Time to Relax (Mid)

[Icestorm]

Maplebreeze crept out of the den as quietly as his paws would allow. He didn't want anyone else to hear him, especially not the medicine cat. The night was warm, but not hot. It was a prefect night for this. The orange warrior felt his senses start to go crazy. His ear twitched as his nose flared. He just wanted to stop right where he was and roll in the complete bliss he was planning for on this night. Tonight was the night. He was going to get Briarstar relax. No more stress, just contentment and bliss. She needed it.

The warrior dropped the leaves at his paws as he approached her den. "Briarstar. I'm coming in, you better be awake." Not waiting for her reply the tom made his way after grabbing the leaves again. He moved to sit right in front of his leader, placing them on the ground again with a mischievous smile. "How are you feeling?"


Midnight

[Midnight]

Briarstar had been unable to sleep that night (which was a typical night for her), and she'd spent quite a long time rolling around in her nest before finally getting up and looking at the hole in the roof of her new den. Stars shined above, and she wondered for a long time which one was Pebblestar. "I've been working really hard, I promise. I wish you were still here, though, because everything has gotten so much harder. It's all so different now, and I don't know how to handle it. If I ever fall asleep, can we talk? Just once?" Briarstar mumbled, hoping desperately that Pebblestar could hear her.

Maplebreeze's voice filled the air, and Briarstar jumped, embarrassed. "How long have you been standing there?" Briarstar asked playfully, holding on to the idea that he hadn't heard her. As a leader, weakness was no longer an option, and she'd been working harder than ever before, which was really saying something. Briarstar looked her friend up and down, noting the mischievous look on his face, and she tipped her head to the side when she noticed the leaves he was carrying. "I'm feeling fine. Tired, but that's normal enough." She flicked her tail to dismiss that subject. "What are those leaves you're carrying, Maplebreeze?"

[Icestorm]

The tom nodded as she mentioned her tiredness. This was why he was doing this, she needs to stop being so tired. The way she looked worried him. He wasn't close with too many in the clan, and he hated that one of those he had found himself close with was not okay. Sure she wasn't in physical pain, but ever since she became deputy he has watched the stress build and build. He was done. She was leader now, and she needed to stop being so serious.

He smirked again as she asked about the leaves, "Oh these," his paw pushed the leaves closer to her, "Why these little beauties are the key to help you relax tonight." He watched her carefully waiting for her reaction.

[Midnight]

Briarstar snorted. "What exactly are they, Maplebreeze? And what am I going to do, eat them?" She purred, trotting over and aiming a paw to playfully cuff Maplebreeze on the ear. "Alright, very funny, now why don't you go return those to Duskflame?" The she-cat nudged the leaves toward Maplebreeze, quickly taking in their scent. "Oh, wow, you brought catnip? Yeah, that's really hilarious." Briarstar mewed sarcastically, rolling her eyes. He was joking, right? Maplebreeze didn't actually expect Briarstar to eat catnip for fun, did he? Catnip was amazing, but it was only meant for cats who were ill with a cough, not happy fun times. "I don't mean to hurt your feelings or anything, but I hope you weren't being serious about this, because there's absolutely no way it's happening. I'm TalonClan's leader, and I need to be responsible. I can't go around wasting precious herbs."

[Icestorm]

The tom sat down as Briarstar asked him what the leaves were. She seemed to be taking everything well enough. His eyes followed her carefully as she trotted closer. He let out a purr of amusement when she cuffed his ear. This might go better than he had expected.

He smiled at her. Maybe not. "Briarstar you need to relax and catnip will help. Besides I already went through all the trouble to get it for us." Maplebreeze pretended to pout to her. He knew he had to get her to see the point here. This was for her, maybe a little for him but mainly her. The warrior looked to his friend letting out a soft purr, "You are stressed. What better way to relax? Nothing else works, has it? Come on," his words soft and warm with playfulness, if Duskflame notices I'll take all the blame and even help her replace it. Promise. Come on. It'll be nice, and I know you want to. I can see it."

