Having cleared the air, and spilling his guts a bit in the process, Lance Knight thanked the ladies for their time and left the Twist house.
Once they were alone, Samantha and Frances sat on the couch with the new kittens they adopted. Neither lady said a word for a while. Then Samantha finally broke the silence.
"I know you're caught between a rock and a hard place on this. If there was any way I could possibly get you out of this, I would, but we can't go against the edicts of the Elders' Council. But just between us, do you really think Benton Knight is curable, let alone that you can cure him?"
"Are you doubting my abilities as a trained therapist?" asked Frances, while looking directly at her wife.
"No, but considering who you'll be dealing with, let alone our past history with him..."
"I know. I'll admit it will be challenging to stay fair and impartial. Yet if I don't try, who else is there? Especially considering no one else qualified within a 100 mile radius of Moon Lake is also a were."
"Yeah, and Benton isn't allowed to travel outside of Moon Lake until he can prove at least 30 days of stability anyway."
"So I'm it," said Frances, although she wasn't really looking forward to the assignment. "Since therapists aren't licensed to do so, I'll have to work closely with Tachibana and Robinson as they monitor his medications and adjust dosages as needed. The big question will be whether or not all Benton's problems actually stem from being bi-polar, or if there are other sources involved."
"What do you mean?" wondered her wife.
"You heard Lance. Benton was always a snob. Plus the sibling rivalry, lack of anger management and who knows what else. Benton Knight might also have hemorrhoids and suffer from post nasal drip for all I know," which made Samantha laugh.
"I always thought he was a hemorrhoid," confessed Samantha.
"Me too," admitted Frances. "But he's my hemorrhoid now, so to speak, and I have to deal with him."
MEANWHILE...
When Ben Twist was asked to leave his house for a while so his mothers Frances and Samantha could discuss the Elders' Scroll with Lance Knight, the first place he thought of going was to his boyfriend Alex Ramsey's house.
After crossing the hill that separated their properties, Ben knocked on Alex's backdoor, but there was no answer. Walking around to the front, Ben noticed that the Ramsey's family car was gone.
Not knowing what else to do, Ben walked back and decided to see if his next door neighbor and friend Nate Anderson wanted to hang out and play video games or whatever.
But just as Ben was about to walk around to the front of the Anderson house and knock on their front door properly, he was surprised to see the exterior entrance to the Anderson's basement open before Nate and some female wereleopard he didn't recognize pop their furry heads out, because both were currently in their fursonas. Although the heady scent of sex told Ben exactly what they had been up to.
"You're right," the wereleopard said to Ben's fellow werewolf, "a break and a breath of fresh air are good after all the rutting we've been doing."
"And you two better be glad it's almost dark now, so you're not in violation of the public were laws, because my moms are next door talking to a representative of the Elders' Council!" said Ben as he approached them.
"Really?" asked the wereleopard in disbelief.
"Yeah, which is why I can't be in there right now," said Ben, before Nate made introductions between Ben and Liv Robinson.
"Say handsome," purred Liv, staring at the teenager before her. "If you have nothing better to do right now and Nate doesn't mind, why don't you join us?" she offered, while positioning herself so Ben could get a good look at her furry, sexy body.
"I don't think Alex would like that," replied Ben flatly.
"Well," thought Liv, "maybe you can invite her along and..."
"Boyfriend," Ben said, politely correcting her.
"Well, as long as you're happy. But have you ever been with a girl before?" asked Liv.
"No," Ben replied honestly.
"Have you ever thought about being with a girl?" asked Liv.
"Not really," admitted Ben.
"Well, if you don't know what you're missing, how do you know that you won't like it if you've never tried it before?" she asked, trying to seduce him.
Nate just stood silently next to Liv and watched in disbelief.
He didn't know what was more strange, that his potential new girlfriend was trying to arrange a threesome right in front of him, or that she was trying to do so with a guy who was in love with another guy.
Either way, they would definitely have to have another private chat later.
But the fact that Ben had yet to answer Liv's last question to him made Nate wonder what was going through his friend's mind at that moment and what might happen next.