Chapter Text
Of course, his roommate had to be kicked out, he hadn’t followed the rules and he had to suffer the consequences of his own actions. Besides, he had to choose to either kick his roommate out for breaking the rules or get kicked out of his new living complex just for housing a criminal- Doppio wasn’t stupid, he knew exactly what needed to be done. The apartment complex where Doppio had started to live in had a few rules that needed to be followed- Of course, one was staying in your own parking spot, another being able to not blast music between 7 pm to 4 am- BUT the biggest rule that needed to be followed: No Omegas allowed. The apartment complex was one where only Alphas and Betas were allowed to live, so if any Omegas were to come to the complex all hell would break loose. Especially if any of the Alphas were in the middle of their heat when an Omega comes around, or vice versa. Doppio was all for following the rules, at the university he now attended he was given the role of being the ‘Duke of Discipline’, so he was in charge of overseeing justice and giving out the correct form of punishment for anyone who break the following rules.
This followed even to his own apartment.
He had just settled in after looking for a place for months, and he was thankful to finally get the acceptance letter from a complex that was within walking distance away from his university. At the same time, he was able to move in with a roommate, and the two were rather chill for being two Alphas. Doppio had been trying his best to be kind and courteous with his roommate, splitting chores, playing games, and letting their friends come over. He had thought they were hitting it off rather well, until one day after coming home from the university. Doppio had been released early because he had a slight fever, although he insisted he could attend the rest of his time in class, his friend and vice president Ver had made sure to drive him back home safely so he can get some rest. Doppio remembered walking up to his door and pausing the moment he placed his key into the lock, he could smell the faint scent of something flowery and sweet, but with a mix of very heavy musk from an Alpha. But Doppio knew damn well that the scent didn’t come from from his roommate, it had come from an Omega.
Doppio didn’t have the patience to deal with this form of shenanigans, so he immediately kicked his roommate out. Throwing his clothes, his things, and even his roommate out into the hall- Along with the omega that was STILL in the same room- which Doppio apologized to after kicking them out. After finally overcoming his fever, Doppio made a small ad online to look for a new roommate to move in before he had to pay for that month's rent. He could cut it close if he skipped a day or two of eating, or perhaps take up extra shifts at his arcade, but he wouldn’t want to have his own health in jeopardy when he could find a new roommate instead.
“So, how is the search coming along?” Machina X Flayon asked from the cellphone speaker. Doppio sighed tiredly at his childhood friend’s question, he had been staring at his computer screen in his study for some time as he had been looking through his emails and his DM’s from the AlphBeta account to find a new roommate. He didn’t even need to answer right away to hear a soft laugh come from that friend on the other line, “Damn. That bad, huh?”
“You have no idea,” Doppio groaned, using his free hand to rub the upper bridge of his nose. “I mean, the only people that have reached out to me were either bots or the occasional ‘ Hey let’s hook up for a fling’ type. Hell, don’t get me started on how many pictures I’ve received-” Doppio shuddered as he lowered his voice close to his phone. “They didn’t even send me pictures of their face, it was all just what’s below their pants-”
“Holy shit man! I’m so sorry Doppi-”
“Well, it’s not all bad- per se- I do have a few more emails to look forward to, and one of them seems to be promising,” Doppio remarked as he brought his hand back over to his computer mouse to click on the email in question. This one coming from a person who had an interesting email, [email protected], clearly a Hatsune Miku fan with an email like that. But what also seemed to catch Doppio’s eye was the fact that the person wrote out a very intricate email describing themselves, what they do, what their hobby is, everything. “So the person’s name is Ike Eveland, they seemed to really like Hatsune Miku from the email they have, but they also seem to work from home,”
“Work from home? What kind of work do they do? Are they a telemarketer or something?”
