Thread by @gdnightsweetme

Omega emperor LWJ is hyper sensitive to alpha scent. He finds it absolutely revolting. So far the only alphas whose scent doesn't disgust him are his family.

#OmegaLWJSeason cw omegaverse

It has little impact on the palace life. All the rooms are well ventilated. Sandalwood incense is burned day and night. The servants are omegas and betas. All the courtiers keep respectable distance from the emperor during audiences and court functions.

It's fine. It's workable. Until the time comes to find a spouse for the emperor. You see, omegas pick a compatible mate based on scent.

Young men and women from all the best families in the land flock to the palace. The emperor meets them, one by one, in the gardens, a handkerchief doused in essential oils pressed to his nose. It is not very conductive to romance.

One meeting ends with the emperor retching over a rosebush. It would have been very embarrassing for the emperor if, well, he weren't the emperor. As it is, it is very embarrassing for one Wen Chao, second son of duke Wen.

Among 3000 rules of the Imperial Palace there is one that forbids gossip, but still Wen Chao's disgrace is soon known to all. After that another approach is taken. The eligible alphas send courting gifts infused with their scents.

The individual humiliation is spared as the servants make a pile of all the gifts in one of the courtyards and set it on fire. They need to repeat it every few days. To keep a gift, even properly aired and sterilized, would have been a sign of interest.

The emperor is miserable. He knows his duty and wishes to fulfil it, no matter that mating was never in the forefront of his mind. However the last few months he feels as if he was spending his days rooting through garbage piles.

The thought that he needs to get up the next morning and smell alphas yet again is enough to rob him of his sleep. The single physician that suggested, in the mildest manner, to dull the emperor's senses has been removed from the palace and sent to a far away province.

But it is well known that the emperor has been repulsed by alpha scent since childhood and at some point he and his family and their most trusted advisors will have to think about the alternatives.

The empire needs heirs and LWJ is reminded of it every day as he walks by the portraits of his ancestors. In the portraits they are all noble and proud and with one hand placed on their stomachs where they carry the future of the empire.

One day the emperor finds himself in the part of the palace he does not usually frequent. (The palace is really a city within a city, so there are a lot of places he does not frequent.)

He was on his way to receive yet another batch of courting gifts and he found himself dragging his feet and picking a longer route to delay it.

He stops dead when he smells an unfamiliar scent.

//that's it for now, this was supposed to be short, so second & last part tomorrow

LWJ cannot place it. It smells like honey, like ripe fruit, like wood… and like fire. Intense and exciting. He follows the scent fully abandoning the path to his meeting and soon reaches one of the more secluded gardens.

A man is laying on his stomach beside one of the koi ponds. He supports his head with one hand and traces lazy patterns in the water with the other. The fish are indifferent.

“Ningning, do you think we’ll be allowed to relocate them?” asks the man idly, sensing a presence behind him.
“Stop disturbing the fish,” says the emperor.

The man jumps to his feet, twirls around, trips, rights himself, recognizes the emperor, freezes, startles, and throws himself back on the ground to kowtow. The emperor hasn’t seen this much excessive movement for a month. It is mildly amusing.

“Rise,” says the emperor. The alluring scent is all around him and he can almost taste it. Without doubt it belongs to the man. An alpha. The emperor feels weirdly light-headed.

The man stands up and faces him fully, perhaps unaware that one should always keep their head lowered in the presence of the emperor. His clothes are dishevelled, and he doesn’t seem to know what to do with his hands.

That’s several infractions. The emperor could have him banished for the disrespect.

“Who are you and what is your purpose here?” he asks, instead of calling for the guards. He feels a little warm although the day is rather cloudy. Is it because of the scent? Or is it because he is mesmerized by the handsome features and the lively grey eyes before him?

“Huang shang, this one is Wei Wuxian,” responds the alpha and oh no, his voice is very nice too. “I have been commissioned by the grand chancellor to redesign this garden. And maybe some of the others if he is pleased with my work.”

Then, unprompted, he goes on talking about soil, plants, and feng shui of the place, eyes bright with enthusiasm.

LWJ takes an unconscious step forward. Wei Wuxian takes a step back to keep the distance between them only slightly inappropriate and not downright scandalous.

He slips on the edge of the pond and the emperor moves forward to grab him and stop him from falling backwards, but WWX is bigger and heavier than the emperor and the emperor’s silk shoes are slippery. They both fall into the pond, LWJ on top of WWX.

Wei Wuxian might have decided to just drown here and now and spare himself the execution. LWJ’s thoughts go into different direction. He wants to lick WWX’s neck. Despite the disturbance the fish remain largely indifferent.

The emperor shows great restraint (as it is expected from him in all circumstances), extricates himself from WWX and steps back onto the garden path. Wei Wuxian follows, possibly in shock, because he is shaking. They are both soaked.

Just as the emperor thinks about the words to reassure WWX that he shall not be blamed for this unfortunate situation, the alpha’s shaking gets worse and he dissolves into laughter.

The emperor is appalled. And also charmed. And he still wants to lick WWX. And also touch him more, because he felt his abdomen muscles back in the pond and feels now the urge to explore further.

And frankly, WWX’s laugh might be the best thing about him yet. It is loud and warm and unrestrained. Nobody laughs like that around the emperor.

“Sorry, I’m sorry!” shrieks Wei Wuxian between bouts of laughter. He is not in control of his body enough to kowtow again.

“I liked your ideas about the garden,” says the emperor with great dignity. He has not retained a single word of what WWX said, much less a whole concept. “I would like to continue this conversation over tea. Continue with your work. Someone will bring you to me later.”

WWX falls silent.

“Do you have a handkerchief?”

WWX gives the emperor his wet handkerchief.

The emperor stops himself from smelling it and tucks it into his sleeve instead.

And with that he turns and exits the garden, gliding past a wide-eyed youth (Ningning?) and back to his quarters. LWJ orders to burn whatever gifts arrived this time and sends for his brother.

He has no doubt that he found a compatible alpha and he has plenty of gardens that require redesign. Now all he needs is a plan.

1. Hold off the gentry families and their smelly offspring
2. Find out if Wei Wuxian has any noble ancestry
3. (if needed) Make up noble ancestry for Wei Wuxian
4. Read up on gardening
5. Read up on courtship
6. Woo Wei Wuxian

It should be easy, right?

THE END

Thanks for reading 😊
Random bits that didn't make it to the text:
WWX's parents were both imperial cartographers. They died saving people from a mudslide.
WWX is scared and horny. Is "tea" a code word for something?
Wen Ning got his first grey hair that day.