TRIGGER WARNING: slight smut if you squint (?)
...
Asea's
Asea hates Fiona. Right then and there, that's what Asea was thinking. It was simply because she's beautiful and won the genetic lottery which is quite unfair since, how could you hate someone just because they're beautiful?
This adds up to the overflowing reasons as to why she hates herself. She's mean and judgmental and she hates herself for that but she kept it in. Always managed to keep it in.
Trey guided Fiona to stand up as she almost loses her balance but Trey holds her up so she didn't. Fiona murmured thanks and Azrael saw Asea going to the room already, shutting the door behind her. "Maybe we can ask her questions tomorrow, she seemed tired," Yasser told them and their gazes at each other were enough agreement. Em let her borrow a shirt and shorts while she showers in their room. She was silent but it's probably because she's still trying to get used to the new place. And when she was done, Em and Aeria fixed the third room for her to stay in for a while.
She didn't say anything even when they closed the door. Come to think of it, she never really acknowledged Em and Aeria directly, just Yasser. And Trey. It was weird but maybe she's not just used around people.
😅😅😅
Jace's
Jace thinks the day Fiona came in, everything got weirder. That morning, he woke up earlier than usual so he started cooking breakfast for everyone. They woke Fiona up and she ate only a little as she started talking without them really asking. "I was in the train station that night when someone chloroformed me." The silence was still but it was full of tension. It wasn't like how they were taken, with a smoke bomb.
"When I woke up, I was here." Her eyes are afraid and it might be the first time they saw her afraid since last night. She was nervous for a split second last night, stuttering when she asked where she was but other than that, she was pretty relaxed. Then, maybe, it sank into her that she was kidnapped. Somehow, someway, he feels bad for the girl. A few weeks ago, he was in that exact position, too, not knowing what to do.
"You were wearing that?" Asea asked, her eyes nonchalant but firm as she looks at the girl. Fiona slightly flinched that Asea seemed too serious but she shook her head. "Were your scent blockers working that night?" Ethan asked, his voice serious but a little gentle. Maybe he's cautious that the girl was just chosen randomly when scent blockers are used for everyone to appear as if they're betas.
It's still a mystery for all of them as to why they were perfectly chosen as such, five omegas and five alphas, it's too perfect of timing to kidnap random young adults only to find out they're alphas and omegas. On second thought, is their second gender the reason why they're here? Maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe it isn't.
His eyes caught Ourie looking, slightly smiling at him as he just glanced at him then back to Fiona. The whirring has come back and it needs to shut up now because he's focusing hard on trying to answer all the questions on his head. He's been trying to avoid thinking too much these past few weeks but having Fiona triggered the urge to think again and not just focus on 'taking the hint.'
"I...can't remember. I was alone--"
He heard an index then the middle finger crack and even without looking back, he knows who has that habit among them, Asea. When she's serious, she's not really scary but they take her seriously, like when they were in high school and she's asking for them to get serious so they will. Not like they've seen her get mad but they wouldn't want to see that. She bottles a lot of things, so seeing her too serious right now, and actually expressing her irritation (since cracking her fingers is unconscious for her and even when they ask her if she's fine, she would say she is even if she's not) right now unnerves them. "You can feel it when the drug wears off from you. You were chloroformed, not hit in the head, surely, if you can remember that you were alone and that you were chloroformed, you'll remember if your scent blockers wore off."
Her tone is vile and the girl was taken aback by the sharp, but calm words. She's suspicious or just irritated by the idiocy posed by the girl. Idiocy being, I know I was chloroformed and I was alone but I don't have a single idea if my scent blockers wore off by that time. Her lips parted like she has no idea what to say. "You didn't feel them coming from the back? I can understand that, but surely, they know you were an omega before they--"
"Can't you stop?" Azrael's irritated voice rang out and Asea's eyes nearly rolled. "Can you shut up, too? I'm not done." Asea's voice is sharp and Jace felt slight nervousness on his chest. Asea's mad. Like mad mad. "Asea." Em called, rather warned in a gentle tone.
"You would feel really cold when the scent blockers wore off, you know that right?" She repeated, leaning back as her eyes delved deeper into the brown orbs of Fiona. Fiona's lips are parted like she wanted to speak but she was taken aback like she wants to get irritated or fearful to this girl to no avail. "I know but I really can't remember." She insisted.
Asea's eyes got colder as she lets out a sigh. "You weren't in the train station, you were with them and you're here for a mission. You and I both know that. Right?" Jace was staring at Asea but Asea was staring right at the girl. And Asea's eyes narrowed a little.
"I don't know what you're saying. I was telling the truth." Fiona insisted but Asea's eyes are already looking away and Fiona got more desperate. "Why are you saying this? I just don't remember...I'm sorry I can't remember." Her voice cracked and fresh tears streamed down her face.
