Roo's
The last time they were sitting opposite each other on the couch, he was eating what he cooked for him. Didn't know the next time would be them talking about something they somehow couldn't control. He has his mask back on. Last time, he hasn't had his mask, they were kissing, and just remembering it felt surreal. He refuses to think back but it kept popping off like he had no other, more important things to think of.
"We weren't conscious when we did it." Roo started.
His eyes are the same cold orbs like he's bored and yet judging someone hard in just a stare. Different from those burning eyes that specific day. "I closed the door." Roo just looked at him as he continued. "I'm, at least, 75% conscious."
"Which means?"
"Let's date." Roo just stared at him, as if challenging him to take it back. "We're supposed to help each other out during our heats."
"Date." He muttered. Roo told himself that if it does come, whatever it is that they call love, he doesn't want his plans ruined along with it. Dating someone isn't on his plans, at all. But something isn't sitting right with him. "Are you dating anyone else?" Ethan asked him.
"If you're 75% conscious, you were aware that you're giving me a bond mark?" Ethan just blinked, as if he's sure at what everything that has happened and has no regrets. Wow, okay.
It's not that Roo's regretting. Okay, he is regretting, there's a fucking bond mark on his nape, which meant he'll be wanting for a certain alpha to ease the pain on his heats and he'll be dating an alpha. A fucking alpha who they were warned against, those who will force themselves on omegas. Like him.
"Yeah."
He breathed calmly. Trying to stay sane while his whole body's heating up in what, irritation and just.. just because he looks so sure on what he's done and doesn't regret anything. "Why?"
"I never had my rut triggered by someone in particular. I figured there was something about you." Can I just punch him in the face? How is he so rash and yet so sure about this?
Roo is internally freaking out and this man continued. "Fated pair." He almost coughed loudly at that. Bullshit. That's a fucking legend. He sighed as if the alpha is nearing losing patience seeing the doubt and disagreement on his face.
Really? He's the one losing patience?
"That's a legend."
"It's subjective but not entirely false." Roo blinked, unamused. This bullshit is his reason for biting him? Really? "You got triggered on my scent as I did. That's fated pair."
A fated pair is an alpha/omega couple who are supposedly destined to be together. Like soulmates in the beta's terms. Except it's not just their souls who are entwined, whatever romanticism has managed to inculcate on almost everything laughable that isn't practical, they're bonded with deep emotional and sexual connection to each other. And some would know it at their first meeting, or when they get presented, it varies from person to person but Roo thinks it's just one way to look at the bright side of alphas and omegas bonding together.
Just untrue and completely coincidental. Like twin telepathy. Though he thinks there is really preference and biases within each person so there's a reason why he's friends with Em, Asea, Aeria, and Jace yet would call Ethan salty on his head.
There's no such thing as soulmates. It's just a matter of preference.
Ethan held his left arm to him and showed his wrist that made him stop. Needle wounds. But... "Alphas don't need to use suppressants when it's their heat. It's manageable," because that's how it is. Alphas can go on with their life even with their rut. It might be hard for some to control themselves that they still suppressant to not get attracted to the scent (the pain's not that apparent for them, only the fact that they can just grab some omega and fuck them relentlessly just because is the part that needs to get controlled).
Suppressants aren't needed, alpha pheromones would dance in the air and no one will look at them in the eye. It's like going into a room and having to wear the most fragrant and strongest perfume there that just announces their presence even before they came. Even with perfumes and patches which will somehow tone it down, it would still be reminiscent in the air.
"Mine's always intense, always taking me to hospitals every two months." Roo pursed his lips, feeling something cold on his nape. Intense ruts are painful, not deadly like omega heats but still painful. Morphine and painkillers alike don't always work. And it's only common when they've been suppressing themselves when they shouldn't and according to supposed legends, when there's resistance to bonding.
"It started on that art competition. Two years ago." He blinked fast. Wait what. Two years ago? Art competition? Two years ago, he was in his final year in senior high school. He attended too many art competitions that year. Then he realized what he seemed to be implying.
