[Fawn]

It was unusual for a tom like Russetpaw to wear such a strange expression on his face. Halfway between a grimace and confusion, his features were contorted, green eyes full of bemusement as he wandered out of the apprentices' den and towards the other side of camp. Why can't she just say what she means? She had to have ears full of fluff, that Whitepaw! They had not been made apprentices at the same time, in fact she was about 5 moons younger than he, being 12 moons and her being 7 moons, but that had never made a difference before. He had still treated her like a friend. Apparently she both liked and didn't like him.

Apparently he was 'totally clueless' and 'so brave' all at the same stupid time. One minute she was picking on him, and the next she got all shy and talked about him to her friends! What the heck was that about?

If anyone had asked him the proper way to catch trout in the river, or how to sneak up on a bank vole or even how to correctly perform a backward kick, he would be able to answer them straight away. If anyone had ever asked the young, completely perplexed tom what was key to understanding the mysterious, cryptic ways of she-cats, then he would've shrugged and said 'your guess is as good as mine.'

Seriously, it was like they were an entirely different species. How was he supposed to know what she was talking about if she just wouldn't say it outright? And why would she wanna go to the willow stream THIS time of year? Not like there was anything to see or anything to catch. Fuming over a situation he barely understood and had barely gotten out of, Russetpaw sought out the one tom who might be able to solve these weird problems of his.
Razorfang.

His first instinct had been to ask Roselight, but Russetpaw knew better than to discuss this subject with his older female cousin. He didn't ask a she-cat how to talk to other she-cats. That just seemed...weird. It was kind of like asking a mouse how to catch mice. No, he needed someone who had probably talked to lots of she-cats when he was his age. Y'know, I bet he was popular when he was an apprentice, despite being a little creepy... Russetpaw supposed it was part of Razorfang's appeal. Surely he could explain just what it was Whitepaw had been trying to tell him.

"Can we talk for a moment?" Mewed the pupil to his teacher, a strange expression on his face as he glanced wearily from side to side. "Alone?" Russetpaw didn't really know if this could be classified as 'important' or not, but he had to admit, it would sure make his life easier if he had a little clarity.

[/size]

[Insidious]

The black, hazelnut-jawed deputy had been in the midst of camp; his stone-cold irises fixated on the surrounding brush, as if he had a plan on the tip of his thoughts toward going on a quick hunt. He had managed to successfully rise upon all fours, a few steps taken in the direction of the hunting areas closest to RainClan camp. However, ears swiveling backward atop his head, a familiar voice was detected loud and clear from directly behind.

“Can we talk for a moment? Alone?” Whirling around, the tom-cat allowed his chin to tilt downward in order to meet Russetpaw's bright, green gaze. It wasn't every day Russetpaw came to Razorfang and desired to speak alone. The deputy shuffled in his position, narrowing his eyes upon recognition of the urgency cloaking the facial expression of his apprentice. “Of course we can,” Razorfang mewed, nodding his head before his hackles folded beneath his weight into a seated stance; a clear indication that he wasn't planning for departure any time soon.

“What's on your mind, Russetpaw?” Razorfang's head tilted to the side, his paralytic stare fixated on Russetpaw with a genuine curiousity. Before the apprentice was able to piece together a response, the deputy already found his mind wandering with possibilities as to what Russetpaw could possibly need to talk with Razorfang about: training, hunting. It seemed, he was only capable to think of things that were tied in with their training sessions.

[Fawn]

Russetpaw glanced to his left and then to his right one last time, shifting his posture into one that was seated, mirroring Razorfang in all but that sense of calmness and clarity. "Don't laugh," Tossed out the apprentice, ears folding to the side as though he were somewhere between shy and annoyed; he'd never been one to skirt around what was on his mind, and even though this topic was a little unusual for him, he wasn't about to start now.
"It's Whitepaw. She's....she doesn't make any sense!" Outburst accompanied by flashing green eyes, Russetpaw gave his head a shake, jaw parting as he clarified just what it was about her that wasn't making any sense.

"She's been acting really weird around me lately. One minute it's like we're the best of friends and all she wants to do is follow me everywhere, and the next minute she's calling me clueless and talking to her friends about me. They just all hang around and giggle over - oh StarClan I don't know what they even talk about - I feel like she wants me to know something but is it REALLY that hard to just come right out and say it?"

Perhaps that was the trouble with cats who had forthright personalities. To a creature like Russetpaw, whose nature did not include beating around the bush or behaving completely off character just to catch someone's attention, Whitepaw's behaviors came off as annoying and conflicting. What was wrong with just coming right-out and saying how you felt? Fixing utterly bewildered emerald irises upon the stoic face of his mentor, the tip of his tail never ceased it's agitated twitching, Russetpaw's face scrunching ever so slightly, as though he were trying hard to remember something but just couldn't quite grasp it.
"Why is she acting like that? Did you have she-cats being all weird around you when you were an apprentice?"

