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Driver didn't even know what he was doing in a place like this. It was some random science place, his coworker had gotten tickets for but ultimately had too much to do to actually enjoy.
Why he thought that Driver, entirely single, no kids, and no pack to his name would enjoy a place like this was another thing, but he just sighed.
The exhibits were interesting enough, from random natural sciences to outer space. He'd stared far too long at a snake's feeding, and then looked at desert bugs until he felt himself go cross eyed.
Someone had asked him if he liked scorpions at one point, and he briefly wondered why they looked so amused about that question before remembering the back of his jacket and the case with the insect inside of it in front of it.
He had just nodded his head.
Still, the place was full of children, parents, and teachers. There would be some occasional teenagers that were here too, but overall Driver felt like he was entirely out of the age demographic for this place.
It was so fully of children that it mostly smelt like them, a little milky, soft kind of scents. Rather calming for someone who didn't often get to see them, between shoving half of his body under or into cars all day then going home to an empty department.
They were rather excitable though, and most of them seemed to be having a good time.
Driver sighed as he sat himself down onto a bench, looking out at the taxidermy animals in a rainforest scene. Up the walls was an explanation of the different tiers of the jungle, making him crane his head back if he had wanted to read it at all. Four layers in total, forest floor that had the highest amount of animals, understory layer, canopy and emergent layer.
Driver was really out of the demographic as a single alpha male here.
He scratched at his wrist awkwardly, pulling the jacket sleeves down to cover up his scent gland there. He took his focus to people watching, eyeing up the various groups here a little more closely.
There was a pair of woman each with a child between them, all standing rather close together as one of them leaned down to read to both of the children.
There was a single dad pushing a stroller along, a toddler excitedly standing in the back of it while looking down at a chunky baby who was peacefully asleep there.
Two teenagers were pointing at the taxidermied animals, mumbling to one another and laughing.
Some adolescent child crying their eyes out as they were pulled away.
What.
Driver knew that children through tantrums, he'd seen them enough. But this was a child that was a bit too old for that kind of thing, maybe just before the cusp of presenting. They also had on a lanyard around their neck, presumably part of a school group then.
He acted on it before he could really even think it through.
His steps were heavy as he followed the pair through the door the kid was being dragged through, a growl rising up in his throat. It was some back hallways between areas, employees only, but he didn't hesitate once.
Driver was an alpha after all, meant to be a protector. That's what he was always told, that's how Irene and Standard wanted him to be years ago. He was a shitty protector for his old pack, but a stranger, especially a young one, would be easier to protect.
The young girl had made eye contact with him, panicked eyes going wide. She struggled to get out a hand to try and reach out but he caught her by the wrist and pulled her back behind him. Before the man, a beta it seemed by his rather neutral scent, could even properly get out some kind of profanity Driver's fist made contact with his jaw, a sharp snap sounding under his fist before he fell to the ground.
It was at this moment one of the doors to this dark hallway opened, a soft gasp coming from the person there. Driver took a step back as he snarled, raising a protective arm up to cover his new ward. Driver wasn't sure when the girl had gotten closer to him, holding tightly onto the back of his jacket with shaking hands.
Still, it seemed like it was at least an actual museum employee this time, pulling a walkie talkie from his belt. Driver let a harsh little huff but the man just waved him elsewhere, already having to deal with this weirdo. Driver squinted his eyes, that did not seem reasonable at all, but the soft whimper of the girl behind him made him change goals as he took her back out to the public.
His new ward held tighter to him and he sighed, putting a hand on her back to pull her forward. They kept close to the wall at least and he leaned down towards her, wiping her eyes gently.
"Are you alright, little miss?" He crooned softly, trying to seem nonthreatening. This was just some poor pup that had gotten separated and almost kidnapped, yet he was the one who had to comfort the poor thing.
She wildly shook her head but grabbed his hand, holding onto it tightly. The alpha sighed softly, not quite sure what to do. He gently rubbed the top of her head before pulling out a napkin so she could cry into that.
"Can you help me find my teacher?" The girl whimpered softly, grabbing her lanyard for him to inspect. Olivia was her name, a student at Grover Cleveland Middle School. A bit older than he initially thought but she could just be small. Driver nodded his head softly and sniffed at the plastic.
It was rather common for chaperones of children to not scent them directly. Instead it was common to add scents along fabrics for temporary carry. True to from he picked up an adult scent on it, salty like the ocean with an undercurrent of wet dew.
"Come on." Driver held out his hand for Olivia as he stood up properly, sniffing at the air. He was careful to keep any scent he had tightly wound up, both to not scare her and not accidentally scent her. That didn't seem to bother her that much though and he walked them through exhibits, trying to track down the people she had gotten taken from.
It was easier than he had expected…
But that was only because he got found first.
Driver did not hear the quick steps to his side as he guided Olivia into the next exhibit. He was too focused on being surrounded by children that all had that soft pre-presentation scent with the undercurrent of omega. It had taken him a bit to recognize that's what the teacher was, but it made Driver happy that at least they would probably be able to comfort Olivia properly.
Driver didn't even see the first flying to his face, only the sudden flair of pain in his temple as he was knocked to the ground.
He let out a heavy growl before looking up, squinting past the dim museum lights.
