Tao sighs as he flops onto the couch lazily, picking up the remote that laid on the floor. He flips through the channels endlessly, barely registering what was playing on the screen as he waited for the rest of the pack to return from the hunt. 

Cursing his stupid injury that he'd sustained from the last hunt a few weeks ago, he stares down at the bandage wrapped around his ankle and tries to turn it again, yelping when a sharp pain shot up his leg. He really hated getting injured, but at the very least, Lay finally paid some attention to him after all the chaos that had happened in the household. 

First off, Suho had become pregnant and snappy with Kris, making the Alpha unbearable whenever he was whining about his wife, and Tao had to bear the ranting of the alpha, because he was beta. Second, Sehun and Luhan had been quarreling because of Luhan's stupidity, which had been recently resolved at last afterwards.

Somehow, sometime before Suho had gone into labor, something interesting had happened. Tao's face flushes as he recalls what happened--- 

Lay had asked him to be his mate.

They'd gone into it right after, with Lay taking Tao out to a romantic dinner date without the rest knowing, somehow, and afterwards, Lay brought him back home to mate, where he showed Tao the most beautiful nest that he'd spent all week gathering materials for - the bed had thousands and thousands of pretty flower petals scattered over it, and there were fragrant candles lit in corners of the room as well as one on the tabletop, the sheets were clean and pristine-white (something Tao appreciated), and the room was dim, dark enough for them to explore each other's passionate sides.

It was the after that had been disappointing. Lay, as the pack's medic, had been running around, taking care of the cubs alongside Suho, and that had become less attention for the Beta. However, now that the children were more grown up, he was out with the pack hunting, teaching the children and patching them up whenever they were injured.

Tao's recent injury had been his fault - he'd been distracted by how gorgeous Lay had looked whilst tending to Jun Hee's wound, and fallen down a steep slope, sustaining a twisted ankle and ugly, black bruises and scratches down his legs.

That had been the only time Lay had paid any attention to him, and as childish as Tao was becoming, there was really nothing wrong with wanting to spend a little time with his own, was there? 

Pouting and huffing out a breath, he switches the television off and decides to take a nap so he could forget everything for a little while. Slowly, he lifts himself off the sofa, carefully placing his injured ankle on the floor and limping towards the staircase. It being the one who healed the slowest despite being Beta - although he would never lose in terms of strength, unless it was against Kris - and Tao slowly ascends the stairs towards his sleeping quarters.

Once he had seated himself on his bed and shifted into his wolf form since it was more comfortable and easier to cuddle into the thick duvets, though, he hears the jingling of keys as the front door clicks open, and his ears perk up, trying to catch any hints of the person who had come back. Had someone injured themselves like he had?

"Tao?" He hears someone calling his name, and he snaps his head up to look at the door in disbelief. Was that Lay's voice he heard?

"Tao, where are you?"

It was Lay's voice! Tao's head spun in excitement as a soft, needy whine rips through his throat and his tail starts to wag when he hears footsteps ascend the stairs. The door to his room opens, revealing Lay as he smiles down at the black wolf on the bed.

"Hey, how're you feeling today?" He coos to the wolf on the bed softly, closing the door after himself before taking the few strides to sit down on the bed.

Once he does sit down, he finds himself with a lap full of his mate, eyes gleaming with happiness as Tao circles his arms around Lay's neck gently. The younger male leans up to press a soft kiss to his lips, and Lay hums softly, kissing back gently for a few seconds before pulling back. He glances down at the bandaged ankle, slowly shifting the boy off his lap so he could get the first-aid kit.

"We need to change your bandages," He explains when Tao whimpers at the loss of contact, and smiles warmly at the pout his mate has on his luscious, red lips. "Once we're done with that we can cuddle, okay?"

Tao nods silently and lets Lay get to work, unwrapping the old bandages and replacing them with fresh ones. There was a slight furrow in the medic's brows as he concentrated on the task at hand, and Tao found that very endearing; an image that he would keep forever in his heart. Soon enough, Lay is done with re-bandaging Tao's ankle, and he leans the younger male against the cushions before putting the kit away.

Clambering into bed next to his mate, Lay lets out a soft growl of content before pulling Tao to rest against his chest, enjoying how the Beta snuggled closer to him, carefully maneuvering his foot. His hand finds its way to the Beta's hair, gently as he hums a soft song that he knows will calm and lull Tao to peace.

"I'm sorry I haven't been paying you a lot of attention," He whispers after he's finished humming to the song. "It's been a while since it's just the two of us, hasn't it? I promise I'll take you out on a date once your foot is healed, okay?"

Tao hides his smile against his mate's chest, nodding lightly to let him know he was listening.

"You promise?" Tao rasps out, glancing up into the warm eyes of his mate, who nods in reply. "I like it when you pay attention to me."

Their conversation is cut short as the front door is heard slamming open, and the rambunctious laughter of the trouble making children (including Baekhyun and Chanyeol) fill the entire house, alongside the familiar nagging of Suho's, and the booming voice of authority that belonged to Kris.

Lay makes to get out of bed, but Tao's fingers curl around his wrist in a sensual manner, and when the medic glances back at the Beta, he's lost for words as he stares into pools of black, swirling with please don't go's and stay with me's. 

"Pay attention to me too," Tao whispers at last, and Lay lets himself sink back down onto the bed, wrapping his arms around his mate/

"Alright," He whispers back to Tao in the darkness. "Alright."

this was pretty short, forgive me. u w u ;;