"You mean we met two years ago and I was the reason why you're having intense ruts?"
His eyes wrinkled, as if smiling and Roo's lips parted a little, it's weird...and a bit amusing to see him smile. "Good thing, you're not dumb." Wow. Okay. He'll pretend he didn't hear that.
"What competition?"
"The one where you won second place."
"Where? You know how to draw?"
"No. Azrael was a college freshman that time when he won the championship. Your school said homecourt advantage but the right side of your painting looked rushed that's why--" He cursed multiple times on his head when he realized what he's talking about.
😏😏😏
Ethan's
Two years ago,
Ethan's fiddling with his newly bought book on the study lounge with Trey and Ourie arguing about something. "Where's Yasser?" Azrael asked suddenly, coming out of nowhere. Ethan rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his book.
Azrael just finished his contest. They'll watch the awarding ceremony later because somehow, Azrael promised he'll treat them if he wins first place. Azrael, a college freshman, decided to join an art competition with mostly senior high students just because the rules never said college freshmen we're not allowed. Weird but whatever. "He's just in the Science building. Don't worry about him too much, he knows where we are." Ourie told Azrael. Azrael seemed to want to go somewhere since he's not bothering to sit down at their table. "Oh, there!" Trey loudly said when he saw Yasser walking towards them.
When they were completed, Azrael told them that the exhibit's already up. It's not that he's not confident with his work but he wants to see what the others did. So, they did. There are other people in there but they focused on glancing at the contenders. "That one looks beautiful. Was that yours?" Trey said, pointing at a painting. They got to the painting and stared at it.
It seemed like a magnificent tree of life. The color themes are a mix of autumn hues, orange, red, pale yellow, and as the tree trunk darkens downwards, the hue started to look sullener. It's an apple tree with cinnamon as its other fruit. The autumn part of it was roughly painted, like an oil painting, faded and old which contrasts the sullen part where everything is detailed and all the shapes are sure and the colors are bold and clear. It's a paradox in itself. Light but fading, dark but bold. And for someone whose art standards were raised because a certain Azrael Velasco existed whose art he really commends, this just caught his eye.
Apple cinnamon tree. Yet the more he looks at it, the more stories it tells in every stroke and in every detail he puts. A stray ball stuck in one of the bushes near the tree. Random tree stumps. Creepy crawlers at the top branches, innocent ladybugs and grasshoppers at the tree roots. Puddles of water on uneven patches of grasses. It wasn't just a painting, it was an experience.
It isn't perfect, but the narrative was there. The narrative he didn't know what to feel for. "What was the theme?" Ourie asked.
"Metaphorical self-portrait." Interesting. Really interesting. "Where's yours?" Trey asked as Azrael pointed on his own, two paintings away. A mint branch was broken from its plant because of an obvious storm and it's floating above the sea, also with scattered wooden planks and broken ship parts, depicting remnants of a ship. "Whoa, bro. Don't forget about me when you're popular." Ourie said slapping Azrael's back as the latter didn't even flinch at the usual slaps and hits they get from each other.
He was still gazing at the last painting they got onto. Azrael never disappoints him but the paradox served in a silver platter by the last painting just took his breath away. He's not someone who enjoys paintings as it is, but it felt like watching a movie rather than just watching paint dry.
"I was sitting next to the one who did that," Azrael said suddenly, noticing his eyes. "That one in the blue uniform, grade 12." He said, peeking over his shoulder. He looked back and saw a guy, probably a year younger than them probably, yawning behind his hand as his eyes crinkle in the process. He blinked once, twice, adjusting to his surroundings then looked around as if trying to find someone.
Cinnamon and apples. Paradox. His eyes stared but his hands were getting cold and he has no idea why.
Then, his eyes caught him but it just glanced and took him like a mirage. His throat dried. "Ma'am Nes!" He called after and started walking towards his place. He's looking at his shoulder and he's stuck there. He can feel his friends are already off somewhere, not realizing he got caught up.
