Keeping Tempo [Stagpelt/Open]

[BRIGHTKOI✖]

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Brightkoi

The rain fell steadily in the garden. Its pitter patter a reassuring sound against the roof over their head. While the other Clans were out getting drenched, many of the cats of RoseClan were spending time indoors. Occasionally the wind would shift and batter the few remaining windows or simply waft the rain indoors otherwise it was very dry inside. Even the few leaks in the roof only affected the second floor. No, Brightkoi would be very, laying on cushion in front of what would have been a fire. The living room was a particularly large room. It was all open save a few columns the length of a cat. In the confines of the room was what had once been a decadent leather sofa, now falling apart at the seams. Across from it was a chaise lounge upon which sat five or so cats grooming and talking in hushed tones that was swallowed easily by the sound of the rain. However it wasn't the room or even the pile of fresh kill in the fireplace next to her that drew Brightkoi's attention. Instead she watched the sky from her position on a threadbare once raspberry colored silk cushion positioned between the backwall and a row of windows. She was just out of the way of the rain should it change direction again but close enough to get a good view of the sky and garden from the floor to ceiling broken windows. Thunder rumbled softly in the distance like a deep purr but there had been no lightning visible. Occasionally Brightkoi would see the sky lighten, watch a streak of blue appear amongst the drab gray. She couldn't imagine what poor fool decided to actually hunt today. Their fresh kill pile was still quite full from the morning, even after bellies had been fed. The cats that were out there would probably come back sopping wet and dripping mud all over the stained and fraying carpet. Poor sods. To the cats this was paradise. No matter what, this was better than sitting dripping wet in bushes. Kittypets did have it right about this one thing. If that made them Kittypets, then so be it. Brightkoi was warm and dry and that is all that mattered. Twolegs would probably scream at the conditions, however. From the peeling paint to the claw marks on what might have been an antique grandfather clock that had fallen over a few seasons ago. The rain suddenly picked up pace, drumming the roof in loud succession. The drops must be monstrous. With the increase of water from the sky, the wind decided to push harder against the house making it groan. Natural noises to be sure but it made Brightkoi tense. Bleeding nervousness she groomed her paws, bright blue eyes searching for her little ones, though any cat right now would do. word count: 477 || tags: stagpelt, open || song: none Lyrics Here

I made these things, no takesies

[STAGPELT ?!]

STAGPELT

* WARRIOR OF ROSECLAN

The weather was terrible. A heavy rain fell over the city, turning the streets into a mire. And as if the storm wasn't bad enough, it had brought along lightning as well. The sky boomed and crackled and the scent of smoke, of burning, was heavy in the air. Some cats were lucky enough to be back in RoseClan camp, dry and well-fed.

Stagpelt was not one of those cats.

The large brown tom hurried through the streets, his head down and prey clasped in his jaws. He was nearly back at camp now, but every step was miserable. Rain struck him hard and fast, sluicing off his cranium and dripping off the ends of his whiskers. Droplets fell in his eyes and Stagpelt tried unsuccessfully to shake them off. The storm hadn't been quite so bad earlier, and the maine coon had talked himself into going outside. It won't be so bad, he had said. Well, the young RoseClan warrior had been wrong. It was terrible. Stagpelt sighed, pelt starting to itch as mud rubbed against his skin. He went out hunting at the same time every night. It was all part of who he was; it was his schedule, and Stagpelt was consistent.

Now he was wishing he wasn't so damn consistent.

The tom finally arrived back at the house and entered, aware that he was tracking mud everywhere. The carpet below his feet was rough, but now that he was out of the storm, he felt as though he was in the lap of luxury. The wind had picked up again and he felt a shiver run down his back at the creaks and groans of their home. Their camp was nice. It wasn't the most fashionable of places, but it was comfortable and familiar. Stagpelt dropped off his prey at the fresh-kill pile before sitting down and grooming himself, muttering rain-inspired curses under his breath. Hopefully it would clear up by the morning, though that meant trekking through the mud and damp streets regardless. The one good thing about the rain was that it washed away the dirt. He was soaked and his paws were filthy, but the rest of him had been thoroughly bathed.

He glanced around the room and his eyes fell on Brightkoi. The warrior was twice his age, though that didn't stop Stagpelt from finding her beautiful. She was glamorous and he was plain, there was no way around it. Stagpelt was large and he supposed size was attractive, but apart from that and his mossy green eyes, he really had nothing going for him. Now, however, looking at Brightkoi, he did not notice her beauty but her nervousness. A frown slipping onto his usually cheerful face, Stagpelt padded over to her. “Are you alright?” he asked, quiet and calm.

