"have you given them names?" crookedstar's voice is soft, distant - graystripe wouldn't have heard him if it weren't for how cramped riverclan's nursery is.
mosspelt is fast asleep, the two kittens curled at her side; graystripe feels a deep stab in his chest when he realizes that he's still expecting to see silverstream there instead, with the life they should have had together.
"i....did," graystripe knows that by now, crookedstar has decided to not be outright hostile to him anymore - his grief over silverstream is too overwhelming. but graystripe can't help but be cautious, afraid of one misstep ending in him being exiled from riverclan and away from his son and daughter.
crookedstar turns to look at him, his green eyes questioning; he stares for a few moments, before gesturing for graystripe to speak.
"i named the molly featherkit," he murmurs, twitching his whiskers. "her....she has this fluffy little tail, and we....silverstream and i, she liked the sound of it. it just kind of fit."
"featherkit," crookedstar repeats, turning the name over in his mind. graystripe waits for the hiss, the annoyance that he didn't ask crookedstar for his thoughts on any names - but the tom doesn't seem angry at all. mostly just sad. "featherkit. that's a good name."
"and the boy...," graystripe looks at his son, tilting his head. "silverstream....she told me that if we had a son, she wanted to name him stormkit. that was the only name she kept saying - he has to be named stormkit. and....i really like it; it fits him, with his coat and all..." graystripe blinks. "so his name is stormkit. she wanted him to have that."
crookedstar is silent for a long time; graystripe frowns, turning to look at the old tomcat, to see crookedstar's face tight with emotion, staring down at little stormkit.
"crookedstar?" graystripe whispers, frowning. "did i..."
"she wanted to name him that?" crookedstar asks, his voice soft and broken. he turns to look at graystripe, and graystripe can see the mixture of emotions - grief and heartbreak, but a little bit of what seems like joy as well. surprise, even.
"yeah," graystripe says, confused. "do you..." graystripe blinks. "do you like it?"
"that's a good name for him," crookedstar says, nodding. "it's perfect."
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