The next morning, Atem arrived bright and early with his freshly made creations wrapped neatly in sparkling paper.
He'd gone to a gift shop that specialized in pretty bento boxes and baking paper on his way home from work and was up until 3AM cooking and baking, only managing to finish packing them together by 3:30 and then getting into bed by 4, exhausted.
Results of his hard work were evident in the beautiful bento he'd made, coupled with the small bag of cookies and a box of chocolate.
Yes, he'd gone for three food items of apology instead of just one, because he wasn't sure what to do.
He'd texted Anzu in a mild panic, and her reply was unhelpful, going along the lines of "resign in disgrace", which was something he wanted to avoid doing until he'd tried everything in his power to preserve his job.
Being a Beta female, Anzu was the closest friend to him who had contact with Omegas, and Atem figured Anzu could best understand anyone's point of view, so her advice was valuable, but she was disapproving of his efforts to make it up to Kaiba.
She had hypothesized that the cologne was hard to make probably because the scent came from an existing Omega, or was extremely difficult to manufacture, hence the secrecy, and he'd messed up by bonding with it, accident or not.
Sighing heavily to himself, Atem stepped out of the elevator and approached Kaiba's secretary, holding his offerings in front of him pleadingly.
"Is Mr. Kaiba in?" Atem asked, knowing the answer was 'yes' because he could see a faint silhouette of Kaiba sitting against the windows inside the office, and his heart leapt hopefully.
"He's not in yet," she lied smoothly, not looking up from her screen. "Please leave, and take that with you," she eyed the bulging gift bag of food and managed to give him a stiff smile.
"I can see him! He's right there," Atem insisted, pointing at the shadow inside, and she shook her head at him again.
"Mr. Kaiba isn't free to see anyone right now," she said tensely, her fingers stiff over her keyboard, and her pinky twitched. "Please leave, Mr. Alpha."
"You know my name. Don't address me by my class," Atem fumed, his anger flaring briefly, and he saw her freeze in mild panic, and he hastened to apologize. "I'm s—"
The door to the office swung open and Kaiba stuck his head out, glaring at the spiky-haired man.
"What the fuck do you want?" Kaiba said sourly, having not slept a wink last night because he'd been so preoccupied with distress, he briefly contemplated taking his own life, but then decided that was meaningless.
It was better to confront the issue directly and then kill it instead of having it kill him. It worked with Gozaburo, so it better damn well work with Atem.
He'd seen Atem hovering around his secretary, his deep voice ringing through the glass door, sounding aggressive, so he decided to intervene before Atem did something brash to his secretary.
"Please accept my apology," Atem said nervously, lifting the bag of food up higher for Kaiba to see, still dazzled by the CEO's height. "Please. Let me make it up to you."
His secretary straightened up and her eyes darted between Kaiba and the Alpha. What had happened? This man had angered Kaiba so much, he came bearing gifts?! But from this perspective, it almost looked like…courting.
"Get…" Kaiba pinched his brow and realized Atem was courting him in the lobby of his own building. Goddammit! He couldn't hide his true nature, not in a skyscraper, not behind his billions of dollars, not behind anything!
Did Atem know he was being a gigantic fool right now?!
"Come inside," Kaiba breathed, pulling the door back and stepping aside, eyeing the clock and counting the minutes. He'd dosed himself the moment he woke up, at 5AM, and it was now 7:30. His next dosage was coming up. Atem was really cutting it fucking close, almost as if he psychic, or maybe… it was because they were bonded now.
The bond wasn't that strong yet, but Atem was clearly trying to strengthen it with hand-baked goods, what the fuck!
Atem stepped inside the office and closed the door behind him, avoiding the secretary's curious gaze feeling his cheeks burn with humiliation. Yeah, it was embarrassing for everyone.
She probably heard about it and now saw him as one of those, irrational, bone-headed, gropy Alphas who couldn't control themselves around an Omega in Heat.
He set the bag of gifts down on the coffee table by the couch and sat down delicately, crossing his legs nervously and peering at Kaiba through his spiky blond bangs, hating how the silence stretched on and one, with nothing but sound of the ticking clock, reminding him how long it had been since someone last talked.
Kaiba sat behind his desk, wishing it would turn into a wall. Now what? Atem wasn't even looking at him. He was looking at the ground, still acting remorseful because it was just that: an act. Alphas were all obtuse pieces of shit, and Atem was clearly one of those.
