by D. J. Heart
“Do you think he’ll mind?” Evan asks, not wanting to miss the class. So far they’ve only drawn objects, and though he’s learned a lot, Evan much prefers to draw people.
“Let’s call him and see,” Mark says, not offering an opinion.
Evan likes Mark. At first he’d been intimidated, Mark showing up for his first day of work in camo pants, a thermal T-shirt, and carrying more guns than Evan could count, but he’d quickly been put at ease. Mark was a nice guy, never treating Evan like he was stupid or incompetent, patiently following him around all day as he went from class to class, having the time of his life.
Mark calls Peter and explains the situation.
“I just wanted to check, sir,” Mark says after a pause, sounding apologetic. Peter says something more, Evan unable to hear, Mark replying Yes sir, and hanging up.
“What did he say?” Evan asks, hoping Peter won’t be weird about this.
“He says it’s fine,” Mark says, looking like he hadn’t expected Peter’s response. Evan grins.
“Great, let’s go back inside.” Evan waits for Mark to nod that it’s okay.
“Everything all right?” Professor Knope asks when they step back into the room, looking between Evan and his bodyguard.
“Yes, professor. Mark just wanted to check that I was allowed to see naked people. Peter says that I can.”
Professor Knope’s eyebrows lift a fraction of an inch, but other than that she doesn’t react. Evan makes a point of not looking to his left, where a few seats over James and Matt are sitting; they’re a pair of alpha assholes who seem to find Evan’s presence at the Obrey both hilarious and deeply offensive. They haven’t said anything to him yet, since Mark is always there to glower at them, but Evan can tell that they want to.
“That’s good, Evan. There’s a lot to be learned from doing figure drawings. Now, as I was saying…”
Evan gets comfortable in his seat, making sure he has all his pencils lined up while Professor Knope talks. When the beta model steps into the room and disrobes, Evan can’t help but stare.
The beta’s penis does look like Evan’s, only bigger. There’s no hint of a knot, and his balls are nowhere near the size of Peter or Chad’s. It’s dainty, Evan thinks, if not particularly arousing.
Evan starts drawing, biting his lip and concentrating and getting the general shape and lines down first before he starts adding detail.
“Very good, Evan,” Professor Knope says, startling him with her presence.
“Thanks,” Evan says, blushing at the praise. Professor Knope studies his picture for a few seconds, then turns.
“You have an eye for the human body, though I think you might have been thinking about your alpha rather than studying the model for that bit there…” she says, pointing at the center of the picture. Evan frowns, not sure he understands. Then he sees that he’s drawn the beta’s penis with a big knot at the base of the shaft.
“Oh, wow. Sorry,” he says, blushing. He erases the knot, feeling embarrassed.
“Don’t worry about it,” Professor Knope says, her smile warm. She gives him a few more pointers before moving on, leaving Evan feeling mostly satisfied.
By the time the class ends, Evan has five drawings, each of the model in a different pose. It’s been a long but fun morning, and Evan is starving.
“Where do you want to go for lunch?” Mark asks, walking next to Evan, looking big and intimidating. Students part for them, with those who haven’t seen him before shooting him curious glances.
“Can we go to the student cafeteria?” Evan asks, mustering up his courage. Though he’s been going to school for two weeks now, he still doesn’t feel like he fits in with the students. He knows he probably never will, but he still wants to go have lunch in the cafeteria like one of them.
“Sure,” Mark says, steering them out of the arts building and down the path toward the student center where the cafeteria is located. It’s packed for lunch; Mark frowns at all the people.
Evan can’t see any available tables, and his heart sinks.
“Evan, right?” a young man says from a few feet away. Evan recognizes him, a beta from the class he’s just come from named Johan. Johan is talking to Evan, but he’s looking at Mark, like he’s making sure he’s allowed to talk to him. Mark looks to Evan, waiting for him to answer.
“Uh, yes. You’re Johan, right?”
Johan smiles. Evan wonders what the beta wants.
“Yeah. I was just going to ask if you wanted to sit with us? And Mark, of course. We’re over there.” Johan points to a table in the corner, three other betas from class watching them. They all look nervous, like they're worried Mark will come over there and beat the shit out of them for being so forward.
Evan has no idea what to say.
“Uh… can we?” he asks, looking at Mark. The alpha nods, crossing his arms.
“Oh, yes please. That would be nice. Thank you for inviting me,” Evan says, still thrown by the offer.
“Great. We’ll save the two of you a seat. Just get your food and come on over,” Johan says, stepping away before Evan can say anything.
Evan looks up at Mark, who’s staring after the beta.
“Brave kid,” Mark says, shaking his head.
“Is it okay? I mean… Peter didn’t say—”
“Peter isn’t going to mind if you have lunch with a few betas from class,” Mark says, sounding sure. Evan feels relieved, then happy. He can’t believe that he was invited to sit with the betas. It’s so nice of them!
