Chapter Seven: Sealed Lips, Wide Eyes
At first, all Xiao could do was stare at Lukas before his mind caught up as to what he was saying.
"What?! Are you out of your mind?!"
"Possibly, but I want to prove a point," Lukas appeared too composed despite not being so a few moments ago.
"You want me dead is what you're really after! Emil will kill me if I dated you and I already told him I don't like you like that," as each second ticked by, the twelve year old lost his cool. "And if Emil doesn't kill me, Mathias or Berwald will! Actually, both alphas would, then they'd, like, toss me back to Emil to finish me off."
By then, Lukas had placed his arms on the shorter alpha's shoulders, "Relax, as long as you keep me happy, Emil won't kill you. Besides, I don't think that kiss convinced him that you don't like me. In fact, it probably cemented the idea. Now, if you do date me," the Norwegian dug his fingers into Xiao's shoulders, "you'll be able to observe my lillebror closer. Possibly find out, once and for all, if he does reciprocate your feelings."
Bringing in his best friend's crazy brother into his home, Xiao stared back at depthless cobalt blue eyes as he processed what the other had said. Those hypnotic eyes were quite persuading because deliberation did not take that long. Besides, dating Lukas for a while wouldn't be that bad. He could pretend it was Emil instead, right? The two brothers looked alike, behaved similarly, and if Xiao focused, he could detect the same ocean-y scent they shared. And Lukas would be great practice before he confessed to Emil. Right?
"Yeah, like, I guess why not?" The smaller boy's frame deflated. "You're right; we have already kissed after all, but we need to set up parameters before we become 'official.'"
Lukas made himself a home and settled himself on the Wang's couch, "Agreed, for instance, no pet names."
A smirk finally appeared upon the younger boy's face. "Aww, but that takes away all the fun my sweet pea."
Cold eyes glared, "Only my mother is allowed to call me that."
"But its so cute how you guys react to her."
"You mean how Emil reacts to the endearing," Lukas finally smiled back. "So what do you call him?"
"Aloud or..."
"Both."
"Well in school, he's known as The Ice Prince. I just call him Ice," a look of fondness warmed the young alpha's expression. "Sometimes, 'my prince,' teasingly of course. Every now and then-"
"Qíng'ài de*." A sweet voice responded in place of Xiao. "Are we discussing Emmy?"
Behind Xiao stood his beta, older sister, Mei.
The young girl had always been in Lukas' class, however once it was discovered that she was a beta the year prior, she transferred into Theta, the advanced beta classes. When they had been together in the same class, the two rarely interacted with one another, however they didn't harbour any ill will against each other. He knew very little of her except that she was part of group that were known as the Cupids at school. They often involved themselves in others' love affairs with successful outcomes from what Lukas has heard. Of course, he had also heard of the trouble and roundabout ways they go through to accomplish their match making.
"No, we're not," Xiao slowly moved around the coffee table to sit next to Lukas and wrap his arm around him. "We're... like... um..."
Lukas snuggled into the alpha's arm, never leaving his eyes from Mei, "We're dating."
Chocolate brown eyes squinted in suspicion between the two. She knew all about Xiao's orientation and crush on his best friend, therefore she didn't believe the act, and her brother knew it. They didn't keep many secrets from each other, so the other knew she would inevitably get involved.
"Lukas is the cold-hearted jerk that I love and, like, nothing you can say will keep us apart." His nose tickled with Lukas right under him, but it wasn't completely uncomfortable. If their plan was to work, he assumed he'd have to get used to the other's scent.
"Uh huh... I see...," Mei sat where Xiao had been moments ago. "So you won't care to know that earlier today I saw Emil trip over himself and giggle? I guess you also wouldn't want the picture I managed to take when his face blossomed into healthy blush."
Both boys extended their arms towards her and held their palms open.
"Gimme," they also managed to harmonize.
The girl tried to restrain her own giggles, but she could not fight against them. Lukas and Xiao could definitely get along if they bonded over Emil's cuteness! She briefly wondered how Emil's older brother would react to their subtle stalking; it wasn't like they were after him 24/7...
