[ti]Private[/ti]If you like her, why don't you tell her?

[Yanpaii]

Mottledpaw lazed around in a beam of sunshine as she spotted a dark tom gazing lovingly at a pale she-cat. She recognised the tom as Smokeshade and it was Lilycloud he was admiring. Mottledpaw sneakily padded beside the dark tom and seated herself beside him. She gave him a slightly dirty look as she glanced back to Lilycloud.

"If you think she's pretty, why don't you go and tell her?" the apprentice mewed sassily, it was clear that Smokeshade wasn't owning up to his love anytime soon. "It wouldn't kill you to say that you like her" she added slyly as se reached down to groom her shiny calico pelt. Mottledpaw wanted to be helpful but she wasn't showing her soft side anytime soon.

[foggy]

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He wouldn't call it 'gazing lovingly,' rather observing her. Smokeshade was a little confused by his current feelings for the brown-furred feline, but since they had started a while ago, he'd already started to rationalize them. The fluffy black tom was trying to convince himself that Lilycloud was a friend, a close friend. he'd never had such a close friend before and all these weird fluttery and protective feelings he felt around her were because he didn't want to do anything that could potentially end their friendship. Smokeshade wasn't sure what he would do if he couldn't just go up and talk to her, be beside her. They were normal friend-y feelings, right? The short version? Smokeshade was in denial.

It was a nice day, and Smokeshade wasn't due on a patrol until later so he had time to relax. The large tom had chosen to sit in the shadows, not wanting to get too hot for his patrol later. His olive eyes fell upon familiar brown fur, and he realised that Lilycloud was also in the camp. He didn't realise that it probably looked a little creepy for him to be staring at her from the shadows. He also didn't realise that he must've been staring for a while, but someone else had. A voice suddenly piped up from next to him, giving him a fright as his head snapped to see who had managed to slink in beside him without him noticing.

The first thing he saw was a distinct tortie pelt, then a fierce dirty look aimed at him. He suddenly felt guilty, obviously he had been spotted, but he didn't know why he felt guilty. He wasn't doing anything wrong, he was just watching a friend. "Shhh!" The tom practically growled, looking back to the object of his affections just in case she'd heard. "What are you crowing on about?" What was it with his bad luck with apprentices? It was Turtlepaw who pointed out that he had a big spider on him back when he could've lived on in bliss. Apprentices seemed to have a habit of pointing out the painful truths it seemed. "No, I don't. I mean, she is pretty but I'm not going to tell her that." He huffed, who was Mottledpaw to educate him on love? Which this wasn't. Wait, now he'd made it about love. "I do like her, as a friend. That's all."

[Yanpaii]

Mottledpaw let out a low chuckle, trying to hide that she knew the tom definitely had some feelings for the she-cat. "If she was just a friend then you wouldn't be blushing like you are right now" Mottledpaw laughed to herself. She knew when someone liked another, her predictions had always been right...
 
"Anyway, maybe you're just in denial" The calico added, "All she-cats love being told that they're pretty, even if you just say it in a friendly way" Mottledpaw purred.

[foggy]

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The chuckle made him feel rather defensive and vulnerable, the tom drew up his tail closer to his body, wrapping it tightly around his paws. It looked natural but for anyone who'd been in the same position could probably guess that he was feeling a little uncomfortable with the current conversation topic. "I'm not blushing," Even if he was, it would be impossible to see it, his long black fur meant there was no chance of seeing his skin. The only exception was the thin scar that ran down either side of his eye, and that was because his fur was naturally less dense there. Therefore, he came to the conclusion that Mottledpaw was only saying these things to mess with him, not because there may be any truth behind it.

However, the calico wasn't finished. Smokeshade knew from occasionally seeing the she-cat around, at the gathering, most recently, that she was a bit of a trouble-maker, so he knew that he should probably take her words not all too seriously. "Denial? About what? Lilycloud is a friend of mine, I care for her in a friend way. I'm not sure how much more honest and not in denial I can get," He spared a glance back to the she-cat in question, remembering their time in the woods together. It had been the first time they'd spent together, since her warrior ceremony, alone. There had been some truths coming out and Smokeshade had been forced to admit that perhaps he felt a lot more intensely about the brown-furred feline that he had originally thought. He tried not to have too many friends, finding them somewhat exhausting, but Lilycloud was perhaps the only cat in the clan that he could spend a whole moon with and not get irritated once. "How can I just drop that into conversation? We're hunting and all of I sudden I turn around and say, 'hey, you're pretty,' and just carry on." He huffed, turning back to face the smaller calico apprentice. "That's going to look weird, no matter what way I say it." It was a round-about way of asking for advice, there was no way Smokeshade was going to openly admit that he needed help with females, especially not to Mottledpaw, she'd have a field day with that information.