Oh please let this be a situation he can help me with.
Whether Razorfang had once been in the same boat or not, Russetpaw was still needing someone to toss him a life jacket.

---

Word Count: 347
Notes: xDDD Does not Compute. Haha.

[Insidious]

Whenever a serious conversation began with the words: 'don't laugh', it usually indicated something that was about to be said, was sure one to be considered a laughable matter. Razorfang flashed his apprentice a curious look, nodding his head ever-so-slowly, though it was blindly obvious that he wasn't entirely committing that he wouldn't laugh.

And then, the words that Razorfang honestly, were NOT expecting, poured from the tom-cat's mouth like a waterfall of jumbled up nonsense. Russetpaw wanted to talk to him about another RainClan apprentice,Whitepaw? Barely able to keep up with the fast pace that Russetpaw executed his speech, the deputy simply nodded along until Russetpaw paused for a breather.
Matter of fact, he was caught slightly off guard. Never, in this life time, did Razorfang expect for his reddish brown furred apprentice to come to him and want to talk about she-cats of all things. Did he honestly believe Razorfang would have anything reasonably useful to add to this situation?
Clearly, he did think his mentor had something reasonable to add. This being made uncomfortably clear as he right out asked: "Why is she acting like that? Did you have she-cats being all weird around you when you were an apprentice?"

Razorfang cleared his throat with a mildly awkward cough, shuffling in his seat with the straightening of his formally slouched posture. “I can't recall any particular times when that happened, no...” Razorfang's voice trailed, dull gray-green irises momentarily averting from the frustrated glaze in Russetpaw's own as he contemplated just how in the name of StarClan he was supposed to handle this situation staring him right in the eyes in wait of some kind of explanation.

Although Razorfang was seemingly as new to the concept of 'crushes' as it seemed Russetpaw was, that didn't mean he didn't know what they were and when it was being made blindly obvious that one was occurring. So, what was Razorfang's real issue with this, a cat may wonder? Well: the fact that he had to actually talk about this sort of thing; lacking experience as much as the feline before him. “Er, have you ever considered the fact that uh,” Seeming as if a fox had his tongue, the deputy took an uncomfortable pause, wishing oh so highly that there was a way to make up some awful excuse and get away from this awkward situation.
There was truly, no way to escape the curiousity of Russetpaw, when one took a moment to consider his dedication. “Maybe, Whitepaw likes you. Beyond this friendship you speak of.” Having to nearly spit the words out of his mouth, the tom-cat closed his lethal jaws as quickly as they opened.

“Don't laugh,” he recalled Russetpaw's earlier statement, a statement that at first, made it seem as though Razorfang would have something to laugh about. When in reality, he was as frustrated and uncomfortable as Russetpaw was.
Even if he wanted to laugh, he wouldn't be able to.

[Fawn]

For half a moment, Russetpaw was more interested in Razorfang's overall reaction than actual answer to a question. What's rubbed HIS fur the wrong way? Was the question stupid? Trying to make sense of Whitepaw's behavior and Razorfang's reactions was like trying to bear-wrestle a saber-toothed tiger with three paws and a missing fang. Rocketed out of his thoughts once that hazel jaw parted, Russetpaw listened eagerly, leaning forward slightly as though if he were closer, he would absorb the information that much faster.

“Maybe, Whitepaw likes you. Beyond this friendship you speak of.”

"HUH?"

What? Whitepaw was acting weird because she liked him? No... She treated him like dirt one minute, they were best friends the next, and then it was back to being dirt again... No... you didn't treat the cats you liked the same way she treated him. Eyes narrowing skeptically, Russetpaw for a moment seemed to doubt the precious piece of information Razorfang had oh so awkwardly tossed his way.
"Naaaaaah. ....You really think so? But why would she - why can't she just tell me that? All this 'I like you'/'you suck' behavior is driving me off a cliff!"

Just as soon as they had cleared one hurdle, Russetpaw was abruptly faced with a much larger, much more complicated one.
"Thaat's...gonna be a problem." Muzzle contorting into a grimace, Russetpaw's tail went still, eyes back-lit with a mixture of concern and awkwardness. "I don't like her as anything more than a friend. What am I supposed to tell her? - She's annoying right now, but I don't want to hurt her feelings or make her hate me."

[/color]

For the first time in Russetpaw's life, he honestly considered avoiding someone. That was a logical approach, right? If he could just...y'know...avoid her for the rest of his life, he wouldn't have to tell her he didn't think of her as anything more than a friend. She wouldn't get upset and hate his guts until he finally departed to StarClan. The young tom closed his eyes, hanging his head and releasing a groan at the same time.
"Remember when things used to be simple?" Considering his age in comparison to Razorfang's, the apprentice was obviously talking about the nursery, where there was no such thing as crushes and cats getting hurt because feelings were not reciprocated.