"Nuh, uh," dark locks of hair swished back and forth. "Neither of you gets this until I get some answers. What's going on between the two of you?"
Surprisingly, Lukas really wanted that picture and confessed everything to her. All his emotions over being an omega, the resentment he held against most alphas, specifically Mathias, what had recently happened between the two, and his plan to get back at his best friend were revealed. It felt good to get it all off his chest, and he even considered backing out of his plan, but it felt even better to have the picture of his dear baby brother blushing in his hand.
There was no way Mei could deny the older brother his happiness after hearing all that!
"Don't worry, Xiao; I'll send you the same picture to your email later," she briefly turned to her brother before focusing back on the omega practically cooing at the picture. "I'm sorry, Lukas; I never would have guessed! We all just thought you were playing hard to get with those two or that you couldn't pick between them. So you've never seen them as anything more than as your friends?"
Looking back into Mei's eyes, the blond shrugged, "Not really. Mathias and Berwald have been my best friends since I moved here. Maybe at one point I almost thought of Berwald as my future mate, but that was in primary school and I haven't felt anything build on that. Why do you ask? And do you think both really like me?"
"Well there goes Lily's ship," Mei muttered under her breath. "And Emma's ship is pretty much obliterated..."
"Huh?" Lukas was rapidly becoming lost while the beta's younger brother rolled his eyes.
Xiao knew of the ships she and the other Cupids dedicated their high school lives towards, but he never tried to follow any of his sister's pairings. Curious now that they were somewhat talking about it, he decided to ask her what she preferred.
"Who do I pair Lukas with?" Mei tried to follow what her brother was asking.
"What? Hey...," blue eyes tried to threaten them to end the conversation, but it was ignored.
Taking out her little pink notebook, the beta leafed through the pages with a gleam in her eye. "Well actually, now that you ask; I ship him with both! Lizzy and I couldn't really pick a side like Emma or Lily can, so we went with a yummy threesome! Both alphas have liked you for quite some time now, Lukas. That's why Lily ships you and Berwald while Emma ships you and Mathias. The girls will be devastated to find out you don't like either... And you Xiao, mistake the purpose of the Cupids young, silly one." Mei affectionately reached over to ruffle Xiao's hair. "Our purpose isn't to get our ships together, but to help love blossom between two mutuals crushing on each other!
"Remember when Kiku had a huge crush on Heracles? Well, how do you think they got together? Nii-san is too shy to admit his feelings and Heracles is too slow! So after a few investigative measures, us Cupids were on the case and helped those two lovebirds get together! That's just one of our success stories! Ludwig and Feliciano have been together for quite some time and Toni and Lovi are practically together already!" One could easily see the girl rapidly become excited.
"Now, since helping Lukas is pretty much the opposite of a Cupid's job, I'll have to change some things around and focus on gathering information on Emmy's feelings instead. His been a tough nut to crack, but with more attention on him, I bet I can figure him out. Although, I'll probably need Lily's help since she's in the same grade as you two..." Mei frantically scribbled away while her brother rolled his eyes at her antics and Lukas sat their confused. "Oh wait! Lukas is there anyone you have feelings for?"
Feeling uncomfortable under Xiao's arm after remembering their kiss, Lukas moved a little away from him. "No," he responded, but a flash of doubt entered his mind along with a slight coloring of his cheeks.
"That face doesn't say no~!" The girl giggled, jotting down a few more notes before inquiring who he was thinking of.
"Like, why'd you pick me if you already like someone?!" Xiao moved farther away to get a good look at the omega. He wasn't quite angry yet, however annoyed suited him at the moment.
"Because I don't," the omega matched the alpha's glare. "You weren't the only one that has kissed me." Turning back towards the beta, Lukas began to explain what had happened. "I don't really like Tino that way, but I can't really say I didn't get caught up in it either. I didn't not like it."
Pouting, Xiao turned away, "You seemed pretty caught up with me at the time."
"Aww, little Xiao's insecure of his kissing?" Lukas teased poking at the younger boy's cheek.
