Kurt could feel the sun beating down on him when he awoke. The sun was too bright to open his eyes completely without being blinded by it, so he slitted them apart slowly to adjust. He still felt groggy, like he could keep sleeping for a long while yet, but he had gotten through the night without terror overtaking him for once, and didn't want to jinx himself.

He could tell it was midday already by where the sun hung in the sky, and Blaine wasn't beside him anymore. With a grunt he sat up, wincing once his body reminded him how sore and blistered he was from the week of trekking they had just gone through on the horses.

Sitting across from Kurt at the now deadened firepit was the wizened old woman that had been talking to Blaine the night before, the same one who had brought his meal. Kurt quickly looked from side to side to see if Blaine was nearby, but quickly decimated that he was alone with this woman. He made a slightly crooked smile and a little wave with one hand to her, while she looked over at him as if to assess him, up and down, eyebrows furrowing in thought.

Finally, in choppy English, she spoke. "You. You... vehoe... whiteman. Friend of Avonaco. I..." she pointed at herself, "Náhkôhma'heóná'e.... Medicine Bear Mother."

Kurt swallowed and nodded, trying to repeat the name, "Na...Nako....uh...."

"Náhkôhma'heóná'e!" She spat towards him, making him lean back a little in surprise. She laughed at that reaction and then smiled, showing her few teeth, "You call me English name... Bear Mother. We good."

Kurt nodded, sighing in relief. He then tipped his head to the side curiously and asked, "Ava.... Avon...."

"Avonaco!" She laughed again, seeming to find his attempts at speaking the language utterly hilarious.

"Right. That. Is that Blaine?"

She nodded quickly. "Blaine whiteman name. From father. Avonaco from mother. Leaning Bear."

"Leaning Bear?" He arched a skeptical eyebrow. He had heard that the names of native people seemed to focus on animals and nature, but had never actually heard any of them translated, and Blaine's seemed like such an unlikely name for him. Kurt didn't know what he thought Blaine's native name would be, but Leaning Bear certainly didn't seem right. More like Lone Wolf, or Steady Hand, or something perhaps a bit more romanticized.

"He like bear. Strong. Alone. Solid. But he need support... Leaning." She explained, seeming to think about each word before she said it and allowing Kurt to understand her under the accent.

"Alright... Well I'm Kurt." He pointed to himself. "Good to meet you Bear Mother."

She grinned again, and Kurt wondered how she managed to eat her food with all those gaps in her mouth. "Kurt. Yes. Avonaco go. He get tipi. I have medicine for your hurt. Hurt on back." She held out a bowl with a stinky mashed substance in it. Kurt leaned across the fire and took it, looking at it curiously and then back to her for clarification.

She made movements, gesturing that it was to be rubbed on his hindquarters, probably to help with the rash and blisters from the riding. "Oh! Thank you!" He smiled and nodded again, setting the bowl beside him to apply when he was alone again.

"Avonaco say you have pain. Memory pain. Nightmare. Fear. Terror." The way she said it made it sound more like a question than a statement, so Kurt nodded acknowledgingly.

"You stay here. We help you. You learn Cheyenne language. Learn the ways." This time it wasn't a question when she said it. It sounded like she had decided for him, and Kurt desperately wished Blaine was here to verify what she was saying. Kurt could barely pronounce a Cheyenne name and she was suggesting he learn the language.

He was about to shake his head no when she listed a skinny little finger up, "You stay!"

Kurt nodded then. He wasn't about to say no to this little old woman who, quite frankly, scared him. He wasn't sure what about her was scaring him - maybe it was that she looked like a skeleton with skin and the longest black hair he had ever seen. Maybe it was how her skin bagged in wrinkles all over her body, especially in her face. Maybe it was the tiny little black eyes that sat inside some of those wrinkles and seemed to look directly into his soul. Whatever it was, he wasn't about to say no to her.

"Kurt. You're awake." Oh thank goodness, thought Kurt as he heard Blaine's voice and looked down the path to see Blaine walking toward him, followed by two other men with all three of them balancing long wooden poles on their shoulders.

Kurt pushed himself up, letting the blanket that had stayed on his lap topple to the ground. He offered Blaine a smile, watching Bear Mother from the corner of an eye. As Blaine and his accompaniment set down the poles, Blaine came to Kurt and asked, "You slept soundly last night."

Kurt nodded to Blaine, "Yes. No terrors at all... Avonaco." He winked and Blaine groaned, shaking his head. Bear Mother laughed at the exchange and Kurt was hoping it was because Blaine seemed embarrassed and not because Kurt had mispronounced the name.

Bear Mother moved away from the firepit then and gestured to Kurt to do the same. He grabbed the bowl of mush beside him and went to Blaine's side.

"We need to stay for awhile. Medicine Mother will help you, but she said it will take time."

Kurt nodded, looking back to the old woman at the fire who has started barking in Cheyenne at the other two men who had begun to lift up the poles to put them in place. "Yes... she said... that I need to learn the language?"

Blaine nodded, casting his gaze in the same direction Kurt had his, "Yes. There are some things that have no good translation in English. Besides, if we're staying here for awhile, you should be able to talk to someone else besides me."

