The Palace was a gilded prison. Beautiful and pristine, anything he could ever need was provided, but with hardly any freedom. He wanted to be able to go outside without having a guard trailing behind him. He missed going to his college courses, missed having the freedom that came with hardly being known. Sure, his father was a wealthy politician, but it wasn’t like he was being targeted by hate organizations. Allen could pretty much do as he wanted whenever he wanted. Now though, with the looming threat of another attack, they were hardly even allowed in front of open windows.
Since the shooting two weeks ago, a lot had changed. Guards were always within earshot now. He couldn’t leave his room without spotting at least five on his corridor alone. With their deep blue uniform and weapons on their hips, the Palace had a much more intense air to it. Not to mention, King Scott had sent all but eleven Suitors home. Though they all had lessons in the morning and took meals together, Allen had not made any friends outside of Robbie. Fortunately, the Omega hadn’t been sent home, or he may have genuinely gone crazy.
Right now, they were even hanging out. Sort of. Allen was sitting at his desk, writing a paper for his class while Robbie laid on his bed reading a book. Normally, it would be very inappropriate for an unclaimed Omega to be in an Alpha’s room, but under these circumstances, it didn’t really matter. They were supposed to be romantic interests for the King after all. They sat in comfortable silence, each doing their own thing. Even though Allen had only known Robbie for a total of three weeks, he felt like they had a pretty strong friendship. Perhaps it was having a traumatic event to bring them together.
Both jumped when someone knocked on the door. Allen saved his paper and went to go answer it. When he opened the door, the last thing he expected was the King. But he was standing there, in a suit as usual, his curls dipping into his forest green eyes. The purplish bags under them did not go unnoticed. Nor did the fact that he looked thinner than usual.
“Oh, hello.” Allen mumbled out, suddenly feeling self-conscious of his messy, unkept hair and sweats.
“Are you busy?” Scott asked, glancing into his room and taking note of the Omega that was now sitting up in his bed. “Hello, Robbie. Do you mind if I steal Allen from you for a bit?”
“N-no! Why would I?” Robbie squeaked out with reddened cheeks. Allen wondered for a moment if it looked like they’d been doing anything incriminating.
“Good. Well, I was wondering if you’d like to go on a date of sorts.” Scott asked almost shyly, glancing over at Robbie again. He must feel bad about asking that in front of another Suitor.
Allen could feel himself perking up. How lame. “Yeah, that’d be cool. Just let me change really quick.”
“Ah, no that’s okay. I was just wanting to watch a movie, so it’d be better to be comfortable.”
“But I look homeless.” Allen whined out and pouted, making Scott chuckle.
“Homelessness looks good on you. Have a nice night, Robbie.” Scott took his hand and pulled him out of the room.
Allen was hyperaware of the fact that Scott was still holding his hand. The Omega’s hand was small and soft, seeming to fit perfectly in his own, larger hand. They walked in silence for a while as they headed towards the theater. Allen had been there a few times already, and they had a pretty large selection of movies. The seats were large and comfortable, big enough to fit two. Were they going to cuddle? That would be nice.
“I’m sorry that I’ve been neglecting you all. It’s been a rather…stressful few weeks.” Scott let out a tired sigh and Allen resisted the urge to give the poor guy a hug.
“It must be hard to deal with all of that by yourself.”
“I don’t. I have my council to help with this sort of thing.”
“Even emotionally?” From what Allen could remember, most of his council were stuffy old Betas. When Scott became King, he could pick his own, completely new council, but he had chosen to keep his father’s. They were all at least a decade or more older than him.
Scott shrugged a bit, turning his gaze away from Allen. “I’m managing.”
He decided to just leave it be. It wasn’t like he and Scott were exactly close enough for him to press the matter. They entered the theater, and Scott dropped his hand to go start the popcorn machine. Allen plopped on one of the plush chairs, grabbing the tablet that controlled the projector.
“What do you want to watch?” Allen asked as he powered up the machine. “Personally, I like horror.”
Scott wrinkled his nose at the suggestion. “Certainly not. I want to watch something relaxing.”
“So… like a kid’s movie?”
“Not necessarily, maybe a comedy? I’m not too picky.”
As it turns out, Scott was very picky. They spent a half hour going through the comedy category, Scott turning down every single suggestion. Then they moved onto the kid friendly movies, and he was stuck deciding between Toy Story and The Incredibles.
For someone who made decisions for an entire nation, Scott was incredibly indecisive. Allen would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried.
Finally, Scott chose on The Incredibles, and they settled in. Scott was leaning his head on his shoulder, a bowl of popcorn in his lap that he was munching on. The situation left little butterflies fluttering around in his stomach and honestly, Allen felt like a high schooler.
Halfway through the movie, Allen felt himself drifting off. His head dropped onto Scott’s soft curls and he quickly fell asleep.
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