light up the sky | lake

[LILYBLOOM.]

They walk together. Side by side. Silver and tortoiseshell.

It has been a while since they've been able to get away from camp, not least just the two of them together. Lilybloom is glad that newleaf has finally arrived, not only for the warmer weather and the melting snow, but because it means they can leave camp again and not be at risk of frostbitten paws, slipping on ice, or struggling to find prey. "I've missed this," Lilybloom sighs softly as they walk.

As they continue their walk, the signs that newleaf has arrived can be found all around them. Now that the snow has melted many plants and seedlings have begun to sprout and grow again, keen to lap up the warmth of the sun they missed in the winter months. It will take a while for the trees to get there but already fresh buds are beginning to form and soon a canopy of green will once again be above their heads. There were many small flowers beginning to bloom but only one caught Lilybloom's attention and made her stop to get a better look. To most cats - and perhaps even Lakemoon - there's nothing too outstanding about these flowers at first glance. The only thing truly notable about them was their colour - a bright spot of yellow among the greens and browns of the forest around them. "Do you remember these?" Lilybloom asked, stepping forward to sniff the flowers. "I gave you one as a peace offering once. Though they looked a bit more crooked than these." She laughed a little at the memory. How awkward and nervous they had both been back then, struggling to adjust to their new lives and the cars around them.

@Lakemoon . ​

 

[LAKEMOON]

✵ ღ ☾ IT TOOK ME BY SURPRISE - I’ve missed this.
The tortoiseshells soft words draw a small smile on the usually stoic mollys lips, but she doesn’t say anything in return, only shifting her step ever so slightly that the duos flanks would brush against each other as they walked, Lakemoon’s own silent way of agreeing with her companion.
It isn’t too long before Lilybloom begins to get that far-away look in her gaze that Lakemoon usually finds herself having to draw her back to the present from, but this time the silver warrior is content watching the other become warped in the scenery around them, narrow sapphire optics staying steady on Lilybloom.
Her feelings for the other had always been simple, despite the turmoil Lakemoon had created in her own mind to push them away. Yet, she was older now, her mind sharper. A confession from Lakemoon was about as likely as fish beginning to fly, but the way the Ice Queen seemed to melt away around Lilybloom was telling enough to the clanmates around them.
Lilybloom suddenly stops, and Lakemoon matches her steps, quirking a brow bone towards her curiously.
Only when Lilybloom speaks does Lakemoon take a moment to really look at the familiar yellow blossoms.
A smile quickly turns to light laughter as the memory clicks. ❝ Oh yes, what were they for again? A truce? ❞ She hummed before reaching to gently pluck one from their stem, ❝ Come here. ❞ What would be a demand to any other is a polite request to her friend. If the warrior would allow, Lakemoon would lean down to tuck the flower behind her ear before stepping back, ❝ New leaf looks good on you. ❞
❝ Speech. ❞

THE HATRED IN HER EYES​

​

 

[LILYBLOOM.]

Lakemoon isn't always the most emotive or expressive cats. After moons of friendship, Lilybloom has come to expect the short neutral responses from the other. So when she does smile and laugh it is such an enrapturing sight that Lilybloom can't help but get lost in her sound for a moment. "Mhm, yes it was," Lilybloom confirmed wit a small nod. "I recall there was a bit of thievery going on. Or such was the implication." The tortoiseshell gave the she-cat a knowing look. The memory of the two of them intercepting the same mouse and then blaming the other is still a humorous memory.

After Lakemoon steps forward to pluck one of the flowers, Lilybloom studies her intently to figure out what she had planned. She asks for her to come forward and Lilybloom consents without a word, bowing her head to allow Lakemoon to tuck a flower on her head. Lilybloom lifts her head up and Lakemoon comments that newleaf looked good on her which causes a flush of heat to spread across her cheeks. "Thank you," Lilybloom mewed, ducking her head away in embarrassment. She'd say the same but in truth the newleaf didn't compliment Lakemoon so well. It only did in the cool mornings when the grass was dewy and wet, the early sunshine making the grass practically shimmer. Lilybloom lifted her head and looked intently at Lakemoon for a short second. No, it was leafbare that suited Lakemoon better, both in terms of the colours and the emotions it could conjure up in one's mind. "Do you know something Lakemoon?" Lilybloom began, green eyes meeting blue. "I don't think the mouse was the only thing you stole that day."​

 

[LAKEMOON]

✵ ღ ☾ IT TOOK ME BY SURPRISE - Lilybloom lifts her head, and immediately her gaze is steady on Lakemoon. The air shifted then, even in just the briefest of heartbeats, and Lakemoon has to suppress an anxious tilt of her head, her azure gaze determined to be focused on Lilybloom, just Lilybloom.
When she speaks, Lakemoon is surprised to find that the enchantment hasn’t broken, that the others verdant gaze has completely grasped her. ❝ Hm? ❞ She returns, but she would never have been able to prepare for the feelings the tortoiseshells next words would stir up in her chest.
She steps forward, as small of a step as it is, unable to shake the irrational feeling that she simply needed to be closer to the tortoiseshell.
❝ If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to tell me something. ❞ Lakemoon replies, her voice keeping the same cooled level as it normally is, but the tabby wouldn’t be surprised if the other was able to hear her racing heart beat.
❝ Are you? ❞

❝ Speech. ❞

THE HATRED IN HER EYES​

​

 

[LILYBLOOM.]

