pafp OUT OF TARTARUS | nesting material

[SILVERSMOKE]

The weather was picking up in his home, a lukewarm winter growing in strength and battering the territories with wind and all sorts. Many days had been spent looking less like a cat and more like a fuzzball, and with the taste of snow melting upon his tongue every time he went on patrol, the idea that they would all be trapped in camp again had crossed the Lead Warrior's mind. Just as he'd prepared for the rogues with alarms yesterday, he had spent his morning today working on an answer to the possibility of a snow-in - bedding, bedding, and more bedding. By the time the sun crept to its halfway point, the spotted tabby still had not finished his first nest for someone he knew would not be able to make one themselves. Within the Warrior den, Silversmoke worked on accommodating an empty space with feathers, dried moss and a weird, white cotton-thing he had not yet figured out the origin of (wool from a torn-apart twoleg toy). It was comfy all the same, so, onto the nest it had gone.

Not too close to the centre, not too far away from the warmth, he had tried his best to take into account the thin fur of the individual and his unique disposition all in one fell swoop. Just as he finished pressing the moss into place, an emerald eye caught a glimpse of the creature he had made it for, and the words caught in his throat as he was about to call them over. 'StarClan this is so stupid' A den builder, Silversmoke was not, a fact that was more embarrassing than he liked to admit now he had given it a go. An emptyness often accompanied the spaces he lived in and the other seemed like the type to have a sentimental place for everything, even the scars upon his form. The Lead Warrior psyched himself up with a lashing tail. 'Whatever, it's only temporary. He can change it if he doesn't like it' A sharp mew escaped him, as if calling the other to square up. "Johnny!" He stayed glaring at the other until his peer moved closer, at which point, Silversmoke gestured with his nose towards the newly built nest. He had to contend with the fact that maybe, just maybe, Johnnyflame would plague SkyClan's camp in the events of a snowstorm. If he did, a nest had to be prepared for him. If he didn't, well, perhaps he would be better off.

"In case you get stuck here. You said you had a weak constitution, so I made it as warm as I can." He paused, thinking. "It'd look bad if a Lead Warrior froze to death." 'Half-Warrior. Only a Warrior half as long as the rest of us' The thought was like a bitter herb, doubly difficult to swallow as he considered that, to have made a nest to begin with, a part of him believed that Johnnyflame would stay with SkyClan if the weather turned nasty.

@Johnnyflame
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[Johnnyflame]

HE SAID, "WELL MY NAME'S JOHNNY, AND IT MIGHT BE A SIN
BUT I'LL TAKE YOUR BET, AND YOU'RE GONNA REGRET, CUZ IM THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN."​

---

The days had been a blur of activity lately, and Johnny was just one of many cats who'd been swept up in it. The bobtail had been tense since the announcement that the rogues were back in the area, and whatever spare time he had that wasn't dedicated to work and chores had been going straight to Glimmerpaw and their training, determined not to lose another apprentice.

He had only wandered into camp a few moment earlier, fresh off a patrol, when a sharp call followed by a voice suddenly sounded out to him from the warriors den. He recognized it right away as belonging to Silversmoke, and turned to find the odd-eyed warrior glaring at him from the opening of the bramble brush. He didn't look particularly pleased to be addressing Johnny, but that was nothin new to the collared tabby cat. "Aye?" he asked, not bothering to hide his suspicion as he walked over, unsure of exactly what the others motives were. He was about to ask if Blazestar or Orangeblossom had left orders for him or something, when Silversmoke beat him to the punch, gesturing to a newly made nest among the others.

"In case you get stuck here. You said you had a weak constitution, so I made it as warm as I can. It'd look bad if a Lead Warrior froze to death."

There was a part of Johnnys brain that was trying to red flag the situation, huffing inwardly about having his own words thrown back at him in front of everyone like this, jumping to the conclusion that something was obviously wrong with the nest if Silversmoke was choosing to give it to him of all cats. But it was just a regular nest, a bit crudely made but still done with at least some degree of thought and care, lined with soft things and placed where Johnny would be warm. And try as he might to hold onto whatever animosity lived between them, he found himself failing in the face of what seemed to be a genuinely kind gesture- regardless of how the other lead wanted to try and paint it.

"You made this for me?" he asked with a small smile, reaching out with a paw to touch one of the cotton pieces woven into the moss and wondering if Silversmoke even understood the significance or irony of adding it. He couldn't imagine the other had added the stuffing in an attempt to ease off potential homesickness on purpose, after all, surely a happy accident if anything.

"I've never had a real nest before. Thank you, Silversmoke."

He'd been ordered to the medics den for injuries and had borrowed a nest here or there on the rare nights when he couldn't make it home, but Johnny had never actually allowed himself to have a permanent one in the warriors den. There was always some excuse about not wanting to take up room or materials that another cat could need, but... there it was; a nest of his own. And he couldn't bring himself to feel guilty about it.

Glancing toward the larger tomcat, Johnny broke into a grin that was nothing short of cheeky.

"I knew you wouldn't leave me to freeze out there, ya' big softy."

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