not aggressive, unstable

WHO: Grayson and Kayos.
WHERE: Out and about.
WHEN: Another time, another place.

Their lives weren't all safe houses and casual games of cards where they bet matchsticks or buttons or whatever else they happened to have lying around, simple, peaceful activities that belied the real world outside where everything was chaotic and dark and painful. No, a great deal of their lives nowadays were taken up with danger and difficulty, in overcoming the odds and throwing themselves into the fray headfirst, all guns blazing. That was what they were there to do. It wasn't easy, it wasn't comfortable, it wasn't safe or quiet. It was everything that you grew up thinking you would be able to live without. Grayson had perhaps come into this life with something of an unfair advantage, given his status as a werewolf, and a dominant one at that. Much of his life before everything had gone to hell had been violent and tumultuous, vicious and tense. When he'd lived with a pack, there had been power struggles and challenges week in and week out, and if you didn't keep on your toes around other dominant wolves then you could lose more than your pride and dignity. He had seen more than one wolf in his time lose more than they could afford, whether it be a limb, an eye or an ear, or their whole throats. Lycanthropes weren't exactly the most mellow of races, and when everything had gone south and turned to shit, Grayson hadn't turned and run the other way. Rather, he'd held his chin up and asked what needed to be done. He was a fighter, he always had been, and maybe it was sad and a sign that he was slipping in ways that supernaturals ought not to slip, but sometimes he loved nothing more than a good, gritty fight. It helped him blow off steam, sated the wolf in ways food and other simple pleasures couldn't, and at the end of it all, if he was still breathing and the enemy wasn't, then he could go home happy and get a good night's sleep.

There hadn't been time to transform. Not yet. Turning away from the anarchy beyond the crumbled, broken wall and putting his shoulder blades solidly against the old dirty bricks, he ejected the clip from the gun in his hand, eyeing the magazine and the bullets residing there. Four. Well. That was a problem. Normally he didn't go in for guns or knives, but he'd learned over time, mostly in recent years with everything so fucked up and uncertain, that having a weapon handy was anything but absurd. In the past he would have turned his nose up at firearms and other weapons; he had his own natural set, fangs and claws and speed and strength, but if he didn't have the time or space to change? Well, then being unarmed was as good as being dead. Better to go against all your principles and live than stick with them stubbornly and not have a chance. Blue eyes shot through with feral gold eyed his surroundings before something solid, a projectile of some kind propelled at high speed, slammed a chunk out of the top of the wall, driving a harsh, snarled curse out of his mouth and forcing him to shuffled down lower to avoid losing the top of his head. Ramming the clip back into the butt of the gun, he growled deep in his throat. He needed one of two things: more ammo, or backup.

While Kayos wasn't necessarily 'ammunition' she was considered pretty good to have as backup. And she came with ammunition of her own, so that usually helped out. It also helped that she had people electronically tagged, and when their vitals spiked up into ridiculous levels, she got the heads up, and then teleported into their location.

Her arrival was as it usually was, announced by a flash of blueish light, and then where there wasn't a Kayos a second ago, there was now. She immediately dropped down, as something got fired at her and she was down on her knees, next to Grayson. "...so, how's things, Jack?" she asked, pulling her own gun.

If anyone was going to pop up out of thin air, honestly he was glad it was someone like Kayos, or more to the point, Kayos herself. "Oh, they've been better," he responded dryly, taking a moment to peer around the edge of the wall only to pull back a second later when their crumbling shelter came under fire again. "I think I made some new friends. They seem a little rough around the edges, but they're not so bad once you get to know them, really." Naturally it was just Grayson being Grayson, grumbling about the situation under the cover of humour. Honestly said new 'friends' were trying his patience, and it was all he could do not to go man-wolf hybrid on their asses and see how many pieces they were composed of.

"Oh, and I'm nearly out of ammo, but whatever. You?" His blue-gold eyes landed on her face, and he couldn't help but give her a smirk. Sure, things seemed crappy, bullets were flying and there was every risk of getting shot and badly wounded, but at least he had some good company.