---

Word Count: 477
[/size][/blockquote]

[Insidious]

Question after question. Response after response. Razorfang found himself half-considering his option to simply get up, end this conversation with the hasty flick of his tail, and leave Russetpaw alone to contemplate these thoughts of his. He couldn't do that, though, no matter how much he truly wanted to. As much as it would have been easier for the reddish brown apprentice to request answers from anyone else, really: anyone else in this whole forest... he had came to Razorfang for advice. As his mentor, he offered him any answers he had, as limited as they were.

"I don't like her as anything more than a friend. What am I supposed to tell her? - She's annoying right now, but I don't want to hurt her feelings or make her hate me." Razorfang considered this for a moment, left to shuffle through the awkwardness of his current mindset. In all honesty, he had no idea what Russetpaw was supposed to do. He, himself, had never been faced with a situation quite like this in all of his moons spent in RainClan.
“I don't think she would necessarily... hate you, in return for your honesty.” Razorfang was completely winging it, a guess located in the back of his mind that just may have been enough to supply an answer for the reddish brown tom-cat before him. “Even if she was angry. She would get over it, eventually.” Ah, at last, a familiar glimpse of the unsympathetic ways of Razorfang.

He never understood these things called 'love' and 'crushes'. They were odd, and completely irrelevant to occur in the clans. In fact, Russetpaw was 100% correct. Why couldn't things be simple? Why couldn't cats grow out of their kit-like features, but keep with them the same innocence that was never able to fully understand these awkward, unnecessary concepts.
A mental sigh accompanied Razorfang's return to reality, a flick of his ear signaling his desire to, hopefully, have provided enough information for Russetpaw that could end this conversation and signify that it was never allowed to return again.

[Fawn]

“I don't think she would necessarily... hate you, in return for your honesty.”[...]“Even if she was angry. She would get over it, eventually.”

"Eventually." Russetpaw mimicked, with a grimace in accompaniment with a groan. "How long is eventually?" Russetpaw had never purposefully hurt anyone's feelings before; he had never walked up to someone and openly rejected them as he was about to do right now. He had never given anyone a reason to hate him, or so he told himself. Besides Cobrapaw (who could hate him all he wanted, it wouldn't change anything), Russetpaw was a charismatic guy who was easy to get along with and even easier to befriend.

Perhaps that charisma and confidence and warmth was finally coming back to nip him in the tail. Fixing Razorfang with an expression that clearly read I have to go talk to her now, don't I?, the ruddy tom seriously contemplated asking Razorfang to stay nearby as a witness just in case Whitepaw burst into heartbroken hysterics - he needed someone to be there and say he wasn't being a bully or purposefully trying to get her all wound up, as it was likely all of Whitepaw's friends would have him at the top of their hate-list for a while.
"Any last advice?" asked Russetpaw, acting as though he were about to walk straight into his own execution by firing squad.

Razorfang had been helpful, just as Russetpaw had expected, though the content of the chilly-hearted deputy's answers weren't quite what he had in mind. And then there was the fact that Razorfang had never been in a situation like he was in right now. What was that about?
Come to think of it...

Had Razorfang ever interacted with a she-cat outside of giving her orders?

Delving into strange waters, he was, by thinking about his mentor's social/romantic life. Looking at him curiously, Russetpaw left those questions unvoiced - Razorfang looked uncomfortable enough, he didn't want the tom practically crawling out of his skin if he started talking about anything more personal. A twinge of humor momentarily chased away the dread he felt over confronting Whitepaw; that'll be something to see, the day RAZORFANG gets a crush on someone.

What would that even look like?

No matter how hard he tried, Russetpaw just couldn't quite picture it.

---

Word Count: 441
Notes: xDD Expecting Russetpaw to become nosier as he gets older. Now that he views Razor as more of a big brother, he's going to start treating him as such, lol.

[Insidious]

“How long is eventually?” Razorfang shrugged his broad, black shoulders. 'Eventually' was a word that could mean a short period of time, as easily as it could mean a long period of time. He supposed, it entirely depended on Whitepaw and whether or not she could handle her feelings for Russetpaw being crushed in the instant he told her that he simply wasn't interested in her that way. Of course, he kept that type of... phrasing... to himself. It probably wouldn't take any of the weight off the reddish brown tom-cat's shoulders, had Razorfang stated it like that.
“Any last advice?”
Nope, not at all. That was the only three words floating in Razorfang's mind. He took Russetpaw's asking as a cue for this conversation to end. About to stand, the tom-cat found his limbs abruptly locking upon allowing his gray-green irises to make contact with Russetpaw's bright green, now seemingly dulled due to the situation in front of him. Sighing, he nodded. “Yeah, try and let her down as easy as you can. She's a she-cat, after all. Emotional.”

