like feeling this way | cattails

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SMOGBREATH

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Soft leaves crunch between his teeth, eyes watching the flow of the water from the pebbled shore. He's not that far from camp, just a little ways down the river. The tom ca easily see it from where he has laid himself within the tall reeds. He's trying to be a bit more adventurous but still he can't shake the need to keep camp close at paw, especially when he goes out on his own. Chewing thoughtfully he lightly nibbles on more of the greenery as he topples over one of the long stemmed cattails. He's been eating these for a while now, he likes the taste of them and doesn't mind the toughness or how long he has to chew. The stem is very fibrous and he crunches down on it before he looks to the long brown flower. He always likes to mess with these and he lightly presses a paw against it just to watch it burst upwards in a pillowy white fluff. The wind catches it and sends it flying up into the air, a soft chuckle with it from his slightly parted paw before he does it again just to see the spectacle. A small voice in the back of his head chastises him for being so kittish and reminds him that he does have an apprentice to train but he stays where he is trying to enjoy the moment.

After everything that has been happening he wants to at least be a little carefree. He's worried about a lot of things. Cicadastar, Clearsight, Clayfur, Smokethroat....all of them and none he can do anything to help. Slowly he frowns and his paw drops from the cattail before he looks to his side, a water vole there. He caught it earlier and he needs to bring it home. Someone might like it for lunch. Pushing to his paws he prepares to leave, picking up the vole lightly.​
 

"Out fishing?" Or perhaps not. He spots the other black cat perched nearby and approaches with a tail raised in silent greeting.
He does not notice the clump of white fluffy down that is now drifting listlessly on the water of the river, being carried away slowly. If he does notice it then out of the corner of the eye it could have just as easily been frothing foam from the current rapidly moving along.
Smokethroat's steps are one of curiousity, the green stick the other is chewing on catches his eye as he steps to the river's edge and glances around curiously.
"I didn't know you could eat those..." His gaze drifts to the cattails, curious and uncertain because he was sure that Moss would have mentioned their edibility when they were here along the river countless times. The old she-cat had been hardy, capable of surviving tough winters alone on these lands and her secrets had all (mostly) been passed onto him as he grew up under her wing. Maybe she hadn't liked the taste of them.
Smogbreath is a quiet cat. Even quieter than he was which he didn't think possible, but then again the lead warrior had started to get used to speaking up more often even if it was against his will.

Smokethroat does not make the connection that Smogbreath is only chewing the stem, assumes that the entirety of the plant is fine and that he had possibly already eaten the top part that looks unremarkably not like a cat's tail (who named these). Leaning forward he takes one of the cylindrical tubes between his teeth before an explaination can be given. He pulls to try and dislodge it from the stem only for said stem to snap instead and in his surprise he bites down.

The regret is immediate, his eyes goes wide and his jaws snap open as the plant seems to erupt into a burst of prickling snow that expands and spreads out to the ground before quickly overtaking his entire muzzle and Smokethroat shakes with a disgruntled sound of alarm because he can not speak or even yell with the foam now filling his mouth. There is a brief moment of panicked backstepping before the fizzing disaster ends and he's able to shake the remainder of the pooling cloud that had suddenly appeared out from between his teeth with a gag.

...no. You couldn't eat those he supposed.

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GOT A HEAD FULL OF SPIDERS​
Frostpaw had not been far behind her mentor when they bumped into the reserved form of Smogbreath who was chewing on the blades of green earlier before seemingly taking a low point. Yet however, her attention would return to her mentor who asked a pretty dumbfounding question but yet before anyone could stop the lead warrior he had already bitten down on the cattail and his mouth exploded into white fluff while a rightful face was made that cause a fit of laughter escape the ypung apprentice's mouth.

"Fluffthroat- oh stars, I would do anything to see that happen again" Frostpaw managed to say as she chuckled at the sight of her mentor and his face seemingly having a mix of disappointment and disgust and the young apprentice couldn't help but continue laughing at her own mentor's reaction. "Did...did it taste good?" she quickly ask, feeling that she could not skip out on the opportunity to tease the warrior on his action, but she was sure later she will regret teasing Smokethroat but for now, she got quite a good laugh from it. ​
"speak""Thoughts"​
 

Clay has been trying not to stray too far from camp on his own, but he needs his daily walk down the riverbank, so he finds himself standing before the trio of RiverClanners by pure chance. It’s kind of funny, how this reminds Clay of the first time he’d personally spoken to Smogbreath—back when the dark furred tom had been Cretin, and they’d talked about fishing in the shade of the reeds. "Heya, Smog, Frostpaw!" He greets the other cats with a chirp, then his gaze settles upon the lead warrior. It feels a lot like swallowing his pride, but Clay’s never had much of that. "Hey, Smokey." He offers each of his clanmates a broad grin, only slightly forced for one of them, and is about to ask whether the plant that Smog is chewing on is actually edible, when Smoke beats him to the punch.

