Thread by @_stiricide_

#TopxianBottomjiWeek day 5: a/b/o, ft alphaxian x alphaji, age difference (wwx mid-40s, lwj 23), modern au, 🔞, brief wwx/others (hookups), angst with happy ending, slow burn

For the second time in his life lwj stepped onto the docks of Lotus Pier. They rocked uneasily under

his feet, this section of the lakes open to all manner of boats and their waves. From another dock a man yelled at a nearby boat to slow down, the waves from it knocking the docks together.

lwj wobbled and a small hand grasped his arm, it’s owner laughing lightly.

“If you’re not careful A-Zhan, you might actually end up in the water this time,” jyl teased.

lwj glanced at his friend. Behind her servants were moving their bags down the dock to a waiting transport truck. Enough of lwj’s for one last summer of freedom before reality caught up

with him. Nearly everything jyl had in her university dorm room, returned home for the foreseeable future.

Still, they talked like it was just the summer for her as well. One last summer for both of them before they went out into the world. Reality had no place in their summer.

jyl slipped her arm through his and pulled him along down the dock to a waiting vehicle, some love child of a golf cart and an actual vehicle. Road legal. Likely horrifically expensive. Ugly.

lwj helped his friend into the vehicle, quickly following her as the driver started

the car, barely giving him time to buckle in before it was off, zooming down the tightly packed dirt road.

jyl laughed again, looking over at him, her own seatbelt still hanging loose next to her. “A-Zhan, we’re barely going to be 5 minutes! And there are no other cars around.”

lwj gave her a pointed look, pulling his loose hair back into a bun to stop it whipping around them. He leaned over, pulling the seatbelt back with him and clicking it into place.

jyl shook her head and gazed out the window, eyes deadening as her family home came into view.

He pressed their hands together. Eeality was coming for him in three months, but, as much as they denied it, for jyl reality would arrive the moment her feet touched the ground again.

“It’s not too late,” he whispered, leaning in to be sure the driver wouldn’t hear. “I could

take him, drive us back to the docks and steal a boat. Disappear.”

jyl shot him an amused look, bumping shoulder with him when the vehicle took a final sharp turn towards the house.

It was an overbearing thing. lwj had seen photos from before it burned, nearly a decade earlier,

back when it was all tradition and charm and history. Now it ran towards the modern, towering over the lakes and the Lotus Pier empire, tradition dragged in for the sake of appearance and smushed between concrete walls.

The vehicle slowed to pull onto the final paved driveway,

servants perfectly laid out in white over the stairway leading up into the house. jyl’s mother walked a harsh line of purple down the center, her father teetering behind her, lazily waving it them, seemingly talking to some invisible person behind him.

The vehicle pulled to a

stop, the driver quickly jumping out to help them down before hoping back in and disappearing with a cloud of smoke.

Apparently it was also not environmentally friendly.

“Yanli,” came Madam Yu’s stinging voice. She continued to stand at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her

daughter to come to her.

jyl slowly approached her, smiling gently, politely bowing at the correct time and place, perfect and lovely and miserable.

“Mother,” she replied softly, “it is an honor to be home. Thank you for welcoming my return and for allowing my dear friend to

to join us for the summer.” She bowed again, lowering her eyes to avoid the cold sharpness in her mother’s eyes.

“Your hair is too short, I can’t believe you’ve let people see you like that,” Madam Yu snapped. “We’ll have to have the stylist put extensions in. Hopefully she’ll

have time to fix it before the party.” The fact that Madam Yu would make her make time went unsaid.

The woman turned her gaze onto lwj and he had to force down the urge to straighten further. The first time he had visited she had put on a semblance of a mask, hiding her

harness behind layers of tight smiles and kind words and pushes towards joining her family.

That mask had vanished when she realized lwj and her daughter would never be more than friends, replaced by the same daggered words and looks she gave her own family.

lwj was amazed she

had even agreed to his spending the summer there, his presence easily read as his being attached to jyl when all Madam Yu wanted was the marry his friend off to an alpha for a business alliance.

“lwj,” was all she said before turning to ascend up the stairs, her husband moving

awkwardly aside and her servants trailing behind her.

jfm stepped down the remaining steps, arms and smile wide. “A-Li,” he said, pulling her into a warm hug, gently kissing her forehead.

“Baba,” jyl greeted, “it is good to see you.”

“And you, my sweet little flower.” A sweet

smell broke into the air around them, light and flowery, almost a mirror of jyl’s own scent. Almost.

“Well,” jfm said, linking his arm through his daughters and pulling her up the stairs, “let us head inside, hmm? Get out of this heat.”

“Baba,” jyl said sternly, halting their

steps and glancing back at lwj.

He sighed, “Yes, yes, you too lwj. Welcome, welcome. Come along. Was your mother’s greeting not enough, A-Li?” She shot him a look as the three ascended the stairs.

They’d barely entered the house when a hand shot out and dragged jyl away from

her father. In a flurry of motion lwj lurched forward, ripping her from the person’s grip before slamming them against the wall.

The sharp scent of an alpha hit his nose, bright and aged and spicy and laughter hit his ears as he met the eyes of the other man.

“My goodness,” he

giggled, “if I hadn’t already heard Fengmian-ge rant about ‘arrogant young Lans who think they’re too good for my sweet A-Li’ I would think you were being territorial.”

“Wei Wuxian!” “Xian-shushu!” jfm and jyl yelled simultaneously, in completely different tones.

jyl hauled

lwj off the other alpha and buried herself against him, pressing her nose firmly into his unmated scent gland, against the firm body that had just been under lwj’s-

lwj shook himself and took a step back, looking away from the intimate moment.

He had heard jyl talk about her

uncle before. A close friend of her fathers, although jfm was almost 6 years his senior. jyl had hinted that her father felt more than friendship for her Xian-shushu, but for whatever reason nothing had ever come of it.

Nothing official, at least. There were allegations.

Seeing the two openly scent each other now, the openly loving look on jfm’s face as he watched. Smelling the frankly embarrassing scent jfm was letting out…

Yes, lwj could understand why rumors that yzy was not the sire of jfm’s children had not abated in more than two decades.

“Xian-shushu,” jyl did not whine once the two had separated, “why didn’t you tell me you were joining us.” She pulled herself up, a tinier, omega version of her mother for several moments before her stern face cracked into a smile.

“Ah, sweet girl, this old man has so little in

his life,” the alpha sighed dramatically, a hand falling across his forehead as if he were a swooning maiden, “can I not at least find joy in surprising my adorable little niece,” he glanced up at lwj, smirking, “and her hot awful friend?”

“Ridiculous,” lwj muttered, realizing

too late that his hair was still pulled back, his burning ears on display for anyone to notice.

From the look in her eyes jyl had definitely noticed. She turned back to her uncle and asked, “How long are you staying for Xian-shushu? Surely at least for a few weeks.” She smiled

innocently up at him and added, “A-Zhan and I will be here for the summer, we would love it if you joined us for a least some of it.”

“A-Li and A-Zhan would love it?” the man laughed, turning his sharp silver eyes on lwj. “Is that right? A-Zhan?”

lwj suppressed a shudder.

“Mn,” he agreed, glancing away. A summer of denying reality, right?

“Alright, alright,” jfm interjected, “wwx will be staying for a while, it’s all very nice.” He grabbed hold of her daughter’s arm again, pulling her deeper into the house towards his office, if lwj was

remembering correctly. A definite ‘do not follow’ to the two alpha. “Now,” he continued, their voices growing muffled as they rounded a corner, jyl shooting him an apologetic look over her shoulder as she was dragged away, “tell me about the trip here, did you stop at-“

“Ah,” the other man sighed, wandering lazily towards lwj, “that man and his manners. He didn’t even properly introduce us.”

He stopped in front of lwj. They were practically the same height, though lwj was built broad while the other man was slim. Given what lwj had felt against

him earlier, the man was still muscular though.

The man swayed in front of him, running his eyes over lwj. When they finally flicked back up to his face lwj was sure his ears were bright red again.

“I’m Wei Wuxian,” he said, bouncing on his heels.

“Lan Wangji.”

“lwj?” wwx whined, his face twisting into a pout, “but if you don’t introduce yourself with you birth name then I won’t be able to call you A-Zhan~” The man pressed closer to him, their clothing brushing together. “And here I was looking forward to getting to know you more…

intimately.”

He laughed as lwj turned away. “Shameless,” he muttered, heading towards where he knew the guests rooms were.

Several steps from the turn further into the house he heard a soft, “Not as shameless as you’d think,” from behind him. When he turned wwx was gone.

~

“A-Li,” lwj said gravely.

“A-Zhan,” jyl replied, the smile tugging at her lips negating her attempts at an equally serious tone.

“No.”

“Yes.”

He glared at her. She shouldn’t be in his room in the first place, an unmated omega in an alpha’s room. The last thing they needed

was to accidentally end up betrothed, married and forced into a fertility clinic because they’d need to supply heirs and unable to create them the regular way. Ew, no.

She waved the clothes she’d pulled from his suitcase again. They were… inappropriate. Tight and flowing in

equal measure. Leaving nothing to the imagination everywhere lwj would prefer be kept private.

They’d been a gift from a enemy (friend) and lwj had tried repeatedly over the years to lose them only for them to magically reappear. He was beginning to suspect his friend had

bought multiples.

lwj turned back to his suitcase to find something that wouldn’t traumatize the Jiang family at dinner.

“Come on A-Zhan,” jyl pouted, “don’t you want to show yourself off for my uncle.”

lwj froze, silver eyes and a mischievous smile flashing through his head.

“No,” he repeated.

“A-Zhan,” his friend started, only to be cut off by him.

“You don’t know that he’s interested. I do not wish to make him uncomfortable.” He fished a more respectable outfit out. If it happened to be one of his nicer ones in a color that he knew dragged

attention to him, well, from the look jyl gave him she obviously knew.

His ears, thankfully once again hidden behind his hair, burned. “He’s too old,” he added.

jyl made a dismissive sound, “He’s not. Not for you. You’re older inside than he is out, and inside Xian-shushu is

a child. Besides,” she added, stepping around him to meet his eyes, “it doesn’t have to be anything serious. Just someone nice to… introduce you to things.”

lwj glared back at her. “You don’t know that he even…” he trailed off.

“No,” she agreed softly, “no, I don’t know that

he is also attracted to alphas.” She glanced away from him, eyes clouded over with memories, the scent that she’d been trying to retain while in his room seeping out sadly. “But I do know that I’ve never seen him with anyone. Even the beautiful omegas my mother has tried to set

him up with.”

jyl turned a hard gaze back onto lwj. “I know that he flirts with everyone in equal measure, even other alphas. I know that he loves my father, but even though it would have been a good match for him…”

She huffed and turned to leave lwj to change, quietly

opening the door and listening for anyone nearby. She poked her head out to check it was clear, adding, “Maybe I don’t know for sure, but even if I’m wrong I know Xian-shushu will be nice about it. What’s the harm in a little summer time flirting, A-Zhan?”

She checked the hall

again before slipping out of the room, leaving lwj to turn her words around in his head.

~

For some reason Madam Yu had chosen to hold their first dinner in the formal dining room, seating herself at one end of the long table and her husband at the other, a gaping chasm between

them, their guests and family awkwardly seated between them, half yelling to be heard at the table meant for dozens of people, not six.

lwj poked at the food on his plate, jyl shooting him more than a few apologetic looks at multiple meat dishes were brought around by servants.

Around him, wwx and jyl kept up the majority of the conversation, wwx asking her all manner of questions about school and their plans for the summer. He did not ask about their futures, their collapse into adulthood and the monsters that would find them there.

Occasionally jyl’s younger brother would interject. Four years their junior he was only just entering university this year and, unlike his sister, so far seemed perfectly content with the life laid out before him.

Half the anecdotes jyl told to her uncle were met with scoffs and

eye-rolls from the young alpha.

“I don’t understand why you even bothered to go jie,” he huffed, ripping into his food. “It’s not like you needed a degree and it sounds completely inappropriate for an omega.”

Sauce dropped down his chin and lwj dragged out all the

self-restraint his uncle had drilled into him and his own brother to keep from cringing. The fact that Madam Yu had presented jc as a possible mate to his brother after she had realized lwj and jyl would never be almost made him laugh.

His prim and proper omega brother married

to this man-child.

lwj mentally slapped himself. jc was still a child, even if he insisted on talking and acting like he had seen the world over. One of the reasons jyl had wanted lwj to come for the summer was that her last visit had not gone well, her brother becoming a mirror

of their mother and all the things an alpha shouldn’t be. She hoped lwj could show him a better way to behave, be a better role model than their mother or, lwj glanced over at wwx, their “fun uncle.”

Deciding that jc was a lost cause, or simply not worth the effort, wouldn’t do.

“I agree, A-Cheng,” Madam Yu bit in, “Yanli should have been focusing on finding herself a husband instead of playing at school.” Her eyes narrowed at her daughter. “So many potential mates have found other omegas and others already consider you too old,” she sniffed,

draining her glass.

“Yao-xiansheng’s daughter says she won’t even consider mating with an omega who’s gone to university,” jc added, pouring himself another glass as well. Whoever had decided the boy was old enough to drink alcohol at a family event should be firmly reprimanded.

“Indeed,” Madam Yu hummed, “Yanli’s insistence on delaying her presentation at market will only impact our ability to profit from her marriage.”

A servant appeared to replace Madam Yu’s glass, silently removing her used cup as the woman turned to her son.

“Yes, in the end all

jie has done is make my life harder,” he complained. “I’m the one who will suffer because of her selfishness.”

lwj’s eyes narrowed. Surely his friend would understand if he begged off trying to help her brother? The idea of spending any time with young alpha did not inspire joy.

Across from him jyl blinked rapidly, smile tight as she attempted to ignore her family talking as if she wasn’t sitting there, as if she were a thing to be bought and sold.

“Many of our alpha classmates expressed similar views,” lwj said quietly. jyl jerked her eyes up to meet

his. “However, once they met A-Li and other omegas in our classes they realized there were many benefits to having a more educated mate.”

“So true, lwj,” wwx added, watching lwj over his own swirling glass. “I for one would prefer a partner who could understand my job, educate

our children, talk to me about current events.” He turned to jfm, leaning onto an elbow as he continued, “So many of our alpha classmates married traditional omegas and at least half of them are miserable, their omegas doubly so.”

wwx turned a smirk onto his friend and then his

wife. “End up fucking the omegas who stayed unmated to work, and their omegas are getting some on the side too.”

“Wei Wuxian!” Madam Yu shrieked, “this is not an appropriate topic!”

“Ah~” wwx sighed, tipping his cup from side to side, watching the liquid

like it held all the secrets of the world, “but we were talking about A-Li’s marriage prospects. The prospect of marrying a philandering alpha or finding satisfaction on the side seems appropriate.”

lwj suppressed a smirk of his own as the woman turned an alarming shade of red.

“A-Cheng, Yanli, lwj! Out!” Madam Yu barked, “You!” She pointed one of her impractically long purple nails at wwx, who had assumed a mask of surprised innocence. lwj and the Jiang siblings scrambled up and out of the room.

lwj was thankful he could escape from the room and food,

but as Madam Yu’s shrieks followed him down the hall to his room his thoughts returned to wwx, wondering if the alpha would be sent away, kicked out for taking the pressure off jyl. Wondering if he’d ever see the man again.

~

A soft knock pulled lwj’s attention away from his

nightly ablutions. He stepped out of the en-suite and was reaching for the doorknob when a deep voice called “knock knock knock.” Opening the door lwj found wwx standing there, rocking on his toes, hands tucked behind him.

“Good evening, wwx.”

“Good evening, lwj,” wwx echoed.

They stared at each other for several long moments before wwx finally huffed, and thrust his hands forward, revealing a paper bag. “For you,” he smiled.

lwj blinked and accepted the bag, opening it to reveal. “Food?”

“Yeah,” wwx laughed, thumbing his nose, “I noticed there was

basically nothing for you to eat at dinner, even if you’d been given a chance to eat anything before I got you all thrown out.”

wwx glanced down the windowless hall, empty save for them and the occasional suffering plant. “She’s such a bitch,” he mumbled, “even I know you Lans

don’t eat meat. Wouldn’t put it past her to specifically ask that the ‘vegetarian’ dishes have meat in them either.”

lwj blinked again and glanced back down at the food, his ears heating up. Alphas only ever brought food to potential mates and family members. Even close friends

avoided giving food to one another. “Thank you,” he replied softly, shifting his eyes back up to the other man. They stared at each other for another moment before he added, “You didn’t get us thrown out.”

“Huh?”

“You said we weren’t able to eat because you got us thrown out.

You didn’t. You were protecting A-Li.”

“Oh.” wwx broke into a wide smile. “And you,” he said, adding, “I was protecting you too,” when lwj made an inquiring sound. “You spoke up against yzy and jc first. If I hadn’t stepped in she may have kicked you out of the house.”

“Did she kick you out?” lwj asked, perhaps a bit too urgently.

“Ah, no,” wwx shuffled his feet. “It was a close thing though. Probably only let me stay because I implied Fengmian-ge and I might have something on the side.” He let out a short, bitter laugh. “Kicking me out would

have practically been confirming it was true.”

wwx leaned in close to lwj and whispered conspiratorially, “yzy’s servants are loyal, but even she wouldn’t trust them to keep that kind of thing to themselves.” He leaned even closer, his nose swiping against the base of lwj’s ear.

“It’s not true, by the way. I’ve never felt anything like that for Fengmian-ge.” His nose brushed against lwj again before he pulled back, smiling cruelly. “It’s just so fun to fuck with her,” he half snarled.

wwx twirled in place before setting off down the hall. He’d only

taken a few steps before he whipped back around. “There’s a drink in there too. Non-alcoholic.” His face split into a mischievous grin. “I heard from A-Li you have an atrociously low tolerance.” And oh, he had definitely heard more than lwj would like about that.

“Such a pity,” he sighed, face assuming a despondent look, “Gusu has some of the best alcohol, and here a local can’t even drink it.”

wwx twirled again and set off again, calling, “Goodnight lwj.” He was just reaching the corner when lwj’s voice stopped him.

“Lan Zhan.”

wwx whipped around to gawk at him, silver eyes wide, mouth agape. “What?” he squeaked.

“Lan Zhan,” lwj repeated. He wondered if the other man could see his cheeks turning red from so far away. Could smell the mortified scent leaking out of him.

wwx stared at him and for several

tense moments lwj was worried he had overstepped before wwx burst into sweet laughter. “Goodnight, A-Zhan,” he called before turning around again and rounding the corner.

“Goodnight, Wei Wuxian,” lwj called after him, only to be met with more laughter and wwx’s head sticking

back around the corner.

“Xian-gege,” he corrected, teased, taunted, “You’re supposed to say ‘Goodnight Xian-gege.” He grinned at lwj, all teeth and even from here lwj could smell him, sharp and spicy and predatory.

“Good- Goodnight Xian-gege,” lwj managed to call out to him,

watching the other alpha’s smile stretch wider, shuddering when wwx’s smell changed into something that made lwj want to run inside, slam the door and never see the man again.

Something that made he want to close the distance between them and-

By the time lwj managed to control

himself wwx was gone, only the smell of him and the food he had brought remaining.

lwj clutched the food to his chest and turned back inside, idly rubbing at the place below his ear, just above his scent glad, that wwx, Xian-gege, had touched him.

~

It was barely 8 hours into lwj’s first full day at Lotus Pier and he was not enjoying himself.

It had started out nice enough, he’d even allowed himself to lounge in the surprisingly comfortable bed for half an hour before setting out on his morning run. It was nice.

It was when he returned that he made the mistake of trusting his friend. Former friend. Soon to be deceased friend.

jyl had cornered him at his door, urging him to grab a change of clothes and use the public bathing area. “There’s both a hot spring and a cold spring,” she told

him, “and a normal bathing area, of course. I don’t think it was ready when you visited before?” lwj shook his head as he let himself be towed away from the safety of his bedroom.

“Well, they’re lovely. Not many people use them, practically no one uses the cold spring.”

She leaned in the whisper, “except Xian-shushu when he’s quite seriously hung over, so hungover that he usually forgets a change of clothes and has to return to his rooms in just a towel.” She giggled, knocking their shoulders together, “It’s too bad dinner got cut short last

night or maybe you’d have gotten a show.”

“Yanli!” lwj hissed, attempting to pull away from his horrible friend, who simply laughed and continuing pulling him along.

The baths themselves were pleasant, especially since lwj’s one regret in not returning home for the summer was

missing the best season to use the their own cold springs.

No, it was once lwj returned to the change room that he began planning the murder of his former best friend. It would cause a scandal, but as lwj glared down at the clothes waiting for him he decided that she had to die.

The outfit in front of him was not what he had brought with him. No, it was The Outfit. The one he had not brought on this trip. The one he had personally disposed of the night before, after ‘accidentally’ spilling the chili sauce wwx had included with his food on it.

jyl hadn’t even left him with proper underwear, instead leaving behind a pair of tight swim shorts.

His lips pinched as he debated whether it was worse to put on the horrible clothes or walk back to his room in a towel.

It was barely 8, surely most of the house was just

waking. Perhaps he could make it back to his room without anyone catching him…

He glared down at The Outfit and swim shorts, before slipping the shorts on and returning to the bathing area to drop The Outfit into the hot spring.

Wrapping a fresh towel around him he peeked out

of the baths, listening and sniffing as he looked around. It didn’t seem like anyone was around. He quickly moved through the halls like that, anxious and leaking worry around corners.

Luckily the bathing area was located far from any dining areas, where servants and anyone

already up were likely to be.

Just as lwj was crossing the most treacherous path, a long outdoor corridor connecting the building the baths were in to the guest rooms a startled laugh reached his ears and froze his steps.

“Oh my, to see such a beautiful sight so early,” a deep

voice teased, “it must be my lucky day.”

lwj squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself to wake from what was obviously a nightmare. He’d wake up and tell jyl about it, she’d laugh and he’d blush and he wouldn’t have to kill her or die from embarrassment.

Slowly, he turned and

looked at the other alpha, tall and sleepy eyes , leaning over the railing, his eyes roving over lwj. Worse than his near nakedness, worse than being caught, worse than killing his best friend was going to be, was the harsh red heat spreading across his face and down his chest.

“Xi-xian-gege,” he stuttered. wwx was closer than he was last night, close enough lwj could see the way his eyes dilated.

“Ah~” the alpha half moaned, half yawned pressing a hand to his mouth, “I was worried you wouldn’t continue calling me that~” He smiled, leaning further over

the railing. “I like it.”

wwx popped backwards laughing warmly. “So, to what do I owe this lovely sight this morning?” he asked.

lwj glanced nervously around, turning his eyes back towards his destination.

wwx let out an “Ah!” before vaulting over the railing and pushing lwj

towards the building. “I wouldn’t want anyone else to enjoy this sight!” he teased as they began moving, taking over as lookout when they reached the next corner, leaving lwj to tell him what had happened.

“jyl took my clothes,” he explained through gritted teeth watching wwx

guide them easily through the halls, explaining here and there why they were taking a slightly longer way. Even if this wasn’t the Lotus Pier he had grown up in wwx seemed to know the new buildings as if it were.

wwx laughed, tossing his long hair over his shoulder to peer back

at lwj. “And here I was worried that neither of Fengmian-ge’s children had acquired my taste for pranks.”

They moved further into the house, wwx bouncing along beside lwj’s steady steps, shoulders and hands brushing.

“And why did my sweet niece see fit to steal your clothes?”

lwj hesitated. It was ridiculous, choosing to run around half naked just because he refused to give in and wear The Outfit, but he just couldn’t do it!

“She was trying to force me to wear a specific outfit,” he admitted quietly.

wwx glanced at him again. “An outfit? So she

didn’t mean for you to wander around in just a towel?”

“I have a pair of swim shorts she left me on,” he huffed.

“Oh.” wwx’s eyes moved down to his hips. “It would be easier if you walked around in those instead of the towel. Not that I’m one to talk,” he laughed, “several

times a year I get plastered and jump in the cold springs to sober up. Always drop my clothes in the laundry on the way in, and realize I didn’t bring any clean clothes on the way out.”

He clasped his hands behind him, a skip in his step now that he was more awake. “Pretty much

the entire staff have seen me walk around in a towel. Plus,” he bumped shoulders with lwj, looking up at him through his eyelashes, “a dozen or so of the Jiang’s business associates, after a particularly boring party.” wwx let out a cackle before slapping a hand across his mouth.

“Sorry,” he stage whispered, glancing around them. Thankfully no one appeared, no bitter scents reached them.

“They are… too tight,” lwj said when they were sure the coast was clear.

“Oh-ho-ho,” wwx laughed, gazing down at lwj’s hips, again. “Is little A-Zhan not quite so-“

He bolted away when lwj’s grabbed for him, cackling and sing-songing “little A-Zhan, little A-Zhan.”

Running after the horrible older alpha in a towel was challenging, but however wwx kept himself in shape it was not by running 10km+ a day. They zigged and zagged through the

halls, wwx somehow still leading them through empty spaces, though not towards lwj’s room.

They burst out into an inner courtyard, wwx still cackling and taughting lwj, still managing to avoid his reach, though the older man was panting, skin shining with sweat, smelling like-

lwj was abruptly slammed against a building that he hadn’t noticed, too intent on catching the older man. wwx pressed his wrists into the wall behind him, pressed his body flush against lwj’s.

“Caught you A-Zhan,” he panted, chest heaving against lwj’s own stuttering chest.

wwx leaned in and for a moment lwj thought-

wwx released his wrists and stepped back, motioning to the building they’d come to. “My own personal abode,” he said, stepping towards the door and pushing it open. He turned back to lwj, still pressed against the wall, and smirked,

waving for lwj to follow him.

wwx disappeared inside and lwj followed, standing awkwardly at the entrance, looking around with wide eyes, his ragged breaths dragging the scent of wwx’s home, wwx’s scent, into him.

He could hear wwx rummaging around in another room, saying

something to himself as lwj looked around.

lwj had assumed wwx lived in guest rooms while he visited, the room he had lived in during childhood burned away, but wwx’s home at Lotus Pier was a house of its own, outfitted with its own kitchen, although it appeared wwx used it for

storage, and at least a few separate rooms.

lwj glanced around the living room, a match to its owner’s chaos. Books lay across every surface, along with numerous notebooks, pens, wrappers and knickknacks. Mismatched furniture and blankets and pillows filled the floor, while

picture frames filled the walls.

The pictures lwj could make out spanned decades of wwx’s life, from small mirrors of jfm and wwx to wwx holding jfm’s children as they aged, jyl smiling while her brother scowled.

It looked and smelled lived in. Like a home. Not like his uncle’s

home, cold and rinsed of all life. Not like his university dorms, where the smell of sex and agitation leaked through every wall.

No. wwx’s home was like a home he had almost forgotten. A home he saw only in his dreams, filled with love and draped in snow and laughter and tears.

“A-Zhan?” wwx’s worried voice cut through, his beautiful face popping up in front of lwj. “You ok?”

lwj blinked at him through blurry eyes.

“Oh, oh, did I go to far?” he asked? “I didn’t mean to make you upset. I won’t tease you anymore if-“

“You did not make me upset,

Xian-gege,” lwj interrupted. “I- I…” He looked back around the room, away from the other alpha’s concerned face. “You have a lovely home,” he finished awkwardly.

“Uhm, thanks?” wwx said. He didn’t seem convinced lwj was fine, his scent still seeping out in a soothing,

if worried, flavor. “Are you sure? Because I could get down on my knees and beg for forgiveness if I upset you…”

lwj’s eyes snapped back to the incorrigible man, his face the same picture of innocence it had been the night before when Madam Yu had yelled at him. “No,” he forced

out. “That is not necessary.”

“Are you sure sure? I’m really quite good on my knees.” wwx smiled at him, bright and innocent, and if his smell hadn’t mellowed into something playful lwj would almost be convinced the other man didn’t know what he was implying. Almost.

lwj narrowed his eyes staring into wwx’s silver eyes before shifting his gaze, and the conversation, to the contents of wwx’s arms. “What are these?” he asked.

wwx glanced down at the bundle in his arms. “Clothes for you,” he said, offering them to lwj. “We’re quite far from the

guest rooms now. Ah~ A-Zhan chanced this poor old man so far,” he sighed dramatically, “and yet I am still kind enough to offer him clothes to help maintain his honor.”

lwj gingerly accepted the clothes. wwx’s clothes. Clothes that the other alpha had worn and scented and-

“Thank you,” he said softly.

wwx’s smile widened. “You’re broader than me so I had to pick something older, from when I wore baggy clothes.”

lwj had noticed wwx favored tight clothes, at least the three outfits lwj had seen him in had been tight. Tight and black and red and

delicious. lwj shook himself as wwx continued talking about the clothes.

“The sweater,” he continued, “is actually from my university days.” He poked at the clothes in lwj’s arms. “You know, where I went to school it was common for alphas to give their partners their school

sweaters. A way to mark them as theirs.” wwx gazed at lwj through his lashes for a long moment before stepping aside and motioning to a hallway. “Bathroom is the second door on the right.”

lwj quickly stepped around the other alpha and set off to the bathroom, softly closing the

door behind him before leaning back against it. He let out a shuddering breath and looked down at the clothes. They smelled like wwx, too strongly perhaps, and lwj wondered if the man had purposefully scented them before passing them over.

He looked them over, a sweater with the

name of some foreign university on them, a pair of sweats and-

lwj’s ears heated up as he dropped the underwear, wwx’s underwear, to the ground. He glared down at them, willing them and their scent to disappear. Instead the scent seemed to reach up towards him, musky and heavy,

unlike the scent that lwj had caught coming from wwx’s less private scent glands.

Underwear for alphas and omegas were specifically designed to contain their more private scents, but they needed to be replaced regularly as the smell built up. lwj wondered if wwx had given him

underwear near their end of life so he wouldn’t need to return them or just to mess with him.

His blush deepened. The older man was a menace. A horrible, shameless tease and lwj liked it way too much.

He bent to pick the underwear back up, running the soft fabric through his

fingers. Worn, soft, used.

lwj wondered if anyone else had seen wwx in them. Had enjoyed how they fell across his ass. Had seen his cock pull the elastic away from his hips. Had peeled them off so they could bury their nose straight to the the source of that mouthwatering-

A knock behind him jerked lwj out of his thoughts and the hand holding wwx’s underwear fell down from where they had grown mortifyingly close to his face.

“You okay, A-Zhan?” wwx asked through the door. “You’ve been in there for a while. Get distracted?” A soft snicker flowed

through the door.

“I-” lwj started, trying to will the blood that had accumulated in his dick and burning face back to his brain. “I’m fine. I’ll be out in a moment.”

“Hmm, if you say so,” wwx hummed.

After a moment of silence lwj let his head fall back against the door and

took a deep breath. The entire room smelled like them now, the scent lwj had accidentally released swirling around wwx’s. It was intoxicating. It was terrifying.

He stared at the underwear in his hand for a moment before dropping the towel and slipping his swimming shorts off,

his face burning. He should give them back. Just wearing another alpha’s shirt and pants should be driving his own alpha wild, have it rattling at its cage. Just the offer should have him snarling at wwx and stalking out the door in his towel.

Instead, lwj had to force down a

purr, and his cock, as he pulled the clothing on. wwx’s scent pressing into him everywhere, a facsimile of a proper scenting. He stared at himself in the mirror, drowning in wwx’s clothes and scent.

He had wondered over the last decade, since he had presented as an alpha, how

his feelings of attraction to other alphas would interact with the territorial nature of his own alpha. Every child grew up hearing horror stories of what happened when alphas chose to mate: violence, murder, rape. That even love and attraction could not suppress base instinct.

That giving into your forbidden desires doomed you to a lifetime of misery.

lwj knew these stories were exaggerated, many other countries had welcomed alpha/alpha and omega/omega pairs for a decade or more, stories of violence between them no more common than in any other

pairing. Still, it’s hard to shake a fear that has been forced down your throat since you were born.

Watching himself in the mirror lwj felt those fears fading. He looked… happy, content in a way he had rarely felt since childhood. He also looked completely wrecked. Red faced

and wide eyed.

He couldn’t go out there like this. Even if he and wwx were playing a game that, lwj hoped, they both knew the ending of. It was inappropriate. It was too soon. It was too much fun.

He reached out and splashed water across his face, mindful to keep the sweater

dry, and pressed cold hands into his skin. When he looked back up someone between his normal self and what he had seen before stared back. It would do. If asked he would just say the clothes were hot, which of course a sweater and sweats in summer would be, even this early.

lwj opened the door to find wwx leaning against the opposite wall, eyes trained on lwj. He tilted his head and scanned lwj, licking his lips when his eyes found the swim shorts in lwj’s hand.

He pushes himself off the wall. “It looks good on you,” he said mildly, reaching

forward for one of lwj’s arms and pushing the sleeve up to his elbow. “Not really weather appropriate. This won’t help much, but,” he shifted his hands to lwj’s other arm, pushing that sleeve up as well, “it’s better than nothing.”

wwx ran his fingers back down lwj’s forearm,

grazing the scent gland at his wrist. Just a single flick and their wrist would connect, their scents would combine and- “Plus you have such nice arms,” wwx interrupted lwj’s thoughts, both of their arms falling to their sides. “It’s a shame to keep them hidden.”

“… Mn,” lwj

hummed noncommittally.

wwx turned back towards the living room, leading lwj out of the house and down one of the many paths that surrounded wwx’s home.

“So,” wwx started, “how are you enjoying Lotus Pier so far?”

lwj shot him a look as they made their way back into the main

building. “It has been less than 20 hours.”

“And what an eventful 20 hours it has been! If this is how you’re planning to spend your summer I’ll have to stick around longer than I intended to.”

lwj’s steps faltered slightly. “How- how long were you intending to stay?” he asked.

“Until the party, gotta stick around for my niece’s ‘presentation at market’ as yzy says,” wwx said distastefully. “Fengmian-ge is too afraid of the woman to make sure A-Li isn’t married off to someone horrid, so it’s up to me to scare away anyone unworthy.”

lwj glanced over at

wwx. He looked… dangerous. lwj wondered if any of the young alphas who would be attending the party to meet jyl and potentially initiate courting contracts would have the balls to stand up to the man.

“I have work waiting for my back in Yiling,” wwx continued, quickly adding,

“that’s where I live when I’m not mooching off Fengmian-ge.” He hummed and hawed for a moment, mumbling about work and parties. “I was planning to come back for his birthday in July, maybe I could come a few days early? I have a conference I have to go to after that though,”

he sighed despondently. “Then there’s that awful business party yzy is throwing in the city. Were you going to that?” he asked, sifting his gaze to lwj, who shook his head.

“No, I will remain here for the week.”

“Ugh, you’re so lucky. I’ve been dragged on that ‘vacation’ since

I was a kid and it’s always the exact same stream of families and activities. It’s even worse now that yzy is in charge,” he moaned. “She complains about the exact same things every year. If the gardens aren’t a nice as they were 10 years ago why are we still coming to them!?”

wwx dragged his feet as they continued through the building. Occasionally they came across servants cleaning or watering plants, several of whom gave lwj lingering stares. Because he was clearly in wwx’s clothing. Because he clearly smelled like wwx.

The conversation had

distracted him from the fact, from the way wwx’s clothes grazed the scent glands on his neck as he walked. From the way wwx’s underwear rubbed at the scent glands where his thighs and groin met. Each step sending a fizzle of wwx’s scent through him, and now that lwj had noticed

he couldn’t ignore it.

“Maybe I can come back after the ‘vacation’,” wwx spoke again. “Unless you don’t want me to? I know A-Li asked me to stay, but I don’t want to ruin your ‘last summer of freedom’ by sticking around!” He turned wide, concerned eyes on lwj. “You can tell me

to get lost, go hang out with people my own age, to-“

“It is fine,” lwj interrupted, he’d been doing that a lot with this man. His uncle would be so ashamed. “Xian-gege is more than welcome to join us,” he added quietly.

wwx watched him as they turned onto the guest room hall.

“I’ve heard the Lans don’t lie,” he said as they reached lwj’s door. “A-Zhan would tell me if he wanted me to leave him alone, yes?”

“Yes,” lwj rasped out.

“Good boy.” wwx smiled, stepping towards lwj. He reached out to straighten the sweater’s collar out, before grazing his

wrist across it, all but scenting lwj himself. “They look good on you,” he murmured in the small space between them, “you should keep them, wear them again.”

“Mn,” lwj managed to hum, all his blood heading south, leaving his brain soft and slow.

wwx looked into his eyes for a

moment more, before taking a step back. “I should go hunt down breakfast,” he said. “You should rest a bit, A-Zhan, you’ve had an exciting morning.”

“Yes, Xian-gege,” lwj chocked out, before turning on his heels and scurrying into his room, leaving wwx staring at his door.

lwj had barely closed the door before he was lifting the sweater to nose, pressing into wwx’s fresh scent and shoving his other hand into his underwear. Into wwx’s underwear. He moan when the movement made them graze his scent glands, his fist wrapping around his cock,

jerking it with abandon.

It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough.

lwj bite into the sweater freeing his hand to press against the scent glands near his groin, rubbing the fabric into it, shuddering as wwx’s scent seeped into him, as his spicy scent melted across his tongue.

His nose, his mount, his glands. Xian-gege was everywhere. Surrounding him, keeping him safe and warm. Xian-gege, who had called him a ‘Good boy.’

In barely a handful of strokes lwj was coming into his hand, gasping around the fabric in his mouth, wwx’s voice echoing through his

head. Around him his own deep sandalwood and honey scent exploded out of him, wild and uncontrolled, searching for wwx, trying to scent him in return.

lwj let his head fall back against the door, dropping the sweater from his mouth as he panted, cum cooling in his hand.

“Fuck.”

~

Scenting had never been a common occurrence in lwj’s home, not after his mother died. Lans were proper and contained; they had no need for such things.

That, unfortunately, meant lwj had no framework for how he was supposed to feel and smell after his… morning activities.

Even after showering, scrubbing himself half raw with the expensive soaps the Jiangs provided, he still felt like he reeked. Like every person he’d meet would catch wind of him and know what he had done.

Locking himself away for the day seemed the most logical solution to this

problem. It was only lwj and jyl’s second day at Lotus Pier and they had designated it a rest day anyways.

When jyl came to find him around lunch lwj refused to open the door. He still wasn’t happy with her, even if he had stopped planning her murder and the morning had been

rather enjoyable overall. He muttered through the door that he needed some alone time and, mercifully, she left.

Even if smelling like wwx was just in his imagination, even if the room’s air system had cleaned the smell of sex out, he was sure she would see through him. She was

his best friend and she would know.

lwj would talk about it eventually, about the playful flirtation between them, about how she had been right, but not now, not when it was so fresh.

Instead, lwj spent the day idling around his room, reading, responding to the occasional texts

from jyl, assuring her he was fine, tired and annoyed with her, but fine, and would see her in the morning.

Several times he opened his browser, the one that got around the country’s firewall. He’d sit there, staring at the search bar, psyching himself up to search what he

wanted, to find information on the specifics of alpha/alpha relations. Every time he closed the browser and went back to reading.

Near 5, a knock sounded at his door, a deep voice singing “knock knock knock.” By the time lwj worked up the courage to answer the door wwx was gone,

only an sliver of his scent and a bag, filled with another meal and drink, left to prove he had been there.

Red faced, lwj gace into the urge he’d felt all day, wrapping himself in wwx’s sweater once more and burying himself in bed with the food. He forced down the sound of

his uncle’s voice, reprimanding him for eating in bed, and turned on a movie.

A friend had given it to him years ago, a love story they’d picked up abroad about two young alphas who fell in love and were ripped apart by society and it’s expectations. They tried for years to live

the lives expected of them, but a near death experience forced them to confront their mortality, to confront the miserable lives that they were living.

And so they’d slipped away, in the dead of night, left everything behind but each other, the only thing they weren’t willing to

give up.

lwj watched the movie several times a year, and it was the only time he allowed himself to dream, to hope for a future where he could love freely and openly.

That night lwj fell asleep surrounded by wwx’s spicy scent, dreaming of silver eyes and a teasing laugh.

~

lwj stared into the abyss of the lake before him and contemplated throwing himself in. Despite the fact that in the week since he’d arrived at Lotus Pier he hadn’t gone into the water he was actually quite a strong swimmer. Surely he could reach one of the island out there,

live there for the next two months. Perhaps wwx would deliver food to him.

Behind him the source of lwj’s annoyance went off on yet another unprompted rant about ‘proper omegas.’

“We should go back to the days when omegas were pretty and quiet. Poised and proper,” jc told his

sister, who stared at him wide eyed, perhaps assuming the ‘quiet’ part so she wouldn’t have to talk to her brother.

lwj let out a soft sigh. jc had been assigned as their chaperone, as if they were a courting couple liable to go fuck on the side of the road. Maybe he should fake

an offer for jyl, maybe they’d be given a proper chaperone, one who would walk quietly behind them and keep their opinions to themselves.

It would ruin their friendship, but if lwj had to spend one more moment around this horrible boy he was going to throw him in the lake.

Overall, lwj was beginning to think ending his vacation early and entering the grind of the family business was the less painful option.

Madam Yu and jc were mirrors of displeasure and criticism, every word biting and making his own uncle’s sharp traditionalism look practically

new age.

jfm, despite apparently complaining about lwj to wwx, seemed intent on talking his daughter up to him. As if lwj already didn’t know how great his best friend was. It still didn’t mean he desired to marry her, or any other omega.

Worst of all, wwx had been sequestered

in his house more often than not due to a work emergency. He popped up occasionally at meals, where there seemed to be a 75% chance Madam Yu would end up screaming at him, usually because he was taking pressure off someone else.

Once, he had appeared beside lwj on the docks,

jyl swimming happily with her grumpy brother, who seemed to mellow slightly in the water.

“Not going to get in?” wwx had teased, “I know you have swim shorts, even if they do leave little A-Zhan on display.”

“Ridiculous,” lwj had hissed as wwx bolted away.

lwj had half a mind

to chase him again, but jyl would see, and so far he’d managed to avoid talking to her about wwx. He doubted he’d be so lucky if she caught a front row seat to him partaking in some bastardized mating run with the man.

wwx still dropped food off to his room most days, though,

like the second night, he always knocked and disappeared before lwj opened the door.

The only other time they’d met was the night before, both of them out for a nighttime walk. wwx had led them around the bridges and paths that framed the lakes, humming quietly as they went.

lwj had thought about this for days, what he would say when given the chance to talk to wwx alone. The things he’d ask about wwx’s life and hobbies and-

“Do you know why jc has become such a traditionalist recently?” was not what he meant to ask, but it was what came out

of his mouth. Stupid boy with his stupid grumpy face ruining lwj’s day when he wasn’t even there.

A startled laugh escaped wwx, who glanced over at lwj. “Ah, A-Zhan, asking the big questions from the get go, I like it,” he teased. He was silent for a moment, bouncing along

beside lwj, his hair pulled up into a high ponytail that bobbed as he did. “I’m not sure, it started about a year ago though, right after our yearly vacation in the city actually.”

“Did something happen on the trip?”

“Not really? It was pretty standard. Attend the Jiang’s

boring business party, go to the same boring events and fundraisers, see the same boring business associates,” wwx said. “Actually, I met your brother and brother-in-laws for the first time last year.”

lwj’s steps faltered. “I wasn’t aware you had met any of my family.”

“Just briefly.” wwx swirled ahead of him, walking backwards as he spoke. “nmj sure is attractive, hmm?” he teased, watching lwj’s reaction.

lwj’s narrowed his eyes slightly. “Mn,” he hummed noncommittally, “I imagine some people think so.”

“But not A-Zhan?” wwx asked.

“No,” lwj replied, steeling himself. “He’s too young for me,” he continued, walking past a frozen wwx, a small smile tugging at his lips.

It only took several steps for wwx reanimated, hurrying to catch up and slipping his arm into lwj’s, giggling. “A-Zhan prefers old men, hmm?”

“Mn,” he hummed back, “apparently.”

wwx watched him with assessing eyes for a moment before letting out a soft, “Oh, I see…”

They stared into each others eyes for a moment before wwx continued, “You know, now that I think about it there was one thing that happened, with jc.”

wwx pulled lwj over a small bridge, stopping to lean over the railing. For all that half the inhabitants of Lotus Pier were miserable it was a beautiful place.

Lights lit up the dim night, still glowing from sunset, reflecting across the water and into wwx’s eyes. Around them

night bugs were waking, their soft chirps filling the brief silence between them.

lwj watched wwx looking out across the lake, relaxed and still in a way he rarely was, and realized that wwx loved this place. Even if he fought with its Madam constantly, and rarely seemed to

actually interact with jfm, wwx loved Lotus Pier, perhaps more for its beauty and tranquility than anything else.

“I didn’t think much of it at the time but, when we met your family, jc took quite a liking to your brother-in-law, the younger one. Followed him around like a

puppy the entire night and was in foul mood the next day. Maybe something happened between them.” wwx shrugged, his arm brushing against lwj’s.

“He was grumpy and traditional before,” wwx added, “but never to this extent. It’s funny though, how his attitude seems to have given

yzy license to be more traditional as well.” He turned and leaned back against the railing, smiling softly, watching lwj. “It’s nice what you’re doing, trying to help jc.”

lwj blinked back at him. “How did you-”

“Because A-Li asked me first, to try and help him become less of

a grumpy, alpha-bro shit.” He laughed bitterly. “We used to be close, before his mother got her hooks into him. Made him hate me just as much as she does.” wwx’s looked down at their feet, shuffling his, his smile dropping.

“A-Li doesn’t hate you,” lwj blurted out.

“No,” wwx

agreed a soft smile tugging at his lips, “yzy was never quite able to convince her I was the devil incarnate.” He looked back up at lwj, bursting into a bright smile. “I remember your brother saying you Lans sleep early. He vanished at almost exactly 9, which I believe we’re

coming up on. Should we get little A-Zhan tucked in.”

lwj felt heat spreading across his cheeks, embarrassed to be treated like a child, but wwx was right. It was almost his usual bedtime, and while he could stay up…

“Mn,” he agreed, “Xian-gege should tuck me in.”

wwx’s eyes lit up, his smile sliding into a mischievous one. “Yes, let Xian-gege tuck A-Zhan in,” he said, hooking his arm through lwj’s once again and dragging him back to his room.

lwj spent the quiet walk making plans, what he would do and say, how he would get wwx to stay,

at least for a bit. He nervously opened the door to his room, turning to speak to wwx-

“So what do you do first?” wwx asked.

lwj stared wide eyed at him. He had no experience with sexual relations beyond what he had learned through school and the media. None of which was aimed

at alpha/alpha relations. He had no idea what came first? Kissing? Touching? Telling each other your feelings!?

“For your bedtime routine,” wwx’s amused voice broke through lwj’s shock and growing horror. Maybe he wasn’t ready for wwx to stay in his room, even for just a bit.

“I- I brush my teeth and wash my face,” lwj stammered out, going easily when wwx pushed him towards the bathroom.

“Can I pick out your sleep clothes?” wwx called from the bedroom, lwj mumbling an affirmative around his toothbrush.

He could hear wwx mumbling to himself as he

washed and moisturizer his face, startling slightly when the alpha popped up beside him.

“Will this do?” wwx asked, holding up the sweater wwx had lent him and a pair of pajama bottoms.

“Mn,” lwj hummed accepting the clothes before wwx exited, shutting the door behind him.

lwj slipped into the clothes, the sweater smelling suspiciously stronger than it had the night before (it was really comfortable and lwj had found himself sleeping in it every night, ok?) He pressed his nose the the collar, breathing in the fresh scent there, mellow and aged,

warm and soothing.

lwj was half-asleep as he left the bathroom, wwx grabbing a comb before dragging lwj to sit by the window, settling himself behind him.

“I hope you don’t mind,” he said quietly, taking some of lwj’s hair in his hand, “my mother used to do this for me. It was

always my favorite part of bedtime, before…” he trailed off.

lwj stared sleepily out the window as wwx combed his hair, gently smoothing out knots as he went, softly humming a song lwj didn’t know.

Slowly, wwx guided him to the bed, tucking the covers around him and running

his fingers through lwj’s hair, still humming that same song. lwj fought to stay awake, just a little longer, just a little long with Xian-gege.

He must have said it out loud, because wwx released a soft laugh, pushing the hair off lwj’s forehead before leaning in to press their

foreheads together.

“Don’t worry,” he whispered, “I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”

lwj didn’t know how long they stayed like that sharing the same air, wwx’s scent surrounding them. The last thing lwj remembered was wwx’s lips on his forehead and the soft click of the door.

lwj was jerked out of his pleasant, if somewhat frustrating, memories and escape plans by the buzz of his phone and the soft music of his brother’s ringtone. He motioned to jyl that he needed to accept the call, moving quickly to get out of range of jc’s voice.

“Ge,” he greeted.

“Wangji,” his brother replied, “it’s good to hear your voice. I’m sorry I missed your call earlier.” In the background lwj could hear his brother-in-law’s gruff voice, lxc quickly adding, “A-Jue says hello too.”

“Mn, please tell him hello for me as well.” He paused while lxc

relayed the message. They traded chit chat for a while, lwj strolling around the lake before finding a secluded bench to sit on.

How are you? How is work? Vacation? Uncle? The Jiangs?

Finally, lxc asked, “So why did you really call, didi?”

“Mn, gege knows me well,” lwj said,

a smile tugging at his lips when his brother laughed. “I wanted to ask you about something that happened last summer, when you met the Jiangs.”

“Oh? Well, we only saw them at the fundraiser for my organization. To be honest, I rather felt they didn’t want to be there,”

lxc sighed.

That… didn’t surprise lwj. As a rich, omega househusband lxc was excepted to dedicate his time and energy to his husband, children and charity.

A year ago his brother had launched his own charity, after years of planning, a group that helped underprivileged youth

learn music. lwj had been on a summer school trip abroad and unable to attend, unable to meet wwx a year early.

From what his brother had told him, the fundraiser was mostly a success, considering the view many of the upper class shared of such things. Fundraising was to be

lauded but many members of the upper class believed that fundraising for poor people was useless or a waste of money, instead choosing to raise money for things like hospitals for the rich, relocating homeless people away from places they frequented and other such things.

It wouldn’t surprise lwj if the Jiangs, or at least Madam Yu, also held those beliefs.

“Mn,” lwj agreed, “I heard something may have happened between jc and A-Sang.”

“jc? Oh, you mean jwy?” lwj hummed a yes and his brother continued, “well, if by ‘something may have happened’

you mean jwy following Sang-di around all night, chatting his ear off, talking about how great a match they’d be until Sang-di snapped at him, well, then I suppose something did happen.”

lxc’s laughter was cut off by nmj’s voice, apparently having grabbed the phone away from

him. “It’s not funny,” he said to his mate before turning his annoyance onto lwj. “Did that little shit say something about my brother!?” nmj demanded.

What? “No, he-“ lwj started, only to be cut off my the angry alpha.

“Look, your brother may find it funny, think that teenage

crushes are harmless, but that kid? He’d only just met Huaisang and was going on about marriage and kids and turning him into a proper househusband. Of course Huaisang snapped at him, sent him running off with his tail between his legs.”

“Ah,” lwj breathed out, listening as his

brother objected in the background.

“It’s fine A-Jue, he just felt an instant attraction to Sang-di and is too young to know how to properly act on it,” his brother said.

“That’s not the problem!” his brother-in-law barked back.

“It’s not?” lwj asked.

“No,” nmj replied,

turning his attention back to the phone. “No, the problem is who that kids been talking to since then, wrh’s devil spawn. Look, I don’t know a lot, but I’ve heard stories about those kids and the group of alphas they’ve surrounded themselves with, the things they believe about

omegas and how they should act.”

Nearby he heard his brother mumbling something, nmj replying with a harsh, “I don’t need to calm down!” before turning back to the phone again.

“We might live in a society that forces omegas to act a certain way in public,” he continued, “but

there’s no way I’m letting my didi anywhere near someone who would treat him like a piece of pretty furniture in private as well.”

lwj was once again reminded of how lucky is brother was to have found a mate in nmj, even if the man could be somewhat rude and had a temper.

To have a mate who would allow their omega freedom within their own home, who wouldn’t expect them to be solely responsible for children, to hold their tongue and get down on their knees whenever and wherever, such alphas were rare.

His brother had never spoken of it, but lwj

also suspected their marriage, built up from a courting contract initiated while lxc was still attending university, had developed into a loving marriage. lwj was happy for his brother, to have been able to find joy and love with someone he had not been able to choose himself.

“A-Jue,” his brother said sternly, “you can’t trust rumors, you don’t know anything for sure about-“

“I’ve heard enough omegas complaining about them to know they aren’t good news,” nmj sneered.

lwj tuned them out as they continued to argue. He didn’t pay much attention to

rumors, or the likes of wrh and his family, so couldn’t say anything about the validity of what his brother-in-law had said. Given what he’d heard from jc himself though, the boy definitely had some extreme views of omegas and ‘their place.’

There was one person who would know

the truth, however, even if he would claim he knew nothing.

“Where is your brother now?” lwj interrupted the arguing couple.

“Went on vacation overseas with a friend, one of jgs’s bastards,” nmj spit out.

“A-Jue! Don’t speak ill of mxy!”

“I wasn’t, I have no problem with

jgs’s kids, I have a problem with him not being able to keep his cock out of-“

“A-Jue!!”

More arguing echoed out over the phone and lwj decided to whisper a soft goodbye and hang up.

He leaned back on the bench, looking out over the water. They had been walking near town

and the lake was filled with slow moving boats, some being rowed by hand, couples out for dates after enjoying lunch together. They looked happy, free in a way that the society lwj belonged to weren’t. Not as free as people in many other countries, but freer that he was.

lwj looked down at his phone, flipping to nhs in his messages. Their last message was from New Years, nhs begging lwj to pick him up from a party with his friends where he’d gotten sloshed and a promise that his brother-in-law would “owe him one” for not telling their brothers.

lwj quickly typed a message out:

Me: Huaisang. I hope your vacation is going well.
Me: I need to speak with you about something, please call me at your earliest convenience.
Me: Thank you.

lwj stared down at the messages. They seemed a bit… brusque. He hesitated a moment

before adding:

Me: Please. It is important.
Me: Call me anytime, day or night, I will do my best to answer.

That… wasn’t necessarily better, but at least nhs might sense the urgency? Well, at least he couldn’t claim he didn’t call because he was concerned he’d wake lwj up.

He looked back across the water, slouching down on the bench. Maybe if he stayed here long enough wwx would come find him, tease him about his bad posture and lwj would ask him to correct his position and-

“Oi! There you are!” jc all but screamed at him.

lwj closed his eyes and

pretended to be dead.

~

It was still two weeks until the party to “present jyl at market” but Madam Yu was acting as if it were imminent. Every sharp word from her now carried an overtone of urgency, as if the world world would end and jyl would end up an old maid if every

light in Lotus Pier wasn’t confirmed to be clean and working this instant.

It was a tedious job that lwj had volunteered for, apparently his presence in Lotus Pier taken as an implicit acceptance of forced labour for the family. He was a “long term guest,” which seemed to mean

he was family in everything Madam Yu said he was family in.

At least with this job he could escape Madam Yu and jc’s screaming. It did however take him away from wwx, who had also been conscripted, despite still seeming to have a work emergency that demanded his attention.

During these last few days of party prep lwj had seen wwx go from wild and bubbly to tired and subdued, dark circles forming under his eyes. He still smiled and laughed but with an undercurrent of exhaustion.

But lwj had a plan! He had taken a cleaning route that would lead him

close to town, where he would take a moment to go pick up some food for wwx, and perhaps something else if anything caught his eye. He’d been paying close attention the last week and a half to the older man’s preferences. He hadn’t seen as much of the man as he would have liked

but still thought he could find something suitable.

He would have to work up the courage to actually give it to wwx, but for the moment he was focusing on successfully acquiring the food, quickly moving along the path, perhaps not cleaning as well as Madam Yu wanted, but still

better than a more reasonable person would have required.

Fortunately, while Madam Yu didn’t trust him enough to help with more important party prep, she also hadn’t assigned him a supervisor, no one to scold or tattle on him for daring to want a few moments of free time as he

slipped away into town.

It was a lively town, children giggling as they ran down the streets with towels and swim toys, adults laughing everywhere lwj turned. At the height of summer it would be flooded by tourists, and vendors would fill the streets. Even now, as summer was

just breaking through the clouds, vendors had begun to set up shop, the slow business worth it to get the best locations.

lwj pulled out his phone. He had made note of the places wwx had brought him food from and looked up their information online. He had decided on a restaurant

that would take a bit longer to reach, but even if it increased his chances of being caught, well, it would be unfortunate if Madam Yu kicked him out, but he doubted even she would do that. Kicking out the Lan heir because he wouldn’t be free labour wasn’t a good look.

Still, lwj moved quickly through the streets, glancing over the stores and vendors he came across for anything that caught that his eye. By the time he reached the restaurant he had spotted a few potential gifts, but nothing that was perfect and lwj wanted whatever he bought,

his first gift to wwx to be perfect.

He quickly placed his order, and, after being told it would be 20 minutes, set back out to browse nearby stores. While the sellers lwj had walked by on his way to the restaurant had seemed aimed at tourists, filled with Lotus Pier

paraphernalia and cheap gifts, the area around the restaurant was filled with shops aimed at locals.

lwj looked over the stores he could see, a mix of stores selling necessities and more frivolous items, and decided to start in a cute little store that sold a variety of items.

~

22 minutes later lwj exited the restaurant with his food and nothing else. The stores he had wandered through definitely had nice items, and perhaps he would come back to the area to buy gifts for his own family another day, but nothing for wwx had stood out. Instead, all he’d

accomplished was convincing himself that the “few potential gifts” he’d found earlier were not worthy of wwx.

Getting wwx a gift had been an extra idea and it wouldn’t ruin lwj’s plans to not find something, but he had still hoped he would find something. He really wanted to-

A store caught lwj’s eye as he walked back towards Lotus Pier. He backtracked a few steps, the store tucked away into an alley, it’s donkey shaped, red and black sign sticking out from the building in hopes of attracting patrons.

The name of the store,

Little Apple’s Little Store, didn’t tell him anything about what the store carried, and the donkey was a bit strange, but lwj still found himself traveling down the alley to peer inside the store. It was a toy store, the front display filled with toys for everyone from

babies to adults, many of which seemed to be educational in nature.

lwj hesitated. It was a toy store. Surely wwx, a successful, busy man in his 40s, wouldn’t be interested in toys? But jyl’s words echoed through his head, “Inside Xian-shushu is a child,” and he had seen that,

had seen the other alpha’s playful and teasing nature, had seen him run and bounce around Lotus Pier like a child. Perhaps he would like other items more suited to children?

lwj pushed into the store, the soft tingle of a bell announcing his arrival. While the window display had

been relatively well organized the inside of the store was packed full, the floor to ceiling shelves filled with toys, new and used, many with labels in foreign languages.

lwj glanced around, not knowing where to start, where items suitable for adults would be located. Just as

he decided to turn and leave a young woman popped up beside him.

“Hello, xiansheng!” she greeted happily, the mild scent of a beta floating off of her, “can I help you find anything today?”

“I-“ lwj hesitated, not sure what he was looking for, “I am looking for a gift. For an

adult.”

“Sure! Did you have anything in mind?”

lwj shook his head. He had never thought of giving a toy to a teenager, let alone an adult.

The woman hummed, before listing off a few of their options for adults. “We have lots of card and board games, most are for group play,

but some can be played solo. We also have video games, but the systems cost quite a bit. Do you know if they own any systems already?” When lwj shook his head again she continued, “Better not then. We also have lots of puzzles and brain teaser games. And-“

“The puzzles and brain

teasers,” lwj interrupted, his ears heating as he was forced to give a soft “sorry,” to the woman.

She smiled back at him and lead him further into the store, stopping to explain several of the items she quite enjoyed. “These two are brain teaser games, they’re quite different,

but the general idea is the same. You get a booklet, which give different setups for the puzzles ranging from easy to insanely hard. This one is for a single player, while this one can be played by one to four people.”

“These ones,” she said, pointing to a collection of large,

clear balls with what almost looked like a rollercoaster inside, “aren’t really puzzles, more a challenge of dexterity. There’s a little ball inside that you try to maneuver through the course by twisting the ball around. Some balls are harder than others.”

She led them further

into the store, to a wall filled with jigsaw puzzles. “We have a lot of nice puzzles, pretty and challenging pictures, but if you’re looking for something that’s a bit more interesting…”

She scanned the wall, searching for a specific puzzle among the hundreds housed there.

After several moments she let out a soft “Ah ha!” and pulled a puzzle out, handing it over to lwj.

“This one,” she explained, “has been quite popular recently. It has uniquely shaped pieces, and, unlike other puzzles, you can’t start at the edge because there are edge pieces

inside the picture! You have to start at a specific point.”

lwj turned the box over in his hands, scanning over the back.

“You read English?” she asked. “We also have the instructions for all our games in Chinese, if you or the person you’re giving it to would prefer.”

She laughed. “Our owner really loves international games and translates the instructions into Chinese himself, if none is available.”

lwj wasn’t sure if wwx spoke English. He’d mentioned attending university abroad, but hadn’t said where. Getting Chinese instructions for him

might be a good idea, although lwj wouldn’t object to being forced to show off his own translation skills.

“Well, should I show you a few more things? Or have you seen something you like?” the woman asked.

lwj glanced back down at the puzzle. “Mn,” he hummed, “I’ll take-“

~

lwj hesitated a moment before knocking on wwx’s door. He was half-tempted to run off, like wwx did every time he left food outside lwj’s door, but the idea of missing wwx’s reaction was not acceptable one. lwj wanted to see, wanted to know if his gifts would be well received.

He waited, before knocking once more. He wasn’t positive wwx was home. Party prep had ended shortly before lwj returned to Lotus Pier, all the workers sent off to eat and pass out from exhaustion.

lwj was contemplating whether to leave the gifts at the door or take them with him

to look elsewhere when the door flew open, a disheveled wwx bursting into view.

“A-Zhan,” he panted, taking deep heaving breaths.

“Xian-gege,” lwj greeted.

They stared at each other for several seconds, wwx trying to catch his breath, before he smiled and let out a breathless

laugh.

“Now what have a done to deserve the lovely A-Zhan coming to my door?” wwx asked.

‘Been working yourself to exhaustion’, lwj did not say.

“Xian-gege is always bringing me food, I had hoped he would accept food from me this time,” he said instead, thrusting the bag of

food towards wwx. Behind his hair his ears burned, heat spreading slowly across his cheeks.

wwx stared at the bag, wide eyed and gaping. “I- you didn’t need to,” he finally said.

lwj pulled the bag back towards his chest. “I- I’m sorry,” he stuttered, “I have overstepped. I-“

“What! No!” wwx shrieked, making grabby hands at the bags. “My food, gimmi! No, wait!” He pulled a hand back to his hips and pointed the other at lwj. “You! Inside!” he said sternly before turning back into his house, leaving the door open for lwj to follow.

“Trying to take my

food back,” wwx grumbled as lwj slipped off his shoes. “It’s mine, I’m gonna share it with you, but you can’t take it back. It’s a precious gift from my A-Zhan, of course I want it, silly boy.”

lwj suppressed a smile as he moved further into the house. My A-Zhan.

wwx moved into

the living room, pushing things aside to make room to walk, pointing at the kitchen and telling lwj, “There are dishes in the kitchen… somewhere. They don’t get used much so you might want to wipe them down. Uhm… there should be clothes in there. Maybe?” wwx squinted at the

kitchen before shrugging and turning back to tidying. “A little dust won’t hurt us! Unless you’re allergic?” wwx asked.

“No, I am not.”

“Good, because this place is filled with dust. Would be a shame if A-Zhan couldn’t come visit me again.” wwx smiled up at lwj from the coffee

table he had been clearing. “Oh! You found a cloth!”

“Yes,” lwj agreed, “in the first drawer I opened.”

wwx laughed as he finished gathering all the items from the table, dumping them onto a chair. lwj watched him quietly from the kitchen, carefully opening each of the take out

containers.

wwx bounced over to him, exclaiming, “A-Zhan! There’s so much! You can’t possibly have expected me to eat all of this?”

lwj looked over the containers and had to admit it might be a tad excessive. He hadn’t been able to decide what wwx would like most, and he had

considered that the other man may invite him to stay, which meant he needed additional vegetarian dishes.

“Or~” wwx continued, sidling up to lwj, “maybe A-Zhan was hoping this poor, lonely old man would insist his A-Zhan join him?” wwx smiled up at him, fluttering his lashes.

“Ridiculous,” lwj said with no real heat, wwx giggling as he started loading up their plates.

“You say that, A-Zhan, but there sure are a lot of vegetarian options here~” wwx teased.

“Mn, Xian-gege does not eat enough vegetables.”

wwx stuck his tongue out at lwj, adding a bit

of everything to his plate and a bit of everything vegetarian to lwj’s, occasionally pausing to confirm whether something had meat in it.

“Go sit, I’ll bring the plates over,” wwx said, handing over the utensils, drinks and napkins to lwj. lwj bent to pick up the bag from the

game store, wwx watching him curiously but saying nothing, before heading to the living room. wwx bouncing behind him singing “Food food food.”

They sat on the floor and sorted out the items, lwj setting the bag onto the couch behind them, and dug in, wwx shoveling food into his

mouth and making frankly obscene sounds.

“Ohhhh~” he moaned, “it’s so good A-Zhan. I haven’t had time to visit this place for a while. I got you food there last week, but didn’t get any for myself.”

lwj ate at a milder pace, eating quietly while wwx extolled on the virtues of

this particular restaurant.

“I can’t help but wonder,” wwx said, returning with a second helping, “how it is that A-Zhan managed to go all the way into town when he was supposed to be busy with party prep.” wwx side eyed him as he took his seat, slightly closer than before.

“I made time,” lwj replied, taking another bite.

“You ‘made time’ as in you played hooky?” wwx asked, nudging lwj with his shoulder. “Such a naughty boy, perhaps A-Zhan needs to be punished,” he teased.

lwj’s ears heated up, could he… Would wwx think he was too shameless

if he…

“Mn,” lwj agreed, his heart beating harshly inside him and his scent slipping out tight and embarrassed, “if Xian-gege thinks so I will accept whatever punishment he sees fit.”

wwx’s hand froze where it had been taking another bite to his mouth. A moment later lwj was

hit with a violent, if brief, surge of aroused scent from the other man who turned to look at him with wild, dilated eyes. They stared at each, wwx’s scent fading around them, lwj’s cheeks burning, until wwx broke into a wicked smile.

“Oh, it’s like that then, is it?” he said

quietly. “Alright then, I’ll think of a suitable punishment for my naughty little A-Zhan.”

lwj shuddered, turning back to his food to distract himself from the way his own scent was slipping out in small bursts of arousal. He had always been so good at controlling his scent,

until he met wwx. Now his scent seemed to constantly be a moment from breaking, a moment from tearing out of him in a torrent of arousal and frustration and-

“Are you done?” wwx broke through his thoughts.

He glanced up at wwx and back down at his plate, nearly empty, although

he didn’t remember eating most of it.

lwj nodded awkwardly and wwx disappeared with their dishes, returning a moment later to plop back down next to him.

“So…” wwx started, biting his lip as he leaned in towards lwj. “What’s in the bag?” he asked, glancing behind them.

“Ah.” lwj glanced back at the bag as well. “It is a gift for Xian-gege,” he said, handing the bag over.

“A gift? Aiya, A-Zhan! First food and now a gift? You’ll spoil this old man.”

“Mn,” lwj hummed.

“A-Zhan,” wwx said sternly, looking up from where he was peaking into the

bag, “there is more than one gift in here.”

“Mn,” lwj agreed, ears heating up, “could not decide which one Xian-gege would like most.”

“So you got them all? A-Zhan!” wwx exclaimed, pulling each of the wrapped items out, “do we need to have a conversation about self-control?”

lwj looked at the six items laid out on the table. It was excessive, but when the woman at the store had told him about each item he had imagined wwx playing with each, happy and frustrated and laughing. lwj couldn’t help but get them all.

wwx was looking at him sternly again.

“You don’t even have the decency to look repentant!”

“Mn,” lwj agreed, “Xian-gege deserves to be spoiled.”

wwx watched him through narrowed eyes, lwj willing his blush to not spread across his face, before mumbling, “Just you wait. I’ll get you back with a truly over the top

gift.” He reached for a gift before glancing back at lwj, asking, “Should one be opened first?” then grabbing the large, square box when lwj shook his head.

The woman at the store had wrapped each gift nicely for him, telling him they had a lot of patrons grabbing last minute

gifts or who would admit their wrapping skills were lacking. The store offered a variety of wrapping options, some free, some at an extra cost, and lwj had chosen a selection of red and black papers and ribbons.

Watching wwx tilt the shimmering gift in the light lwj was glad

he had spent the extra money on the fancier wrapping papers.

When wwx finally torn into the present lwj felt his heart pick up again, pounding solidly in his chest.

“Oh,” wwx breathed out, staring into the clear ball, his eyes shifting over all the plastic pieces inside, “it’s

a toy.”

lwj’s heart stuttered, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, maybe he should have gotten wwx a notebook instead. He seemed to like those, given how many were strewn across the living room.

“I can return them, if you don’t like them,” lwj said quietly.

“What?” wwx asked

equally quietly, looking up from the gift. “Why would you think I don’t like them?”

lwj gazed back into wwx’s eyes before telling him, “You look like you’re about to cry. I did not mean to upset you. Wangji is sorry.” He moved to press himself into a bow, only for the other

man’s hands to pull him back up.

“Not sad tears, A-Zhan,” wwx said, smiling softly at him. “It… it’s been a long time since someone has given me toys. Probably not since my parents…” he trailed off, releasing lwj to rub at his eyes.

“People don’t give me gifts often either,

outside my birthday, and the kids sometimes.” He let out a startled laugh, turning wide, wet eyes on lwj. “I guess if I consider jyl a ‘kid’ I should consider you one too, huh?”

“Not a kid,” lwj growled back.

wwx giggled. “I dunno~ I did tuck you in the other day,” he teased.

“Not a kid,” lwj repeated glaring at the giggling man.

“Ah, but A-Zhan, this really is too much. Are all of these toys?” wwx asked, lwj nodding in reply. “Aiya, how am I going to choose which to play with with so many options?”

They both looked back over the still wrapped

gifts.

“I did not think of that,” lwj admitted softly.

“Hmm.” wwx rocked from side to side, toy in his lap, bumping shoulders with lwj every time he came close. “How about this,” wwx said after a moment, “I open one gift every time A-Zhan comes over for dinner?” He turned a

bright smile on lwj, adding, “That way you’ll have to come back.”

“Would come back anyways,” lwj huffed. “That is acceptable.”

wwx smiled somehow brighter before turning to his toy, popping it out of the box and glancing over the instructions; apparently he did read

English. He dropped the instructions into the box and picked the ball up, twisting it around to get the little metal ball into the start position.

lwj leaned back against the couch, sipping his drink and watching the other alpha try to maneuver the little ball along the course,

moaning and swearing whenever the ball slid off track and he had to start again.

“Is it not an enjoyable toy?” he asked eventually.

“What?” wwx asked, not looking up from the toy. He seemed to be further than he’d gotten before but-

The ball fell off and wwx let out another

groan of frustration. “Oh,” he said, laughing as he looked up at lwj, “no, it’s fun. Frustrating, but the good kind of frustrating.” He narrowed his eyes, a mischievous smile spreading across his face as he leaned into lwj’s space, whispering, “I’m sure you know what the good

kind of frustration feels like, A~Zhan~.”

He popped back up and offered the ball to lwj to try. lwj obediently took it, twisting the ball into the start position.

He couldn’t remember the last time he played with a toy, his uncle not being the type to gift frivolous items.

When he and his brother had come into their uncle’s care, after their mother died, they had been allowed to keep their toys but never given anything new, and it doesn’t take long for a child to outgrow their toys. He imagined some were still in a box at home.

At university, lwj

had occasionally been coerced into playing a game, but this wasn’t a game. This was a toy and it felt… frustrating, the little ball swirling at the bottom of the toy. But wwx was right. It was an enjoyable frustration, and lwj reset the ball and tried again, eternally aware of

wwx watching him play.

They traded the ball back and worth for a while, each watching the other quietly try to get past the hardest spots, wwx getting up to make them tea when their drinks ran dry.

“Ugh, why is this one spot so hard!” wwx moaned, collapsing back onto the couch.

lwj gently set the ball aside, onto the small holder it came with, and sat down beside wwx, telling him, “Wouldn’t be fun if it was easy,” before suppressing a yawn.

wwx cooed at him. “Is sweet little A-Zhan getting sleepy? Want Xian-gege to tuck you in again?” lwj was about to

agree when wwx added, “Oh, but I haven’t punished you for playing hooky yet, have I?”

lwj froze, staring wide eyed a the other alpha and his playful smile. “Mn,” he agreed after a moment, light arousal swirling in his stomach. What would the older man do? lwj would probably

let him do anything. Let the alpha drag him into the bedroom and-

wwx snuggled back into the couch before patting his lap. “Lay your head here please!” he said, that playful, innocent smile still in place.

lwj blinked at him before slowly settling down onto the couch, his head

cradled in wwx’s lap. He was a bit tall for the couch, forcing him to raise his knees and plant his feet on it to fit.

wwx hummed a “good boy,” helping adjust lwj’s hair so it fell over the other side of his legs. lwj shuddered when the older man began dragging his fingers

through his hair, using them to gently untangle knots and rubbing circles into his scalp.

“This doesn’t seem like a punishment,” he observed, looking up at the man.

wwx let out a small, huffing laugh. “It’s a punishment because I say it’s a punishment,” he replied, dragging his

nails down to lwj’s scent glad and pulling another shudder out of his, as well as splurt of pleased scent.

wwx hummed thoughtfully, continuing to caress and scratch and massage lwj’s scalp, each time drawing his fingers down to graze lwj’s scent gland.

Slowly, lwj felt himself

being lulled into an almost sleep. Almost. Every time the other alpha brushed his gland it sent a shock through him, making it impossible to fall asleep, or to truly relax. Instead, it seemed to be pulling lwj down into a tight, blurry space, the world warm and fuzzy around them.

lwj wasn’t sure how much time passed, a moment, a million years, before wwx was reaching around him to press his wrist gland directly to lwj’s neck.

lwj let out an moan that, had he not been so fuzzy, he would have been mortified by. Fuzzy as he was, he reached up to grab wwx’s

arm and press his wrist firmly back onto his neck.

wwx gently pulled his hand away, whispering unintelligible things to him in an apologetic, if amused, voice when lwj whined in complaint.

He continued whispering to lwj as he went back to playing with his hair, avoiding contact

with his scent glands this time. Every time lwj tried to pull wwx’s wrist back the older man whispered soothing words to him, gently placing lwj’s hand back onto his stomach.

Eventually, lwj started to come back to himself, cracking eyes he hadn’t realized he closed open

to stare blearily up at wwx.

wwx smiled softly down at him, his fingers still caressing lwj’s hair. “You’re so sensitive,” he said softly.

lwj tried to ask him what he meant, but all that came out was a garbled, questioning sound.

“You’re sensitive to scenting,” wwx explained,

“even like this, being scented like one might scent a close friend or family member you’re scent drunk.”

Scent drunk. Oh, that would explain why the world seemed so far away, like the only thing that mattered was Xian-gege. It was nice, floating here in the other alpha’s lap.

Safe.

“I noticed before,” wwx continued, “when I tucked you.” He laughed softly, running his fingernails over lwj’s forehead. “I scented that sweater to make you mellow out before bed, but instead you practically passed out.”

“S’nice,” lwj managed to slur, staring up at

wwx’s beautiful smile. “Pretty…” He reached up to push a strand of the other man’s hair behind his ear, pressing his fingertips to wwx’s scent gland on his way down. He frowned when the other man didn’t react at all, pushing his fingers more firmly into the gland.

wwx laughed,

gripping lwj’s hand before he could press his wrist gland directly to his neck. “Not as sensitive as A-Zhan, am I?” he teased, smoothing out the furrow between lwj’s eyebrows. “I used to be,” he added softly, sadly.

He pressed a kiss to lwj’s hand before setting it back onto

his stomach.

“They say it’s common in people who are rarely scented, especially if they weren’t regularly scented during childhood and adolescence…” he trailed off, smile fading.

lwj closed his eyes and turned himself into wwx, his nose pressing into wwx’s stomach.

They stayed there for a while, wwx still petting lwj’s hair, lwj breathing in the soft, slightly musky smell of alpha. When lwj looked back up at wwx he felt less drunk, still blurry, but like he could form coherent thoughts and sentences again.

“Shushu does not scent, and ge

and I…” he blinked up at wwx. “It is rare,” he finished awkwardly. It was more than rare, they hadn’t scented each other since lwj presented, their uncle believing that scenting between an alpha and omega was improper outside of marriage, even if they were brothers. The last

time lwj had truly been scented, outside of one drunken incident in university, was almost a decade ago. lwj had known there were potential consequences of never being scented, but he had never shown sighs of deprivation or aggression or anything else, not until now.

wwx hummed in acknowledgement.

They stared at each other, sad and silent, until lwj suddenly blurted out, “Will it cause problems with sex?” Ok, maybe he was still a bit scent drunk.

wwx barked out a laugh. “So shameless, A-Zhan,” he teased, “but it is a good question. It…”

lwj lay there patiently, waiting for wwx to find the right words, content to remain in wwx’s lap as long as he was allowed to.

“It… would be overwhelming,” wwx finally said, “to have sex when you’re this sensitive. You might not even remember, once you sober up.”

“But- but I

can become less sensitive?” lwj asked. The drunkenness was making his tongue looser, though as he sobered up he felt more and more embarrassed heat spreading across his body.

“Yeah,” wwx told him, “with regular scenting you’d become less sensitive. Although…” He hesitated,

before adding, “I read, way back when I was dealing with it, that it’s better to treat scent sensitivity by scenting multiple people. If you only choose to scent one or two people…” He blushed, averting his eyes. “You’d probably become less sensitive, but still more sensitive

than most people.”

lwj blinked up at him, confused. Why was wwx blushing?

“I can scent you, if you want,” wwx continued, “and maybe you could ask A-Li or your brother to-“

“No,” lwj interrupted sharply, “only Xian-gege.” He was starting to sober up enough to know he would

be mortified once he completely himself again, but didn’t stop himself from saying it. Sober lwj might not say it, although considering his ongoing penchant for teasing the older man maybe he would, but he would definitely think it.

wwx’s blush deepened and lwj had to ask him

about it.

“O-oh,” wwx stuttered out, “you’re just, well… just from this you were so cute and open and loud and, uhm…” He stared resolutely at the toy sitting on the table with all the other unopened gifts. “Imagining you scent drunk during uh… other activities is kind of…”

“Xian-gege imagines me like that?” lwj demanded, staring unblinking up at the older alpha, who jerked his wide eyes back to him.

“Yes,” he rasped out, “all the time.”

lwj whimpered, releasing a sharp stab of scent around them, wwx’s eyes dilating when he caught the scent.

“Does Xian-gege want to- to fuck me?” lwj managed to force out, turning hot red when wwx rasped out another “yes.”

“You-“ he squeezed his eyes shut, hiding the world away as he told wwx, “you should then.”

The hand in lwj’s hair was suddenly tightening and jerking his head

back, baring his neck and making lwj jerk his eyes open. Above him, wwx was smiling almost cruelly down at him, the bumbling and stuttering man from before gone, replaced by a confident, charged alpha, his scent filling the air around them with hot, sharp stillness.

“No, not until I’m sure you’ll remember what it feels like when I fuck into you for the first time.”

“Oh,” lwj breathed out, willing his scent to not sour in disappointment. He didn’t succeed and wwx laughed when the scent reached him.

“Want my cock that bad, A-Zhan? Or are you

just that horny?”

lwj whimpered. “Just Xian-gege.”

The alpha smiled down at him, running his free hand down to lwj’s lips, pressing his thumb against them.

“Just because I won’t fuck you yet, doesn’t mean we can’t play.” He pressed his thumb into lwj’s mouth, lwj obediently

accepting it to suckle on. “Perhaps A-Zhan should have wrapped himself up too, given me another toy to play with.”

lwj whined, then whined harder when wwx pulled his hand away. “You need to tell me what you want now, A-Zhan, before you’re too scent drunk.”

“I…” lwj started but

didn’t know how to finish. He had no experience with these things, hadn’t even watched porn because the risk of getting caught, of causing a scandal was too high.

wwx shushed him softly when his scent began to turn into electric panic. “It’s okay if you don’t want to sweetheart.

We can go as fast or slow as you want.”

“No!” lwj exclaimed, the air around sparking as he tried to pull himself up. “I want to, don’t make me leave, please, I… I just don’t, I haven’t, I just don’t know what I want, I-”

“Oh,” wwx breathed out, guiding lwj back onto his lap,

“I see. I had guessed you were inexperienced, but to not know what you want…”

“It’s bad,” lwj said, clamping his eyes closed.

“No, sweetheart, it’s not. Just means I need to be even more careful with you.” He booped lwj on the nose, making him scrunch his nose and glare up at

the older man, smiling kindly down at him.

“You changed,” he commented.

“Hmm?”

“You…” lwj glanced away. “You were mean before.”

wwx watched him for a moment, blushing hot on his lap. “You liked it when I was mean?” he finally asked.

“Mn,” lwj agreed, face burning hotter.

wwx’s gaze travelled over him slowly, accessing. “Ok,” he said, when his eyes returned to lwj’s, “for tonight then, can I scent you? Can I scent you sexually? Can I see you naked? Will you touch yourself for me? Can I touch you?”

lwj nodded quickly to each question.

It wasn’t like how he’d imagined it, his first experience with sex. He had always imagined it, as far as his imagination would allow him to, fast and hot and needy. This was soft and kind and-

lwj thought it was better, relaxing back into wwx’s lap as he began running his

fingers through his hair again, grazing his scent gland again, firmer, more purposeful this time.

Slowly, wwx grew rougher, his hands pulling harshly on his hair, sending sharp pricks of his own spiced arousal through lwj when his wiped his wrist across lwj’s gland, dragging

short whimpers from him each time.

lwj panted, hot and hard and scent drunk. Blearily, he glared down at where his cock was trapped in his pants, pawing at the zipper to try and free it.

“Need help baby?” wwx asked, gently brushing his hands aside to undo the zipper.

lwj somehow managed to raise his hips enough for wwx to push them down, his cock popping up and smacking into wwx’s arm.

“Well hello there, little A-Zhan, it’s nice to meet you,” wwx greeted it, giving the head a little tap. “You weren’t kidding, A-Zhan,” wwx said, “I imagine

it’s quite hard to keep this little one hidden in anything tight. It’s so pretty, can’t wait to get it in my mouth one day.”

lwj moaned and his dick twitching at the praise, at the image, his hips thrusting into the air looking for wwx’s arm, which he had rudely moved elsewhere.

wwx giggled. “Don’t you remember A-Zhan?” he asked, “I want to watch you touch yourself.”

lwj whined but obeyed, wrapping a hand around his cock, nearly coming when wwx called him a “good boy” again. He jerked himself with abandon, surrounded, infused with Xian-gege’s scent,

his eyes watching as he-

lwj all but screamed when wwx’s hand wrapped around the base of his cock, breaking his orgasm off.

He growled up at wwx who simply laughed, “You said you liked me being mean,” he reminded him, releasing his grip. “Keep going,” he ordered.

lwj growled

but did as he was told, the “good boy” he received evening him back out. He stroked his dick, thumbing at the pearly pre-cum leaking from his tip, breathing in thick smokey honey.

