Alex and Nate sat together watching a random comedy that was on at the moment while they waited for things to be finished in the kitchen. He'd let his parents know that he was staying for dinner with Nate, which was okayed after also letting them know that he and Nate had both gotten their homework done. The comedy wasn't much, and Alex figured he had seen better, but it would be enough for them to wait for Nate's parents to finish warming up the leftovers. It was something they could relax to and it did give both of them a few chuckles here and there. And they ultimately didn't have too long to wait, as they soon heard a repetitive beep come out of the kitchen, which was soon followed by William Anderson stepping into the doorway from the kitchen to the living room.
"Okay, boys," William spoke, "leftovers are ready."
Nate nodded to his father and pointed the remote toward the television and pressing the red power button with his pointer finger. The television shut off as Nate and Alex both made their way around to the dinning room, where Martha was setting down the plates of food. The aroma of warmed food reached both werewolves' noses, and even while being in human form, it did smell fairly good, even if they could tell the food had been microwaved. They watched as Martha finished setting the table and then stepped to a side.
"Okay, take your pick... I know it's leftovers..." Martha said slowly.
"Leftovers are fine, Mrs. Anderson," Alex said politely, "everyone has that sort of meal from time to time. Especially as it helps clear space in the fridge to then put in new food... and new leftovers."
There were a few chuckles as Alex looked over the dishes that were placed on the table. They were pretty standard and simple meals that would be easy to assemble, even if they were freshly cooked, which was also something that Alex knew was pretty typical. He enjoyed cooking and helped out with his own parents where he could, and there were some times where he'd even offered ideas on recipes that did well, and that had taught him a fair number of things on his own experience. There would be plenty of time for fancy dishes, but more often than not, most of the people that would have eaten something like that didn't also have to cook it, if they ate it on a regular basis. For most people, meals would be rather simple, and Alex saw no problem in that. He selected on dish and sat at the chair that was in front of it. As he made his choice, Nate quickly selected the chair to his left while Martha moved to sit across from Alex and with William to Alex's right.
"So, Alex... what do you think on Moon Lake's football program?" William asked as he sat down and they began eating, "from what Nate's told us... it's only within the school, so as to help keep the were secret and all that..."
"It isn't so much the secret but the fact that weres, regards of their specific were-species and the builds associated with that were-species, will be bigger and stronger than the average human," Alex answered, "in this... if Moon Lake competed in the normal Washington State leagues for high school sports, you'd see a lot of state records being shattered easily, which would attract attention that could risk weres being exposed. As those sorts of stories are always intriguing when High Schools do well..."
"Makes sense," Martha commented after swallowing the first bite of her food while glancing over to William, "the local news that we had in Minnesota did a lot of coverage for the Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts... ALL of them, and that was just with regard to local coverage. When there was an exceptional athlete that appear elsewhere... they would send someone to cover it."
William nodded in agreement, remembering the various news reports on local sports that they'd often seen at the end of the local news while they were in Minnesota. Generally speaking, neither he nor Martha were that deeply into sports, and might occasionally watch some on television, mostly as William was often focused with his duties as a professor dealing with English and Shakespearean literature and with Martha often looking more to take care of the home. They remembered enjoying watching Eric play in little league baseball before the bullying incident occurred and Eric preferred being more secure at home as a result. And thus, with Eric not participating anymore and with Nate more often interested in werewolf movies than anything else, they never followed to closely into local sports.
That had changed, however, as Nate had signed up for Moon Lake's Thanksgiving football game. That was something that both William and Martha supported, as it would expose Nate to some new things and sparked their own curiosity on how their older son was doing. Nate had shared his approval on the program with his parents, and was privately pleased with the fun he'd had, even without much experience with regard to high school sports, but that didn't remove all of William and Martha's curiosity on the matter. And since Alex was there and Eric seemed better when he left with Julie, both Anderson parents figured to satisfy that curiosity for the moment.
"We're still curious as to what you think and how Nate is doing," William commented.
Alex looked over to Nate, who for the moment looked a bit odd in the sense that Nate's mouth was full of food and he had paused his chewing to listen to what Alex was going to say. As a small blush crept into Nate's cheeks, Alex gave a small smile before he glanced back to William Anderson.
"Nate's said he's had fun, which is good," Martha added, "though... it does also add to our curiosity..."
Alex smiled and nodded at that, "Well... I'd think Nate is doing quite well, considering that he's never actually played football before."
"I've never been this buff before," Nate commented after swallowing his food and glancing to his biceps.
He'd never been overweight, but he wasn't exactly in the greatest shape either before moving to Moon Lake. It was actually something that made him a little bit nervous with regard to meeting Moon Lake's weres, as they were all so perfectly fit, he feared there might have been some issue of rejection that they would have had toward him because he wasn't in as good of shape as they were. That did, however, change after Alex had transformed him and he found becoming a werewolf had burned through what fat he had. It'd left him far more fit than he'd ever been, and made him rather interested in doing more... as he seemed to have greater energy now.
"Though all the plays and positions... that's still taking a lot of effort on its own," Nate then admitted with a small smile, "but I am having fun."
"But you've been making great progress," Alex assured him and reached out to touch Nate's hand with his, "and I mean great progress... considering that this would be your first time playing football."
"Well... I've had you and Ben helping me out," Nate said to Alex, who rewarded him with a smile.
"So... what position do you think they'll put Nate in?" William asked to Alex.
"Well... given that he is just learning the game," Alex spoke, "I think the coaches will probably play him the most at special teams where there are fewer plays to memorize and easier to remember... but as I said, he is doing well. It wouldn't surprise me if Nate gets some time as a replacement to give the game's starter's a break from time to time... running in plays and stuff like that."
"I think the coaches even said that would be at running back and linebacker..." Nate commented, "though that's all dependent on how well I learn the plays."
"Which you're doing well at," Alex assured his boyfriend.
Nate smiled back and they kept eating. It was a surprisingly normal conversation that felt good. It didn't play to parental worries and allowed Nate to feel comfortable with his boyfriend. For the moment, that was a good thing.