Hello. This will contain references, quite heavy, to rape, non-con, and other touchy subjects. I will try to let you know when they occur. Until then, enjoy the ride.

Mike rolled the apple over, studying the glossy red surface for several long moments before he carefully sniffed at it. The scents of the market were overwhelming, often too much for him to concentrate, but being so close to the fruit made it easier to sniff out any hidden imperfections.

Thankfully, the vendors were used to it. Strong noses, while uncommon, were especially present in Alphas - a handy trait when it came to finding mates and scenting danger.

He set it in the basket along with a sizeable collection of fruits and vegetables he aimed to buy. Thankfully, they were the last things on his list. The bag on his shoulder had long since grown heavy with other perishables and things necessary to make it through the week.

With the basket of produce filled with all he needed, the Alpha weaved through the crowd, crinkling his sensitive nose at some of the more pungent or overpowering scents as he worked his way to the checkout counter.

Only the fact that the market was outdoors kept him sane - being stuck in a building with so many people would have been positively maddening unless he had taken something to dull his nose, something he detested. It was too strange, being unable to detect scents and their origins and breathe in the richness of some things, but it was also necessary sometimes.

Mike slid some money across the counter and hefted up the sizeable bag of produce before he turned and wove his way back through the crowd of Alphas, Betas, and Omegas, his nose crinkled as he sucked in short, tiny breaths through his mouth. It didn't help much, but it was infinitely better than simply letting the scents assault his nose directly. That was absolutely hellish. Mike sighed as he edged his way out of the marketplace.

Freedom from the crowds of people and vendors was bliss, partially because he didn't like being surrounded by so many people and partly because that meant less of an assault on his nose. The stench of gasoline and burning rubber still made his head throb but those were things he was far more desensitized to, having been around them so much. A blessing and a curse.

The walk to his home wasn't too far from the market so it gave him time to wander a bit, particularly as he allowed himself to be drawn in by some of the more delicious scents in the air. Many came from a new coffee shop, one he hadn't been by yet, that filled the air with the aroma of ground coffee beans, sugary treats, and other things that made his stomach grumble in complaint. Mike obliged it, juggling his bags a bit before he stepped in.

It was a cheery little place, pleasantly devoid of people. "Hi, welcome to Wall Maria Cafe, how may I help you!" The voice came from a cheery little blonde behind the counter - one who was taller than the counter but not by much.

Mike shot her an awkward smile and nodded. "Yes. Can I get a small cup of black tea and a sweet roll?"

"Sure! That'll be seven-fifty unless you'd like something else. We're having a sale on several types of tea, as well as Black Moon leaves and tea for an Omega you might know."

"No, that's all I'll need. Thanks."

Black Moon tea was not something he needed, nor did he particularly like it. It was intended to make Omega heats more intense and to bring them on early, but all too often it was used on poor, unsuspecting Omegas who had it slipped into their drinks while out at a club.

Despicable, yes.

Illegal, yes.

Unfortunately, Alphas were rarely convicted of the veritable date rape of Omegas - the black market variety of Black Moon was hard to identify and left Omegas in a daze, unable to remember little more than the basics of the forced heat. The laws of the world were severely stacked against Omegas, something that Mike despised but could do nothing about.

He collected his order and departed from the cafe. The tea was good, certainly better than he had been expecting, as was the sweet roll. They didn't put too much cinnamon on it, thank God. It's so disgusting when they do. With a sensitive nose came sensitive taste buds.

Mike headed off down the streets once more, wandering down the somewhat-familiar paths that would eventually lead him to his apartment complex. The streets weren't too crowded - most people were cloistered up in their offices doing some corporate work. Mike didn't envy them.

He couldn't find the will to sit still and stare at documents or computer screens for so long. Not unless it was a book anyway. Those were one of the few things that could enrapture him for hours, erasing the need to move and stretch his long legs in favor of reading one more chapter, then another, and another. The feel beneath his fingers, the musty scent, the things that somehow came to life on the pages before him - intoxicating.

Mike stopped at a crosswalk, swirling the last dregs of his tea as he waited on the light to change and sniffed at the air, sorting through the scents. A myriad of pheromone-based emotion scents from Alphas, Betas, and Omegas; restaurants filling the air with the smell of various foods; a familiar sweet, musty scent that drew his eyes across the street.

Books.

A small smile curled at Mike's lips and he moved with the small crowd as they strolled across the street until he detached from their little cluster before a store. The musty aroma was stronger, mixing with cleaners and something else - something that wasn't terribly strong but was still tickled at his nose, teasing him and luring him in. He glanced at the sign hanging above the door, a hand-painted wooden thing with a book on one side, overlapping wings on the other, and Wings of Freedom painted in elegant swirling letters between the two icons.

He really didn't have time to stop, nor did he need to - he had just bought ten books the last week and had only gotten through three due to the lengthy shifts he had been working - but he pushed the door open anyway.

It was cool inside, lit just enough to make examining the place and its contents easy. The floors were simple, dark-stained and gleaming beneath the lights. Tall, dark shelves filled the shop, laden with countless volumes meticulously organized by genre, then by author.

