Muddied Thoughts

[ginger]

“And, if you want to get really close to a rabbit, you can-“ Swampymoss looked at his apprentice, dumbfounded. Rather than sitting at apt attention, as the warrior would have anticipated, his apprentice seemed to concentrate on a puddle, admiring the sight of her own reflection. “-Dovepaw! Have you even been listening to a word I said?”

It was no secret that Dovepaw was not his easiest apprentice to train. At times, she seemed to excel, making only the occasional slip up, things that could be expected from any apprentice. He had known that she had a desire to look her best, even as a kitten, but that had not bothered him too much. He did not really understand any of it, seeing as he put very little consideration into his own grooming, but as long as she was happy, and did as he asked, he did not mind so much, But, lately Swampymoss could see that Dovepaw was changing. Her occasional bouts of forgetfulness, or showing up late to training had seemingly morphed into a total obsession with her own appearence, and a drive not to be a studious apprentice, but for something else, which Swampy could not understand. 

With a frustrated sigh, Swampymoss splashed his paw in the edge of Dovepaw’s ‘mirror’, causing ripples to spread out and warp the vain she-cat’s image. He sat down beside her, his ragged tail curling around her’s.
“What has been going on with you lately?” The older tomcat insisted, making the younger cat meet his gaze. “You haven’t been yourself. You’ve been acting strange.” Swampymoss let out a sigh of frustration, shaking his head. Anger would not get him anywhere. “You know you can talk to me, right?”
@noctemq

[Deleted]

Dovepaw tilted her head to the side, viewing the long bits of fur that poured out from behind her ears, framing her cream-colored cheeks. She blinked. Was her right side uneven compared to her left, or was it just the waves in the puddle? She could easily fix how her fur curled with a few licks, though she just couldn't tell if the curls were at the same height or not. Her expression grew into a tiny pout as she turned over to look at her other side. The puddle wasn't wide enough for her to see both of tufts of fur at the same time, so it seemed impossible to determine if they were equal or not. Dovepaw was stubborn in the sense that she had to seem perfect at all times. If she wasn't, how would others view her? As haphazardly put together as Swamp-

The image of her face began to distort. Dovepaw jumped back as the ripples startled her. The fur along her spine stood up, half in surprise and the other half in embarrassment of being caught not paying attention, again, during a lesson. She looked up at her mentor, astounded with wide green orbs. The young she-cat quickly regained her composure and sat up with a forced smile, curling her thick and knot-free tail over her paws.

"Hunting rabbits? Continue," she said, her voice as sweet and gentle as ever. She was getting better at vaguely listening to his meows while she distracted herself, but not well enough to actually hear any of the specifics. Dovepaw purposely ignored the second part of his statement, steering back to the hunting lecture instead. Why would she tell Swampymoss about her most recent crush? Someone like him couldn't possibly know about what she was going through.

ginger

[ginger]

Swampymoss shook his head slightly, sighing. His apprentice was avoiding his questions, and he knew it. As much as he would have loved to keep talking about hunting techniques, he knew that it would be no use. There was not much point in discussing rabbits now. Like putting a daisy petal over a broken tail, Swampymoss knew that ignoring whatever was happening to his apprentice would only end badly. “Actually, lets talk about something else,” the tomcat said, trying to make his new sound casual, despite the serious thoughts that went through his head. Was it possible that his apprentice had caught some kind of illness, and was hiding it for fear of judgement? Or, was there some kind of emotional struggle that he was unaware of. By what little the tomcat had seen of her social life, she seemed to be fairly popular among the other apprentices. She even had her own little posse of friends that Swampymoss had seen her sharing tongues with, namely a ginger Tom named Fallenpaw. “Do you want to walk?” The Tom started to rise, but he stopped himself. “Maybe not...It would be a pity to make you mess up those curls you work so hard on.” The tomcat stretches out his legs, moving to lay down on his belly. Dovepaw would have to see that her attempts to derail his intentions would not work this time.
“Do you think you could teach me how to make my fur curl like that?” He mewed. Maybe talking about the young she-cats interests would make her more willing to talk to him.

