Whiskers

Of a Feather

When Knight returned two hours later with his right arm and left leg dripping blood, Jared felt like his lion was going to break free and just start tearing up the house. 

"Aww, look at you being all angry kitten and such because I got a few scratches." Knight joked as he stepped inside from the back patio door, wincing at the action before quickly hiding his frown. 

I'm going to angry kitten your face you cocky chicken. He thought, not bothering to withhold the words from going to Knight as he stomped forward and easily lifted the bastard into his arms. 

"Let go of me! I can walk by my damn self!" He screeched, his hawk side slipping through as he tried to squirm out of his grasp. 

Jared ignored him until they were in the bathroom and he was able to nudge the door shut with his foot. The second he set Knight down, the guy swung at him with a tight fist. 

A little predictable there, chicken. 

Jared ducked the blow easily, then blocked the next two before pulling the frustrating guy against his chest. It looked like a hug, but he was really just tired of dodging and wanted to get him to calm down some. 

"Can I get a status report on your brother before you try, and fail, to knock me out for being the slightest bit worried about your bullet wounds?" He asked, raising both of his eyebrows at the still-struggling shifter in his arms. 

He knew that Knight's attitude wasn't completely his fault. The stress from Palace's situation was likely a decent part of the cause, and he had no doubt that the brothers shared a strong bond, so he might even be feeling whatever Palace was at that moment on top of his own stress.

"I know you're worried, but you need to calm down so we can figure out what we're going to do about this situation." 

Knight shook his head rapidly and shoved Jared hard, sending him stumbling back against the door. He brought his arms up to block any oncoming attack, but to his surprise, Knight took a step back and grabbed fistfuls of his messy hair. 

"He doesn't want us to come!" He rasped, his words breaking from the stress in his voice. 

Jared wanted to think that Palace's words made no sense, but if he thought about it from his point of view, and if things were that bad... He stepped forward when he noticed strands of hair gathering in Knight's hands that were no longer attached to his head. 

"Hey, we'll figure this out. We won't leave your brother where he is." He said reassuringly as he reached forward, gently working one of Knight's hands free. A good amount of his soft hair drifted to the floor at their feet. 

He pursed his lips and grasped the hand he'd taken, which was digging its nails into his palm, then lifted his free one to remove the other before Knight could do more damage to himself. 

"Knight, I need you to calm down." He said at the same time he thought soothing messages to him. 

His hair was beginning to stand on end, bringing Jared to release one of his hands to lift his own. He gently ran his fingers through the stiffening strands, coaxing them back down. Once he felt Knight's other hand relax, he released it and moved his hand to the small of his back, rubbing there in soothing circles. 

"That's it. Deep breaths. We'll fix this situation, but we need to have clear heads." He said quietly, finally feeling Knight's mind allow him in. It was hectic and confusing, but Jared closed his eyes and settled his forehead against Knight's and just focused on projecting his own calmness to him. 

It took them a few minutes before Knight gently nudged Jared back and took a deep breath. His hair was mostly back down and his eyes didn't look nearly as wild.