He reached his free hand up to wipe his wrist against wwx’s scent gland. The older alpha bared his

neck to give lwj better access, releasing a deep moan when they touched. lwj left his wrist there, rubbing circles of sandalwood and honey into his Xian-gege, thrusting into the circle of his hand.

Would Xian-gege smell like his tomorrow? Would people know what they’d done?

Would people know he belonged to lwj?

Mine, mine, mi-

This time lwj really did scream when wwx cut off his orgasm, smirking down at him. lwj growled and moved to lunge house at wwx only to be pulled back down harshly by his hair, his neck bared to the older alpha once again.

“Behave,” wwx said sternly, pressing the wrist of his free hand onto lwj’s neck, suffusing lwj with aged spice to drag him back to calmness, “or I won’t let you come at all.”

lwj whimpered, shaking his head as much as he could still pulled taught across wwx’s lap.

“Then behave,” wwx reiterated.

They stayed there, wwx’s scent seeping into lwj as he fought to catch his breath. Everything was so blurry, every emotion confused, wild, diffused, burning.

He tossed and turned, eventually turning in towards wwx and burying is nose into the

other man’s hip, breathing in his arousal, thick even through layers of pants and underwear. He thrust his hips, his cock dragging sloppily against the couch.

Above him wwx tutted. “Naughty, messy boy,” he half-scolded, half-teased. “Where did my sweet, tidy A-Zhan go? Is he so

desperate to come that he can’t control himself anymore?”

lwj nodded into wwx’s lap, his nose rubbing at the other alpha’s own hard dick through his clothing. He moaned and wiggled himself onto his stomach to mouth at wwx, whining when he couldn’t get to it through the clothing,

his hips thrusting irregularly into the couch.

wwx’s stern voice and firm hand in his hair pulled him back. “Either get on your knees and use your hand or get back on your back. You’re going to hurt yourself fucking the couch.”

lwj struggled to pull his knees under him, glaring

into wwx’s eyes. The moment his knees were properly under him and wwx had released his hair he was thrusting his hand back between his legs and suckling on wwx’s hard cock again. Even through layers of fabric lwj could taste him leaking, little wisps of smoke wrapping around his

tongue, slipping down his throat.

It would be better, so much better if wwx let him taste it directly. lwj moaned at the thought, the image of him sucking Xian-gege’s dick, being a good boy for him, being a good little-

wwx pressed his wrist directly to the gland at his groin

flooding him with his scent, with afterimages of himself, spread out across his Xian-gege’s lap. Flooded him with warm, spicy thoughts and affection and-

lwj came, moaning and screaming, painting white across the couch, wwx’s hand moving to wrap firmly around his knot.

Slowly, lwj began nosing at wwx’s lap, sniffing at the hardness there and letting out a distressed sound at the lack of wwx’s own orgasm.

“Shh, shh baby, I know,” wwx whispered, “it’s ok. I came earlier, if I come again now you might break me.” He laughed, one hand gently

massaging lwj’s knot while the other smoothed down his hair. “The joys of being old.”

lwj made a questioning noise, something he meant to be “When?” but came out a garbled mess.

Somehow, wwx still seemed to understand him. “I saw you earlier,” he said, his hands moving to

encourage lwj to return to lying on his back. “You’ll hurt yourself lying like this for too long,” he murmured softly. “If you don’t help move yourself I’ll have to get up to do it.”

lwj grumbled but helped wwx wiggle him back around. He gazed, blurry eyed and content up at wwx.

Maybe this position was better…

“I saw you early,” wwx started again, his hands returning to lwj’s hair and cock. With nothing firmly gripping around him he was mostly soft now and wwx was mostly playing with him at this point. “When you were doing party prep,” he continued,

“you were leaning over, cleaning a light.” A wicked smile spread across his face. “Do you know how great your ass looks in these pants? How could I not fuck my fist thinking of bending you over and fucking your pretty ass? It’s what I was doing when you knocked. Why I was panting

when I answered the door. Had to come and clean up so you wouldn’t know and- Oh!?”

wwx startled as lwj dick began to fill back out in his hand. He laughed, tugging slowly on lwj’s cock. “Oh, to be young.”

It was slower this time, softer, wwx taking over for lwj. He was gentle

and exploring, watching each of lwj’s reactions, smiling down at him as he let out soft moans.

wwx pressed his wrist into lwj’s groin scent gland repeatedly, and by the time lwj was shuddering through another orgasm he felt filled to the brim with wwx.

It was overwhelming, but

not the sharp afterimages of before. No, this time the images and thoughts had no form, just a thousand tiny wisps of warmth filling him up, keeping him safe.

The last thing lwj heard before sleep took him was wwx whispering, “Just rest little one, I’ll take care of you.”

~

lwj jolted awake, his brief moment of panic from waking up in an unfamiliar bed floating away as he breathed in wwx’s scent.

He reached around the bed, searching for the source of the smell, his hand meeting only blankets and pillows, all infused with wwx’s scent, but not

finding the man himself.

He frowned, pushing himself up and rubbing at his eyes. The bedroom door had been left ajar, dim light drifting in, just enough for him to confirm that wwx wasn’t anywhere else in the room.

He slipped out of bed, taking small, sleepy steps to avoid

bumping into anything in the unfamiliar room, slowly working his way back to the living room where-

“Xian-gege,” lwj whispered, kneeling down beside the sleeping man, curled up on the too short couch. He pushed some hair out of wwx’s face, whispering his name again.

wwx jerked

slightly, his eyes fluttering open. “A-Zha~n?” he yawned, one of the hands that had been tucked under his head moving to cover his mouth. “S’wrong?” he asked, “Did have a bad dream?”

“You were not in bed. Why are you out here?”

“Oh, u~hm” wwx yawned again, pushing himself up,

“I didn’t want assume you were ok sleeping together, and if we sleep together you’ll probably wake up scent drunk anyways so…”

“So you decided to sleep on the couch,” lwj finished, huffing, “Ridiculous.” He stood pulling wwx up with him. “You’ll hurt your back sleeping here,”

he said firmly, his tone leaving no room for argument, “if you are uncomfortable sleeping with me I will sleep here while you take your bed.”

“What!? No!” wwx cried, too loud for the quiet evening. “I have nothing against sleeping with you, he added in a more moderate tone.

The stared at each other for a moment before wwx released a huffing breath. “Come on,” he said, grabbing lwj’s hand and dragging him towards to kitchen, “you need to drink some water.”

He pushed lwj towards the counter, moving to grab them each a glass and filling them with cool

water. wwx handed him the cup and they stood there, watching each other drink in silence.

“How do you feel?” wwx asked eventually, setting his half-empty glass down.

lwj thought about it a moment. He felt… “Good,” he said, flushing slightly. “Not scent drunk, but…”

He pressed a hand to his neck, wwx’s scent swirling beneath his fingers. He felt like he had before, when wwx had lent him his clothes. Like he was oozing wwx’s scent and everyone who got too close would smell the older alpha on him.

“Do- do I smell like you?” he asked timidly.

wwx laughed softly. “A bit, but I can only tell because it’s my scent. Most people won’t be able to smell it unless they’re scenting you directly. A-Li might be able to because she knows both our scents so well.” He stepped closer to lwj, leaning in to press his nose to lwj’s

neck and breathing deeply.

lwj’s breath hitched, wondering what he should do, but wwx quickly pulled back, smiling.

“I like it,” he told lwj, tilting his head to the side. “Do I smell like you?”

lwj tentatively leaned in, barely breathing as he pressed his nose to wwx’s neck.

They hadn’t done this before, directly breathing each other in skin to skin. Hadn’t breathed in every subtle detail of each other. Hadn’t brought their mouths close enough to taste-

wwx hissed when lwj licked across his gland, drinking in the oil that leaked from it. wwx slipped

a hand into his hair to gently pull him away, staring into lwj’s already slightly scent drunk eyes when they broke apart.

“Oh, you are a horny little menace aren’t you, little one?” he whispered softly. “Drink the rest of you water,” he said lightly, stepping away.

lwj finished his water drowsily, wwx taking the cup from him when he finished and then dragging him back towards the bedroom.

“Come on, sleepy boy, time for bed,“ he said, guiding lwj through the dark house.

“You know,” wwx laughed, “in all the things we did earlier we never

actually kissed.” wwx moved to push the bedroom door open only for lwj to suddenly slam him into the wall, gazing hungrily at his lips.

He pressed closer to wwx only for the older man to growl at him, such a sudden change in his demeanor that lwj loosened his grip, a moment

later lwj was slammed against the wall instead, wwx’s lips on his, his hands running up lwj’s body, slipping under the sleep shirt wwx must have changed him into.

lwj gasped when the other alpha pressed closer to him, his tongue slipping inside lwj, their bodies flush.

lwj moaned into the kiss, his hands grabbing wwx’s shirt to pull him in further pushing his own tongue against wwx’s, biting it when the older man found his nipples.

wwx pulled back with a hiss. “Sensitive here too, hmm?” he teased, kissing his way along lwj’s jaw to mouth at

his neck, groaning when his tongue found lwj’s scent gland. “Fuck you taste good,” he mumbled into the skin, sucking a mark into it.

Under lwj’s shirt, wwx continued playing with his nipples, pulling and thumbing them until lwj was a moaning mess against him, thrusting wildly

into the other alpha.

wwx laughed, slipping his leg between lwj’s, grinding it against lwj’s hard cock. “There you go baby,” he whispered, nipping at lwj’s ear, “take what you need.”

lwj whimpered, his hands rising up to dig into wwx’s hair. He thrust desperately against the

leg under him, wwx’s own hardness rubbing against his dick every time he pressed in close. Angled like this the scent glands at their thighs ground into each other, pressing fragments of thoughts and arousal into each other even through the fabric.

wwx moved his lips back to

lwj’s, kissing him hungrily before lwj pushed back, biting wwx’s lower lip, dragging another growl from wwx, his own hips beginning to thrust harshly against lwj’s.

wwx broke the kiss to press his forehead against lwj’s, sharing the same hot air as him, an endless stream of

profanities falling from his mouth as an orgasm exploded out of him, his knot popping inside his pants as he released inside them.

lwj’s cock rubbed against wwx’s knot and he was coming too, creaming the inside of his pants with ribbons of cum, his own knot pressing into wwx’s.

lwj continued grinding his knot against wwx’s until the older alpha was hissing with oversensitivity and holding onto his hips to stop his movements.

“Fuck you’re insatiable,” wwx laughed, pressing a kiss lwj’s cheek, “gonna wear this old man out.”

lwj whimpered, trying to

thrust his hips into wwx’s again but unable to break the man’s hold in his scent drunk state.

wwx pressed his nose to lwj’s neck, cooing and releasing a soft, sleepy scent. “It’s okay A-Zhan, you can relax. Shh- shh, I know, I know.”

Slowly, lwj’s whines turned from aroused to

sleepy, his hips stilling under wwx’s hands. The other alpha pulled back, pressing another soft kiss to lwj’s kiss before pulling him into the bedroom and pushing him to sit down on the bed.

lwj blinked up at him, waiting quietly when wwx disappeared to the bathroom, watching

the older man strip his dirty bottoms off to clean him. wwx carefully slipped clean clothes onto him and guided him up the bed, settling them in beside each other.

wwx pulled lwj tightly into him, lwj turning to press his nose safely into wwx’s neck as sleep overtook them.

~

lwj was lulled back to reality by a soft song, one that had flooded his dreams since he had first heard it days ago. It reached out to him, incomplete and yearning for someone to add their own notes to it, to let it flow through the air perfect and wild, still and eternal and-

wwx’s nails scratched lwj’s head as he hummed, pulling away occasionally, the quiet flutter of paper following before the hand returned to his head. lwj turned his head into the lap his head was once against cradled in only to meet the a fluffy pillow instead of wwx’s firm

thighs.

He let out an small, distressed sound, twisting to try and pull his arms up to remove the barrier.

Above him wwx laughed, setting whatever he was reading aside. “No, no,” he said, pushing lwj’s hands away from the pillow, “you already spent all morning scent drunk, time

to sober up, A-Zhan.”

He had? lwj didn’t remember waking up before this, though, he didn’t remember going to bed either. The first or second time.

lwj forced his eyes open to squint up at the older man, smiling warmly down at him, his fingers still trailing through lwj’s hair.

He did that a lot, lwj’s realized. Play with his hair. His uncle had tried to force him to cut it when he left for university.

“Proper young men have short hair,” he had said, “you are no longer a child. It is time to present yourself as the young master you are.”

In a rare

show of defiance lwj had refused. He would have time enough to be an adult once he graduated, he had no desire to hurry himself along towards misery and stiff societal expectations.

lqr had fought back, of course, but after a subtle threat that he would do something worse to

his hair, and a positive word from his then new brother-in-law, his uncle had agreed that while lwj was not working he could keep the hair.

Why lqr had even let him grow his hair long when he held such a negative view of it, lwj wasn’t sure. Perhaps he felt bad taking it away,

as their mother had been the one to encourage her sons to keep it long, had combed it out for them every night, much like wwx had said his own mother did.

lxc had obediently cut his hair when he headed off to university, but he was always less attached, more obedient. Easier.

lwj had spent much of his life trying to be easier for their uncle. Trying to be a good child for a man who never expected or desired to be a father.

Lying in wwx’s lap, gazing up at the beautiful alpha, lwj was eternally grateful he had never become truly become easier.

He had become cold and detached instead. If you didn’t care about the outcome of anything you wouldn’t fight back when things didn’t go your way. There were very few things lwj cared about enough to fight his uncle on.

His hair. His friends. His marriage.

Once, his freedom.

He had long ago accepted that he would never be free, that the only way to truly be free was to leave this life behind. To leave his family and friends behind in a world that would never welcome him back.

So he fought for the others.

For most of his life he had refused his

uncle’s, or more often their family business’s board member’s, attempts to force friendships on him. Unpleasant and spoiled children who’s sires were powerful business partners and rivals. Children who lwj refused to even speak to, let alone befriend.

He had refused to cut his

hair, at least for a time. Now, lying there as another alpha, someone he shouldn’t want, enjoyed his hair, twisting tiny braids into his bangs, lwj changed his mind. He’d never cut his hair, not as long as wwx was there to play with it, just as both their mother’s had once done.

His uncle would just have to accept his long hair, just as he would have to accept that lwj would never marry. He would adopt or surrogate heirs or, if more than one of this brother’s children presented as an alpha, perhaps one of them would become his heir.

lwj would do his

duty, he would supply his family with descendants. He would not force an omega mate into a lifetime of painful heats because he would be unable, unwilling to spend it with them. He would not force either of them into a lifetime of unhappiness that would slowly kill them both.

Above him wwx finished another braid, setting it gently down on the bed. Perhaps his company could set up an office in Yiling, or they could find something to collaborate on. Whatever this was, however new it was, it didn’t have to end with the coming of fall. Perhaps they could-

“Feeling better?” wwx asked, startling lwj out of his thoughts.

“Mn,” he hummed after a moment.

wwx’s smile brightened. “Good,” he said, “you were really out of it before. Happy, but not really there.”

“I-“ lwj hesitated, if he admitted he didn’t remember anything what would

wwx do? Would he refuse to touch him again? Would he send him away? Would he-

“Hey, hey,” wwx’s voice cut off his spiral, his hands cupping either side of lwj’s head as they looked at each other. “What’s going on in there?” wwx asked quietly. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.

Is it because you don’t remember what happened?”

lwj startled. “How do you know I don’t-“

“A-Zhan,” wwx laughed, not unkindly, “I’d be surprised if you remembered even a single moment of this morning.”

“Oh,” lwj breathed out, closing his eyes. “I- I was worried about what you

would think of my not remembering anything,” he admitted softly, after a moment of silence. “What you would think of me.”

“A-Zhan, I don’t think any different of you because of that. Well…” wwx trailed off and lwj cracked his eyes back open only to meet wwx’s shit eating grin.

“Well,” wwx continued, that awful grin still firmly in place, “I do wonder where the sweet, affectionate A-Zhan hides when he isn’t scent drunk. You were so cute, not wanting to let you’re Xian-gege go~” He snickered down at lwj, too distracted by his own teasing to stop lwj from

flipping over and dragging him down the bed.

wwx let out of yelp as lwj settled on top of him, straddling wwx’s hips, pressing his nose back into wwx’s neck, where it belonged. “A-Zhan,” he whined, pulling at his hair, “you just sobered up. Come on! I’m sorry I teased you.”

wwx bucked up when lwj started grinding their hips together. “No, no,” wwx objected, “if you make me come again I’ll be too wrung out to help you sober up- wah!”

lwj reered back with a growl, glaring down at the older man. “Again? When did Xian-gege come?” he demanded.

“I- earlier,” wwx said, placing his hands on lwj’s chest to keep him from surging back down.

“When? What happened?”

“Uh, a little after you woke up? You, uhm,” wwx glanced away, babbling, “you were so cute and sleepy and grinding against me and I know we only talked about what

you were ok with last night, and-“

“Xian-gege did not come on the couch last night,” lwj stated coldly.

“Oh, uhm- no, same reason as now. I’m old, if I come too close together it wipes me out. One of us needs to be able to clean up, and it won’t be you if you’re scent drunk.”

He laughed awkwardly. “It’s fine, sex isn’t just about each person getting off and I really enjoyed playing with you on the couch.”

lwj felt his cheeks heating up. Playing with him. wwx had said something about that last night too, about how lwj should have wrapped himself up,

become a toy for wwx to play with. lwj wanted to be more than a toy for wwx, but if that’s what wwx wanted lwj would just have to become wwx’s favorite toy, the one he kept coming back to. The only one he wanted to play with.

“Want to see Xian-gege come,” he muttered petulantly.

“Is that so?” wwx asked, raising a hand to rub at lwj’s frown. “Then you’ll need to behave, sweetheart.” He patted the bed beside him. “Lie down beside me?”

lwj thought about it for a moment. It was very nice sitting on wwx’s lap, his cock poking up against lwj’s ass, but…

lwj rolled off of wwx, settling down on his side beside the older man, wwx turning to face him.

“You know,” wwx whispered conspiratorially, “betas have sex without scenting all the time.” He reached his hand out to caress lwj’s dick through his pants. It twitched up into his

hand and wwx let out a huffing laugh. “Eager little fellow, isn’t he?”

lwj thrust his hips into wwx’s hands, searching for more friction, reaching out for wwx but the other man caught his wrist, pulling lwj’s hand to his lips.

“You first,” he said, pressing a kiss to one of

lwj’s fingers.

“But-“

“A-Zhan,” wwx laughed, still lightly running his fingers over lwj’s clothed cock, “the last three times we’ve done this you’ve wanted to go at least twice, four times this morning!”

“We- three times? When did we?”

“Ah, I suppose I should find out exactly

how much you remember about last night, hmm?”

lwj shook his head, he wanted wwx to stroke him properly, pull him out of his bottoms and touch him skin to skin, not-

wwx firmly gripped lwj’s cock, drawing a gasp out of him. “Why don’t you tell me?”

“N-Now?”

“A-Zhan said he

liked it when I was mean. Is that no longer true?”

lwj shook his head. He liked it. Liked it too much.

“A-Zhan,” wwx said sternly, his grip tightening slightly, lwj bucking against him, “use your words.”

“I- I like Xian-gege when he’s mean,” lwj forced out, a moan

leaking out of him when wwx resumed caressing him.

“Good boy. Now, tell your Xian-gege what you remember.”

lwj told him. Told him the bits and pieces remembered. Fuzzy but mostly complete memories of his first orgasm on the couch, fragments of what came after. Nothing past wwx

kissing him in the hall.

All the while wwx slowly jerked him off, eventually slipping his hand into lwj’s pants to stroke him properly. Making lwj blush hot red when he pulled his dick out and began telling it how pretty it was. Talking to it like it was it’s own person.

“Who’s a good little dick?” wwx asked it, lwj burning even hotter when his traitorous cock jumped at the praise. “Yes, that’s right you are,” wwx cooed at it. “Such a pretty, greedy boy.”

He went on and on until lwj finally growled at him to shut up, wwx giggling and saying,

“I wondered how long you’d let me do that A-Zhan,” still slowly jerking lwj off.

By the time wwx picked up the pace lwj was a moaning mess on the bed, his slit leaking pre-come over the bedding, creating a small puddle that wwx fingered at before pressing his forehead to lwj’s.

“Fuck, I can’t wait to blow you. Gonna blow you like this, sober so you can remember what it feels like inside me. What my tongue feels like on your cock. It’s such a shame to waste this,” he said, pressing his wet fingers to lwj’s jaw. “Should be in my mouth.”

lwj moaned and

pressed their mouths together, wwx pushing him back to lean over him, diving rough into lwj’s mouth, his hand moving faster, rougher, and lwj was coming, thick strips of white splattering up wwx’s arm and across lwj’s chest.

wwx kept kissing him as he came down, leaving soft

kisses along his jaw, licking the spot he had pressed his pre-come wet fingers to, whining at the taste.

“Taste so good,” he mumbled, “gonna come so good for you sweet boy.”

lwj’s groaned under him, shuddering through over sensitive aftershocks as wwx refused to let his cock

rest. Without the influence of out of control scents his knot hadn’t popped, but wwx still rubbed obsessively over the spot where it would have.

lwj reached for the other alphas cock, reached to see it, touch it for the first time, to-

nhs’s ringtone cut through the air. Fuck.

“Fuck,” lwj growled, glaring over at his phone, seated on wwx’s bedside table where the other man must have set it to charge last night.

“Do you need to-?” wwx asked, pulling back from lwj’s jaw.

“Yes,” lwj sighed, “it is nhs, to talk about jc. I was waiting for him to call

back. If I don’t pick up-“

“Aiya, well if it’s about that grumpy boy…” wwx pulled himself away from lwj, leaning to grab his phone and handing it over, “can’t get in the way of my sweet A-Zhan trying to be a good role model.”

wwx smiled down at lwj as he answered the phone.

“Huaisang,” he said, perhaps too aggressively. He had expected his brother-in-law to take a week or more to get back to him, he should be happy he had returned his call after just a few days.

He was not happy and he was going to find some way to torture both nhs and jc for this.

“Wangji! My dear brother-in-law! Ah, how long it has been since I last heard your deep, beautiful voice, so sensual, so husky, so arous-“

“Huaisang,” lwj interrupted. Beside him wwx was snickering into a pillow and lwj grabbed another pillow to sandwich his head, the older man

giggling harder as he was buried. “Yes, it has been some time. I hope your vacation has been pleasant?” he continued.

“Very pleasant indeed! Dage insisted we come to an omega only resort and let me tell you! The things I have seen here!” The sound of nhs sipping a drink flowed

through the call, distant dance music playing somewhere nearby. “I don’t think Dage realized this was a party resort. None of the staff care how their guests act as long as they aren’t destroying property. The number of times I’ve walked in on people getting it on in the sauna-“

lwj listened quietly as nhs continued relaying various stories of his last two weeks at the resort, occasionally asking questions about particularly unlikely or interesting stories. Beside him wwx had disappeared, whispering that he was going to shower, pressing a soothing kiss

to his cheek when lwj had begun to bristle.

“Later,” wwx whispered as he left the room with a wink, “there’s always later sweetheart.

nhs finished relaying a story about an impromptu wet t-shirt contest, the prize being a night in the honeymoon suite.

“They don’t even

officially allow omega/omega couples here, A-Zhan! Why do they have an official honeymoon suite!?”

“Ah~” nhs sighed, “if only I could live somewhere like this all year round.”

“Mm,” lwj agreed.

When they were first introduced their brothers had worried how they would get on.

A flighty, soft omega vs a cold, hard alpha, neither nmj or lxc had had much hope beyond “hopefully they can at least tolerate one another.” Both were quite surprised when their younger brothers became fast friends, even sharing their contact information, nhs having zeroed in on

lwj as someone else with “alternative tastes,” although their tastes differed. While lwj firmly desired only alphas, nhs had no preference between alphas, omegas or betas, but insisted on being the one in control, something most alphas wouldn’t tolerate, especially not in bed.

“So… how’s your vacation going? Meet anyone fun?”

lwj’s hand froze where it had been fiddling with the sheets. nhs couldn’t know… could he?

“I have met a number of new people here,” he stated slowly.

“I didn’t say new, I said fun, A-Zhan.”

“I have been conscripted into

helping with party prep,” he said, despite knowing his attempts at deflection wouldn’t work, “it is currently not a ‘fun’ vacation.”

“Yes, yes, jyl’s lovely, horrible party. We all get one one day. Did you meet her uncle?”

lwj squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t need to help jc.

He could hang up and pretend he had never been friends with nhs. They really only saw each other a few times a year, and no one would question why he was suddenly refusing to speak to the omega, everyone was expecting lwj to one day come to his senses and end their friendship

anyways. Today would just be that day.

“Oh-ho-ho,” nhs laughed, “it’s like that, hmm~?”

lwj sighed. “Yes, how did you-“

“Oh, I have my sources. Although, wwx’s status as someone with alternative tastes actually seems to be a well kept secret. I only know because someone I

was fucking slipped up. Made me promise not to tell, but I trust A-Zhan to keep my secrets. Well, if you are interested in taking things further-“

“Further?” lwj cut him off. What was further? A more permanent arrangement? Had nhs heard something about wwx looking for a long

term partner? Had he-

“Oh, you know~ if you wanted to do more than admire the man from afar. From what I heard he’ll be gentle and kind and keep everything on the down low.” lwj let the silence ring awkwardly between them, nhs finally bursting out, “Nooooo! You didn’t! You

already fucked him?”

“No. Other things,” lwj admitted, a smile tugging at his mouth.

“Ugh, when? You barely know the man! Who would have thought A-Zhan would just jump into bed with someone so fast!” his friend teased.

“Last night. This morning.”

“This morning? Wait, isn’t it

still practically morning there?”

“Yes,” lwj hesitated before adding, “I am still in his bed.” Over the line nhs let out a series of excited shrieks.

“Wait, wait!” he said when he finally calmed down. “You were in bed with a gorgeous, older alpha and you picked up my call?

Lan Wangji! What is wrong with you!?” nhs demanded.

“Needed to talk to you. It is important,” lwj told him.

“Important? Oh A-Zhan, my sweet, not-quite a virgin anymore A-Zhan. We could have talked about our vacations another time, when getting some good, old alpha dick wasn’t

on the table!” nhs scolded him.

“Not the vacations, A-Sang,” lwj huffed, watching wwx push his way back into the room, his long, wet hair hanging loose and soaking through the t-shirt he had changed into. Drips of water ran down his neck and lwj wanted to lick them, drink them

up along with wwx’s delicious scent. Wanted to-

“A-Zhan? Are you still there?” nhs asked. “You got really quiet, are you reassessing your life choices?”

“Constantly,” lwj said dryly, ignoring wwx’s amused look at the way the room had filled with a horny, honey scent.

“No,” lwj continued, “I was calling to ask about jc, jwy.” Distance music echoed through the call, filling nhs’s silence. “A-Sang?” lwj asked softly.

“I’m here. I- what about him?”

“Recently he has begun expressing extremely traditional views on omegas, Mingjue-ge said he had

heard rumors about a group he may have become involved in. I had hoped you may know something about them.”

nhs was silent for several long moment before sighing. “Fine,” he said, “put me on speaker phone, I might as well tell you both what I know.”

lwj glanced at wwx who had

returned to the bed, comb in hand, giving him a questioning look as lwj switched the phone over to speakerphone, nhs’s voice almost immediately speaking up.

“Now, before you get mad, it was some dumbass Jin employee who let it slip that you, like A-Zhan and I, have

alternative tastes.’ I lectured him about keeping his mouth shut about such things, and the only person I’ve ever told was A-Zhan, and, despite his family’s reputation for telling the truth, he’s very good at keeping secrets.”

“They are not my truths to tell,” lwj said quietly.

“And I didn’t even really tell him, I simply asked if he had met you and his tone, well, from his tone I could tell there was something going on and-“

“It’s fine,” wwx interrupted, “it happens, and I trust both of you will keep it to yourselves?” wwx smiled mildly at lwj.

“Of course!” nhs said, his normally frivolous tone taking on a cold air of sincerity.

“Mn,” lwj agreed, adding, “A-Li suspects something.” He reached out a hand to take the comb from the older man.

wwx hummed for a moment before laughing. “That doesn’t surprise me,” he said,

handing the comb over and obediently settling himself between lwj’s spread legs. “I trust A-Li too. If you’d like to talk to her about me I’m fine with it.” He smiled at lwj over his shoulder before turning back, a happy scent floating off him as lwj began combing through his

hair.

“Aww, so sweet… it almost makes up for the horrible information I’m about to give you.” nhs sighed before the sound of him draining his drink fell through the phone along with him asking someone nearby if they could get him another.

“So, this group the Jiang heir has

gotten mixed up in? Bad fucking news. They call themselves ‘The Resistance Against Alpha Repression,’ or RAAR.”

In front of him wwx snorted. “RAAR? As in the big bad alpha went rawr?” He snickered, adding, “I can’t decide if that’s really bad or really good.”

“They use it as a

chant,” nhs said dryly, “RAAR RAAR RAAR. It’s cheesy and scary at the same time.”

“A bunch of alpha traditionalists rawring at people? Yeah, that would be threatening even as another alpha.”

“Mn,” lwj agreed, “aggressive alphas are unpleasant to be around.”

“Has little A-Zhan

never been an aggressive alpha?” wwx asked, trying to turn to look at lwj but stopped by the hands in his hair.

“Haa!” nhs answered for lwj, “A-Zhan just death glares anyone who bothers him. It’s horribly effective.”

lwj shook his head, picking up another section of wwx’s hair.

“Ridiculous,” he muttered softly, smiling slightly when both men laughed.

“Anyways,” nhs continued, “there are groups like RAAR popping up in lots of countries, saying the natural instincts of alphas are being repressed by… whatever. There’s a whole slew of talking points.”

nhs cut off, whispering a soft ‘thank you’, presumably to whoever had gone to get him a new drink. “RAAR mostly claims the problem is foreign influence and those foreign influences tend to blame pro-omega rights groups.”

“Basically, they all argue that omegas wanting rights

interferes with an alphas ability to alpha. In RAAR’s case, they say the natural state of an omega is to be subservient, that they’ll be happier that way. Frame wanting to control their omega family members as helping them reject a ‘harmful lifestyle’ they’ve been fed as being

‘better and freer.’ They claim that omega instincts are to be soft and stupid. Other groups just outright say alphas are the top dogs and everyone else should bow down and do as they’re told.”

“That’s not exactly new though,” wwx commented. “I remember protests when I was at

school in the States. Alphas arguing against omegas being given the right to return to work, without their alpha’s permission, once their children entered school. Alphas saw it as the government interfering with their family, and giving omegas a freedom they didn’t need or want.”

wwx snorted. “The amount of omegas I went to school with who worked once their kids were older are were all the happier for it is substantial. Sometimes it broke up a marriage, mostly they just found reasonable alphas to marry to begin with, and the asshats who attended those

protests ended up bitter and alone or married to an omega they thought was beneath them but at least obeyed them.”

“Which is the problem now,” nhs told them. “Omegas are much more choosy, and our alpha parent or guardian is much less likely to try to force us to mate with

someone we outright hate than their own parent was.”

“Mn,” lwj agreed, his hands now weaving braids into wwx’s long hair, “Mingjue-ge was very firm that A-Sang would not be mating with anyone who would not treat him as an equal, at least within their own home.”

nhs laughed,

teasing, “Dage does love me!”

“Lowers the options for alphas who have extremely traditional views,” wwx said once nhs quieted down.

“Yeah, from what I heard wrh’s older son, wx, started the group after an omega he had been courting rejected him after she found out he expected

her to immediately quit her job once they married. She told all her omega friends what he thought of omegas and they refused his courting offers as well. Apparently her alpha parent still tried to force her to accept him, would have been a great business alliance for them, but

the laws say an omega can’t actually be forced into mating anymore. wx didn’t take it well, he and the early members of RAAR started harassing her and, well, there are a few stories of what may have happened after…”

nhs trailed off, forcing lwj to ask, “What stories, A-Sang,”

through gritted teeth, wwx’s shoulders shaking slightly as he suppressed a laugh over lwj’s exasperation with his friend.

“Well, one story goes that she completely left the country.”

“Another thing omegas wouldn’t have been able to do without their alpha parent’s permission

even a decade ago,” wwx noted.

“That’s right! How very sad and small our lives were even so recently,” nhs moaned. “Hopefully that’s the true story though, because the other ones are, well,” nhs hesitated, either for dramatic effect or because he really didn’t want to say,

“there’s a chance someone either took her or killed her.”

Silence hung in the air between them, lwj’s hand stilling in wwx’s hair. That… wasn’t good.

“I’ve heard a number of stories along these lines over the last few years,” nhs said sadly. “Omegas who have disappeared,

no one is really sure if something happened to them or if they left on their own. If they did choose to leave they cut contact with everyone they knew.”

“If they were being harassed by an entire organization of crazed alphas I can’t blame them for leaving everything behind,”

wwx said coldly. “Why has no one been looking into this? Even talking about it?”

“People don’t believe it is that serious,” lwj said gravely, his own omega brother had brushed the rumors aside, laughing and telling his mate he was overreacting. That he was paranoid.

“That, and the police resist looking into omega crimes. They say omegas fought for the right to leave without permission and they need to accept that means no one will look for them if they disappear.”

They sat there in silence together, no one really knowing what to say.

lwj ran his fingers through wwx’s braids, gliding them out. One day he would take his time, braid wwx’s hair perfectly, weave his scent in with the strands, elastics and pins nearby to secure it. Let him go the whole day with people admiring his hair knowing only lwj could touch.

“Is A-Sang safe?” lwj finally asked, pulling out the last of wwx’s braids and swiping it all over his shoulder. The older man let out a happy hum, snuggling backwards to rest against him, pulling lwj’s arms around him, carefully avoiding touching lwj directly with his scent

glands.

“Yeah,” nhs said, “jwy hasn’t contacted me since we met last summer and we omegas have started sharing notes on which alphas support RAAR, who to avoid.”

“myx, the guy I’m here on vacation with, had a run in with one of the Jin cousins that didn’t end well. Part of the

reason I agreed when Dage insisted we come to an omega only resort; alphas can’t follow us. The joys of being rich and lazy and spoiled silly by Dage, we’re gonna be here a~ll summer.” nhs laughed happily, someone, presumably mxy, telling him it wasn’t exactly something to be

happy about in the background.

“Ah, but A-Yu, it could be so much worse!” nhs told him. “We get to chill in the sun and eat all we want. Play all day and party all night.”

“It would be better if you were not being threatened,” lwj interjected. In his lap, wwx was fiddling with

his hands, apparently having just noticed how much larger lwj’s were than his own.

“Looks so tiny,” he said quietly, pressing their hands together, wwx’s hand made small and delicate against lwj’s. “Do you think after a summer they’ll leave your friend alone?” he asked nhs.

“One can hope, but I don’t know. If they don’t leave A-Yu alone… well,” nhs said, too cheerfully, “guess that’s when we do the disappear into the abyss act.”

We. lwj didn’t say anything of it but did wonder if his brother-in-law would disappear as well. nhs might enjoy this

accept of their lives, the frivolity and wealth, but overall he was just as unhappy with its constraints and expectations as lwj. If given a good reason to disappear, to take a friend and start a new life…

lwj thought his friend would probably take it.

“Mn,” he hummed,

“hopefully it doesn’t come to that.” They sat in silence a moment longer before lwj said, “Thank you for your time A-Sang, this… this can’t have been easy to talk about for you.”

“No,” nhs admitted sadly, “but I don’t regret tell you. Maybe you’ll be able to help jwy with it…”

“Mn, and even if not, I will be better equipped to help if I meet any omegas being harassed by RAAR. Please know, if you ever hear of anyone in need of help, I will do anything I can for them.”

“Same,” wwx added, turning his nose in towards lwj’s neck, breathing in the soft,

distressed smell lwj was leaking.

“Ah~ it warms my heart to know there are still good alphas out there!” nhs laughed, teasing “I hope you both enjoy your summer of love.”

“Huaisang!” lwj hissed, while wwx giggled against him.

“Not going to wish me a similarly horny vacation?”

“No,” lwj said flatly before hanging up on his brother-in-law. He looked down at the man in his lap, still giggling away and slipped his hand downwards, fingering the waistband of wwx’s pants.

wwx’s breath hitched. “Really, A-Zhan? Right now?”

“Mn, Xian-gege said later.”

wwx huffed. “Good thing for you I’m prepared,” he said, wiggling to pull something from his pocket. He pulled the cylindrical piece of fabric over lwj’s hand, securing it over his wrist gland, pressing a kiss to the fabric before pulling lwj’s hand up to his neck.

“Feel anything?” wwx asked, rubbing lwj’s protected wrist gland against his own neck gland.

“No,” lwj said, unsure how to feel about the wrist guard. It would make touching wwx easier, but…

“Good!” wwx exclaimed, returning lwj’s hand to his lap. “I actually forgot I had one of

these. I’ve never really used it, but it’ll work great for keeping your wrist from coming into contact with my groin glands,” wwx turned narrowed eyes on lwj, “assuming A-Zhan still wants to see his Xian-gege come?”

lwj slipped his hand under wwx’s waistband. “Yes,” he rasped.

wwx settled himself into the crook of lwj’s other arm, allowing him to press his nose into lwj’s neck, and giving lwj no access to wwx’s neck in return. He threw a leg over lwj’s thigh and snuggled himself back, mumbling, “M’kay, m’ready,” against lwj’s neck.

lwj slipped his

hand further into wwx’s pants, finger tips scratching against thick, curly hair. Angled like this it was impossible for lwj to push wwx’s pants down, though, fortunately, they were loose enough for him to comfortable maneuver within them.

Unable to see much, lwj’s closed his

eyes, focusing on the feel of wwx against his hand. He brushed gently against the base of the other alphas cock, wondering if he would pop a knot.

He hoped he would. Hoped he would get the chance to wrap his hand around wwx’s knot, milk him like an omega hole might.

He hoped

his own hole could milk wwx like that one day. He had heard it varied from alpha to alpha, whether they could truly knot another alpha, tie them together for an hour or more while slowly filling their partner up with more and more of their cum.

lwj wanted it, wanted to be

filled to the brim and left leaking when wwx finally pulled his cock out, hopefully just to fuck back into him for another round.

wwx wiggled his ass back into lwj. “Little A-Zhan woke up, hmm?”

“Mn,” lwj’s hummed, moving his hand to wrap around wwx’s dick, the older man

shivering slightly against him.

He was big, not as big as lwj, but not disappointing either. He thrust occasionally into lwj’s hand, his ass pressing back firmly into lwj’s hard cock every time. lwj swirled a finger across wwx’s slit and was happy to discover the other alpha was

wet, leaking thin spurts of pre-come lwj smoothed down wwx’s shaft.

wwx moaned when lwj picked up the pace, using his new lubricant to gently twist and firmly squeeze wwx in turn.

“Ah!” wwx gasped on a particularly rough jerk, “A-Zhan is so good at this.” He grabbed lwj’s other

hand, pushing it up under his shirt as he teased, “A-Zhan must have a lot of practice at this…”

lwj cruelly tweaked wwx’s nipple, drawing a sharp gasp from wwx and an abrupt swell in the smell of wwx’s arousal around them, his hips stuttering forward into lwj’s fist.

Apparently wwx also enjoyed his partners mean, letting out soft moans and praise and advice as lwj jerked him off roughly, his nails digging into lwj’s arms.

“So good, A-Zhan. Harder, A-Zhan,” the older man begged, “harder, please, can you-“ lwj cut him off, roughly pulling wwx

away from his neck, where he had been huffing lwj’s scent, and hauling him in for a searing kiss. wwx collapsed into the kiss, wiggling and twisting himself in lwj’s lap until he was on his knees between lwj’s thighs.

wwx pressed over him, plunging his tongue into lwj’s mouth

and his hand into lwj’s pants, his other hand gripping firmly into lwj’s hair and pulling his head harshly into a better angle.

lwj bucked up into the other alpha’s hand, moaning into wwx’s mouth as he pulled roughly on lwj’s cock, matching wwx’s strokes with his own hand.

“Ha~” wwx panted, “that’s it sweet boy, let gege show you how it’s done.”

wwx pressed his forehead to lwj’s, releasing a stream of profanities and an fragment of memory split across lwj’s mind. A slice of wwx pressing over him in a dark hall, swearing and coming, their knots

rubbing together-

lwj let out a startled cry as he came across wwx’s hand, wwx following him a moment later when lwj accidentally tightened his grip on the older man’s cock.

Knot. Knot, lwj blearily registered, his cum wet hand sliding down to cup the other alpha’s knot, where

it had popped. He tightened his hand around it, dragging more spurts of cum and a whimper from wwx.

“Fuck,” wwx mumbled against him, “your hands are so big. S’good.” wwx wiggled to sit between lwj’s thighs again, pulling his hands out of lwj’s pants and hair, pressing his face

back into lwj’s neck as they rested. lwj’s hand remained around wwx’s cock, milking it as they breathed the same air, the smell of sex and contentment oozing out around them.

Content and sleepy, lwj barely registered the soft rumble of wwx’s purr filling the silence between them

~

wwx didn’t know where he had fucked up, but oh boy had he fucked up.

This didn’t happen to him, hadn’t happened to him even once in the 25 years since he’d accepted he was weird, different, that he liked alphas and not omegas like all good young alphas should.

wwx didn’t catch feelings. wwx didn’t fall in love. wwx didn’t fucking purr post orgasm.

He turned and aggressively fluffed a pillow. Why were they even fluffing pillows as part of the stupid party prep? Were people just not supposed to sit on the couch for the next two weeks?

Obviously he’d have to come fluff them again before the party and the yzy would somehow make it his fault people had dared sit on the couch. Maybe he would make a sign: Not For Sitting On (because yzy is bitchy control freak)

He sighed and flopped down on the couch, smushing the

pillow in his lap.

It was stupid, ridiculous, as lwj would say. wwx was supposed to know better than this, do better. The first rule of having alternative tastes was “don’t get attached, it never ends well,” and wwx had never messed up, not until now.

He’d become friends with

his hookups, sure, some he still talked to regularly, some he still hooked up with when they ran into each other, even if a decade or more had passed since they first met.

He’d even had long term partners, the longest lasting almost 3 years, but it was never anything more than

two people with compatible tastes getting together regularly to fuck and chat and flirt. They both knew it would never be more, never public, never a world ending, life shattering love, never exclusive.

The idea of lwj not being his and his had alone had wwx growling, filling

the room with toxic rage, the few servants in it scurrying away to find work elsewhere.

Stupid. wwx was stupid, old, losing his mind. That’s it! He was obviously losing his mind, that was the only explanation for how he had fallen in so deep, so fast, with a boy barely half his

age. The only explanation as to how he’d fucked up so bad and put them both on the road to a broken heart, because that was the only place this ended.

wwx sighed again, slumping back into the couch, staring despondently at the balcony across the room and the thick purple

curtains that swept around the door. He’d hooked up here before, back when Lotus Pier had just been rebuilt. It had been his first hookup since the fire, since running back into the house to save the kids and running back out half on fire.

wwx smiled sadly at the memory before

flinging the pillow across the room and crossing his arms. Stupid. They’d hooked up here because it was so far from the main halls, too far for anyone to stumble across. In all these years wwx had never known anyone to come here during parties. Why were they even doing party prep

here at all!?

Maybe he’d bring lwj here during the party, have a little fun with him, see if he could control those lovely moans if there was the risk of being caught, maybe if they were caught-

wwx smacked himself. There was nothing after getting caught but pain and suffering.

There was no happy ending, only public shame, maybe even exile.

wwx could do exile, he’d thought about it before, thought of just giving it all up and fucking off to another country. Back the the states maybe, where he still had friends, many who lived openly, freely, happily.

He hadn’t because of the kids, kids who were now grown. jyl was about to be married off, into an at least friendly pairing of wwx had anything to say about it, and jc… jc wwx had failed, and he didn’t know how to make it right. Didn’t know if there was a way to make it right,

a way to help jc, and it wasn’t really his problem. Not really.

He had loved his best friend’s kids, tried to give them an alpha’s unconditional love when yzy could not. Sometimes he thought he had just made the situation worse, that he should have never returned in the

first place. He was barely even friends with jfm anymore, the strain of the omega’s feelings for him had strangled their relationship years ago. If he had stayed in the states maybe everyone would be happier now, but then he never would have met lwj.

wwx was horrified to realize

he would leave it all behind if he could have lwj. Obviously another strike in the “wwx is losing his mind” list. He’d only known the young alpha a few weeks. He shouldn’t be dreaming of a life with him, of sweeping him away, of stealing him away from his friends and family.

“Xian-shushu?”

wwx startled upright, staring wide eyed up at his niece. She stared down at him with equally wide eyes, a soft, worried smile on her face. How had she gotten so close without him noticing?

“A-Li,” he said, trying to sound cheerful, a tight smile pulling across

his face.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, because apparently getting old also meant losing his ability to bullshit people. She stared down at him a moment more before sitting and snuggling in beside him, pressing her nose gently into his neck and releasing a soothing lotus scent.

wwx tensed. lwj had told him she had suspicions about his preferences and this close, knowing both their scents so well, there was no way she wouldn’t smell lwj flowing through him. Mortifyingly, she might even be able to catch the lingering smell of sex around him.

jyl’s scent took on an air of acceptance and love, calm rain on a moonlit summer night, washing away all the stress of the day. The top tone of her scent was so much like her father’s own lotus, soft and subtle, an echo of the place they had all grown up. wwx doubted anyone

outside their family would be able to tell them apart, would be able to smell the nighttime glow of jyl’s scent, the hot summer burn of jfm’s. For how often she scented either of them, yzy might not even be able to tell her mate and child apart.

“How did you know?” wwx asked

softly, wrapping an arm around the young omega to pull her closer, settling then both further into the couch.

“Hmm…” she hummed, “it just makes sense?” She laughed slightly, her hair tickling against wwx. “That’s not very helpful, it is?”

“No, it’s not,” wwx laughed.

“It doesn’t matter, I was just curious. I don’t even think your baba has ever figured it out.”

“Baba doesn’t want to see it,” jyl said quietly. “It’s easier for him to believe you didn’t think you deserved to be his mate, rather than that you didn’t want to be.”

wwx huffed. “He’s not exactly wrong. Back then I would have thought myself unworthy to marry someone from this side of society.”

“But not anymore?” jyl asked, peeking up at him.

They stared at each other for a moment before wwx sighed, tucking her back into his neck.

“It’s not that easy, sweet girl,” he said sadly.

“I know,” she sad softly, “but if A-Zhan makes you happy, isn’t it worth trying?”

“And how does this little omega know her equally little alpha friend makes this old man happy?” wwx asked testily. He used to be good at hiding his

feelings. This sudden ability to be read, to be seen, was very upsetting.

jyl turned to look at the pillow wwx had thrown across the room. “Just because it’s called a throw pillow doesn’t mean it’s for throwing, Xian-shushu,” she teased in English.

“Ah! My heart! My sweet

little niece is so intent to torment her poor uncle that she resorts to changing languages to do so! This old man obviously should have insisted her parents keep her home, she became much too confident at university!” wwx bemoaned, flinging a hand dramatically over his forehead.

“Where did my sweet, innocent little girl go? First she steals her poor friend’s clothing, leaving him to run half-naked through Lotus Pier, and then she attempts to kill her poor, poor uncle with jokes.”

“Hmm…” jyl hummed, “Xian-shushu would have enjoyed seeing A-Zhan in the

outfit I left him, but perhaps seeing him half-naked worked even better.”

wwx pulled back from her, gaping. “You!” he screeched. “You!! Jiang Yanli! Have you been trying to set us up!?”

“Yes,” jyl stated remorselessly. “A-Zhan and Xian-shushu deserve to be happy, and they suit

each other.”

She settled back into the couch, smiling like a satisfied cat up at him. “It really is too bad A-Zhan signed up for that school trip last summer, otherwise you would have met at his brother’s fundraiser.”

“What,” wwx… asked? It didn’t sound like he had asked, more

tonelessly stated. Broken. These young adults had broken him.

“Who do you think added Lan Xichen’s fundraiser to our activities last summer? My mother? Please, she hates giving money to people who need it,” she sniffed. “Ah, but in the end you didn’t even get to meet A-Zhan.”

wwx wondered how his niece would react if she found out that party, meeting nhs there, had been the catalyst for her brother’s descent into extreme traditionalism. He rather hoped he would never find out.

“Conniving little girl,” he said, watching her through narrowed eyes.

“You’re going to feel bad when one, or more likely both of us, end up with a broken heart.”

“I don’t think you will,” she replied, gazing out through the open balcony doors. It was a lovely day out and the wind rippled through the room, bringing the soft smell of early summer

and the chatter of party prep in with it. It was the perfect day for swimming, yet here they were, stuck inside doing useless jobs, wasting their brief days of freedom.

“Call it a woman’s intuition,” jyl added, turning back to wwx, “or a child’s stupidity.” She laughed lightly.

wwx glared at her a moment more before popping up, pulling her with him. “Aiya!” he exclaimed, “such a meddlesome girl. Shoo! Shoo! Go find your friend and run away, go have some fun while you can and leave this horrible party prep for your horrible party to us adults.”

He pressed a fast kiss to jyl’s forehead before pushing her towards the door. “Don’t worry about your mother,” he assured her, “I’ll take care of it. Now, go, go! Enjoy your youth while you can!”

“Xian-shushu!” she tried to object as he forced her through the doorway, gave her a

bright smile and slammed the door in her face.

Even through the door he could hear her huff and mutter some choice words about her favorite (only) uncle and walk away, hopefully to kidnap lwj away from his never ending light maintenance.

wwx leaned back against the door,

rolling her words through his head for exactly 20 seconds before shoving them into a box. At least his ability to ignore his emotions and compartmentalize was still intact! Excellent.

Back to more important things, like how soon he could fuck his new sexual acquaintance.

Not lover, not crush, not hopefully-soon-to-be-a-long-term-partner. His sexual acquaintance. End of thought. End of feelings.

wwx plucked his phone out of his pocket and rang up an old friend.

“Wei Wuxian,” came a stern woman’s voice after barely a single ring.

“Qing-jie! It’s been too long! How’s the family?” he asked sweetly.

“They’re… fine,” she responded, a bit too slowly for wwx’s liking.

“What’s wrong?” he asked seriously, all thoughts of sex and love sweeping into the corner of his mind.

wq released a frustrated sigh.

“Do you remember my cousin, Wen Xin?”

wwx suppressed a snort. “The one who’s been shacking up with another omega and hoping no one notices they’re in love?”

“Yup.”

“What happened? Someone find out?”

“Not yet, but the way things are going they’ll be lucky if no one does.”

wwx let out a long puff of air. No happy endings for them, for people who loved where society said they shouldn’t.

“Anything I can do to help?” he asked, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

wq was silent for several long moment. “Maybe,” she finally said. “I’m still hoping I’ll

find another way to help them but, well…” she trailed off. wq never trailed off, not unless it was really bad. “The only solution I can think of is for them to leave, and it doesn’t seem their partner is inclined to do so,” she finally finished.

“Oh,” wwx said quietly,

“would your cousin-“

“Yes, she would leave in a second,” wq interrupted him.

“That sucks,” wwx said, “to be willing to leave but your partner isn’t.”

Painful. There are a thousand reasons to stay, a thousand to leave, but the only thing anyone in that position is likely to

think is “I’m not important enough.” Sucky, painful, heartbreaking.

“Yes,” wq agreed, adding, “I doubt she’ll leave on her own either.”

“Going to a strange country as a lone omega? Yeah, I don’t wish that on anyone, it was hard enough for us alphas when we went off to school.”

“Plus she loves him,” wq added dryly, “wants to stay by his side even if he won’t leave with her, won’t let her keep-“ wq cut herself off, not continuing even when wwx left her the silence to do so.

“Well, like I said, let me know if there’s anything I can do.” wwx bolted up

from the door, urgently adding, “Reasonable! Anything reasonable I can do! I still haven’t forgotten about the last time you asked for help,” he said bitterly.

That whole affair with her uncle had almost landed him in prison and had gotten him fired from a pretty cushy job.

wq and her brother might have helped him set up his own company as an apology afterwards, and he had made a small fortune as a result, but it was the principle of the matter! No more unreasonable, life altering requests, thank you very much.

“Hmm…” wq hummed, sending a shiver

of terror up wwx’s spine.

wwx was weak and he knew it, if asked to sacrifice part of himself for the good of someone else he would do it every time. He needed better friends, friends who wouldn’t take advantage of his huge, weak heart! wq would just have to accept that he was

cutting her out of his life for his own well being.

“So why did you call?” wq asked, pulling wwx out of his friendship breaking thoughts.

“Oh, I had a question for the great Doctor Wen!”

“Mhm, what did you break?” she asked tonelessly.

“Ah, what little faith my doctor has in

me!” wwx moaned, walking back to the couch to collapse dramatically down on it.

“Fine, what horrible disease has your slutty ass contracted?”

“Qing-jie~” wwx whined, “I haven’t contracted any weird things to my genitals since university! It’s been over 20 years!! Let it go!”

“I will never let having to examine and swab your penis go,” wq stated coldly.

wwx slapped a hand over his burning face. He’d rather forget that wq had seen his junk too. He would really, really rather forget that he had popped a boner during the examination too. Awkward way to

find out you have an exhibitionism kink.

“I’m not calling for me,” he grumbled into the phone. “I have a friend who has severe scent sensitivity and was wondering if anything had changed for treatment in the last few decades.”

“A friend, eh?” wq said skeptically. “Well, not a

lot has changed since then. Standard advice is still for the affected person to be scented in amounts varying from completely drunkenness to mild alteration regularly over two months, preferably by two to three different people, although there was a recent study that found-“

~

lwj aggressively typed and clicked at the computer on his lap. The fact that wwx’s work was entirely paperless was unfortunate; aggressively slapping papers into the proper piles would be much more cathartic than dragging and dropping files.

From the other side of the couch wwx

snickered, and lwj turned a glaring side eye on the older man. He was finding too much enjoyment in lwj’s pain and must be punished.

It had been almost two weeks since lwj had spent the night with wwx, a very enjoyable night, even if he couldn’t remember most of it, and since

then, thanks to one Dr. Wen, wwx had refused to directly scent him, refused anymore sexual contact with him. lwj would also make sure she was punished severely, if he ever had the chance to meet her.

Apparently a new study had shown that scent sensitivity was best treated by

indirect scenting, preferably from the opposite secondary gender. Apparently excess scenting from the same secondary gender could actually prolong the treatment time, and sexual scenting of any kind dramatically increased the timeline.

lwj had tracked the study down after wwx

relayed the information to him, laughing as lwj’s scent became increasingly agitated when he confirmed that the study was, in fact, well designed and its findings sound.

“Ah, come on A-Zhan,” wwx had laughed, “if it reduces the time it takes for you to reduce your sensitivity to

a manageable level then it should be worth it, right? Means I’ll get to properly fuck you sooner.”

The other alpha had wiggled closer to whisper in his ear, “Plus, I’ll scent that sweater for you and you can go do all the nasty things you like in it~ that should be fine~”

Thinking about all the “nasty things” he had done in that sweater the last few weeks lwj let a storm of arousal form around them, not even trying to control it as it filled the room. wwx’s fingers stilled on his own computer, a burning spice arousal winding up around lwj’s own.

“A-Zhan,” wwx said mildly, “behave.”

lwj wondered if wwx was purposefully riling him up, purposefully putting images of wwx pulling his hair, ordering him onto his knees into lwj’s head. lwj huffed, two could play at that game.

He set the laptop onto the coffee table and

swiveled onto his knees, leaning close to wwx.

“But Xian-gege,” he pouted, “your A-Zhan has been so good these last two weeks, he has even been helping you with your work. A-Zhan thinks he deserves a reward.” He lightly fluttered his eyes at the older man, hoping he could see

from the corner of his eyes.

It was amazing how several rounds of mind blowing handjobs and two weeks of sexual frustration and teasing could make someone so shameless and comfortable around the object of their frustration (attraction).

(A/N from this point forward if explicit consent doesn’t occur onscreen assume it happened off screen. Even in cases such as below, where lwj finds the situation embarrassing, and maybe even forgot they talked about it, well, sex is often embarrassing, even when you’re doing

something you agreed to. Also, they’re kinda kinky, so expect random kinks to pop up between them, if anything too extreme comes up I’ll put a warning up for though. Do expect more dom/sub undertones at the least, and probably more referring to, and maybe treating, lwj as a toy)

wwx sucked in a breath, turning to stare at lwj with dark eyes, only a halo of their moonlit silver visible. He reached over, slipping a hand into lwj’s hair, scratching him like one might scratch a cat, along his scalp, behind his ears, under his chin.

lwj’s breath stuttered,

a small whimper escaping him as he attempted to force down a mortifying purr. He wasn’t a pet! He was supposed to be seducing the man, not getting pets! Certainly not enjoying the pets!!

“Who’s a good little kitty,” wwx cooed, scratching at lwj’s other ear. lwj reared back,

face burning. wwx cooed a few more unintelligible things at him before turning back to his computer, a small smirk pulling at his lips.

lwj let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing at the places wwx had touched him. Apparently he was going to have to up his game.

“Did you finish with

those files?” wwx asked, glancing back over at lwj and looking much too happy with himself.

“Almost,” lwj replied, returning to his seat and retrieving the computer. “Pei-xiansheng isn’t very good with organization.”

The other alpha laughed cheerily. “No, he certainly is not,

but he’s the best at networking and getting contracts. The extra work to organize his files is worth the amount of work he brings in.”

“Extra work that Xian-gege is doing in free time he does not have,” lwj grumbled, opening a file to determine what it was and where it belonged.

“Ah~ but now I have a lovely assistant to help me! And I am an such a awful, old pervert of a boss, how could I resist making my adorable young assistant stay late!” wwx teased.

“Perhaps, one day I’ll give my beautiful assistant another job,” he said, turning a mischievous grin

on lwj, “one on his knees, that will keep his mouth busy so he cannot tease or reprimand his poor boss.”

“Shameless!” lwj hissed, his just cooled face heating back up. Not that he would object to being given such a job, but to hear wwx speak of such things to casually…

“Seriously, though,” wwx added, once he had stopped giggling, “you don’t need to help me with this, and I could hire a real assistant, if that would make you worry less.”

lwj was already shaking his head when the other man finished. “Another beautiful assistant for you to keep

late?” he asked dryly, sending wwx into another fit of laughter. “It is fine,” he said once wwx was once again silent, leaning back against the couch and breathing hard, “my uncle will appreciate that I didn’t idle away the entire summer.”

wwx leaned over to peak at what lwj was

working on, resting his head on lwj’s shoulder as he read. He sniffed slightly, turning a scrunched up nose at lwj. “A-Zhan, why do you smell like spice?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.

lwj’s fingers stilled on the keyboard. “nhs sent another box of scented stuffed animals,”

he replied flatly, suppressing a smile when wwx’s scent turned sour with annoyance, or perhaps jealousy.

Doctor Wen had recommended scented stuffed animals for his treatment, the kind designed for patients confined to hospitals and separated from their family. They were the most

convenient object for indirect scenting as they were designed to not only hold scents for extended periods of time but also to resist absorbing the scent of more than one person. lwj’s own scent wouldn’t overwhelm the animal as quickly as it would an article of clothing, the most

common item used to indirectly scent someone.

Despite his annoyance with the good doctor, she had been kind enough to send over several animals for his use, including one scented by her own omega brother, and close friend of wwx, wn, that smelled mildly of baked goods

and freshly cut grass. wwx hadn’t seen his friend in nearly a year and had scented the small panda more often than lwj had.

jyl had scented another for him, soft lotus wrapped around a cute pig, that lwj had taken to sleeping with.

Another had gone to his brother, after an

awkward conversation where he had to stretch the truth about how he realized he was so scent sensitive. lxc had bought a stuffed bunny, more expensive and higher quality, to send to him, smelling of faint flowers lwj couldn’t name, with an undertone of his mate’s hot steel.

lxc had given the original stuffed bunny to his son, retuning it to lwj smelling of milky childhood. It wasn’t useful in treating lwj’s scent sensitivity, but he still pressed his nose to it several times a day, breathing in the scent of the nephew he had only met a handful of

times.

While three different scents was enough for effective treatment, the study had suggested more was better, so lwj had also contacted nhs again, and amazingly the omega had picked up the phone. The resort he and mxy were at actually carried scentable stuffies, probably for

those who, like the two omegas, were staying for extended periods of time and had someone at home who missed them. A few days later not one, but two, stuffed birds had arrived. The exotic looking blue bird smelled like nhs, hot earth cooling in the rain, while the other black

crow had contained a smell lwj didn’t know, though he assumed it was mxy’s.

Oh, how wwx hated the crow. lwj doubted he had noticed its scent was similar to his own, spicy and bright, although where wwx’s smelled aged and warm, the crow’s smelled young and chilled, like a fancy

frozen drink on a hot day.

Regardless, it was an unknown smell from an unknown omega and wwx had taken one whiff of it and confiscated it before lwj could even use it. Unfortunate, given how similar it was to the man lwj wished he could scent.

So when a second package had shown

up that morning containing another set of stuffed animals, an exotic red bird and a crow, lwj couldn’t help but scent the crow. Partially to finally get a chance to experience the similar scent, partially to see if this would break wwx.

Shivering as wwx’s simmering scent

surrounded them, lwj was no longer sure it was a good idea. He turned to gaze into the other alpha’s icy eyes, a shuddering scent of arousal and fear slipping out of him.

wwx blinked at him, before a cruel smile split across his face. “If A-Zhan wishes to play at making me

jealous, he should be prepared for this old man to play at making him jealous in return,” he said, pulling back to his side of the couch.

lwj watched him a few more moments before turning back to his work, a distinct feeling of trepidation flowing through him.

Trepidation and excitement.

They sat together a long while, quietly typing away, the soft sound of something wwx had called “post-rock” flowing through a old boombox in the corner, crackling in a way lwj couldn’t determine to be from the speakers or the music itself. Maybe both.

wwx was just reaching up into a big stretch, back cracking and releasing a series of obscene sounds, while side eyeing lwj, when a sharp knock stabbed through the room. They barely had time to glance towards the door before Madam Yu was barreling through the door, jfm scurrying

in behind her, the soft, placating smile that constantly seemed to cover his face firmly in place, though his eyes appeared more strained that usual.

“wwx,” she greeted coldly, eyeing the computers in their laps. “still taking advantage of our guest, I see.”

“Not taking advantage,” lwj replied coldly, blinking to avoid glaring at the woman, “I volunteered and am grateful wwx accepted. It is good experience to work under someone so successful and I have learned a great deal.”

He didn’t add that the reasons he had volunteered were

the result of Madam Yu. Her crusade to ruin everyone’s summer by forcing them to help with party prep had only grown the last two weeks, and with the party only a day away she had become even more angry and spitting. The prep had wrung wwx dry even before he had started coercing

jyl and lwj, usually accompanied by a complaining, tattling jc, to take more breaks and days off. If lwj didn’t help the older alpha with his work they would never see each other. He was also concerned that wwx would hurt himself, or be so behind in work that he wouldn’t be able

to return to Lotus Pier later in the summer.

On top of that, the day after they had spent the night together, Madam Yu had confronted wwx about why lwj had spent the night in his home, her ever present, ever invisible servants having seen more than either man would have liked.

Luckily, yzy simply assumed wwx was corrupting lwj in the normal way, alcohol, late nights, omega porn. Despite yzy’s dislike of lwj’s presence in Lotus Pier, letting him be corrupted while under her care was not acceptable. Part way through her screaming lecture wwx had

redirected her, spinning a story of lwj accidentally taking a sip of wwx’s drink and knocking himself out. wwx obviously couldn’t send him back to his room in such a state, so the younger alpha had to spend the night! She had accepted the story suspiciously, leaving behind a

feeling of “I’ll be watching” as she stalked away to yell at someone else. Working for wwx had been jyl’s idea, something her mother couldn’t object to, that gave the two an excuse to spend as much time together as they liked, and wwx had a lot of work he was behind on anyways.

Madam Yu turned her cold eyes on lwj. “Indeed,” she sneered, “such an honor to work for a-“

“Ziyuan,” jfm interrupted mildly, “the staff in the inner halls are likely awaiting our return.”

yzy shot her mate an even colder look, before continuing on her original mission.

“As you know, tomorrow is Yanli’s party. I expect you both to be on your best behavior,” she stated firmly, dark eyes shifting between them.

Perhaps lwj’s recent penchant for ditching party prep had made the woman dislike and distrust him even more, although sometimes he had the

feeling that she knew of wwx’s preference for alphas, knew that his current preference was for lwj specifically. lwj wasn’t sure why that knowledge might make her hate him more, but it certainly felt like it did.

“Of course, yzy,” wwx replied happily, bouncing in place.

“I wouldn’t dream of messing up my dear niece’s presentation to market,” he added, innocent smile spread across his face.

lwj suppressed a snort as yzy’s expression grew darker. She was the one who called it that so couldn’t complain, but she obviously knew wwx was baiting her.

“Indeed,” she finally said after a long staring contest between the two. She stepped closer and dropped a folder onto the couch between them. “A list of the alphas attending the party who are acceptable matches for my daughter.” She turned back towards the door, taking

slow, deliberate steps, the shoes she had not removed clacking sharply on the floor. “There will, of course, be other alphas attending the event, even though they will be rejected if they dare offer a courting contract.”

Madam Yu stopped at the door, turning back to lwj and wwx.

“Memorize the alphas in that folder. If you see anyone else trying to take up Yanli’s time,” she looked meaningfully between them, “deal with them. I don’t care how. They are not allowed to waste her time. Am I clear?” Both lwj and wwx bobbed their heads dumbly at her. “Good,”

she said, smiling tightly at them, before turning and swishing out the door.

jfm whispered a soft goodbye to wwx and disappeared behind her. At least he seemed to have forgotten his attempts to attach his daughter to lwj, but the new frost he was sending lwj’s way was strange.

lwj supposed jfm could have also realized he and wwx were involved, although he was quite sure jfm was the only reason Madam Yu was allowing him to remain in Lotus Pier, having convinced her to approve his visit for the sake of their daughter. If he were unhappy with lwj’s

presense, or jealous of him, why wasn’t he encouraging his wife to send lwj home? Mostly, lwj had come to the conclusion that he was unlikely to understand the thoughts and motivations of the two mates anytime soon.

They were both acting strangely. Perhaps the stress of the

party prep had gotten to them?

wwx’s front door had almost clicked closed behind jfm when yzy’s head reappeared, startling them both. “Burn that when you’re done,” she growled at them, before slamming the door behind her.

lwj glanced over at wwx, who’s hands had bunched into

fists on his lap, his face pulled into a pained smile.

“Xian-gege?” he asked softly, reaching for the other alpha’s hands. “Are you ok?”

wwx looked at him with wide eyes. “Ah, yeah,” he said weakly, his hands relaxing in lwj’s grip. “Just don’t like fire.”

He laughed awkwardly.

lwj massaged his hands for a moment, turning them over in his hands. They were so small and delicate compared to his, so small lwj could almost wrap a single hand around both of them.

“Mn,” he hummed, “A-Li told me what you did,

how you saved them during the…”

“During the fire,” wwx finished, “yeah. It’s been a long time but, well… you don’t really get over almost burning to death.” He laughed brokenly, a shiver running through him and lwj gave into the urge to pull the other man into him,

pressing a soft kiss to wwx’s forehead and settling him in to cuddle.

They sat in silence for several minutes, soft, post-rock still playing in the background. lwj liked it, the broken sounds of classical instruments alongside modern ones. He smiled slightly, his uncle would

hate it, but be unable to argue against it as a medium to encourage interest in traditional instruments among the younger generation. He would hate it all the more for being unable to truly argue against its existence. lwj would need to ask wwx to send him some, to play once he

returned to Gusu.

Finally, wwx reached for the file folder lwj had tossed onto the table, flipping through the sheets of information about each alpha. Each sheet contained a picture and a collection of information, everything from who their parents were to where they had

gone to school to any known medical conditions that ran in their family.

“Ah! This guy went to the same school as you and A-Li,” wwx exclaimed, looking over the page in front of him. “He’s kinda… boring looking,” he commented.

“Mn,” lwj agreed, adding, “he is also

insufferable. A-Li will not agree to becoming his mate.”

wwx let out a startled laugh. “So you knew him? This Su Minshan?”

“Mn,” lwj hummed, perhaps a bit aggressively. “We were in the same program.” wwx stared up at him, waiting for the rest of the story. lwj’s lips pulled

tight, refusing to go on.

“Oh come on!” wwx whined, poking at lwj’s cheek. “You have to tell me the rest of the story! What if he’s completely respectable at the party! Am I really to accept A-Zhan’s ‘he is insufferable’ as a reason to write him off? I need to whole story!”

lwj huffed. “We weren’t originally in the same program,” he told wwx, “though we shared one class our freshman year. He was…” lwj trailed off, trying to find the right words, “pushy, I suppose. Tried to force his way into our study group, our friend group.”

“Aww, was he trying to be your friend?” wwx teased.

“Perhaps, but no one liked him” lwj responded. “He transferred into our program the next year and it became worse. He was reprimanded more than once for interrupting other students in class and he had a bad habit of

‘reframing’ the words of our omega classmates. Really all he did was restate the same idea and pretend it was better, clearer, than what our classmate had said.”

“Ugh, one of those alphasplaining assholes. Yeah, I’ve met a handful of those guys, had to fire more than a few too.”

“Mn, Xian-gege is a good boss,” lwj murmured, pressing a kiss to the older man’s forehead.

“I don’t think firing assholes should make me a good boss, A-Zhan. The bar is just too low,” wwx complained. “Too many bosses just don’t care about the working conditions for omegas.”

“Mn, Xian-gege is still a good boss,” lwj repeated.

“Yeah, yeah. Is there more story?”

“Mn,” lwj continued, “A-Li was the one to point it out, during our junior year, that sms had begun to… dress and act similarly to me.” lwj felt his ears heat up. It sounded egotistical, to

claim someone had begun to emulate his style, his very personality.

The older alpha blinked blankly up at him before bursting into laughter, lwj’s ears heating further under his hair.

“Oh, A-Zhan,” wwx manages between laughs, “did you have yourself a creepy stalker alpha?”

He went off on another round of laughter and lwj tried to stand to leave. “No, no!” wwx yelled, throwing himself over lwj’s lap to keep him sitting. “I’m sorry, don’t be mad.”

wwx leaned back from his seat straddling lwj’s lap, placing hands onto his cheeks. “So, creepy stalker

who wanted to be a knockoff of the beautiful Lan Wangji?”

lwj watched the other alpha through narrowed eyes for a moment before continuing. “Mn, he adopted many of my habits, bought the same clothing, began learning about the things I enjoyed and then bragging that he knew more

than me. The last straw was when he signed up for the same school trip last summer, even though he would have been better served on a different trip, because our family businesses serve different markets. It was not an enjoyable trip.”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine it was,” wwx said.

“What happened after that?”

A smile tugged across lwj’s face. “After last summer, A-Li started getting annoyed and tracked down some omegas in the fashion program. They… were very enthusiastic about screwing over sms.”

A suppressed smile spread over wwx’s face as he listened,

eyes wide and bright. He wiggled and bouncing in his seat on lwj’s lap, like a child waiting to find out how the heroes defeated the villain in the book their parent was reading to them.

lwj fought to keep his lower half under control as he continued.“They made all sorts of

clothes for me, and when anyone asked we would mention a random store and inevitably sms would go searching for outfits that didn’t exist.” lwj let out a huffing laugh, gazing into wwx’s amused silver eyes. “He spent most of the year wearing ‘last year’s lwj,’ something everyone

enjoyed pointing out. He did not like that.”

wwx released a thoughtful hum. “Why didn’t he just, you know, wear something that wasn’t a copy of your clothing?”

“He tried, but people pointed that out as well. He liked that even less.”

“Didn’t like being called out on his shit?

Yeah, definitely not suitable for my lovely A-Li,” wwx sniffed.

“It… was perhaps not the kindest thing to do. I had asked him to stop several times previously, however, and very few people liked him by then, so no one stood up for him.”

“Shocking,” wwx snorted.

“Mn,” lwj agreed, “he even tried to claim I was copying him at one point.”

wwx slapped a hand to his chest, gasping dramatically. “As if my A-Zhan would need to copy someone else’s style! Unforgivable to claim such a thing! This sms is officially on my naughty list!”

“Don’t worry about it too much,” wwx added after a moment. “People who are assholes, who try to manipulate and gaslight people? Take credit for other people’s ideas and style? They don’t deserve your kindness. Don’t feel bad about getting back at him, he made his bed.”

wwx leaned in to press a kiss to lwj’s head before rearing back, his nose scrunched up. “Ugh, you stink! I can’t, I can’t,” he said, dismounting from lwj’s lap. “Go shower!” he ordered, hands on his hips. “And get rid of that horrible stuffed animal! Don’t give me

that look!” he said sternly, staring down emotionlessly at lwj’s pouting lips. “You brought this on yourself.”

lwj sighed heavily, rising up from the couch. He continued to pout as he turned towards the bathroom, before suddenly stripping off his shirt and tossing

it to the floor. He turned heavy, pouting eyes the older alpha, his hands moving down to unclasp his belt.

“Lan Wangji,” wwx scolded, tapping his foot impatiently at lwj, “do not. We’ve been doing well the last two weeks, do you really mean to break your treatment plan when I’m

leaving tomorrow?”

“Xian-gege will be gone for weeks,” lwj replied petulantly, snapping his belt free and dropping it into the pile with his shirt. “This may be our last chance to do anything until you return.” He popped the button of his pants and moved to pull the zipper down.

“Yes!” wwx said, a bit hysterically. “And if you stick to the plan then hopefully when I return we can… we can…” He watched with horrified eyes as lwj let his pants fall to the ground, kicking them to the side.

“Until we can what, Xian-gege?” lwj asked softly, his hands

slipping under the the waistband of his underwear. He was glad he had listened to jyl about wearing sandals, he would have looked silly standing there in boxers and socks.

“You- you know,” wwx stammered, eyes still zeroed in on lwj’s boxers and the tent his hardening cock was

making. “Lan Wangji. A-Zhan. Please. I’m just one man. An old man. I don’t have the constitution or self-control for this.”

“Xian-gege doesn’t need self-control around his A-Zhan,” lwj replied, as sensually as he could. Behind his hair his ears burned, the flush starting to

spread across his cheeks. He took a shuddering breath and pushed his boxers over his hips, letting them fall while his cock popped up to smack into his stomach.

lwj watched as wwx’s eyes dilated, listened as he let out a small hiss, smelled as the room filled with smoky arousal.

wwx took a step towards lwj, then another, then-

“Xian-shushu! A-Zhan! Are you here? I brought food!” came jyl’s lovely, horrifying voice a moment before she appeared in wwx’s entrance. “Oh!” she said, eyes moving over her naked friend and landing on his mortifyingly hard dick.

lwj was already bolting for the bathroom when she said, much too seriously, “Hello again, little Lan Zhan. It has been a few years, it appears as though you’ve grown. Congratulations.”

The last thing lwj heard before he slammed the bathroom door was wwx howling with laughter.

~

For all that the party prep for jyl’s ‘presentation at market’ had been long and excessive, lwj had to admit that Lotus Pier looked spectacular.

He had been assigned to guide the few guests ostentatious enough to come via helicopter from the landing pad to the main house,

a moderately long walk to meant nearly every walk was filled with complaints and lwj found himself admiring the decorations to make up for the horrible company.

“For such a new construction you would think our host would have had the foresight to set her arrival area closer to

the compound,” jgs complained, tone an unpleasant, faux cheerful. lwj couldn’t decide if the man truly thought putting a rarely used, and highly disruptive, helipad closer to the house was an excellent idea or not.

“Yes, indeed,” sneered jgs’s brother, an alpha who’s name lwj

could not remember, although he had met him and his son a number of times before. They had been on the list of dubious business associates who’s children his family business’s board members had tried to force lwj to befriend.

His son, jzxun, had been a horrible boy, and was now

a worse man. Even as a child he had believed himself better than most everyone, especially omegas. The one time lwj had met him during his years at university, at one of this brother-in-laws business parties, he would have pushed the man into a fountain for how he spoke to nhs,

only the other alpha had taken one look at his “death glare” and scurried away. He had also been in yzy’s folder of “approved alphas,” but, like sms, had been cast into the “not a chance” pile by wwx.

Behind him, the two alpha brothers continued to complain about the walk,

the flowers, the smell, the lack of lights. lwj bristled slightly at that. There were more than enough lights, almost too many, especially with the sun still floating in the sky, and they were all perfectly clean, thank you.

Further back, jzxun was similarly complaining to his

cousin, jgs’s heir, jzxuan.

“Such a disgrace,” the man child sneered, his tone an echo of his sire’s. “They expect to entice alphas as eligible as us with this… this…” jzxun cut off awkwardly, and lwj couldn’t help but think he had simply run out of words to express himself.

“It’s not that bad…” jzxuan said softly. “The purples and pinks go together and if the helipad was closer to the compound everyone would be complaining about the noise…”

“What!?” his cousin snapped. “Pinks and purples? The fuck kind of alpha cares about them ‘going together’?”

lwj startled when a sour, embarrassed, lemon scent floated through the air.

“Oi! Why the fuck are you-“

“Madam Yu cares,” lwj said, cutting whatever awful thing jzxun was about to say to his cousin off. “She has spent a considerable amount of time preparing for this event, and

her daughter put a great amount of care and thought into the colors” he added snarkily as he led them further towards the main party area. Only a few of the guests had chosen to make use of the landing pad, but the path had still been decorating appropriately.

Pink and purple

flower petals covered the edges of the paths, lit up by strand after strand of fairy lights laying beneath them. Those lights had been a last minute addition, something jyl had seen online and presented to her mother, who had claimed there wasn’t enough time and her daughter

should have been more diligent in expressing her desires. wwx and lwj had stayed up late several nights previous to set them all up, hundreds of packages they wrestled to untangle and position along all of Lotus Pier’s walkways. The look on jyl’s face when she had seen them light

up the next night had been worth the effort and even Madam Yu had deemed them acceptable. High praise from the woman.

Large, ornate vases filled with living versions of the flowers sat periodically along the path and at every opportunity sheer pink and purple ombré curtains were

strung up, cascading down in arches around doorways, gazebos, and the outdoor halls that connected buildings and outdoor areas.

Soft, traditional music flowed out around them from hidden speakers, and waiters regularly appeared to offer guests drinks and foods while they walked.

Personally, lwj saw nothing to complain about, it was a lovely walk and one they could have avoided if they had taken cars like all the reasonable guests had.

Everyone was blissfully silent the remainder of the walk, aside from jzxun mumbling unintelligibly to himself,

until they finally turned onto the main path towards the party, the one where lwj could ditch the ungrateful guests to let them join the stream of guests heading towards the house.

“The main hall is this way,” lwj said, indicating down the path, “please follow the other guests.”

“You aren’t going to take us there yourself? What kind of shitty servant are you? I should complain to your-“

“Zixun,” jgs said mildly. “This young man isn’t a servant, he is the heir to the Gusu Lan empire, lwj.” jgs turned one of his awful, sneering smiles on lwj.

lwj had only met jgs once, in passing, at his brother and nmj’s mating ceremony. Both nmj and nhs had complained about his presence, but he was a notable business acquaintance of the Nie’s and couldn’t be left off the invitation list. He, quite frankly, creeped lwj out, and lwj

was reminded of something nmj had told him, shortly before the ceremony: keep an eye out for any missing omegas, especially if you can’t find jgs. It wasn’t a secret that jgs had numerous illegitimate children, but the implication that their dams may not have been willing had

surprised lwj. He wasn’t going to take his brother-in-law’s words as fact, but he wasn’t going to forget them either.

“Eh?” jgs’s brother gasped. “This is- ah, of course, of course. Zixun, you little joker. How could you forget the face of your dear friend Wangji?”

lwj narrowed

his eyes at the man. If he was expecting lwj to overlook his family’s dual faux pas, and even try to use it to force a fake friendship between lwj and his son, he was stupider than lwj realized.

“What do you mean friend? I don’t know this- ow! Why are you-“ A second thump

blissfully shut jzxun up.

“Such a joker,” his father said again, laughing awkwardly. “I heard you will be joining the company come fall,” he said, trying to regain control of the situation, “we look forward to working with you.”

lwj blinked at the painfully smiling man.

Not quite stupid enough to not realize how bad he and his child had screwed up then. “Mn,” he hummed, “I am looking forward to getting started. My uncle has been reluctant to make changes, since taking over for my father while I came of age and gained the experience required to

take my place as ceo.” He let the look that jyl referred to as his “petty bitch face” slide across his face. “I find that everyday I learn something new that will help me decide what changes to make come fall. What things are unnecessary for Gusu Lan’s success. What things we are

perhaps even required to be rid of for the good of the company.” He turned a small bow to the group, not as low as would be considered proper or polite. “Enjoy your evening,” he said, before slipping back towards the helipad, hopefully to pick up someone more enjoyable.

Just as lwj passed by jzxuan he caught a sparkling citrus scent, glancing over to find the alpha had a small smile on his face. He startled when his gaze met lwj’s, glancing away, a soft blush spreading over his now frowning face, and suddenly lwj knew, jzxuan liked alphas too.

~

lwj deeply regretted his decision to try and make wwx jealous.

Unlike lwj, who struggled to talk to people he already knew on a regular basis, wwx was a social butterfly, who flitted and flirted his way through the room. lwj watched through narrowed eyes as wwx left yet

another giggling omega behind, because apparently even though lwj knew wwx had no interest in omegas it didn’t matter. wwx flirting with anyone sent him into a fit of jealousy, the air around him sparking with suppressed frustration.

It was worse when he talked to alphas.

lwj couldn’t understand how anyone wouldn’t want to beautiful, vivacious man, and lwj could, unfortunately, tell that some of the alphas did want wwx. Their eyes followed him around the room and several repeatedly approached him, presumably to test the waters. To see if wwx would

lead them away to fuck in a hidden corner of Lotus Pier. Every time wwx would send them away, his eyes effortlessly finding lwj in the crowd, a look of pure, conniving pleasure on his face.

The older alpha was enjoying himself far too much, but lwj didn’t know how to even the

playing field.

wwx skipped off to chat to yet another alpha, one of the young women Madam Yu had deemed not acceptable for her daughter. Watching her turn all her charm on wwx, subtly brushing their hands together, lwj couldn’t help but agree. The woman clearly favored alphas.

Speaking of people who may favor alphas… lwj dragged his eyes away from wwx, and his efforts to make lwj lose his mind, scanning the room for jyl.

He quickly found her, clad in a traditionally inspired dress, a lighter pink and purple than the rest of the decorations. The long,

flowing sleeves, sheer pink with white butterflies and flowers embroidered into them, made using her arms difficult, while the high waist made sitting difficult. wwx had jokingly sneered that she was just as beautiful as the rest of the decor, and just as motionless as well.

As expected, lwj spotted jzxuan hovering awkwardly nearby. His mother, Chen Yumei, sat chatting with yzy and jyl.

yzy and cym had grown up together and remained close even after they presented as alpha and omega, respectfully, as well as once they married. They were so close

that when their children were born they had betrothed them, but the passing of laws that forbid forced mating had effectively negated the betrothal contract, although lwj had heard enough to know the women were encouraging their children to enter into a courting contract.

cym had arrived several days previous, to help with the remainder of the party prep and talk up her son. The omega woman was softer than her friend, and, unlike yzy, seemed to view omegas as equals to alphas, claiming she had raised her son to share her views and telling jyl that

her son would make a wonderful mate.

