"You want to get a snack before we hunt down a hairdresser with an opening?" Scott asked.
"We ate before we came!" Ryan grinned. "You're hungry again?"
After they left the jewelry store they'd parked in a spot out of the way of foot traffic to get themselves put together. Ryan had been wearing a coat since they came inside, but he was getting warm, so Scott helped him take it off and he stowed it in the backpack hanging from the back of the wheelchair. Ryan still refused to take off the hat, and wasn't quite looking forward to the haircut, since he wasn't sure he was ready for someone else to see his scar. Never mind that it stopped scabbing up a week ago, never mind that Scott said it healed cleanly, or that it "didn't look that bad," it made him more self-conscious than his casts did. He knew it was silly. The casts were WAY more obvious. He just couldn't help it.
"I'm not saying I'm hungry," Scott insisted, "It's only that the game store took a lot of time, and we may have to circle the whole mall to find a barber with an opening, and that mini doughnut kiosk smells really, REALLY good! If I get some, you'll share them with me, right?"
Ryan smiled up at his fiance. It was obvious to him how much effort Scott was putting in today, all for his sake. Somehow, it was getting easier and easier to play along. "If you get some, I promise to eat one or two, okay?"
Scott leaned over to give Ryan a quick kiss, then they were back in the flow of the mall's foot traffic headed over to the mini doughnut kiosk. There was a small line, and a wait afterwards since they were making everything fresh to order. Scott procured a table nearby, and moved some chairs out of the way to have room to park Ryan. They didn't have to wait too long before their order number was called, and before too long Scott had retrieved a small steaming bag of fresh doughnuts dusted in powdered sugar.
Ryan got first pick once Scott laid out some napkins for the two of them, not that it mattered too much since all the treats were the same. Ryan even went above and beyond in his promise, eating a total of two and a half of the things, earning him another kiss for his efforts. After a quick cleanup, it was time to start their hunt for a hairdresser. Or, so Ryan had thought.
"I'm going to need a quick bathroom break before anything else I think. How about you? You gotta go?" Scott asked Ryan quietly.
"Nah, I'm good. I'd much rather wait until we're back home."
"You sure? Depending on how things go, we could be here a bit longer?"
"I'm sure!" Ryan insisted with a smile that told Scott not to push it.
Scott got the message quickly. "Let me know if you change your mind."
They made their way to the restrooms at the food court, since that was the only location with family restrooms, and Scott was hesitant to leave Ryan alone. It was a nice setup, with a hallway separating it from the business of the mall proper, vending machines, a small lounge area, a breastfeeding room, and of course a few family restrooms in addition to the male and female restrooms. To their dismay when they got there one of the family rooms was occupied, and the other was out of order. Scott groaned a little.
"Cuddle bug, you look a little pale, are you feeling okay?" Ryan asked when Scott checked the handle of the 'out of order' room.
"I'm fine, I'm just, you know when you eat a lot, and you have to 'go' right away? It's called a gastrocolic reflex-" Scott grabbed his stomach with his hand.
"Hey, park me in that corner and go do what you gotta do." Ryan ordered. "I'll be fine here by myself for a little bit. There's plenty of people around, but I think you're actually starting to sweat."
Scott was going to open his mouth to protest, but his body told him no. Embarrassing and undignified as it was, he needed to use the toilet immediately. He parked Ryan in the corner and left with a kiss, promising to be as quick as possible before speed walking to the men's restroom entrance. He didn't want to leave Ryan alone at all, but the wheelchair would be in the way in the rows of stalls unless there were a handicap restroom available, and did he really want Ryan THAT close to him while he pooped? Not really… Besides, he tried to tell himself, this was a good way to give Ryan a little bit of that independence he so desperately craved. He'd be fine by himself for a few minutes. There were plenty of people in the restroom's lounge area. What could go wrong?
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Ryan resisted the urge to chuckle at the way Scott not-quite ran for the restrooms. Sure, he felt bad for him, but it was a little funny. Hopefully Scott was able to get his stomach feeling better, but there was very little Ryan could do to help him. They both had their phones on them should anything go wrong, and Ryan was certain he'd be fine on his own for a bit. Who would mess with a guy in a wheelchair? He nodded politely to a lady sitting across from him, who was apparently resting from her shopping endeavors if the mountain of bags at her feet was anything to go by.
