Brambles and bright personalities (OPEN)

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Asterkit was smiling freely now. This was one of the first kits to show genuine interest in her hobby, so who was she to deny Bramblekit's questions and curiosity? "Live ones usually just run away or make other kits scream, and it's a lot of fun trying to catch them. You should try it sometime." She swished her tail.

She giggled at Bramblekit's other questions. "They're too small to eat us, silly! But I think some of them are... um, toxic? If they bite or sting you, you can get really sick. You've gotta be fast with those ones." Once she finished speaking, Asterkit looked around the nursery, trying to spot a stray cockroach or spider. Maybe her 'lay-dee-buhg' would come back.

[Bramblekit]

Bramblekit let out a squeal. "Toxic!" She meowed, fur sticking up all over. "Wow..." she breathed, awed by the other kit.
Asterkit was so cool!
She watched as Asterkit looked around and then leapt to her paws. Was that a bug? She narrowed her eyes at the direction of a small crawly thingy over near the edge of the den.
"Is that one of the bugs?" She asked, very unsure.

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Asterkit let out a "Yeah," amused and a little surprised by Bramblekit's reactions. Asterkit swore she could see admiration in Bramblekit's eyes, alongside amazement, after she finished answering the kit's questions. It made Asterkit's tail stick up happily ; she had actually converted this kit to like bugs. Thank Cloudclan.

Asterkit turned her head at Bramblekit's question, following the brown kit's gaze to the wall. "Yes, that is indeed a bug." She hummed, and, with a mischievous gleam in her eyes, she said, "Think you could catch him?"

[Bramblekit]

Bramblekit jumped around, excited as Asterkit asked if she could catch it.
"I'll give it a shot!" She meowed, dancing around. "How do I do it, is there a special way? Is it toxic? Do you know what bug it is?" She asked, questions flowing like a stream out of her mouth.

[Deleted]

Asterkit cast a look towards the bug Bramblekit spotted, which was mostly just sitting there peacefully. Looking at them, maybe. What a fool. She turned back towards Bramblekit. Asterkit had to admit, this kit's energy was contagious.

"Good! Usually, you have to sneak up to it, catch it off guard. That way, it won't have any time to run away." Asterkit demonstrated with a somewhat crude crouching position, then stood back up. "I think it's some kinda beetle? It shouldn't be toxic... try to be quick about it, if it is, though."

[Bramblekit]

Bramblekit nodded, remembering hard what Asterkit had told her.
"Okay, here goes."

Bramblekit mimicked the crouch Asterkit had done (though hers was a little shabby and awkward) and did a small circle around the den so she was positioned behind where she thought it's bottom end was. She wriggled a little, breathing hard, before she pounced, landing with her paws nearly all together on top of where the beetle had been previously.

"Did I get it?!" She meowed, looking around and then peeking through her paws with a triumphant yowl. "I DID! Asterkit, look!"

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Asterkit was quiet, trailing behind Bramblekit and watching with excited eyes. She grinned at Bramblekit's stance, almost feeling proud of Bramblekit; she'd gotten so far already! She walked up to the brown kit's side once she had leaped, and, upon hearing the question, Asterkit diligently looked the nursery. Not a bug in sight, which meant...

"You got it," Asterkit said, "You caught it!"

[Bramblekit]

Bramblekit yowled with happiness and excitement. "Yay!" She lifted her paws and sure enough there was the beetle. A little squished and broken, but there. It was enough to satisfy Bramblekit.

"Ohh, it looks so weird! But it's kinda cute." She meowed, almost to herself, but not quite. She bent down to inspect her catch, purrings o hard she was vibrating.

"Thanks so much, Asterkit, for showing me how to catch it!" She squealed, her adoration for the other she-kit growing larger by the minute. She was amazing!!!!!!!

Bramblekit turned to Asterkit, wondering what they would do with the bug now. Would Asterkit keep it? Or would she put it in a bush or something?

[Deleted]

Asterkit shuffled up to the kit, peeking her head over Bramblekit to see her catch in it's full (possibly crushed) glory. After a few seconds of observation, she deduced it to be a beetle; it was a nice, shiny black color with six legs. Kind of like that 'lay-dee-buhg'. She wasn't sure how common this one was; despite her devotion to the hobby, it wasn't easy to keep track of. She giggled at the Bramblekit's offhand comment. "It's funny to think that cats get named after bugs. Not that it's a bad thing."

