Chapter Text
The door is at his back, so Rex doesn’t know who entered the room until they’re right beside him. Even then Rex doesn’t acknowledge their presence. He watches them out of the corner of his eyes, keeping just enough attention on his target that he doesn’t miss.
Their clothing marks them as a CC. Same growth phase as the Shebse. If it’s someone he knows, then it’s Doom. But Rex doesn’t actually know a ton of CCs and all he has to go off of are the CC’s build and the general shape of haircut - which is difficult to judge without turning his head.
The CC kneels down next to him and Rex finally does turn away from the targets, suppressing the urge to punch the CC in the face when he’s so kindly placed it at a position Rex can hit comfortably. Cody would be disappointed. Wolffe would be amused.
“You’re the Shebse’s CT, right?” It is Doom, then.
Rex snarls and ignores the upward twitch of Doom’s lips (This always happens when he’s annoyed. The CCs are way too amused by his irritation. Maybe he should start biting them. Might get them to take him seriously.): “I have a name .”
“Whatever you say, little CT Rex.” Doom says distractedly. He’s looking somewhere over Rex’s shoulder and his face is pulled into a worried frown. “I don’t like the way Priest is watching you. Let’s go.”
Rex crosses his arms. He knows that Priest is watching him. And he doesn’t like it, either. There’s something in his posture that has Rex’s hair standing on end. It doesn’t help that the Shebse don’t like him, that they push Rex between them when passing Priest in a hallway.
But Rex can deal with a bad trainer. Most of his trainers haven’t been particularly nice. Most CT trainers, anyway. The CCs all have their Alphas. They’re just not used to normal trainers. And he’s supposed to be here. Scheduled training and all that.
Doom sighs: “If I leave you here with Priest, the Shebse will skin me alive”, he says like he’s trying to appeal to Rex’s sympathy.
“Sucks for you, I guess”, Rex says. “And I don’t need your help.”
“ Vod’ika , with Priest you need all the help you can get.”
Doom sounds so concerned and serious that Rex’s resolve almost crumbles. But he can handle himself. He doesn’t need anyone to help him. He can’t need anyone. Because the Shebse might try to protect him but at the end of the day, Rex returns to his otherwise empty dorm. There’s no one to help him then .
“I’ll give you a choice: I can either toss you over my shoulder and carry you back to Shebs’ dorm. Or you can walk there on your own two feet and keep at least some of your dignity intact.”
“You know, you really shouldn’t warn me about that.”
Doom shakes his head in exasperation: “What are you going to do, squirt? Bite me?”