pafp Nailing the meaning / rapprochement

MAYBE I'D BE A SAINT IF I WEREN'T ————————————​

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As recent events have shown, Snakeblink wants for social grace. The back of his head still stings faintly, the phantom sensation of Cindershade’s paw striking against his skull so stark he absently wonders if she left an imprint there, a black spot in the middle of his brown fur. The molly exercised impressive self-restraint and he is endlessly thankful for it, but he’s aware he will not always be so lucky.

Self-actualization is usually a long and troubled road, fraught with introspection and personal changes. He, personally, is sick to death of pondering the mechanisms of his own psyche, so he’s decided to take a bit of a shortcut: in the absence of an innate sense of social boundaries, he shall simply go and learn some. Fortunately for him, Riverclan recently gained one particularly observant cat who might be able to impart some of that knowledge.

He’s spent much of the past few moons watching Wasprattle, half out of well-worn paranoia towards newcomers and half because ‘watching others’ is pretty much all Snakeblink does. In this admittedly short span of time, he’s noticed that Wasprattle… does not give away much of himself. He has that same straight-backed, contemplative bearing as Cicadastar, poised and slightly remote. Snakeblink notices it less in Cicadastar, as he has known the tom for long enough that any idiosyncrasy has simply become a fact of life in his eyes, but he was struck by his brother’s containance, his way of speaking as if he is weighing every single word before allowing it to pass his lips. It seems as if, whatever the sentence that he ends up voicing, it always communicates precisely what he meant it to, no more and no less. To a cat like Snakeblink, whose tongue and mind are in a constant competition for the prize of who would embarrass him the fastest, this is nothing short of impressive.

Hence he is skulking his way closer to the cinnamon tabby, holding the nebulous steps of a plan in his mind. He has been lurking around the tom for some time, in-between patrols and other duties, reflecting on what he might have to offer him in exchange for knowledge that most cats learn well into kithood. He did not come up with anything promising: although he has much to offer, mostly in terms of gossip, he doesn’t know whether Wasprattle is interested in it and, more importantly, wouldn’t know how to broach the subject of such a trade in the first place. One simply does not ask for this kind of thing. But seeing as he does need help nonetheless, he thought he might… get a little closer to the tom. Learn from imitation, if nothing else.

If nothing else, his thoughtfulness might rub off on Snakeblink. One can only hope.

”Ah, Wasprattle. I hope I am not catching you at an inopportune time.”

Sitting without waiting for a response, Snakeblink glances at the other tom from the corner of his eye, keeping his head turned towards the rest of the camp. He allows a moment of silence before he continues. ”I am aware that you have been with us for some time now, but I wished to ask you how you were acclimating. It cannot be easy to come into a clan as an outsider, so if there is anything you would like to know, any questions you might have…” He trails off, the tip of his tail flicking before wrapping around his paws. ”I, and the rest of the clan, would be only too happy to answer.”

——————————————————————————————————— so god damn lonely
  • ooc: @WASPRATTLE.
  • Snakeblink • he / him. 37 ☾, riverclan warrior
    — a sleek, skinny tabby with long ears and a scar over his right eye.
    — gay, not actually evil, penned by @Kangoo


 
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Days spent here are much the same. They do not have to be. Rather, its self-imposed; driven by fear of growing used to a place that was only temporary. He keeps to himself more than not, recently. Wavering psyche, shifting sands. Somewhat, he is nervous around others, now. Who knows how long the bristling would persist...

He's conscious of the ripple of brown and white for but a second before he's in view. Half-slashed, lean as his namesake, and even more so than ever, with the bristling cold. Distantly, he is glad that the freeze relents. Skin on his bones for this one. Less of a gnaw, even if he became no less serpentine. There is but a blink between these thoughts, and the tom is speaking. Courteously, he dips his head in a greeting. Rolls his shoulders, too, suddenly conscious of his slight slouch. "You're quite alright," he tells him. The sun-dusted tom would follow suit in a show of contentment, curling a willowy tail around his paws.

He regards the other curiously, yet patiently. He is tight-lipped before a whisker can manage itself out of place. The other's head slopes strangely. Not regarding him head-on, he only knows where his attention lies from a single sliver of green. Wasprattle blinks back at him, somewhat bewildered, though it does not show very obviously.

