Atem dragged himself sluggishly down the hall to his office, locking himself inside safely before sagging in the chair.

Last week had been brutal. It had been seven straight days of not seeing Kaiba, being in his presence, or even being near him. His body seemed to know this and had sent agonizing pangs of distress slicing through his chest at random times during the day, ruining his entire "relaxing" week with Yugi.

Anzu had given him a pitiful smile here and there, but he knew that she thought he deserved it.

Yugi had decided to remain impartial, and had been very understanding, always making sure to leave some fresh food for him in the fridge so he could eat at 2AM when the raging erections finally subsided.

Pulling his desk drawer open, he slid his notebook across his desk and opened it, reeling from the sudden assault of a refreshing, sweet scent that was uniquely Kaiba's.

Oh shit, Atem deadpanned, pushing his chair back slightly to glance down at the stiffness between his legs. Crap.

Kaiba had clearly…touched this notebook or had used it to get him through his Heat.

Snatching it up without thinking, Atem stumbled to the door and wrenched it open, barreling down the hall to the stairs, aiming for the Heat Rooms.
God forbid he ran into an Omega on the stairs, but they were all on the top floor, thankfully.

He now understood why Kaiba kept eight floors between the Alphas and Omegas, citing strict rules about how Alphas only use the stairs for Heat Emergencies and avoid the elevators, to prevent them from trapping an unsuspecting Omega while they were experiencing a rut.

His tip leaked happily at the scent wafting up from the notebook, and Atem bit back a frustrated growl, nearly tripping over himself in his haste to lock himself inside a stall. Pressing the notebook to his face, Atem shut his eyes and shoved his hand down his pants, palming himself with a cool hand and letting out a sigh.

Kaiba's scent… it was so…calming, and arousing. It made everything better.

His stomach churned as he gave himself several rough strokes, and he leaned his head back, desperately trying to fill his lungs with more of the scent, but it was growing weaker. He shoved his fist down onto his arousal and gave himself several more vicious pumps, his body growing hot all over while his breaths turned shallow and ragged.
Yes.
Yes, this was what he needed.
Something with Kaiba's scent.
He should've figured it out earlier but was lost in a haze of almost painful orgasms.

Atem let his breath out slowly and came in a controlled heave, his semen spilling over his fingers and sliding dangerously down his balls. This time, he'd been prepared and had brought eight sets of spare clothes which he would now keep in his office.

Everyone was going to notice.
Everyone was now going to know that he was in a relationship…with an Omega, something he'd wanted to avoid all along, and yet…here he was, trying to figure out how to stomach Ruts while the Omega he was bonded with sat at the top office.

More research was needed.
He'd actively avoided Omegas because of how genetically troublesome they were, and his inexperience was hurting them both.

I'm the fucking worst, Atem thought glumly, slowly standing up to wash the semen off his fingers.

He zipped himself up and exited the stall, walking up the stairs, trying to quell his turbulent emotions.

As he passed a co-worker in the hall, the man leaned over his shoulder and sniffed him intrusively, his face splitting into a wide grin while his eyes gleamed.

"Did you break up with your Omega recently?" He asked devilishly, raising his eyebrows. "Is that why you're going through such sudden ruts? They're probably having their hole filled by someone else. Get over it, Director."

"Nothing of the sort is happening," Atem growled, and his chest tightened with anger. "Mind your own business."

"Very well… just know that we're all replaceable with those toys that they make specifically for Omega heats!" His co-worker sang, giving him a playful wave over his shoulder. "Soon, they'll make robot replicas of us and we'll be useless as a population!"

Shut up! Atem thought furiously, rushing back into the safety of his office and slamming the door with a bang, but his heart clenched with unease when he wondered if that was how Kaiba had gotten through his heat…by using something to replace an Alpha.

The thought was terrifying, and depressing.

I suppose that's why he doesn't really need anyone, Atem thought anxiously, sitting back down at his desk and snatching his spare suit off the hook.

Time to change before his meeting at 9AM.

Kaiba adjusted his tie and strode into the meeting room, sitting down at the head of the table and setting his tablet down in front of him.

His legs were weak and it felt like he was walking on jelly. To his irritation, Atem marched into the meeting room first, brimming with confidence, and the Alpha beamed at him, flashing him a bright smile that made his insides curl.

Someone had a nice week. Probably attributing the effects of his Rut to just being an Alpha. Not suffering the debilitating leaking, clenching, and shivering from waves of unwanted arousal.