"Well she spoke English... kind of." Kurt noted and turned back towards Blaine.

"She helps with trade, and since so few white men are willing to learn the language, she learned theirs. The chief also speaks French so they can trade with either group."

Kurt nodded and watched as Blaine watched the other men put up the tipi. "Have you ever done that before?"

"Hmm?" Blaine queried, looking back to Kurt.

Kurt tipped his head in the direction of the tipi, "Set one of those up?"

Blaine nodded, "Everyone helps. They go up, and come down easy. The tribe moves to different locations depending on the time of year, so movable homes are necessary."

Kurt smiled, "Why don't you help them then. Let me see how you do it."

Blaine flashed a grin back to Kurt and hurried over to help with the poles, creating a skeleton of a tipi while Kurt watched, making sure to take note of the procedure so he could help if they needed to do this again. He watched as the hide was pulled tightly around the poles, and also how they had set the whole thing up centered over the firepit.

"It doesn't have any paintings on it like the other ones I saw...." Kurt noted.

Blaine rubbed some sweat off his brow with the back of his hand while he spoke, "We can do that. Many of the paintings tell stories, or represent things about the occupants... " He started tossing their gear into the tipi.

Kurt stepped over and gently ran a finger over the taunt hide covering, feeling how smooth it was. He made a mental note to pay attention to how the people here tanned their hides because it was difficult to tailor leather and skin, let alone craft such a large tent like structure from it. "Tipi..." he murmured to himself, pleased that he had picked up a word without any prompting.

"Used to have lodge houses, when Cheyenne farmed. Now have tipi... hunt and gather and trade. Lakota push us west." He hadn't noticed but Bear Mother had come up by him and begun speaking. He turned to her, paying attention to her words and nodding attentively. She reached up and patted his shoulder.

"Avonaco care much for you. He want help you. You stay. We help. You help us too. Part of people here."

Kurt nodded, hoping he was understanding her meaning properly. Blaine grunted near them, having crawled into the tipi to organize their gear inside. His voice seemed to make Bear Mother smile a little more warmly and she tapped Kurt's shoulder again, "You go. Help Avonaco."

Kurt nodded obediently and crouched down to creep into the tipi, still holding the bowl of stinky mush in one hand. He found that Blaine had, at some point, brought in a fur that had replaced their individual blankets on their bedrolls. The cookware was set to one side, as was the rations they had with them. Blaine was sitting on the fur covering, leaning back on his palms.

"So... Leaning Bear. You come up with that?" Kurt grinned playfully, joining Blaine on the fur and setting down the bowl of mush finally. The fur was deep brown and looked big enough to be from a bear.

"No. Well.. not really. You get one name as a child, like a nickname. When you're grown, you go on a vision quest and then tell the elders what you saw on your quest. They give you your adult name. I saw a bear leaning against a mountain. I'm just lucky they didn't call me Lazy Bear or something. Frankly, I was disappointed I didn't get a name with wolf or eagle... those sound better in the language."

Kurt laid back, snuggling into the fur. He would definitely enjoy the warmth from that. "What's a vision quest?"

"Ah... well.... essentially you're sent into the woods for several days on your own to commune with nature and smoke the pipe... Now, given my education, I don't exactly believe in the whole thing, but I went through with it anyway. I'm sure what I saw was a hallucination due to hunger and the smoke from the pipe."

Kurt hummed thoughtfully, weaving his fingers together on his chest as he looked up at the tipi, which narrowed the higher up it went until a hole at the top exposed the blue sky outside. "What was your childhood nickname then?"

Blaine turned his head to look down at Kurt with a furrowed brow, "Why so many questions?"

"Because it strikes me that I don't really know this side to you all that well... hell.... I don't really know you all that well when it comes down to it. I've told you everything I can about myself.... I just... want to know more about you."

Blaine shrugged a little, "Mamakha... Means curly haired...."

Kurt chuckled a little at that, and Blaine's expression turned sour. "Sorry... I think it's cute... and definitely fitting."

"Have they called you Vehoe yet...?"

Kurt stopped chuckling and then thought back, nodding when he recalled his conversation with Bear Mother, "Yes..."

"It means white man. They may call you that. Some people will mean it descriptively... others might mean it in a negative way."

"Why?"

Blaine moved one of his hands to settle on Kurt's, "Bad trades... bad encounters... Bear Mother meant it harmlessly... she was just describing you. To others, you may have to earn their respect before they treat you with kindness. Not everyone here is a noble savage."

Kurt wrapped his fingers around the hand that Blaine had offered him, "Noble savage?"

"Yes.... the way natives are portrayed in stories and pictures I've seen. Like all they are is primitive, uneducated people whose whole life is founded on an honor system. There are good and bad people, just like there are in any white town, and the way they live is just different, not worse or better, but different."

Kurt hummed again. It was the most Blaine had spoken all at once in a long time, and part of Kurt was thrilled to be able to hear his voice and spend the time with him. Despite the ache in his rear, it was worth it to come here. The other half of Kurt was uncomfortable in this new situation, and not sure what to think, especially with Blaine telling him that some would probably not be warm to Kurt.

