The shushing noises were instantly distracting; his body tensed a bit in reaction, he tried to resist it but the scent of Bifrost so close, the heat of the other man's body and the electric touch of his hands sliding up and down Kirkley's sides had him relaxing, almost instantly falling into a light sleep.
With his last bits of awareness, he wrapped his arms around the thief, holding him close like he was trying to shield his companion from the outside world via bear hug.
He nuzzled his face into soft green hair that smelled so distinctly familiar; it was relaxing, it warmed him from the inside out. Kirkley imagined it must be similar to a child in the arms of their mother--it felt safe, welcoming. Like home. Of course it was odd that he associated Bifrost with home, after all Bifrost was a mortal person, one he'd just met to boot.
And yet as he dozed, breaths evening out to deep draws in and long, slow exhales that slightly lifted the man on top of him with each movement before slowly letting him back down, he caught blurred images on the insides of his eyelids. He experienced colors, scents, tastes that were so different from now--it placed him in a different time. It almost felt like an out of body experience--like his mind was literally somewhere else, but Bifrost was still there. It was like a dream, and yet it wasn't. It was strangely soothing, like he was somewhere simpler, with so much less pain...
All creatures have different heart rates; if one took the time to listen and study them enough, a heart beat could be the only thing you need to tell what's nearby.
Squirrels, birds, foxes, deer--these were normalities in a forest on the mountainside, easy enough to ignore when you didn't focus on them and let them blend into the background.
But the heartbeat, or rather, heartbeats he heard, were suddenly different. They approached slowly, creeping into his range and almost slipping by unnoticed. Then he heard it, the thin twang of a bow's string being drawn. It was barely louder than a breath.
His eyes snapped open and he tightened his grip on Bifrost and rolled; a solid thunk followed. He came up on his knees, hovering over Bifrost as his single golden eye focused on an arrow embedded in the trunk of the tree, right where Bifrost's head had been on his shoulder.
Kirkley's head felt thick, and his vision was swimming from the deep sleep he'd suddenly been pulled from. In the split second that followed he wondered many things--how long had he been out? What else had he missed? How many were there?
It took the biting burn of metal cutting through his shoulder to get him to move, to make his brain work. He grit his teeth against the pain; his ears caught the sounds of feet moving and he scrambled to his own, pulling Bifrost up with him if necessary, staying behind him to shield him from the attacks as he yelled at him, "Run!"
His pants ripped as his muscles stretched and contorted, the change taking less than a quarter of a second. He whipped around to face the bounty hunters with a snarl already tearing through his throat, another arrow slicing the side of his left cheekbone, sticky blood running through his fur.