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Johnny liked to hide in his locker sometimes. After a bad call, after a loss too big to share in the open, sometimes when he needed a rest or some alone time. And Roy teased him for it at first. The baby of the station bending himself up into a pretzel to hide away from everyone.
But now Roy was the one inside his own dark wooden box, knees brought right up to his chin and arms wrapped around his legs. It wasn't comfortable, his shoulders were a bit more broad than Johnny's, and the sides pressed in on him. And his thicker thighs made it a bit more difficult to bend his legs as tight as needed.
But he'd managed it.
It wasn't really a decision he'd made. He didn't stand outside the locker wondering if he should. It just seemed right. He finally got what made it so appealing to Johnny.
Maybe the reasons were slightly different.
Roy still felt so exposed, unable to cover his scent, stop his pheromones and hormones from producing feelings and broadcasting them for the world to know.
And the guys were great, really they were, but they were also so very overwhelming. Not just the smell of them, though that was part of it. When Roy was on medication, his ability to smell others was also blunted. He wasn't constantly bombarded with the scent of alphas all around him. It wasn't so oppressive and heavy.
But that wasn't the only part of it. The guys were still trying to figure out what to do with instincts that didn't have a place to land, really. They'd known Roy for years… and now they were confronted with these urges to protect because their bodies sensed a vulnerable omega in their presence. And Roy hated that, they knew Roy hated that, and so the instincts took different shapes in each of them.
Out in the field, there were rules. Cap was great about telling people they needed to control their own urges and instincts. They were adults. Man up. Take responsibility for yourself. But at the station… Marco was always offering food, Chet was up in a second if it seemed like Roy was about to even ask for anything, Mike was like a silent bodyguard, Cap was still very parental, but somehow the gentleness that used to be reserved for the baby of the station had spread to Roy as well.
And Johnny…
Johnny was everywhere. Not in a bad way. He was the only one who didn't really treat him different, and that was amazing.
But he was also lazy about his scent. Everyone had a scent, of course. But most alphas played it close to the vest. The other guys, Roy could smell them… their presence and what they were. Johnny… Johnny left everything everywhere. As if he were an omega incapable of tamping down on it.
Like he was trying to leave his mark on everything. That spot on the couch was his spot. That bed was his bed. That entire corner of the locker room was Johnny's corner. And he was always letting his emotions come through. Johnny was depressed last time he sat there. Johnny was feeling awfully fond while staring at Roy with heart eyes.
And Roy was too in love with Johnny. His body was too infatuated with Johnny.
The urges, the instincts that came with being off of medication and surrounded by the alpha that he wanted. It was so very new, and Roy didn't know what to do with all of it.
So he was in the locker.
A hiding place.
To keep his scent to himself for a little bit. To keep everyone else's away for a little bit. To sit in the darkness and breath and think and not be in the spotlight for once. He wasn't stupid. He knew the cedar wouldn't completely block everything. If someone really wanted to find him, they could follow their noses to his spot.
But nobody was looking, that he knew of. So it muffled everything just enough.
He took a deep breath and set his chin on one knee.
It smelled of wood, his own old clothes, and himself. And that was it.
He took another breath and let it out slowly. He just needed a moment. Just to relax.
There was a knock.
"Roy?"