It is... thoughtful. His mind stutters for a moment, before he cocks his head just so, considering. "I am... fine," is what he tells him, not absent of warmth. Though... not even he is quite sure of the extent of truthfulness. It is not a lie, rather, he is unsure of his own feelings. Slightest of frowns, his lip twitches. "Well..." There's an aborted motion of his paw, and here, his frown deepens in thought. "I suppose... The very inner workings of things, as they are. I do not think I could ever know quite enough in that regard..." And Snakeblink certainly knew plenty, did he not? Or at least, he got around plenty. Perhaps it is no more but a subtle way of prying,

  • snake i love u . socially maladjusted guy club

 
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MAYBE I'D BE A SAINT IF I WEREN'T ————————————​

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Wasprattle is hard to read, wilfully so: his actions seem as deliberate as his words, coming from the same lengthy process of thought. Being privy only to the result of that process, Snakeblink must take the calculated attitude at face value — though he knows how that little assumption can get him in trouble. The tom’s words have him believing that his presence is not entirely unwanted, at least.

”Ah… Yes, I believe I may be able to help. Although I have the feeling you see more than you let on, things acclimation has blinded us to.” His eyes dart around, seeking inspiration, and he hums low in his throat before coming back to Wasprattle, slanted eyes boring into the cinnamon tom. ”A trade, then: I’ll tell you what I know, in exchange of your perspective on these… ‘inner workings’, as you call them.”

A thought, distant: should he not help a clanmates free of charge? But Snakeblink came here with a goal in mind, and is more than happy to jump on the opportunity to fulfill it. He doesn’t wait for Wasprattle to agree before he starts talking, though. After all he did offer to assist the tom before turning this into a negotiation, and it would be rude to spring conditions on him unprompted.

Having heard a recent gossiping session between some cats of the clan — and oh, how embarrassing it had been to hear his own words discussed with amusement and bewilderment at that occasion — he knows Wasprattle is decently up to date with the relationship drama in Riverclan. But there are things Snakeblink knows that almost no one else does, mostly because few spend as much time as he does intruding into others’ personal business, and he is willing to share some of it. After all, newcomers need all the insider knowledge they can get.

“You may have noticed that Beaverflank is... somewhat irritable—” ‘Likely to bite your face off at the slightest provocation’, more like. ”Please do not take it as a slight against yourself: her mate has been hounding her about kits again. But she is extremely vain, so if you have a patrol with her, a compliment on her fur should make things much easier for you.”

He ducks his head and grimaces ruefully, adding, ”Hypocritical of me to say, isn’t it?” Stars know compliments are not his area of expertise.

——————————————————————————————————— so god damn lonely
  • ooc: these two are being SO normal about casually talking. not overthinking it at all.
  • Snakeblink • he / him. 37 ☾, riverclan warrior
    — a sleek, skinny tabby with long ears and a scar over his right eye.
    — gay, not actually evil, penned by @Kangoo


 
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Reactions: WASPRATTLE.
Frogpaw has taken to being Snakeblink's silent shadow. He learns best by watching, it seems, and Snakeblink's machinations deserve no disruption. So he hovers, quietly and yet with no small measure of certainty in his place. If he acted like he was meant to be there, he has found that most everyone believes it. Perhaps that is where his mentor earns his reputation, undeserved as it is– even with his newfound status within the clan, somehow he walks as if he is an outsider, an intruder. But, well...it's not Frogpaw's job to teach in this relationship. Instead he absorbs all his mentor says about the others, tries to figure out where he learns what he does, and has found himself more often than not carrying himself low to the ground, cautious– out of place. Hm. At least around these two, he does not consider himself so separated.

"It's not your fault Cind–" Oops. There's another thing the apprentice has learned from his mentor: how to put his paw in his mouth in ten words or less. Knowing their combined luck, as soon as he assures Snakeblink it was Cindershade's own sensitivity, rather than any failing of his own, the molly would appear behind him to cuff his ear. Instead, he looks between the two of them and shrugs apologetically, then shuts up once more.
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  • ooc:
  • frogpaw_finished.png
  • FROGPAW. APPRENTICE OF RIVERCLAN. EIGHT MONTHS OLD
    —— npc x npc, has several npc siblings. mentored by snakeblink.
    —— loyal to riverclan, but somewhat uncertain of his place there.
    —— unknown sexuality. single, not actively looking or interested.

    a lanky, slender black smoke with low white and soft blue eyes. his ears are gently curled, and each paw has at least one extra toe, making them seem broader and larger than a typical cat's.
  • "speech"
 
  • Crying
Reactions: Kangoo