From what lwj had seen of the woman the last few days she truly seemed to be kind, treating jyl as though she were already her daughter-in-law, and talking yzy down more than once during lectures on this or that.

If lwj had thought his

understanding of his friend’s mother could become more layered in confusion he was wrong. cym, her presence, her personality, the relaxing effect she had on yzy, all added to it. How could yzy extol the virtues of proper, polite, soft omegas while her closest friend was an omega

who was none of those things? An omega who believed everyone should be free to be themselves? An omega he had seen send a dozen alpha servants running for the hills with a handful of cutting words about proper ribbon tying.

It was strange, the contradictions between the women,

the fact that they were close despite their dramatic differences.

lwj had found himself watching them the last few days, watching for any sign there might be more between them, something that might explain their odd dynamic. Even in Gusu, where rumors and gossip were usually

stamped out under his family’s oppressive rules, he had heard the allegations of an extramarital affair between jfm and wwx, the hum of yet another illegitimate child from omega jgs had knocked up, but never a whisper of anything between yzy and cym, or anyone else.

In all his watching lwj had seen yzy soften around her friend, her angry tongue becoming a less biting, more snapping thing. Her temperament taming the way one would expect when an omega mate soothed their alpha, but nothing else to suggest they were more close friends.

No loving or longing glances. No secret touches or questionable smells.

Maybe lwj was looking for something that simply didn’t exist. His own family did not encourage interactions between alphas and omegas, outside of direct family members, his own uncle was still skeptical of

lwj’s friendship with jyl. Perhaps yzy and cym’s relationship was normal, or at least an accepted result of two unhappy marriages. Perhaps two dozen years from now he and jyl would be the same, jyl in a miserable marriage, lwj alone, or sneaking away for secret meeting with

someone, perhaps still wwx, perhaps still here at Lotus Pier.

A smile tugged across lwj’s face imagining it, wwx pushing 70 while he was just a few birthdays away from 50, twice as old as he was now, he would be almost the same age as wwx was now. Would he still be attracted to

wwx, or would he be the same as wwx, falling for some young alpha that one of jyl’s children, or even his own nephew, had brought home for the summer.

He crinkled his nose. He couldn’t imagine it, a world where he didn’t want wwx, a world where hooking up with someone half his

age wouldn’t weird him out, not that he was going to tell wwx that. The man might come to his senses, and lwj was very much okay with hooking up with someone twice his age, thank you.

He shook the thoughts away, refocused on jzxuan, still hovering about, unsure how to inject

himself into their conversation. lwj’s eyes softened. The alpha was awkward, even more so than lwj. If lwj were wrong and jzxuan was attracted to omegas, or perhaps to both alphas and omegas, he could see jyl enjoying his company, enjoying teasing jzxuan the way she did lwj.

“Ah~” came a depressed sigh, “he is quite pretty, isn’t he?” lwj turned to see wwx slouched over the edge of a nearby table, face pulled into a deep frown. “To think that A-Zhan would grow bored of his Xian-gege so quickly!” wwx complained, slipping further across the table.

“Ah~ I suppose I should have expected my sweet A-Zhan to find someone new, someone younger, haaaa~”

wwx looked back towards jzxuan, muttering, “Ridiculous,” a soft smile threatening to spill across his face. “You agree, though?” lwj asked, clarifying, “That jzxuan is also…”

“Oh yeah, I’d say so. Can’t say if he’s also into omegas, but he’s definitely…” wwx said, sliding up from his position laying on the table, “just like us.” wwx wiggled his eyebrows at lwj when he looked back at him.

lwj huffed softly, turning to sit beside wwx. The table was

pressed against the wall and slide between two larger flower arrangements, offering just enough privacy for wwx to clasp their hands together under the table.

“Should we tell A-Li? Stop her from mating with someone who may never be interested in her?” lwj asked the older alpha.

They watched jzxuan try once again to join the conversation, only for the two older women to completely ignore him. jyl, who seemed to be doing only slightly better at getting a word in between them, shot him an sympathetic look.

“Eh~ I mean maybe we should tell her, but I don’t

think it’s a deal breaker. If anything marrying someone she knows isn’t into her would probably go better than marry someone she hopes likes her back.” wwx let out a hollow laugh. “That’s what I hear happened with cym and jgs. She thought he actually liked her, found out after

their mating that he only liked her daddy’s company. She didn’t have any alpha siblings, so the company went to whatever alpha she married. Made jgs a pretty penny, and he barely managed to kept up the charade that he actually liked his wife long enough for her to conceive.”

“That… is unfortunate.”

“Yeah,” wwx agreed, “definitely a factor in why I never married, but I could see it working, if both people were on the same page.” wwx leaned closer to whisper in lwj’s ear, “I know a few ‘couples’ who married knowing they were only into the same

secondary gender. They cover for each other, don’t care that their mate is off fucking their ‘best friend’ or ‘business partner,’ not as long as no one gets caught.” He pulled back, murmuring, “it doesn’t end well for anyone if you get caught…”

They say in silence for several

minutes, watching the party guests dance and chat. Every time someone tried to approach jyl her mother would turn an icy glare on them and they’d slink away, their tail tucked between their legs.

“This entire thing is ridiculous,” wwx finally said, taking a long sip of the drink

he’d acquired from a waiter. “yzy isn’t even letting most of the guests talk to her daughter. The whole point of this thing, of putting A-Li on display like an animal at auction, is so that that she can get as many offers of courting contracts as she can, so she has more

options. More chances at happiness.”

Under the table wwx kicked his legs restlessly, swinging them side to side, bumping into lwj’s feet and the table legs. “Half the alphas here will still make offers, even if they realized they hated her, which is obviously

impossible,” wwx said, looking at lwj for agreement.

lwj nodded. “Impossible,” he agreed.

“Right, impossible. The point is no matter what half of these alphas will make offers, but yzy will veto basically all of those, and if she doesn’t let the other half even talk to her,

let alone A-Li, for even a moment… Argh!” wwx shot to his feet, sadly releasing lwj’s hand as he moved around the table. “I gotta go do something. Maybe I can fake a decor emergency that needs yzy’s attention, get her away from A-Li so she can meet a few more alphas and- ooh!”

lwj followed wwx’s gaze to a group of men just entering the room, startling when wwx went rushing towards them, flinging himself into one of the men’s arms. lwj couldn’t make out what wwx was saying to the men, but he was gesticulating erratically, the man who’s arms he had

thrown himself into smiling softly at him. One of the other men was watching wwx, eyes soft, while the other looked around the room, a bored expression on his face.

The man with soft eyes said something to wwx and he jerked around to look at lwj, bolting back to the table lwj

was still seated at.

“A-Zhan,” the older alpha whined, pulling lwj up from his seat, towing him towards the group of men, “come on!”

lwj blinked at the group of men, who, he noted now that he was closer, were an omega and two alphas.

“A-Zhan, this is my jiujiu, Xiao Xingchen,

his mate, Song Zichen, and their friend Xue Yang. Hmm…” wwx leaned to look around and behind the men. “Did my adorable little cousin not come with you?”

“Nah,” the alpha wwx had introduced as xy said, “Qingqing said the party would be lame, gotta agree. Can I leave?”

“No,” the other alpha, szc, said coldly. “You were invited to attend and meet Miss Jiang. Even if you have no interest in her you must be polite.”

“La~me~” xy singsonged. “Oi!” he added suddenly, “why’d everyone else get introduced with their courtesy name, and I just got xy!?

I have a fancy-schmancy name too, ya know!”

wwx blinked at the loud alpha, tilting his head to the side. “You do?” he asked, in a tone so serious lwj wasn’t sure if he was messing with the man or not.

“Oi!!” the other alpha growled, taking a step towards wwx before the omega

man set a hand onto his arm.

“A-Yang,” he said softly, a light, fluttering scent spreading around them, “A-Ying is just teasing you.” He shot his nephew a kind, if exasperated, look, before turning to lwj. “It is a pleasure to meet you, lwj. My nephew was attempting to introduce

you before, until my mate pointed out he had left you behind.”

“Jiujiu~” wwx whined, “I didn’t leave him behind, he just didn’t follow me like I expected him too!”

“Yes, yes,” xxc placated him, earning him another whine from the wwx.

“It is a pleasure to meet you as well,”

lwj interjected. “I was not aware Xian-gege had any relatives.” He suppressed a flinch, realizing too late that perhaps he should not have called wwx ‘Xian-gege’ in front of these men.

Nearby, xy snickered, mumbling a, “Xian-gege,” under his breath, which was quickly followed

by a solid thump and a yelp from xy.

xxc’s smile deepened slightly, his eyes becoming almost knowing as he glanced between wwx and lwj. “Mm,” he hummed, “A-Ying’s mother and I were wards of the same woman, although she had already left her care by the time I came into it.”

xxc looked softly over at his nephew, a sad smile on his face. “Most people don’t realize how orphans are treated here. It is rare for children to be adopted until they present, and omegas are very rarely adopted at all. They… do not live good lives in group homes.” A tight,

pained smile pulled across xxc’s face and his mate reached over to take his hand. “Our foster mother made a point to foster as many omega children as she could,” he continued, his watery eyes returning to lwj. “A-Ying’s mother , and later her mate as well, always returned for

holidays and birthdays, even if it was for a child they had never met before. So, even if A-Ying doesn’t mention it, he has a thousand aunties and uncles who love him very much.”

The omega reached over to pinch wwx’s cheek, wwx scrunching his nose and whining, “Juijiu~” again.

xxc laughed softly and retracted his hand.

“Jiujiu and Song-ge have also continued the tradition,” wwx told him, still rubbing at his cheek. “They adopted A-Qing a few years ago, and they took xy into their care after Waipo passed.”

“Mm, our mother had a number of children in

her care, even when her strength and health began to fail,” xxc explained, turning to look at his mate, pulling their hands up to place a kiss on the back of the alpha’s hand. “That’s how I met Song Lan. I returned home to help care for mother and organize new homes for the

children. sl was part of hospice care.” He smiled brightly at his mate, eyes still glistening with unshed tears. His mate reached over to gently wipe the tears away, a soft smile on his face.

“And then we fell in love!” xxc added, laughing wetly and leaning in to kiss his mate.

“Ugh, gross,” xy complained, followed by gagging noises.

wwx leaned in close to lwj, stage whispering, “Waipo also took in problem children. That’s how she ended up with that one.”

xy snarled at wwx. “You-!”

szc released a long suffering puff of air. “A-Yang, A-Ying, please.”

wwx snickered from where he had tucked himself in behind lwj. “Ah, but Yangyang, your penchant for trouble is just what I need right now~”

xy’s eyes lit up at that, and lwj had the sense this was not the first time wwx had encouraged the younger alpha into helping with his

schemes.

“A-Ying, A-Yang,” szc said, frowning at the two younger men. “Behave.”

“Ah~ don’t worry, don’t worry,” wwx told him, moving towards xy, “it’s all for the good of the lovely Miss Jiang.” He shot the group an innocent smile before turning to leave, towing xy behind him.

“Now, what I need you to do is-“

Beside him szc released another long sigh while his mate laughed.

“A-Ying’s mother was also one of those ‘problem children,’” xxc told lwj, “although she eventually presented as an omega.” He smiled fondly after his nephew and former ward.

“He is so much like her. Wild and free, beautiful and kind.” He turned a knowing look onto lwj, adding, “Different and more fragile than people realize. I do hope you will keep that in mind.” xxc smiled warmly at lwj, only his scent giving any indication of the true threat behind

his words, stabbing and dragging across the air around them.

lwj nodded, a shiver running up with spine. lwj would have pegged szc as the scary one, but xxc seemed perfectly capable of terrifying young alphas all on his own.

“Good,” xxc said, the violent energy around them

dying down. “It has been a pleasure to meet you, I’m sure we will meet again.” xxc turned to his mate, saying, “We should go greet our host while we can, I’m sure she’ll be called away by some emergency or another shortly.”

szc sighed but nodded, murmuring a quiet goodbye to lwj

before slipping his mate’s arm into his and guiding him towards Madam Yu and her daughter.

lwj blinked after them, watching as szc gently pulled his mate around people. When they reached the hosts jyl greeted them warmly, openly scenting xxc and pulling szc in for a quick hug.

lwj wondered what it was like, the have family and friends you would openly show affection for, openly scent and hug and love.

He was just turning away to go find something to eat when a horribly familiar scent reached his nose. As always it was toxically strong, as though its

owner cared nothing for the social nicety of not assaulting every person within 10 feet of you were your emotions.

lwj let out a loud sigh, wondering if the man had already seen him. Perhaps he should take a page from jzxun’s book and pretend he had forgotten the other alpha.

“Lan Wangji,” came a sneering, high pitched voice. “Didn’t know you would be here. Figured if you wanted to fuck the girl you would have already done so.”

lwj turned icy eyes onto sms, refusing to dignify the men with an answer, or even greet him. wwx was right, if the man chose

to show no kindness or respect to others he deserved none in return.

He glanced over sms. They had last seen each other only a few weeks earlier at their graduation, and the man looked largely the same, except-

“Do you like it?” sms asked. “It’s a one of a kind, so if you plan

on copying me you’ll have to take a picture and beg some pathetic omega sock darner to make you one.” He smirked at lwj, turning the way at that, showing off the hideous, if expensive looking, outfit to lwj. Apparently not having lwj to copy had done horrors to his style.

“Here, let me find the best angle for you to take your photo. You’d better get your phone out, I won’t wait around forever.” lwj blinked at the obnoxious alpha. How in the world had his personality become worse in the last few weeks? lwj was almost impressed.

He watched sms continue turning as though he were showing off this year’s best outfit (and not possibly the worst) and suppressed a grimace. Had the man no shame?

“Well?” the man finally asked, planting his hands on his hips and tapping his snakeskin clad foot. “Are you going to

take the picture or not? I don’t have all day.”

lwj tilted his head to the side, looking at the alpha who had clearly lost his marbles, and adopted the look that he used on his brother and uncle when they found out he had broken a rule and were confronting him over it. The look

that always made them second guess if he were actually guilty or not. The look that was just as effective as wwx’s own innocent eyes. Perhaps lwj would try it on the older alpha one day.

“I’m sorry,” he said will all the seriousness and innocence he could muster, “have we met?”

lwj watched with suppressed glee as sms’s face turned tomato red, a horrifying contrast to his off-white clothes.

“You!” the other alpha snarled, jabbing a finger into lwj’s chest and attracting the attention of more than a few guests. “You stuck up piece of shit! You’re really

going to pretend you don’t know me!?”

lwj took a step back, moving his eyes deliberately slow over sms. “I’m sorry,” he repeated, “but I’m sure I would remember if I knew someone with such abysmal taste in clothing.”

Around them guests snickered, whispering their agreement that

sms’s clothes were truly hideous. The man in question turned an even darker shade of red as he spluttered, growling at the people around them, yelling that his outfit had cost more than they made in a year. lwj had no doubt sms had had to pay some poor tailor a small fortune to

convince them to make him that atrocity. If anyone found out who made that thing it wouldn’t be good for business.

lwj turned to leave only to be stopped by sms’s snarling voice. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

“I’m sorry,” lwj said, turning back just in time to see

a dark, angry presence stalking towards sms’s back. “I would never associate with someone so crass, nor anyone so rude as to cause a scene at a party they are an honored guest at.”

“You-“ sms started, only to be cut off by an icy voice.

“Su Minshan,” Madam Yu said,

cold daggers of scent filling the air around them.

lwj heard sms whimper as jyl appeared at his side. “A-Zhan,” she asked quietly, taking hold of his hand, “are you okay?”

“Mn,” he hummed, “I am fine.”

cym and her son appeared behind Madam Yu, the omega woman’s eyes hard and

calculating while her son looked liable to bolt away at any moment.

“Perhaps,” cym said, stepping up beside her friend, “the young alpha would like to join my nephew, jzxun, in the outer gardens.” She smiled sharply at sms, adding, “He has similarly shown he is not old enough to

be trusted among such fine company. Perhaps in a few years.”

More snickers echoed around them while sms sputtered again. “Wha- he’s the one who is pretending not to know me!” sms screeched, pointing a finger back at lwj, hissing licks of scent rising around them to sizzle

against Madam Yu’s ice.

lwj had just enough time to yank jyl out of range before Madam Yu released a torrent of harsh scent around them, bringing anyone not fast enough to move out of range to their knees. Except cym, lwj noted, as he dragged jyl along the perimeter of

Madam Yu’s toxic territory, whispering, “Stay here,” to her as he set her down.

He released his own burst of honey and sandalwood armor, before taking quick steps into the other alpha’s territory to hoist a shocked and frozen, kneeling jzxuan into his arms and return to jyl.

He gently set the slightly younger alpha back down on the ground, jzxun immediately leaned back in towards lwj, taking in deep, shuddering breaths of lwj’s dispersing scent. Beside them, jyl had knelt down, shielding them from part of the room and releasing a soothing

lotus scent around them, much stronger than usual, likely trying to hide the fact that jzxun was all but scenting lwj in a room full of people.

xxc similarly appeared beside them, kneeling and whispering soothing words to the recovering alpha, having been led over by his mate

who was now approaching Madam Yu as she spoke to a cowering sms.

“You dare,” she hissed at sms. “You are a guest and you dare start fights, whine like a child that someone does not remember you? You dare raise your scent against your host?”

“Ziyuan,” szc interrupted her,

motioning towards sms, “May I?”

Madam Yu snorted. “Get him out of my sight. He is not welcome here.”

lwj watched as szc took firm, fearless steps into Madam Yu’a territory to grab the younger alpha by the scruff of his shirt, towing the quivering man up, through the crowd and,

presumably, out of Lotus Pier.

Slowly, the air around them began clearing of Madam Yu’s scent, the few guests who had been accidentally caught in the eye of her scent regaining their senses and rising to their feet, most with the help of others.

lwj glanced down when jzxuan

suddenly jerked away from him, having similarly found his senses. They blinked at each other, a sharp red spreading across the younger man’s cheeks.

“I-“ jzxuan started, only to cut himself off and get haltingly to his feet, jyl and xxc rising up around him in case he fell over.

“I’m fine,” he said, taking several uneasy steps away from their group. “I-“ he glanced back down at lwj, still seated on the floor. The younger alpha grimaced, red still decorating his cheeks, before turning and marching, still wobbly, towards a door that led to the gardens.

~

“Uuuuuuungh~” wwx moaned, leaning dramatically against lwj where they were once again seated behind a relatively private table. Around them the party was beginning to die down, more and more of the guests filtering out for moonlight strolls through the garden, private boat

rides the Jiangs had arranged, or to simply head home or to prearranged accommodations in Lotus Pier.

lwj munched absently at his food, for once confident that the vegetarian options were actually vegetarian. He glanced over at the older alpha, reaching around to pull a stray

leaf from his hair. He twirled it by the stem before handing it back to wwx.

“Will you tell me what happened?” he asked, not for the first time.

“No,” wwx said firmly, pulling back to huff at lwj. “It’s too embarrassing and way less exciting than the showdown between yzy and

mister asshole alpha!” He sighed and slipped down over the table, resting a cheek against it. “I can’t believe I missed it, so unfair. Even Song-ge got involved and he almost never gets involved with that stuff. Kid must have been making quite the scene.”

“Mn,” lwj hummed,

taking another bite.

“There I was,” wwx sighed, “doing something horribly embarrassing for the sake of my dear niece, putting my very life and limb in danger for the sake of distracting her mother so she could have a chance to meet the love of her life! And it was completely

unnecessary!!” wwx jerked up to place both his hands on lwj’s cheeks, unfortunately full with food, and turn lwj to look into his eyes. “Oh, how was I to know that my sweet little A-Zhan would start the fight of the night! How was I to know that he would create such a glorious

distraction for yzy!! Ah~ and I missed it all!”

lwj stared at wwx as he chewed his food, the other man’s hands on his face an odd feeling on his jaw. “What happened?” he asked again, once he had swallowed.

“Ugh!” wwx moaned, leaning back far enough on his chair that lwj was

forced to steady it with his arm to keep wwx from tipping over. “No. Not telling. Never telling. Let it go.”

“Hmm…” lwj hunmed, scanning the room for xy. He had seemed the type to have difficulty keeping secrets.

Nearby, jyl was chatting and laughing with a pretty young alpha

wwx had introduced her to, Luo Qingyang, the daughter of someone who worked for him. She hadn’t been on Madam Yu’s list of approved alphas but Madam Yu wasn’t there to stop them from chatting.

After the incident with sms, Madam Yu had been forced to leave her daughter to go find

the young alpha’s parents, cym trailing behind her, releasing a calming scent and whispering to her about not killing any guests. lwj had heard that they had found sms’s parents and explained that their son had been forcibly removed from Lotus Pier for bad behavior.

Apparently, sms’s sire had not taken it well and she and Madam Yu had almost come to blows and then she and her mate had to be forcibly removed from Lotus Pier as well.

lwj wasn’t sure what had happened
to the pair of friends after that, perhaps they had been further distracted

by whatever mystery problem wwx and xy had created, or perhaps they had gone somewhere to relax after the stress of the night. Either way they weren’t present and jyl was all the happier for it, the alphas who hadn’t been scared shitless by Madam Yu’s display tentatively

approaching jyl to introduce themselves.

Some, like lqy, had stuck around to chat, while others hovered nearby, perhaps hoping for a chance to talk to the omega in private. xxc and his mate, once he returned from disposing of sms, had taken up the task of being jyl’s chaperones,

sending terrifying vibes towards any alpha who dared try something untoward on the young omega.

Most of the alphas and their families had cleared out though, and once wwx and xy reappeared, both looking a little worse for wear, the pair had excused themselves to take xy home,

leaving wwx and lwj in charge of chaperoning jyl. Now, only a handful of alphas remained: lqy chatting with jyl; jzxuan, who had snuck back into the room and was once again hovering nearby; and several other alphas who seemed to have… other interests.

lwj’s eyes narrowed as

yet another alpha looked seductively over a wwx. nhs had said that wwx’s status as someone who liked alphas was a well kept secret, but lwj was beginning to think this was a rare case where his brother-in-law was wrong. Everyone and their sire seemed to know of wwx’s preference.

wwx, at least, seemed to have forgotten his initial plan to make lwj jealous, whatever he and xy had gotten up to having drained him of motivation for much of anything besides moaning dramatically.

lwj pushed the remains of his food towards wwx, telling him firmly, “Eat.”

wwx huffed but obediently picked up the chopsticks and began shoveling food into his mouth.

“So…” he said after several minutes of eating, “what did A-Li think of jzxuan’s reaction to you?”

lwj tensed beside him, glancing over at the younger omega. lqy had noticed his hovering

and dragged him over to sit with them, though he didn’t appear to actually be joining the conversation.

“She… didn’t say much, but she obviously noticed. I suspect she may have already known he was attracted to alphas.” He watched jzxuan awkwardly looking between the two

laughing women, eyes wide and scared.

“Looks like he might like both,” wwx mumbled between bites.

“Mn,” lwj agreed. “I imagine that may make it more likely that he would… stray from his marriage.”

wwx hummed an agreement around his food before choking on it. lwj leaned over

to pat his back while he coughed.

“Shit,” wwx finally managed between coughs, “yzy and cym are back.”

lwj followed wwx’s gaze to the pair of women walking straight towards them, Madam Yu looking murderous while cym watched her son and the pair of women curiously.

“You,” Madam Yu hissed, looking between the two of the them, “I thought I told you to make sure no… undesirable people took up my daughter’s time?”

“Ah, well…” wwx mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

“It was my idea,” lwj interrupted, wwx jerking to look at him with wide,

horrified eyes. “I had heard Xian-gege speaking about his company, about being unsure of who to make his heir. He threw around a few names, including lqy’s father, but also considered leaving the company to one of his younger employees.” He glanced over at wwx, hoping the older

man would support his story.

“That’s right!” wwx added, thankfully catching on as quickly as lwj had hoped. “lqy doesn’t work for me but I’ve been trying to convince her to come over to us. If she’s even half as skilled as her father is she’ll make a wonderful heir.

If that happens it would make her as good a match as the other alphas on your list, yes? I know it’s a bit premature, but after A-Zhan mentioned it it didn’t seem like a opportunity you would like to miss!”

Madam Yu glared between them before looking over at her daughter and

the two alphas around her. None of them seemed to have noticed her arrival and they were still chatting and laughing, jzxuan even seemed to have found his tongue.

The alpha turned her icy glare back on wwx and lwj for a moment before sweeping away to join her daughter and,

presumably, to interrogate lqy. cym nodded to them before following after her friend.

“Will she be ok?” lwj asked once they were out of earshot.

“Who? lqy? Yeah, she’ll be fine. Luckily I have actually been trying to convince her to come work for me, and it’s not like I’d

mention potentially making her my heir to her.” He shot lwj a suspicious look. “I thought Lans didn’t lie?” he teased. “That seemed like a pretty big lie to me.”

lwj blushed, sharp blood spreading across his cheeks, his scent slipping out in molten honey.

“Mn,” he agreed, “A-Zhan has been bad, Xian-gege should punish him.”

wwx hissed, turning fully towards lwj in his seat. “A-Zhan has indeed been bad, teasing his poor Xian-gege so,” he said after a moment. “Perhaps Xian-gege should punish him by not offering to let A-Zhan spend

the night snuggling with him.”

lwj felt his face drop, his innocent pout turning flat and dead.

wwx watched him with a serious, disappointed look before breaking into a soft smile, leaning over the wiggle lwj’s nose. “You’re lucky you’re so cute, and that I’m such a weak man.”

wwx let his gaze wander slowly over lwj, his scent seeping out mellow and relaxed, before glancing over at jyl’s group.

“They seems to be having a good enough time,” wwx noted. “No one’s screaming or crying. Madam Yu hasn’t chased lqy away yet.”

lwj followed his eyes over to

the group where lqy was chatting happily with cym while the others watched, both jzxuan and jyl seemingly with stars in their eyes. “Mn,” he agreed dryly, “our chaperone skills are no longer required.”

wwx laughed, leaning in to bump shoulders with lwj. “I think we did a

good job,” he said, smiling at lwj. “You never know, maybe lqy will turn out to be the love of A-Li’s life. I suppose I’ll have to make her my heir if that happens. Ah- no, no. Get that look off your face,” wwx scolded lwj. “There’s nothing to feel bad about.”

“But-“ lwj started, trying to apologize for the position his lie had forced the older man into, only for wwx to immediately cut him off.

“No, no. It’s fine. From everything I’ve heard lqy would make a great heir. If anything, her being forced into it so she could marry A-Li

would be great for me. I do actually need to start seriously considering an heir. Gotta get ready for retirement,” he said, before breaking off into a yawn, closing his eyes and stretching his arms above his head, and shooting lwj a sleepy, seductive look.

“So, you wanna get out of here?” wwx asked, once again slipping a hand into lwj’s, hidden behind the table. “yzy is back to scare the remaining alphas into behaving, and I doubt she’ll notice if we disappear. No sex though,” he added seriously, face pulling into a scolding moue.

A/N: There’s an extra that goes in here!

It’s an extra instead of part of the main story because it can actually be completely removed from the story with little effect on it, and I know some people won’t be into it.

You can click through the link below and, like I said,

if it’s not something you’re interested in: forget it exists. The only thing you’ll need to do is assume that somewhere between now and when wangxian finally have sex lwj learned a bit more about how sex between alphas goes down, through porn, a conversation with wwx, whatever.

If you choose not to read the extra, I’m hoping to be back to updating the main thread (and the promised cuddles) within 24 hours. Originally I was hoping to get the extra done tonight but that won’t happen as it’s almost my bedtime (because I’m old and go to bed at 8 😭😭😭)

The extra!

https://twitter.com/_stiricide_/status/1597070309014011904

I return! And actually on time! Just a short update tonight though, cause bedtime cometh 🙃

~

wwx dragged lwj through Lotus Pier, giggling as they went, hiding them away behind pillars and around corners whenever a guest, or worse, a servant appeared in their path.

“Shhh!” wwx hissed at lwj between laughs, pressing a finger to lwj’s lips. “You have to be quiet A-Zhan, otherwise we’ll get caught.”

lwj huffed, pulling wwx’s hand away. “Xian-gege is the one who cannot keep quiet,” he said, giving wwx a disappointed look.

wwx blinked

innocently up at him before bursting into another round of giggles and pulling lwj further towards his house. “Can’t help it,” he said, looking around for any witnesses before pulling lwj’s hand to his mouth and planting a quick kiss on it. “M’happy.”

“Why is that?” lwj asked,

motioning for wwx to continue towards their destination.

“Who wouldn’t be happy with such a beautiful alpha by their side?” wwx teased, pulling them to a stop before sneaking a glance around the corner.

lwj waited patiently beside him, waited for the older alpha to signal that

the coast was clear. After a moment they continued, zigzagging through the halls in an erratic and unpredictable pattern.

“I dunno why I’m so happy,” wwx finally admitted. “I just…” He glanced back at lwj, looking thoughtfully at him. “Can’t we just go with because you’re so

beautiful?”

lwj huffed. “Shameless.”

“Yup,” wwx agreed, popping the word out. “That’s me! Shameless and completely ignorant of my feelings.”

lwj watched the back of wwx’s head as they approached the older man’s house, wondering if he truly was that ignorant of his feelings

or if he simply was not admitting them to lwj, perhaps not even admitting them to himself.

wwx hummed happily as he pushed into his home, pulling lwj in behind him, finally releasing lwj’s hand to lean over and remove his shoes.

lwj tilted his head, admiring wwx’s glorious ass.

wwx yelped, startling upright when lwj reached out to run a finger up the seam.

“Lan Wangji!” wwx scolded, turning a disappointed look on him. “You already almost lost your snuggle privileges earlier, do you really want to truly lose them?” he asked, crossing his arms.

“I am not worried,” lwj replied unrepentantly. “I am cute and Xian-gege is a weak man.”

wwx gaped at him for a moment before kicking his shoes aside and moving further into the house, leaving lwj to remove his own shoes and slip on the pair of slippers he had begun leaving in

the house. He looked up to see wwx leaning against the wall that led to the bedroom and bathroom, a worrisome smile pulled across his face.

“Mm, I am weak,” wwx agreed, twirling a piece of his hair around his fingers, “so weak I won’t be able to send my cute little A-Zhan away

on my last night in Lotus Pier.” lwj took several halting steps towards the older man as wwx dragged his hands down his chest, popping the buttons of his tight black shirt free, baring more and more of his chest.

“But,” wwx said, smile widening as his fingers played with his

bottom button, “I’m not going to invite A-Zhan to join me in the shower like I hate planned.”

wwx turned and bolted towards the bathroom, howling with laughter, lwj following quickly behind him, tripping over his slippers and, nearly receiving a door to the face for how close he

was to catching the older alpha.

Behind the locked door wwx cackled. “Ah, poor me~” he bemoaned between laughs. “Having to shower all by my lonesome, with no one to keep me warm or wash my hair or suck my cock.” He laughed harder when lwj growled at him through the door.

lwj knew it was unlikely blowjobs had actually been part of wwx’s plan, the plan to invite lwj to shower with him might even have been a fabrication just to punish him. lwj knew these things, but it didn’t make a difference to his temperament or arousal.

He slammed a frustrated

fist against the door as the shower turned on, startling another giggle from wwx. lwj glared at the door, willing it to open, to unlock and let him join the other man, run his hands over wwx’s beautiful, soapy body, lick water droplets from his neck, his stomach, his-

lwj turned

towards the bedroom, eyes dark, thick, heavy ropes of boiling honey seeping out around him. He reached for the buttons of his own shirt.

Two could play at this game.

~

lwj heard wwx hiss the moment he opened the bathroom door, inevitably hit by a wave of lwj’s lingering scent.

Decided to do a poll!

How do we all feel about lwj getting his cute little butt sp*nked? 👀👀👀

He’d be totally into it and there would be funishment vibes, not sure if it would be in this coming scene or later in the story (or both).

Ah~ and the yeses have spoken!

For the people who said no: I’ll mark any spanking with

(spanking scene starts)

scene

(spanking scene ends + summary + important things that were said, if there was anything)

so you can skip it if you like.

There won’t be a whole lot either, just a few scenes here and there.

Onwards!

“A-Zhan~” wwx called from the hallway, voice light and chiding, “did you really leave your clothes in a pile on the floor?”

lwj squirmed on the bed, forcing down years of disciple trying to force him to go clean up.

“What a naughty, naughty boy,” wwx continued, his voice

drawing closer to the bedroom. “Here I thought my A-Zhan was a good boy, but apparently it was all a lie! False advertising!”

lwj trained his eyes to the door, waiting for wwx to round the corner and see him and-

wwx startled to a stop in the doorway, lwj’s clothes tucked up

against his nose, his eyes heavy and dark. “Oh my,” he said, moving to drop lwj’s clothes into his hamper, “it appears as though I have a naughty, naked boy in my bed.”

lwj blushed, hot heat across his ears and cheeks, spreading down his chest where it was hidden against the

bed. wwx approached him slowly, eyes roving over his back and shoulders, his butt and legs hidden under the thin sheet and lwj forced down another urge to squirm.

“Hmm…” wwx hummed, sitting down softly beside him, dragging a finger in gentle circles over his back, “pretty.”

lwj shuddered under wwx’s hands turning his head into his pillow, the light pressure half-tickling, half-torture. Above him, wwx continued drawing on his back, releasing a light, clean scent that licked around them just as tortuously. Every few circles wwx’s fingers would drag

against the edge of the bed sheet, against the edge of lwj’s ass, but never further down.

It wasn’t until lwj was a shuddering, jerking mess, panting into his pillow that wwx slipped his hand under the sheet, dragging his nails over one of lwj’s cheeks.

(spanking scene starts)

wwx hummed thoughtfully before flipping back the sheet, leaving lwj’s ass and thighs on display, possibly even his cock, hard and red and pressed uncomfortably between his thighs, if the older man looked at the right angle. It twitched at the possibility of being seen and lwj’s

ears burned at his own shamelessness.

wwx continued running his fingers around his back, his thighs, his ass, humming the soft song lwj had heard the older man hum a dozen times. More and more he shifted from gentle circles with his finger tips to harsh lines with his nails,

dragging sharp gasps from lwj and aborted thrusts into the bed.

wwx snickered softly, running his finger along the tops of lwj’s thighs, where the tight, firm muscles met his ass. “Look at you, A-Zhan, so sensitive, so desperate.” He moved his finger up the seam of lwj’s ass,

just as lwj had done to wwx through his pants 30 minutes earlier.

lwj let out a shuddering gasp when wwx pulled one of his cheeks to the side, cold air hitting his hole. He whimpered when wwx leaned over him, taking a better look, inspecting him, his cock giving a kick between

his legs.

wwx stared at him for several moments, watching lwj’s hole flutter, before letting his cheeks slap back together. “Desperate for what though?” wwx asked, setting a hand down on lwj’s ass. “Desperate to be fucked? To be filled? To come?” The other man leaned over him,

breathing into lwj’s ear, “Desperate to be disciplined?”

lwj whimpered at the older alpha’s words, his hips pushing back into wwx’s hand. He wanted it, he wanted it so much. He moaned when wwx pulled his hand away, his hips wiggling in anticipation of what was to come, of wwx’s

hand landing hard and firm across his skin, of his Xian-gege making sure he knew what a bad boy he had been, of-

wwx’s hand landed back on his bottom, patting it gently several times before the man rose up and headed to his dresser, rummaging through it as lwj bit into his

pillow and practically screamed in frustration.

(spanking scene over; wwx teases lwj and lwj is left disappointed that he did not get spanked and is now very horny)

“Xian-gege,” he whined, turning a blurry glare on the other man.

“Hmm?” wwx hummed, turning that horrible,

innocent smile on lwj. “Is something wrong A-Zhan?”

“I- I, please. Xian-gege,” lwj begged, burying his face back into the pillow.

He had barley turned his head when wwx was back, sitting beside him, his hands running through lwj’s hair. “Hey,” he said softly, guiding lwj’s face

back towards him, “what’s up? Can you tell me?”

lwj blinked blearily up at him, mumbling out, “Want to come.”

“Yeah?” wwx asked, brushing hair out of lwj’s face. “Want me to help?” He smiled down at lwj’s aggressive nodding. “Yeah? How do you want me to help?” he asked,

grinning down at lwj now that he knew lwj was ok.

lwj blinked up at the older alpha, heat spreading across his cheeks before he turned back into his pillow, mumbling an indecipherable answer.

wwx laughed softly, pulling gently on lwj’s hair to pull him back out of his pillow.

“A-Zhan,” he scolded mildly, “I can’t hear you if you tell the pillow.”

lwj whimpered, before whispering out, “Want Xian-gege to be mean,” before burying his face back into the pillow.

wwx’s hand continued gliding through lwj’s hair, avoiding his scent glands while tugging

knots out and dragging more shuddering gasps from lwj, his hips just barely thrusting into the bed. “Look at you, so desperate to come that you’ll even fuck yourself against the bed,” wwx said coldly, lwj moaning and thrusting more firmly into the bed. “Maybe I should

take a video?” wwx continued, “Let you see how desperate you are, how insatiable, how beautiful.”

lwj gasped brokenly into the pillow, his fingers digging into the sheets as his hips moved more and more erratically. He pushed his hips up to get a hand under him, to move his dick

into a more comfortable position only for wwx to catch his hand before he could get it under himself.

“What’cha doin’ sweetheart,” the man asked cheerfully.

“Move- need to move,” lwj tried to whine.

wwx glanced down between lwj’s legs. “Ah,” he murmured, “that can’t be

comfortable at all.”

lwj’s thrusts halted when wwx threw a leg over his thighs, moving to straddle him. The older man pulled lwj’s hips back just enough to slip his own hand under lwj and adjust his position. He snickered when lwj bucked roughly into his hand before retracting

it and pushing lwj’s hips back down, moving further up his thighs so his hips rested behind lwj’s.

wwx leaned over, his chest a warm, heavy weight against lwj’s cool back, whispering into lwj’s ear, “Keep going sweetheart, keep using the couch to get off. Show your Xian-gege how

desperate you are.”

lwj moaned into the pillow before resuming his thrusts, dragging his cock against the smooth sheets, leaving wet streaks of precum across it, his hips brushing against wwx’s every time he drew back. His breath hitched when wwx pushed into him, his own arousal

hard and obvious against lwj’s ass.

“So pretty,” wwx mumbled, pressing a series of kisses against his back and shoulders, still carefully avoiding his neck glands. “Always so pretty, like this though? Fuck, like this you’re gorgeous. Gorgeous and all mine.”

lwj whimpered,

a series of, “yes yes, yours only Xian-gege’s” falling from his mouth as he splattered across the sheets. He panted into the bedding as wwx continued to thrust against him, swearing and babbling wetly into lwj’s shoulder until he too was coming into his pajama bottoms.

wwx rested his head against lwj’s shoulder, turning in to breath in the hot, sated scent from lwj’s neck. He laughed softly before placing one last wet kiss to lwj’s shoulder and rolling over. “Has it finally happened?” wwx asked breathlessly. “A-Zhan has finally been satisfied?”

lwj huffed, shooting him a side eye before shifting to rise from the bed.

“Where are you going?” wwx asked, crinkling his nose as he eased the waistband of his pants up to check the damage. “Ugh, I think I need to take another shower.”

“Mm,” lwj hummed, walking towards the

dresser and pulling out the set of sleep clothes wwx had designated as his, “Xian-gege is welcome to join me.”

“Ah, off to shower then?”

“Yes, I still…” lwj hesitated, looking over his should at the other man only to find wwx’s eyes trained on his ass.

wwx’s eyes shifted up

to meet lwj’s, an unrepentant smile on his lips. “You still…?”

“Smell like jzxuan,” lwj finished, narrowing his eyes as wwx’s gaze fell back to his bottom.

“Really? I didn’t really notice,” the man said thoughtfully, before motioned lwj back to the bed, smiling happily when

he got a full view of lwj’s cock, lying soft between his legs. wwx’s eyes stayed trained on his hips until lwj was standing alongside the bed, when they darted up and wwx waved lwj closer, rising up to slot his nose firmly into lwj’s neck gland.

wwx took a deep breath,

shuddering slightly, before falling back onto the bed, shrugging. “Hmm… I guess it’s there a bit.”

lwj lips pulled tight as he turned away, an sharp, annoyed sweetness falling out behind him.

“Hey!” wwx called after him, bouncing off the bed. “What’s wrong?” wwx caught lwj’s

arm and pulled him to a stop, swinging around to look into his eyes.

lwj glanced away. “Stupid,” he mumbled.

“Who’s stupid?” wwx teased. “Me, right? I’m stupid quite often you know.”

lwj huffed. “Me.”

“Eh~ why do you think that?” wwx asked, rubbing circles into lwj’s arm.

“Xian-gege isn’t jealous,” lwj muttered, turning a glare on wwx when he snorted.

wwx slapped his free hand over his mouth. “Sorry, not funny.”

lwj tried to pull his arm free and move around the older alpha to the bathroom, but the man wouldn’t let him go.

“Oh, come on A-Zhan,

you can’t really expect me to be jealous of that little boy and his little crush.”

“Why not?” lwj asked, glaring down at the floor.

“Because,” wwx said, running his hand up lwj’s arm and into his hair, guiding lwj’s head towards him to whispered into his ear, “that little boy

doesn’t have what you like, what you need, in a partner.”

He pulled back with a wide grin, tilting his chin up arrogantly at lwj. “What my little A-Zhan needs to a confident alpha who knows how to handle him when he’s being a brat.” He tugged slightly on lwj’s hair, dragging a

hiss from him. “If my A-Zhan wanted someone soft and pliable like jzxuan he would just go find an omega, at least then you’d get a mate out of it,” wwx laughed, letting lwj go and bopping him lightly on the nose.

“Actually,” wwx added, humming thoughtfully, as he walked back to

the bed, tossing the clean bedding aside to strip the bottom sheet, “I’d probably be more jealous of omegas fawning over you than other alphas. Hmm...” He tapped his nose a few times, before shrugging and saying, “Don’t know why, just don’t like the idea of omegas getting handsy

with you, maybe because your uncle might try to marry you off to one?”

He shrugged again, glanced back at lwj, eyes soft, smile softer. “Lucky for me my A-Zhan gives off an ‘omegas stay away’ vibe.” He snickered quietly to himself as he continued pulling the bed apart.

“Mn…” lwj hummed, glancing down at the soiled bedding, a smirk crossing his face before he quickly schooled his expression, but not fast enough that wwx didn’t see it.

wwx narrowed his eyes at lwj, asking, “What are you smirking about?”

“Xian-gege lied,” lwj said as he turned

back towards the door, still intent on taking that shower.

“Lied?” wwx asked.

“Mn,” lwj hummed, looking at the older alpha from the doorway, “Xian-gege said there would only be snuggling tonight.” He glanced meaningfully down at the sheets while wwx gaped at him.

“You!” he squeaked, pointing an accusing finger at lwj. “You tricked me!! You were never upset! You- you!”

“Mn,” lwj agreed, smirk tugging at his lips again. He dragged a hand down his front to tug on his dick. “I am also not as ‘sated’ as Xian-gege thought,” he said,

turning slightly to flash his growing erection at the gaping man. “Perhaps Xian-gege would like to join me in the shower to help?” he asked, hand slowly moving over himself, smirking fully when a pillow the older man had thrown hit him square in the face.

“No!” wwx said firmly,

turning his attention back to the bedding, a light flush spreading across his face.

“Too bad,” lwj said softly before continuing towards the bathroom, leaving behind the sounds of wwx muttering to himself about insatiable, horny young alphas who were trying to kill him.

~

lwj stood silently in the doorway watching wwx reading in bed. Despite having very little free time the man always seemed to be reading something new, some English horror novel this time.

He flipped quickly through the book, eyes scanning the pages at an impressive speed and

a small smile tugged at lwj’s mouth just as wwx glanced up at him, his eyes immediately crinkling into their own smile. wwx threw the book onto the nightstand and flipped the covers back, patting the spot next to him.

“There’s my good, fully dressed A-Zhan,” he teased as lwj

slipped in beside him.

lwj shot the older man a look before settling back into the pillows, opening his arms for wwx to snuggle in beside him. The other alpha leaned over to turn off the light before wiggling into lwj’s arms, tucking his head into the crook of lwj’s neck,

taking a deep breath of his fresh, clean scent, content and sleepy sandalwood and honey just beginning to seep out.

wwx hummed contently while lwj’s heart pounded and he felt his eyes grow mortifyingly wet, tears threatening to spill.

“Hey,” wwx whispered into the darkness,

“you okay?”

“Mn,” lwj lied, breath hitching when wwx pressed his nose further into his scent gland.

“Don’t make me use my scent to make you tell me the truth,” wwx joked lightly.

They lay there in silence for a long while, the only sign that either was still awake their

gentle roaming hands.

“Don’t want you to leave,” lwj finally whispered back, barely audible even in the silence of the night.

wwx tensed and lwj thought for a moment that he shouldn’t have say anything, should have made something up, should have-

“I’ll be back,” wwx whispered.

“I know.”

wwx hand fiddled with the edge of lwj’s shirt, slipping under to grip his waist and pull them closer together.

“You could come with me,” wwx finally whispered, even quieter than lwj’s own admission, and lwj’s breathing stuttered.

Against his chest, lwj could feel

wwx’s own heart beating harsh and loud against him, a mirror to his own trembling heart.

Slowly, wwx released a soft, sad scent, with none of its usual spiciness, a scent that smelled of regrets and hopes, broken and tearing at the seams.

lwj tightened his grip on wwx, turning

to press his nose into wwx’s hair, pressing a kiss to the crown of his head.

Neither of them spoke more, just breathing in the same air, neither voicing the reality that it wasn’t that easy. lwj couldn’t simply up and leave Lotus Pier, not without his uncle getting involved, not

without consequences.

The air between them existed because it was here, because it was summer and it was free and fun, but only because it was finite.

“Goodnight, A-Zhan,” wwx finally whispered as lwj faded into sleep, his voice more broken than lwj had every heard it before.

~

Selfish. That’s what wwx thought he was as he pushed his way into the airport bathroom.

“You could come with me,” he muttered to himself, several people giving him strange looks as he talked to himself. “What the fuck was I thinking, putting that kind of pressure him.”

He hadn’t even had the strength to go against the grain and leave it all behind when was that age and he’d had his grandmother, a notorious I don’t give a fuck, boat rocking, force of nature behind him. To ask that of lwj when he had more obligations than wwx even had now…

“Fuck,” wwx yelled, banging his fist against the wall. “Selfish,” he whispered to himself, the image of lwj laying in the bed morning, soft and sleepy and sad, floating through his head.

Fuck, he had wanted to stay there, press the younger alpha into the bed and leave him

moaning and spent and drunk on wwx’s scent. Instead he had forced himself up, so he wouldn’t be late, so he wouldn’t just stay, so lwj would be at least a bit sober by the time they said goodbye.

When he had returned, dressed and fed, bags tucked by the door, lwj awake and

blinking up at him clearer than before and wwx had almost broken again. Had almost pulled the bedsheets back and ripped the younger alphas pants down and shown him exactly what he needed in a partner, exactly why he could never be jealous of jzxuan.

He pressed his head against

the wall, breathing deeply to try and control his scent, leaking out in toxic heat, a burning spice that had sent everyone in the bathroom running.

He needed to pee, and possibly get the fuck out of here before someone called security on him-

The door pushed open and a guard

looked over at him.

“Sorry,” wwx said, raising his hands as non-threateningly as he could. “Sorry, I know. I’m- I’m fine, coming down now.”

“Mhm…” the guard hummed, looking him over and taking a subtle sniff of the room. “Don’t make me come back here,” he said, before turning

to leave.

“Fuck,” wwx said as he moved to piss.

The air system had cleared out the majority of his scent and a few people had joined him in the bathroom, though they still eyed him cautiously. He was just finishing washing his hands when a messaged binged onto his phone.

He slapped his hands dry on his pants and slipped the phone out of his pocket, flipping open the message and-

wwx bolted for the nearest stall, slamming the door closed behind him.

~

lwj awoke for the third time alone. He had vague memories of the first time, of wwx pressing

a soft kiss to his forehead before shifting them apart and disappearing from bed. He remembered grabbing the older man’s hand and trying to pull him back to bed, his voice and scent whiny and desperate.

The second time he had awoken to the sound of wwx’s suitcases dragging along

the floor, and he had stared at the door, tears threatening his eyes, waiting for wwx to come say goodbye. The man had smiled softly when he had seen lwj was awake, moving to sit beside him on the bed and running his hand through lwj’s hair.

They hadn’t spoken, not until wwx

needed to leave, once again leaning in to kiss lwj’s forehead, nose then lips. When he had pulled back lwj had tried to follow, tried to pull him back down, but the older alpha had caught his wrists and whispered, “I have to go sweetheart.”

He had gently set lwj’s wrist down and

turned towards the side table. “I left something for you,” he said. “Don’t worry about opening it now, sleep a bit more.”

“But-“

“It’ll be here when you wake, and I imagine you must be tired, since you missed your bedtime teasing this old man.” He had smiled brightly at

lwj, a bright, sleepy scent seeping into lwj as wwx pressed his wrist to lwj’s neck.

“Not fair…” lwj remembered mumbling as the scent pulled him back down into sleep.

“I know,” wwx had whispered back, “but it’s easier this way,” before pressing one last kiss to lwj’s forehead,

and rising to leave.

lwj had felt him there, hovering at the door, watching him fall away from the world for as long as he could before finally turning to leave, the soft sound of the door clicking closed the last thing he remembered of the man.

He scrunched his hands into the

bedding. Unfair. It was unfair of the man to slip him sleepy scents to avoid a painful goodbye.

He kicked his feet childishly before looking over at the side table and whatever it was that wwx had left for him. He wiggled up and reached over to grab the item, leaning back

against the headboard.

It was a small, black box and an envelope with surprisingly legible writing on the top reading:

To My Dearest A-Zhan

lwj blushed at the endearment, written in blood red ink, permanent and solid, unable to float away in the wind the way spoken words did.

He gently dragged his fingers over the fine lettering, a soft smile on his face. The other man had horrible penmanship and must have spent a long time getting it just right.

He stared at it a moment more before turning the envelope over and tugging it open, two small pieces of

paper sliding out. He blinked down at them, turning them over in his hands and peaking back inside the envelope, but no, apparently that was it.

The first note was simply wwx’s contact information, a phone number, email address (which he already had) and W*Chat ID, scratched

into the paper in wwx’s usual barely legible style.

The second paper had a short note from the older man scrawled on it, reading:

Oh yeah! I told yzy and the staff that you’re free to use this place! It’ll be much more comfortable than the guest room!!
wwx

lwj scrunched his nose at the papers. That was… nice of him, at least he’d be able to cook here, maybe he’d even cook something for wwx once he returned, perhaps jyl could teach him to make some of her uncles favorites.

lwj turned the papers over in his hands sadly before

setting them aside and picking up the box.

It was heavier than it looked and nondescript, although the outside was smooth and high quality. He slowly slid the box open to reveal another note that read, “I already charged it!” followed by what lwj assumed was a winking face.

He pulled the note up to reveal the item underneath, a strange pink thing that… was something. Not anything he’d ever seen before. He lifted the smooth, weighty object up, finding a set of English instructions tucked underneath. He scanned through the instructions, face growing

redder as he went.

It was a sex toy, and a fancy one at that. Apparently it could be controlled via an app and made to vibrate inside of-

lwj glanced at the toy in his lap, the toy that was supposed to go inside him so wwx could control it from Yiling, likely with thoughts of

edging and torturing him. That was…

He blushed and pushed himself up from the bed, heading towards the bathroom where he knew the other alpha kept his lube.

~

wwx leaned back against the stall door, staring wide eyed at the photo on his phone. It was obscene. It was messy.

It was beautiful. He would be thinking about it, going back to look at it, for months.

He pressed his hand against his rock hard cock. Fuck, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten this hard so fast. He was even feeling slightly dizzy from the sudden lack of blood

anywhere but his cock as he memorized the photo. The work of art.

It was lwj on his back on their bed, back arched up so you couldn’t see his face, his arms pulling his knees up and apart, giving wwx a mouthwatering view of his ass and the pink plug wwx had gifted him.

It oh so was messy, lwj’s hole dripping with lube, glistening under the bedroom lights, while his dick sat hard and red against his stomach.

wwx whimpered, pressing harder into his own hard cock, straining against the fabric of his underwear and pants. He could feel his groin

glands leaking into the fabric of his boxers. Fuck, he hoped the scent barriers would absorb it all or embed never be allowed on the plane.

He took a few steadying breaths before fumbling into his carry on for his headphones, connecting them to his phone before hitting the call

button.

“Xian-gege,” lwj greeted him after barely a ring and oh, did he already sound wrecked.

“Ah,” wwx huffed quietly, mindful of the other occupants of the bathroom, “what a naughty little boy you are, making your Xian-gege like this in public. Couldn’t even wait a few hours

to get my gift inside you.”

lwj moaned on the other side of the call. “Gege~” he whined.

“What do you want sweetheart?” wwx asked, already flipping his phone to the vibrator’s app. “Use your words baby.”

“On,” lwj panted, “want Xian-gege to turn it on.”

wwx’s thumb hovered

over the start button, the one that would start off a series of preprogrammed vibrations. “I have to go sweetheart,” he told the younger man, earning him a a series of frustrated groans and whines. “Shh, shh, I know. I have to go though, so I want you to do something for me,

can you do that A-Zhan?”

When the younger alpha mumbled out an affirmative wwx continued, telling him, “When I hang up I want you start recording yourself, so I can watch you later.”

lwj whimpered on the other side, a series of “yes, yes gege”’s falling from his mouth.

“Good boy,” wwx told him, earning him a truly pornographic moan. “I’m gonna hang up now and give you thirty seconds to start the recording. I expect you to already be recording when I turn it on, do you understand?”

“Yes Xian-gege,” the younger man told him, the sounds of him

already fiddling with his phone flowing through the call.

“Good boy,” wwx told him again, smirking when lwj let out the same lewd moan as before. “I’m going to hangup now beautiful, gotta get my cock under control before I board. I-“ he cut himself off. He what? This was where

people said “I love you” or “I miss you already,” right?

“I’ll call you when I land,” he said instead. “Have fun.”

He clicked off the call, squeezing his eyes shut, slowly counting to 30 in his head.

28
29
30

He tapped the start button and flipped back to his messages,

lwj’s gorgeous ass coming back into the screen. He stared at it for longer than he intended, only stopping when the slam of a nearby stall door jerked him back to the present.

He shook himself before typing a short message to the other man.

Me: you’ll need to either message me to turn it off or just pull it out
Me: it has a pretty long battery btw
Me: so enjoy yourself as long as you want

He hesitated for a moment before adding,

Me: I wish I was there with you
Me: I miss you already

He blinked down at the messages, eyes surprisingly wet. Stupid. He was stupid and selfish and lwj deserved so much more than him.

At least being sad and self-hating had chilled his dick out a bit and after a few minutes of skimming work emails he was able to exit the bathroom.

A/N: and wwx is gone! He’ll be back though, but not for a while, but they’ll get to have some nice phone/messaging sex (and just normal conversations).

In the meantime we’ll get to enjoy a bunch of alphas trying to woo jyl while lwj watches and hates life.

This is kinda the close of the first arc, I guess? It’s maybe… 1/4th of the way done???

Who in the world decided to add so many subplots? Bad past cider, bad bad!

Although, I hope people are enjoying the little things going on in the background!

I am curious about something though, so I’m gonna do another poll!

In terms of, er… the amount of smut… sometimes I feel like it’s a lot, but I also really like smut and it naturally just flows into situations, so~

Do you think:

Currently 58% of people say there should be more smut, I love the amount of horny in this fandom lol

Keep voting, if you haven’t already, but in the meantime let’s see what’s up with lwj 👀

~

lwj fumbled with his phone, urgently trying to open the camera while counting to 30

in his head. How fast was wwx counting? The man could talk a mile a minute, maybe he was counting just as fast.

lwj managed to get the app open, switching over to the video function and tapping the button to start it recording.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he glanced around the

room looking for a spot to set the phone up. He had propped the phone up on pillows to take the photo but it hadn’t been the most secure set up.

Maybe on the side table against the lamp and he could move the pillow to-

Vrrrrrr~

lwj dropped the phone, gasp out a moan and

slapping a hand against his mouth as the vibrator started up, strong and constant and pressing just right into him and lwj didn’t think he would last at all and-

The vibration cut off.

He frowned down. Was it broken? Seriously? lwj reached for his phone to text wwx and ask him

about it when the toy buzzed again, a short burst, that startled lwj more than aroused him, before it cut off again.

lwj’s frown deepened as he picked up his phone, several texts from wwx coming through. He read them, smiling sadly when he read the last one.

wwx missed him.

The message disappeared from his screen and he was left staring at his reflection, eyes watery and cheeks splotched red. He cringed. He hadn’t thought the photo looked too bad, embarrassing, but even he could admit he looked nice in it. But this? Did wwx really want to see him

looking like this? Maybe this was why people had sex with the lights off.

lwj was just considering switching to his messages, even though he knew it would kill the recording, when the toy began vibrating again, softer then before, but steady, and another series of messages from

wwx came through his phone.

Gege: btw! I personally programmed the vibrations
Gege: they’re meant to be… hmm… challenging 😏
Gege: they’ll go on and off and do different things!
Gege: so enjoy going through your morning routine with it in 😘
Gege: I expect a money shot! Enjoy!

lwj squirmed. Programmed the vibrations? So it wasn’t broken, it just wasn’t a constant buzz, which meant he couldn’t easily come.

He collapsed back on the bed, the frustratingly mild vibrations bouncing through him, leaving him strung out but nowhere near coming. He could jerk

off, tug one out and move on with the day, but he didn’t think that was what wwx had had in mind. No, the other alpha hadn’t said it, but he probably meant for lwj to come from just the toy or at least leave it in until he broke and touched himself.

He stared down at his hard

dick, blushing at the sheer amount it was leaking. Whatever underwear he put on like this would definitely be ruined-

His eyes shot over to wwx’s dresser. Strictly speaking, Dr. Wen hadn’t said he couldn’t indirectly sexually scent wwx. wwx hadn’t been inclined to call her back

and check though, so he had outlawed lwj wearing his scented underwear again, even sneaking into his room to reclaim the pair he had leant lwj. But wwx wasn’t here and lwj was pushing himself up, taking tentative steps towards the dresser as he grew accustomed to the strange

weight and vibrations inside him.

He set his phone on top of the dresser, angling it to catch his face as he pulled the top drawer open and looked over the selection, wwx’s built up scent rising to meet him. He pulled out some of the older looking pairs, fingering the

gland covers to test them for wear, occasionally lifting one sniff at it, smirking slightly at the camera, knowing wwx would be shocked and disappointed with him.

He could practically hear the older man’s voice scolding him, “Lan Wangji! Only a few hours gone and you’re already

breaking my rules! Such a naughty, naughty boy!”

He pulled out a pair of deep red boxers that had been buried in the back of the drawer, immediately feeling the telltale swell of the gland covers that indicated it was time to throw it away. He didn’t even need to bring them to

his nose, wwx’s spicy scent reaching his nose the moment he pulled them free.

Inside him the vibrator kept going, soft and mild, almost fading into the background. Occasionally, a burst of harsh vibrations bolted through it, but overall it was a mix of pleasant and frustrating.

He grabbed the phone again, setting it against one of the pillows to catch him changing into the underwear, his cock giving a valiant kick as he leaned over, flashing the plug at the camera, before turning around and slipping his feet through the holes. He turned his gaze up at

the camera, too far away for him to clearly make himself out, and slowly pulled them up, whimpering as a full body shudder racketed through him when the gland covers aligned with his glands.

The first time he had done, this weeks ago, he had forced down his cock and his purr.

Now he pressed one hand into his cock and ground the other into one of his glands, forcing more and more of wwx’s scent into him, a purr rumbling through him.

He collapsed down onto the bed, turning his nose into wwx’s pillow, heavy with oil from his neck gland, and rearranging

his phone back onto himself.

“Xian-gege,” he moaned, deep and heavy eyed. He shifted his hips against the bed, his cock rubbing against the same fabric that wwx’s own cock once had. He took a deep breath of the scent around him, an obscene mix of wwx’s fathom scent and lwj’s own

fresh arousal, and felt his purr rise back up, drowning out even the soft buzz of the toy inside him.

He lay there, purring into wwx’s pillow, watching himself through the camera’s eye, the vibrator shifting into a wave pattern, soft and rising, erratic and unpredictable like

the ocean. He barely felt it when the soft subtle vibrations coursed through him, but the rough and high waves ground against that happy little spot inside him, making him keen and arch, tremble and curl.

He pressed his tongue to the pillow, licking up remnants of wwx’s scent,

the world growing blurrier and blurrier by the moment and he abruptly pulled himself away, his phone slipping down and capturing the white ceiling.

lwj leaned over it, glaring, his long hair creates curtains around him as he pulled it back up.

“Want to remember,” he mumbled,

before pushing himself back up from the bed, blinking rapidly and shaking his head.

He took halting steps towards the bathroom, holding the phone out in front of him and bumping into the doorframe, the hallway walls, another doorframe. He paused in front of the mirror, blinking

(mentions of non-sexual peeing, because lz really needs to go lol)

at his reflection. Oh. He looked- he looked- he had to pee.

He pushed the boxers now, whining at the loss of contact and hurrying to move to the toilet, squinting at the phone as he wondered what to do with it.

Put it down? Hold it? Aim it at his face? His dick? Was wwx into that? He’d probably laugh at least, right?

lwj startled when he started to pee, looking down and away from the camera to the slow dribbles of pee trying to come out of his hard cock and then he was laughing. He

pressed the hand holding the camera to his mouth, trying to hold back his giggles as he watched himself try to pee.

Oh, he was sooooo drunk. It was nice. Warm and safe, surrounded by Xian-gege’s scent-

He sniffled, abruptly sad and miserable and-

“Miss Xian-gege,” he mumbled

against his phone, watching his cock soften and let go in his hand.

He shut his eyes, willing the tears not to fall. “Not fair,” he said as his stream cut off. He shook the last drops off before pulling the boxers back up, absently pressing a cover into his gland as he stepped

back to the sink, once again finding his reflection in the mirror.

Before he had looked happily wrecked, strung out and horny, now he just looked sad and broken and-

The vibrator abruptly spiked, a series of violent shots inside him that left him curled over the sink panting.

lwj kept panting, waiting for the pulses to die down but they kept going, dragging sharp gasps and moans from him. He slowly slid down into a squat, phone falling between his feet as he gripped the edge of the counter. He glanced down at where it lay facedown, recording the

darkness of the bathroom floor, and reached to flip it over, groaning and dropping it face up, as the change in angle put even more pressure on that wonderful, breathtaking spot inside him.

He clenched his eyes closed, his hand moving to once again grind wwx’s scent into

himself, hot and spicy and filling him up more and more, perfect and satisfying and endless until the moment he broke apart, knees crashing to the ground as he exploded, loud and hot, wet and messy into wwx’s boxers.

~

wwx was trying very hard not to tap is foot at the people

in front of him, holding up his exit from the plane. It wasn’t their fault the aisle was pathetically tiny and he couldn’t squeeze by. It wasn’t their fault he had a beautiful video of a beautiful man that he 100% couldn’t open near anyone else waiting for him on his phone.

Or, at least, he should have had a video like that, but when wwx finally got a chance to check his messages, safely tucked away into his car, there wasn’t one. There wasn’t anything. The last message between lwj and himself was his message about enjoying himself. That was… odd.

wwx opened his email to make sure lwj hadn’t sent the video there instead, but no, it wasn’t there either. Concerned, he flipped through his phone and called lwj.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” he mumbled to himself, fingers tapping on the steering wheel as we waited for lwj to pick

up. “He probably just got distract with food or laundry or A-Li complaining about the horrible alphas from last-“

“Xian-gege?” lwj’s mellow voice floated through the phone.

“A-Zhan,” wwx said, releasing a sigh of relief, “hey.”

“Hi~” lwj said, sighed, almost giggled into the

phone.

Wait. What.

“You landed?” lwj slurred into the phone and wwx narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah,” he said, “I’m in my car now. I was looking foreword to looking at your video, but I didn’t get it. You didn’t accidentally send it to someone else, did you?”

“Nah~ haven’t sent it

yet. Only stopped recording when Xian-gege called,” he said softly, before adding in a fearful voice, “That would be bad. A-Li and Sangsang would laugh and never let me forget I accidentally sent them a sex tape. Anyone else, we’d have to leave. Go on the run. Bye bye China.”

lwj exploded into a fit of giggles and wwx stared incredulously down at his phone, switching over to speakerphone and flipping to the vibrator’s app. He switched it over to manual mode and jacked the intensity up to max, and lwj’s laughter broke into a series of shuddering moans.

“Lan Wangji!” wwx gasped, turning the vibrator off. “Have you had that thing inside you this whole time?”

“Y-yes,” lwj stuttered between gasps.

“Lan Wangji!” wwx scolded him again. “It’s been hours! There’s no way you edged yourself that whole time.” He impatiently tapped his

foot against the floor of his car, waiting for the younger alpha’s breathing to even out enough for him to string words together.

“No,” lwj admitted, once he found his breath, “came a few times.”

“How many times?” wwx asked.

“Don’t remember,” lwj said, before adding, “A lot.

“A-Zhan,” wwx sighed, “take it out.”

“No,” lwj responded almost instantly. “Haven’t completed my morning routine yet.”

“What,” wwx dead toned.

“Xian-gege told me to enjoy my morning routine with it in, I have not completed it so I cannot take it out,” lwj said stubbornly.

wwx smacked his forehead. “A-Zhan,” he said seriously, trying to talk some sense into the stubborn boy, “I didn’t mean for you to keep it in that long. I just meant for you have some fun while you tried to eat breakfast. Did you eat breakfast?”

wwx listened to the suspicious

silence from lwj. “A-Zhan,” he said darkly, “take the vibrator out and go eat.”

“No,” lwj muttered.

wwx sighed. “A-Zhan, you need to eat, and judging by your mood you’re somehow scent drunk and wrung dry. You need to take it out and sober up.”

“No,” lwj whined softly, “can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t? Oh god, did all the lube dry up and you can’t get it out? Oh fuck, uhm- I guess-“

“Not that,” lwj cut him off. “Still horny.”

wwx stared through his front window, trying to find words, but there were no words to be found for the insatiable boy he

had found himself involved with.

He reached out and hit the start button on his car, the phone quickly switching over to Bluetooth. He glanced back down at his phone, still open to the vibrator’s app and clicked on a preset pattern, one that would start an ebb and flow pattern,

but one so weak that lwj would be unlikely to find much satisfaction in it.

wwx smirked when the younger man began whining, tossing the phone onto the other seat and shifting the car into reverse.

“My A-Zhan truly is the horniest little thing, isn’t he?” wwx mused, navigating

through the parking garage to the, luckily unmanned, pay stations and lowering the window to swipe his parking pass through the reader, the sounds of lwj moaning leaking softly out into the garage.

wwx quickly paid and set off towards home, telling lwj, “You need to sober up,

sweetheart.” When all he got in return was another long whine he asked, “Do I need to turn it off, baby? Or are you going to be a good boy and do as you’re told.”

“G-good boy,” lwj slurred back at him. “A-Zhan‘ll be a good boy for his Xian-gege.”

wwx pressed one of his hands

against his cock, hard and pulsing in his pants, and maneuvered his car into the fast lane, speeding past other cars heading home. Luckily Yiling was a small airport and the traffic was never too bad around it.

“Good boy,” he said. “I’ll be home in 30, then I’ll let you come.

Can you wait that long?”

“Y-yes,” lwj stuttered out, and wwx smirked at how desperate the other man sounded.

“Hmm… you still need to sober up a bit before then though. Where are you now?”

“Bed.”

“Ah, you been huffing my pillow, sweetheart? Is that why you’re so fucked out?”

Heavy silence met wwx’s questions and he narrowed his eyes. “A-Zhan?” he asked sternly. “Is that why you’re so scent drunk? Or did you do something else?”

“Something else…” lwj whispered back to him.

“What did you do?”

“S’surprise,” lwj mumbled. “Can’t tell Xian-gege.”

wwx released a long puff of air, staring into the distance for a second before refocusing on the cars around him, rushing through the dry air of Yiling. “Oh, A-Zhan,” he sighed. “Fine, fine, keep your secrets, but we are going to talk about this once you’re less loopy.”

“Mn, Xian-gege’s gonna scold me,” the younger man giggled.

“Yeah… not useful to scold you when you’re like this,” wwx mumbled to himself. “Okay!” he said as brightly as he could to the empty car. “Are you listening, you naughty boy?”

“Yes!” came lwj’s voice, serious and much

less muffled than before, along with the rustle of fabric.

“I want you to get out of bed-“ lwj whined, “and go get in the shower. Rinse off whatever the hell you’ve got on you and sober up a bit.”

lwj whined again. “Will try. Will take a while.”

wwx shook his head. He had no

doubt it would take the little drunkard a bit to navigate the short distance to the bathroom. “Just work on getting there by the time I get home, sweetheart.”

“Okay,” lwj mumbled at him, his tone pouting and almost heartbroken sounding and wwx had to smack a hand over his mouth

to keep himself from laughing.

“What’s wrong now?” he asked once he was no longer liable to burst into laughter at his moody little boy.

“This isn’t Xian-gege’s home.”

wwx immediately felt his face drop. “A-Zhan…”

“Xian-gege went home, left his A-Zhan here by himself.”

“Oh, A-Zhan…” wwx sighed, blinking at watery eyes. Fuck. When had he grown so attached to the other alpha?

You’ve always been this attached to him, a traitorous part of him whispered.

The silence between them tightened, pulling and tearing until finally wwx said, “They can

both be my home, you know, or…” he cut off blushing.

“Or what?” lwj asked sharply, because even scent drunk he didn’t miss a thing.

“Or maybe my home shouldn’t be a place, maybe my home should be with a person,” he said quietly, cheeks burning. Fuck fuck fuck.

Maybe he’d luck out and the younger man wouldn’t remember this once he sobered up.

“Mn,” lwj intoned seriously. “Will be Xian-gege’s home.” Okay, maybe he would remember. “Xian-gege will be home soon? He will come back to me?”

“Oh, sweetheart…” wwx said, trailing off. Fuck.

Every word out of his mouth was making things worse, wasn’t it. “I’ll… I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he promised. Promised lwj. Promised himself, his heart breaking for the sweet man he wouldn’t see for weeks. “I’ll try to get my work done early and come back before the party.

At least a few days. I’ll try. I’ll try my best, I promise.”

“Far away,” lwj mumbled, his voice once again muffled by what wwx assumed was his scent dense pillow.

“Yeah…” wwx agreed, “but by then you should have completed the treatment for your scent sensitivity,” he added,

glaring at the car in front of him and willing it to move into the slow lane where it belonged (read: wwx wished the car that was only slightly speeding would move aside so he could speed properly).

“Maybe by the time I get back we can, you know…”

“Can what?” lwj mumbled at him.

wwx’s cheeks burnt as he said, “Spend the night together, properly.” Fuck, it was like he was a virgin again, trying and failing to convince to cute boy from down the hall that he had experience.

“Mn,” lwj hummed, “want Xian-gege’s cock.”

wwx blushed harder but couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face when the younger man set off into another fit of giggles. That was better. The world should always be filled with his A-Zhan’s laughter, his smile, his-

“Can give Xian-gege’s cock a nice home inside me,”

lwj laughed and wwx almost drove off the road.

“Lan Wangji!” he hissed as he righted the car, waving apologetically to whoever had honked at him. “Where did you learn to talk like that!?”

“Porn. Alphas used to have watch parties at school. They liked when omegas talked like

that. Did Xian-gege not like it?” he asked curiously. “I will ask Sangsang to send me some alpha porn to research better techniques to please Xian-gege,” he added seriously, the sounds of him clumsily fiddling with his phone following his declaration.

“No, no, no!” wwx said.

“No, that- that really isn’t necessary A-Zhan!” The last thing he needed was nhs knowing anything about their soon-to-be sex life! “Really sweetheart, I don’t need you to do anything other than be yourself!!”

“Hmm…” lwj’s hummed, sounding extremely unconvinced.

“Aiya, what a

little menace you are! You’re going to kill this old man at this rate!” he complained, turning off the highway. “Alright little menace,” he said, “you need to get up and head to the shower.”

“Fine…” lwj sighed, letting out a long puff of air that had wwx smiling fondly.

wwx listened to the soft sounds of the younger alpha trying to work his way towards the bathroom as he navigated the side roads to his home- no, to his house. The truth was it had never truly been a home, not any more than his dorm room had been, nor even Lotus Pier had been.

No, the last home wwx had known had been with his parents. Warm and safe and constantly moving, their jobs dragging them from place to place until they had died.

A home with lwj. It was a wonderful, stupid thought. Stupid and impossible and he wanted it. Wanted it more than he

had wanted anything, had let himself want anything, in a long, long time.

~

lwj walked into the doorframe, a small, “Oof,” escaping his lips.

“What was that?” wwx asked through the phone… the phone that was still on the bed and not in lwj’s hand where it should have been.

“Wall,” lwj said as he wobbled back to pick up the phone. It was nice, being all floaty and warm, even if Xian-gege wasn’t here. He frowned down at the phone, reaching out for it. It would help if it wasn’t moving.

“What’s moving, A-Zhan?” the phone, wwx asked. Had he said that

out loud?

“Yes, you did say it out loud,” wwx said, sounding half-amused, half-concerned. “Do I need to call A-Li to come check on you?”

“Mn, do not want A-Li to see my penis again,” lwj said seriously, frowning further down at his hips, still clad in wwx’s underwear. They were

probably not helping him sober up, and Xian-gege wanted him to sober up, and he leaned over the get rid of them.

“Get rid of what, A-Zhan?” wwx asked, snickering quietly.

“Nothing,” lwj lied, managing to push the boxers off, kicking them clumsily towards the hamper.

He turned back towards the door, remembering to grab the phone this time, and tried to successfully make it through the doorway this time and… success!

wwx laughed warmly through the phone. “Good job sweetheart!” Hmm… he sure was saying a lot out loud that he didn’t mean to.

lwj glanced down the hall, left, then right, then left again. “Which way is the bathroom?” he asked the older man.

“Which way-? A-Zhan!” wwx moaned, “Seriously, how did you get so scent drunk!?”

“S’secret, shhh~” lwj whispered, turning to head right and quickly coming to the

living room. He swished back around, the world swaying around him while he blinked rapidly trying to right it. He giggled softly, this was kind of fun.

wwx’s laughed echoed through the phone. “I’m glad your having fun baby, but how about we find less dangerous way for you to

have fun next time, hmm?” The sound of wwx’s signal light flickered through the call and a moment later wwx said, “I’m hom- here. Gonna turn off the car and switch the phone off Bluetooth.”

lwj staggered back down the hall, passing the bedroom and finally arriving at the

bathroom, bumping lightly into the doorframe, releasing another soft, “Oof.”

wwx sighed, his voice clearer than before. “Like I said, dangerous.”

lwj placed a hand onto the counter, staring blearily at his reflection while he waited for wwx to make it into his home- house.

“Not home,” lwj muttered to himself, wrinkling his nose. What was he supposed to be doing now?

“Taking a shower to sober up,” wwx huffed, followed by the dangle of keys and the sounds of a door opening and closing. “Ah! Freedom!” wwx cried, before lwj’s phone began ringing.

“Someone’s calling,” lwj growled, frowning when the other man laughed.

“A-Zhan, that’s me calling,” he laughed.

“Already on the phone with Xian-gege, why would he be calling?” lwj wondered aloud.

“Because I’m trying to video call you silly boy!” wwx told him happily.

lwj pulled the phone away from his ear, wait. Had he been holding the phone that was on speaker phone to his ear? He blinked down at the screen and saw that yes, it was wwx requesting a switch to video.

Somehow, lwj managed to hit the accept button and the other alpha’s blurry,

smiling face appeared on his screen.

“Hey sweetie,” the older man said softly. “Oh, look at you. You’re a wreck, a cute wreck but a wreck. You’ve had quiet the morning, haven’t you?” lwj nodded, willing his eyes to focus more clearly. “Yeah,” wwx said, and lwj could see the

world around the other man moving as he travelled through the house.

“So, can you get in the shower for me?” wwx asked, seeming to have arrived in the kitchen, grabbing a glass from a cupboard and filling it with water, before continuing on to somewhere else in the house.

lwj watched quietly as the older man settled into a chair, breathing out a deep sigh as he wiggled back into it. “Oh yeah~” wwx moaned, stretching his arms above his head and blinking slowly at lwj before frowning slightly. “Why are you not getting in the shower?” he asked.

“Forgot. Have phone,” lwj said.

“Your phone isn’t waterproof?” wwx asked, taking a long sip of his water.

“It is,” lwj replied, squinting down at his phone. He was pretty sure it was waterproof.

“Just take it with you then,” wwx said nonchalantly before flashing a mischievous

smile over the call. “We’ll finally get to shower together.” He laughed when lwj growled at the reminder of the shared shower he had missed out on the night before.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, we’ll get to actually shower together when I’m back…” wwx glared darkly at lwj,

adding, “as long as you behave and take your treatment seriously. If I get back and you’re still getting this fucked out from just indirect scenting we won’t be able to do anything.”

lwj growled again as he stepped into the shower, listening to wwx moan dramatically.

“Oh~ it will be an absolute travesty if I return after weeks away and the beautiful alpha I wish so, so deeply to be buried deep, deep inside is too sensitive for me to even touch!”

“Xian-gege can touch all he wants,” lwj corrected him, trying to place the phone onto a shelf.

“Shush, you,” the older man told him before continuing on in his dramatics, laughing softly when his complaints drew smiles and huffing laughs from lwj.

“Ah~ such a nice view,” wwx said once lwj had successful secured the phone between the shower wall and an expensive looking

sugar scrub that, lwj had noted the night before, was unused and smelled suspiciously similar to jyl’s, and therefore her father’s, scent.

He blushed as he watched wwx’s eyes trail over his body, everything from his head to his abs to his rubbed raw groin glands visible, wait-

“A-Zhan,” the other alpha said coldly, “what did you do to your poor glands? Why are they so red?”

“Because I spent all more grinding your scent into them,” lwj did not say, instead twisting toward the taps and turning on the water.

“Another secret, I suppose,” wwx mused,

twisting to set his drink and phone down.

lwj moved back towards his phone, already starting to sober up now that he was away from wwx’s scented pillow and underwear, the water washing away residual oil.

“What is Xian-gege doing?” he asked the ceiling of wwx’s house,

startling when wwx’s smiling face reappeared.

The older man bit his lip, settling back into the chair, his free hand sliding down his chest and disappearing towards his hips. “Getting comfortable,” he said slowly, a sly, mellow smile spreading across his face. “I’ve been waiting

to fuck my fist since you sent me that picture of your hole plugged up with my gift earlier.” lwj whimpered quietly at the reminder of the shameless photo, watching wwx’s arm move lewdly as he stroked his hidden cock.

“Turn around and show me again sweetheart?” wwx asked,

quirking an eyebrow at lwj when he hesitated. “It’s not like I haven’t seen it before,” he added mildly. “Plus,” he said, tilting his head to the side, his eyes and smile cruelly amused as he watched lwj squirm, his increasing sobriety bringing embarrassment along with it,

“if you don’t show me your cute little hole, I might never turn the toy up. Can you even feel it now, baby? You aren’t even hard,” he noted, eyes falling just in time to watch lwj’s spent cock give a weak twitch. wwx laughed, eyes crinkling with delight. “Still horny even though

your dick is absolutely exhausted?” he teased.

lwj squeezed his eyes shut as he nodded. Embarrassing. It was embarrassing how high his sex drive was, unreasonable, disgusting. It was-

“LAN WANGJI!” wwx voice jolted lwj out of his thoughts, his eyes popping open to find wwx

watching him with concerned eyes. “What are you thinking?” the older alpha asked softly. “Can you tell me? Please?”

“Too horny…” lwj mumbled, looking down at his soft cock, still trying its hardest to stand at attention.

“Never,” wwx told him in a serious tone, lwj glancing

back up at him.

“But-“

“No buts,” wwx interrupted him. “I know I make comments on how horny you are, but I never meant to make you feel bad about it. I love everything about you, including how you always seem ready to go.”

“…” lwj stared at the other man with wide eyes. Love.

A/N: I profusely apologize for how much of a rollercoaster of emotions this section of the story has been omg

I promise it’ll get better soon!! They’re just kinda a wreck right now from being separated and the reality of how attached they’ve become and lwj being scent drunk 😭

lwj blinked at wwx’s image on his phone. “Oh,” he said quietly. “Xian-gege loves it?”

“Yeah,” wwx sighed, smiling softly back at him, “yeah I do. Do you want me to stop talking about it like it’s, ah… not a problem, exactly, but-“

lwj shook his head vigorously, interrupting

the other alpha to say, “No, as long as Xian-gege doesn’t mean it…”

“I never mean anything mean I say to you sweetheart,” wwx assured him. “It’s just fun, seeing you cute and embarrassed, but if you ever stop having fun when I say mean things to you you need to tell me, okay?”

“Ok,” lwj murmured softly, slowly shaking off more and more of his scent drunkenness, “I promise.”

“Fuck, wish I was there to show you just how much I appreciate how much of a horn dog you are,” wwx huffed. “Maybe I’d rip that toy out and milk your prostate with my fingers until

you were begging for me to stop. See how long it would take.”

“Prostate?” lwj asked, squeezing a handful of body wash into his hand and beginning to scrub vigorously at his glands, feeling happier and more balanced the soberer he became.

“Ah, I forget you don’t know that much,”

wwx said, leaning back into the chair to resume his lazy stroking. “It’s that fun little spot in your ass that feels so, so good when the vibrator hits it.”

“Oh,” lwj said, fragments of the last few hours buzzing through his head as he scrubbed. He hesitated a moment before

grabbing more body wash, turning his back to his phone and leaning over to wash his legs, a smirk tugging at his mouth as wwx hissed.

“Such a cute little hole,” wwx said huskily, “can’t wait to be buried inside it. Gonna fuck you so good you aren’t gonna walk for a week.”

lwj whimpered, glancing over is shoulder at the other alpha’s image, whimpering louder when he saw the way wwx’s expression had darkened.

“Be a good little boy and spread your cheeks to give gege a better look?” wwx asked, licking his lips as lwj moved a hand up to pull one of

his ass checks to the side. “That’s it?” the older man teased. “Not gonna show gege everything?”

lwj moaned, turning his head away from the camera to reach his other hand around and spread both his cheeks for wwx to see, gasping out when the toy abruptly spiked in intensity.

“Good boy,” wwx told him, his voice shuddering and deep. “Spread your legs so gege can see your cock and balls?” he asked, groaning when lwj followed his instructions. “Such a good, horny boy for gege.”

“Yes,” lwj gasped out, his cock trying to harden between his legs, but

barely managing to twitch as it leaked milky precum onto the shower floor.

“Can you come like this?” wwx asked, the increasingly fast slap of his hand flowing through the call and lwj reached to turn the shower off before returning his hand to hold himself open for wwx to see.

“What are you doing sweet boy?” wwx asked, his voice deep and wrecked.

“Want to hear Xian-gege better,” lwj moaned, the toy inside him pressing just right into his prostate.

“That so?” wwx asked, his strokes growing faster and wetter. “Want to here gege come while he imagines

fucking your little hole? While he inspects it?”

lwj moaned, pulling his cheeks further apart for his Xian-gege to see, earning him a groan from the older alpha.

