Eivind's answer was simple, like most of his answers to anything, but Blue found that he didn't mind it so much this time. He wasn't sure what he had expected when he had posed his question, but the wolf's response was sweet in its way. Eivind liked his attitude, Blue found a bit of amusement in that. It wasn't often that someone actually enjoyed his impulsive mouth. He liked the way Blue was when he was painting, quiet, hyper-focused, intense. Blue was at his best when he was creating art, this was something he was acutely aware of, but it still made a small smile spring to his face when Eivind commented on his demeanor. It was a tiny comfort knowing that Eivind had noticed these things about Blue, and it filled his chest with a tingling warmth to know that there didn't need to be some instinctual voodoo at play for Eivind to want him, at least to some degree.<br/><br/>"You're right," Blue replied gently, a sweet smile on his face as he shyly looked down at the kitchen floor. "We have plenty of time to make up our minds." But Blue had already made his mind, at least about some things. He knew he found Eivind physically attractive. He liked his stern face, his dark beard and shaggy hair, and the way the wolf's eyebrows furrowed together when he was thinking. He liked Eivind's smooth voice and even the deep rumble that came from his chest when he growled. He liked how Eivind was trying to the best of his ability to make Blue happy, even if he didn't quite understand how. He was willing and eager to learn, and that desire to provide for Blue in whatever way he could followed Eivind like a thick, sweet cloud, filling up Blue's lungs and making him feel<i>something</i>. He couldn't be sure what that something was just yet, but he knew it was going to blossom big and wonderful.<br/><br/><i>Maybe you don't have to go tonight, </i>Blue thought, biting his lower lip as he lifted his head, watching as the wolf popped a piece of meat into his mouth.<i>I don't want you to go</i>.<i>Come to bed with me. </i>"Eivind," he began, but he was instantly interrupted by his companion, telling him he needed food and rest. Blue didn't want either of those things. He just wanted Eivind.<br/><br/>"I was thinking--" but the wolf had already rushed by him and made his way across the living room and out the front door, eager to remove himself from Blue's presence. The boy's heart sank as Eivind exited, leaving him standing alone in the kitchen. Not even a hug or a kiss to seal their temporary parting. Perhaps Eivind had avoided it because he didn't think he would be able to leave if he touched Blue, but the lack of physical affection left the boy feeling a pang in his chest that was impossible to ignore.<br/><br/>"Good night," he whispered, his shoulders sagging as he made his way upstairs sans food. There was more than enough for Blue to pick at, but he found that nothing seemed appealing in that moment. When he entered the bedroom, he gave a quick glance to the dresser before stripping off his shirt and jeans and laying himself down on the bed. He didn't want to bother with trying to move the dresser to its normal place, nor did he want to bother with the paint-stained sheet. All that would have to wait until he was feeling up to it.<br/><br/>He realized as his head hit the pillow that he was getting extremely tired of sleeping by himself in a bed that wasn't his. It took a long while for Blue to finally drift off to sleep.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center">&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;<br/>​</div>When the morning came, Blue was already partially awake. His sleep had been restless, tossing and turning and agitating the healing wound at his side. He hadn't registered the voice coming from downstairs to be Synnove's and was unpleasantly jolted awake when the female loomed above him, attempting to gently rouse him from his disturbed slumber.<br/><br/>Although he was still rather groggy, he followed Synnove's instructions and dressed in his jeans and t-shirt and followed her outside. She had assured him that Eivind would be there, wherever there was, but he did not find her words particularly settling. Although Blue liked and trusted Synnove, leaving the house with anyone other than Eivind had the unexpected effect of leaving Blue feeling like a prisoner being escorted to the gallows, and he chewed on his thumb nail the entire way to Synnove and Sieger's house.<br/><br/>There were a few familiar faces waiting for him when he stepped into the large room. Sieger, Alaric, Freyr, and of course, Eivind. The wolf looked nervous, which did nothing to settle Blue's already growing fears, and although he immediately began walking toward Eivind simply out of instinct, Synnove directed him to another chair, across from Sieger. The alpha stared daggers into Blue and the human's shoulders hunched in response. It was easy enough to stand up to Freyr the evening before, but now that he was surrounded by wolves, all there to sentence him to what he was sure was going to be his death, Blue felt like a weak, submissive piece of prey. He hated it.