"Mr. Kaiba! I've missed you!" Atem said brightly, striding forward to shake his hand.

Kaiba tensed and held his breath, reaching out automatically to grasp Atem's much warmer hand in his, and his heart raced nervously.

Atem beamed and brought his other hand down on top of Kaiba's hand, briefly caressing him for a split second before pulling away, making sure to hurry back to the other end of the table to put distance between them.

Stunned, Kaiba stood very still as other people began filing into the room, wondering what the hell that random touch was. He watched as Atem shook everyone else's hands too, reaching out to touch them with both of his.
Oh.
It was a new…handshake Atem was practicing.
He was probably trying to be likable.
A note in his journal might be, "shook Seto's hand with my new technique, no problems so far."

Clenching his fist, Kaiba sat back down and ignored the hands that came for his chest, turning his head and nodding at the whiteboard behind him, saying, "let's start. I'm busy."

There were quiet grumbles from the men around him, undoubtedly irritated at being rejected a handshake, and Kaiba bring himself to care. He'd had a shitty week in full Heat, he wasn't in the mood to stroke their egos.

Atem stared intently at Kaiba across the table, his heart thumping nervously in his chest as he tried to come up with ways to talk to him after the meeting. Everyone was standing up and giving their reports, going quickly because there wasn't much to say.

The week had been uneventful, as usual.
They weren't product launching. It was a lull period.
Everyone was taking this chance to finish up other projects they had in their queues.

"Atem?" Kaiba tapped his pen impatiently against the edge of his tablet, waiting for Atem to stand and speak. "Never mind. You had the week off, I remember now. Everyone dismissed."

There was a loud shuffle as everyone stood up, bowed to Kaiba, and quietly filed out of the room, eager to get to lunch.

Atem slowed his movements, quietly staying where he was and waiting for the rom to empty out, leaving him alone inside with Kaiba.

Gritting his teeth, Kaiba pointed at the door.

"Don't you have someone to have lunch with?" Kaiba asked aggressively, remembering the note in Atem's notebook about lunch with someone at 1PM.

"Yes, is it you? You're offering?" Atem grinned playfully, and his heart sank when Kaiba threw him a dark look.
Crap….

Kaiba set his jaw and didn't reply, sweeping his tablet off the table and walking out the door. Atem chased after him with quick steps, smiling awkwardly at a couple of Omegas who passed them, staring.

"Why are you following me?" Kaiba asked, trying to keep his tone light, but inside, he was screaming. Atem was stuck to him. Forever.
This was going to be annoying until he found a way to deal with it.
Had Atem still not figured it out?

"Because we were going to have lunch?" Atem offered hopefully, praying his voice didn't waver.

Kaiba tapped the button on the elevator and tried to keep his expression neutral as his heart hummed in his ears. He had to accept. They had already spent a week apart, and Atem was undoubtedly missing him, trying to push them to have lunch together.
His painful heats were not sustainable.
He had to do something about it.

The elevator doors slid open and Kaiba stepped inside, feeling Atem hover at the bevel before following him in, throwing him a firm smile before reaching forward to tap the button for the top floor, hitting his badge against the reader and standing back with his arms clasped formally in front of him.

The silence in the elevator was stifling, and Atem tried his best to bear through it. He didn't know what to say other than, "I'm really glad I got to see Yugi. He says he wants to visit downtown Domino to see the city. Can I bring him in as a guest?"

"Clear it with the front desk, not me," Kaiba answered stiffly, trying to hold his breath but he kept catching whiffs of Atem's scent here and there even though the elevator's purifier was running at full speed. Goddammit.

"I will do that," Atem said carefully, eyeing the numbers on the panel above their heads, scrambling for more conversation. "I meant to say, I was wondering if he could meet you."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes as the elevator ground to a halt, and he stepped out, ignoring the bow from his secretary as he swept past her desk, wondering why Atem was asking these almost invasive, personal questions.
Was it Alpha instincts at work?
Show your Omega around to your friends and family?
No, that couldn't be right.

"Because I talk about you all the time—hello Mi-san! We're having lunch—and he's only ever seen you through the TV," Atem explained, following Kaiba in through the glass doors of his office with familiarity and stopping in the middle of the room.

He watched Kaiba place his tablet onto his desk and sit down gingerly into his chair, and questions arose quickly. Kaiba was behaving like something was stuck up inside him. It was true. Omegas really had a way of dealing with their heat without an Alpha.

Atem's heart sank further and he faltered for a second before eyeing the door.