Lakemoon holds her gaze, matching the intensity of Lilybloom's own. The tortoiseshell doesn't miss how she seems to step closer her, and Lilybloom herself seems unaware of the step forward she herself takes.
Lakemoon comments that it is almost like Lilybloom is trying to tell her something. A slight grin tugs at her lips. Does she know? Surely she must, Lilybloom thinks. She's seen the way Lakemoon looks at her sometimes, the same way she looks at the blue tabby when she hopes she isn't looking.

"What would you say if I did have something I wanted to tell you?" Lilybloom asks, inclining her head in a playfully quizzical manner. For a fleeting moment, Lilybloom tears her gaze away, looking down at her front paws and scuffing them against the ground nervously. "Almost drowning has a funny way of making you reflect on things," She began with a bitter laugh, lifting her head to meet Lakemoon's gaze again. "The things you didn't do, the words you didn't say. It took me a while to recover and come to terms with what happened. I pushed people away in my grief and I was wrong to do that, especially when they were only trying to help. I was wrong to push you away." Another step forward and now they are whisker-lengths apart. "You know I'm quite mad for you. I think a part of me has been since we collided over that mouse. I don't want to hide how I feel about you anymore...I've hidden away too much in recent moons. I don't want to hide how when I see you it's like you're the only cat in the world, a light in the darkness. The way my heart skips a beat the way you look at me. The way you reduce me to a nervous, giggling wreck with your words. I hope that I've not misread your feelings this whole time."​

 

[LAKEMOON]

✵ ღ ☾ IT TOOK ME BY SURPRISE - What would you say if I did have something I wanted to tell you?
It was almost like she could hear an audible snap when Lilybloom breaks her once concentrated gaze to stare at her fidgeting paws instead, which Lakemoon is quick to notice.
Truthfully, the warrior has to stop herself from closing the gap between them to lift the others gaze back up, but the words she speaks are heavy and pang at the blue warriors frosted heart, and the rare sight of her gaze softening begins to bloom, her sharp and scarred features almost looking out of place with empathy as she listens on, almost taking the brief pause to tell her that she wasn’t wrong, she could never be wrong-
When Lilybloom makes another step forward, now almost against her ivory chest, every hair on Lakemoons being visibly freezes and she moves her head slightly downward to meet her eyes once more. Everything melts away, including any thought Lakemoon may have been thinking in that moment.
You know I’m quite mad for you.
I don’t want to hide how I feel about you anymore..
Each word Lakemoon hangs on to, intense blue drowning in her lighter green, an adoring smile sprouting on a slightly parted maw.
Barely waiting for her to finish, Lakemoon does the only thing she can think to do, and leans down to affectionately press her forehead against Lilyblooms, letting her eyelids flutter close for only a moment, but it is a vulnerable one, which is the grandest gesture Lakemoon could conjure, to let her stoney exterior chip away, to simply be with the mottled warrior in that moment.
Yet, she couldn’t leave the last words unanswered. ❝ I didn’t realize how quickly you can fall in love with someone’s laugh, or their touch, or the way they look at you even in the most casual way, not until I met you.❞
She mused lowly as she’d withdraw her head, but only enough to look back into beautiful ivy green. The tabby had never been as enchanting with her words as the other, truthfully, but she could only hope that her reply had made Lilybloom as joyful as her words had made Lakemoon. ❝ I want to be the light in your life from now until always, but more, I want you, Lilybloom. ❞ There is no tremble or anxious shake in her tone, but it is soft and almost delicate despite the mollys velvet voice.
❝ Speech. ❞

THE HATRED IN HER EYES​

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[LILYBLOOM.]

Lilybloom waits with bated breath to hear the other's response. Luckily, she is not kept waiting long, as no sooner as she got her last sentence out, Lakemoon closes the gap between them and presses her forehead against hers. Lilybloom tenses briefly. Not because she dislikes the gesture or is displeased by it, but simply because she is not expecting it. When the shock fades, Lilybloom melts into the gesture, as happy to be in Lakemoon's presence as Lakemoon surely is to be in hers.

After a moment they part, and Lakemoon speaks again, confessing her own feelings to Lilybloom. Her words might have been comparatively simple next to Lilybloom's but the words keep her hooked and transfixed. She's practically giddy once Lakemoon finishes speaking, the nervous energy inside of her wanting to come out in happy little hops. It's a miracle she manages to stand still. I want you, Lilybloom. "Then you shall have me," Lilybloom confirmed with a nod. They are still so close to each other that Lilybloom can simply lift her head under her chin. "You will have me until the day I draw my last breath, and then again when we meet among the stars. From now on I am yours, and you are mine."​