Akira didn’t try to study. He stripped down to his underwear, lay down on the bed and tried to breathe in the freshness of the laundered sheets. He rarely allowed himself this luxury even in the current heat; he couldn’t complain about the idiot's constant lack of clothing and then be caught nearly naked himself. But today was clearly one of the days when he was going to be continually tested. He needed a little self-indulgence.

Meditative breathing did not help though. All he could focus on was the constant laughter coming from the living room. 

In his mind the situation with the idiot and his unexpected new friend cycled around, becoming more and more tangled rather than clearer.

What was the idiot thinking? 

The beta was so obviously attracted to the idiot, that surely the idiot could not be oblivious? 

Even in the short time Akira had been in their company, the beta was all but saying he wanted to spend the night bouncing up and down on the idiot’s body. 

The idiot must have invited the beta to stay due to some sort of instant magnetism between them? The chemistry between betas and alphas was not documented. But just because something wasn’t written in a textbook, it didn’t prevent it from happening.

But the idiot was so focused on alphas and omegas, he’d never once mentioned the possibility of a beta lover. Could he be so blind to that option that he was unable to imagine a beta coming on to him, and was just putting all the flirting down to a friendly jokiness? That thing he’d said, comparing sharing a bed with Bikey to his stupid pestering  of Akira to spend a night with him for 'old times sake'...did the idiot truly believe you could just snuggle down with a man you’ve met that day and it’d be the same as orphans cuddling together to keep out the cold and loneliness?

Maybe it was the same and Akira was thinking about it a lot more than either Hairy or Bikey were.

Akira stretched his neck out to its full length. He couldn’t stop thinking.

There were two main options.

One: the idiot had chosen his first lover and Akira’s ears would now be assaulted by their coupling. The idiot was noisy enough sorting himself out, what would he be like with another person involved? It didn't bear thinking about. Akira mentally listed things he could do at night to keep himself occupied and far away from the flat.

Two: the idiot had no idea that he was being hit on and was inadvertently appearing receptive when he only wanted to be a good friend. Thinking back to when he’d been trying to teach the idiot the basics about alphas and omegas to get that pathetic coach off his back, they hadn’t covered betas at all. There’d been one cryptic line in the idiot’s textbook about the mating signals of betas being ‘overly complex’ as they did not have the benefits of pheromones. With so much material to cover, Akira had not felt it necessary to explore that particular issue any further.

Akira chewed on his lip. From first impressions, apart from his fascination with the idiot, the beta seemed fairly sensible. Was there any way to talk to the beta alone and tell him to go softly as the idiot was still an inexperienced virgin?

No. 

Akira was the only one with that information. Thin walls and loud voices meant he’d inadvertently overheard the idiot chatting about many things to his friends. But his openness vanished when the alphas started discussing sex. The idiot didn’t exactly lie, just remained vague enough to allow his friends to believe he’d had a surplus of lovers at the orphanage, and was used to a certain standard of omega; that he’d yet to find anyone here who was worth taking as a regular and fitting around his strict training routine. It’d devastate the idiot if Akira betrayed that trust. Even if it was in an attempt to help the idiot.

The easiest thing was to take the idiot aside. And somehow quickly check he knew he had an admirer without making the beta suspicious. Akira put a hand over his eyes. The idiot was always at full volume and so often said the wrong things. It’d be awful if the idiot had found someone he connected with and Akira ruined it by having a stupid unnecessary awkward conversation. There was plenty of time for the beta to learn how annoying the idiot was, but that shouldn’t happen on a first date. If that’s what this was.

Akira uncovered his eyes and gazed up at the ceiling. It must once have been white, but now was a distressed yellow colour. Distressed being a too appropriate word. One day he’d be able to afford paint and would have a fresh clean looking home. Until then he’d lay here like this mulling over his problems in these unloved surroundings.

Except this wasn’t his problem. It was the idiot’s problem. The same idiot who was with his new friend currently laughing constantly on the other side of the door.

The real question, the only one that truly mattered, was why Akira’s own calm was so disturbed by potential issues in the idiot’s blossoming love life?