Work Text:
Liu Qingge glared at the results in his hands. There was no way they were right. He was twenty-six, for fuck’s sake, he would have known by now if he were an omega.
“This is wrong,” he announced firmly, holding the paper back out and glaring up at the doctor in front of him.
Mu Qingfang, standing in front of him in a neat white coat over a rumpled green button down and wrinkled trousers, just blinked patiently back at him. “It’s not. The test has 99.9% accuracy. The 0.01% is just a formality.”
“The 0.01% is right in front of you,” Liu Qingge bit out. “Run it again.”
Mu Qingfang stared at him. Liu Qingge glared back. Mu Qingfang let out a sigh and called a nurse into the room. “Another finger prick for Liu Qingge,” he directed, and Liu Qingge held his hand out immediately. The nurse looked a little confused but did as she was told.
The process was quick and painless, but the test itself took around half an hour to run, and that was half an hour that Liu Qingge had to sit there, waiting.
Mu Qingfang left him to go attend to other patients in the meantime, but he gave Liu Qingge a telling look over his shoulder as he left. What exactly it was telling, Liu Qingge didn’t know, but it pissed him off all the same.
By the time Mu Qingfang reentered the room, a folder in his hands and a perfectly neutral expression on his face, Liu Qingge felt like he might tear the sterile little exam room apart with his bare hands.
“Here you go,” Mu Qingfang said blithely as he handed the folder open. Liu Qingge’s stomach sank before he even opened it.
He stared at Mu Qingfang. Mu Qingfang stared back. Liu Qingge tried to make out anything in that perfect doctorly mask of his, but found nothing: not pity, not annoyance, not satisfaction. Mu Qingfang just looked back at him, waiting patiently for him to open the folder a second time.
Liu Qingge gritted his teeth and did just that.
Name: Liu Qingge
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Presentation: Omega (Ω)
Liu Qingge stared.
Omega.
It wasn’t changing. It was printed, clear as day, with a symbol beside it to boot. Mu Qingfang finally decided to speak up, clearing his throat from across the cramped little room. Liu Qingge looked up and found him standing against the wall, not leaning but close to it, with his arms crossed over his broad chest.
“As I said before, it’s not a testing error. These things happen sometimes—delayed presentations—for any number of reasons. It doesn’t need to have a drastic effect on your life, though it may be a moment of… some stress for you. Just remember: omegas, alphas, betas; everyone is capable of having a normal life. Presenting late can be overwhelming, but once you grow accustomed to-”
Liu Qingge only half heard the words that continued to spill from Mu Qingfang’s mouth as he recited what must have been the standard ‘So you presented late, here’s what you need to know’ speech. Something about puberty all over again but with different hormones, and potential bodily changes, and scents and cycles and instincts and-
“I have to go,” Liu Qingge announced suddenly, lurching to his feet and cutting Mu Qingfang off mid-blurb. “I- Goodbye.”
He didn’t thank the doctor, because how could he bring himself to do that? But he did hesitate by the reception desk just in case he needed to pay anything on his way out. Before he made it to the door, though, a slim hand caught him by the wrist.
Liu Qingge turned and found the nurse from earlier standing in front of him, a little bag in her hand that she held out to him. He took it on instinct and eyed it suspiciously.
“It’s information on late presentations as well as what to expect from your secondary gender. Mu Yisheng will send in a prescription for heat suppressants to the pharmacy we have on file for you, but be sure to read the documents and instructions first and contact us if you have any questions or concerns.”
With that, the nurse bowed her head politely and spun around, leaving Liu Qingge standing awkwardly in the way of the door for a minute longer before deciding it was well past time for him to get the hell out of there.
After two months of dealing with this bullshit, Liu Qingge could say with some certainty that being an omega had impacted his quality of life, and not in any good ways.
When he’d first left the doctor’s office with his results, he’d gone straight home and dumped the bag of information into a drawer without so much as a first glance, much less a second. Then he’d gone to find his sister.
Liu Mingyan had been no help at all. Although it had been something of a surprise given her pretty face and delicate features, Liu Mingyan had presented as an alpha when she was just twelve years old. In other words, she had no perspective at all.
”Congrats?” she’d offered, trying to gauge the look on his face over the teas they’d ordered. Liu Qingge had left shortly after when she’d started questioning whether he’d finally be getting a boyfriend now, or-?
He’d considered going to Shen Qingqiu next but… he wasn’t ready to swallow that pill just yet. Unpresented, he’d clung to a sliver of hope that Shen Qingqiu might someday… But as an omega, his chances were slim to none, that much was obvious.
Shen Qingqiu might not be the stereotypical, swooning omega, but Liu Qingge had seen the way he interacted with his precious Luo Binghe, the picture of a perfect alpha. Liu Qingge could probably use his advice as a friend, but he wasn’t ready to take the final nail in the coffin of his unrequited torch.
In the end, he’d just gone home again and decided he would simply ignore it all until it became a problem.
Of course, that didn’t take long at all. He’d gone to the doctor for a reason, after all. Headaches, stomach aches, cramps like he couldn’t believe. Much to his annoyance, it didn’t all just magically disappear as soon as he had a diagnosis.
He lasted a week and a half before he was dragging out the bag of brochures and pamphlets and other bullshit, poring over it like his life depended on it.
It turned out that late presentations—especially late presentations like Liu Qingge’s—were something of a nightmare. Usually, the changes happened around puberty, the necessary parts and organs growing as the body did. When one presented after puberty, especially as a fully developed adult, all the changes happened more or less all at once, a rush of hormones and growing pains that should have been spread out over years compounded into a matter of months or even weeks.
Everyone was born with all the… possibilities, as it were: genitals, organs, all that good stuff. The prominence of certain traits would determine a child’s primary gender, and that would be the end of it until puberty usually. When someone presented, either as an alpha or omega, their bodies would then develop accordingly.
In the case of Liu Qingge, he had been born with more prominent male traits, but since he hadn’t presented… Puberty had impacted other things, like his height and voice and things like that, but as for his genitals, they’d just kind of…
Well, he was sure they hadn’t stayed the same, but they certainly hadn’t developed the way most people’s did. Liu Qingge had seen plenty of genitals (if only in porn), and he knew that what he had down there was not normal for a fully developed adult.
He supposed he was lucky that he could physically experience arousal, but even hard, his dick was small and his balls tight against his body, and his vagina was too tight for more than a single finger, even with additional lube. A male alpha would have a large cock with a knot at the base, heavy balls, a vagina that was practically sealed shut (though he’d heard of alphas who enjoyed… experimenting). A male omega’s dick would be more decorative than anything, something of an overgrown clit to play with while fucking their vagina (although, again, he’d heard of omegas who liked topping, if they could).
Needless to say, Liu Qingge had never exactly worked up the balls, for lack of a better phrase, to try wooing someone into his bed with his rather useless anatomy.
But now, suddenly, he was changing.
The brochures warned him that it might be painful, developing at an extraordinary pace inside and out, but, luckily for him, over the counter pain meds were okay in moderation! Did they help? No! Also, the useless womb he’d been in possession of for the past twenty-six years of his life had decided to come to life, and Liu Qingge felt very much like he wanted it out of him right now, please.
As if that weren’t bad enough, he’d had to run home mid-grocery run one day because he could suddenly smell people and it was so fucking dizzying he thought he might throw up or pass out or some other thing he shouldn’t be doing in a grocery store.
He’d spent the next week locked up in his apartment, growing increasingly aware of the fact that he also smelled, though he couldn’t pinpoint like what, exactly.
About a week after that, on a day when the cramping in his gut was almost negligible, Liu Qingge had decided to do something about the weird bouts of horniness that had also been occurring (thanks, second, worser puberty!) and had found, much to his dismay, that his cock only seemed half willing to harden. He had been, however, very wet. Wetter than he’d ever been in his life, actually, and when he’d reached down to see whether he was actually dripping the way it felt like it was, he’d been even more dismayed to find that his vagina had grown.
One finger had slipped in easily for the first time in his life, and his eyes had flown wide in shock at the fact that he could feel… room. Room for more. He’d fit another finger in, and then another, and then chickened out before seeing just how much he could take (three had been enough anyway, he’d found, after discovering that his newly developed pussy was also capable of making a mess of his sheets when he came).
Two months after learning what was happening to him, Liu Qingge had stabilized a bit, but he was no happier for it. He could stand to go out in public again, but he found himself wearing masks whenever he had to go somewhere crowded, the scents quickly overwhelming him.
He’d also been told by friends and family that his own scent, while a pleasant mix of silver thistle, wild honey, and jasmine, was overpowering and unrestrained. He had no control over it, and every emotion came through loud and pungent, to the detriment of those around him thanks to his generally volatile personality.
He’d taken to wearing scent patches anytime he went out too, not liking the vulnerability of everyone knowing how he felt all the time. In his own home, though, he had to take them off. Even though he couldn’t smell himself the way others could, he got this itch when his scent didn’t saturate everything in his home, especially his room and his bed, which had become gradually more nestlike in the past weeks.
He’d also been unbearably horny, which made going out without scent patches a horrible mistake (which he’d made twice before quickly learning his lesson), and made… everything else hugely uncomfortable.
Liu Qingge had a brand new pussy and it demanded to be used.
Liu Qingge had never jacked off more in his entire life.
Finally, though, he decided the worst of it was hopefully over. After a month and a half, the cramps had died down, he’d gained some control over his own scent and learned to live with the overwhelming scents of others, and- Well, he wasn’t less horny, but he had learned all kinds of fun things to do with his new anatomy that almost (for brief moments) made the whole thing feel almost worth it.
Still, Liu Qingge needed a break. Not from any one thing in particular, but just in general. An evening, at least, to turn his brain off, forget about all the misery he’d had to endure in the past few months. He needed a night out.
He debated inviting friends, but quickly decided against it. Drinking with company meant entertaining, it meant participating and listening and being on, when all Liu Qingge wanted was to disconnect. So he went out alone, his scent patches covering every gland on his body just in case, and decided he was going to get as fucked up as he wanted, all on his own.
The bar he ended up in was unfamiliar, but the vibe was good enough and it was close to home. Loud enough that there wasn’t a whole lot of unnecessary conversation, dark enough that there wasn’t much awkward, across-the-bar eye contact, and cheap enough that Liu Qingge could stay there for a good long while without feeling guilty for the damage he was doing to his bank account.
His first drink was fine; nothing to write home about, but he wasn’t exactly there for a Michelin cocktail or anything. It burned on the way down and the smell of alcohol muted the raucous scents of the other customers, which was exactly what he wanted. His second drink went down a little faster, though he paired it with some pork belly buns to at least have some food in his stomach too. Not that it’d help much in the long run, but that was Later Liu Qingge’s problem.
As he started on his third drink, though, he caught a scent that… Hmm.
Liu Qingge hadn’t really liked a scent yet. His sister’s was fine; jasmine heavy with a clear smell like rain into a lake, but she just smelled like… little sister. There was no other way to describe it. Shen Qingqiu smelled good; sweet yet bitter, like a hawthorn berry, but his scent didn’t exactly attract Liu Qingge, much to his own surprise.
Luo Binghe, though he hated to admit it, probably smelled the best to him; distinctly alpha (though not like his little sister), deep and warm like a bonfire in winter. He smelled, oddly enough, like a new year celebration. Liu Qingge could see why Shen Qingqiu was so pleased with him, but even Luo Binghe didn’t draw Liu Qingge in like the scent he caught at the bar.
He felt a little ridiculous lifting his nose in the air like a dog as he tried to figure out where it was coming from (it smelled warm and earthy, like sandalwood and amber, with a light hint of mandarins and violets), but he felt doubly so when he turned to the side and caught sight of an oddly familiar face.
It took Liu Qingge a second to place it, since the setting was so different than before, but it suddenly struck him. The doctor, Mu… Mu Qingfang. The one who had-!
Liu Qingge knew, of course, that it wasn’t Mu Qingfang’s fault that he’d gone and presented as an omega a full decade or more after he should have, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t hold a grudge towards the man for being the one to tell him!
He didn’t realize he was sitting there, glaring across the bar at Mu Qingfang’s surprisingly good-looking relaxed face until the doctor happened to look his way and meet his eye. He stared for a second before he seemed to recognize Liu Qingge as well, and one eyebrow inched up ever so slightly as he took a long sip of his drink.