The scent of cleaners filled the air, not overwhelming but strong as it mixed with the musk of books and that other smell, the one that had helped lure him in. It was easier to place in the shop, especially when there were so few scents to pick through: an Omega. A male Omega, and a fairly young one at that. Another scent mingled with his, that of a young female Beta.

Those smells drew his eyes to the back of the shop where a small semi-circular counter was set against the wall, empty aside from a cash register, a small potted plant, and a few well-loved books. A fairly short red-head girl - the Beta - leaned against it, only the back of her head visible.

The Omega was seated on a stool behind the counter, his black hair neatly parted down the middle, dark bags hanging beneath cool gray eyes, and the tiniest of smiles quirking at his lips. It lasted until those cool gray orbs slid away from the red-head and settled on Mike.

The soft, calm scent that was his changed slightly, so faint that Mike could barely detect the stress present in it. Anyone with a lesser nose would never have been able to detect the subtle shift. Mike ducked his head awkwardly and turned to stare at the shelves, scanning them until he found the historical fiction section and busied himself with scanning through the covers. I wonder why… It's not my place to ask.

"Ah, shit, I've gotta go or I'll be late! Sorry Levi!"

"It's fine Izzy, go have fun on your date or whatever."

Soft footsteps rushed by, hidden behind several bookshelves as the Beta fled the shop with the faint tinkle of bells from over the door. That left them alone. Mike chewed on his lip as he added another book to his steadily growing stack. The tinge of anxiety and stress in the Omega's scent was a little stronger, a little more noticeable. Why? Did I do something?

Then again, despite the natural pull that Omegas and Alphas had toward each other, many Omegas came to be wary of strange Alphas as they aged. Various factors went into it, though the majority of the time it was because many Alphas had little respect for Omegas and didn't care to control themselves when one entered heat in public, or in general. It was a sad but unfortunate truth, one that made Mike detest the other Alphas - or at least the minority that made the majority look so unsavory.

Mike sighed and took his stack of books to the counter where the Omega slouched, his face devoid of expression and his eyes carefully trained on the book he held open against his knee. He slid a bookmark in and set it aside, sparing a glance at Mike before he glared at the books and started to ring them up. "Find everything okay?"

"Yes, I did. Thanks. Ah.. it's a nice shop you have here."

"Thanks," he grunted quietly before cursing quietly under his breath as the scanner refused to cooperate. "Damn thing… Fuck... Hold on." He flipped the remainder of the books over and punched some things into the register before the total came up. "Twenty-five thirty-five."

Mike fished around, found thirty, and passed it over to the Omega - Levi? He pocketed the change and accepted the package of his books but he hesitated there, holding it uncertainly as he stared at the Omega who had pointedly picked his book back up the second he had handed over the books. It took a moment but those silvery-gray orbs snapped back up, irritated and wary.

"What?"

Mike nervously rubbed at his neck. He wasn't good with people and certainly not with cute ones. He wasn't one to talk - that he left to the others around him. The Omega fixed a glare on him when he failed to speak. "If you're gonna ask for my number or some shit, just go ahead and get out."

"Oh, no, no, that's not it! I was just… wondering if you had any books on war tactics. For a friend. He likes studying them." Mike winced at his halting speech but the glare in those breathtaking eyes lessened and he nodded.

"I'm getting a shipment in a few days. There are some in that one."

"So… can I come back Friday?"

The Omega eyed him for a moment before he shrugged and slid the bookmark from its place. The stress in his scent had eased, replaced by faint irritation and impatience. It almost made Mike smile. "I don't care. Come if you want. Don't if you don't. Makes no difference to me."

Mike managed to crack a smile before he dipped his head and left, nose filled with the sweet scent of the Omega. Of Levi. I'll come back. For the books. Yeah, for the books.

Laughter filled Mike's kitchen, ranging from muted chuckles from he and Erwin to the soft pseudo-giggles of Moblit and Nanaba to the deep, boisterous belly-laugh that Zoe somehow managed to pull from seemingly nowhere. The alcohol in her system certainly didn't hurt in aiding the booming laughs on. It coursed through all of their veins, filling their heads with buzzes of various intensities.

Beer bottles and scattered shot glasses dotted the counter, as well as four empty boxes of pizza. Normally the mess would have irritated him but for now he let it be. Nanaba had insisted that they take advantage of the fact that they all had the next day off and they were - hopefully without getting too terribly wasted in the process. It might have tasted halfway decent going down but coming back up was a completely different story.

"Erwin! I can't fucking believe you did that, even now! I mean shit, who woulda thought goody goody two shoes Erwin Smith would steal the principal's car and park it four miles away!" Zoe doubled over, doubling over with giggles as she managed to splutter out the story before completely dissolving into a fit of hysterics.

The rest of their friends grinned and laughed right along with her, even Erwin, though he was red in the cheeks and from more than just alcohol. It might have been an embarrassing story but it was a good one.

Their high school days had been filled with insane stunts like that, though they especially treasured the ones that Erwin and Mike and even Moblit had pulled. The three so rarely set a toe out of line that when they did it nearly shell-shocked the entire group before going down in their history to be brought up whenever the moment felt right, or simply too serious.

