Data Leak | Tinyleaf, Crowflame, & Iceglow! (priv)

Easily distracted, the mere mention of a passing squirrel cast the smaller tom's gaze straight back up into the canopy, mirroring the green overhead as he took a pause to scan for motion. With nothing but the telltale sway of the wind through the branches, he promptly returned his focus to Iceglow- who hadn't escaped in his moment of weakness! Well, of course not! He's one of our best warriors, Tinyleaf thought to himself, disregarding the easy fact that he'd call just about anybody Sunclan's best warrior. It was hardly a competition when Sunclan itself was, well. The best! Delighted to have successfully captured his clanmate's momentary attention, he just barely held in a hop of celebration, though a quiver ran through his tail where it still held high and happy behind him. Electing to remain standing for the time being (since that felt more official), he turned over a paw to look down at the pink pad in only partial interest. "Oh, I'm not hurt at all!" It'd take a lot more than a fall to keep him off his toes. Moons of reckless tumbling had toughened him into a sturdy stunt performer. Bruises, do your worst! "It's nice of you to check, though..."

Returning his paw to its rightful place, he blinked back towards Iceglow, tall and composed and infamous for his smooth talking. Tinyleaf wasn't half as grounded, and he hoped that wouldn't betray him in their exchange... Oh, right! The exchange! Maybe sticking that impressive landing would give him an advantage towards earning the other cat's report. After all, a strong warrior was one worth reporting to! With the slight, fumbling tone of a cat trying to regain their opening, he replied to the immediate inquiry. "Well, um- I've actually been wanting to talk to you! I saw you passing and thought the birds could use a break!" Tactfully avoiding the word squirrel, (it'd be embarrassing if his stomach rumbled right now), he advanced a step, neck inclining just a degree more in the process of straining the gap that allowed them some semblance of eye level conversation. While he'd planned to keep things subtle for deniability, it was hard not to let sincerity overtake him as his voice shifted to a hopeful, probing mew. "You're part of a new project, right? I might not be involved, but I've noticed the den's emptier at night. Is everything alright? Pulling warriors out so late must mean you're handling important business." Ideally, it wouldn't be dire business. While basically everyone already knew about the formation of a night patrol, the details were still foggy, and it was the details that mattered when it came to why this and why now and why you.

The name didn't click at first; Not when Tinyleaf had never had a nickname before, not since his time in the nursery. It made processing this one all the sweeter. In the visible moment where he realized who Tines was, he couldn't help his whiskers bristling out at the shock of such immediate hospitality! "Me? You'd go out with me?" It almost seemed too good to be true! Here he'd dropped down hoping to get a full report, only to be offered a full fledged tag-along! Following the tension in his muzzle, his pelt followed suit, bushing out excitedly as if to rival Iceglow in broadness- a losing battle, even still. Staring wide and excited up at the hovering tom, Tinyleaf's paws jittered beneath him, a short dance of anticipation. "Would you really? Well, that's just.. It's fantastic! I-I've been wanting to see for a while! But, Turtlefang said I'm not allowed, so- Well, that doesn't matter. We should! I would! Um- When?"

The reassurances shouldn't have been enough to halt his worries, but the wink certainly was. Brain stuttering to an immediate stop, it seemed like Tinyleaf no longer needed the shredder in his head to tear all his doubts to shreds. Iceglow seemed to have a mystical power all their own, erupting all mental processes into a haze of bubbles! Well. He does seem very sure of himself, he concluded, blinking slow at the bigger cat's blue eyes, now both configured post-wink. "Tomorrow..." It still felt a little itchy to the back of his head, but how was he to argue with a cat who seemed to have everything under control? In fact, who was he to argue ever, period? This was his clanmate! If he could trust anyone's word, it was the big, brave Iceglow's.

"Um- Yes!" Awakening from his momentary daze, his tail swished in shy affirmation, stirring the leaffall beneath it in a flurry of brown movement. With his orange fur in the mix, it could almost be mistaken for mid-autumn already. Distantly, Tinyleaf wondered if the two of them might stand out in the darkness, all white and ginger and bright the way they were. But- "I guess you've got it all figured out!" A smaller smile reforming on his expression, the little tabby made a play swipe back at Iceglow, parroting the prior motion as the best failsafe he had under his pelt for friendly interaction. "I'll hold you to it, so don't get in trouble. Or else!" Despite the attempt at jest, even his staged threat seemed to lack the capacity for the performative, exaggerated tone most sarcasm usually came with, like copying a dialogue you didn't entirely understand outside of basic recitation. Like all things Tinyleaf, it was a cheerful declaration, without even a hint of irony to inhibit it!

Tinyleaf had been so preoccupied with Iceglow that his senses had entirely skimmed the warning signs of Crowflame's approach. In retrospect, it should've been obvious. The two were rarely parted for long, just like him and Fawnheart, and there'd been shifting of grass, the scent of a clanmate in the wind- he'd almost marked it all up to lingering signs, nothing more than remnants of the morning patrols. But that'd been foolish! What's with that, being so distracted? The poor guy couldn't help but jump a little at xeir emergence into the conversation, even as slow and casual as it was. Blinking vacantly at the molly, a greeting died on the warrior's tongue as key words and their implications danced like fireflies in his brain, dimming intermittently with every glow of understanding as his mind fizzled out. Not wanting to overthink. But overthinking anyway!

"Chummy!" His voice burst out a little too loud, a nervous laugh already overtaking him. "Well, that's!" Tinyleaf nonchalantly shuffled back from the yellow glow of eyes on him, but more significantly, opened a wider berth between him and the brother in question. Pointedly! A strange heat seemed to fill his ears with cotton, muffling the environment and boosting the sound of his pulse in his awareness. Suddenly, he couldn't help but remember his initial hesitance to jump down to meet Iceglow again, and the exact reasoning behind it that particular cats had noticed- or maybe not? Maybe it was a joke? It was kind of hard to tell when Crowflame was joking, honestly. With that same awkwardly placed smile, a wild edge beginning to set in, Tinyleaf went on rambling a good several words ahead of his thought process. "I was just out here to look for- Well, I was trying to figure some things out, and what do you know, there goes Iceglow! So, I came down to meet him, and then- I guess it looked pretty chummy, huh? But that's just how nice he is! Um. So my intentions were actually entirely.. incidental! We were just having a passing conversation, right? Nothing complicated! Or- I mean-" With a glance towards the pointed ginger for affirmation, he stuttered to a halt with a final conclusion, tail puffed and lashing against the backs of his hind paws. Reboot. "It's always nice to spend time with my clanmates!" With how brightly he finished, Tinyleaf could almost be confused for someone who hadn't spent the last few seconds panicking for an excuse up until realizing he didn't need one. He realized it himself, the way his green eyes dropped to the ground, studying the grass below paw with the intensity of a new scholar.