"Hey," comes a whisper. Tiza feels his shoulder being shaken, but tries to ignore it. It's too early!
"Tiza, wake up," the whisper comes again, a little more loudly this time.
The sleepy Omega reaches for the source of the noise, and uses his hand to cover Aosh's mouth.
"Shh."
Aosh makes an indignant noise and Tiza sighs, "Bring me some coffee and I'll consider it."
Immediately he can feel the bed dip and hear the door open and close. About five minutes later the door opens again and along with it the smell of cheap instant coffee. Well, it's not like he was specific on what kind of coffee he wanted. When the mattress dips again, Tiza opens his eyes. Aosh holds a mug in his hands, and is wearing his bathrobe; wet hair running over his shoulder in a braid. Had he been asleep for more than five minutes…? Either way, he tries to not let his gaze linger too long on where Aosh's chest peaks from behind his robe and sits up to drink his coffee.
When the Omega feels like the coffee has done its job he swings his legs over the side of the bed, grabs his walker, and lets Aosh lead him into the living room. Aosh has a chair set next to the tree and guides him to sit in it, then he sits on the floor across from it. If Aosh seemed indignant before he was satisfied now having gotten his way. He grabbed a gift that wasn't under the tree the night prior and handed it to Tiza.
"Merry Christmas!"
Looking at the box in his hands, and then the small assortment under the tree, Tiza felt a little conflicted.
"I didn't get you anything."
"I know. I didn't expect you to. Think of this as a part of your house warming gift as well," he says with a smile.
Tiza reluctantly opens the gift, carefully pulling away the wrapping paper.
It was...a giant pillow? A really soft navy pillow, he finds out as he pulls it out of the box. Well he did want another pillow, just not as big as this one. Aosh hands him another box.
This time it was two large ceramic bowls. Ok. He could definitely use those for cereal. Or maybe soup?
The gifts progressively get weirder from there. And Tiza wonders what kind of presents Aosh got as a kid because this didn't seem right, although it was the thought that counted. But still… he didn't know what to do with a frisbee, a bag of tennis balls, or a tub of organic peanut butter.
Finally Aosh pushes the last present, the biggest one, over to Tiza; and the Omega doesnt know how much more of this he can take. His expression conveys as much and the other urges him to open it. Once open, Tiza is shocked to find this massive box empty, save for a small note at the bottom. Plucking it from where it was taped, he reads it out loud.
"I couldn't fit the dog in the box…?"
He looks up at Aosh who has an even bigger smile on his face.
"What dog?"
"Your dog."
"My dog?!"
"Yes!," Aosh scoots closer and pulls out his phone, "It's a gift from Daniella, my parents, and myself," he shows Tiza his phone screen and scrolls through the pictures on it. Pictures of a beautiful husky mix with the biggest bluest eyes.
"It was Daniella's idea, but we all noticed that you didn't like the walker, and since you need to use it indefinitely she wanted to get you a service dog instead. Shawnee grooms for an agency that rehomes out of work or retired service animals, so we were able to pull a couple strings. And my parents paid for it, but don't tell them I told you that, they would kill me."
Aosh set's the phone on Tiza's lap so he can look at the rest of the pictures.
"And," Aosh continues looking away shyly, "I remembered, back when we first met, how you said you always wanted a dog but Sean wouldn't let you have one. You're on your own now so you should be able to have what you want."
Tiza's lip juts out in a pout, still looking down at the phone.
"What's wrong?"
"Look at his face!" Tiza coos, pointing at a picture of the dog, with its tongue out, "And this one! Look how tall he is! Oh my god, his little eyebrows!"
The Omega continues to gush over the pictures of his new companion most of the morning until they leave for his parents', all the while Aosh enjoying the Christmas present he wasn't expecting to receive; this really adorable side of Tiza.
.....................................................................
There are some relationships that click right from the start. Relationships that, from the outside, it was easy to tell they were meant to be together. It may have been through coincidence or the stars aligning in just the right way for this relationship to come to be. Either way some souls were bonded together, something akin to 'love at first sight'.
When Tiza first laid eyes' on his new dog, 'love at first sight' was all it could be. The next day, when the Alpha and Omega traveled to meet their new companion, it was confirmed. The moment the handler brought the dog out, Tiza was in love.
He was a mixed breed, of Great Dane and Alaskan Husky, around two years old. His onyx fur was shiny and soft, had white paws and belly, and his face was very expressive. He wore a harness across his shoulders with the words 'Service Dog at Work' printed on the side, with a sturdy handle coming out of the middle of it's back. A striking pale blue collar sat around his neck, the same color as his eyes. A nametag with the name 'Benji' hung from it.