“They claim to be a novelist, so they are a writer perhaps?” Doppio explained before moving on through the email. “They are 27 years old, they had published several books, and recently began to work with a publishing company. They are single too, and have no pets… Oh.” Doppio paused as he reached close to the end of the email, an interesting comment had stood out to him near the end before the email was sighed off. ‘ It would be in my best interest if I can speak to you through video call, and I would like to inform you on some matters involving my health. Best regards, Ike Eveland .’ “How very peculiar…”
“What? What is it? What’s going on?” Flayon asked impatiently, Doppio could hear the curiosity in his friend’s voice as he brought the phone close to his face again.
“Apparently this person wants me to video call them and talk face to face, to tell me something about their health?” he asked aloud, he skimmed through the email again to look for anything else he had missed. The email didn’t state whether the person was an Alpha, Beta, or Omega, but if they had their email name to go by they should be a Beta. Of course, it wouldn’t be a first for anyone to use a fake alias too. Doppio set the phone down beside his keyboard to quickly write up a reply to the email, making it short yet professional:
‘ Thank you for reaching out to me, Ike Eveland! I would like to speak to you over video call and discuss further steps for your application in becoming my roommate. Here is my number xxx-xx-xx, let me know when you are available to speak on a call. Signed, Doppio Dropscythe.’
“Regarding their health? Does it have to do with- Wait, do you even know if they are an Alpha or a Beta?” Flayon asked, Doppio hummed to himself after checking the email and hitting the ‘ send ’ button. Once the email had been sent off, he reached over to grab the phone again before making a new tab on his computer browser window. He was more than curious to search for this so-called ‘ Novelist’ by looking for any information on them, especially if they had been the ones to reach out to him too. When Doppio only confirmed that he speculated them to be a Beta just by their email, it was Flayon’s turn to hum from the other side of the call. “Well, that doesn’t mean that they could be a Beta, when I was younger I made an email that said ‘destroyeromegalord64’ because I thought it sounded cool-”
“I remembered that! That was when you had to make your own email for that online RPG game, right?” Doppio laughed. He could remember when the two of them were younger sitting at Flayon’s house after school, the two were wanting to play the newest online game, but they had to use their own email. Flayon, before realizing that he was an Omega himself, made an email with ‘destroyer omega lord 64’ as his email because it DID sound cool to them. “Do you still have that email right now, Flay?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Flay dismissed rather quickly, but Doppio only smiled at his friend’s words.
“I dunno man, that sounds like you still have the email to me! Is it a burner email now, or do you use that currently for your work to make yourself look more dominant in nature?” Doppio laughed harder when he heard his friend scream and tell him to ‘shut the hell up’ but he was curious! Of course, he still had to look over this mysterious applicant too, so he decided to go back to the topic at hand. “Let me ask you though Flay, doesn’t Betamail act like AlphBeta in a way too? I mean, sure, Betamail is an email and AlphBeta is a social media type thing, but they both ask for doctor’s notes or something to get clarification on your type. At least I had to do that with my accounts.” Doppio asked with a slight wave of his hand as he began to type in the name onto the search browser: Ike Eveland , before hitting the search button.
Before long he saw several images and links pop up all describing the person in question. The first few search recommendations were of blogs that described the novelist’s work as being ‘ Outstanding!’ ‘Breathtaking!’ and ‘ Thrilling! ’ from a recent book series that had been published. Another blog started to break down one of these books describing it as ‘ A thrilling, heart-stopping tale about two young lovers’ retreat turned into a deadly cat vs. mouse game, in an attempt to overpower a killer ’- with another review on the same blog describing the book as ‘ Bloody! Dangerous! Thrilling! A ‘Not so Ordinary’ romance to fall head over heels for! ’
“Huh. Say, Flay, what do you think about romance? As in, the book genre?” He had been so intrigued with finding any sort of information about the writer and his works in question that he hadn’t been keeping an eye, or ear, on the conversation he was currently having with his friend Flayon when he popped the question.
“Romance?” Doppio waited, hearing his friend click his tongue in thought on the other side as he tried to think deeply about his question. “It’s uh… Okay, I guess? It’s not my type of thing, but if it’s interesting enough then I can take a glance.” ‘ What if there was Thriller added into the mix? ’ was Doppio’s next question before the friend finally caught on. “Wait wait, hold on. That writer made a romance, thriller book?”
