saying ayyyo [flintpaw & rosie] there's a diiingo

Morning time. Her favourite time of the day. A silent yawn stretched her jaws open. Rays of coloured light from the rising sun streaked through the windows of the museum and gently lifted her eyelids. It was a bit later than she usually woke up, but Flintpaw didn't complain. A little extra sleep couldn't hurt. And it was nowhere near noon, so she had plenty of time left in the day. Time to get something done.

Shaking the remainder of sleep out of her head, the dark gray student looked around with mellow blue eyes. It probably wasn't a good idea to spend much time on the ground floor, or else she might meet a few crabbies who woke up on the wrong side of the nest. She decided to head upstairs to the second floor. Maybe she could lend a paw to the healers or something. Though two of them hadn't been around lately. Flintpaw wondered where they were at. Probably somewhere important. Shrugging, Flintpaw started walking up the stairs and past the first floor. The newly named student had sent for a healer a few times. Most of the time it had been the third one who responded, and she seemed nice enough. Flintpaw didn't expect to be intruding on the dingo's sleep, but she'd tiptoe quietly away if she had to.

Almost there. Once the dark gray cat reached the end of the staircase, too late, she thought about how she might not be allowed there. Ah well. She'd just have to be quiet enough to not wake any of the high positions up. Calm blue eyes scanned the hallway before she started placing a first paw on the ground of the second floor... but her second paw caught on the edge of the step and the momentum sent her hurtling forward. Widened eyes took in the scene around her as if it was in slow motion. By the end, she was sprawled on the second floor by the staircase with an ache in her jaw. Dazed, Flintpaw stood up and was still for a moment to regain balance.

Relief filled her when no high position came running to check out what all the noise was. Her eyes mellowed out again as she started to look for the old infirmary, where she heard the healers stayed. Poking a head through, Flintpaw was about to pass through the doorway fully until she spotted the dingo, curled up in bed. She saw Rosie's paw twitch but didn't want to take any chances, in case the healer really was asleep, so the student began to withdraw from the room as quietly as possible.

Of course. Flintpaw had forgotten that canines had an enhanced sense of smell. But she hadn't realized that Rosie was awake. So when the unexpected words reached her ears, the dark gray student felt a jolt of surprise. She stopped walking and almost sheepishly turned back around to face the dingo. Relief tinted her blue eyes when she saw the smile that was placed on the healer's face. It would have been a pain to deal with someone with a case of morning grumpiness. But perhaps Flintpaw herself was a pain, going around being noisy and waking up those who were trying to sleep. "Sorry," muttered the student, remaining at the doorway.

Flintpaw let out a small laugh, easing the tension on her forehead. She had been worried about disturbing a high position, which would be considered disrespectful. And you didn't want to disrespect a healer. It was a very respectable position. Her birthclan had a rather irritable wrinkly medicine cat. The dark gray student should have known that it wouldn't have bothered Rosie. The dingo was young and considerate and upbeat. Of course, Flintpaw didn't always associate being old with being grumpy, but creatures seemed to lose care for others' hurt feelings once they've had all those years to toughen up. Elders practically earned the right to be impolite, Flintpaw didn't doubt that. She wondered how long it would take until she herself was considered 'old'. All the elders she had met had been either awfully sweet or awfully grumpy. She predicted that Rosie would become one of the sweet ones. Flintpaw hoped that she'd fall somewhere in between the two intensities.

The two RadicalClanners were a long way off from that though. Flintpaw was only a seven moon old student and the dingo in front of her was just a student too... wait... no, she was an actual healer now. It was certainly deserved. Flintpaw flicked her gaze to the dingo's eyes and said warmly, "Congratulations on your promotion, Rosie,"

And her first ever nickname bomb blew up. Flint? Flinty? The dark gray student felt pleasant amusement flicker through her blue eyes. Rosie was the first ever to call her by something other than 'Flintpaw', and the student didn't hold anything against it. They could call her anything they wished. The dark gray student was just glad that she'd reached the milestone that marked the beginnings of name butchering. Butchers were good, though. They made good food, and shortened names weren't all that bad either. Flintpaw was beginning to be getting worried up until now; maybe her original name was so bad that it couldn't get any worse with shortenings. But the positivity that laced Rosie's words confirmed to the student that nicknames weren't a bad thing.