They get in line to buy their food, cheap chicken nuggets and French fries with barbecue sauce, before heading over to join the betas.
“Hello,” Evan says, clutching his tray and standing next to the table. He can’t quite bring himself to sit down.
“Hello,” Johan says. “Take a seat. This is Kate, Tara, and Alex. They’re in our Drawing Fundamentals class, too.”
“Hi,” Evan says, sitting down. “I’m Evan. This is Mark. He’s my bodyguard.”
Mark takes a seat next to Evan, nodding at the four betas without saying anything.
The table is quiet, no one quite sure what to say.
“So have you taken any classes before coming here?” Johan asks, breaking the silence.
“Oh, no. I was at the Gordon Omega Center before I went to live with my new alphas last year. This is my first school.”
“Cool. I’ve gone to high school and all that, but this is my first art school. My mom and dad wanted me to study engineering, but this is what I want to do, you know?”
Evan nods, thrilled that he does know. Peter and Chad let him choose what he wanted to do, and coming to the Obrey is entirely Evan’s decision.
It feels amazing.
“Both my parents are artists, so they were thrilled when I wanted to go here. None of my siblings have an artistic bone in their body,” Kate pipes up, casting a nervous look in Mark’s direction.
After that the conversation gets going, even though no one seems quite comfortable. Tara tells them all about the deal she made with her parents, go to art school for two years and then get a real degree, while Alex’s parents don’t care what he does.
“So what’s it like having a bodyguard?” Alex asks, looking at Mark. Alex is tall for a beta, though slim, and he has a narrow if somewhat handsome face.
“It’s good,” Evan answers. “I like Mark better than my old one.”
“Yeah? How many have you had?” Johan asks, eyes shifting to Mark.
“Just Mark and the one before,” Evan says, not wanting to think about Aiden.
“So are you not supposed to talk to us, or…?” Tara asks boldly, looking at Mark.
“I’m supposed to make sure nothing happens to Evan, and that he doesn’t misbehave. That’s it,” Mark says, dipping a chicken nugget in his barbeque sauce and eating it.
“He’s nice, for an alpha,” Evan says, wishing Mark was a little friendlier.
“So you have two alphas? Is that n
ormal?” Tara asks, flipping her hair out of her eyes. She seems curious.
“Sometimes? I was really lucky with my alphas, though. I still can’t believe they let me go to school.”
“That’s pretty cool of them,” Johan agrees.
“It’s sick, though, isn’t it? How few rights omegas have? I mean, it’s nice that your alphas let you come here, but shouldn’t that be your right? I think that—”
“But there’s nothing he can do about that. He’s lucky, and his alphas are nice. Let’s just be happy for him,” Johan says, interrupting Tara mid-rant. Evan smiles at Tara, agreeing with her. Not that he’d ever say that.
Evan isn’t sure what the limits of his own freedom are. Peter and Chad have told him he can do what he wants, as long as it doesn’t reflect poorly on them, but they seem to mean that in a very general sense. They still expect him to obey them without question, in everything.
The incident in the car had brought that point home. Evan still has no clue what was in Nigel James’s office that Chad didn’t want him to see.
“I guess,” Tara says, sounding resigned.
After that the mood at the table lightens, and they start talking about their teachers. They all agree that Professor Knope is nice but too easy on them, and that Professor Minsk, their art history professor, is an asshole.
“I mean, did you hear what he told Janice when she hadn't done the reading? He should be fired,” Kate says, eyes wide and intense.
“She should have known better,” Johan says. “I mean, I agree he was out of line, but who doesn't do the reading and then sits in the first row?”
Evan nods. He’s done all three readings for his art history class, and read ahead. It’s fascinating.
“Okay, but I should probably get going,” Tara says after looking at her watch, standing up and picking up her tray. “I have to be at Outdoor Painting in Oil in less than ten minutes.”
“Me too,” Kate says, standing up.
They all get up and throw away their trash, everyone saying goodbye to Evan and Mark before heading off.
“You ready for Watercolors?” Mark asks, zipping up his jacket. Evan nods, grinning.
Today has been the best day.
***
It isn’t until Evan is home, waiting for Peter and Chad, that he remembers that he was going to ask Peter if it was okay to go visit Trip. Feeling guilty, especially after the wonderful day he just had, Evan goes to the gym and lies down on Chad’s workout mat.
He likes the smell, and the room reminds him of Chad.
Evan is all by himself, and though he’s trying to let his good mood buoy him, he doesn’t like it. Mark had asked if Evan wanted him to stay, but Evan had said no. He needs to be able to be by himself.
Lying on Chad’s workout mat, staring at the ceiling, Evan can feel the quiet of the apartment seeping into his bones. After a while, when nothing happens, it gets easier.
