Private Camp a kiss with a fist is better than none // marrow

[Frogheart]

♢ Frogheart staggered into camp behind the rest of his patrol. While her hunt hadn't been fruitful, he is still carrying the dirty plush hop found. Though his wounds have largely stopped bleeding, the stinging has yet to relent. Blood mats the fur on the side of her neck, pulling uncomfortably with every movement. A deep ratbite on her back leg had grown more painful with each passing heartbeat, until she struggled to even put weight on it. Worse than the wounds, however, was the humiliation of the entire patrol. His belly was still empty, save for a few bites of kittypet food. Hop limped towards the nursery with her treasure dangling from her jaws. He hesitated, however. He would have preferred to give it to one of his own kits, but a certain someone had made that nearly impossible. Her heart ached in hops chest, bright eyes scanning the clearing for the children he didn't have a relationship with. They aren't anywhere to be found. Hops gaze does land, however, on Marrowkeeper.

In spite of everything, her blood still roared in her ears at the sight of her, her heart still raced. It was pathetic, really, to carry love for someone who clearly didn't care about him. Yet, especially after what happened with his other lover... She longed for the comfort of a stable love. A real, genuine love. Perhaps that wasn't what hop had with Marrowkeeper, but it was the closest she'd ever known. At least on his end.

And so, regardless of the pain in his body, the blood matting his fur, the sheer humiliation she knew was waiting for her... Hop found her paws carrying him towards the beautiful she-cat. Wanting to impress, he tried to hide the weakness in his back leg. He placed the plush in front of her. "Um, hi," hop mewed. Stars, this was so stupid. He was so stupid. "Do you think this is cute?"

for me, for me, for me

♢

• ooc — @Marrowkeeper god this guy is cringe
• frogheart // he/she/hop (any gendered terms!)
  ✤ black rosette tabby with low white and green eyes
  ✤ warrior of shadowclan
  ✤ 42 moons; ages on the 12th of every month
  ✤ "speech", thoughts, attempted action, "other character's speech"
  ✤ peaceful/healing powerplay is allowed

 

[Marrowkeeper]

x

Stark white fur that is far too clean glimmers in the leaf-fall sunlight. The only imperfection was her tail, long fur tessellated with scars from a fire --- the fire that had presumably claimed her first love. Her youngest children had become warriors recently, and the longing for more spawn made her chest tight. Cherub had been callous, the rogue that cared about her as little as a dog cares about the toy they rip in two. Still, there was a flame still there for the rogue in some way --- a pain that kindled in her heart every time her two eldest children asked about their father that they could still faintly remember.

And then there was Frogheart.

Hop was so naive it almost felt like a cruelty to string him along in the way she had. But, it had resulted in her second litter of kittens. She had overstayed her usefulness after that, even if Marrow could see the way her eyes seemed to linger on her for far too long. Marrow almost found it charming, charming in a pitiful way. Like looking at the young squirrel you captured and realizing that it's mother was probably still looking for it's now deceased child. Hop was cute, sure, but Marrow only cared about kits. There was not a bone in her body that ached for romance, not after what Cherub had done.

As hop approached, a dirtied plush in his maw that she set in front of Marrow. Wounds and blood matted the warrior, causing Marrow to scowl slightly. Caring more about my opinion than getting your wounds checked out little hop? She mentally chuckled, You haven't changed a bit. The blood was caked in some areas, drying --- while others were the more visceral red. She raised a paw to her maw, looking at the plush. It was torn, dirty --- difficult to tell what it was supposed to be, what it once was. Marrow gave a bemused purr, white fangs peaking out of her maw as she looks at it.

"It looks almost as dead as you do, little hop." She licked her paw coldly, "Perhaps you should go to the medicine den, hm?"

OOC @Frogheart

MARROWKEEPER

THIEF OF SHADOWCLAN
she / her, female
51 moons old, ages on the 18th.
rosemary x unknown, littermate to frostbite, blight, angel
mentored by darkmaw, mentor to none
mated to none, ex-mated to cherub, frogheart
mother to hoarfrostcrown, frigidcloud, Frostpaw, Shiverpaw

SPEECH // THOUGHTS // INTERACTION

penned by asteiri

 

[Frogheart]

♢ Frogheart couldn't stop the purr rising in her chest, echoing the perhaps less-than-enthusaistic one emanating from Marrowkeeper. Little hop. The nickname made her ears burn, both delighted and embarrassed by how delighted he was. And she was suggesting hop go see Cicadabuzz and Magpiepaw? "Are you worried about me?" She purred, blinking affectionately. He reminded herself again how stupid this was. Marrow had made it perfectly clear that she did not care about him. She'd left him in the dust a full year ago. It had hurt, at the time. Part of hop still hurt over it. But to see her everyday, she was still beautiful to him. She was the mother of his children, even if they weren't close. Surely some part of that cold, cold heart cared about her. Hop settled awkwardly, trying to keep the weight off his injured leg.

"How have you been? Have you been eating? Our patrol didn't manage to catch much prey, but we found some Twoleg stuff," she mewed, trying to keep his tone casual. "Ran into some rats," he flicked his tail, matted with gunk and stray blood. How humiliating. In an attempt to save face, hop lifted a paw and licked it before drawing it over her face. "A lot of rats."

for me, for me, for me

♢

• ooc —
• frogheart // he/she/hop (any gendered terms!)
  ✤ black rosette tabby with low white and green eyes
  ✤ warrior of shadowclan
  ✤ 42 moons; ages on the 12th of every month
  ✤ "speech", thoughts, attempted action, "other character's speech"
  ✤ peaceful/healing powerplay is allowed

 

[Marrowkeeper]

x

She chuckles, noticeably coldly. Hop asking if she cared about them? I only cared about you giving me kits. An unspoken malice, an unspoken truth that hop never seemed to understand. Still, it was nice to have someone that still seemed to pine so dearly for her. Perhaps hop could have uses in the future, perhaps she could even squeeze more kits out. She had been pining for another litter ever since Shiverflame and Frozenheart were made warriors. She had made it clear to her that she had no interest in her beyond fathering their kits, but still, this hope was almost pitiful.

And Marrow loved it.

"I've been fine." She meowed, blue eyes looking through hop. "Shiverflame and Frozenheart are warriors now, they don't need their dear mother." She feigned a frown, hoping that he would take it as a plea for help, a plea for sympathy. "It breaks my heart." She meowed, trying not to grin as she spoke. She let out an amused purr, a rumble in her throat as hop spoke of the rats.

"I can tell, you really should get those checked out. Wouldn't want you losing a leg to a rat bite, little hop." Despite trying to keep their tone neutral, casual, Marrow knew hop too well. The excitement in her eyes was clear, and it was clear that she was far too happy to be speaking with Marrow again like this.

OOC @Frogheart

MARROWKEEPER

THIEF OF SHADOWCLAN
she / her, female
51 moons old, ages on the 18th.
rosemary x unknown, littermate to frostbite, blight, angel
mentored by darkmaw, mentor to none
mated to none, ex-mated to cherub, frogheart
mother to hoarfrostcrown, frigidcloud, Frozenheart, Shiverflame

SPEECH // THOUGHTS // INTERACTION

penned by asteiri