Click.
"No," he smacked the other's hand away from him and moved in closer to growl, "I couldn't care less what you thought of my kiss."
Click.
Lukas sneered, leaning into Xiao's personal space, "Oh I bet. Too bad that I have the power to play it up or downgrade your skill to Emil. Maybe I'll set him up with Tino instead. Not only is he trustworthy, cute, and sweet; he's a great kisser too. Emil will be more than satisfied with him."
"You. Wouldn't. Dare."
They were practically touching foreheads as they glared each other down. Beta's were not as perceptive to smells and pheromones, but Mei was tingling with excitement.
Click.
"I won't play along with your game then. Good luck finding another alpha to go along with your twisted plan." Xiao sat away, crossing his arms stubbornly.
"Ha! You must really have it bad for my little brother because you just admitted you're sick enough to agree to it in the first place," as soon as the words escaped Lukas' lips, he froze. "What am I doing? I just... Mat just..."
Without explaining anything else, he apologized to the siblings before excusing himself.
Xiao and Mei stared at the door in silence before the older sister began beating her little brother with a pillow.
"What the hell, Mei?!"
"Go after him!"
Dumbfounded, the alpha could only gape at her as his words stumbled around his head.
"Lukas needs our help," she explained as patiently as she could. "He needs us as his friends because he obviously can't go to Mathias about this right now and involving Berwald might make matters worse."
"And how will it make it worse?" Xiao cocked an eyebrow, finally regaining his voice, but only to have more questions fill his mind. "And since when were we his friends? You've barely even talked to him before today."
Mei tapped her chin with her little pink book while she paced back and forth. "We were his friends the moment he asked us for help. From the little I have interacted with him, I know that he is super reserved and basically only had Berwald and Mathias as friends. He's become familiar with Matthew, Arthur, and Vlad, but they're not as close to him as the other two were. Then there's Tino, but I haven't even met him and have no information on him yet."
"It's creepy how you know all this..."
"You'd be surprised with what kind of information I hold in here, dear brother of mine," she wiggled the book in front of his nose. "We Cupids share all of our information in order to help star-crossed lovers get together. And from the information we've gathered, Mathias and Berwald have had a rivalry that goes back even farther than them knowing Lukas. If Berwald finds out that Mathias has claimed Lukas, then there will probably be blood."
Rolling his eyes, Xiao got up from the couch to head back towards his shared room. "You're such a drama queen."
"I am not! Promise me you'll keep an eye on him whenever you hang out with Emil."
"Yeah, yeah," he waved her off, completely missing the determined look on her face. Had he caught her expression, he might have been able to prevent unnecessary drama.
x. X. x.
The next morning, Lukas awoke tired and moody. He awoke without the need of his brother or alarm clock-a surprising feat-and left the house before even his parents were up. Restless inside his home, Lukas decided it would be best for him to go to school rather than mope around until his family got up. It was fairly dark out, but he could find his way with a blindfold on had he had the chance. Fortunately, without a blindfold and no traffic to slow him down, he made it to the school fairly quickly.
He knew most of the school doors were locked except for one of the gymnasium doors, closest to the pool. Had Lukas not been involved in sports, he would have remained stranded outside, never knowing of the early morning swimming practices. No one was around to stop him, so Lukas slipped in and walked towards the spectator seating. There was nothing else for him to do so early in the morning at school and he would rather not wonder the halls in the dark. Although the dark did not scare him, his thoughts did.
Therefore, he chose to focus on the simmers and their motions rather than let his troubling thoughts bog him down. Fortunately, it did not take long for him to become distracted because he soon recognized a pale, slim figure preparing to dive into the deep pool.
Gilbert steadily held his position on the platform, then jumped and twisted his body before extending his limbs in oder to slip into the water. There was considerably less splashing involved than Lukas had imaged, but it was enough to captivate the boy. The obnoxiously energetic teen was known to make a show of things on the football field, yet he was shockingly calm and composed several feet above the pool. It was captivating.
