you're driving me mad // Orangeblossom

[Ashenclaw]

[ ☾ ] This had to be the either the worst idea he has ever had or something brilliant. Ever since they got snowed in a certain white and orange cat had been plaguing his mind. Both good and bad thoughts of being jealous she got deputy but also how she wasn't as grouchy as she seemed under all that fur. So this morning while still in his human home, he had taken one of his favorite toys from the basket and was carrying it with him to camp. Hailstone wasn't one for many words but he could speak more through his actions than anything else. Well that was the hope anyway.

In a blue tabby muzzle was that of a small ball of shiny golds and red, it rustled in his mouth as he walked with a jingling sound, and he lifted his head to try not to appear as insecure as he felt. Hailstone usually didn't bring up his kittypet roots or being a daylight warrior so for him to bring a toy from the twoleg world was unheard of. Orangeblossom though desereved something nice, something that meant something to him. So why his favorite tinsel toy that jingles?

There was a falter in large paws as seconds thoughts started to race through his mind; maybe this was a bad idea? The large tomcat looked out at what was no the camp entrance and wondered if he should just head back to his twolegs. Maybe grab her something practical like a mouse or fabric for her nest? Was it too late to go back?

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[Orangestar]

"I could hear you jingling from across the camp." Comes the exact voice Hailstone had perhaps been wanting-dreading to hear, brown gaze flicking down towards the little sparkly toy which the daylight warrior brought with him. She'd been drawn by the distant sound, suspicious of its origins, but on noting it was Hailstone with a twoleg toy Orangeblossom had hopped down from the pine log she'd (unsuccessfully) been tracking bird-prints across. Were it a different culprit, she'd likely have blamed the warrior in question ... but Hailstone wouldn't have done something like that on purpose.

"Is that for the kits? They'll love that." She meows as she falls into step beside her daytime-denmate, peering closely at the shiny toy in a rare show of curiosity.​

✦ ooc ✦ info

•  
• 
  ✦ orangeblossom, deputy of skyclan
  — no apprentice.
  ✦ 25 moons, she/her
  ✦ fluffy white and ginger cat with brown eyes. torn left ear, scar on right foreleg.
  ✦ bi, single. @ on discord for plots.
  ✦ "speech" — thoughts

​

 

[Ashenclaw]

[ ☾ ] Long, grey fur bristled slightly at the sound of the voice he had been waiting to hear all day and he turned around to see it was in fact the newest deputy of Skyclan; Orangeblossom. The tabby tomcat flicked back his ears for a moment as she stepped in beside him, and paused his walking to set down the tinsel ball. Hailstone looked at her, unsure of how to say exactly what was on his mind. It was an up toss of being honest with her or making up something cheesy, or both.

"I- uh-," Hailstone stammered, for once at a lost for words and he pushed the toy closer to himself with a paw, "It is actually for you- Orangeblossom- not the kits but I can definitely bring the kits something too next time and-," The tom seemed to start to ramble in a rare fit of nervousness before taking a deep breath and letting his shoulders relax.

Then green eyes peered into brown as he explained, "This is my favorite toy, I've had it since I was a kitten, and I wanted to share it with you," Hailstone looked down at the toy, finding it hard to maintain eye contact, "As a gift, and yeah,"

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[Orangestar]

"For me?" She echoes automatically, attention darting down to the toy at her Clanmate's paws for a brief moment. Orangeblossom peers at Hailstone, silent and questioning, as he gathers his thoughts. She clamps her jaws firmly shut on the question of what would I want with a twoleg toy? and waits patiently - she's rewarded when he looks up at her, though, and there's emotion in those forest-green eyes that makes Orangeblossom stop short and hold her breath. His favourite toy, a memento from his kithood that he still has in his possession what, two season-cycles later? Something special that he wants to share with her, as a gift ...

