They took over half the tables in a pub across town known for its student-friendly prices and the captains and coaches got sharing platters in for the fencers to pick from, plus a round of beverages. River sipped at an Amaretto and cola through a straw that was far too long for his glass. He was wedged between Reed and the submissive beta that had been talking tactics to him earlier. Although the captain was making absolutely sure not to touch him. He was more subtle than most, but River could still tell. The scent of Elliott had made him overly conscious. 

“You’re brave for an omega.”

Reed winced into his beer. Beside him, a dominant beta was leaning around to speak to River, clearly tipsy.

River drained his own glass before retorting, “If volunteering to get pretend-stabbed is so brave, how come you couldn’t find a beta to take the spot?”

The beta chuckled without a good answer for him. River grinned back, victorious in yet another social interaction that could have been uncomfortable. It was his super power: the approachable omega.

“I can see how you bagged an alpha, you look sweet but you got a little kick to you, huh?”

And there he went, making it uncomfortable again. River wanted to tell him that he doesn’t kick, he bites, but even with a couple of drinks in him he knew that could easily be taken the wrong way by a dominant that wanted to find flirtations in his words.

"And is that what you look for in fencers?" he asked, pushing the topic back to common ground. He didn't want to use Elliott's tactic to get him to back off. He didn't want to lose out on a friend. He didn't want to be left out for being an omega.

"Anyone can learn!" Reed announced, jumping his face forward between them.

The beta groaned beside him. "Here he goes with the sales pitch. They should be paying him a commission for how hard he works to get people in the club."

River laughed. "Go on then, Reed, give me the full spiel." There was no way he had time to join anything else full-time, but he let Reed and the beta argue over what made fencing fun. The submissive beside him piped up occasionally with her own anecdotes and tips, and River nodded along with all of them as though genuinely considering the proposition.

A couple of rounds later, it was time to slip away. River thanked the team for having him and attempted to make a swift exit from the bench he had been balanced on, but Reed followed him out.

“Wait, River, I’ve arranged a ride for you," he said. The cold air shocked him, he was in only a t-shirt and shorts after the competition. A laugh caught in his throat and he wrapped his arms around himself.

River giggled, too, clutching his cardigan tight. “You didn’t need to do that-”

“Don’t worry, it’s none of those idiots,” Reed assured him, there was a nervous tinge to his voice.

River smiled, letting his relief show. “Yeah, I do prefer my chauffeurs to be sober.”

The rumble of an engine approaching drew Reed’s gaze from River to the road beside them. A car rolled to a stop at River’s back. He turned to see an imposing figure rising from the open driver door. Elliott. River snapped his face back to Reed, but he was giving Elliott a handshake that turned into a one-armed hug.

“Appreciate you looking out, man,” Elliott said warmly.

Reed was pleased with the praise. “Always.”

“Still not signing up for swashbuckling.”

Reed laughed and clapped him on the back. “One day!” He walked backwards towards the door of the pub. “Catch you later, River.”

River waved. “See ya.” When he turned back to the car, Elliott was on the opposite side, holding the passenger door open. River hesitated and Elliott nodded to the interior, as though he was too dumb to know what he was waiting for.

“I want an apology,” he called to him, keeping his feet planted on the pavement. “Please.”

Elliott pushed the door to and strode around the front of the car, it was sleek and black and definitely not an old banger like most students with cars drove.

“For what?” He was incredulous.

Well, River was incredulous at having to remind him. “You called me little and weak!”

He stepped up the curb, closing the space between them. Without it, he towered over him. “You are little.” River staggered back a step, seeking breathing room. He followed. “And if you don’t get your little butt in the car, I’ll have to show you how weak you are, too.”

River swallowed. His eyes stung, the hurt of the original insult smacking him a second time, and it upset him even more that Elliott had managed to make him feel this way. Why did he care what some alpha thought of him? He stood still. “Apologise, or I’ll scream,” he whispered, followed by a sniff.

Elliott’s face split into a feral smile. He dropped to a crouch to coo into his ear, “Save the screams for the bedroom, petal.” The pet name stroked the back of his neck, a tingle of two syllables.

“Eugh!” River spun away and didn’t get two full steps from him before he was snatched up at the waist and carried like a plant pot to the passenger side of the car. He sucked in an enormous breath, ready for the heavens to hear him-

The car door slammed and locked in his face. He deflated.

Elliott glided into his seat and switched the engine on. “What’s your address?”

“Is it safe to give that information to a dominant?” River asked, petulant.

Elliott’s smile turned dark. The overhead light gave him a villainous vibe that both unsettled River and unfortunately turned him on. Just a bit. It definitely wasn’t noticeable, though. He practically purred, “Is it safe to let me choose the destination instead?”

River gave him the door number and post code and buckled his belt with as much attitude as could be shown without much room in the leather interior. Elliott snapped his in with less fuss and the car pulled away smoothly. His phone dictated the route, showing only ten minutes till arrival at River’s house share. By bus, he wouldn’t have been home for forty minutes.

“How much have you had to drink?” Elliott chuckled, interrupting his daydreams of life with a car to dart about with. “Fireball got you feisty?”

“How much have you had to drink?” he mimicked childishly.

Elliott glanced over at him, his eyes surprisingly soft. Maybe it was the street light glow, or the liquor filter. “I don’t drink.” His gaze returned to the road and his smile turned sly. “Anymore.”

River slumped in his seat, uninterested in hearing tales of past drinking glories. Elliott didn’t offer any without him asking, so they sat in silence as he drove for a while.

“I didn’t know you fenced.” The words pierced the heavy air - thick with his scent.

River cleared his throat. “We’re strangers, remember?” Throwing back his own words from the bowling alley.

“Is that what we are?” Elliott mused.

We’re not mates, his brain answered immediately. “I-”

“Here you are, safe and sound.” The car stopped, and River could see his front door out the passenger window.

“That was so fast.” He was embarrassed by the wonderment in his own voice. Those two… maybe three… drinks must have been doubles…

“Are you accusing me of speeding?” Before he could deny it, Elliott added, “with an omega in the car?”

River rolled his eyes. “Thanks f-” He snatched at the door handle by him, but it remained locked. Turning back to Elliott, he gave him a wary look.

“Give me your phone.”

“If you wanted petrol money, you could just ask,” River grumbled. “You don’t need to rob me.”

“Keep your coppers and give me your phone.”

He handed it over and watched Elliott call himself. His phone, clipped to the dashboard, lit up with River’s number over a lock screen with two young women posing in long dresses, one on each of Elliott’s arms. They were beautiful, full of elegance and charm. And visibly submissive.

His phone was offered back to him. “Next time you’re stuck, message me yourself.”

River pouted despite saving his number to his contacts. “I wasn’t stuck, I was planning to take the bus,” he said sulkily.

Elliott’s head rocked back, eyes disbelieving. “While wearing my scent?”

An awkward laugh bubbled out of River, he genuinely couldn’t tell if he was joking. “Please be serious.”

“Next time, message me.” Blunt, firm, eyes unwavering. He was serious.

The door unlocked and River grabbed the handle before he could change his mind. “Thanks for the lift, but I won’t be needing another.” He could make do with the bus and his two feet. If he could survive the winter on public transport, he could make it work the rest of the year.

He shut the door on Elliott’s scoff of a laugh and hurried up the path to home. Cold and jittery and riddled with unwanted attraction to a rude alpha.