[Midnight]

Briarstar stiffened when Maplebreeze began insisting that she eat the catnip. "No, Maplebreeze. Absolutely not." The she-cat pushed the leaves away, baring her teeth at them. She could be just as stubborn as Maplebreeze. Being a deputy had hardened her, and being a leader had made her all the more strict. "I don't need relaxation. I need work to do. I'd be out hunting, but there are probably predators out there, and I doubt there are too many birds flying about. We could go on a border patrol, if you'd like, though. That would be a nice, productive way to spend some time together." Briarstar stood and trotted toward the entrance of her den, pausing and looking back at Maplebreeze, ears forward as she waited for a response. "I definitely don't want to. I have no idea what you're talking about." Looking back at the leaves for a moment, Briarstar felt an urge to go eat them, just to see if he was right about the relaxation part, but her eyes darted away and she forced her body to stay still. No. It wasn't going to happen.

[Icestorm]

Maplebreeze wasn't letting this go. She could deny it all she wanted, but she needed this. He was tired of seeing her tense, she hasn't slept well since becoming deputy. If it was anyone else, the tom realized he mostly likely wouldn't have cared, but she was his friend. His most unlikely friend.

He glanced at the catnip. It was perfect. Was it well thought out, maybe not but that wasn't the point. "No Briarstar," The warrior turned his head to follow her, but didn't move toward the entrance. He still had a devilish smile for her. He turned his body to face her. Stretching himself out, moving closer to her in the process. "If you keep stressing yourself out you are going to lose a life. You have to live each of your lives to the fullest, why not start with relaxing and enjoying a moment without work?"

[Midnight]

Oh, that cunning foxheart. He knew just what would strike a nerve, didn't he? Briarstar's ear started twitching rapidly when Maplebreeze mentioned her losing a life due to stress. Stress was more likely to make one sick, and it could affect her behavior and actions, too. He was right. "but we shouldn't. That's for sick cats." Briarstar muttered, trying to convince herself more than Maplebreeze at that point. "We need to work. Work is good. Work keeps the Clan moving." Briarstar continued. She sat down, staring at the leaves, and after a few minutes, finally sighed. The leader stood up and padded slowly, cautiously, to the leaves, as though they were going to come alive and kill her. Briarstar's gaze flicked up toward Maplebreeze momentarily, whispering "This never happened."

The she-cat took a deep breath and ate several of the catnip leaves. A few minutes passed and she sat down, glaring at her best friend. "Well, well, look at that. Nothing happened. We wasted catnip, and what's Duskflame going to do when she finds out?"

[Icestorm]

Maplebreeze wanted to purr as he watched her break down ever so slowly. He nodded as she tried to talk herself out of it. She was almost there. His eyes watched her movements carefully as she stepped closer to the leaves. He won. His tail tip flicked with the sight of her eating some of the leaves. He purred laying down with a smile, "What happened?" He asked innocently.

He could see her doubt as the minutes passed for her. The tom shrugged at her, the effects would hit her soon. Just the smell effected him. Maplebreeze moved to the leaves himself dropping on them, rubbing his back in the scent of the remaining leaves. He could feel his fur prick with a feeling he wasn't used to. It made him feel... relaxed and energized at the same time. It was a good combination for him. He looked up at Briarclaw with a smile, "Come on lay down. Relax." He turn over to eat a couple of the leaves. She needed to realize it could take a little while. If he remembered correctly it took different times for different cats. Maybe she was one that took longer. Or, "Wonder if you're too stressed for even catnip to help," he said ever so playfully.

[Midnight]

Briarstar was finally starting to feel the effects of the catnip. She purred crazily, padding around her den and rubbing against the cave walls. "Yeah, see, let's get old Pebblestar's scent out of here. Mine's more calming." She chirruped, trotting back over to Maplebreeze. "Hey, you know, I think I want some more of those." The leader crouched down and chewed on another few leaves, her tail waving contentedly.

"Alright, Maplebreeze, I admit it. You were right." She paused for a few moments, letting her mouth drop open slightly. "Hey, you know, the whole naming thing of Clans is weird, right? I mean, we take one thing, and then we take another thing, and bam, name! Like you're like... a maple tree.. and the breeze hitting it. That's crazy." Briarstar's eyes widened as she looked at the tom, nodding and waiting for him to say something.

[Icestorm]

Maplebreeze let out a purr as Briarstar started to feel the effects of the catnip. Her flipped back to his back rubbing against the floor and the catnip. He listened to Briarstar carefully trying to follow her train of thought. He took in a deep sniff. She was right, Pebblestar's scent was still lingering. "I could help with the scent thing."