Liu Qingge knew he should look away, but he was two and a half drinks in and also a problem starter by nature, so he just narrowed his eyes a little further and let his top lip twitch up into something resembling a snarl, as if he were some feral animal instead of a full grown man.
Mu Qingfang looked a little startled for a second, but then Liu Qingge saw the corners of his mouth curl up in amusement behind the rip of his glass. Then he stood from his stool and Liu Qingge watched with growing regret as he made his way around the bar and down towards Liu Qingge. Or, more specifically, towards the empty seat at Liu Qingge’s side.
The doctor seated himself with a grace that was at odds with the messy way his brown hair was pulled into a bun, held in place with what appeared to be wooden take-out chopsticks, the careless way his soft ivory shirt was unbuttoned a little further than it should be, heedlessly pushed into the slim waist of his trousers.
He looked a mess, but only skin deep. Maybe his socks didn’t match (Liu Qingge got a peek as he crossed his long legs at the knee, the hem of his pants rising revealingly above his ankles), but his hair looked clean, his nails were neat and well-kept, and he smelled-
He smelled earthy and refreshing, like sandalwood tinged with mandarin and violets. So this was the alpha Liu Qingge had been seeking. Naturally, that was just his luck.
Mu Qingfang seems to be scenting him too, his chin tilted up ever so slightly like he was searching for a scent that Liu Qingge had gone out of his way to ensure wasn’t there.
“Scent patches?” Mu Qingfang asked, like it was any of his business. “I imagine it’s difficult learning to control your scent for the first time. How have you been otherwise?”
Liu Qingge bristled. “I didn’t come here for a check up,” he snapped, and Mu Qingfang acquiesced with a nod and a chuckle.
“Of course, my apologies. Call it professional curiosity, it’s not every day I see a case like yours.”
“I’m not a case,” Liu Qingge growled.
“No,” Mu Qingfang agreed easily, “I’m just very nosy. How are you?”
Liu Qingge glared warily but it looked like Mu Qingfang was asking in good faith, not just as some overly-curious doctor with no sense of boundaries. He sniffed—regretting it when he got a big whiff of Mu Qingfang’s tempting scent—and took a hard swallow of his drink. “Getting used to it, if that’s what you’re asking. You’re a fucking liar though, saying it ‘wouldn’t affect much’.”
Mu Qingfang let out a huff of air through his nostrils and Liu Qingge had the distinct feeling that he was being laughed at, just a little. “If you had bothered staying, I would have given you a more thorough explanation. I don’t think it helps to scare my patients right off the bat, it’s important that they know everything will be okay. It’s just a new kind of normal, once the transition phase is over. Wouldn’t you say?”
Liu Qingge could admit he was, perhaps, a little at fault for his own ignorance going in. To himself at least; he certainly wasn’t going to admit it to the doctor. “Some normal,” he muttered under his breath, finishing his drink off and pretending the alcohol was to blame for the ever-present warmth in his gut these days. If this was supposed to be normal, he understood the old stereotypes of omegas being as horny and baby-hungry as rabbits.
Mu Qingfang’s brows furrowed just a touch. “Have you not steadied out yet? It’s hard to say how long the changes might take, but at this point you should be more or less-”
“Shut up,” Liu Qinggue grunted, pinching the bridge of his nose between his finger and thumb and waving the bartender down for another drink. “I’m- It’s done,” he clarified. “All the… growing, and scents and everything. But this better not be my normal or I’ll-” start bending over for almost-strangers in dirty bars. He stopped himself before he said it, but couldn’t stop the heating of his cheeks as his mind finished the thought for him. “None of the pamphlets mentioned being so- so fucking-”
Mu Qingfang’s expression was showing a pinch too much of concern, like his almost-stranger in a dirty bar mood was being quickly replaced with doctor worried about his almost-patient. Liu Qingge let out a long sigh and swallowed half of his new drink down in a fortifying gulp. He’d slow down after this, before he started getting sloppy.
“Horny,” he spit. “I feel like I need to crawl out of my skin, fuck.”
Mu Qingfang’s expression froze for a second, his doctor-brain assessing the statement for and indications of danger before his normal-person-brain processed it. Immediately he relaxed a little, wide shoulders slouching with a small laugh. Liu Qingge considered settling up and walking out then and there. Or maybe just leaving Mu Qingfang to deal with his bill on that doctor's salary of his.
“Laugh it up,” he drawled, picking idly at the soggy napkin pilling under his damp glass. “I’d like to see you deal with this shit.”
“I’d be more than happy to,” Mu Qingfang said then, and Liu Qingge’s sluggish brain took a second to catch up. “If you can’t handle it on your own, I know a thing or two about… anatomy.”
Liu Qingge’s head snapped over to stare at the doctor. Mu Qingfang was leaning back a little, his head tilted to the side, strands of loose hair falling around his face as if to emphasize how easily he could be rumpled up and how… well it suited him.
Liu Qingge had been too preoccupied to pay much attention to it the first time they’d met, but Mu Qingfang was… quite handsome. Older than him by a few years at least, but that only made him more appealing. He looked fit, though it was hard to really tell under his loose shirts and wrinkled trousers. He had broad, sharp shoulders and a lean figure; tall and long-limbed. He looked a little willowy for an alpha, but Liu Qingge figured he wasn’t one to judge based on stereotypes like that. Not that he minded it, either. Mu Qingfang had long limbs with delicate wrists and pianist hands with long, slender fingers. Liu Qingge could see the positive sides of that, given his new… equipment.
Physical appearance aside, there was the matter of Mu Qingfang’s scent, which was easily the best one Liu Qingge had been subjected to since this whole thing started. And, to top it all off, Mu Qingfang had this look on his face—collected confidence painted over barely restrained hunger—that made the want in Liu Qingge’s gut twist even tighter.
“That’s a shitty pickup line,” he probed, just to be sure, and Mu Qingfang’s grin widened in a way that showed the pointed tips of his canines.
“Do you need a better one?” he asked, pushing his now empty glass away with the back of two fingers, and Liu Qingge was only a little ashamed to admit that no, he did not.
“Buy my drinks,” he said instead, and Mu Qingfang’s scent did something that Liu Qingge hadn’t experienced yet, growing thick and close around him, like it was being wrapped around him on purpose. Judging from the heavy-lidded way Mu Qnigfang was watching him when Liu Qingge glanced over in surprise, it was. That must be one of those things everyone else had learned with experience that Liu Qingge didn’t yet have.
They were out of the bar not ten minutes later, but instead of making their way to one home or the other, Mu Qingfang tucked his hands into his pockets and tilted his head at Liu Qingge. “What do you want to eat?” he asked, and the tension that Liu Qingge had thought was building between them this whole time suddenly dissipated.
“Huh?” He blinked back at Mu Qingfang. “Eat?”
“Eat,” Mu Qingfang confirmed. He was quite a bit taller than Liu Qinnge, which he’d known before but not as obviously as he was forced to know now, looking up at him. “We’ve been drinking, it’s late, and once we get to my place I have no intention of leaving.”
“Your place?” Liu Qingge asked, because all he could do right now was echo Mu Qingfang’s words right back to him.
“Or yours,” Mu Qingfang amended, “but I intend to lose some sleep tonight and I have black out curtains in my bedroom.”
Compelling. Very compelling. “Baozi.”
“I know a place,” Mu Qingfang said, and off he went, his long legs carrying him down the street and leaving Liu Qingge staring dumbstruck at his back. Just for a moment, though, and then he was jogging to catch up and taking his spot at Mu Qingfang’s side.
He kept a respectable distance between them as they walked. Or he tried to, anyway, but Mu Qingfang’s scent kept turning his head and Liu Qingge crashed into his side three times before Mu Qingfang pulled his hand out of his pocket and grabbed Liu Qingge’s hand instead. Liu Qingge didn’t miss the way his thumb pressed against the scent patch on Liu Qingge’s wrist for a moment before tangling their fingers loosely together and tugging Liu Qingge a little closer.
“Almost there,” Mu Qingfang murmured, keeping Liu Qingge in step with him, keeping his warm, earthy scent close enough to satisfy that base instinct inside of Liu Qingge.
Liu Qingge didn’t reply.
The ‘place’ Mu Qingfang knew turned out to be a little hole in the wall a few blocks away. Quite literally.
Liu Qingge followed him to the single window with a small sign on the wall above it, crammed between two doors that went to the unrelated shops on either side. He thought there was no menu until they got all the way up to the window and Mu Qingfang slid it open and reached in to ring a bell. There was a sheet of paper stapled to the side wall of the windowsill that listed the prices for: minced pork baozi, bottled water, and green tea.
Mu Qingfang turned back to look at him with a charming grin. “Know what you want?” he asked, and Liu Qingge barely managed to suppress his snort.
Before he could respond, a harried looking young woman appeared in the window, a plastic face shield covering her face and her hair up in a flyaway bun. She didn’t even bother asking for their orders, just looked at them until Mu Qingfang told her they’d take three orders of baozi and a water bottle to share, and then she disappeared, slamming the window shut just shy of Liu Qingge’s unsuspecting fingers.
“Nice place,” Liu Qingge said dryly, turning to lean against the wall beside the window as they waited. Mu Qingfang followed, a reminder that their fingers were still loosely intertwined, and moved to stand in front of him, closer than any almost-stranger should be. Liu Qingge didn’t mind, even as Mu Qingfang stepped a little closer, smiling down at him.
“You like it? I think it’s got some charm. Sometimes in the summer they bring some tables and chairs out and everything.”
Liu Qingge eyed the window suspiciously and turned back to Mu Qingfang with a raised eyebrow. Mu Qingfang shrugged.
“Someone brings some tables and chairs out. I don’t actually know where they’re from, but you won’t get in trouble if you eat your baozi there.”
The window opened with a rattle and a slam and Liu Qingge jumped a little, making Mu Qingfang chuckle. He finally released Liu Qingge’s hand in order to pay and grab their order, balancing the little stack of cardboard boxes in one hand and tucking his bottle under his arm. Liu Qingge did not miss the warmth of him, but he did flex his fingers before balling his hand into a fist and following Mu Qingfang as he took off once more.
“There’s a little park just around the corner,” Mu Qingfang called over his shoulder. “Let’s find a good bench.”
Liu Qingge was admittedly a little confused. He was under the impression that they’d left the bar with every intention to fall straight into the closest bed and take care of his little horny as fuck problem; instead, they were finding a bench in a neighborhood park where they could share a meal and sober up.
For some reason, even as he felt that now-familiar arousal grow stronger, he couldn’t bring himself to complain.
The park Mu Qingfang led them to was small and dark, and the bench they found was quiet and out of the way, tucked between some trees off the main path. Instead of setting the food down in the center of the bench, Mu Qingfang took that spot for himself and tilted his head for Liu Qingge to sit close beside him.
“Here.” Mu Qingfang handed one of the little boxes over to him and Liu Qingge took it, opening it and breathing in the delicious smelling steam that poured out. It was a much needed reprieve from the all-encompassing scent of Mu Qingfang that had somehow lured him all the way here instead of a bed.
The baozi were… really fucking good. Liu Qingge should have figured: any place that could stay open with one item on their menu was probably really fucking good at that one thing. He ate the whole box so quickly he wasn’t sure he’d even breathed between bites, but before he could open his mouth to lament the early loss, Mu Qingfang silently handed over the third box he’d ordered.
“Save some for me,” the alpha warned, but he still had two left in his own box and Liu Qingge eyed them judgmentally. If Mu Qingfang managed to finish his own before Liu Qingge finished the second box, then he could help himself to whatever was left. But Liu Qingge wasn’t planning on holding back for him.
He hadn’t realized how hungry he’d been, nor how buzzed, until the food finally started to settle. He slowed down enough through the second box that Mu Qingfang even managed to snag the very last baozi, throwing Liu Qingge a disgruntled pout as he snatched it away before Liu Qingge could eat it too.
“I saved you one,” Liu Qingge pointed out, earning a glare from Mu Qingfang. The alpha ate delicately, Liu Qingge noticed as he sipped some water and watched out of the corner of his eye. Little bites that were thoroughly chewed before swallowing. Probably real good for his digestion or something.
When Mu Qingfang finally finished eating, he took the water bottle—the same one Liu Qingge had drunk from—and took a few quick sips before offering it back to Liu Qingge. “Finish it?” he asked, and Liu Qingge took it, pushing childish thoughts of indirect kisses out of his mind as he drank the last bit left. Mu Qingfang watched him, a vaguely smug look on his face like this was exactly what he’d been intending when he bought just one bottle.