Loud shouts, however, distracted Lukas away from his former classmate and teammate as he recognized Kyle Kirkland call out to Elizaveta to swim faster. It was just as awe-inspiring to watch the young alpha tear through the water, as it was watching the albino disappear into the chlorine pool. From where the omega sat, he could feel the powerful aura emanating from them, but he couldn't smell them.
Jealousy soon began to nip away the wonder of the sport, causing Lukas to resent his nature for limiting his options once more. He was about to leave when he spotted Lovino surfacing right after Elizaveta in the lane next to her.
Disbelief brought the blond closer to the edge while not quite leaving the spectator seating. He couldn't believe his eyes that an omega was practicing with alphas, but it was true. Soon he recognized a few more faces from his classes and found himself near the edge of the water.
"Lukas?" Elizaveta called out. "What are you doing here?"
"Thinking about joining the omega's swim team?" Kyle grinned at him, reminding the omega of a certain grinning blond.
"No," he spat out rather harshly than he meant to, causing the brunet alpha's smile to waver a little. "I mean, just wondered in."
"Fairly early to wonder in," Lovino dragged himself out of the pool. "So if you're not planning to join, what do you want with us? We are in the middle of practice."
Lukas momentarily stared at the Italian omega. Although they had also been teammates on the football field, they never really interacted. It was somewhat unsettling to have the other glare at him and he briefly wondered if he had the same affect on others with his own glare. However, where as Lukas never spoke to others, Lovino had both bark and bite.
"Eh... I was, I wanted to know why omegas and alphas practice together," he directed his attention to Elizaveta. He had worked with her the most, and although Kyle was Arthur's cousin, he simply didn't know him enough.
The girl smiled as she adjusted her swimming cap. "Well, there aren't that many of us in the swim teams, so we have joint practices. The betas' team is actually the biggest out of the three of us, but even then we're relatively small compared to other schools."
"You should join!" Kyle tried again, this time not smiling as broadly in order to put the omega at ease. Lukas couldn't smell him, but he could smell Lukas a little because he was dry and there wasn't enough chlorine in the air to completely block out his senses. "You can always have more people right, Lovi?"
"Don't call me that!" Lovino punched the alpha's shoulder, genuinely offended.
"Right, right!" Kyle laughed. "Only Antonio can! Sorry mate, I forgot!"
Elizaveta bounced on the balls of her feet in excitement, "You should Lukas! You're a great athlete and I'm bet you're itching to push yourself in some form." She heard from Mei last night how Lukas was out of sorts and with the omega in front of her, she wanted to rid the boy of his depressing pheromones. "I can ask the coach for you if you want. She trains all of us because there's only a handful and with practice at the same time, it's very convenient."
"The chlorine blocks our smells," Lovino answered with his arms crossed. He stared into Lukas' dark blue eyes almost as if he could read the other's mind. "Even if you go into heat in here, it won't have such an automatic affect on the others and you'll have enough time escape. Trust me, it's already happened to a few of us."
"So wanna join?" The Aussie brightened tenfold.
Lukas's eyes darted towards Kyle before quickly moving them back to Lovino then Elizaveta.
With the simple glance the omega gave her teammate, the Hungarian alpha formulated a plan in a matter of microseconds. Clapping her hands in excitement, she grabbed a hold of Lukas and dragged him towards their coach.
"Swimming is what you need to get out of the funk you're in, Lukas!"
That is why, after a brief exchange with their coach, the blond omega found himself in one of Lovino's swim jammers and in the farthest lane from the other students with the other omega.
"You know how to swim right? Using whichever stroke you know, I want you to swim to the other end and back a few times so that you can warm up," Lovino ducked under water so that he could get into the next lane next to him. "Don't tire yourself too much, because after you're done, I'll watch and time you. If you like swimming and we deem you acceptable, then you can join."
"I... okay," Lukas took a deep breath and then submerged into the water.
Warming up was simple enough because he didn't completely exert himself before being tested by Lovino. He wasn't quite sure if the other omega was really qualified to evaluate him, but he didn't want to speak against the ill-tempered Italian. Instead, he focused his energy on his swimming once Lovino was armed with a stop watch.