"Ooo, what about the time that Mike was running the mile and he tripped! Man, you almost had it in under four minutes too!"

Mike buried a blush behind another swig of beer and an awkward cough. Those particular memories were embarrassing to say the least. Hell, he had practically spent more time on the ground than walking in high school, his legs having grown far too fast for his body. "Can't help that I was clumsy then…"

"True," Zoe sang as she kicked her legs out, chuckling at the memories, "You were like Bambi! So cute and innocent. Ah, those were the days. Well, okay, maybe not the best but you have to admit they were good!"

"I hate to admit it but you have a point," Nanaba teased, prodding Zoe in the leg. "After all, even if high school was total shit, we did still meet each other. Though I'm amazed we never tried to drown your crazy ass. You got us into more trouble."

Erwin smirked, the Alpha's blue eyes sparkling with amusement. "Agreed. Until you came along Mike and I had a clean slate. Not even a tardy under our belts. Then you come sashaying in and suddenly we're being told to sit out in the hall for being too disruptive more often than not."

Zoe burst into another fit of giggles, doubling over as she clutched her side with one hand, beer with the other. The others laughed along with her, the sound too contagious to not join in. It was merely one of the many reasons Zoe had gotten herself and the rest of their crew in trouble time and time again in their high school days.

It's amazing we didn't get into more trouble than we did. God, I kinda miss high school. Though things are better now that we're older. Freedom, jobs, new people. Levi. The intriguing Omega with sharp gray eyes that seemed to tear a person apart where they stood so he could examine them.

Two days had passed since Mike had entered that shop. Two more before he would let himself venture back to let those eyes tear him apart once more and allow that sweet scent assault his nose. I do want to go back. I want to get to know him. He's… interesting.

Blue eyes fluttered and focused on the fingers that snapped before his face, owned by none other than a broadly grinning Zoe. She pulled back and set the hand on her hip, lips stretching even wider. "'Bout time you came back to us! Damn Mike, what's on your mind? You've been distracted all night!"

"Ooo," Nanaba leaned over the bar, a devious smirk curling her mouth, "Is this about that Omega you saw the other day?"

Zoe whipped around, eyes flaring wide as the sharp smell of curiosity flooded her scent. She had never been particularly good at hiding her emotions, both those expressed facially and via scent, but she didn't have much to worry about. Betas had little reason to conceal, to withhold such information. They were rarely taken advantage of in the way that Omegas were.

"What Omega? Does Mike have a crush? Oh my God, Nanaba, you've gotta tell me! Please, please, please!"

Mike groaned and buried his face into his hand, immediately regretting every choice he had ever made that involved telling Nanaba anything. He loved the little Beta to death, really, he did, but he always seemed to fail to remember that she loved to just happen to let small trivial things slip in front of the group.

Things like Levi.

"Really, Nana? I just said he was interesting, not that I-"

"Liar," Nanaba sang as she tugged Zoe closer, her green-blue eyes twinkling with amusement. She would stop if he asked - Mike knew that. But he didn't. Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe he just wanted to talk about something, about Levi. Or perhaps he really just didn't give a damn anymore. "You talked about him for a solid ten minutes!"

"Only because you wouldn't stop asking 'til I did."

"Oh hush, you still did!"

Small hands latched onto Mike's arm as wild brown eyes stared up at him, paired with a smile that could easily have been classified as mad. "Zoe…" Moblit murmured, gently tugging on his mate's shoulder in a futile attempt to dislodge her.

She clung tighter instead, bouncing on the balls of her feet as excitement flooded her scent. "Mike, take me with you when you go back to see him! I need to approve of my best friend's love interest!"

"Zoe, he's not my-"

"Hey, I thought I was your best friend!"

"You are, Nana, but I've gotta have a best male friend and female friend! Moblit, you're the best of all obviously. I mean, if you weren't I wouldn't have mated with you but you obviously are since-"

"And what does that mean for me, Zoe?"

Zoe twisted to eye Erwin with a 'did you really just ask that' expression as her fingers continued to dig into Mike's forearm, refusing to let go even when he gently tugged on them. "Erwin, that should be obvious! I mean, c'mon!"

"... Not really."

"You're my other second best male friend!"

"Second?" Erwin gasped with faux indignation and a playful roll of the eyes that Zoe met with a gentle punch to his arm. The tall blonde merely grinned, chuckling slightly as he continued to badger Zoe, blissfully drawing the attention away from Mike. That was one of the great things about Erwin - he always knew when one of them was uncomfortable and how to remedy the situation. Well, most of the time anyway.

Mike sighed and sank back against the counter, the edge digging into his back as lukewarm beer slid down his throat. Sometimes I wonder why I tell them anything. Right, they're my friends.

By the time the crew dispersed they were stumbling and giggling, more than a little tipsy and full, though Zoe caught his shoulder before she and Moblit left. The look in her eye had been far off from someone who had indulged in just a little too much liquor as she demanded that he inform her when he would be heading back to the bookstore. And, much to Mike's chagrin, he did.