NOLA felt slightly better after her nap. Enough to pick at the loaf of bread on the counter. It tasted like paste on her tongue, even though she knew it was her favorite honey loaf. Ravana had always managed to find it at the market just outside of the university from a certain special vendor. Nola despised public places, what with all the scents raging around. Her Omega was nice enough to bring a loaf home when Nola behaved herself.
Which was… for the most part, all the time. Nola was only a bitch during her TOM.
She grimaced at the texture on her tongue, unable to taste the delicacy. Strange. Nola wasn't hungry. She was bored, which meant that she would stuff her face until she got sleepy again. But there was no reason for her to lose her taste buds. Nola ventured to the counter, shuffling her feet, eyes wandering for something else to try. Her eyes landed on the delicate sugar bowl, a 'family heirloom' Ravana had called it. In reality, it reminded her of something that she would have found in a thrift store. On clearance. The pink paint was chipping, revealing cheap porcelain underneath.
Nola grabbed the bowl and resorted to pouring sugar down her throat. Her sweet tooth was unmatched and she was instantly glad for her body's ability to keep up with her poor decisions.
Ash. Sand. No taste.
Fuck.
Omegas sometimes lost their tastebuds during a heat. But Zetas didn't have heats. They had strange TOMs where their body tried to figure out if they were Alpha or Omega, before righting itself again. If she was going into heat, which was impossible, there was absolutely no statistical data to follow.
Nothing to reference.
No one to ask.
Except for the Omega health books. But Zetas had an entirely different biological makeup. Their reaction to a heat would be different, right? Nola felt lost, especially since her Omega had left for class almost two hours ago. Nola sat on one of the kitchen stools, trying to sort through her thoughts.
One – her taste buds were gone. A pity. It was her only solace during her TOMs. The only thing that kept her from going out of her mind while the pain coursed through her body.
Two – there was a dull ache in her stomach ALL THE DAMN TIME. This was semi-normal, but Nola usually slept through her TOM and woke up without having to deal with any of the side effects. But this? This was a never-ending throbbing in her gut.
Three – her senses were all over the place. Her nose worked perfectly fine. Well… define 'fine'. She couldn't smell anything but pheromones. And they all stunk. Including her Omega's.
Nola had woken up with Ravana nestled in her arms and tried to snuggle closer. She had no idea what time it was, but the sun shining through the curtains told her she already missed morning classes. Her grades wouldn't suffer, what with all of her painstaking hard work. Nola had leaned in and rubbed her nose against Ravana's scent gland, trying to suck in more warmth to cover up the pain in her stomach.
But the Omega's scent didn't come with the usual calm that Nola had been accustomed to. She had nearly retched, before rushing to lock herself in the bathroom. Ravana, worried, had stood outside the door, pleading with her to explain what was going on. But the Omega didn't seem as sincere as Nola thought she should have been, a lingering thought in the back of her mind. Ravana promised to return at the end of classes, even going so far as to tell her where the honey loaf was.
Nola couldn't fault her Omega. It wasn't her Omega's fault. Nola always found Ravana's scent… stinky. She had just cataloged it as safe.
It didn't feel safe anymore. It felt foreign, hostile.
Nola knew that if she couldn't stand her own Omega's scent, there was no use trying to go outside and brave the world. She couldn't even handle classes in this state. Opening the windows to air out the dorm had been the worst idea. One whiff of the fresh air this morning had Nola retching into the kitchen sink, losing the bit of food that she had managed to swallow before her TOM had begun.
But now? Her Omega's scent was making her sick to her stomach. And the scent was everywhere. Ravana had had her hands in everything. Nola was starting to regret letting her Omega decorate her room. Scent blockers would be the only thing to save her from her agony. But they were damn expensive and they were out there. Beyond her dorm door. With all the other scents.
A wave of pain sent shivers down her spine and Nola bent over, holding onto the kitchen table, gripping it until her knuckles were white. She took deep breaths, trying to overcome the tingling running under her skin.
But that only made it worse as her Omega's scent filled her nose. Nola felt weak like she was going to pass out. Her TOMs had never been this violent. She didn't understand what was going on. Nola stared at the front door for a moment before deciding that the only safety she would find would be in the scent blockers from the corner store at the market. Maybe then she could finally sleep.
She hoped so. Because every step past the front door was harder than the next.