"Well, I'll head out. It was nice catching up," Atem said nervously, meeting Kaiba's gaze as the CEO slowly raised his head to look at him, his blue eyes beautifully clear, shining prettily at him, reflecting the sunlight coming in from the windows behind his head.

"Wait," Kaiba said quietly, clenching his fist and realizing what he was about to say. He saw Atem take two steps to the door and pause, turning to look at him expectantly.

Shit. He had to say it now.

"I think you're right. We may have bonded," Kaiba said quickly, forcing himself not to look away and to keep his gaze steady on Atem's face, which was slowly reddening by the second. He looked pleased.

He accepts me?! Atem reeled, wondering if it was safe to drop the pretense of Kaiba being an Alpha. No. It was never safe.
Pretending to be an Alpha was part of Kaiba's identity.
It was what kept him safe from other Alphas.
He could only know that Kaiba was an Omega in hiding when Kaiba explicitly told him.
Until then, he would keep up the act and treat Kaiba the way he'd always been treating him: like an Alpha he admired, because that hadn't changed at all. Kaiba was now an Omega he admired, and…slightly feared.

"You don't want to gloat? Fine," Kaiba folded his arms defensively across his chest, wondering how Atem would take this news. He had to understand now…right? The implication was there.

"So does that mean we're not having lunch?" Atem wondered, trying to stray from the topic as much as possible to put Kaiba at ease. "It's not news to me. I tried telling you I've bonded to the scent last week. I don't know if you want to announce the first Alpha—Alpha bond as a result of a test fragrance? Will there be others? Let me know if you're wearing a different one. I'll help any way I can if you want to submit your findings to a research facility."

Kaiba blinked and stared.

An Atem ramble, coupled with a bunch of dumb questions about the test fragrance…which was real.

It was a real scent. Was Atem being serious right now?!
Fine. It was fine. Atem wanted to keep thinking this was an Alpha-Alpha bond, fine.
What the fuck ever.

He'd already done his part by telling Atem he acknowledged the bond.

"Let me head downstairs to grab my laptop," Atem said carefully, taking another step to the door. "If there's a way to unbond myself from that manufactured scent, please tell me. I know its troublesome to the company."

And with that, he strode out of the door, leaving Kaiba with that thought. He needed Kaiba to understand that he wasn't a terrible Alpha.
He wasn't a horrible person who abandoned their mate to deal with heat alone.

He understood that this Omega had to be treated with extreme care.
Kaiba was one in a million. One in a billion.
After being tutored by Anzu on how to approach this situation, he was armed with tactics and carefully crafted phrases.

He would need to give Kaiba space to deal with the bond in his own way instead of forcing his presence onto him. Otherwise it would backfire.

Anzu had said there were many Omegas who suffered abuse at the hands of Alphas and had horrible imprints of them forever. That had been the single most terrifying concept to grasp—that Kaiba may have been horribly abused by an Alpha and harbored deep loathing for all Alphas. If he did, he hid it well.

Reaching his floor, Atem grabbed his laptop and tucked it under his arm, letting his breath out in a deep sigh, counting to ten, and the exiting the room.

Space given.
Roughly 5 minutes.
The intervals of space couldn't be too far apart otherwise the Omega would suspect something was up.

This was stressful.

Stepping back into the elevator, Atem leaned against the railing, wondering if he was the right man for Kaiba at all. Everything about this was truly unsettling.
Being rejected by Kaiba would be life-ending. His heart would implode with sadness.

Upstairs, Kaiba paced around his desk in a circle, digesting Atem's words.

If they were lies, they were well-crafted lies.
If it was the truth, Atem was a blockhead.

Does it matter if it's a lie? Kaiba wondered frantically, checking his watch and counting the seconds. He guessed it would take Atem five minutes to head down and back, so this gave him time to panic privately about the results of his confession.

Atem had taken it in stride, because he'd already accepted it, easy for him. But he didn't seem too eager to act on it…maybe because he still thought it was a manufactured scent.
Idiot.

He saw the elevator light up through the glass of his door and he sat back down in his chair, lacing his fingers together before deciding he would open his laptop and appear busy.

Atem stepped past Kaiba's secretary, flashing her a smile and seeing her nod at him.

Even she was beginning to trust him.

Walking inside Kaiba's office, Atem eased the door shut behind him and didn't spare Kaiba a look as he made his way to the plush couches at the far end of the room and made himself comfortable.
This was fine.
They could work together like this in silene, just being in each other's presence, and it would be enough.

