Page 81 of Shifter Omegaverse AU

“You too, sweetheart. Always.”

“Gods, who would have thought? The two Rangecroft brothers finding love at the exact same time,” Ruben said, sliding back into his seat and effortlessly hooking an arm around Ray’s shoulders. Ray lasted around three seconds before he melted against Ruben’s distressed band t-shirt.

Obviously, Milo didn’t expect the same treatment, which was why they almost fell out of their chair when Rowan put a hand solidly on their thigh. While the touch was nice and, of course, very welcome, it was on the thigh farther from Rowan’s side, so he had to cross his arm across Milo’s chest. This meant Milo couldn’t really move without risking touching his hand or arm.

When Milo looked up at Rowan, they found his gaze fixed squarely on his brother.

“Did you…have a good week?” Ray asked, eyes bouncing between everyone at the table.

“It’s so much better now that you’re here,” Ruben said, smacking a loud kiss on Ray’s temple.

Rowan’s fingers tightened on Milo’s leg, and Milo accepted the fact that Ray had been right to worry. He didn’t seem worried anymore, though, too busy swooning over his effusive fated mate.

“I had an okay week,” Milo volunteered, when it didn’t seem like Rowan was going to answer. His cheek was so dimpled, it was practically inside out. “I got to see Rowan a lot, which was great, but I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep, so I’m a little tired.”

Ray knew about the anniversary coming up, and he gave them a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. I hope getting out of town this weekend will help?”

Ruben tilted his head at Rowan. “Are you also leaving town?”

“We’re going to the cabin,” Rowan said. “I thought it would be nice to show Milo, but I also want to ride out some of the worst of spring molt.”

“Ah, I got most of mine out by now. Mom said hers is mostly done, too. Good thing, otherwise we’d be covering their house in feathers next weekend.” Ruben turned to look at Ray. “You should have seen it when we were kids. There would be albatross and hawk feathers all over the house. We’d still be picking them out of the couch come Fall. It should be fine next weekend, though.”

Rowan’s fingers once again tightened on Milo’s leg. “Is Ray going to the house next weekend?”

“Of course,” Ruben said, his eyes still fixed on Ray’s profile. “How else would I officially introduce him to the family before we mate?”

Rowan’s breath caught, and it took a concerningly long time for him to start breathing again. When he did, he pulled his hand off Milo and wiped it on his pants. “I thought you already did that and have been doing that every day this week in the group chat.”

“We also had a video call with ma and mom,” Ruben said, and Ray blushed happily. “But Ray wanted to meet them in person, too.”

Rowan’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed forcefully. “Okay, I can understand that, but…does it have to be next weekend?”

Ruben finally looked away from Ray. “I’m leaving for recruiting the following Sunday. I guess we could go home that Friday, but I wanted to spend some alone time with my mate.”

Rowan’s head fell forward, like his neck couldn’t hold it up anymore. “I see.”

“We don’t have to–” Ray tried to say, but Ruben shook his head.

“It’s fine, darling. If it wasn’t fine, Rowan would say so, right?”

Rowan stared down at the tabletop, and his shoulders collapsed inward.

Out of the corner of their eye, Milo caught Ray staring at them. When they met his gaze, he flicked his eyes to the side once, and then again.

It took Milo an embarrassing two whole seconds to realize what their best friend’s eyeballs were trying to communicate. Usually, they were much better at this, but the tension rolling off the two brothers was mixing with the fog in their head to create a dizzying mess. Clearly, something was going on here that Milo wasn’t privy to, and if anyone could fill them in, it would be Ray.

“I forgot to powder my nose,” Milo said, popping up from their seat. “Ray, you’re an expert powder…er. Will you come with me?”

Ray slowly blinked at them, which wasn’t part of their usual signaling, but after a tense beat of silence, he turned and gave Ruben a half-hearted smile before scurrying out from under his arm and towards the bathroom with Milo.

“Powder your nose?” Ray asked, as he threaded his arm with Milo’s.

“I don’t know. I’m…tired,” Milo said, their shoulders sagging. “And something is clearly wrong, but I don’t know what it is, which makes me even more tired.”

“I’m sorry. I think it might be partially my fault,” Ray said, as he used his small shoulder to push the door to the bathroom open. It was single occupancy, and Ray spun on his heel and locked the door.

“What’s going on?” Milo asked, wrapping their arms around their chest to try and stave off the chill of the over-air-conditioned bathroom. It didn’t help that they were running on very little sleep. They tended to get cold easily when they were sleep deprived, which only served to make them feel worse.