It had been a while since Fogbreeze had lost the scent of a stranger floating on the wind. Jaws agape and honeyed eyes scanning, he'd scented and scented and scented, but shortly after his pursuit the scent had gone stale, drifting away. Rosemary hill was notorious for the scents that permeated the air and thus, made it all the more difficult to track a bounty. 

Now, he moseyed, eyes glued to the ground he tread, pawfalls almost silent. Now he thought to visit the clan's burial grounds and reminisce on his family. It'd been a while since he'd last seen his kin, and now he'd been left alone. Turns out one's unchecked rough, though harmless, exterior would drive just about everyone away. Who knew. He guessed he'd been spoiled by Stonefur's perseverance, when he'd deign to associate himself with the stout tom. Now he'd just have to deal with his own company.

The tom huffed, the pungent scent of rosemary coating his senses as he padded through, feeling the dirt shift between his toes, his claws just barely scraping the ground beneath him. Working as a tunneller, spending most of his time in the dark, dank shafts, his eyesight isn't as sharp as his clanmates, so he was pretty much down two senses which made him slightly uneasy. 

Blades of overgrown grass snagged in his pelt, the grass rustling against itself as he moved, and much to his chagrin, he had allowed himself to be blindsided by the massive tom he'd only moments been thinking about. Golden eyes met Stonefur's. 

Ba-bum.

Heartbeats passed. Obviously Stonefur wouldn't be interacting first. Of course not. A tufted ear flicked uncertainly - the only sign of unease - and Fogbreeze's mouth went dry. The frown the other tom threw his way caused disappointment to twinge through him, though he'd never let him know. Deep down, he'd expected no less.

Ba-bum.

With a twitch of his tail, an effortless smirk fell onto the tom's face, a familiar character taking over. 

"Well, hello there, sweetheart." He purred. "What brings you to the hill on this fine Sundown? Searching me out?" Fogbreeze winked, his eyes then sliding along the terrain. Obviously no one else from Prarieclan had been out here with them, but that didn't mean he wouldn't tease the other. "Or someone else?" 

Fogbreeze tsk'd at Stonefur's tone of voice as he responded, turning his gaze down to the earth between the two felines. His heart had slowed and the tightness in his stomach had eased the longer they stood there. General distaste for their presence would do that to someone. His fur tingled with unease, but he maintained that mischievous glint in his amber eyes. 

I caught scent of a loner. I lost it. Now I'm going home. "How boring. But I assume I was on the same trail as you, I also lost it some ways over the hill." Fogbreeze paused, observing the other tom. He always forgot just how much Stonefur towered over him. He'd never been unnerved by it before, but now things were different. He was unapproachable, distant, his height making him seem all the more unreachable.

"Surely we shouldn't come back empty pawed? That wouldn't look very good on us. We've got reputations to uphold, darlin'." He purred. "Unless you might actually keel over from baskin' in my very presence for too long." The tone in Fogbreeze's voice was teasing, though he felt as though he spit out those last words. It wasn't easy knowing just how deep Stonefur's distaste for him ran and didn't seem to ease after all the time that had passed. Fogbreeze missed his company, and the way he let his teasing roll off him like water on a duck's back. Now he often thought twice about what he said, Stonefur's silence making his words turn rancid in his mouth. What he'd give to have things back to how they used to be.

I'm going to hunt. You do as you wish.

Fogbreeze hesitated. That... well, it wasn't an invitation but he also hadn't explicitly said not to tag along. Everything in him told him he should go off on his own, tail between his legs like a mouse heart but something kept him planted where he was. Whiskers twitched as he studied the back of Stonefur's head. For a few heartbeats, he couldn't will his paws to move.

Finally, bounding to cover the space, he followed just beside Stonefur. 

"Now what kinda clanmate would I be to let you hunt all by your lonesome? The least I could do is accompany you. My eyesight might not be the best but I can sniff out a vole a tree length away." He was boasting. He knew Stonefur wouldn't be impressed. Why couldn't he just appreciate the small opening he was given and keep his stupid mouth shut? His heart picked up speed again, his lips drawing together tightly. 

He never thought he'd be here, hunting with Stonefur again, and suddenly he had bees in his brain. He waited for Stonefur to speak, if he even would. 

Fogbreeze flicked his tail, watching the twinge of thoughts whirl on Stonefur's face. It wasn't obvious. Never was. But the way his eyes searched the area absently, he was far away in his own head and the muscles that tightened on the toms face were nearly imperceptible. He'd used to watch them all the time when things were right between them. Amber eyes searched for something more, but found nothing to work on.

The fact he hadn't spat at him or told him to sod off had to be a good thing. Right? 

Then do that, Stonefur uttered tersely. Sniff out a vole. 

He shouldn't be surprised Stonefur took him up on that.

Whiskers twitched as he scented the air. He hadn't considered the pungent scent of rosemary clinging to his senses, his fur, the air. It was almost as if he were chewing on the sprigs himself. But there, just in the undertones of the the flora, there was sweet. Miniscule, but detectable. 

They were downwind, thank Starclan, and as he angled his ears he heard the scurrying of a small creature. 

"Smell that?" His voice dropped, directing Stonefur with a flick of his tail, his eyes focused where he suspected the animal was scavenging food. He didn't wholy trust himself to carry out the hunt. Like he said, his eyesight wasn't 100%.