Kayos winked. "Well, I had been home curled up with hot cocoa, watching a romantic comedy, but y'know, I just had this funny feeling you were in trouble, so I thought I'd drag myself--" she paused, firing three rounds around the corner before ducking back again. "--out to bail you out." she finished. Not that she actually had anyplace she called home. Or that she'd be caught dead watching a romantic comedy. Cocoa she could handle but she didn't have any. Maybe after this. She could nab him, and they could go someplace where they weren't getting shot at. Sounded like a good plan to her. "So your new buddies..." she said, pausing to fire off the last three rounds in her revolver before she ducked back again, upending the chamber so it dumped the spent shells onto the ground and she grabbed a speedloader from her pocket to drop six new ones in. "Not sure I'm a fan, you don't mind if I happen to like shoot a few of them and maybe start electrocutions, right?"

That was one thing he could always count on Kayos for; she made any situation bearable, even fun, just by being Kayos. Grayson couldn't help but laugh, despite the situation and the odds piled against them, shaking his head. "You know what? I think they're kind of lacking in manners, so I don't mind at all." He tossed her a grin. "Just so long as you don't mind covering me while I make one of my trademark not-quite-kamikaze runs à la lycanthrope?" It was an effective albeit hazardous way to fight, but his hybrid form certainly came in useful, and he might as well have some fun while Kayos was around to watch his back.

She glanced back at him and smirked. "Well, because you asked so nicely...." she said. "But before you do...what exactly are the new pals?" she asked. Since depending on what they happened to be, she'd switch up her strategy. So knowing what she was up against would be awesome.

Grayson gave Kayos a look. "You think I've been able to get close enough to find out?" His head tilted sharply to the side, a kind of 'really now' expression flitting over his face. "As soon as they caught sight of me, they just started shooting. I don't know what the fuck they are, but they figured me out quickly enough." Briefly he considered calling them cheaters before deciding against it and spinning the gun in his hand. "Here, go nuts." He had no use for it with Kayos watching his back long enough for him to be able to transform.

"You just do that because you know I love the action hero bit." Kayos accused affectionately, taking the gun. She liked her revolver, really, she could switch out different types of ammunition really quicklike. But bullets were bullets and she was good with a gun that didn't need reloading as often. "So, you're going to go in, all claws and teeth, and I'm going to shoot at things, and we'll call it a night, go patch up wounds and have a drink?" she suggested.

"Just make sure not to shoot me," he pointed out teasingly. "We both know I've got more than enough scars already, right?" It was Grayson's turn to wink, his eyes flooding fully wolfen afterwards and an eager growl riding up like a roll of thunder. "First round's on you," he grumbled thickly, but not darkly, tossing her a smirk before he shifted to pull off his jacket. He could transform without shedding his clothing, it would just mean shaking it all off afterwards, but clothes first and change second was more practical. As eager as he was, Grayson could be practical.

"Hey. Chicks dig scars." Kayos told him with a grin. "But if you insist, I'll totally not shoot you. It'd cut into our drinking time any--" she stopped mid-word, to fire around the corner again, laying down cover, using Grayson's gun to do so. He got the gist. She wanted to make sure if they were firing in their direction that they were firing at her right this second, not at the changing werewolf. Even if part of her kinda sorta wanted to peek. She was a little more intelligent than that, so she just did what she needed to, firing. She also was paying attention to where the shots returned were coming from. "....two on the right." she related. "I think three on the left." She paused as another chunk was taken out of the wall, and she felt the debris hit her cheek. "Possibly four." she corrected herself.

It was more than a little challenging for Grayson to concentrate on Kayos' chatter whilst he was transforming but he managed reasonably enough, no doubt thanks to practice that hadn't been entirely willing on his part over the years. With his clothing, right down to his shoes, scattered around where he had been crouched moments before, he kept down low in his midway form and shook out his shaggy pelt the best he could, turning bright eyes on the blonde close by, giving her the lycanthrope equivalent of a grin before jerking his muzzle to the left. He wanted to try his hand -- paw? -- at the possible four.

She glanced back. "...if you say so, Jack." she said, holding up one finger. She reloaded, then nodded. "And cover fire beginnnnnsss...now." With that she turned to do just that, laying down nicely distracting cover fire so he could do his thing, whatever that entailed at the moment.

That sharp, feral grin remained in place until Kayos moved swiftly to lay down that promised cover fire. Without a single moment of warning or hesitation, with a snarl rolling in his chest and throat, Grayson bounded agilely and speedily out from behind their shelter and made a beeline for the three-or-maybe-four off to the left. Just as Kayos had suspected, there were four of them, and they quickly fumbled amongst themselves to compensate for a lycanthrope closing in in full hybrid form. With a bellow as he got up close and personal, Grayson tackled one of the men right down and into the ground. As they slammed down into broken concrete and scattered dirt, his keen ears picked up several cracks that could only be bone, and the grin resurfaced.

