Whiskers

And Perhaps Something Else

(Second part of the last chapter) 

"I can venture to the supermarket safely on my own, Pal." Jamie said as he put a few packages of ground beef into their cart. 

Palace eyed the meat with hesitant interest. 

"Don't worry, you don't have to eat it." He said as he looked from the food to Palace. 

He'd managed to get him into a pair of loose basketball shorts and an even looser T-shirt, but it was clear by the way Palace was fidgeting that he disliked the clothing immensely. The fabric also didn't do anything to hide his feral side, because he was glaring at everyone and sniffing the air quite a bit. 

It's like dressing up a wolf in sheep's clothing. Literally. 

"Just relax. Even if someone recognizes you, they can't do anything in here since you're not being aggressive and you haven't really committed any kind of dangerous crime." Jamie whispered as he continued to push the cart, heading toward the fruit and vegetable area. 

Palace eyed each item that Jamie picked up but he couldn't quite read his expression for most of them. He'd hoped that Palace would express some sort of interest in some type of food, especially the meat available, but he'd been less than cooperative. 

So much for trying to cook him something. 

He couldn't really blame him, though. The guy was clearly a capable hunter, and why buy day-old meat when he could just go kill whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted?

I'll just get stuff for me and if he likes it, he can have some too. He thought as he tossed some spinach into the cart, followed by bell peppers, mushrooms, carrots and onions. 

They'd come home to an energetic Knight and a not so energetic Jared. And, after fixing the drain, they'd been sent right back out to get groceries. Granted, Palace hadn't needed to come, but he was insistent on it. 

He's looking around again. I swear he never relaxes. 

Shaking his head slightly, Jamie added a small bag of apples to their cart before glancing back up at Palace to be sure that he was paying attention. He didn't want to lose sight of him by mistake. 

He's focused on something else, again. 

Following Palace's line of sight, Jamie opened his mouth to tell him that it was nothing to worry about, when he realized that it was, indeed, something to worry about. Or really, someone. 

Who pulls out a gun in the middle of a grocery store? 

"I suggest you come with me, quietly, Palace. We wouldn't want anyone to get hurt, now would we?" The man said as he redirected where his gun was pointing, drawing Jamie's attention over to a little boy sitting in a shopping cart. 

His mother was several feet away, having clearly not heard or seen what was going on yet, her attention too focused on picking out lettuce. 

Jamie was just opening his mouth to snarl at the man when Palace nudged him back behind himself. 

"Do as you wish." Palace stated before shoving Jamie toward an end shelf display and then ducking behind it himself. 

The sound of the gun going off not a second later had Jamie's heart sinking, but when he heard the bullet whiz past them less than a foot away, he refocused and bolted after Palace toward the back storage area. 

"They already have people out front. I saw them watching us earlier." Palace said as he shoved through the large grey swinging doors and immediately headed toward the back of the giant storage area.