After about twenty minutes Evan hears noises in the apartment. He holds his breath, though he knows it can only be Peter or Chad.
“There you are!” Chad says, barging into the room. Evan sits up, feeling relieved. He made it a whole hour by himself without panicking. Now that he knows he can do it, next time won’t be so hard.
Chad is dressed up in a nice suit, tailored to show off his wide shoulders and narrow waist, and he looks tired.
“Fuck, I hate dressing up in this monkey suit,” he says, untying his tie and unbuttoning his shirt, dropping down on the mat next to Evan. “So, how was your day?”
Evan grins, leaning against Chad’s body and telling him all about the new friends he’s made. Chad smiles, looking happy for him.
“That’s great. I’m glad you’re making friends,” he says, wrapping an arm around Evan’s shoulders.
“Yeah. It’s nice,” Evan agrees.
“You know what else is nice?” Chad asks, eyes gleaming.
“What?” Evan wonders what Chad can be talking about.
“We got the suppressors this morning. Dawn has spent the day supervising the work on measuring up the doses for everyone, and we should be ready to start administering them tomorrow morning.”
Evan gasps, happy. He hadn’t thought the heat suppressors were arriving until next week, much less today. This is great news.
“Can I come?” Evan asks. He wants to be there for Trick, even though he barely knows the other man.
“You can come after their heats have ended, okay?” Chad says, leaning down and kissing Evan’s head.
“I can’t come before?” Evan asks, feeling like he’s let it go far too long. Trick must think he hasn’t looked back after he got his alphas back.
“No. They’re in heat, and the medication might make them sick for a little while. You can come when they feel better.”
Chad’s words don’t offer any room for discussion, so Evan doesn’t ask again.
“Come on. I want to change out of this suit, and you can tell me more about your day,” Chad says. “Other than making friends, did you do anything interesting?”
Evan stands up, walking next to Chad, telling him everything about the beta that had modeled for his class, and how weird it had been to see a beta’s penis.
“I mean, it’s like mine, but bigger. You know?” Evan says, looking up at Chad. The alpha looks like he’s trying not to laugh.
“So you prefer the way I look down there?” Chad asks, grinning as he strips off his shirt and steps out of his shoes.
“It’s nicer,” Evan says, blushing. Taking off his pants, revealing a sizable bulge in his underwear, Chad grins.
“Why don’t you show me how much you like that I have a knot and big alpha balls?”
Evan snorts, though he sinks to his knees anyway.
He has no problem showing Chad how much he likes his dick.
***
Peter is having a late lunch in his office when his phone rings. Evan’s name and picture flash on the screen. He picks up, feeling a swell of affection at Evan’s cheery, “Hi, Peter!”
“Hello, Evan. Are you done with school?” Peter asks.
“Yeah. I was wondering if I can come hang out with you today? Chad is busy, and it’s boring to be by myself.”
Peter laughs. “You don’t think you’ll be bored here with me?”
“No,” Evan says, matter-of-fact. Peter looks at his calendar, checking that he doesn’t have anything scheduled that would make it inconvenient for Evan to be there.
He doesn’t.
“Okay, you can come. But I need to work, so you’re going to have to be quiet. Give the phone to Mark.”
“Thanks Peter!” Evan says, handing the phone to his bodyguard. Peter confirms that Evan is to be driven to Peter’s office, wondering again what Mark thinks of the way he treats his omega.
Half an hour later, there’s a knock on Peter’s door and Evan pops his head in. He’s followed by Mark, who nods to Peter and asks if he needs anything else before taking off.
“Your pillow is in the closet,” Peter says, pulling Evan in for a quick kiss. Evan’s lips taste like strawberries, and Peter can’t help but bite down a little. Evan gasps, breath hitching.
Evan looks dazed when Peter pulls away, making him feel smug. He nudges Evan toward the closet where his big pillow is kept, smirking.
Evan puts the pillow by the window, sitting down and pulling his bag up close, making himself comfortable. He opens his big sketchbook up in his lap, pencils laid out on the floor next to him.
Peter moves his concentration back to his work, the sound of Evan’s breathing, and his pencil scratching over paper, a soothing background noise.
Peter gets lost in his work, and when he looks up it’s six p.m. and Evan is curled up on his pillow, sleeping. Grinning at the sight, Peter takes out his phone and snaps a picture, sending it to Chad before waking Evan with a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“You ready to head home?” he asks, rubbing his thumb over Evan’s throat. Evan’s pupils are blown wide o
pen, his expression one of naked lust. Peter grins, something a little feral, and says, “When we get home, okay?”
Evan licks his lips, nodding. Peter ruffles his hair, pulling him up and steadying him. Evan leans into Peter’s body, sniffing into his shirt, and Peter can’t help the way his cock responds.
Maybe a quick blowjob to take the edge off wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