There were a few people in the space, and a few more coming in and out of the facilities. Given the foot traffic outside, it wasn't as busy as Ryan expected it to be. There was a guy in a black polo and a distinctive tie standing over by the vending machines that looked familiar. Now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure the guy was standing outside the game store earlier. And maybe Ryan remembered seeing him out of the corner of his eye at the jewelers? He might have even been sitting nearby when he and Scott were getting the doughnuts… Were they being tailed by a reporter again, just like in the hospital?
The guy was typing something in his phone, but when he looked up and locked eyes with Ryan, Ryan got the distinct feeling he wasn't about to be interviewed. The look in the guys face sent a chill down his spine. Two more guys entered the space dressed in a similar fashion. One gave Ryan a LOOK that could've curdled milk, the other offhandedly said something derogatory about omegas in general. Ryan stared them down. He couldn't run. He couldn't defend himself. He didn't know how much longer Scott would be, and if he tried to reach for his phone, the harassers might move quicker. They stalked over to him. Couldn't any of the bystanders see what was going on?
"Hey bro," one of them looked over at their apparent leader as they made their way to Ryan's corner, "You heard about that thing at the shipping company, right? About how all those packages got damaged because some punk omega was being stupid?"
"Dude, of course I heard about it!" the leader smirked. "The audacity of a freak like that to be out in public, let alone trying to work! Bad enough to be an omega stealing a job from a normal person, but a male omega? Disgusting! You saw the security footage of the fucko getting taught a lesson, right? Classic!"
The third guy piped up, "Absolute classic! The way he fell back after getting beamed with that pipe? Hilarious!"
Ryan bristled at their words. They were practically right on top of him now. Was no one going to help him? The two people in the space who had kids very quickly gathered them up and left. They weren't the only ones. Most people filed out when the commentary started. Even the lady with all the shopping bags. The few people who were still around didn't seem to be bothered at all by what was happening. Ryan swallowed hard. This wasn't good.
"Wha- What do you wa- want?" Ryan asked firmly, trying to hide the fear from his voice. He couldn't afford to back down.
"Ooo…! Watch out, man! You're going to make the little omega mad!" one of the cronies teased.
The leader sucked his teeth. "Like I care what some lowlife omega scum thinks. Breeder shits like this need to know their place."
Ryan tried not to let on to how afraid he was.
"You know," the leader continued, fake humor in his voice "this could be the very same fucker from that video, fellas. I bet you we rip that dumb hat off and he's got a pretty little scar all down his scalp. Then again, this could just be a classic domestic abuse case."
Whatever emotion flashed across Ryan's face at that comment, one of the cronies didn't like it.
"You wanna say something, pillow biter? Your fudge packin' fuck buddy beat the shit out of you for not knowing your place?"
Forget fear, Ryan was livid at the implication that Scott was the one to put him in this position.
"You have no idea what you're talking about." Ryan almost growled.
"Oh? What you gonna do about it?" The leader of the group grinned wickedly. "Newsflash, omegas don't deserve justice for shit. They should just go back to being property."
"Yeah!" One of the cronies piped up, "Nothing worse than a desperate pillow biter who doesn't know when to stay down!"
Ryan would have smacked one of them if he could. How dare they! What in the hell did they have against omegas, anyway? In an instant, his anger turned to terror as they grabbed hold of his wheelchair and pulled it into the open space. They kept acting like they were going to tip him out of it. Why wasn't anyone helping him! Where was Scott? Ryan couldn't even get his voice to work to call for help. He shut his eyes tight and prayed for it to be over soon.
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It was crisis averted. Scott wasn't sure if it was because lunch didn't sit well, or if it was just all the stress he'd been under lately that his stomach threw this little tantrum, but with his needs now taken care of he could go back out there and be the Top-Notch Alpha Caretaker he was. While Scott was washing his hands, he heard a bit of a commotion outside. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach, different from the one he just took care of. He didn't bother rinsing the rest of the soap off, let alone drying them. He ran to the restroom entrance. As soon as he turned the corner and was able to see what was going on, his vision turned red.
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Ryan wasn't sure what was happening. One moment, his wheelchair was balanced precariously on one wheel, and in the next moment he was jolted sharply as all the wheels landed where they were supposed to be. One of the guys harassing him shouted something, and Ryan peeked his eyes open just in time to see a very angry Scott flying in from out of nowhere.
THWACK!!!
CRASH!!!
Scott's fist met with the leader's face as he sent the guy flying into the chairs along the wall.
In that moment, Ryan could only think of one thing, almost saying it aloud.
"So, THAT's what he looks like when he's angry…"