The walk starts out silent. They fell in step with each other, either watching the ground or glancing at their surroundings, but avoiding each other's gazes while the tension hung over them.
"Are you the only one?" Kurt finally broke the silence, looking over to Sam.
Sam laughs quietly, shaking his head. "No. There's a good amount of us in Lima," he tells Kurt. "The pack's a decent size. I don't think there are any loners around, either—not ones that are permanently living here, I mean."
Kurt's already beginning to get lost. "Loners? There's a pack here?"
"With Mike Chang as an Alpha-to-be," Sam nods. "His dad's the Alpha in Lima. Smart guy, but he's…got a bit of a respect problem. But he's a good guy. My dad and I follow him, so our opinions don't really matter." He shrugs, and gives Kurt a small grin. "Loners are just werewolves that don't belong to a pack—they're usually travelers who never stay in one place long enough to settle down. Or they just refuse to join any pack. Some packs are tolerant, but others are really territorial and drive anyone who won't join out."
Kurt raises his eyebrows in disbelief, trying to take all of the information in. Mike Chang's a werewolf, too? "Wait, so there's not like, official werewolf laws?" Kurt cracks a smile, trying to lighten the mood, but feels like he does the opposite when Sam frowns.
"Not all packs are the same, Kurt," he says quietly. "Some are made of decent people—like the one here. But, there's some that are just..full of monsters. I used to think any one of us were monsters until we ran into a pack in Van Wert." Sam exhales slowly, and raises his eyes to rest his gaze on Kurt, slowing his walk down to a stop. "But there is one universal law: never reveal our existence."
Turning his head, Kurt registers that, and realizes that he's caused Sam to break that very rule. He drops his jaw and isn't sure what to say.
The blonde raises a hand and cuts off Kurt's babbling. "It's fine. Just don't say a word to anyone about it, okay? It's broken more often than you think—for a lot of packs, the rule is void when somebody finds their mate and they're human." Sam's cheeks flush as he explains it, glancing away from his friend for a moment, and then he musters a smile for Kurt. "Let's get back to the house. I'll make us some lunch and we can keep talking there."
Sam starts walking back, but Kurt grabs his arm gently. "Um, Sam," he says nervously, giving him a shy smile. "Can you..Can I see?" The blonde raises an eyebrow, and Kurt licks his lips and blushes a little. "I'm sorry, that was prob—"
"You want to see me as a wolf?" Sam clarifies; the grin on his face is more light-hearted now. Embarrassed, Kurt nodded. Sam strips off his shirt, and hands it to Kurt, and then puts his hands at the waist of his pants. "Um, you might want to close your eyes for a sec. You'll know when to open them." All the brunette did was nod with closed eyes, and felt the rest of Sam's clothes be placed in his hands. He stands, voluntarily without vision, wondering how he'd know when to look; he hears leaves rustle, and feels something..fuzzy nudge his sleeve. His eyes shoot open, and he stumbles backward, dropping Sam's clothes and falling on his back as he saw he was eye-level with a huge fucking wolf.
After taking a moment to look up at the canine, he notices that the wolf's eyes are a bright green, like Sam's—and he realizes lamely that, oh, this is Sam.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Kurt stares up in wonder at the wolf—at Sam—and realizes that Sam's…humanistic? traits carried over into his animalistic characteristics; his eyes are the very same, the fur is a sandy color, and he seems to still maintain his muscled build. Kurt's instincts are telling him to retract his limbs, to crawl away, but he reminds himself that this is Sam, not some wild animal. He takes a deep breath, and props himself up on his elbows, slowly working his way into sitting upright, all while holding Sam's gaze. Sam lowers his body so his belly's on the ground, and blinks at Kurt, as if waiting for Kurt to do something. The brunette moves so that he's now on his knees, and hesitantly extends an arm; Sam quickly catches onto the idea, and shuffles closer just enough so that the top of his head is under Kurt's hand. Kurt takes in a sharp breath as his skin meets Sam's further, and is surprised to find it soft, and incredibly warm. He rubs the spot as if rubbing between a normal pet dog's ears—he was essentially doing the same, except with a fucking werewolf who happened to be his best friend. Sam's eyes shut at Kurt's movements, and the brunette laughs softly.
"Even as a damn wolf, you still manage to be adorable," he murmurs, and the wolf just leans into his touch in response.