"Will you teach me Cheyenne?"

Blaine nodded, laying himself down on his side while keeping his one hand entwined with Kurt's. "As best as I can. Try this... one'ahe."

"Oh..ne... a... he."

"Faster."

"One'ahe."

Blaine beamed and Kurt knew he had nailed it.

"It means handsome." Blaine explained and pressed a kiss to Kurt's forehead which Kurt leaned into happily. It was the most domestic they had been in a long while and Kurt was enjoying it thoroughly. How nice it would be if they could settle down and have a home of their own. Maybe have their own little farm away from everything else.

"Roll onto your stomach." Blaine commanded then, and Kurt looked over to his face, arching an inquisitive eyebrow.

"I'll put that stuff on you. It will help with the pain." Blaine explained, pointing towards the bowl Bear Mother had given Kurt.

"Alright..." Kurt grumbled and rolled over, pulling down his pants awkwardly and feeling exposed. This wasn't like when they had sex at all. It was downright embarrassing and reminded him of when Tina washed him while he was in the infirmary in Lima. However he was willing to try anything to get rid of the burning ache, even put up with the embarrassment of having a putrid smelling ointment rubbed on his naked backside.

Blaine put the bowl in his own lap and took a little bit of the mash onto his fingers at a time, spreading it gently in circles over Kurt's lower back and rear. Kurt winced, not because it hurt, in fact, he could feel it tingle and numbing on him. He winced because despite his willingness to do this, he couldn't help but feel ashamed at his need to be cared for once again. It seemed to be an ongoing trend in his life lately, and he wished for the day when he could be independent once more.

"I can hear you thinking." Blaine said plainly as he worked.

Kurt gave him a grunt in response.

"I think you'd be happy to have me take care of your ass." Blaine said, and Kurt, even though he wasn't looking, could feel Blaine smirk as he said it. This was the Blaine he first met. The cocky, crude man who hid his feelings behind an obnoxious facade.

"I'm tired of being taken care of."

Blaine hummed to himself thoughtfully and set the bowl to the side, empty of the mash now. "Let yourself be taken care of for awhile so we can make you better, and then you'll be able to be that fierce, slap happy boy I met in Lima."

Kurt grinned at that. Twice he had slapped Blaine. It would have been three times but then they managed to get caught up in a fit of passion.

Blaine must have caught the side of his grin because he responded, "Thought it might cheer you up to remember how you like to hurt me." Blaine laid down then, beside Kurt so they could look at one another as they laid in their bed.

"Well you were asking for it."

Blaine smiled to him, reaching a hand up to move away a stray piece of hair that had drifted onto Kurt's forehead, "I was just letting you know how attractive you were in the only way I knew how then."

Kurt rolled his eyes, "Poor Cheyenne women. If that's the kind of lines they're used to anyhow."

Blaine grinned and remained quiet for a minute, just watching Kurt, who watched him back. After that minute, his face became serious.

"Bear Mother knows the nature of our relationship, but it would be best to otherwise keep it to ourselves and just act like friends around the rest."

Kurt nodded. The world wasn't safe for people like them, and they were always careful in public. People tended to assume the innocent about them, thinking they were just friends who travelled together and not anything more.

"I know I spoke about two spirited people being accepted... and that's generally been true.... but the influence of white men has affected some of the Cheyenne, and I would just feel a lot safer if we stuck to the same old routine, especially since we're going to stick around and get you help here."

Blaine look troubled as he explained that last bit and Kurt nodded again, adding, "It's alright Blaine. Really. I know we're not normal and it's safer to keep that a secret."

Blaine smiled weakly back to Kurt, "Thanks..."

"Bear Mother.... you told her?"

Blaine shook his head, "She knows. She is good at reading people. She's like your friend Santana from Lima, but her love died a long while ago so it's not been a concern for her."

"She seems to care about you a lot...."

Blaine smiled softly and nodded, "That's because she's, technically, my great aunt. My mother's aunt, and the one who raised her. She's kind of a grandmother to me."

Kurt lit up and lifted his head, "Really?"

"Oh calm down white boy." Blaine teased, watching Kurt's reaction with amusement. "The tribe ultimately take care of everyone. It's not like where you came from where blood is thicker than water."

Kurt huffed and dropped his head back down. "Still. This is the first relative I've ever met of yours. It's a big deal to me. I wish I knew that before I tried pronouncing her Cheyenne name and managed to hack it up badly."

Blaine chuckled at the thought of it, making Kurt snort derisively. "Well, for whatever reason, she's always had a soft spot for me, so I'm sure she'll like you just fine. Just work hard on your Cheyenne and try to help and you'll be fine."

"I want to help. I do. I'm tired of being useless."

"With an ass like that you'll never be useless to me."

Kurt playfully reached over to smack Blaine on the chest, who in turn feigned hurt. They laughed and eventually both boys fell asleep for a mid-morning nap, arms tangled around one another.

And in his dreams, Kurt heard his father cry out as Kurt hung from a noose.