Kayos kept up the fire until she saw the change there, and of course, heard the cries of surprise, and the growls. Always with the growls. Then she turned her fire onto the other group, so they didn't descend on Grayson without being invited. One surfaced in an attempt to do that, and she fired off two shots, one that bit into the side of the guy's neck with a light mist of red, the second hitting into his thigh, dropping him. He wasn't going to be getting up anytime soon, and not without a necromancer.

Of course always with the growls, he was a werewolf. Kind of came with the territory. Naturally as soon as one guy was put down in that brutal, blunt way, the other three turned their attention on him all at once. Grayson wasn't having any of it, and he quickly got to work on showing them just why lycanthropes shouldn't be underestimated, especially not those in their midway form as he was. All he had were claws and teeth, but he didn't shy away from putting them to work.

Kayos kept her eyes on where the other guy was pinned down, though she had to duck back as she was being shot at again. She reloaded her revolver, and considered a few options. In the end, she looked back around, firing off some more rounds. Enough that she got a better lay of the land, and she waited until another few blasts came in her direction. Then she teleported over to a clear spot, just a flash of light before she was at a different angle to where she had been. Which gave her a clear shot of the remaining guy who'd been on the right. That was more than she needed and she fired off another two shots, one in the throat, the other again down in the thigh. Then she stopped and listened again, trying to judge if Grayson was alright.

The flash of light was barely even a blip on the rampaging werewolf's radar as he dealt with his own opponents. They had weapons, yes, but so did he and his own couldn't be dropped or fumbled in any way, simply put to good use with an efficient snap or slash, and before long he had left wounds on each of the remaining men. Whatever they were, they weren't making it obvious, leaving Grayson in the dark as to their abilities, if they had any at all. It was while he was in the process of slamming one down to the ground with one large paw-hand that something struck him from behind. Had he been in human form, Grayson would have yelled out something along the lines of 'son of a bitch' for the cowardice of attacking him while his back was turned, but instead he simply roared and turned, slashing out and laying open the man's chest completely. He fell to the ground after that, leaving him with a single enemy. And, even though he couldn't see it, a knife in his back.

She heard the roar, and her eyes went wide. That? Wasn't a good sign. It had her moving through the darkness, towards the fight. It wasn't like she was being shot at anymore, and she wanted to see what the fuck was happening, and if he needed her. She just couldn't see where he was immediately, so she couldn't teleport without risking putting herself into a wall or another person or Grayson or something equally as horrifying. Teleportation was cool, but you had to be careful with it. She rounded a crumbling corner of a building, and saw the werewolf getting up close and personal with the only other moving target. Which was fine. Mostly, however, her eyes were glued to the blade protruding from her friend's back. fuck.

If Grayson felt the pain from the blade rammed up to the hilt in his back, he didn't show it. There was too much adrenaline and feral anger surging in waves through his body and mind for him to feel it right at that moment, and he made good use of it, snarling thickly and wetly in the back of his throat before he prowled closer to his remaining target, hackles bristling fiercely along the length of his spine, spiking up all around that buried knife, almost enough to disguise its presence. The man backed up, unable to help himself, and made a fatal mistake when he stumbled on a block of old stone and looked down and back at it. Grayson took the opportunity without delay, launching forward and slamming into the man with the force of a speeding freight train, shattering ribs. That wasn't enough for the werewolf, driving him to clamp his powerful jaws down and into flesh and bone, locking them around shoulder and just enough neck to catch an artery before he shook and then pulled, tearing. There was a wet choke from beneath him as he loomed on all fours, snarling with blood in his mouth, over the corpse, as it soon became. With the red haze of anger still enveloping his mind, Grayson didn't even notice Kayos.

Well that was brutal. Though she guessed no more brutal than the shots she tended to take, maybe it was just scarier. She scanned the area, but didn't hear anything further and really, if there were more of them, they really probably would have announced themselves by now. Not putting her gun up, just in case there was going to be some weird horror-movie-esque leap from the shadows of some assailant, she started to walk up behind Grayson--though she was noisy about it. One really never wanted to sneak up on something that could swing around and kill you without thought, so yeah. "...Jack? You okay?" she asked, knowing there was that whole knife-in-the-back thing, but she was really asking more 'mentally'. "You need medical attention, hon." Since she wasn't exactly sure he'd noticed, so much.