That was the teacher then, Driver figured out, letting the noise die in his throat.
The omega, a he Driver could only assume, had his fangs flashing in the light. Short, fluffy blond hair was in a mess, a lanyard with the man's identification on it swaying as he stood over Driver.
And the alpha had two thoughts about the man standing over him and threatening him like he had just taken away one of his pups.
Hot DAMN.
And Driver was glad he didn't knock into Olivia on the way down when he got punched.
"Ah!" Olivia screeched in surprise. The noise instantly dragged her teacher's attention away and he let out a soft shushing noise as he took her closer.
"Hey, hey sweetheart. You're alright now, we've got security coming back soon. He didn't touch you, right Olivia?" The man shifted to his knees, a soft scent coming from him meant to comfort. Olivia's lip wobbled a little as she nodded, clinging to the man's blazer.
"He helped me get away from this weird man, Mr. Grace." She said softly, cheeks puffing out as she was babied, clearly embarrassed. "Really, he was just helping me find you."
Driver sat up from the ground and rubbed at his cheek, a soft sigh coming from his lips. He checked the side of his head carefully, shaking it.
The blond man at least had the grace to look a little mortified for punching a stranger that was just helping. Driver waved him off, motioning for him to focus on Olivia. Still, he encouraged her to go huddle up with her friends for a moment. She seemed quite happy to do so, burying her face in one of their shoulders likes pups often did for comfort.
"I am so, so sorry, sir." The teacher nervously clasped his hands together as he apologized. It seemed genuine, that salty and dew scent taking on a tinge of embarrassment.
"I get it." Driver shook his head, standing up from the ground. "Instincts?"
The blond nodded very, very quickly, to the point Driver thought his head might fall off. He smiled softly and put a hand on the man's shoulder to steady him, forcing him to relax.
"Yes, yeah it was just that. Olivia had gone missing and the other chaperone hadn't told me about it despite knowing and i panicked seeing the first person with her even though i should've assumed that you were bringing her back safety." He rambled on for a bit, fidgeting with his name tag. Driver caught the flash of text labeling him as Ryland Grace and he just chuckled, shaking his head.
"You did what you should." Driver grunted, analyzing the man's face in the dim light. "Well, mostly."
Ryland let out a soft little noise of confusion, looking over his shoulder to check on his students. He seemingly did a quick head count of everybody in the room and was satisfied enough with whatever metric was met to turn back. His nerves were obviously frayed though, foot tapping on the ground.
Driver gently grabbed the man's hand, subtly knocking his scent gland on the other's jacket. Just enough to comfort, not to mark, before he manually balled the other's fingers into a fist.
"When you punch you want it to be your knuckles, not the flat of your fingers." He dragged a finger over the other man's hand to show what he meant. "You'll break something if you do it wrong with that much force."
"Oh." Ryland nodded in understanding, watching him carefully. Driver grabbed the man's wrist up and gently tapped the man's knuckles to his jaw. The omega flustered a little, clearly in confusion, but didn't pull away.
"Better to hit here too if you're not going for an instant knockout." He suggested simply, nuzzling the fist slightly. "Since the jaw will move with you too it will help keep you safe if your fists aren't wrapped."
"Really now?" Ryland had hummed, nodding along. "Well, hopefully I won't need to use that one." He had laughed, and suddenly Driver couldn't get enough of the man.
"Pop quiz time then? Practical exam?" Driver couldn't help but suggest as he let go of the other man. The teacher blinked in surprise, glasses skewing as he backed off slightly. He giggled softly, hiding it behind a hand, and the alpha bit down on his own lip with a fang. He raised his brows expectantly and the other man gave him an incredulous look, clearly not convinced.
"You want me to punch you again?" He looked unimpressed, cocking his hip as his other hand rested on it. Driver let out a soft hum, nodding his head.
"Got to make sure you can protect your pups a little better." Driver just shrugged, shifting his weight around. He balled up his fists and gently batted at the other man, hoping to rile him up. Ryland rolled his eyes with this sort of smile, landing a punch that didn't hurt but was at least proper from.
"Maybe I did punch you pretty good, considering the fact youre calling my students pups and you're trying to rile me up." Ryland crossed his arms, having done what the younger man had wanted. "Anything I can do to help you? Since I hit your head?"
Driver let out a soft little hum, looking around. Museum staff had just turned into the room in a panic and he rifled into his pockets for a business card. "Get me dinner to make up for it."
And with that he pulled away, indulging in the soft smell of the omega's embarrassment that was now tinged with joy. Cute, very very cute. He tugged out a baseball cap hidden in his jacket and pulled it over his head, trying to stop the smile coming to his face
"How'd that museum end up being? Sucks my wife stole the kid for that week." Driver's coworker huffed as he lit a cigarette by the forth bay. Driver rolled out from where he was under the car, wiping his hand's on a rag.
"Got punched, got a date." He grunted, pulling out the oil pan from under the car. He started to clean up his station after a glance at his watch, jotting what he did to the car for finance team to bill.
"Hopefully not the same person?" His coworker let out a raspy laugh, confused. Driver just flashed his fangs in his excitement, watching the older man bristle. He just shook his head as he took a puff of his cigarette. "You kids are fuckin' weird these days."