Snapping back to attention, Flintpaw nodded. There had been a great deal of RadicalClanners at the herb training session, more than she recognised. A lot of possible cats could have been chosen, and the end result wasn't exactly expected, but it wasn't a bad choice in Flintpaw's opinion. And Rosie certainly deserved her promotion.

Personally, Flintpaw preferred going to bed early and getting up early. "Yeah," confirmed the student in an upbeat tone. Her senses tended to be bright and fresh in the morning, as opposed to sluggish and sleepy. "Sometimes I even wake up for the sunrise. I do sleep in once in a while, though," added the dark gray student. Those days were rare and scattered, but moments of peace and rejuvenation. Pleasant days, and she could understand why others slept in all the time, but it would be too much pleasantry for herself. "I suppose you're one of those stay-up-late, sleep-in kind of creatures? asked Flintpaw leisurely.

Flintpaw was trying to get rid of her tendency of assumption. It was a habit that wasn't deeply appreciated by anybody. "Oh," mewed the student in reply, rather lamely. "Everyone needs a boost of sleep now and again," she added. Sleeping in wasn't a bad thing, after all. She knew a lot who did.

Making an attempt to appear polite and keep the conversation going, Flintpaw brought up another subject. "What is it like, being a healer? A nice feeling, helping all your clanmates," guessed the student, glancing around the Infirmary at all the herbs. Healers were all wonderful deep down, even if some of the older ones had a crabby exterior. Flintpaw wasn't sure if it was a devoted or rewarding life, being dedicated to show loyalty to your clan. The dark gray student had considered applying to be one herself. In the end though, she decided that she wasn't fit for the job. Radicals helped the clan too.

It was nice to see the dingo so happy with her job. The dark gray student felt contented with her own, learning things to prepare for becoming a Radical. "I'm glad." said the student quietly, a little happiness in her eyes reflecting that of the dingo's. Learning wasn't the most enjoyable experience, but it certainly helped to achieve a better future. It was true, but corny. Flintpaw knew she'd have a hard time at first too, trying to learn all those herbs. Maybe not just at first. She barely remembered two from the herb session, and even those were not properly ingrained in her mind.

Her blue eyes then wandered again around the Infirmary. So many medicine materials, and Rosie knew all of them. She stood there in silent respect. Healing... seemed not tough, but tough at the same time.

Flintpaw shook her head in amusement. The corny jokes were often the best ones. Her blue eyes fixed back on Rosie and watched as the dingo tilted her head.

The dark gray student didn't talk much but found it easy to laugh at herself over it. She just didn't have a whole lot of interesting things to say. More of her time was spent thinking and listening. Conversation was always welcome, but sometimes Flintpaw herself wasn't.

She bobbed her head in agreement. Outside was a good idea. Flintpaw wondered what the healer thought about snow. Dingoes were native to hot and dry areas, right? But Rosie was probably born in this seasonal part of the globe, with her whole life to get used to the cold parts of the year. The student started to pad out of the Infirmary. "Is it hard to find herbs this time of year?"

The dark gray student listened in mild surprise. Of course, she had expected it to be a bit difficult, but not overly so. She followed Rosie outside. Mellow blue eyes scanned the layer of white substance covering the ground. She supposed it made sense that cold temperatures, not to mention snow contrasted sharply from easy spring days of collecting newly grown herbs.

Flintpaw caught the hint, whether it was intended or not. And seeing as she wasn't being that useful to the clan these days, she offered to lend a paw. "I could tag along on one of those herb scavenger hunts, if you like," proposed the feline. Not a marriage proposal, of course, but it was the first thing that came up in the thesaurus when Flintpaw's roleplayer searched up another word for 'offer'.

"Right now...?" murmured the dark gray feline, wearing a blank face as she watched the dingo speed up and away. Of course, the healer was a ways away now, and Flintpaw hadn't spoken that loud, so she didn't expect an answer. But she didn't know about canine hearing senses, so she couldn't be sure.

Going herb-hunting right away hadn't been her initial intention, but it wasn't like she had anything else to do. And it was still morning, this would give her a chance to refresh herself. Probably would be fun, too. Why not? Giving an inward shrug, Flintpaw bounded after Rosie, content.