Grumpy Old Tom {Open}

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    Nettlepelt sat in his nest, herbs applied to the wound on his neck from an incident involving rats. He had nearly died that day but thankfully he had pulled through despite being rather old. The silver and white tabby glanced around, the stale stench of his nest getting to him. "Where are those apprentices?! They are falling behind on their duties again!" He snapped, usually a laid back tom but for once he was not in a good mood.

    "I brought moss and mouse bile, I'll treat you and change your bedding," came the cheery voice of Ivypaw. Most apprentices despised changing bedding and treating elders, but she didn't. As long as she was making an old cat happy, she was totally fine with it. "Later on, I'll get some feathers to line the nest," she purred, setting down her supplies.

    'Finally! An apprentice who knows what she is doing.' Nettlepelt thought to himself as he crawled out his nest. "I'll be outside, let me know when you've finished my bed." The silver tabby slumped down in a patch of sunlight, the wound around his neck growing itchy again.

    Nettlepelt growled and looked at Snailwhiskers. "I would take it easy if the apprentices actually did their duties." The elder snapped, his tail twitching in annoyance.

    Ivypaw worked silently, making sure the soiled moss was thrown in a different pile that would not interact with the clean moss. As she lay out the new nest, she made sure the moss was soft and it contained no thorns. Sticking her head out of the Elders den, a smile was visible on her maw. "I'm done Nettlepelt," she said quietly, flicking her tail and motioning for him to come back in. "When your ready, I'll start on your ticks," she added quickly, casting a look at the mouse bile that lay next to the entrance of the den.

    Nettlepelt narrowed his eyes at Snailwhiskers, his lips curling back into the beginning of a snarl. His attention was soon caught by Poisonpaw and he eyed the apprentice. "You try and relax at this age." He grumbled before heading back inside after he heard Ivypaw calling to him. He gave himself a shake before looking at the nest, glancing over it and pawing at it carefully. "This is very good, it's a shame not all the apprentices share you skills Ivypaw." He meowed, a small smile playing upon his lips as he settled down into the nest. "You can start on my ticks now."

    "Thank you," Ivypaw said gratefully, dipping her head as she moved to pick up the bile. Once she had it in her grasp, she sauntered over to the relaxing tom, a smile on her maw. "I'll get them right out," she mumbled sitting down. Carefully she aimed to remove all of the ticks from the old-toms body, hoping that her work would be considered 'quality'.