“They did, and it’s gotten a lot of good reviews too on these websites I’ve found... I might just buy the book myself because it sounds so interesting.” Doppio confessed. Normally it would take a lot for him to sit down and enjoy a good book, not to mention if it was any of the books he had to read up on for his schoolwork. But he is a rather huge fan of romance, particularly any type of romance that garners ‘enemies to lovers’. But if the reviews were all this positive,, then he wanted to see just how suspenseful and gory this book actually was, along with the added spice of romance to it too. Doppio was just about to click on another book reading site to look at even more reviews before a pop-up window caught his eye, “Oh! Looks like Ike Eveland got back to me.”
“Really? Wait, you sent them an email? What did it say? What did they say?”
“I asked them when they would want to video call and I sent them my number too-” Doppio paused to move the cursor over his email tab and click on the newest letter, which immediately brought him to the newest message that Doppio began to read it out loud:
Thank you very much for replying back to me, Mr. Doppio Dropscythe. I have a meeting tomorrow morning with my editor at 9 am, but would it be alright if I can call you tomorrow around 10 am? Or perhaps any time before 4 pm since I will be at a dinner party at a friend’s house. Please get back to me as soon as possible, and I look forward to meeting you! Best Regards, Ike Eveland.
“Wow, a meeting with his editor and a dinner party? This guy sure sounds fancy! Do you really want them as a roommate, Doppi?” Flayon asked curiously, the magenta haired man casually shrugged his shoulders with a ‘why not?’ as he typed up another short message in reply:
The pleasure is all mine, Ike Eveland. Tomorrow at 10am sounds perfect, I’ll be waiting for your call in the morning! Highest Regards, Doppio Dropscythe.
“All I’m saying is that it sounds like he has everything he could ever want! He’s a popular writer with a best seller, he’s got friends who he can have fancy dinner parties with- Hell, he probably has a nice car too! Why does he want to even stay in an apartment complex anyway?”
“It’s not fair to question someone’s living conditions or their lifestyle. You should already know that with me, Flay.” Doppio interjected, sending the email with one last hit of the submit button. “No one knew of my living style when I was growing up, except you because we grew up together and you always visited my uncle’s arcade before I took ownership of it. So let’s just not jump to any conclusions and wait for what my applicant has to say first.”
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Doppio had gotten up early that day, as he have always done every day really. It was his morning ritual to get up early so he can have a quick workout to pump up his blood, move on to take a quick shower and then finally make himself some breakfast. He has just gotten out of the shower when he reached over for his phone on the bathroom sink, the time read 09:20 am, so he decided to go into the kitchen to make himself a light breakfast before he could speak with this Novelist. As Doppio put some bread into the toaster he scrolled on his phone to finish up the book he had been reading since late last night:
“Hunting Crimson Sparrows” by Ike Eveland
After his call had ended with Flayon, Doppio took the chance to buy an online copy of Ike Eveland’s latest romantic thriller, as well as an audiobook version too whenever he hadn’t been able to keep his eyes on the phone screen for too long. With the progression of the book and the audiobook together, Doppio was already just two chapters before the book finished. He had got to admit, the reviews were spot on, he had been hooked, lined, and sunk with the suspenseful themes of the book and he had also admired the characters that were also described in the book as well.
The main characters, the couple named Jack and Molly, were your average romantic couple. The young ones were so sweet and lovey to each other that you can feel cavities already forming in your mouth whenever they are seen together. The girlfriend and boyfriend were celebrating their first anniversary at a cabin in the woods that use to have belonged to Molly’s grandfather. The first two chapters were describing Molly and Jack’s relationship and the plans they had while getting ready to celebrate the lovely weekend. That was why it was interesting to Doppio that in chapter 3, from a third point of view, he was now looking into the eyes of Molly. Her thoughts, her feelings, her anxieties, everything crashing down as the chapter introduced him to Molly already being strung up by chains and almost getting gutted at the hands of the killer, standing just over her with a cleaver in hand. Thankfully the killer decided to move on to a separate task at hand, giving enough time for Molly to find her escape, she hadn’t planned on escaping the cabin just yet though, as the focus was mostly on finding the whereabouts of her boyfriend first.