"Oh." It's entirely inelegant yet at the same time genuinely awed and confused by the offer. Plumy tail stills, brushes the snow at their paws, and silence stretches out. There's none of the usual acerbic judgement on her muzzle as she looks back up, simply a quiet thoughtfulness as she meows, "Why?"
​

✦ ooc ✦ info

•  
• 
  ✦ orangeblossom, deputy of skyclan
  — no apprentice.
  ✦ 25 moons, she/her
  ✦ fluffy white and ginger cat with brown eyes. torn left ear, scar on right foreleg.
  ✦ bi, single. @ on discord for plots.
  ✦ "speech" — thoughts

​

 

[Ashenclaw]

[ ☾ ] She echoed back his words and he could feel her gaze on him, peering and questioning, and he couldn't look up from the ground. Hailstone felt silly, felt like this was a stupid idea and now entirely embaressed himself. The tom swallowed a bit hard and twitched his pointed ear slightly as silence lapses between them. Should he take it back? Change his mind? Did she like the present? It was hard to tell and he felt like he might throw up what little boiled in his stomach from the sheer nerves of it all.

Then she asked why.

Blue tabby fur prickled slightly as that wasn't a topic he had prepared for previously. A decline he was here for and ready to hear it, but there wasn't much else he expected out of Orangeblossom. Though her question was soft with genuine thought and Hailstone could feel his ear tips burn with the heat rising in his chest. "Well you see," He started out though his words faltered slightly as he didn't really have an explination that made sense. He just wanted to do something nice, show Orangeblossom she meant something to him and stuff like that. Though it felt idiotic now.

There was a shuffle of paws as the large manecoon mix tried to find his words, but his brain was drawing a blank, "You've shared so much with me, and I thought I'd show my apperciation for your kindness and friendship with a gift," He spoke carefully, slowly, as he picked out each word and tried to piece them together so they made some sort of sense. Yes, that was a good explination, or as good as it was gonna get.

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[Orangestar]

Hailstone stumbles over his thoughts and Apricotflower listens, still standing in front of him, pressing her front paws together in a futile attempt to keep them warm while she waits. Appreciation? Confusion narrows her eyes slightly. But she hadn't done anything. If anything, she should be thanking him - she's self aware enough to know she doesn't have many friends.

"You didn't have to, Hailstone. Your friendship is more than enough." She has nothing to give him in return - Alice never brought them housecat toys after the first ones, after which she'd stayed with her twolegs for a quarter moon - Orangeblossom knows now that it was a punishment from her twolegs, not a choice that the daylight queen had made, but when it had first happened she'd resented the tortie for moons. In lieu of sparkling, jingly little things she and her siblings had grown up with mossballs, with snow and clover hunts and mossballs. A heartbeat passes where she's caught in the memories, and the ginger-and-white molly takes a small breath. Her sigh mists on the freezing air.

"But thank you, this is a kind gesture. How do you play with it?"
​

✦ ooc ✦ info

•  
• 
  ✦ orangeblossom, deputy of skyclan
  — no apprentice.
  ✦ 25 moons, she/her
  ✦ fluffy white and ginger cat with brown eyes. torn left ear, scar on right foreleg.
  ✦ bi, single. @ on discord for plots.
  ✦ "speech" — thoughts

​

 

[Ashenclaw]

[ ☾ ] Never before had the tom felt so- stupid. This seemed like a good idea in hindsight, but he hadn't prepared enough for the questions or explination that he was suppose to give her. How could he just tell her 'i like you and thought you'd like this' without it sound weird and sudden? Orangeblossom had become a great friend to him in his time in the clan, and he wanted her to know how much it meant for him. Though now seemed like a questionable ideal espeically when she narrowed her eyes at him in confusion. Yeah he wasn't really good with his words and he doubted that would ever change.

Then the orange and white deputy spoke about how to play with it, and he seemed to brighten a bit at the question. "It is really simple and fun," He assured her and set down the toy before his front paws, "You chase it around and make it make the jingle noise," Hailstone demostrated this by batting the toy in her direction, and as it rolled it made a bell sound across the snowy ground.

It was a toy for kittens really, but it was what he had back then. When he was taken from his mother at a young age and lived with that of the humans he had now- the toy came in handy on multiple occasions. Whether it be something familiar from his time with his mother or a good distraction for a little while. The blue tabby looked at her for a moment before twitching his ears back slightly, "Its silly, isn't it? I just- I like you a lot, Ora, and I wanted to share a part of my life cause you've shared so much of yours in the clan," He sounded apologetic almost and he shuffled a paw against the fluff white snow.

"Its okay if you don't like the gift, it was- a bigger gesture in my head than it actually ended up being," He continued onwards with a soft sigh leaving his lips and he glanced into brown hues for a brief moment before towards the toy.