[Yanpaii]

Mottledpaw let out a small, sadistic grin. She had definitely made Smokeshade uncomfortable now. "But I can tell you're really blushing under that pelt" she added as she continued to groom her calico pelt.

""And you might see Lilycloud as a friend, but I can tell you have atleast some feelings" she purred in a savage tone, narrowing her eyes in suspicion as she closely observed the way he was glancing at her. Obviously Mottledpaw got something out of embarrassing cats, she liked to be feared/respected and this was one of her ways of gaining that. Plus, in her own opinion, she was quite a good match maker and was good at getting cats together.


How can I just drop that into conversation? We're hunting and all of I sudden I turn around and say, 'hey, you're pretty,' and just carry on.

Mottledpaw paused for a second and thought, but she settled for the most cliche way she knew. "Wait until sun-rise or moon-high, once the light is on her pelt just simply say 'The light really makes your pelt stand out, you look really pretty'. Or if that's too cliche just say it one morning, 'You look really pretty today'. She'll either take the compliment or think you're still tired, works either way." she whispered to Smokeshade, trying her hardest for Lilycloud to not overhear their conversation.

[foggy]

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Seeing her so casual and at ease was a contrast to his prickly demeanor, and it irked him so see her grooming her pelt like she wasn't the source of all his embarrassment. He didn't dignify her first comment with an answer, sensing that he would be fighting a losing battle. Some of the walls he'd been holding up came down, knowing deep inside that he didn't have anyone else to talk about his feelings with and, even if Mottledpaw liked humiliating him a little, he doubted that she would was someone who would betray his trust just for kicks. The calico was a troublemaker but not cold-hearted. Maybe her having an outsider's view on the matter would help him.

The warrior kept saying it to himself, that Lilycloud and he were just friends, but now that he was hearing it from someone else's lips, it sounded wrong. Suddenly, the word 'friends' didn't seem to completely cover the whole nature of their relationship, and yet there wasn't any other word that did. They weren't mentor and apprentice anymore, they certainly weren't mates, but 'friends? "Feelings. Yes, I suppose I do." There was no point in denying it now, it didn't matter what he could say, Mottledpaw would be able to see through any façade he put on. "How should I go about this? She's quiet, she's everything I could ever want in a partner but what if she doesn't feel the same way?" In the black tom's mind, it was plausible, and he didn't want to face the sting of rejection, and from Lillycloud, it would destroy him.

He snorted, her suggestions were pretty cliché. It was either incredibly romantic and obvious in its intentions, or casual and risk his intentions getting missed in its subtlety. He pondered his options for a moment, wishing he'd had some kind of apprentice romance where he could've practiced his romantic skills. Though, if he had the chance to redo his life, he wouldn't change it, Smokeshade would still prefer to save all his love for the one worth waiting for. Suddenly he turned to face the calico again, seeking her honest opinion, even though Mottledpaw wasn't likely to give anything less. "Do you see me and Lilycloud working out? If we became mates do we think we would be happy?" He knew that maybe Mottledpaw didn't know either Lilycloud or he to well but it was unlikely that anyone else would give as honest an answer as he needed.

[Yanpaii]

"Feelings. Yes, I suppose I do."  Mottledpaw's eyes lit up with mischief and happiness as she looked up to Smokeshade as he continued.

"How should I go about this? She's quiet, she's everything I could ever want in a partner but what if she doesn't feel the same way?". Mottledpaw paused at the tom's now open honesty, thinking for a genuine answer as she didn't actually want to hurt someone's feelings. "She sounds nice, I'm not quite sure what history you have with her so I'd be hard to judge. Usually, a quiet cat won't reject you since they're too shy" she purred softly, rapidly changing her tone in voice as the tom opened up.


"Do you see me and Lilycloud working out? If we became mates do we think we would be happy?"  Mottledpaw glanced at both cats a few more times before she spoke again, "Then again, I don't really know Lilycloud but yeah kinda" she mewed. "I can imagine you both together, happy, but I'm no medicine cat so I can't tell if you're mates or not" she purred amusingly. Of course, she wasn't a mind reader nor could she receive messages from Starclan, but she really could see these two cats together..