Kaiba glanced nervously over the top of his laptop and saw Atem sitting with his slender legs crossed. His laptop was propped up on his lap and his eyes were darting left and right across the screen. He was genuinely working.

Maybe a few questions to pick his brain wouldn't hurt.

"Hey," Kaiba said headily, his cheeks burning with emotion. "What do you want to do about the bond? I'm comfortable with the scent and I don't want to stop wearing it."

Atem didn't lift his head, making sure to tap his keys aimless to make noise while he cautiously repeated the answer, he'd rehearsed with Anzu.

"Then it's my problem I suppose. Until I can unbond with it, I'll be troubling you a bit longer. I apologize and…" Atem looked up to gaze directly into Kaiba's eyes. "I can hand in my resignation again along with my last paycheck if that helps."

"Resigning isn't going to fix it," Kaiba said impatiently. Resigning meant Atem wanted to run away and leave him to deal with the problem. Resigning absolved him from the problem itself. He would get a nice recommendation letter in his file and he'd fuck off to work at some other company. Resigning was not the answer.

"I know it," Atem said forlornly, closing his laptop and palming his face, aiming to show distress with his body language. "I thought about it all week. I even experienced some symptoms. I was alarmed!"

Gee I bet it sucked, Kaiba rolled his eyes and ground his teeth furiously.

They were at an impasse.
Atem stated he wanted to unbond.
He couldn't unbond because it was real.

The only solution was to move forward, but cautiously.

"Then stick around to figure it out," Kaiba said plainly, glancing down at his screen and not really seeing any of it. He saw Atem sit up straighter and give him a glowing smile.

"Really? Thank you, Mr. Kaiba!" Atem said, sounding oddly robotic, and he dipped his head back down top continue working.

Anzu's advice was for him to sound careless. He hoped that's what it came off as.

The uncaring tone was meant to highlight that he didn't care about doing anything sexual.

Please let him understand, Atem fumed privately, tapping the space bar for noise.

The door opened and the secretary walked in carrying two trays of food. She set them on the table and walked out quickly, closing the door behind her.

Desperate for something to do, Atem set his laptop aside and reached for the food, eyeing Kaiba cautiously.

"Let's eat! Want to hear about my week with Yugi?" Atem prompted, half-expecting Kaiba to shake his head, but to his pleasant surprise, Kaiba nodded and walked over to sit across from him on the couch.

Excited, Atem handed Kaiba a bowl of grapes and settled in to tell him about the game shop Yugi ran, watching Kaiba's body language for any signs of tension. There were none.

He was at ease.
Which was…good?

Anzu's pre-planned answers had worked!
Time to implement more talking to keep Kaiba's guard down.

Kaiba zoned out as he half-listened to Atem talk about some stupid game shop his brother Yugi oversaw. It sounded like they were running themselves in the red trying to stay afloat. A poor business decision overall.

Finishing his food quickly, Kaiba made a move to stand up before he froze, seeing a tight bulge sitting firmly between Atem's legs.

Atem was behaving normally, still talking, still gesturing about how tall the game shop shelves were, and what kind of role-playing games they carried.

Hey. There's a boner between your legs, Kaiba thought dryly, his eyes flitting between Atem's bright smile and to the bulge in his pants.

This guy…was incredible.
Either he was numb from the waist down, or he didn't care.

"Would you like to play it with us?" Atem asked genuinely, more interested in Kaiba's response than the way he was nervously eyeing the bulge between his legs. "I'll bring us a copy. It's great. It uses…"

Kaiba looked away nervously and tried to stand up to leave, but his legs were cemented to the ground and his ass was tuck to the couch…and was beginning to leak.
Fuck. Fuck
Fuck.
His body was happy that Atem was here.

"What do you think, Kaiba? I mean, Mr. Kaiba?" Atem corrected himself quickly, cursing himself for the horrible slip of the tongue. No honorary.
All that talking and he'd fucked up with a bad slip. Fuck.

"I think…you need to take care of that," Kaiba replied disdainfully, pointing a slender finger at the large erection between Atem's slender thighs. He'd heard Atem's slip and didn't care.
He was half-expecting Atem to casually call him 'Seto' by next week.
After all, he'd been doing so in his planner for the entire year.

"What? Oh, I'm—" Atem glanced down at himself briefly and let out a nervous laugh. "That's been happening on and off since my bond with the scent. Please don't worry about it. Like I said, it'll only trouble you. Let's focus on a solution."

"Yeah, the bathroom," Kaiba growled, trying again to stand up, but his legs weren't working.

