What is the Best Part, Janey?

Water splashes around his new leather shoes as he runs through the streets, still wet from heavy rain at the lunch hour. The slap of his shoes against the front steps alerts the staff to his arrival back home, the front door thrown back with eagerness and slammed with equal emotion, only serving as reminders of their employer's small child.

"Ma!" He calls out, flushed and excited, as he makes his way through the house to the kitchen.

"Sejanus?" She asks, bewilderment painted on her features, "What's wrong? Are you hurt--"

He cuts off his Omega mother's worried words, newfound confidence written across his face as he proudly announces: "I have found my Omega."

The bewilderment on his mother's face melts into confusion as she stares at her little Alpha pup, definitely not expecting her eight-year-old to say such a thing.

"You've done what, dear?" She moves closer to her growing pup, unsure of what the appropriate response should be.

"Found my Omega, Ma," he says with a small purr as his mother cups his face in her hands, "At School."

Her eyes search his face as she asks, "Oh?"

"Yes, on the playground-- he's in the same class as me," he lets his mother fawn over him a bit, still young enough to find comfort in small touches from his mother.

"He?" His mother asks, looking for more information without prying too much. She lovingly runs her thumb across her pup's cheek, giving him attention as she listens.

Sejanus nods, "Yeah! His name is Coriolanus Snow, and he's the prettiest Omega in our whole class-- maybe even all of the Capitol."

"The whole Capitol?" She echos back with matched enthusiasm.

Sejanus flushes slightly, "Except for you, Ma. But, he's still very pretty-- and he smells good too..." He trails off with his latest declaration, voice going slightly soft.

Ma chuckles at her pup's words, a tiny bit taken a back that her little pup was beginning to already pick up on outsider's scents. Most didn't until further into puberty... when Alpha's and Omega's scents began to set in with age.

Sejanus continues to prattle on about the little Omega, "Like roses. He smells just like a rose garden. But, you know the best part is, Ma?"

She shakes her head no, "What is the best part, Janey?"

Sejanus's smile grows fonder as he shares the sweetest and most dearest part of the Omega, "He stuck up for me against the others! When they said mean things about the Districts... He's very brave. I like that."

***

"You really ran home to tell your Mother you met me?" Coriolanus interrupts the story, letting the tinniest of frowns muss up the skin between his brows, not believing the story completely.

Sejanus chuckles, still finding Coriolanus's insistence at not using the word 'Ma' to refer to his mother funny, "Yup, cross my heart, this really all happened. You can ask Ma if you want."

"All because I-- didn't let the others make fun of you on the playground?"

"That and you smelt so good..."

"But we were eight. How could you even smell me yet?" Coriolanus's frown deepens, disbelief returning to his expression.

Sejanus just shrugs, "I'm not sure. It was only your scent I could discern for years until everyone began their secondary cycles."

Coriolanus scoffs, "That's ridiculous, Sej. Eight-year-olds, not even Alpha pups, have good enough noses to pick up on other pup's scents."

Sejanus smiles at him, still loving all these years later that Coriolanus had no issue arguing with him.

"Maybe you're just special," Sejanus suggests.

"Maybe you're lying," Coriolanus counters, as quick as a whip.

"Well," Sejanus chuckles, thumbing at the spot where his knot rests inside the Omega, "You can believe me or not about the scent; I was still right."

The fight in Coriolanus's frown melts at the touch... the words. His face pinkens deliciously as he relaxes back into his Alpha's embrace, "I suppose you were."