And then they were all done: full and hydrated and less tipsy than they’d been when they first walked out together. Mu Qingfang stood first, wiping invisible dust off his pants and tossing their trash in a nearby can. Then he stopped in front of Liu Qingge and held out his hand, thumb down, and waited.
Liu Qingge took it. Mu Qingfang pulled him up and twined their fingers together again and Liu Qingge was glad the dark of the little park hid the warmth of his cheeks. Not to mention his scent patches doing all the heavy lifting.
“This way.” Mu Qingfang tugged him along and Liu Qingge found himself following with uncharacteristic willingness. He decided to blame the way he had been feeling increasingly horny since he’d first caught a whiff of Mu Qingfang’s scent, and now that same scent was dragging him along like a cartoon cat on a string of steam.
It didn’t help that, although Liu Qingge was still far from adept at deciphering people’s emotions from scent alone, he could smell a certain spice in Mu Qingfang’s scent that made him think there was a chance Mu Qingfang was feeling the same kind of way.
Mu Qingfang made some conversation as they walked, asking questions about Liu Qingge’s condition, commenting on the scenery they passed, squeezing Liu Qingge’s hand here and there for no apparent reason. Liu Qingge mostly responded in grunts and hums. He couldn’t help the way he grew less and less verbal the closer they got, the anticipation building until he was glad his dick didn’t really respond much or else the walk would be horribly unpleasant.
He wondered, vaguely, if it was odd that he was reacting so much to… essentially nothing, but that seemed to have become his life now, so. Whatever. At least getting laid would help, he hoped.
Mu Qingfang’s building was very nice. Very nice. “Doctors make this much?” Liu Qingge asked doubtfully, head tilted much further back than he’d expected to look all the way up the shiny glass and endless balconies.
Mu Qingfang chuckled and tugged him inside. He scanned a little sensor to get them past the main lobby and to the elevators, and then another sensor in the elevator before pressing the button to his floor. Very close to the top.
“The practice is where I spend my time, but most of my money comes from the hospital. I’m a director.”
Liu Qingge blinked at the sleek steel of the elevator doors and felt negative remorse for having the doctor-director pay for his multiple drinks earlier.
“Right.”
“What do you do, anyway?” Mu Qingfang asked conversationally, pulling Liu Qingge to lean against the wall beside him, as if to emphasize that they had plenty of time on their ride up.
“I, uh.” Liu Qingge wasn’t embarrassed. It was just that Mu Qingfang wasn’t exactly the kind of audience he usually bragged to. “Video games. Um. Professional gamer.”
Instead of laughing at him or chastising him or any of the other reactions Liu Qingge had gotten over the years from people with jobs only half as respectable as Mu Qingfang’s, Mu Qingfang just hummed in interest. “Anything I would know?”
“Depends on what you know,” Liu Qingge countered awkwardly. His palm felt sweaty in Mu Qingfang’s grip, but neither of them let go. “Mainly PIDW. It’s a wuxia game; cultivators and immortals and that kind of stuff. RPG, open world, plot heavy.” He shut up when he realized he was starting to ramble to a man who probably didn’t even have time to spare for games. He probably only knew things like Mario Kart and Tetris.
“I’ve heard of it,” Mu Qingfang said cheerily instead. “There’s a demon king, right? And part of the story is making him good?”
Liu Qingge blinked in surprise. It was an earlier plot point, sure, but not so early it was included in ads or trailers. “You played it?”
Mu Qingfang made a disappointed noise. “Not really. Downloaded it, had it for a week, and remembered that I don’t ever have time to play games like that. I put game streams on sometimes while I’m working, so I’ve watched a video or two.”
Liu Qingge wondered, over the rush of his heartbeat in his ears, if maybe one of those videos might have been his. “Right. Well-”
The elevator dinged as it reached the thirty-second floor (or whatever number it was Mu Qingfang had pushed) and opened with a woosh. The floor had a total of four doors, and one was clearly labeled trash, which meant no more than three apartments on the whole floor. Liu Qingge decided he would do his very best to ignore the fact that Mu Qingfang was apparently rich as fuck, at least for now.
Mu Qingfang let them into his apartment with the same sensor as before and a code he tapped against a little touchpad that made Liu Qingge think enviously of the spare key he kept above his door frame and his finicky lock that stuck if he put said key in all the way.
As soon as the door opened and they stepped in, all thoughts vacated his mind.
The apartment was large and airy, but it was saturated with Mu Qingfang’s scent, even richer and deeper than it was on the man himself. Liu Qingge had not been in an alpha’s home since entering the world of scents and pheromones, not even his own sister’s, and it was so much that he was shocked still just inside the doorway.
Mu Qingfang had already changed into his slippers and started in, but he sent Liu Qingge a questioning look over his shoulder. One that quickly melted into something understanding and dark as he watched Liu Qingge’s mouth part so he could taste the scent of him.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Mu Qingfang murmured, walking back towards him looking like he knew Liu Qingge didn’t mind at all. “Have you been in anyone’s den yet?”
Liu Qingge shook his head. Nodded. “A- a friend’s, Shen Qingqiu. But he’s an omega.” There were hints of Luo Binghe’s scent around, but not anything like this. And Shen Qinggiu’s omega scent, while strong, was like a soft blanket that warded off the cold. Mu Qingfang’s scent was like walking straight into a bonfire.
“Not the same, is it?” Mu Qingfang asked, reaching out and running his knuckles up the smooth line of Liu Qingge’s neck. His fingertips uncurled at the top, just under Liu Qingge’s jaw, and petted the sticky edge of the scent patch there.
Liu Qingge stiffened at the unfamiliar touch, suddenly becoming aware of the fact that certain parts of himself had become very intimate very quickly. But he didn’t fight it. Hopefully, Mu Qingfang would be touching him in even more intimate places very soon.
“What do you say?” Mu Qingfang hummed, thumbing at the corner of the patch until it started to roll under his touch. “Let me smell you, the suspense is killing me.”
Liu Qingge could only nod, and Mu Qingfang was suddenly in his space, closer than he’d been all night. His head dropped to Liu Qingge’s throat before he even peeled off the first patch, his mouth taking hungry breaths against the freshly uncovered skin. Liu Qingge shivered at the warmth of it.
He knew he didn’t have the control most adults had over their scent. He had all the finesse of a pubescent teen with all the force of a grown adult, and the combination did not work in his favor. Even so, he didn’t shy away as Mu Qingfang pulled the patch off and latched his warm, wet mouth over his bare gland.
He’d never- He’d never been touched like this, much less tasted, and the sensation directly on his new and sensitive gland was enough to make his gut clench and his knees tremble. Mu Qingfang, for his part, wasn’t unaffected. He groaned at the taste of Liu Qingge, tongue lapping at the gland like a starved dog.
“Good,” Mu Qingfang managed to say against Liu Qingge’s skin. “So honest.”
Liu Qingge trembled, knowing that his every feeling was laid bare in his scent for those who knew how to decipher them, and Mu Qingfang was drinking them down like water in the desert.
In a moment of clarity, Liu Qingge finally kicked off his shoes, grateful for the way Mu Qingfang had one long-fingered hand on the small of his back and the other cupping his skull, holding him steady. He had never done anything like this before, but he didn’t know if the entryway to Mu Qingfang’s den was exactly where he wanted to be for it. After a moment more of losing himself, he managed to push Mu Qingfang back. The alpha, despite his size advantage and general collectedness while Liu Qingge felt quite unsteady, moved easily at his touch. When their eyes met, Liu Qingge startled at the darkness in Mu Qingfang’s gaze.
“Uh.” He faltered as Mu Qingfang’s dark eyes distracted him. Then, before he lost his nerve, he reached up for the other side of his throat, tore off the scent patch there, and then ripped off the ones on either wrist in quick succession. He looked up, eyes wide, and licked his lips. “Bed?”
“I have one,” Mu Qingfang agreed curtly, and that was all the warning Liu Qingge got before he was being dragged through the still-dark apartment, Mu Qingfang’s fingers tight around his bare wrist, his scent flooding Liu Qingge’s senses.
Mu Qingfang did turn on the lights in the bedroom when they made it, but they were soft and dim and only served to stoke the sparks of tension between them. That, and to let Liu Qingge watch as Mu Qingfang reached up to unbutton his shirt distractedly with one hand, his other hand busy reeling Liu Qingge in closer so he could trace the line of his jaw with his nose, breathing in Liu Qingge’s scent.
If there was one thing that Liu Qingge could admit made Mu Qingfang somewhat irresistible (other than his scent, of course), it was the confidence and deftness with which he did things. Maybe it was because of his age, or his profession, or just his personality, but every move he made seemed perfectly measured, like the movement itself was just a courtesy and the result was a guarantee. Even the way he undressed—barely attentive, flitting between the buttons of his shirt to the fly of Liu Qingge’s pants, to shrugging off his sleeves, to pulling his belt free—was done with an offhanded surety that had Liu Qingge impatiently hurrying the process along himself.
“Tch.” Mu Qingfang clicked his tongue when Liu Qingge pulled back to tear his own shirt off over his head, but he quickly changed his tune as the pale expanse of Liu Qingge’s chest was exposed. This, at least, Liu Qingge was confident in.
Inexperienced virgin with brand new biology or not, Liu Qingge knew he was, by all accounts, very attractive. His sister was often called the most beautiful alpha in the world (and as a top runway model, that wasn’t empty praise), and it ran in the family. Liu Qingge was well muscled, a mixture of soft and lean that made people stare, and the moles dotted across his skin only added to his appeal. Of course his face was handsome too, but Mu Qingfang had had time to adapt to that by now.
This was new. Mu Qingfang stared, his eyes raking from one freckle to the next, devouring the sight of Liu Qingge’s smooth skin in between. His own shirt was off but hanging around his hips from where it was still half tucked into his pants, but that didn’t seem to be half as important to him as getting his hands on Liu Qingge. Not that Liu Qingge minded.
“Before we start,” Mu Qingfang murmured his hands circling Liu Qingge’s bare waist, slinking down to his hips, inching him back, back, back until the back of his knees hit the edge of a bed, “I want to examine you, if you don’t mind. Just to make sure it’s safe.”
Liu Qingge short-circuited. For a split second he imagined Mu Qingfang with those powdery blue gloves snapped up to his wrists, a crisp white mask hiding his expression, his gaze neutral and uninterested. He envisioned the cold white lights of an exam room and the crinkle of a paper sheet, and he felt something drip.
“No fucking way,” he breathed, stiffening in shock. He had never once been horny in a doctor’s office, and here he was, leaking at just the thought of being spread out on a fucking bed and examined.
Mu Qingfang drew back a little, his brows furrowing slightly. “I know it may be uncomfortable, but I don’t think it’s safe to go ahead without it. We could do other things, if you want, but as for-”
“No!” Liu Qingge interrupted, somewhat frantic. Mu Qingfang hesitated, his face carefully blank. Liu Qingge felt his face heat, but the embarrassment did nothing for the wet mess he was making inside his fucking pants. He wondered if Mu Qingfang could smell it, and ignored the fact that of course he could, even Liu Qingge could smell it. “I mean- Yeah. If- if you think that’s best.”
Mu Qingfang studied his expression carefully, looking for any sign of discomfort or whatever else, but Liu Qingge knew all he would find was shame at his own mind’s thoughts and his body’s reactions.
“Okay,” Mu Qingfang finally murmured. He pushed, just a little, and Liu Qingge let himself fall back onto the bed, sitting until Mu Qingfang’s fingers pressed against his bare sternum and he gave in with a shaky breath, lying down with Mu Qingfang standing tall over him.
Mu Qingfang lingered there, just looking, until Liu Qingge shifted his hips—the wetness between his legs was sticky and warm and he wanted to do something about it —and reminded him of why they were there.
“Okay,” Mu Qingfang repeated, finally pulling his shirt free of his pants and tossing it away. Then he reached for Liu Qingge’s pants, the fly already undone, and began to tug them off. “I’m just going to check your elasticity and slick production. You just have to let me know if anything hurts or feels uncomfortable, alright?”
Liu Qingge held his breath as his pants came free of his ankles. Nodded when Mu Qingfang paused and looked up for an answer. Then Mu Qingfang pulled off his briefs, took a long, deep breath, and stood up straight.