[BRIGHTKOI✖]

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Brightkoi

L ong swift licks calmed her down. She would groom and rubs her face and glance around. On the third or fourth glance she was met face to face with a particularly large young tom. It hadn't been long ago that he was made a warrior. Are you alright?. The words were thoughtful though all Brightkoi noticed was the globs of mud clinging to his long, wet fur. Poor thing. "I'm just fine. A little spooked. These abandoned nests make the strangest sounds," She replied, still entirely distracted by just how muddy he was. If Stagpelt timed a shake right then, she would be covered in it too. Something about that thought simply didn't appeal to her and her bushy tail flicked because of it. Still, she had no reason to believe the boy would do such a thing and reminded herself of this fact internally. She had never been quite able to explain her vanity though the reasons were likely staring her in the face in the guise of her father. It bothered her greatly to look at the young warrior and only see the ropes of mud drip down his leg or how it caked into his fur creating sharp pointed peaks. Porcupinepelt would be a more appropriate name right now than Stagpelt. It took everything in Brightkoi to stop staring at the mess of him and look him in the soft, clean green eyes. "I see you were out hunting. Get anything good?" Brightkoi chortled before continuing, "StarClan knows you are braver than I am for going out in weather like that." A smile crossed her face and she was already starting to perk up. Stagpelt's presence was already helping immensely. The distraction, even if it happened to be one that displeased her, was paramount over the occasional groan of the house. The abandoned nest was old, just like the other buildings in the city. Old buildings apparently made noise and shifted around. It was natural and they never seemed to fall. Twolegs seemed to make very sure that their nests do not fall unless weakened by a fire. Still, the sound did something weird to her insides, something that was quenched while distracted by another. "You are a mess, though. How about I change that and you tell me about your day." Brightkoi offered in a friendly, motherly tone. Somewhere in the words was a playful jab at just how messy the tom was. Moving closer to him, she could smell the ripe, rain soaked earth on his fur. It was a soothing scent that blanketed his own musky smell and that of the Clan. It would have been relaxing if it weren't for the foxdung of a mess! Brightkoi looked up at him and allowed her tail to frame one of his sides without letting it touch. The closeness could easily be misconstrued as something entirely while in her head it was harmless Clan affection. There was no way the tom could clean all of this mess up fast enough. Once the mud dried in the fur it became harder to clean. Even with the air moist with rain, it would dry sooner or later without the help. Still, the she-cat had no idea how her actions were perceived. Not to a hormone addled young warrior, that is. word count: 522 || tags: stagpelt || song: none Lyrics Here

I made these things, no takesies

[STAGPELT ?!]

STAGPELT

* WARRIOR OF ROSECLAN

A little spooked. Stagpelt nodded in understanding. While RoseClan had taken refuge in the abandoned nests, it wasn't their natural home. StoneClan and PineClan cats often looked down on the third Clan for their choice to stay in the soft indoors. Those same cats, however, were probably soaked to the bone right now. RoseClan, on the other hand, was dry – for the most part. Stagpelt's fur was usually good about water, drying quickly, and there was more than enough carpeting in this nest to absorb it. The noises the nests made were odd, unnatural, but he had grown accustomed to them. Stagpelt supposed the other Clans might be more unnerved by them. He tried to imagine a PineClan cat spending the night in one of these buildings and twitched his whiskers in amusement.

“A little,” he mewed with a shrug. He hadn't caught anything spectacular, but every little bit counted. “It wasn't pretty out there, I'll admit.” Stagpelt noticed that the she-cat was starting to look a little better, some warmth coming back into her cheeks, and he felt... slightly odd about it. Happy that he could make someone feel better, yes, but there was a twist in his stomach caused by the fact that it was Brightkoi. And then, to make matters worse, she offered to groom him. He smiled at her jab and allowed her to come close, hoping she didn't notice as his heart skipped a beat. Sharing tongues with she-cats wasn't a new experience for Stagpelt (it was a Clan tradition, after all), but again, it was Brightkoi.

“Thank you,” mumbled Stagpelt, before his words could fail him. The scent of the storm and the ripe earth was heavy on his pelt, but underneath it he could still detect her flowery scent, and it made his paws tingle. Why was Brightkoi grooming him like this? Clearly she couldn't have an ulterior motive, couldn't be wishing for his closeness. The two were not close, and there was no reason the she-cat would have to like like him in that sense. He started licking his chest, too sheepish to say anything else. She was so close to him and it was distracting. Stagpelt was inexperienced with she-cats, apart from an apprentice crush that had gone nowhere, and he wasn't sure how to react.

