6- Teasing

"Made it here in one piece!" Scott announced as he strode into the foyer of his parents’ house. Even after moving out, Sunday was always reserved for family dinners.

"Ah, good!" his mother called from the kitchen, "Come in here and help me set the table! Dinner's almost ready!"

"Smells good!" He made his way to the kitchen. His childhood home was a nice two-story place in the suburbs, complete with solid wood floors and a beautifully manicured lawn. His father and sister were busy with the last bit of dinner prep. "Sorry I'm late." He took the stack of plates from his mother and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Not late, just in time!" His father said, pulling a roast out of the oven.

"Scotty," his little sister chided, "you're always late just so you can get out; of cooking."

"Aw, come on now, Liz. If you want me to cook for you, all you have to do is say so."

She laughed. "If you cook then I'm stuck cleaning the food off the ceiling. You're better suited for dish duty."

"Fair enough. That was a freak accident though."

"Children!" their mom called from the dining room, "Food's gonna get cold if you don't get in here. Elizabeth, honey, grab the silverware for me please!"

"Yes ma'am!"

In short order the table was set and the dinner was served. Scott's father Howard, a robust alpha with slick brown hair sat at the head. Either side of him sat his wife Gail and daughter Elizabeth. Scott took more after his mother, and Elizabeth their father. Scott took his place at the opposite end of the table.

"Alright everyone, dig in!" Howard said cheerfully, "Save room though, I brought home a custard cake for dessert!"

The whole table ate with gusto. Scott loved Sundays. He loved his father's cooking. He loved being able to look across the table and see his family, to talk and joke with them. Most of all, he loved his father's desserts. Custard cake was near the top of his favorites list.

"So Liz," Scott began, "how's school coming? Still having problems with coding the attack sequence?"

"Nah, I figured out where I was going wrong. Now we're waiting on the art guy to finish the character skins though so we can test the movement."

Elizabeth was in her third year of college studying video game design. The major project this semester was to put together a working maze crawler. Her team was trying to be ambitious by adding enemy combat.

"So, you going to let me play it?"

"After I see what kind of grade I get. Working with this many people feels like herding cats! Do you know how hard it is to get an artist to meet a deadline? It’d be easier to do the whole thing myself!"

"It might be easier to do it all yourself, but you’d never make the deadline."

She smiled a little and stuck her tongue out at him.

"So Scott, anything new at work?" his mother asked.

"Nah," Scott replied, "Work's the same as always. I do have news though."

"Oh?" his father raised his eyebrow.

"Remember that omega from the grocery store I told you about last week? I've got a date with him Tuesday. Well, we kinda already had a date, but it wasn't really a date. I was trying to apologize for what happened at his job and treated him to a meal."

"So is my brother finally coming out of his dry spell?"

"Aw, that hurt!" Scott feigned grabbing his heart. "It's not like that. School just took priority for a while."

"Well I'm happy for you," his mother interjected. “They were male, right? You should bring him to dinner so we can meet him. He must be something since he was all you could talk about last Sunday."

"Let... Let me get a couple of dates in first, okay?" Scott's face was positively pink.

"Come now, sweetheart, don't tease the poor lad too much," his father chuckled.

"All I'm saying is that it'd nice having another omega in the house I can discuss omega things with." Her light expression belied her serious tone.

Scott's parents were married before omegas were recognized as people and not property. He had been told that shortly after the law was passed they’d decided to get married properly. In all of his life, Scott could never remember a time where his father was cruel or unkind to his mother. He treated her with respect, and they seemed to be very much in love. Not that that was the case for many of the alpha-omega pairs out there. It was true though, his mother didn't get out much besides when she was helping her husband at work, and didn't have many friends. She probably did get lonely sometimes.

"Hey Scotty, have you been practicing?" His sister poked him in the arm. "I'm totally going to win today."

"Not a chance! Name your game," Scott replied with a smirk.

"Mario Cart. Best three out of five."

"You're on!"

--------------------

"Rayan, you're alive!" Rayan's postal company coworker Michael, 'Mick' for short, tackled him as soon as he entered the locker room. This month, his hair was bleached strawberry blonde with a faded green streak through the bangs. His roots showed his natural copper red hair. "You flaked out on me man, you were supposed to help me pick my new color last week!"

"Mick, I was on heat leave, you know that. I didn't blow you off on purpose."