“Wait here,” he said, and then he was gone, leaving Liu Qingge naked and dizzy and staring at the ceiling.
Maybe he should have felt upset or something at suddenly being left like that, but his heart was pounding in his ears at just how much that reminded him of a real doctor, the firm instructions, the glazing over his own comfort. Mu Qingfang was a real doctor, he was reminded, and he had to bite his lip hard as he felt himself grow even wetter at that.
Mu Qingfang appeared again a moment later, shaking the dampness off his hands, his pants discarded somewhere Liu Qingge hadn’t seen. “Sorry,” Mu Qingfang said, pushing his scent out in a comforting wave, “I was washing my hands. You okay?”
Liu Qingge didn’t know how he managed to nod instead of whimper, but he did, and Mu Qingfang came closer, leaning down over Liu Qingge’s naked body. He met Liu Qingge’s eyes with a small smile, and then pressed his lips to Liu Qingge’s in a soft, lingering kiss.
“I’ll start then,” he said, his hands landing gently on Liu Qingge’s stomach and thigh. Liu Qingge trembled at the touch, at the echo of the kiss he still felt on his lips. He knew his scent was probably too loud, too honest, but he couldn't do anything about it. “Remember, tell me if you’re uncomfortable at any point.”
“Okay,” Liu Qingge croaked as Mu Qingfang’s hands drifted down and in, closer and closer to the warmest, wettest part of him. His cock had filled slightly, but it was still small and easily dismissed. He still sucked in a breath when Mu Qingfang took it carefully between his fingers and lifted it out of the way.
Mu Qingfang was quiet for a while, his thumbs tracing the outer lips of Liu Qingge’s cunt, spreading them out and putting him on display. Liu Qingge felt like he could barely breathe from how horny he felt. “Looks like you’re not having any issues with slick production,” Mu Qingfang observed, one thumb slipping to his perineum where the slick had dripped down and tracing all the way up to his balls, tight and small at the top of his cunt. “Is this typical for you since presenting? You mentioned that you’re aroused quite often.”
“No,” Liu Qingge choked out. “Um. A lot, yeah, but- but not like this.”
Mu Qingfang hummed in understanding. “You’re probably reacting to alpha pheromones. That’s a normal and expected reaction. Have you been with anyone since presenting? Alpha or otherwise?”
Liu Qingge shook his head. “No. N-never.”
Mu Qingfang’s hands froze for a moment, his scent growing almost stifling. “I see,” he said finally. “Have you masturbated? With penetration of some kind?”
Liu Qingge nodded, but couldn’t bring himself to offer up more than that without being prompted.
Mu Qingfang, it seemed, was ready to prompt. “Good. Fingers? Toys?”
“Both,” Liu Qingge whispered. He was staring so hard at the ceiling that he was almost surprised he couldn’t see straight through it.
“Size? Mu Qingfang asked, his fingers now circling the slick entrance. “I’m going to test your elasticity now. I’ll start with one finger.”
“Okay,” Liu Qingge breathed, his chest rising and falling quickly with his breaths. “Um. The b-biggest is about fifteen centimeters. Long. I don’t know how…” thick.
“That’s fine,” Mu Qingfang murmured. He was so close that Liu Qingge could feel the warmth of him against his inner thighs, the movement of his breath against the skin there. “Has that changed significantly from before presenting?”
Liu Qingge nodded again. “I couldn’t- I could maybe, one finger, but-” He couldn’t talk about this. He was so horny he thought he was going to die. He was being slowly fingered open like he was nothing but a medical case. Mu Qingfang was asking him how much he could fit inside him and how he liked to get off. Liu Qingge felt like all the blood in his body existed in his fucking cunt.
Mu Qingfang hummed again, but it was deep in his chest this time, like even he couldn’t hide the effect this was having on him anymore. “I’m adding another. Any discomfort?”
Liu Qingge whimpered, the heat in him reaching a fever pitch. “No,” he gasped, but he was growing desperate. “Mu Qingfang.”
“A little more,” Mu Qingfang breathed, his voice rough. “Let me be sure I won’t have to hold back with you.”
“I can take it,” Liu Qingge promised as a third finger slipped inside with no warning, finally giving him a fullness he could work with. “I can-”
“I know,” Mu Qingfang crooned, working his fingers slowly, spreading them and curling them and fucking them carefully in and out. “I know, you’re doing so well. Just one more, Liu Qingge. One more.”
Liu Qingge let out a reedy moan as a fourth finger pushed in with no resistance. He would have been embarrassed by his wantonness under any other circumstances, but he could only feel dizzying, suffocating want as Mu Qingfang curled those long, perfect fingers inside him.
He’d been so aroused and for so long that he barely even noticed that he was approaching orgasm until he was shaking through it, little panting breaths escaping him with quiet whines tinging their edges.
“That’s good,” Mu Qingfang talked him through it. “You presented perfectly, look at you. So sensitive, so reactive. Perfect, Liu Qingge.”
Liu Qingge whimpered again, his body wracked by pleasure, his muscles tensing and trembling under Mu Qingfang’s ministrations. He felt- He actually felt, for once, like maybe Mu Qingfang was right. Maybe he was made for this. Maybe being an omega wasn’t so bad.
He opened his mouth to protest when Mu Qingfang slowly pulled his fingers free, but he alpha moved up before he could complain, taking his mouth in his and kissing him again. A real kiss this time, Liu Qingge’s open mouth an unintended invitation for Mu Qingfang’s tongue to slip in.
Liu Qingge had kissed before—as a teen, when he’d still held out hope of presenting and there had been fewer expectations tied to a simple kiss—but it had been a long time and none of those kisses had been anything like this. Mu Qingfang kissed like he’d spent every year he had on Liu Qingge practicing for this moment, kissed with an ease that made Liu Qingge feel like he could keep up despite knowing that everything he did was thanks to Mu Qingfang’s subtle guidance.
When Mu Qingfang pulled back from that too, Liu Qingge chased him unwittingly, his eyes still closed, spit wetting his lips. Mu Qingfang kept him pinned.
“This is your first time,” Mu Qingfang said, though it sounded like he was speaking half to himself. “Is this good?”
This was him pulling Liu Qingge’s shaking knees up to his hips, planting one foot on the floor and the opposite knee on the bed by Liu Qingge’s ass, and grinding the bulge in his boxers against Liu Qingge’s dripping cunt. Liu Qingge’s eyes unfocused as he tried to keep his gaze on Mu Qingfang. His answer came in the form of his ankles hooking around Mu Qingfang’s back, holding him in place.
Mu Qingfanng chuckled even as his scent betrayed his lust. “Let me get-”
Liu Qingge’s legs tightened. His strength was nothing to scoff at, even for an alpha, and Mu Qingfang’s hips stuttered forward again.
“Condoms, Liu Qing-”
Liu Qingge did not let him go. “Don’t want ‘em,” he mumbled, hips twitching against Mu Qingfang. He could feel the heat of his erection, feel the mess his own slick was making of his boxers. “Just like this.”
Mu QIngfang’s teeth bared in a silent struggle for self-control. His fingers dug into the meat of Liu Qingge’s tense thighs, his covered cock pulsed against Liu Qingge’s pussy.
“Liu Qingge-”
“Please,” Liu Qingge breathed, staring up at Mu Qingfang with desperate eyes. He was hungry for it, startlingly so. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew it was safe. He was safe, with Mu Qingfang. Mu Qingfang stared at him, looking conflicted.
“We ran tests for you at the clinic, but you don’t know about me.”
“Tell me,” Liu Qingge begged. “I trust you.”
Mu Qingfang bit his own lip so hard that a little dot of blood appeared, and Liu Qingge felt faint at the sight. “I- I could. If you want—if you’re sure- But there are still risks-”
Maybe fucking a doctor wasn’t that hot after all. Liu Qingge tossed his head back with a frustrated moan. “Don’t care,” he growled. “Fuck me.”
Mu Qingfang had been very patient. He had shown off what a paragon he was of maturity and restraint and all those good and admirable things. But even he wasn’t immune to a beautiful man lying beneath him and begging to be taken for the first time. Liu Qingge knew he’d won when Mu Qingfang’s priceless fingers ripped off the scent patches on his inner thighs, uncovering his most intimate scent glands with a mercilessness that had Liu Qingge hissing at the sting.
“Don’t even need lube,” Mu Qingfang admired, tossing the scent patches behind him and reaching one hand down to the slick mess between their bodies. His other hand was busy shoving down his boxers, an awkward task only made more difficult by Liu Qingge’s refusal to let him go. Liu Qingge watched in hungry anticipation as they were finally discarded and Mu Qingfang’s cock bobbed free, slapping heavily against Liu Qingge’s cunt, the head falling beside Liu Qingge’s little, half-hard dick.
Liu Qingge had never seen an alpha’s dick, not in person anyway. Certainly not like this. He’d never had any particular desire to either, but the heavy heat of Mu Qingfang’s cock on him, the sight of it dark and wet and swollen, dwarfing his own, was enough to change his mind.
Liu Qingge felt more slick dribble out of him. He didn’t even know where his body was finding so much fluid, but that was the least of his concerns. First things first, he needed that cock inside him. Some part of him just knew it would do what he’d been longing for and finally ease the constant arousal he’d been fighting for weeks.
Luckily, Mu Qingfang didn’t seem capable of making him wait anymore. He gripped Liu Qingge’s hips in one hand, lined himself up with the other, and with one last desperate glance up, he pushed in.
Liu Qingge had never taken anything as big as Mu Qingfang, but his body was more than ready for it. Slick and stretched and wanting, Liu Qingge just sighed out a moan as Mu Qingfang slid home. Something that had been twisted tight and unpleasant in him finally relaxed and he melted into the bed below, his scent spilling from him like water.
Mu Qingfang’s scent was everywhere too: saturated into the bed linens beneath him, pouring off the alpha himself, filling Liu Qingge’s senses and leaving him drowning in it. Even Liu Qingge could smell the arousal in it, so strong it was dizzying, but that didn’t make the scent any less comforting. The sandalwood was rich and grounding, but the bright citrus and subtle violets were addicting underneath, and it all felt so warm and right that Liu Qingge was content to just open his mouth and drink it down, though he wished he could taste it from the source the way Mu Qingfang had tasted him.
“I’m going to move,” Mu Qingfang said on a rough exhale, breaking Liu Qingge from his haze. “Ready?”
As if there was any question about that. Liu Qingge had been ready since he’d first caught that scent in the bar. Hell, he’d been ready since his body stopped fucking changing, the pain replaced with torturous, insatiable need.
He didn’t even need to answer this time, his body and scent did it for him. Mu Qingfang didn’t hesitate a moment longer before dragging out and slamming back in, his path easy and smooth with Liu Qingge’s slick easing the way. Liu Qingge keened with pleasure, his thighs clenching around Mu Qingfang’s waist, his fingers twisting the blanket beneath him.
For the first time since presenting, there wasn’t a hint of pain or discomfort in his body. Liu Qingge felt so good for once that he was almost too distracted to actually feel the pleasure Mu Qingfang was giving him. He understood all the hype around sex, he thought, but if it was like this every time, he didn’t know how anyone got anything else done. As it was, Liu Qingge felt like he was melting into the bed with every thrust, splitting into molecules as pleasure and calm and want tore through him.
He was vaguely aware of himself making noises: moans and whines and senseless babbles of Mu Qingfang’s name and pleas for more. He could also hear Mu Qingfang’s voice in bits and starts: good, perfect, beautiful, Liu Qingge, darling.
Liu Qingge had never been short on compliments, but they’d never been said the way Mu Qingfang said them. He’d certainly never been anyone’s darling. He liked it more than he was willing to admit, especially because it was Mu Qingfang saying them.
Liu Qingge’s second orgasm caught him by surprise again. One second he was a puddle on the bed, and the next he was shaking as it came over him in waves, Mu Qingfang’s thrusts unceasing, dragging him through it whether he liked it or not (he did, fuck, he liked it so much). But that wasn’t the end. His arousal didn’t waver in the slightest, and while he was sensitive enough that Mu Qingfang kept drawing the orgasm on and on, it never became too much.
Liu Qingge wasn’t sure what was happening, in all honesty. He was usually a one and done kind of guy, but even if he did come more than once, he usually needed some time between them. Tonight it seemed he was a new man. Maybe being actually fucked made him react differently than just jerking off in his nest at home, his own scent the only one around, no one to guide the pleasure for him.
