Everything was fairly calm as the Andersons went in from the "convention" that had been held on lawn while they'd been trying to figure out where Eric was. Martha was greatly relieved that Eric was fine and that nothing "bad" had gone on in the course of the afternoon. The slip into the brooding and silent behavior that Eric had exhibited over the past couple of days had been very frightening to her, particularly as she'd enjoyed seeing Eric smile and open up in his relationship with Julie.
"Well... I'm glad everything worked out," William gave a small smile down to Eric as he opened the door, "and you said this Morgan is a werewolf? He's not a hybrid, like Spencer?"
"He's definitely a werewolf," Eric answered as they went in.
For the moment they settled into their living room, with William setting his briefcase down by the stairs up to their second floor. Nate set his bags down and was getting ready to get started on his homework. Eric slowly walked to the front of the couch and watched as Martha made her way in front of him toward the kitchen, with William soon catching up with her.
"He actually wanted to come along when Spencer drove us home," Eric then added, which perked Nate's attention from where he was seated.
"He did?" Martha asked.
"You must have made a good impression on him," Nate commented, "Good for you."
Eric gave a shrug. He thought he made a good impression and might have given Morgan good enough advice that might help him come out more on his own, and Morgan's want to come along with them might reinforce that conclusion. Though from what he noticed while he, Julie, and Spencer were working on their homework and talking with Morgan, Eric thought that Morgan might have some other interests in Spencer that went beyond simple friendship.
"Maybe..." Erich shrugged, "though... I think he might have had some interest in Spencer... but I can't say for certain as I don't know how they met."
"Well... she did seem nice, and was responsible enough to explain things," Martha commented, "though... her being a hybrid is... odd..."
"I wouldn't have thought it possible," William commented.
William and Martha slowly made their way into the kitchen after that line. Eric tentatively followed them, as he'd had his homework done and there wasn't that much that he'd have to do before dinner was ready. He let Nate get a start on his own homework as he followed them into the kitchen. As he entered, he could see that the oven was on and the timer on it was counting down, but it hadn't finished yet. Eric stayed out of parents' way as they began to move about the kitchen and get things ready for dinner.
"It'd probably be something rather rare, but not impossible," Eric commented, answering William's comment, "Given that so many weres seem to be based off of animals, I'd guess that a lot of the potential for were forms hybridizing would be something that would relate to how closely the animals that a were's fursona is based on. Like how some zoo breeders have bred lions and tigers together, how mules are bread from horses and donkeys, or even mountain lions and leopards or jaguars."
"But werecats are based off of house cats, and even the largest breed of house cat is smaller than a leopard... and probably to such a degree that breeding wouldn't be possible," Martha commented.
"Not to mention that canines and felines aren't that closely related," William added.
"True," Eric mused, "and some of that could be because weres are a mix between man and animal... in your cases being able to shift into an anthropomorphic versions of the animals your were forms are based on... the fact that we are still human, just with some extras, as Julie told me when we first moved in, could allow that some things then hybridize through the human side of a were's genetic line... but that's at best a guess on my part."
William gave a small smile, "Well... your better with science than me. Though there are times when I think of things... that certain aspects wouldn't be out of place in some of the scenes from Shakespeare's plays... particularly with regard to the scenes that relate to things like magic. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" type stuff and so on."
William then set about helping with the last bits of getting dinner ready, and he could already smell what Martha had started on, and it smelled good. He'd apologize for not being home earlier after dinner along with some other activities that he hoped would get his wife's mind off of some of her worries. Some were worthy of serious concern, as he didn't like seeing Eric slide back into isolation... especially after he'd come so far since Eric had met Julie. The fact that Eric had lashed out in anger made it even worse, and that alone was enough to make the loving father in William worry.
However, as he got clean plates and lined them up on the counter, William also wondered as to how much his wife truly was worried, given how quick she'd snapped at Nate and Alex. William understood his wife's worries, as Eric was their youngest and had had to deal with the most hardship that wasn't connected to William's past indiscretion, and he worried about Eric for the same reason. But Nate and Alex's guess at what might have been going on was reasonable and was ultimately proven right. Neither Eric nor Julie had been up to anything wrong and the lack of contact could be attributed to something going on with the cellphone signals. The lack of contact might be enough to have some concern, but not to snap at Nate and Alex.
"Dinner should be ready soon," Martha said to Eric, privately relieved that things had turned out well, "You'll let Nate know, right?"
Martha blinked when she heard Nate call from the living room to say that he'd heard her. In her rush to double check on the dinner she'd had started earlier she'd failed to notice that Nate had settled onto the floor to work on his homework. She felt herself blush a little with some embarrassment. She relaxed a little as she saw Eric with a small smile.
"So, what is for dinner?" Eric asked.
"It's just some chicken, nothing fancy," Martha answered, "but it's almost ready."
Eric nodded and moved toward the doorway that lad to the living room, "Nate and I will go get ready."
Martha smiled back, "Okay... and it's good you made a new friend."
"I'm sorry if I worried you, mom," Eric spoke, knowing that some of his jealousy over Arthur had been noticed and worried his parents.
"It's okay, son," William spoke, "You couldn't have known cell service would go out this afternoon."
Eric nodded and made his way out. He found the living room empty with Nate's backpack and books presently laying on the floor, which meant that Nate had already gone upstairs to wash his hands. In the kitchen, William and Martha finished assembling the night's dinner. Martha took the pieces of baked chicken and placed them on the plates, along with some servings of warmed up left over rice and William then carried the plates to the dining table. It wasn't the fanciest of dinners, but it did smell good, and for the moment with Eric back safe and sound, there was no need to worry. And both William and Martha knew that they'd be there for their youngest when he had his session with Frances the next day... but that hadn't arrived yet.