Another song has passed, and the two alphas were still in the piano room. Slender fingers glided on the piano hood for a brief moment before he slammed it shut, causing Liam to flinch a little.
"You're angry too?" The platinum blond alpha didn't move from his seat close to his best friend, and for a while there, he picked up the scent of vetiver along with very obviously pissed alpha pheromones which was concealed just a moment ago.
"My father said I can pursue the degree that I want." When Mar finally spoke, his voice was strained. The alpha sitting next to him snaked his arms around his hips, and the black haired alpha didn't move away. "Only if it benefits him, just like all my other siblings."
"You still want to work on the forbidden laptop." Liam rested his head on his companion's shoulder. "I can keep it safe for you. He won't care if you give the laptop to me."
Purple eyes slowly closed before his chest rose as he took in a deep breath.
Blue eyes wandered to their knees touching, and Liam felt his heart shattered when his best friend's voice cracked.
"I don't trust you not to spill everything to your parents because even I don't trust them to not tell my father." Mar didn't move from his seat, instead he laced his slender fingers with Liam's.
The platinum blond alpha could understand where his companion was coming from, and trust is hard to find in situations like this, but of course, he was kind of offended, kind of upset, kind of disappointed that Mar outright said that he didn't trust Liam while holding his hand.
On the other hand, Liam was a little thankful that the words had been said because he rather knew the truth than fumbled around in the dark.
Have they met in another life, a life without Mar's controlling father and Liam's strict parents, would they put their trust in each other wholeheartedly?
It's already a big step for Mar to show Liam that he isn't an alpha male, and the platinum blond alpha has always confined in his best friend about everything since the beginning except for that time he realized his crush on the black haired alpha was getting out of hand. But that worked out in the end, didn't it?
So, would this problem just fix itself eventually?
Liam could only wish as he closed his eyes. He took in the scent of vetiver, even though the pheromones are hostile, he still didn't attack back. After a minute, he released his pheromones, calm and collected. They're not in danger just yet, and he enjoyed the warmth from his companion.
He could only wish the peace would last more than minutes when they're awake.
"You're spacing out again?" A hint of amusement slipped from Mar's lips. "A born scholar, huh?"
"Oh, shut up." Liam let out a laugh as he pushed himself off Mar. The black haired alpha rolled his eyes, but his lips were pulled into a grin.
"Let's go back to our room."
The platinum blond alpha was shocked for a second before he looked out the door, then back at his best friend. "Really? I was supposed ta join my parents at the table."
"You got enough table time." His companion stood up and began dragging Liam out the door. "We can always get Arkham to get you food."
"Sure, sure..." Liam didn't fight back, instead, he looked out the window. "Wanna go into town today? I think we spent too much time locked in here."
Yesterday was all spent inside, so he doesn't want today to be the same. Plus, those poor paintings need to dry properly before Mar can play with them again.
The walk back was quiet, but it was peaceful. Their footsteps match, usually because Liam took time to match his stride with his companion. Mar was rather amused by this, but he didn't break his habits.
Soon enough, the familiar face of their butler greeted them down the hallway.
"Young master Liam, Dr. Velison is waiting for you in the smaller dining room." Arkham replayed his message without hesitation.
"Which one? My father or my mother?" The platinum blond alpha asked back.
"Er... Both?" The butler laughed nervously.
Liam paused his lips for a minute before he nodded. "Can you get us some fruits from the kitchen? Anything is fine. I'll text my parents to let them know I won't be there."
"Dude, I won't stop you from going." Mar whispered to him, and the taller alpha simply shook his head.
"I just need ta sit down for a while. A long while."
After he said his piece, the alpha push passed their butler to get into their room. His best friend followed inside soon after. Liam collapsed back on his bed, with shoes and all.
A small laugh rumbled from Mar before the black haired alpha took off his shoes. Then, those slender fingers made their way to wiggle off Liam's shoes, too.
"Hey!" Liam chuckled when his best friend threw his shoes across the room. "Those are my good ones!"
"Yeah, yeah, I thought the only rule was don't get sand in them." Mar's grin widened as he dropped himself on to the bed.
Even though he didn't land directly on Liam, his body rolled over so that he could entangle on the taller alpha. Vetiver filled the air again, and this time, there's no pheromones attached to it, just Mar giving out his scent for no reason.
Liam was confused. He didn't mind the scent, but at the same time he wonders why his best friend even does that. Back when they hit puberty and got their scents, Mar likes to give out his scent sometimes, for no reason at all. The butlers and maids in the house were the ones to train him to not do that because it can be confusing and as Petrov put it, "a waste of scent."
Alphas usually mark their territory by giving out their scents attached to some pheromones. The pheromones don't have to send any messages; they just exist with the scent to show that this place belongs to this alpha, and this is how strong their pheromones are.
Mar just gave a scent without pheromones, kind of opposite to Blue's condition of only giving out pheromones and no scents at all.
"Hey." Liam nuzzled his head into the warmth of his companion's body. "Mark your territory. It's weird to have only scent and no pheromones."
And it's also weird to have only pheromones and no scents, but Liam got used to it after years of seeing Blue.
"Mmn." Mar mumbled back, his tone was definitely sarcastic. "Sure, sure, two alphas in a room, one of them marks their territory while the other doesn't fight back. People won't think less of you at all."
"They can fuck off." The taller alpha groaned as his arms wrapped around his best friend. "I like your scent. Your pheromones."
"What are you? An omega in heat?" Mar laughed, but he made no move to push the taller alpha away.
The scent intensifies, but this time pheromones filled the air with vetiver as main, holding a deeper scent of old expensive ink and paper. Liam could only dream to bite down on his companion's shoulder and mark him as his mate.