When he finally surfaced after his final timed lap, he gasped at a pair of red eyes staring down at him.
"Lukas! What a surprise!" Gilbert exclaimed. "I thought that was you, but I wasn't quite sure with your hair all wet. What brings you to the pool?"
"He's part of the team, potato-brain," Lovino pushed him out of the way to speak to their newest member. "Not bad, Bondevik. You're not the worst I've seen, but there's definitely potential in you."
"Did I hear right? Lukas is in?" Elizaveta came up to them as she was toweling her body, closely followed by Kyle.
"Really? Congratulations!" Kyle patted the omega on his back. "Can't wait so see ya bright an' early everyday."
"Everyday? Early?" Lukas gulped, completely forgetting the other's large warm hand now resting on his shoulder. Waking up as early as he had was a miracle for him that day and not likely to ever happen again. Had he realized participating meant getting up at the crack of dawn, then he would have never gotten into the pool.
"Yeah, are you all right Lukas?" The teenage girl noticed the Norwegian pale.
It was Gilbert that understood the omega's internal dilemma. "Lukas isn't a morning person! That's why I was surprised. If it wasn't for Mathias dragging him to early Saturday morning practice in middle school, Lukas would have never been a starter."
"No worries, mate; we'll make sure you make it practice! Tomorrow's Saturday, so you don't have to worry until Monday." Kyle gave him a reassuring squeeze, then headed towards the showers. "Come on, now. We better get ready for classes in a few."
A high pitched noise emanated from Elizaveta as she squealed and giggled in excitement, but not for the reasons the boys thought it to be. "This is going to be so much fun!"
Lukas looked skeptical as he was led towards the locker room. Dread for the following morning was beginning to take hold of him, but he couldn't deny that he felt great and alert than he had been in a while. He'll be challenged again in a sport in which he'll make new friends and reestablishing old ones. Lukas was in a relative form of bliss as he observed the three males interact with one another.
Gilbert and Kyle would joke and tease Lovino, but the omega held his ground and retorted quickly. It really felt as if nothing had changed. None of them were natured in those last few minutes as the chlorine was washed away. Even after they were clean and dressed, the boys continued on with their exchanges. When they parted in order to head towards the opposite sides of the school, it was as if they were simply heading towards class and not their segregated spheres.
"Snow queen, you okay in there?"
Lovino snapped Lukas out of his thoughts in time for the omega to see Berwald head towards them.
"Yeah, let's go or we'll be late."
"Che cazzo*! It's those damn bastards' fault!" The other followed close behind.
They didn't run to their classes, but Lukas' heart felt as if they had sprinted. He could feel his heart pound and heat pool around his cheeks. The blame went towards what Mei had told him the day before.
Berwald liked him.
Seeing him a while back reminded him of that fact and Lukas couldn't take it. At least not then. He would need time before he could face his other best friend, if he could ever at all. What if he only liked him because of his nature? It would be very convenient for him to bond with Lukas, his best friend... but Berwald wasn't like that, right?
He treated him the same as before. They've even raced. Berwald didn't even hold back. He was kind and smart... The Swede knew everything about him, his favourite food, books, subjects, and dislikes. He'd make a perfect mate for Lukas. There really wasn't anything he had against the alpha.
"Oh, you look like you're in love," a giggle was heard next to Lukas, making him jump.
"Tino!" The taller blond fought hard to conceal the other upcoming blush. "What are you doing here? You should still be at home. Your heat!"
Lilac eyes rolled at the other's concern. "I'm fine, I'm fine. It's pretty much gone and I was dying of boredom at home. There is only so much Muumi I can handle, you know. So! Tell me about who you're in love with! I can't believe I've missed so much!"
"I'm not in love Tino," Lukas struggled to keep the corners of his mouth from upturning. Seeing the Finnish teen overjoyed him enough that he almost reached over to hug the bubbly boy. Almost. "You haven't missed anything. It's actually been rather boring around here."
