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Rectrixx is used to being pushed around.
He's been the runt of his litter, always a few centimeters shorter than his siblings, than his friends, than everyone in his age bracket. If he was an Omega that would have been lovely, he sees how the Omegas on the smaller side get treated just a bit more preciously. Sure, that can be annoying, his sister always complained to him about being patronized, but he still thinks it would be nicer than being overlooked.
As a Beta being short just means it's easier to ignore him. Or to bully him. Taller, stronger kids could just do whatever they wanted, no one really caring because Rec is just a Beta. Who cares about the feelings of a Beta? They are the ones supposed to take care of the other designations. Not the other way around. He's always gotten everything last at home, his Alpha siblings taking first pick, his parents making sure that his Omega siblings get enough and his Beta siblings quicker, bigger and more vocal to get what they want, leaving him with the scraps of the scraps.
Not that he was neglected. He has never been hungry. He had everything he needed for school. He even had his own computer, a blessing that set him up for his current career path. But he has always played second, sometimes third, fiddle to his siblings. It's just how things are.
So, yeah. Rectrixx is used to being pushed around.
It's why he normally avoids big gatherings of people like PAX, too used to getting lost in the crowd and the bruises of getting uncaringly shoved around.
But all of his friends were going, multiple of them even seemed really excited to see him, a thing that still makes his cheeks heat up when he thinks about it, so he decided to give it a go. He and the Frouse Pack booked the hotel together so they could easily hang out even at night and he is rooming with Matt.
He regrets coming now as he tries keeping up while they make their way through the crowded building, desperately trying not to lose sight of Puffer, the tall Omega like a beacon that towers over the heads of the otherwise indiscernible masses that push him this or that way.
Said beacon currently looks around with a frown, searching for something until his eyes land on Rectrixx, several paces behind, and he stops with some words said over his shoulder that Rec can't make out. Relief floods him as he tries to shoulder through the crowd and he yelps when Puffer reaches out to hook two fingers in his collar, pulling him close and in front of him. The others, who had stopped as well, continue their way to the meeting point they had told their fans.
“Shorties need to stay in the shorty zone.”, Puffer says with an obvious ragebaiting deadpan. A thing Pezzy immediately responds to, whipping around to complain, “Stop calling it that! I'm not that short!”
Rectrixx ignores the squabble, looking at how Grizzy is at the helm of their bubble, Yumi next to him, splitting the crowd with zero trouble, Droid and John flanking the sides and Puffer now behind him. Pezzy is next to him and Smitty and Matt fuel the fire right in front of him, laughing loudly at Pezzy's expense. They must have all naturally fallen into this formation and Rec is a bit stunned suddenly. Puffer noticed he wasn't there. He even looked for him and pulled him in so he would not lose him again.
His family forgot him once or twice when he couldn't keep up.
They reach their destination without much problem after that and Rectrixx has more fun than he would have thought. There are even some fans who came for him, coming to get photos with him first instead of just as an afterthought after they got some with his friends.
The problem comes after their meet and greet, when the group splits into smaller groups to follow their own interests. He tags along Grizzy and Pezzy for a while, strolling through the big building, but he loses them after a while, getting pushed to the side while the two are distracted by a fan.
He's lost in the crowd far too long for his liking, getting pushed around and against stuff. One particularly bad shove has him stumble backwards into a railing and another crashes his back so hard against a wall that he can't breath for a few seconds. But at least he is at a wall now and can take a few seconds to collect himself.
A look at his phone shows several increasingly worried texts from Grizzy, two calls from Pezzy and a message in the group chat asking if anyone has seen him. It makes him weirdly happy to see them fret about his absence but he doesn't want to worry them further so he just answers that he is fine, makes a joke about getting squished and tells them that he will go back to his and Matt's room.
A thing that's not as easy as it is said and his whole body hurts when he finally leaves the convention hall an hour and a half later.
His relief is immense when he finally steps through his hotel room door and he immediately goes through his bag for the bruise salve he packed in wise foresight, making his way to the bathroom to see the damage, shedding his shirt on the way.
He winces at the sight of his back, the biggest bruise he ever had running across it in the form of the railing and more already forming around it. He's gonna need more salve than the small tube currently in his hand.
Another 45 minutes later he is back in the bathroom, two newly bought tubes on the sink while he tries rubbing the salve onto his back.
He's unaware of his phone blowing up with multiple texts asking him if he is still in the room, that they are all meeting in Puffer's and Grizzy's room to drink, that he should come over.
He's even more unaware of Yumi standing up half an hour later, already tipsy, to loudly declare that he will fetch him, stretching his hand out to Matt to demand the room key only for Matt to snort and stand up as well, making a joke of not giving strangers his key, the two making their way to his room.
He's too preopccupied with not whining too loudly in pain to hear the room door open, the Alpha and the Beta barging in and searching the room.
