Private Thread Meltwater Mornings

Pressure like a drip, drip, drip that'll never stop, whoa. Pressure that'll tip, tip tip 'till you just go pop, whoa.
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Cottonbright padded quietly behind Goosesong, her pawsteps careful but not forced just steady. The breeze ruffled her fur as they approached the upper west bend of the river, carrying with it the scent of wet stone and the distant promise of fish. She didn’t speak at first, content to listen to the river’s soft churning.

When Goosesong glanced back, her ears perked, catching the slight shift in his tone. Something unspoken lingered behind his words, and she didn’t press. She rarely did. Her lime eyes settled on the river ahead, watching the way the sun glinted off the ripples. "This s-spot is perfect..." she mewed softly, her voice always gentle, but more certain now than usual.

She padded up beside him, paws sinking a little into the soft earth. "I like the way the water moves here. I-it’s calm... underneath the noise." Her tail curled loosely around her paws as she settled near the bank, back half hovering just above the moist ground. "W-we could try the shallows first? Sometimes the fish come up with the sun."

What are you afraid of losing if nothing in the world actually belongs to you.

~･ﾟ: *~･ﾟ:* 🫧 *:･ﾟ~*:･ﾟ~

Goosesong gave a short grunt of agreement, the closest that he came to something like praise, at least today, at least right now. "Hm. You've got an eye for detail don't you" he said, his voice low and steady as he padded to the river's edge. He scanned the shallowed, noting the flickers of movement beneath the surface, but none came quite close enough. "Sun's right for it. We'll get something if we're patient."

He didn't sit, not yet. His posture remained alert, shoulders squared as he studied the water. But after a moment, his tail flicked once, and he added more quietly. "I'm glad you agreed to come along" The words were simple, but from him, it might as well been an open show of fondness.

His gaze slid to Cottonbright, briefly, before settling again on the water. "We'll start in the shallows" he said, echoing her suggestion without fuss. "But don't go too deep." There was no sharpness in the warning, just a quiet care, and something that crept into his voice a little more, but it was all neatly tucked beneath his usual tone.

With that, he finally crouched down at the bank, eyes narrowing slightly as a silver flicker darted near a sun-warmed rock "Let's see what the river offers us today."

Pressure like a drip, drip, drip that'll never stop, whoa. Pressure that'll tip, tip tip 'till you just go pop, whoa.
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Cottonbright’s ears twitched at his grunt, and a small, pleased warmth unfurled in her chest at what almost sounded like a compliment. Her whiskers gave a soft twitch, but she didn’t call attention to it. She just watched him for a moment and mirrored his stillness.

"I’ve s-spent a lot of time watching. It helps when words get stuck." Her eyes flicked toward the water again, scanning the edges of sunlight for those familiar, darting shadows. "The river teaches you to notice the small things. O-or it humbles you fast."

When his tone shifted she glanced over at him, meeting his eyes for a heartbeat before lowering hers again. Her fur warmed under the simple honesty of his words. "I w-wanted to..." She replied softly, paw brushing at the edge of a flat stone as she adjusted her weight. His warning could have made another cat bristle, maybe an apprentice, but as another warrior who valued carefulness, quite the opposite.

Her ears angled forward, attentive and calm. "Th-there - by the reeds." She whispered, motioning with her nose to where a soft swirl disrupted the surface.