amusement, but he raises a paw to conceal the smile breaking out onto his muzzle. Howlfire returns his comment with a look of pleasant puzzlement. “Well, we aren’t in a blizzard or snowed into our camp, so I’d count that as nice enough for leafbare,” he purrs. He lifts his chin in greeting to his lead warrior. “Good morning to you too. What has you so… chipper?”

, ”​

​

 

[GREENEYES]

In all the time he's known Slate, he doesn't think he's ever seen the hulking tom act so... friendly. Where Greeneyes tries to remain bright and cheery — though, he'll admit some days are harder than others, on that front — Slate is usually more gruff, more downcast and isolated in his ways.

So, when his fellow lead warrior approaches the group of cats the ginger tabby finds himself among, Greeneyes can't help the confusion that twists at him at the sight. Where a frown often lays across the older lead's maw is now softened, gentler than the roughened expression etched in his mind at the thought of the dark-furred tom. What has gotten into him?

" Oh! Good morning, Slate! " he greets the lead warrior with a friendly smile, crooked tail hooking around himself as he listens to the conversation around him.

A nice day, Slate proclaims, another point of puzzlement for the tom. Like Howlfire, he doesn't think it's much of a nice day — leaf-bare is here to stay now, it's days bleak and cold. Still, it could be worse, could be the near-mountains of snow they'd been trapped within the prior cold season.

" Nice? Do you like leaf-bare that much? " Greeneyes finds himself asking the large tom, a tilt of a frost-masked face. Perhaps this is why Slate is so amiable today, though that doesn't explain the grumpy demeanor he holds every other leaf-bare day, he supposes. ​

✦ ABOUT

• 

  GREENKIT ‣ GREENPAW ‣ GREENEYES
  ── Lead Warrior of SkyClan
  
  ── Daisyflight x Raven Ramble
  ── AMAB; He/Him
  ── A red tabby and white tom with bright green eyes.
  ── Mentored by Sheepcurl; Currently mentoring Falconpaw
  ── "Speech"; Attack​

​

 

[SLATE]

Howlfire was... not the hardest cat to be decent to. She was nice and had never given Slate a sour attitude even when he used to grumpily arise from his nest to fetch her for their training sessions. Still, Slate wished that she would just agree with his statement and move on. Yeah, the day wasn't super pleasant, but at least they weren't stuck in a damn blizzard. "Well... it could be worse." The lead warrior shrugs, trying to fight and mask the discomfort that made his paws shift and his skin heat up.

Ah, yes. Compliments. Slate combed his brain for ideas until he finally came up with, "Nice job on the kits. They're cute." That was the best compliment a mother could get, right? At least they weren't ugly! Blazestar had some pretty good genes, it seemed.

Speaking of the Ragdoll leader, Blazestar had decided to join in on the conversation as well. Finally, someone had understood the point he was trying to make. However, Slate blinks when the older tom suspects that something odd is happening here. "Chipper?" He couldn't let on that this was just an act; Applefrost would call him out on it for sure. She was probably nearby now, eavesdropping and giggling to herself. "I'm just... enjoying the day." Slate insists, shaking his paw as ice particles clinged to it. "Your fur looks nice today, Blazestar." It was all... golden. Smooth-looking, too. Was it the surrounding snowfall that was casting this luminous effect? Either way, there was no doubt in his mind that Blazestar was born a kittypet, likely sought ought for his looks as many cats were. Did his kin participate in twoleg entertainment as well? Slate could not imagine the life he'd be living had he decided not to take his chance and run; he would be constantly handled by twolegs and their filthy paws, shuttled around in monsters and given baths with flowery-smelling suds. The thought alone made him want to wince, though he tried to move on and keep to the task.

Oh, it's so hard for Slate to not grit his teeth and give a snappy retort of sorts as he's continued to be questioned about his initial remark. Stars, he was just trying to make simple conversation here! Why was this so difficult? "Uh... no. Not really." Slate responds to Greeneyes, giving an awkward twitch of his tail and quickly trying to think of something else to say. "So... how has hunting been, Greeneyes?" He's never really gone out of his way to speak to the young warrior before, not even when they had to journey to the mountains and back together. Then again, Slate didn't necessarily talk much to anyone besides Orangeblossom.

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾ —— 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙘𝙠, 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚

• 

• 

  ✰ SLATE
  —— he/him; lead warrior of skyclan; former rogue
  —— bisexual; single; not looking
  —— hulking, scarred charcoal-black colored maine coon with amber eyes
  —— "speech", thoughts, attack
  —— link to full tags; @ on discord for plots.
  —— penned by beatles

​