Doppio then expected to continue reading on through the eyes of Molly, or perhaps switching to the eyes of her boyfriend Jack instead once he reached chapter 4. But something was off, the viewpoint landed on a character who seemed more childlike, their nature turning from cheerful and innocent, and spiraling down to sinister and downright… Psychopathic? He wouldn’t have ever thought there would be a story where he was looking through the eyes of the killer, not this soon at least. So that was when the thriller parts come in! Doppio was caught in intrigue and fear as he looked on as a spectator of this very sick game, unraveling between Molly, the killer, and the missing boyfriend- Who had almost drowned in chapter 6! Now the book was finally reaching the climax and conclusion of it all, Molly and Jack had finally been reunited, the two of them finally found a working connection on their phone that had them finally reach the police for help, and they were finally hidden away safely from the killer to wait for help to arrive. But again, that nagging feeling that something felt… Off. The sensation came back at the exact moment when a police car showed up in front of the cabin. The aloof couple was more than happy to run out and call out to the police car once it finally parked in their driveway, and Doppio had a sinking feeling when the new character had gotten out of the car and mentioned them both by name instead of going by the courteous ‘Sir’ and ‘Ma’am’-
“Shit!” Doppio gasped aloud when the phone in his hands started to ring and vibrate violently in his hands. He took in a deep sigh as the number on his screen was an ‘unrecognizable caller’, but seeing that the other line requested a video call, Doppio could already guess that the call was from no one else but his new roommate applicant. Doppio sat himself down on one of the kitchen chairs, using his thumb to swipe up to answer.
He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t awestruck by the person that had called him.
The man that was on the other line held a professional air to him, he wore a simple white turtleneck and a light brown thin-colored jacket that covered his arms and shoulders. The man had messy but fluffy ashen brown hair that fell into light blue strands near the very tips, the same strands of hair that also covered his silver-wired frames that sat on top of the bridge of his nose. It was a surprise that the man before him also wore golden jewelry that covered the shell of his ears and also dripped down his lobes in the form of Pen nibs that dangled and swayed gently. The Novelist sat before him at what seemed to be a table at an internet cafe, judging by the slightly dark colors of the wall and the dimmed lights that barely illuminated the man’s head. Once the call had finally come through, the man on the other line smiled and gave a short wave to Doppio.
“Hello, uh, can you hear me?”
“Yeah yeah! Clear as crystal actually~!” Doppio remarked with a grin and a singsong spring in his voice as he placed a hand under his chin, “So, you must be the nifty and notable novelist, Mr. Ike Eveland. Am I right?
“You are correct,” the man remarked with a soft laugh and a slight bow. “I am Ike Eveland, a novelist that mainly works at home, but recently I have been accepted by a company known as ‘Nacreous Publishing’.” he began as he gently fidgeted with the fish-netted gloves he wore. “I hope the time wasn’t too early for you, I remembered reading that you were a university student so I hope that this meeting didn’t interfere with your classes in any way-”
“Oh no! Not at all! Today was my day off and while I have to work, that isn’t until tomorrow night anyway.” Doppio reassured, tilting his head slightly as he looked more closely at the man on the phone screen. “I don’t know if I want to jump the gun on you too quickly, but I do have some questions regarding the email you sent me. If any of the questions make you uncomfortable then I apologize, but I’m trying to cover the whole basis here in looking for a particular type of roommate.” Doppio was actually waiting for Ike to interject in any way, but he didn’t. Instead, the novelist only replied with simply ‘I understand, please go right on ahead’ and Doppio decided to start with the main question that had plagued his mind since reading the first email written by the older man. “You said that you had something health related that needed to be addressed, so I wanted to ask you… What is your category?”