Better just keep going like everything was normal.

“My day was uneventful, same as most days, I s'pose.” He didn't want to meet her gaze so he just stared out the broken windows, wishing the fireplace wasn't so empty and cold. “Till the rain came. Storm's heavy. I feel bad for the other Clans.” Here he hazarded a glance at her face and found himself caught by her blue eyes. Okay, not good. The tabby looked away hastily. “How about you, how was your day?”

[BRIGHTKOI✖]

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Brightkoi

A ssuming his skittishness was due because of how silly he looked, Brightkoi never considered any of the other possibilities. Perhaps she wasn't as out of the loop as he was. Perhaps she should know better since she has her own son just on the cusp of really starting to notice she-cat. However it never passed her mind that a young thing like Stagpelt who was obviously handsome would consider her something more interesting than she-cat closer to his own age. In fact the only reason she wanted to do this for the tom was to simply do a mother's chore. Her kits had been rather adamant as of late that they were too old to be cleaned constantly. Giving them space, however, required a surrogate. "My day was nothing special either. I was on an early morning patrol so by the time I was moving around after a nap, the storm had begun to move in. I've been inside since." She explained, voice soft as her fur. Most of her concentration at this point was on grooming the mud from the side closest to her. It was a slow process and her tongue was delicate against his flank. The bitter taste was annoying however that was part of the job. Besides it was much better than leaving him to do all of the work on his own. She'd need her own bath after this too but she tried hard not to think about how dirty her face and chest were getting grooming the tom. Mud never suited her. Mud yellowed white fur making it forever grimey and tacky. It left a disgusting film to it that Brightkoi couldn't stand. The grease was most stubborn the longer it took a cat to wash but Brightkoi never missed a bath. Not once. So she would show Stagpelt the same courtesy and help him not miss a bath either. Her discomfort may not be his, though she was creating a different kind of discomfort, but she still wanted to be helpful. Slowly she began to notice the tom's flustered nature and couldn't help but perk a brow. She sat up, straightening herself before canting her head ever so slightly. Their height difference was best seen this close and she had to tilt her chin ever so slightly to look toward his eyes. They were like soft algae clinging to stones in the water, quite beautiful but then Stagpelt looked away rapidly. Something gnawed at the back of her mind but never fully made the correct connection. "I hope I'm not being... but you are rather flighty," She began, pausing in grooming the tom. "Am I... preventing you from sharing tongues with a she-cat you like? Or another tom?" word count: 470 || tags: stagpelt || song: none Lyrics Here

I made these things, no takesies

[STAGPELT ?!]

STAGPELT

* WARRIOR OF ROSECLAN

He listened to her talk about her day and felt slightly comforted by it. Brightkoi was just a normal cat like him, Stagpelt tried to tell himself. It made sense in his mind, but his body wasn't listening; instead it was still tense, and even though he wanted to shiver as her tongue licked his pelt, he had to keep himself in control and keep a straight face. He wouldn't embarrass either of them by bringing up these weird feelings. Her tongue was delicate and the way she stroke his fur was intimate, somehow. Stagpelt knew it was merely friendly, that she was just being a good Clanmates, but the tom had never really felt cared for like this, had never been so aware, his nerves firing a million miles a minute.

“sounds like you got better part of the deal, ma'am,” he mewed, trying to smile and look at ease. Stagpelt turned to face her again, this time dedicated to looking casual. “Storm was pretty brutal, but I dunno, I like to hunt at the same time everyday. Gives my life a routine, ya know?” His voice was an odd, shifting mix between polite and friendly. He wanted to get along, but he didn't want to disrespect her in any way. Though his body initially resisted, Stagpelt felt himself relax, letting her tongue carry him away. He did feel a little bad, though. Her pelt was so nice and beautiful and he was making her muddy herself by working on his.

Then, oh crap, she noticed. Stagpelt felt his face flush red and he offered an easy shrug. “no, no, it's just... you have such a nice pelt, you don't need to get close to the mud on my account,” he mewed, sheepish. The large brown tom, feeling unusually shy despite his size, looked down at his paws. He took a breath before looking back at Brightkoi. “i'm fine, though, really. I don't have a ladyfriend, you're not keeping me from anyone. Haven't met the right she-cat yet, I guess.”