Chapter Text
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Pidge: I highly suggest you be prepared. Shit is about to go down.
Keith could feel his nostrils flaring as he read the completely useless text from Pidge. How was he supposed to know what level she was talking about? His prep could range anywhere from “bring an umbrella” to “bring a knife.” Luckily, he always had one on him… an umbrella that is, the knife thing didn’t go too well once the teachers found him cleaning his nails with it.
Taking a deep, calming breath Keith attempted to politely ask Pidge to please go into detail in regards to what was going on.
Keith: the fuck?
He tried, that’s what mattered.
Pidge: Lance is coming back to school today, you complete poser of a love interest!
Oh, shit.
Truth be told, Keith made sure to completely wipe his brain of the fact that Lance was an omega. Hunk had been tasked with bringing Lance’s make up work by his house, only to apparently be chased off with a broom by the absentee’s older sister, pretty much confirming that, yes, Lance was indeed officially an omega. And that shouldn’t make any difference for Keith or anyone else for that matter. It was just a case of wanting to suppress instincts that screamed for him to take care of Lance and kick anybody’s ass who dared to make a gross comment about him.
Hunk disagreed with this tactic, claiming it “unhealthy” but the other alpha didn’t have room to talk since all he seemed able to do was think about Lance being an omega. It was obviously stressing him out and he wasn’t sure how to deal with everybody talking about it around him, especially considering how little they actually knew Lance on a personal level. Pidge was really the only one who appeared somewhat level headed and that was only because she had had a massive freak out the first day of Lance presenting and thus gotten it out of her system. The three of them had gone through many a brown paper lunch bags to hold off her hyperventilating. After that, the beta made it a point to hold the two alphas back from doing anything stupid in their rage at the multitude of gross comments being made by other students, going so far as to threatening putting leashes on the two.
“Besides,” she had whispered in the library as they educated themselves on taking care of their new omega, which Keith was stubbornly refusing to partake in, “if anybody really goes over the line, I got an entire list of viruses to choose from. Or even better, drop the jocks down a letter grade or two to kick them off whatever team they’re on.”
“Can you do that to Lotor?” Keith had asked.
He got a raised eyebrow in response. You couldn’t blame a guy for asking.
So yeah, despite being subjected to idiotic and offensive comments about Lance, Keith had successfully distracted himself all week with somewhat illegal motorcycle racing like a healthy young alpha should. He was very proud of himself for that, as well as for keeping it a secret from Hunk and Pidge. They would probably disapprove and Keith didn’t want to deal with their judgmental natures.
This was proving to be a bad decision, however, because once the information of Lance's official return was imminent and about to happen any minute, he quickly had to dump his lunch out in order to use the bag to breath into, giving a quick, “The fuck y’all lookin’ at?!” in-between breaths to the staring teenagers.
His phone suddenly started going off like crazy in his back pocket, increasing his heavy breathes into the bag. He knew it was probably Hunk and Pidge notifying him that Lance was entering the building. Keith was not prepared and he was getting increasingly angry at himself for it because it was still Lance, damnit! Yeah, media loved to perpetuate the stereotype of the demure omega who after presenting suddenly couldn’t defend themselves from the big, bad world and needed a strong alpha to take care of them and Keith could absolutely do that for Lance and-
No! he mentally scolded himself. Lance is still Lance, he’ll still be annoying and beautiful, he won’t be any different! You still will have a crush on him, you’ll still secretly laugh at all of his jokes and you’re still going to confess to him like you had been promising you would!
Before that idea could fully form complete with all of the possible consequences, a commotion was suddenly starting at the school entrance from down the hall. With one final deep breath, Keith tore the bag away from his face and steeled himself. Lance was surely making his way in and people were probably scrambling to see the new attraction as if it was a big deal… which it wasn’t!
As Keith shoved his way past people, he began to notice something. The commotion was slowly dying down, the noise level was lessening and people were beginning to make a path for him. Yes, he knew that majority of the school knew Lance was in his pack but the four of them had yet to designate either he or Hunk as official pack Alpha. They weren’t there yet and didn’t see a need, so it wasn’t like the crowd was making way for the Alpha to be reunited with his Omega, like in those gloriously trashy TV movies.
So what was the deal?
“Keith!”
The sound of Lance’s voice filled Keith’s ear, calling for him, reminding him how much he really missed his friend’s voice no matter what stupid crap he said. The sound was quickly followed by the scent, however, and oh that was what was the big deal making everybody back off in hesitation.
New omega, and not on suppressants.
Why the hell wasn’t Lance on suppressants, yet?!
“Lance, why-?!” Keith began, only to further see another reason as to why the nosy student body was suddenly silent.
Lance was wearing a dress. Pidge’s text made sense in that moment.
