When Steven wakes up, the first thought that runs though his mind is why the fuck is he floating?

He feels groggy, tired and scattered. It doesn't help that his head is pounding and everything feels like it's shaking slightly. It takes a few moments for his mind to catch up, and then suddenly everything rushes back and he's stuck picturing the fear he saw on Chaos's face.

The mental image stays stuck in the back of his mind as he lets his eyes wander over Chaos's form. His best friend is holding him bridal style as he stalks through the trees. He's completely silent, except for the sound of his heavy breathing, and Steven realizes that Chilled must be really strong. Every time Steven's skin brushes against Chilled's, he can feel how cold his friend really is, since his only protection against the Canadian air is Steven's jacket that's loosely wrapped around his waist.

Steven wishes he wasn't in this situation, wishes that he doesn't have to deal with what he's assuming is werewolves and fantasy stories. Today feels so absurd and he just wants to go back to cuddling his wolf buddy, no unnecessary complications or feelings.

Chaos hasn't realized he's awake yet, so the low groan that Steven lets out takes him by surprise and he stumbles slightly.

"You can put me down," Steven mumbles, looking anywhere but his friends face. Chaos just nods, letting him slip out of his arms without a word, but he clearly hovers beside him making sure he's not going to collapse again, "I'm fine,"

"Sorry, just making sure, Ze," Chilled replies, but his brown eyes don't stray from Stevens face.

"Ze? Oh Jeez, you still remember that?" 

"Well yeah, I remember everything you uh... tell me," he says, shuffling on the spot and it's quite obvious that he's nervous. Which is understandable, since Steven is nervous too, "do you not want me to call you that? Cause I can stop, I get that this," he pauses, gesturing to himself, "is a bit- it's extremely weird,"

"You can say that again," Steven replies, snorting to himself as he lets his eyes trail around the forest their encased by. It's not as daunting, now that he's had a few moments to 'recover'. So what if his best friend was a wolf and is now human; it's sure going to make conversations a lot easier.

Chaos is still watching him, expecting an answer but Ze just shrugs and lets his eyes trail over Chilled's body, "Ze's fine, just took me by surprise. Nobody's called me that in years... heh. Wow, I only told you about ZeRoyalViking once, buddy and you were practically a puppy,"

Chaos's relief is obvious, since Steven can clearly see most of the tension melt out of his shoulders and his smile grows tenfold.

"Hey! I wasn't a puppy, I just hadn't hit my growth spurt yet. I'm older than you, ya know. Compared to me you're a small child," he replied, moving closer to jokingly punch Steven's shoulder. Ze just laughs, it doesn't matter if Chaos was human or wolf, he still acts like a giant nerd and Steven loves that.

"Hmm, sure..." he replied, before confusion clouds his features, "hey, where are we? I know you were carrying me somewhere, but this is the complete opposite direction of my house,"

"Oh, 'bout that. I was kinda walking us back to my home. I didn't think your parents would let a naked stranger into their house and I wasn't just gonna leave you there, we still need to talk about," he gestures to himself again and Steven rolls his eyes, "this,"

"Yeah. It would have been a lot easier Chaos, if you had of just told me you were a werewolf. Why the hell didn't you tell me sooner. Better yet, why did you choose to tell me now?" Steven questions, his tone becoming serious and Chilled can tell he's no longer joking around, "is this a game for you? Freak the human out and laugh at how he reacts?"

"No! Look, I-I would have told you earlier-"

"That means nothing to me Chaos because you didn't, instead you just chose to just randomly blindside me one day after keeping me in the dark for five plus years!" Steven interrupts.

"I had a reason dammit! I'm twenty four years old and everyone in my pack thinks I'm a failure. I get I fucked up Ze, but you have to understand things from my perspective,"

"Then tell me! Explain your side because I'm not a mind reader Chilled and I don't get it," Ze stress's, trying to get his best friend to understand.

"I have no mate!" he bursts, hands coming up to pull at his hair, "I'm meant to have a partner already, meant to have pups already but I don't. I don't because I've been stuck pining over a human, a human who doesn't even really know that much about me but I know everything about him," 

Steven just pauses for a moment, watching Chilled's whole body shake slightly. It's probably due to the mixture of the adrenaline pumping through his system and the cold, but it still worries him. He's doesn't say anything, doesn't want to interrupt Chilled again and instead just waits for his friend to calm down enough to keep talking.

"M-my dads been on my back, Steven. He's been asking when I'm going to get a mate, and sooner or later he's not going to let it slide anymore. I-I wanted... I was hoping you and I." He pauses, dropping his hands to his sides with a thud, "ugh this is stupid, I'm so stupid,"

"You want me to be your mate?" Steven asks slowly. 

The words feel foreign on his tongue and he takes a moment to think. Chilled's right, Steven doesn't know much about him, since it's not as if they could've shared their interests with one another. They had no form of communication other than Steven talking and Chaos listening. But that doesn't mean their friendship means nothing, after all Chaos saved him.

"Chaos, you're shaking. Maybe we should continue this talk back at your home, I don't want you freezing to death,"

He nods, letting out a low sigh before turning and trudging off into the trees again. Steven has to struggle to match his pace, since his friend seems hell bent on avoiding all small talk, though he doesn't blame him. It's awkward for a few moments, while Steven silently replays what Chaos said over and over again in his mind.

"Um, you know. You can call me Anthony if you want, since that's my... that's my real name," Chilled mumbles, glancing slightly at Ze and Steven just grins back at him as he walks.