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[Orangestar]

Orangeblossom's ears prick upwards as Hailstone rolls the little ball across the snow and, near automatically, she takes a step towards it. The jingling noise is enticing, rings in her ears like birdsong yet not so overwhelming that she hates it - she passes it between her front paws a couple of times, taking note of the shift within the sparkly little toy. Is there something inside making the noise? She stifles her curiosity, however, as the daylight warrior speaks. An experience for an experience. Orangeblossom still doesn't think she's done anything to warrant this - Hailstone had sought SkyClan out, made a path for himself among their daylight warriors, all on his own. She'd just been a constant in the interim.

With a small huff, thoughtful, Orangeblossom hooks her paw around the shiny, jingling ball and passes it back to Hailstone. It rolls to a stop right at his paws, singing its little song, red tinsel catching in the light.

"We could make a mossball sort of game out of this." She muses, and looks up at Hailstone with curious eyes. "Did you ever play? You've probably seen the kittens play it a bit, but you really just have to try and get the ball into a space past the others to win."​

✦ ooc ✦ info

•  
• 
  ✦ orangeblossom, deputy of skyclan
  — no apprentice.
  ✦ 25 moons, she/her
  ✦ fluffy white and ginger cat with brown eyes. torn left ear, scar on right foreleg.
  ✦ bi, single. @ on discord for plots.
  ✦ "speech" — thoughts

​

 

[Ashenclaw]

[ ☾ ] Hailstone felt like he might have an anxiety attack right then and there really, but her words comforted him a little. She didn't seem upset at the gift nor annoyed with it, maybe even enjoyed it a little bit? It was untelling but it made him happy at least that she might like it a little bit. Orangeblossom then batted at him the ball and he looked down at it before back to her, curiosity in those green eyes of his.

He has seen the kits play mossball before, but never joined in as he was too busy with others things like patrols or feeding the clans. Also if he indulged in that sort of thing it might put a bad rap to his name and it was already tarnished with him being a daylight warrior. "I have seen them do it before, yes," He agreed with her claim and pushed the toy a little ways away from him, " It seems like a lot of fun like my toy is," There was a shrug of broad blue tabby shoulders and he hesitantly looked down at the ground for a moment.

"Do you think they would like this?" He asked genuinely and green gaze met a chocolate brown for a split second before he seemed to get more frustrated with himself than anything else, "Was this a stupid idea?"

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[Orangestar]

"They'll love it. Mossball is fun, but they go absolutely nuts over shiny things. You could play it with that, too." Orangeblossom inclines her head towards the toy briefly. She finds herself exasperated over Hailstone's second guessing of his gift - he seems to have understood that while she doesn't have a use for the toy she thinks that the gesture is nice, yet at the same time her hints of I'll teach you to play mossball have skimmed his ears like a low-flying bird. Toms, honestly. Orangeblossom resists the urge to roll her eyes and instead takes a few steps towards Hailstone, hooking her paw around the ball again slowly as if she's planning to steal it a few paces away.

"How about I teach you? That way when the kits pester you about playing mossball with them, you won't be victim to them making rules up as they go." Long whiskers twitch with amusement, a small memory surfacing. Her tone is warm as she continues: "Quailkit's awful for it, she cheats even when she's deciding the rules."​

✦ ooc ✦ info

•  
• 
  ✦ orangeblossom, deputy of skyclan
  — no apprentice.
  ✦ 25 moons, she/her
  ✦ fluffy white and ginger cat with brown eyes. torn left ear, scar on right foreleg.
  ✦ bi, single. @ on discord for plots.
  ✦ "speech" — thoughts

​

 

[Ashenclaw]

[ ☾ ] Okay suppose he had been too focused on the negatives that he totally glossed over her offer of playing mossball. Hailstone just didn't want to make a fool of himself but it seemed like that is what he had been doing regardless. Could play mossball with his shiny little bell? Would the kits even want to do that? Hailstone wasn't certain about it and gave a small nod in understanding.

Then Orangeblossom got closer to him and hooked a paw slowly over the toy that laid between his paws. The blue tabby could smell the pine sap and maple that clung to her pelt, woodsy yet sweet, and he felt a lump form in his throat at her proxcimity. Green gaze into brown for a moment before Hailstone cleared his throat and managed to spit out, "Yeah, I'd-I'd like that," He gave a small nod as well to show his acceptance of being taught this game.