“You like that baby? You like gege looking at your hole?”

“Yes,” lwj whimpered, blushing as his precum splattered

wetly onto the shower floor.

“Fuck,” wwx moaned. “You gonna come for me baby boy? You didn’t answer gege before, can you come like this? Come with nothing but the toy inside you and gege watching your pretty hole twitch?”

lwj nodded his head erratically.

“Can- can for Xian-gege.”

“Fuck, baby. You’re so fucking hot. So fucking hot, so fucking perfect. Fuck,” wwx mumbled. “How are you so perfect? It’s not fair. How’s an old man like me supposed to resist you when you’re just so-“ wwx cut off into a loud moan and a series of curses

that lwj recognized as the older man coming, his own cock giving a kick before he was coming too, his hole spasming around the toy as he moaned, his soft cock dribbling cum.

“Fuck,” wwx moaned. “Look at you, at your poor abused cock. Can’t even come properly anymore, can you?”

lwj whined, shaking his head as the vibrator kept vrumming inside him, quick, sharp pulses across his aching prostate.

“Did it feel good, baby? Did your pathetic little orgasm feel good?”

lwj made an unintelligible sound, his hands flexing around his cheeks, still spread apart

for wwx’s enjoyment.

“Use your words, A-Zhan,” the older man said sternly, lwj stuttering out a, “Yes,” in response. “Good boy,” wwx told him while he continuing moaning and spasming as we became more and more oversensitive.

“What about now, sweet boy?” wwx asked huskily,

his voice heavy and almost breathless and then the sounds of wwx stroking his cock again flitted through the call. “So pretty,” he told lwj, “so pretty I’ve gotta fuck my fist again watching you let your hole be destroyed by that thing. Watching you let yourself be wrung dry.”

lwj whimpered, glancing down at his cock and choking when he saw it leaking steadily between his legs, still trying to rise up, each twitch sending a shudder through him. He moaned when the toy sped up, his knees nearly buckling under him.

“Are you done yet, sweetheart?

Ready to turn the toy off? Are you gonna beg for it to end, sweetheart?” wwx taunted him.

lwj stepped his legs further apart, readjusting his stance, panting and shuddering constantly now, his cock dropping heavy splatters of cum, precum, lwj had no idea, to the shower floor.

“No,” lwj mumbled between strangled breaths.

“No?” wwx laughed. “Even this isn’t enough? I’m really going to have to milk every ounce of cum from your pretty cock, aren’t I?” the older man mused.

lwj moaned, his voice echoing through the bathroom, loud and obscene. “Yes,”

he managed to cry out, clamping his eyes shut as more shudders ran through him, like a thousand tiny, endless orgasms, like one giant, erratic orgasm. He whined again and, realized there were tears running down his face, whined louder. “Xian-gege,” he cried out, knees shaking

beneath him.

“Yeah, baby?” wwx asked, his own voice breathy and light, his strokes wet and fast. “What do you need? What do you want- fuck.”

“Don’t know,” lwj sovbed, his voice catching in his throat before breaking into a moan as a particularly strong wave of pleasure dragged

more cum from his cock and-

“Oh, oh fuck~” wwx groaned. “Look at you, coming less and less. You really are gonna be coming dry soon. Shit- shit that’s hot. Wanna see it. Wanna see you breaking apart even though there’s nothing left inside you.”

“S’already so hot,” wwx added,

“that you’re soft, so wrung out you can’t even get hard anymore.” wwx chuckled, a cruel note hovering under his laughter. “It’s a great reminder, you know? Of why you need an alpha. Need me. Not like you could satisfy an omega with that pathetic thing between your legs.”

lwj cried out, one last spurt of cum sliding out of his limp cock before there was nothing left, his dick spasming, trying uselessly to splatter more across the floor while his hole clenched erratically around the toy and he was practically screaming, long and loud as the most

powerful orgasm he’d ever had rocketed through him.

The orgasm, the feeling of shattering apart, the endless tidal wave of pleasure was delicious and lwj never wanted it to stop, always wanted this feeling, always wanted-

The toy inside him cut off and lwj’s screams turns to

moans and then whimpers as his brain registered how oversensitive his body was.

“Is that enough, sweet boy?” wwx asked quietly, the sound of his strokes mild and soft as he checked on lwj.

lwj nodded and for once wwx didn’t demand he use his words, instead whispering softly of

how gorgeous lwj was, how he would be fucking his fist to thoughts of lwj like this for months, years. How it would be the last thought he had before he died.

“Don’t die,” lwj mumbled, earning his a breathy laughed from the older alpha.

“Ah~ there’s my snarky boy!” wwx giggled,

the sounds of his fist speeding up. “A little more online now? Why don’t you be a good boy and take that toy out for gege then? It can’t be comfortable anymore.”

lwj blinked heavily down at the pile of cum and precum at his feet before saying, “Xian-gege isn’t done.”

“Aiya!” wwx laughed. “There will be more than enough time later for me to use you even while you scream from oversensitivity. There’s no point in it now! Just the sight of you if enough for me… although having a view of your cute little butt definitely helps.”

lwj huffed

quietly before releasing one of his asscheeks and sliding his hand back to pull at the toy, hissing slightly as it moved through his oversensitive insides.

“Sore?” wwx asked softly.

“A bit,” lwj said as the toy popped free, reaching to set it on a shelf before pausing,

still bent over with one hand holding his ass open for wwx’s viewing pleasure.

“What are you doing?” the older man asked and lwj glanced over his shoulder to look at wwx on the screen of his phone, leaned back and mellow looking, his hand still stroking his hidden dick.

lwj hesitated for a moment, blinking at the other man’s curious expression, before turning back and returning his hand to his ass. His cheeks burned as he pulled his cheeks back apart. The series of curses that left wwx’s mouth as lwj showed him his empty, slightly gaping hole

was worth the embarrassment though and lwj couldn’t help the smirk that tugged at his lips as the man began babbling.

“Fucking hell, A-Zhan! Warn a man before you show him such a heavenly sight! Fuck, this is how I die, isn’t it? Death by hole, not even hole in buried in. Death

by hole over a camera! Ah, it will be such a shame if I die before I get to enjoy your beautiful hole properly. Fuck, wanna get my mouth on it. Wanna get my dick in it. Wanna-“

lwj moved his hands closer to his hole, suppressing a whimper when his fingers slipped inside and

pulled it further open for wwx to see, to see what was waiting for him, what he was missing, what belonged to him.

wwx let out a strangled sound before he was cursing and coming, possibly knocking something over based on a thump lwj heard, as lwj continued playing with his hole.

It felt weird. When he had fingered himself open earlier it had felt stiff, like a muscle tensed and ready for action. Now it felt warm and soft and weak, and even though every touch sent a shiver of pleasure-pain through his body lwj couldn’t stop playing with it.

“Fuck,”

wwx mumbled, “look at you, playing with your cute little hole for you Xian-gege. So hot.”

lwj whimpered and slipped a finger further inside, eliciting another, “Fuck,” from wwx.

“You can’t be serious, you sweet, horny little boy,” wwx half laughed, half complained, and lwj let

his hands drop to his knees, bracing himself before pushing himself clumsily up. He staggered and slammed a hand against the shower wall. “Aiya! A-Zhan! Are you okay!?” wwx asked, concern shooting through his voice.

lwj glanced over at his phone, wwx’s worried face filling the

screen. “Mn,” he hummed quietly, rolling his shoulders and slowly shaking his knees out, “just stiff.”

“Ah~ that’s not too surprising,” wwx said, relaxing back into his chair and reaching around the grab his glass of water. “There’s a cup on the counter,” he continued, motioning

vaguely in the direction of the shower door. “Be a good boy and drink some water?” A smirk tugged across wwx’s face as he added, “After all, there isn’t a single drop left inside your pretty little body.”

lwj turned and didn’t quiet roll his eyes as he stepped outside the

shower, carefully avoiding his puddle of cum, to grab the cup. He turned the shower back on when he returned, moving outside the stream to turn the water to cold and fill his glass, startling when wwx began giggling.

“Aiya! All those orgasms fried poor A-Zhan’s brain!”

the older man laughed. “Fully functioning A-Zhan would have filled his cup up at the sink!”

lwj’s ears burned as he pulled the cup back and twisted the tap back to warm, stepping back under the water as he sipped. He shivered, the contrast drawing his attention to just how cold

he had become standing naked for so long. He set the cup aside and grabbed the body wash again, scrubbing the few places he could still feel wwx’s scent lingering before moving to wash his penis and bottom.

“Hmm…” wwx hummed over the fall of water, “turn this way and let

Xian-gege watch you wash yourself?”

lwj shot his phone a look but turned nonetheless, saying, “Apparently I am not the only perpetually horny one.”

“Nope!” wwx said cheerfully. “But only you’ve got that kind of stamina! Such an impressive little A-Zhan,” wwx said, and lwj had

the impression the other alpha was once again talking directly to his genitals… “If I were there,” wwx continued, “I’d give you a nice kiss for all your hard work! You’re such a hard little worker that Xian-gege thinks you deserve a bonus!”

lwj sighed, turning away again.

Yup, wwx was talking to his dick. Again. Mortifyingly his soft cock seemed to be trying its hardest to show the other man just how hard it could work and lwj glared down at it, mentally chastising it for being so insatiable, so greedy, so-

Heat flooded across lwj’s cheeks.

Out of all of the habits he could have acquired from wwx, why did talking to his penis like it was a person with its own thoughts and desires have to be one of them!? They were the same person, thank you!!

lwj leaned over to wash his feet, and possibly drop a substantial amount

of body wash onto the spot where his cum puddle had been, only to realize his mistake too late.

“Ah, does A-Zhan enjoy showing gege his hole that much?” wwx teased, his voice not quite aroused but not quite completely unaffected by his view of lwj.

lwj blushed but continued on

washing himself, lifting each of his feet to wash their bottoms before scrubbing each of his legs. He could just barely hear wwx humming over the splatter of water and glanced back to find the man still watching him, swirling his glass of water like it was expensive alcohol.

lwj straightened up slowly, scrubbing the globes of his ass and pulling them apart to give wwx one last look before letting them slap closed.

“Such a little tease,” wwx laughed and from the corner of his eye lwj saw him moving.

“What are you doing?” lwj asked him, reaching for

the shampoo.

“Gotta go clean up myself,” wwx said before groaning, the camera view shifting to the ceiling as he stretched his arms up above his head. “You gonna wash your hair?” lwj nodded, his hair would be weird if it got wet but wasn’t washed. “M’kay,” wwx yawned, “can we

hang up for a bit then? If you’re good? Call me back when you’ve washed and dried- you try your hair too, right?”

lwj couldn’t help but wonder how the older man knew so much about his habits as he nodded again.

“Okay, wash and dry and go to the bedroom,” wwx said, the world

swirling around him as he walked through the house. “Don’t get dressed yet though! Wait until you call me back. Just,” he waved erratically at the camera, “use a towel to keep warm or something.”

“Okay,” lwj told him, slathering shampoo into his hair as wwx ended the call.

~

lwj stood in the middle of wwx’s bedroom wrapped in a towel, ringing phone in hand, waiting for the other man to pick up.

“A-Zhan~” came wwx’s whiny voice when he picked up. “Why didn’t you video call me?”

lwj’s lips pulled tight before he murmured quietest, “I did not want to

assume Xian-gege-“

“A-Zhan~ assume! Assume I always want to see your pretty face!” wwx interrupted him, adding, “And your pretty hole~” The older man laughed as he began video calling lwj. “Ah! There’s my pretty, dry, sober boy!” wwx teased when lwj answered.

“Mn,” lwj hummed.

All lingering strands of his scent drunkenness were gone, washed down the drain, as was his post-orgasm inability to be embarrassed, unfortunately, and his ears had been perpetually burning since he stepped out of the shower. He didn’t regret his shamelessness, but remembering

what he had done was mortifying.

“Still naked?” wwx asked and lwj nodded. “Good! Now go over to the closet. I left a surprise in there for you! Although, I almost don’t want to give it to you given what a naughty, drunken boy you were earlier,” he mused as lwj walked towards the

closet.

He slid the door open and was immediately hit with a wave of wwx’s scent, stronger than it should be. He blinked at all the fancy clothing stuffed into it before his eyes fell onto the shelf running through the middle, dividing the closet in half, and the sweater tucked

into one of the cubicles.

“That’s…”

“Hope you don’t mind that I broke into your room to get it,” wwx said, laughing lightly even as his voice cracked with his worry. “I scented it for you, along with all the clothes on those shelves,” he told lwj as he pulled the sweater out,

propping the phone onto the shelf so wwx could watch him pull it on.

He let the towel drop, although the angle of his phone hid his lower half, and slipped the sweater over his head, pulling the neck up to his nose to breath in a spicy yet calming scent.

“S’nice…” lwj murmured

and wwx laughed.

“Now don’t go getting scent drunk again!” he told lwj between laughs. “I’ll call A-Li to take them away, don’t think I won’t!”

lwj whined but let the collar drop, saying, “I don’t have any underwear here.” Even the newer of wwx’s underwear had been worn a few

times and were likely to drag him back into scent drunkenness, not to mention make him horny again.

“I stuck a few new boxers on one of the shelves,” wwx told him, “just in case we ever needed them.” lwj rummaged through the shelves, and yes, there were a few new pairs, but-

lwj held the underwear up and glared at the camera, where wwx lay on what lwj assumed was his bed. “Xian-gege,” he said seriously, “these are omega underwear.”

“A-Zhan, there is no difference between underwear meant for alphas and omegas,” wwx corrected him, blinking innocently.

lwj glared harder. “These were designed with omega’s in mind,” he amended, glancing back at the boxers before returning his icy stare to wwx.

“Ah, and isn’t that a shame!” wwx proclaimed dramatically. “It is such a travesty that only omega’s get the cute undies!” He smiled at

lwj, eyes tinted with evil intentions. “And my dear, sweet A-Zhan will look so good in the adorable underwear I painstakingly picked out for him.”

lwj felt heat crash across his ears and cheeks, averting his eyes from his phone and the tiny, red faced image of himself.

“Does my A-Zhan not want my gift?” wwx asked, faux sadness lacing his voice. “That’s fine, A-Zhan can just go commando.”

lwj’s eyes shot back up to the other alpha’s image, his lips pressed tight together. Patterned boxers or none at all, either way wwx won. lwj had half a mind

to march over to wwx’s dresser and pull on another pair of his scent saturated underwear but the soft, sore penis laying between his legs would likely object to such treatment.

lwj huffed and bent to pull the underwear on, glaring at wwx as his smile spread further across his

face, nearly falling over when wwx whispered a soft, “Good boy,” to him.

lwj straightened up, adjusting the underwear and refusing to look down at them. He reached to grab his phone only for wwx to whine at him.

“Really, A-Zhan? I don’t even get to see?” he pouted, his bottom

lip shamelessly stuck out. “A-Zhan won’t even show his Xian-gege how his gift looks on him?” he sighed.

lwj growled lightly, wwx trying, and mostly failing, to suppress his giggles, as he took several steps back to reveal his hips and the bunny covered boxers to the camera.

“So cute!” wwx squealed, his image rolling from side to side on the bed while he laughed happily.

lwj’s lips pressed tight together. “Perhaps Xian-gege should find himself an omega then,” he huffed.

“Nah~” wwx sighed, rolling to a stop and smiling up at his phone. “I much

prefer dressing up cute little alphas like omegas,” he laughed, eyes gleaming with evil intentions even through the camera.

“Is that so,” lwj stated flatly, filing the information away for future punishments of the awful man. He stepped forward and grabbed the phone before

heading over to the bed and pulling back the covers.

“Not putting on any sleep pants, A-Zhan?” the older alpha asked, snickering when lwj snarled out, “No.”

“Wait!” wwx snapped, just as lwj was about to get into the bed. “You still haven’t eaten, have you?” he asked, concern

lacing his voice.

lwj shook his head. Between the video, the shower and drying his hair he still hadn’t eaten since waking up.

“Unacceptable,” wwx scolded him, pointing a finger at his screen. “You go eat right now mister! Go go, now!”

lwj huffed, a smile tugging over his

annoyed expression, and turned back to the door and heading towards the kitchen, thankfully not running into any doorframes this time.

“I left you some food in the fridge,” wwx told him. “Just some easy stuff, nothing fancy.”

lwj felt his ears heat up, as they always did when

the older man gifted him food. He truly did enjoy treating lwj like an omega at times and, even if it was embarrassing at times, lwj’s couldn’t deny that he enjoyed it.

He finally glanced down at the boxers when he reached the kitchen. They were cute, and he wondered if wwx knew

of his love of bunnies or if it was a coincidence.

He set the phone against an odd donkey statue on wwx’s kitchen counter and popped open the fridge to look inside, finding a container of food, most of which could be eaten cold. He set a pan onto the stove and began heating it

up, sorting the food onto a cold plate and a to be warmed up plate, wwx humming cheerfully in the background.

He munched quietly on the cold food as he fried on the items that would be better warm, sliding them back onto the plate and moving to carry both into the living room-

“A-Zhan~” jyl sang out as the door opened, “Are you in here?” She halted in the entryway, the door closing softly behind her as she blinked at his half-dressed, bunny boxer and scented sweater clad form. “Well,” she said, eyes traveling over him, “at least you have little A-Zhan

stowed away this time!”

lwj growled and from his armpit, where he had clamped his phone while his hands were occupied, wwx’s delirious laughter burst forth. lwj took several annoyed steps towards the couch, 100% not slamming the plates onto the coffee table, and pulling his

phone back out, glaring down at wwx’s blurry form.

Behind him he heard jyl lock the door and slip off her shoes as he asked the other man, “Why was the door not locked?”

“There’s only one key!” wwx managed to tell him between giggles. “Hello, A-Li,” he greeted his niece as she

appeared beside lwj.

“Xian-shushu,” she said, smiling down at his laughing form and patting lwj consolingly on the head before moving to sit on the couch.

“I am going to go get pants,” he told them, shoving the phone into his friend’s hands and marching back to the bedroom.

He grabbed a pair of sweats and slipped them on, stepping back out of the room, hovering at the entrance to the living room, listening to the soft sounds of jyl and wwx chat.

“Are you happy, Xian-shushu?” jyl asked quietly.

“Yeah…” wwx whispered back, as though he were sharing

his deepest secret. “Yeah, I guess I am,” he huffed, “all thanks to a certain meddlesome girl.”

jyl laughed. “You weren’t complaining when I tipped you off to A-Zhan’s love of bunnies,” she teased, giggling when lwj burst around the corner glaring and pointing an accusing finger

at her.

“You!” he hissed. His own best friend, setting him up for this- for this- for this humiliation!

“A-Zhan,” wwx half-giggled, half-scolded, “were you eavesdropping on our private conversation?”

Heat flooded across lwj’s face and chest. He couldn’t even deny it because

he had been listening in secret.

jyl simply laughed, smiling and patting the seat next to her. “Come sit and eat your lunch, A-Zhan,” she said, reaching over to steal a bite of his food.

lwj huffed, his face still burning as he took his seat, pulling the plate of hot food into

his lap and stuffing his face, glaring when jyl angled the phone to catch his plump cheeks in the camera for wwx to see, the older man cooing about how cute he was when he was pouting.

“He is, indeed,” his former friend agreed, nodding and swiping another piece of food, asking,

“Why are you eating breakfast food for lunch?”

“Because he was too distracted to eat breakfast this morning,” wwx teased.

“Oh…” jyl breathed out. “Is that what that smell is?” she added as lwj choked on his bite and for once even wwx seemed embarrassed at his niece’s words.

“A-Li!” wwx squeaked while lwj coughed.

“I was just making an observation,” she said innocently, “I doubt anyone else would notice it, considering how contained A-Zhan normally keeps his scent.”

She popped another piece of food in her mouth, turning to lwj and gently patting

his back. “Are you alright?” she asked, smiling up at him.

“I-“ lwj started, not sure what to say to his friend about the apparently lingering scent of sex. His sex. His solo, scent drunk sex.

She blinked at him, daring him to say anything and oh, was she enjoying herself.

lwj narrowed his eyes and stood, walking back towards the kitchen as he asked, “Would you like anything to drink?”

“Some tea would be nice,” she replied as if nothing untoward had just happened, as if the scent of lwj’s orgasms wasn’t apparently singing through the air, as if

lwj wasn’t planning her demise.

“A-Li!” wwx hissed. “You can’t just say things like that!”

“I was just making an observation,” jyl repeated, taking yet another piece of lwj’s meal, adding, “Did Xian-shushu make these?”

In the kitchen lwj’s tensed. wwx had made his breakfast?

“Ah~” wwx hesitated, enough for lwj to realize the truth in his friend’s words. wwx had made his breakfast. Had made it for him. Food for him that his horrible friend was currently eating.

“Hey!” jyl cried as lwj appeared back at her side, ripping yet another stolen piece of

food right out of her hand, returning to the kitchen with both his plates, glaring and hissing, “Mine,” at her.

She stared after him, mouth agape as wwx’s howling laughter erupted from the phone.

“Serves you right, A-Li! Being so mean! And you didn’t even ask!” he snickered.

jyl huffed and leaned over to grab one of the toys lwj had gifted wwx, one of the puzzles that came with a booklet for setting up the game. She set about arranging the pieces, muttering under her breath.

lwj was too far away and couldn't catch what she was saying, but apparently

wwx could because he started saying something back to jyl, quiet enough that lwj couldn't hear more than his murmuring voice.

"I know..." jyl said quietly, "it's just... once I get married..." She let out a long puff of air. "It doesn't matter if I see you as my uncle, someone

who is all but my biological uncle, alphas... alphas might see you as a threat and- and-"

jyl's sad scent floated over to lwj as wwx spoke. "And might try to forbid you from accepting food from me," he finished for her.

"Or scenting you! Or maybe even seeing you!" jyl cried.

"And not just you! They might tell me I can't see A-Zhan either and-"

"Oh, sweet girl," wwx said while lwj growled, jyl's eyes darting over to him. "Don't worry, if any alpha tries that I'll get rid of him," her uncle assured her.

"Mn," lwj agreed. "I'm sure nhs knows how to

disappear a person," he added, tone darker and more threatening than most people ever heard it, his scent turning rancid and sour.

jyl gaped at him for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Oh, A-Zhan, if you aren't careful you'll contaminate the sweater Xian-shushu

left you," she teased, laughing harder when lwj's scent exploded into embarrassment before he turned back to his tea making attempts, drawing in deep breaths in an attempt to control his scent.

"Aiya! A-Zhan~" wwx whined. "Don't ruin my scented clothing the day I leave!"

lwj huffed and reached to grab another piece of food, hesitating as his hand touched one. A minute later he was reappearing by jyl’s side, holding out a small plate with several pieces of food on it.

“For A-Li,” he said quietly, glancing down at the toy in her lap.

“A-Zhan,”

his friend sighed sadly, “you don’t have to, I was just being silly.”

lwj shook his head slightly, lips turning down into a slight pout. “Not silly. I can share a bit of Xian-gege’s food with you,” he said, turning his eyes to his phone when the older alpha began cooing at him.

“So cute,” wwx said, his image rocking from side to side, a stupid smile plastered on his face. “My two favourite people sharing food I poured all my love into,” he teased, quickly adding, “Well, all my morning’s worth of love, cause it was a kinda last minute thing. Sorry.”

lwj turned back to the kitchen a smile tugging on his lips, saying, "There is no need to apologize."

"Seriously though, A-Zhan," jyl continued to object, "Xian-shushu made this for you, you don't need to share."

lwj turned and watched her for a moment, her scent still tinted

with sadness and frustration, even as she tried to reign it in. "If A-Li would like, she can owe me one."

She blinked up at him. "Owe you one?"

"Mn," lwj hummed, continuing back to the kitchen where the kettle had beeped in completion, "I have a favour I wish to ask of A-Li."

"A-Zhan," he friend sighed and lwj smirked, already knowing what she would say, why she was, once again, exasperated with him. "We've talked about this. You do not need me to 'owe you one' in order for you to ask a favour of me."

lwj hummed noncommittally at her, earning him

another sigh from the omega.

"You're so stubborn," she complained, the clack of plastic knocking together following her complaints as she continued playing with the toy.

lwj hummed in agreement at her, tensing when wwx laughed quietly.

"You two are too cute," he laughed.

"You know... I never actually got a chance to see you two together that much," wwx commented, "what with the party prep and yzy scaring everyone and your brother just generally making a pain of himself." He huffed once before adding, almost sadly, "I mean, I knew you were close,

obviously, but seeing it is different..."

lwj continued preparing the tea as jyl asked him what was wrong, listening to them talk over the hiss of water flowing over the petals.

"Ah~ it's nothing," wwx tried to deflect, jyl immediately hitting him with a very tight, scolding,

"Xian-shushu."

"Aiya!" wwx exclaimed, nearly causing lwj to drop the tray he was using to transport their drinks and his confiscated food back to the couch. "It's nothing, really! I'm just being nostalgic, is all! It's been a long time since I had a friendship like yours,"

the older alpha complained. "It's fine, I'm just a little jealous of you young guns."

"Mn," lwj agreed as he set the tray down, taking a seat beside jyl, "Xian-gege is old and friendless."

"Oi! You!" wwx yelled at the phone, his world shifting as he bolted up. "You're not

supposed to agree with me! You're supposed to say some cheesy crap, that is obviously a lie, like, 'Xian-gege is still young,' or 'even though Xian-gege is old we're still friends!'"

"Mn," lwj hummed, telling him, "Xian-gege is extremely old we are definitely not friends."

He darted his eyes up to the gaping older man, suppressing his smirk as his added, "Definitely not just friends."

wwx gaped at him a moment more before narrowing his eyes. "Just you wait Lan Wangji," he said, flopping back onto the bed, "I'll get you back. You think being old is

bad? Wait till your youth gets in the way of you doing something. We'll see how you feel."

lwj hummed in agreement, taking a bite of his food. Being treated like a child was annoying, and even as a young adult he still experienced it on occasional, but teasing the older man was

worth the risk that the older man may find some way to use his youth against him.

"I am very afraid," lwj dead toned before stuffing another bite in his mouth.

"You're such a little shit, A-Zhan," wwx huffed, seemingly trying is best to not smile and ending up with a wiggly,

twitching mouth instead, finally breaking into a smile as he added, "It's so great."

lwj tensed, head twisting to the side when jyl laughed happily beside him. He had almost forgotten she was there.

"What's so funny, little girl?" her uncle asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"It's the same for me," she said, glancing between lwj and the tiny image of wwx on his phone, "I haven't had a chance to watch you two together. I knew you'd be good together but this-" she waved between them, "this is better than I- than I could have imagined."

lwj watched,

horrified as jyl began to blink rapidly, trying to stop herself from crying.

"Aiya, A-Li," wwx said gently, "what's wrong now?"

"I'm just happy for you," she said, wiping away a stray tear. "That you found each other, that you're happy. For the summer, forever. However long you

make each other happy like this, I'm- I'm glad."

"A-Li..." wwx sighed. "Is this-" he started, glancing somewhere across the room before trying again. "I'm glad you're happy for us, but I don't think even you could cry about it," he teased, a soft, fond smile on his face, adding,

"so why don't you tell shushu what's really on your mind?"

Around them jyl's lotus scent swirled sadly again, twisting itself into knots around them, fragile and lonely and worried.

"A-Li," lwj said softly, leaking out a light, soothing honey scent. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's just- it's just-" jyl stammered, her lower lip wobbling and for a moment lwj was worried she was going to burst into tears when-

jyl burst up from the couch, stomping her foot and yelling, "All the alphas mother chose were awful! Awful!! Unacceptable!" She abruptly

collapsed back onto the couch beside a shocked lwj. "It's not fair~" the omega whined sliding further and further down on the couch. "I want a love like this too!" she sobbed, waving a hand erratically between lwj and his phone which just happened to be trying to suppress its

laughter at that moment, jyl bolting upright to glare at her uncle.

"You think this is funny?" she demanded, leaning in towards him, the little image of her on the screen looking almost deranged as lwj tried to subtly edge away from her.

"I mean-"

"It's not!" jyl snapped.

"One of the alphas mother insisted I talk to last night spent the whole 20 minutes talking about his fucking car. Not just his fucking car. Oh no, that would have made the conversation pleasant compared to him talking about how many omegas he's knotted in it, four allegedly.

I'm pretty sure he was making shit up."

jyl took a deep breath, letting the air slowly leak out of her into the ocean of aggravated scent surrounding her. "Mother barely left me alone the whole night, but somehow Mr. I have a car that costs more than a house and a job that pays

enough I could feed a fucking country but I don't believe in charity gets a pass? Seriously!?"

lwj pressed him lips tightly together as his friend ranted, continuing his attempts to get as far away as he could. The last time she'd been pissed off like this she had punched him.

It had, in her defence, been an accident... mostly, but lwj had no desire to have another set of chest x-rays done because he was concerned his friend had cracked a rip. lwj assumed it was all that swimming that had given her tiny, terrifying muscles capable of causing some

serious damage.

"Another alpha," jyl continued, waving erratically around them in a manner very similar to the way she had just before sending lwj to the emergency room, "oh, she was a real peach. Heir to some company to designs omega chastity devices! Chastity devices!"

she screeched, mostly at her uncle, having seemingly forgotten lwj's presence as he slipped off the couch with the plate of food he had been holding.

lwj eyed her cautiously before taking tiny, quiet steps back towards the kitchen. Better to get out of throwing range as well.

"And she made it very clear that if, not even if, when we married I'd be required to wear one! As if! I would leave the fucking country before letting that happen. Bitch."

"I- I see," wwx stammered. "That- that does indeed sound unpleasant A-Li."

jyl, to lwj's shock, growled at

her uncle or the situation. Either way, it was the first time he had ever heard the woman growl. Even at the height of sms's harassment she had been petty and polite, her words biting while she smiled and smelled innocent and pure. lwj had honestly wondered if she even could

growl, or if she was part of the 30% of omegas who couldn't growl at all, but no, apparently she could.

Her growl intensified and lwj shuddered, his alpha instincts telling him to either flee or force the omega to submit, to yield and behave. Unfortunately, his shudder drew the

attention of the irate jyl, her eyes snapping over to where he had been seated before finding him hiding with his food in the kitchen, a cruel smile stretching across her face.

"A-Zhan," she cooed, sending a shiver of fear through lwj, "what are you doing way over there?"

"I- uhm..." lwj mumbled. "I just-"

"You just what, A-Zhan?" jyl asked, her tone flowery and leaking of sickly sweetness as she slowly stood and stalked towards him, a mini, omega version of her mother, terrifying and beautiful and lwj had to suppress a whimper at the sight.

"I just-" lwj tried again, only to once again come up blank.

"Am I so unpleasant that you can't even sit next to me? Is my pain that miserable to listen to?" she asked, growing closer and closer to him, her smell a razor sharp blade of sunlight through the room.

"N-no," lwj stammered, trying to force down the urge to bolt for the front door. "I just- A-Li," he tried, "remember last time you were this upset? I ended up in the emergency room and, while I didn't have a cracked rib, I did have a bruise for almost two weeks where you hit me."

"It isn't my fault A-Zhan is so delicate," jyl said, still smiling that very concerning smile at him.

"A-Li," lwj objected, suddenly very thankful for Lotus Pier's oddly modern design as he shifted around the kitchen island to keep away from his slightly manic looking friend.

"Do you understand," jyl asked slowly, continuing to stalk lwj around the counter, "that I will have to marry one of these alphas?"

"Technically you have to consent to marriage," lwj noted unhelpfully, once again eying up the exit and wondering if he could make it. jyl was both

surprisingly strong and fast, unfortunately.

"Do you really think my mother will let me get away with that?" jyl growled dragging her freshly manicured nails across wwx's marble countertop. "She will say if I do not choose one of the atrocious alphas she has offered me she will

never let me marry, never let me mate, never- never let- let me have-"

jyl released a sobbing breath, slapping a hand to her mouth as lwj quickly scurryed around the counter to pick her up and deposit her back onto the couch, gently pulling her in towards his neck, blushing when

he remembered how much he would smell like wwx.

"I have to pick one," jyl said shakily into his neck, taking deep, heaving breaths of his light, honey scent. "I have to pick one or I'll never get to be a mom. Never get to have a child and-" She pushed herself up, glaring into

lwj's eyes. "But how am I supposed to have a child with one of those awful people! I can't subject a child to them!" she cried before going off on another rant about the horrible things various alphas had said to her the night before.

She was just ending her fifth anecdote when

wwx's deep voice piped up, having been quiet since his laughter had set jyl off into a rage. "You know, it's actually a bit odd that all of your mother's choices were that bad," he mused, both jyl and lwj glancing over at the phone. "I mean, don't get me wrong," he continued,

"I'm sure her taste is pretty bad, but I figured it would be jzxuan level bad, not 'I expect you to offer me proper omega greetings everyday bad'. Did that girl say whether she wanted them even after you had kids and when guests were over? Cause that seems really inappropriate."

lwj blinked away thoughts of giving wwx a proper omega greeting, now was definitely not the time, not unless he wanted to embarrass himself further and possibly break his cock. Instead he said, "You think Madam Yu is setting A-Li up."

Beside him jyl gasped, her scent a

shuddering shadow around them, while wwx told them, "It definitely seems like a possibility. It's never been a secret that she wanted A-Li and jzxuan to marry, but it's not like she can force them into mating. She can, however, make him the most tolerable candidate."

"And with the threat that she will never allow A-Li to marry if she does not choose one of her selected mates this summer..." lwj trailed off, glancing back at his friend, staring wide eyed at her uncle's image.

"She'll get what she wants. jzxuan is looking pretty good compared

to all the others."

"But he is attracted to alphas," lwj said dumbly, jyl's gaze flickering to his.

"I mean, he could be attracted to both," the older alpha said, humming and hawing before adding, with a quiet snicker, "Based on what I just heard from A-Li, angry and chasing

you around the kitchen, she might actually be his type."

"Xian-shushu!" jyl cried, hiding her face behind her hands and glaring at him from between her fingers.

"What?" wwx asked, still laughing quietly to himself. "You would be surprised the number of alphas who hook up with

other alphas just cause they want a mean top, where it has nothing to do with second gender preference. Considering his little crush on A-Zhan, who definitely gives off mean top vibes, even if he's actually-"

"Wei Wuxian!" lwj did not shriek, his scent bursting out in

bubbling honey as he swiped the phone off the table and tried to figure out how to mute the call while the older man laughed.

"Ah~" wwx teased, "is A-Zhan trying to object and say he actually is-"

*beep*

lwj stared down at the ended call. Horrible, mean man. He was probably

losing his shit laughing right now. Horrible, awful, despicable-

"Do you think Xian-shushu is right?" jyl asked quietly.

"Ah-" lwj started, trying to rid himself of both his mortified blush and his reeking embarrassment, "about jzxuan?"

"No," jyl said, her blank gaze shifting

up to his red tinted one, "about my mother trying to force me into mating with him."

lwj licked his lips, staring into her oddly vacant eyes. "Possibly," he said finally, looking down at the phone in his hand, vibrating as messages from wwx came through.

"I see," jyl said

coldly, lwj's eyes snapping back up to hers, even more icy and frightening than when she had been stalking him around the kitchen. "Well," she said, standing and straightening out her clothes, "two can play at that game."

"A-Li, no," lwj whispered, scrambling up and trailing

after her as she marched to the door. "A-Li," he tried to reason, "you cannot get into a- a match of pettiness and stubbornness with your mother."

"Says who?" she asked, clasping her hands behind her back as her march morphed into a cheerful skip. "If she thinks these alphas are

worthy of me, who am I to question her? I will simply accept all their courting offers and let the best alpha win," she said sweetly, as though she were the happiest, most obedient omega in the world.

I do wonder," she added, turning back to lwj and smiling brightly as they

reached the door, "what my mother will think when she is forced to spend the rest of the summer with the alphas she has chosen for me." She turned back to the door as lwj gaped at her. "After all, choosing a mate is a very important decision. I wouldn't want to rush it, and,

of course, I must consult my dear, wise mother on the matter. Make sure she gets to know my potential mates just as well as I do."

She turned and flashed one last smile at him, ignoring his gaping, shocked form, saying, "Have a nice afternoon, A-Zhan," before peeking outside for

any sign of her mother's spies and slipping out the door.

~

Gege: A-Zhan!
Gege: I'm sorry!
Gege: please forgive gege 🥲
Gege: please please please I beg of you
Gege: please send me the video? 🥹

"No," lwj muttered as he typed and sent his the curt message to the older man.

"Don't worry, Xian-gege," he said quietly, gently patting his phone as he slipped it into his pocket, "A-Zhan will send you the video eventually, at the worst moment you can possibly imagine."

He looked back up, glaring through the sunlight bright afternoon at jyl, who was

currently sitting in one of Lotus Pier's lakeside gazebos happily telling her mother all about her plan to accept every single one of the courting offers from the alphas her mother had suggested. Even from his seat in the distance, tucked almost out of sight, he could see the

look of absolute horror spreading across Madam Yu's face.

Ah. It seemed she had indeed known how horrible the alphas she had recommended were.

He watched curiously as the older woman began to speak, a look of almost desperate panic spreading across her face, eyes wide while her

hands flailed. Whatever she was saying, lwj was too far away to hear unless someone started shouting, jyl simply rocked from side to side, like a small child on their birthday, excited and bursting at the seams while they awaited their guests, their cake, their presents.

lwj let out a long puff of air. If he had thought there any chance of talking his friend out of this disastrous plan before he no longer had any hope. jyl was going to drag them giggling and skipping into an early grave (when her mother snapped and killed everyone) trying to get

back at Madam Yu. He couldn't blame her for being pissed but he doubted even jyl was a match for the older alpha.

He watched as Madam Yu continued talking at her daughter, likely trying to convince her to just accept jzxuan's offer, and growing more frustrated when the omega

presented perfect arguments for why she shouldn't do that. He wondered if Madam Yu knew that she had paid for her daughter to attend both drama and debate classes at university. He wondered if Madam Yu even knew what her daughter had majored in, had ever cared enough to ask.

He reached to pull his phone back out, opening his messages again.

Me: When A-Li's plan to mess with her mother gets me kicked out of Lotus Pier can I come stay with you?

He let his hands and phone fall into his lap as he waited for a reply, glancing across the sparkling lake

to one of the small piers that locals used to dock the boats they used to fish and travel, eyes following a small, very loud boat as it left the dock. His friend had once mentioned that allowing locals to use the lakes directly around the Jiang's property was traditional,

going back generations, although Madam Yu had tried to end the tradition when she married jfm. It had been one of the few things the man had ever refused to budge on, the lakes would stay open to the public or he would divorce her and undergo the extremely painful process of

nullifying their mating, social shame and stigma be damned. Seeing all the small motorboats docked, hearing their noise pollution, lwj couldn't help but agree with his friend's mother for once, at least partially. Those horrible little boats should be banned. If people wanted to

use the lakes because it was "traditional" they should use traditional boats.

lwj glanced down when the tone he had set to wwx's messages sounded, loud and irritating and impossible to ignore, just like the man himself, lifting the phone to read the other man's response.

Gege: hmmm i dunno
Gege: will it be my sweet, pure A-Zhan who shows up?
Gege: or the meany who won't send gege the pretty, pretty video of his pretty, pretty hole 😭

lwj fumbled his phone, almost dropping it, when a call from wwx rang through barely a second later, a sample of

one of the post-rock songs the older man played quite often flowing out over the sound of nearby boats.

"Hello?" lwj said into his phone.

"A-Zhan~" wwx whined, "I'm seriously so so so so soooooo sorry! Ple~ase~ take mercy on this old man and send him the video."

"Hmm..." lwj hummed, eyes shifting back over to his friend and mother, where they had just been joined by jfm and jc for a family lunch that lwj had thankfully not been invited (read: forced) to attend. Madam Yu still looked extremely put out and based on the increasingly wide

eyes of jfm and stiffening back of jc they were now being informed of jyl's plan as well.

"I will send Xian-gege the video," lwj said mildly, rising from his seat and beginning to move through Lotus Pier, carefully avoiding any paths that would take him closer to his hosts.

"YES!" wwx cried and lwj could practically see the older alpha fist pumping.

"Mn," lwj hummed, turning down a path that led down the centre of the compound, "will send it to Xian-gege when the time is right."

"What," the other man said, his tone cold and dead.

"No not worry,"

lwj assured him, nodding politely to the staff he passed, even if they ignored or even resented his presence, "I am sure an opportunity to send it will arise eventually."

"Opportunity... A-Zhan, why do I feel that when you say that you mean 'when an opportunity to make my sweet,

lovable gege suffer arises?'" wwx asked, laughing nervously.

"Xian-gege is a very smart man," lwj said, his tone light and almost happy, a smirk spreading across his face as wwx shrieked into the receiver.

"Aiya!" wwx cried. "Where has my sweet boy gone!? Who is this monster

masquerading as him! A-Zhan!? I want my A-Zhan back!"

lwj smiled softly as the other alpha continued to complain into his ear, claiming he wanted a refund for defective goods.

"Hmm," lwj hummed as he pulled the keys to wwx's house out the keys jangling as he unlocked the door.

"It is unfortunate that Xian-gege wishes to return me," he said, tone mock sad, "but I am sure some other, more capable alpha will appear to take his place." He sighed dramatically as he removed his shoes. "I will always be thankful to Xian-gege for his kindness, however brief."

A/N:

Should lwj give wwx a little something and video call him for some fun times? Or should lwj torture him with voice only phone sex? Or maybe wwx is the mean one? Or should they have some self control!?

I reserve the right to ignore the results, btw

But also please vote! XD

"Ah~" wwx moaned, "A-Zhan is so dramatic! First he punishes his Xian-gege for some gentle teasing by taking away the one thing he wants most in this world and now he pretending to be completely done with his gege! Ah!" A soft thump and the ruffled of fabric floated through the

call as wwx continued moaning and complaining.

lwj moved through the house to the kitchen, popping open the fridge and searching for something to eat, or at least pretending to search in the mostly empty fridge, before pulling out the small plate with the few remaining pieces of

wwx's gifted food on it. He would need to get more food soon, not tonight, though. As much as he was thankful he had avoided a likely heated lunch with the Jiangs he was quite looking forward to the aftermath at dinner.

Perhaps he would take a trip back into town tomorrow, visit

some of the restaurants wwx had favoured or pick up some groceries so he could ask jyl for that favour. Perhaps he would also take the chance to search for gifts for his family, it was, after all, looking increasingly likely that his friend was going to get him kicked out of

Lotus Pier in the near future.

"Hmm..." lwj hummed when wwx finally quieted down, needing to take a few breaths after his half-serious rant. "I see how it is," he said softly, throwing a bit of the sadness he felt from being apart from the other alpha into his voice as well.

"See how what is?" wwx asked suspiciously.

"Xian-gege wants the video the 'most in this world.'" lwj sighed, not too dramatically, just enough that the other man might believe he was truly upset. "Xian-gege only desires A-Zhan's hole, not A-Zhan himself." He popped a piece of

food into his mouth, smiling as the older alpha sputtered, trying backtrack.

"A-Zhan! No!" wwx breathed out. "No, no! I swear, I didn't mean it like that! It was just a turn of speak, I swear! Please, don't be mad at gege. Gege is a stupid, stupid man with a big, fat mouth!"

"Xian-gege sounded quite serious," lwj said quietly, trying to suppress the glee in his voice as he picked up his plate and moved into the living room, setting the plate onto the table before plopping down on the couch sloppily while wwx continued panicking.

With anyone else lwj

would feel bad, the older alpha seemed to actually be convinced he was upset, but wwx had revealed lwj's sexual preferences to his best friend, to his own niece! Even if she had been consumed by her own thoughts and evil plans at the time it was unacceptable and wwx had to pay!

"A-Zhan! Please believe me! I just- I only- ugh~" wwx stammered.

"I have heard," lwj noted mildly, "that when people lie they often have problems keeping their story straight. Xian-gege appears to be having some problems-"

"I'm not!" the other man cried. "I'm not lying! And I'm

not having a problem keeping my story straight, I just..." lwj popped another piece of food into his mouth as he waited for wwx to find his words. He was just starting to think he should tell the other alpha he had only been pretending he was upset when wwx spoke again, his voice

soft and sad. "I just like A-Zhan so much. Everything about him I want the most in this world. The video, A-Zhan's voice over the phone, A-Zhan's messages silly, curt messages, his smile," wwx said, his voice rising up into a happy if wistful thing, a knife straight through lwj's

heart and soul.

"Gege..." lwj breathed out. Okay, now he felt a little bad.

"I wish I could be there with you now or you could be here. Fuck, we could be at the North Pole, alone and freezing and I'd still be happier than I am now," wwx said, his breath hitching slightly.

lwj licked his lips. "What-" he started, his voice catching in his throat. He swallowed, trying again. "What would we be doing, if- if we were together?" he asked, reaching out to grab another piece of food to stuff into his mouth before he caved and asked what wwx would be doing

to him if they were together.

"Hmm..." wwx hummed and lwj clamped his eyes closed, the image of wwx slowly rocking from side to side while he thought flooding through his head, a tidal wave of yearning and memory and-

"Are we there, here, somewhere else?" wwx asked him softly.

"Here," lwj said without even thinking. He knew here, could look around and see exactly what and where wwx was talking about, could taste the lake and sunshine and dry packed earth. Could here the echo of the older alpha's laughter from barely a day earlier, his smell still

lingering on pillows and blankets and in the air itself.

"Mmm, back with my A-Zhan, " wwx hummed before asking, "Where is my A-Zhan now?"

"On the couch."

"And what is my sweet little boy doing?"

lwj's ears burned at the endearment. He shouldn't like being called a

little boy, reminded of his immaturity and inexperience, but from the older alpha it sounded-

"Was eating," lwj replied, plopping the last of his food into his mouth.

"And what were you filling your cute tummy with, A-Zhan?" wwx asked, a light tease filling his voice as the

sadness and worry began to flee.

lwj hesitated for a moment before confessing, "The last of Xian-gege's gift."

"Lan Wangji!" wwx cried. "That is not an acceptable lunch! Please tell me you ate something else? Or have something else to eat?"

lwj pressed his lips together,

glaring at the empty plate and refusing to admit that that had indeed been all he had been intending to eat for lunch.

"A-Zhan~" wwx whined. "Aiya! Now that I'm gone there's no one to take care of you! No one to feed you!"

lwj huffed, saying, "I do not need Xian-gege to

feed me. I will eat eventually, but there is no other food in the house."

"A-Zhan," wwx said sternly, an image of wwx's stern face flashing over lwj's eyes, mean and disappointed in him, his hand coming down loud and sharp and-

"Alright!" wwx said, suddenly cheerful and light.

"Up, up! A-Zhan needs to get up!"

lwj blinked. "What? Why?" he asked dumbly.

"Because Xian-gege is taking you on an adventure!" the older alpha laughed. "Now, up! Go put on some shoes. Shoes you can walk comfortably in for a while," he quickly added. "And make sure you're

wearing the right clothes for this weather, and, uhm... something, like... moderately nice, but also cool? Not trashy though, not that you own anything trashy," wwx babbled as lwj stood and looked down at himself, "Something that's hmm... something you'd be fine with your uncle

seeing you in but he would think was totally inappropriate? Does that make sense?"

"Mn, I will need to change," lwj said after a moment. He had a few outfits that were perfectly nice but would definitely leave his uncle spluttering and scandalized. The man still believed neck

glands should be fully covered at all times, and even the man's sleep clothes hid his from view.

When they were younger, he and his brother had speculated as to whether their uncle even had scent glands at all, or if he was actually spending their inheritance on alpha perfume

and fooling them all, accumulating money and power and working with the company's board to take over the company that rightfully belonged to the eldest alpha and his children. Unfortunately, that had not been his plan and lwj would soon be forced to take over the company. Alas.

They had even joked at times, laughing and giggling beneath the sheets of lxc's bed whenever lwj had nightmares and snuck into his room, that maybe he was hiding a mating bite from a mysterious omega, one who had died or abandoned him, beneath his stuffy old clothes.

It had been

almost 20 years since they had come into their uncle's care and they had never once managed to catch sight of his neck glands, having tried everything, save walking in on their guardian changing or showering, trying to catch sight of them. Once they had even managed to talk him

into vacationing in a humid location, hoping he would be forced to swim or at least wear less clothing, but he had shown a surprising resistance to the heat! And a less surprising hatred for swimming! Their plan failing had been disappointing, but overall it had been a good

trip, save lwj's sudden presentation and subsequent rut, wild and yearning and screaming for another alpha even then, occurring in their vacation home. He never had found out how much that cleaning bill had cost...

"Ok!" wwx said cheerfully, shocking lwj out of his thoughts.

"Don't you worry A-Zhan, Xian-gege will make sure your tummy gets nice and full," he said, before adding in a soft, lilting voice, "If I were there perhaps I would fill it up with something else I made, something salty, perhaps?"

lwj did not walk into the bedroom doorframe for

the nth time in barely 24 hours. "Shameless," he hissed while the other alpha giggled, the soft shuffle of fabrics following as lwj entered their bedroom. Their bedroom. He had begun to refer to it as that, in his head at least, after he had moved his belongings in he day before

with the help of a few highly annoyed servants.

He pulled open the closet, where he had stuffed the majority of his clothes in hopes that they would absorb the tiniest hint of wwx's smell. He might be upset with the man for teasing him so mercilessly in front of jyl yesterday

but he still really liked the man, okay?

Setting the phone aside, he dug around in the closet for the clothes he was looking for, pulling out the tight black pants and loose, off-white shirt. He stripped out of his clothes, listening curiously as the rustle of fabric continued

flowing through from wwx's side of the conversation along with the soft sound of him humming that song.

"I have changed," lwj said, stepping back to examine himself in wwx's floor length mirror, mounted to the back of one of the closet doors.

"Send gege a picture?" wwx asked,

tone edging between begging and teasing.

lwj grabbed the phone, shifting his face into a noticeable frown before snapping a photo for wwx and sending it off.

"Oh noes!" wwx cried. "My sweet boy looks so very sad! Gege must have truly hurt his feelings! Gege must endeavour to

make it up to him!"

lwj huffed. "Xian-gege," he tried to explain, "I was just-"

"Shush you!" the older man cut him off. "Let gege have his fun and make it up to you!"

"Okay," lwj agreed after a moment, wondering if wwx had known the whole time that he was never actually upset.

'Ah~ but look at my beautiful little alpha!" wwx said, somehow half-cheerfully, half-despondent. "Ah~" the other alpha sighed, "if I were there I doubt I would be able to keep my hands off of my A-Zhan."

lwj glanced back down at the photo. He had been mostly focused on whether

he looked unhappy enough in the photo and looking at it now he had to admit that, ignoring his frown, he looked quite nice. The outfit had been one of the ones designed for him to mess with sms, one of a kind and perfect for his body type. The pants cut him just right, hugging

his thighs and hips tightly while the light shirt flowed out around him, almost transparent in the right light, the poet sleeves a striking contrast and something rarely seen in alpha clothing.

He hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether he wanted to send another, frown

free photo to wwx when his phone buzzed with a message from the other man. He glanced down at his still open messages to find a photo of wwx, dressed in an almost entirely black ensemble, save the bright red shirt buttons and socks, just barely visible beneath the hem of his

pants.

"Beautiful," lwj breathed out unthinkingly, wwx laughing quietly on the other side of the call.

"Why thank you, A-Zhan," wwx said, his voice almost nervous, like he hadn't been expecting lwj to tell him how gorgeous he was, perhaps hadn't even expected lwj to think it.

Silly man, how could anyone not think him breathtaking, standing in a messy bedroom, in pants that, even from the front, obviously wrapped tightly around his plump ass. He had a shimmering black shirt tucked into them, loose around the collar with the sleeves rolled up,

showing off wwx's surprisingly dainty wrists and the tattoo that stretched up his left arm, disappearing under the cuff. lwj had been too shy to ask about the rarely seen tattoo, usually tucked behind the long, if light, shirts wwx usually wore, even in the warm air of

Lotus Pier, even at night. When wwx returned he'd ask about it, take the time to fully examine in once he got wwx naked, see how far it extended, whether it stretched across his chest or back or-

"A-Zhan?" wwx asked, his tone edging back towards teasing. "You still with me?

Or get distracted by something?"

"Mn," lwj agreed, locking his phone, "distracted by something very beautiful." He smirked slightly when wwx sputtered a bit. The fact that wwx never seemed to grow used to lwj teasing him back was shockingly endearing and he hoped he'd never stop

surprising the other man.

lwj turned to the dresser to search for the pair of dark grey socks that went with the outfit. He had outright refused to wear the more colourful, patterned socks that had originally come with it, while the designer insisted that he could not wear black

or white socks with it. The dark grey socks, with a subtle stripped pattern woven through them in an identical shade of shimmering grey, had been a compromise between them.

Never. The word rattled around inside lwj. Never was a long time. Never was forever. Never was stupid and

impossible and lwj wanted it. More and more he found himself thinking about it, especially in the lonely, accepting dark of night, sleepy and sad and trying to find ways for it to happen, find a way for them to be together, as much as people like them could be together.

More and more he thought he could feel wwx wanting it to, wanting this thing between them to not be just a summer fling, not just a fragment of time before they moved back to their lives.

lwj moved through the house, their house, even if wwx wasn't there with him.

Their house for the moment, maybe forever. lwj had discovered there was another room, tucked away and unused, at the end of the hallway, packed with boxes and a desk. wwx had probably intended it as an office but never set it up. Perhaps lwj could set it up as a bedroom.

Come visit Lotus Pier every summer, when jyl was likely to visit her family after she married, stay with wwx because "it was convenient" or "he wanted to stay out of the Jiang's hair." Slip enough of his belongings into the room that no one would question that he was sleeping

there when he really tucked himself against the other alpha every night. Tucked wwx inside him over and over and-

"Whatcha doing?" wwx asked, snapping the silence that had stretched between them as lwj returned to the entryway.

"Putting on shoes," lwj replied, grabbing the

shoes that went with many of the outfits his classmates had designed for him. Most of the outfits had specific shoes that went with them, the students who enjoyed designing shoes having gone haywire when he gave them a near unlimited budget. These particular shoes were one of

three that had been specifically made to go with most of the outfits, so he could travel with as many outfits as he wanted but leave the dozens of shoes that matched at home.

Soon he would move into a new apartment, close to his family company, and find the shoes a permanent

home. There were so many they would likely end up in the closet with the outfits themselves, but the idea of placing them in his entryway to scandalize his uncle had its merits. The man really needed to loosen up.

lwj finished putting his shoes on, straightening up and reaching

for his keys, wallet and headphones, turning them on and switching his phone over to them before trying to slip everything into his pockets, a difficult task given how his pants had "omega pockets," small and all but useless.

"Whatcha doing now?" wwx snickered when lwj growled

lightly.

"Trying to put my things in my pockets. I had forgotten how small they were," he huffed. "At school I had a bag I could put everything in."

"Grab one of my bags," wwx suggested, telling lwj where to find them in the entryway closet. "Ooh," he added as lwj began

rummaging through the bin of bags and other accessories, "there should be a cute little purse on a chain strap in there. It would go great with that look. There might even be a belt in there that matches too."

lwj pushed a few items aside before finding a metal chain and pulling

the item out, finding the belt helpfully tucked inside the small, vintage bag. He hesitated for a moment, knowing the bag was definitely a "purse," designed for omegas even if it wasn't the more traditional "cutesy" style many omegas seemed to favour.

"Does it work?" wwx asked,

lwj quickly stuffing his things into it and pulling the belt through the empty loops of his pants, slightly embarrassed that he had completely forgotten the pants had a belt that went with them.

"Yes," lwj answered, slipping the bag over his shoulder and heading out the door.

"Alright," he said, locking the door behind himself, "where am I going?"

"Hmm..." wwx hummed and lwj began to seriously wonder if the other man even had a plan, besides getting him to leave the house to look for food... somewhere. "Left!" wwx suddenly cried.

lwj blinked,

shifting to look to the left. "Is- is that all?" he asked. That wasn't a lot of information.

"Left until you reach a purple lantern at a five way crossroad," wwx unhelpfully added as lwj began walking down the path, taking him around wwx's house and out of the courtyard his

house lived in, quickly turning not towards the lakes but the thick forest that bordered the compound.

"I have no been this way before," he admitted, the main buildings, including where the guest rooms were located, coming from the right side path and jyl and he having mainly

hung out around the lake during their free time, even if lwj still refused to get in.

"That doesn't surprise me," the older alpha laughed, "not many people use this path or go into the forest much anymore."

lwj hummed, moving through the worn path, quickly turning overgrown,

although not enough to seriously impede him or threaten his clothing. "Pretty," lwj said, glancing around as he abruptly entered the woods. He hadn't realized they were so close to wwx's house.

"Mmm," wwx hummed in agreement, followed by what sounded suspiciously like him

locking his own door, "it's one of my favourite places in Lotus Pier, even if it doesn't get the love and care it deserves."

"It is still part of Lotus Pier?" lwj asked curiously, gingerly stepping over a thick exposed root.

"Oh yeah," wwx said, his tone almost annoyed,

"basically everything that doesn't have houses on it is part of Lotus Pier, even though a bunch of it hasn't been used in generations. Some of it used to be farm land but once the Jiangs moved into shipping they let it go, most of it is now the forest where you're walking."

lwj looked up into the tall trees. Saying it "hasn't been used in generations" was probably being generous, lwj wasn't knowledgeable enough about trees to know exactly how long it took for this species to grow this tall, but he was quite sure it was at least a few hundred years.

"The Jiangs have lived here for a long time," he said mildly, wwx huffing in response.

"Oh yeah, ridiculously long. One of those horrible old families that holds on to what they have no matter how stupid it is," wwx complained, the sounds of cars and people beginning to echo

through the call.

lwj narrowed his eyes. The man was apparently on his own, secret adventure. "Xian-gege has a complaint about the forest?" he asked, coming to a stop at crossroad. "The path splits in two," he said.

"Keep going left," wwx said almost automatically and lwj

wondered how many times he had walked this path to know exactly where lwj was and where he needed to go. "When I was younger," he said, "I tried to talk Fengmian-ge's father into giving the most of the forest to Yunmeng, to be converted into a park, green space, whatever.

I'd mostly managed to convince him by the time I was heading off to school, even got him and Waipo to agree to fund an educational facility, and we set aside a small part for a hotel. There aren't nearly enough rooms in town to support the tourist economy here," he added.

"I have reached the lantern," lwj quickly interrupted, glancing down each of the paths, the one furthest to the right appearing almost completely overgrown.

"Go down the second one to the right," wwx told him, muttering a quiet, "Hi," to someone before continuing on his story.

"Then yzy made a courting offer for Fengmian-ge and basically said if they dared give away anything that would one day belong to her she'd rescind the offer." The other alpha released a long puff of air. "Stupid, they don't even use it or take care of it."

"Mn," lwj hummed,

glancing around at the increasingly isolated path. "The one path back at the lantern was very overgrown," he noted, rounding an abrupt corner that began taking him towards where he thought the main lake was located, although he had gone around so many turns he wasn't completely

positive. He was, however, positive that if he lost service and his guide he was going to be lost. Hopefully wwx would be able to help jyl find him if that happened.

"Ha!" the older man laughed. "You have no idea! I keep most of these trails cleared, either by myself or I pay

someone to do it. That path back there just has some pain in the ass plants growing on it and, well, unless someone's clearing it out once a month it becomes unusable. Since almost no one else using these trails I kind of gave up keeping it clear."

"I see," lwj said as the path

shifted left again, the lake peeking through the leaves around him as the path led him along its edge.

"Really sucks, there's a nice little spring down that path, I used to go there to have picnics when I was a teen," wwx sighed, before asking, "Are you there yet?" just as lwj

was rounding a bend and-

He stopped short, blinking at the small building set onto a pier poking out into the lake. "I believe so," he said, slowly approaching the building. Several boats were docked near it and numerous people were sitting out on the pier, eating and chatting.

"Sweet!" wwx said. "Go find the hostess."

lwj wandered out onto the pier, searching for the entrance to the building, which was pointing out towards the lake. He pushed his way inside and a young omega glanced up at him, gaze sharpening as she said, "Reservation only."

"Give me to her," wwx told him, lwj automatically pulling the phone out of his bag, switching it off bluetooth and holding it out to her.

She gave him an annoyed look, sighing while she accepted the phone, repeating, "Reservation only," into it, her face almost immediately

lighting up when wwx began to speak.

"Of course!" she said, smiling and handing lwj's phone back to him. "This way, Lan-xiansheng," she said, motioning for lwj to follow her up a set of stairs.

lwj trailed obediently behind her, fiddling quickly with his phone to put the other

alpha back in his ears, glad he owned headphones that allowed him to hear both what was happening around him and his calls.

"Here you are, Lan-xiansheng," the woman told him as they entered a private room that looked out on the lake. The omega moved to push open a large, glass

accordion door, saying, "Your waiter will be with you in a moment. Please do not hesitate to let him know if anything is not to your liking," before turning and swishing back down the stairs.

lwj looked around the room. It was-

"Fancy," he said quietly into the phone.

“Yeah,” wwx agreed. “This place has been around for a few generations, Fengmian-ge’s, like, great-great-great-great grandmother was a huge fan of the current owners great-whatever grandmother’s cooking,” wwx told him. “So she gave the family this little piece of land to run a

restaurant on. The only stipulation was that they always have a private room for the Jiang’s to use.”

“This room?” lwj asked, eyes shifting around it. Even compared to the fancy decor he had caught sight of downstairs the room was extravagant. He may have been raised going to

these kind of places with his brother and uncle but usually he had adult supervision and suddenly he felt extremely young and inexperienced. What kind of etiquette did this kind of establishment require again?

“Yup,” wwx popped out, startling him out of his thoughts,

“though this isn’t the original building, obviously.”

lwj stared wide eyed around the room. Obvious!? Why was it obvious??

“A-Zhan?” wwx asked after what even lwj knew what a too long silence. “You still there?”

“Yes,” lwj gulped out. This was fine. He would be fine.

“A-Zhan,” wwx repeated sternly, “what’s wrong?”

“I’m just nervous,” lwj said carefully. “I am not used to being in places like this alone.”

“But you aren’t alone, A-Zhan,” the older man assured him. “I’m right here with you, sweetheart. I mean, I know I’m not right there,

where I should be, where I wish I was, but I am here. As much as I can be. If you’re unsure of anything just ask! But I swear, everyone there is pretty chill and gets paid a lot, you could strip down to your undies and they wouldn’t say a thing.”

lwj sighed and shifted his gaze

back out the window. It was a beautiful view, a light breeze bringing in the quiet chatter of people and birds and the soft rush of waves, the sunlight dancing off of each ripple and scattering into the trees.

He was just about to speak when wwx suddenly added, “Speaking of your

undies, did my A-Zhan put on one of my gifties today?”

Heat flooded down lwj’s neck at the reminder of the older man’s gift.

“A-Zhan~” wwx called through the phone, tone teasing and aggravating. “You still there? Or maybe you forgot and had to peak into your pants to check-“

“I will hang up on Xian-gege again,” lwj growled, blushing harder when the other man simply laughed.

“Alright, alright,” wwx said, “I’ll stop teasing you, at least about the underwear. I can’t promise I won’t tease A-Zhan about anything else though,” he sighed. “It’s a beloved

part of our dynamic, and even though I’m trying to make it up to A-Zhan I-“

“There is nothing to make up,” lwj insisted, fiddling with the chain of his borrowed bag.

“Ah~ I already said I know that, sweet boy,” wwx cooed quietly at him. “Fine, fine,” he added, “I’m trying to

cheer you up then. How about that? My A-Zhan is obviously distraught that I am gone and I must make him feel better.”

lwj bit his lip, glancing down at the bag, black and vintage and he wondered who it had belonged to. Even though it was black he couldn’t see the older alpha

having ever used it, even when he was younger.

“Mn,” he finally agreed, “distraught.” He smiled slightly when wwx cooed at him again. What a odd thing to crave, the light and freeing feeling of the older man enjoying him acting like a child, spoiled and needy, enjoying him being

himself in a way he had rarely been allowed. His heart stuttered slightly as the image of summer gone flashed through him, wwx and his affection and tolerance and laughter gone with it.

“Miss Xian-gege,” he whispered softly, glancing up at the staircase for any sign of his

waiter.

“I miss A-Zhan, too,” wwx sighed. “Fuck,” he laughed, “what did we do? I know we never actually said this was supposed to be a summer fling but I think it was kinda implied!”

“Mn,” lwj agreed seriously, earning him another quiet laugh from the other man. “I believe we

both missed the memo.”

“I’d say,” wwx moaned. “Aiya! I knew there was a reason I spent four decades not falling in-“ wwx cut off in a coughing fit, lwj clamping his eyes closed as a wildfire spread across his body, hot and bright and-

“Lan-xiansheng?” a light voice greeted him.

"Yes?" lwj squeaked, trying to will the heat away from his face.

The small beta man smiled at him. "Lan-xiansheng," he said again, "may I get you a drink?"

lwj automatically parroted back the name of a tea wwx said into his ear, giving the man a strained smile as he accepted

the menu. The man bowed, saying, "I will be back with your drink in a moment," before spinning on his heels and descending back down the stairs.

wwx cleared his throat, voice slightly strained when he spoke again, "Well, personally I would order-"

And so the afternoon went,

with the older man advising him what to order and what to do, how to behave and what to say, lwj's face never quite cooling as he obediently followed the directions. Eventually wwx arrived at his destination, a small restaurant on the outskirts of Yiling, and he ordered his own

food and drink, the conversation kept light and anecdotal as they ate, neither particularly in the mood for anything heavy or personal after what had nearly passed between them. After the words wwx had nearly brought to life.

~

"So, did A-Zhan enjoy his meal?" wwx asked as lwj

exited the building, blinking in the bright, late afternoon sunlight.

"Mn," lwj hummed, "it was very good. Xian-gege has excellent taste."

"Well of course I do," wwx laughed, teasing, "I picked you up didn't I?"

lwj huffed and set off down the dock towards the path he had come

from, glancing around at all the boats that had appeared since he first arrived, the tables on the dock, which had been busy when he arrived, now filled to the brim with laughing, smiling people.

"Alright!" wwx said, followed by a long yawn. "Where to next?"

"Perhaps to bed,"

lwj said, "Xian-gege is old and needs his sleep."

"Yes, I do," wwx sighed as lwj began navigating the path back to their house. "Unfortunately, I had been planning to exhaust myself with a certain video that never arrived. Ah~ how will I fall asleep without it?"

"How indeed,"

lwj said dryly, blushing at the idea of the older alpha falling asleep, sated and happy after watching him-

"Perhaps A-Zhan can tell me a bedtime story when he gets back?" wwx asked, tone sickly sweet and reeking of bad intentions.

"Hmm..." lwj hummed, narrowing his eyes as he

came to the crossroad and asking wwx which path he needed to take, not willing to accidentally get lost just because he refused to ask for directions. He paused before continuing down the path he had thought was correct when wwx confirmed it.

"I am not good at telling stories,"

lwj told the other man, before turning back and glancing down the overgrown path wwx had talked about earlier.

"Don't worry, A-Zhan!" wwx cheered as lwj slipped his phone out and took a few photos of the path and the plants growing across it, "Xian-gege will help you!"

"Mn," lwj hummed doubtfully. "Xian-gege will help," he said disbelievingly as he set off down the path again.

"And what, exactly, does that mean?" wwx asked testily before bidding a quiet, "Hello," to someone as he also returned to his house in Yiling.

"It means," lwj said,

stepping over a gnarled root, "that Xian-gege is not giving off the impression that he actually want to help."

wwx made an affronted sound, going off on a rant about rude little boys that left lwj smiling and releasing quiet, huffing laughs as he walked

"Maybe I'll just tell

you a bedtime story then," wwx sighed as lwj exited the forest, squinting against the bright light and heat.

"It is not bedtime," lwj said mildly as he walked through Lotus Pier, catching sight of the occasional servant who looked him over like they had never seen him before,

like he hadn't been living here for the last a month.

"Yeah, but I'm sleepy~" the other alpha whined. "Besides, I was looking forward to A-Zhan taking me to bed yesterday, but then the whole A-Li thing threw that plan out the window."

"Perhaps if Xian-gege had not been so

badly behaved I would have called him back," lwj said coldly as he fumbled inside his bag looking for his keys.

"I wasn't that bad..." wwx pouted, sniffing for effect, lwj rolling his eyes as he pushed his way back inside. "A-Zhan is just so fun to tease, and I'm just one man,

how could I possibly help myself?"

"Perhaps Xian-gege will be able to help himself next time when he remembers his punishment," lwj said, slipping his shoes off and moving towards the bedroom to remove the increasingly uncomfortable outfit.

"Ah ha!" wwx cried, "so you admit

you're holding the video hostage as punishment!?"

"I was never denying it," lwj said as he began to undress, catching sight of himself in the mirror, shirt off, the waistband of his underwear peaking out over the waist of his pants. "Where is Xian-gege now?" he asked. It had

taken wwx almost 20 extra minutes to reach his restaurant so...

"I'm about halfway back," the other man said, completely unaware of lwj's own evil intentions as he lifted his phone and snapped a picture of himself. "Why?"

lwj smirked as he navigated to their messages and sent

off the photo. "Oh, no reason in particular," he said as he tossed the phone aside and began stripping off his clothes. "I believe I have thought of a bedtime story for Xian-gege," he said as wwx squawked, apparently having opened up the photo.

"Lan Wangji!" wwx hissed.

"Mn," lwj hummed innocently, dropping all but his underwear to the floor and grabbing his phone to snap another photo of himself, this time of him looking over his shoulder at the mirror, the underwear hugging tight around his ass. "Is there a problem?" he asked as he sent off

the second photo. He pulled the bed covers back, enjoying the sound of the older alpha moaning and complaining and complimenting him in his ear as he slipped into the bed.

"A-Zhan, oh fuck look at you. Fuck are those- fuck they are aren't they? Those are the undies I left you?"

"Mn," lwj hummed, glancing down at the bunny underwear.

"Fuck, A-Zhan," wwx moaned. "So mean, so fucking mean. I'm so far from my house and now I've got to walk there with a boner and- oh shit, I probably reek. You really want that, baby? You want everyone in Yiling to know how

I smell when I'm horny for you?"

lwj growled quietly and wwx laughed. "Everyone is gonna know, sweetheart. I'm gonna get to my house, push my way in and everyone's gonna know I'm gonna fuck my fist to you. You like that, sweet boy? You like knowing everyone will know I'm taken?

Like knowing everyone will know I'm yours?"

"Xian-gege," lwj whined, "I'm supposed to be the one telling a story."

A startled laugh echoed through the call. "Ah, so that's how it's gonna be, hmm?" wwx teased. "A-Zhan is gonna spend the next 20 minutes telling me a dirty story?

Getting me all riled up while I walk, so I'm desperate and horny when I finally get myself inside?"

"Yes," lwj hissed, pressing a palm into his cock. How had he gotten so hard just from wwx talking about that? Talking about how wwx was his?

"Such a mean boy," wwx laughed.

"Alright, baby," wwx sighed, his tone much too relaxed and teasing for lwj's liking, "gimme your worst."

Oh. wwx didn't think he could do it, didn't think lwj could dirty talk him, at least not enough to actually rile him up. lwj narrowed his eyes. He'd show him. Game. On.

"Once," lwj started, swallowing totally not nervously, "there was a young man who lived all alone."

"Why did he live all alone?" wwx asked cheerfully.

lwj pressed his lips tightly together. "Because he was cursed," he said curtly.

"Why was he cursed?" wwx asked just as

cheerfully as before.

"Because a sorcerer didn't like his family."

"Why didn't-"

"Are you going to ask questions the whole time?" lwj asked testily, frowning when wwx simply laughed.

"Of course!" wwx told him. "What kind of child doesn't ask a thousand questions about their

bedtime story!"

lwj sighed loudly setting wwx off into another round of giggles. "I'm sorry, A-Zhan," he managed between laughs. "Is something wrong?"

"No," lwj growled as he started again. "Once, there was a young man who lived all alone because he was cursed by a sorcerer

who did not like his family, as they had once refused him entrance to their home for being old and strange looking," he said quickly, wwx snickering in the background at his run on sentence.

"What kind of curse did he have?" wwx asked, giggling when lwj growled lightly at him.

"The old sorcerer said, 'As you have called me strange I will curse your child to be even stranger than I,' and he cursed the child to be an alpha who was attracted to other alphas," lwj said.

"A-Zhan..." wwx sighed, cut off when lwj finally shushed him.

"And so they sent him

away to live alone in shame. Sometimes his omega mother and brother would visit him, but never his alpha father, nor his alpha sister, and eventually even his mother and brother visited him only once a year."

"A-Zhan, are you really telling me a depressingly sad story as the

lead up to dirty talk?" wwx asked in a mildly concerned voice.

"Yes," lwj said sternly, "now shut up," setting wwx off laughing again. When the other man had finally settled down lwj continued. "So alone he lived for years and years, wondering what he had done, what was wrong

with him. That all changed when one day, in the late spring of his 20th year, he was wandering through the woods around his home and came across a beautiful, injured young alpha."

"Did he fall in love with the alpha at first sight?" wwx asked.

"Yes," lwj replied. "The moment

the lonely alpha saw the injured man he was gone, the only thing that mattered to him was the man. So he picked him up as gently as he could and carried his limp body back to his home, where he tucked him into his bed and began to care for his wounds."

"Did he scent him?" wwx

(A/N: this story as definitely kinda dark, with lwj taking inspiration from a somewhat disturbing novel. It's definitely dubcon, verging on noncon at times, and bitching adjacent, because it is unknown if the lonely alpha scenting the man effected him or his attraction)

asked quietly, the sound of a crosswalk beeping behind his voice.

"Yes," lwj told him, "the lonely alpha scented the injured alpha constantly. On the first day he was asleep he pressed his fingers to the injured man's wrists, on the second he pressed his own wrists to the

man's wrists, on the third he pressed his wrists to the man's neck. Each day, after he had scented the man he would press his nose his neck and take a deep breath, smelling more and more of himself inside the injured man."

"A-Zhan," wwx asked seriously, "is this inspired by that

American novel about the obsessive alpha who kidnaps his classmate and basically bitches him?"

"Yes," lwj said before quickly moving on. "By the sixth day the lonely alpha was just thinking of scenting the man's groin glands when the man awoke."

"Mr. Lonely Alpha was just gonna

(A/N: implied wangxian noncon kink)

sexual scent some unconscious dude?" wwx asked, voice heavy and lwj wondered if he had misstepped, if he had read the other man wrong.

"Is that-" lwj started. "I'm sorry, I should not have-"

"A-Zhan," wwx interrupted him, voice heavy and

breathy and oh- "A-Zhan, it's fine. It's- it's more than fine," wwx said, swallowing audibly. "Fuck, how far is my house? Why is it so far?"

lwj blinked up at the ceiling, slipping a hand under his underwear. "The moment the lonely alpha's eyes met the injured man's he knew that

if there was every a doubt in his mind, if there was ever a chance he would let the man go, it was gone. The man was his, always, forever." He gave himself a long, slow stroke, sighing quietly at the relief.

"Oh, fuck, A-Zhan are you-?" wwx asked, the fast splat of feet against

concrete flowing through the call. Was he running? Was wwx running so he would get back faster, so he could touch himself just a bit sooner?

"Yes," lwj gasped out, giving himself a firm tug.

"Fuck. What did the injured man do? Did he like the lonely alpha back or did he-"

~

A/N: I REALLY REALLY want to write a fully noncon version of this story, Dark Lonely Alpha!! But I also want to write a sweet, "No, no it was love at first sight for the injured alpha too (even if it's a bit dubcon because of the scenting)" version as well! Hmm...

I'm thinking I'll do the sweet version now and then have wwx bring up the noncon version later. I think I'll do that as an extra though, so people who don't want to read lwj telling a noncon bedtime story can skip it lol

~

"Loved him back," lwj gasped out. "Love at first sight. The injured alpha was so thankful to the lonely alpha that he asked, 'How can I ever repay you? You have saved my life and therefore my life is now yours. Ask of me whatever you desire.' The lonely alpha looked at the

injured alpha, now glowing and smiling at him, watching him as though he were the centre of the universe. 'Stay with me,' the lonely alpha said, watching with fearful eyes, waiting for the injured man to refuse, to say, 'No, you may have saved my life but I cannot stay here

forever,' but the other alpha simply smiled and leaned forward, his nose almost brushing the lonely alpha's, and said, 'My life is yours. I will remain here for however long you allow me to.'"

"Then what happened?" wwx asked breathlessly.

"And then the injured alpha said,

'But I am unsure if you will want me to stay long, for there is no way I can stay here and keep my hands off you. You are the most beautiful man I have ever seen.' 'But I am an alpha!' the lonely alpha cried, pulling back, 'it is strange and shameful for us to be together.'

'Ah,' the injured alpha sighed, 'whoever told you that? How could anyone not yearn for your beauty. How could anyone not yearn to have as much of you inside them as they can?' the man teased."

"A-Zhan~" the other alpha whined.

"And then the injured alpha pulled the lonely

alpha back in," lwj continued, breaking off into a moan as he stroked himself, "and whispered into his ear, 'I can already feel you inside me, can feel your scent flowing through me. Perhaps you wish to be inside me in another way as well?'"

"Oh fuck, I bet he did," wwx laughed,

the jingle of keys laughing along with him as he unlocked his door. "What did they do, A-Zhan?" he asked as he slammed the door behind him. "What did they do, baby?"

"What is Xian-gege doing?" lwj asked, listening intently for the sound of wwx moving through his house, falling

into bed and-

"Leaning against my front door and pulling my cock out," wwx groaned.

"Mmm," lwj moaned, "gege."

"Keep going, A-Zhan, keep telling gege his bedtime story. What happened next?"

"He- ah~" lwj tried, listening to the sound of wwx stroking himself wet and rough and-

"Where'd you go, sweetheart?" wwx asked, his voice teasing and heavy. "Come on, baby, you were doing so good. Tell me the rest of my story."

lwj's hand stilled as he took a few heaving breaths, trying to centre himself, trying to remember what should come next...

"The lonely alpha nodded," lwj finally said, "'Yes,' he rasped out, the injured alpha pulling him fully in until their lips pressed together and then pulling him fully onto the bed. The injured alpha settled on top of him, smiling softly down at the no longer lonely alpha.

'I can't wait to have you inside me,' the no longer injured alpha said before diving down and kissing his beloved alpha again. Their fingers slide through each other's hair and into their clothes and soon the beloved alpha and the healed alpha were bare, naked skin pressed to

(A/N: power bottom injured/healed alpha lol)

naked skin, their cocks pressed against each other."

"Yeah? Then what happened? The beloved alpha fucked the healed one?"

"No," lwj said, a small laugh escaping him, "for he did not know what to do, and he told the healed alpha so.

The healed alpha simply smiled and said, 'Do not worry, my love, I know what to do and will lead the way.'"

wwx laughed breathily. "I thought the healed alpha wanted the beloved alpha inside him though?"

"Mn," lwj agreed, slowly resuming his strokes, "he did want his beloved

inside him and so, from his place on top of the beloved alpha, he slipped his beloved's cock inside him and- and-"

lwj bit his lip. He didn't have any experience with sex, okay? He didn't really know what came next!

"And what, sweet boy? What happened after that?"

"I- I don't..." lwj trailed off.

wwx laughed softly through the phone. "Oh, sweet boy, you will, trust me. The moment you get yourself seated on my cock you'll know just what to do." He sighed, the wet smacks of jerking off flowing through the call. "You know, most alpha's can't

ride, just having another alpha, anything at all really, inside them drives their instinct wild, but you? Ah, you took that toy so well. I think you'll get yourself on top of me and love it."

"Xian-gege," lwj moaned.

"Ah, you're gonna look so good on top of me, baby. Gonna ring

me dry with your horny little hole," he laughed. "Guess I should start training, start making sure I have enough self-control to last, make sure you can cum at least a few times while he ride me, while you use me."

lwj arched up on the bed, moaning and splattering cum across his

chest, his hand still moving across his dick.

"Fuck, baby. Did you just come?" wwx asked, laughing quietly when lwj moaned in agreement. "You satisfied now, sweetheart? Or you gonna keep stroking your cock until you come again?"

"Again," lwj mumbled, turning his head into his

pillow. "Gege~"

"What do you need, sweetheart? Tell gege what you need."

"More, Xian-gege~"

"You need me to say more? Or something else? Maybe my A-Zhan needs something inside him?" the other alpha asked, lwj moaning in response. "You got lube nearby?"

lwj nodded, blinking at

himself before mumbling an affirmative, wiggling around to grab the bottle he had left in the bedside table after his adventures with wwx's gift.

"Take a pillow and straddle it," the older alpha told him, his voice heavy and breathy. "Gege wants you to ride your hand, just like

you're gonna ride gege's cock one day."

lwj pulled one of the pillows down, face burning as he followed wwx's instructions, throwing his leg over it and squeezing some lube into his hand.

"Ah, such a good boy," wwx moaned, "following gege's instructions so beautifully."

lwj reached behind himself, gasping as one of his slippery fingers slipped inside him. He wiggled it around in the same manner he had the day before, curious and unsure if he enjoyed it or not until his hole had loosened and he had slipped more fingers inside, finally brushing

brushing that bundle of nerves inside him that shot pleasure through his system.

"What'cha doing, sweetheart?" wwx cooed into the phone, as though he didn't already know.

"Xian-gege," lwj complained, his voice whiny and embarrassed and dragging a giggle out of the older man.

"Come on~" wwx snickered. "Tell gege what you're doing. I thought A-Zhan was supposed to be teasing me, telling me a dirty, dirty bedtime story."

lwj growled lightly at him, clamping his eyes closed as the other man simply laughed harder at his expense. "Mean," he muttered,

"Xian-gege is mean."

"Very mean," the other alpha agreed. "Now tell gege what you're up to. Tell gege what a good, obedient boy you're being, fingering your pretty little hole just like gege asked you to."

lwj moaned as he slipped another finger inside. "Inside," he mumbled.

"Fingers inside."

"Yeah?" wwx asked breathily. "How many fingers do you have inside, baby?"

"Two," lwj gasped out, planting his free hand in front of his for support, falling too far forward when it landed on the bed and growling in frustration. "Want gege."

"I'm here,

sweetheart. I'm here," the other alpha told him. "I'm here, listening to you ride your hand, listening to you practice riding your hand so you can ride me when I'm there. Fuck. I can practically see you, baby. You're so beautiful, did you know that?"

lwj moaned and slipped a

third finger inside himself, gasping out, "Three," as he began shifting on his fingers, moving his hips up and down as best he could. "Moving," he whined out, biting his lip when wwx moaned.

"Yeah? You riding your hand for gege?" wwx breathed out and oh, lwj hadn't heard him

this wrecked before.

lwj flexed his legs and core, pushing himself back up and reaching for his phone, the change in angle finally letting him reach that wonderful spot inside him and leaving him moaning and grinding against his fingers as he fumbled with his phone, raising it

above his head and-

"Fucking hell!" wwx cried when the picture went though, dirty and beautiful and even lwj could agree he looked like a treat, one hand hidden behind him, mouth gaping and eyes watering, his cock laying hard and wet across his pillow. He shifted his gaze down

at it, dragging across the smooth fabric as he listened to wwx coming and swearing, like he always did, before he laughed quietly. "Fuck, baby. So beautiful, you make me just as trigger happy as a teenager." He laughed a bit harder, the jingle of keys following. "Fuck, I got cum

on my doormat."

lwj moaned and thrust harder down onto his hand, throwing his head back as he moved. "Gege~" he whined, moving harder and faster, whatever wwx was telling him through the phone blurring together as he imagined it was the other man beneath him, wwx's hard cock

inside of his hole instead of just his own hand, reaching further, deeper, warmer. "Xian-gege," he cried out as he came, cum splashing out across the bed as he arched back, apparently a bit too far when he lost his balance and tipped over backwards.