Michael pouted a little, his intense blue eyes narrowing suspiciously. He was an omega as well, with a flair for the dramatic. He was fond of color, and had several protective bite collars which he bedazzled himself since, well, they were too boring on their own. The one he wore now was dyed purple, and was the one he usually wore to work in. It clashed with his neon pink t-shirt, just like he liked it.

"You know," Michael started putting on his safety equipment, "you could use a haircut too. It must be a pain tying your hair back all the time."

Rayan’s hair was currently tied back in a bun. "It's so hard to find someone who can cut curly hair though, and haircuts are expensive. It’s cheaper to tie it back."

"The alphas are going to think you're a lady."

"Look who's talking."

"This is fashion! My followers dig it!"

This topic of conversation came up a lot between them. Michael was the most eccentric person Rayan had ever met, but under all the neon he was a sweet guy. He was also the only other male omega Rayan knew. Michael was a few years younger than him, and still lived with his parents. They didn't get much time to socialize out of work since their schedules didn't always line up, but considered themselves best friends, regardless.

"Ugh! Reeks in here!" Their other shift member, Jack, burst into the room. Middle aged, high widows peak, and a perpetual scowl, he was about as pleasant as he looked.

"Hey, Jack!" Rayan greeted as he finished donning his safety gear.

Jack didn't respond. Never did. Rayan didn't let it bother him. He’d grown up in a time where people like Rayan and Michael weren't allowed to speak in public, let alone have jobs. Never mind that they all worked for the same company, everyone had as much of a right to be there as everyone else.

"Yo, guys," Michael called as he was leaving, "I checked the schedule already, they stuck us on the truck at Bay 6."

"M'kay!" Rayan replied. Jack didn't say a word.

--------------------

"Doef it efer bofer you dat runch if at foua inna mornin?"

"Mick, please, don't talk with your mouth full."

"Thaf's wha he shaid"

Rayan punched his coworker lightly in the arm. "Dude, get your mind out of the gutter."

Michael rubbed his shoulder with a look of indignation. They were side by side with their legs hanging off the now empty dock. The night air was balmy, and there was a cricket somewhere in the weeds that grew between the asphalt and the building. The postal company had a break room for their employees of course, but when the weather was nice, this is where the two chose to hang out.

"I could care less when I eat. My sleep schedule is shit anyway."

Michael took a long pull from his water bottle. "You're getting grey hairs too."

"AM NOT! Take that back!"

"You're working yourself to an early grave," Michael teased.

"No I'm not. Its called being self-supportive!"

"Riiight l, I forgooot. You're the strong independent omega who don't need no man."

"Actually..." Rayan fidgeted nervously with his collar.

Michael turned to his buddy with mischief gleaming in his eyes. "Oh?"

"I may have been asked out."

"Aaaand...?"

"And I may have agreed…?"

"Detaaaails...?" Michael poked Rayan in the side repeatedly. "They’re alpha, right? Boy or girl? What do they look like? What color are their eyes? Are they hot? What do they do for a living? Are they rich? Do they have any alpha friends they can hook me up with? Spill, man!"

"Uh, yes, male, blond-ish hair, green, kinda, doctor, don't know, and don't push it." Rayan ticked the questions off on his fingers, trying not to miss one. "We kinda had dinner already, but the official date is tonight."

"You already had your first date, but now you're having an official date?"

"That didn't count. It was an apology."

Michael stared at him and raised his eyebrows questioningly. Rayan told him an abbreviated version of the story.

"And so, yeah," Rayan ended, "first date is tomorrow when he gets off work."

Michael stared out at the trucks moving across the lot. "What made you say yes? This isn't the first guy to ask you out since your last relationship."

"Don't know. Maybe I'm just ready now."

"Advance warning, I’m not ready to comfort you when this guy ends up being an ass."

"Not everyone can be as bad as the last guy. I'll use a lot more caution this time."

"And then he'll get bored 'cause you're moving too slow and I'll end up comforting you anyway."

Rayan was quiet. It wasn't as if he hadn't considered that. There was a reason he hadn't consulted his friend when he was deciding whether or not to reply to Scott. Michael seemed to have a pessimistic view on long-term relationships.

"Don't take that the wrong way," Michael apologized. "If you're ready, I'm happy for you."

They sat in silence for the rest of their break, finishing their food. The shift leader soon came to gather them up, then it was back to work.