Azrael's eyes are staring angrily at Asea. Em has no idea what to do and the others are looking worriedly. Jace, on the other hand, has no idea what to feel. Asea's face twisted in disgust at that but she didn't look at the girl again.
She left abruptly and Em excused herself to follow Asea. Fiona was crying now and Aeria, unsure, awkwardly tapped her shoulder. "Hey, don't cry. Don't mind her." Trey forced a smile as Fiona wiped her face with her hand, her shoulders shaking as she cries. Asea's doubting her and anyone who is blamed wrongly would cry frustratedly like this.
Maybe...maybe she's saying the truth. Asea might be wrong in her theory.
"Don't mind her, Fiona," Azrael told her as she held back a choked sob. His tone is kind. And Jace wonders if he's usually this kind or is it because he saw injustice right before his eyes and Asea gave him actual reasons to hate her or he's just kind because it's some beautiful girl crying. Jace caught Ourie's eyes who shrugs. He doesn't seem to get unnerved at Fiona crying. What if he agrees to Asea but didn't want to say it out loud?
"It's fine." Yasser smiles at Aeria since he seemed to find Aeria struggling to comfort Fiona and his hand changed hers on Fiona's shoulder. Aeria somehow hates that she can't comfort freely. Then, Fiona leaned his head on Yasser's shoulder and Yasser got taken aback but doesn't seem to mind, too. Trey stared worriedly at Fiona then to the door where Asea and Em have gone to. He looks lost.
Ethan glanced at Fiona then got back to eating like nothing like that just happened. Azrael followed suit. And Jace felt full already from the drama that just evolved but his mind wouldn't sit tight at all the questions running on his mind. Mostly, why Ourie seemed to be agreeing on Asea.
🤨🤨🤨
Em's
Em tried not to sigh at what just happened. Asea wouldn't tell anything. She just proceeded to grab her towel and take a bath for the second time that morning, leaving her sitting on the other bed where Roo is sleeping.
There are too many things running on her mind but she knows Asea isn't a kiss and tell on things like this. For someone who bottles things up until she explodes, this is unusual. But who is she to judge and think so much? Unusual is welcome for people who got held against their will.
Em just stood up, knocked on the door until the shower dissipated and she can now speak, "Asea, talk to me when you can."
"Yeah." She took that as a cue to leave. Yet even when she started hanging out with Trey, her mind's boggled about the exchange. Trey isn't the least bothered by the new girl. He's telling her about his dog when he's in second grade. She finds everything he says interesting. The child-like wonder, the glee and excitement when he's telling it, and his funny anecdotes manage to take her mind off things.
That feeling when you get so caught up with a moment and you open your eyes and you momentarily forget where you are and the only familiarity you know about is Trey so you'll think you just time traveled for a moment before the reality sinks into you. Before the reality fully sinks in, Trey's laugh would bring her back to their own cocoon of wonderland full of Trey's funny and wonderful fails and her laughs partnered with his gleeful eyes seeing her laugh. Trey is a drug she unashamedly used every day to take her mind off of things. They managed to make their own world into this hell and she hates how natural everything is to them.
He knows how to make her laugh without even trying too hard. It's just him telling her about his life. Like a golden retriever, there's no malice in his movements. He would scream randomly and they would double over laughing at the ridiculousness of that. Their humor is senseless and they're used to getting weird stares from Ethan and the others but they don't care.
She knew he was staring at her, concern written on his face and she waited for the obvious question but instead, he reached out and pinch her face making her eyes widen. His eyes smiled and even with her face squished on his palms, his eyes are glassy and gleeful like she's the cutest, no, the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. And that's just bullshit because they haven't known each other for long and yet, Trey's eyes have the power to make anyone he stares at the most beautiful. It's...weird and intoxicating.
Trey is a drug, messing with the rational child at heart Emerald. The way his eyes smiled at her as she does to him, makes her feel like he's lying but how can he lie when everything he does seemed to have no malice, leaving no room for discussion and rationality in Emerald's mind. It's just crazy.
"The world's too shitty for you to worry about it so much. Just relax." Shitty? And before she knows it, he lets her go and his hand flew on her right ear, his index, rough as it runs on the shell of her ear down the lobe. Her head felt light like momentarily, oxygen just stopped flowing on her brain even though that would medically mean death for her, but still, metaphorically speaking her head's really light.
She forgot how to breathe and it felt warm. So warm. Was it summer already? It was so simple, just his index running on the shell of her ear and when she realized it, her lips parted as his index retreated, retreating to hug his knees and look away.