"Ow," he said, after a long

moment of catching is breath, wincing as he pulled his hand out from under him.

"Ow?" wwx asked seriously. "What ow? What did you do?"

"Fell over," lwj said, wiggling to get his knees out from under him and grimacing when one of his feet touched his cooling cum.

"You fell over?" wwx laughed. "How did you do that, sweetheart?"

"Dunno," lwj mumbled as he righted himself, glancing down at his ruined pillow. Ah, well, guess he'd have to use wwx's pillow. Such a tragedy.

"Are you okay?" wwx asked, seemingly trying to stop his laughter.

"Mn..." lwj hummed, adding, "Have cum on my foot."

wwx spluttered a laugh. "You got cum on your foot? Gross."

"Mn," lwj agreed seriously, looking around for something to wipe it off with. "Need to clean it off."

"Mn, an important mission," the other alpha said seriously.

"You gonna take gege along for another shower?" he asked teasingly, lwj narrowing his eyes at the phone.

"And Xian-gege says I am insatiable," he said mildly as he wiped his foot on the clean side of the pillow before stripping the case off and, after a moment of hesitation,

wiping the rest of himself clean.

"What can I say?" wwx sighed, before moaning into what lwj assumed was a large stretch. "I did say A-Zhan makes me feel like a trigger happy teenager, why shouldn't he make me feel like a horny teenager too?"

"Hmm..." lwj hummed.

"In that case, I will expect that Xian-gege will be able to keep me satisfied when he returns," he said seriously, smirking when wwx sputtered.

"Aiya!" wwx cried. "Just because I'm horny like a teenage doesn't mean my poor, aging body will be able to keep up with you!"

"Xian-gege said he would train so he could keep up with me," lwj continued as though the other man hadn't spoken. "I expect to see results in his performance."

"A-Zhan," the older alpha said sternly. "A-Zhan, if you aren't careful you may actually kill me. Is that what you want?

To make your poor gege so horny that he dies? To use his cock until he has nothing left and keels over?"

"Hmmm..." lwj hummed as he moved his phone onto the bedside table and began stripping the bed. "I am sure Xian-gege will survive."

"I'm not!" wwx laughed. "Ah, my silly,

horny boy," he sighed. "You're so great."

lwj's hands froze where they had been pulling the sheet free. "Xian-gege is great too," he said quietly as he resumed stripping the bed.

wwx hummed softly at him, both of them letting the silence stretch as lwj tidied up and wwx moved

about his house, the soft sound of water filling a glass and the rustle of fabric flowing through the call.

lwj tucked his phone under his arm as he grabbed all the bedding and tossed it into the washing machine, before discovering that there didn't appear to be any detergent.

"Xian-gege," he asked the older man, "where is your laundry detergent?"

"Laundry detergent?" wwx asked, sounding more confused than lwj would have thought possible over such a simple question. "Why would I have laundry detergent?"

"For your washing machine?"

"What washing machine?"

lwj stared, dumbstruck at the phone for a moment before shifting his eyes back to what was definitely, 100% a washing machine. "Xian-gege," he said seriously.

"A-Zhan," wwx said back just as seriously.

"Did you not know there was a washing machine

in the closet at the end of your hall?" he asked, eyes narrowing when wwx remained suspiciously silent.

"You... you're joking, right?" wwx laughed nervously. "There's no washing machine there, right?"

wwx continued laughing nervously as lwj snapped a picture and sent it off.

"Oh..." wwx said after a moment of probably staring stupidly at the photo. "Is there anyway we could, ya know, forget this conversation every happened? Pretend I just said, 'Oh, I ran out of detergent, sorry!' instead of just not knowing there was a washing machine in my house?"

lwj stared at the dirty sheets, debating whether to let wwx off and whether to just drop the sheets into Lotus Pier's laundry service in equal measure.

"Xian-gege," he asked after a moment. "What is in the room at the end of the hall?" More silence met lwj's question as he shut

the dirty sheets inside the washer. He would get detergent for it when he visited town tomorrow. "Xian-gege," he said seriously.

"A-Zhan," wwx tried to say seriously, his voice coming out high and squeaky. "I- uhm... a workshop?"

"Is that what Xian-gege calls an office?"

lwj asked mildly as he moved into the bathroom, grabbing an elastic to pull his hair up and out of the water.

"Totally," wwx squeaked. "That- that's totally what I refer to my, er, office as. A workshop. Yup. A workshop, that- that is what we uhm- what we cool kids called it

when I was young," the older man babbled, releasing a strained laugh as lwj entered the shower, setting his phone once again behind the creepy, unused lotus scented sugar scrub.

"I'm sure," lwj said dryly, twisting the shower on and shuddering as lukewarm water hit him.

lwj grabbed one of wwx's surprisingly numerous body washes and began cleaning himself, paying special attention to the foot that had rubbed into his cum. He had cleaned it earlier but- but he could still feel it, okay!? It needed to be thoroughly decontaminated and then he needed

to thoroughly clean everywhere he had stepped on his way to the shower.

In the background wwx continued being surprisingly silent and lwj was beginning to wonder if the call had cut off when the other man finally spoke. "I have to go," he said, tone dead and empty.

"Xian-gege?"

lwj asked, quickly turning off the shower. "What's wrong?"

"I just- I just-" wwx stammered.

"Xian-gege?" lwj said, reaching for his phone and startling when wwx yelled a loud, "ARGH!" into the phone.

"For fuck's sake!" he continued to yell while lwj stared wide eyed at

the phone. "The washing machine was bad enough, but an entire fucking room? What is wrong with me?"

"Xian-gege-" lwj started, only for the angry alpha to cut him off.

"I gotta go, I gotta go check around this house, cause I- I don't even know. What else have I missed?

Can you take pictures?" wwx suddenly asked.

"Pictures?" lwj squeaked.

"Yeah, pictures. Pictures of the washing machine and the room, cause I'm seriously... like there is nothing in my head about them? Is there shit in the room?"

"Yes..."

"I wonder what's in it... feel free to

go through it, I doubt there's anything too important or private in there, I mean... it's not like I'm missing anything, ya know?," wwx told him. "I lose things all the time, but I always find them, and you know what?" he asked and lwj could practically smell the older alpha's

burning scent from here.

"No?" lwj hesitantly said.

"Just take pictures of the entire fucking house, cause who knows what else I missed," the older alpha told him.

"Okay?" lwj asked, said, agreed. He didn't even know if wwx was listening to him anymore as he continued babbling

about his shitty memory and secret rooms.

"I gotta go," wwx finally said again. "I will message you if I find any mysterious rooms or items!"

"Okay," lwj said, saying a sad and confused, "goodbye," only after the other man had hung up.

He blinked at the phone. First jyl had

had lost her shit and now wwx. Weird few days.

~

First jyl had lost her shit, then wwx, and lwj was pretty sure he was going to be next.

"This is your fault," he hissed at jyl as they watched the procession of alpha's who's courting offers had been accepted enter the hall.

One after another the alphas entered, a storm of scents entering with them, trying to drown out the smell of their now serious competition. jzxuan and his awful cousin, jzxun, had been two of the first to arrive, and lqy, who wwx had successfully talked Madam Yu into accepting,

had quickly joined them, chatting one-sidedly with jzxuan and giving his cousin an unimpressed side-eye whenever he dared open his mouth. Slowly, other alphas, who jyl pointed out as "car dickhead," "chastity bitch," and "stinky alpha," entered as well, and then...

"I am going to Yiling," lwj sighed, turning to glare at jyl who was trying her best to maintain that innocent, polite smile that had been plastered on her face for days even as her smile grew strained and her eyes wide and concerned. "I am going to Yiling and I am never coming

back. I told you this would end badly, that you couldn't take your mother but no, you had to-"

"Yanli," Madam Yu's horrifyingly happy voice said as she appeared behind them, both of them turning to find her smiling brightly at them. Yup, they were fucked. lwj would go and pack.

"You must be so happy to see your suitors again, I do hope you don't mind that I took the liberty to accept a few offers you had missed." She glanced up at the man who had just entered, sneering in their direction before moving to stand near the Jin cousins and lqy,

trying to insert himself into their conversation while they barely registered his presence. "I know sms did not behave appropriately at your party, but he was one of the alphas I originally considered as potential mates for you, and I know how much my daughter values my opinions.

You accepted the offers of all the other alphas I chose and it seemed a shame to reject him based on a single mistake."

jyl's mouth twitched and her eyes fluttered wildly and for a moment lwj thought she might burst into tears before she sucked in a deep breath, her smile

evening out. "Of course muqin, it was indeed an oversight not to accept sms's offer. I appreciate muqin's help in correcting this and will do better."

"Mm..." Madam Yu hummed happily, "I expect you will." She nodded at them before turning to rejoin jzxuan's mother at the

entrance, greeting everyone who entered with a friendly, terrifying smile, each of jyl's potential mates releasing a mortifying spurt of sour fear when they thanked her for her hospitality.

"I'm so sorry, A-Zhan," jyl whispered through her smile. "I'll make this up to you,

I promise."

lwj simply growled at her and pulled out his phone, flipping to his messages with wwx, a mix of teasing and flirting and pictures of the workshop wwx had found at his house. An actual workshop this time, which he was renovating during his brief moment of free time,

which basically meant that in the last 48 hours he had spent 2 hours dusting it, sending lwj a video of him cleaning and sneezing. It was adorable and lwj wanted to eat him and help him clean, because the room was disgusting and lwj was having nightmares about it eating wwx

and the video had shown that the older alpha was not skilled at cleaning.

Me: I can still come to Yiling, yes?
Gege: A-Zhan!
Gege: Yes!
Gege: Always
Gege: But why?
Me: sms's courting offer was accepted.
Gege. What
Gege: Why would A-Li do that!?
Me: She did not.
Me: Madam Yu did.

lwj sneered at jyl as his phone rang and he turned to exit the room, nodding politely to cym, who gave him a surprisingly apologetic look.

"Xian-gege," he said as he answered the call, turning down a long hallway that went... somewhere.

"A-Zhan, are you okay?" the older alpha

asked him, sounding quiet concerned and distraught.

"Mn," lwj hummed, walking aimlessly down the hall, "I will survive."

"Will sms? Or my niece?" wwx asked, laughing quietly when lwj told him he had yet to decide their fate.

"Ah~ A-Zhan, I'm sorry. You're gonna be so miserable

there. You sure you can't just ditch Lotus Pier and come here? Say it's an internship, maybe your uncle would accept that," he suggested.

"I doubt shushu would, given how different our fields are," lwj sighed, listening as wwx talked quietly to someone in the background about

work.

"That sucks," wwx sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, but I have to go and-"

"It is fine," lwj said. "Thank you for calling, hearing Xian-gege's voice always makes me feel better."

"A-Zhan~" wwx whined dramatically, a small smile spreading across lwj's face. "Ah, how am I supposed

to hang up on you when you say such cute things- yes, yes, I know, I'm coming," wwx cut off as someone tried to rush him along. "Rude," wwx huffed, followed by what sounded like him haphazardly dumping the contents of his desk into a bag. "Rude, stupid meeting cutting off my call

with my A-Zhan."

"Mn," lwj hummed, amused by the man's dramatics. "I will talk to Xian-gege later. Do not worry, I will be fine and am far enough from the guests now that I will not kill anyone."

"Well, if you do snap and kill someone," wwx grunted before seemingly trying to

talk his belongings into fitting into his bag. "If you do snap and kill someone," wwx said again, keys jingling in the background, "make sure you hop on a plane before they suspend your passport. I will send you a list of countries that won't extradite you."

lwj froze where he

had been peaking into a room he hadn't visited before. "Xian-gege has a list?"

"Well, yeah," wwx said, the soft chatter of people lwj assumed were his employees beginning to fill the background, "it's good to be prepared."

"Mn..." lwj hummed. Prepared for what? Murder?

"I gotta go, sweetheart," the older man whispered. "Later?"

"Mn, later," lwj agreed, sighing as wwx ended the call and peaking back into the room, large and empty save a piano, set close to a set of windows looking out onto a small courtyard.

lwj glanced down the hall before

slipping into the room, shutting the door quietly behind him and approaching the piano. Someone, a servant or Madam Yu herself, might appear and chastise lwj for entering without permission but lwj couldn't find it in himself to care, taking a seat and flipping the cover off

the keys.

Mindless, lwj played, running through warmups and exercises and into his favourite pieces, etched into his memory since he was a child. His uncle liked tradition but his mother had liked the piano, had taught him herself until she passed, and, under threat of tantrums,

his uncle had allowed him to continue with lessons, as long as he also learned a traditional instrument alongside his brother.

Song after song, an endless stream of notes and patterns left his fingers, a sweet, citrus scent the only indication that anyone had joined him.

lwj let his hands still, the last echoes of his song sliding through the room as he twisted his head to side eye the other alpha, standing awkwardly near the door. "Jin Zixuan," he greeted mildly.

"Lan Wangji," the other man said, shifting from side to side and looking anywhere

but lwj.

"Have the introductions concluded?" lwj asked, turning back to the piano and playing a soft, aimless melody.

"Yeah," jzxuan responded, the silence stretching between them for nearly a minute before he added, "That sms guy is really unpleasant, he and my cousin and jc

are chatting and ah..." he hesitated and for a moment lwj thought that was all he would say before quick steps began moving across the room, jzxuan appearing near the window, staring out it while he fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "I didn't really want to hang around them,

and, other than lqy, most of the other alphas seemed rather... ill-tempered. It was a bit odd, actually. I didn't think jyl would have such bad taste."

"She does not," lwj said curtly, watching as jzxuan tensed, a short, embarrassed scent slipping out of him. "She and Madam Yu

are having a war of sorts," he added, jzxuan finally looking towards him with wide, alarmed eyes.

"A war?" he asked, voice squeaking slightly.

"Mn, with the exception of lqy, all of the alphas here are those Madam Yu 'approved of.' They are the only alphas A-Li has been allowed

(A/N: yima is a word for your mother's sister)

to choose a mate from and, as you have pointed out, all of them are unpleasant. A-Li accepted all of their offers to force her mother to spend the summer with them."

"But... surly yima didn't realize how awful they were until

the party."

"We believe," lwj said, turning his eyes down to the keys, his song twisting into a soft, if aggravated, thing, "that she purposefully choose unsuitable alphas."

"And why would she do that?" the other alpha asked sceptically, startling when lwj turned dark eyes up

at him, staring jzxuan down until his eyes grew impossibly wider. "Me?" he squeaked. "She did that to try and force jyl to choose me?"

"It is very likely," lwj said mildly, blinking slowly at the panicking alpha, his scent leaking out in melted, burning sugar.

They stared at

each other for a long moment before jzxuan looked down at his feet, shuffling them restlessly. "What the fuck..." he said softly. "Who does that? I only made the offer because my mom forced me to. I wasn't expecting- I don't think we're compatible," he whispered, eyes shooting up

to lwj's, wide and watery. "If I turn her down... will she have to marry one of those alphas out there?" he asked, biting his lip and looking much to close to tears for lwj's liking.

lwj stilled his hands, letting them fall to his lap as he watched the other man. He reminded lwj

of a small, scared child, wishing for comfort where there was none to be found. He shifted on the seat, patting the spot next to him, eyes tilting into a smile when the younger man immediately slid into it.

"I do not know," he said honestly, hesitating a moment before asking,

"You do not think you are compatible because you like other alphas?"

Beside him jzxuan spluttered, going back to looking anywhere but lwj. "I don't- where did you- how did you-"

"You are not the only one," lwj interrupted him, nodding slightly when jzxuan turned wide, fearful

eyes on him.

"Oh," the other man breathed out, cheeks turning a striking red as his eyes skittered over lwj, heavy and yearning and-

lwj growled lightly when jzxuan's hot sugar scent hit him, rattling through him and pulling the smallest hint of his own molten honey out.

"I'm seeing someone," lwj blurted out, heat rushing across his face.

"Oh..." jzxuan breathed out. "Can I ask who? You don't have to tell me and I promise I won't tell anyone else, not that I have anyone to tell..."

lwj hesitated for a moment. It wasn't exactly his secret to

tell, but something told him jzxuan truly wouldn't tell anyone and that wwx wouldn't care, and before he could think better of it he was quietly telling jzxuan, "Wei Wuxian," the other alpha's eyes growing wide.

"Seriously?" he nearly shouted at lwj, slapping a hand over his

mouth and whispering a quiet, "Sorry."

"Mn," lwj hummed, a small smile spreading across his face. This was nice. Whispering secrets to someone. Maybe someone who could be a friend. Someone who was the same as him, at the very least.

"Oh... that- he's hot," jzxuan said,

glancing away. "I just- you guys are, uhm... compatible?" he asked, sneaking a look at lwj.

"Compatible?" lwj asked. It wasn't that he didn't know the two of them made an odd pair, quiet and loud, young and old, alpha and alpha, but he was curious as to what exactly the younger

alpha was referring to.

"I- I'm just- he's a top right? I just thought you were one too, so..."

"How do you know Xian-gege is a top?" lwj asked half-curiously, half-testily. If anything, he thought wwx gave off the vibe of being a bottom, at least until he was smirking and

(A/N: accidental voyeurism while underage)

teasing his prey. Had jzxuan once been wwx'x prey? Was lwj not the only young alpha wwx had-

"I saw him once," jzxuan quietly told him, his entire face flushing as he bit his smiling lips, eyes lighting up as he shot a lwj an

embarrassed look, "when I was like... 15?" He laughed breathily. "He was hooking up with someone at a party and I accidentally walked in on them. They didn't notice me, but..."

"Did you stay to watch?"

jzxuan shot him an amused, if still embarrassed look. "Wouldn't you?"

A/N: I'm doing an 250+ followers, "vote on the smut you'd like me to write to celebrate poll"!

Go vote~

https://twitter.com/_stiricide_/status/1610318937182580738

"Of course," lwj responded unthinkingly, ears heating up as they shared a knowing, embarrassed look.

"So, you aren't a top?" jzxuan asked after a moment. "Or just not with wwx?"

"I-" lwj blinked at the younger alpha, "I am not sure, however I have never really thought about

being a top."

"Really?" jzxuan asked, eyes scanning over lwj again. "You've got such a top vibe, that I just kinda assumed..." he waved awkwardly at lwj. "Really?" he asked again. "You've never even thought about what it would be like?"

"Have you thought about being a top?"

lwj asked, watching with great enjoyment as jzxuan's face shifted through several shades of red.

"How do you know I'm not a top!?" jzxuan loudly objected, slapping a hand to his mouth and turning his gaze to the door.

"You have a vibe," lwj told him seriously. He did,

the younger man seemed to scream, "I want an alpha to make me cry in bed."

jzxuan spluttered at him quietly before turning toward the piano, gently pressing a few keys with his index finger. "I have thought of it," he admitted, a soft, sad smile settling on his face. "It's how I

know jyl and I aren't compatible." He side-eyed lwj, sighing dramatically. "Us either," he said, breaking into a quiet laugh.

"Mn..." lwj hummed, watching closely as jzxuan continued pressing the keys. He obviously didn't know how to play the piano but the melody he was playing

(A/N: vague lwj x jzx)

was a song lwj had heard before, slow but accurate and lwj wondered what instrument the younger man played. A string instrument like him? A wind instrument like his brother? lwj smirked slightly at the image of the prissy boy, cheeks puffed out as he blew-

lwj choked on air as the image of jzxuan blowing on something that was definitely not an instrument for making music shuffled through him head, the younger alpha's eyes wide and wet as lwj forced a different instrument into his mouth-

jzxuan turned wide, concerned eyes towards

him and shifting a bit closer to pat lwj's back while he coughed, which was definitely not helping him calm down!

"I'm fine," lwj managed after a moment, jzxuan obediently shifting back to his original seat. "I'm fine," lwj said again, his breathing evening out. "Thank you."

jzxuan released a light, startled laugh. "I'm the one who should be thanking you," he said, giving lwj an exasperated look when he hummed in question. "For the party? You dragged me out of yima's territory and then I just... I mean, I was practically scenting you in front of the

whole party! And you let me! And then I just left and I don't even think I thanked you! So rude," he sighed, fiddling with the edge of his shirt.

"You were in shock," lwj said mildly. "It is fine."

"It's not. I owe you one," jzxuan said seriously, staring straight into lwj's

eyes, his lips tight and face determined. "Seriously, if you ever need anything just ask. I'll pay you back, I swear."

lwj blinked at the younger alpha and wondered if this was why he had joined lwj in the first place: to thank him, to offer him anything-

lwj mentally shook off

thoughts about how far "anything" went. He was taken! What was wrong with his brain? Although... wwx had said he wasn't jealous of the younger alpha because he didn't think lwj would be satisfied with jzxuan. Perhaps he could use his fantasy, however brief, to get a reaction from

the man...

lwj refocused his eyes on a serious, albeit somewhat concerned looking jzxuan. "Alright," he said, "if I ever need something from you I hope you will honour your promise."

"Of course," jzxuan said, a light smile creeping across his face as his whole body relaxed.

~

wwx was, to lwj's great annoyance, completely fine with his brief fantasy about topping jzxuan.

"Aww, baby's first crush on a bottom," the older alpha cooed, laughing when lwj growled at him.

"It is not a crush," he spit out, glaring at the congregating alphas across the

room from his hiding place. New day, new room, new place to hide. lwj wondered if they'd ever reuse a room for one of jyl's courting events. Lotus Pier was so large he could definitely see Madam Yu purposefully holding each day's activity in a different room just to show off.

He watched the woman in question bristle slightly as the stinky alpha entered, almost late, panting and sweating and stinking even worse than the day before. Maybe she was also hoping the change in location would cause an alpha or two to show up late so she could send them

packing. Or not show up at all. Lotus Pier was big, it was perfectly possible to get lost and never be found.

"It's fine to have a crush," wwx laughed, adding, "as long as you don't do anything about it. Ah! How tragic that would be! For my sweet boy to touch someone else with

his hands and not just his mind!"

lwj's eyes narrowed. "Does Xian-gege's mind touch other people?" he asked, a low growl leaking out of him as wwx laughed.

"Now, why would I think about other people when I have a beautiful bottom willing to offer his heart, mind and ass to me,

if only I were there to take them?" wwx asked, half-serious, half-teasing.

jzxuan's voice scattered through lwj. He had never thought about being a top but... "Xian-gege does not think about being a bottom?" he asked, tensing when wwx's laughter cut off. Oh, apparently he did.

(A/N: past wwx/other)

"Sometimes," admitted softly. "Not often, I've only bottomed with a few people, really only clicked with one," he laughed. "I'm one of those alphas who become very belligerent when someone tries to stick something up their ass, which sucks! Because all the

times Lucy-jiejie fucked me were just sooooo good!"

"Lucy-jiejie," lwj said coldly, watching as jzxuan navigated around the room, a second, longer meet and greet, trying to avoid talking to anyone.

"Yeah!" wwx said cheerfully, either missing or ignoring lwj's cold tone,

or assuming it was the result of his environment. "I went to school with her, fuck was she mean. It was great."

"How many times?" lwj asked, letting the curtain he had been peaking around fall and leaning against the wall next to the large, glass doors. He wasn't exactly hiding

behind a curtain, there was a standing area in front of the window, though it probably wasn't meant to be used when the curtains weren't open. He actually wasn't sure why the curtains weren't open, showing off yet another courtyard. Maybe Madam Yu wanted an easy place to

disappear to as well.

"How many times?" wwx parroted back.

"How many times did you and she..."

"Ah~" wwx said, humming and hawing. "I dunno? A lot? We see each other every so often, only once every year or two now that we're older, but generally we hook up when we meet up."

"I see," lwj bit out. Every time they met up. wwx bottomed at least once every year or two with some random woman and-

"Yeah! Ah, I'll miss those weekends," wwx sighed.

"Weekends," lwj stated coldly, his hands clenching, his nails digging deeper and deeper into his palms.

Entire weekends. wwx spending entire weekends with someone else's cock inside him, someone else's cum, maybe even with their knot locking them together and-

"Ah! There you are," jzxuan's voice hissed as he slipped behind the curtain. "Oof, you stink. I mean, it helped me find

you, but if you don't reign it in yima will find us."

lwj blinked at the younger alpha. He hadn't noticed his scent going wild around them, rancid and burning, curling around him like a giant cage of frustration and anger.

"Ah, is that jzxuan?" wwx asked in his ear, lwj humming

(A/N: brief blood)

a tight affirmative as he rolled his tense shoulders and shook out his fists.

"Ah!" jzxuan exclaimed quietly, reaching for lwj's hands. "You're bleeding!"

lwj glanced down at his hands in jzxuan's smaller ones, little nail shaped crescent imprints pressed

into them, a few of which were bleeding.

"What did you do?" jzxuan asked, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and gently pressing it to marks.

"Aiya! A-Zhan hurt himself?" wwx cried in his ear, repeating jzxuan's question when lwj simply hummed another affirmative.

jzxuan looked like he was about to say something more when the curtain swept aside again, jyl wiggling in beside them. "Oh, here you two are!" she whispered. "You both have the right idea, hiding away. My goodness, all these alphas are awful, except lqy and- A-Zhan!"

jyl cried softly, reaching towards his and jzxuan's hands. "What did you do to your hands?"

"They look like nail marks," jzxuan said, barely glancing up from lwj's hands to the omega, the woman he was technically supposed to be courting at the moment.

"Nail marks?" jyl and wwx

asked in unison.

"Why do you have nail marks in your hands, A-Zhan?" jyl asked, huffing when lwj turned his head away from her, not wanting to admit what had happened but-

"Headphones? Are you talking to Xian-shushu?" jyl asked, lwj catching her straightening up, eyes narrowing

out of the corner of his eye. "What did Xian-shushu do?" jyl asked coldly, a shiver running up lwj's spine.

lwj side eyed her, assessing for a moment. She was already pissed about the current situation. Why not give her someone to yell at? "He was talking about a previous

partner," he said quietly. "About how he'll miss hooking up with her."

jzxuan tensed, eyes shifting over to jyl as a cruel smile spread across her face, her scent slipping out like sunlight across burning asphalt. He eyed her for a moment before scooting behind lwj, peeking out

over his shoulder at the terrifying young omega.

"Is that so?" jyl asked quietly, while wwx squawked in his ear.

"A-Zhan! You can't seriously be upset about that! It's in the past! The past! I have you now! Even if I miss some aspect of-"

wwx cut off as jyl swiped his

headphones, slipping them into her ears, a sickly sweet, "Hello, Xian-shushu," slipping out of her lips as she turned and swept back out of their hiding place, lwj and jzxuan peeking around the curtain to watch her march across the room, barely stopping when he mother

approached her, and out of the room.

"Oh, wow..." jzxuan breathed out. "She's gonna give it to him, isn't she?"

"Mn," lwj hummed, feeling slightly bad for the lecture the older alpha was going to get. He really didn't think wwx had meant to make him upset, but, well.

An extra appears!

I'm hoping to write this really, really fast cause I'm really looking forward to writing the next part of this scene!

But, scent drunk lwj is fun so I can't be too upset!

https://twitter.com/_stiricide_/status/1611107871412088833

Woo, I'm back. I wrote a lot in like... 28ish hours. Anyways, notes for the next section of the story:
- some OCs, in the form of jyl's awful suitors!
- the return of the horrible named alpha rights group, RAAR!

- most importantly, talk of non-consensual body modifications of omegas, including g*nital mutilation! There's nothing too graphic, but it is mentioned as a... thing some alphas think they should go back to doing... lovely.
- and just more general alpha rights horribleness!

~

lwj let the curtain fall back only for it to be ripped fully open, cym appearing before the two alphas, a tight, but not unkind, smile plastered across her face.

"Boys," she greeted them mildly. "As much as I would also like to be hiding away from these ill-mannered alphas,

if I have to suffer through talking to them so do you," she said, pulling the other side of the curtains open.

"Yes, ma'am," "Yes, mama," the men sighed, staring forlornly as their hiding place disappeared. Out of the corner of his eye lwj caught Madam Yu looking similarly

put out as her friend pulled each of the curtains along the long wall of windows open. Maybe she had been planning to hide behind them after all.

"Let's go?" jzxuan asked him quietly, because apparently they were now friends and attached at the hip, which lwj couldn't really

complain about. He didn't have many friends and the awkward boy had so far been pleasant enough company.

"Mn," lwj hummed, taking slow steps into the large group of alphas, just over two dozen men and women chatting tensely and looking around for the omega they were supposed to

be wooing. Wouldn't this be fun.

The friends continued into the party, catching words and scents and overall aggression as they walked, looking through the crowd for-

"Do you really expect to find a mate with an attitude like that?" lqy asked, blinking owlishly at another young

woman who looked quite afraid and unsure, eyes shifting around them nervously and completely unlike most alphas lwj had ever met.

"I-I don't know?" she asked, biting her lip while lqy raised an eyebrow at her.

"Do you know anything?" she asked incredulously. "I know alphas get

a bad rap for having too much opinion and being too pushy but- but you need to have opinions at least sometimes," she insisted, tensing when jzxun's voice floated over to them. "Then again, having no opinion is definitely better than having a bad one," she said bitterly, turning

towards where jzxun was chatting loudly with several other guests, including jc and sms, who seemed to be watching him with stars in their eyes. Ew.

"We should go back to the days where omegas had their feet bound," he said to the group. "Things were much better when our mates

couldn't run away," he laughed, "and had to take what they were given."

"Totally," another man agreed. "Stopping the practice was just stupid, almost as bad as letting them refuse their parents choice of mates," he added, taking a long sip of his almost empty drink and looking

unevenly around them for a waiter, yelling for one when none appeared magically by his side with another drink. "Incompetent," he muttered as he dropped his empty glass on the waiter's platter, "if this is how the Jiangs train their servants I can only imagine how they train

their omegas." Around him other alphas snickered, although jc did have the courtesy to look slightly uncomfortable as he joined them.

Beside him jzxuan tensed as lwj growled quietly, while lqy wrinkled her nose and took a sip of her own drink, the woman she had been talking to

slipping behind her.

"What?" the alpha asked, turning towards them, and sneering, "You have a problem, Mr. Best-Friend?"

"Omegas do not need to be trained," he said coldly.

"No?" the alpha snickered. "What do you all think?" he asked the group, twisting around dramatically,

his arms splayed wide. "Do you think omegas need to be trained? Or should be just leave them to their own devices?"

"If we left them to their own devices their little brains would explode," a woman laughed, adding, "and their presentations would be pathetic and not aesthetic

at all. Who wants to mount an omega who doesn't know how to properly offer the only thing they have?"

"Here, here!" another alpha called from the back, half the room joining in raising their glasses, a few of them loudly crying out RAAR and snickering when confused looks crossed

the faces of a few alphas, including sms's, jzxun leaning over to whisper, "I'll tell you later," into his ear, smirking at lwj as he pulled back.

"Worthless," lwj muttered as he turned and headed towards one of the waiters serving food, jzxuan and the two alpha women following

close behind him. Arguing with such people was a waste of time and effort and brain cells.

He swiped a snack from the platter, quietly thanking the waiter as the other alphas appeared beside him, the four of them quickly emptying the platter. lwj was just popping his last piece

into his mouth when another young man appeared beside him, someone probably a few years older than himself and jyl.

"Quite the show, hmm?" the man hummed at him, taking a slow sip of his drink. "I don't believe we've met," he said, extending a hand to lwj that he automatically

accepted. "Jordan Zhao- or, Zhao Jordan. Sorry, never can get used to the Chinese style of greeting," he laughed, eyes crinkling.

lwj blinked at him, slowly pulling his hand back. "Lan Wangji," he greeted in return. "You are not from here?"

"What," the man teased, "you can't

tell from my accent?"

"I can," lwj said slowly, "but I did not want to assume."

The man, zjd, smiled warmly at him, eyes shifting over to the rest of the group and greeting each of them in turn. "I'm from Britain," he explained, "Knightsbridge originally, although I

own a townhouse in Hampstead now."

lwj blinked at the man. Was all that supposed to mean something to him? "I see..." lwj said, glancing behind him to find his other three companions staring at the man with varying levels of confusion and annoyance.

"So how'd you score an

invite?" lqy asked, popping another piece of food in her mouth as she looked over the man dubiously.

"My grandmother founded ShengXin," he said mildly, his eyes sinking into a deeper smile when the other alpha woman, who had introduced herself as Qin Ying, piped up.

"I love their clothes!" she squealed. "They're just so cute and oh~ definitely my favourite thing to see omegas in." she sighed, lqy sending her a concerned look.

"Really?" she asked. "Out of all the things to have an opinion on your one opinion is on an omega clothing brand?"

"What's wrong with that?" qy asked, frowning at lqy, planting her hands on her hips and all but stomping one of her tiny, heeled feet.

"Do you have an opinion on anything else about omegas? Their hair? Their scent? Whether they should be locked up at home all day so they're kept

safe from big bad alphas who can't keep their hands or cocks to themselves?" lqy asked sceptically, cocking an eyebrow at the other woman.

"... No," the other alpha admitted quietly, her arms and posturing dropping while lqy rolled her eyes.

jzxuan blinked at the women for a

moment before shaking his head and turning back to zjd. "I didn't see you yesterday," he said, eyes scanning over their new acquaintance.

"No, I don't supposed you would have as I wasn't there," the man said, taking another sip from his drink. "I was on a plane from Prague."

"Prague? You sure left quickly after the party," jzxuan nearly sneered at the man, eyes narrowing.

"Wasn't at that one either," zjd replied, his own eyes narrowing as he skimmed over jzxuan leaving behind a heavy impression that he was not impressed with the younger alpha,

an impression jzxuan seemed to notice as he bristled slightly.

"And yet your courting offer was accepted?" he asked, annoyance and scepticism leaking out of him.

"Didn't make an offer," the older alpha replied, smiling lightly at their group.

"Are you even supposed to be

here then?" lqy asked, one hand landing on her hips as she spoke.

"Yes," the man said, laughing lightly and lwj was So. Done.

"You seem like a smart man," lwj said, cutting off further questions from an increasingly tense lqy and jzxuan, "so why don't you properly tell us what

we want to know, instead of playing twenty questions with us."

The man fully laughed this time before draining his drink, raising a hand to flag down a waiter who startled slightly when lqy took his entire tray of food away.

"We'll just keep this, thanks" she said, popping a

tart into her mouth and waving goodbye to the poor confused servant.

"Well," zjd said, reaching out to swipe a tart himself and running his free hand through his hair, "I received an invite from Madam Yu, however I, and I imagine most of the alphas here, expected jyl to accept

the young master Jins offer." He raised an eyebrow at the two women, waiting for either to disagree and nodding when neither did. "Wasn't about to fly around the world on a lost cause. Imagine my surprise when an offer I did not even send was accepted. Of course, not being in the

country I could not attend the introductions yesterday, although I must say," the man added, glancing around the room, "most of these alphas do not seem worth being introduced to."

"Sooooo true," qy sighed, brushing crumbs that had landed on her substantial chest while she ate

a tart to the floor. "They're almost all so unpleasant... right?" she asked lqy who had almost looked impressed that the young woman knew their alpha competition were disgusting jerks but deflated upon realizing the woman was only regurgitating what she herself believed.

"Yes," lqy sighed looking very close to smacking herself in the face, or maybe smacking the impressively unopinionated alpha.

zjd laughed quietly. "I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with that opinion," he told the women, "and glad to have found some more pleasant company."

"How do you know we're-"

"Jordan-ge!" a voice squealed from across the room, quick footsteps approaching their backs before jyl was bouncing between them and landing in front of the older alpha. "What are you doing here!?"

"Meimei," zjd sighed, eyes softening as he gazed down

at the shorter omega, "it is good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too!" jyl said, rocking on her feet before stamping one lightly and crossing her arms. "You didn't answer my question!"

The other alpha laughed, eyes crinkling as he smiled at jyl. "Well, I do believe I

have come to court you," he said teasingly. "Unless I have mistaken the purpose of this alpha filled party."

"But you- you weren't at my party," jyl protested lightly, zjd's face falling slightly.

"I am sorry, meimei, if my presence here is unwanted, I will-"

"Nonsense!"

jyl cried, grabbing the alpha's hands and stopping him from turning away. "Nonsense," she repeated, "you are more than welcome, but you are... unexpected."

"You know each other?" lwj asked, eyeing up the way jyl lit up at the older man, rocking the hand she had yet to release

between them.

"We went to high school together," jyl told him, barely glancing away fro zjd as she spoke. "Jordan-ge was a few years older than me and only attended for a year, but we knew each other."

"Yes, just for my penultimate year," zjd explained. "My grandmother had just

passed and my family moved here to make arrangements for her company. Meimei was very helpful to my poor, externally lost and confused soul."

"Ridiculous," jyl laughed. "You were perfectly well situated and organized after the first few weeks and even if you weren't every omega

(A/N: if you don't know class grass/flower are terms for the most attractive student in a grade)

in the school was lining up to help you find your way," she insisted, leaning towards lwj, her eyes still fixed on zjd, to stage whisper, "He was his class grass."

"Alas!" zjd exclaimed dramatically. "Even being the class grass was not enough to attract the attention of a certain class flower."

"Please," jyl huffed, giving the older man an impressed look. "I was never the class flow- yes, yes Xian-shushu, I understand," she suddenly broke

off startling the group, even lwj, who had assumed his friend would have hung up on her uncle before returning. "Yes, I know I'm very pretty and I know you want to be returned to A-Zhan. Excuse me for being excited to see an old friend," she complained as she fiddled with lwj's

headphones and handed them over. "He would like to talk to you," she said, eyes and smile sharp as she finally looked away from her former classmate.

"Thank you," lwj said mildly, accepting the headphones and turning to exit the room, giving the two alpha women a look of

good luck and jzxuan a look that he hoped said, "You had better fucking pay attention so you can tell me everything that happens between them later!"

"Xian-gege," he said quietly when he was out of earshot, "one moment, I am leaving the room."

"Ok," wwx said quietly, staying

silent as lwj walked to the exit, cym catching his eye momentarily before shifting them back to the small group he had just left. He turned briefly when he reached the door, glancing back at the group himself, catching jzxuan watching him go with a rather despondent look on his

face. lwj glared at him, tilting his head back to the group and watching with amusement as jzxuan sighed and turned his attention back to jyl and perhaps her most likely future mate.

lwj stepped outside the room, softly shutting the door behind him. "Xian-gege," he said again.

"A-Zhan," the older alpha sighed. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I just- ugh."

"I know," lwj said, because he did. He knew wwx hadn't meant anything by his words, hadn't meant to drive lwj into bitter, angry jealousy over some random alpha. He knew the other man

probably own meant to tell a story about his past, something he thought was a fun anecdote, sharing information about himself that he thought lwj would want to know, probably should know, but, well.

"Look," wwx said seriously, "I'm new to all this and I'm going to fuck up."

lwj squinted as he walked down the hall towards an outer courtyard he knew to be a short walk away. "Xian-gege has had sex before," he said, confusion seeping through his voice.

"Well, yeah," wwx laughed. "I've fucked and occasionally been fucked and I've even had long term

fuck buddies, non-exclusive fuck buddies who I'd chat about past partners with because we didn't care enough to be jealous. Fuck, half the time we were fucking two or three other people a week because it didn't matter. We were together because it worked and we were friends

and nothing more. I mean..." wwx said haltingly, "we haven't discussed if we're exclusive or not, or even about what the fuck we are in general but-"

"We are exclusive," lwj interjected, blushing quietly as he passed a servant heading back towards the party and swiping some food

from their platter, "if Xian-gege is amenable."

"Oh, Xian-gege is amenable," wwx said enthusiastically. "Xian-gege is very amenable. As much as your little attempts to make me jealous keep falling flat, the idea of you actually with someone else, letting someone else inside you

while I'm here-"

"Is not something that is going to happen," lwj said seriously, stepping out into the courtyard and heading towards a bench, hidden under enough shadows that if jyl hadn't shown it to him he wouldn't have known it was there.

"Well, that's good to hear,"

wwx said, voice cheerful and lwj could almost see the other man's soft smile. "So, do you accept my apology?" he asked.

"Only if Xian-gege accepts mine," lwj said, settling down onto the bench.

"What," wwx said disbelievingly, "in the world do you have to apologize for,

sweetheart?"

"For giving you to A-Li," lwj replied, popping his stolen food into his mouth and chewing thoughtfully as the other man laughed.

"Ah~ you don't need to apologize for that," wwx insisted. "My lovely niece simply chewed me out for speaking without thinking."

"Mn," lwj hummed, gently teasing, "I suppose if we are to be... exclusive then I should get used to Xian-gege speaking without thinking."

wwx laughed brightly. "Oh yeah, definitely. I'm a mess who rarely thinks before opening my mouth."

lwj smiled while the other alpha

continued to laugh at himself and his big mouth, relaxing back on the bench and gazing up through the leaves.

"So," wwx said once his laugher had subsided, "do we want to talk about it? What we are?"

lwj tensed on the bench, swallowing audibly. They should. He knew they should,

but talking made it real, gave it substance, gave it life that could fizzle out at a moments notice. "Together?" lwj suggested softly, waiting tensely for wwx to respond.

"Sure," he said, huffing quietly. "We can be that. We can be... together. Exclusively."

lwj hummed quietly

in agreement before letting the silence stretch between them. They would have to talk about it again, one day, when the summer was over perhaps, when life caught up to him and he had to confront reality and work and an uncle who wanted to control his life. They would have to talk

and set out details and schedules and expectations, but right now lwj was happy with this, with just being together. Being only with each other. Happy, even if the distance left him shattering apart inside. Infinitely horny for one another, infinitely wanting and waiting

and yearning.

"Ah..." wwx sighed, almost sadly. "I will still miss parts of being not exclusively together, though," he said, lwj's mood immediately dropping.

"Is that so?" lwj asked tightly. Had the man really just apologized for pissing him off by telling him he would miss

being fucked by this... Lucy-jiejie, only to tell him about more of the things he would miss? What was wrong with the man!?

"Yeah," wwx sighed dramatically, "it's just soooo fun to share your absolute worst hookup stories with someone."

lwj blinked. "Your worst hookup stories?"

"Uh-huh!" wwx cheered, quickly adding in a more moderate tone, "But A-Zhan doesn't want to hear about the things I'll miss about hookups so he obviously doesn't want to hear about the most embarrassing things that have ever happened to me when I've had my cock out."

lwj narrowed

his eyes. He knew what the other man was doing, knew he was being manipulated but-

"A-Zhan would like to hear some of Xian-gege's embarrassing stories," he admitted quietly, frowning when the older alpha snickered quietly at him.

"Is that so~" wwx teased. "Well, I have to go

back to work soon, but... Ok! So!" he cheered, like a happy child telling the best story they had to a new person and, if lwj closed his eyes, he could imagine the man bouncing in his seat, a smile spread across his face, his eyes tilting into crescents. "So there's this guy that

I went to college with, and, to be clear, by the time this happened I had enough experience with alphas that this should not have happened," wwx said sternly, "it was just... a total fuck up."

"So we were hooking up for the first and last time at this party," the other man

continued. "It was a... free love, anyone welcome, use the bedrooms how you will party and as much as alpha/alpha sex isn't an open thing here, this was uni in the US and none of us gave a shit. We just fucked and didn't care who knew. But generally people didn't walk in on us

and if they did they didn't yell us!"

"What did the person yell?" lwj asked, fiddling with the edge of his shirt. He had dressed in another of his custom outfits today and if he had purposefully chosen this one because he knew sms had tried extremely hard to find a copy, well.

"I don't even remember," wwx laughed, "but they scared the shit out of me and, I, uh... I was unfortunately just about to come and accidentally knotted this guy."

"Oops," lwj snorted.

"Big fucking oops. I don't know if they teach this in school here, but knotting someone?

It takes 30-90 minutes for your knot to go down, even outside of a rut. And! And!" the man yelled, seemingly smacking his hand against something hard in the background. "Not all alphas like to be knotted and this guy?"

"Didn't like being knotted?" lwj guessed, smiling softly to

himself. Ok, maybe listening to the other man talk about his horrible, previous hookups was more than a little enjoyable. wwx was a wonderful, dramatic storyteller laughing and growling and making it seem like this had happened last week and not over 20 years ago.

"He was panicking and pulling on my cock trying to get away and I had to yell until someone else came into the room to ask them to go find wq," he sighed. "It was horrible."

"I can imagine," lwj told him, only for wwx to vehemently disagree.

"No, no you can't, because that

isn't even the worst part!" wwx told him, growling lightly.

"What- what was the worst part?" lwj asked cautiously.

"Well, for one thing, my yelling attracted an audience," wwx told him, tone heavy and annoyed. "Ten to twenty strangers standing around watching this guy panic on

my knot while wq stuck needles in my cock to try and making it go down."

lwj didn't laugh, he didn't! He swears. "Did it go down?" lwj asked once he was no longer in danger of laughing at 20-something year old wwx's expense.

"Yup..." wwx popped out, "but not before cops showed

up to break up the party."

This time lwj did laugh, muttering a quiet, "Sorry," when wwx released a long puff of air.

"It's fine," he said, laughing quietly himself. "I wouldn't tell this story if I was still embarrassed by it."

"What did the police do?" lwj asked.

"Nothing much," wwx told him. "They laughed a bit and figured wq had it under control. Party was being broken up because of a noise complaint... although," he added lightly, "I'm not entirely convinced it was because of the loud music and not a certain knotted alpha's wailing."

"Needless to say," wwx continued once lwj had managed to stop laughing again, "we never hooked up again and luckily the dude was an international exchange student from Iceland. So once he went home at the end of the semester we would never have to see each other again, never have

to relive that night again, right?" wwx asked in a tone that suggested that was not, in fact, right.

"Iceland is very far away," lwj said slowly.

"Not far enough apparently because he moved here and works for a company that the Jiangs company works closely with," he said

somewhat bitter and disbelievingly. "Every year for nearly a decade I have been forced to attend that stupid company party, where he and I lock eyes across the room and then spend the rest of the night trying to avoid one another. Once he even walked in on me fucking

someone else," wwx sighed. "Ran away wailing just as loudly as he had the night... kinda put a damper on the hookup..."

lwj smiled to himself, snickering quietly and imagining some poor, traumatized man running down the halls of whatever fancy establishment the Jiangs held their

company party at while wwx and whoever he had been fucking tried to tidy themselves up before someone else showed up to see what all the commotion was about.

"You know who else has walked in on you having sex?" he asked, having not told the other man many details of his

conversation with jzxuan the day before.

"Who?" the other man asked curiously before calling, "Come in," to someone knocking at his door.

lwj waited until wwx's conversation with his employee ended before telling him, "Jin Zixuan."

"Nooooo," wwx breathed out, laughing lightly.

"When?"

lwj shook his head. "I do not know," he said. "jzxuan only said he was 15."

"15..." wwx said quietly, humming and hawing as he packed things into his bag, once again trying to talk it into holding more items than it apparently had room for. Perhaps lwj should send him

a bigger bag. "He's about the same age as you?" he asked after a moment, keys jingling as he closed a door.

"I believe so," lwj said, arching into a stretch and groaning softly. "He may be a year younger."

"Fuck... I'm gonna be running through events I've hooked up at that he

was at now," wwx said. "If you get a chance ask when it happened?"

"Sure," lwj said lightly, before covering a yawn.

"Sleepy, sweetheart?" wwx asked quietly.

"Mn," lwj hummed, "don't sleep as well without gege here." He smiled when wwx laughed cheerfully.

"A-Zhan!"

wwx teased. "We only slept in the same bed twice."

"Not enough," lwj said petulantly, enjoying the laughter that bubbled out of the other man's mouth and straight into his soul.

"You're right," wwx said seriously, the sound of people chatting growing louder in the background.

"Definitely not enough."

"Xian-gege needs to go back to work now," lwj noted, trying to keep the sadness out of his voice and failing miserably.

"Yeah," wwx sighed. "Another day, another meeting, another person to yell at."

"Does Xian-gege yell in meetings?" lwj asked

curiously. He wasn't sure he had ever heard the man yell in actual anger, only in dramatics.

"Occasionally," wwx said happily, "but probably not today, not unless something has recently gone horribly wrong." In the background lwj heard someone tell him, "No, everything is fine."

"So, no disasters today then!" wwx laughed.

"Mn," lwj hummed, sighing softly. He wouldn't have an excuse to avoid the party once wwx and he hung up.

"You sound soooooo enthusiastic about going back to the party," wwx teased. "No cute alphas in attendance? Not even that, ah...

George, was it? A-Li's surprise suitor~"

"Zhao Jordan," lwj told him. "He was... acceptable, but not my type."

"A-Li's type though, it seemed like?"

"Perhaps..."

"Only perhaps?" wwx asked, the shuffle of people and papers flowing through the call as he prepared for

his meeting.

"He was... not exactly rude, but not polite either," lwj tried to explain.

"Hmm... is that so..." wwx mumbled as he shuffled more papers before trying to convince his bag to give him back his computer. The man definitely needed a bigger bag.

"Xian-gege should go,"

he said.

"Yeah..." wwx sighed. "I'll call you later? I hope tonight but... ah, this might go long."

"Tomorrow then," lwj said sternly. "Gege should rest."

"Ah~ making sure I head to bed at a respectable time even from afar," wwx teased, a woman telling him it was time to begin

the meeting. "Have a not too horrible time at the party!" wwx cheered. "I expect all the nitty, gritty details when we talk tomorrow!"

"Mn," lwj hummed. "Have a good meeting Xian-gege," he said, releasing a long puff of air as the call ended. He stared unblinkingly at a tree in

the distance, an oddity as it appeared to have survived Lotus Pier burning down, one side charred even as the other continued to grow. Somehow, Madam Yu didn't seem the type to keep a scarred tree around, which meant someone else must have-

"Lan Wangji?" a man's voice called

softly, lwj glancing up through the leaves to find a young, beta servant looking around the courtyard for him.

"Yes," lwj called back, rising to meet him, the man startling slightly when he realizes lwj was indeed in the courtyard.

"Madam Yu sent to me retrieve you," the man

said kindly, although his eyes held a small fragment of fear, perhaps afraid that lwj would refuse to return and he would be forced to inform the ornery alpha about her runaway guest.

"Mn," lwj hummed, stepping towards the door, which the servant quickly slid open for him.

"Thank you."

The servant scurried behind him, taking long, hurried steps to get in front of him and lead him quickly back to the party, ushering him inside and moving towards his mistress. She glanced up when he approached, her eyebrows knitting together as the man informed her

that he had found lwj. Her eyes shot up to him, narrowing in... what? Unhappiness? Annoyance? Mirth? lwj had no idea and no time for the woman being unhappy with him or amused he was also miserable around all these alphas.

Still, he nodded politely to her and began searching for

the star of the party, finding her seated at one of the tables with the people he had left her with, most of her other suitors gathered around them while lqy and zjd... argued?

"You can't seriously be arguing for keeping omegas cloistered!" lqy said angrily.

"No, I am arguing

that interfering in the traditions of other cultures is not always the correct decision," zjd said softly, taking a delicate bite from his plate of food. "We so often judge the world based on our own cultures and traditions, imperfect as they are. Who are we to say what is right

and what is wrong within cultures that are not our own?"

"And I'm saying that tons of cultures had a tradition of keeping their omegas locked inside from puberty until death, hell! There are even a few cultures where even in death their bodies are buried in the back yard!

Sometimes they even perform ceremonies to keep the person's soul locked there for the rest of time," lqy said, tapping long, manicured nails on the table. "The only reason a lot of them stopped was because other countries threatened cease doing business with them if they didn't."

"Yes, and many of those places still practice those traditions, even if they are less open about it now," zjd noted, adding, "All international interference did was force the practice underground and now half the world doesn't believe it takes place at all."

"So you're saying we

should just do business with countries that oppress their omegas?" jzxuan piped up, surprisingly vocal and annoyed sounding considering how uncomfortable the young man usually seemed, especially with conflict and loud people.

lwj pushed his way through the crowd of alphas,

cringing as they and their heavy scents surrounded him, leaning over to ask jyl how the group had ended up arguing about this.

"qy asked Jordan-ge what he did for work and he was telling us about how he is completing his PhD in Secondary-Gender Studies, focusing on how

international relations has effected a/b/o traditions in less powerful countries and cultures," she said before adding, a small frown crossing her face, "or something like that."

"Ah," lwj said quietly, glaring at the suitor seated beside his friend, whom jyl had pointed out as

'chastity bitch' the day before, until they vacated their seat for him.

"This isn't a fucking ethics class!" lqy growled at him. "This isn't talking about hypotheticals. This is real people being forced to live a horrible life! Saying that we should implicitly support everyone's

right to follow their traditions regardless of the damage they do and not use our power to force them to stop is cruel to those people suffering under tyrannical rules."

"Generally," zjd explained, his tone reminding lwj of an adult talking to a child they thought to be

extremely stupid, "people in cultures that have not been exposed to international ideas of what is and isn't considered 'acceptable' in a/b/o relations do not report significant levels of discontent with how they are treated." He gently placed another piece of food in his mouth,

watching with almost amused eyes as lqy growled at him.

"You can't really-"

"It is not just people with a particular culture who suffer the consequences of such traditions," lwj interrupted, zjd's eyes shooting over to him, shifting from almost-amused to almost-putout.

A/N: ah, my nighttime "I can't find the right words" break worked out and I changed up this part a bit~ woo~

Reminder about that previous note about non-consensual body modifications. Too lazy to go check if I said "to omegas" at the time, but it's now for both alphas and

omegas. This is where the g*nital mutilation comes in. There's also some mentions of m*rder, k*dnapping, and sl*very so fun times!

Note, if it wasn't already clear, this world is functioning in a male omegas and female alphas are inters*x way. In my head I imagine everyone is

born with relatively similar genitals, probably with a very small penis like appendage for everyone, although genetic females have a slit too, and at puberty everything shifts. Testis descend or develop into ovaries during puberty instead of in the womb and penises either cease

developing (omega male), grow into a normal one (beta male), develop a knot and grow quite large (alphas), or desiccate and fall off to become clits (omega and beta females). Alpha females and omega males are technically less fertile because they have both ovaries and testis,

so can both sire and birth children, though this rarely actually effects their ability to have kids.

I don't know if anyone cares about that, but I feel like a/b/o stories often just kind of hand wave the whole how everything worked before puberty thing in their universe, so.

~

"Recently," lwj continued coldly, stealing a piece of food from jyl's plate, "my family's company has had to cease doing business in several areas of the Middle East due to an uptick in... traditional a/b/o relations." He stared into zjd's eyes, willing the man to look away first

as he continued. "Large groups of omegas were being taken, the males emascul*ted or sometimes simply killed and even foreign nationals were not safe. We refuse to do business in countries that refused to even try to keep our employees and their families safe."

"It is because of

a growing group of people who say more powerful countries should not interfere with customs they do not agree with," he added, "that many countries are now letting these groups exist, some governments even openly encouraging the return of these traditional practices that leave

omegas maimed, dead or confined to homes that are their tombs."

zjd blinked at him several times as he chewed on his stolen food before smiling and beginning to open his mouth when another voice cut him off.

"Why should I care about what another country does with their omegas?"

jzxun asked. "Your company should be making all the money it can. Just send single alphas to those countries," he added, smiling at lwj and adding, "or those who don't give a shit about cheating on their mates, with all those k*dnapped omegas I'm sure there are some floating

around for your employees to enjoy while abroad." Around him several of jyl's suitors laughed, lwj making note of each of them.

"There's a difference between a private company choosing to make money in countries like that and a government spending their citizen's taxes there,"

the oldest of jyl's suitors said quietly. "Many of the countries where these beliefs are most prominent are third world," he said, lwj's back tensing as he made the incorrect generalization. "We we send support to them for infrastructure and social support and weapons to fight

stupid wars, sometimes over these very beliefs. We have tons of problems at home, why should we be sending money to places where their citizens believe such extreme things?"

"It's not always third world countries where these beliefs exist," zjd said evenly.

lwj glanced back at

him, finding his staring up into jzxun's eyes even as he addressed the older man's comments.

"For instance, there was recently been an," zjd briefly glanced at lwj, a smirk tugging at his lips, "uptick in traditional a/b/o relations within religious groups throughout North and

South America, largely within cultures that were brought over hundreds of years ago from Europe because their believers felt they were persecuted in the Old World for their practices. Specifically," he added, eyes shifting around the room to each of the women, eyes twinkling,

"views that women, regardless of their secondary gender, were lesser."

Around them the few alpha women tensed, while lqy and jyl looked like they might start to laugh, qy glancing around in confusion, as the scent of unimpressed alpha flitted through the group.

"These groups

are once again turning to forcing their women, whether alpha, beta or omega, into being housewives. Some even cut the cocks off alpha women," zjd added, still talking like he was having a fun class discussion even as the alpha women around him growled at the mere suggestion that-

"I wonder," the alpha mused suddenly, tilting his head in thought, "if the trend of returning to traditional practices will continue. There are more than a few indigenous groups throughout the world who traditional believed alpha men were aberrations, violent corruptions of

humanity sent to wreck havoc on the world who needed to be cut down at the first opportunity. Depending on the group, the men were either emascul*ted during their first presentation and turned into slaves or outright killed. Alpha men outside their cultures were quite often

mutilated on sight."

lqy snickered openly as the alpha males had their turn to growl and complain, angrily talking over one another.

"Unacceptable!" "Barbaric!" "Disgusting, backwards beliefs!"

"Fuck, if some country starts supporting that shit, I'll-" jzxun started,

only to be cut off my zjd's dark voice.

"You'll what?" the older alpha asked, smile dropping into a unholy sneer. "Refuse to do business with them? Protest? Encourage our government to boycott them?" zjd leaned back in his seat, twirling his glass of wine elegantly as he looked

over the crowd of alphas. "And here I thought all of you for were for letting traditions exist, regardless of your own culture's morals and beliefs. Apparently not so much when it's your cocks and freedom on the line."

Beside him jyl's shoulders shook as she hid a smile behind

her hand and he wondered if she had known the whole time that her former upperclassman was setting the group up to show their hypocrisy.

"That- that's not the same!" sms tried to say and oh, lwj had almost missed the man's ignorant and embarrassing attempts to defend his

opinions. Almost.

"Would the young master care to elaborate?" zjd asked, a cruel smile spreading across his face and lwj realized that regardless of what sms said, even if the man managed to give the most well reasoned, well research argument, he was going to be decimated.

sms's face lit up red as he spluttered, trying to find his words when another cold voice cut through the crowd.

"Children," Madam Yu called, sms yelping and releasing a disgusting spurt of rancid, rotting scent. The group, which had already been splitting to let the

alpha woman through, collectively gagged, knocking into one another as they attempted to get away from the man. "I hope we are all getting along?" she asked, eyes coldly scanning the group as she let her own scent surge out around them, delicate and light, yet snuffing out sms's

nauseating scent like the heaviest of air fresheners.

"Of course, Madam Yu," lqy piped up, trying to sound happy behind the hand protecting her nose from sms's lingering scent. "sms was just explaining to us why he thinks having contradictory views is acceptable." She smiled

lightly over at his increasingly pale face, eyes sparkling as Madam Yu turned her razor sharp gaze on him.

"Is the so..." she said lightly, eyes darkening when he whimpered and attempted to pull himself behind jzxun, who looked thoroughly disgusting at having the man so close

to him. Apparently getting caught in the woman's territory and kicked out of Lotus Pier had left it's mark on the generally obnoxiously confident man. Such a pity.

"Well, perhaps the young master will be confident enough to share his thoughts with me another time," she said,

shifting her eyes away from the young alpha and over the rest of the group, landing heavily on zjd. "I see your late arrival has not affected your ability to find friends," she noted.

"Indeed, Madam Yu," zjd said, rising from his seat to politely meet her gaze, or perhaps force

her to look up at him instead of the other way around. "Your daughter and her friends have been most welcoming. I look forward to getting to know each of them over the next weeks."

"I'm sure," the older alpha said, eyes sliding over him before shooting over to her daughter,

staring up at her former classmate through starry eyes. "Yanli," she said sharply, her daughter's eyes lingering on zjd until he turned his down to meet hers.

"Yes, muqin?" she said, finally turning her gaze away from the older man and onto her mother.

"I believe it is time for

a break," her mother said, eyes flickering between her daughter and zjd. "lwj," she continued, sharp gaze landing on him as he straightened slightly in his seat, "I trust you can help my daughter back to her room?"

lwj blinked at the woman before nodding. "Yes, Madam Yu,"

he said. Apparently having so many strange, unpleasant and very much untrustworthy alphas on the property meant he had been upgraded from "alpha who needs a chaperone (ie jc) when he is around my daughter" to "alpha who is a trusted to be a chaperone for my daughter." Lucky him.

lwj moved to stand only to startle when zjd stepped behind him, forcing lwj to sit back down or push his chair into the other alpha. lwj sat, his lips pressed tight together as he side eyed the older man, catching Madam Yu also watching him closely as he smiled softly down at jyl

and politely pulled her chair out for you.

"I hope to see you soon," he said, holding out a hand to help her stand and raising it to press a light kiss to the air above it, breathing soft, moonlit night scent onto it, jyl's own sunshine scent rising up to meet it. "Rest well."

~

The walk back to jyl's room passed in a blur, lwj practically having to haul her along as she swayed dreamily. For a moment, he even considered dragging her off to see the physician the Jiangs kept on site, because something seemed seriously wrong with his friend, sighing and

smiling and continuing to release that scent zjd had dragged out of her.

"A-Li," he said seriously as they reached her room, wondering if his new chaperone job came with the perk of being allowed into her room and deciding not to push his luck.

jyl was just reaching for

her door, humming dreamily to herself, when lwj tugged her away, heading back down the hall towards an exit that led down to the part of the lake his friend's room faced.

"Hey!" jyl objected as lwj pulled her along. "A-Zhan! I thought you were taking me back to my room!"

"No," lwj said sternly, continuing to drag jyl's protesting form down the hall, out the door and down to the water, her complaints quickly morphing from serious to teasing.

"Oh no! I'm being kidnapped!" she laughed. "My dear, best friend has realized that he actually would like

to court me and has decided the only course of actio to steal me away!"

lwj huffed and glanced around and, finding no one close enough to object to his friend's silly words, simply continued moving along down the long dock that led onto the lake.

"Ah~ but whatever shall I do?"

jyl sighed as they reached the end of the dock, lwj pulling her to sit beside him. "I have another suitor I am oh so fond of! How will I be able to choose between my dear A-Zhan and-"

"And zjd?" lwj asked, cutting off the omega's dramatics and barely containing an eye roll when

she sighed dramatically and flopped back on the dock, smiling stupidly up at the cloudless sky.

"He's great, isn't he?" she asked dreamily, the way lwj had seen omegas talking in movies and tv shows all his life but had never had the displeasure to witness in person, until now.

Honestly, he had kind of figured it was simply over exaggerated and omegas didn't actually act like that in real life. Apparently they did.

"He is... something," lwj said carefully, jyl thankfully missing his scepticism over the matter.

"Yeah..." she sighed, eyes shifting over

to him. "He was great in school, too," she said, smiling at the memories only she could see. "Smart and kind, all the omegas wanted him but he never seemed interested in anyone. Instead he was always studying and doing sports and helping his underclassmen out." She smiled

mischievously up at him, adding, "Some of us would even pretend to be bad at a subject just to get him to tutor us."

jyl wiggled her feet happily as she giggled. "And he chose me! Ah! All my classmates are going to be so jealous!" she squealed, beginning to twist on the dock,

likely leaving little snags in her delicate dress.

"Mn," lwj hummed, his friend's eyes shooting up to him.

"You don't approve?" she asked, scrunching her nose at him.

lwj blinked down at her, wondering what she had heard in his hum to have given away his current distaste for

the man. "He seemed... rude, in a polite way," he finally said, eyes narrowing when jyl burst into laughter.

"Ah, he's always been that way," she said, when her giggling finally ceased, sucking in several lungfuls of air. "I think it's a British thing," she added thoughtfully,

raising a hand to tap her chin.

"I have met British people," lwj said, bristling slightly. "They did not generally come off as so stuck up."

"A-Zhan," jyl said seriously, raising an eyebrow at him. "You know that you come off as stuck up, too, don't you?"

lwj's tensed,

blinking down at her for several long seconds. "I do not," he finally said. "Oh please," jyl said, pushing herself up. "You come from a rich family, you come off as cold and aloof, even if you're actually a teddy bear, and you dress in designer clothing... and in one of a kinds!"

She tilted her head and planted a hand on her hip, frowning at him. "That all totally makes you come off as stuck up."

"There is a difference between my unavoidable family, shyness and good taste making me accidentally come off as stuck up and someone purposefully saying things

they must know come off that way," lwj bit out, fists clenching against the wooden dock.

"Not a big one," jyl said, annoyance seeping through her voice. "Whatever. Even if he comes off that way he isn't, and isn't very nice of you to make such hasty judgements about someone you

just met," she said, tossing her hair as she turned to look out over the lake.

lwj watched her for a moment, silently seething at the woman, before saying, "That is why I did not say anything. A-Li asked. It is not my fault she does not like my opinion of the man."

"Whatever, A-Zhan," jyl said dismissively, her scent seeping out all burning summer day as she shook her legs. "You know what, fuck you! I actually have a chance to make this work and you're ruining it!" she yelled, twisting towards him, eyes and face hard with rage.

"You might have found love but it's not that easy for all of us!"

"Easy?" lwj asked tonelessly, his own scent rising up in burning sugar and honey to meet the omega's. "What is easy about loving another alpha? A man I can never truly have?"

"Oh, poor lwj," jyl sneered,

"his life is so hard. He'll get old, adopt a kid and get to fuck whoever he wants, whenever he wants."

"You think I still won't face stigma for choosing to remain unmated?" lwj growled. "You think people won't whisper?"

"Better than having to choose between shitty matches and

being a barren, childless old omega!" jyl screeched at him, pushing herself up, lwj rising with her.

The two glared at each other for a moment before lwj turned and began walking back to shore, jyl following several steps behind him.

"I hope your uncle forces you to marry,"

the omega bit out. "Then you'll see how I feel. You'll end up just as miserable as me, having to deal with some poor, miserable omega's heats. Having to cheat on your precious Xian-gege," she sneered.

lwj knew, even without thinking about it, that this whole thing was stupid,

and that they would both regret their words in the morning, maybe even in just a few hours. That, however, was not enough to stop him from halting his steps and, waiting until jyl was just about to pass him, pressing his hand to her shoulder and pushing her off the dock.

jyl screeched as she went over, flailing as she hit the water, drops splashing up onto lwj. He gazed disinterestedly down at the water, waiting for the purple mass to surface, spluttering and swearing, before continuing his trek down the down. Behind him, jyl was saying more

things she would likely regret later, especially if someone happened to overhear, which...

"What the fuck!?" jzxuan cried, bolting down the trail to meet lwj at the base of the dock. "Did you just push jyl into the lake?" he asked, wide eyes shifting between lwj's icy form and

jyl's swearing one.

lwj glanced back to find her attempting to drag herself up onto the dock, her waterlogged dress weighing her down. "She deserved it," he said mildly, continuing up the path jzxuan had just come from. "Are you coming with me, or going to help her?" he asked

his new, somewhat panicking friend.

jzxuan glanced between the two a few times before shuffling up beside lwj. "With you," he said nervously, "I don't want her to take any of that anger out on me."

"Mn," lwj hummed, adding, "I do not know if you would survive," as jyl's screams

at him shifted into screams at both of them.

~

"So- uhm..." jzxuan tried as he accepted a cup of tea from lwj. "What in the world happened out there?"

lwj settled down beside jzxuan on the couch in his and wwx's living room, sipping quietly at his own cup, and wondering what,

exactly, had actually happened. "I am not sure," he said finally, jzxuan gaping at him.

"You- you don't know?" he asked incredulously, leaning over to set his cup down. "How do you not know?"

"We- we were talking about zjd," lwj told him slowly, trying to remember exactly how

he had ended up pushing his friend, his best friend, into the lake. "She seemed very... taken with him. I hummed in acknowledgment and she... did not take it as my having a positive opinion of him."

"Ok... and then what happened?"

"She asked my opinion of him and I told her.

She was not happy with my opinion and we fought," lwj told him before taking a long sip of his drink, jzxuan watching him over the top. "She said some very... cruel things on our way back to shore. Wished some very unpleasant things on me, so-"

"So you pushed her in the lake,"

jzxuan guessed, snorting quietly when lwj nodded. "Wow, you seem so," he waved over lwj's person, "composed and reasonable. Not like a stereotypical hot-tempered alpha. It's kinda nice to see you've got a bit of fire in you," he teased.

"I am not hot-tempered," lwj said sternly.

"Says the person who just pushed his best friend into the lake," jzxuan said, raising an eyebrow at him, his citrus scent rising up around them to tease lwj's still burning one. "You also said some pretty choice things to my shit wad of an uncle the other night, even though they

could come back and bite you in the butt."

"They both deserved it," lwj said coldly.

"Sure," his new friend agreed, relaxing back into the couch and scrunching his nose. He reached a hand behind him, fumbling with whatever he was sitting on, saying, "But most people would just

walk it off, I mean, you didn't say exactly what jyl said but-" He pulled the small stuffed animal out from under him, eyeing it up for a moment before lwj snatched it out of his hands. "What's with the stuffed pig?"

lwj gazed sadly down at the pig, only weakly smelling like his

friend after so many weeks of nearly daily use. She hadn't had a chance to scent it for him again and now they were mad at each other and-

"Hey," jzxuan said softly, shifting closer to him, "it'll be okay."

lwj shook his head, pressing the pig to his nose, light, happy sunshine

reaching up towards him. Light and loving and-

jzxuan squeaked a sob racked through lwj, hot wet tears seeping into the small pig and jzxuan flailing around him before rather forcefully pulling him into his chest, soft citrus wrapping cooly around them. "It'll be okay,"

he repeated, rocking lwj in his arms as he rearranged them, pulling and shuffling until lwj was lying across his chest, cradled between his legs and engulfed in a tight hug. "She isn't the type to hold a grudge," the other alpha assured him. "One of the last times our mom's

allowed us to be in the same room together I told her she was boring and average looking and wouldn't make a good mate. I mean, that was almost a decade ago, but she forgave me... eventually."

Eventually. Eventually jyl might forgive him. Years from now, even months from now was

too long and lwj sucked in a tight breath, his previous attempts to halt his crying snapping in half as another wave of sadness and regret and confusion over how the fuck things had escalated so quickly shot through him.

"Oh fuck," jzxuan said, one hand rubbing against lwj's

shaking back while the other fumbled between them. "Stupid ginormous phones that you can't use with one hand," he mumbled angrily before-

"Oh, thank fuck you picked up! No, I'm not good. Look, I need the contact info for-"

~

(A/N: who do you think jzxuan called?? 👀)

A soft knock startled lwj out of his dancing giant lemon filled dream. He pushed himself up, blearily blinking at jzxuan's chest, which he had apparently been sleeping on. At least he hadn't nuzzled his way up and gotten scent drunk huffing his friend's neck glands, even as it

was he was a bit hazy.

Another knock sounded, jzxuan muttering quietly under him about rude mothers who just wouldn't let him sleep before blinking his eyes open and meeting lwj's.

"Hey you," he said drowsily, asking, "Feeling any better?" before another knock, louder this

time, ran through the room.

lwj hummed noncommittally about the whole feeling better thing and pushed himself up, moving towards the door, hesitating as he reached it. What if it was jyl? He wasn't sure he was ready to talk to her about what had happened. What if he burst into

tears? What if she said their friendship was other? What if-

Whoever was on the other side knocked again, louder and more urgent, the bang bang bang continuing on in an endless stream of knocking, knocking, knocking-

lwj sighed and pulled the door open, very much not ready to

face whatever fate jyl wished to force upon him-

"Ge," lwj said blankly, blinking at his other brother before rubbing at the sleep that was obviously still in his eyes and making him hallucinate.

"Didi," lxc said, reaching forward to gather his brother into a tight hug their

uncle would have thoroughly scolded them for. "Oh, didi," his brother sighed into his hair, likely smelling the remnants of his earlier out of control scent as he sobbed as well as jzxuan's sleepy lemon scent.

lwj sucked in a shuddering breath, tensing as lxc's flowers and steel

scent rose up around them. "Ge-" he started only for jzxuan to pop up behind them.

"Hello, Lan-xiansheng," he greeted politely, if awkwardly.

"Zixuan-di, how many times have I asked you to call me something less formal?" his brother greeted in return, laughing lightly and

opening an arm in invitation to jzxuan, who apparently had no qualms about burying himself in lxc's arms. "Thank you for calling me," he said into jzxuan's hair.

"Of course," jzxuan mumbled, pulling back out of the hug. "I'm glad Yao-ge picked up when I called for your number,"

he added, rubbing the back of his neck. "I should go, leave you two to... I dunno. Bond? Discuss plans of attack? If you really want to take jyl out I think you'll have to do something other than push her into a lake she grew up in," he said seriously to lwj before a teasing

smile tugged at his lips.

lwj huffed, eyes softening at his odd new friend. "Thank you... for today. I will see you tomorrow."

jzxuan smiled as he slipped his shoes back on, waving to the two Lan brothers before hesitating. "Is Mingjue-ge here too?"

"Why does my husband get

to be Mingjue-ge and I'm Lan-xiansheng?" lxc pouted, staring sadly, if menacingly, into the young alpha's eyes.

jzxuan swallowed heavily. "It's different between alphas..." he mumbled, staring down as he scuffed a foot against the floor. "Did you husband come with you...

Xichen-ge? And the baby?"

"Mn," lxc hummed, happy flowers echoing out around them. "He is greeting the Jiangs and your mother at the moment. If you happen to see him, please tell him I have located my sweet, heartbroken little brother."

"Who says I'm heartbroken," lwj muttered

under his breath, both other men turning their heads to give him exasperated looks. Rude.

"I will..." jzxuan said, looking away from lwj and bowing slightly to his brother. "Have a good evening."

"You as well," lxc said as the door closed behind jzxuan. "Well,"

his brother said, clasping his hands behind his back and rocking slightly on his heels, "would you like to chat or eat dinner first?"

"Don't have food here," lwj said, looking away from his brother to the kitchen.

"None at all?" his brother asked sceptically, giving lwj his

patented "I know when you're lying little brother" look.

lwj pressed his lips together, debating between doubling down or telling his brother the truth. "There are... ingredients, to make food. A-Li was supposed to-" he cut off, blinking rapidly at the tears forming in his eyes.

"She was going to come cook with you," lxc finished, smiling sadly at lwj. "Would you like to get food elsewhere? Or, I can cook with the ingredients and we can replace them tomorrow."

lwj really didn't feel like going out, not when he seemed to be on verge of bursting into

tears at any moment. "Ge can cook," he said quietly, moving towards the kitchen as his brother stripped off his shoes and coat.

"This is a nice place," lxc noted as he wandered towards the kitchen, looking over wwx's eclectic decor. "Madam Yu said this is where her husband's

former foster brother stays, but he let you use it while he is gone back home?"

"Mn..." lwj hummed, glad his hair was hiding his bright red ears and willing his brother not to hear anything telling in his tone.

"That was nice of him..." lxc said dryly as he began peeking into

wwx's fridge, lwj cringing at the tone he knew meant his brother had heard more in what he said, or didn't, than he would like.

lxc hummed and hawed as he looked through the fridge, asking lwj what kind of pantry items they had as well, before he mumbled off a few thoughts on

what he could make, laughing lightly as lwj immediately asked for one of his comfort foods. "Didi wants gege to make his favourite? Were you planning on making it?" he asked curiously, gathering up the needed items.

"Yes," lwj said, pulling out some cooking utensils from

the cupboards. "A-Li was going to teach me how to make it."

"Well, if you want, I can teach you," lxc offered, quickly adding, "There seems to be food enough for a collection of other dishes as well, so when you make up with Yanli tomorrow she will still be able to teach you.

I would quite like to be the one to teach my baby brother how to make this dish though."

lxc smiled warmly at him and lwj couldn't think of a reason to say no. "You were never interested in learning to cook before," his brother noted as they began cutting vegetables,

lxc which to cut first and how. "Any particular reason for the interest now? I'm sure it's not just the easy access to a kitchen."

lwj glared down at the carrots he was cutting, willing his voice to behave and wishing he knew what exactly it was that always gave his lies away.

lwj was just opening his mouth when his brother spoke again.

"It wouldn't have something to do with the person you've been seeing, would it?" lxc asked, sliding a look at his brother as he leaned back against the counter.

lwj blinked at his brother before turning back to his

carrots. "Who said anything about seeing someone?" he asked, tone as mild and unaccusing as he could manage.

"Didi," lxc said quietly, "you can tell me anything, you know? I'll always support my baby brother. Until the end of the world."

lwj blinked down at his carrots,

cut erratic and uneven, his eyes beginning to water. He startled when his brother appeared behind him, wrapping his arms around him and resting his hands over lwj's.

"Like this, didi," he said, guiding lwj's hands over the carrots, skilled and perfect just like all good omegas

were supposed to be. Usually an omega parent taught their children at least the basics, but after their mother had died there had been no one. Their uncle had instead hired a tutor for lxc once he had presented to teach him all the things a proper househusband needed to know.

lxc laughed lightly in lwj's ear as he pulled more vegetables towards them. "I suppose I'm being a bit hypocritical though," he admitted, pressing his cheek to lwj's ear. "There are parts of my life I hide because I'm afraid of how my did will react as well."

lwj twisted around

to glare at his brother, probably nearly cutting one or both of them in the process. "Ge can always tell me," he said seriously. "Always."

His brother smiled kindly, if a bit nervously at lwj. "Trade you a secret for a secret?" he asked quietly, just like they had once done

as children, not yet presented, not yet held at a distance by their traditional uncle.

"Ok," lwj whispered, watching his brother swallow and avert his eyes before laughing at himself.

"This was easier when we were kids," lxc said. "Easier in the dark of night and comfort of

our beds."

"Mn," lwj agreed, smiling softly and hopefully encouragingly at his brother all the while trying to rack his brain for what his brother could possibly be this nervous about tell him. What secret he was afraid lwj would react negatively to-

"A-Jue and I... we, ah...

(A/N: 3zun)

we brought A-Yao into our relationship," his brother finally said, cheeks lighting crimson as he watched lwj, waiting on eggshells for his reaction which...

"jgy is a beta," lwj blurted out.

"Yes," lxc agreed, nodding slightly at him, a crinkle appearing between

his eyes. "Betas have sex too."

lwj's face burned. "I know that," he hissed. "I just meant- how does that... work?" Fucking hell. Was he really asking how his brother's apparently adventurous sex life worked? That was not what he'd meant to ask!!

A smile tugged at lxc's lips,

which, well, at least he wasn't too put off by lwj's blunt question. "He enjoys both sides of sex. He enjoys bottoming with A-Jue, both with me," he said, watching as lwj computed that information.

"Oh," lwj breathed out, willing his face to stop being quite so red,

willing himself to not imagine his brother topping jgy. How did that even work for a male omega? Weren't they too small?

"There are toys you can get," lxc said, obviously trying not to laugh at his poor baby brother who hadn't meant to ask that out loud! "You have to get them

from overseas, though. They don't make anything like that here."

"Oh..." lwj said, thinking about the toy wwx had gotten him and the english instructions. "Are you happy?" he asked after a moment.

"Yes," lxc said, smiling at him, his own red face beginning to lighten out.

"It's not that I was unhappy with just A-Jue, but something was... missing. A-Jue was attentive enough to realize it and we figured out how to deal with it." He smiled a bit cruelly at his brother, adding, "We went to a few sex parties at the start," and losing himself in a fit

of giggles when lwj hissed, "GE!" at him.

"How long?" lwj asked once he brother had stopped laughing at his expense.

"Ah... almost 2 years now."

"Jingjing? He-" lwj started awkwardly, only to be mercifully cut off by his brother.

"He is A-Jue's," his brother told him.

"Although... we have discussed the possibility of A-Yao fathering our second," he added quietly, returning to watching his brother warily, which obviously could not stand.

"Jingjing will be lucky to have another sibling," he assured his brother, adding, "and I will be lucky to

have another niece or nephew, regardless of how they were conceived or who their sire is."

lxc visibly relaxed, moving back in to hug lwj. "I'm glad you're done with school," he whispered into lwj's ear. "I've missed my didi and I can't wait for my son to get to know his uncle."

lwj hummed softly, the two of them rocking together for a moment, his brother's soft scent flowing up around them, and suddenly he could smell the third note, just barely there, twisted up with lxc's and nmj's. jgy's soft, near flavourless beta scent. He blushed into his

brother's neck. It was one thing to smell nmj's scent, his and his brother's scents had been near permanently twined together when they had exchanged mating bites. To smell someone else though, someone not a child or another family member? It was a bit embarrassing.

lwj wondered

if his brother could smell wwx on him. It was days away from being fresh, but lwj had been falling asleep surrounded by wwx's scented clothing everyday since. Once, his brother would have known lwj's scent like the back of his hand, but they had barely seen each other in years,

since lwj left for school, since lxc married.

"I like alphas," lwj blurted out, burying his face further into it's brother's neck, vaguely wondering how scent drunk he was getting but not really caring. Things were easier, less scary, when he was scent drunk.

"I know,"

lxc whispered, pressing a kiss to his forehead before lwj pulled out of their hug to glare at his older brother.

"How?" he asked, blinking rapidly. Ok, definitely at least a bit scent drunk, the world swaying a bit behind his brother.

"Didi," lxc huffed, pushing some hair out

of lwj's face and tucking it behind his ear. "I'm your big brother. Officially, uncle raised us, but you and I both know I was more of a parent to you than he ever was," he said, leaning in to press their foreheads together. "You know I would have been more, been better,

if uncle hadn't been so strict with us, right?"

"I know, ge," lwj said, blinking back tears. "You were a good parent," he told his brother. "You were a good parent when you didn't have to be, shouldn't have had to be."

"Lots of practice for my own little one," lxc laughed,

brushing his nose affectionately against lwj's in a way he hadn't done since they were small, in a way lwj had seen him do with his own child, in a way their own mother used to do to them, before pulling back slightly. "So," lxc said, threateningly tightening his grip and gaze

on lwj, "my didi has an alpha he is seeing."

"Yes," lwj admitted, glancing away, wondering if he should admit it was wwx and that was why the man had offered him his house to use while he was-

"Jin Zixuan?" lxc asked mildly, lwj's head snapping back to stare wide eyed at him.

"No. It is not jzxuan," lwj said carefully, the look in his brother's eyes growing more intense.

"Ah, that's too bad," lxc sighed, leaning in slightly to sniff at lwj's neck. "Your scents combine into such a wonderful honey lemon." lxc leaned back out, blinking thoughtfully

at lwj. "I do hope it's not jwy," he said, half-teasingly, half-nervously, laughing when lwj's scent flared in disgust. "I suppose not then," his brother said, his grip on lwj tightening along with his smile. "One of the other suitors, then? Or someone else you met at the party?"

"Ge... I-"

"Ah!" lxc interrupted, smile dropping dramatically, his every movement and word becoming more erratic and threatening in a way lwj rarely saw unless his elder brother was growing more and more upset. "I remember now! I had assumed you met someone after you called

asking for that scented bunny, but... you know, I just can't think of any other alphas you would have met! Maybe a local? Or someone who came in to help with the party?"

lwj shook his head and almost wished he had lied and said jzxuan was the alpha he was seeing, at least

his brother had seemed supportive of that-

"Ah, is that so..." he brother breathed out, interrupting his thoughts. "Well, I do wonder who else my dear brother could have met," he said tightly, adding, "The only other alphas who live here, as far as I know, are Madam Yu and

Wei Wuxian, and they are far too old for you."

lwj swallowed nervously, extremely annoyed that his brother and the kitchen counter were holding his hostage, lxc's hands and smile a razor held to his neck. "Ge-" he tried again, only for his brother to interrupt him.