"Told you I was. You should listen to me more often," he turned to her as she kept going. He realized she had a point. He pointed at his friend with his paw, "Oh. You know you're pretty smart. Never thought of that before." He turned to look at her quickly, his butt in the air while his tail stood straight up. He let out a purr as he moved to pounce on Briarstar. "Briars with claws. Hmm that seems weird too."

[Midnight]

"What are you gonna do, pee all over my den? Come on, maple-tree-with-a-breeze, be more sophisticated than that. Oooh, look at me, I'm using big words!" Briarstar snickered.

When Maplebreeze pounced on her, Briarstar hissed playfully, kicking out her hind legs to shove him off. "Hey, man, not cool. I'm your leader. You attack me and that's like... like you're attacking all of StarClan. You know, all of our ancestors and stuff? Have you ever thought about leaders and stuff? It's all so deep. I went and got nine lives. Nine lives. That shouldn't even be possible, but if you were to kill me right now, that would be okay, because I'll be able to die like, seven or eight more times. That's a big number." Briarstar rambled, padding over to her nest to knead the moss. "No, dude, I'm not a briar with claws anymore, I'm a briar with stars. That's even cooler. It's like the stars came and fell and the briars clung on to them so they couldn't fly back to the sky anymore."

A thought hit Briarstar, and she stopped moving for a few moments, staring blankly at a cave wall. "What's the big deal about stars, anyway? Little twinkley lights in the sky, so what? It's not like they're the sun or the moon or something. I don't want to be Briarstar anymore, Maplebreeze. I want to be... like, Treewind or something, like you. You're cooler than all the stars."

[Icestorm]

Maplebreeze chuckled as Briarstar hissed at him. He moved off her when she kicked at him. The warrior wrinkled his nose to her, "No smarty paws. I could be in here like more. Or I could do this," the tom said just as he moved to her nest rubbing his cheek along some of it's surface. He let out a purr.

He stopped rubbing when her words started to sink in. "So wait if I attack you I attack them all? Whoa," the orange tabby looked wide eyes to her. but her continued rambling made him chuckle. "So you're a keeper of stars. That makes you even more special than before."

The tom looked up with her question. "Hmm, Stars. Wait if your the keeper of them that has to mean they something. Do you ever wonder if the stars are more than just shining things?" His attention was drawn back to the she-cat, "Treewind? I like it!" he made himself more comfortable in the nest, "You could so-" The tom's kinda stopped mid-sentence, wait, "You think so? No way. Because you're the keeper of them. I can't be cooler than that."

[Midnight]

"No, I mean, yeah, I mean it. Breezemaple - no, wait, Maplebreeze - you're super duper cool. You're the cooliest." Briarstar padded over to Maplebreeze and sat down in her nest, trying to shove his face away with a tiny black paw. "Hey, no, this is my personal space. My little bubble. You stay out of here." Briarstar paused to wash her coat, but grew bored quickly.

"Oh, you know what we could do, Mapletree? We could go hunting. I bet there is a bird as big as... as, like, the Pond of Truce out there, and if we hunted that, we'd never have to hunt again, you know?" Briarstar's whiskers were twitching nearly uncontrollably. "No, no, I know it seems like I'm kidding, but I'm really not. That's what some elder told me a long time ago, I swear. It really is true. We need to go find the bird. Come on." Briarstar got up and walked toward the den entrance, tripping on her bedding on the way there, muttering "Whoopsies" as she went.

[Icestorm]

Maplebreeze let out a purr with her compliment, "but I wanna be here too. I like it. Right. Here," he playfully pushed back before settling himself. Just away from the she-cat but still fairly close. Her nest was warm, her rubbed himself some more on it.

At the sight Briarstar getting up the tom smiled. He really didn't want to leave her den in case someone heard them, but he was kinda hungry and he had a feeling she wasn't going to be stopped, "Alright Treewind. Let's get a going then. I bet I could find that bird before you! And then I get dibs on the food. I could go for a bird that big right now," as though on cue his stomach made a low rumble sound. When the she-cat tripped Maplebreeze laughed at her, "You're going lose if you keep falling like that."