He stares at Smokethroat, wondering what the tom is about to do when he grabs for one of the cattails. Then suddenly the cattail is in the lead warrior’s mouth and Frostpaw looks like this just might be the best day of her young life. Just as the apprentice laughs, Clay is also cackling, unable to stop himself. It isn’t often that the white-speckled warrior shows anything other than stone-cold intelligence—this is a very welcome surprise. "Is… is it bad that I wanna try that next?" He questions between harsh, wheezing laughs that leave him breathless. Half hunched over, Clay is nearly curled in on himself, trembling with giggles. "Please tell me it at least tastes good!"
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[ WHAT'S MY AGE AGAIN? ]​
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Startled he drops the water vole that he has intended to bring back to camp. It's not his fault that he is so easily spooked and he tries his best to smile as if nothing is wrong. It's wobbly at best as he tries to calm his racing heart. "Uh, not exactly. I've been hunting on land and...you know trying my skills more that way." There is a lot that he admires about Smokethroat but he can never tell the lead warrior to his face. It feels like it will be unwarranted if so and he shifts a little as he moves to pick the water vole up but he glances up as Smoke talks about not know cattails were edible. The chocolate tom is about to respond when he sees the other reaching for, not the leafy green part, but the compact brown pod. "No wait, Smoke that's no-,"

But he doesn't get the warning out fast enough. The other is already bitting it and the thing explodes in white fluff that expands and billows from the other tom's mouth. Others arrive to see the spectacle as well and the tom tries to keep his own chuckles to himself. Half face jerking into a light and teasing smile as he glances at Frostpaw and Clayfur. Turning his attention back to Smoke he gently tries to wipe some of the fluff from the other's jaws. "You can eat cattails. Um, just not that part of them. The green part is good for you. And by the looks of it I don't think it tastes very nice." There is humor in his voice as he looks to Clay then, moving to push the cattail away.​
 

The warning from Smogbreath came far too late to save him his fate. Well, he supposed it served him right for just biting it without thinking.
It takes a moment of wheezing before he is able to talk without the sensation of fuzzy cattail seeds layering his tongue.
“I didn’t expect-!” Smokethroat gives a dry heave, gagging a few more times once the cotton-y fluff has finally dislodged itself from his mouth with the other tom's assistance and it is Frostpaw’s comment and new nickname that has his gaze turn to her; burning and bright.

He has an audience now to his foolishness and while somewhat embarrassed he can not help but find the laughter infectious. For the first time he does not view the jeers as a personal attack, is not flooded with shame at the joyful sounds. Smokethroat’s expression twists, briefly looking pained before he flashes his teeth in a light chuckle that gradually begins breaking down into a husky baritone of a cackle himself. The black tom sits suddenly, a paw raised over his muzzle as if trying to stifle the noise but eventually he gives up.
It almost hurts, he feels strained, as if pushing against something just to let the sound out but as the laugh fades into a light hiss he finally opens his eyes, surprised to find them watering from the effort. “Ah…” Lessons were often learned the hard way, at times.
Smogbreath is explaining what part was actually edible, the other two are asking if the part he bit had even been palatable at all. Smokethroat is not often a tom who plays pranks, he finds them a waste of time and nonsensical. But he finds most things a waste of time and nonsensical and wasn’t it Clayfur himself who suggested he lighten up.
“Actually. It was well worth it.” The dark tom says flatly in his usual unimpressed and serious manner. There is a brief moment where his orange gaze moves from Clayfur and Frostpaw to the other black tom, a knowing stare before he gives a very calm nod.
“I would eat this if it had not startled me.” It tasted horrible, he wanted to throw-up but he would not be informing them of that. Misery loved company, after all.
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Smogbreath’s explanation that only one part of the plant is able to be eaten is unexpected—what’s the point of a plant if you can’t eat all of it? Clay shakes his head in disappointment. "Oh, the green part?" His brown nose wrinkles. The green part doesn’t look like it tastes very good. The fluffy part, though… he wants to taste it.

Smokethroat makes the decision for him when the lead warrior says that it was worth it. Hazel eyes light up with glee, and the brown tabby lurches forward. He notices the dark chocolate tom moving one of the cattails away, and grabs for a different one of the plants. "I’m gonna try one," he declares, tail flicking eagerly. Unlike Smokethroat, he doesn’t bite down immediately, and instead nibbles at the edge of the fluffy portion. It comes apart in his mouth, fuzzes up, presses against his teeth and the back of his throat. He coughs, nearly choked, gritting his teeth together, but manages to keep it in his mouth and begins to chew.

Slowly, surely, he chews at the plant even as it tries to choke him. His eyes are wide as saucers, mildly panicked gaze darting between Frostpaw, Smogbreath, and Smokethroat. He thought he was going to choke to death for a second there, but he puts on a cheeky grin despite the near death experience. "Oh, you’re right, Shmokey! It’sh not bad at all!" He says it with cheer, though his voice is still muffled through his mouth of cattail.
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[ WHAT'S MY AGE AGAIN? ]​
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