"Oh, but I suppose wwx might know who it is," lxc said, that razor sharp smile pressing harsher into lwj, "after all, he's letting you use his place which I can only assume is now your own little sex pad."

"GE!" lwj hissed, heat sizzling across his ears and face.

"I am wrong?"

lxc asked, tilting his head at lwj. "Have you not been using this place for that? Perhaps something is standing in your way?" He leaned in to whisper in lwj ear, "Perhaps the person you are seeing is not here to enjoy this sex pad with you?"

lwj shuddered as his brother pulled

back out, eyes and expression colder than lwj had seen in years, not since he had forced their uncle to allow lwj to attend the university of his choosing. "Ge-"

"Ah, don't worry, didi," his brother interrupted, yet again, "gege can accept that you aren't quite ready to tell him

what young alpha has captured your heart. I do believe that when I see wwx at the Jiang's business party in a few weeks I will be having a discussion with him about the whether it is proper to supply young men with sex pads, however. I'm afraid I don't know if this was something

considered acceptable in his day, it was so, so long ago, after all."

lxc smiled cruelly at him and lwj briefly offered a prayer that wwx would survive his eventual run in with his protective older brother-

"Oh, but he is an unmated alpha!" lxc suddenly exclaimed,

finally removing his hands from lwj to place one on his hip and using the other to tap his chin as though he were thinking of a solution to the situation, even if lwj already knew what he was going to suggest, his back pulling taut as his brother looked back at him,

eyes lit up in pure, sadistic glee. "I suppose I'll just have to take A-Jue with me, you don't mind if I tell him about all this do you? I will, of course, keep it a secret if you wish, however I would quite appreciate being able to share this with my mates, A-Yao too. Oh!"

he cried, bouncing on his feet like a terrifying child. "I should take A-Yao with me when I talk to wwx as well. He quite likes talking to people."

Talking to people. lwj had only met jgy a few times but he knew that the man's brand of "talking" was quite similar to nhs's:

threatening and biting and able to leave even the firmest of alphas crying on the floor.

"You may, of course, tell your... Boyfriend?" lxc asked, adding, "Girlfriend?" just for the sake of it after a moment.

"Boyfriend," lwj squeaked, wondering if he could make a break for it

now that his brother's hands had been removed from his person. It would be the perfect way to make up with jyl: my brother is threatening mine and your uncle's personal safety with his over protectiveness and now I need you to put your anger aside and hide me.

lxc smiled sharply at him. "You may, of course, tell your boyfriend about myself and my mates, assuming you think he is trustworthy?"

lwj nodded aggressively, hoping to at least encourage his brother than even if wwx was older he was a good person.

"I see..." lxc said quietly,

his tone screaming that he may have been happier if wwx were not trustworthy. "A-Li and Zixuan-di as well, as I already know them to be trustworthy. I assume they also know about-"

"Yes," lwj breathed out, smiling wobbly at his brother and hoping to distract him from any further

thoughts about wwx. "They know. They are supportive, and yes, you may tell your... mates."

lxc's smile finally softened, his eyes sliding into gently slants. "I am glad my didi has such good friends," he said. "Now turn around so I can teach you how to properly slice a pepper."

"Yes, ge," lwj said, swishing around, his brother pressing warmly against his back as his hands landed once more on lwj's, moving them and softly explaining the process to him, his previously steely weapon scent mellowing out around them.

lwj sent another prayer for wwx,

hoping he would survive his inevitable run in with his brother and his mates.

~

"So," lxc said as he finished off the last of his meal, "let me see if I've got this right. A-Li had a surprise suitor arrive today, a former classmate? He was somewhat rude and you voiced this

thought to A-Li, but only after she asked... not for your opinion on him, but why you didn't seem to like him?"

lwj nodded, taking another bite of his food. They had been raised with quiet meals and had both, thankfully, shoved that rule under the rug once they reached

university. It was a stupid rule, and honestly? lwj figured his uncle had made it up in those first few days after they had come to live with him just so he could get a bit of silence, which... seemed fair. Maybe not to their small child selves, but lwj could appreciate needing

some peace and quiet, especially for a man who had not exactly consenting to becoming a parent.

"Then you two fought, A-Li wished you had a rather... unfortunate life and you pushed her into the lake? Do I have that all right?"

"Yes," lwj said before stuffing another piece of

food into his mouth. He'd spent most of the meal so far explaining to his brother what had happened and not eating, because he was a little traumatized after an incident where he had inhaled food while trying to talk while eating, a skill he obviously hadn't learned growing up.

His brother hummed for a moment, leaning back into wwx's couch, as wwx's table was covered in books and papers lwj was afraid to move and wwx himself had insisted that the couch was best for eating. "Didi, do you remember when I introduced you to A-Jue?" he asked.

lwj blinked at

his brother, who smiled at his slightly chipmunked cheeks, before swallowing his food. "Yes?" he asked, eyebrows stitching together in confusion. "At the climbing park," he added. It had been a weird choice that lwj couldn't have imagined himself enjoying, but watching nmj help

his brother climb and growl at the judgemental alphas in the gym, who didn't believe the activity was appropriate for an omega, before helping lwj just as carefully as his had lxc, just as carefully as lwj had since seen him treat nhs...

"Do you know why were went there, of all

places?" lwj asked, eyes softening when lwj shook his head. "So that you could see exactly why A-Jue was great right from the moment you met him. So you could see that he treats me like an equal and not like a delicate flower, at least not when I don't want to be treated

that way," he laughed.

"Why?" lwj blurted out, clarifying, "Why did I need to see it right from the start?"

"Because I needed my baby brother to like the man I liked," his brother said, smiling softly at lwj and reaching out to wiggle his nose, laughing when lwj's face

scrunched up. "Your opinion means everything to me, didi. Not having your approval for the match that even at that point, just a few weeks into courting, I wanted... it would have hurt so much."

lwj watched as his brother's expression grew sad, as if even the idea that lwj would

dislike his mate, even briefly, was heart breaking, and hadn't his heart cracked a bit earlier? Thinking about his brother not approving of wwx... which... He narrowed his eyes at his brother who simply raised an eyebrow at him. "Ge, aren't you-"

"Let me have my fun, didi,"

lxc simply said leaning forward lightning quick to swipe another bite of food off lwj's plate. "I know full well you gave A-Jue a shovel talk shortly after meeting him, so you can't even judge me."

"Hmm..." lwj hummed darkly, not convinced that his brother wasn't going to bring

an actual shovel to talk to wwx, on top of his two scary mates. "You're saying A-Li was upset because I do not currently like her potential mate."

"I think it would explain a lot," his brother replied, yelping when lwj smacked his food stealing hand away from his food.

"A-Li loves you," lxc continued, rubbing at the spot lwj had smacked, "possibly loves and cares for you more than she does her actual family. For you not to approve of someone she may be imaging spending her life with... she may feel like she will have to choose between you

and him."

lwj chewed thoughtfully on his food. He definitely hadn't meant to make A-Li feel like she needed to choose between them, but he could see how she could take it that way. lwj had no patience or tolerance for people he did not like, and if he didn't like A-Li's mate...

"Thank you, ge," he said seriously, dropping a bit of food onto his brother's plate. "I imagine you are correct. I will try to talk to A-Li and assure her that I wish to get to know zjd better," he added, moving to rise, only for a knock to sound at the door, his gaze shooting

over to it before he was taking quick steps towards it, hoping jyl was on the other side-

"Hello, Mingjue-ge," lwj greeted, trying not to sigh too audibly when it was not the woman he wanted to see.

"Well, hello to you too, Zhan-di," the older alpha said, laughing

good-humouredly at lwj's less than enthusiastic greeting, the small child in his arms giggling at the movement.

lwj's eyes shot down to the nephew he very rarely had opportunity to see. "Hello, Jingjing," he greeted seriously, earning him more laughter from the boy's father.

"Here you go, Zhan-di," his brother-in-law said, before dropping the boy into lwj's flailing arms. "Oooh, food!" he said, toeing his shoes off and heading shamelessly into the kitchen where lxc was already preparing a plate for him.

lwj blinked at them, making themselves at home

in his, wwx's, house. "I should-"

"No you shouldn't," nmj said as he pressed a quick kiss to his mate's forehead, before jokingly covering his mate's ears. "Trust me, as a man married to a temperamental omega: let the girl sleep it off. Some people say to get things resolved

before bed? That's a lie! Omegas are vicious at night."

"A-Jue," lxc scolded, pulling his mate's hands away from his ears. "I am neither temperamental nor vicious."

Both lwj and nmj shot the omega a disbelieving look, before glancing up at each other and shaking their heads.

"He says that," nmj said, shoving a bite of food into his mouth, "but a couple weeks ago I had to use Jingjing as a shield. Pro-tip: you have a pissed off omega at your throat? No one better than a baby to protect you."

"Mn..." lwj hummed, glancing down at the little milk

scented child in his arms.

~

"Alright little man," lwj whispered softly to his nephew, "I'm counting on you to protect me."

Jingjing gurgled at him, frowning deeply up at lwj's hair, which he had been forced to pull back into a pony tail to keep out of the boys frighteningly

tight grasp.

lwj raised a hand and sucked in a deep breath before knocking on his friend's door. It was early, but he was very much hoping jyl was already up, had perhaps been like him and barely slept at all the night before. He'd already delayed coming nearly an hour, stress

cleaning practically the entire house while he waited for a slightly more reasonable hour to go kidnap his nephew to use as a human shield and go meet jyl.

Both his brother and brother-in-law had already been awake when he knocked on their door, Jingjing having woken them

around the time lwj had gotten out of bed.

"You should come back with us and be our nanny," nmj had teased, once he had stopped laughing so hard at lwj's request to steal their child for the morning.

He was just beginning to think jyl wasn't in or still asleep when the door

cracked open, jyl peering out before slowly opening it a bit more.

"A-Zhan..." she said, her voice a miserable reflection of her miserable form, her eyes red from crying or not sleeping or both.

"A-Li," lwj replied, his voice cracking as he took a heaving breath and-

"I'm sorry!" they both blurted out at the same time, staring wide eyed at one another before lwj said, holding out Jingjing to his friend, "I brought a baby, to bribe you into forgiving me... and discourage you from killing me."

jyl glanced down, blinking rapidly at the boy

like she hadn't noticed him before, which she may not have, her eyes having barely strayed from lwj's face since she opened the door. "This is..."

"Jingjing," lwj confirmed as the omega opened the door a bit more, revealing that she was already fully dressed.

"Hello, Jingjing,"

she said as she accepted the child, releasing the soft, comforting, motherly scent that all omegas seemed to naturally know how to make. "I'm your uncle's friend-"

"His gugu," lwj interrupted, jyl's eyes shooting up to his. "My brother already agreed, although he did say he

expected to be allowed to call you meimei from now on... and that you would forgive me."

"A-Zhan," she sighed, pressing her cheek into Jingjing's head, "there's nothing to forgive."

"I pushed you into the lake," lwj pointed out.

"And do you feel like I didn't deserve it?"

his friend asked, smiling mischievously at him. "I said some truly horrible things, A-Zhan. Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't hold my head under and drown me."

lwj glanced away, quietly admitting, "A-Li may have deserved it..." glancing back at her when she laughed.

"I'm so sorry, A-Zhan. I can't believe I said those things to you, there is no excuse," she said, blinking watery eyes at him and taking a huffing breath of Jingjing's soft, milky scent.

"You were upset."

"That's no excuse and you know it!" jyl said sternly, shooting him her

best 'I am disappointed in you for trying to lie to both me and yourself' look.

lwj looked back at her. "Would you like to go sit on the dock with me?" he asked, a smirk tugging at his lips when she glared at him.

"Are you going to push me in again?" she asked, eyes scanning

over him suspiciously.

"Not as long as you are holding the baby," lwj teased, "although, I suggest you tie your hair back. He pulls."

"Oh..." jyl said, looking down at the baby, who blinked innocently up at her. "Are you a naughty boy who tugs on people's pretty long hair?"

she asked as she moved back into her room to grab a hair tie. "Well, I'll tell you a secret," she whispered, Jingjing lighting up at the change in tone, "my mother made me get extensions and I hate them. You'd be doing me a favour if you pulled them out."

"A-Li," lwj scolded.

"Yes, A-Zhan?" his friend asked as she reappeared at the door, closing it softly behind herself.

"Do not encourage questionable behaviour," he said seriously as they began walking to short distance to the door that led down to the lake.

"You're just mad because you don't like

having your hair up," she said, teasingly adding, "I don't blame you, since they reveal the weak point of your icy facade."

lwj glared at her catching her tense and look away from him, gnawing on her lower lip while they walked towards the end of the dock, the site of their

flight, in silence.

"Am I really stuck up?" he finally asked as they took their seats, jyl's eyes shooting back to his.

"Oh, A-Zhan-"

"Am I?"

The omega woman pressed her lips together. "A bit," she finally said, quickly adding, "but I am too! I think we all are, those of us

that grow in this life. Even other, more 'normal' people can be too! Think of all the people at school he thought if you didn't like a certain type of music you were trash! And the people who are poor but refuse to talk to people poorer than them! There are so many types of

stuck up, I don't know if anyone can escape life without being a little stuck up, in one way or another."

lwj raised an eyebrow at her. "How long did it take you to come up with that?" he asked, smiling when her serious face dropped into a self-deprecating smile.

"A while," she admitted quietly. "I think it's a pretty good argument."

"Mn," lwj agreed, glancing down at his nephew who was glaring between their ponytails. "I'm sorry I currently do not like the man you are considering mating. I promise I will give him another chance or two."

"Yeah?" jyl asked, hope and love seeping through both her voice and scent, Jingjing lighting up at the new scent, giggling, his own milky scent exploding out of him to meet his gugu's sparkling sunlight scent. "Oh... aren't you just the cutest little thing," the omega cooed.

"Mn..." lwj hummed, watching his friend look down adoringly at Jingjing and fighting to keep his scent from leaking out heavy and sad.

"A-Zhan?" his friend asked, looking up at him with worried eyes because apparently he had failed at containing his scent. "What's wrong?"

lwj glanced away, staring out over the calm morning lake, almost no boats out yet. "I'll never have that," he finally said.

"Have what?" jyl asked. "A child? I thought you were going to adopt? Or your brother would..." she trailed off.

He needed an alpha heir, and even if he

didn't care about his child being an alpha or omega or beta the board of his family company would, the world they lived in would. In order to guarantee an alpha heir he would need to adopt a teenager who had already presented, one who had already grown up.

"You can always adopt

a younger child," jyl said softly, reaching out a hand to rest over his, "and then if they aren't an alpha-"

"Tell them that the world they grew up in is awful and discriminatory and I need to bring in another, older, better child to replace them?" lwj finished, looking over at

her deflated form.

"It's that way for regular kids too," she pointed out bitterly. "For me, and for your brother. We're both rejected older children."

lwj's expression tightened. "Stupid," he muttered.

"Yup," jyl sighed, looking back down at the baby, his eyes shifting between

the two sad adults. She pressed a kiss to his head, taking a deep huff of his scent. "If you want it, don't let all that horrible stuff stop you," she said, pressing her cheek against Jingjing's head and smiling over at lwj. "You and Xian-shushu would make wonderful parents."

"People don't do that," lwj said automatically, because they didn't. Alternative couples didn't have kids. Alternative couples didn't have lives outside of their hidden lives and community.

"You could try," she tried to insist. "At the very least you shouldn't write it off as

an option. If you really want something, you can make it work."

"Hmm..." lwj hummed, narrowing his eyes at her, unable to resist teasing her a bit. "I don't imagine the omega you wished I'd have to marry will appreciate my having a child with someone else."

jyl gaped at him for

a moment before a flush rushed over her face, Jingjing mumbling and releasing an erratic milk scent, a tiny bit of nmj's steel leaking out, as her scent rushed out all mortified, rotting lotus flower. "Oh, oh A-Zhan! I'm so sorry I said that. I take it back. Can I take it back?

That was- that was possibly one of the worst things I've ever said to someone! And to say it to you! The sweetest person in the world! My best friend! Just because of that stupid fight, over a stupid boy! I- how can I ever make it up to you?"

"Hmm..." lwj hummed, trying his best

not to smile at his friend, who narrowed her eyes at him, seemingly having noticed his amusement. "A-Li has to name her first child after me," he finally said, watching with great amusement as her mouth dropped open again.

"Done," she snapped after a moment, sticking out a hand

to shake on it. "Hmm... Zhao Zhan," she said, tone having an odd, forced dreamy quality.

"Gag me," lwj said gravely, jyl laughing at him. "You can use any part of my name," he added seriously, although he doubted he'd actually hold her to the agreement. He was about to tell her

so when Jingjing began fussing. "Ge said he would need food soon," he told the omega while she tried to soothe the child. "When I took him, ge and Mingjue-ge were heading to get breakfast."

"I imagine," jyl said as she tried to stand up, lwj reaching out to steady her,

"that eating in piece is a rarity for them."

"Mn," lwj agreed as they began heading back down the dock, beginning to tell her about his conversation with his brother the night before.

"No!" she gasped when lwj quietly informed her of his brother's three way relationship.

"I wouldn't have thought Huan-ge had it in him..." she added before bursting into laughter. "Oh, oh no! Now I'm imagining it!" she said between laughs, glancing over at lwj and bursting into more laughter when she caught sight of the disgusted look on his face. "Come on!"

she gasped. "Have you really not thought about it at all?"

"I have been trying my best not to," he said gravely, sending the omega woman into another fit of laughter, Jingjing laughing along with her and waving his hands about. "I imagine he is currently doing the same for me,"

he noted.

"Why's that?" jyl breathed out as her laughter settled down. "That was quite funny, wasn't it, Jingjing?" she said seriously down to the bundle in her arms.

lwj had offered to carry him the moderate distance to where breakfast was served but she had waved him off...

slash almost bitten him for trying to take the child away. He wished his brother luck in retrieving his child.

"He asked if I was seeing someone and..."

"You told him?" she asked, watching him closely as they entered the main building.

"Mn," lwj hummed, adding,

"he said he already knew though. That he was just waiting for me to tell him... although he did mostly force it out of me," he noted, eyebrows crinkling together as he wondered how that had happened. Some kind of big brother magic, probably.

"Awww..." jyl sighed, looking back

down at the baby. "Your baba is such a good brother," she told him seriously, missing lwj rolling his eyes at her. "You are very lucky."

"Mn," lwj hummed in agreement. His brother would be a much better parent than their uncle had been.

"Wait," jyl said suddenly, stopping in

her tracks and looking up at him, "does that mean he knows about you and..." she trailed off as a servant rounded a corner, nodding to them curtly as she passed.

"Not explicitly," lwj told her, "but he suspects enough that I imagine he'll be giving Xian-gege a shovel talk the

next time they meet. At your family's business party in a few weeks, I imagine. Hopefully by then ge will be less... intense."

"Oh..." jyl said, laughing awkwardly and averting her gaze, taking long, fast steps towards the dining area. "Intense at the moment, is he?" she asked,

keeping her eyes carefully trained away from lwj as he caught back up to her.

"Yes... I believe he is unimpressed with the age difference. A-Li, what is wrong?"

"Wrong!?" she squeaked. "Nothing's wrong, why would you think something is wrong? Everything is great! Peachy!

After all... we- we've made up! We've reaffirmed our love for one another! Nothing can ever come between us again, right?" she babbled, laughing nervously, her voice cracking and desperate.

"A-Li-" lwj started only for the hyper, wide eyed omega to interrupt him.

"Here we are!"

she cried, pushing her way into the room, lxc, nmj and Madam Yu glancing up as they entered. "Huan-ge! Mingjue-ge! It's so great to see you! You have a lovely baby! Can I keep him?" she called out quickly, everyone giving her a slightly concerned look.

"Well..." his brother said

carefully, "I do believe we will eventually want him back, but you are free to babysit him so we can explore the area."

"Oh! I have some great places for you to check out," jyl said as she handed Jingjing back to his parents, frowning and waving sadly to him as she took her

own seat.

"I would love your advice," his brother said, the two of them filling the dining hall with chat about the best places to eat (the place wwx had directed to during their long distance date being chief on the list) and places to shop, as servants appeared with food for

the two of them.

"- and there's a lovely little playground there that I'm sure Jingjing would-" jyl was saying when a servant came rushing in to whisper something to Madam Yu, her entire posture pulling impossibly tighter as a wrinkle appeared between her eyes, jyl's words

halting and her eyes growing wide as the doors behind them opened.

"Well," a deep voice said, lwj's entire body tensing as his eyes slide towards the new arrival, "it seems you have some surprise visitors, yzy."

Madam Yu's lips pressed tighter together while lxc's entire face

darkened and nmj looked like he was about to burst into laughter.

"Remember you're holding our dear son, love," he whispered to his mate, just loud enough for lwj to catch it as he shifted his eyes back to jyl's extremely guilty looking face.

"You could have warned me,

warned him," he hissed as their new guest took slow steps into the room.

"Is no one going to greet me?" he sighed dramatically. "So many people, at least two of whom I would quite literally burn to death for, and not a single welcome?"

"Welcome back," Madam Yu nearly growled.

"We were not expecting you back until Fengmian's birthday, Wei Wuxian."

"Ah, well..." wwx sighed, sliding into the seat directly next to lwj, and slipping his hand onto lwj's knee and rubbing it gently, because he had apparently completely missed the near murderous aura coming

from lxc. "I'm back! Surprise! Oh, get that look off your face yzy, I'll be gone again in a few days! I'll even help scare away some of A-Li's awful suitors if it'll make you feel better."

"Hmm..." Madam Yu hummed, "get rid of the one who stinks and I'll overlook your

unannounced return."

"Deal," wwx said cheerily, his hand sliding higher on lwj's thigh and lwj was pretty sure it wasn't as subtle as wwx thought it was as he watched his brother grow increasingly hostile across from them, nmj looking like he was about to explode into laughter.

"And what about you, my dear sweet niece? Are you going to greet me properly? It was, after all, you who asked me to come back," wwx said, his eyes sliding over to jyl. "Although, it appears my presence was unnecessary, as you and A-Zhan seem to have made up."

"Welcome back,

Xian-shushu," jyl squeaked out. "Yes, Huan-ge came to help as well."

"Ah," wwx sighed, turning a happy smile on lwj who couldn't help but turn into his sunshine. "A-Zhan is so lucky to have a brother who would drop everything to come help him repair his relationship with his

best friend!" he cheered.

"Mn..." lwj hummed, willing his scent to not slip free of him and his blush to not spread past his-

lwj slapped a hand to his very red, very visible ear, wwx smiling knowingly at him as his hand slipped a bit higher.

"A-Zhan..." wwx pouted,

"where's my hello?"

"H-hello," lwj stuttered, watching wwx's smile drop slightly when that's all he said, his hand beginning to retract as something unsure entered his face, and their last conversation rushed through lwj's head. It had ended well enough, but what if wwx thought

he was still angry? Or worse, that he was regretting making their relationship more... permanent, exclusive, whatever.

lwj slapped his free hand over wwx's bringing it back onto on his thigh and even sliding it a bit higher. "Welcome back, Xian-gege," he said seriously,

trying to ignore the theatrics of his brother and borther-in-law across the table having some sort of silent argument.

"Thank you, A-Zhan..." wwx said softly, his expression evening out, even if he still seemed a but uncertain. "I'm glad to be back, I-"

Across the table his

brother coughed pointedly, wwx and lwj snapping out of their little world as wwx turned a bright smile on lxc.

"It's good to see you again," wwx said warmly before visibly startling when he found lxc glaring such sharp daggers at him that lwj was surprised his brother wasn't

leaking the scent of a steely dagger all over their breakfast. "Ah... is something wrong, xiao-Lan?" he asked, drawing back slightly when lxc's expression further darkened.

"No," lxc bit out. "Nothing is wrong, Wei Wuxian."

"Ah... okay..." wwx laughed nervously, biting his lip

and glancing back at lwj who tried to signal to him with his eyes that yes, his brother knew about them, more or less, and was not exactly happy with the situation! lwj hissed when his brother kicked him under the table. Damn him and his ability to read his face!

"Uhm..."

wwx said, glancing between lxc and nmj, "how long are you two, ah three, planning on staying?"

"Just a few days, Wuxian-ge," nmj said, already sliding his chair way from his mate before lxc turned his unimpressed look on him. "Madam Yu was kind enough to offer us rooms here,

Zhan-di's old room actually. I hope that won't cause too much of an issue for you, since you've kindly let him use your home."

lwj narrowed his eyes at his brother-in-law wondering what he had done to make the man hate him so much. Why bring that up now!? He would have at least

liked the chance to talk his brother out of murder before reminding him of their sleeping arrangements!

"Didi can sleep between us or on the couch," lxc insisted, glaring at his mate who blinked innocently back on him.

"Nonsense," wwx said, his smile growing mischievous as he

realized what was happening, his hand squeezing sharply into lwj when he tried to speak. "You have a small child, it would be unfair to everyone to squeeze another person into your room. I have a couch in another room, or," he continued, his eyes sliding downright lustfully

back to lwj, because of course the older man was incapable of not aggravating his brother now that he knew lxc was pissed at him, "A-Zhan and I can share. We're both alphas, after all, so there's no issue there."

Across the table lxc growled quietly, moving to open his

mouth when the child still in his lap squawked unhappily at him. lxc glanced down at Jingjing, softly cooing at him, releasing a mild, motherly scent and losing his chance to stop wwx was continuing.

"What do you say, A-Zhan?" wwx asked softly, leaning in improperly close.

"Do you want to sleep with your Xian-gege? Or do you want to go and sleep in your Xichen-ge's room?"

Beside him jyl, who had kept quiet the entirely of their interaction, snorted and he quite wished he could push her... and everyone else at the table, actually, into the lake.

"It... would be more convenient for me to continue staying in your home," he said carefully, spreading his legs apart so his brother couldn't kick him again.

"Great!" wwx cheered, shooting lxc a look. "Don't worry, xiao-Lan, I'll take great care of your baby brother," he said,

smiling almost cruelly at the omega. lwj really wished he'd had a chance to warn wwx about how petty and cruel his brother could be, especially when his big brother/motherly instincts kicked in.

"You done with breakfast?" the old man suddenly asked, turning back towards him,

his eyes briefly turning down to lwj's nearly empty plate. "I wanna go drop my stuff at home and don't want to mess with your stuff," he said, smiling mischievously at lwj. "I don't wanna come across anything I shouldn't~" he teased, adding, "Plus, you've got the only key."

"I'm quite sure my brother doesn't have anything he needs to hide from you, wwx, and that he could just give you the key," lxc snapped at him.

lwj glanced back over at lxc and was horrified to find that his brother-in-law was looking at his brother like he wanted to bend him

over the table. He didn't need to know nmj was turned on by his angry, protective brother! lwj had thought the older alpha had more control! Wasn't he embarrassed that the entire table could see how horny he was, including Madam Yu- who was nowhere to be seen. When had she left?

"Oh, I don't know," wwx said to lxc, his fingers rubbing against the inside of lwj's leg, "I bet your brother has a few things he'd be embarrassed if most people found."

"I somehow doubt that includes you," his brother growled, muttering "unfortunately," under his breath.

"What was that, xiao-Lan?" wwx asked innocently, smile razor sharp.

"Nothing, Wuxian-ge," nmj said, his eyes glued on his irate mate. "Yanli?" he asked after a moment.

"Yes, Mingjue-ge?" the young omega woman asked a little too loudly.

"Would you mind watching Jingjing for a

bit after breakfast? I have something I need to take care of with Xichen," nmj said, because apparently he didn't care at all that everyone knew he was about to go rail his mate into the mattress.

An embarrassed, lotus scent wafted lightly off jyl as she quietly agreed while

wwx rose, eyes never leaving lxc as he gently pulled lwj's chair out for him.

"We'll see you later, xiao-Lan?" wwx asked, as he motioned for lwj to move towards the door, his hand landing lightly on lwj's back.

"You can count on it," lxc said darkly and oh, wwx was

going to regret taunting lwj's omega brother later.

"Come along, A-Zhan," the older alpha practically cooed at lwj, guiding him towards the door, pulling him in close and glancing over his shoulder at lxc as they exited the room.

"You're going to regret that," lwj said as wwx

released his waist, willing to tease and taunt people who obviously knew what was happening between them but not risk some random servant or guest catching sight of their over familiarity.

"You think so?" wwx asked as he shifted his hand into lwj's and began dragging him quickly

through the halls and back to their house.

"Yes," lwj told him as they swept though the compound, passing the occasional servant watering plants or cleaning before the majority of guests woke. "Brother always gets even."

wwx laughed lightly as they rounded another corner.

"What's he going to do? Tattle on us to your uncle?"

"No, but he could try to convince Madam Yu to let him stay longer and chaperone us the whole time," lwj said dryly.

"Kind of hard to chaperone us when we're literally sleeping together," wwx teased as he began practically

running down the path that led to his house. "Come on A-Zhan," he laughed, smiling happily back at him as he sped up. "Where's the key?" he asked, bouncing in place as lwj pulled it out of his pocket and anxiously grabbing it from his hand.

"Can't wait to get my hands on you,"

he mumbled as he unlocked the door, pushing it open so hard that it banged against the wall and grabbing lwj by the shirt to drag him inside, slamming the door closed before backing lwj up into it. "Fuck, I missed you," the older man said, pressing himself firmly up against lwj.

"I was only gone for a few days, A-Zhan," he whined lightly, nudging his nose against lwj's. "What kind of magic you been slipping me to make me so addicted to you?"

lwj hummed and released the absolutely filthy wave of scent he had been holding in since wwx had first walked in.

"Gege was gone too long," he growled before tilting his head to slot their mouths together, their kiss immediately becoming wet and dirty, wwx's tongue sliding into his mouth and his hands into lwj's hair. wwx growled into the kiss, pressing his thigh between lwj's for him to

grind against, wwx's own hard cock sliding against lwj's hip as they rutted mindlessly against one another.

The world quickly began to grow blurry around them and lwj whimpered quietly. Not fair, not fair that he couldn't enjoy this without the world fading away, without wwx and

his memories fading away. All he wanted was his Xian-gege and to remember it and enjoy it and-

wwx and lwj startled apart when a knock sounded against the door, loud and unceasing and-

"Didi~" lxc's voice called tense and faux-cheery from the other side. "Gege has come to visit

with you and wwx," he yelled over his knocks. "Open up~"

"Fucking hell," wwx growled, glaring at the door as though he could will lwj's brother away, his scent growing into an aggravated spice around them.

"Told you you'd regret messing with him," lwj sighed, taking deep

breaths to try and reign in his scent. "What should we do? He knows we're in here."

wwx turned his dark, horny and annoyed gaze back on lwj before smiling and tugging him away from the door. "Why, let him in of course!" he said happily, pulling open the door before lwj could

even suggest they try to air the entry way out. "Hello, xiao-Lan!" wwx said, tucking lwj into his side and watching with amused eyes as lxc's nose caught the horny scent floating around the two alphas. "I thought your mate was in need of your attention?"

lwj watched as his

brother practically hissed at the older man, his hackles rising along with a bitter, angry scent even as the mild smile his brother was known for spread across his face.

"My mate and I have different ideas of how to spend this vacation," lxc said unpleasantly. "I, for instance,

would quite like to spend as much time with my dear didi as I can. We rarely see each other, after all. Therefore I will be spending the day with him, I hope you understand."

"Of course!" wwx said, his grip on lwj's waist tightening enough that he yelped quietly. "Just be sure

to have him home at a reasonable hour, so we can get our sleeping arrangements sorted out, although..." he added, tilting a smile on lwj, their noses practically touching for how tight wwx was holding them together, "I imagine I can guess how my A-Zhan would like us to sleep."

lwj narrowed his eyes at the older alpha. Was he purposefully trying to make the situation worse?

"Well, have a good day, A-Zhan," wwx told him, finally releasing his hold on lwj's waist to push him bodily out the door. "Bye!" he cheered before slamming the door closed and

locking lwj outside with his brother in clothes that still smelled like almost sex.

lxc blinked at him, his smile dropping away into an extremely unimpressed frown. "Seriously?" his brother asked, crossing his arms and tapping his foot. "That's your type?"

~

A/N: poll time!

How do we all feel about wwx knotting lwj with his fist? 👀

As seen above, he's still too scent sensitive for actual sex, but I want to give him something 😔

It would just be a fake knot, no butt punching or anything lol

A/N: I do believe the yeses won. I'll give a little warning before it happens for those who aren't into it! It won't be for a while yet!

~

* A Short Flashback *

lxc growled as wwx dragged his unwilling didi away. Horrible, no-good, cradle robbing man!

"Well, my love,

should we leave Jingjing with Yanli and go enjoy ourselves?" his mate asked, sliding his hand over his thigh, an awful reminder of that lecherous old man touching his sweet, innocent didi!

"You take Jingjing," lxc said, planting their child into his surprised mate's lap.

"I have to go rescue my brother."

"I don't think he needs or wants rescuing, dear," his mate said dryly, bouncing Jingjing on his knee.

"Yeah, ah... Huan-ge, he and Xian-shushu are pretty happy together..." jyl offered, smiling nervously up at him.

lxc growled lightly as he

rose, taking long strides towards the door. "Just to be sure, I should go check on him."

"Xichen!" nmj called. "Come on, don't leave! I'm going to be sitting here forever making Yanli very uncomfortable if you leave and don't give me hand with this," he whined, motioning to

his lap.

"You will just have to deal with it yourself," lxc muttered as he rounded the corner, practically running down the halls of Lotus Pier towards wwx's house. He should have forced his didi to move out last night! An unmated alpha living in another alpha's house! Immoral!

Unacceptable! A scandal waiting to happen! lxc needed to protect his brother, who had obviously been tricked into liking that man! Tricked! The brother he knew was smart, discipled and had much better taste in people! Something was obviously wrong!

lxc blasted around the corner,

startling a servant watering the plants near wwx's house, and skidded to a stop outside of the horrible man's door, knocking hard and fast.

"Didi~" he called, trying to force some cheer into his otherwise tight and unhappy voice. "Gege has come to visit with you and wwx."

Yeah, chat and murder him. "Open up~" he nearly growled at the door, smiling tightly as the servant scooted out of the courtyard as he continued banging on the door, waiting for the two alphas to open it up.

He was just contemplating breaking the door down, since his didi was

obviously in need of a rescue, when wwx pulled the door open, lwj tucked improperly tight to his side.

"Hello, xiao-Lan," the old alpha said, smiling unrepentantly at lxc as the absolutely filthy scent of sex reached his nose. lxc narrowed his eyes at the man.

"Seriously, didi?" he thought. "This is your type?"

~

A/N: since it hasn't been explicitly mentioned, the Nies and Jiangs know each other through the Jins, who they both work with/know. So jyl and nmj have known each other for most of jyl's life, which is why they're so

familiar with one another. If nmj weren't only into men I imagine yzy would have tried to set the two of them up.

Also, since it's about to come up again: a note on wwx's bad memory for what's behind a door! Memory is a muscle, so they say. If you do, or don't, use it in a

specific way, especially while you're young, it might be really good or bad at something.

As was previously mentioned, wwx didn't really have a home while his parents were alive, because they were always travelling for work, some kind of aid work. They stayed either in hotels

or in people's houses. In hotels, doors often led to empty closets, so why would wwx look in those? In other people's houses, good little boys didn't poke around! Hence, wwx's memory for what's behind door number 1 is really bad! If he doesn't use a door he doesn't really see it.

On the other hand, he travelled so much and his parents were constantly asking him, "How do we get back to x location?" that his memory for how to navigate places is really good. Think about how easily he runs around Lotus Pier, despite barely living in it since it burned down,

or when he was guiding lwj to the restaurant, he basically knew exactly where lwj was and how fast he was walking based on the few things lwj said about what he was seeing.

Anyways! Story will continue... eh, either later or tomorrow!

~

Aside from telling his brother than wwx was just messing with him, lwj had categorically refused to talk about his relationship with lxc. He knew his brother and knew that, for one, even if he seemed to be questioning lwj's sanity for being involved with wwx (which... fair,

given what lxc had seen of the man so far), his brother loved him and would accept the relationship as long as lwj has happy. The fact that lwj was stubborn and would probably keep on seeing wwx in secret was also probably a contributing factor. He also knew that it didn't matter

what he told his brother about the older alpha, his brother would not be changing his mind until he saw wwx act like a reasonable human being. Which he would hopefully do at some point, but honestly? lwj wasn't holding his breath on that one.

So all lwj could do was refuse to

talk about wwx and take his brother on a tour of Lotus Pier. And so the day went, with lxc making fun of lwj for still not getting into the lake, with lxc laughing at snarky texts from his mate, who had been dragged along to jyl's daily courting event and, along with Jingjing,

scared the car obsessed alpha into leaving Lotus Pier and his courting attempts behind.

And so the day ended, with lxc lightly growling as they brought take out back to wwx and lwj's house.

"Ge," lwj lightly reprimanded, "be nice."

"I was nice," lxc objected, looking over at

his brother with such firm conviction that lwj thought he might actually believe that, "and he was still a dick."

"Mn..." he hummed noncommittally as he tried the door, happily finding it unlocked. It would have been a bit awkward to need to knock to get into his current place

of residence and probably would have given his brother more ammunition for his list of reasons why wwx was not good enough for him and why he needed to sleep safely tucked between lxc and nmj.

"A-Zhan~" wwx called from the other room, "that you?"

"Yes," lwj said, slipping off

his shoes, quickly tucking them away and bolting towards the older man's voice, leaving his grumbling brother behind him. "My brother is with me," he said, looking down at wwx as he sat, surrounded by random items, in the unused office. "Did you find anything interesting?"

~

A/N: bird app is being a derp for me at the moment, but I'm gonna try to update this a bit, if it ends up weird or cut off it's because the app sucks.

* offers prayers that it works *
~

"A few things," wwx said, rising up and stretching his arms above his head, side eyeing lwj has he let out a series of truly pornographic moans. "I'll tell you about them later," he added, bouncing over to lwj and planting a small kiss to his lips. "Hi."

"Hello," lwj said,

leaning in to place his own kiss to the older man's lips.

"Mmh-hmm..." lxc's dark cough interrupted them.

lwj sighed and glanced over at his brother, who was glaring at them from the doorway. "Ge," he said, pulling back from wwx, who snickered quietly as he watched the

brothers have a silent conversation about boundaries, lxc's eyes saying, "Have some self control, I'm in the house!" while lwj's eyes maintained that, "This is our house and ge should have stayed in the living room!"

"Dinner will get cold," lxc finally said, lips pressing tight

as he stepped out of the doorway, eyes still glued to the pair of alphas as he waited for them to lead the way. Apparently he wasn't going to be leaving them together unsupervised anytime soon.

"Hello again, xiao-Lan," wwx greeted, tone faux-cheerful and dripping with

resentment. "Did you have a good day with A-Zhan?"

"Mostly," lxc said, eye twitching as wwx passed lwj and slapped his ass gently, lwj startling straighter.

"That's good! Although, I don't know how anyone could spend time with A-Zhan and not enjoy themselves," the older alpha

said as he pushed his way passed lwj's brother and strode down the hall, asking, "So, what'd you boys bring for dinner?"

~

wwx yawned, one hand reaching up over his head while the other pressed over his mouth. "Woo~wee!" he sighed. "I'm beat. Must have been all that last minute

travelling and the fact that I'm old," he said, eyes narrowing at lwj's brother who glared right back at him.

Dinner had been... tense. Neither man had been particularly inclined to speak nicely to the other, at least not without sarcasm and insulting insinuations dripping

behind their words, and even when lwj had managed to direct the conversation to something they both found pleasant (namely himself) they somehow ended up arguing over it. At this point, lwj didn't think they would be getting over their apparent dislike for one another, at least

not tonight, and just wanted to go to bed... but his brother wouldn't leave!

"Mn..." lwj hummed tightly, glaring at his brother. "Xian-gege should get to bed."

"Indeed I should! A-Zhan is so smart!" wwx said, smiling warmly at lwj before his eyes shifted lewdly over him.

"I am so looking forward to getting into my bed-"

"Oh! But I thought you'd be sleeping on the couch," lxc piped up cheerfully, both alpha men turning their confused gazes back to him. "Didn't I mention that I would be sleeping over?" lwj's horrible, evil brother clarified.

"A-Jue has already agreed," he said, pulling out his phone and showing them a picture of Jingjing happily sleeping beside nmj. "It's just so great for the two of them to get this kind of private bonding opportunity. Understandably, as our son's primary caregiver, he is more

attached to me. Spending the night alone together will be wonderful for them, and my sweet didi and I can similarly bond... in your bed. I do hope you don't mind, wwx?" lxc blinked innocently at the older alpha who looked about ready to bodily removed the omega from his house.

lwj could hear the growl rumbling up wwx, his mouth already opening to bite back at lxc, when lwj opened his own mouth. "Alright," he said, trying to not smile or flinch when both older men looked over at his with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"A-alright?" his brother asked,

his previously innocent smile faltering slightly because lwj had called his bluff: lxc and nmj had not agreed that the omega could spend the night here, in an unmated alpha's house. Even if lwj was present and that would stop a scandal, nmj's instincts would be unlikely to

allow it, regardless of how long he had known wwx, regardless of the fact that he knew wwx had no interest in omegas.

Beside him wwx blinked at him, confused but confident that lwj had a plan, his eyes glittering slightly as he listened to lwj thank his brother for his so very

kind offer. "I'm still so scent sensitive," lwj explained to his brother, eyes smiling cruelly at the annoying man, poking and prodding until his finally broke lwj's grudging tolerance of his anti-wwx stance. "Dr. Wen suggested I have at least a week left until I can, ah...

be more physical with someone without being overwhelmed. Perhaps spending the night with ge, scenting him and not just the stuffed bunny he so kindly sent me, will speed up my treatment up a few days."

He turned his smile on wwx, who was doing his best to hide his glee as lcx

looked between them, horrified when he realized what his sweet little didi was implying. "How long was gege planning to stay?" lwj asked the older alpha, trying his best to pull a seductive pout across his face.

"Oh..." wwx sighed, leaning in towards lwj, "I imagine I could

extend my stay for a few more days... with the right incentive."

lxc growled quietly from his seat, neither alpha bothering to look over at him this time.

"Well!" wwx said, popping up from his seat cheerfully. "I had better go make sure there are clean sheets on the bed for

you two!" he added, practically skipping out of the room, lwj's eyes following his beautiful bouncing ponytail and plump ass the until he disappeared down the hall.

He turned his eyes back to his brother sharply, who looked like he was reevaluating every decision he had made

that day. lwj raised an eyebrow at the other man when their eyes met, silently asking, "What are you going to do now? Admit you lied? Hope you mate pound down the door looking for you?"

"Come along, ge," he finally said, rising and holding out a hand for his brother. "We should

go find you some sleep clothes and a tooth brush."

His brother glanced nervously between him and the door, his hand fiddling with the pocket where his phone was kept.

"Is something wrong, ge?" he asked cooly. "Ah, perhaps your phone needs to be charged? The battery was in the

red when you showed us that adorable picture of your family enjoying a night alone together," he said, forcibly reminding his brother of his lie, of that fact that his mate was going to be pissed when he woke an lxc wasn't there. Pissed and panicking. "If you give it to me,

I'll go plug it in," he said, adding, tone childish and bitter and teasing all at once, "It would be a shame if it died and Mingjue-ge couldn't get a hold of you in the event of an emergency."

lxc's lips pressed tight as he glared up at lwj. "Didi is so considerate," he finally

said, an acceptance falling over him as he doubled down on his lie and handed his phone over to lwj.

"Mn," lwj hummed noncommittally, accepting the phone and heading to put it to charge far, far away from his brother.

~

lwj woke drunk, hot and very much in need of a bathroom.

He groaned softly as he pushed himself out of his brother's arms, blinking wildly into the dark room. He wasn't too drunk, likely a combination of the fact that lxc was an omega and his increased tolerance for scenting, but the world still wobbled slightly as he shifted off

the bed.

"Didi?" lxc asked, pushing himself up slightly. "Where are you going?" he asked, half-sleepy, half-suspicious.

"Bathroom," lwj replied, annoyance slipping through his voice. He would much prefer to be waking up completely drunk in wwx's arms, even if snuggling with his

brother had been nice. lwj missed his brother, missed the easy intimacy they had had before lwj had presented and their uncle had torn that intimacy, that connection to pieces. They had taped and glued it back together, over the decade in between, but it was never the same,

it was never this.

"I'll come with you," lxc mumbled and, despite his annoyance, lwj couldn't help but smile, wondering if his brother really believed he was trying to sneak off to see wwx or if it was simply muscle memory from their childhood, lxc always accompanying lwj to the

bathroom when they were small and lwj was still afraid of the monsters that hid in the dark.

"Ge, no. Go back to sleep," he said sternly, pushing his brother back down on the bed.

"Who says I don't have to pee too," lxc said, voice hilariously unconvincing. "Babies do a number

on your bladder control, you know."

"Mn," lwj hummed, pressing one of his wrists to his brother's neck and concentrating, trying to do what wwx was always doing to him, trying to slip his brother a sleepy scent. "I have heard," he said as lxc's eyes blinked closed again,

his head falling to the side as he slipped back to sleep.

He stayed there for a moment, making sure his scent took, before wobbling out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him, and heading to the bathroom.

By the time he was washing his hands he had mostly sobered up

and realized that his brother was right to be suspicious. Sneaking out into the living room to see wwx was a great idea. He reached to switch the bathroom light off before hesitating, glancing at the drawer wwx kept various kinds of lube in before grabbing one and slipping out

into the dark hall. He hesitated slightly as he passed the bedroom door, listening for any sign that his brother had woken, not that walking in on the two alphas getting it on wouldn't serve him right but lwj had had enough of people (jyl) walking in on him and wwx, thank you.

A/N: I'm split on how things should go, so:

Do you think lxc should realize wwx isn't actually that bad because he rescues lwj or because he rescues lxc from... something?

"Xian-gege," lwj whispered as he kneeled down beside the older man, laying on his stomach and drooling into a pillow. "Xian-gege," he repeated running his fingers through the other alpha's mess of hair.

"Bwa~a?" wwx slurred, pushing himself up a bit before collapsing back down

and smiling up at lwj. "Hey, you," he sighed, pressing a hand to his mouth as he yawned before reaching up to cup lwj's jaw, lwj easily leaning into it. "Sup, sweetheart? You have a bad dream? Needed gege to make it better?"

"Needed to pee," lwj told him, smiling when wwx

laughed softly.

"Getting old~" wwx teased softly. "Bladder's getting weak."

"Mn," lwj hummed before leaning in to press his lips to the other man's, the kiss quickly becoming heated, wwx twisting around onto his back and pulling lwj across him. "Xian-gege," lwj whined softly,

nipping at his lower lip and trying to push the blankets down to get his hands on the older alpha, growling when wwx caught them in his own.

"Now look here you," wwx half-reprimanded, half-teased when lwj broke their kiss to frown down him, "I, for one, do not want to be

caught with my cock out by your brother. Man's liable to castrate me."

"Mn," lwj agreed, pushing himself up to sit on wwx's lap, happily noting the hard dick pressing up against his ass, "Would be unfortunate if you lost your cock before I could use it," he said seriously.

"Indeed it would," wwx said, his own fingers fiddling with the edge of lwj's sleep shirt before he let his hands fall. "What time is it?" he asked, slapping his hand back over his mouth when he yawned again.

"Just past midnight," lwj said. "Mingjue-ge has not contacted you?"

"Nope, but I imagine he'll show up at some point, probably with a very grumpy child, looking for his mate," wwx said, his legs shifting idly behind lwj. "Whatcha gonna do now? Go back to bed?"

lwj frowned down at the other man, who's smile deepened as he cooed up at him.

"Wanna stay with Xian-gege," lwj pouted, hands reaching down toward wwx's to pull them back up towards his shirt. "Does gege not want his A-Zhan to stay with him?"

"A-Zhan~" wwx whined, watching with blown out eyes as lwj slipped their hands under his shirt. "This isn't playing

fair!"

"Mn," lwj agreed, leaning in to press a light kiss to the other alpha's lips. "A-Zhan doesn't want to play fair where his Xian-gege is concerned," he said, tongue and scent slipping out of him to lap at wwx's lips and skin and-

Both men froze, staring at each other with

wide eyes when something thumped in the other room.

"Didi?" lxc called, voice distant and slurred. "Where did you go?"

"I slipped him some sleepy scent," lwj whispered when something thumped again, probably his brother walking into a piece of furniture in the unfamiliar room.

"Oh, yeah?" wwx asked, a mischievous smile splitting across his face. "Enough to slow him down a bit?"

And then they were moving, wwx manhandling lwj off his lap and standing, lwj quickly leaning down to grab the lube before wwx was grabbing his hand pulling him towards

the door, giggling all the while. "Come on!" he laughed, not even trying to keep his voice down as lxc finally managed to get the bedroom door open, cursing and fumbling down the hallway, sleep drunk and clumsy.

"Hey!" lxc tried to yell at them as they grabbed their shoes

and bolted out the door like two teenagers caught canoodling by a parent. "Get back here!"

"Not a chance, xiao-Lan!" wwx called back as he led them easily down a barely lit path. "You'll have to catch us if you want to stop us!" he shouted before breaking into half-crazed

laughter.

"You!" lxc cried as he reached the door, blinking blearily into the dark night as wwx pulled them around a corner and out of sight.

"Where are we going?" lwj asked as he let himself be pulled along, shivering from the cool summer night and the excitement of acting

like a silly, irresponsible child.

"This way," wwx teased, shooting lwj a barely visible smirk as they went. "Don't you trust your Xian-gege, A-Zhan?" he asked, taking them down another turn and then another until they finally reached a small building lwj had never seen before.

"Wait here and put on your shoes," wwx told him as he slipped inside the building, the soft sounds of him shifting things around flowing out as lwj pulled on his shoes.

"What are those?" he asked as wwx reappeared holding a collection of items.

"Blankets and a flashlight,"

he said, handing them over the lwj so he could put on his own shoes. "Come on! We're gonna go into the woods a bit, so don't get lost~ there are lots of scary alphas living here at the moment," he gently teased, taking back the flashlight from lwj and turning it of, soft light

escaping from the lantern like flashlight.

They were quiet as wwx led them way, only the slap of their feet against the ground and the soft chatter of bugs filling the air as they went, pulling away from the dimly lit paths of Lotus Pier into the woods.

"Careful of rogue branches," wwx warned him as they travelled the well worn, if somewhat overgrowing, trail. "Now, I haven't been here in a while... but it should be about... ah-ha!" he cried, pulling lwj down a barely visible side trail, this one almost completely overgrown and

lwj imagined that even in the bright light of day it would be impossible to spot unless you knew where it was. "Here we go," the older man cheered a minute later as he pulled to a halt in the middle of a relatively clear area surrounding the base of a particularly tall tree.

lwj looked around the area, looking for something, anything, worth travelling here for and finding nothing. He looked back at wwx, opening his mouth to ask what in the world they were doing here, but wwx was already moving again.

"This way," he called as he slipped behind the

tree, lwj quickly following after him and-

"Normally," wwx said, hand planted on his hip as he looked up the ladder that led up the tree, "I'd get you to go first, but there's a basket at the top for pulling shit up, and it's a bit finicky." He passed lwj the flashlight before

grabbing hold of one of the ladder rungs. "So, I'll go first and send it down so you can load up the blankets and light. Hold the light up so I can see a bit?" he asked, already beginning to ascend the vertical ladder, which lwj was horrified to realize was a rope ladder.

He swallowed, watching as the older man easily pulled himself up the ladder and into a small treehouse at the top. He wasn't afraid of heights or ladders, per se, but the way the ladder swayed as wwx climbed it was rather concerning. He startled when a basket appeared beside him,

having been too focused on how he was going to die climbing into a child's playhouse to notice wwx lowering it.

"Angle the light so it'll light up the ladder for you," wwx called down as lwj began loading the blankets into it, adjusting the light to create a glowing basket.

"You gonna be okay?"

lwj swallowed down his no and wrapped a hand around a wrung. "Yes," he said as he began to climb, the ladder swinging ominously under him.

"Just make sure your feet are good and planted before you step, and don't worry!" wwx called cheerfully down.

"If you fall you'll probably just hurt your butt and your pride," he laughed, adding, "I was climbing this thing before I even presented," as though the fact that a fearless child could climb the ladder or the fact that it was apparently 30+ years old was encouraging.

lwj hummed wwx's song quietly to himself as he climbed, wwx slowly pulling up the basket of light alongside him.

"There you go, sweet boy," the other man cooed as lwj reached the top, inelegantly pulling himself into the treehouse as wwx tied a knot in the rope that he'd used to

pull the basket up, leaving the light hovering outside the house before swishing over to help lwj. "Let me just..." he said, reaching past lwj to pull the ladder up as well. "Just in case your brother was stupid enough to trail after us," he laughed. "No omegas allowed,

I'm afraid, not tonight, anyways."

"Mn," lwj hummed, looking around the little house while wwx emptied the basket, the lantern light shining across the dusty room. "You used to play here?" he asked, eyeing up the collection of handmade toys and weapons scattered over irregular

tables and boxes.

"Yeah, then the kids when they were little. I doubt anyone's used it in a decade though," wwx said, spreading several of the blankets out on the floor. "Now, if I had thought about it," he said, folding one of the blankets into a long pillow, "I would have

brought more shit up here during your day out. Cleaned everything up and turned it into a nest."

lwj blinked down at the older man. "Does Xian-gege know how to make a nest?" he asked, kneeling down beside him.

"Hmm... a bit," the other alpha said, smiling over at lwj before

moving to grab another blanket. "I probably would have had to call A-Ning for some advice though."

"Mn," lwj hummed, fingering the blankets as he imagined this place clean and warm, wwx and himself entangled in a nest of their scents and liquids and-

"A-Zhan," wwx asked as he

emptied the basket, "what's this?"

lwj's ears burnt as he turned to look up at wwx, doing his best to pull a soft, pouty look across his face. "Something for us to play with," he said, smiling internally when wwx's gaze darkened.

"A-Zhan-" he started, looking between him and

bottle of lube in his hand before releasing a long puff of air. "You're still so scent sensitive," he finally said, hauling the last of the blankets and the lube over the settle around lwj. "We can't-"

"I know," lwj said, shifting onto his hands and knees to crawl closer to the

older man. "We can't do that, but I'm sure Xian-gege can think of some other things for us to do."

wwx glared at him for a moment before huffing quietly. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that my sweet, naughtily little A-Zhan is trying to jump me in my childhood treehouse,"

he teased, looking back down at the bottle and scrunching his eyebrows together. "A-Zhan?"

"Mn," lwj hummed, moving in to nip gently at wwx's jaw.

"Hey, now, horny boy," wwx laughed, pressing his palm to lwj's forehead to force him away. "Patience, little one."

A/N: this is where that wwx knotting lwj with his fist scene is going to start. The actual fist-knotting won't happen for a bit, as a lot of it will be talking and foreplay and getting lwj loose enough.

Won't even get to any sexy times tonight, cause I'm tired.

There will also be some other sexy stuff after the actual scene, which will be marked with:

(Knotting starts)
(Knotting ends + general summary)

if you'd like to skip it entirely!

There will probably also be some spanking, which I'll also mark.

~

lwj growled quietly as he pulled wwx's hand away, immediately dragging it down to his mouth to suck on his fingers, smiling around them when wwx chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Don't want patience," he mumbled around the fingers.

"No? Then should I just stick my fist up your ass

without discussing it first?" wwx asked, raising an eyebrow at lwj when his suckling halted.

"Fist?" he asked, pulling wwx's fingers out of his mouth.

"Yeah, you brought lube for fisting," the older man said, pointing to the spot on the bottle that stated it was the

"Best Lube Around for Sticking Your Entire Arm Up Someone's Butt."

"I did not know that was something people did," lwj said blankly, eyes rising up to wwx as a blush spread across his cheeks. "Is- is that something Xian-gege enjoys?"

"Eh... not really?" wwx said, mouth twisting

as he turned the bottle over in his hands. "I've done it before, not really my thing."

"Then why-"

"Do I have fisting lube?" wwx asked, laughing quietly before flopping down into the pile of blankets and smiling tauntingly up at lwj. "Because it's safer to knot someone for the

first time with your fist. If they don't like it you just pull your hand out, much better than getting stuck with your knot inside someone, as my horrible hookup story from yesterday demonstrated. Wait, what time is it? Is it tomorrow yet- oh shit, I didn't grab my phone. Did you

grab yours?" the other man asked, releasing a puff of air when lwj shook his head.

"So..." lwj said as he turned wwx's words around in his mind, "before Xian-gege knots me properly he will put his hand inside me?"

"Well..." wwx started, flipping over to plump up his

blanket pillow, "I mean, we don't have to but that's the safest option, especially since you've never done this before. After all," he added, glancing at lwj over his shoulder, "wq isn't around to force my knot down with her scary needles this time if you freak."

"Mn..."

lwj hummed darkly. He, for one, would definitely prefer not having someone else near his butt while wwx was knotting him. "Xian-gege could test it out now?" he suggested after another moment of thought, wwx's eyes growing large in the dim light.

"Ah... I dunno..." he said,

pushing himself back up.

"Will it agitate my scent sensitivity?" lwj couldn't help but ask, he wanted to remember wwx inside him, for one. For another, he was simultaneously more calm and more emotional when scent drunk and whatever reaction he had to being knotted scent drunk

wasn't guaranteed to be the one he had sober.

"Probably not?" wwx said, looking down at his hand. "A bit if my wrist went in too far, but probably not a lot if it's just a pseudo-knot, but that still doesn't mean we should."

"Why not?" lwj said, mouth twisting into a pout.

The older alpha glared at him, eyes shifting between his eyes and lips. "Get that thing off your face," wwx growled, shifting closer to lwj. "It's not playing fair if you pout at me."

"Why not?" lwj asked again, sucking in a harsh breath when wwx's hands landing on his thighs.

"Because," the older man whispered, leaning in to nudge their noses together, "I'm already holding on by a thread."

lwj slipped his hands up into wwx's hair. "Then let it snap."

wwx growled before he was throwing lwj down into their sad excuse of a nest. "Mark your words,

A-Zhan," wwx said, biting at lwj's lower lip before diving in for a fast, deep kiss. He pulled back, looking down at lwj, eyes dark and predatory and lwj whimpered, feeling very much like a piece of meat as the other alpha's eyes dragged over him. "Pretty," he said before his

hands were slipping inside lwj's clothes and skillfully stripping him. "Can't wait to get your hole loose and gaping for me, sweet boy," he continued, planting kisses over lwj's neck and chest as he descended. "You looked so good during our video call, can't wait to see it

in person."

lwj moaned at the reminder of what he had done only a few days earlier. It seemed like forever ago, it seemed like yesterday. "Xian-gege," he whined, growling softly when wwx pulled fully away from him just before his mouth would have reached his cock.

"A-Zhan," wwx said breathlessly and lwj squirmed happily under him at the fact that the older man was already so turned on, "you have to tell me if you start to feel too scent drunk, do you understand?"

"Yes," lwj whispered, reaching up to rub his thumb under the

older man's eye. "I understand, Xian-gege."

"Promise you'll tell me," wwx said sternly, adding, "I don't want you to forget this. I don't-" he glanced away, eyes landing on a book lwj hadn't noticed before. "I don't want you to loose yourself or your ability to say stop,"

he finished, eyes staying trained on the book for a moment more before he returned his smile to lwj. "So promise me you'll tell me before you go too deep."

"I promise, gege," lwj sighed, trying his best to pull a serious and not completely horny look across his face.

(A/N: some spanking talk, but no actual spanking)

wwx looked down at him for a moment more, eyes narrowed suspiciously before he was rolling his eyes. "If I regret trusting you, horny boy, I'm going to turn your ass red before I leave."

"Who says I don't want Xian-gege

to do that anyways?" lwj asked, gasping when wwx's hands smacked across the outsides of his thighs.

"Yeah?" wwx asked, leaning back down towards lwj's face, his breath grazing over wwx's lips. "Does my naughty little boy want gege to punish his cute, horny little bottom?"

lwj sucked in a shaking breath, his cock giving a telling kick between them. "Xian-gege can do whatever he likes to my bottom," he whispered, heat sparking across his cheeks as the older man's lips twitched before he tutted softly down at him.

"That isn't enough, A-Zhan~"

wwx cooed down at him, a sharp smile spreading across his mouth. "If you want me to spank you, you need to ask for it, after all..." he sighed, leaning in to lick up lwj's jaw," if you can't talk about sex, you shouldn't be having it."

"Gege," lwj said, pouting at the other man

when he pulled back again, chuckling softly.

"So, what'll it be, baby boy? You gonna ask for it or are you just gonna flip over and let me stick my fist inside you?" wwx asked, raising an eyebrow at him as he settled back onto his knees.

lwj bit his lip and glanced away, eyes

catching on the ratty old book the other alpha had been looking at before. From where he was it looked almost handmade and he wondered if wwx had been the one who's hands have forced the pages together, filled it up with whatever words were written in it.

"Can't do it?"

wwx laughed, smacking his hand across lwj's thigh again. "Another day, sweet boy, when you either learn to use your words or you seriously piss me off."

lwj's eyes shot back to wwx's, dark and narrowed as he contemplated how to piss off the older man enough to make him turn him

over his knee but not enough to make him leave.

"Oh my, that's quite the evil look you've got on your face, A-Zhan," wwx teased. "Planning for the future?"

"Mn," lwj agreed, ears burning under his hair. "Planning."

wwx's eyes squeezed closed as he laughed. "You're such a

little shit," he said as he helped lwj flip over onto his stomach, pulling his hips back until he was presenting his hole to wwx. "Hmm... aren't you a pretty little thing," wwx sighed, rubbing his thumb against the puckered hole, cooing when it fluttered under his fingers.

lwj growled. "No," he said firmly.

"No what?" wwx asked as he continued rubbing against lwj's dry hole and mumbling unintelligibly at it.

"Do not talk to my hole as though it is a person with its own thoughts and feeling."

"Isn't it though?" the older man teased,

pulling his hand away for a moment. "After all... if I touch here," he said, pressing an oddly wet finger to lwj back, "nothing happens, but if I touch here..."

lwj gasped when wwx's spit wet fingers slipped inside him, the other alpha's pheromones shattering through him for a

single brief, shocking second before they fluttered out of existence.

"Aren't you such a sensitive little thing," wwx said softly down to lwj's hole. "Your owner doesn't seem to think you have your own feelings, but I think he's wrong."

lwj groaned and pressed his head down

into his arms, reflecting back on his words that morning. "Seriously? That's your type?" lxc had asked, and honestly, at this moment, lwj couldn't help but agree that something was seriously wrong with him to be so undeniably, irrevocably attracted to this awful, teasing man.

Okay, apparently trying to get the man to stop his teasing wasn't going to work. Change of plans.

"Xian-gege," lwj whined softly, tilted his head back to meet wwx's eyes, planting the pout the older man had called unfair back onto his face. "Want you inside," he said, trying to

make his voice sound sad and desperate. "Want more of you inside."

"Hmmm..." wwx hummed suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at lwj. "You know, if you're not careful I might change my mind and actually stick my entire arm inside you. Can't get much more inside you than that."

"Xian-gege won't," lwj said confidently, watching as wwx leaned over to retrieve the lube from where it had landed during their pushing and pulling of each other. "Xian-gege won't risk making me scent drunk."

"Could get a glove," wwx mused, popping the top off the lube and

(A/N: talk of rimming)

giving it a sniff before scooping some onto his fingers. "Maybe next time," he added, rubbing his fingers together and flicking out his tongue to lick them lightly. "Ehhh... not horrible, but not great. Not that I don't think my tongue in your ass wouldn't

make you scent drunk pretty damn fast."

lwj whimpered into his arms, images of wwx's face buried between his cheeks flooding through his mind, images of his own buried between wwx's in return.

"You like that, A-Zhan~" he cooed, leaning back over lwj to cage him in,

his hard cock pressing against lwj's ass. "When you're finally less sensitive I'm gonna spend an entire fucking day with my face buried between your legs, sucking your cock, filling your ass with my tongue."

"Gege~" lwj half moaned, half complained, his hips pressing mindlessly

back into the other man.

"Such a desperate little thing," wwx whispered into his ear, nibbling gently at the hot tip. "You gonna come just like this? With nothing touching your cock? Nothing in your hole? Just my voice in your ear and my cock against your pretty, horny hole?"

lwj whimpered and shook his head into his arms. He couldn't, he couldn't.

"Use your words, A-Zhan," the other man said darkly, biting lightly into the flesh of lwj's shoulder when he shook his head again and mumbled into his arms. "A-Zhan, use your words," wwx repeated,

pulling back from lwj, only his hips and hard cock left connected to lwj as he thrust back and back and back.

wwx's cock slide over his hole and lwj cursed his scent sensitivity, cursed the fact that there was fabric between them, keeping his gege's cock locked away from where

(A/N: one (1) spank)

it belong: inside him, warm and safe and-

lwj screamed when wwx's hand landed across his ass, the sound of their skin slapping together drowned out under the sound of him coming, cum splattering over the blankets under him as he arched back off his arms.

lwj slumped back forward, vaguely registering wwx's hand lightly rubbing against the spot it had landed on and that his hips, and therefore cock, were no longer pressed against his ass. "Xian-gege?" he mumbled, trying to turn back to see the other alpha and barely managing to

twist his head. "Where did you go?"

wwx laughed hoarsely. "I'm right here, silly boy," he said, nails gently scratching against lwj's bottom.

"Hips are gone," lwj complained, trying to look back again and catching wwx's other hand tucked between them. "What are you doing?"

"Ah..." wwx laughed, glancing away and biting his lip. "Was getting a little trigger happy," he admitted awkwardly. "You were just too cute, coming from just my hand smacking your ass. Needed to, ah... cut things off."

lwj blinked back at him. "Oh," he said quietly, burying his

face back in his arms. "Xian-gege liked it?" he asked after a moment.

"Oh yeah," wwx laughed. "Might have to adjust my requirements for turning you over my knee," he teased, startling a yelp out of lwj when he abruptly leaned in and bit the still burning spot on lwj's butt.

"Xian-gege~" lwj whined, pressing back into the older man's bite and moaning when he began sucking on the spot, his lube wet fingers reappearing to swipe at his hole.

"You like that, baby?" wwx asked, pulling away from his ass with a pop and licking over the spot.

"Yes,"

lwj gasped, trying to trust back and get the other alpha's fingers inside him, inside him, inside-

wwx hummed lightly, taking another bite of lwj's sensitive skin. "So cute and desperate," he muttered before shoving two fingers inside lwj, laughing quietly into lwj's skin when

he groaned. "Such a sweet, loose hole you have here, A-Zhan," the older man teased. "Was it always this accepting, or have you been playing with it that much since I left? Got that toy inside it once and couldn't get enough of your hole being filled?"

"Like it," lwj muttered,

voice heavy with annoyance and desperation.

"What do you like, sweetheart?"

lwj bit into his forearm, shaking his head and moaning when wwx dragged the nails of his free hand over his bottom, dragging down, down until they brushed the ticklish skin under the mound of his ass.

"Xian-gege!" lwj objected, nearly kicking the older man when his teasing scratches turned into light, fleeting touches that teased through his body.

wwx giggled quietly behind him, readjusting his hand to slip a third finger inside. "Well~" he said, lwj flinching when his

clean hand continued landing tickles across his upper thighs, "it's not like I can spank you to get you to speak. You like that too much, if I teach you that misbehaving will get your bottom whacked every time..." wwx sighed dramatically, cold, cruel air whispering across lwj's

wet hole, "I'm afraid that will just encourage you to act out more often," wwx finished, his tone reminding lwj of the way a parent spoke to an ill-behaved child.

"Xian-Gege," lwj objected, trying to twist around to glare at the older man only to fall back, gasping when wwx's

fingers brushed against that lovely bundle of nerves inside him.

"I'll ask you again, A-Zhan," wwx half-threatened, half-teased. "What do you like? Ah! Maybe you'll answer me if I take my fingers out of this soft, delicious looking hole?"

"No!" lwj cried, blushing into

his arms.

"No?" wwx asked, the hand that had been harassing his thighs reappearing on his ass to rub soothing, aggravating circles onto it. "Well, A-Zhan will need to answer my question then."

"Like it," lwj repeated after a moment, quietly adding, "like being- being filled."

"Wanna be even more filled?" wwx asked, stretching his fingers this way and that around lwj's hole, loosening up the tight ring to let in more and more.

"Yes," lwj gasped, pressing his hips back against wwx's hand. "Want more, want to be full," he admitted, heat burning across

his entire body. He let out a sad moan when wwx pulled his hand completely out.

"Shh, shh," the older man said, pressing a placating kiss to the inside of one of lwj's ass cheeks, just shy of his hole. "I just need more lube, sweet boy," he told him, the loud squelch of lube

being squeezed out of the container following his words before his fingers were sliding more cold lube inside lwj. "Gonna fill you up so good," wwx mumbled, seemingly more to himself than lwj. "Gonna leave your pretty hole gaping for me, unable to close and wishing my fist was

still inside."

lwj whimpered quietly, hips still thrusting back mindlessly. "Want to see Xian-gege," he complained after several long moments of listening to the increasingly obscene sounds coming from his ass.

The other alpha huffed quietly. "I know, baby," he said,

"but it's easier this way, at least the first few times. One day we'll be able to do this face to face, but I don't want to hurt you."

"Mm..." lwj hummed sadly, tensing when wwx laughed softly at him. "What?" he growled back at the older man.

"Your scent," wwx said, continuing

to laugh as he worked his fourth finger inside. "You just smell so absolutely heartbroken that you can't see me, but also a big mess of horny. It's cute."

lwj blinked into his arms, taking a deep breath of the air. Oh, he hadn't realized how much scent he was leaking,

too distracted by the pleasant pressure of wwx's fingers inside him, brushing against his prostate every so often. "Didn't notice," lwj admitted quietly, trying to reign in his heavy, suffocating scent.

"Aiya!" wwx objected, leaning over lwj to gently pull his head up.

"Where are you trying to take your lovely scent, my dear? There's no need to hide it!" wwx practically purred at him. "Give it back!"

lwj blinked into his arms before slowly relaxing, letting his scent slip back out, heavy and horny, a tinge of sadness still shimmering

through it, along with a frankly embarrassing thread of satisfaction. Satisfaction that wwx liked his scent, even as overwhelming as it currently was.

"Ah~" the other man sighed. "Much better," he said, leaning in to abruptly lick across lwj's neck gland. "Delicious," wwx moaned

over lwj's own, obscene groan, sparks of wwx flickering through him before they dispersed, the slight contact not enough to leave him scent drunk but almost enough to make him come again. "Hmm..." wwx hummed contemplatively, pulling back up and twisting his fingers around

lwj's hole. "You're much less sensitive now than you were even when I left..." he said, reaching to grab more lube as he slipped his fourth finger inside and began the harder part of working his thumb in. "Been doing anything special since I left?"

"Sleeping in Xian-gege's

scent," lwj said unrepentantly, glutes flexing as he imagined wwx's hand landing loud and rough over his ass again, punishing him for going against doctor's orders.

"Is that so..." wwx said, humming and hawing before going off on how perhaps the current research on scent

sensitivity was incorrect. "Maybe holding you back from my scent all those weeks wasn't actually helpful? Or many it's the second hand scent that's more helpful? Or you're an anomaly! And exception! Ah, all the snuggles we missed out on!" wwx sighed, fingers wiggling almost

absentmindedly within lwj, a dull, boring torture that finally forced a growl out of lwj.

"Wei Wuxian!" he hissed. "Focus!"

wwx froze for a moment before bursting out into laughter, vibrations echoing down his arm and into lwj, who's hole squeezed around his fingers.

"Something wrong, sweetheart?" wwx purred at him, fingers swishing roughly against lwj's prostate. "You want gege to pay attention to you? Want gege to play with your hole more?"

"Xian-gege!" lwj objected, stomach and arms quivering as wwx began abusing his hole, not just

swishing but thrusting in a out, wwx leaving only the tips of his fingers inside before plunging them back inside, harsh and wonderful.

"Fucking hell..." wwx sighed, hand smacking gently down on lwj's ass before pulling his cheeks further apart. "You're so pretty and desperate

for it. I'm gonna fucking wreck you, now, when I finally get my cock inside you. Get myself a cock ring and fuck you until you're gaping and can't even hold my knot inside your loose hole."

lwj thrust back onto wwx's hand, harder and harder, the other man's fingers slipping

(A/N: the actual fist-knot!)

deeper and deeper until-

wwx's free arm slipped around lwj's hips to hold him steady as he sucked in a harsh breath, his scent spiking out around them in needles of sandalwood. "It's okay, baby," wwx whispered, voice calm and relaxed despite

the torrent of lwj's panic swirling around them. "Just breath through it and tell me if you need me to pull back," the older alpha added, fingers shifting within lwj's hole to make a fist, his arm moving to tug it back against lwj's rim.

lwj whined into his arm. It was so much,

even with all that prep it was so much, wwx's hand heavy and huge within him, his instincts kicking through him, furious at the intrusion into it's territory.

"Breath, baby," wwx said again, his chest moving against lwj's, his breath loud and firm and naturally guiding lwj's.

"There you go," wwx sighed, pressing a kiss to his back. "Just like that. Just breath and relax. You're doing so good, sweet boy."

lwj wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, breathing and relaxing, lwj slowly adjusting to the presence of another person inside him.

"How you doing, baby?" wwx asked quietly, breaking off from the soft humming he had been doing.

"M'good," lwj slurred, eyes fluttering as he registered how fucked out he felt, not from being scent drunk but from being so full and so close to the man he-

lwj shuddered when wwx

suddenly ground his fist down against his prostate, a series of broken moans slipping out of his lips.

"You like that, A-Zhan?" wwx murmured, grinding down again and again. "Fuck, you take it so well. A fucking natural, your hole was made to take an alpha's knot, my knot."

"Yes!" lwj gasped. "Made to take Xian-gege's knot," he moaned, returning to thrusting back onto wwx's hand. "Want gege's knot."

"Good," wwx panted, his own scent beginning to lick at lwj's flesh, "cause I'm gonna fucking knot you the moment I can without you losing yourself.

Gonna stick my dick in your beautiful, greedy hole and fuck it full. Gonna leave you fucking dripping and begging for more, begging for my cock, my knot, my cum."

lwj gasped, thrusting harder and growling quietly when wwx's free arm held him back from taking his fist deeper

inside himself. "A-Alpha~" he couldn't help but moan, sucking in a shocked breath when wwx growled at him, heavy and predatory, lwj freezing under him.

"Aren't you so cute and desperate," the older alpha growled, his hand grinding cruelly down onto lwj's prostate

between each of his words. "My perfect, horny little omega."

lwj arched up as he came, a long stream of "yes, yes, your omega, yours" leaving his lips as he continued spurting onto the blankets in an endless orgasm that left him half-screaming until wwx finally took pity on him

and pulled his hand out of his hole.

"No~" lwj slurred, back relaxing as he slumped back down, growling softly when the older alpha laughed quietly at him.

"Sorry, sweet boy, I'm not gonna leave my fist inside you today," wwx laughed, pressing a placating kiss to lwj's back.

"I want my cock to be attached to the first knot that gets to live in your cute hole, not my arm," he teased.

(A/N: fisting scene over... did I say I was going to mark the start and then completely forget? Oops, sorry if I did 😬

Anyways, a bit more sexy times after this! 👀)

"Mn..." lwj hummed, sniffling into his arms before sucking in a breath of their mingled scents. "Gege hasn't come," lwj noted quietly, trying to push himself up to help the other man deal with that.

"Ah! No, no! Stay where you are, baby! You shouldn't move yet," wwx cried,

placing a firm hand to lwj's back.

"But-"

"But nothing, sweet boy," the older man sighed, snickering when an annoyed scent slipped out of lwj. "Not happy, little one?"

"No," lwj pouted. "Xian-gege needs to come."

"Hmm..."

lwj started when wwx's hands landed back on his

ass, one still sticky with lube and lwj's insides, each pulling his cheeks apart until his still gaping hole was twitching up at wwx.

"What do you think, A-Zhan? Can you behave for gege?" wwx asked, his horny scent twitching around lwj's nose, a heavy, musky spice.

~

"What do you think, A-Zhan? Can you behave for gege?" wwx asked, licking his lips as he looked down at his beautiful boy's hole, wet and gaping, twitching in distress now that it was empty. Cute. wwx wanted to wreck it.

"Yes," lwj gasped out, already sounding so wrecked and

desperate, hips thrusting back onto nothing.

wwx couldn't wait to get his cock in him, his alpha flaring up around them in molten spice as his grip on lwj's ass tightened. "You're going to have to stay still for me, sweetheart. If you move I'll stop. You understand, baby?"

"Yes," lwj repeated, ass and thighs flexing as he tried to cease his movements.

"Yes what?" wwx asked coldly, lips twitching. lwj was so cute to mess with, so eager to please, so desperate not to disappoint his Xian-gege, even if he could also be an adorable little brat.

"I understand," lwj clarified. "If I move, Xian-gege will stop."

"Good boy," wwx said, smirking down at the younger alpha, his horny honey scent still slipping out of him. Insatiable thing.

wwx pulled a hand away from lwj's bottom and pushed down the waistband of his pants,

shifting forward and-

"XIAN-GEGE!" lwj cried, trying to jerk back and impale himself on wwx's cock and only stopped by wwx's firm grip.

"A-Zhan," wwx warned seriously, trying not to come from the feeling of lwj's warmth around the tip of his cock. "Behave, or I will pull back."

lwj whined, shaking and nodding his head into his arms in turn while wwx gently soothed him, thumbs rubbing into the delicious, biteable flesh of his ass.

"I'm going to remove a hand, sweet boy. Are you going to behave this time?" wwx asked the younger alpha, who muttered

something that was more or less a yes. wwx snickered quietly as he pulled a hand away, wrapping it around his dick to roughly drag across it, smiling when lwj's hole tried to tighten around his tip. "I guess," he teased, "I can let your greedy little hole's movements slide."

"Gege~" lwj whined, his scent rising up to twine around wwx's, a beautiful melody of honey sweetened spice dragging across wwx's skin as he stripped his cock. "More?"

"No, sweet boy, not today," wwx told him, voice heavy with arousal. "This is all you're getting," he added,

eyes pinned on how the younger man's hole flexed around his cock, trying so hard to close but failing, "just the tip for you."

Beneath him lwj moaned in displeased arousal, annoyance flaring in his scent even as it began to melt in a way wwx recognized as scent drunkenness.

"Just this is enough to make you drunk?" wwx huffed, hips shifting to just barely drag his tip in and out of the lwj's gorgeous hole, loose and sloppy and slowly overflowing with his precum. "Just my precum is enough, huh? Fucking hell, you're gonna be wasted when I come in you,

aren't you honey? Fuck-"

wwx's grip tightened on his cock, pulling and twisting harder, faster, rougher, lwj releasing soft little gasps every time his fist bumped into lwj's hole until he was spilling inside him, lwj's hole contracting around his cum, trying to pull it

further inside, as he came for a third time.

wwx sighed as he let his dick fall away, hand returning to lwj's ass cheeks to pull them apart again and watch as the young man came from just the feel of cum in his hole. "Fucking hell you're perfect," wwx whispered, fingers slipping

back into lwj's hole to push his cum just a bit deeper, lwj moaning, horny and increasingly disoriented as the pheromones in wwx's cum were absorbed into his system.

"Shhh, sweetheart," wwx said, pulling his hands back and fumbling with the blankets and lwj to pull the dirty one

out from under them. "Let gege take care of you," he whispered, gently dragging the blanket over his own dick and tucking it away before turning to lwj which was... there was a lot of cum and lube going on with lwj's hole, still gaping and letting everything slip out of it.

"Note to self: carry wet wipes with me from now on," wwx sighed, trying his best to wipe the younger man clean. "A-Zhan!" he complained as lwj wiggled and thrust his hips weakly back onto the blanket. "Come on now! I'm trying to clean you up!"

"Mn," lwj hummed, flopping onto

his side. "Xian-gege is cleaning up my hole," he said seriously before starting to giggle. "Gege should clean it up with his tongue."

wwx rolled his eyes as he released a puff of air. "You mark your words, little drunkard. One day," he threatened, folding the blanket up and

slipping a drier side under lwj's bottom to catch anything else that might leak out of it, "I'm going to suck all my cum out of your hole and leave you begging me to stop."

lwj's giggles halted as he frowned up at wwx. "Will never beg Xian-gege to stop," he said firmly.

"Is that so~" wwx said, crawling up to lay beside the younger alpha, fiddling with the blankets to pull one over them. "Never?" he asked, snuggling in towards the other man.

(A/N: mentions of spanking and some other fantasies, including cockwarming and con-noncon)

"Not even if I turn your butt and thighs black and blue?"

lwj vigorously shook his head no.

"No?" wwx sighed, as though lwj's apparent obsession with being spanked were a surprise. "How about if I just keep you sitting on my cock all day while I work? I won't let you move or

get off," he said, snickering at his own joke while lwj shook his head again.

"What if I... tickle you!?" wwx cried, hands reaching out to graze over the other man's sides.

lwj squeaked, hands trying to catch wwx's but too slow and weak in his scent drunk state. "Gege~"

he half-whined, half-laughed as wwx continued assaulting him, his scent rising up around them in bubbles of honey that just barely teased wwx's nose before popping into a flurry of happiness.

wwx looked down at the younger man, adorable and free, his hands stilling as he leaned

in to whisper in his ear. "And what is I finally get you begging me to stop and I refuse? What then, sweet boy?"

lwj tilted his head to rest their cheeks together. "Xian-gege can do anything to me he likes," he slurred, wwx's scent and the hour beginning to catch up with him.

"He would stop though, if I really asked," the younger man added, reaching out to tug on wwx's shirt, an annoyed pout pulling at his lips. "Gonna have to show me one day," he muttered, wwx freezing under his hands.

wwx blinked at the other man, hands coming up to gently pull

lwj's hands away. "A-Li sharing all my secrets?" he asked, letting lwj push the cuff of his shirt up to eye up the tattoo on his arm, his fingers brushing over the raised skin under it.

"Before," lwj murmured softly, eyes blinking closed before he was shaking himself back awake.

"Before?" wwx asked, pushing some of lwj's hair away from his face with his free hand. "Before we met, you mean?"

"Mn..." lwj hummed, pulling wwx's arm towards him and tucking it against his chest as though it were one of his scented stuffed animals. "It'll be fine."

wwx released a long breath as lwj abruptly fell asleep, the sleepy scent he had been releasing since tickling lwj taking effect. "I sure hope so, sweet, beautiful boy," he murmured, wiggling in towards the younger alpha and tucking himself fully against him. "I sure hope so."

~

"XIAN-SHUSHU! A-ZHAN!" a woman's voice yelled inside wwx's dream.

wwx startled awake, blinking rapidly into lwj's chest. What was-

"LAN WANGJI! WEI WUXIAN!" a man's voice called, definitely real and not part of a nightmare. "Shit," the voice groaned. "Are you sure this where

they'll be?"

"I hope so," the woman said, sounding slightly out of breath.

