l(o)l this sucks

[Palefire]

Hailkit had tried opening her eyes only twice before. She saw nothing but darkness both times, but just assumed she was too young to see yet. Her vision was probably still developing, like any young kit's. I can't wait to see what I'm missing out on.

So today, she decided to try again. Shakily standing up, she opened one eye at a time. They both looked gray-ish and dull. The she-cat groaned. She'd gotten the same result as before. "How long are things supposed to look like this? It's been so long now!"

[Deleted]

"What do you mean by things, exactly? Not me, I hope; because that would be awfully rude." Bumblekit was padding towards the she-kit, trying to mask the surprise on his features. He almost hadn't noticed the smaller figure, and if she hadn't spoken, he was pretty confident he would've walked right into her.

The silver tabby's eyes narrowed, hoping the expression would mask his embarrassment. Still, nearly doing something wrong wasn't much better than actually doing something wrong; so an apology was in order. "Sorry about that," he huffed bashfully, not knowing whether she would even understand what he was apologizing for. "Who are you?"

[Palefire]

Hailkit frowned, turning in the direction of a voice as she got a response. "No no, not you. I can't even see you. I bet you look wonderful though." She perked her ears and sniffed around, trying to tell how close the cat was. Soon a scent became stronger and stronger, and it was followed by the same voice as before. They must be in front of me now.

She tilted her head as he went on. Sorry about what...? She wondered, beginning to ask but was interrupted by the tom's own question. "O-oh! My name's Hailkit. What's yours?"

[Deleted]

The proper tom was taken aback by the casual words, and he found himself unnaturally scrambling. "I oh, well, thank you? I mean, well you look....Wait, what do you mean you can't see me? Your eyes are open." He instinctively looked down at himself to ensure he hadn't turned invisible by accident. Nope, still there. Or maybe he could just see himself, because he was invisible after all. It was too stressful to dwell on.

Hailkit hadn't accepted his apology. Did that mean she really didn't know? Or she just hadn't forgiven him? Well, that was another socially awkward dilemma to ponder later when he was trying to sleep. "I'm Bumblekit; it's nice to meet you Hailkit...I think. This hasn't exactly been a normal meeting."

[Palefire]

Hailkit smiled a little as she listened to the tom ramble. He was funny. She shrugged at the question. "Well, everything's black. That's normal though, right?" The kit paused. "Maybe my eyes just aren't working yet." She didn't even take blindness into consideration. That would be crazy.

Hailkit chuckled a little. "Yeah, it hasn't been. Though it's nice to meet you too. Bumblekit's a nice name. It's fun to say." Bumble bumble bumble... I bet he looks like a bumble bee. Whatever those look like. She cocked her head. Maybe he'd tell her what he looked like. "Do you look like a bumble bee?"

[Deleted]

Bumblekit's brow furrowed in confusion and he leaned in, purposefully invading Hailkit's personal space to have a closer look at her eyes. "For a newborn maybe. But I've never met a newborn as eloquent as you." He hummed in consideration, a small niggle of discomfort appearing in his stomach. "Yeah, maybe you're just a late bloomer," he agreed, putting more force into his voice than he'd wanted.
What would happen if Hailkit's eyes never started working? Could that happen?

His head tilted down to look at himself. "Well, if bees were grey I guess. I have the right black stripes, but I'm not yellow. Oh but, you musn't know what grey and yellow look like, huh?" He immediately felt guilty at his words and scuffed his paw over the ground.

[Palefire]

Hailkit squeaked and stepped back as she heard how loud Bumblekit's voice was. How close was he? She frowned. His next meow sounded forced. "Do you really think that?" A "late bloomer", huh? Is that such a thing with eyesight? She shook her head. It has to be.

She chuckled at his next words. "Well no, I don't... But hey, at least I know what your stripes look like!" She shakily reached out a paw to touch his fur. She tried to gently stroke his shoulder once before setting her paw down. "My fur feels a little like yours, too! That must mean I have black stripes like you, right?"

[Rosepaw]

Rosekit ran around the nursery, and crashed into the small kit. "Sorry!" she mewed, sitting down, "Are you ok?"