"I'll keep trying to explain myself," Atem began, chancing a peek at Kaiba and his heart skipped a beat at the cold glare he received, but he barreled on bravely. "If the scent belongs to an Omega, please apologize to them on my behalf. I really do my best to avoid Omegas because of this. They really…"
His voice trailed off uncharacteristically, and Kaiba narrowed his eyes. What? What?!
"They have a hold over me," Atem said, gathering himself again and looking Kaiba straight in the eye. "And I don't ever want to admit that I am weak to them. I can barely think when I smell an Omega in Heat."
I'll bet, Kaiba thought spitefully, trying to keep himself from spiraling into a bitter rant. He needed to fucking pay attention to what Atem was saying to prevent another disastrous mishap, because Atem was now a very real danger to him.
Atem paused and waited for Kaiba to say something, so when the CEO remained silent, he pushed on with his elaborate apology, making sure to throw in a few compliments too.
"And that's why I enjoy working here. Your sterilized cubicles, meeting rooms, and elevators all keep my condition manageable. It's a horrible burden I wouldn't wish on anyone, as I'm sure you could understand. That's why I chase Beta women. That's why you have a Beta woman as your front desk, right?" Atem asked hopefully, trying to find a connection of any kind while he tried to elicit a shred of sympathy from the CEO.
"She's there because she's good at her job," Kaiba said stiffly, hating the assumptions Atem was making about Omegas. "It's a matter of skill, not social class like you always think it is."
Atem opened and closed his mouth, feeling oddly attacked, and he decided it was best to remain silent to hear what reprimand Kaiba had for him, but again, it was nothing but silence.
"Well, please enjoy the…snacks," Atem said, trying to find the right words to describe how he felt. Rejected. This was rejection, wasn't it? Maybe he was always aiming too high, trying to earn Kaiba's approval.
"I didn't ask for them. Throw it out," Kaiba said viciously, fully aware that he was hurting Atem's feelings. He could see the front all the way from his desk, and Atem's shoulder's visibly sagged.
God… He was open book.
It was pathetic to see an Alpha acting like this.
Deserved.
Atem shifted uncomfortably and crossed one slender leg over the other, thinking it was time to leave before he pushed his luck any further. If Kaiba wanted to fire him, he'd have said so already. Maybe his blunder had been forgiven….
He shifted again and caught another faint whiff of the wonderful scent, realizing it was coming from the white pillow beside him.
Ah, it smells like him, because he wears the cologne, Atem balked, automatically reaching for it before he realized what he was doing and stopped himself.
Kaiba's stomach curled with anxiety when he saw Atem sniffing around the couch and then zeroing in on the pillow he used to take naps on.
Oh fuck. Oh fuck oh fuck.
Disaster incoming.
"Get out!" Kaiba said loudly, hearing his voice raise in pitch due to his fear, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Atem was…behaving like a territorial hound in his space. It was terrifying to see. Time to look away because he might just vomit.
Atem leapt to his feet and bowed deeply, seeing Kaiba swivel his chair around to gaze out the window, clearly having lost interest in their conversation. Eyeing the pillow, Atem snatched it up and tucked it under his arm with lighting speed before running out of the office, wondering what had possessed him to steal.
I'm horrible! I'm done for! Atem raged at himself, stabbing the elevator button with his finger while he ignored the secretary pointedly asking him if he needed to make an appointment next time.
There would be no next time.
He was going to be fired for stealing from Kaiba's office.
It was the stupid scent's fault. It was making him behave like a madman.
Omegas held absolute power over him, and it was always a traumatizing ordeal when discovering he'd turned into monster when his lungs were full of an Omega's pheromones.
Why couldn't I have been born a Beta? Atem fumed, staring at the wall of the elevator and willing the doors to close faster. Betas are blessed with normalcy. If Omegas are cursed, then Alphas are equally as cursed.
The elevator sank lower and Atem pressed the pillow to his nose, taking a deep whiff and feeling his mind hum happily and shut off.
Yes, the cologne was definitely an Omega pheromone.
It made his heart clench with happiness every time he took a whiff.
It was like drugs.
Worse than drugs.
For drugs, there was rehab.
For an Omega's scent, there nothing other than…. The horror of finding out which unfortunate soul had been bonded to an Alpha against their will, and then an unhealthy relationship usually followed.
Anzu is right. I should resign, Atem thought darkly, staring down at the boner jutting up against the zipper of his pants, and he tapped the button for level 3, hating himself for being weak.
Upstairs, Kaiba stared at the couch, frozen in abject horror.
He'd turned his back for two seconds, and Atem had…taken the pillow he napped on.
