Arriving on the outer part of Wood Street was fairly quiet, and as the sun was going down, Nate was pretty sure that a lot of what seemed to be pretty regular night-time activity in Moon Lake was likely soon to start or in some cases might already be starting. In some ways, that had been a big part of what Nate had come to like about Moon Lake, not just because most of its residents were a were of some kind or another. It had healed his parents' marriage and got his mom to be more open about who she was. He'd never thought his mother might be bisexual and had been repressing it, though now that seemed to fix and Nate figured that his mother would freely explore the full parts of sexuality, particularly when all the excitement over the present reveal issue was going down. It was that issue that was on Nate's mind as he and Alex came onto Wood Street and followed along it until the Twist and then the Anderson homes came into view.
On the driveway of the Twist home was Ben's car, and normally Ben would have given Nate and Alex a ride home after the flag football practice. Today, however, Nate and Alex chose to walk home and ran into the two odd werewolves that seemed to be trying to stir up trouble over the planned reveal that was being discussed. That was ultimately what brought Nate and Alex to the Twist's house, rather than going through to the Anderson house and then Nate promising to see Alex later before Alex then darted into the wooded area between where the Andersons lived on Wood Street and the Ramseys lived on the next street. It was something that was jarring in terms of the run in with Quintus Fives and Gustavus Amehr had been something that Nate had actually forgotten that this year's Thanksgiving Day game was a matchup of "Predator vs Prey" which would put Nate and Alex on the same team, given that they were both werewolves, and if they matched up "upper classmen vs lower classmen" they'd still be on the same team as they were both Juniors. That was how jarring the run in with the two werewolves was.
As they approached the door, Nate swallowed and then rang the doorbell. It wasn't long before Ben Twist appeared at the door who then blinked in surprise.
"Uh... hey guys, I thought you said you were looking for a more "private" walk today?" Ben asked for a moment as he looked from Nate to Alex.
"Well, we did, but we kind of ran into something that we need to tell your mom about," Nate answered, "is Samantha in?"
"She got in a little while ago... what's going on?" Ben wondered as he stepped back and letting Nate and Alex went in.
"Let's just say there were a pair of werewolves trying to organize some kind of resistance to the reveal plan," Alex commented, "and kind of pushy about it."
"What was this?" came a female voice as Ben lead Nate and Alex down the hallway from the Twist's front door and then turning left to go into the kitchen where Samantha and Frances were both working on preparing dinner. It was Frances that had spoken, but Nate found that both werecats were focused him and Alex as they came in.
"Well... Alex and I ran into a pair of werewolves that seemed to be rather intent on opposing the whole reveal plan... a Quintus Fives and Gustavus Amehr," Nate spoke, "they approached us pretty just after we got away from the high school. And they were clearly looking into trying to instigate some kind of trouble against the next reveal meeting."
This caught Samantha's full attention, as that could be a serious thing. Technically, dealing with the City Council meetings wasn't her responsibility, as the Deputy Mayor was the one who handled that role, but her job did relate to helping Moon Lake retain its secret and he Mandatory Were Law. Now, the big reveal that was being planned would change certain aspects of her job going forward to some degree and she had her concerns over it, but she also knew that this would be something could be troublesome in multiple ways. Noticing the look, Frances moved over to Samantha and tapped her wife's arm.
"If this is something private... Ben and I..." Frances began.
"What..." Samantha began, "no, it wouldn't be something that would demand secrecy. It's just something that would be hard to deal with."
"They were talking about taking a stand..." Nate said, "in a way that would sound like a call to arms rather than just protest."
"And that's understandable," Samantha then sighed to her neighbor's son and his boyfriend, "but did either say anything that you know would be violent? Threats against individual members of the City Council? Or of this Tom Herald?"
"No," Nate answered, "nothing that could be proven to be a threat. They talked about it like it was a protest, but the tone and the context they put behind it sounded like it could be more."
"And I can and will report that to the Moon Lake PD, as just about everyone will be paying attention to the debate over the plan and we will want to make sure there is no fighting, coming from those that oppose the reveal and those that support it," Samantha said slowly, "for if there is too much fighting, it will draw attention from outside Moon Lake that won't be wanted and could reveal the were secret in a way that the present planning meetings would want to avoid..."
Nate stood there nervously as he got the sense that something was coming that would go the other way.
"But at the same time, if there is no direct threat that can be proved, we also can't just arrest them," Samantha then said with a sigh, "that's not how the law works, and in pure theory if all they want is an host and peaceful protest of the plan being developed, that is well within their rights. It's something that may ultimately assure that the plan developed is a workable one... and that all things will be considered."
Nate looked down for a moment as he scuffed his feet before looking over to Ben and then up to Samantha, "but you can't make the point that these two are a potential threat? Even if they didn't outright make one."
"We can take steps to make sure that they won't carry out a threat," Samantha assured him, coming around the counter to put one had on Nate's shoulder, in a way that reminded Nate of how his own mother would do when he'd had issues, "and that will likely include having the police be present to make sure there is no violent action, from either side. But we can't just arrest someone because they don't like something..."
"That's basic civics," Frances added.
Nate and Alex glanced to each other with some degree of nervousness, as the confrontation with the two unknown werewolves was still something that made Nate uneasy. Especially because he knew that what Frances and Samantha had said was in principle true. That was something that Nate did understand, even if things like how the US government worked wasn't something that was taught in detail until senior year, which was still a year away for Nate, Alex, and Ben. One could argue that some of Moon Lake's "special" attributes might trump that, as there were various things, like the Mandatory Were Law, that technically sat outside what was normal but had been deemed necessary for the safety of Moon Lake's weres. But then there was the fact that the were secret and revealing it was going to be another one of those things, and while Nate could accept it provided the plan was good and thought out, he was also well aware that there were probably others who weren't as supportive of the idea.
"I know... but... they way they were talking about it... it was..." Nate began slowly.
"Unsettling?" Alex offered as he looked to his boyfriend. Nate nodded at that.
"I'm sure it is, and is reflective of the bigger picture going on," Samantha commented, "and it could present the risk of fighting going on if enough are passionate about the subject. And in this, it was good that you reported this to me, as I can then update the city on what Mister Fives and Amehr may be up to."
"And at the same time," Ben commented, "even if they are trying to get every werewolf to rise up as some kind of army against the city council," Ben spoke up, "they may well find out that there may be a fair number of werewolves and perhaps even whole packs that are supportive of the idea. Just like what we've seen in school. This is something that goes across the board for every were, not just werewolves."
"As everyone has their own mind," Frances finished, which earned a weak smile from Nate.
"Yeah..." Nate nodded and accepted that, "I just figured you'd be the one to report this to. As wouldn't it fall to you?"
"Right now while they're only putting the plan together at the city council level... not really," Samantha answered, "as I don't sit in on their meetings. I may go as a guest from time to time, but it's the deputy mayor that holds more control over the agenda than anything else. Though, right now, with as tense as some things are, they may ask me in for some commentary on how any new residents might be responding to this and the tension around it. Not to mention giving some opinion on some of the fights that have gone on, as that may get reported outside Moon Lake, eventually."
Samantha left it there. Largely as she hadn't gotten that request, yet, and she didn't want to reveal anything that might worry Nate. Though, so far as she knew, from how the Ross family had responded to things, it was as if they'd known about weres all their lives and had been remarkably supportive. That was something that gave her some thought as to whether or not things would be as bad as many feared.
"But it is something I can pass along to those that will need to be aware of it," Samantha assured Nate, "and thank you."