<br/><br/>Synnove took no time in digging into Blue with abrupt, probing questions, and at first Blue wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. "I'm not sure what you mean," he mumbled, shaking his head and glancing nervously at Eivind as Synnove expanded on her question.<br/><br/>"To be honest, I don't see myself having a place with you," Blue replied quietly, his eyes traveling from Eivind to the rest of the wolves sitting around the table, resting on each one in turn before moving on to the next. "It's no secret to me that many of you want me dead. It's hard to feel welcome when half of the pack is convinced that you'd be more useful as a corpse. I'm not strong. I don't have any manual skills. I can't build a house, or hunt, or farm, or produce anything that would be of any use to any of you. For those reasons alone, I could understand why some of you might think that I was just a drain on your community. I simply don't have anything to give you."<br/><br/>His gaze had gone around the circle and landed back on Eivind. He wasn't sure if what he was saying was going to make their situation better or worse, but he didn't want to hold anything back. He hoped Eivind wouldn't be mad at him. "My former life wasn't anything to brag about," he continued, quickly licking his lips. "I was going to school, but my grades weren't very good. My parents hate me because . . . because I like men. They don't approve. I didn't have a job, or a boyfriend, or anything, really." He paused, slowly shaking his head. "That's not completely true. I had my sisters. My little sisters. I'd do anything to see them again, but I understand that if I'm allowed to stay here, that probably isn't going to be an option. And that's . . . that's okay. They'll be okay without me.<br/><br/>"But this little meeting or whatever isn't really about my past, right? It's about me and Eivind?" He looked at the wolf again, wishing desperately that he were closer, that he could touch him. "I . . . I care about Eivind. I want to stay with him. He's sweet, and kind, and he treats me well. We may not always understand one another immediately, but we're trying. You can't know someone completely after just a matter of days, and I still don't really get this whole 'mate' thing, but I know that I want him. And he wants me."<br/><br/>The boy flushed visibly, and he lowered his head to try and hide it. Synnove was ever the professional and continued, but although her next comment was spoken calmly, her words lit a small fire in Blue's chest.<br/><br/>"And why should I trust any of you?" Blue huffed, looking at her and only her, directing his question right at the alpha's mate. "Any one of you could snap my neck with a single hand and not waste a second thought on me. I haven't done anything to any of you. Well, except maybe him," Blue said dismissively as he tossed his hand in Freyr's direction, "but none of you have had anything to fear from me since day one. All your worries come from what? Nothing. The only one of you who knows anything about me is Eivind. You sit around at this big table, acting like this is some kind of civilized debate, when you're interrogating me about my worth, trying to prove to you why I should be allowed to keep my life when I have done nothing to suggest that I don't deserve it.<br/><br/>"I was held captive for over a month by Lofgren's pack. I was raped, brutalized, and humiliated daily. Every single day, I wished for one of those wolves to snap and murder me, but even when one of them finally tried to kill me, I lived. Eivind and Alaric saved my life, and nursed me back to health, and yet you all think that my reward for surviving something so horrific and traumatic is to kill me anyway because I<i>might</i>say something to ruin your idyllic little community? Who would I even talk to? I don't have any friends. No one knows I'm here. At this point, my family probably thinks I'm dead. No one is coming for me."<br/><br/>Blue inhaled deeply and stopped, giving Freyr enough time to make his snide comment and for Eivind to snap back. Blue smiled despite himself; Eivind always came to his defense, no matter what.<br/><br/>"I can sit here and rant all day about why your fears are misplaced. I pose no threat to you and I never have. I realize that you are not Lofgren's pack. My hatred for those monsters is directed at them and only them, although I can say that my experiences lead me to trust very few of you. This little display isn't helping matters.<br/><br/>"Eivind told me that there are other packs that have wolf and human couples, and they are doing just fine, aren't they? It seems like wolf civilization hasn't completely collapsed, you're not being hunted down and slaughtered. So if those couples are allowed to live in peace, why can't Eivind and I?"