It was really anything but boring for the omega, however he didn't want to explain it all to Tino just yet. They had recently become friends and Lukas did not want to dump years worth of conflicting friendships onto the poor transfer student.
"You're week in heat was most likely more exciting than mine."
"It was at first, haha, get it?" The smaller omega giggled before becoming bashful and looked away in order to grab something for his book bag. "I, uh, want to apologize for losing it on Saturday, and thank you so much for letting me use these. You have no idea how much it helped."
He pulled out Mathias' shirt, Lukas' cardigan, and Berwald's scarf, neatly folded and freshly washed.
"Oh, believe me. I do, " the Norwegian shook his head in dismay, "but uh, you should hand them back to the owners yourself. Trust me, I can't."
"What? Why?" Tino began to panic and was going to demand an answer, but their teacher chose that moment to begin class. He would not be able to get Lukas to explain or take the other two items during Lunch either, which left him to hand deliver them after school.
Fortunately, he knew where he could find one of the alphas the articles of clothing belonged to. Unfortunately, that some one was Berwald Oxenstierna, his ex-rival.
x. X. x.
Berwald would be lying if he said it didn't hurt to see Lukas run away from him. For days now the omega had been avoiding him and what made it even more suspicious was that Mathias had been moping around. Usually, he would be the first his friends would come to if things went astray, but now both avoided him like the plague.
Well, not quite. Lukas did, but Mathias followed him around with dejected spirits. He wasn't the obnoxious idiot that said the wrong things at the wrong time. He hardly spoke at all that past week. If that wasn't weird or setting off any alarms inside Berwald's head, then it was when he challenged the overgrown Danish pup to a football match that did the trick. Mathias agreed with Berwald that he'd probably lose now that he wasn't conditioning for the sport.
"I mean, it's not even worth wasting your time to play at this point," he recalled the other alpha say.
He wanted to smack Mathias and get him to talk, but he wouldn't. Lukas was his only chance on finding out what was wrong with the Dane, but even he was avoiding him. Was it something he said or did?
The Swede thought long and hard during class as to what he could have done that caused the drift between three close friends. Last he had seen Lukas was when the omega dropped by his home for a few hours before he headed to the cinema to meet a few of his classmates. He seemed in pretty high spirits, finally making friends with students of his nature and similar interests. Lukas even spoke in detail over the spells and incantations he had learned with the other two. The young teen only ever explained his magic interests when he was excited or happy, otherwise he'd briefly mention it in passing.
When it was time for him to leave the Oxenstierna's, Berwald noticed that he didn't have a scarf with him and offered him his own. He graciously took it and that was the last he heard or saw the teen in a pleasant mood. The next time he spotted Lukas was after school when he brushed past him in order to escape the school. Mathias showed up not long after, looking dejected and followed him to the skating ring without a conviction.
Neither teen gave reason towards their attitudes and by lunch time that Friday afternoon, Berwald had had enough.
"What is it Mathias?! Why is Lukas av'iding us? What have you d'ne now?" Ice blue eyes dug into Mathias and he swore he saw the other crumble.
"I screwed up, all right, Berwald!" Mathias gripped his tray as if he was ready to throw it at him. "I ruined our friendship and now he won't talk to me. He hates me now. I can't even say I'm sorry."
Patience wearing to the breaking point, the taller alpha rested his forehead on his palm. "What did you do?"
It seemed Mathias' boiling point was reached because he stood up abruptly with is tray, causing his soup to spill and growled, "You win. Happy now? Lukas obviously doesn't want me in his life anymore. I've crossed the line and I'm done."
He turned to storm away, leaving Berwald even more confused and alone.
"Obviously, I'm not and neither are you d'ne, you idiot."
Groaning, the Swede rubbed his temples and glanced up towards Lukas' lunch table where he was surrounded by mostly omegas and a few alphas and betas. He was scanning faces to see if he recognized any, when he caught the eyes of a small blond omega who quickly ducked behind the person in front of him.
Those violet eyes seemed familiar, but he didn't recognize the baby face. He must have been the new student Lukas had mentioned, however he couldn't remember his name.