It was when he came for a third time, Mu Qingfang just starting to lose control over his steady pace, that they both seemed to realize what was happening at the same time.
Liu Qingge went boneless as Mu Qingfang fucked him straight into it, but as soon as the mind-numbing pleasure eased back into the general haze of arousal and Liu Qingge realized that he was still ready and eager for more, his eyes snapped up to Mu Qinfang. Mu Qingfang also reacted, hips stuttering as he met Liu Qingge’s gaze.
“Liu Qingge,” he said, his voice gravelly as he pressed his hips to Liu Qingge’s and stilled. “Did you ever get the prescription I wrote for you?”
Prescription? Liu Qingge wracked his mind for a clue. Prescription… Oh. Oh no.
“The suppressants, Liu Qingge. Did you get them?”
Liu Qingge shook his head, raising a hand to press against his mouth, hiding the way his lip suddenly quivered. Mu Qingfang stared at him.
“You’re in heat,” he murmured, eyes scanning rapidly over Liu Qingge as if looking for a sign he’d missed. “Fuck. I should have known. Liu-”
Mu Qingfang’s stillness, even after three orgasms, was not appreciated by Liu Qingge’s body. He cramped up painfully, and he realized, humiliatingly, that the thing he’d been chasing this whole time was a fucking knot.
“Sorry,” he whispered, shame coursing through him, but still not strong enough to counter the arousal. “Sorry, I didn’t-” I didn’t know.
Because he’d run out of the doctor’s office that first day without letting Mu Qingfang explain. Because he’d been too frustrated and embarrassed to do any research on his own outside of the pamphlets he’d gotten from the nurse. Because he’d had to go and present at twenty-fucking-six instead of a normal fucking age where these things happened at a normal fucking pace.
“-Qingge. Qingge, darling, breathe.” Mu Qingfang’s hands were on Liu Qingge’s face as the alpha leaned over him, his body and scent pinning Liu Qingge to the bed. Liu Qingge- Liu Qingge could not. He tried to, but his breaths became sobs that he muffled against the back of his hand.
Mu Qingfang gently peeled his hand away and bent down to scent him, thorough and strong. Like it or not, Liu Qingge’s body was forced to relax, even the cramping in his stomach eased slightly. Mu Qingfang felt like he was everywhere, holding on to Liu Qingge and scenting him and resting inside him.
“It’s okay, you’re alright, no one’s mad. Qingge, look at me, you’re fine.”
Liu Qingge did not feel fine. He felt uncomfortable and humiliated and naive. He felt stupid for not having recognized sooner that something was off. He felt ashamed that it was Mu Qingfang who kept finding him in these situations when it felt like the ground was suddenly gone from beneath his feet.
Mu Qingfang’s teeth found the thin skin of his neck and pressed in, the sting forcing Liu Qingge’s attention back as his omega warred between fight and surrender and decided on the latter. He went limp and loose under Mu Qingfang, who rewarded him with a soothing kiss over the indents of his teeth.
“I’ll take care of you,” Mu Qingfang said lowly, drenching Liu Qingge in his scent. “Don’t cry. I can handle it, alright? Trust me?”
Liu Qingge wanted to say he couldn’t; they were still strangers to each other, Mu Qingfang was just some alpha who Liu Qingge recognized, whose scent he liked more than most; but trust? And at the same time… At the same time, Mu Qingfang had approached him in the bar to see how he’d been doing; he’d offered to take him home and bought him a meal first; he’d touched Liu Qingge with a careful hunger that made him feel good and wanted and safe. So maybe, yeah.
“Let me help you,” Mu Qingfang murmured, and at the very least, Liu Qingge knew that Mu Qingfang knew exactly what he needed. After all, he was a doctor.
Liu Qingge managed to nod. Whether or not he would ever be able to look Mu Qingfang in the eye after this was irrelevant to him now. His body felt like a stretched out rubber band, and unless Mu Qingfang helped him, he was certainly bound to snap.
“It comes in waves,” Mu Qingfang told him, slowly, finally beginning to move again. Liu Qingge had his tear-stung eyes pressed shut, but his body shivered in relief at the sensation even as he realized he was about to get a fucking biology lesson while being fucked. Mu Qingfang continued: “You should feel sated with a knot, at least for a while. We’ll get you some fluids, clean up a bit. We can talk, if you feel up for it, I can explain everything.”
Liu Qingge nodded for the sake of shutting him up. For now, at least. It would probably be good to talk about it, and it was a relief to know that he’d get some kind of break soon. Maybe he could go hide himself in Mu Qingfang’s bathroom and die of shame. But right now, his body was taking priority over everything else.
His silent sobs became sniffles and hiccups and choked out whimpers as Mu Qingfang eased back into his earlier rhythm, his every thrust punctuated by the slick, frothy sounds of Liu Qingge’s cunt. It felt fucking good. In the back of his mind, Liu Qingge reevaluated his opinions once again: being an omega was probably the worst thing that had ever happened to him. To become such a useless, helpless mess because his body was craving a fucking knot of all things? He’d never felt less himself than he did knowing that his every emotion, his every thought and feeling, were at the whims of a random alpha who decided to pay attention to him.
But that didn’t stop him from clinging to the blankets and drinking down Mu Qingfang’s scent and rocking sloppily back to meet his thrusts.
Mu Qingfang kept whispering things to him: not just praise, but gentle comforts, reassurances that everything was fine, Liu Qingge would be okay. Or just Qingge, now; or darling. That… That, Liu Qingge didn’t mind.
Thankfully, awkward interruption or not, Mu Qingfang was still only human, and it wasn’t long before Liu Qingge started to feel an unfamiliar stretch every time the alpha fucked into him. His open-mouthed pants became needy moans—sounds he hadn’t known he could make until just then—and Mu Qingfang crooned to him, urging him calm.
“You can take it, darling,” he swore, and Liu Qingge believed him. His body was aching for it even as he started feeling stretched to his limits. Mu Qingfang didn’t ease up, his breath growing harsh and erratic. “You’re doing so well, just a little more. Look at you, Qingge- Fuck, you’re so good, you’re right there-”
Liu Qingge came again, one last time (for now), when Mu Qingfang suddenly pushed in and stayed there, his knot filling out the rest of the way as he locked in and started to come.
That painful, needy, awful thing inside him that had been eating him alive for- for weeks, finally abated, easing back with a suddenness that left him gasping for air as if to fill its absence. Mu Qingfang’s voice became static in his ears, but he could feel the alpha: touching him, scenting him, soothing him.
Liu Qingge lost track of time, lost track of everything that wasn’t the ebb and flow of pleasure and satisfaction as Mu Qingfang filled him up. He dazedly congratulated past-him for discarding the condoms. Even if he might have to take precautions after, some part of him knew he wouldn’t have felt so content if he couldn’t feel every pulse and splash of Mu Qingfang’s cock inside him. Probably some more shitty omega instincts, though there was nothing he could do about it.
Eventually, Mu Qingfang’s knot started to go down and the alpha began to stir again, leaving soft kisses on Liu Qingge’s cheeks and jaw and throat to rouse him from the half-present state he’d been drifting in. “Qingge. Come back, darling. Come back to me.”
Liu Qingge wasn’t aware he’d gone anywhere at all, but blinking his sticky eyes open felt a little like pushing back through the surface of the water after having been comfortably lost in the deep. Mu Qingfang met him like a vision, his long hair even more disheveled around his flushed face, strands of it caught in the sheen of sweat on his skin. His eyes, dark and gentle, studied Liu Qingge’s tear-streaked face with a patient kind of adoration that Liu Qingge couldn’t really understand.
“I have to pull out. You’re going to feel empty, but it’s okay, it’s just for now.”
Liu Qingge could not believe he needed to be explained to, in calming tones, that he would be fine even if he didn’t have a dick inside him. Fuck.
But sure enough, when Mu Qingfang started to pull out, Liu Qingge’s body tensed up without his meaning to. Mu QIngfang repeated his words, pushing his scent out, and Liu Qingge was forced to admit that Mu Qingfang wasn’t talking to him, he was talking to the omega.
Whatever. He let it happen, let the alpha talk the omega down as he laid there and took it, feeling oddly distant from his own body. When Mu Qingfang was out of him, Liu Qingge gritted his teeth and ignored the unpleasant twist of his gut. It wasn’t him, and he didn’t want to acknowledge it.
Mu Qingfang didn’t move away from him—not that he could with Liu Qingge’s legs still wrapped around him—but instead leaned up until he was nose to nose with Liu Qingge, nudging him gently. “Let’s clean up. We can talk.”
Liu Qingge did not want to talk. He wanted to go home and pretend none of this had ever happened, or maybe crawl under Mu Qingfang’s covers that smelled so strongly of him and just waste away there. He nodded instead and ignored the trembling of his thighs as he started to unwrap them from Mu Qingfang’s waist.
The alpha stopped him with an arm wrapped around his leg. “Let me carry you,” he said quietly. When Liu Qingge looked at him, a healthy amount of doubt in his expression as he considered his own musculature versus Mu Qingfang’s more willowy build, Mu Qingfang just grinned, his teeth flashing in the low light. “I’m stronger than I look.”
Liu Qingge only considered for a little longer. Really, he had nothing to lose. His dignity had already been tossed out the window, and his legs had never felt so much like jello before, so. Why not. He hooked his ankles back over each other, and hesitated for just a moment before reaching up and wrapping his arms around Mu Qingfang’s shoulders.
Mu Qingfang let out a satisfied noise that was more instinct than voice, and Liu Qingge ignored that too.
Mu Qingfang was, in fact, stronger than he looked. He pulled Liu Qingge up to sitting and then up off the bed with minimal effort, and Liu Qingge didn’t know the last time he’d felt so… easily cared for.
He hated that he didn’t know if it was him who liked it, or the omega.
Mu Qingfang’s bathroom was big and fancy, with tiles that Liu Qingge just knew cost more than most people’s vehicles, and the shower had plenty of space for both of them. The water got hot fast, and Mu Qingfang finally let Liu Qingge lower his feet to the ground once they were under its spray. Liu Qingge’s knees trembled when they had to bear his weight, but Mu Qingfang had yet to actually let go of him (and he had yet to let go of Mu Qingfang) so it was what it was.
It felt good, admittedly, to stand under the hot water and let it wash the sweat and slick and cum off of him, and better still to have Mu Qingfang’s long, slender hands lathering a buttery smooth soap over his skin, massaging down his spine and the slowly growing ache of his lower back.
With the steam slowly filling the room their scents seemed even stronger than they had before, catching in the vapor and hanging sticky in the air. Liu Qingge let his eyes shut again as he breathed it in, his forehead pressed to Mu Qingfang’s collarbone. It was nice, the mix of sandalwood and thistle, mandarins and honey, violets and jasmine. It was nice, being held.
Mu Qingfang didn’t make him talk (or listen, thankfully) until they were out of the shower and sitting in the kitchen, Mu Qingfang in a bathrobe, Liu Qingge in a pair of borrowed boxers and a hoodie with sleeves he had to roll up twice to see his hands. Mu Qingfang had lamented not having anything with added electrolytes, but he made Liu Qingge an herbal tea and cut up an apple and orange for him to snack on.
Then he sat down, knees brushing Liu Qingge’s. “Let’s talk.”
Liu Qingge hesitantly nodded, nibbling on an apple slice. It would be good to at least… know what to expect.
“I take it this is your first heat since presenting, is that right?” When Liu Qingge nodded, Mu Qingfang continued. “These things can vary greatly with delayed presentations. Sometimes they happen immediately, sometimes they may not happen for months. They can be triggered more easily, and durations, again, can vary. That’s why, for delayed presentations, we typically prescribe heat suppressants and suggest taking them for at least six months to give your body time to adjust, give everything time to settle, and then have a scheduled heat when you stop the suppressants. That’s typically enough to get your body into a normal cycle that it can maintain on its own, and it gives you time to adjust to all the other changes at your own pace without worrying about any… accidents.”
Accidents like: going home with a stranger from the bar and realizing mid fuck that you were in heat. Those kinds of accidents, probably. Liu Qingge stared hard at the table.