Brutal it might have been, but at the end of the day, Kayos should be happy for it. It was outbursts of brutality like that which kept him toeing the line in every sense of the term. He needed those releases in order to seem normal the rest of the time. When everything else had gone to shit, he just needed that. It was his way of coping. And more to the point, one of the men had hurt him. That had called for retaliation. The sounds behind him had his tall ears tipping back before his head swung around, his shoulders and upper torso pivoting too, one reddened front paw with those deadly claws still down on the ground. Now that the adrenaline and rage was wearing off, he could feel something wasn't right. Kayos' concerned statement seemed to trigger the realisation. Those bright eyes of his blinked and then he seemed to wince, shaking his head like a dog who'd gotten water in his ears. Okay, now it hurt. A low, growled groan of complaint tumbled in the back of his throat and the transformation began reversing of its own accord, leaving him down on his knees, bowed forward slightly with one hand against the ground amidst the men he'd killed. "I think you might be right," he ground out before spitting blood from his mouth onto the floor.

"Shit." she breathed, and walked forward quickly, putting one hand on his shoulder. "Hope you didn't really want those clothes." she said, the world already shifting around them as she teleported them to one of her safe houses. She had them all over, little bolt holes that she could get in and out of and that were fairly inaccessible unless one knew how to teleport. She had one that was entirely inaccessible. It was dark when they got there but the lights blinked to life moments later, Teddybear triggering it for her. "There's a mattress on the floor a few steps over here..." she said, kneeling down next to him and pointing. "I'll take the blade out after you've laid down and I grab some supplies okay? Try not to move too much."

It wasn't the first time Kayos had teleported him anywhere but he still found he couldn't quite get used to the sensation. It didn't sit right with the wolf in him, it felt deeply unnatural and unsettling, but Grayson for his part understood the necessity at times. Like now. Her remark about the clothes he had been wearing earned her a slight laugh, a touch strained, as though it were her benefit more than anything else. The scents of one of the safe houses registered several seconds after they finished teleporting, his senses attempting to work overtime to compensate for the physical impairment, something that didn't keep him from crawling to the aforementioned mattress as best as possible, some part of him glad to find an old blanket which he used in the meantime to drape over his lower body messily, lying down as he was told. Kayos hadn't needed to tell him to do it, right then it felt like the best thing possible. The adrenaline had fully worn off now, leaving him just with the uncomfortable knowledge and sensation of the blade in his back.

Kayos quickly dug out bottled water, her big first aid kit, her stitches kit, and everything else, and brought it over to the mattress, kneeling down on it next to him. She looked him over, and then pulled out the shot of local anesthetic. "This is going to hurt." she told him, since she knew the shot felt like you'd got set on fire in that particular area before the numbness sank in. She slid her free hand down over his so he'd have something to squeeze if he wanted to, then injected him.

It also wasn't the first time Grayson had been wounded 'in the line of duty', so to speak. It wouldn't be the last, either, and he knew that for a fact. As a werewolf he was one of the front line fighters, there was no other real way he could contribute other than his keen skill for hunting and tracking. Fighting was just in his blood. Grayson knew that he was working on borrowed time, the way he operated, the way he threw himself into combat and violence so recklessly and hungrily, but he could at least comfort himself with the knowledge that he would go down fighting. Kayos' warning was met with a low growl of a sound that contained no anger, least of all towards her, and he gripped her hand when it slid into his. Rather than vocalise his pain beyond a deep gasp, he buried his face pointedly in the old mattress and hid the powerful grimace as it sprang up. Grayson didn't like to show his pain, didn't like feeling overly vulnerable. His grip on her hand tightened briefly, but not long enough to do her any damage.

She squeezed back, then set the needle aside and started stroking his back lightly. It was meant to be a comforting gesture, just to soothe him a little while the numbness kicked in. She settled a little closer, and kept hold of his hand, just being there for a moment, not trying to talk to him, since what was there to say? Just 'hey this sucks' or 'so what was that all about anyways'? He could fill her in later, if nothing else. Plus, talking might just aggravate the wound and she didn't want to do that.

