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the slender tom didn't notice the approaching pawsteps until it was much, much too late. at the rasping draw of an elderly voice, foxstar's tongue snapped quickly back into his maw as he bolted upright, brows raised. he gave the elder a wary sidelong glance- for all his flirtations, he wasn't sure he'd ever get used to the equivalent of his grandmother giving him the eyes all the time.

"why, poppyfur," he began, stalling slightly as he grappled with himself. respect your elders! well of course, that was pounded into the brains of every cat at a very early age, he couldn't not respect her, but poppyfur seemed to like being a special case to the rule. "i certainly do my best!" he finally replied, with a chuckle that was not nervous. "gotta keep the ladies interested ya know? it's the bachelor life." he relaxed slightly with those hazy green eyes fixed on him with a blazing sense of humor. the tom turned and continued his grooming session, though he kept a sunny blue gaze continuously flicking toward the stormy gray she-cat. at least she didn't have a reputation for being cranky, but he did wonder what she wanted. just bored with the other elder perhaps, and looking for hapless victims to flirt mercilessly with.

"how are orchid and stone doing?" he asked casually, glancing up. "do they visit you enough? i can make them, if they don't ya know." he promised with a wink.

are many ladies interested?

his ears pricked at this, and he froze for a second with rather a shock at this forward kind of conversation. sure, foxstar wasn't exactly great at speaking with nuances, but poppyfur was starting to make him flustered. that, of course, was not okay. he didn't wanna ruffle her feathers, but boy was she getting nosy! after his moment of hesitation, he resumed his methodical bathing, now going over his shoulders, one at a time, before replying casually. "oh goodness yes, they're all interested," came his assurance with good nature sparkling in his blue-tinted gaze. "but they all wanna settle down- i'm still a wandering soul didn't you know? one does not simply tame a foxstar," the slender tom rumbled with a mixture of a purr and a chuckle, twitching his tail tip.

when poppyfur went on about her kits, he nodded as she spoke to acknowledge what she said. still, he wasn't the type to small talk about his own warriors. he was already quite certain of what orchidnose and stonefur were up to lately, but bringing them up to their mother did seem polite. the ginger tom glanced up when she mentioned her joints, and grunted. "poppyfur i really hate to admit this, but i swear to starclan that i actually heard my bones creak when i got up this morning." he shuddered theatrically at the very thought of this. "i'll be retiring before we know it," foxstar joked, finishing his bath by grabbing his tail and drawing a few quick swipes over the plume.

the soft morning light was beginning to show signs of a blazing summer heat by this point in the day. while foxstar had certainly slept in, he was still surprised when he noticed the warmth already sinking into his ruddy fur and spreading through his flesh like fire. today was going to be a great day for sunning, that was certain. he thought later he might head up further into the mountains to find one of his favorite clearings and do some solo hunting and napping.

he sharply glanced back at poppyfur as she crumpled to the ground, and raised his brows in alarm before he realized she just.. lacked the grace to make a calmer descent. letting out a sigh of relief that the old she-cat's heart wasn't about to fail right in front of him, foxstar cocked his head. "are you hungry? i am. hang on, i'll fetch something." like a polite apprentice, the leader dipped his head and darted to the fresh kill pile, which was still rather full from the night before. he eyed a rather fat little stoat and grabbed it- making sure to push all the other bits back into place before trotting back over to where poppyfur had landed.

sliding down before her, he pushed the stoat at the elder generously. "anyway, what were we saying? ah yes, the ladies. all of 'em." he blinked wearily. "i'm not particularly afraid of settling down, i just haven't found anyone who has any desire to keep up with me. i haven't really been looking either. 'been kinda busy," he added drily with a sly grin. he bobbed his head in agreement with that statement though- he wouldn't much like being tamed.

he chuckled and shook his head with good nature. "hey im not that young! i coulda been a grandpa by now if i had worked a little harder at it!" he protested feebly, humor lighting his pretty gaze as it rested on her gnarled features and kinked mane. "i'm not trying to get out of anything," foxstar assured his companion with a solumn expression, though the glimmer in his eyes did not fade. "the long run indeed."

when he flopped down before her, a burst of air popped from his mouth in a gush, making something of a sigh. he was already getting sleepy. he was always a little sleepy if not being active. laying around chit chatting with poppyfur was gonna make him need another nap later. was that disgraceful? he snorted at the idea. he was the boss around here, and he'd nap when he damn well pleased! coalgaze usually had everything under control anyway when foxstar himself was absent, so there was no cause for alarm. he turned his attention back to the elder after she munched a bit and had started chatting again.