The bathroom door opening and a loud Yumi stumbling in with a loud exclamation doesn't escape his notice however and he freezes, one hand still on his back, trying to reach a near impossible spot, face to face with Yumi.
“Rec! We're…”, the Alpha drops the sentence at the scene in front of him, taking in how the back of his small Beta friend is one big map of black and blue, a tube of salve in hand and a deer in headlights look on his face. He sobers up immediately as protective anger rushes through him, growling, “Who did this to you?”
He steps further in, eyes never leaving Rec's back as he crowds him, hovering and curling over him, eyes blazing with fury, “Who the fuck did this to you?!”
Rectrixx flinches at the loud growl, staring at Yumi first in confusion and then surprise when he registers what he means, “No one did this to me. It was just a bit rowdy in the hall.”
“Your back looks like you got ran through! There's a handprint on your shoulder! Don't bullshit me!”, Yumi growls and Rectrixx looks down to where Yumi points, not having recognized the shape between all the other bruises, “...oh…”
“What is going on?”, Matt interrupts, having quickly come in in a panic after Yumi growled only to suck in a sharp breath when he sees Rectrixx, “Fuck, Rec. What happened?”
“Isn't it obvious?!”, Yumi seethes, “Someone beat him up!
“No!”, Rectrixx quickly protests, “I was just a bit pushed around in the crowd. This…”, he points to the handprint, “...must have happened then.”
“A bit? You look like Mike Tyson used your back as a training dummy.”, Matt conters while coming closer, inspecting the expanse of the bruises with a tight frown. Rectrixx shrugs, letting out a nervous giggle,“Yeah it was a bit worse than usually but it's not really a big deal. This cream is really good.”
“Than usually?!”
“Not a big deal?!”
Both say at the same time, heads twitching to look at each other, a quiet understanding forming between them, before narrowing their eyes at Rectrixx
“Come here. I'm gonna help you.”, Matt takes the tube out of his hands, shushing any protest, pulling him by the wrist into the main room, prodding, “Does this happen often?”
Shrugging again, he answers in a quiet voice, “I don't like big crowds.” Yumi softly growls behind him, just a step behind as he follows them out of the bathroom, still hovering close to Rectrixx. Both thankfully drop the topic after that.
Yumi stays hovering when Matt starts applying the salve until Matt snaps at him with a laugh, “Dude, you're in the way. Move.”
“Don't wanna.”, Yumi answers, eyes still glued to the bruises, before correcting himself, not willing to fight his instincts in any way right now, “Can't. Rec's injured.”
“Not really.”, Rectrixx protests, “It's just a few bruises.”
“This is more than just a few bruises.”, Matt admonishes gently and then laughs, aiming to lighten the mood, “Besides, you know how Alphas are. Overprotective to the max.”
Rec scrunches his face in confusion, “But I'm not an Omega.”
Matt laughs again but quickly stops when he realizes that Rec is serious, his and Yumi's eyes meeting again. Yumi makes a hand gesture like ‘Do you see this?!’
Grimacing, Matt nods towards the bed and Yumi grins, sitting down and raising his arms like a little kid that wants something. Rectrixx gets maneuvered until he stands in front of him and then gently pushed to kneel in his lap. He sputters, head getting as red as a tomato but his protest gets cut off before it can start when Yumi's hands find the only bruise free spot, his hips, and pulls him as close as possible, starting to scent the top of his head with his chin and rumbling, quietly saying, “No. But you're my friend and I care about you.”
Too stunned to say anything, Rec stays silent, stiffly sitting in his lap. The room stays quiet for a while and he slowly relaxes into Yumi's chest, the protective scent of the Alpha and his rumbling lulling him into a drowsy feeling of security despite the pain that his back radiates.
“And now you're scent drunk just from this? This is a concerning amount of red flags, Buddy.”, Matt mutters to himself when he is putting the finishing touches on his back, rubbing his hands over his arms to get rid of the last of it.
“What? What do you mean?”, he slurs, blinking himself a bit more awake and trying to straighten up but being stopped by Yumi's chin still insistingly gliding over his hair and the hands on his hips tightening.
“Nothing!”, Matt answers in a tone more akin to his normal, cheerful voice and kisses his cheek, backing off and pulling out his phone, dialing a number, “At least nothing we won't fix.”
“Smitty!”, he croons into his phone, “You won't believe what happened to Rec! I'm gonna send you a photo!”
He hangs up before Smitty can respond and a foreboding feeling rises in Rectrixx when Yumi snorts, scent turning very pleased suddenly as Matt snaps a picture of his back.
He doesn't know yet that he will spent the rest of the night in a nest the Omegas had to built around them because Yumi refused to let go of him for even a second. Or that his neck will be decorated with a bondmark just a few weeks later, the incident making the Pack speed up their flirting (that Rectrixx hadn't even noticed before).
Or that he can be just as loved as any other member of the Pack.