What just happened? "I guess. Let's give the world some credit, though." She answered and she was sure, she heard her voice shake a little. Emerald Lore, what the hell is going on with you? And like the most rational feeler that she is, she decided to push it back to her mind and have a reboot to avoid more metaphorical oxygen-terminating supposed brain death situations from happening again.
"Who's your favorite philosopher?" He asked, when they successfully regained normalcy after that and it helps that Trey is acting like nothing happened so she did him a favor by doing so, too. "Winnie the Pooh." They both laughed at her answer. Oh, the way his eyes crinkle in delight at every senseless or just obvious thing that he finds funny. Oh to be alive.
"You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. That's my favorite Winnie the Pooh quote." He oh-ed, his lips parted a little as he nods, as if savoring every word. "You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think... That's beautiful." It is, Trey. Really.
She stared at the way he would pout his lips when thinking deeply, his eyes which would narrow on a certain point as if reading something in the air, the fact that he's this grown young adult who loves working out and making himself big and strong but always insists to cross his legs or hug his knees like a little child when they talk by the wall together. She appreciates everything though that would be an insult in itself.
Trey Perez isn't just everything. He isn't usual. He's like the certain stop at the end of the vertical line only to swing up from there to form a checkmark. It was sure and careful at the start then when it turned, the swing was light and free. He's more than the sun, he's more than the checkmark, he sees everything from a pair of rose-colored glasses, and yet his positivity wasn't overly suffocating. It's enough for him to cope with the stressors surrounding him. Not too much that he doesn't care. Not too less that he's always afraid. He's beautiful and he knows it, and he knows the world isn't beautiful but he likes to think that certain parts still are and he holds onto it hard as his life depends on it.
Trey's beautiful. And the Winnie the Pooh quote might be beautiful but he's more beautiful.
He nods as if determined and he turns to her. "When we get out of here, can we hang out more?" It's a promise. And when she was just thinking it was a promise, he smiled to himself then raised his fist with his little finger raised. Pinky promise. "Really?" She asked. He nodded, still determined. And she raised her pinky and their pinkies touched and held each other as his wide, curious eyes traveled on her face, ending on her eyes. Their thumbs touched as they let go.
And when he was back on hugging his knees, he said, "Winnie the Pooh's now my favorite philosopher." He grinned and she expected a unique or just dumb punch line but he didn't say anything else and changed the subject.
😋😋😋
Roo's
Roo thinks it's the middle of the day when he woke up. He hates heats the most. Unlike ruts, where alphas can still do their job even while having it, heats just incapacitate them to just stop moving and long for someone to make them feel better. It's too unfair. Why do alphas get all the good, positive sparkles of the genetic spectrum? Why do omegas get to be the rarest and yet the dirtiest in everyone's eyes?
He always hated to be an omega. He didn't want to accept it. It's been a few years since they presented and he was wishing so hard to be just a beta. He lives in a world where genders dictate how your life would be. Imagine being a man and a woman, and double standards already there to make your life hell. Then the second gender existed, and there's a whole cornucopia of caste system-like reality that will determine how everything about you will work. Alpha? Yes, you're physically stronger and quicker and if you're an omega, you're frail and needs to take scent blockers and suppressants or you'll be seen as a whore and a fucking trash just because you're one.
Even if you're a workaholic asshole who wants to get better financially if you're an omega and your heat comes in the most pivotal moment of your career and then yes, you're done for. Even with suppressants, it would still hurt. It only lessens pain, it doesn't remove it, why bother taking it in the first place then? Imagine being an omega and having not enough money for scent blockers and suppressants, it's like being a naked, open buffet for everyone to feast on when you just passed by. They were raised to think of omegas as weak creatures, the ones getting the job of scraping the barrel of super good genes alphas gotten for their genetic lottery wins, and they're fewer than few. A tad fewer than alphas. Modern-day as it is, they're still trash and frowned upon. It's not easy getting progressive, leading jobs even though you worked so hard for it in college if you're an omega. Just really few omegas who managed to make it there but not quite enough to stir the judgment of everyone.
Omega rights are there but treating omega as nothing is basically a universal culture. It's fucking pathetic. Finding out he's an omega made him realize scent blockers would be his way to appear as a beta and do what he wants for himself. Yet, here he is.
Even with a cold compress on his head, it's still awfully warm. It's a band-aid solution for some volcano that wanted to explode but can't. His senses are dampened and for someone who suppressed it for so long with drugs, he thinks it's punishing him now for trying to dampening it in the first place. It's painful and hot, and even when he tried to relieve himself, it won't come down. Fucking frustrating.
He feels like his body's forcing him to think of all the existential thoughts he didn't want to think so much of, just for him to not get pulled by his instincts to just leave his bed and hunt the alpha with the scent which was the reason he got it earlier than usual. On the bright side, his body's finally breathing well after getting suppressed for years but that's the only bright side and he's too busy controlling himself to think of more.
