Chapter Text
Spring:
Chapter 1: The Proposal
The snow was melting, the air warmed under the consistent sunlight that filtered between the buildings. Men and women moved about as the afternoon drifted to evening and cafes pulled their signs down and shut the windows as the clock struck 5.
Noah sighed as he cleaned the tables off and swept the floors of the old cafe that he worked at. It was a long day and his stomach ached at the lack of food in it. The smell of food from the nearby pub egged at his hurting stomach but his empty pockets spoke for themselves. He had gotten paid yesterday but it immediate got take from him, his landlord had increased the rent. It hit both him and Kai heavy, but unlike Kai he could not get more hours at the cafe.
A second job was hard to come by for a beta, it was a fight to even get this cafe job as it was. Moving to the front desk he noticed that everyone else had left, a note was on the counter. “Close up when you are done” was scribbled in bold print. Sighing he looked at the clock, Kai should be home by now and was probably starting dinner.
Grabbing the nearby rag he started to place the chairs up when the door chimed, a man in a business suit walked in. He was tall and muscler despite his greying hair and obvious old age. Noah moved to straighten “Excuse me sir, we are closed for the evening”. The man turned to him, the glint in his eye showed that he was an alpha, but the outline of his upper fangs was a give away.
“Sorry to intrude but could I get a blueberry muffin, everywhere else is closed and I promised my wife one” his eyes warmed and Noah knew it would be rude to deny a customer, especially one that looked as rich as him.
“O-ok sure, j-just give me a minute will I put one in the oven. It’ll be about 15 minutes if you don’t mind waiting”, he started to move stuff around. The man nodded and pulled out a few bills, “keep the change, and thank you young man”. Noah was flustered by the generosity, the man had given him an extra $20.
He moved with urgency as he got the muffins in into the oven, once they were in he moved to continue to finish the clean-up. He was moving the rest of the chairs when the man spoke from where he was leaning against the counter.
“You are a strong worker, a beta I presume, how old are you boy”, the mans gruff voice carried across the room. Noah didn’t turn as he spoke “I am 21 sir, and yes one must work to make a living in this world”.
It was quite for a beat until the oven timer rung and Noah moved over to remove the muffins. He pulled them out and frosted them before putting them in a carrier for the man. Walking back to the front counter he moved with easy, handing them over. “Please be careful, they are fresh out of the overn” the man thanked him but did not move to leave right away.
“I know this is forward of me but if you were looking for some part time work, I’ve been looking for a caretaker to help me son and to accompany him to events. It pays handsomely, this is my address, come by on Monday around 1:00 if you are interested.” The man pushed the paper across the table before breathing a “thank you” before moving out of the cafe.
In shock at the possible job offer he snached the paper and tucked it into his back pocket before moving to lock up and leave for the night. The whole walk home his brain moved a mile a minute, a new job ment more money and more money ment less financial issues. It was rare that an alpha would proposition a beta for a job, usually unheard of as many saw betas as mundane, simple people. ‘A caretaker’ rolled around in his head, he’d often helped with the younger kids when he was in the orphanage growing up. Kids loved him and often he found himself hanging out with them over the grumpy teenagers.
Accompany him to events could mean anything, so the age of the kid would be unknown. It was saturday at the moment so he basically had tomorrow to grow the balls to decide if he wanted to go. He didn’t have work on monday at the cafe, they had cut back his hours, so it wasn’t like he was wasting his time.
He got home faster then he thought and he soon found himself unlocking the old door and walking into the small loft. The smell of beef was heavy in the air as he moved into the room. Kai was in the kitchen making what looked to be tacos with the little bit of leftover meat. Noah felt bad as he saw the two plates with one small taco on each, Kai was an alpha and therefore should be eating as much as possible. But his friend tended to limit his food intake in favor of loading up Noahs plate instead.
Noah removed his shoes and moved to the island to grab his plate, “Thank you for the food”. Kai startled before turning and showing off a wide smile. “I didn’t even hear you come home, how was work” the alpha moved away from the now off stove and walked around the island to hug and cuddle up to him. It was like a ritual and Noah found it cute how cuddly his friend was.
“Work was good, slow like usual. How was work for you?”, he left out the talk he had with the strange man. Kai tended to act weird when alphas were mentioned, Noah never understood it.
“Work was good, tiresome like always. Now eat your food, I know you probably haven’t eaten”, he wasn’t wrong. So with that said Noah scarfed down the taco while Kai cuddled up to him. The card sat heavy in his pocket and the prospect of a job warmed his body.