Chapter Text
Today there’s an event in Foothill Town for the cold season. All the NRC students are, of course, going, well, maybe except for some of them because Ignihyde students who sees social interaction as an overlevel final boss they can’t conquer with their underlevel party, at least the majority of them.
For Eonyuu though, this is a good opportunity for him to buy some new equipment, books and ingredients for his research. Also, this is a good chance for some pack bonding, as Cater and Lilia called it. He’s still not used to this whole pack thing, or more specifically having a lot of people around him but he’s sure ain’t complaining. This is what he always wanted in his life afterall, his people and a place to belong.
The moment they arrived at the entrance of the town, some of his packmates rushed off in excitement towards the countless stalls, while some took a more calm stride inside. Eonyuu got easily drawn by the book stall and went without hesitation, already giving Grim to Ace and Deuce knowing the monster cat would be bored if he were to stick with the Omega. No matter how much the Omega loves that little gremlin, it’s nice to have some time with himself.
He leans forwards as he picks up a book displayed in a stall, flipping to a random page inside. The book immediately caught his interest when there’s a diagram of magic casting, followed up by some good old theories regarding the topic. He may not have any magic to use but knowledge is knowledge, he’s not going to pass up any opportunity to learn any form of knowledge. Plus, this could be useful to his packmates.
The shopkeeper, an elder Beta man, approached him when he caught sight of the teen boy practically glued to the book he is currently reading, deciding to engage in a casual conversation with the younger man that quickly and unexpectedly escalated to a conversation between two book worms and scholars.
Time passes by in a blink of an eye and Eonyuu emerges from the stall with a bag of books, and an even happier mood. The Omega clutches the bag of books tight on his chest, wanting to return back to Ramshackle dorm and read the books. Ah, nothing beats the smell of freshly bought books. He wonders where the others are, this town is pretty big and the crowd is not getting any thinner by the minute.
The Omega wanders the bustling town, trying to find any signs of his packmates in the large crowd since his phone died this morning because he was using it the whole night to voice-record himself doing research. Ah, he really should have known he would get lost in this sort of event. He hopes that they are not far off or at least he can detect one of their scents. But since this is the cold season, it will be a little harder for him to sniff their scent out.
“Mom!”
A sudden, distressed shout from behind him caught his attention, making him turn back to see the source of the such distressed shout on instinct. A little girl, brown hair, around 6 to 7 years old, wearing a thin layer of clothing, was running through the crowd, tears rain down from her eyes as she blindly runs through the crowd. He looks around the crowd, seeing if there’s anyone that is calling up the child and finding none.
Oh…this is that type of situation.
With no hesitation, he rushes to the running child’s side, carefully and gently taking the child under his coat just as he catches a sharp scent of alcohol in the crowd. A middle old man, white hair, probably an Alpha, walks to him, his eyes instantly catching the trembling child under the Omega’s coat.
“Oi, brat. Quit clinging to strangers already” the man said. “Come on, we’re going back”
The child doesn’t answer, clutching onto Eonyuu’s clothes tighter and pressing her trembling body closer to him which only displeases the middle old man further.
“I said come here!” the middle aged man harshly said, reaching his hand out to grab the child.
Eonyuu grabs the man’s wrist with his gloved hand and prevents him from reaching any further. “Apologies, Mister. But it seems the young lady does not want to come with you”
The man’s eyes narrow at Eonyuu. “Ha? The fuck do you mean? She’s my blood, she will do whatever I say. Now fuck off and mind your own damn business, kid”
Eonyuu didn’t relent, keeping his hold on the man’s wrist and maintaining eye contact. He can’t use his Omegan pheromones in public for his own safety and several other reasons, so he needs to resolve this the old fashion way. “Apologies, Mister, but it I will not allow you to forcefully take the child”
“Why you–” the man yanks his hand away from Eonyuu, rubbing his reddened wrist. “You kids these days, acting all high and talking back to your elders” he mutters and holds his hand up. “Just give me that damn brat, kid, before this gets ugly pretty quickly”
Eonyuu looks at the hand then at the man, carefully tucking the still trembling child to his side. He didn’t reply to the man’s request, letting his eyes and body language do all the answering for him.
The man clenched his jaw seeing no sign of compliance from the younger boy, releasing his pheromones as he steps forward. “You asked for it, kid”
The man raised his hand to grab Eonyuu’s collar, the Omega already having a plan to defend himself, but then a hand from beside him shot up and grabbed the man’s wrist before it could reach him.