“My… category?” Ike asked with a drawl on the last word, as if his brain was trying to process what Doppio meant by the term. When Doppio clarified that he asked about his status, being either Alpha, Omega, or Beta- That was when the question finally clicked in Ike’s head and his eyes widened. “Oh! Oh, you mean- Right, I apologize for not stating that in my email. I am actually a Beta, I have my documents if you wish to see them-”
“No no, I’ll take your word for it. I don’t see any reason why you would hide that fact from me,” Doppio insisted. He did want to trust this Eveland person, for what he had gone by from the emails and even the book reviews online, Ike was a straightforward person, and if he claimed to be a Beta then he shouldn’t argue about it. Also, Doppio could always sniff him out himself if Ike decided to come over to the apartment and take a look inside. But since that question was out of the way, Doppio was curious to ask him even more about this mysterious writer’s life. “So what brings you in looking for moving in with me? A change of scenery? Perhaps a closer destination to your workplace?”
“I actually just got really tired of my old roommate,” Ike sighed softly, using his hand to move a few strands of his hair away from his moss-colored eyes. “My roommate and I had really been at odds since I moved in, and just recently it had gotten worst that I just couldn’t stand being around them anymore. So I did what anyone could and just… Left. I took whatever I could and left.” ‘ So you currently live elsewhere ?’ Doppio had asked him, though he saw as the brunette just shrugged their shoulders, “I mean… Sort of? My income is really fine right now because a recent book of mine had gotten popular, so I’ve been using that money to just hop between hotel rooms at the moment-”
“Right, your recent book being ‘ Hunting Crimson Sparrows’ , right?” the moment that Doppio had asked, he swore he could see the novelist’s eyes glow and sparkle at the very mention of his book. He is creative and he knew he had talent, and Doppio could tell that the older male was very proud of his own skills that he would be immediately smitten with anyone that recognizes those pieces he created with his own two hands. They were like his children after all. “I was looking up your name since you said you were a writer and I just got my hands on the book yesterday- I gotta admit, I’m a sucker for romance, but when thriller was thrown into the mix, I was almost putting the book down because I didn’t think my heart could take it. But it was so good though! I had to keep reading cause I was dying to know what would happen to Molly and Jack- Especially after seeing that Jack almost drowns when we finally caught up to him-”
“Have you finished the book yet?” Ike asked him curiously, now he had leaned forward enough to get a closer look at the magenta-clad man before him on the phone screen. When Doppio insisted that he was just two chapters away from the ending, Ike could only give him a small grin. “I’ll admit, I’ve had everyone tell me that they loathed the ending of the book, but I think that’s what makes this even more fun! As much as I like to keep things all neat and tidy- Sometimes a bit of chaos and disorder is what we need to liven up our lives a bit.” Ike leaned back up from his sitting as he continued to keep his hands placed elegantly atop the table. “That’s all I’ll say about the ending. No spoilers.”
“I actually appreciate it, I would hate to have the ending spoiled by my own roommate applicant.” Doppio chuckles, though he started to backtrack a bit before they get onto the topic of his book. He was here to interview him for the roommate position, not to get an autograph from him! “So… You and your roommate didn’t see eye to eye and you’ve been at hotels since then. Did this have anything to do with your… ‘ Health’ issue?” the moment he finally brought it up, he could see Ike’s shoulders stiffen a bit, before letting out a soft-sounding sigh.
“Well… That’s one of the reasons why I had to leave…”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I found out I was pregnant,” Ike murmured, almost like he had tried to whisper for only the two of them to hear out of the entire internet cafe. Doppio only blinked, his two-toned eyes carefully scanning the male before him as the two remained silent to carefully study each other. Ike decided to break the silence by continuing his explanation with a heavy sigh. “My roommate and I were dating, and although I am a Beta and I go by ‘ He/Him’ , there was still a possibility that I could become pregnant whenever we both have intercourse. I took as many precautions as I could to ensure that it wouldn’t become that. I took birth control and I had made sure that we wore contraceptives…” Ike paused, his hands raised to his mouth as he lightly shook his head. Doppio could see that there was a sense of anger and anguish in those eyes since he had first seen the writer, though he didn’t interject, he waited until the other male continued.
