Thread by @gdnightsweetme

cw omegaverse #omegaLWJseason let's try a little thread, modern AU
Omega!LWJ grows up in a very traditional family in a very traditional community. There are strict rules of behavior for alphas, betas and omegas.

After a teen presents, they can freely mingle only with other teens of the same designation. Contact between genders is heavily regulated and supervised.

Add to that the cautionary tale of LWJ’s parents and their disastrous bonding and marriage (LWJ and LXC don’t know the details, because it was deemed inappropriate for their young ears, but they live with the consequences –

quietly voiced insinuations, parts of the community that are not on speaking terms years after, strict and overprotective uncle as their sole guardian).

When LXC presents as beta, uncle relaxes a bit. When LWJ presents as omega, the worry lines are back and even more pronounced. LWJ is a perfect young man, with talent for numbers and for music, if a bit cold and reserved.

He takes part in community events and volunteers for a charity but has no close friends. He tells it no one, not even his brother, but he longs for more. There is fire burning deep within him, he doesn’t know how to name it, but he thinks he got it from his mother.

And when the time comes, he fights to go to the university in Yunmeng. He gets in and secures a scholarship and a place in an omega dorm. He talks with his uncle and his elders, he digs his heels in. And in the autumn he leaves home.

Yunmeng is nothing like Gusu. The weather is different, the smells, the fashion. During the first days the sheer quantity of new things make LWJ’s head spin. He throws himself into learning, feeding the fire inside him. He makes new acquaintances in his dorm.

He goes out with them and that turns out to be a struggle, because in Yunmeng students may keep to their gender in the lecture halls, but they frequent bars and party together. In Gusu LWJ wouldn’t fraternize with alphas until after he married one.

Here his new friend Mianmian has a drinking contest with the most gorgeous alpha man LWJ has ever seen. He is lean and tall, maybe a little taller than LWJ, and has the most radiant smile and sparks in his dark dark eyes.

Mianmian wins and the alpha cheers and swoops her up in his arms and spins her in the air laughing. LWJ watches from the corner, where he is gripping his soda glass and trying not to scowl visibly at the impropriety.

Later he asks Mianmian (who smells now a bit of something spicy & rain?) if she is involved with the alpha. “Who? A-Ying? No, silly, we were raised together, sort of. We were always like this and it helps keeping other alphas at a distance. I have a boyfriend at home, you know.”

Seeing LWJ’s obvious interest she tells him more about Wei Ying, Wei Wuxian. See, he was raised by his parents and they travelled a lot, but usually they stayed for a couple of months every year in a commune where Mianmian lived. And when WWX went to school, he stayed full time.

In the commune they just all lived together and (here Mianmian, more than tipsy, shakes her finger at LWJ) didn’t bother with all that gender stuff, because it’s bullshit. This, LWJ knows, is not a view shared by majority of the population.

He heard his share of nasty comments from the alphas. His new omega friends make sure to always return to their dorm in groups or escorted by some trusted alphas or betas. He suffers through weekly calls where his uncle lectures him about morality.

He can’t get enough of his newfound freedom and yet he aches for the safety and simplicity of home.

After that first evening when LWJ saw Wei Wuxian, he sees him everywhere. In the cafeteria. In the library. On the steps of the omega dorm where WWX waits for Mianmian or another of his omega friends, because he has, it turns out, many omega friends.

LWJ thinks about coming up to him&introducing himself. It wouldn’t be weird&yet he can’t. Every time there is an opportunity his blood freezes in his veins&he feels the eyes of his ancestors on him. An unbonded omega to an unbonded alpha? Immodest. Shameless. Will end with tears.

LWJ tells himself that he feels so drawn to WWX, because WWX is his polar opposite. That’s why he notices things about WWX. Like how he seems unable to stand still. Or how his laughter turns heads. Or how his jeans hang from his hips.

LWJ shies away from that last thought and lies to himself that it’s an observation about fashion. That he didn't notice that for any other reason.

