Kand-Lei and Darcy ordered their meals, beginning a light conversation about favorite foods, unaware of the glances thrown their way and the whispers that passed between certain diners.
One diner in particular sighed, loudly exclaiming, "What is the world coming to?! Youths these days just do whatever they want without thought for the future or tradition!"
Darcy gave him a sideways glance, narrowing his eyes at the volume and tone of the man's words.
Before he could comment, the waiter hurried over with two entrees balanced on her hands. She set them down with a flustered smile, it was clear that she had too many tables to attend to.
"Enjoy, sirs."
Kand-Lei began eating without much thought, reaching over the table to hold Darcy's hand.
The two chatted peacefully for a while before the same loud diner as before once again sighed dramatically. "In a public place no less!! Those people should be ashamed!"
"The only ones who should be ashamed are your dinner companions sir, for choosing such a rude person to dine with."
The man was startled at the rebuke.
"I suggest you lower your volume, you're ruining plenty of people's evenings, myself included."
The man turned an indignant red. He stood up, marching over, then came to a stop beside the table Darcy and Kand-Lei were eating at.
Kand-Lei paused mid-bite, spoonful of tomato soup halfway to his lips.
"What did you just say to me young man?!" The old beta cried, nearly spitting in Darcy's face.
"I said, lower your volume. I'm trying to enjoy my meal."
Kand-Lei's soup was turning into gazpacho the longer this man wasted their time so he resumed eating, his eyes flicking from Darcy to the man to the other diners rapidly. Several diners were nodding at Darcy's opinion, giving the man dirty looks, others merely looked uncomfortable and stared at their plates and glasses. Some even seemed to glare at Darcy and Kand-Lei for some reason.
Kand-Lei inconspicuously reached into his pocket.
The indignant man fixed his burning gaze on where Kand-Lei was holding Darcy's hand. "You people are the problem! How am I supposed to eat peacefully when you are doing this right here?!"
Darcy looked at their hands and then back at the man. "Oh, you don't like PDA? Sorry not sorry, also there are plenty of couples everywhere, you should try and get used to it."
The man's mouth opened and shut like a fish while he turned an even deeper shade of red. Kand-Lei almost choked on his soup, suppressing his laughter.
Darcy threw a concerned glance his way, pouring him a glass of water. "You good?"
Kand-Lei nodded.
The man looked ready to burst a vein with how high his blood pressure was getting, one of his dinner companions tried to get him to come back to sit down again.
The man threw them off, then he glared at Kand-Lei and Darcy again.
"I've had enough of you, freak!" He screeched, spittle flying around. He jabbed a finger towards their intertwined hands, "This, this is unnatural!"
Darcy squeezed Kand-Lei's hand reassuringly.
"I suggest you go back to your dinner sir. We don't want things to get ugly tonight."
The beta looked down at Darcy disdainfully. "You think that a wimpy omega like you could do anything to me? I'll leave when the world rights itself."
Darcy leaned back casually. "And what exactly is so wrong here? According to you."
The man became enraged again, "This! You! And him! It is unnatural, disgusting! It goes against everything tradition stands for!"
At those words the relaxed smile slipped from Darcy's face. Kand-Lei continued eating his soup.
"Unnatural? There is nothing unnatural about love."
"Love!? Love exists between an alpha and an omega or two betas! This is a sick parody!" He spat the word 'parody' with as much venom as he could muster.
Darcy inhaled deeply, attempting to stay calm.
The majority of people in the world no longer cared wether a beta and an omega or alpha got together, most were even tolerant towards two alphas being together, which was becoming more and more common. Two omegas however, it was almost unheard of. Such a rare thing, it was even more untraditional than other pairings, so people shunned it, and religion perpetuated these beliefs.
There were still some bigoted fools in the world who would speak out against what they considered to be 'normal'. A definition that changed from person to person, country to country.
While Darcy was still trying to contain his anger, Kand-Lei set down his soup spoon, having finished his entree. He fished the phone out of his pocket, set it down on the table under the confused stares of everyone watching. Next he carefully removed the fashion rings from his fingers, setting them beside the phone.
These simple actions had the entire room watching as the omega that had seemed soft and meek before straighten his back, a frigid expression on his face. Transforming completely form everyone's initial impressions into the opposite.
He calmly pushed back his chair and stood up. He faced the man with a polite smile. "Would you mind repeating that sir?"
"I said you freaks-"
The slap echoed through the now silent room.
The man worked his jaw, touching the side of his face gingerly.
"Sorry, I didn't catch that?"
"You bitc-"
The second slap was louder than the first, stinging both the cheek struck and the hand striking.
The polite smile dropped off of Kand-Lei's face as he stepped towards the confused beta.
A third slap rang out. "For calling our love unnatural."
A fourth. "For calling it disgusting."
He switched to the other hand. "For calling my mate a freak."
A sixth. "For calling us the problem."
And, with all his remaining strength, "FOR DARING TO CALL US A PARODY!" He roared, finally breaking his composure.
Darcy grabbed him from behind, pulling him away from the man as angry tears streamed down Kand-Lei's face. He tucked Kand-Lei's head into his chest where he couldn't see the man anymore. He stroked his hair as he whispered calming words.
The man went to punch them but thankfully security stepped in, looking between the furious beta with the red face and the two omegas, one sobbing uncontrollably.
They quickly tried to diffuse the situation, but in the end, someone had already called the police.
Neither party was in a state to recount the details of what happened when the police questioned them, the man was still shouting, Darcy was solely focused on Kand-Lei, and Kand-Lei couldn't stop crying.
When he had been reduced to sniffles in Darcy's comforting embrace he picked up his phone, stopping the recording. He handed it to the police, croaking out, "I started recording when he came over."
The two officers who had been questioning the other diners quickly played the recording, ignoring the indignant shouts still coming from the man who had been escorted out of the dining hall.