And while Roo is trying to calm himself amidst all this, Ethan's running on the treadmill, his eyes stuck on the mirror in front of him. He's been dripping in sweat for half an hour now. And he's aware of the different sets of eyes on him.
Fiona for instance, who is watching a Monopoly game between Ourie, Jace, Aeria, and Yasser has been stealing glances at him. He doesn't mind. It's just weird. After what happened this morning, Asea's reaction to Fiona's confession made him think, too. It's either she's one of them, held against her will to be here with them or as Asea said, she's here for a mission, maybe spice things up. She looks so pretty and innocent, she doesn't seem like anyone who would do such a thing. Maybe Asea's just jealous or whatever. But still, one shouldn't base their judgments on the surface.
Speaking of Asea, she's in the kitchen, sitting by the corner. She looks like a kid, hiding from everyone, and yet, she would glance at him from time to time but it's nothing like Fiona's. Fiona seemed to want to tell him something, hers are of a casual observer, or her eyes are just blank and just doesn't mean anything. He took a mental note to observe Fiona in the following days. Anyway, he was about to finish off running when he felt his whole body warming up.
Ethan's a really strict person. He schedules almost everything, he hates it when something new comes up that ruins his plans. And so, not being able to know when's his rut is coming because he has no way of getting ahold of his planner nor his phone calendar infuriates him. He closed his eyes, if he's been here for a few weeks now, his rut may be coming now. And when his head started aching, he curses silently and quickly switched off the treadmill. He really is having his rut. But why all of a sudden?
When he turned towards the doors of the rooms, it hit him like an avalanche. It's just the second day but he got used to the sweet-smelling scent of that particular guy in heat. That guy got in heat because of his seemingly misplaced towelette. The scent managed to inculcate on him and stayed, and also triggered his rut. His throat felt dry and something's burning southward. Fucking...what the fuck. Just what the fuck is happening to him.
They flinched when Ethan slammed the door close. They didn't see him getting in the wrong room.
Roo's eyes opened when someone grabbed his collar, and the feeling of being suffocated by someone's scent he has been yearning for since yesterday overwhelmed him. His lips parted, seeing Ethan holding his collars tight as his eyes burned with an intensity he can't decipher. His scent's overwhelmingly strong and yet something about it makes him want to just lean and bury himself on his neck. The tones of wood and rain mixing, it's a whole new experience. He's a whole new experience waiting to be explored.
Ethan's eyes are expressively darker than normal, his thick lashes and his half-lidded eyes, his forehead sweating and he looks really good without his mask on. And he has no time to filter his thoughts, let alone time to control himself because when Ethan leaned closer, he closed his eyes.
He badly wants this heat to just stop and this...this scent, he wants to be close to it. So close he wants to be enveloped along with it. Everything's too much and yet he doesn't want it to end. His senses are overloading and his body's trembling in raw need to be taken. Not by anyone but by this man. By this alpha and it's crazy and beyond reason and yet, nothing makes sense anymore. He just wants this to stop. Anything to make this stop.
Ethan's lips met his and it was ecstatic. He has no idea what kisses felt but it was his body's own doing to receive him. His whole body's burning up as his lips started doing its slow dance with his. He was sure he knows nothing about animals inside one's body but he knows the fluttering on his stomach was like small worms salted to their death. Crazy. It's fucking crazy.
He felt his body fell to the soft bed again, Ethan's left hand releasing him to support himself next to his head as their hips met. Roo started cursing on his head at the contact, Ethan bit his lower lip and he cursed again as the alpha took that opportunity to slid his tongue in.
His tongue met with his and a feverish duel commenced with Ethan's right hand holding his neck, thumbing his clavicle as he pulled away slightly to breathe and continued kissing him. Their hips are in contact now and he's not in control of his body slightly humping on the other who welcomes his dry thrusts.
When he pulled away again, the hand on his neck tightened a little, yet enough for him to breathe, his lips grazing his jawline leaving small kisses on every inch he sees. He thrusts up to Ethan's, needing more, as he gasped, taking his hand off of his neck to start kissing his neck. Their hips stopped being shy and started getting desperate. They're both trembling in pure lust and excitement on the ritual they invented just now.
Every touch is an invitation, the slow build towards the incoming climax. He left openmouthed kisses in his wake. They seemed to have heard two consecutive clicks by the door but nothing else that will stop their animalistic instincts growling hard for them to follow.
Roo's hand holding on the skin of his back when he felt it, the deep breath before he lifted himself as Roo cursed for the nth time now on the loss of the friction only to be flipped over. "W-wha--" With his breath touching his nape, he felt it.
His teeth sinking on his skin as he groans in pain.