//pausing here, more tomorrow

Ok, let's go #omegaLWJseason top of the thread:

https://twitter.com/gdnightsweetme/status/1456635977980596238

After LWJ catches himself staring at WWX's hips or throat a few more times, he decides to ignore the alpha's existence. There's plenty of marriage talk in the omega dorm. Some omegas straight up admit that they came here so that they have more options than in their home towns.

Some are already betrothed and planning to get married right after getting a degree, but they still want to have something in their lives besides a mate and children to take care of.

Some fancy themselves too young to care about these things and some brazenly discuss various alphas, because (and this is a bit of a revelation for LWJ) young people are horny.

LWJ doesn't think about marriage at all, he wants to learn, to see more of the world and to experience new things. Therefore there is no need for him to pay attention to a random alpha. Even an exceptionally handsome one. It goes well, for a bit.

LWJ takes his classes and absorbes knowledge like a sponge. He auditions for the university orchestra and gets in. He still goes out with Mianmian and their friends and finds himself relaxing to a point where he joins the conversation in the mixed company sometimes.

When he feels particularly homesick he goes for an evening to the Omega Club. It's one of the oldest omega-only clubs on campus (that's how they got dibs on the name) where omegas can meet to learn the traditional omega crafts, listen to recitations of classical poetry, exchange

recipes and knitting patterns. LWJ likes cooking and finds the possibility to learn about different cuisines exciting and relaxing. What he doesn't like are the club's more political activities, because he feels more and more disconnected from them.

This is how one time he finds himself leaving early, because there's a discussion on petitioning the university to introduce certain measures to improve omegas' safety on campus. However all of discussed options are based on placing restrictions on omegas.

LWJ feels hurt and angry and confused about his anger, because these are things that he was used to at home and they didn't bother him mere months ago.

He gets back to the dorm, opens the door to his room and blinks. Mianmian and WWX are sitting at her bed playing cards. Alphas cannot enter the omega dorm.

LWJ's anger is redirected, because he really wanted to untangle his complicated emotions in the safety of his room and now an alpha is here and the whole rooms smells of spices and... wind? LWJ is incensed.

It ends with apologetic Mianmian and conciliatory WWX (who doesn't manage to hide his amusement). „Lan Wangji, Lan Wangji,” singsongs WWX getting out of the window. „Please, don't be mad, nobody's virtue was in danger! I promise! Bye, Mianmian!”

„We didn't expect you back so soon,” says Mianmian. „He shouldn't be here at all,” huffs LWJ and fights with himself to leave the window open to get rid of the scent. He likes the scent, it's bad.

He makes Mianmian promise that she won't meet with WWX here unless LWJ is in Gusu for the weekend. Technically LWJ could report the incident, but that would land both Mianmian and WWX in trouble and he doesn't want to get Mianmian in trouble.

And she would be in bigger trouble than WWX and it makes LWJ even angrier.

In the end LWJ spends the rest of the evening unhappy about the Omega Club and about the WWX's very existence. Mianmian orders an apology pizza and well, at least the two of them will be ok.

Next time, probably tomorrow: WWX's side of things. And then, hopefully, they will get on the same page.

Top of the thread.

https://twitter.com/gdnightsweetme/status/1456632695111487502

cw omegaverse #omegaLWJseason

Wei Ying knows all kinds of people. In the commune it is always a mix of radicals, weirdos, artists, runaways and an occasional rebel from so called good home trying something different.

On the road with his parents the range is even wider, you can meet anyone on the train or in a roadside inn. And then there are people who come to mom's sex positivity workshops or buy dad's art.

On top of that WWX spent several summers in Lotus Pier, an estate of dad's childhood friend uncle Jiang. There auntie Yu took one look at him and decided to teach him manners. It proved useful.

His parents taught him to be kind and the rest would sort itself out (WWX discovered that it was a bit more nuanced than that, but the foundation was solid). They are also rather untraditional couple.