[/i][/b] Razorfang hastily flicked his tail, shivering uncomfortably at the idea of dealing with a problem quite like Russetpaw currently was.
From what he knew, nobody had ever liked him and he had never liked anyone back. In complete honesty, he was content with it staying that way. Dealing with a she-cat in love was nothing but... feline drama.

At last, allowing himself to stand, the hazelnut masked deputy prodded Russetpaw's shoulder with the tip of his large, ebony paw. “Oh, and, we never had this conversation. Understand?” One could easily mistake the gleam in Razorfang's eyes as him being humorous, but in fact, he was completely serious.
He was by no means a soft-hearted deputy. He didn't deal with feelings or emotions in himself, and certainly couldn't have Russetpaw ruining his ice-cold reputation by making him out as a tom to confront when dealing with she-cat problems.
This situation right here, was a one time thing. He could let it slide with Russetpaw; they had a relationship where Razorfang could make exceptions for these sorts of things. However, this was an exception that he would only allow himself to make once. From this point forward, Russetpaw could consult, his father, or something, when he needed to talk about this.[/blockquote] [/size]

[Fawn]

“Oh, and, we never had this conversation. Understand?”

Russetpaw almost laughed and snorted at the same time, surprise momentarily coloring his handsome, ruddy features as he gazed upon Razorfang with slight amusement.
"And ruin both our reputations? Don't worry, Deputy-Sir, I've already forgotten it." Dipping his head in a thank you, Russetpaw turned away from the older tom, brushing by the rosy hued flank of his kin as he made his way over to the apprentices' den - taking a big gulp of air as he did so.
Have courage, Russ. She can't hate you forever.

"Well someone looks like they had toads for breakfast," Roselight commented, her head still turned towards the ruddy-plumed almost-warrior, her body angled towards Razorfang's own muscular black and hazel one. It was more out of curiosity than concern that she momentarily interrogated the RainClan deputy, cerulean eyes flickering with an innocent sort of imploring, as though she genuinely just wanted to know.
"Oh! That reminds me - have you spoken to Sandstar about his warrior ceremony?" Realizing she was being a bit...nosy, the light-hued feline managed a slightly apologetic half-smile, as though she were used to addressing other cats of the same rank as she.
"Obviously you get the final say, I can't help but notice he's..." A fond glance towards the apprentices' den, a soft sigh emitted, her expression warm and just a little sad. "He's all grown up now. I'm almost going to miss that little troublemaker that used to sneak out of camp when he was barely five moons old."

[Insidious]

At Russetpaw's final words before departure, the black furred deputy offered a half-grin and an amused, forwardly twitch of his ears. The destination of the reddish brown almost-warrior appeared to be the apprentice's den, likely where this Whitepaw was expected to currently be located. Best of luck to you, Russetpaw. Was the only thought clouding the deputy's mind at the time. Although he didn't have experience in the field, he was able to understood from simply conversing with she-cat's that they could be known as a piece of work.

And, just as the thought of she-cats entered his mind, it seemed one had recognized him amongst the crowd and taken initiative to approach. Gray-green irises flickered from Russetpaw to Roselight, dipping his head in greeting to the cream-furred feline. “Oh! That reminds me – have you spoken to Sandstar about his warrior ceremony?” Razorfang had took recognition of the apologetic glaze lacing her expression, however, he hadn't been bothered by her question. Sure, it could be considered nosy, in a sense. Although, Roselight was Russetpaw's kin. It was only natural that she would display some genuine interest toward his oncoming warrior ceremony.
“I haven't yet. The time is arriving, certainly,” the tom-cat took a pause to detect the she-cat's follow-up words, a smile decorating his hazelnut hued jaw at mention of the moons prior to Russetpaw almost being a warrior. He, too, recalled a time when Russetpaw was at the brink of six moons. Ah yes, how could he possibly forget their first moons of consistent clashing?
They had come a long way from then, for sure.

“Although, it'd surely be nice to delay the ceremony and keep him under my guidance.” It was clear that Razorfang was joking in this statement, but there remained a hidden element of truth. The moons he had spent training Russetpaw had seemed to breeze by. And now, he was almost a warrior; possessing all the skills Razorfang was hoping to one day see in him.
He was anticipating being able to watch his apprentice become a warrior; using the knowledge he had learned from Razorfang to assist in being a warrior RainClan could be proud of. A part of the deputy would always remain to view him as the apprentice he was when their relationship had only begun to bloom, though.