Thankfully since Kayos was a familiar presence and someone with whom he was comfortable, the way she ran her hand up and down his back wasn't seen as anything other than what it was, and that was a source of reassurance, of comfort and steadiness. It was something he appreciated, more than he would be able to put into words, and he settled for letting out a long but quiet moan into the depths of the mattress, face still buried, but it didn't stay that way for long. It lolled to the side, eyes closed, and for several minutes that was how he stayed, his hand still tangled in hers.

She kept up what she was doing, watching him. She watched the blood slide down his back, and she knew the flow would get a lot worse when she removed the knife. But it wasn't a ragged wound or anything, so she'd stitch up the slice and then they'd have to worry about whether or not he needed to be taken in. He might have to, she had no idea how badly he was fucked up, though she imagined it was mostly a flesh wound. "You're grounded." she told him, brushing her thumb back and forth lightly on the back of his hand, her voice soft. "No more rushing in, guns blazing for you, not for two weeks. You'll have to be in early, eat all your vegetables, and you won't be able to play any video games or have internet time with your chat buddies, or watch R rated films." she continued, sliding her fingertips more towards the knife again and she very gently pressed down against his skin, to see if he felt it.

Grayson laughed. He couldn't help it. Kayos just had a knack when it came to the werewolf, and shamefully he hadn't been the first to notice it. When it was just them he let it show a lot more than when the room held more occupants, but right then it just slipped up and out before he could even realise it was forming. Quickly he regretted it and winced as an ache spread through him. "Don't make me laugh," he grumbled, but without any sincere negativity. His eyes opened at last and looked up towards the blonde, just as she applied pressure, making him turn his head and try to lift it, to no avail. It felt too heavy. He could still feel, but at least it didn't feel like he'd been stabbed anymore. He would take what he could get. "Ugh," he groaned thickly, dropping his head down again.

"Sorry." she said, wincing as well. "Habit." she told him. "It's my lot in life. I was graced with being cute and mildly amusing, it's automatic." she told him. Then she went back to petting his back, since he grunted. "I'm assuming that means it's still hurty." she said. "Couple more minutes, and I can probably take it out, and stitch you up, and you won't feel a thing." she told him. She leaned a little over him and pressed a tiny kiss to the back of his shoulder. "It'll be okay." she promised.

The sound that rolled in the base of his throat with his eyes once again closed was more wolf than it was man. He felt thoroughly drained now that all the rush and charge of the fight had worn off. The satisfaction and thrill had gone right along with it too. Damn. That just meant there would have to be a next time, that was when Kayos let him get back out there. She could be a mean medic when she wanted to be, and if she set her mind to keeping him out of combat, then Grayson wouldn't see a minute of any of it until she thought he was good and ready. Damn her. His grip on her hand tightened again briefly, a squeeze to let her know he heard her, and more than that, believed her.

She stayed close, listening to him breathing, which was a little uneven, though that was to be expected. She kept petting his back, something she did when he was in wolf form, usually, but right now seemed to be okay. Or, at least, he hadn't complained yet so she was calling it even. After a few long minutes, she went to press near the wound again, to be sure he didn't feel it, and she reached to grab the heavy pads she was planning on pressing down onto the wound to help stop blood flow once she had the blade out of his back.

Grayson didn't react to the fresh application of pressure. He couldn't feel the wound anymore, just as Kayos had promised. She might have been a bully of a medic but she knew what she was doing and not one of them could fault her knowledge or methods. Not everyone could treat a supernatural -- or even a fellow supernatural -- effectively. More than usual that repetition of the petting motion was comforting him, both sides, the man and the wolf alike. It wasn't often that he got to feel them both equally soothed and quiet, it was almost a shame it was while he was wounded and therefore incapable of really enjoying it.

She exhaled slowly, giving his hand a squeeze. "Okay, here we go. I promise I'll work as fast as I can, okay, Jack?" she said. And, after a few more pets to the back of his shoulder, she moved. When she did, it was fast. She reached out, touched the knife and then the knife wasn't there anymore. it was on the other side of the room, clattering into the sink. She thought that was better than ripping it out. So she did that, then a second later she had the heavy pads down, and she put pressure onto it, mopping up some of the excess blood that had seeped out. She shifted, to better access things, and after a few moments of pressure, she pulled the pad back, and started the process of stitching up the wound. Being the wound was deep, not necessarily long, it didn't take overwhelmingly long, and she'd given enough stitches in her day to be pretty quick with it. She kept them neat, though. "Remember, I told you chicks dig scars." she murmured to him, tying off another stitch.

