The Itchy and Scratchy Show! [open]

Warm sunlight dripped through the canopy, a gentle breeze brushing through vividly green leaves. In the shade, pleasant coolness lingered to soothe the longhaired cats whom despited newleaf and the warmer moons that followed. Locustflight however was not one of the bulkier cats lurking in the shade around camp, oh no. Warm weather was exactly Locustflight's time of year. Shorthaired and lanky, Locustflight wasn't exactly built for keeping in heat which made snowy moons an absolute bear. They were horrible, bitter, dark days that forced him to shelter between his sisters at night, cuddled up close to their plusher pelts to leech heat. As soon as the first snow melt had begun, Locustflight had practically been singing StarClan's praises. Ok maybe he just did a little extra hunting but it was practically the same thing. Either way the warmer weather beckoned to Locustflight like a sweet lover, tempting him out of camp and away from the judgmental eyes of his clanmates. Who was Locustflight to refuse?

As of late the sandy colored tom had taken to being out of camp from dawn to dusk, hunting during the morning but spending the lengthening afternoons aloft in the trees. Sometimes, if he felt particularly ambitious, Locustflight would wander down toward the river to sun himself on the boulders along the bank. Ah those rocks absorbed the sun's warmth so well! Unfortunately the sunning rocks were along a common patrol route and, seeking quiet, Locustflight found it simpler to just stay where most of his clanmates wouldn't look for him. Though sometimes lectures about laziness were amusing, Locustflight hadn't been feeling up to the fuss lately.

This particular afternoon, the blue-eyed tomcat had found a lovely little tree near a stream not far from camp. The branch he was currently sprawled along hung just over the stream's bank, allowing Locustflight to listen to the burble of the rushing water as he dozed off and on. He laid on his belly, all four limbs and tail hanging limply off of the branch, chin resting on the rough bark. Anyone that looked up would see him, his sandy fur quite obviously out of place against the dark brown and green but Locustflight knew from experience very few cats outside of SkyClan ever bothered to look up. Though Spottedstream and Gingerstorm may cluck their tongues at him, Locustflight had to admit SkyClan was on to something with the whole tree thing. It was certainly convenient. Dozing as he was, Locustflight didn't notice anyone below him until...

SPLASH!

Droplets of cold stream water caught on Locustflight's paws, the cold jerking the tom out of his doze. Blue eyes snapped open as Locustflight flinched in surprise, wobbling precariously on the thin tree branch. Digging his claws into the bark to steady himself, Locustflight looked down into the stream. He wasn't sure what he expected but a bedraggled looking Blizzardclaw wasn't it. Blinking dumbly down at his clanmate, Locustflight sat frozen for a moment before levering himself up to stand. On dainty paws, the tom turned and made his way down the tree, light orange figure sliding smoothly down the tree trunk until his paws landed on the stream bank, graceful as you please.

"Felt like taking a swim?" Locustflight asked, yawning hugely as he ambled closer to the edge of the water. Sitting back on his haunches in a patch of sun, the young tom slid his legs forward to lay like a sphinx, tail twitching idly.

To be honest Locustflight knew very little about Blizzardclaw, other than what the tom looked like. He knew they were close-ish in age and the grey tom was more productive as far as growing the ThunderClan brood but that was about it. Still, there were no nagging siblings to drag him off to do StarClan knows what and for the moment Locustflight felt well rested and relaxed, muscles loose under his short fur and warm from the sun. Might as well enjoy a minute or two of company before he got too bored.

TAGGED · Shiny
NOTES · hope you don't mind Locust and his lazy butt.

Water wasn't something Locustflight thought about often. After all, he wasn't a RiverClan water-rat so there wasn't much training in the first place about how to deal with water. You drank enough of it to live but other than that no one in ThunderClan bothered much with swimming. Locustflight was fairly sure that he knew enough, like most warriors, about how to not drown if swimming in a gentle current but the rapids were left to RiverClan. Having blessedly short fur, getting wet from rain or the occasional splash didn't bother Locustflight much because then he had an excuse to stretch out in the sun to dry. Watching Blizzardclaw now though, the sandy warrior couldn't help but envy the tom. He'd had plenty of excuse to sun himself now, drenched as he was and with quite thick fur. Still, the bigger tom didn't seem unhappy about his dip in the stream so at least he wasn't out for the blood of a prankster apprentice or something.

'Oh you have no idea. I've been itching like crazy ever since the shedding season has started.'

Locustflight snorted, watching the bigger tom amble out of the water and shake himself out. Cold drops of stream water cascaded over Locustflight, making his ears twitch and blue eyes squeezed shut as they landed across his short pelt. A few cold drops landed on his nose, making the tom twitch his whiskers, blue eyes watching the droplets fly through the air like diamonds. Shedding, like so many things in life, didn't bother Locustflight much. His pelt was unusually short for a ThunderClan cat, a sleek consistency more common in WindClan or RiverClan. During the warm months he didn't shed much because during the cold months he didn't grow a thick, luscious pelt like so many of his clanmates. He cuddled up close for warmth when snow fell and dreaded every assigned patrol and hunting mission. If the clan thought he was lazy when the sun was out, they truly experienced his laziness during cold moons because Locustflight actively avoided work in favor of finding the warmest thing possible to cuddle up to.

"Can't say I've ever had that problem," Locustflight said, curling his tail over his paws, eyeing Blizzardclaw's pelt. The amount of fur the tom shed was probably more than Locustflight weighed in total. Glancing at the water her wrinkled his nose a bit. "Too cold for a swim...dunno how RiverClan stands the chill."

Scooting himself just a bit to the right, right in a convenient puddle of sunlight, Locustflight made himself comfortable. In short that translated to...well...him melting to one side and loosely sprawling on his side to fill the pool of warm light with his lanky frame. It was early in newleaf so the mornings were still chilly and though the afternoon sun was nice, Locustflight couldn't wait for proper greenleaf when the air dripped heat. Plushly furred cats like Blizzardclaw probably hated the whole business but Locustflight loved it all. It gave him a fantastic excuse to sleep away from his sisters instead of cuddling up with them for warmth during chilly nights. Just think of it had Locustflight purring lazily in his patch of sun, mind ambling away from Blizzardclaw for a moment before he dragged it back to his companion.

"I'm surprised Snowheart isn't around here somewhere...I thought you two were supposed to be attached at the tail..." Absently Locustflight gave a few passing grooming licks to his pelt where he'd been sprayed with water, mind fishing lazily for things to keep the conversation going. At least if he told his sisters he'd talked to someone that wasn't them today they couldn't complain about him not being social.

TAGGED · Shiny
NOTES · rambling lazy locust is lazy