His mom is an alpha who left her alpha mother's martial arts school, got a degree in sexology, and carried a baby of her omega husband. His dad won a gold medal for archery on national level after he had successfully campaigned to remove gender division in male archery.

„Your dad was also great at judo,” WWX's mom recounts fondly in a tone that prompts WWX to change topic so that she doesn't tell him any anecdotes about that, thank you very much. In judo there are still separate categories for male alpha/beta and male omega contestants.

Anyway, they never really settled down and they live their semi-nomad life happily, even if between two of them they can't manage to make a half-decent congee and WWX wouldn't trust them with boiling a pot of water.

So now, in the university, WWX flits between different groups with ease. He has friends everywhere and can strike up a conversation with anyone. He is seen as a bit of a troublemaker, but mostly harmless. He eschews decorum.

He flirts and invites flirting, but it's understood that none of it is serious. He's the kind of friend that will get you back to your dorm or flat safely when you get drunk. He is cautious around the more conservative students though.

Such alphas are quicker to violence during an inevitable argument about politics and such omegas... well, WWX doesn't want to give anyone false hope with a few flirtatious remarks or end up beaten by someone's alpha brother over a perceived slight.

WWX has learnt his lesson, a few times actually.

So when he first spots LWJ in a cafeteria line he admires the long lines of his body, but scoffs at how buttoned-up he is, figuratively and literally – a telltale sign and, in WWX's humble opinion, a grave mistake in Yunmeng weather – and decides to steer clear.

Maybe, maybe, WWX bluescreens for a moment seeing LWJ's face, all high cheekbones, but it's nothing that he can't ignore, right?

And then LWJ, instead of disappearing among other members of the Omega Club and their ilk, starts popping up in the places WWX frequents.

He doesn't look like he is having a good time, but he still comes. And it turns out he's Mianmian's roommate! So after he confirms that LWJ didn't lose a bet or something and after Mianmian says he's a good egg, WWX is intrigued.

WWX doesn't get to make a good proper first impression, because the first time they speak directly is when LWJ catches WWX in his dorm room. Going uninvited to an omega's private space is a big no-no.

Though technically WWX went invited to Mianmian's space. Yeah, he wouldn't let himself off the hook with such defence either.

The picture of LWJ so angry that he was practically shaking, pale and with eyes ablaze (how can someone have gold eyes, what the fuck?), stays with WWX. Normally LWJ is so calm and collected and he moves with the grace of a character from a historical romance drama.

The kind WWX's parents sometimes like to watch, with flowy costumes, cursed destiny plot lines and larger than life love stories. Now that WWX saw LWJ discomposed he feels an urge to make him so again. To peel off that unearthly calm and make him sound hoarse and raw and... oh.

Anyway, WWX decides that he probably needs to apologize again. And thank LWJ for not reporting them. And then strike a conversation and see where it goes. The problem is he can't quite think of a good way to do that.

LWJ is not one of the omega's that are easy to approach. They don't have classes together, because they study totally different things. Approaching LWJ on campus would result in some of their peers on high alert and lots of gossip.

Approchaing LWJ during a party – no, too many people around and wrong kind of environment. Asking Mianmian to help him engineer a situation where only three of them meet is also out of question.

Mianmian is basically WWX in a skirt, she would do it, but then she would make fun of him forever. So, not until he's desperate. Asking LWJ to meet him alone... well, WWX is shameless enough to do that, but LWJ would surely refuse.

A few weeks pass with WWX making up and discarding various plans, and reminiscing how nice Mianmian's room smelled. Then he has a big project for one of his classes, so he spends ten days cooped up in his room after classes, talking to no one.

WWX lives in a flat off campus with Jiang Cheng and Jiang Cheng knows to leave him alone when he hyperfixates like that. When WWX finally emerges he's starved for human contact and food other than instant noodles.