Orangelossomed mentioned Quailkit and he couldn't help the little laugh that left his chest, "Shes quite the character," He agreed with her as he had seen the kit boss around the others without much punishment.

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[Orangestar]

"You're telling me." She purrs. "I feel sorry for her future mentor already." The spiteful little tortie, an only kit, is hilarious - but she's a brat, spoiled as one of the only in the nursery, and gets too loud when she doesn't get her way. Orangeblossom does not feel sorry for her parents - Alice's kitsitting stories alone are honestly enough to put the deputy off having her own, for the most part. But that's a conversation for her to have with herself in the future - for now, she has more important things to do: like teaching Hailstone how to play mossball with one of his kithood toys.

"Okay. So that snowdrift behind you, that's where I'll try to get the ball. And this stump," she bounds several fox-lengths away, sending flurries flying in the process. She swats the stump with her paw. "This stump will be where you try to hit the moss- uh, jingling ball. Yes, you are allowed to tackle me; no, I am not going to go easy on you. I'll even let you go first. Ready? Just try to get it past me."​

✦ ooc ✦ info

•  
• 
  ✦ orangeblossom, deputy of skyclan
  — no apprentice.
  ✦ 25 moons, she/her
  ✦ fluffy white and ginger cat with brown eyes. torn left ear, scar on right foreleg.
  ✦ bi, single. @ on discord for plots.
  ✦ "speech" — thoughts

​

 

[Ashenclaw]

[ ☾ ] "My humans call it a tinsel ball," He offered in replacement of calling it a jingling ball or a mossball, tinsel seemed straight forward enough. There was a lot of tinsel on the item but he digresses, and gives a small nod in understanding. Hailstone grabbed the ball with a paw and narrowed his eyes slightly in concentration before throwing it up in the air. Swatting it in her direction, the massive blue tomcat took charge after the toy.

A little light of excitement fluttered in his chest and he couldn't help the slight grin that found its way across his maw. He never played this before, but this seemed like a good start at least? Then he swatted the toy once more towards he before aiming to playfully bat at her chest with a large paw with a smile on his lips.

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[Orangestar]

"Tinsel ball." Orangeblossom echoes with a nod of understanding. It was a weird name, but half of their Clan had weird names so she doesn't think much of it. She carefully places her paws into a wider stance, nose twitching with anticipation as she watches the ball roll awkwardly beneath Hailstone's paw and the snow. He rushes forward.

There's no intent of injury behind the blow to her chest, but even so there's more force than she was expecting from the gentle tom and it knocks her slightly off-kilter, a small exclamation of surprise working its way into the frosty air as Orangeblossom stumbles. The tinsel ball moves in her peripheral vision and she shoves into Hailstone, hoping to shift him back a little so that she would be able to hook the ball with her claws and send it careening back towards his snowdrift. She's purring all the while, surrounded by crisp snow-scent and the awareness of Hailstone's warm pelt next to hers- these things in tandem are more than enough to distract her from the biting cold that nips at her ears, and for her to focus on the game afoot.​

✦ ooc ✦ info

•  
• 
  ✦ orangeblossom, deputy of skyclan
  — mentoring vulturepaw and eveningpaw.
  ✦ 25 moons, she/her
  ✦ fluffy white and ginger cat with brown eyes. torn left ear, scar on right foreleg. injured!
  ✦ bi, single. @ on discord for plots.
  ✦ "speech" — thoughts

​

 

[Ashenclaw]

[ ☾ ] The sticky scent of maple sap and tree bark was strong against the crisp cold air, and it was like things moved slowly around him. Orangeblossom was quick with her movement as he didn't really expect to be shoved so he did take a few steps back with a grunt. He couldn't help but chuckle in amusement as she hooked the ball out of his grasp and off into the snow drift, to which he watched fly over and he had to think about it before scrambling past her. Right they had goals!

Hailstone though seemed to midjudge how deep of a pile of snow that drift was when he leapt. Hitting the pile of white and cause a cascading cloud to form before it dribbled to the ground. He gave a loud sneeze as snow tickled his nostrils, before getting back up onto large paws with a shake of his coat. Then he hooked the ball with his teeth to send it flying back across the little arena they had made, before bounding after Orangeblossom and aimed to head butt her in the side playfully. A low rumble leaving his throat as he was rather enjoying this; it was nice to have someone to play with.

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