[Deleted]

Dovepaw opened her mouth and quickly shut it when Swampymoss continued. He was always kind to her, and she wasn't the best at politely reciprocating... though she had a hard time recognizing so. Her mind was going several fox-lengths a second and she couldn't help but just not pay attention to her mentor. All of a sudden, his words forced her to slow down.

She watched him with curious green eyes as he settled down. Something was happening, but Dovepaw didn't understand what exactly. Her whiskers twitched in response.

"Oh," she visibly, and predictably, brightened up. Did Swampymoss want to tidy up his appearance? Dovepaw straightened her posture and faced him. Her fur was nearly symmetrical and curled in the exact same spots thanks to her meticulous habits. No knots were present in her practically pristine coat as well. "It's not too hard," she started by licking her paw so it held some sort of tackiness against her fur. Dovepaw didn't need her puddle-mirror to know what she was doing- grooming was simply a reflex at this point. "You just lick, then flick. Lick, then flick," she demonstrated carefully by bringing the paw she licked to the side of her cheek then quickly flicking away from her face to make a dainty little curl.

[ginger]

    Swampymoss watched his apprentice with a raised brow. Of course his mind still lingered on whatever was going on in his apprentice's mind, but he had to admit, he was intrigued by Dovepaw's 'instructions'. And, by the looks of it, she seemed quite eager to tell them. 
    "Lick and Flick eh? Let's see how this looks on me..."
    Mimicking his fashionable apprentice, the old tom raised his paw, licked it, and quickly drew it through his cheek fluff. The ragged fur was pulled upright, drawn into a haphazard swirl. Curious, the tomcat peered into the puddle, checking out his own reflection, as the young she-cat had been doing just a moment before. There was a clear change in his appearance, but it was no where near as cute and dainty as the curls that adorned his apprentice's soft cheeks. Still, the tomcat had to admit it may be some kind of improvement, so he quickly repeated it on the other cheek.
    Hmm, not too bad, he thought, turning his head to look into the puddle. Not great, but not too bad. And, Swampymoss hoped, if it could help him to reveal what was lying within his apprentice's heart, a few curls on his cheek would be more than worth the struggle. 
    "What do you think? Will this win me all of the young toms?" 

[Deleted]

Dovepaw observed Swampymoss’s imitation of her technique closely. She shifted her body weight, left, right, then left again to keep his face in view as he moved around. If he was good at this, she wouldn’t know what to do with herself. Dovepaw could see it in her head now, a mentor and apprentice duo with matching curls. It looked more ridiculous than cute, though she appreciated the sentiment.

She snorted at the result, awkwardly raising a paw to cover the upturned corners of her muzzle. Her sides trembled as a clear giveaway of how she felt. Swampymoss looked like he had woken up on the wrong side of his nest and accidentally permed a single spot on his face with a stick.

”Not with just one patch done on each side! It looks funny like that!” Dovepaw revealed her grin, a bubbly laugh threatening to spill out. Her own curls bounced as she moved towards him to get a closer look. She blinked as she scrutinized the curl more closely.

”Otherwise…. not bad. It took me a couple of moons as a kit to figure it out and you seem to have the hang of it already.” Now Dovepaw was the mentor and Swampymoss was the apprentice!

[ginger]

    Swampymoss felt a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, even as he tried to keep his mind tied down to the task of deciphering his young apprentice's mind. Her laughter was infectious, and he could not help but enjoy the feeling of his own deep purrs rumbling from his chest. 
    ”Not with just one patch done on each side! It looks funny like that!”
    Swampymoss nodded, still laughing good-naturedly. His cheek fur was squiggled every which way, looking nowhere near as pristine and beautiful as the curls that framed Dovepaw's delicate face. As she had said, it would take him many moons of practice if he ever hoped to get on her level. But, even if his curls were sub-par, the tomcat had still accomplished what he had been hoping for in getting the young she-cat to feel more comfortable, and hopefully willing to open up to him. 
    "Okay, so now that I have the fur style, what else do I need to do to make myself as magnificient as the infamous Dovepaw?" he asked, looking at the apprentice hopefully. If her teaching him was the way to find out more, than so be it. 

@noctemq (OOC now I have a sad head canon of him occasionally trying to curl his fur when he misses her)