"I remember." Focusing on the inane chatter and Kayos' attempts to keep him distracted from the heady, powerful scent of his own blood on the air was easier than thinking about how lucky he'd gotten, how stupid it probably was of him to do that time and time again; take on so many opponents in the hopes of getting a bigger rush and a bigger release right along with it. "Why do you think I keep finding new ways to get new ones?"

"You're trying really really hard to rack up the best scar collection in the business, and you know you have a ways to go before you hit Doc standards?" she suggested, tying off another stitch. She was nearly finished. "Or, alternately, you've got your eye on some specific chick, and you want to be incredibly impressive with her digging you factor, so you're secretly trying to get as many as possible, so you can just show up naked sometime and you'll be sold, just on scar-itude alone." she told him, going for the last stitch. "Or maybe you just have a death wish." she said, tone a little quieter than before. Softer. "That last option scares me though, so please tell me it isn't that." she said, setting the needle and thread down, and then she took up a large gauze bandage to tape in place to cover it.

The werewolf managed to stifle the laugh that time through force of will alone, knowing groggily that she was focusing on the stiches and he didn't want to disrupt her. The amusing, lightly teasing edge to their conversation quickly dropped away with her softer statement though and Grayson was forced to stifle a sigh instead. Did whatever was wrong with him have a name or description? Ultimately Grayson knew he'd been without a pack for too long and hadn't done enough to combat it. He'd told himself that the group was enough, that they were pack enough, but it had continued to gnaw at him inside, mentally and physically. The violence was a way to deal with that. Grayson had never figured out just how to tell Kayos that though, and now was no different. "It's not that," he told her all the same.

She sat back, and started to wash his back off, taking a little water and a cloth to start wiping away where the little rivers of blood had streaked down his skin. She didn't go for soap though because she only had scented stuff and she knew he didn't like that. Messed with his senses or something, or made him more obvious or...she had no idea, she just respected it and went for gently cleaning him off. "Then what is it, Jack?" she asked, voice still soft. "I saw you there. And you went into that alone, I mean I don't even know how that started but I'm willing to bet you weren't really jumped, right?" She knew how damn hard it was to get the drop on a lycanthrope. It was damn near impossible. She could do it and only because she could magically appear anywhere she wanted to. That wasn't exactly an ability that was just passed out on street corners.

Damn her for being able to do that. See right through him and figure things out. At first it had frustrated him, even begun to anger him at certain points, but over time he had not only grown accustomed to it but come to expect it. With Kayos above and behind him, essentially, a position only a select few could successfully hold for longer than a few seconds when it came to the male werewolf, his gaze was focused elsewhere. Or rather nowhere. He was gazing off at a point that didn't really exist. "I don't know," he lied thinly, letting his eyes slip closed and sighed gently so as not to disrupt her continued attention around the dressed wound. "I need it."

After finishing what she was doing, she put the dirty cloths aside. Kayos took out some pain medication and she held them out to him, and held out a bottle of water too. "Take these." she said, knowing the local anesthetic wouldn't last forever. She also sat and gazed down at him for a few long moments, assessing what he said. Well, at least she didn't have to call him on the 'I don't know' bullshit of it all. Because she could tell it was. The other part, though, that was what was giving her pause. Clearing things away, she gently lowered herself to the mattress next to him, lying on her stomach, arms crossed beneath her head. Resting her cheek against them, she kept her gaze on him from close up. "Why do you need it?" she asked. "What about it is the part you need?"

In his own way Grayson would be glad when the shot wore off. He didn't like feeling numb, and pain was better than the continuing internal unsteadiness that had been his life for the last however many years he had been alone and doing nothing to really stop that solitude and the effect it had had on him over time. While Kayos cleaned up after herself, he quietly played the part of obedient patient and took the painkillers she had given to him, though he drank some of the water only for show; he didn't need the water to take the pills, not really. By the time she dropped down on her stomach beside the mattress, he was back to his dropped down position, knowing better than to strain himself so soon after an injury. "Wolves are supposed to be with their own kind," he told her quietly.

She nodded, understanding that. Hell, she'd asked him before if he wished any of them were like him. Propping herself up a little bit, she reached out and started playing with his hair a little, petting him in a way, because it seemed like he might need it at the moment. "Is not being with a bunch of them kinda driving you...into aggressive tendencies?" she asked, not wanting to word it as 'nutty'. Nutty would imply that it was wrong, or something, and she didn't necessarily think this was. Scary? yes. Wrong? Probably not. Different types of people and species had different quirks. This might just be his.