"A-Li?" wwx slurred, pushing himself up and fumbling for the light before crawling over to the entrance. "A-Li?" he called louder, blinking down into the darkness and pulling the light forward to-

"Xian-shushu!" jyl called, hand rising above her head to block the light shining down on her and jzxuan.

"Oi, now!" wwx half-teased, half-scolded. "What's a good little omega like you doing wandering around at night with an alpha?"

"Xian-shushu!" jyl cried, stomping her foot.

"Now's not the time to be worried about that! Is Huan-ge up there with you?"

"Up here in our treehouse of depravity? No, why?" wwx called down, fingers twitching nervously.

"Mingjue-ge can't find him," jzxuan called up at him, glancing around the dark woods. "He went to your

house but none of you were there. He's tearing up the compound with yima and some of her servants trying to find him, but jyl said she knew where you and lwj might be and-"

"Fuck," wwx said, looking back at lwj, still sleeping, although he was now tossing at bit from the noise.

"What time is it?"

"Almost 2, why?" jyl called up, pulling jzxuan back when wwx pushed the ladder out of the treehouse.

"Wanted to know how long he was missing for. Fuck, he's been gone for over two hours? When did Mingjue figure out he was gone?" he asked as he began

climbing down.

"He came and woke muqin up about 30 minutes ago," his niece told him. "He didn't mean to wake me up but Jingjing was crying and-"

"Where is the kid?" wwx asked as he jumped down the last few rungs to the ground.

"With my mom," jzxuan offered, looking incredibly

uncomfortable as the scent of lwj and wwx's sex reached him.

"Great, at least he's safe. Was a plan made for looking for lxc?"

"A bit. Mingjue-" jzxuan started, squeaking when wwx grabbed his arm and began dragging him back towards the path.

"You can tell me on the way out of

here. A-Li, go up and wait until A-Zhan wakes up. Sorry about the smell and sorry that he's naked... again," wwx called back as he and jzxuan moved quickly down the path, jxzuan thankfully having a flashlight that he easily handed over to him.

"Of course, Xian-shushu," his niece

called as she began easily climbing into the treehouse despite the dark, years of practice flowing through her movements. "I have my phone, call me if anything happens!"

wwx yelled something back at her, he wasn't even sure what. Something hopefully more hopeful than he felt.

Lotus Pier was big, yes, but for lxc to be lost in it? Even at night? That was unrealistic, but with a dozen strange young alphas currently sleeping within its walls? Fucking hell! Why had the omega left his house? He must have known the risk, he must have-

"wwx?" jzxuan asked

quietly as they began all but running out of the woods.

"Yeah?" wwx asked, trying to prioritize in his mind where to look first when they got back into the main area.

"I just- I don't think you were listening to me," the younger man said, starting to explain again how nmj and

yzy had decided to split up looking and where to look first.

wwx nodded along, checking off all the places they likely would have been able to look already and sliding more ideas onto his list except-

"He doesn't know the area," wwx said gravely, tasting jzxuan's sour scent

flood out around them.

"You mean- oh shit, looking in all the places that would make the most sense for someone who knew Lotus Pier-"

"Won't make sense for him, fuck," wwx yelled as they rounded back onto the paved paths of Lotus Pier. "You have your phone?"

"Yeah?"

"Call them, tell them the problem with their plan, and let A-Li know too. When A-Zhan wakes up she can find out if he has any ideas, if he showed his brother anywhere specific today. Wait!" wwx skidded to a halt, jzxuan bumping into his back. "I'll give you my number."

The younger alpha clumsily pulled out his phone and inputed the number wwx gave him. "Where are you going?" he asked as wwx turned again to leave.

"To get my phone, then see if I can find that damn man," wwx growled, bolting off into the darkness, leaving jzxuan to his calls.

~

lwj stirred under his mother's touch, light and warm, a neutral, raw smell of love falling down around him in a thousand petals that brushed across his skin and left him covered in soft safety.

"A-Zhan," a woman's voice called softly, hand gently running through his hair.

"You need to wake up, A-Zhan," the woman called again and his nose crinkled. That didn't sound like-

"Mama?" he asked, the world spinning as his eyes peeked open, the hand in his hair freezing for a moment before continuing its trek.

"No, sweetheart," the woman said sadly,

jyl appearing above him as his vision straightened out, her hair flowing messily down around her as she frowned sadly at him. "Just me, I'm afraid," she said, hand scratching into his scalp.

"A-Li?" lwj asked, pushing himself clumsily up. "What are you- you shouldn't be here."

"Yeah..." his friend said, biting her lip and looking down at his-

lwj squeaked and pulled the blankets up around himself. Could he please get through a couple weeks with flashing his dick or sex scent at his friend, please?

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he rose and

started gathering up his clothes, looking around and confirming that wwx was nowhere to be seen, his scent still lingering lightly in the air.

"I- jzxuan and I came to find you..." she started, fiddling nervously with the hem of her sleep shirt. "We were looking for Huan-ge."

lwj froze, arms squeezing around his clothes. "Ge is missing?"

"Yeah, Mingjue-ge came and- EEP!" jyl smacked a hand across her eyes and, were it not for the panic running through lwj's veins, he would have been ecstatic that the sight of his ass, probably still dripping with

wwx's cum, had finally gotten a proper, embarrassed reaction from his friend.

"Where did Xian-gege go?" he asked as he pulled on his boxers, hoping the scent blockers would be enough to hide wwx's scent.

"With jzxuan, he was telling Xian-shushu what happened when they left,

but he called a little while ago and said they'd separated," the omega woman said, peeking through her fingers to check the state of his clothing before letting her hand fall back to her lap. "Muqin is also looking, along with Mingjue-ge and some of the servants."

"Mn," lwj hummed darkly, fumbling his shirt on and turning towards the exit ladder... which he now needed to climb down in the dark. Wonderful.

"He said he was going to go grab his phone, so he could stay updated, and then go search for your brother," his friend said,

crawling after him as he pushed the ladder back out the door. "He wanted to know if you had shown your brother anywhere where he might have gone?"

He stopped where he had been trying to find a rung to put his foot on, squinting over at her and trying to go through all the places

he had shown or told his brother about during their tour that day. "There is one place-"

~

lwj ran through Lotus Pier, the lantern light swaying by his side. He felt bad, taking it and leaving jyl in the dark, although she'd assured him that she had her phone and would be fine.

He felt bad about leaving her behind as well, but after having pulled the ladder back up after he'd reached the ground it was unlikely anyone would be able to reach her and he needed speed and to not have to worry about her safety as well at the moment.

He cursed at his brother

in his head. Stupid man, wandering around this late at night. Even were the place not filled to the brim with alphas known for having obscene views of omegas it would be unsafe. lxc didn't know the area, where ponds and forests lay, filled with animals and monsters and-

lwj pushed his way through a door towards one of the places he had shown his brother, the courtyard with the strange, singed tree.

~

"Wow," lxc said, hand brushing against the blackened bark. "I'm surprised this thing is still standing."

"Mn," lwj agreed, telling his brother

that he wanted to ask someone, wwx or jyl, about it when he got the chance and some vague details about his visit to the courtyard the day before, leaving out the fight with wwx and simply mentioning how he had been hiding here from jyl's horrible party.

"Oh!" lxc laughed,

plopping down on the bench. "You really would be hidden here, wouldn't you?"

"Mn," lwj had agreed, walking around the courtyard to check just how hidden the spot was.

"Thinking of hooking up with your... gege, here?" his brother nearly growled at him, his scent rising up in

a horrible mix of steel and motherly instinct.

"Ge-"

"I've heard things, didi," lxc said, cutting him off before he could stop the conversation, "from A-Yao. He has a reputation."

lwj very much doubted jgy had randomly brought up wwx's previous escapades in their day to day

conversations. More likely, his brother had called his second partner the night before. It would potentially explain lxc change from being teasing unhappy about his and wwx's relationship to being outright hostile about it.

"Ge-" lwj tried again, tone mild and calming as he

circled back around the bushes to sit by the older man.

"I'm worried for you, didi," lxc said, looking at him with hard, concerned eyes. "We're the same, you and me, and we both get attached too quickly. We latch onto the love and warmth we didn't get as children at the first

taste of it. I just-" lxc leaned in to press his forehead to lwj's, eyes fluttering closed as he pulled in a deep breath. "I just don't want you to get hurt when wwx gets bored of you, just like he's gotten bored of everyone else."

A humourless laugh slipped past lwj's lips.

"I think it might be too late for that, ge," he said softly, letting his own eyes fall closed as more of his brother's protective scent surged around them. "Even if we ended it now, I- I would-" lwj cut off as his voice shuddered.

"I know, didi," lxc whispered back. "I know."

~

lwj rushed down the hall, cursing the anti-scent HVAC system that the Jiangs had installed when Lotus Pier had been rebuilt. Were this a normal building the scents of anyone in distress would seep through the walls and alert anyone nearby. Here though, the systems not only hid

scents inside rooms but completely erased all traces of the people who had been inside the rooms and halls once they left, leaving behind no trail for lwj to follow. If his brother wasn't here, he didn't know where else to look, and searching each room individually...

The scents hit lwj the moment he pushed the door to the courtyard open, one heavy and distressed, the other horny and malicious, his feet bursting across the ground as he rounded towards the source of the scents.

"Ge!" lwj called as his brother came into view, back pressed

against the burnt out tree as one of jyl's suitors stalked towards him, his large, blown out eyes twisting towards lwj as he skidded towards his brother.

"Well, if it isn't the little alpha friend," the man growled, taking another wobbly step towards the Lan brothers.

A/N: sorry about the short updates the last few days, I want to do the next part all at once, and just haven't had the time to sit and write it all. I'm hoping to be able to do it tomorrow!

Although, considering I've run into the scene I don't have much of an option 😅

A/N: if this next part had a soundtrack, it would be this song! Enjoy!

Also! Upcoming section features: violence, some gore, mentions of attempted r*pe.

"You should leave while you still have the chance," the man said, mouth twitching into a smirk. "You ain't got the experience or the strength to take me. All you'll end up doing is watching your stupid shit of a brother take my knot," he laughed, a surge of bitter, salt water

scent spraying out of him as lwj growled at him.

"Ge," he whispered to his brother, "can you run?"

"No, I don't think so," lxc whispered back, hands coming to land on lwj's shoulders as he crouched down protectively next to his brother. "He bit my legs and they're..."

lwj tensed. If they couldn't get away, if even lxc alone couldn't get away while he distracted the man, he would be left fighting this man and they were right: lwj had no experience brawling with other alphas, especially not one pumped up on rut hormones, ever fibre of his being

saying he needed to knot an omega. Usually mating bites turned other alphas off, but for whatever reason this one was interested in lxc and didn't look like he was inclined to leave even now that lwj had come along.

"Does anyone else know where we are?" his brother asked,

scent vibrating between fearful and comforting, his omega instincts trying to soothe lwj even though he was the one in the most danger, the one who was already hurt.

lwj bit his lip before saying, purposefully a bit too loudly, "No, no one else knows where we are."

lwj barely had time to throw his brother back before the other alpha was on him, growling and snarling, his hands ripping at lwj's shirt and hair, lxc's voice in the background crying out as lwj managed to dislodge the man and flip him over onto his back.

"Didi!" lxc yelled as

lwj grappled to climb over the man, trying to pin him down, and lwj could see from the corner of his eye that his brother was trying to push himself up to come and help, his legs giving out under him.

lwj growled and drew his fist back, landing a cracking punch to the other

man's jaw, the man who had hurt his brother.

"Fucker!" the man swore, twisting and turning until the two of them were rolling through the dirt and smashing into the bushes, one of the lanterns that lit the path digging harshly into lwj's back.

"Didi!" lxc yelled again over

lwj's pained yell and he could see his brother trying to crawl towards him, towards the other alpha.

"Ge, no..."

"You're gonna regret that, you little shit," the other man said, pushing himself up and glaring down at lwj. "I'm gonna beat the shit out of you and tell r*pe your

sweet, delicious smelling brother right in front of your face. Fuck, I can't wait to get my cock inside him, I've always had a thing for moms, you know," the man said as he ripped his foot back and slammed it into lwj's stomach. "Maybe I'll even show you his hole," he added,

his leg pulling back again as he readied himself for another kick, "would you like that you little-"

All three men gasped when the alpha was suddenly knocked to the ground, a haze of rancid burning spice spiralling through the air as wwx toppled him over, growling and snarling

as he and the other alpha slide over the ground.

"Xian-gege!" lwj cried, trying to pushed himself up as his brother crawled over to him.

"Didi! You're bleeding," lxc said hands flailing over the scratches on lwj's arms and face, "and your stomach."

"I'm fine, ge. I need to-"

he started to say, blinking blurry eyes in the direction of wwx and the other man before-

"Ge," he cried, pulling his brother towards him and doing his best to create a shield of honey scent around them as the other two alpha's scent blasted over them, spice and salt crashing

into one another as the two men fought.

lxc tensed in his arms, surging forward into lwj's neck to bury his nose into his scent glad, the scent of two alphas fighting too much for lwj, let alone an omega who's instincts would be running wild telling him to either flee or try to

stop the fighting any way he could.

"Ge," lwj said again, wrapping himself firmly around his brother as he watched the other men fight, wwx snarling and tipping the younger alpha over, both of their eyes wide and manic even in the darkness of the courtyard.

"I'm gonna fucking

kill you!" the other man screeched as wwx slammed him into the ground. "I'm gonna fucking kill you all and then r*pe that omega over his baby brother's dead body and-"

lwj's eyes widen as the older alpha let out a low growl and surged forward, jaw clamping down on the other

man's throat, a vicious, gurgling noise leaking out of his throat as wwx bite harder and harder until he was rearing back, blood and tissue flying up around him. The other alpha let out an awful, choking sound, blood spilling out across the ground around him as wwx spit the

flesh he had ripped away to the ground. He raised a hand and rubbed the blood away from his mouth, a deathly line of red pushed across his cheek as he stood and sneered down at the younger man.

"Get some fucking control of yourself," wwx said, as though the other man wasn't

moments away from bleeding out or suffocating. wwx stepped emotionlessly over the other alpha and took quick steps towards lwj and his brother. "A-Zhan, xiao-Lan, are you two okay?"

"Ge is hurt-", "Didi is hurt-" he and his brother said all at once and wwx blinked at them before

releasing a humourless laugh.

"You're both the same, hm? More concerned about one another than yourselves," the older man said, growling as his chaotic eyes shot towards the door, hidden behind the bushes, as it pushed open.

"Xichen!" nmj's loud voice cried, more desperate than

lwj had ever heard it.

"A-Jue!" lxc cried in return, pushing himself slightly away from lwj as his mate skidded around the corner, eyes frantic and then he was wrapping himself around lxc and, probably by accident, lwj. "Oh, oh sweetheart," nmj said, landing a kiss after kiss

over lxc's face as he released a surprisingly mellow and soothing scent, lwj trying to subtly get out of the hug he was not meant to be in. "Thank fuck you're okay- you are okay, right?" he asked, pulling back to glare over lxc's body and giving lwj a chance to slip out.

"Your legs..." nmj said, gently reaching out to finger the blood splattered over lxc's sleep pants. "Who did to you?" he growled, scent shuddering into a violent, murderous blade. "I'm gonna rip their fucking throat out."

"I do believe," lxc said softly, pulling himself into his

mate's arms, "that wwx already took care of that."

"What?" nmj asked, looking over towards the other man's now quiet body when lwj pointed. "Oh... thanks man," lwj's brother-in-law said, blinking at wwx like he had just noticed his presence before nodding seriously at him.

A/N: did I realize as I was hitting the tweet button that I forgot to actually put the link to the song? Yes, yes I did 🫠

Anyways, here it is RIP

"Xian-gege?" lwj asked quietly, crawling towards wwx and very much wanting to curl up against him like his brother was doing with his mate. "Are you alri-" lwj cut off as wwx hauled him into his arms.

"Are you ok, A-Zhan?" he asked, shifting them slightly away from nmj and lxc.

"Oh, you're face... sweetheart," the older man sighed, reaching out to brush against a scuff across lwj's jaw, lwj shuddering at the touch.

"Xian-gege's face looks worse," lwj countered, reaching out to scrub gently at the blood across wwx's face.

"Ah... you don't have to clean

that up, A-Zhan," wwx said, glancing to the side as he pulled lwj's hand away.

lwj tugged his hand free, wincing slightly when one of the scrapes along his arm stretched painfully. "It is fine."

"It's gross," the other alpha said softly, scent rising up bitterly over his

already agitated and violent one. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"Xian-gege was protecting us," lwj said firmly, tilting wwx's head until they were looking at each other again. "Thank you. That cannot have been pleasant. We should get you some water, to rinse your mouth out."

wwx gaped at lwj for a moment before bursting into laughter. "A-Zhan!" he complained, falling forward to rest his forehead against lwj's shoulder. "You're so silly. I just killed a dude and you're only concern is that I need to rinse my mouth out. Ah~" wwx sighed, nose turning in

to rub a subtle, dreamy scent against lwj's neck gland. "I love you so much, I-"

wwx and lwj simultaneously tensed against one another, the older man releasing a shuddering breath against lwj's neck.

"I-" lwj started to say a moment before the door to the courtyard banged open.

"nmj! wwx!" came Madam Yu's angry and almost frantic sounding voice, several pairs of feet slapping across the ground as she and several servants hurried down the path and around the corner, lwj sliding sadly free of wwx's arms. "Oh! There you are, and you found lxc, wonderful,"

the woman said, tone tired and annoyed. "Do you realize how stupid it is for an omega to go running about by themselves? Especially at night!" she nearly growled at lwj's brother, you buried himself slightly deeper into his mate's arm. "You're lucky some alpha didn't-"

"You mean

like that alpha over there?" wwx growled, pointing over to the man's corpse. "That one of A-Li's suitors? The ones you approved of? Going into uncontrolled ruts in the middle of someone else's home and trying to r*pe any omega they come across?"

Madam Yu stared at the alpha's

body for a moment before turning her eyes back to wwx and taking in his bloody appearance. "I see," she said curtly, whipping her phone out of her housecoat and dialling up, lwj assumed, the police, although the number much too long to be a simple emergency call. "Yes, I have a

problem and require your assistance and discretion," she said harshly, nodding and saying, "Yes," before hanging up the phone. "Someone will be here shortly. Unfortunately I cannot let you leave or go clean yourselves up."

"Of course," lxc said tightly, curling up against his

mate until he was a small ball, especially compared to his overly large mate, and taking a deep breath of the man's scent before springing upright. "Jingjing! A-Jue where is-"

"Shhh, shhh my love, he is with cym, do not worry," his mate assured him, pulling lxc back into his

neck and releasing such a powerful wave of soothing scent that even Madam Yu blinked blearily when it hit her. "You will see him soon, once we are done with the police and have cleaned up. We cannot see him smelling of anger and hatred and fear," he purred, and lwj shuddered,

his brother's purr rising up to meet his mate's.

Embarrassing, this wasn't a moment any of them should be witnessing. This was a moment for just them, a time for them to comfort and love each other, to snuggle up with each other, with their son, with their other mate. lwj turned

his eyes back to wwx as he wondered if jgy even knew that lxc had been missing, if nmj had called him in the panic to find their mate. He frowned slightly, wishing he could bury himself into the older man's arms and purr as well. Would wwx's purr rise up to meet his as well?

wwx continued staring darkly at Madam Yu for a moment, the servants who had followed her, two of the scary women who she seemed to favour, looking at the body of the dead alpha with eerily blank eyes. Madam Yu blinked at wwx once, lips pressed tight at having been called out for

having inadvertently caused this incident before swishing away, muttering, "Do not touch anything."

wwx watched her go for a moment more, looking like he was daring her to come back so he would have an excuse to rid the world of a second alpha that night, before looking back at

lwj and smiling softly, if a bit nervously, at him, his lips quivering as he opened him mouth several times, trying to find words to add to the ones he had said before and coming up blank. Instead he simply shifted to leaning against the bench lwj had rolled into a patted the

spot beside him, lwj obediently moving to sit beside him, their fingers and thighs brushing together as they waited for whoever Madam Yu had called to arrive.

~

I love you, I love you, I love you. The words echoed through lwj's head long after he had been sent back to wwx's

house alone, his presence no longer required once he gave his statement, had a few pictures taken along with some blood and other evidence, including his clothing. The only saving grace for that had been that he hadn't been wearing any of wwx's clothing, too weird and intimate

when he had originally been sleeping next to his brother. Ruining wwx's precious clothing and having them taken away would have been worse than being caught by Madam Yu and the detective she had called wearing an unrelated alpha's scent.

wwx, to lwj's great annoyance,

had been required to remain behind, along with everyone else. Logically, lwj knew that was reasonable, the older man had technically killed someone, even if it was in defence of lwj and his brother, and needed to answer more questions and have more evidence taken, but still!

lwj had been the only one allowed to leave, everyone else ordered to stay behind. Madam Yu, wwx, nmj, and his brother who-

lwj kicked his shoes off, foot scuffing against the floor. nmj had been arguing

(A/N: mentions of the police wanting to do a r*pe kit on lxc)

with the detective that a full exam wasn't necessary, that the alpha hadn't harmed lxc anywhere private, only touched him above his clothing and bitten his legs. The detective had been arguing that it should be done so lxc "Couldn't change his story later," as though

his brother would claim he was r*ped further down the line for his own benefit.

The worst thing was the detective had actually seemed to believe lxc hadn't been harmed sexually during his assault and the implication that he wanted the exam done to protect the dead alpha from

accusations that he had succeeded in assaulting the omega in and not just made a serious attempt to made lwj's stomach turn. How many omegas were out there being forced to undergo invasive and unnecessary examinations of their bodies, to have pictures and fluids and swabs taken

from them? How many omegas didn't have an alphas like nmj and wwx, and even Madam Yu, to some extent, backing them up that the exam was unnecessary?

He'd heard it the other way around too,

(A/N: mentions of r*pe of unnamed omegas and crappy police response and victim blaming)

omegas who had been irrevocably harmed denied their right to an exam because someone wanted to be able to bury a r*pe case, because some idiot thought it wasn't necessary for the case or didn't believe the omega, because someone thought the omega deserved it.

lwj did not kick

the bathroom door in anger as he pulled off the shitty clothing a servant had brought him, Madam Yu not wanting to stain the good clothing, the stuff they saved for guests who jumped in the lake fully clothed or got so sloshed they spilled their wine everywhere,

with blood and death. He tossed the horrible, scratchy clothing straight into the trash, even people in need deserved clothing better than these monstrosities and he made a mental note to donate to a local aid group before he left to make up for just tossing the clothes.

lwj was just stepping into the shower when a thought hit him and he was striding towards the bedroom on autopilot, approaching the side he had claimed as "his" and grabbing his phone.

He pressed a few buttons, supremely glad that he and jzxuan had exchanged numbers several

day earlier. "Hello, jzxuan?"

"lwj! You're free then? I just got back to my room from dropping jyl off at her room- well, at my mom's room, she wanted to make sure the little brat was okay," the younger alpha said, apparently not a fan of children, or at least not this one,

which lwj decided in the moment not to take offence at. Not everyone liked children, even children as cute as JingJing. Plus, jzxuan was weird and somehow not liking children suited him.

"Mn," lwj hummed, "was about to get in the shower."

"Ugh, to wash all the blood and

dirt away? I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you," jzxuan sighed, growling quietly in frustration and lwj couldn't help but smile softly at his new friend.

"Yes, but I want to call someone first. I imagine you have the number for-"

~

lwj's felt the rustling of someone sliding

into bed more than heard it, the covers shifting quietly over him as a clean, spicy scent appeared beside him.

"Shhh," wwx sighed, gently gathering lwj up in his arms. "It's just me, go back to sleep sweet boy," he said, hand gently scratching through lwj's hair, the arm against

his back bare and warm and lwj shuddered at the contact and sleepily thanked his past self for only slipping on underwear, wwx's bare upper body pressing deliciously into his own.

"Xian-gege~" lwj slurred, sleep somehow heavy around him despite how he had laid in bed for close

to two hours waiting for wwx to come home before apparently abruptly passing out.

"In the morning, little one," the older man sighed. "I'm not quite so young as you and need to sleep a bit before we have any life altering conversations," he teased lightly.

lwj hummed quietly

and turned his nose in to take an unrepentant huff of wwx's neck gland, smiling sleepily when the other man huffed at him. "Little addict."

"Mn..."

lwj wiggled in closer to wwx, their bodies pressed tight as lwj found wwx's other arm, fingers running blearily over the raised

skin crisis crossing his forearm. wwx tensed for a moment before relaxing into the touch and beginning to hum their song, soft and floaty around them.

lwj giggled quietly as the notes to the song shifted over a music staff behind his eyelids, wwx's scent seeping through him and

dragging him into happy drunk land. "Love gege too," lwj murmured into wwx's flesh, the words flowing out of him as sleep overtook him, wwx's scent slipping inside him as the man whispered back to him.

"I love you too, A-Zhan... aiya, we are really, really fucking stupid."

~

lwj, shockingly, woke alone, soft sounds of cooking and the smell of food drifting into the room as he fluttered his eyes open, the smell of food slowly overtaking wwx's lingering spice. He pushed himself up and, after a moment of thought, walked out into the living area in only

his underwear.

wwx was facing away from him, sadly more clothed than the night before, one of the light, black sweaters he favoured wrapped loosely around him, although his sleeves were pushed up as he hummed softly to himself and pushed things around on the stove,

seemingly oblivious to lwj's silent approach.

He was just stepping back to a pile of cut vegetables that lwj recognized as some that he and jyl had bought several days earlier, when lwj slipped his arms around his waist. ww tensed for a moment before relaxing back into

the embrace.

"Good morning, Xian-gege," lwj hummed quietly, nosing his way into the crook of wwx's neck to suck in a deep breath, both happily and sadly noting how the scent no longer left him immediately foggy. Less scent sensitivity was good, but lwj couldn't help but think

that he would miss it once it and the happy lightness that he gave him was gone.

"Good morning, sunshine," wwx hummed, head tilting in the rest against lwj's. "Sleep well?"

"Mn..." lwj hummed, a soft, sleepy scent that was a buttery honey happy slipping out of him.

"Time is it?" he asked. It seemed late. It must be late, for how rested he felt despite the late and chaotic night.

wwx laughed quietly as he twisted in lwj's arms until they were chest to chest. "Almost dinner time," he said, watching lwj through heavy, narrowed eyes.

"Hope you don't mind that I made you sleep a bit longer?" wwx asked, blinking sleepily at him. "You had a rough night."

lwj narrowed his eyes at the older man, who had had a far rougher night that he had and who's lips twitched rudely in amusement. "Mn," he hummed, tilting his

chin up at wwx. "Very hard," he agreed, "someone told me they loved me in the middle of an adrenaline rush."

wwx tensed, mouth wavering before he simply said, "A-Zhan..."

"Did you mean it?" lwj asked, pressing in as close to the other alpha as he could, their bodies

pressed flush, their legs tangled together, lwj's bare chest and legs to wwx's covered ones. "Did Xian-gege mean it? Or was it just the moment? Just a turn of phrase? Just-"

"I meant it," wwx breathed out, watching lwj with wide, fearful eyes. "I meant it, A-Zhan, I-"

wwx cut off as lwj descended onto him, his tongue sliding roughly into wwx's gaping mouth to lick across his tongue, the roof of his mouth, to count his teeth and memorize the shape of him in the moments before scent drunkenness would inevitably set in. He could taste the food

the older man was cooking across his senses as wwx's arms came up to gasp the sides of his face.

wwx growled lightly, startling lwj just enough to find himself suddenly pushed bodily backwards and pressed into the kitchen island, the older man bending him back onto the counter.

lwj moaned into the kiss, arms rising to grip into the back of wwx's shirt as the older man dove inside him. His hips stuttered up into wwx, their hard cocks sliding against each other through fabric.

wwx growled as he slipped one of his hands between them. "A-Zhan," he said

between kisses, wet and dirty and desperate. "I need- I need to feel you, fuck. Fuck, you aren't going to remember anything if I-"

"I will," lwj mumbled into the kiss. "I will, I promise," he said, although he had no idea if he could actually keep that promise, not when wwx was

pushing his underwear off his hips and letting them fall to the floor as he pushed his own pants and underwear down.

lwj had come to the conclusion, long before this moment, that he was easy and trigger happy, requiring barely anything, barely the slightly touch or pressure

to come, but this? Coming at just the mere press of wwx's bare cock against his own, their scents sliding inside each other along with fragmented images of he and wwx together, growing old and gray and happy rocketing through his body? Coming at so little was frankly a bit too

trigger happy for his liking.

Still, he surged up into the kiss, whimpering quietly as several moments of oversensitivity racketed through him until his dick was doing what it did best and hardening back up, desire and need swelling through his veins as he swallowed up the older

alpha's moans and gasps.

"A-Zhan," wwx moaned moving to press wet, sloppy kiss across his cheek and down his neck. The other man whimpered against his scent gland as his cock slide over lwj's, grazing over the scent gland at his hips for how erratically, how desperately,

he was thrusting against lwj. "Love you, fuck, fuck," he mumbled, leaving little nips across lwj's shoulders that would inevitably bruise and probably piss his brother off even more, not that lwj cared, not when the body of the man he loved from pressed against him, firm and warm

and his.

"Love Xian-gege," lwj mumbled as his hands slipped into wwx's hair, whimpering and tugging when the older alpha bite harshly into the meat of his shoulder as he came, hot cum splattering over lwj's dick and the scent gland at his thigh, a waterfall of emotion and love

and frustration shattering through him as wwx's hand appeared between them, sliding hot cum over lwj's cock as he tugged another brutal, wonderful orgasm out of him.

~

lwj woke to wwx's hand gently running through his hair as he hummed their song, hand occasionally pulling away

to turn the page of some book or another, the quiet flutter of paper sounding softly before wwx's hand returned to petting and scratching him.

"How long you gonna pretend to be asleep?" wwx asked after several minutes of lwj simply enjoying his position on the older man's lap.

"You know you can stay there as long as you want, love," he laughed, tweaking lwj's nose until he finally glared up at the other man. wwx smiled softly, lovingly, lwj realized abruptly, down at him.

"Mn," he hummed, letting his eyes flutter shut again. "Not ready to get up."

wwx hummed softly down at him and returned to scratching lwj's head as he read, his fingers slipping down to wiggling lwj's warm ears every so often.

"What are you reading?" lwj asked eventually, shifting around until his nose was tucked against the older man's stomach.

"Hmm..." wwx was silent in thought for a moment before softly telling him about the novel, from some American author, where a biologist joins an expedition into a mysterious, possibly toxic area and quickly discovers that something strange is happening and the organization behind

the expedition has hidden the truth from her and, potentially, hundreds of other people from previous expeditions.

"Is it good?" he asked into the warmth of wwx's stomach.

"Yeah," wwx told him quietly. "It's very mysterious and I can't really guess what's going to happen,

which I always like."

lwj hummed in lightly response, head turning down to suck in the muffled scent of sex from wwx's lap.

"A-Zhan~" the other alpha laughed, tugging on lwj's hair until he was forced to remove himself from the light, spiced honey scent. "Ah~ just as insatiable

as always."

They blinked at each other for several long, heavy moments before lwj asked, "Can you guess how we will end?"

The other man's lips pulled tight for a moment, a fraction of a second where he looked his age for once, tired and worried at what life was throwing at him.

"I can hope for the ending I want," he whispered down at lwj.

"Do you like that?"

"Not as much as in the books I read," wwx said, lips twitching slightly before he asked, "Want me to read a bit to you?" His way of asking that they drop the subject for the moment lwj supposed.

"Alright," he said after a moment, yawning quietly as wwx flipped back to the front of the book. "You can just read from where you were."

"Nah," wwx sighed as he shifted his legs slightly, muscles flexing as he likely wiggled his toes and feet before yawning himself and starting

off on the story.

"S'weird," lwj commented after a while. "She's weird."

"Yeah," wwx laughed. "That's what makes it fun though, getting to see the crazy of this lady when she doesn't seem to see it herself."

"Mn..." he hummed as wwx continued, his normally vibrant voice

deadened into the affect of a detached biologist. "This is nice," he said as wwx took a moment to stifle another yawn.

"Yeah? Want gege to read you bedtime stories from now on?" the older man teased, tensing for moment when lwj hummed in agreement before bursting into laughter.

"Ah~ gege will have to record some stories for you then, so you have something to listen to even when he's busy."

"Mn, will hold Xian-gege to that," lwj said before stifling another yawn.

"Aww~ sleepy boy," wwx cooed, tossing the book onto the coffee table. "You've had a rough

few days, you were barely awake for 10 minutes and are already ready for bed."

lwj hummed in agreement, quite content to just fade back into blackness on wwx's lap and growling when the older man tugged on his hair.

"Aiya! You!" wwx scolded, frowning down at him. "You need to

eat something before you can sleep again!" he insisted, blinking when his own stomach growled beside lwj. "Me too! My lovely dinner is just sitting over there, languishing on the counter! Do you not want the food I slaved to make you? You were so happy to eat it before I left!"

"Want it..." lwj huffed as he pushed himself up, sleepily glaring at wwx until the older man cooed and wiggled his nose again. Since when did he have a thing for being treated like a child? That was-

"Does A-Zhan want gege to feed him?" wwx teased, cackling and rolling off the

couch when lwj's face exploded with heat and he made to swipe at the man. "Is that a no?" the other alpha teased. "You know, feeding your mate is a time honoured tradition."

lwj froze. Was that what they were now? Mates? Connected in everything but a bite on their necks to bind

their souls and emotions together? To twine their scents together into a melody of spice and honey and-

"Hey," wwx sighed, slipping back down beside lwj and gathering his hands up in his own. "Hey, I- I didn't, I mean-" He huffed and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Hey," he tried again after several moments of lwj staring wide eyed at him, "you wanna be my mate?"

lwj felt himself nod, enthusiastically nod in fact, even if his brain was currently offline, his eyes still wide with shock and a smattering of fear and-

"You sure?" wwx asked,

smiling softly at him. "It'll be complicated as fuck. We won't get to live together or tell basically anyone who doesn't already know. If you want kids it'll be complicated. If you have to work in Gusu and me in Yiling it'll be a pain. If-"

"Yes," lwj said, wiggling closer to

the older alpha. "I'm sure," he whispered, leaning in to nudge wwx's nose with his own. "I'm sure. Whatever happens, we'll figure it out," he added, a promise crossing itself into his heart even as it swelled in a way that told him he shouldn't be making promises he

couldn't necessarily keep.

wwx smiled at him, happy and sad in a twisted and ominous way, as though he too knew that the future wasn't that easy or predictable. "Okay," he said, shaking his head and that horrible smile off. "Mates," he said firmly, smile turning mischievously as

he added, "and mates let their mates feed them."

lwj narrowed his eyes at his horrible, manipulative mate, a shiver running up his spine as the word set itself into him, his protective instincts automatically snapping themselves onto the very idea of a mate. "During heats

and ruts," he noted sternly, lips pinching when wwx laughed at him.

"Yes, but who knows when your next rut will be or if I'll be there to enjoy it?" wwx said, trying and failing to pull his smile down into a pout.

lwj blinked slowly at him before saying, "The end of August."

wwx froze, blinking wide as at him as his smile dropped into nothingness. "What?" he asked blankly, blinking slowly faster at lwj as his words sunk in.

"My next rut will be at the end of August," he repeated, lips twitching into a smirk. "It's why my departure date is undecided.

I will leave when my rut feels like it is only a few days away."

"You- you can tell?" wwx asked, continuing to blink dumbly at lwj. "You're that regular?"

"Yes," lwj said cooly, pushing himself up and gazing down at wwx's still shocked form. "I suppose I could go back to Yiling

with Xian-gege, instead of back to Gusu," he added, leaning back down to whisper in the older man's ear. "I do hope gege has been working on his stamina. It would be a shame for gege to die trying to sate me during me rut." He pulled back smiling lightly down at wwx before

turning and practically skipping into the kitchen to find out what the older man had cooked for him.

~

"Xian-gege lied," lwj said for the hundredth time, arms crossed over a pillow as he pouted on the couch. He tugged at the edges of the pillow, wishing he could just rip it

apart inside of simply squeeze it in annoyance.

"I didn't lie on purpose, A-Zhan~" wwx whined as he pulled his luggage towards the entryway. "I swear! I thought I would be able to stay until at least tomorrow morning, but there was an emergency and I have to go back right away."

"Should have known," lwj muttered, growling when the older man appeared behind him, collapsing over his shoulder and whining against his neck gland in a very unfair move.

"A-Zhan~ I'm sorry, I really am! If I'd known I was going to be called back first thing this morning I

would have-"

"Would have fucked me again last night?" lwj asked, refusing to look at the other man as he whined into his neck. He would resist wwx's attempts to get him more compliant with his scent if it killed him!

"A-Zhan-"

"Xian-gege promised to fuck me again before

he left," he spit out, fully aware that he sounded like an immature child but unable to bring himself to care. "That was why I agreed to sleep last night and not jump you."

"I know~" wwx whined, swaying against lwj's back. "I know, sweetie pie," he said, voice turning more

towards cooing and just annoying lwj more. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

lwj finally turned his head to glare at the older man. "Design a time machine to go back to last night and fuck me," he said, before swishing his head forward again, annoyed that his

hair was pulled into a bun and it didn't whip the other alpha in the face.

"Aiya! So demanding!" wwx cried, pulling his warmth and scent back from lwj and leaving lwj mourning the loss. He was just about to turn and apologize when wwx popped up in front of him. "You know~"

wwx sighed, leaning in towards lwj in a truly ominous way, "I actually have about 5 minutes until I have to leave. What do you think, A-Zhan?" he asked, hands sliding up lwj's bare legs to the waistband of his underwear. "Do you think gege can get you off in so little time?

Perhaps we should set a timer?"

lwj watched with wide eyes as wwx leaned back and popped his phone out of his pocket. He fiddled with it for a moment before setting it down beside lwj, timer app lit up on the screen reading 4:57s. "What are you-" he began to ask, only to cut off

when the older alpha fell to his knees.

"I think," wwx said, hands pushing lwj's legs apart and crawling forward, "that you have gained enough scent tolerance for me to give you a quick blowjob."

"Gege-" lwj's voice caught as wwx's fingers tugged on his waistband again.

"This okay, sweetheart?" the older man asked seriously, waiting until lwj nodded and lifted his hips slightly to pull them down.

lwj blushed as his cock popped out, already shockingly hard as wwx wrapped his hand around it.

"How fast," wwx asked, leaning in to lick lightly at

lwj's tip and the precum welling out of it, "do you think I can make you come?"

lwj moaned, hands flying up to grip wwx's hair when the older alpha immediately took him into his mouth, sliding nearly all the way to the base, his throat squeezing deliciously around lwj. "Gege~"

he moaned, body arching off the couch as he threw his head back.

wwx hummed around him, hands shifting up to lwj's hips to force them back down as he set to work, sucking lwj off with decades of practice, his tongue dancing around lwj's cock as he suckled and moved.

lwj's legs flex around wwx's head. He wanted to thrust up into the delicious warmth, wwx pulling nearly all the way up, his eyes focused on lwj's face as he slipped all of lwj back down his throat.

"Xian-gege!" he moaned, feeling the pheromones from wwx's saliva seep into him.

It was so much, almost too much. The warm tightness of wwx's mouth, their scents twining around each other, wwx's scent slipping inside him and leaving echos of twitchy pleasure and scent drunkenness spinning through him. It was all too much, too heavy and pleasurable and-

wwx laughed when lwj half-moaned, half-growled as he pulled away. "Ah~ A-Zhan," wwx cooed, peeking over at his phone and the timer still running there. "Such a trigger happy boy," he teased, leaning in to place a light kiss to lwj's tip. "We still have three minutes," he said,

tongue slipping out to swirl around the precum collecting on top of lwj's cock, "and I mean to make you enjoy every second of it."

lwj gasped when wwx bit lightly into his foreskin, a gentle nip that sent a shiver of pleasure-pain up his spine and was quickly replaced by

the unfamiliar sensation of wwx's tongue dragging against the hardness under his tender, sensitive foreskin.

"Cute," wwx mumbled around lwj's cock as he shuddered, arching against the couch and-

"Xian-gege!" lwj complained as wwx pulled away again, his hand coming to grip

tightly at the base of lwj's dick. He collapsed back onto the couch and glared down at the older alpha, snickering quietly up at him.

"Ah~ what am I gonna do with you, horny little boy," the other man laughed, hand beginning to gently stroke lwj, too light to do more than

aggravate and scratch at lwj's senses.

"Xian-gege is being mean," he sniffled, summoning up the most devastating pout he could manage and turning it down at the older man who froze in his movements for a moment before narrowing his eyes.

"A-Zhan," wwx said seriously. "Behave."

"Why?" lwj asked, removing his hands from wwx's hair to cross them over his chest.

wwx gaped up at him for a moment before sputtering out, "Because I'm trying to give you the sex you wanted!"

"Who says I wanted the last few minutes I get of you to be you on your knees with my

cock in your mouth?" he asked, turning his face away slightly in what he hoped came off as a snobby way.

The older man made a series of unintelligible sounds before pointing out, "You said yes! Or nodded! Or... something like that!"

"I did," lwj agreed, side eyeing the other

alpha who narrowed his eyes at him.

"You're such a little shit," wwx said, leaning in to lick lwj's cock again, seemingly purposefully making the most obscene, wet sound he could manage. "You're just gonna say you're upset no matter what I do, hoping I miss my flight...

or just cancel my return altogether!"

lwj tried to keep his lips from twitching as the other man caught on to his game. He used to be so good at hiding his feelings, why was he such an open book before wwx?

"Never going to be happy Xian-gege is leaving," lwj said quietly,

turning to look at wwx again and letting his arms relax back down.

"I know, sweetheart," the older alpha sighed, leaning in to press a kiss to lwj's cock and then stomach as he crawled up lwj's body until he was straddling him. "You wanna come in the next-" he glanced down at

the phone "- two minutes, or you wanna do something else?"

"Hm... both," lwj said before pulling the older man into for a searing kiss, his hand slipping between them to tug at wwx's pants.

"A-Zhan~" wwx whined as he tried to pull lwj's hand away. "I can't come that fast."

"Then Xian-gege will just have to leave horny," lwj growled before abruptly flipping them so the older man was trapped under him.

"Lan Wangji!" wwx cried, half-amused, half-scandalized. "How forward of you!"

"Mn," lwj hummed as he leaned back in to capture wwx's lips,

fumbling between them to free the other alpha's cock and moaning when it pressed against his own. "Gege..." he moaned, his words coming out much sadder, much more desperate, than he had intended them to.

"I'm here, sweet boy," wwx whispered against his lips. "I'm here. Now,"

he said, nipping at lwj's bottom lip, "and when I'm not here too. I'm always here in thought."

lwj whined, burying his head into the older man's neck as he thrust mindlessly down, their hot, hard cocks dragging wetly together as he chased his orgasm, chased the closeness and

intimacy of this, of being together with his new mate.

"I know," wwx cooed, his own hips beginning to shift restlessly up against lwj's. "I don't want to go either. Fuck- fuck, you're like a fucking drug, A-Zhan," wwx sighed, pressing his cheek against lwj's hair. "I can never

get enough of you."

"Xian-gege," lwj cried, turning his nose in to nuzzle against the older alpha's soft, spicy scent, seeping out around them in frustration and unfulfilled want.

"Gonna be drunk when I leave if you do that," wwx noted, arching back slightly on the couch as a

wave of shivery pleasure racketed through him.

"Tradition," lwj sniffled into wwx's neck gland, smiling despite his frustration when the other man laughed.

"I guess it is," wwx sighed before sucking in a deep breath of their scents. "Fuck, I wish we could-"

"Don't say it,"

lwj mumbled, not wanting wwx to give life to the idea of them being proper mates, of their scents being properly twined together through a mating bite, of everyone who caught a whiff of either of them knowing: this one is taken.

wwx hummed quietly against him, each of them

falling silent as they simply enjoyed their last minute of togetherness, comfortable and easy. lwj never wanted to it to end, never wanted it to-

"You gotta come when the timer goes off," wwx told him breathlessly, his thighs clamping around lwj's hips as they pressed together,

harder and faster with each thrust. "You gonna be good for gege, A-Zhan? You gonna come when you're supposed to for you gege?"

lwj whined, mouth wrapping around wwx's scent gland and sucking in the heavy, horny oil, licking and biting and-

"Good boy," wwx cooed as lwj came,

warm cum spilling between them as wwx's phone chimed quietly in the background, their last five minutes coming to an end. "Such a good boy for gege."

lwj mumbled against the skin of the other man's neck, his hand slipping back between them, intent on drunkenly catching hold of

wwx's dick.

"Ah~ what'cha doing, sweet boy?" wwx asked, catching lwj's hand before it could reach their cocks.

"Gege needs to come," he managed, grumbling as wwx began shifting them so he could escape from under lwj.

wwx huffed down at him as he settled lwj onto his back.

"Didn't you say I'd have to leave horny if I couldn't come fast enough?" wwx asked, voice still aroused but with an edge of teasing. He knelt down beside lwj and gently brushing his hair aside. "Gonna spend the whole trip back horny for you, A-Zhan," he sighed, leaning in to

press a series of kisses to lwj's face. "Guess I'm always horny when I think about you though," he laughed, placing one last kiss on lwj's nose before standing. "You're the best drug there is," he added.

lwj peeked his eyes open to find the other man smiling sadly down at him.

"I'll text you when I land," wwx said as he straightened up his clothes and grabbed his phone from under lwj's legs. "And probably when I arrive at the airport too... and when the plane is about to take off," he laughed, smile turning light and happy. "I love you, A-Zhan."

"Love Xian-gege," lwj mumbled, trying to push himself up to bid the older alpha a proper good bye.

"No, no," wwx said, pressing him back onto the couch. "You stay here, sweetheart."

lwj grumbled at him, catching his hand and pressing a kiss to the palm. "Gonna miss you."

"Gonna miss you," wwx sighed, rubbing his thumb against lwj's lip for a moment before pulling back. "Be good," he said seriously, his entire demeanour screaming parental concern. "Do not push A-Li into the lake again, unless you are playing."

lwj glared up at the older alpha.

"Ridiculous," he sniffed. "I have no intention of ever playing in the lake."

"Bah!" wwx cried, hands flying dramatically up around him. "Kids these days," he complained, shaking his head at lwj. "Too grown up for their own good."

lwj reached out a foot to push gently at the

other man's stomach. "I seem to remember running through the night with you like a teenager just the other night."

A smile cracked across wwx's despondent expression. "Yeah, you did," he laughed, reaching out to boop lwj's nose. "Such a silly boy you are, I-" wwx cut off as an

alarm sounded on his phone, a demand that he needed to leave, now.

"You should go," lwj said, managing to sit up while wwx was distracted turning off his phone, his scent drunkenness already fading into his veins.

"Yeah..." wwx mumbled, glaring at lwj's sitting form before

pulling him up. "Come bid me goodbye at the door?" he asked almost shyly, biting his lower lip like lwj wouldn't walk out to see him off at his car in his underwear would wwx allow him to.

lwj let wwx slowly drag him towards the door, their hands dropping as the older man

slipped on his shoes. "Will this ever get easier?" he asked as wwx pulled on his coat and grabbed hold of his suitcase.

"Dunno," wwx laughed, eyes crinkling somewhere between sadness and amusement. "Somehow though..." he said, stepping back into lwj's space and pressing their

noses together. "Somehow, I kinda hope it doesn't. I kinda hope that every time we part from now until the end of time our hearts break a little."

"Romantic," lwj said tonelessly, lips twitching when wwx laughed and stole a quick kiss.

"Very," he laughed, beginning to walk

backwards and fumbling to get the door open, trying to watch lwj for as long as he could manage. "Goodbye, sweet boy."

"Goodbye, gege," lwj replied softly, leaning his shoulder against the entryway wall as wwx finally turned and pulled the door closed behind him.

~

"I think it's cute."

"It is not cute."

"It- it's... something..."

"Something that's cute!"

"Not. Cute."

jyl shot lwj an exasperated look. "You're the one who called him here. What did you expect? That he'd just be a boring, normal guest and not fuss over your brother?"

she asked, hands planted on her hips as lwj studiously ignored her in favour of wrinkling is nose at his brother being fawned over by his mates.

"I did tell you calling him here might not be the best idea," jzxuan sighed as he eyed up his half-brother doing everything he could

possibly due for his secret lover that wouldn't cause a scandal. "You should have just encouraged your brother to cut his trip short or something."

lwj pressed his lips tighter together. He had not wanted his brother to leave after the incident with that rutting alpha,

didn't want his brother to feel like he had to run away from the place it happened, run away from lwj. If he were being honest with himself he still didn't want his brother to leave, even if that meant he had to witness... this.

"It's like they're courting," he said, watching as

jgy disappeared for a moment before reappearing with an obscenely large basket of treats, including-

"A-Li?" he asked as he eyed up the collection of odd desserts that had quite obviously been specially made by the kitchen. How jgy had managed to convince them to cook specific

and horrific food for him was a mystery. jgy was truly a frightening man to be capable of manipulating Madam Yu's staff.

"Yes, my love?" A-Li asked, smiling innocently at lwj when he finally turned to glare at her. He never should have told her that he and her uncle had

confessed their love for each other. The woman had no control and had been teasing him all day.

He glared at the omega for a moment more before asking, "Do you think my brother might be pregnant?"

jzxuan, who had unfortunately been in the middle of taking a sip from some

obnoxiously sweet cocktail he had requested from a servant, choked while jyl gasped.

"It's a bit early, isn't it? For him to try for a second? Jingjing isn't that old yet."

"Accidents happen," lwj said, trying to relax back onto the bench the three of them were seated at.

Horny stupidness also happened, although he was trying to not think of his brother in terms of horniness. Unfortunately, his own penchant for horny stupidity made the likelihood that his brother was similarly inclined towards stupidity more likely. He was still trying to not

think about it though.

jyl hummed and hawed for a moment while lwj gently pat jzxuan on the back and offered him a napkin, half-soothingly, half-teasingly murmuring "there there" and "it's okay" to the younger alpha and smirking slightly when his face turned red for another,

non-choking related reason.

"What makes you think he might be carrying?" jyl asked after a moment, leaning forward to peek at jzxuan and make sure he wasn't actually going to die from with choking or embarrassment.

"The food," lwj said as he continued patting jzxuan's back and

shifted his eyes back to the thruple across the small creek that ran through the courtyard they had found themselves in that afternoon. "The one 'dessert' is something my mother apparently enjoyed while she was pregnant with me. My brother has only ever asked for it when he was

carrying Jingjing."

"Why-" jzxuan tried to say, wiping at his mouth with his napkin again as he sat back up, coughing lightly. "Why did you say 'dessert' like that?"

lwj blinked at him, eyes and face falling flat. "Perhaps you should go request a sample of it?" he suggested.

"Eh..." jzxuan squeaked. "No, uhm... that's okay."

"No," lwj said seriously, blinking at the younger alpha and doing his best impression of someone broken by the trauma of an event. "I insist. You cannot appreciate the horror of this 'dessert' without experiencing it."

Beside him jyl snickered, tensing when jzxuan leaned over to glare at her. "Is that so..." he nearly growled at them, something lwj wasn't sure he'd yet heard fall from the other alpha's mouth. "In that case, surely jyl would like the chance to experience it as well."

"No, I'm-"

"What a great idea," lwj said deadly, turning heavy, glee filled eyes on his horrible, teasing friend. "You should go with jzxuan," he said matter-of-factly. "You have also asked after this horrible 'dessert' after all. I'm sure you're just jumping at the chance to find out if

you love it as much as my brother does."

"That makes it sound like you're implying she's pregnant..." jzxuan noted as he rose and began pulling jyl's struggling, complaining, giggling form along towards the thruple.

"jzxuan! No!" she laughed, the three men glancing up as

they approached. "Please! Have mercy! jzxuan!"

"No," the alpha said coldly as he hauled her across the small bridge and began talking to his half-brother.

lwj had not seen them interact yet, other than a cordial nod earlier that afternoon, but they seemed friendly enough with

each other, considering jgy's situation as a bastard of jgs. They were too far away for lwj to hear, but jgy smiled kindly at his brother and jyl before seemingly asking about why jzxuan had kidnapped the omega he was supposed to be courting, a small twitch to his normally smooth

body language that told lwj that perhaps jgy also knew about his brother's 'alternative tastes.' jzxuan had already known about their brother's relationship, so perhaps he shouldn't be surprised.

He sighed as he watched his two friends acquire their horrible snacks and wondered:

what made his and his brother's relationship so much different and fractured than even jzxuan and his brother's was. Was it just because of physical distance and secondary gender? Or did the Jin brothers have something that tied them together more firmly than he and his brother?

He shook his head as he pulled open his phone, switching it over to the camera and aiming it at his two unfortunate friends as he hit the record button. There was no point in obsessing over why their relationships were different.

He watched through the screen for a moment,

steadying his arm before looking back up to watch as his brother happily handed over his horrible 'dessert.' jyl and jzxuan looked dubiously down at the tiny sandwiches they had been gifted, their faces gaining a greenish shade as his brother explained what was in the

atrocious things: tuna and some kind of sweeter mayonnaise like substance from overseas, perhaps the most obvious sign his brother was pregnant as it could not easily be acquired locally, with green onions. This, lwj thought, was bad enough. The Lans were vegetarian, but lxc had

confessed that his cravings with Jingjing had been gnawing and unending, leading to him eating both meat and fish for the majority of his pregnancy.

However, lxc's 'dessert' got worse. The disgusting tuna concoction was smushed between two piece of white toast (no other bread

would be accepted), one slathered with strawberry jam and the other with some sort of chocolate-nut spread. Originally it had only been a chocolate sauce but nhs had introduced his brother to the chocolate-nut spread, allegedly to "add more substance and nutrition to

the chocolate," although lwj was quite sure his brother-in-law had be purposefully fucking with nmj who had to make the damn things, and had simply managed to make the 'dessert' even more terrifying.

Across the creek lxc watched with wide, excited eyes as he encouraged jyl and

jzxuan to take a bite. Behind him nmj looked like he was about to burst into laughter while jgy had a half-sympathetic, half-gleeful look on his face. They glanced up at him, nmj leaning in to whisper something to his mate, jgy laughing delicately-

lwj felt hot heat blister

across his cheeks as he was suddenly overcome with the image of nmj together with jgy, his brother, heavy with pregnancy watching from a chair nearby, hand slipping lower and-

No no no! lwj willed the thoughts away. He was not going to think about it, thank you. He wasn't!

lwj glanced up, blinking rapidly into the light streaming through the leaves above him, trying to burn the image from his eyes, from his very soul. No. Rejected. He-

lwj shifted his eyes back to his friends, startling slightly when he found them both glaring daggers at them as

lxc took a bite of his own disgusting sandwich, likely in an attempt to convince the younger pair that the thing wasn't going to kill them, his eyes squeezing shut as he enjoyed the taste. As nightmarish as the things were lwj had to admit that watching his brother take such pure

delight in something, anything, given what had happened to him only a few days ago... well, currently practically everyone in Lotus Pier was willing to do almost anything to make the omega happy. Madam Yu had even moved him and his family into a bigger suite,

one that had a suspicious extra room that jgy had apparently "volunteered" to stay in, allegedly to help with Jingjing so lxc and his mate could rest after their ordeal.

If lwj's brother really was carrying that just made lwj, and likely his mates as well, more intent on making

the omega's remaining visit are relaxing and enjoyable as possible and if that meant they had to sacrifice jyl and jzxuan's tastebuds in order to make it so, so be it.

Beyond the creek said friends took tentative bites of their sandwiches, jzxuan giving an amusing heave as he

attempted to swallow it while jyl took the smallest bit he could imagine and swallowed without chewing further. They both appeared to give lxc gentle compliments before trying to turn and bolt back to the (relative) safety of the other side of the creek, freezing when lxc called

them back. jgy appeared by his brother's side, handing over a small platter of the 'dessert' to the pair, smiling a frighteningly sincere smile as he sent them off, nmj laughing into his hands behind him.

"I think..." jzxuan said as he plopped, dead-eyed down beside lwj,

"that I'm going to become a vegetarian."

lwj hummed curiously as he turned his phone towards the younger alpha, who seemingly hadn't noticed he was being recorded.

"Yeah, that way I won't have to eat this. Quick!" he cried, turning wide eyes at lwj. "Tell me something that'll

make me never want to eat meat again! I gotta have an actual reason I can give for why I decided to stop eating meat now of all times!"

lwj blinked at him, thinking, before opening his mouth, intent on telling him about the horrors of overfishing and bycatches, when jzxuan's

eyes shifted down to his phone.

"What are you doing?" the other man asked, handing over the plate of sandwiches to jyl when she reached around, snickering, to grab them. "Were you recording us? Were you recording our suffering?"

"jzxuan-" lwj started, sucking in a harsh breath

when his friend grabbed his collar.

"You were!" jzxuan cried, tugging him closer until they were practically nose to nose and jyl was reaching around to remove his phone from danger as well. "You little shit! What were you gonna do with that, huh? Relive our pain?"

"I was not," lwj said sternly, even as a smile tugged at his lips. He really hadn't been planning to relive their pain, not exactly. He'd only been planning to send the video of their pain to wwx and nhs, who would take great joy in watching the pair be tortured by the 'dessert.'

lwj supposed he should also let his brother-in-law know their were going to be uncles to a second child. It was technically their brothers' secret to tell, but if he knew he felt his brother-in-law should also-

"Will you let go?" lwj asked testily as the other alpha continued

tugging on his shirt. "What are you even doing?"

"Trying to wrinkle your shirt in revenge, it looks expensive but-" jzxuan released his hands, glaring down at the unwrinkled fabric. "What the fuck?"

"It's wrinkle resistant," jyl offered from behind lwj, sounding like she was

standing some distance away. "It'll wrinkle eventually, but you'll have to try harder," she cheered, smiling widely when lwj turned to glare at her.

"Do you-" he started to ask only to be forced off the bench when jzxuan made to grab at him again. "Really?" he sighed.

"Are you really going to-" lwj gasped as jzxuan tackled him, the two of them toppling over onto a patch of thick grass.

Nearby jyl howled with laughter he doubted her mother would approve of as the two of them wrestled, twisted and playfully growling at one another as they

rolled through the grass.

"Seriously?" lwj asked as he managed to get on top of the younger alpha, his knees planted on either side of jzxuan's hips. "Aren't we a little old for this?"

"You started it!" jzxuan yelled, a smile tugging at his lips as he tried to unseat lwj.

"Plus," jzxuan panted, his movements ceasing, "we're alphas, which means society says we're never too old to fight for our honour."

lwj startled when the younger alpha abruptly flicked his legs over lwj's calves and used his feet to unbalance him, the two returning to rolling

through the thankfully thick grass. If jzxuan had wanted to ruin lwj's clothing he had almost certainly succeeded in ruining his own, the light yellow shirt and grey pants he was wearing gaining more and more smears of grass as they went. The two rolled and wrestled, hands flying

and grasping at one another until they were able to separate, each shifting up onto their hands and knees.

lwj pulled back off his hands, refusing to look like a stereotypical aggressive alpha, although jzxuan remained on his hands, one of his feet dug into the earth behind him

in what lwj assumed was preparation to lunge. He sucked in a ragged breath trying to ignore the laughter coming from jyl's direction and the loud cheers coming from his brother and his mates.

"Go didi!" lxc cheered happily while nmj yelled that he should stay on his hands and,

during a brief moment of quiet, jgy softly cheered for his half-brother. lwj tried not to wonder if the moment of silence was purposeful or not, if his brother and brother-in-law had actively quieted themselves to let their new addition cheer in his own, restrained way.

Now was not the time to wonder after such things, not when his inner alpha was rattling at his cage of control and restraint, not when jzxuan's citrus scent was rising around them in strands of sour and sweet notes, flicking teasingly, aggravatingly at lwj's senses.

jzxuan growled gently, playfully, at him, a shiver of ancient instinct crackling through lwj's bones, urging them tighter, tenser. Urging him down. Urging him to pounce, to fight, to win, to force the younger alpha to submit-

The image of jzxuan on his knees, offering himself to

lwj to with as he pleased shattered through him, his scent snapping out in vicious tendrils of molten honey and sizzled across the younger man's citrus before they were lunging at each other, eyes blown wide with some perverse combination of anger, instinct, friendly battle and

forbidden attraction.

He vaguely registered jyl stepping back further, out of range of their chaotic, melting scents, but not from his eyes. Instead the movement echoed back at him through his scent, burning across the grass in a fluid ocean second-sight, the most minuscule of

motion slicing through his mind. The bugs crawling across the grass and smushed under jzxuan's shoulder as lwj heaved him onto his back. The crack of a rogue branch the jyl stepped on as she retreated out of their twinning territory. The smear of grass across lwj's ass as the

other alpha lurched up to topple him over.

He had heard that some alphas fought because of the feeling of euphoria that collapsed upon them as they battled, instincts raging in a way that nothing natural in this day of civilized conflicts could get them going, not even during

a rut spent with a mate. lwj had never spent a rut with anyone, but as he managed to roll the younger alpha onto his stomach and mount his hips, yanking jzxuan's hands behind his back to keep him down, to keep him submissive, he could only hope that spending a rut with wwx

would feel half as good as this.

"Submit," he growled, voice deeper and more ragged and forceful than he could ever remember hearing it. Under him, jzxuan sucked in a broken breath, his scent relaxed despite the position he had found himself in. Relaxed and perhaps even

a bit teasing, which-

"You get off my hips and I'll offer more than just the win to you," the younger man teased breathlessly, shifting his hips slightly and adding, "Seems like at least part of you would be interested in that."

lwj blinked dumbly down at himself. When had he-

lwj collapsed down onto jzxuan and pressed his forehead to the base of his friend’s neck. “Sorry,” he mumbled, lips twitching when laughter rumbled under him.

“You kidding?” jzxuan asked incredulously. “You ever ditch that old man of yours and want to lose the pants, hit me up.”

(A/N: implied future wwx/lwj/jzxuan threesome)

lwj laughed quietly into the other man's citrus scent, still flicking lightly at him, little sour zings striking through his system. "Somehow," he whispered, "I don't think I'd have to ditch the old man to make that happen."

Under him, jzxuan's breath hitched, a small, light, tentative, perhaps even bashful little, "Yeah?" slipping out of him before jyl's giggles reached them.

"Ah! Such skilled alphas!" the omega woman laughed, faux swooning across the bench they had previously been seated on when

lwj and jzxuan glanced over at her. "Fighting over little old me," she joked, perhaps pretending she was living the stereotypical fantasy of every omega: that alphas would come to blows over them, before bursting into more giggles.

lwj huffed at her and did not roll his eyes as

he shifted backwards and helped jzxuan off the ground. He pulled his shirt, which had risen up during the struggle, back into place, and said a silent prayer of thanks to whoever had invented underwear meant to keep both sexual scents and hardons hidden.

"Woo~ good job, didi!"

his brother shouted from across the creek, quietly adding when jgy said something quietly to him, "Good effort, Zixuan-di!"

nmj yelled something about, "teaching them a thing or two about form," before jgy appeared to elbow him in the stomach, although given the frighteningly

bland smile on the beta's face lwj couldn't be sure. Instead, he was suddenly hit with the feeling that within his brother's odd thruple it was jgy who held the most power, or at least the most control and influence over his mates. He blinked at the beta man for a moment before

turning his eyes back to jzxuan, similarly righting his clothing, a soft and admittedly attractive red stretched across his cheeks.

"Your brother is strange," he said after a moment, jzxuan's eyes shooting up to his.

The younger alpha smiled almost painfully at him.

"You don't know the half of it," he sighed, glancing over at their brothers, where nmj and jgy seemed to be trying to foist more treats on their more than likely pregnant mate. "At the rate their feeding him he's gonna look pregnant even if he isn't carrying," jzxuan mused.

"Oh, are you going to be an uncle again, lwj?" came a horribly obnoxious voice, the slight lilt of an accent ruffling against lwj's ears as he turned to look at Zhao Jordan.

"Hello, zjd," he greeted as mildly as he could manage, the light and playful mood that had surrounded him

while torturing his friends with horrid 'desserts' and wrestling with jzxuan falling away into easy annoyance. He barely knew the man, but something about him rubbed lwj the wrong way, perhaps the pretentious way he spoke or his plan to embarrass jyl's alpha supremacist suitors

by pretending to have similarly heinous views of omegas. It may have been effective, but the whole experience had left a sour taste in his mouth, and not the pleasant shuddering sour of jzxuan's scent-

lwj attempted to blink off thoughts of jzxuan's scent in his mouth,

as he watched jyl try to right herself on the bench, where she had been continuing her theatrics even as lwj and jzxuan had taken to ignoring her. He couldn't help but wonder, however, as to why the younger alpha's scent seemed to effect him less than everyone else's did.

"Jordan-ge!" jyl yelped as she twisted herself into a more dignified seated position, trying to right her clothing before awkwardly having to concede that without standing it was a lost cause. "It's good to see you," she continued as she stood and attempted to tug her clothing

subtly back into position. "I hope you are enjoying your day without any courting events?"

"Ah~" the older alpha sighed, a light scent of moonlight lake rising up from him as he adopted a despondent look. "I'm afraid I am not. How could I!? When I have been deprived of your

glorious presence?" jyl giggled and pressed her hand over her mouth, a gentle flush lighting up across her cheeks as she watched her suitor shamelessly, effortlessly flirt with her. "Jordan-ge," she said, tone mock reprimanding, "you are supposed to be enjoying your day of

freedom without me."

"Ah, but my dearest meimei," zjd said, stepping closer to jyl, not quite enough to be inappropriate but still perhaps too forward of him while officially courting someone with multiple suitors, "I have travelled across the world itself to spent time

with you, and if we are to be bound then I should hope I should want to spend every moment of my waking hours observing your beauty."

Beside him jzxuan's scent lit up in something lwj could only think of as a gag. He had to agree, jyl and zjd were... a bit much to watch.

A/N: there was something weird going on with all my threads earlier, with various missing tweets. It has sorted itself out for me, but if something was or is still missing for you it should fix itself eventually? Hopefully?

lwj's nose twitched. Had he always been able to taste the scents of those around him so easily, so intensely? To discern the exact flavour of their feelings? Perhaps it was another consequence of his decreased scent sensitivity? Or perhaps-

"May I join you?" zjd asked the three

of them, his tone screaming that it was only a cursory question and he expected them to agree.

"Of course!" jyl agreed before either lwj or jzxuan could speak up, retaking her seat and motioning for her suitor to join her.

"A-Li," lwj interrupted before the older alpha could

could move towards the omega, "if you allow zjd to join you you will likely find your other suitors demanding your sole attention."

jyl pouted at him, as though he were forcing that inevitable situation on her. "But..." she tried to say before trailing off, her shoulders

slumping while her scent seeping out in a snatch of regret.

"Therefore," lwj continued, already regretting his decision to try to be nice to the other alpha, "it would perhaps be better if jzxuan and myself were the ones to invite zjd to stay." He turned towards the older man,

inclining his head slightly and trying to keep his dislike for the situation out of his voice and scent as he asked. "If you are free, perhaps you would like to join us?"

zjd blinked slowly at him, an unkind glint in his eyes, before shifting his eyes to jzxuan's more obviously

unenthusiastic form. "I would, thank you," he said softly, before adding in an almost accusatory tone, "although, I do not see the difference between myself and jzxuan spending time with meimei outside of official meetings."

"I'm just here to hang out with Wangji," jzxuan said,

his tone and use of the familiar address startling both jyl and lwj. "jyl being here is simply because she is also his friend, not because I am trying to-" jzxuan looked the other alpha up and down, a slight sneer on his face "-abuse his presence to get private time with her."

zjd's scent sparked roughly against them, a sharp, unimpressed stab of darkness that vanished so fast that lwj wasn't sure he hadn't imagined it. "I did not mean to imply such a thing," the older alpha said, a bland, apologetic smile stretched across his face that sent a shudder

of unease and annoyance up lwj's spine. Did the man really think that he could backtrack his comments?

"So, you're zjd?" his brother's voice called from behind lwj and jzxuan. The two of them glanced back to find their brothers, along with Jingjing and nmj, had crossed to their

side of creek. "My husband told me about meeting you the other day, along with all of my dear meimei's other suitors."

"Your meimei?" the older alpha asked, his tone towing the line between gently curious and accusatory and glancing between lxc and jyl. "I did not know you

were related."

"Only through a friendship so strong it is practically familial," lxc said easily and to anyone who didn't know the omega they would assume he was being perfectly pleasant. He wasn't. lwj knew that tone, that look in his eyes, and glancing between jgy mild smile

and nmj's outright look of disapproval it seemed that none of them were impressed with zjd either. "Plus," he added, hoisting Jingjing, who was watching jyl with beady little eyes, higher up on his hip, "how could I deny my sweet son the love of such a wonderful woman?"

zjd's eyebrows pinched ever so slightly and lwj had the distinct impression that he had opinions of their informal inclusion of jyl into their family, something he couldn't help but think of a odd. Family and obligation to those who's blood you carried was important and

inescapable, but it wasn't uncommon for alphas and omegas to form unofficial pseudo-packs. Orphans and those who had been banished from their families formed official packs, little families of their own that much of their country looked down upon as desperate and disrespectful to

dead, lost and abusive ancestors. Yet, somehow, for those who still had obligations and loyalty to their blood relations, pseudo-packs with their loose, flowing love and connections weren't generally frowned upon as long as they did not interfere with your familial duties.

"Is something wrong?" he found himself asking rather harshly. "I was under the assumption that non-familial pseudo-packs were common in the English-speaking world."

The tension around zjd abruptly relaxed, the man falling back into his usual lazy, personable and obnoxious state

that lwj did not trust at all, his instincts screaming at him that this was not a man who was being transparent with who he was and what he wanted. He glanced towards jyl, looking for any sign that she may have noticed the abrupt and worrisome slips in the foreign

alpha's demeanour, but from what he could see she was continuing to watch zjd with the same starry-eyed look as before.

"That it is," zjd said softly, a slight lilting laugh to his voice. Around them several of the other people shifted uneasily and he quickly added

in explanation, "I simply did not realize that it was something that occurred here, least not without the permission of a parent-"

"Who says I did not give permission?" Madam Yu's harsh voice cut in from nearby, her heels clicking against the stone steps and sending a shiver up

lwj's already on edge body.

Their group all turned in the direction the of voice, finding Madam Yu and several of her scarier servants walking slowly up a trail that lead lead towards the kitchens.

"Once," the woman said coldly, eyeing zjd up with a frank and obvious distaste,

"I hoped lwj and my daughter would mate. It would have been a good match, however they have proven incompatible as anything more than best friends, which is better than merely acquaintances or former courting partners. An alliance with the Lans and Nies through a pseudo-pack

between our family's children is even more advantageous." The woman glared at zjd who shifted uneasily under her heavy presence. "Having the Nie heir, and any future child lwj produces, as a pseudo-relatives is not a bond that I would turn down or risk for any other alliance."

zjd had assumed a carefully apologetic moue while Madam Yu had all but berated him and lwj abruptly realized what it was that was spiking his distrust in the man: his habits and expressions reminded him of an omega's, specifically of the forced quality many omegas had about them.

Omegas were, unfortunately, often forced to undergo remedial lessons in etiquette and how to behave in public, in how to be proper, well behaved omegas, especially if they had personalities not considered appropriate or desirable in omegas: forceful, opinionated, confident.

zjd's demeanour reminded lwj of that: someone forcing themself to have a personality that was not their natural one. The question remained though, was zjd's real personality simply not considered appropriate for an alpha? Had he too been forced to change to suit the

world's expectations? It was rare for anyone to care about an alpha being different from the stereotypical alpha, but it did happen in some families, especially old ones. Was he too soft, too passive, too weak for what society expected, or was it something else? Was the older

alpha hiding something more sinister under his seemingly easy-going nature? It could easily be the other way around and the other man could be hiding violence and a temper, something just waiting to erupt once he had secured a mating bite with one of China's most eligible omegas.

"Of course, Madam Yu," zjd said quietly, bowing slightly to the woman, his form an amalgamation of a proper Chinese bow and a stilted British one and making it come off as oddly rude and off putting. "I did not mean offence, although I can understand how my questions may have

led those who overheard it to believe it was meant to question your family."

lwj almost laughed at the non-apology and Madam Yu's increasingly annoyed expression.

"Are you implying that I was eavesdropping?" the woman practically snarled and the other alpha seemed to realize

how his response to the woman had sounded. He was just opening his mouth, perhaps to try to salvage the situation when jyl spoke up.

"Muqin," she said softly, stepping hesitantly between the two alphas and lwj almost rolled his eyes at her suddenly demure and respectful body

language and speech. "I am sure Jordan-ge meant to offence. He is not used to our country and he, like everyone else, is on edge from the incident the other night..." She blinked sad eyes up at her mother and lwj had the impression that Madam Yu also wanted to roll her eyes at

her daughter.

She shot her daughter's suitor another glare before swishing away from their group, calling back, "Come along A-Li."

jyl sighed and shot zjd an apologetic look before hurrying after her mother, the sound of her quietly asking where they were going floating back

down the trail to the collection of men she had left behind.

jzxuan gave zjd a blisteringly unimpressed look before turning to lwj and asking, "You wanna get out of here? Go get an early dinner or something?"

"Mn," lwj hummed, turning to his brother and his mates.

"Would you four like to join us? We can make it a family outing," he said, a clear message to zjd that his presence was not welcome. From the corner of his eye he caught the other alpha tensing slightly, a mildly dark and ominous scent seeping out around them for a moment before

it seemed to be blown away in the breeze.

"Oh! That sounds wonderful," his brother cheered, Jingjing happily clapping his hands from his mother's hip, apparently taking on the job of enacting physical excitement while lxc's hands were occupied and prompting his family members to

smile and laugh along with him.

"You have somewhere in mind?" his brother-in-law asked as he leaned in to boop his son on the nose. Jiang scrunched up his face before giggling and reaching forward to smack his father in the face.

"Somewhere private, perhaps?" nmj glanced as subtly as a man of generally open, harsh honesty could between his third mate, jzxuan and Jingjing.

"Mn," lwj hummed, reaching to grab his phone and realizing jyl had never given it back. "Can I use someone's phone to call Xian-gege?"

he asked, startling when his brother quickly handed his over. "I do not know it by heart," he admitted sheepishly, glaring when his brother rolled his eyes.

"It's saved in there," the omega told him, thrusting the phone towards him. "We exchanged numbers before he left."

lwj tensed slightly as he accepted the phone. "Why?"

"Didi," lxc sighed as lwj swiped to his brother's contacts, scanning the names (Didi, Sangsang, Honey Bunny, Dadio) trying to find one that could be wwx's. "The man saved my life, of course I would exchange contact information

with him. Plus, you and he are close, so obviously I would want to be able to contact him in the event of an emergency."

lwj glared up at his brother. who was smiling innocently at him, as though just a few days ago he hadn't been having a brutal war of hatred with

the older man. Apparently wwx saving their lives had changed his brother's opinion of the man, which was objectively good, but lwj now had to worry about baby pictures and embarrassing childhood stories being exchanged. "I see..." he mumbled before asking, "and what exactly did

you save him under?"

lxc hesitated, glancing over at zjd in strange, out of place concern. Why would the presence of the other man make his brother concerned about telling him what he had saved wwx under-

lwj turned away from the others as he felt his entire face begin to glow

a painful red as his eyes caught the contact name that his horrible, no good brother had saved the man he loved under: Didi Fucker

"Xichen!" he hissed as his brother began to snicker.

"Would you like to disagree with this name, didi?" his brother teased as lwj fumbled to call

his mate, stomping away from his awful brother's laughter.

"Xiao-Lan!?" came wwx's frantic voice through the phone. "What is it? What's wrong? Did something happen to A-Zhan? Do I need to come back?"

lwj smiled into the phone, contemplating whether he could mimic his brother's

voice enough to convince the other alpha that something horrible had happened and he needed to come back post haste. "Xian-gege," he said instead, sliding down onto a small bench by the creek a bit away from the other men. He glanced back, finding that zjd still had yet to leave.

"A-Zhan!" wwx sighed, before going off on a rant about how lwj had scared him. "- you forget I am old, A-Zhan!" the older man cried dramatically. "One too many shocks and I may die! My heart may burst! My-"

"Xian-gege," lwj scolded gently, a smile lingering in his voice.

"Do not joke."

"Who says I'm joking?" wwx said petulantly, sniffing at lwj. "I could have a horrible heart condition just waiting to take me to the grave, did you think of that before teasing your poor gege?"

lwj rolled his eyes and looked across the creek to the pile of food

still sitting where his brother and his mates had been sitting. "I did not tease, I merely called using my brother's phone."

"What happened to yours?" the other man asked, voice returning to its normal lilt of endless sunlight and happiness.

"A-Li accidentally stole it,"

he said, quickly explaining what had happened between zjd and Madam Yu and leaving out the horrible "dessert" and his wrestling match with jzxuan.

"I'm so annoyed I didn't get the chance to meet this dude," wwx said, his chair squeaking as he shifted in it. "I would have liked

to have made my own opinion of him and not just rely on yours."

"No one else seems to like him either."

"No? Why not?" wwx asked curiously, quietly telling someone he would be right there.

lwj frowned. The other alpha always seemed to have a meeting to attend. "I have not had

the opportunity to ask. I will do so at dinner."

"Oh yeah?" wwx asked as he fumbled with papers and his computer, once again vocally trying to convince them to cooperate and get into his bag. "Where are you going?"

"I was hoping to take them to the restaurant we had our long

distance date at," lwj, turning his eyes back to the group of men and noting the jgy was looking more and more openly unimpressed as zjd and jzxuan seemed to be talking... or maybe they were arguing.

"Oh~" wwx piped up happily. "You liked it that much?"

"Mn..." lwj had greatly

enjoyed their date, even if he wished they could have shared it in person. "I was hoping you could call and ask that we be allowed in."

"Of course! Ah~ do you remember how to get there?" wwx asked hesitantly.

"I believe I can find my way back," lwj assured him, glaring when zjd

gave his brother a rather rude look that had nmj bristling and jgy stepping slightly in front of the increasingly irate alpha. "I believe they might be fighting."

"What? Who?"

"The others. My brother-in-law looks like he wants to decapitate zjd, jgy is holding him back."

"Ooh~ two deaths in Lotus Pier in a week won't make yzy happy!" wwx said, tone mock serious before he snickered quietly. "Well, having known that boy for too many years to count it, this Jordan fellow must have done or said something truly egregious! He really has grown in

restraint in the last few years."

"Mn..." lwj hummed as he watched his brother bodily drag his snarling mate away, jgy standing back for a moment to glare darkly at the younger alpha while jzxuan stuck his tongue out at the man before snagging his half-brother's arm and

dragging him away as well. "They are coming this way." "No fight today then?" wwx sighed, sounding somehow sad that more blood had not been spilled on the ground of Lotus Pier.

"Not at this moment," lwj said, smiling at his brother when he tactfully redirected their path to a

different bench a little further down the creek. Through the phone the sound of people arguing about something or other began to flow through. "You must go."

"Yeah..." wwx sighed before snapping at someone to not use such crass language ("Shut the fuck up with that shit you

dumbass before I have you written up by HR!!"). "But I'll take a moment to call the restaurant... and maybe write out a text with some directions for you..."

"I will not get lost."

"You say that, but I will be very heartbroken if my A-Zhan disappears into the abyss of

the woods~" the other man sighed dramatically. "Although~" he added in an ominous tone, the sound of his employees' chatter abruptly cutting off as he apparently slipped somewhere private, sending a shiver of dread up lwj's back.

"Xian-gege-" he said, trying to cut off whatever

(A/N: kinda non-con fantasy? Mention of muzzling)

horrible thought was about to leave the other man's lips.

"Although!" wwx continued over his attempted complaints. "If you did get lost in the woods maybe you'd come out in a few years, completely feral, and I'd have to force

you to submit to me. Maybe you'd be so vicious I'd even have to muzzle you~"

"Shameless!" lwj hissed even as his cock twitched and blood began to fill it.

"Talk to you later, A-Zhan! Enjoy the walk to the restaurant!" wwx cheered, tone faux-innocent before he ended the call.

lwj let the phone fall into his lap, glaring ineffectually down at where his dick was trying its best to poke a hole in his underwear. He let out a long sigh and gazed out across the creek.

"Didi?"

"Mn?"

"Everything alright?" his brother asked, settling down beside him on

the bench.

lwj glanced around them, finding that only his brother had come to check on him, everyone else still waiting and seemingly arguing by the further bench.

"Yes... but I will need a moment," he admitted, mind going back to his brother's "Didi Fucker" nickname for wwx.

If that was how his brother saw wwx, as the man fucking (and fucking with) his didi, he didn't see any reason to hide the truth from him, no matter how embarrassing, bratty little brother's prerogative and all.

"A moment?" lxc asked, face scrunching up in thought as he accepted

his phone back and then followed lwj's gaze back down to his lap. "Oh!" his brother squeaked, a light red splotching across his cheeks. "Oh... oh!" he cried, looking despondently at his phone. "My phone... it's been defiled..."

"Mn..." lwj hummed in agreement as they both turned

embarrassed and dead eyes out across the water, the quiet bubble filling the horrible, gaping silence between them.

"No offence, but I don't think I'm going to let you call wwx on my phone again, didi," lxc said after a long moment.

"Mn," lwj agreed. "I don't blame you."

~

"Wow~" lxc sighed as lwj led them through the forest. "It's so pretty! And so different from the rest of Lotus Pier!"

"Is this the same woods that that treehouse was in?" jzxuan asked, nose scrunched up as he looked around them, trying to spot the secret trail.

"I believe it

was on a different trail," lwj replied, trying to think back to that night and where he had entered and come out of the woods. "I believe that trail was closer to the other side of the compound?"

"Hmm... maybe?"

They blinked at each other in confused memory for a moment before

jzxuan laughed quietly. "Guess there was other stuff going on that night. Understandable neither of us remember. Kinda sad I didn't get to go up in it though."

"Mn," lwj hummed, thinking that he would have liked to have explored the relics of, at the very least, jyl's childhood.

Perhaps some of the items had once been played with by wwx as well...

"Treehouse?" nmj asked as he ducked under a low branch. Jingjing sat on his shoulders, giggling happily, his hands waving wildly as he erratically reached for branches and leaves. One of nmj's hands was

supporting him from the back, however jgy was still walking a bit behind them, eyes shifting between the child and the path. lwj could see his body tensing whenever Jingjing made a particularly ominous tilt towards something, ready to catch the young boy if he fell.

"I'm glad I get to see this," lwj thought suddenly. "I'm glad I get to see the love these three share, get to see my nephew be loved and treasured by another parent." He thought of the new child, the one likely cooking inside his brother at the moment, and wondered whose it was.

He really wanted to ask, but that seemed rude when he hadn't been officially told.

"wwx took me to a childhood treehouse that night," he told his brother-in-law. "He said it was built when he was younger."

"Hmm~" nmj hummed, his eyebrows knitting together for a moment.

"Now that you'd brought it up, I kinda remember playing in a treehouse here when I was younger."

"Oh?" lxc piped up. "You're so old you'd forgotten?"

"Yes," nmj said seriously, a slight smile pulling at his lips when his mate laughed happily, Jingjing laughing along above them.

"I rarely visited, and half the time jwy was being a little shit and I mentally blocked out the visit," the older alpha explained, half-teasingly, half-snarkily adding, "So excuse my lack of solid memories about this place. I mostly saw the Jiangs at our parents'

business parties.”

lxc shot his husband a sympathetic look as he hummed in response. Although they had mostly managed to avoid jwy these last few days they had run into him a few times, largely at shared meals, and the results had been less than enjoyable. It was clear that none

of the alphas in their group liked jwy, or his alpha-rights rhetoric, and the feelings was mutual. jwy had even made a few comments about how he was glad his sister had married none of them, although jzxuan's offer was still technically active.