“Qingge,” Mu Qingfang called. Liu Qingge hummed to show he was listening, but Mu Qingfang wanted more of his attention apparently. He reached over, two knuckles slipping under Liu Qingge’s chin and urging it up. Liu Qingge jerked his head away and glared at Mu Qingfang, but eye contact must have been his goal anyway because the alpha smiled. “There’s nothing to worry about. From the sound of it, you’ve been in preheat for weeks, since your body started to settle. It may have been the sex itself that triggered it, or an alpha’s scent, or any number of things. Regardless, there’s no harm done. The heat suppressants are to ease you into it and to take the surprise out of the first heat, but there aren’t any risks to having that first heat happen naturally, other than it catching you off guard.”
“Bullshit,” Liu Qingge muttered without thinking. He flustered when Mu Qingfang tilted his head curiously, but he meant it. “I’m not- I’m fucked up. This is not fucking normal, there’s no way this is risk-free when I could have been like this with- with anyone. I barely even know you.”
Mu Qingfang pressed his knee a little firmer against Liu Qingge’s, which was oddly comforting, and nodded slowly. “In theory, yes. But the ‘brainless omega in heat’ stereotype is largely a misconception.”
Liu Qingge snorted heartily at that. Liu Qingge would not have started crying in front of anyone, much less the older, successful, alpha doctor who was fucking him. Brainless omega in heat, however, had done plenty of that.
“I mean it,” Mu Qingfang said. “There is an inherent surge of instincts, but the loss of control you hear about doesn’t just happen. People often think of it as the omega taking over, but it’s important to remember that you are the omega. If you don’t feel comfortable, safe, aroused—any number of factors play into it—then the stronger instincts will be your survival instinct, not your breeding ones. In other words, there’s little risk of, for example, going into heat in public and ending up with someone you wouldn’t let touch you in a hundred years. Does that make sense?”
Liu Qingge blinked at him. “No.” It didn’t. Because he didn’t even know Mu Qingfang, and because he definitely hadn’t felt comfortable when he’d realized what was happening, and he definitely hadn’t wanted to lose control. “No, I- I didn’t want this.”
Mu Qingfang softened a little. “It’s not that simple. The things you think you want or don’t, that’s not the same as the feeling you have when you know something would be good or bad. Your conscious wants aren’t stronger than your instincts. You came here wanting to sleep together, right?”
Liu Qingge managed to nod to that at least. Mu Qingfang stole a piece of orange from the little bowl in front of him.
“You feel comfortable with me. I can smell it. You feel safe, you’re attracted to me, you trust that I won’t hurt you. That’s more important than whether you wanted to go into heat or not, at least as far as your body is concerned.”
Liu Qingge didn’t like that. He didn’t like that Mu Qingfang could read him so easily, he didn’t like that any part of him was strong enough to override his own conscious thoughts, he didn’t like that he could, much less had, make such a pathetic mess of himself. He didn’t like not having control over himself, no matter how much he might like or trust or whatever the person he was with.
But it seemed he didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. Like it or not, that was what would be normal for him now, all because he’d had to fucking present.
Mu Qingfang nudged his knee again. “Hey. There’s always the option to wait it out. I can take you home, get you some food, and leave you be. It’d be… unpleasant, probably, but now that the heat’s started, it’ll probably be a few days before it’s done and you can go back to normal. New normal. You don’t have to stay here. You definitely don’t have to let me help you through.”
That just made Liu Qingge’s mood darken even more. Leave it to his shitty, moody, sensitive omega to feel rejected at the mere thought of Mu Qingfang possibly letting him spend his heat alone.
“Or,” Mu Qingfang continued, no doubt noting the souring of Liu Qingge’s scent, “you could stay here and I’ll do whatever you need. I am a doctor, I’m actually quite qualified for this.” He was teasing, at least a little bit. Liu Qingge could hear it in his voice, the same way he could read the sincerity in his scent as it cocooned around them.
Liu Qingge didn’t answer for a long moment, distracting himself with the sweet crunch of the apple and the tangy burst of the orange. He chewed, and thought, and weighed his options. Mu Qingfang waited, present and patient by his side.
Finally, Liu Qingge worked up the nerve to speak. “I don’t like it,” he said quietly. “I don’t like any of what’s happening to me. I hate that everything’s changing, and I hate that I don’t even have control over- over-” myself; my body; my desire. “But I’m…” Liu Qingge was not good at being vulnerable. Not with his closest friends and family, and certainly not with strangers. But he needed to explain himself. “I’m scared,” he ground out, “of not knowing. And how I- how my omega reacts to… things. So if you could- If you’d help me-”
That was all he could manage, and it wasn’t enough, he knew that, but Mu Qingfang met him where he was once again.
“I can help you,” he promised easily. His hand came up to Liu Qingge’s face, tucking loose strands of hair behind his ear. “You trust me?”
Liu Qingge shifted, eyes averted. “Can’t you smell it?”
Mu Qingfang hummed. “I know you aren’t scared of me. I know the next wave is coming—I smell your want. But scents aren’t so clear cut. You’ll learn it as you go. I might get a hint of how you’re feeling, but that doesn’t mean I know you. Tell me, Qingge, do you trust me? With this, with you?”
Liu Qingge nodded. It wasn’t something he had to think about this time. It wasn’t just that his options were limited, but Mu Qingfang was just- Liu Qingge couldn’t figure it out.
There was something about him that Liu Qingge couldn’t put his finger on. It was the same thing that had convinced Liu Qingge to go home with him in the first place; even with the constant arousal eating at him, he knew for a fact he wouldn’t have gone home with anyone else had they approached him at the bar. So why Mu Qingfang; what made him so special?
Liu Qingge didn’t know, but he’d figure that out later. Mu Qingfang had been right about the next wave of the heat, and as much as Liu Qingge wanted to keep his head on his shoulders this time, he could already feel that needy, new part of him raising its head once more.
“Yes,” he said, in case Mu Qingfang needed to hear it. “I trust you.”
Mu Qingfang’s eyes were as soft as the smile that curled at his lips, and when he tilted his head towards his bedroom in question, Liu Qingge stood and started towards it without protest.
He only got so far before Mu Qingfang was behind him, wrapping his arms tight around Liu Qingge’s ribs and lifting.
“Put me down-” Liu Qingge hissed, startled enough to freeze as his feet left the ground.
“No,” Mu Qingfang said easily. “I like carrying you.”
Liu Qingge sputtered in outrage as he was carried against Mu Qingfang’s chest, his legs dangling like some kind of naughty cat. “This is not-! Mu Qingfang!”
“I won’t drop you,” Mu Qingfang soothed, as if that was what Liu Qingge was concerned about! But the walk to the bedroom wasn’t so long that Liu Qingge had much time to struggle, and soon he was being deposited by the bed and Mu Qingfang was taking advantage of their upright positions to quickly undress him. “This wave will be like the first,” he explained as he lifted his hoodie over Liu Qingge’s head. “Your sensitivity and reactivity will be high—physical and mental—and your refractory period will be quite short. The wave should finish once you’re knotted, like the first. Tell me if you’re ever in pain or afraid, I’ll fix it. Okay?”
Liu Qingge nodded. He let Mu Qingfang nudge him onto the bed, crawling his way to the center this time and hesitating there. For some reason, even after everything he’d already done, he found himself feeling… shy? when it came to lying down, belly up, and facing Mu Qingfang again as they fucked. But he wasn’t sure if turning around and presenting for him was any better, so he was at a bit of a standstill.
As if sensing—or maybe smelling—his indecision, Mu Qingfang discarded his bathrobe and followed him onto the bed, scooting close enough to wrap himself around Liu Qingge where he sat. He hooked his head over Liu Qingge’s shoulder, cheek pressing against Liu Qingge’s scent gland in passing, and spread one leg out to the side as he slipped his arms around Liu Qingge’s middle.
“Qingge smells so good,” Mu Qingfang whispered sweetly. He nuzzled closer and Liu Qingge unconsciously tilted his head to give him room. Mu Qingfang made a sound at that, something guttural and satisfied that made Liu Qingge’s omega shiver contentedly, stoked the heat in his gut a little faster, a little hotter.
He felt Mu Qingfang’s hand slipping down his stomach, knew where it was heading, but Mu Qingfanng still shocked a moan out of him when instead of reaching down to his already wet cunt, his fingers found Liu Qingge’s little cock.
Liu Qingge hadn’t been touching himself like that since presenting, not really. It wasn’t that it didn’t feel good, but it didn’t feel as good, and the perpetual empty feeling had made him want for other things instead. But even though his body didn’t react as much as it had before, it was still an unexpected jolt of pleasure to have someone else touching him there. Maybe it was because Mu Qingfang was an alpha, or because he’d been knotted once already, but it was like Liu Qingge’s body trusted that it would get what it needed anyway and a little… detour wasn’t so bad.
When Mu Qingfang’s hand curled into a loose fist (one bigger than Liu Qingge’s cock really needed, not that he was complaining) and pumped him slowly, Liu Qingge’s head rolled back onto Mu Qingfang’s shoulder with a shuttered sight.
“So pretty,” Mu Qingfang admired, his eyes hot on the spread of Liu Qingge’s body. “Perfect, handsome Liu Qingge.” And then, with a lighthearted laugh, “I was surprised you settled for me. Such a handsome omega, so good. Look at you.”
It was all praise, all murmured with affection, but Liu Qingge frowned. “Settled?” he confronted, pulling his attention hazily from the hand on his cock. “That’s not-”
“Ah,” Mu Qingfang interrupted, the vaguest hint of awkwardness tinging his voice. “Not like that. Let’s not, right now.”
To draw Liu Qingge’s attention away again, he tightened his grip and swirled his thumb around the wet tip of Liu Qingge’s cock. It was terribly distracting, but Liu Qingge didn’t want to ‘ not, right now’ about something like that.
His hair was a probably tangled mess, spilling over Mu Qingfang’s shoulder and down his chest, but Liu Qingge let his head fall back anyway, resting his weight back against Mu Qingfang and tilting his lips towards Mu Qingfang’s ear.
“I don’t settle,” he said (or moaned, though he wouldn’t admit to it). “Why would I settle? What- What else should I want?”
It was meant to be rhetorical, but Mu Qingfang answered anyway, his hand never ceasing or slowing as he jerked Liu Qingge off. “Someone your age, for starters,” he said. It was joking, but only mostly, like there was a kernel of truth there that he was trying to glaze over. “Someone young and beautiful like you. But don’t think about that now or you’ll walk out on me,” he teased, ducking his head to close his teeth gently over Liu Qingge’s exposed throat.
Liu Qingge wasn’t very good at deciphering scents. For as much as he liked Mu Qingfang’s, it wasn’t any less a mystery to him. But when he clenched his teeth through the pleasure and sucked in a steadying breath, he thought he caught a hint of… something in it that had him twisting out of Mu Qingfang’s grasp with a hiss.
Mu Qingfang startled when Liu Qingge turned around, clambering awkwardly onto his knees so he (almost) towered above him. Mu Qingfang held him steady around the hips, looking up at him with confusion clear on his face. “Don’t tell me you actually will,” Mu Qingfang chuckled. “Darling, you’re a heartbreaker.”
“Obviously not,” Liu Qingge snapped, maneuvering his way into Mu Qingfang’s lap pointedly. “Why would I be here if I didn’t want to be? Why would I settle for someone who’s handsome and successful and kind? I thought you were intelligent too, but maybe I was wrong about- ah!” He broke off with an embarrassing gasp when his too-sensitive cock brushed against Mu Qingfang’s stomach and he felt Mu Qingfang’s cock—now trapped under his spread legs—twitch in response. Face burning, Liu Qingge continued. “Obviously I’ll like someone who’s good and patient and helps people when they need it. So what if you’re older? I’m not some vulnerable teenager who can’t make their own choices, I’m twenty-six. And you’re-”
He didn’t know how to finish the sentence, so he snapped his mouth shut with a click of teeth before any pleasured noises or unruly words escaped. He didn’t know how to tell Mu Qingfang that it didn’t feel like settling when there was something about him that felt like a magnet to Liu Qingge’s very core.
The way his hands touched Liu Qingge, the decisive gentleness with which he spoke, the soft, dark green of his eyes when he looked at Liu Qingge, the scent of him- Everything about him felt intentionally designed to draw Liu Qingge in and make him want to linger. It could hardly feel like settling.
