Page 9 of Shifter Omegaverse AU

Rowan’s hawk let out a keening cry, like he always did anytime Rowan had to touch another person. Of course, working in the business industry, he did a lot of handshaking and was subject to a lot of bro-y backslaps and shoulder pats. Over the years, he had trained himself not to flinch, and most of the time, he managed to hide his grimace, but he would still prefer to wave or nod.

Even though his hawk was making quite the racket, a wave or nod would obviously not be appropriate right now. As his alpha ma liked to say, this wasn’t the time or place for Rowan to make a scene. So, he held out his hand and forced his fingers to uncurl into an approximation of a hand shape.

“Here you go, Ray,” Milo said, shoving Ray’s coffee into his outstretched hand. “Your boring, totally not exciting macchiato, just like you get every Tuesday and Thursday.”

Relief so potent he could practically taste it flooded through Rowan. He shoved his raised hand in his pocket as he avoided Troy’s wide-eyed look.

Everyone in Rowan’s family was well versed in his aversion to touch. It hadn’t started for any particular reason. His omega mom had initially blamed herself, afraid that she hadn’t held Rowan enough as a baby, but a childhood psychologist had assured her that wasn’t the case. Rowan was hypersensitive to touch, especially surprise or unexpected touch, and had some sensory aversions to certain textures and flavors. For the most part, he’d grown out of the last one, but the touch aversion remained. There were exceptions and tricks, like having at least one layer—if not more—of clothing between him and another person. He and his moms had eventually developed blanket and pillow strategies for snuggling that they could all live with, and although it had taken his siblings a little while to accept it, they were now very respectful of his aversion, even if they didn’t understand it.

Troy had done his best in the office to enforce that a nod was an acceptable greeting for all staff members, regardless of their position in the company, and he would intercept hugs or back pats for Rowan whenever he could.

By the way Troy was staring a hole into the side of Rowan’s head, he had probably guessed what Rowan had as well. For some reason, Milo had intercepted Ray’s handshake on Rowan’s behalf.

“I guess that must be why we’ve never seen you around,” Ray said, and all attention turned to him, and away from whatever had just happened.

“Oh, you’re right,” Milo said, bouncing up on their toes. “We always come Tuesdays and Thursdays, but we had this big boring board meeting—”

“A triple B, if you will,” Ray said, smirking at Milo, who elbowed him before continuing.

“Yes, a big boring board meeting this week, and the only day we could find time to slip away was today. I’m so glad we ran into you again, and it was great to meet you, Troy.”

The front door opened and a large group of business folk streamed around them towards the counter.

“We should probably find a seat before there aren’t any left,” Troy said.

It didn’t look like there were any four-seaters available, and the only two pairs of seats open were on opposite sides of the room.

“Maybe we’ll see you here again sometime,” Milo said, their smile much smaller than before as they used two of the fingers wrapped around their coffee cup to give a tiny wave.

“Next time, then,” Rowan said, inclining his head as Troy headed in one direction and Ray—with one more backward glance at Rowan—headed in the other.

Rowan’s hawk fluttered his tail feathers, but there was nothing Rowan could do, short of chasing after Milo and begging for their phone number. He thought he recognized several of his staff in the cafe, though, so he definitely wasn’t going to do that.

Troy and Rowan took their seats, and before Rowan could take his first sip of coffee, Troy placed both hands on the table and leaned across it.

“Tell me everything,” he said, and Rowan sank back into the overly stuffed armchair.

“About how I finally signed that shipping contract with Rexford Shipping Co?” Rowan tried.

Troy was having none of it. He ticked his chin across the room at Milo and Ray.

“There really isn’t much to tell,” Rowan said carefully, cognizant of the fact that he hadn’t told either of his sisters about this and had only shared the bare minimum with Ruben about killing time with a stranger at the theater bar. “We met while I was waiting for Ruben to get his ass in gear and meet me for a movie. Milo is…a very interesting person, who shares way too much information with strangers.”

Troy took a long sip of his coffee. “And you’ve been talking ever since?”

Rowan’s hawk let out a mournful cry, and Rowan shook his head to try to dispel it. “No, we didn’t exchange phone numbers, so this is only the second time we’ve spoken.”

“Are you serious?” Troy asked, and Rowan knew he would be hearing about this later from Raina.

“Yes.”

“And in just one conversation, you told them you’re touch-averse? When it took you two months of constant handshakes and awkward bro-hugs to tell me?”

Rowan ducked his head. “I’m sorry again—”

“It’s seriously all good. I’m just saying, they must be pretty special if you opened up to them that fast.”

Rowan’s hawk shuffled from foot to foot before settling down quite primly on his nest. While Rowan would never hurt a feather on his alpha’s head, this past week had him wanting to shake his inner beast. What exactly did he want from Rowan? For them to befriend the strange shifter?