No, Atem had brashly stolen the pillow. Without shame.
That's it! I'm going to fire him! Kaiba thought feverishly, pulling his laptop closer and typing Atem's name into search bar of his documents, looking for the contract he first signed when he joined the company. Time to draft up a 'Fuck You, Get Out of My Company' document and have him sign it first thing tomorrow.
If Atem was stealing pillows from his office without blinking an eye, who knew what else he'd do during his peak heat.
Downstairs on the third floor, Atem nearly tripped over himself in his haste to get inside one of the stalls, keeping the pillow pressed tightly over his crotch as he leaked horribly into his underwear. And again, he hadn't brought a spare pair to change into. Damn it.
A man exited one of the stalls at the far end of the room and gave him a condescending look before walking out.
Ignoring him furiously, Atem locked himself inside and curled up on the bench, shivering violently. Fuck this scent. Fuck this scent. It smelled so heavenly… it was….
Kaiba's handsome face flashed briefly before his eyes and Atem shut them angrily, wondering why the scent didn't affect Kaiba this badly. Maybe because Kaiba was immune to it. He'd designed it in such a way that made him immune to Omega scents.
His erection throbbed.
Or maybe because an alpha like Kaiba created it in a way that …
His erection throbbed again, and Atem hissed quietly, wondering if he would ever be better than this feeling. This feeling of horrible desperation of needing to cum, but it was never enough.
Sitting up slowly, Atem set the pillow aside and stared at himself, slightly disturbed to see the outline of a thick knot at the base of his dick.
Horrifying.
Scary.
That thing only appeared when he was really horny.
Uncontrollably so.
Was this one of those times?
I don't know! I can't figure it out until I cum! Atem raged, unbuckling his pants and shoving his underwear down to his knees, trying not to look at his own arousal as he wrapped his fist around it and gave it several hard jerks.
His tip ached, so he shoved his thumb hurried over the sensitive spot, sighing with relief, but his chest was still tight with a mixture of uncertainty and anger. This was the fucking worst. Damn Kaiba and his skillful engineering!
Atem propped his legs up on the bench and grabbed the pillow, pressing it to his face and feeling his eyes grow wet at the corners, but he ignored it, losing himself in the rough waves of pleasure crashing over his body every time he jerked his hand upwards. He tried to avoid the horrible knot at the base of his dick, but it was solidly there every time he brought his fist down on his erection. His knuckles ached from gripping himself too hard, and he had to pause for breath, his chest heaving while his heart thundered in his ears. Damn. Damn it all.
He couldn't even come from regular jerking off.
How long would he be trapped here until he made the erection go away?! His dick had also thickened slightly, which was why his hand was getting so tired from gripping it.
Everything about this was horrible. Death was preferable.
Shutting his eyes, Atem cursed Kaiba one last time before he slammed his hand down onto his arousal and gave himself rapid, furious jerks, his arm almost going numb from the speed of his masturbating, but his body was twitching so happily in response, enjoying the relentless assault from his own hand.
He huffed angrily and let his breath out slowly, trying to control the waves of his pleasure, wishing he could ride the highest one and just…cum already, but it was not that easy. The scent from the pillow was too faint, and his inability to orgasm just made Atem more and more desperate….
Was there something he could use?
No, nothing.
Just his hand.
Kaiba's face floated at the front of his mind again, and Atem grabbed onto it and tried imagining Kaiba being submissive to him, and to his amazement, it worked. The second he pictured Kaiba with, his legs spread out over his desk, and his shirt unbuttoned, his tie askew, with nothing but his sharp jawline visible above him with his head thrown back in ecstasy, did Atem finally cum viciously into his own hand, his body trembling and shuddering with happy relief.
Then came the cold wave of guilt.
I've accidentally bonded with another Alpha, Atem thought numbly, limp with exhaustion. I need to tell him….
His time at this company was really over.
He was a failure to society.
He'd bonded to a manufactured scent, associated it with the CEO of the company, and was stuck, emptily masturbating to it, feeling a horrible, wrenching sadness in his chest because the scent wasn't attached to a real person.
And even if it was, that person wouldn't want to be with an Alpha who enjoyed rough sex, worked at a cologne company, peddling aphrodisiac scents to the masses.
It was time to draft his resignation letter.
Author's note:
atem still doesn't get it.
You cannot bond with another alpha you silly boy, think about it some more please. And he's also silly for thinking he fucks like the way he masturbates.
Idk, would he? LMAO so many questions unanswered.