Fortunately, Berwald recognized Elizaveta's long hair and was determined to ask her all sorts of questions once they returned to class. Maybe she knew of Lukas' troubles and could help him reach out to Lukas. He was also curious to know where he had seen those eyes before and if she knew anything about the new boy.
He didn't have to wonder about the small blond for long because although Elizaveta also remained tightly sealed over anything to do with Lukas, the small omega came to him after practice.
Berwald felt a pair of eyes follow him on the ice, and he constantly turned to search for Lukas' midnight blue. If he could get the Norwegian on the ice, he would be able to coax everything out of him either through racing or figure skating. Unfortunately, Lukas never came onto the ice, and he doubted he even set foot in the arena. He was about to step off the ice and head towards the changing rooms when he hear a quiet voice call his name.
Although it wasn't his first name being called out, it was his surname.
There, at the edge of the ring, was the boy from the cafeteria. He had a band in his hand and a cute blush dusted on his cheeks.
Curious, Berwald skated towards him and could feel the nervous pheromones coming from the smaller blond the closer he became. It made him want to keep his distance, but also embrace him and assure him that everything was okay. He only looked harsh, when he was typically was far from it.
Without saying anything, the boy was prompted to speak.
"Th-this is yours. Lukas told me to give it to you," his voice trembled.
"Why didn't he return it himself?" Berwald didn't mean to sound angry, however his voice chose to rumble on its own accord.
"I... I don't know," the omega's smell became stronger and Berwald shoved himself away from the wall.
"Are you in heat?!" Immediately, Berwald's mind went into hyperdrive. He had to help the omega get away, but he couldn't really get near. He liked to pride himself of having great restrain, yet he would only last for so long.
"No, no! I-I just came back from my absence. Is-it's probably residue or something." Violet eyes tried to glare up at him as if to hold his ground, but they kept flickering else where, making him look like a brave kitten.
"Good," a small smile escaped the alpha. He reached out for the scarf and thanked him for delivering it. "By the way, do I know you?"
Wondering eyes suddenly snapped at attention and focused on his own icy blue. His mouth gaped before setting into a pout. It was rather cute, and Berwald was tempted to mention it in hopes of eliciting another cute reaction.
"You don't recognize me?" he sounded hurt and annoyed. "That's it, where's your extra equipment? Do you have anything that'll fit me?"
"Pr'bably not, you're fairly sm'll," the words escaped his mouth before he could stop himself.
Another cute expression flashed onto the boy's face, "That's it. Where is the extra gear, Oxenstierna?"
Berwald felt something inside of him when the omega practically growled his name, so he could only point to the storage closet close to the locker doors.
After the omega stomped over to the closet and found himself extra sets of protective gear, relatively close to his size, and a set of skates and a hockey stick, he glided onto the ice and dropped a puck in the center. Tapping the stick on the ice, he beckon the alpha over.
"Ready for a quick game, Oxenstierna? Watch out giant, I'll make you fall," Tino glared up at him through the helmet's cage.
"Väinämöinen?!" Berwald recalled being threatened by that line every year by a smaller player during final matches each season. He never would have imagined that he'd meet the player under different circumstances.
"Ready? Go!"
Even if Berwald wasn't in shock, Tino would have weaved around the Swede with ease. Every match they had played against each other began the same. The smaller boy would toy with Berwald until he caught up on the other's tactic, then the tables would turn with Berwald's team in the lead and usually winning. He never considered anyone as much as a challenge as the smaller teen, and only acknowledged him as his rival despite other players calling Oxenstierna their adversary as well.
To Berwald, only Väinämöinen deserved that title.
Thank you for reading, reviewing, following, and favourite-ing! It means a lot especially when I'm slow as I am and I see that you still have patience with me! Thank you!
**Qíng'ài de** equivalent to: "My love", "My dear"
**Che cazzo** equivalent to: "What the fuck."
(or so the internet tells me... I'm horrible with languages despite loving them so much! I thought Japanese hated me, but no, that's French!)