Not realizing he's just staring at this another young man near his age, probably, his nape feeling cold with his head feeling airy. He said all this and did not realize that his heart's beating fast. He looked away, holding on to his throat when he started walking near him. He sensed his cool, manly cologne when he passed by, and even with the mask on, he sensed it. He blinked fast, staring at the patch of grass near the grandstand until he's gone.
That day, he should be reading his newly bought book but instead, he tailed his friends and trained his peripheral on him. Afraid that he'll catch him looking. It'll be weird. And everything's weird. It's just fucking weird to stare at a guy for reasons he had no idea about.
He watched him smile even if he was called on second place. Even when the teacher with him said it was a homecourt advantage. Even though his painting just speak volumes and yet, when his back retreated towards the entrance gate with his teacher, he cursed himself multiple times for spending time trying to figure out the very reason why he's staring at him.
"His was better actually. Mine's just cleaner." Azrael said but he didn't answer.
That night he got his first intense rut. And two years later, he found out why.
😘😘😘
No one's
"I just saw you a couple of times during the competition." Definitely won't tell him that his eyes followed him all throughout.
"I didn't saw you."
"Were your heats irregular?" Roo got silent at that. He refused to admit fated pairs exist. It's weird. Like hanahaki disease, fictional. Yet even if it starts making sense, he would still reason out. "Heats can be irregular because of stress and lack of sleep."
"I don't suppress myself. I'm active." How can he say that he's sexually active with a straight face?
Instead of blushing, Roo sighed. "Okay." Then he stayed silent. If it is then, that they're fated pairs, being bond marked would make his accidental heats tolerable since it wouldn't be irregular anymore. Less hassle. And it won't be painful even with the suppressants. Getting with him is beneficial to their health. As of now, that's the only consolation he could think of.
"So, were your rut not that intense?"
"Still intense since I was told not to go..." to fuck you. Fuck. This time, even if Ethan said that in a straight face, his ears reddened at the tips.
"We don't have to force anything else right?"
"We're dating, there's no pressure but I'll do what I know is sufficient." Roo almost laughed at the too formal language he used in threading through this.
"Are you a robot or something?" His eyebrows furrowed a little.
"I never dated anyone--"
"Even if you're active?"
"No. You?"
"None." They were silent, his brown cold orbs staring back at him as Roo's gaze relaxed a little. A knot in his stomach loosened a little. The bond mark was beneficial. If it means, less pain during heats, he'll take that.
But for now, he's dating and bonded with the salty man.
Weird.
😋😋😋
Jace's
Jace was sleeping soundly when he felt hands wrapping on his neck, quickly tightening. He choked, his eyes opening wide in shock as his mouth opened to catch for breath. His eyes were quick to tear up as his hands held on the cold wrists around his neck, clawing and scratching it to let go. The man's wearing black, his face blurry because it's too dark.
His right hand fell on the right side of the bed to call Roo's attention but the tiled floor met his arm. He was flailing as much as he can, trying to get him off from straddling on his stomach. Tears streamed down his face in pain.
He desperately clawed on his wrists but it was strong. His vision was darkening and he feels cold, really cold as everything went black.
He woke up feeling iced cold hands wrap around his neck as he flinches in shock. Fuck. Is he...is he dreaming? The same man in black. The same veined hands, as he scratches his wrists more. The same tiled floor. The same intensity. Yet his body felt weak with the loss of oxygen as he finally lets go and stand up. He clawed on his throat, unconsciously covering it, feeling stings of pain on every part of his neck as he catches his breath. The man was tall but his eyes were tearful he can't see anymore as he just leaves him there.
He felt spent. Wasted. His shaky deep breaths stay as he held on to his neck and stared at the ceiling. What just happened? This is just a dream, right? Maybe if he falls asleep, everything will go back to normal and he wasn't just strangled to death twice. Normal being back to his bed on his own home. Right?
Dread slowly crawled on his body, gripping him tight, even tighter than those hands and it stayed. It feels cold.
Jace feels so cold. He never felt so little and weak. He never felt this much fear before.
😨😨😨
Jace's
"Fuck, Jace, what happened?!" Aeria asked Jace when he was barely awake. Her hand held on his jaw, looking at his neck as she cursed yet again.