Mu Qingfang was looking up at him with those green eyes now, the pupils wide and shaded by his heavy brown lashes. His cheeks were flushed and his lips parted, and Liu Qingge didn’t even know why the age thing would be a concern when Mu Qingfang could make a face like that; like a child really seeing the stars for the first time.
Liu Qingge didn’t care for it right now. Mu Qingfang was handsome and hot and all the good things, but Liu Qingge was in heat and he would rather be getting fucked through it than sitting there and talking about their feelings. Hadn’t Mu Qingfang been the one to approach him in the first place? Why was he the one doubting himself now?
Liu Qingge let out a frustrated sound and shifted with intention, wiggling until Mu Qingfang’s stiff cock nudged at the dripping hole it had stretched loose earlier. Liu Qingge was tight again already, which came as a shock to him after how gaping wide he’d felt around Mu Qingfang’s knot, but not so tight that he couldn’t wiggle around until that cockhead popped inside.
Mu Qingfang’s eyes fluttered but didn’t close. He kept his gaze trained up on Liu Qingge’s, not even glancing down at where he was slowly entering him, easing Liu Qingge open around him again as gravity pulled Liu Qingge down.
When he finally spoke, it was a murmur of praise—“Perfect, darling, just like that”—as Liu Qingge’s thighs trembled with the burden of slowing his descent, his body still unaccustomed to this particular kind of pleasure. Only when Liu Qingge was bottomed out, his hips flush against Mu Qingfang’s as he panted for air and let his body adjust, did Mu Qingfag address… the rest.
“I’m glad this is what you want,” he said, though Liu Qingge was pretty sure the ‘this’ in question was Mu Qingfang himself. “I’ll take care of you. You just take what you need. Come down here?”
The last part was a question, and Liu Qingge didn’t hesitate to duck down and gasp into Mu Qingfang’s open-mouthed kiss. He felt satisfyingly full with Mu Qingfang’s cock inside him, and more full still from the way the alpha was kissing him, warmth spreading all the way to his chest.
When he felt like he could, Liu Qingge gave a testing rock of his hips and choked on a moan immediately. This way—from below, with gravity forcing him down—Mu Qingfang’s cock felt even deeper than it had the last time. Liu Qingge had tried riding his dildo once a few weeks ago and quickly given up when he couldn’t find a way to secure it at an angle that didn’t have his knees and cunt pressed to the cold hard floor of his bathroom. It turned out that riding a real cock with a real person attached was infinitely better.
Mu Qingfang’s hands had curled a little firmer around his hips but they didn’t move him at all, just rested there as a constant and inescapable reminder of who Liu Qingge was riding. As if he could forget when Mu Qingfang was kissing him like he could devour him, breathing little praises against his lips, releasing his scent like a cloud around them.
Liu Qingge, trying his best to hold onto his own awareness as the grind of Mu Qingfang’s cock stoked his heat into that dizzying force it had been before, wanted to reciprocate. He didn’t have that kind of perfect, drop-of-a-pin control over his scent, but he had worked enough to keep it reeled in as best he could that he was able to just… let it go, and then some. He pushed his scent out with a strength he hadn’t known he could, and Mu Qingfang’s mouth fell open, limp and motionless as he breathed it in, tasted it on his tongue.
There was a tug in Liu Qingge’s gut that he was learning was his omega reacting. This time it was something bone-deep satisfied, hungry, possessive, proud. It would have been embarrassing if Liu Qingge was more aware, if he wasn’t so greedy for the way Mu Qingfang clung to him and breathed him and consumed him as much as he possibly could. Even as he felt himself succumbing to the thrall of his own omega, Liu Qingge looked down at Mu Qingfang and felt.. powerful. In control.
His hips began to move of their own accord as he succumbed to that feeling. Mu Qingfang held onto him, watched him, kissed him; and Liu Qingge took what that thing inside him craved, needed. His grinding became rocking became eager bouncing until he was well and truly riding his a- Mu Qingfang into the bed, doing his sloppy best to keep their lips connected as he moved.
One, or maybe both, of them kept making sweet, low, appreciative noises, but between the proximity of their mouths and the hazy fog in Liu Qingge’s mind, it was impossible to distinguish their origin. It didn’t matter though; their scents spoke for them. Even Liu Qingge could smell the heady arousal, could distinguish both their scents as they twined together and sense the need and want in both of them.
With the heat driving him, Liu Qingge kept his pace until his thighs were trembling and Mu Qingfang’s hands had to grip his tighter to support his movements. He rode him until he came, trembling and dripping into Mu Qingfang’s lap, and then kept riding him until he came again, until he felt Mu Qingfang’s knot filling again.
With every lift, Mu Qingfang’s knot tugged at the rim of Liu Qingge’s cunt, and with every drop, it punched its way in as Liu Qingge let gravity take him. He rode until he couldn’t, Mu Qingfang’s knot locking him into his lap, Mu Qingfang’s arms wrapping tight around his waist and holding him still.
Liu Qingge felt tired but satisfied, the hunger in him sated for a little while, the omega in him more than content with- with being held. Mu Qingfang felt settled too, his scent as steady and calm as his heartbeat against Liu Qingge’s chest. Good. It was good that his- that the alpha was happy.
Body weary and omega loud in his mind, Liu Qingge felt himself start to drift in an unfamiliar but not unwelcome way. Unlike the first time, he didn’t fight it, he just let it carry him. It was peaceful.
At some point, Mu Qingfang grabbed some pillows to prop himself against and leaned back, taking Liu Qingge down with him, and they laid there in a sleepy haze, eyes shut as they basked in each other’s closeness.
Mu Qingfang’s knot eventually went down and he wiggled Liu Qingge up until his cock slipped out. Liu Qingge wasn’t really aware enough to help, but was plenty aware of Mu Qingfang picking him up yet again and carrying him back to the bathroom to clean up. Since Liu Qingge was still… not quite back, and they had already taken a snack break not too long before, Mu Qingfang settled for getting them both some water and then stripping off the soiled blankets from the bed and tucking Liu Qingge under the sheets while he searched for a clean one.
Liu Qingge felt more like himself by the time Mu Qingfang returned with a blanket that smelled faintly of detergent and not very much of himself, but he was too tired for his normal mask to slip into place. Instead, he watched as Mu Qingfang spread the blanket over the bed, watched as Mu Qingfang slipped into bed beside him, watched as Mu Qingfang wiggled closer until they were skin to skin, if only where Mu Qingfang’s elbow dug ever so slightly into Liu Qingge’s relaxed bicep.
Mu Qingfang was on his side, watching Liu Qingge back. Liu Qingge considered rolling to face him, but decided against the effort. It was enough with his head lolled onto the pillow, face turned towards the alpha as they studied each other in turn.
Mu Qingfang was the one to break the silence. “How do you feel?” he asked, and Liu Qingge’s face scrunched up in annoyance. Mu Qingfang laughed quietly, and Liu Qingge paid attention to the way his eyes curled as he did so. “Fine. Just tell me if you need anything. You seem… calmer.”
Liu Qingge magnanimously decided to not take offense in that. He didn’t answer it either. Instead he said, “You should have found a better blanket,” and tugged the sheets up over his nose, trapping him in with the warm, clean smell of Mu Qingfang.
“It was this or the one on the couch,” Mu Qingfang admitted apologetically, “and I don’t know if you’re allergic to cats.”
Liu Qingge perked up a little. “You have a cat?”
“Two,” Mu Qingfang sighed. “They’ll show up at some point. Probably to suffocate us while we’re sleeping.”
Liu Qingge nodded slowly. He hoped they did. He’d always wanted a cat. He supposed it was fortunate they’d ended up at Mu Qingfang’s home instead of his own, considering that what should have been an evening’s hookup had devolved into… “How long… How long will it last?” he asked hesitantly. “The heat.”
Mu Qingfang was quiet for a while as he thought. “It’s hard to say,” he eventually landed on, which was exactly the kind of nonsense Liu Qingge should have known to expect from a doctor. “Like I explained, the first heat or rut after a late presentation—when non-medicated—can be unpredictable. The fact that you’ve been in preheat for so long is further proof of that. With the assistance of an alpha… there’s a chance that it may be more regular, or even shorter, thanks to… consistent knotting. My best estimate would be… two to four days, possibly?”
Liu Qingge would have to let his followers and subscribers know that he would be… indisposed for a while. At least there were no events coming up, nothing to train for or miss, other than a stream or two. Mu Qingfang on the other hand… “Is it alright for you to miss work?”
Mu Qingfang’s lips curled up into a relaxed smile. “I have a very competent staff. They’ll take care of things while I’m gone.”
Liu Qingge had a feeling it was probably a perk Mu Qingfang specifically got for being the owner of the clinic and also super rich, but he supposed the why of it didn’t matter. He knew most workplaces gave time off to bonded pairs if one of them was in cycle and needed their mate, but he didn’t think that same leniency usually applied to one night stands gone wrong.
Whatever. As long as Mu Qingfang wasn’t going anywhere, Liu Qingge wasn’t too worried about it. The alpha had promised he’d take care of him- of his heat, so Liu Qingge chose to trust him. He was too tired at the moment to do anything else.
As he drifted off, he heard Mu Qingfang’s voice again, smooth and low. Liu Qingge ignored the words, but he let the mellow tone of the alpha’s voice lull him deeper into relaxation until he finally succumbed to sleep.
The heat lasted three days. Three days of what was probably the longest virginity-loss ever; or at the very least, that’s how Liu Qingge’s weary body felt when all was said and done.
Mu Qingfang kept his promise and Liu Qingge was well cared for in every way. Mu Qingfang ensured that they were both kept clean whenever possible, he made sure to feed and water Liu Qingge like a plant, he carried Liu Qingge around more often than not simply because he wanted to. There was, of course, no shortage of orgasms either. Mu Qingfang had to take breaks from actively knotting Liu Qingge now and then, but he didn’t let a wave go by without Liu Qingge getting a more than generous amount of attention, whether it be by hand, mouth, or even toy.
Liu Qingge had come more in three days than he had in his whole post-pubescent (pre-presented) life probably, and it was all thanks to Mu Qingfang.
There had been a few… incidents. Liu Qingge and his omega were not yet seamless companions, and the loss of control and heightened emotions only aggravated his usual hair-trigger temperament. He did his best to keep it under control, to let go when he knew he should and keep his cool, but he’d never been good at taking things lying down. A few times he had slipped into panic or distress as his omega dragged him under, and once or twice he had even lost his temper and taken it out on Mu Qingfang, snarling curses and snapping his teeth like some sort of feral beast as the alpha did his best to calm him.
He’d felt like shit in the comedown after those, but Mu Qingfang had been patient and understanding, if a little more sympathetic than Liu Qingge and his particular brand of tough love necessarily cared for. Still, it hadn’t been… bad.
Mu Qingfang’s two cats had made an appearance or two here and there, mostly while Liu Qingge and Mu Qingfang were out in the kitchen or living room, but Liu Qingge was embarrassed to admit that the- the sounds may have scared them off a bit from the bedroom. But he had gotten to pet them, and Zian—a big, fluffy brown tabby with white markings on his face, belly, and chest—had even sat on his lap and purred for a while when Mu Qingfang had been busy cooking.
Liu Qingge was also not really looking forward to… going home. Or rather, he didn’t mind the going home part, but there were things that he had grown a bit spoiled to in the few days he’d spent with Mu Qingfang. His home cooking, for one. At his own home, Liu Qingge had instant noodles and frozen dumplings waiting for him. The cats, of course. Liu Qingge hadn’t gotten to pet them nearly as much as he’d hoped. Also Mu Qingfang’s scent.
Lying in Mu Qingfang’s bed with the doctor asleep beside him, Liu Qingge felt like it might be seared into his nostrils forever from how on, but he knew it wouldn’t be long before it washed off of his skin and out of his clothes once he left. That, he was loath to say, he would miss.
He knew he should probably get out of bed and start getting dressed or whatever, knew he had taken enough of Mu Qingfang’s time and energy so far, and yet-
Ruomei, Mu Qingfang’s other cat—a smaller girl cat with sleek tan fur and dark brown points—was asleep on the blanket between his feet and he didn’t know how to get out without disturbing her. His body was sore from three days of… unusual activity. The air in the room was chilly, but his and Mu Qingfang’s body heat had accumulated under the covers, making the mere thought of getting up send a shiver down Liu Qingge’s spine.
Liu Qingge should get up and go, but he really didn’t want to.