He takes a quick shower, throws on his biggest hoodie and goes to the grocery store. And lo and behold, in one of the aisles he finds LWJ, alone, examining carefully the avocados. WWX grabs a mango (why? it feels right not to have his hands empty) and makes a beeline to LWJ.

//here, have a cliffhanger 🙃 this thing is getting bigger and bigger

Do you like WWX's parents? They are alive and kicking and embarrassing their son.

Let's go back to LWJ. Top of the thread, you know the drill.

https://twitter.com/gdnightsweetme/status/1456632695111487502

It’s been a few weeks and LWJ is still low-key angry at the world, but mostly at himself. Because he admitted to himself that he is attracted to a wholly unsuitable boy.

It’s one thing to find WWX fascinating, because he’s so different from what LWJ knew, and another to… possibly… like him. (It’s not, LWJ was in denial.)

WWX breaks rules, WWX takes liberties, and he charms everyone he meets. He’s a handsome alpha and the world is his oyster. LWJ is a quiet and studious omega, who just starts to realize how big his dreams are. The one time they talked LWJ yelled at WWX (justified, but still).

So now WWX must think that LWJ is inflexible and dull and a prude and a drag. Why would he want anything to do with him?

And even if he did, LWJ is not here to get an alpha! He is angry and his emotions are a mess. It seems like he wants seven different things at once and he needs to deal with wet dreams on top of that (another first for him). And this is how WWX finds him in a grocery store.

LWJ is doing his weekly shopping and suddenly WWX is standing next to him. He looks like he hasn’t slept for a week and his hair is damp for some reason, but LWJ’s breath still hitches due to sheer proximity. WWX starts chatting at him as if they were old friends.

Apparently throwing WWX out of the dorm counts as making his acquaintance.

LWJ is suddenly nervous. He’s not entirely sure what WWX is talking about. It started with mangos and now it’s about school? Some misadventures?

And then WWX sort of tips forward so that he looks up at LWJ through his lashes (never before has LWJ paid attention to anyone’s lashes!) like he’s an omega in a perfume ad and goes “…so please, please, please let me take you out to lunch.”

The world slips from under LWJ. What?

WWX stares expectantly. He bats his lashes playfully. LWJ is not sure if he’s being mocked or not, but the chance of being given a bit of what he wants (even if it’s hard to think about his… desires) is enough for him not to spin on his heel and run away.

“Yes.”
“Yes? Ok, good, yes!” WWX straightens, fishes his phone out of his hoodie, asks LWJ for his number, sends him a single emoji in a text, promises to text him properly later, gives him a mango he was holding this whole time and disappears as suddenly as he appeared.

(LWJ does not know that, but WWX decided that getting food for dinner was not worth risking LWJ changing his mind. He can go to another store! Or beg Jiang Cheng for leftovers!) It all takes maybe two minutes.

LWJ stares at the mango for a long while. It’s not a perfect mango, it’s not to LWJ’s standard, there’s plenty on better mangos right there on the shelf, but LWJ feels the urge to keep it anyway.

WWX gave it to him, so he’ll buy it. He will make a salad with it and he will not think about it too closely.

On the way back to the dorm LWJ meets a fellow omega who asks him about his absence from the Omega Club. “Were you ill? There’s something going around! Will you come today?” LWJ says he has different plans.

It’s spending a quiet evening with his textbooks, but the omega scrunches their nose and goes “You know, you shouldn’t hang so much around Mianmian’s crowd, they do not understand what’s important in life like we do.”

LWJ finishes the conversation as quickly as he can. He needs to do all his reading before the weekend, because LXC is going to visit, and then there’s the date with WWX to think about. It is a date, right?

Next on: LXC makes an appearance, our boys go on a date (LWJ, baby, it is a date, I promise) & LWJ thinks about sex, hopefully

Short update, because the boys are cheesy. Top of the thread for those who join at this point.

https://twitter.com/gdnightsweetme/status/1456632695111487502

LWJ is distracted during his Saturday lunch with Xichen. His brother has taken to wearing more fitted cuts and bolder colors since he had started at his new job. Now LXC's cobalt blue blazer makes LWJ ponder what he should wear on his date with WWX.