Their worried glances were enough after what he said happened last night. Even fearful, he's relaxed right now. Because he somehow knows, no one in here will strangle him. The circle around the coffee table, Aeria's and Roo's arms touching his, Asea's knee touching his foot on the ground, Ourie's worried eyes in front of him. He's fine. He feels fine. For now.
"You mean they brought you out of the room and no one woke up?" Trey asked, confused. He looked at Em's glassy and guilty eyes shooting back at him. "I'm sorry I didn't wake up."
"Don't blame yourself. Yasser and Azrael's a light sleeper and they didn't wake up last night. Something's wrong." Ourie said, giving a gentle smile to Em who nodded once. "What if we were drugged? I slept too early last night." Fiona informed, basically confirming the wrong that Ourie was implying. "Right, it's three weeks now. Something has to happen for the people with asterisks." Asea told them.
"So, the asterisks were the ones who would get hurt?" Em asked Asea who shrugged. She leaned back on the couch and it seemed like she wanted to answer but didn't.
"Say it," Azrael said and he saw how Asea's eyes turned to look at Em before answering. "I was stabbed in the wrist, Roo got his accidental heat because of Ethan's towelette deliberately scattered when Ethan's no scatterbrain, and Jace got strangled twice." she paused. "I'm not sure. My theories are always senseless."
"No, no, wait." Ourie closed his eyes for a moment, composing himself. "They baited Ethan's towelette for Roo specifically because they're paired in colors, remember?" His eyes are on Asea whose eyes gleamed in the light, nodding subtly for him to continue.
"Which means, I think, shot in the dark, they all want us to fuck each other."
Asea cursed silently as relief washes on her face. Fucking finally, someone gets her. They all blinked fast as both Ourie and Asea stared at each other in recognition. "What." Yasser.
"Okay, fuck! Wait. Ourie, listen." Asea stood up and got to the laundry room. Ourie's eyes are widened and curious and happy and he's somehow glad that Asea found someone who finally got her theory because he himself isn't that buying it. Maybe because Asea's really imaginative and sometimes it's too much of a stretch.
She showed a bottle of lube and Em and Aeria both blinked fast in confusion. Jace hates that he knows what it is. "What's that?" Em asked.
"Don't be mad but this came in the time after I asked Jace to kiss you." Ourie doesn't seem offended but he oh-ed and smiled. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"You're not mad?" She asked, a bit unsure and Ourie smiled lightly and the whirring inside him commenced. Fuck. "It's more than fine to be kissed by Jace Ferrer." He smiled and his friends chuckle, momentarily forgetting the dilemma at hand as Jace's friends looked at him teasingly, as Jacethanks the heavens for making him tan, his blushing will not be so obvious.
"Are you sure it's not a coincidence?" Azrael asked as the slight smile on her face disappeared. "This came in after Roo got his heat." She said, putting the lube on the kitchen counter and opening the top cabinet to show another brand of lube. Interestingly, their theory of, 'they want us to fuck each other' starts making sense.
Because why the hell would their perpetrator care about their sexual lives? It's fucking weird. If them getting underwear for them isn't creepy enough, this is more than freaky.
"Oh, remember what the girl said?" Ourie said, his full attention on her as if he knows his friends and the other people in this room isn't up for their theories that actually starting to make sense by now. Also, he looks passionate about this, solving puzzles, brainstorming. "She said, it would be nice if we know each other because we would be here for a long time. Which probably means they really want us to get together."
"Yeah! I told that to Kuya Jace, he just thought we're supposed to be solving it together so camaraderie is involved but that sentence--"
"Not until you take the hint." Em recited, which made both Ourie and Asea nodded fast.
"Take the hint, is like, read the room. But I was thinking about this from the start because of that sentence alone. When someone's flirting with you and you won't take the hint, right?" Ourie nodded, like an assurance that he totally gets where she's coming from and leading to.
Ethan hissed, his patience thinning with all these theories. "If they want us to fuck each other, what's with Fiona then?" Ourie's face looks at her expectantly. She pursed her lips and puts back the lube while thinking of what to say. Would she tell them that she still thinks she's a spy?
