Mark Me Yours [Omegaverse]

Cafe Meet Cute (+)

The day was cold and overcast. Winter had decided it was here, and everyone in the city was sporting warm coats and cold weather accessories.

Michael rang up two girls at the register after handing over the cookies they'd picked out. He and Scott's folks had hit it off pretty well from their time spent in the hospital supporting Ryan, and one thing led to another, which led to Michael being hired as a seasonal cashier at their bakery.

He still wasn't sure how it came about, or why. He'd effectively quit FedEx the night of Ryan's accident. There was no way he was going back to that place. After his parents found out what happened, they supported him wholeheartedly in his decision, and didn't raise as much of a fuss over him being jobless as he expected them to. He still didn't know why Howard offered him a job here, not that he was complaining.

This was his third shift, and he started right after Ryan was released from the hospital. Mornings came before the sun was up but he was already used to working overnights, so it wasn't that bad. Howard was a fair boss, and the work was easy. The occasional added perk of free baked goods wasn't too bad either. He felt bad that he hadn't actually gone to visit Ryan after he got out of the hospital, but he made sure to call him on the phone once a day. It's just... intruding on his and Scott's private live, it just felt weird, you know? Almost like he'd be in the way.

Another thing he was grateful for was that most of the attention from the media hounds was dying down. The "justice for omegas" movement was definitely A Thing now, and Michael supported it one hundred percent, but having been so intimately tied to it's origin made it exhausting sometimes. In some ways, it was a wonderful thing. Omegas everywhere were sharing their stories of abuse and discrimination online.

The only story Michael really had was from his time at FedEx, and he wasn't ready to make that public yet. Ryan didn't want the media attention, and the lawyers on the case had done a very good job of squashing the interview requests. If Michael were to say anything now, there was a good chance someone would try to get to Ryan through him, and he wasn't about to betray his friend's trust like that.

Ryan didn't sound like he'd been handling things all that well. When they talked on the phone he sounded content enough, but through texts he told a different story. Michael could only guess that the disparity had something to do with being overheard by Scott. Being forced to sit still was apparently driving his friend bonkers. Michael couldn't do much to help in that regard, but he was more than happy to be an ear for his friend to vent to. Heaven knows he'd vented to Ryan tons of times in the past. It was the bare minimum he could do!

He hadn't met Edwardo yet.

He tried not to let any of that distract him. He didn't accept this job just for a chance to meet his crush. He still had rent and bills to pay, even if he was living at home. Having one bad thing happen didn't change the fact that life demanded you keep moving. And, staying busy was the only thing he knew to do. Still...

He'd had a couple nightmares since the incident and was honestly really desperate for something good to happen. He wanted a distraction from talking to lawyers and cops, and the whole pending court case thing in general. Not that meeting your crush face to face would necessarily lead to something good happening. It's just, seeing the way Ryan and his fiance interacted, it made him a little jealous, you know? Body pillows don't hug back. His parents were attentive and understanding and all, but he craved something more.

He put a plan in place, hoping to lure Edwardo here sooner rather than later. It didn't match the season, but yesterday, he did a quick photoshoot with a very blatant lemon and raspberry theme and posted the pictures to Instagram this morning, working in the omega symbol to support the movement. He'd painted his nails, but used a wig instead of his natural hair. It was way past time to get it re-dyed, but going without his best friend seemed wrong somehow. He had it presentably styled now, sure, but it was faded and his roots were showing. With everything going on, the thought had even crossed his mind once or twice to simply cut it all off and work with his natural hair color for a while.