Benji immediately took a liking to the Omega, and after getting the ok, gave his new master plenty of kisses until Tiza was begging him to stop. After letting the two get acquainted, the handler set to work teaching Tiza how to utilize Benji to make moving easier. Such as using Benji as counterbalance when he walks, instructing the dog to help him up off the ground should he fall and even picking up objects that were too low on the ground. This process wasn't completed in a day. In order to completely train Benji to mesh with Tiza's needs, the representative from the agency came over for a few days to work with the two at home.
As the days went on Aosh could see that Tiza's mood was improving and things that were simple tasks before, which had turned difficult because of his injury, were now doable again. Before Tiza was reluctant to move around too much because the walker was too much of a hassle, but now moving with Benji for support, Tiza was bustling around the apartment. He even went so far as to fall back into his old habit of going on a morning jog, but instead it was a morning walk; jogging was still out of the question.
It was nice to see his friend mobile and lively again. But Aosh never imagined that jealousy would also come with a new housemate. It's not like Aosh was starved for attention. Just Tiza's attention. Benji was new and exciting, and although Aosh knew that Tiza had to spend a lot of time with Benji to develop a good relationship, he still couldn't help but be a little envious of the pup.
One of the little things that got on his nerves was that Tiza would invite Benji to sit on the couch where Aosh usually sat. And then they would cuddle and Aosh would sit at the far end of the couch, cold and cuddleless. It was completely unfair.
He drew the line at their bed. No dogs allowed. Benji would sit his head at the edge of the bed, eyeing both of them until they eventually fell asleep, and then would walk to his crate in the corner of the room with a huff. If Aosh had to suffer through sharing a bed with his fated mate then he was going to do so without any interference!
"You know," Tiza says, pulling some of his longer pieces of hair to the side and pinning it in place, "The bed is big enough for the three of us."
Aosh's gaze flits over to him, then down where Tiza's raised arms lift up his shirt and reveal a pale stomach. Obsidian eyes trace the curve of it a moment longer than he should. Aosh let Tiza get away with a lot of things but he had to draw the line somewhere.
"You're not going to convince me," the Alpha sighs, rubbing lotion on his arms and chest before he sits on the bed as well.
Tiza had quickly come to find out that Aosh had a full skincare routine he did before bed most nights, mainly to upkeep his tattoos. Watching the Alpha carefully rub himself down every night was agonizing to the point that Tiza wondered if the universe was taunting him. That weird feeling covered his senses every time he saw Aosh's hands run over his biceps, chest, and then over his stomach.
"Do you need me to get your back?" Tiza asks without thinking.
Why….why did he really hope Aosh would say yes?
Aosh blinks a couple times and then stammers a 'sure'.
Yes!
Tiza crawls to the other side of the bed where the Alpha sits on the edge; and sits behind him. He grabs the lotion off the bedside table, squirting a small amount into his hands. Aosh's broad back is well defined, toned, and absolutely perfect. It was a crime that Tiza hadn't touched it yet. Starting at his shoulders, Tiza rubs the lotion into the other's skin dutifully while also taking the opportunity to feel the muscles there; unintentionally giving him a massage.
"What if Benji stays on my side?" the Omega prods again.
Somehow the tension Aosh had begins melting away under the other's touch, but he doesn't let that sway him.
" 'Your side' always turns into my side by the middle of the night," not that Aosh complained about it much, Tiza could lay on him as much as he wanted, and he meant that in the most platonic way possible. Tiza's thumbs rubs out a knot under his shoulder blade, causing him to bite back a moan.
"Did-did you pack your overnight bag?" Aosh tries to change the subject.
Tiza hums in agreement as his fingers reach the small of Aosh's back, "I didn't grab a towel. I assume your parents keep some in the cabin, right?"
The Alpha nods his head. The two of them, along with Hunter, Daniella and Shawnee, would be spending New Years at his parent's cabin. It was a small getaway, since they spent Christmas at home this year. Tiza's hands have stalled on Aosh's waist, and the longer they linger there the more Aosh can feel his skin burn in anticipation.
But anticipation for what? It's not like anything was going to happen.
"Could Benji sleep in the bed at the cabin? And then, seeing how that goes, we can make a decision?"
The seconds stretch on as he waits for an answer, Tiza's hands driving Aosh nuts where they linger centimeters from the hem of his sweatpants. One long breath leaves Aosh.
"Okay. But I still have the right to refuse afterward," Aosh looks back and catches a grin playing across Tiza's lips. This little weasel knew exactly how to get what he wanted!