payin' with love tonight (private)

[fancypost borderwidth=0px][justify][font=Tahoma][size=8]Leon sat in the Herb den, waiting for a cat to come in requesting an herb after the battle with RadicalClan, or for Voltaire to come tell him that Fortis needed a sacrifice, but so far none of that had come, and the newly-appointed Herb was bored.

He couldn't teach Zirconium anything. Who knew where he was. Probably off training with Damage or on patrol. And Leon didn't have a future of his own at the moment. He shared Zirc's training with the deputy because Damage was Zirconium's father.

So there the tuxedo sat, yellow eyes narrowed out of boredom, tail rapidly flipping back and forth as he stood to exit the Herb den and sit in the summer sunlight outside.

[fancypost borderwidth=0px][justify][font=Tahoma][size=8]( ooc. That's fine c: )

ic. Leon was used to she-cats coming inside his den. Most of them came for borage for their kits and others came for herbs after being 'punished' by a tom. Some even came in half-dead and ready to be killed by a poisonous herb. Almost none of them came in by themselves, though it wasn't a rule that they had to enter his den escorted, it was almost a custom.

That was what surprised the muscular tuxedo as this strange she-cat walked into his den, unescorted, with scars all over her shoulders. Obviously she'd had a tangle with some pesky plant somewhere because it was apparent that the wounds were not from an angry tom. Leon got up and padded over to the shelves stocking the herbs, looking over them as he tried to decipher which pain-killer would be best to use for such small wounds.

The Herb finally selected some chervil which was good for making sure that smaller wounds would not get infected and helped cure the pain, and found some cobwebs to stop the bleeding. The tom padded over and applied the chervil first and then made sure it was secure by placing the cobwebs over it.

"That should do," the tom mewed, looking up at the she-cat with a new curiousity. "I don't believe I've seen you around before. What's your name?"

[fancypost borderwidth=0px][justify][font=Tahoma][size=8]Chloe. That fit nicely, though Leon hadn't heard of that name before. Well, most cats weren't named Leon either, so that made two of them. The name fit well with her ginger fur and sparkling eyes...oh, what was he doing?

At Chloe's guess on his name, Leon nodded. Normally he'd know the name of the cats who came into his den, mostly because they were Damage's kits who were like Leon's younger brothers, but he'd never asked a she-cat's name. Only once. And that's because he had almost reported her for disrespecting toms. Why had he asked this one her name?

Shaking it off, Leon gave the ginger cat a smile. "Leon's my name, correct. It's nice to meet your acquaintance, Chloe," he mewed. "I usually see the she-cats of Skull around but I don't believe I've seen you before."

[fancypost borderwidth=0px][justify][font=Tahoma][size=8]There was a slight oddity about this she-cat that Leon noted. It was almost as if she couldn't stay focused on him. He wondered if she was squeemish around toms or if she was kind of shy and introverted. It couldn't be his looks. Leon was quite the handsome fellow, and not in the least bit intimidating until you fought with him, but it seemed as if Chloe just wouldn't look at him but he couldn't put a paw on why. "Hmm..." he mewed at her answer.

Leon sat down and ran his tongue over his paw and flicked it over his heat before shaking out his fur. He took in the ginger she-cat once more and then heard her cough. "Sounds like you have a slight cough. Do you need some tansy?" the tom asked, tipping his head while awaiting her answer.

[fancypost borderwidth=0px][justify][font=Tahoma][size=8]Leon stared back at her, drawn to her gaze. She wasn't at all bad as he had figured. Chloe hadn't given him any trouble at all. His yellow eyes blinked twice before he turned to his stack of herbs once more, mumbling softly, "Not a problem at all. It's my duty to heal," and selected a head of tansy. He laid it at the she-cat's paws. "The dose may look small, but tansy is a powerful herb and when used for coughs must be given in small doses."

[fancypost borderwidth=0px][justify][font=Tahoma][size=8]"Yes," Leon mewed, nodding as he eyed the yellow tansy flower. It should've been enough to keep the cough away until the next day. "Do you have a cold? Perhaps you need a bit more than just tansy?" he asked, tipping his head slightly at the beautiful ginger she-cat.

[fancypost borderwidth=0px; width: 400px][justify][size=8]ooc. Bump! :3

[fancypost borderwidth=0px; width: 400px][justify][size=8]ooc. That's okay x3

ic. Leon chuckled at Chloe's reaction to the herb. He had to admit, tansy wasn't the tastiest out there. He thought it had a rather disgusting taste, but it did get the job done. Finding that he, too, was giving Chloe the staredown, he turned back to the herb shelf and dug out the herbs used for colds. When he returned he had honey in one leaf, lavender, and water in another. "Try this, it will help. Luckily it doesn't taste as bad."

[fancypost borderwidth=0px; width: 400px][justify][size=8]Now that he'd finished helping out Chloe, he didn't know what to say or do. Leon had really never felt this way around a she-cat before. Usually he kind of ignored them, but something was different about this ginger one, but the tuxedo couldn't put his paw on in. He looked at her, smiling, trying to acknowledge her words but didn't know what else to say. "Um...so, how's life been treating you?" he asked awkwardly. He never was a ladies man.

[fancypost borderwidth=0px; width: 400px][justify][size=8]Maybe he'd asked the wrong question. The tom's ears flattened out of embarrassment for asking her that question. Usually he was given a positive answer, but this was a first. Even she-cats seemed to be fairing well. "I'm sorry," he mewed. "If it helps, life's not been that great to me either. My former mentor just died and my special deckhand was kidnapped by RadicalClan."

[fancypost borderwidth=0px; width: 400px][justify][size=8]Since she wasn't offering why her life was so bad here, Leon decided not to ask. He didn't want to seem like a cat who pried or that was rude in asking such personal questions, but he had to admit he was quite curious.

"My favorite herb," the tom mewed, thinking for a moment. "would probably be lavender. It's used for many things and the flower itself is pretty."

The tuxedo looked around for a moment at his den. Chloe probably didn't like being stuck in some herb-smelling space that was currently being occupied by three cats, two of which were not around. "You're probably uncomfortable in here. Why don't I show you around the new territory? I, myself, am trying to get used to it."