Before he could make up his mind about it, Mu Qingfang woke up. Liu Qingge didn’t exactly pretend to be asleep, but his eyes were closed and he didn’t bother opening them. He heard Mu Qingfang stir and then inhale deeply.
“Heat’s over,” Mu Qingfang murmured. “Feel okay?”
There had been a lot of ‘Feel okay?’ s and related questions over the past three days, which Liu Qingge would decidedly not miss. But some part of him settled when it was clear the alpha wasn’t going to kick him out just yet. Mu Qingfang’s hand had even come up to his forehead, knuckles petting over the smooth skin there before sliding back into Liu Qingge’s thick black hair.
“Yeah,” Liu Qingge rasped.
His voice was rough, undoubtedly thanks to the obscene amount of moaning and noise-making he’d been doing lately, and probably not helped by the rather desperate way he’d let Mu Qingfang into his throat just the day before, hungry to taste him in a different way, his inexperience drowned out by his mouth-watering eagerness. How embarrassing. He cleared his throat and tried again.
“Yeah. Sore, a little. Fine, though.”
“To be expected,” Mu Qingfang hummed, his fingers still combing through Liu Qingge’s hair. “I have some painkillers you can take. And some… post-heat contraceptives. It’s a good idea for you to take them sooner, as opposed to later.”
Liu Qingge groaned in shame. Somehow, amidst everything, that had slipped his mind. He knew—thanks to one of Mu Qingfang’s many educational rants—that the risks of conceiving during a first heat were slim, but naturally, being knotted several times a day (and night) for days on end came with certain probabilities regardless.
“Alright,” he said hoarsely. Mu Qingfang’s petting was putting him back to sleep, which was probably rude considering he’d more than overstayed his welcome, but Liu Qingge kind of wanted to let it happen anyway.
Sensing that maybe, Mu Qingfang kept going. “I’ll wake you up for breakfast and you can take it then. Get some rest,” he said, as if Liu Qingge hadn’t been unconscious for well over eight hours judging by the quality of light filling the room. “I’ll be right in the kitchen. Ruomei, keep watch for me, sweet girl.”
Ruomei stirred at her name, the only indication that she was paying attention, but Liu Qingge felt it the same way he felt Mu Qingfang ease him half to sleep before the mattress dipped to signal his exit.
He woke up some time later to Ruomei evacuating her spot with a disgruntled mrrp as Mu Qingfang entered accompanied by Zian, who hopped up on the bed dangerously close to her resting place. Zian stomped his shockingly heavy paws up the length of Liu Qingge’s thigh, digging into crevices Liu Qingge had never even known were sensitive, before landing at Liu Qingge’s chest and lying down heavy on his sternum.
Liu Qingge’s breathing was restricted a little, and Zian’s excessive fluff was getting in his mouth as the cat sniffed his face, and Mu Qingfang clearly had food in his hand that Liu Qingge was slowly realizing he very badly wanted to eat, but he didn’t mind any of it if it meant he got to lay under the cat’s weight for a few moments more.
Mu Qingfang let him suffocate a little longer as he set up a little bed tray and set a tray of food on top, and then very carefully took a seat on his side of the bed, inching closer without disturbing the balance of the food. Finally, he reached out and scratched Zian on the base of his tail. Zian got to his feet instantly, meowing happily as his back arched, and Mu Qingfang took advantage of the shift in his gravity to nudge him off of Liu Qingge who was equal parts relieved and resentful in the cat's absence. It wasn’t every day he got to have a cat purring on his chest, but he supposed it wasn’t every day he got to eat Mu Qingfang’s cooking, cozy in a bed that smelled like him (like them) with nowhere to be (yet).
They ate there, sitting with the blankets over their legs and the tray tucked between them. Mu Qingfang kept pushing bowls of this and that over to Liu Qingge, sneaking him the best bites of fish or meat or fresh fruit. Liu Qingge didn’t complain. Some part of him had learned to accept… being taken care of, at least by Mu Qingfang. He’d undoubtedly snap out of it when he finally left Mu Qingfang’s apartment, but for now, it was like the spell hadn’t yet broken.
The cats eventually rejoined them, curling at the foot of the bed in their respective corners, Mu Qingfang wiggling his toes aimlessly under Zian’s heavy form as they ate. Liu Qingge didn’t let himself think about how the absence of this might feel once he left.
After their more than generous (but much needed) breakfast, Mu Qingfang passed Liu Qingge an unopened box and a glass of water. “You’ll have to take two pills today, and two tomorrow. Morning and night, with food.”
Liu Qingge nodded and chose to take Mu Qingfang’s word for it, discarding the thick instruction and warning manual and swallowing one of the four pills with a quick swig of water. Mu Qingfang frowned at him pointedly.
“You should read those, you know? At least the side effects and directions.”
“What are you, my doctor?” Liu Qingge croaked back, just to watch Mu Qingfang’s eyebrows twitch in annoyed amusement.
“I washed your clothes,” Mu Qingfang told him once they were finally out of bed, the breakfast tray safely atop the dresser where no wayward cats might knock it over. When Liu Qingge stiffened a little, Mu Qingfang glanced over his shoulder at him with a grin. “I’m not kicking you out, just figured you might want some real clothes now that there’s no need for… easy access. Not that I mind if you want to stay like this, of course.”
‘Like this’ was with a thin cotton robe tied around his waist, doing very little to disguise the outline of him, especially when the light hit him at the right angle. It had been his go-to once the heat had picked up enough to make even a shirt and shorts an inconvenience. It smelled like him. But- But he had his clothes, clean and waiting for him, and he’d have to leave sooner as opposed to later, so…
He nodded and accepted the clothes when Mu Qingfang brought them to him. Mu Qingfang gave him some privacy, taking the tray back to the kitchen to wash up as Liu Qingge changed, and Liu Qinge held his clothes to his chest for a moment before sighing. He supposed there was no point in waiting.
It felt odd putting real clothes back on after so many days, but at least they were his own and fit well. And, he realized as he pulled his shirt over his head: they smelled like Mu Qingfang. Not much, but undeniably there. More than if he’d simply folded them once dry. He must have briefly scented them.
It was overstepping, in some ways. Liu Qingge hadn’t asked him to, and the implications were a bit more than a simple one night stand, but he couldn’t bring himself to be bothered by it. Even if it was just for a few hours, it would be nice to have Mu Qingfang’s scent on him.
In the end, although he was (theoretically) welcome to linger, Liu Qingge did little more than pet the cats as much as they would allow, drink a cup of tea to swallow down a pain killer for the soreness, and… and that was all.
Mu Qingfang offered to call him a car, but since they had both walked to the same bar the other night (albeit from opposite directions), Liu Qingge figured it wasn’t worth the money. Besides, although he’d certainly been… active the past three days, he was feeling a little cooped up. Stretching his legs would help, probably.
Mu Qingfang’s easy going charm wasn’t enough to dissolve the awkward tension between them as Liu Qingge reached the door and offered a terse bye, thanks. Before he could walk out, though, Mu Qingfang’s hand darted forward, those now familiar fingers wrapping tightly around Liu Qingge’s wrist for just a moment before loosening slightly.
Liu Qingge stilled. He looked down at Mu Qingfang’s hand and then followed the line of it up, up, up to Mu Qingfang’s expectant face. When Mu Qingfang didn’t say anything, Liu Qingge frowned. His heartbeat seemed to have grown a little faster, and without the scent patches he typically wore out, he didn’t know exactly what his scent was doing. “What?” he managed, his rough voice cracking a little.
Mu Qingfang’s expression shuttered briefly before clearing out into a classic little smile. He tilted his head in that way Liu Qingge had gotten all too used to, and a strand of his soft brown hair—loose around his shoulders today—slipped free from his ear and into his face. “Hey,” he said, his voice low and sweet, almost crooning. “Meet me at the bar again? Friday, after eight.”
Liu Qingge froze. He usually streamed on Fridays, starting mid afternoon and often ending well past midnight. After his unexpected absence, his followers deserved some extra time, probably. But. But.
“We’ll see,” he managed, because Mu Qingfang shouldn’t think he was easy just because he let him fuck him senseless for three days on their second meeting! But he would be there, he already knew. From the way Mu Qingfang’s smile grew, his soft eyes sparkling, he knew it too.
Liu Qingge’s face heated and he turned away, yanking his arm free with very little force. He almost said something stupid like see you later, but even if they both knew it, he didn’t need to admit it so plainly. Instead he just stepped towards the elevator and kept his back turned until the doors opened with a quiet bing. Mu Qingfang, who had been resting in his doorframe watching him, called a soft goodbye after him that Liu Qingge chose to ignore.
Three days. Three days he’d spent with the alpha, three more days until he saw him again. Liu Qingge breathed in the sandalwood and amber that lingered in his shirt, the bright hints of mandarin and violet just barely there if he searched enough. Three days.
Too much. Not enough.
Friday came sooner than expected, though every day leading up to it had seemingly dragged on forever. Recovering from the heat had been an experience, to say the least, and Liu Qingge had found himself tired and moody in the comedown, especially as he finally forced himself to address the… complicated feelings he was having towards his own omega. Like it or not, it was a part of him now, and he needed to figure out how he felt about that.
He streamed a bit and edited enough footage to post a prerecorded video, but he found himself a bit too distracted to play at his usual level. He hoped it was just a one time thing, or else this ‘new normal’ Mu QIngfang had preached so much about would be the end of him.
By the time Friday came around, Liu Qingge couldn’t say that he’d figured it all out, but he did feel a little better. The constant horniness he’d dealt with for weeks after presenting was finally gone for good (until his next heat, at least, whenever that might be), but Liu Qingge was filled with a new kind of longing, one that only eased when he was in his nest with his shirt—the one that smelled ever-so-faintly of Mu Qingfang—pressed close to his face.
Yes, Liu Qingge was no longer a heat-addled mess, but there was a part of him (that he hated to admit was not entirely his omega) that seemed to be… craving Mu Qingfang. It appeared… It appeared that Liu Qingge had developed a crush.
Which was fine. And not at all embarrassing. And not at all why he was dressed in the tight black jeans that even Luo Binghe had reluctantly admitted made his ass look great and a shirt just sheer enough to reveal the shadows of his nipples, checking his phone with a frown and wondering in 8:01 was after eight enough to walk in without looking too eager. Those things were just. Circumstantial.
He lingered on the sidewalk for a minute longer, double checking the scent patches on his neck, smoothing back his hair in its high ponytail, before he decided it would only be more awkward if Mu Qingfang were to show up after eight and find him fussing outside the bar. He would go inside, and if Mu Qingfang was there, then they would both look eager, and if Mu Qingfang wasn’t there, Liu Qingge could get a drink and pretend he’d just been around and not impatiently awaiting Mu Qingfang’s arrival.
Mind made up, Liu Qingge shoved his phone in his pocket with as much grace as he could muster with his tight pants, rolled his shoulders back, and headed in.
He smelled it instantly: sandalwood and amber, mandarins and violet. Mu Qingfang. He wasn’t at the bar this time, but as Liu Qingge froze just inside the doorway, eyes searching, the alpha stood from a booth along the wall, his lips parted. Liu Qingge flushed. He had kept the scent patches on his neck and thighs where his scent was strongest, but he had felt… brave leaving the house and decided against the ones on his wrist. It seemed that even just that was strong enough to alert Mu Qingfang to his presence in mere seconds. That, or Mu Qingfang had been waiting for him just as eagerly, had been seeking out his scent in his sheets just as fervently as Liu Qingge had been the past three days.
Liu Qingge forced his feet to move, forced himself across the bar and over towards Mu Qingfang. Mu Qingfang whose pants were neatly pressed, whose shirt was tucked all the way around, his sleeves rolled up evenly, his hair clearly brushed and secured with a clip instead of chopsticks. Mu Qingfang who looked like he’d also thought twice about what to wear to this stupid, dirty, dive bar just to meet Liu Qingge.
“Qingge,” Mu Qingfang said when he was close enough, and his voice was just how Liu Qingge remembered.
“Qingfang,” Liu Qingge retorted, blushing irrationally at the name. Mu Qingfang looked delighted.
“Come, sit,” he invited, motioning for the bench opposite him, and then they were isolated in their booth. Liu Qingge chewed the inside of his lip and Mu Qingfang smiled. “Miss me?” he asked shamelessly, and Liu Qingge wouldn’t admit it, but… yes. He had.