"She's not included in the narrative." She just answered. "Though, they might trash their future plans because I found out."
"Asea, your theory makes sense," Em said. "You should have told us." Aeria insisted and she shrugs, going back to her seat.
The silence after that was unnerving. There are too many questions urged by Asea and Ourie's theory. All whys. All unanswered.
😲😲😲
Jace's
As soon as Ourie sits beside him, his mouth opened. "Are you mad?" He looked at him and waited for his answer, silently wishing he isn't. Even though he said no he isn't mad, still. Just, what if he is? The last time he started overthinking this seriously, aside from the kidnapping conundrum, was when his umbrella got lost and he went on planning when and where to buy a new one while overthinking on how and why he lost it.
His brown orbs stared back at him as he smiles lightly and there, thy heart started whirring again. Ourie leaned closer and he almost fell back in shock when their lips met.
Ourie's hand was quick to hold on to his nape as he licked his lower lip, doing the exact same thing he did to him to make him gasp. Ourie's fingers on his nape were warm but a chill run down his spine when the curve of his nails slightly grazed the very part where bond marks should be. But his head went empty, like a sudden static in the radio loudness when Ourie kissed him deeper, his body feeling like it's melting. The whirring was too loud like the drumming of his heart. It was crazy, entering a sublime peak momentarily as he devoured him with just his lips.
And when he lets go, his fingers releasing his nape as his eyes opened, widened. Their lips glistening with spit. Jace's lips parted in mixed shock, unsated. Ourie's pupils were blown as a fond smile, not a playful smile, painted his lips. The alpha's hand raised, the back of his index finger gently wiping the string of saliva falling down the corner of his lips.
"We're even now."
He almost cursed loudly when he placed a small kiss on his nose before pulling away. He stood up and got to the kitchen as he held his forehead, feeling his searing hot skin.
What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. Is he fucking panicking now when he could've done this after the strangulation?
A cold lump touched his shoulder, almost making him flinch. It fell down his lap. A cold compress. "Neck," Ourie said and got to their room.
He held the cold compress, unconsciously pressing it to his thigh, wetting the cloth but his head's just empty.
What the fuck. He liked it. What the fuck. The whirring, the stupid facts, the annoying smirk, the sublime peak, the fingers on his nape, the kiss, and what the fuck, the kisser. He liked it and now he has no idea what to do.
😊😊😊
Em's
Finding Trey to be a very good listener, Em wanted to say her worries about the possibility of Asea's theory coming true. He always has his full attention on her when she would just say something about a dog she found cute when she was a kid which ended up running after her. It's senseless but his replies, his words, his smiles, and the subtle changes on his face as he listens are all that's enough to make her smile when it passed her mind. Though this time, she didn't want to tell these worries to him.
Trey hasn't told his side about the theory but looking at him a while ago, he seemed convinced but he's also thinking deeply about it. Aside from that, she's wishing, for once, that Asea is wrong. Because...that's sacred, special even.
She was taught that respecting her own body and not letting herself be touched by just anyone is tantamount to respecting herself, her conscience, and her morals. It's self-preservation and there's a right time for everything, never a need to rush.
Looking back to the horror movies they used to laugh about for being stupid and pathetic, they didn't want it but they get to sacrifice limbs and their dignity just to live. If Asea's right, will the time come that they'll have to sacrifice things that they care about in order to live? What is this sick joke even? Why can she feel people laughing while watching them normalize everything and go through days unscathed? Why does she feel like she's already losing?
"Emerald." Her eyes looked up to the other's unwavering gaze. Like he wanted to tell her so many things but he didn't. "Can I ask you to do something for me?" His voice is careful and she can feel the nervous thumps on her heart on what he might say.
"Can you trust me that I wouldn't hurt you?" Not once did his gaze wavered. And there she found the answer.
When it's stupid. When it's crazy. When it's beyond her limits.
She nodded.
It doesn't feel like she sacrificed anything but she feels lighter.