meet me at our spot [pafp - gifting Thistleback]

[Johnnyflame]

LIVE AS IF YOU WERE TO DIE TOMORROW​

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OOC- please wait for @ThistleBack to post first! :)

When Johnny had heard Greenpaws call to come and claim a free gift, the patchwork tomcat hadn't really gone over intending to take anything. More so, he'd wanted to commend the apprentice, not only for taking the time to gather all of the trinkets they had, but for being thoughtful enough to just give them away in an attempt to cheer others up. It was an extremely thoughtful gesture, and at the very least the kid had earned some acknowledgement for it.

But then he'd seen the fox bone.

It was a monstrous thing compared to the bones found in their usual prey, a pale white and fully in-tact, standing out among the pebbles and feathers and other odd bits and ends that the apprentice had set out. There was only one cat in the clan a bone like that should belong to, and the koi tabby hadn't wasted any time in asking for it, delighted when Greenpaw handed it over with a smile.

Now he was carrying a much-too-large bone across camp, sunny eyes bright with eager excitement as short, muscular legs brought him across the clearing toward a familiar, spiky furred tom.

"Ey, Thithle! Ook at wt I gt!." he called to the other, white chest puffing out proudly despite the fact that his words were mostly muffled by his cargo. With a grin he placed the fox bone at the others feet, lips quick to pull into a familiar lop-sided grin as sunny eyes lifted to meet cool steel.

"Greenpaw was handing out gifts to everyone when I spotted this bad boy and snagged it for ya. It's a real beaut, ain't it sir? Figured you'd be able to sharpen your teeth on that one for a while."
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[ThistleBack]

Whiskers twitch at the sides of sculpted boned cheeks, stirred by the wind that twists its bow over the harp of the forest where the raven furred creature sits and stews in his thoughts. Wrists hanging off the edge of a mossy stump, claws clicking as he shuffles them with a rap against the wood.

The camp despite the impending doom that was twolegs, was still cheerful. Hope had the power to bring light in the darkest of places, but Thistleback’s heart has been colder than the claws of a blizzard, his eyes so dead upon the world one would wonder why the buzzards haven’t come. His anger, pulp of tar behind his tongue, his hackles not since rest. He’s a cougar on this mountain of seething rage and he’s on the hunt for a means to an end.

Chopped words, and stocky short legs hobbling with the weight of his tote. The lead snaps his chin toward the voice with a softening scowl, wills his temper down for the moment as his paws untwist from his gargoyle watch over camp. He slides with a crackling stretch from the log and peers quizzically at the glossy white bone. " holy hell " a smile cracks over the stony surface of his skull white maw. He visibly melts if but a smidge, enough to blink up at warm dandelion gold. Johnny lays it at his paws, voice carrying so sweetly like an excited puppy.

Thistleback leans down and plops a paw on the sturdy shard of bone, something in the murky depths of his soul shifts almost painfully. He was… touched. " you don’t have to call me sir " Thistleback speaks warmly, " this is very kind of you, Johnny. " he admits, stepping over the bone carefully and reaching to touch his nose to the other’s cheek but faltering momentarily, so he cranks his chin down and aims to touch his nose to the other’s shoulder. Another rare display of his affection, but something about the other’s gesture had moved him.

He’d chalk it up to a shitty childhood. " I don’t really do it to sharpen my teeth. It’s more of an old tick from my kithood that stuck. " he chuckles, shedding a ray of light on his past. " seems I’m not the only one noticing things " he teases on their conversation from a few sunrises ago.

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OOC INFO REF

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  Thirty-seven moons EVENT TRACKER | IMPORTANT INFO
  — Lead warrior of Skyclan since 12.22.22
  — Devoted to Deersong 9.29.22 | polyamorous
  — Father of Coyotepaw, Pricklepaw, and Eveningpaw.
  — mentoring Snowpaw graduate(s) Quillstrike
  — very muscular piebald black and white tom with spiky fur and cold silver-grey eyes.
  — voice & accent
  — biography･ﾟ✧​
  OPEN for Dice battles | stine#3004
  
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[Johnnyflame]

LIVE AS IF YOU WERE TO DIE TOMORROW​

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It's not hard for Johnny to guess at what has the other trapped in their own head. There'd been a tension in Thistleback that never seemed to leave the other, a persisting storm churning within that would surely see all hell break loose once it was allowed a proper outlet.

Maybe that's why it tasted a little like victory every time Johnny got those shoulders to relax a little.

Thistle wasn't an easy cat. He was complex in ways that the patched tabby knew he might never understand, and yet still felt himself compelled to try. The older tom had Johnnys attention since the day they'd met, and if anything the weeks following had only seen that admiration grow after seeing how hard the other worked- how much they cared for the cats around them.

'Holy hell'

It would have been a reward in itself just to hear that tone in his voice, but right after it comes the smile, and Johnny knew right then that it wouldn't be the last time he did something like this. Maybe it wouldn't be another bone, maybe it wouldn't be a physical gift at all, but he knew he'd consider the lead warrior again, that he'd do something just for them.

Because it was a good look for Thistleback, that smile, and Johnny couldn't help but think they deserved more soft things in their life.

"You don't have to call me sir."

A habit as old as Thistles bone-chewing, Johnny had always addressed the cats he respected with honorifics like sir or ma'am. For Thistle to suggest they didn't need that kind of formality between them...

He liked that.

But things happened fast, and he'd barely been able to think it let alone voice it before Thistle was drawing closer, a delightful invasion of space that sent his heart racing. The others nose almost touched his cheek, but at the last minute settled on his shoulder instead, but it hardly mattered- the unexpected gesture of affection had the same effect either way.

"Just my way of showing you your respected." he replied warmly, reaching out to return the touch. "But alright, Thistleback." he added, emphasizing the others name fondly.

"Seems i'm not the only one noticing things."

His ears warmed a shade at the callback, because this time Johnny was the one that had been watching and noticing, and he couldn't deny it now that he'd been caught- not that he would have tried denying it to begin with. Johnny was happy to admit the other fascinated him.

"What can I say? Your a very noticeable cat, mr spikey-fur." he reasoned playfully, the smile audible in his voice. "And that's okay- even if it's not for sharpening those beauties, so long as you get some use out of it I'm happy." he added, and while his smile remained there was something softer there as well.

He wasn't sure why Thistle had developed this particular tick, as they put it, but if the bones helped in some way then Johnny was happy to have provided the other some semblance of comfort or relief.
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