Walking on Sunshine [Fogheart]

[Kin]

carmineflower

Red eyes watched impassively as Carmineflower shuffled around her, nosing at her heavily pregnant belly. Their owner allowed the inspection with customary impassiveness, and a faint warmth that hadn't been around in moons past. As pretty much every cat in the forest who didn't make their nest underneath a rock knew, Carmineflower was over the moon thrice over because of the minute traces of emotion his elder sister was showing. He rubbed his head affectionately against her shoulder and purred.

The muscle of Cloudeyes's side rippled, and the ginger tom started. A beaming smile unfurled across his muzzle, and he dipped his head to nuzzle at her belly. "Goodbye kits!" Carmineflower cooed at the albino's stomach. She herded him out of the nursery with a flat gaze and a sweep of her tail. He bounced out, tail swaying happily and headed straight for the medicine den.

While he was no medicine cat himself, the size to which Cloudeyes had swollen was a little troubling, as was the fact that her third moon of pregnancy was fading, something he'd never seen in his lifetime. It worried him, as much as he tried to be purely excited for their birth. Still, he couldn't help the way he drifted toward the den, the familiar scent of herbs and Fogheart unwinding some of his tension. The older tom was good at his craft, and his words would go a long way to soothing his fears.

"Fogheart?" Carmineflower stuck his head into the den, voice soft and tentative, a sharp contrast to its usual loud enthusiasm.




WORDS 258
NOTES sorry about the shortness!
TAGGED fogheart

[everscale]

Fogheart was as busy as ever, if not busier. As soon as he had one task cleared out of his way the medicine cat found another four, or five, or twelve piled up at the entrance to his den. Torn claws, thorns, bellyaches, coughs, worried fathers, everything was coming today and Fogheart had little patience for it.

It would have been difficult to catch Fogheart in a worse mood, really. He had hardly slept in the last quarter moon, plagued by worries. There were queens in the nursery who were not kitting when they should, and really that was all it took to set Fogheart on edge. Of course, he knew what he was doing. He knew that Cloudeyes was in good health, not yet in danger, and that the kits would come when they were ready. And when they did, he would be there to help her. Nevertheless, Fogheart worried about her every day, and through most of the night, and it was keeping him from sleeping. Among other things.

That, of course, meant that Carmineflower was the last cat Fogheart wanted to hear from. Yet another tom worried about Cloudeyes, and this one so energetic. All Fogheart wanted to do was curl up in his den and finally get some sleep, which did not seem likely to happen any time soon. So he kept pawing through his herbs in sullen silence, hoping that Carmineflower would just go away. No matter how unrealistic that dream really was.

[Kin]

carmineflower

The lack of response from his tentative call didn't faze Carmineflower. Fogheart wasn't exactly known for his welcoming, open nature despite being a medicine cat, where such things were quite important at times. But he was good at what he did, so Carmineflower never really thought it to be something that mattered. He padded in and sat near the entrance, watching Fogheart sort herbs. For a few quiet moments, the young warrior was content to simply observe the gray medicine cat going about his business, exhibiting the same sort of unobtrusive confidence seasoned warriors did whenever they went about their duties.

After a while of observing him, Carmineflower drew a paw over one ear and huffed a breath out. He squared his shoulders and swept his tail into a neat position over his paws, a habit he'd picked up from his older sister. The tom opened his mouth once, twice, to speak but shut it wordlessly each time. Finally, he offered up quiet, fretful words. "I'm worried about Cloudeyes." There, he told himself, wasn't so hard, was it? But really, now that he'd spoken the words, they felt foolish, as though they were as much questioning Fogheart's competence as they were his sister's health.

Carmineflower shot Fogheart a smile, but feared it came out tainted by a grimace. His green eyes flicked around the den, alighting briefly on different herbs before flitting away again. Underneath his fur, his skin flushed with heat, warming to the point where he was sure his cream-colored stripes had turned redder than the ginger of his body. Fumbling attempts at expressing concern aside, Carmineflower was generally much more confident when speaking to cats. He loved talking to cats! Socialization was one of his favorite activities, and he adored sharing tongues with as many of his Clanmates as he could, learning about them and getting to know them better.

So why was he so nervous talking to Fogheart?




WORDS 319
NOTES latent prexisting crush whut? also short because carmine's a butt
TAGGED Fogheart!

[everscale]

Fogheart huffed and paused, paw hovering over a small mound of juniper berries. He was certain that above all other herb scents in his pelt, juniper was the strongest. It never seemed to end. Every day another batch of them rotted and went to waste. He spent half of his time separated them, sweeping them up and carrying them out to the edge of the medicine clearing where they could rot away and turn to soil to nourish the next generation of berries. It was a nice cycle, elegant in its execution, but a pain when he was the one who had to keep sorting them. Honestly, he would have given anything for an apprentice, if only to help with the chores.

Normally, as a result, he would have been glad of Carmineflower's interruption. Not tonight, though. An interruption meant that he would have to take time to help the young warrior, and that meant a longer time before he could be done with these forsaken berries. If he could have just chucked them all out into the forest and called it a day, he would have.

"Cloudeyes is fine," Fogheart muttered irritably. Yes, he was worried about her. Yes she was late in her kitting, but that was his problem to worry about. When he was this tired, it drove Fogheart nuts when other cats worried about what he was meant to be worrying about. Carmineflower was almost as bad as Heronflight. "When the kits are ready to come they will come, there is no reason to panic about it." Fogheart muttered grumpily. It was not like there was anything that any cat could do. Naturally, he could be handling this better - this was an unpleasant mood even for Fogheart - but exhaustion visibly weighted on his shoulders. It was easy to tell why he was in such a bad mood.