oh yeah, mates. he laughed aloud at this, "hey you know what? i think i'll just have to snare myself another leader!" he joked with a bawdy wink at the frizzy gray cat, leaning forward to take a delicate bite himself. he chewed thoughtfully, making a show of it, then after spitting out a particularly tough clump of stoat fur, he finally nodded with mock decisiveness. "yeah i think the new skyclan one will do. she's pretty! kinda boring though. cardinalstar is much too old and mean for me. meaning no offense of you, My Most Gracefully Aged One." he bowed his head deeply with respect, though the joke was played out clearly, if kindly. then he shrugged again, once more becoming (somewhat) serious. "you know honestly i haven't really given taking a mate much of a thought." he left the more morbid bit of her comments left untouched. he didn't need to go getting all existential. it was way too early in the day for that nonsense.

he laughed suddenly, and cocked his head. her nicknames were so weird. poppyfur was certainly a character. the thought of outlasting his clanmates and getting so acquainted with the elders didn't seem all too bad. he obediently tucked into the offered meal, feeling sticky blood start accumulating between whiskers among his slender maw.

the slender tom gave a hearty stretch as he noticed the sun finally began to beat down with some enthusiasm, just then beginning to bore hotly into his longer fur and warm his flesh. it felt so good, he thought. good enough to make him wish he could find a nice spot and simply sprawl all day, but alas. who had time for that? maybe tomorrow. always maybe tomorrow, considering how much he had on his plate at the moment. it suddenly occurred to him that while he had apparently snared poppyfur's attention for the moment, perhaps her coucil ought to be sought. well, he knew she was almost nuts. maybe that was worth something when it came to advice. while he would never admit it to himself, he was simply searching for an excuse to be reckless in the face of all the opposition. if that meant clinging to the advice of an old she-cat if she said what he wanted to hear, then who was he to fight it?

"mothstar," foxstar replied to the elder, blinking down at the stoat, of which he took another stringy mouthful and gulped it quickly down before going on casually. "she's actually really pretty. small and mostly white, longish fur. she's got some, like, patches of light colored stripes i think, here and there ya know?" he gestured around his body with a waving tail tip. "she's got some gigantic blue eyes. dark like, and cold. she's not really the nicest cat as far as i've gathered, but how could i blame her? if i was in her position i'd be scared witless." he admitted with a light chuckle, closing his eyes and inclining his face to soak up some sunshine.

"speaking of which, what do you think of this whole thing?" the tom spoke after a long pause in the conversation, face still upturned as if blissfully unaware of the interclan turmoil. his words were casual as usual, but poppyfur was no fool. surely she knew what he sought from her. had he done the right thing? foxstar still couldn't see how anyone could think otherwise, but in the back of his mind was completely aware of the fact that he was totally alone in his opinions of the new clan.

he flicked his tail at the conversation of mates and kits and that kind of frivolous stuff. "i never thought of it cuz i was busy being awesome and showing thunderclan who was boss, obviously." he joked, "i didn't care about kits then, and i really still dont now. i think i'd be a good dad but i've still got a lot to take care of before i think about raising more little cats in this hectic place! for now i'll just stick with apprentices and visiting the nursery, thanks very much!"

the tom laughed again, not realizing at once how much he enjoyed the entertainment that poppyfur was so willing to supply him on this morning, creeping into sunhigh. he grinned appreciatively before he nodded, "i know right? i'm pretty sure cardinal used to be pretty, you should know! i probably wasn't even alive that long ago though," he chortled, a soft snort sounding in his nasal passage. the tom's head did bob slightly though, "you'd probably think she was cute. i'm not sure how anyone couldn't. the other leaders are probably just jealous cuz her clan seems to actually like her," the leader laughed again, relishing the thought of boarstar seething over something so trivial.

"not mine!" foxstar squeaked indignantly, "what! mine are the best." his indignation was a mockery in good humor as he batted his lashes appealingly at the elder. however, she didn't really seem to have much to say on skyclan- he supposed this was all the same to her, what did she care? her position could hardly be considered jeopardized in spite of the interclan chaos ensuing around them. he agreed though, with both her words and attitude, what was everyone panicking over? starclan had spoken, he thought the other clans ought to come to terms with it sooner rather than later so he could quit losing sleep over their melodrama. "i'm glad you think so," he spoke genuinely, taking another small bit of stoat to chew thoughtfully. "i think they're just looking for excuses to get pissy with everyone else. as long as no new alliances come of this then they could chew each other to pieces for all i'd care. and you know what? it's gonna be really nice to no longer share a border with windclan. sharing a border with a clan indebted to us is going to be refresh, i think." he commented lightly, then sprawled out on his side, eyes closed for maximum sun-soaking. "what a beautiful day!" the tom added as if that were much more important than any politics.