Love in the Dark World

Chapter 5

Notes:

TW: Abuse and threats of sexual assault

Chapter Text

Phayu can tell that Rain is uncomfortable with the crowd and the noise, from the way the omega's smell changes. That is only to be expected, Rain has been isolated pretty much his entire life. Even since Rain has come to stay with Phayu, the places they have been haven't been overly crowded or noisy. Phayu puts a comforting hand on Rain's arm to remind the omega he is safe.

Once Phayu makes his initial rounds, Rain can spend some time in the mechanics tent with Saifah while Phayu works. It will give the omega a chance to decompress.

Phayu greets the guards at the gates, then spots P'Chai coming their way. Phayu can't help but to be a little amused at how Rain hides slightly behind him gripping his arm as P'Chai greets them.

The head of security smiles at the omega but Phayu knows that even that probably won't put Rain at ease. The man is intimidating, period. It's only a long-term working relationship that allows Phayu to relax around him.

"Rain, this is P'Chai, P'Pakin's right hand man. P'Chai, this is Rain my..the omega that I am training." Rain greets the man respectfully as Phayu had trained him, keeping his eyes down.

“Welcome to the race, little omega. I know you will be good and not cause trouble since Phayu trained you. He is one of the best.” P’Chai says before walking off.

Phayu takes Rain around as he checks on everything, greeting several people and introducing Rain to a few. The ones that stand out in Rain’s mind are the beta twins Aek and Tho and the Alpha, Oat. Pai is also there getting ready for a race, Rain seems disappointed that Sky isn’t with him.

“Maybe next time,” Pai tells him, “or maybe Yu can bring you by for a visit sometime.” Rain smiles happily at this idea and Phayu makes a note to do just that. At first he had wanted Rain separated from the other omega while Phayu established his training groundwork, but the omega has come a long way since then.

They pause to watch Pai easily win his race, which Rain seems to enjoy, before moving towards the mechanic’s tent. They are almost at the tent when Phayu hears the voice of the last person he wanted to see tonight.

“Damn, how did a lowly mechanic swing such a delicious looking omega?” Says the man loitering with a group of his friends near the tent. Stop Phayu hadn’t seen the alpha around in the last few months and he had hoped that meant he had finally done something to get himself banned from the races. Phayu should have known better, the alpha seems to have a talent for causing just enough trouble for others while avoiding the eyes of P’Chai and P’Pakin.

Phayu doesn’t bother to answer him. The race gets its share of over privileged spoiled assholes and Stop is at the top of this list. What’s more Stop claims it’s Phayu’s fault that he lost to Pai at his first race despite the fact that Pai is the number one racer at the track. Truth is, Stop has no skill with a bike. He is just a braggart that can’t back up his words with actions or as Phayu likes to think of him, a barking dog.

Phayu ignores him and ushers Rain into the mechanic’s tent. Phayu is glad to find Saifah there to watch Rain while he works, especially with Stop and crew hanging around. He leaves Saifah with explicit instructions to watch Rain and if he has to go anywhere, even the bathroom, to take Rain with him.

He turns to Rain, “Be good and stay with Fah. You can sleep in the corner if you like or play a game on your tablet. I won’t be long.”

It’s a promise Phayu ends up not being able to keep, it’s a long night with one thing after another going wrong. Phayu ends up being run off his feet putting out proverbial fires and it’s early morning by the time he makes his way back to the tent. What he finds there freezes his blood. Saifah is lying just inside the tent. Phayu runs to check on his brother and pulls out his phone to call P’Chai and the doctor P’Pakin keeps on staff just in case of accidents. He looks around for Rain but the only trace of the omega is his training collar lying in the center of the tent on the floor.