The long-haired ginger tom stopped, his ears twitching. He swore he thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. It wasn't unusual for other cats to be out at night. With a soft sigh, Heartbeat turned to see another warrior standing in the moonlit clearing. He wondered if the other cat was out tonight to escape from the mundane routines of the daytime too. For a second, Heartbeat was tempted to turn away but he had a sudden urge just to say something which was very unusual for the tom. But perhaps his mixed feelings of loneliness forced him out of his typical comfort zone.

"Finding p-peace in the stars too?" he stammered, glancing down at his paws.

Good. A question. Now the conversation wouldn't fizzle into some sort of awkward smiling contest, until one cat walked off bored of the lack of conversation and the other, typically Heartbeat, walked off ashamed the conversation had been another failure. He had never talked to Pythoncrush before but he didn't to seem to be an outgoing cat either. This made Heartbeat relax a little. "I'm not sure..." he replied, "but in all honesty it's my escape from busy clan life." He glanced at his paws again but then remembered making eye contact was important, as he'd been told a thousand times by other cats who had tried and failed to get the ginger tom out of his shell.

Heartbeat felt a slight smile cross his face. At this point in a conversation he would have typically retreated to place of comfort, a place alone. However, the fact that they both seemed to be able communicate even through their social awkwardness seemed to make it somehow less awkward. Glancing up at the shining moon, Heartbeat sighed "day time is always so busy. Every cat always seems to have a goal - something to do, somecat to annoy. Sometimes I just enjoy watching it all take place in front of me but..." He trailed off, realizing for the first time how open he was being to this other cat. It was weird. Extremely weird.

"That's the thing w-with clan life..." nodded Heartbeat, "it's a l-little busy at points." He couldn't help the slight stutter in his voice, it was something that was triggered often and he had became used to it. The stutter had simply become another added thing to his life of stress and fear. His mother had died in her sleep and ever since Heartbeat feared nighttime and going to sleep. He often thought he too might drift into sleep and never wake up again. It was most certainly something he thought about often. He'd never talked about this to someone else, he had never had enough confidence to so. However, as usual, he brushed these thoughts to the back of his mind. Sure - Pythoncrush seemed to be the most understanding and relatable cat he had met so far in his whole - which was pretty amazing but his mind pushed the words away. The other tom wouldn't care anyway. No one ever did.

The fluffy ginger tom felt a lump rising in his throat. His emotions and thoughts were always so random. One minute he'd been delighted in the fact that he met a new friend that he could so easily relate with but at the same time, he felt trapped again.

Heartbeat paused at the other tom's reply. It felt as if he too was holding something back. It troubled him that they both seemed so alike, yet so distant all of a sudden. He wanted to reassure the other tom, tell him it was okay to share. But how could he do that when he was holding a brick wall in front of him twenty-four-seven as well? It annoyed him more than he liked. Oh, why did life have to be like this? Why did he always have to overthink things? Well, to hell with it, the other tom seemed nice, a little prying couldn't hurt either of them... right?

"Y-you wonder w-what?" He asked, sitting down next to the other tom. He felt slightly shaky. He hoped the other tom wouldn't feel offended but what was said was said now.

Glancing at Pythoncrush, relief tumbled off of Heartbeat. He felt sad for the other tom. He too often felt like an outsider; perhaps in a different sense to Pythoncrush, he wasn't sure, but he knew the feeling all too well. It was a horrible feeling, one he was scared to express as well but if Pythoncrush trusted him, he felt like he could trust the other tom as well. "I know what you're talking about... sadly," he meowed. "Well, I don't know what you've been through and all b-but sometimes I feel so... I-I don't know, like it's m-me against the whole world. L-like I don't know, it's weird."

He felt strangely protective of the other tom as if now that they had both shared their feelings, they had some sort of strong connection. Gosh... why was he being like this? This was so different for him.

ahhh i know right? it's so cute and fluffy <3

Pythoncrush seemed so genuine and nice, it almost concerned Heartbeat. Why hadn't he met cats like this before? Where had they all been hiding all of his life? C'mon now, there must be an explanation somewhere... Right? Perhaps not. "T-thanks..." he muttered, dipping his head. He truly was thankful. He was glad he had gone out his way to talk to this other cat. What if he hadn't? Life would probably just continue onwards, slowly and surely. That was how it always was. "And I mean it." He grinned, "I-I don't know how to say it but... I've n-never met somecat like you before..."