Elaborate on Pushdragon and Sylvani friendship posthaste.....
With *pleasure*, friend.
-Sylvani met Pushdragon during Protector training camp, back when he reached training age (this was *way* back when Deuteronomy was still assisting in training the future protectors, though he retired a few years later). She, being a year older, was paired with him for exercises and drills, because her previous partner had graduated. They had literally never spoken to one another beforehand, but Sylvani knew *of* him because everyone in the Junkyard knew of this particular kitten; he was way too loud *not* to know him. Deuteronomy, he later revealed, paired them together for a reason but he never said what that reason was. Maybe because he thought they'd be a good balance for one another - or maybe he just needs the whole team to trust one another so he'll often pair the ones who seem like they trust each other the least until they learn to do so. Either way, that's how they were stuck for at least an hour every other day.
Sylvani absolutely could not stand him at first and he drove her up the wall with his constant chatter and putting spiders in her hair and being literally the most slippery cat she'd ever had to try pinning down (the "Rumpus Cat" likes to wrestle, what can I say?), and he thought she was bossy and stuck up and she always fought dirty which was *rude*, so their relationship was very "I'm only with you because Deuteronomy said I had to be", which was fine with him. (Though his constant seeking of the spotlight and being the center of attention would suggest otherwise, Pushdragon *genuinely* doesn't care if you actually like him or not; your loss).
When Sylvani's older brother was killed in a hunting accident (he was a couple years older than them and had been around to help with the younger trainees), it was difficult not to notice how hard it hit her. It was her last surviving family member after all. She basically disappeared from training for a week straight, and was gloomy and distracted when she did make it.
Pushdragon, having finally had enough of it, found her hiding spot one evening and climbed up onto the box and peered inside, scaring her to death. He tossed a biscuit at her and said that she should come back because he didn't like his new partner. Even after she asked him to go away, he stared at her and, in a move uncharacteristic for him, he said sorry; asked if she wanted to talk about it. When she said no, he shrugged and said it was okay and sat above her in silence for the rest of the evening, his tail rhythmically tapping an echo into the cardboard. They've been friends ever since.
-They were sneaking out and getting into trouble as older teenagers literally every night, getting into all sorts of crazy shenanigans, and bailing each other out when they took it a step too far - they couldn't even take their scolding too seriously because they would just glance at each other and start snickering.
-They actually have more in common than one would assume because Sylvani generally comes across as the more level headed and calm nowadays. In reality, she's just as blunt and stubborn and playfully arrogant as he is, and while she speaks her mind in a more measured way most times, she's hot-headed if prompted, and if you listen, they basically say the exact same things - Pushdragon just usually says it louder. They both have a similar sense of humour, and Sylvani's sarcasm balances out the more whimsical and long winded nature of Pushdragon's stories. They both took their duties as Protectors very seriously, they're both dangerous to be *legitmately* messed with (both of them have a bite *far* worse than their bark could ever be), and they both have the "I'll retire when I'm dead" attitude.
-They can sometimes go weeks without seeing each other, but every time they get back together it's like no time has passed at all and he'll greet her by pouncing on her and tackling her to the ground and they'll wrestle like they were kittens again (though more than once they've had to just lay down and catch their breath with a giggled hang on I think I may have pulled something - get off of me you big oaf)
-Sylvani turned him into a pescatarian and is always telling him everything straight and honest (and has more than once smacked him over the head and told him to get it out of his ass) which he doesn't always appreciate but he listens.
-They people and cat watch a lot together; you'll often see the two of them perched on top of the oven just...staring. Openly. No shame whatsoever. They're nosy.
-He jokingly flirts with her all the time because he flirts with *everyone* all the time, and she will match his energy because Sylvani is *also* huge flirt, but neither of them mean anything by it. Neither of them like the other in that way, and they've been doing so for nearly 30 years. They also both have romantic attatchement anxiety, so it all works out.
Sylvani has been known to use him to get rid of cats who just cannot seem to get the hint that she is not interested (she'll toss eyes at him across the yard and he'll snicker and hop up to help her and vice versa), often exhageratedly throwing her arm around his waist and saying "See, I'd love to but my mate just would *not* be happy about it in the slightest - he gets very jealous, you know."
And without hesitation he'll toss his arm over her shoulder in turn and say: "You heard the lady. Get lost." Which usually sends them packing, and will often joke: "Let's have a kiss then to make it look real." And she'll shove him off with a snipped "In your dreams," and it doesn't matter how many times they've done this, he still finds it hilarious.
-Pushdragon calls her twins "Tantopat" because he still to this day cannot tell them apart; they used to ask him to toss them up in the air and he'd oblige and laugh when they floated down. As a fellow weird catTM, Sylvani did appreciate that she could bring the twins along with her and he'd just take everything they did in stride.
-And to be *really* self indulgent, Sylvani helped Pushdragon out with Pettipaws when her mother left her to him because he'd never actually been responsible for a kitten before. Having been in a similar position with her own children, she understood better than perhaps anyone, as she had to do it alone, too.
I think Petti likes Cori and Tanto a lot because when they play princess with her, they act as her royal advisors and give her legitimate political problems to solve with her stuffed animals. Which is pretty sick.