“The roommate I had, he insisted that he loved me and… I foolishly believed him. So slowly we got off of contraceptives, and birth control, and we just… Went at it whenever our heat cycles just happen to fall together. It was all fine until…” Ike let out a laugh, but one that sounded so fake and tired than one out of pure joy. “Well, I found out he cheated on me with an old fling of his from high school, so, I just packed my things and left. I never told him about my pay raise from my book, I never told him that I was pregnant, and I blocked all of his contacts and his friend’s contacts too. A few of my friends insisted that I could bunk with them but… I’m uncomfortable flying to another country in my condition at the moment.”
“That's understandable, I’m just so sorry that you had to go through that much. Especially with the stress of being pregnant and releasing a book too.” Doppio apologized, he was even beginning to feel his blood boil from pure rage. It was one thing that he had been promised that he would be loved unconditionally by this lover, but to have them get pregnant AND cheated on top of that? This had to have been a whole new type of low if Doppio ever heard of one. Though now Doppio was realizing that not only was this writer living on his own in different hotel rooms, he was doing so while pregnant. He should only have to worry about his own kid for Christ's sake! You know, fun things like making a whole nursery, choosing a name, or what type of clothes they should wear. Not stressing out about deciding which hotel to move sleep at for the next morning and then the morning after that! Doppio tried to get his anger under control as he placed his free hand under the table, literally white-knuckling the kitchen chair beneath him to remain calm and collected before he gave a smile to Ike. “So uh… How far along are you then?”
“Ah well, I’m nearing the end of my second trimester so… already 22 weeks. That equates to 6 months-” ‘Shit! That far? ’ Doppio gawked, he felt his face burn when Ike started to chuckle and he quickly mumbled an apology as Ike waved his hand. “It’s alright! But that was why I wanted to reach out to you in the first place. I had already asked several people looking for roommates if I could move in with them, and they had all rejected me when they found out that I was pregnant. A few even asked me ‘ Why don’t you get a house ?’ and I had to explain to them that my uh… credit score isn’t looking too hot at the moment.
“Ah… Right, that sort of stupid junk.” Doppio mumbled, clicking his tongue as the gears started to turn in his head. He wasn’t in any position to be literally desperate for a roommate, but this poor writer before him was in a position where they couldn’t find a place to sleep peacefully at night. Nor find a place for them to raise a kid for that matter! Did he have the time to raise a kid? Of course not, but that would be future problems to deal with. Did he have the space to raise one? Sure! He could definitely make some room in his apartment… Somehow. His apartment had four rooms in total, and the two that his roommate used to have, he can easily change that into a new room and perhaps a nursery too! He can make it work!
For Ike’s sake and for the baby's sake, Doppio just HAD to make this work.
“So Ike Evelenad, are you free by any chance?”
“What?”
“Tomorrow, are you free any time tomorrow?” Doppio asked clearly, he watched as Ike pondered deeply, before replying that he had no plans and nor important schedules made “Perfect, I think it’ll be in your best interest for you to come over and start moving in- And I won’t take ‘no’ as an answer.” Doppio grinned, his emerald eyes beaming cheerfully at the novelist. “I’ll send you the address of the apartment complex to your email. But before we leave this call, were there any other thoughts or concerns I should know about?” he asked, mainly curious as to see if there had been anything else that he could have missed in their short meeting. Though to his surprise he could see that Ike had been staring at him, mouth slightly open as he placed a hand over his lips, his moss-colored eyes glossy with tears that threatened to fall at any moment.
“I… No, that’s everything I needed to say. Thank you so much for reaching out to me Mr. Dropscythe-”
“Please, call me Doppio, or even Pio-chan! That’s what my friends call me, anyway.”
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