Doranbolt awoke to the sound of a door slamming. Immediately, his knife was in his hand, lips pulled back into a deadly snarl. He was more dangerous than he had ever been before, his sanity on the brink of collapsing.
"Who's there?" he growled, ears alert for the slightest of sounds. Off to his right, a soft rustle sounded. With the shout of a madman, he lunged toward the noise, dagger plunging into soft flesh. There was a sickening squelch, along with a grunted moan of pain. Blood poured onto the hilt of his weapon, making his hold slippery and insecure.
"Lahar!" The victim suddenly screamed, thrashing around in Doranbolt's grasp. The blade sliced deeper with his frantic movement, coppery blood sloshing about the room in his struggle.
Doranbolt's numbed senses attempted to quell the sudden apprehension that curled in his gut. Something about the entire situation seemed…off.
The epiphany came just as the cool steel of a knife caressed the column of his throat. A deep, threatening voice whispered in his ear, the humid breath sending shivers down Doranbolt's spine. "Let go of Jason now, Doranbolt. If you don't, I'll have to slit your throat and I would rather if I didn't kill my best friend.
In hurried, frantic movements, Doranbolt let his blade clatter to the ground. As soon as he was unarmed, Lahar lowered his own weapon, focus instead on the bleeding boy in front of him. Both Doranbolt and Lahar knelt to the ground in order to inspect the damage.
The blond held his left arm, a jagged wound staining the pale skin. Blood seeped from the gash, sticky and wet.
"Shit." Doranbolt cursed, hysterically searching the surrounding area for his first aid kit. "Jason, I'm so sorry. I swear I didn't know it was you. I thought that…" Doranbolt trailed off, unable to explain to the injured man that he had thought that one of Wendy's brothers had sought him out to kill him.
"Dude, this is soooo uncool." The injured man grunted, a forced smile contorting his lips. "I can't believe I couldn't dodge you."
Doranbolt also smiled weakly, handing his emergency kit to Lahar. "Well, I've always been fast. Most people can't dodge me."
"Touché my friend. You do have a pretty cool reputation around the Council.
Lahar smacked the back of Jason's head lightly, his patronizing gaze overshadowed by the concern etched all over his face. "Dumbass, you have to keep your mouth shut in enemy territory. Do you want Fairy Tail to kill Doranbolt?"
The blond had the decency to look sheepish, his uninjured hand running along the length of his blond spire. "Oh yeah, sorry, that wasn't cool at all. I kinda forgot why we were here."
"Pft. You really are a dumbass." Lahar scoffed, ill-disguised affection on his face as he ruffled the golden spire atop his head.
"Heeey. That wasn't cool, man. Now my cool hair's ruined." Jason cried, attempting to pull the flattened strands back upwards.
"It looks 'cooler' down, anyways." Lahar deadpanned, his fingers working quickly to disinfect the other man's wound. Jason winced at the application of antiseptic, but otherwise, he made no objection.
"I agree with Lahar, actually." Doranbolt interjected, feeling left out of their conversation. "Also, the big pile of hair makes you more conspicuous. If you left it down, you could complete missions easier and with less possible witnesses."
"Ha! I told you." Lahar exclaimed, briefly looking up from the wound to gloat. He raised his palm, holding it towards Doranbolt for a high five. Doranbolt met his hand halfway, the sound of skin against skin reverberating throughout the room. Jason just pouted, frowning down at Lahar as he went back to fixing up the gash on the blond's arm.
There was a period of silence in the room as Lahar sutured rudimentary stitches and applied bandages. When Lahar was finally done, he let go of the other male's arm and busied himself with reaffixing the first aid kit. Finally, he broke the silence with an inquiry. "So, Doranbolt, what happened, anyway? When you called, you seemed to be on the verge of collapse. Did you get dangerous information or something?"
Doranbolt froze like a deer in headlights, his blue eyes widening at Lahar's questioning gaze. His mind spun in an attempt to think of an adequate excuse. He couldn't tell Lahar that he had…
"One of the kids next door threatened me, the one that hung out with the one wearing the Fairy Tail mark. Now that I think about it though, I don't think he was serious. It was a false alarm. Sorry for calling you all the way out here."
Lahar glared pensively at Doranbolt, trying to scope out the lie in his words. "But your fine now?" He finally asked.
"Y…Yeah" Doranbolt managed to spit out, nerves causing his brain to short circuit. Mentally, he crossed his fingers, hoping that Lahar believed him.
Lahar sent him one last scathing gaze before dragging Jason by the collar and headed towards the door. As he approached Doranbolt, however, he leant over and whispered into his ear. "I'll let this slide for now, but next time you had better tell me the truth. Or else…" He left the sentence to trail off, warning Doranbolt with one last scathing look. Then, he opened the door, pushed Jason through, and slammed the door, his threat hanging heavily in the air.
A/N Wow. It sure has been a while since I last updated this. Sorry everyone. But now, I should have more free time and updates should be more frequent. Also, I know where this is going now, so it should be smoother to write.