"Latte! What in the stars are you doing up there?"
Silvercrown's cry of concern and light scolding echoed down the hallway as they hurried towards Latteloop, who at the moment was balancing rather precariously on an old ladder. "Where did you even find that? If a breeze came in you'd fall and then-" He was cut off as Latteloop, their parent, waved their paw in a light dismissal of the concerns.
"Funny you should say that actually, I'm up here for that exact reason," they climbed down the ladder, stretching as they got their paws back on solid ground.
"I- huh- I mean pardon?"
Latteloop grimaced a little as they heard their back pop from the stretching.
Part of getting old, I suppose. "Winter just hit, and I know there's always complaints about the cold, so I went a fixin'. I've been going around patching up all the cracks in the walls where the breezes came in, before it got nasty, y'know? Those I could reach, anyways... almost had this one done before you got here. I'm alright, I know what I'm doing, no need to worry kiddo. I've got it under control." They narrowed their gaze at the monarch. "You didn't come here to tell me it's time to retire again, did you?"
Silvercrown went silent as Latteloop nailed the guess on their response right on the head. That
was their next intended remark, and Latte knew it. Worst of all, their hesitation on a reply only confirmed this. "Um, I mean, well, you don't
have to retire, it's just that you do so much already and I'm just... worried about you. Cinnamonswirl is too, and the apothecaries, and..."
"No, no, hey. I understand. I'm stubborn and old," they shrugged and admitted it, much to Silvercrown's surprise. "I get up every morning and I work all day and sometimes all night. I hurt my back and everywhere else and I just shrug it off and keep going. Wish I didn't, but I do."
Silvercrown frowned in response, "What do you mean? I thought you kept doing all this because you loved doing it so much?"
The old cat chuckled. "There's a lot you've yet to learn, some I hope you never have to. What I went through made me who I was and for that I'm thankful for it and the skills it gave me, but... well, you're right in a way. I do enjoy my work, it keeps me busy, but honestly, it's really tiring y'know. When I was younger it was a little different. I didn't get to relax, didn't have as many choices in my life for what I wanted to do- just had the one already picked out for me, and I had to work all day to earn my spot in my family and get treated with respect, so that's what I've done all my life. I'd redo it if I could, I guess, stand up and tell myself that I don't have to prove my worth through constant physical labor. I worked my hardest to give you and your sibling a better life than I had, more freedom to choose what you wanted and hey, I'd say I did a pretty good job. I mean look at you two, leading this whole place! I mean, even if you decided you suddenly wanted to do something completely different that'd be fine too- a little strange but hey, that's the fun thing about having that choice. I just wish I could go back and give myself the opportunity to make these choices knowing what I know now- but that's a long while ago and you can't change the past." They stared off into the distance at nothing in particular for a moment, before shaking their head to clear their thoughts. "Stars kid, you got me rambling again!"
Silvercrown took it all in for a moment, considering what they'd just learned. "I guess you can't go back, but um, you can always make new decisions to change the now or the future? There's nothing to stop you now from enjoying life the way you really want to, or even trying new things."
He watched Latteloop give it a thought, the gears turning in their head. "Normally I'd call that a little cliche, but I think you just might be onto something here. Yeah, maybe I'll give that a shot, take a little break and think things over," they ruffled Silvercrown's hair, "after I get this last bit of wall patched up. Hold the ladder, will you?"