As the omega scurried up to Keith, his arm waving enthusiastically, the blue floral material swished enticingly around his long, long legs, god his legs were so long and they were now wrapped in thigh high socks. Where had Lance gotten thigh high socks, let alone a dress that perfectly matched his eyes and complimented his skin? The rest of him was clothed in his usual green parka, even his sneakers were there, so he still looked like Lance just now… enhanced.
And he was coming right for Keith in slow motion and he didn’t have time to grab for his lunch bag for a few more deep breaths and this was happening, this was really truly happening and why did he think it was a good idea to confess after he presented when his scent was so strong, this was a terrible idea and-
WHACK!
Lance had just slung his book bag straight into Keith’s right arm.
“What the hell, Keith?!” he yelled.
“What the hell, Lance?!” Keith countered, clutching his arm as it throbbed.
“Some pack mate you are! I’m out for like a week, all alone and freakin’ miserable, and you don’t even text me?!”
“Hunk was chased away from your house by your sister with a broom! He was just dropping off homework, he had an excuse, but why the hell would I come over for abuse like that?!”
“Gabby had jet lag, give her a break!”
“Not if she’s gonna break my leg!”
“Well where were you this morning, huh? I saw Hunk and Pidge but no Keith! What, not the least bit concerned how I was holding up?! Rude!”
Keith had to consciously keep from flaring his nostrils. It was a habit his dad had pointed out to him recently (making fun of him… thanks Dad) and it proved useful to know in order to keep from taking a huge whiff of Lance’s new scent. It was proving difficult as one was obeying, while the other wasn’t. That only lead him to catch a bit of what hopefully wasn’t too obvious to everyone else.
Lance was giving off “distressed omega” smell.
Swallowing his questionable joy at the revelation, considering Lance was distressed that Keith didn’t try to see him (cue internal squeal of joy), the alpha quickly grabbed Lance’s upper arm and began to gently tug him to their usual spot before classes start. This proved a bit difficult since the crowd had grown larger since before Keith got “distracted” and while he himself had no problem shoving others aside, he really didn’t want Lance touching anybody given his current state.
Seriously, why wasn’t he on suppressants yet?!
Taking a deep breath, Keith let out a small growl before yelling, “THE FUCK Y’ALL LOOKIN’ AT?!”
He heard Lance squeak behind him in surprise before the crowd practically fell over each other in their haste to get out of his way. Hopefully no teacher was around to hear him use his alpha voice because he really couldn’t afford to get any more detentions.
“By the way,” Keith started as he guided their new omega away from prying eyes, “where are Hunk and Pidge? They were picking you up like usual, right?”
“Oh, yeah,” Lance answered. It seemed his anger towards Keith was temporarily chilled. It never tended to last too long, anyway. “They must have gotten separated what with the huge crowd at the entrance. They had some stuff they were carrying for me, it was a bit awkward… was there a fight or something?”
“What?”
“A fight! Why else was there so many people at the doors?”
Having arrived at their usual morning spot, thankfully clear of busy bodies, Keith turned back to Lance to give him a blank yet confused look. Sure enough, Lance’s face was completely honest. He had zero clue in regards to how… “in demand” he suddenly was, and quite frankly? Keith wanted to keep it that way.
“Uh, yeah,” he finally said. “It was pretty lame, though, not sure why they all stayed around.”
“Aaaaw! I missed it! What else did I miss last week? Hunk and Pidge didn’t tell me much coming over here, there were just whining about how I should stay home until my suppressants come in the mail, pfft! Like, sorry, I don’t know how long that will take and our insurance isn’t covering what we need or something, and did you know that since male omegas aren’t as common as female, they jack up the prices for suppressants knowing how needed they are? How is that legal, man?”
Keith had sat them down on their bench that lined part of the wall, only for Lance during his rant to get closer and closer into his personal space bubble. Logically, he knew that part of this was the new omega’s instinct for comfort during distress as well as mingling their new scents together as pack mates. But Keith’s mind decided to screw all of that and go down the route of trashy TV movies that he totally doesn’t watch, and instead claim that Lance was going in for a kiss.
“There you guys are!”
Or not… which was probably for the best.
Keith didn’t have to turn around to know Hunk and Pidge were near sprinting towards the two, their scents were the strongest he's ever smelled them before. No doubt they had to shove their way to get past the entrance, as well. There was no way Hunk was going to use his Alpha Voice, and honestly Keith only used it because Lance was with him. Meanwhile, Pidge was scrappy and certainly had no problem shocking people to get through, but didn’t Lance say something about them carrying stuff?
“Finally, where did you guys go off to?” Lance asked, leaning sideways to get a look at the two while still staying in Keith’s personal bubble.
Score.
“Where did…? Are you serious right now?!” Pidge near exploded.
“Serious about donuts, give ‘em here!”
Doughnuts?
Sure enough, a box of a dozen doughnuts was thrust into Lance’s hands, Pidge flopping down on the other side of Keith. As Lance eagerly dug into them, Hunk appeared on Lance’s other side with yet another dozen doughnut box. As their omega stuffed nearly an entire strawberry frosted sprinkle doughnut in his mouth in one go, Keith raised an eyebrow to his fellow alpha.