[Deleted]

Bumblekit smiled, attempting to be comforting, even though Hailkit couldn't see it. Remembering this, he placed his tail comfortingly on her shoulder instead, and let a purr build in his throat. "Of course. You have eyes, yeah? Why would you have them if they were never going to work?" The tabby laughed at Hailkit's paw. "You can feel my stripes?" He asked curiously. "Yeah, you've got 'em too. But yours are kind of goldy cream, like honey! I'm a bee and you're honey!"

His contact with Hailkit was swept away when another kit barreled into him, and Bumblekit rolled away with a grunt of irritation. "Depends on the definition," he responded, flicking his ears back in exasperation. "Were you running around with your eyes closed or something? Hailkit can't even see at the moment and she has a better sense of direction than you. What if you'd hit her instead?"

[Palefire]

Hailkit flinched a little at the sudden touch, but relaxed when she realized it was just his tail. She purred. This tom was so nice. "I can't feel your stripes, silly! Your fur just feels like mine." She smiled as he went on and tried to picture what she looked like. Was gold-ish cream a nice color?

Hailkit squeaked as there was a loud, sudden crash. Where was Bumblekit? She stood up and stumbled around in a circle, trying to find where the two kits had tumbled. Lucky for her, they started talking and all she had to do was follow their voices. She padded over, stopping a few whisker-lengths away from them. "Bumblekit, are you hurt?" She frowned at his meow. "I'm sure they didn't mean it." Catching the new scent, she tried to look in Rosekit's direction. "Who are you?"

[Rosepaw]

"I-I'm Rosekit, and I'm really sorry! I was chasing my friend, Violetkit, and-" she broke off, "Hey, where is she? Have either of you seen her?"

[Deleted]

"O-oh," Bumblekit squirmed and blushed in embarrassment, and was almost glad Hailkit couldn't see, before guilt overcame the relief. Of course he wanted Hailkit to see! There shouldn't be anything he could want more than for his new friend to receive her eyesight. "You're all right, Hailkit?" He asked, already padding over to the blind she-cat with worry. He knew logically that she hadn't been touched, but considering he now felt responsible for her, he had to check.

Only after that did he turn back to the other kit, successfully abashed because of Hailkit's words. "Right," he murmured to her with a defeated sigh. "Have we seen another kit running around and not looking where she's going? No; but I'll be sure to keep my eye out," he replied dryly with an exasperated shake of his head. "Did you hurt yourself then? I'm Bumblekit."

[Rosepaw]

Rosekit was surprised that he showed any concern for her, he had seemed so mean before! "Oh um no, I'm not hurt." She looked closer at the kit. "Bumblekit. Right, I like your name!"

[Palefire]

"It's okay, Rosekit. And no, I don't know any Violetkits." She replied, knowing that even if she did know Violetkit, she wouldn't be much help if Rosekit was looking for her. Hailkit cracked a little smile and chuckled as Bumblekit spoke up. "I'm okay. Thanks pal." He's such a good friend.

She listened intently as Bumblekit turned to Rosekit, a grin quickly appearing on her muzzle. His words were so sassy but he said it in such a dry tone, it was almost humorous. Hailkit continued listening to their exchange, only piping in once Rosekit was finished. "I'm glad neither of you are hurt. And I have to agree with you. Bumblekit's mother was really smart in naming him." She giggled and tilted her head down. "I'm Hailkit by the way."

[Deleted]

"Wonderful then," he remarked, noting and then dismissing the brief concern he had held. Even in his annoyance he couldn't help seeking after the welfare of his clanmates. Knowing this, he figured it would turn into nothing but an annoyance as he grew. "Though Hailkit is right, there have been no Violetkit's threw here, or at least none that bowled into us like you did."

He was still gazing with some concern at Hailkit, and hoping she hadn't noticed. Again he felt guilt, taking advantage of her blindness in such a way, even while he was hunting after her safety. He was too young for such turmoil. "Smart, was she?" He murmured in amusement. "If you expect me to start buzzing and admiring flowers I'm afraid you'll be disappointed."