They agreed on next Saturday and LWJ hates the wait.

„...so they are getting married in the spring. Auntie Chu is very glad,” Xichen finishes updating LWJ on happenings at home. „And how are you faring, didi?”

„Well.”

Xichen eyes him critically and LWJ almost squirms under scrutiny although he really is doing well. Not that he's going to go into details, because Xichen is the biggest gossip.

„It must be a big change for you with how sheltered we were. You know you can always talk to me. And no one would be disappointed if you decided to finish your degree in Gusu.”

LWJ frowns. „Brother, I am doing well, there is no need for concern.”

„Of course. I just feel like you should know that, you always insited on pushing yourself, Wangji.” And then Xichen graciously changes the topic, before LWJ can truly start fuming.

They talk about the advanced courses LWJ want to take next semester on recommendation of his professors and about big marketing campaign that LXC is working on.

They go for a walk around campus and Xichen is appropriatly enthusiastic about everything.They make plans for Sunday (LWJ will show him the town). And they part, and LWJ manages not to steal Xichen's blue blazer, and he really needs to talk to Mianmian about his wardrobe problem.

The week passes in a blur. In the end LWJ doesn't dress up too much. Just one of his nicer silk blouses with delicate embroidery on the cuffs and greyish blue chinos.

He forgoes make-up, but lets Mianmian style his hair and adorn them with a few pretty hair pins. (WWX stumbles when he meets LWJ in front of his dorm. The pavement there might be a little uneven.)

WWX takes him to a restaurant on the riverbank. „Yanli-jie suggested this place and her taste is impeccable! And she eats out all the time, because her terrible fiance at least wines and dines her properly!”

They get a table for two on the wooden terrace with a perfect view of the water. There are artificial lotus lanterns installed floating on the river, but it's too early in the day for them to be lit. Still, they look very nice.

The whole place is rather charming and also appropriate for a respectable date.

WWX behaves like a perfect gentleman and LWJ feels both pleased and somehow weirdly disappointed.

But then, as they are waiting for the food, WWX's posture gets worse and his smile gets bigger and whatever tension LWJ feels dissipates, because WWX is genuinely easy to be around. There are a few missteps, like when WWX tells a joke that's too forward, but they bounce back.

They talk about their studies.

„First year is introductory in a lot of ways, so we get a lot of history courses... but also like methodology of research.”

„Next year we're supposed to take a class outside of our field of study. Hey, maybe we can pick something together!”

And their families.

„Your uncle sounds cool.”

„I don't think you'd like him.”

„Ahaha, I don't think he'd like me. But he didn't plan for having children and raised two boys on his own and that's pretty cool.”

And books.

„As I was saying, I don't know how they will translate it to the screen, but the book itself is as if it was written thirty years ago. And fantasy as a genre has moved forward since then, believe me...”

And music.

„Let us agree to disagree.”

And people they both know. All the first date stuff. They share a dessert and play fight who gets the last bite.

When they leave WWX grabs LWJ's hand and in turn LWJ intertwines their fingers.

The very next morning LWJ goes into heat.

Top of the thread.

https://twitter.com/gdnightsweetme/status/1456632695111487502

In the morning Mianmian takes one look at LWJ and goes to fetch a privacy screen for him. By the time she's back LWJ filled out the online form to let the university know that he'll be indisposed for the next few days.

Mianmian helps with making his rudimentary nest. LWJ has always been wary of others during his heats, so he's afraid he may react to her poorly, but it turns out that months of cohabitation make him recognize Mianmian as a nestmate, to use an antiquated term.

Something's missing, he thinks dejectedly looking at the nest. And then, since he's no longer in the business of lying to himself, amends it to someone's missing. Never before he wanted an alpha anywhere near his nest.

