Too Much Cologne

Chapter 1

The day started like any other for Brian, with him rolling off the pile of well scented clothes he called his bed, scratching behind his ear, and checking his cabinets for food. He was unsurprised to see nothing new, the same collection of ramen noodles and pop tarts staring back at him, as this was really all he had eaten for some time now. Grabbing a pack of pop tarts he hopped up onto the counter, leaning his head back against the cabinet door and looking about his home, if you could call it that.

Brian lived in a one bedroom studio apartment, with a modest wooden decor kitchen with a table covered in random paperwork and long forgotten mail, and a room that doubled as living room and bedroom, a tv taking up space against the wall and his "bed" in the corner of the room, the only other item of note being his bin of clean laundry, now practically empty. He scratched again at the rut blocker behind his ear, remarking that he'd have to replace it soon, before getting up from the counter to get ready for his day.

He grabbed some pants from his clean bin, and not seeing a shirt just grabbed a random one from the top of the pile he slept upon. After giving it a quick sniff, he shrugged and put it on, grabbing the bottle of pheromone cologne from the floor next to him and spraying his shirt about 8 or 9 times, not caring to read the label's warning against more than 2 sprays a day.

About that time the alarm on his phone went off, 9:00, time for his shift to start. All that was left was for him to throw on a pair of shoes and he was out the door, on his way to his job at a cafe near his apartment, thoroughly amused by the reactions of those poor passerby close enough to catch his scent, which is to say everyone on the sidewalk, on both sides of the street. His excessive use of pheromone cologne had been a lifelong habit, only having grown in recent times due to a bet with a friend from work.

Walking through the door of Beefcake's Cafe he was greeted by the sight of his friend Chadwick at the counter, and a few customers scattered around the room. While Brian was taller and thinner than most, standing about 6'6" and weighing only 170lbs, creating a very lean and defined frame, Chadwick was at the opposite end of the spectrum, standing at 5'6" and weighing in at about 220lbs, being almost entirely muscle, but they both fit the conventionally attractive aesthetic of Beefcake's, a cafe staffed entirely by very physically attractive alphas.

This being their main selling point served to not only give them a reliable customer base, but also to ensure the patrons they did receive would be those they wanted there, as those more insecure and toxic individuals were never fans of the attention they or their guests received there, as it was not something they could control. And their most frequent consumer base were those alphas that were secure and comfortable with themselves, the omegas that knew well enough how to handle the attention and pheromone imbalance in the shop, and any others who were content to have a safe place to simply pass the time.

Brian grabbed his apron from the hook by the kitchen door, tying it around his waist with practiced ease as he clocked in, with Chadwick remarking that he was "only 15 minutes late today." Brian brushed him off with a wave of his hand and some overused excuse, knowing it didn't really matter. The cafe was owned by Chadwick's pack, having named themselves "The Bro Pack" as the only fully male pack in town, so as long as he stayed in Chadwick's good graces he knew he'd have a job.

This sort of stability was honestly a first for Brian, as he had only ever bounced from job to job as a teenager, seeking "independence" from his own pack, leading to his current financial situation, living off of ramen noodles, pop tarts, and coffee from work. Which Brian was quick to grab a cup of before settling into place at the counter beside Chadwick, another day of work officially begun.