Whiskers

Regression

"He's been pacing since Knight had spoken with him two days ago." Jared said as he flipped through a few papers on a clipboard while he headed toward the kitchen with his brother. 

They intended to pick the shifter's food up, then bring it over and see if they could get some sort of response from him. Just to be sure that they had his attention, they hadn't fed him the previous day. He'd been so full that he hadn't touched the carrot that still remained near the feeding panel, so they had decided against offering him better food in the hopes that they can get him to shift for them again. 

Granted, he likely hadn't cared about them at all. It was probably all Knight. 

Thankfully, the diet was ready when they arrived at the kitchen, and Jared handed the clipboard to his brother in order to carry the heavy tray. Jamie could have easily done it himself, but Jared had always seen him as a younger brother, even though they were twins. Jamie never argued about Jared taking over most of the harder work, but if he wasn't allowed to help with other people around, he could definitely get upset. 

Stepping into the observation room, he set the tray down near the opening, then turned his attention up to the monitor his brother was already watching. 

"He's still pacing in the back. Let's see if we can get him to come over first?" Jamie said as he knelt next to the door and picked up a raw chicken drumstick. 

Jared wasn't too keen on his brother putting his hand through the opening, but he didn't want to argue right then. So, instead, he pursed his lips and looked back up at the monitor. 

"Alright. I'll let you know what he's doing." Jared said. 

Jamie licked his lips and opened the metal flap, then carefully slid his hand with the chicken grasped in it inside. 

"Incoming." Jared said right away, drawing Jamie's eyes up to the screen. 

Palace was stalking toward them quickly. Jamie noticed that he was holding his wings up slightly as he moved. He must be beginning to feel better. When Palace got closer, Jamie split his attention between the opening and the cameras. 

To their surprise, he sat down, then shifted right away. Jamie expected him to take the food, but his eyes widened when Palace just tossed the piece of chicken aside and grasped his hand tightly. 

Stay calm. He's not showing aggression yet. Jared thought into his mind, getting a slight nod from Jamie in response. 

Palace relaxed his hold after a minute, likely when he realized that Jamie wasn't going to pull away. He then began actually examining Jamie's hand, holding it carefully with both of his as he pressed down on his palm and fingers randomly. 

"Hey... Pal?" Jamie asked hesitantly. 

When he got a growl in response, he bit his lower lip to keep quiet. Palace nudged and sniffed at his hand for another minute before his grip suddenly got much stronger. 

Starting to hurt, bro. Jamie thought to his brother, who quickly knelt down next to the small opening. 

"Palace, release my brother." He stated, putting a little authority into his voice. 

When his words were met with a second growl, Jamie saw his brother lift his upper lip, just barely holding back his own grumble. 

"Do you want something? You are hurting my brother and I do not think that is appropriate, considering he was just offering you food." Jared said, his words carefully void of emotion this time. 

Jamie winced when Palace tightened his hold even more, but after another few seconds, he slowly relaxed his grip enough to stop the pain he had been causing. The two brothers waited another few minutes before Palace finally responded in a harsh, raspy voice.