Thankfully his fever rises and his bones turn to jelly very quickly, so he's unable to do something stupid like go and search for Wei Ying. Otherwise he might do something he'd regret later. Or even worse - do it and not regret it at all.

The next few days are torture. Mianmian is a trooper through it all, she makes sure he has water at all times, she cuts fruit for him and washes his face. She also listens patiently to his disjointed and very undignified thoughts. Things he'd never say outside of a heat.

They are friends for life, LWJ is sure, when Mianmian listens to his musings about Wei Ying's hands without laughing once. He's also sure that he will be mortified later, but that feels immaterial at the moment.

When his heat finally breaks after five days, LWJ wakes up parched and with his face pressed into a soft bundle of... Wei Ying's hoodie. LWJ has never seen it before, but the smell doesn't lie. He has no memory of how it got here.

"Ah, sorry about that," says Mianmian, when he emerges from behind the privacy screen, still carefully hugging the hoodie. "Your heat was so bad, so I thought this would help."

"You know, people actually sell scented clothing for this purpose. But why buy it, when you can bum one off your smelly sweaty alpha friend? That you maybe possibly like?"

She winks.

"Thank you," says LWJ and goes to hide in the bathroom.

Top of the thread.

https://twitter.com/gdnightsweetme/status/1456632695111487502

The physical turmoil of the heat is over, but the emotional one remains. Lan Zhan takes a long shower, changes the sheets and checks what workload accumulated while he was indisposed. He lets Mianmian tell him what everyone was up to.

Throughout it all he is distracted. He knows that he's way too serious about Wei Ying. They went on one date, they held hands, and it was enough to accelerate LWJ's heat (he knows that with certainty, his heats have been always very regular).

Finding a potential mate can trigger a heat, it is only natural, but Lan Zhan feels a little betrayed by his body. First intrusive thoughts, then wet dream, and now this.

He has 20 text messages from WWX waiting. Every day of LWJ's heat WWX sent him a good morning and a good night text and some then random messages during the day - a picture of a flower, a complaint about a professor, a dumb joke NHS told him.

"Good morning" LWJ texts back. And after some deliberation: "Thank you for the hoodie."

WWX sends some celebratory emoticons and immediately invites LWJ for a walk. LWJ agrees.

Over the next few weeks they go on dates every few days and text constantly. It's like a dam has broken.

WWX continues to be very respectful, though he adds kissing LWJ's cheek as hello and goodbye to holding hands.

They meet in public places - restaurants, parks, cafes, once a theatre (sitting in the dark with his arm pressed to WWX's arm makes LWJ miss a good chunk of the plot) - and WWX brings LWJ back to the dorms at a responsible hour.

It's a little bit funny how very proper this courtship is when at the same time they participate in the student life on and off campus where WWX is a force of chaos and LWJ steps out of his comfort zone running with MM's cohort.

Or it would be funny if LWJ wasn't terribly sexually frustrated.

Some primal part of him wonders if the alpha is playing with him. Is he not desirable? Surely he deserves more than a kiss on the cheek? He's so good, he can show him, he'd be even better on WWX's... yeah.

Yeah, so. LWJ takes a lot of cold showers these days.

And when he's thinking rationally, WWX's respectful behavior makes him feel all mushy. WWX is mindful about his boundaries and not at discouraged by them.

...it's just that LWJ may be very close to tearing them down himself.

He is knits a scarf for WWX and daydreams about pushing him against a wall and kissing him silly.

It's a miracle that his studies haven't suffered. But it also makes him greedy. Maybe he can have an alpha and a career. WWX wouldn't expect him to stay at home, would he?

He's all about living the way he wants and he's not a hypocrite. But maybe he seeks a homemaker omega? He is courting LWJ after all... and he is courting him as a homemaker omega would expect to be courted... is it too early to talk to WWX about that?

It's definitely too early to talk to WWX about that, LWJ decides and then he spends an evening decidedly unhappy until WWX sends him a photo of a pet shop display featuring two very cute rabbits.