"I won't do that in your bathroom," Atem said seriously, setting his drink down and giving Kaiba a long look. "I'll use a room like I'm supposed to, or just ignore it until it goes away. I'm sure it will eventually."

Kaiba stayed silent. He didn't have an answer to that.

"Well, thank you for lunch. Back to it," Atem said blithely, wiping his hands delicately on a wet napkin and then picked up his laptop from the cushion beside him. "I'll email this to you when I'm done. I'm almost done."

Kaiba opened his mouth to talk, and then closed it when his tongue itched. Fuckkk.

His throat was dry and he couldn't stop staring at the way Atem had his legs crossed.

Admirable effort. Atem really was holding out until it 'went away'. Was this how he dealt with the heat all of last week? Brutal.

There was a brief silence, Kaiba spoke, unable to stop himself.

"Is it painful?" And he kicked himself for sounding interested. He was not interested.

"Of course it is," Atem replied smoothly, amazed that Kaiba was still sitting in the spot across from him. His tactics were working. Just a little more…

Acting like he didn't care was the most successful way to handle it. Anzu was right. He was going to send her flowers if this worked out.

"I'm going to have to ask you to take care of it. Now," Kaiba said, wondering why he was sounding so demanding. It was pissing him off that Atem was being so carefree about it.

Atem sat very still, counting the seconds ticking by.
One… Two… Three… Four… Five…

"Want to help?" He looked up from his laptop and flashed Kaiba the best, most mischievous grin he could muter before he threw his head back to laugh and slammed his laptop closed, standing and stretching.

"I'm kidding. Joking. Bad joke," Atem said, nodding at Kaiba, who looked stunned.

It wasn't a horrified look. Just pure surprise.
Good, because Anzu had said he looked horrified, it was time to leave.

"We joke like that," Atem said, faking another stretch to stall for time, giving Kaiba a full view of his bulge as he lifted his arms above his head, keeping his gaze nailed to the windows. "You know, we see each other like this often, downstairs, so we joke about helping each other. I guess it's different because you work up here alone."

It was a complete lie, but Anzu had reassured him it was fine to lie about "Alpha" activities to help the Omega get comfortable. Especially if it was an Omega in hiding. They would probably jump at the chance to act "Alpha", and then the painful Heat problem would be solved…under the guise that they were Alphas "helping each other".

I've framed it well, I think. Let's hope he takes the bait, Aten thought anxiously, stepping around the table to walk to the door, trying to walk slowly, but he couldn't look too obvious.

Kaiba bit the inside of his cheek, his ears ringing with turmoil.
That was total lie. He knew about Alpha activities in depth, to avoid being tricked into accidentally revealing himself, and here, Atem had told him a bald-faced lie.
Atem had set it up that way! Right?
This had to be an act….to preserve….

Me? My pride? Kaiba wondered furiously, seeing Atem's hand wrap around the handle of the door, clearly moving in slow motion.

It's a setup. He's letting me ask by framing it like it's an acceptable Alpha activity when Alpha avoid touching each other like the plague, Kaiba thought darkly, seeing Atem swing the door open and put one foot outside. Or maybe it's all in my head.

"Wait! You can use my bathroom. It's fine," Kaiba said tensely, and Atem turned to give him a strangely sad smile.

"Are you sure?" He said, his eyes softening at the corners.

Kaiba gave him a gruff nod. Atem beamed and closed the door, catching an odd look from the secretary, but he ignored it. A small victory was achieved today.

Atem turned on his heel and made his way eagerly to the bathroom, his mind consumed with finding something that had Kaiba's scent on it.

Kaiba grit his teeth and steeled himself to speak again, deciding he would at least try to face his fears head on as he said, "…you don't have to use the bathroom either. I'll help… but just this once. And don't get any funny ideas."

Barely able to believe his ears, Atem bounded towards the couch and sat down with his legs crossed, giving Kaiba a warm smile.

"It was joke," he said passionately while his body burned with excitement. This was pure joy. Kaiba was accepting him…if only for a moment.

"Yeah and I took you up on the joke. Are you going to back out now?" Kaiba shot back mindlessly, his mind now flooded with thoughts of putting his mouth around Atem's dick. He'd been wondering all week what it would taste like, and he had to slap himself back into reality.

Sucking on the toys just made him more disgusted with himself. He'd try to taste Atem just this once, and if he hated it, he could safely say it was just a one-time-thing.

Author's note:
CLIFFHANgR uwuWUuw D