“Dude,” Hunk sighed, “I’ll tell you later. I got a major stress headache going on right now.”
“Really?” Lance said while trying to cram another doughnut in his mouth, still finishing his previous one. “Why, what happened?”
“Oh, you know, just that this morning felt like I was driving through a zombie apocalypse what with this pack mate of mine’s family being crazy over protective alphas over their only, let me emphasize, ONLY omega, then said omega harassing me to get him donuts, topped off with running off as soon as we get to school leaving me to worry myself sick over if he got in safe or not… side note, that omega is YOU.”
“What do you mean ‘safe?’”
Lance’s cheeks were currently stuffed and he was pouting. It was adorable and Keith needed a distraction, quick.
“He probably means,” a new, unwelcomed voice practically purred, “that people tend to lose their heads in the presence of a newly presented omega.”
That wasn't the distraction he wanted, Universe.
Keith didn’t want to look up to see who spoke. He really, really didn’t want to deal with this on top of all that is Lance so early in the morning, his brain and heart couldn’t take it. Though he had to face reality and also stake a claim that Lance was completely off limits to scum bag alphas who thought that just because they had a lot of money meant that the world was supposed to automatically bow to them and hand over their pack omegas for his pleasure.
Not on Keith’s watch!
“Nobody asked you, Lotor,” Keith grumbled.
In all of his douchey glory, Lotor stood in front of the four pack members. His stupid white hair was perfect as always and he sported his regular tight pants and loose shirt, along with fancy jacket. Typical douche attire in Keith’s opinion and highly unwanted in their space.
“No,” Lotor smugly agreed, all calm as if he was super nice. “But I can see how stressed your pack seems to be so I figured any bit of help with your rather rambunctious omega would be welcomed.”
“No yeah, that makes sense!” Lance piped up while stuffing a, lord save them, cream filled doughnut in his mouth, the white cream of course running out making him lick his lips and fingers in the process. “I have a lot of energy going on right now, I guess I’m being kind of a lot for you guys?”
Pidge and Hunk groaned as their only response, clearing issuing a surrender.
This wasn’t good, that meant that Keith was going to have to fight off Lotor on his own… and also wonder what the hell happened that morning.
“I assume all of that sugar is a shock to your system,” Lotor continued. “It only makes sense for your body to be craving such things since, from what I understand, you did burn off a lot of calories while, ah, presenting.”
“Which is none of your business,” Keith added.
Lotor finally shifted his eyes over to acknowledge Keith, before quickly darting back to Lance. Specifically, to his legs.
“Don’t get so offended, I’m just stating facts.”
“I’ll state another one, you aren’t part of this pack so we don’t need your input.”
“How about you take my help for what it is since you clearly don’t know how to deal with your situation.”
“’My situation’ is that this school is full of gross perverts who I don’t trust.”
“I assume you’re putting me with that list?”
“You’re at the top.”
“And have you asked, Lance? Was it? How he feels about this?”
Before Keith could respond, Lance had stood up with a huff. Taking a quick sniff, the alpha could tell that he was not happy.
“Yes, Lance is my name,” said the angry omega. “You’re Lotor, right?”
Oh, fuck…
“Yes, I’m captain of the basketball team. I actually came over here to go over some new plays with Keith, but obviously he has other things on his mind. Can’t say I blame him, really.”
No, no no no…
“Well, don’t worry, I am totally capable of taking care of myself, thanks!”
“Oh, absolutely, I can see how easily you’ve worn down your pack mates, I don’t doubt for a second how much of a spit fire you are.”
Why weren’t Hunk and Pidge concerned about this?!
“Damn right I am! Hey, you want a doughnut? As a ‘sorry Keith is such a dick’ token of apology.”
“I would love one, how generous of you.”
Keith could feel his stomach plummeting to his toes as Lance gave his arch nemesis a sprinkled heart doughnut. Damn it being so close to February!
The rest of the short conversation was tuned out because it was complete bull shit to Keith and he couldn’t take it. Lotor had never spoken or even acknowledged any of Keith’s pack mates unless he was using them as an insult. Why did he feel the need to come over there and talk to Lance as if he was a nice guy just looking out for a weak little omega? Why wasn’t Lance insulted by that? Or maybe he was, the alpha was too frustrated to properly pick up on body language. Either way, Lotor suddenly showing up to be all buddy buddy to the new and shiny male omega who was conveniently wearing a dress (for reasons Keith was still trying to figure out, he had never worn one before... was it an omega thing?) to show off his legs for all to see was just shady as hell.
But… Lance was a capable human. Perhaps this wasn’t as bad as Keith’s heart was making it out to be?
“He was cool!” Lance proclaimed as he licked more cream and sprinkles off his fingers.
Keith let his nostrils flare for all to see, he didn't care anymore.
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