She'd asked and he'd said no, he liked them all just as they were, because to change the very core of what they were would make them different people. He'd said that and he'd meant it. His eyes closed again as her fingers raked and sifted through his hair. No one else could get away with that. "Aggressive might not be the best word," he all but mumbled, not really wanting to use anything more extreme for fear of what the knowledge, the verbalised admission, might do to Kayos more than himself.

"Then what's the word?" she asked, tone still light. She paid attention as he closed his eyes, and it made her feel a little better. Like maybe it helped. She wanted to help, it was what she did. She was a supporting actress of life. She was there to support people, to play the parts they needed her to. And she did that, very well. "Tell me. Maybe...just tell me. You know I won't judge." Since she tended not to do that.

She wouldn't, either. That didn't mean Grayson wouldn't judge himself, for any number of factors. He should have mentioned it sooner, should have fond some other -- less dangerous -- way to cope, should have found other wolves. He should have done something, anything, to counter it before it could build to what it had. "Unstable," he offered her at last, his eyes remaining closed. It was easier that way, not having to look at such a youthful face that was usually alight with such mischief when he said the things she wanted him to say. "I ignored it, pretended nothing was wrong. I shouldn't have."

She listened, and yeah, 'unstable' she could back up as an accurate description. She kept petting his hair though, not missing a beat on that. "Okay, how do we stop that?" she asked. "Find you more like you? Find you wolves? Would real wolves do?" she asked, mind already ticking along on certain things. "Would that take the edge off at all? And...I guess Lex doesn't count, huh?" she asked, referring to the other werewolf they had around. Not that she was around that much, and she'd never been especially pack oriented. She'd been kinda more...doc-oriented. It happened. "Let me help." If there was a way.

Grayson wanted to smile, touched by Kayos' immediate leap to suggestions. The fact that the blonde wanted to help him put the pieces back together and steady his foundation again was... moving for lack of a better word. He might have been without a wolfen flesh-and-blood pack, but he had grown close to Kayos, considered her one of his in that way even without her having an animal beneath the surface. She was right about Lex not counting, the female werewolf had never really helped, most likely because she didn't want that life and too much of the wild animal inside of Grayson did. It had gotten used to it. "Real wolves?" he repeated, turning it over wearily in his mind. "I don't know." His eyes opened and found hers. "There's only one way to find out."

"Let me find some." Kayos told him, smiling a little, and she leaned forward and pressed a little kiss to his forehead. "A lot of them were electronically tagged, Teddy'll be able to find some somewhere, and if I get a location, I can get you in. You need time to heal anyways, so...maybe tomorrow? You get a good night's sleep tonight, and then you can shift and I can drop you off?" she suggested, thinking that if it helped even a tiny smidge, she was happy to do it.

Regardless of whether or not it actually worked, Grayson appreciated the thought, the effort that he knew she would put into it. It was more than anyone had done for him in a long time. After everything was done, after the trial run with the real, wild wolves that he knew she would find, he would tell her that. "You and your plans," he quipped more than a little affectionately with a tired smile, reaching out and finding her hand to give it another squeeze. "I'll see you in the morning?" His way of asking if she would be there when he woke up without actually having to ask the words and sound even remotely insecure.

"Hey. I like my plans." she said, smiling a little, and making herself draw back so she wasn't all up in his personal space. That didn't mean she didn't stop playing with his hair though, and she gave his hand a squeeze in return when he did so. "And of course I will be." she promised, tone suggesting he should know that by now. "I'll be here, and there'll be coffee, and wolf packs to choose from." she promised. Or, she hoped that last bit was true anyways. She figured there had to be a few she could get a location on. As she watched, Grayson fell quiet, and then dropped off to sleep. She stayed where she was for a long while, just keeping petting his hair, listening to him breathing quietly.

Then she got up, crossed the room and opened up her laptop. Teddybear was already on there, and there were several maps opened up. "Got a few." he said. "The best region, though, is in Michigan, up by Superior. Small, rural, tons of woods. Not a lot is going to be bothering him there." he suggested, voice quiet due to Grayson's being asleep. Kayos nodded, then looked at the map again. "Okay...so...Marquette. Sounds nice enough..."