Asterkit shifted her gaze to Bramblekit at the appreciation, grinning wide. The 'thanks for taking this seriously and not just teasing me' went unspoken, instead going for a bashful, "Thanks for sticking around. I told you bugs weren't that bad! Now you can go out and catch as many bugs as you want." She wasn't sure how else to Bramblekit; she seemed so genuinely thankful, so excited. It was nice to be on the receiving end of that. 

Once Bramblekit turned around, Asterkit blinked slowly. Then, she said, "I was gonna take it back to my nest. To my collection. Unless you wanted to keep it?" 

[Bramblekit]

Bramblekit's laughed and flopped on the ground when Asterkit had said kits get named after bugs, only able to laugh.

"I promise to catch any bug I find!" Bramblekit grinned, after Asterkit had said thank you. It made Bramblekit feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

When Asterkit said she was going to keep the bug - unless Bramblekit wanted it - she grinned wide. "Yay!" She squealed, bouncing. "My bug is going to be kept by Asterkit!" She was very happy at this, feeling strangely honoured. With a happy giggle, she pawed to beetle towards Asterkit, pleased with herself

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Asterkit nodded at Bramblekit's energetic answers, padding up to the brown kit with a smile. "I'm glad you've decided to join me. Just, make sure not to get bitten by the dangerous ones. Don't want you to end up having to go to the Medicine Cat den after all this!" She said, whiskers twitching.

She purred in amusement when Bramblekit shuffled over to her, seemingly relieved or honored that Asterkit was going to keep the beetle. She shrugged, tail sweeping the floor. "Yup! I wasn't gonna just let it go after all the effort you went through to get it." Her eyes fell to the floor, and she carefully tried to get the beetle underneath her own paws. Should she kill it? Dead things were easier to examine, but... she decided to let it live. For now.

"I think that's the end of the bug-hunting lesson for now. Do you wanna give it a name, or should I just take it back now?"

[Bramblekit]

Bramblekit nodded seriously at Asterkit's warning not to get bitten. She would be very careful, and probably annoy Asterkit a lot by asking if this was toxic or if this was a beetle etc.

With a smiled at Asterkits words, about not going to let it go after all her hard work, Bramblekit watched carefully about how Asterkit moved the bug. Noting what she did.

When Asterkit said it was the end of bug hunting lesson, Bramblekit sighed in sorrow, but then nodded. As the question about a name popped up, Bramlekit thought for a second.
"Can we call it Aster.., Maybe?" Bramblekit mewed, shyly looking at the older kitten. "But, if you don't want that we can call it whatever you suggest." She quickly added, scouring her mind for other options.

[Deleted]

As Asterkit further examined the bug, she silently wondered if she'd actually seen a bug like this crawling around before. A few kits seemed to think these weren't common within their Nursery, within their home; then again, those same kits usually huffed or sneered when she kindly reminded them that, well, there are bugs literally everywhere. There's just no escape. "I wonder what other kinds of bugs or there are outside the Nursery..." She murmured. Surely there were a lot.

Asterkit was snapped out of her thoughts by a genuinely sad sigh, and then a question. She peered up to Bramblekit with big eyes, then licked down her chest fur to hide her... what, embarrassment? Whatever it was, it felt quite warm. She forced herself to calm down and look Bramblekit in the eye. "Y-yeah, I mean, uh. Yes. Yes, that would be a very nice name. How did you come up with such a nice name?" She said with a giggle.

[Bramblekit]

Bramblekit shuffled her paws as Asterkit licked her chest to hide her embarrassment. Whoops. Then the she-kit looked her in the eye and Bramblekit stilled. When Asterkit stuttered out her next few words and then giggled, Bramblekit smiled and gave a little bounce, purring.
"I don't know, I guess I was inspired by a certain Aster and thought it would make a good name?" She meowed, smiling.

Bramblekit wondered if Asterkit would go and play with her other friends now that she and her had finished the bug lesson.

[Deleted]

It wasn't often that Asterkit would actually splutter out a reply; she'd get angry, sure, but to stammer because of embarrassment? Pride? Whatever it was, it was unbelievable. All because a single kit decided that Asterkit was worth her time and, wow, she needed to stop thinking. Asterkit's eyes were wide until Bramblekit responded with a teasing question.

Asterkit flashed a toothy grin. "Really? Well, I think whatever or, whoever, you named it after is quite honored," She mewed, before looking around the Nursery. When she failed to catch sight of any other bugs crawling around, she couldn't help but frown. What, now that she's found someone else to catch them with, they've all just disappeared? "It's a shame there aren't any other bugs around. Maybe next time I can try catch a brown one and name it Bramble!"