While lwj and jyl had not worked

out due to his interest in alphas, the Jiangs and Nies also held close business relations and Madam Yu had once tried to set up jyl and nmj, having once preferred that match over one to the Jins with whom she already shared a close friendship. These plans had similarly been laid

to rest when nmj had voiced an nonnegotiable preference for a male mate. lwj had heard bits and pieces of the story from nhs, who had told him that their late-father had attempted to put his foot down: a marriage alliance with the Jiangs would be the most beneficial and nmj

would cooperate with the match. nmj had agreed but with the promise that he would never even take jyl's virginity, let alone create an heir, and their father had been forced to comply with nmj's preferences.

It had been a chance of fate that nmj and lxc had met during lxc's

years in university, at an art event that nhs had wanted to attend, and hit it off. While nmj's father had been actively looking for potential mates and marriage alliances, a difficult task as male omegas were notably rarer than female ones, lqr had agreed to wait until lxc had

graduated from university to search for a mate for his older nephew. Receiving a courting offer from the Nies, following the chance meeting lqr knew nothing about, had taken the older man by surprise and he had initially refused it, telling them an offer wouldn't be considered

for several more years. Nearly a year later when lxc had run into nmj again and learned of the refusal and that the alpha was willing to wait until lxc graduated to make another offer. lqr had been surprised when his nephew had requested the offer be accepted before he graduated,

although pleased nonetheless. Madam Yu was correct: an alliance with the Nies was an extremely desirable and sought after and there was no reason other than respecting his nephews last few years of freedom for lqr to refuse the request. Still, it had been a slow courting,

compared to the usual few weeks or months a courting contract lasted for before marriage and mating, lasting the last year and half of lxc's university years, with much of the official courting taking place the summer after lxc graduated. nmj had even offered to wait longer,

if lxc had wanted to get another degree, but the omega had said he was ready to start a family.

"Which way?" nmj asked as they came to a fork in the road.

"This way," lxc said as he glanced down at wwx's instructions. lwj had assured them that he could lead the way but

his brother had shot him a look and proceeded to guide them along the path of the older alpha's instructions.

You get lost in the woods once as a teenager and no one ever trusts you again...

"So..." lwj started to say, "what happened between you three and zjd?" He had wanted to

ask earlier, but lxc had been filling the air with compliments to the snacks jgy had secured for him and lwj had gotten the sense he was trying to distract everyone from whatever had happened. nmj had still been tense, to the point that jgy had been holding Jingjing,

who had grown upset under the presence of his sire's rolling steel anger. jgy had been trying to convince jzxuan to hold the child when lwj and his brother had returned to them, lxc gently teasing him over his previous erection predicament, claiming "elder brother rights."

Beside him jzxuan grimaced, releasing a shot of an aggressively sour scent that swirled up into the air and made Jingjing look around for the source of the scent, peeking at each of the adults in turn and practically giving both lwj and jgy a heart attack when he twisted to look

behind himself.

"That man," jzxuan all but snarled, "has such a bad fucking vibe."

"Zixuan," jgy tutted at him. "There is a child present."

"Eh~" jzxuan whined at his older brother. "He's so tiny he won't remember hearing me swear this one time."

Jingjing peered down at his

not-quite uncle and babbled unhappily at him.

jgy raised an eyebrow at his younger half-brother, motioning elegantly to Jingjing. "Even Jingjing thinks you should watch your language."

"No he doesn't!" jzxuan exclaimed, halting as he planted his hands on his hips and glared

at the older beta. "He's just matching my mood. Babies do that, you know."

"How do you know?" jgy asked, stopping as well as he shot the alpha a disbelieving look. "Preparing to put a bun in jyl's oven?"

"WHAT!?" jzxuan squeaked, before gasping and pointing at the older man.

"How come I can't swear but you can talk about sex?"

From further up the trail nmj laughed, refusing to stop walking as the Jin brother's argued. lxc had stopped several steps away, looking slightly concerned as his third mate argued with his baby brother.

"Normalizing sex in a

healthy and age appropriate way is often considered the best way to reduce sexual shame in adults," lwj offered, both Jins looking at him with startlingly identical looks.

Overall, aside from their dark brown hair, lwj didn't think the brothers looked particularly similar,

a stark contrast to lwj and his own brother, who were often mistaken for one another, despite lxc's slightly softer characteristics. However, in his and his brother's case, their expressions were more often what gave away their identities. In contrast, the Jin brothers'

expressions were practically mirrors of one another, almost to the point of being eerie.

"However, I do not think talking about 'buns in the oven' is child appropriate, per se," he added when the brothers continued staring at him. lwj glanced away, willing himself not to blush.

Why were they staring so intently at him? What had he done? "So," he tried again, twisting and returning to walking down the path, hoping the other men would follow him, "why does zjd had bad vibes?"

"Because everything that comes out of that man's mouth sounds like an insult,"

nmj called back at them, his tone slightly tight despite his previous laughter. He appeared to have slowed his pace to not leave them completely behind, but, even in the short time the Jins had been arguing, the alpha's long legs had taken him quite a ways up the trail.

"What did he say?" lwj asked, looking between his brother, slightly ahead of him, and jzxuan, slightly behind, when nmj didn't say more.

"He effectively told Zixuan that he was sorry I, and my other illegitimate siblings, existed."

lwj's head twisted almost painfully fast to

look at jgy, walking calming beside him. The older beta gave him an easy smile, filled with acceptance and a hint of sadness. Betas had barely any scent, but even lwj could tell he was hiding his true feelings on the matter, his neutral scent glazing over with an impenetrable

barrier of fresh, clear water, something you knew was there but could not smell. He blinked at the other man, making a mental note to ask the others how sensitive their noses were later.

"It is nothing I have not heard before," he said, shrugging slightly. "At least zjd didn't

(A/N: semi-graphic mentions of potentially forced abortions, buying mothers off, m*rder)

say it outright. Most of the people who say it are very clear that they think my father should have gotten rid of us."

"Gotten rid of you?" lwj asked dumbly, the words and possibilities

stalling inside his brain.

"Yeah," jzxuan sneered. "Some of my dad's business associates have told him he should have 'dealt with them' before they were even born. They say 'omega whores will accept even the smallest bit of money to slice to problem up.'"

lwj grimaced as nmj

growled, loud enough that it carried back down the trail. lxc hurried ahead, gently comforting both his mate and his son, upset at his baba's mood.

"It's not so bad for me or our sister," jgy said softly, eyes filling over with sadness. "Not like it is for A-Yu..."

"A-Yu? Mo Xuanyu?"

"You know him?" jzxuan asked, popping up beside lwj and slipping his arm through lwj's, perhaps to comfort one or both of them, or just as a show of their fast friendship.

lwj shook his head. "I heard he is on vacation with nhs." He hesitated a moment,

slightly nervous to be revealing so much to the Jin brothers, before adding, "He sent me a stuffed animal to help with my scent sensitivity. wwx does not like it."

jgy smiled softly at him, perhaps already aware of the basics of his condition from when he had revealed the full

truth of the matter to his brother when they had wandered through Lotus Pier the day after he had arrived, while jzxuan screwed up his face and began asking questions about what scent sensitivity was.

"Sounds like a massive pain," the younger alpha sighed when lwj had finished

his explanation. "That's just like A-Yu, though, to offer help to someone he doesn't even know."

lwj hesitated a moment before asking, "You said he is treated worse?"

"Yes," jgy said, still walking slowly beside them as his mates walked ahead of them, lxc now rocking Jingjing

from side to side and occasionally spinning them in circles as nmj watched, a soft, loving look in his eyes. "Omegas can be useful for marriage alliances, but A-Yu has not taken the Jin name and refuses to ever do so, making his value significantly less."

"So people say my dad

should just off him," jzxuan said tone somehow somewhere between nonchalant and furious.

lwj's feet halted on the path, jzxuan stumbling to a stop as well. "They what?"

"Say that my dad should have him killed, or at least threaten it."

lwj blinked at the Jin brothers. What.

"What did your father say?" he asked, unable to keep his curiosity at how the Jin Patriarch had reacted to suggestions that he kill his omega son from spilling out of his mouth.

jzxuan's scent flared around them into an overwhelming and furiously sour wave. "He laughed,"

he bit out. "Said that if he didn't think it would be tracked back to him he'd consider it. Then!" the younger alpha yelled, tone indignant as he pulled erratically on lwj's arm, reminding him of a child telling a particularly exciting or egregious story. "THEN! One of his

business associates gave him a number!"

"A number?"

"Of someone who could 'take care of it in a way that wouldn't lead back to him!'" jzxuan cried, stomping his foot, an off-puttingly adorable pout crossing his face. lwj tried to blink thoughts of his friend being cute away.

Inappropriate, for many reasons, most notably the topic of conversation.

"From what I've heard," jgy added softly, his own voice filled with fragments of annoyance, discomfort and sadness, "some of the men our father associates have been covering up their indiscretions in these

ways for many years."

lwj narrowed his eyes. Relying on rumours was not the Lan way, however, in this case he should perhaps make an exception and have the allegations looked into. Regardless of how much his uncle refused to even consider looking into rumours and gossip,

usually, if you looked hard enough you would eventually discover the truth.

"Do you have names?" he asked the beta man quietly, ignoring the way jzxuan's eyes widened and his scent shifted into a one of sparkling anticipation.

"Ooh~" the alpha cooed before his half-brother

could answer lwj's question. "You gonna make them regret doing such horrible things? He told our uncle off, you know?" he told jgy. "At the introduction party."

jgy hummed. "I had heard something about the 'bratty Lan heir causing problems,'" he laughed, smiling warmly at lwj.

lwj suppressed a blush, trying to push down memories of a twinkling voice also referring to him as a 'brat,' not in the mild, kind and appreciative way of his brother's second mate, but in a teasing, affectionate that warmed his heart to bursting. "I do not know what I will do,"

he admitted, as they began walking again. "However, I would like to know what kind of people I am going to be dealing with, once I assume control of the company."

jgy hummed, quietly telling him that that was very wise, and this time lwj was unable to suppress his blush.

For as much was jgy was an illegitimate, beta son, he had done well for himself, working his way up in the Jin companies to become one of their most powerful and influential employees. The man had a knack for business and people from other companies were constantly seeking out

his wisdom and advice, usually at a steep fee that likely went straight into jgs's pocket.

"Would you-" he found himself asking, nervously blinking into the middle distance of the path in front of them. "Would you be willing to talk to me one day, about-"

"Of course," jgy said,

cutting off lwj's question. "I am always willing to answer questions for my- for my mate's younger brother."

lwj's eyes shot towards the beta, a light, attractive blush spread across his cheeks at verbally acknowledging his relationship with lxc to lwj for the first time.

"Mn," he hummed. "Thank you. If you ever need any advice on how to... handle my brother, or either of my brother-in-laws, I will be glad to help."

jgy's eyes turned towards him, looking impossible soft. "Because I accepted him, when he was not sure he would be," lwj realized,

his heart warming as the beta mumbled his own thanks, although not enough to let him resist adding, "Although, from what I have seen, you do not need help in managing your mates."

Beside him jzxuan burst into laughter, telling lwj he had no idea and beginning to tell a

collection of embarrassing stories about the three mates and the things he had witnessed going down in Lanling, including an incident that predated jgy officially becoming lxc and nmj's third mate.

"Your brother," jzxuan said, holding out a hand in front of him as if

to demonstrate, "was so, so fat. And he's just waddling around Lanling while Mingjue-ge deals with some business with my dad that was just pissing him off. Place reeked like Steel and pissy alpha even after my mom had the place fumigated."

"It was not," nmj called back at them,

"that bad."

"Yes, it was," lxc, jgy and jzxuan said in unison, startling laughter out of the entire group.

"So,'' jzxuan continued, a bounce flowing into his step as he and lwj walked together, "there's your brother, pregnant and effectively mateless and scaring the daylights

out of all our servants. They were all afraid to go within 10 feet of the man, except Mingjue-ge kept asking after him. How's my mate? Grumpy. Is he eating? Nothing but saltines. How much is he eating? About 2 boxes an hour."

"They are delicious," lxc said softly in his defence.

"So, anyways," jzxuan continued, "everyone was afraid to even go near Xichen-ge, but someone had to."

lwj turned his eyes back to jgy, a slight blush spread over his cheeks. "Someone had to," he said, repeating his brother's words.

"You brought him food?" lwj asked when no one

continued the story, jzxuan seemingly giving his brother the chance to tell his side of the story.

"Yes," jgy said softly, the blush over his cheeks growing a bit harsher. "I– yes."

"You wanted to fuck him even then," lwj said tonelessly.

"Wangji!" his brother hissed while

jgy's face looked red enough that lwj briefly worried he might pass out.

nmj howled with laughter, yelling back at them, "You better bet he did. First whiff I got of the fact that he wasn't into just me but also my poor, innocent and horny– ow! Babe! Why did you kick me?"

jzxuan snickered quietly beside him, his head turning in press against lwj's arm. "They're funny, aren't they?" he whispered up at lwj as jgy hurried ahead to break up the fight, or perhaps just get Jingjing out of the danger zone.

lwj glanced at the other alpha for a moment,

smiling warmly up at him, before looking back down the trail to where his brother was reprimanding basically everyone for inappropriate conversations. "Mn..." he hummed, eyes softening as nmj leaned in to whisper something to his mates that made the omega's cheeks light up in

their own flush and jgy stomp his foot in apparent outrage. "Funny... although, I think I might have nightmares about how–" lwj cut off. He didn't want to say horny, although that seemed like the most accurate description of the general vibe the three men gave him.

Horny. Insatiable. Loving.

"Yeah," the younger man sighed. "I have nightmares about some of the things I've seen them do too. The food thing was cute. Catching them having sex in the corridor was not."

"Nightmare fuel," lwj said, trying his best to not imagine such a scene.

"Mhm~" jzxuan agreed as they caught up to the rest of the group. "But," he added as they continued down the path, cringing when his brother abruptly thrust Jingjing into his arms, forcing him to grab hold of his pseudo-nephew if he didn't want the child to hit the group when jgy

scurried away. jzuxan looked between the child, who he was carrying much like one would a feral cat, like he had no idea what to do with it and his brother like he was going to murder him once his hands were free. "BUT," he continued through gritted teeth, his tone screaming that

he might not completely agree with his words anymore, "they're cute together so even the nightmare fuel is worth it– hey now! Why are you pulling my hair?" he complained when, just as he brought Jingjing closer to his chest, the boy to grabbed a handful of his hair and tugged.

lwj gently reached out to pull Jingjing's hand open and pull it away from his friend's hair. "We do not pull hair," he said, voice stern but kind. "We must be kind to our friends and family."

His nephew blinked wide eyes up at him before he nodded like the world suddenly made

more sense and reached forward to pat jzxuan on on the head.

jzxuan and Jingjing blinked at each other for a moment before the boy was giggling and waving his hands around happily. A smile tugged at jzxuan's lips, despite his seeming dislike of children, although perhaps it was

simply that he didn't know how to interact with them. Not every alpha had a natural instinct for raising children. "You're good with kids," he told lwj softly and–

lwj glanced away, refusing to blush at the praise and the soft affectionate smell seeping out of jzxuan,

who for once actually seemed embarrassed at the sudden spray of intimate scent. If one of them had been omega lwj would have taken the scent as one meant to show interest in mating and creating a child of their own, something quite impossible given their secondary genders,

not to mention lwj's relationship with wwx.

As they continued walking, quiet surrounding them for a few minutes, aside from Jingjing's occasional giggles, lwj wondered if wwx would be jealous because of any of the things that had happened between him and the other alpha today.

Wrestling. Getting erections. Flirting, because that's what this was, wasn't it? Light and playful flirting between friends– or between someone who wanted more and someone who didn't, or, at least someone who shouldn't. Because he had a mate now. wwx might not be here but he

existed and lwj loved him and–

"Hey, are you okay?" jzxuan asked quietly, his scent rising up around them in a gently caressing sweetness. "Your scent is kinda..."

lwj blinked over at his friend, still carrying Jingjing, who was peering over at him with wide, worried eyes.

He smiled slightly at his nephew, reaching out to rub his head, trying to let the anxious, burning sandalwood scent that had been leaking out of him blow away into the wind. Jingjing cooed sadly at him and he couldn't help but lean in and press a small kiss to his forehead.

"I just–" he started, peeking towards jzxuan as he pressed his cheek to his nephew's. "I don't want you to get the wrong idea."

jzxuan, for all that he seemed to be trying to hide it, deflated slightly. "I know," he said, his tone trying to be strong. "You have wwx,

and you like him."

"I love him" lwj corrected before heat burst across his face at the unexpected confession.

jzxuan blinked at him before laughing, his eyes squeezing shut as he said, "I'm happy for you! That's the goal in life, isn't it? To fall in love with your partner."

The other alpha smiled at him for a moment before a mischievous smile appeared on his face and he was pulling Jingjing away from lwj, heaving him up onto his hip.

jzxuan leaned in towards him, that same ominous smile on his face as he whispered, "It's too bad I didn't meet you

first. Perhaps then you'd have stuck your cock in me, and gotten so scent drunk you'd have sunk your teeth into my neck and marked me as yours." lwj hissed when jzxuan dragged his nose along lwj's scent glad, a spurt of mortified arousal slipping out that made Jingjing scrunch up

his nose. "Oh well~" the younger man sighed, pulling back, a sad, if still mischievous, look pulled across his face. "Guess I'll just have to be happy with the crumbs of friendship and possible threesome." With that, jzxuan began hurrying after the other three men, still walking

up the trail with their hands linked together, nmj in the middle as lxc skipped, jgy swung their clasped hands.

lwj stood there for several long moments, watching as his friend caught up with the others, wondering when, exactly, jzxuan had become such a teasing little shit.

~

"Ah! It's so pretty!" lxc cheered as they came around the bend that led to the dock of the restaurant. lwj had, reluctantly, warned them a few minutes earlier that the restaurant was close and they may want to drop each other's hands. Now, the thruple simply walked side by side,

perhaps a tad too close for non-mates, although no one was likely to say much on the subject, not when nmj was such a large and intimidating alpha. "You came here with wwx?" his brother asked, slowing his steps to fall in beside lwj and jzxuan, who had thankfully ceased his

sexually charged teasing.

"Sort of..." lwj said, explaining how he and wwx had gone on a phone date.

"Awww..." his brother said, blinking back tears that simply added to lwj's growing list of signs his brother was carrying. "That's so sweet."

In front of them, jgy's steps

halted as he looked back at them, an almost shocked look on his face. "Wei-Wei Wuxian took you on a romantic date?" he asked, voice cracking in surprise.

lwj blinked at the beta. "Yes?" he asked, confused by the man's reaction. "Why?"

"I just–" jgy said, swallowing nervously

"–wwx isn't known for doing much more than, uhm..." the beta looked back in front of them, heat rushing across his face as he coughed awkwardly. "That man has a reputation, among certain people at least, for being skilled in bed and having little to no interesting in romance."

This time it was lwj's turn to halt in his steps, his brother and jzxuan stopped beside him. "That is why you did not like him?" he asked his brother, who nodded awkwardly, looking away from lwj.

"A-Yao said he would only ever be interested in, er– in your body,"

his brother said, his cheeks lighting up slightly. "I guess that wasn't quite right, or, at least, he likes you enough to risk his life protecting us so..." lxc trailed off, awkwardly looking into the distance.

In front of them jgy was looking back at them awkwardly as well,

a sheepish look on his face at having been caught gossiping and spreading what had turned out to be less than accurate information. In the distance, nmj continued walking, seemingly looking down at his phone as he moved up the dock and towards the restaurant.

lwj blinked between

all of the men before returning to walking, saying, "He asked me to be his mate," as he walked past jgy who's eyes blew wide at the comment while his brother who had been hurrying to follow him froze. lwj had taken a half dozen steps when he heard his brother screech, "WHAT!?"

followed by quick footsteps as his brother ran to catch up, grabbing his arm and pulling him to a stop.

nmj glanced back at them for a moment, checking to make sure everyone was okay, before apparently deciding whatever it was wasn't worth turning back and continuing forwards.

"He asked you to what!?" lxc hissed, face growing increasingly red, his scent blasting out around them in pure fury. "The audacity of that man! He didn't even ask permission! He–" lxc growled, a dark, ominous sound that left lwj grateful that wwx was no longer in Lotus Pier in

order to face his brother's wrath. Apparently things weren't quite as settled between them as lwj had thought.

"Xichen–" jgy said quietly, starting to reach out to soothe his mate before remembering how visible they were. "Sweetheart, I am sure wwx did not mean any disrespect."

lxc looked about ready the bare his teeth at his second mate when lwj spoke, cutting off whatever biting remark his brother was liable to make in his very possibly pregnancy induced anger.

"You think we should have done a more... unofficial-official courting?" he asked,

catching his brother's eyes.

lxc huffed. "Yes," he said, nodding seriously. "Your relationship may need to be secret, but, since I know about it, wwx should have asked before taking you as a-" the omega wrinkled his nose, practically spitting out "-mate."

lwj hummed in thought

for a moment before saying, "Most of our traditions are based on an alpha courting an omega. How would we decide who is doing which tradition?"

"Well, obviously!" lxc growled, one of his feet stomping against the wood of the dock. "Obviously, as he is so old-" behind them jzxuan

tried to cover his laughter with a cough "-he should be the one acting as the alpha. He should have officially asked permission from your family."

lwj watched his huffing, hissing brother for a moment more, searching through his memory for all the bits of information he had ever

heard about how alpha-omega courting working. He had never had much interest in it, and could only recall some of the details, however–

"Alright," lwj said quietly, watching as he brother puffed out his chest, a smile flittering across his face. "I will tell Xian-gege that you

wish for us to have an unofficial, yet official courting, with him acting as the alpha."

lxc's smile wavered, his eyes growing large. "Didi–" he started to say, his tone mildly horrified as the implications of their conversations slotted into place in his brain.

"I believe,"

lwj continued, unapologetically cutting his omega brother's panic off, "that, as the omega stand in, I am entitled to request a few specific courting rituals? In that case," he said, turning to continue walking up the dock, "I will need to ask for gege's guidance. I am afraid I

will make a rather poor omega. I do not even know how to make a proper nest, but I am sure gege can teach me?"

"Wangji!" his brother said, his voice and face pained. "You cannot be serious."

"I am," lwj assured him. "It would be unfair to expect Xian-gege to do his half of an

unofficially official courting and get nothing in return." He glanced back at his brother, internally squirming with delight at the look of pure disgust gracing the omega's face. Usually, it was lxc poking and prodding at him, making him embarrassed and uncomfortable. Not today.

He stopped again, putting on his best pout, the one that made his brother either give in to whatever it was he wanted or adopt a look that said 'you little fucker' and then give in to whatever he wanted. "Gege won't help his didi?" he asked sadly, resolutely ignoring the way

the Jin brothers were gaping at him.

"Wangji–" lxc said, his voice and face pained.

"Gege won't help A-Zhan?" he asked again, blinking away the way he had been taught by nhs during a drunken night of confessions.

"You have to make the alpha see you as vulnerable," nhs had

laughed, tipping the bottle of expensive liquor directly into his mouth. "Works with my brother all the time to get what I want. Actually!" he had cheered, reaching out to tip lwj's head into a slightly different position. "From what I've seen of your brother, and how much he

dotes on you? I bet this would work on him too! Now! Once you've got them feeling bad for you–"

lwj shifted his eyes back to his brother, looking up at him through his lashes and fluttering them lightly, noting with mild interest the way a shuddering lemon scent rushed past him,

the wind tugging the emotion that he hadn't quite been able to put a name to out over the lake.

lxc whined as he watched lwj, his own lip sticking out as he fidgeted. "Didi!" he complained. "Not fair! You're basically asking me to help you do... weird sex things with him."

lwj blinked at his brother, raising an eyebrow. "Do you do weird sex things with your nest?" he asked, half-curious, half-mortified, although he was quite sure his brother would–

"Wangji!" lxc hissed, red hot heat bursting across his face. "Have you no shame!? How– What– Bah!"

"You were the one who brought it up," lwj said, turning back around. "If gege does not want to help I will look online. I am sure that I will be able to find this 'weird sex in nests' thing that you are talking about. Thank you for your guidance in at least knowing what to

look for."

lxc stomped his foot against the dock again, hard enough that even as he began moving to follow nmj towards the restaurant he could still hear it. His brother stomped after him, although jgy seemed to be quietly trying to calm him, and when jzxuan appeared beside him

again he was no longer carrying Jingjing, the child likely retuned to his mother in an attempt to calm the man, or keep him form fratricide.

"I feel like you're gonna regret that," his friend said softly, glancing over his shoulder at their brothers.

"Possibly," lwj admitted,

"but it was worth it."

"If you say so..." jzxuan sighed, sounding entirely unconvinced.

They had only taken a few steps when something suddenly occurred to lwj. "Why was my brother upset?" he asked, clarifying, "With zjd," when the younger alpha asked what he was talking about.

A/N: Upon reflection, I believe in the previous chapter it wasn't actually said that lxc was upset, only that the others were??? Ah~ I haven't actually gotten to editing the chapter yet, but when I do I'll add a line that say lxc was also more obviously upset.

"Oh~" jzxuan sighed, glancing back at their brothers again before leaning in and softly telling lwj, "Well, it was more of the undertone to what he said, just like it was when the guy talked about my dad not being able to keep it in his pants. He kinda said that, ah... how do

I put it..." jzxuan trailed off in thought for a moment, the sound of restaurant patrons beginning to reach them as they grew closer to the building. Much like when he had visited before, the deck was filled with guests eating in the sunshine, chatting happily with each other

as though they were all guests at the same party and not people having separate meals at the same location.

"I guess," jzxuan continued as they turned towards the restaurant, nmj waiting patiently for them outside, leaning against the wall as he watched his mates follow behind

them, "he basically said that your brother better watch who he spends time with? Otherwise people will question who the father of his children is?"

lwj wrinkled his nose as he pulled them to a stop. jzxuan turned confused eyes towards him. "Children?" lwj asked, nose crinkling.

"He said children, not child?"

"Oh..." jzxuan breathed out, eyebrows scrunching together in thought before he nodded. "Yeah, he definitely said children, which means–"

"He may have been eavesdropping on us," lwj finished tightly, pulling his friend to the side when their

brothers passed by them, lxc seemingly calmed by the presence of his giggling son in his arms. "We will be a moment," he told the men, indicating for them to head on without them.

"That's weird, right?" jzxuan asked once they were alone again. "I think everyone assumed he was

just speaking in the hypothetical, but since we had just been talking about it..."

"It would be quite the coincidence."

jzxuan hummed, looking towards the other members of their group, nmj heaving Jingjing up into the air and sending his giggles flying around them. Many of the

restaurant patrons were looking towards them, most with amused and nostalgic looks, although occasionally someone sneered at them, muttering about noise and young people these days. "Do you think Mingjue-ge got so pissed because it's true? Because my brother is actually..."

lwj thought back to his brother's words, the night he had arrived at Lotus Pier and they had traded secrets in wwx's kitchen.

"Although...we have discussed the possibility of A-Yao fathering our second," his brother had said, his words and body language careful and wary,

(A/N: mention of potential miscarriage, references to lxc being assaulted by the unnamed rutting alpha)

his entire being relaxing when lwj had simply said that Jingjing would be lucky to have another sibling.

Had his brother known then that he was carrying? Or had he found out

only in the days since? Would the instinct to protect his unborn child have superseded his concern for his younger brother's safety and forced him to stay within wwx's home when the two alphas had run out into the dark night of Lotus Pier? Or were his maternal instincts perhaps

the cause of such foolishness, driving him into the dangerous dark of a compound filled with strange alphas in search of a loved one when they were never truly in danger? Or, perhaps his brother had only discovered his condition during a checkup following their run in with the

rutting alpha. How lucky they were that lxc had not lost the child that night...

"I think it is quite likely," lwj said, his eyes filling with the scene of his brother and nmj raising jgy's child, the man only able to love his child in secret. No one able to acknowledge

the child's true father for fear of the stigma that would chase after their entire family from that moment on.

"Hey," jzxuan asked quietly, leaning in towards lwj, a softly sweet citrus rising around them, brushing gently against lwj's skin. "What's wrong? You're so sad all of

the sudden."

lwj couldn't help but laugh quietly, shooting his friend an amused look when he asked what was so funny. "I could hide my scent better, when I was more scent sensitive. People always said I have phenomenal control of it, but I suppose it was just a symptom of being

scent deprived."

The sound jzxuan made reminded lwj of an injured animal, his scent flaring in its own sad way for a moment before settling back into one of concern. "You didn't answer my question," the other alpha said, leaning back and planting his hands on his hips.

"What is wrong? What's happening in that pretty little head of yours?"

lwj hummed. "Not that pretty," he lied. He knew perfectly well how attractive he was, but watching the other alpha roll his eyes was worth the lie.

"Not pretty he says," jzxuan huffed as he grabbed lwj's

hands and began pulling him towards the others. "As though everyone and anyone wouldn't die to have a face and body as smoking as yours. Now," he asked again, his hand squeezing harshly around lwj's, "what is wrong?"

lwj sighed, gently squeezing his friend's hand back.

"Sad for them. Having to hide their relationship. Who the child's father is," he said softly.

jzxuan pulled to a stop, looking back a lwj. "Sad for us too," he said simply before blinking away, a shadow of tears threatening at his eyes. "It's not like you and Wei– and your

somebody can love publicly either. Not like we can admit we're basically family to anyone else."

"Mn," lwj agreed as jzxuan resumed tugging him along the dock towards their family. "Sad for all of us."

~

lxc pushed his way happily into the restaurant, humming cheerfully as he

slid the traditional style door open before halting abruptly in the doorway, his back pulling taut as the situation inside reached his senses. nmj bristled, pulling his mate behind him, while lwj tried to stop breathing, jgy released a long suffering sigh and

jzxuan growled lowly.

"What do you mean we need a fucking reservation?" a horrible, hissing voice spit out. "We're honoured guests of the Jiangs. You want to offend them by not giving us a fucking seat?"

"I'm sorry–" the beta hostess tried to say before being cut off by jyl's

irate suitor.

"Your sorry doesn't mean shit if you aren't going to make it up to us! If you're really sorry, you'll find us a fucking table and comp our drinks."

"All of our tables are booked, sir," the hostess told him, her tone somewhere between neutral and done with the man.

"You may make a reservation, however, we are booked solid through the summer."

"The whole fucking summer? You've got to be shitting me."

"Sir, I must request you lower your voice and cease speaking to me in this manner. If you continue, you will be removed from the restaurant

and banned–"

"Fucking bitch! What makes you think you can– Hey! What the fuck! Get your fucking hands off me!!"

"You need to watch your mouth," nmj said coldly as he yanked jzxun up by his collar. "You cannot speak to people that way."

jzxun growled at the much larger alpha,

pulling ineffectually at the fist wrapped around his expensive looking shirt. "Mind your own fucking business," jzxuan's cousin spit out.

"Yeah, mind your own business!" sms half-growled, half-squeaked from where he had been watching jzxun yell at the hostess.

nmj shot the man

a withering look, his scent rising up in steely ice that shuddered through the room and lwj was honestly surprised that sms didn't piss himself under the strain of the older man's annoyance. "For one," nmj said calmly as he dragged the struggling alpha towards the door,

lwj pulling his brother and nephew to one side while jzxuan and jgy stepped to the other, "I am being forced to listen to your stupidity, so it does involve me. For another, you are subjecting my child to your vitriol, so father's pejorative."

lwj watched as his brother-in-law

easily towed the man towards the edge of the seating area, the guests pointing and giggling as they went. A few people hooted and cheered nmj on, although he barely spared any of them a glance.

"Plus," the older alpha said, shoving jzxun a ways down the dock as he let go,

"you are disgracing both our hosts and alphas everywhere, so I think it is plenty my business. Now, get lost."

"You–"

"Just leave, jzxun," jzxuan said, popping up beside nmj. "You're embarrassing yourself and our family. If you don't leave, I'll–"

"You'll what?" jzxun sneered,

wrinkling his nose at his cousin as sms scurried over to stand by him. "Tell daddy?" The alpha scoffed, twisting away from them. "Your dad won't give a shit what I do or say to some fucking servant. Whatever. I don't want to eat at this pathetic restaurant anymore anyways."

"Well," lxc sighed as he gently soothed Jingjing, who had not enjoyed either the loudness of jzxun or his sinking, angry and oppressive scent, "that was exciting."

"Mn," lwj hummed, watching as nmj and jzxuan returned down the dock, the younger alpha turning occasionally to

peek at his cousin and sms's retreating backs. "Are you alright?" he asked softly as his friend returned to his side.

"Yeah..." jzxuan said, smiling weakly at him. "Just... not used to telling him off, is all."

lwj made an inquiring sound but jzxuan shook his head. "Tell you

another time?" the other man offered, his scent rising up in a cringing, painfully sour note that made Jingjing burbled in unhappiness. "Ah~" jzxuan sighed, sucking in a calming breath to help reign in his scent. "Sorry little man," he said offering up a softer, sweeter smelling

citrus to the child who glared at him for a moment before making grabby hands at his pseudo-uncle. "Bwah!" jzxuan cried as lxc suddenly dumped his son into the other man's arms.

"Look," the omega sighed, slipping his arm through lwj's, "Jingjing likes him."

"Mn..." lwj hummed,

watching with an amused smile as jzxuan tried to adjust Jingjing in his arms, mumbling something about how he wasn't the type of person kids should like. "Shall we?" he asked, motioning for everyone to attempt entering the restaurant again.

Inside, the hostess was talking

quietly to another woman. They both looked up at them, expressions tight before the hostess was smiling.

"Ah~ these are the men who helped remove those alphas from the building," the hostess told the other woman happily.

The other woman stepped forward, bowing politely to them.

"Thank you for your assistance," the woman said solemnly, her omega scent rising up mildly around them, an undertone of baked bread only barely detectable as it swept out the door.

"It's nothing," nmj huffed, twisting his head to glare back out the door. "Those guys deserved to

be tossed out."

"Regardless, it is appreciated," she said, bowing to nmj and and jzxuan again. She barely spared the rest of them a glance, her attention focused solely on the two alpha who had removed their unwanted patrons– wait, scratch that. The moment her attention shifted

to jzxuan her eyes lit up, a small spreading across her face as light red dusted her nose and the smell of fresh bread swelled around them, just willing anyone who caught scent of it to dig their teeth in.

lwj glanced towards his friend, curious about his reaction to the omega

woman's obvious interest, only...

jzxuan was leaning in towards his brother, whispering something into jgy's ear and appeared to have completely missed the woman thanking them, let alone her reaction to him.

lwj blinked at the for a moment, jgy with a pained smile on his face

as he watched the omega woman continue staring at jzxuan like she wanted to... do whatever it was that omegas did when trying to get an alpha's attention. jgy's eyes suddenly shifted, meeting lwj's. After a moment he released a long suffering sigh that made lwj huff a laugh.

lwj couldn't say that he was particularly tuned in to the interests of omegas himself. jyl had laughed at him more than one for failing to see the way an omega kept glancing his way, but he generally noticed such outright signs as this woman's: the scent,

the fluttering eyelashes, the way she kept fidgeting and taking abortive steps towards jzxuan. It was quite clear the omega would like to get to know the alpha better, perhaps more intimately. lwj knew that among more... regular citizens sex between unmated pairs wasn't uncommon,

(A/N: stuff about virginity and crappy views on it and the consequences of those views, such as being disowned)

unfortunately, the value of a virgin omega in the world that lwj and his family lived in was too high. Too many alphas wanted untouched omegas and outright refused to

mate with any who had been 'soiled,' and an omega who could not secure a marriage was considered worthless to their family. It was not unheard of for families to effectively disown omega children who had lost their virginity, whether through their own choice or through violence.

"We have a reservation," nmj said, looking somewhat annoyed at the omega woman's advances towards jzxuan, or perhaps at the lack of service they were currently receiving. "wwx should have called and requested a room for us?"

"Oh, yes!" the hostess called from her station,

startling back into motion and beginning to step towards them when the omega woman waved her back.

"I'll show them up, jiejie," the woman said and lwj could practically see the hostess rolling her eyes in her head.

"Sure, you go ahead and do that," the hostess said,

sliding back behind her station. "Have at it meimei. Best of luck to you on this inevitably disastrous endeavour."

The omega's smile dropped as she spun around to glare at the hostess, her scent suddenly spiking into a burnt cinnamon that finally drew jzxuan's attention.

"What's up with her?" lwj heard him whisper to his brother who released a long suffering sigh.

"I'll explain it to you when you're older," jgy teased, startling a laugh out of lxc while jzxuan sent his brother a withering stare.

"I'm not a child," he bit out, his voice and

expression leaning close to pouting, his lower lip sticking out as he cross his arms over his chest.

"Of course not, didi," jgy said, patting his half-brother's shoulder. "You are very grown up, just a bit in observant still."

"Eh?" jzxuan said, looking around them as though he

would suddenly attain the ability to notice the omega's interest in him. "What did I miss?" he asked, turning wide, confused eyes back to his brother and then to lwj when jgy looked awkwardly away. "Seriously?"

"I'll tell you later," lwj said quietly as the omega woman began

leading them upstairs, her scent returning to its previous light, baked bread smell. The scent lingered as they followed her up the stairs, lwj noting with amusement how it made jzxuan wrinkle his nose in distaste.

"It's lovely!" lxc sighed as they stepped into the upper level.

"Oh! I wonder why the Jiangs don't offer for more people to come here though?" he asked, spinning as he took in the room: the high ceilings and traditional decor, the large glass doors that the omega woman was awkwardly pulling and pushing at, attempting to open them.

lwj did not roll his eyes, although nmj did huff in annoyance as they watched her. This was clearly not within the scope of her regular duties and lwj hoped that her insisting on serving them would not result in less than stellar service.

Regardless, he agreed with his brother.

It was strange that the Jiangs, not even jyl, had ever mentioned the restaurant. It was obviously quite popular with locals, given the large crowd outside, and he had not found anything lacking during his previous visit. "I am also surprised they do not mention it as a place

to visit..." he said softly as he and the others took their seats.

~

Less than stellar service would be a generous way in which to describe the service they were receiving. The food was great, the view and breeze coming in off the lake were breathtaking. The omega woman,

who had eventually introduced herself as Xiao Hua, however, was an absolutely terrible server. So terrible that, despite the other, wonderful parts of the experience, both lwj and jgy were beginning to lose their patience.

She had, so far: gotten their orders wrong (twice),

tripped while coming up the stairs and had to both order their food again and call for cleanup, flirted copiously with jzxuan (who still seemed oblivious to her advances) while largely ignoring the rest of them, and, as of a moment ago, spilled nmj's alcohol all over lwj.

lwj wiped a hand across his face, liquid splattering across the floor as he glared up at their uncoordinated waitress, who at least had the decency to look vaguely apologetic until—

"Ah~ Xiao Hua is so sorry," she cried, scurrying backwards to kneel behind jzxuan like he would

protect her from lwj's increasingly bad mood. "Xiao Hua did not mean to spill on you!" she sniffled, one of her hands gripping inappropriately into the back of jzxuan's shirt and making his nose wrinkle in confusion and lwj's mood drop even further as the thought that this may

not have actually been an accident occurred to him. How often was it the plot of some romantic movie that an omega would invent a reason for their alpha love interest to protect them? The instinct to protect an omega allegedly easily shifted into love and desire for one, at least

within media.

He growled, wiping more liquid off his face and trying to resist the urge to shake his head like a wet dog.

"Didi..." lxc said, looking like he wanted to reach out to help clean him up but wasn't quite sure how to do so, given that he was soaked from head to toe.

Alcohol dripped down his hair, off his nose and chin and he couldn't help but lick the liquid sticking to his lips off, only just realizing what he was doing as he saw the look of absolute horror in his brother's eyes before the world went dark.

~

The Lans had notoriously bad

tolerance for alcohol, but even lwj had to admit as the world faded back into view, that a single lick of alcohol off his lips getting him back out drunk was ridiculous. There had to be something wrong with them genetically, right? Or whatever the fuck his brother-in-law had

ordered had been obnoxiously strong, which, as lwj tried to focus his eyes and figure out where the fuck he was, might have very well been the case. The man had the tolerance of a monster.

He groaned, blinking at the ceiling of wwx's bedroom. Okay, at least he knew where he was.

He had absolutely no idea as to what had happened between having alcohol dumped on him by their wannabe waitress and now, however. How had he gotten home? And what horribly embarrassing things had occurred in between, because the few times lwj or anyone else in his family came

close to a drop of alcohol shenanigans occurred. Drunken, off key karaoke (lxc). Breaking in to the school library (lwj). Stolen cars (lqr). Nudity (all three).

There was an unspoken rule in their family that no good ever came out of consuming alcohol but that each member needed

to discover the why of this rule firsthand. Indeed, it hadn't mattered that lwj and his brother had grown up hearing all about the time lqr had stolen "that awful, shameless woman's" car and driven it off a dock, both he and his brother had indulged during their university years

and sorely regretted the decision. lwj still thought his uncle's over-the-top reaction to some older omega woman making "disgraceful and unwanted advances" towards him when she "already had a mate, who seemed perfectly inclined to watch, and a son" was the most embarrassing.

lwj sighed, staring despondently up at the ceiling. Somehow, it felt worse that it had been an accident this time. Last time he had knowingly decided to try alcohol. Having that choice taken away from him by an omega too intent on flirting with an alpha who was very clearly

not interested in him was—

lwj's head twisted towards where his phone was bing-bonging at him, a long series of messages from wwx coming through. He shifted, groaning slightly at the strain to his muscles, which were shockingly sore and only increased his concern over what in

the world he had done the night before. His hand snagged his phone and he flopped back in bed, freezing as he stared at the device, his eyes only barely registering more and more messages from wwx coming through.

jyl had had his phone. jyl had had his phone and now he had it.

~

A/N: really short update because I have too many ideas for the next scene (which is technically of the night before) and I need to figure out what I want to do 🤔

Too many fun options 🤣

"Wangji!" jzxuan squeaked as lwj face planted onto the table, cringing at the bang it made. The other alpha was definitely going to have a bruise on his head tomorrow, but at least he had missed landing on his nose. "Hey! Are you okay? What—" He cut off, glaring at the omega

woman behind him. "Will you let go?" he practically snarled at her, trying to pull away from her shockingly tight grip.

"Eh!" she cried, pulling back firmer on his shirt. "You can't leave me! What if that mean alpha tries to take revenge on me from accidentally spilling on him!?

He growled at me! Aren't you going to protect me?"

jzxuan blinked stupidly at her. "He's passed the fuck out!" he cried, only half-hearing someone mutter about 'language around the baby' as he grabbed her hand to force it open. "What's he gonna do when he's unconscious?

You shouldn't be worried about him attacking you, you should be worried about him suing you! Now let go, before I bite you."

The omega woman squeaked, startling over backwards and beginning to scramble away from him. "I thought you were a nice alpha!" she cried as jzxuan

turned away, done with the woman's nonsense. She'd been acting weird for a while, talking over people and saying odd things to him, and he was pretty sure she had spilled that alcohol on lwj on purpose. Maybe she was why the Jiangs didn't mention this place to their guests...

jzxuan scrunched his nose at the woman before crawling forward to check on his friend. "Wangji?" he called, brushing the other alpha's bangs aside to try and peek at his face. "Wangji?"

"He'll wake up in a minute or two," nmj said, shaking his head. "Man, does your family have

the worst alcohol tolerance or what," he muttered at his mate, who was watching his baby brother with a half-concerned, half-amused look.

"Alcohol tolerance?" jzxuan asked as his hands fluttered over lwj, wondering if he should be moving him or calling a doctor or checking his

pulse or what. No one else seemed particularly concerned but...

"Do you remember during New Years?" his brother asked, a pained smile on his face. "How Xichen was that one night?"

jzxuan shuddered. He would really, really prefer to not remember how lxc had been that night.

lxc was usually contained and polite. He laughed and smiled and kindly teased his mates. That night though—

jzxuan shuddered again. No, no, no. Not thinking about it. Never thinking about it and if he ever had to think about it again he was bringing lwj with him because,

for one thing, lxc was his brother, and, for another, lwj had subjected him to those disgusting sandwiches and he must pay! jzxuan was going to get him back if it was the last thing he—

lwj's eyes twitched and then he was pushing himself back up, staring straight ahead with

dead, empty eyes. He blinked. jzxuan leaned over, peeking at his friend's face. For a long moment lwj simply continued staring into space, everyone in the room watching him, waiting for him to do something, and then—

jzxuan squeaked when lwj abruptly turned and fell into him.

"Uhm... Wangji?" he asked, hands flailing around his friend, unsure of whether to pull the soft, sweet smelling man closer or push him away to avoid a scandal. Something was telling him the annoying waitress was liable to spread this whole situation around, what with how erratic

and inappropriate her behaviour was. Perhaps he'd get his mother involved. She was great at cleaning up his messes. Not that this was one of his messes, but it was quickly becoming something that would be the talk of their social circle if someone didn't take charge of

the situation.

He looked up at the other men in the room, hoping one of them would have the sense to step in with lwj or the waitress, his mood darkening when he noted the amusement on their faces. nmj looked about a second away from losing control of the laughter that was

shaking through him, while lxc at least had the decency to still look a bit worried about his brother, even if his eyes gleamed with laughter as well. jgy on the other hand...

"Xiao Hua?" his brother said quietly, the simultaneously soft and harsh quality of it sending a shiver

up jzxuan's back. Fuck was his brother terrifying when he wanted to be, the irony that very few people actually seemed to notice the change in his demeanour before he let loose a vicious storm of words generally being of great amusement to jzxuan. Even their own father barely

noticed when his illegitimate child was a breath away from ripping into the flesh of one business associate or another, although the man at least had the sense to appreciate the beta's skill.

"Y–y–yes?" the omega woman stammered from her ball of fake terror against the wall.

"I highly suggest that you leave, ," his brother said, voice silky sweet and dripping with threat. jzxuan often thought that being a beta suited his half-brother. Stereotypically, omegas were manipulative, alphas blunt and straightforward, a beta could be anything they wanted

to be, and jgy certainly was something else entirely. Soft and dangerous and so perfectly manipulative at times that their father's business associates didn't even realize they were being driven over a cliff of destruction until they were already falling into the abyss.

His brother was already pulling out his phone and pressing several buttons as he spoke to the girl. "You will go downstairs and tell whoever is above you that you have had an accident. You will not say what kind of accident, you will not say anything other than there was an

accident and to expect a phone call from Madam Yu in a moment. Do you understand?" he asked, eyes narrowing when the omega simply gaped up at him. "Fine, if that's the case, A-Jue?"

"Yeah?" nmj asked, shifting forward, the bones in his back and neck cracking as he shifted and

seemingly making the omega woman whimper, which was stupid, in jzxuan's opinion. The woman was way too emotional, especially considering the only one who had actually threatened her was him and that was because she had been assaulting him!

"Go down and tell them there has been

an accident. Xiao Hua will remain here with us," jgy said, ignoring the way their waitress cried out a "What? No!?"

"Sure thing," nmj said, pushing his way up as jgy rose as well, moving to stand between the now rather irate woman and the only exit. "You gonna be okay?"

nmj asked as he reached the door. "You could go instead and I could watch her."

jgy shook his head. "We will be fine, just hurry back."

"Course," the alpha said as he slipped down the stairs to find someone actually competent.

"You can't just keep me up here!" the woman

screeched, looking around as if searching for something to throw at her captor as he raised his phone to his ear.

"You have proven incapable of following instructions," jgy said disinterestedly. "Therefore, you will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement, in order to

assure us that you will not go around spreading lies about this incident."

"Lies!?" the omega hissed, her scent rising up around them in a horrible mix of burning bread and cinnamon. "What possible lies would I spread? That some alpha threatened to bite me and then let another

drunken alpha bury his nose in his scent gland?" The woman smiled slightly, her eyes shifting over to where lwj was practically sucking on jzxuan's neck in a shocking flip of the night they had met, when yzy's scent had had jzxuan burying himself into the safety of lwj's neck.

"It is highly inappropriate behaviour! And—"

"Inappropriate?" his brother asked, his smile turning into something frighteningly twisted as he took a step towards the omega, her brave face immediately falling back into a cowering one. "What is inappropriate is that you have been

so shamelessly flirting with one of your patrons, even after he has expressed no return of interest. You even went so far as to purposefully spill alcohol onto the pack mate he was interested in talking to."

"Pack mate?" jzxuan mouthed at his brother, who's eyes twitched towards

him in what jzxuan would swear was amusement before shooting back to their waitress... who had apparently been interested in one of them? jzxuan's nose scrunched up in thought, his hand idly running through lwj's hair as the older alpha continued nuzzling his neck. lxc and nmj

were obviously mated, even a beta would have been able to see that, and she couldn't have been interested in lwj, given she had apparently spilled on him in order to... what? Take him out of the picture by ruining his clothes? Make him leave to go get changed and leave her to

flirt with... someone? Or was she just trying to be annoying? Well, more annoying that she'd he'd already been. The whole time she'd been grabbing him, talking to him, staring at him with—

"Wait!" he squeaked, looking up at his half-brother. "Me? She was— now, see here you!"

he said, turning his most serious look at the omega. "I'm a suitor of jyl's! It's more than a little inappropriate for you to be flirting with me, badly I might add."

Nearby lxc snickered and jzxuan turned a glare on him, freezing when he saw what was in the omega's hands.

If not for the adorable, now both normal drunk and scent drunk, alpha his lap, jzxuan would have lunged at his kinda-sorta brother-in-law to yank the phone out of his hands. What was with the Lans and their propensity for recording embarrassing moments!?

"And just what,"

he bit out at horrible omega, "are you doing?"

"Recording you two, obviously," lxc laughed, the conversation between jgy and their waitress falling into the background of jzxuan's annoyance as he contemplated how to get the phone away from the other man without dislodging lwj.

"Why? Why would you possibly want to remember this moment!?"

"Well~" lxc sighed, peeking up at them from where his eyes had been glued to his screen, making sure that he was getting everything, jzxuan assumed. "You two are quite cute, plus..." he trailed off as his attention

was pulled towards his son, who had previously fallen asleep on his lap and was now gurgling in annoyance, perhaps at the increasingly volatile scent coming from the omega woman. "Oh~ sweet little bun," lxc cooed, running a hand through Jingjing's hair. "Is our awful waitress's

scent bothering you?"

The waitress in question snarled at them, beginning to direct the vitriol jzxuan had tuned out at lxc and his son, jgy beginning to move to step between them only to freeze when lwj bolted up from jzxuan's lap to get into between the two omegas himself.

"You will not speak to them," lwj said, his words shockingly clear for someone who wobbled so erratically on his feet.

"Wangji," jzxuan said softly, standing up just in time to grab his elbow to steady him. "You should sit down. You aren't— why are you looking at me like that?"

jzxuan squeaked when lwj reached out to press his fingers into the side of his neck, the pressure over his scent gland sending a shiver of pleasure through his body.

"You have a mark," lwj said and, for a moment, jzxuan felt like he was about to pass out from the speed at which

blood shot to his head, although he lightheadedly noted that it going to his head was significantly less mortifying than if it had gone to his dick. "Who did this?"

"Who?" jzxuan asked incredulously, ignoring the way lxc laughed and went back to recording them, Jingjing giggling

in his lap at the distraction from their waitress's burning scent. "Oh for— how bad is your family's alcohol tolerance? You can't remember what happened a few minutes ago— wah! Hey! Where are we going?"

"Away," lwj said as he continued dragging jzxuan out of the room by

his wrist, another buzz of pleasure running through him at the contact with his wrist gland. Well, if nothing else, lwj being drunk would give him a collection of memories to jerk off to later. Then again, maybe knowing what lwj felt like that was worse than just lusting after

him from afar... He'd gotten a small sample of lwj's body and scent the day he had pushed jyl into the lake and fallen asleep crying on his chest, but this? This was more sexually charged, even if he knew that lwj didn't like him like that.

jzxuan blinked sadly down at the

stairs as lwj pulled him along. It would have been nice, being more than friends with lwj. Their families were already connected and being together would have been easy, just alpha friends who went on trips a lot and took their family with them. No one would have questioned it.

Plus, they both knew the obligations that came with their status: get married, have a kid, be miserable. They could have been miserable together, instead of stuck in loveless marriages, like his mother and father were, like the Jiangs were.

jzxuan huffed as lwj continued

dragging him along, useless thoughts flittering through his head of how his mother lived: painfully loving yzy from the side. Her feelings overwhelming and unreturned. He didn't want that. He didn't want to go the rest of his life wishing it was him with lwj instead of—

jzxuan walked straight into lwj's chest, or, more accurately, his chin bumped into the slightly taller alpha's shoulder while their chests collided.

"What is wrong?" lwj asked, his free hand reaching up to tilt jzxuan's chin up and gaze longingly—

Nope, nope. That was not a

longingly look. That was a look of concern for a friend, with maybe a tint of attraction layered through it— Fucking hell. Stupid man and his stupid drunkenness, and stupid cuteness and hotness and his smell and—

jzxuan wanted to die of mortification when he caught whiff of

his scent, quickly shifting from the sad tone that had alerted lwj to his increasingly despondent mood to one that was highly inappropriate in public... or private. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Stupid summer clothes and their lighter fabrics that made it easier for scents to slip out when

you very much did not want them to.

"I'm fine," jzxuan muttered as he pulled away from lwj's chest and started dragging him along the dock, valiantly trying to ignore the way patrons of the restaurant were watching them. Some looked curious, but most simply looked scandalized

that two unrelated alphas would be so physically close. jzxuan tried to ignore them, as well as the occasional omega giggling and watching them with wide, blown out eyes that made him cringe. He knew there was some weird little culture of omegas being into the idea of two alphas

being together, but to have apparently come across some at a time like this!? Annoying and inconvenient! This was his life they were fantasizing about, it wasn't just sugar and rainbows and cocks up your ass!

"You are upset," lwj said as they moved further down the dock. "Why?"

"I just—" jzxuan started to say, his hand spamming around lwj's as they continued moving, their long legs taking them quickly to the end of the dock and into the coolness of the forest. Out of sight of the sun and the people, jzxuan relaxed slightly, letting his steps slow and

the hand wound firmly together with lwj's loosen, lest the man want to get away from him. "It's frustrating."

lwj's thumb rubbed soothingly, aggravatingly over his knuckles as they came to a full stop. "What is?" the older alpha asked and jzxuan almost laughed for how sober

the man sounded.

"Everything," he sighed, smiling weakly up at his friend before returning to staring at the dirt path. "That we can't be together. That we can't be openly with whoever we want to be. That our brother's can't be happy. That people out there use us to get off."

lwj tilted his head in consideration for a moment and jzxuan wanted to reach out a soothe the tiny wrinkle that had appeared between the older alpha's eyebrows. He didn't think the other man would mind, but it wasn't his place to do some and he had to blink away the overwhelming

swell of sadness that clenched through his heart. How the fuck had he ended up this attached to someone he barely knew? It was stupid. It had only been a few days, but—

But he'd already known about lwj before that, hadn't he? He'd already heard nhs speak about his

brother-in-law, in both the "my brother-in-law is adorable and so serious all at once" way, as well as the vague "I have an alpha friend who's into alphas too" way. He didn't think nhs had intended for him to figure out that the friend he spoke of was lwj. It was only after nhs

had told him in passing that his alpha friend was also a fan of a book jzxuan had been reading that he found out: lxc had been the one to recommend the book, and lwj had been the one to recommend it to him in begin with.

So he had already known, he had already been attached,

in a distant, hopefully sort of way... if he were lying to himself. He'd seen pictures, he'd imagined... something with the man. Something more than friendship. Something he should not have given his mind leave to think of, to fantasize about.

He'd been too late. lwj was already

happily taken and he was left with friendship and wondering what would have happened had they had met first. lwj seemed into him enough that maybe if they'd met before he and wwx had—

"I do not think it is a bad thing," lwj said, cutting off jzxuan's spiralling thoughts

jzxuan frowned up at his serious(ly adorable) face. What had they been talking about before his depressing thoughts and broken dreams had gotten the better of him?

As though reading his thoughts through some drunken telepathy lwj reminded him, "That omegas enjoy... getting off

to us."

jzxuan felt his mouth pull into a sneer, the one his mother was always trying to make him forget how to make. "And why's that?" he asked, tone a bit too bitter and annoyed for his liking.

"Because it shows they are potentially accepting of us. I would prefer they

find us... arousing over disgusting."

jzxuan frowned harder. That was true, but—

"Plus, more porn for us."

jzxuan physically felt his brain freeze for a moment before bursting into laughter, his head falling forward to rest against lwj's shoulder. "Excuse me?" he giggled.

Above him, lwj asked, "What is so funny?" in the most serious tone jzxuan could have imagined and another roll of laughter shot through him, his hands rising unbidden to gently grip into the other alpha's shirt.

"Ah~" jzxuan sighed as his he tried to catch his breath,

almost succeeding until he made the mistake of peeking up at lwj and catching sight of the adorably put out frown on his face. Another wave of amusement and affection sparking through jzxuan, just enough to let him let go of himself a little and turn his nose in to enjoy the

annoyed, drunken scent of lwj. "You're so funny when you're drunk," he said after a long moment of simply resting his cheek on the other man's shoulder. He smiled up at lwj, who was continuing to frown down at him in deep, intoxicated concern. "You actually have expressions."

“I always have expressions,” lwj said, his face so profoundly and openly unimpressed that jzxuan had to laugh again. “I do,” the older alpha huffed, his hands beginning to dig through his pockets.

“What are you doing?” jzxuan asked, pulling back slightly when lwj’s hands started

to edge a bit too close to his hips. He already had too much mayhem running rampant in his brain, he didn’t need lwj accidentally feeling him up.

“My phone,” lwj said, frowning as his hands repeatedly drifting through his pockets in search of the phone he had forgotten he

didn’t have.

“jyl took it,” he reminded the other man, starting slightly when lwj’s eyes shot up to his, blurry with intoxication, intense in the way only those who had drunk too much seemed capable of.

lwj nodded slowly, seriously, before reaching toward jzxuan and—

"Bwah!" jzxuan practically screamed as lwj's hand slipped into his pocket, searching for his phone. "Hey! Hey!" he said, trying to pull lwj's hand away from him and finding the other alpha was startlingly strong and immovable. "If you wanted my phone you could have just asked!"

he complained as the other man pulled the stolen phone out.

"It is fine," lwj said seriously, missing the way jzxuan rolled his eyes at the drunkard. If this was how erratic and impulsive the man became when he had only consumed a few drops of alcohol jzxuan was afraid of how a

whole cup would leave him. "Unlock?" lwj asked, turning big, puppy dog eyes and a pout at jzxuan, who sighed and accepted the phone back to unlock.

"What do you want it for anyways?" he asked as he swiped the phone open, pictures of his childhood dogs popping on the screen.

(A/N: past dog death, not stated but from old age)

He loved dogs, but he had decided, shortly after the two dogs he had grown up with died, to wait until he was an adult, living his own life in his own space to get more. They had been meant to be his dogs, but with so many

half-siblings running around they had become more collective Jin Sibling dogs and several of his family members had passed on horrible habits to them. They weren't necessarily abusive to the dogs, but had allowed begging and given them far more treats than was healthy for them.

lwj looked at the dogs for a moment before nodding in what jzxuan thought might be approval and flipping into his contacts. jzxuan shuffled around to peer over his shoulder to see what it was that he was doing, unsurprised to find lwj quickly maneuvering his way to wwx's number.

"You think he'll pick up a random call from me?" jzxuan said, nose crinkling in thought for a moment. "He might not have even saved my number, you know? Is he the type to pick up random, unknown calls?"

"Do not know," lwj said as the phone rang and rang and rang and—

"Hey, you've reached Wei Wuxian, top man of—" lwj hung up and hit the call button again.

"Hey, you've reached Wei—" lwj hung and called again.

"Hey, you've—" Click.

"Hey, you've reached Wei Wuxian, top man of the Burial Mounds. Sorry I missed you, please leave a messa—"

"Uhm..." jzxuan said, biting his lip as he watched his friend try to call his mate over and over and over again. "I don't think he's gonna pick up?" he said, startling when lwj growled at him and continued calling wwx's phone. "He could be busy, or have his phone off, or—"

"Oh for fucks sake!" wwx's voice growled over the phone. "The fuck is it? Is it a fucking emergency? Because if not, you should have just left a message. I'm in the middle of something and you—"

lwj sniffled and jzxuan tensed, eyes widening as tears began to well in lwj's eyes.

"Xian-gege is mad at his A-Zhan?" he asked softly over wwx's complaints.

"A-Zhan? I didn't—" wwx's voice cut off as lwj ended the call.

"Xian-gege is mad. We should call back later," lwj said in shakey voice, nodding like a child who was imparting great wisdom onto someone.

In lwj's hand, the phone started to ring, the screen lighting up to indicate wwx was calling back. lwj blinked down at the phone as it rang and rang and for a moment jzxuan didn't think the other man would answer it. Finally, just a second before it likely would have gone to

voicemail, lwj pressed the accept button and moved the phone to his ear.

"A-Zhan!" jzxuan could hear the older man say through the speaker, a privilege of still standing so close to lwj. The older alpha sounded tired and worried to jzxuan's ear and he wondered if wwx had been

so surly when lwj had called him before because he had been woken up. It was only early evening but jzxuan had heard stories of wwx's erratic hours, or, more specifically, had heard his brother rant about the odd hours most everyone who worked at the Burial Mounds kept.

His family's company didn't do much work with wwx's odd, if innovative, company (jzxuan wasn't even sure what, exactly, they did), but whenever their companies did do anything together his father had been sticking jgy in charge of dealing with them. Allegedly, it was because his

father was too busy, but jzxuan had come to the conclusion, after hearing stories about the wwx, that he was just too vocal for his father to deal with. Most men simpered in front of the jgs. jzxuan didn't think wwx would be capable of simpering even if his life were at stake.

"Xian-gege is still mad," lwj said sadly, his shoulders dropping so dramatically jzxuan almost laughed. "He should call back when he is calmer."

"A-Zhan!" jzxuan heard the older man cry before lwj was ending the call.

"Xian-gege is mad. We should call back later," lwj repeated,

startling slightly when the phone in his hand immediately lit up with another call from wwx. "Hmm..." he hummed, glaring down at the phone for such a long time the call was sent to voicemail. A moment later, the phone lit up again with wwx's name.

"Uhm... don't you think we

should answer that?" jzxuan asked tentatively as the call was sent to voicemail and the phone immediately lit up with another call.

lwj hummed a vague, considering noise before shaking his head. "We should let him calm down," he said, fiddling with jzxuan's phone until the

device turned off. "Gege says, 'If someone cannot calm themself, we must help them by disengaging.'"

"Gege?" jzxuan mouthed, squeaking when the other alpha grabbed his hand and started dragging him along the path. "You mean your brother?"

"Who else would gege be?" lwj asked.

A/N: I return \o/

If you didn't see my tweet from Thursday, I had a really awful headache the last few days and have basically been holed up in bed since Wednesday night. I am now feeling mostly better though 🫡

"Well..." jzxuan started to say, a little put out by how lwj's demeanour was some insane mix of completely reasonable and unreasonable all at once. "You do call wwx 'Xian-gege' so—"

"Xian-gege is Xian-gege, gege is gege," lw told him sternly, tugging his arm until they were

walking side by side.

"Okay," jzxuan said. "wwx is Xian-gege and—"

jzxuan squeaked when lwj abruptly pulled to a stop, the fingers of his free hand coming up press against jzxuan's lips and silence him.

"Xian-gege is Xian-gege," lwj said darkly, a deep frown across his face.

"Wangji..." jzxuan said, trying not to blush as his lips moved over lwj's finger. He grasped his friend's wrist and pulled it down and away from him. "I don't think wwx would—"

"Xian-gege," lwj corrected him, his scent rising up with an almost threatening undertone that made

jzxuan shudder. Never mind, lwj was definitely being more unreasonable than reasonable.

"—would like me to call him... that," jzxuan finished, trying not to coo at the way lwj's face fell. "It's something between the two of you," he explained. "I'd feel weird intruding on it."

lwj hummed in a way the jzxuan was pretty sure meant his friend was unconvinced by his argument, which jzxuan didn't think was fair. It was a good argument and he was pretty sure wwx would back him up on that... or tease both of them endlessly, but he was pretty willing to bet it

was more the former. The older alpha seemed rather possessive of lwj and that probably extended to the nickname his–his mate had for him as well. It was lwj's nickname for wwx and if it weren't for the fact that he feared lwj might throw his phone into the woods if he dared try

to get it back from where lwj had stuffed it into one of his own pockets, either having forgotten it wasn't his or not caring, he would have called the older alpha to confirm his stance.

"Xian-gege," lwj repeated, staring at jzxuan until he felt like his entire face was on fire.

"I—" jzxuan cut off, shifting his weight from side to side as he tried to think of a way to get lwj to let the topic go. "I have to use the bathroom!"

The other alpha blinked at him. Once, twice, before nodding slowly and asking, much to jzxuan's increasing mortification,

"Do you need a bathroom, or will the woods suffice?"

jzxuan blushed impossibly harder. He didn't actually need to use the bathroom, it had just been a, thankfully successful, attempt to distract the older alpha. Still, he didn't exactly what to imply that either he had to shit

or was too shy to just piss in the woods but—

"B–bathroom," he stammered, squeaking when lwj's nodded and continued dragging him down the path with renewed vigour.

"We should hurry. We do not want you to have an accident."

jzxuan spluttered. "I am not going to have

an accident!" he said sternly, glaring at the back of his friend's head before sighing and resigning himself to the chaos of a drunken lwj. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night and he silently sent prayers to every ancestor and deity, foreign and domestic, he knew of

that they wouldn't run into any further problems. lwj would be temperamental and overly emotional with him and other people who knew and loved him. They wouldn't run into anyone else, especially not his mom or yzy, or that prick zjd or that little brat of Jiang heir.

~

wwx squawked as his call to jzxuan's phone was met with a computerized lady telling him, "The number you have dialled is not currently in service, please check your number and try again later... The number you have dialled—"

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" wwx screamed as he aggressively hit

the end call button, waving off his nervous looking assistant when the alpha poked his head in to check on him.

He had fallen asleep at his desk at work after a long night of trying to work out a giant fucking kink in one of their projects. He'd only managed a few, restless,

perpetually interrupted hours of sleep in the last two days. Every time he'd tried he had been hit with another meeting, another emergency, another employee fucking something up or getting into a fight because everyone in the building was on edge and sleep deprived at this point.

He'd been lucky to get that short call in with lwj earlier before being pulled away again and then, finally, managed to find a moment to nap, even if it was likely only going to be for an hour or so. So when the phone he had forgotten to turn off had rung and rung and rung and

just wouldn't stop ringing...

wwx growled as he scrolled through his contact list, rubbing at his sore, dry eyes. He pressed the button to call lxc, which he had saved under the name "Bitchy Future Brother-in-Law," putting the phone on speaker as he fumbled for his eye drops.

"wwx?" came a voice that was definitely not lxc's.

"Who the fuck is this?" he nearly shouted into the phone as he tried to get the top off his eye drops. Seriously!? What the fuck was going on in Lotus Pier!?

"Jin Guangyao," the beta man replied evenly, seemingly unperturbed by

wwx's yelling, which, well, there was a reason his company and the Jin's had managed work together on a few projects recently, and it definitely wasn't jgs and his philandering ways, or jzxuan's chronic absence from business meetings. wwx knew even jc attended meeting with his

mother on occasion, although from what he had heard the surly boy would be better off growing up a bit before being allowed to talk to people. He wasn't sure why the Jin heir was so rarely seen even though he was older that jc, old enough that he should be like lwj:

getting ready to take an annoying and powerful position as he was taught the ropes before he took over the company. Alphas waiting for lqr to resign in lwj's case, and for jgs to kick it in jzxuan's. jzxuan seemed to almost be resisting entering the family business and wwx made a

mental note to encourage his mate to get to the bottom of it, once he managed to figure out what the fuck was happening.

"Sorry, jgy," wwx mumbled as he threw his head back and squeezed a drop into each eye, the liquid burning his already burning eyes. "Where's lxc?"

"He is currently... indisposed."

"Indisposed?" wwx asked tightly, trying to rein in his annoyance and growing concern. "Fine, whatever. All I want to know is what happened to A-Zhan? I just got a weird call from him, off your brother's phone. He sounded off, and then he hung up

on me and now no calls are going through, which I assume means he turned the phone off because he's lost his fucking mind."

"Ah..." the beta man sighed and if wwx could reach through time and space to strangle him he would. Normally, jgy's easy going, calm nature was soothing.

Currently, it was aggravating as hell. wwx wanted answers now not in the thousand years it generally took jgy to give a straight answer! Yes, wwx knew that time was meant to let irate people like him chill out, but he wasn't currently in a state of mind to do anything of

the sort! His mate could be in danger! Maybe jzxuan had kidnapped him! Or something had gone wrong in his brain and he was about to wander into the lake and drown!

"jgy," wwx growled into the phone. "What. Happened."

The man sighed softly as some sort of conflict sounded in

the background. "There was a small problem at dinner."

"What kind of problem?" he snarled, already trying to squint at his computer it figure out how long it would take for him to get back to Lotus Pier. Yes, he was still needed here. No, he really didn't give a fuck about that.

"Ah... I don't suppose you know that Lans don't handle their alcohol well?" jgy asked, his voice almost a whisper.

"Oh..." wwx sighed, flopping back in his chair and pressing his free hand over his burning eyes. "Not from experience," he said, "but A-Li told me a story about

how, ah... disinhibited A-Zhan was the first time she saw him drink alcohol." He snorted, remembering the story she had told him in drips of messy texts and quick phone calls the night it had happened. She had been desperate to figure out how to handle to temperamental alpha and,

at the time, wwx had found the entire situation amusing. After jyl had assured him the lwj was of no danger to her, wwx had helped guide her drag the obstinate alpha back to his dorm, laughing and sipping at his own drink as he enjoyed the long distance show. Now, however...

"So, what?" he asked testily, his leg bouncing anxiously against the floor and probably annoying the shit out of Wu-xiansheng, who worked in the office below. They really needed to move to their own building, wwx couldn't work under the oppression of a grumpy alpha who was always

complaining about his odd hours and his chair that rolled and his loud voice and omegas and alphas working in the same building and—

wwx shook his head and pulled his legs up under him. "Did A-Zhan decide to drink alcohol, even after what happened the last time? Or— oh fuck!

Did someone pressure him? I swear, if that brother of yours pressured my A-Zhan, I'll—"

"Zixuan did not pressure lwj," jgy snapped, startling wwx straighter at the unusual tone. "The waitress spilled alcohol on him and then he dragged my poor brother out of here against

his will."

"The waitress spilled alcohol on him?" wwx repeated dumbly, trying to imagine how someone could have enough alcohol spilled on them to get drunk.

"She also did it –hick– on purpose," a voice that wwx thought might be lxc piped up.

"On purpose?" he asked,

pulling his hand off his eyes to squint up at the ceiling.

"Babe, come sit down again," nmj's voice called, followed by him swearing and demanding lxc come back.

"Uh..."

jgy sighed and wwx could practically see the blank expression the man wore when he was done with everyone.

"Did something happen there too?" wwx asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

The beta sighed again, so long and drawn out the wwx almost laughed at how ridiculous he sounded, at how much like a worn out parent he sounded, although, given the cooing he could hear in the

background, it sounded like jgy may have been left in charge of lwj's nephew while nmj chased down lxc.

"Your mate," jgy said, surprising wwx a little straighter at the term, "only had a few drops of alcohol and passed out."

"Uh..."

"And when he woke up he was temperamental

and kidnapped my brother– not the other way around."

"Uh, okay—"

"And then, when A-Jue made fun of the Lan's lack of alcohol tolerance, Xichen insisted that he could handle his alcohol better than your mate could."

"Uh-oh."

"So he also had a few drops of A-Jue's drink."

In the background of the call, wwx could hear nmj calling out to lxc, who was apparently trying to play hide and seek, which, if memory served, lwj had also attempted to play with jyl the last time he had been drunk.

"A-Jue, language," jgy scolded when the alpha let out a long

stream of profanities following what sounded like him tripping over something.

"Yeah, A-Jue," lxc said sternly, "language."

wwx snorted. Given the way nmj continued to curse at his mates, he didn't seem to care much about keeping his language PG in front of his young child.

"It is not funny," jgy said, his voice shockingly menacing through the phone.

"It's a little funny," wwx said, almost immediately rejecting his comment when jgy responded, "Well then, I will be sure to encourage the Twin Jades to drink together with you some time. I know how

much you enjoy a good drink. Did you know Gusu is famous for one of its beverages?"

wwx did, in fact, know of the Gusu speciality Emperor's Smile. It was atrociously expensive and he could never quite bring himself to buy it, although he had been gifted it once by a client.

He had no intention, however, of ever drinking it with either of the Lans— well, maybe he would drink some with lwj one day, but only in a contained space with lots of consent so he could absolutely wreck the little drunk if he asked... or maybe begged. Making a drunken lwj beg

to be fucked was so nice... Still, he'd already had to deal with dubious, scent drunk sex with the man and had no desire to ever experience that kind of stressful decision again, thank you.

"I think I'm good, but if I change my mind, I'll let you know and you can finance

the endeavour," he said, flipping his phone over to speaker so he could message his niece and have her go track down the missing alpha pair. He might not known jzxuan well, but he somehow doubted the little alpha would be able to handle a drunk lwj, the fact that he had let his

phone be turned off was proof enough of that. "Anyways," he cheered as more crashing and swearing filtered though the phone call, "thanks for the information, jgy! Seems like you have your hands full though, so I'll let you go! Good luck! I would try to get them to stop

swearing through, that kid might be young but I assure you he's retaining and shit ton of what he hears!"

"wwx!" jgy growled as wwx ended the call. He had no idea what the beta man would have wanted to say to him, but he had more important things to deal with, namely tracking

down his lightweight mate and his questionable chaperone.

wwx: Yo yo yo! My sweet little niece!
wwx: You there, sweet pea?

wwx tapped his fingers against his desk, wondering how long he should wait for his niece to respond before calling her or someone else to go search.

Usually, jyl was quick to respond, but after several minutes of waiting (and calling her phone twice and being sent to voicemail) wwx started running through the other options he had. He might vacation in Lotus Pier multiple times a year, but most of the people he knew... well,

he didn't think lwj would appreciate having one of his former lovers show up to try and corral him back to their house, nor did he think any of them would appreciate having a temperamental and drunken alpha accidentally set on them. wwx grumbled as he mentally crossed people off

his "List of People I know in Yunmeng" for reasons varying from "former lover" to "moved because yzy is a fucking bitch." He tapped his finger aggressively against his phone, calling jyl one more time before sighing and falling forward to rest his head against the desk.

"But I don't wanna~" he whined into his papers, something about something breaking somewhere. He had tried to read it, before taking his power nap, but had barely been able to decipher it because it was boring, complicated and he was sleep deprived. He made an unintelligible

noise into the papers before pushing himself up, a pained and drawn out sigh leaving him as he poked at his phone. He wrinkled his nose, willing jyl to psychically know he needed her, that her distraction with who knew what was going to cost her dear beloved uncle so, so much.

"Fuckity, fucking, duck duck, quack fucking quack," wwx muttered to himself as he twisted in his chair, psyching himself up to hit the call button and—

"A-Xian," jfm's soft voice called through the phone. Barely a ring had passed and the man had picked up, which wasn't unusual

for the omega, he almost always picked up wwx's calls on the first ring. wwx had heard yzy complain about it multiple times, about how some important event was happening and wwx's call had ruined it because jfm had disappeared to take his call— like that was wwx's fault, like wwx

didn't spend hours every time he met with his childhood friend wishing things were different, wishing the omega wasn't madly in love with him.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" jfm practically purred into the phone, sending an unpleasant shudder up wwx's back. Gross. No.

"Hello, Fengmian-ge," wwx said, trying to keep the tight disgust from entering his voice. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you for asking," the omega purred back and wwx felt his stomach turn over, wishing, not for the first time, that his niece was as shitty a person has her

brother was turning out to be so he could just be done with the whole lot of them. Unfortunately, he loved jyl and he still had hope that jc would come to his senses and turn back into the sweet little boy he had once been, which meant tolerating both yzy and jfm's attitudes.

"Great!" he cheered, hoping his voice didn't sound too disgusted with the whole vibe of the conversation... and jfm in general. "That's great... alphas not causing too much trouble I hope?" he asked, fidgeting and tapping his foot restlessly. He wanted to just skip over the

small talk and ask the omega to either go look for his daughter or lwj— he hadn't decided which yet —but he knew if he did the man would be ornery and much less likely to cooperate with him. Plus, part of him was still hoping his niece would get his messages and call or text

him back before he had to beg jfm's help.

Unfortunately, by the time jfm had finished telling him about how "someone" had been telling him about some "awful foreign alpha," wwx almost laughing at the stupidity of his childhood friend's rambling, nearly incoherent story because

he knew that the "someone" was obviously yzy, part of jfm's ongoing refusal to talk about his wife with wwx— unless it was some truly awful story. wwx was half convinced the man was hoping he would either forget he was married or rush in to save him from an awful marriage.

Unfortunately, wwx eventually had to admit that there was no getting around it. jyl didn't love him anymore. The psychic bond they had had when she was child was no more. She loved an apparently sketchy british men instead now and could probably hear his thoughts and worried

instead of wwx's. It was just a matter of time before she left, flew across the world to start her new life as a pretentious man's arm candy, making baby after baby after baby and forgetting the people who had raised her— forgot the people who had risked their lives to protect

her own beautiful soul and body and—

"A-Xian, what's wrong?" jfm asked after wwx accidentally released a long, drawn out sigh.

"Just depressed that A-Li is about to get married, I guess..." he sighed, plonking his head back onto the pile of paper on his desk. "She's leaving..."

"Mm... she is," jfm sighed, before releasing a too loud, too long moan as— wwx hoped to everlasting hell —he stretched. "Then it will be A-Cheng, and then..." The omega trailed off for a moment, as though waiting for wwx's sleepy, worried mind to fill the silence with... what?

An offer to rescue him from a loveless, soon-to-be childless marriage? Fat fucking chance! The most he would do was support his childhood friend in getting a divorce and send him wq's way to find out the best way to get rid of his mating bite— and then disappear for a few months,

lest his childhood friend get any funny ideas.

"It will be lonely here..." jfm sighed, his voice still retaining that horrible purr but... but... "Without anyone who truly loves me around."

"Mn... lonely..." wwx mumbled as the world—

~

wwx bolted upright, a piece of paper

sticking to his cheek for a moment before he reached a hand up and ripped it off. He stared at it for a moment, trying to remember where the fuck he was and—

"Oh! Fucking hell!" he screeched as his mind came back on. "Oh, fuck fuck fuckity duck duck—"

wwx screamed when jfm's

voice called, "Oh, you're awake, A-Xian."

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" wwx yelled from the floor, his chair having tipped over in his panic at jfm still being on the fucking line while he napped! His downstairs neighbour was definitely going to be complaining now, given the screaming

and falling.

"Are you alright, A-Xian?" the omega asked as wwx heaved himself upright.

"No! I'm not! I— three hours!?" he asked incredulously as he caught sight of the still active call on his phone. "You– you stayed on the line for three hours listening to me sleep?"

"A-Xian is very cute when he sleeps," jfm said softly. "I hope that one day soon I will be able to watch you sleep again, just like when we were—"

wwx screamed, smacking the end call button frantically. No, no, no, no, no! "Nope, nope, fucking nope. Sorry, A-Zhan!

It's been hours. Either you're dead or have sobered up and I am not listening to that pervert talk about how he used to watch over me when we slept together as kids or do fuck knows what to my poor, innocent body. Oh... oh... I think I need to shower..."

"Wei-xiansheng—"

wwx screamed again, the sound much too shrill for his liking, hand slamming against his racing heart as he spun to stare wide eyed at his assistant— who had startled so badly at his boss's reaction that he had spilled the coffee he was bringing wwx all over himself and the floor.

"Ah..." wwx sighed, biting his lip as he reached for his phone. "Sorry about that, ah... I'll pay for the dry cleaning?"

His assistant narrowed his eyes at his boss, a murderous aura spilling off him as wwx quickly amended his offer, saying he would replace the outfit and

that he could have the rest of the day off.

The man sighed, the sound so long suffering that wwx truly wondered why in the world the guy still worked for him. Even he had to admit, this was a horrible job. Something was obviously wrong with the man! Just like something was

obviously wrong with lwj, agreeing to be his mate—

"Oh, shit!" wwx cried, fumbling with his phone to try calling lwj again (no answer), jzxuan (the number you have dialled is not currently in service), jgy (picked up and immediately told him to fuck off before hanging up). Welp.

He flipped through his phone, checking for any missed calls or texts from his niece and finding none. He sighed and tried calling her again, expecting the call to go straight to voicemail, just as it had all the time he'd called before—

"Hello?" a voice that he very much did not

recognize answered.

"Who the fuck is this?" wwx practically growled into the phone, yelping when his assistant threw his wet shirt at him.

"This is Wu-xiansheng," the voice answered, a decidedly unhelpful response given he was in possession of a phone that didn't belong to him.

"And why, Wu-xiansheng, do you have my niece's phone?"

"Dunno."

wwx growled into the phone as he picked up the shirt, grimacing when he noticed it had left a stain across both his own shirt and the floor... and had splattered drops across his desk. Awesome. "What do you mean

you don't know? Where did you get it?"

"Found it."

"You know," his employee piped up as wwx was readying himself to yell at the man, "people are more cooperative when you're nice to them." He smiled tightly at wwx before turning his eyes down to his pants and the giant coffee

stain across the front and proceeding to strip them off as well.

"Where do you find it?" wwx asked as sweetly as he could manage. Seriously, what was with this day and all the chaos? At the very least, he doubted it was a coincidence that his niece had somehow lost her phone

while two drunken Lans were running around, so she had probably come across lwj in the last few hours and was hopefully doing a better job than jzxuan was liable to do.

"You know that... ah... what are they called? They're a foreign food, from somewhere west? But this place

serves them more from the east? Ah..."

wwx blinked into space. What. He relayed the information to his employee who shrugged and suggested he ask what the food looked like.

"They're flat? But also not— no one eats them flat. That would be weird. Gotta be rolled up with things."

smells like he has recently enjoyed himself, although your mother's scent never—"

"NO!" jyl yelled, hands clapping across her ears. "No! No! No! No! No! I don't want to hear that!"

"He seems to engage with himself quite often after seeing Xian-gege." the alpha noted darkly.

his eyes somehow holding so much emotion while also appearing dead to the world. "My nose has been very sensitive since I began treating my scent sensitivity," he said matter of factly. "I can smell when you— or anyone really —have indulged in self-pleasure. Your father often

"It is nothing to be ashamed of," lwj said, even as he had a cruel smile teasing at his lips. "We all do it— even A-Li."

jyl's laughter froze, bright red screeching across her cheeks. "A-Zhan!" she squeaked. "How would you know what I do and do not do!?"

lwj looked at her,

lwj said and jzxuan felt a little part— okay, maybe a pretty big part —of him him die. jyl was lucky they weren't near any bodies of water, or it would have been his turn to push her laughing ass in.

"Give it back!" jzxuan insisted, cursing the other alpha for being so tall.

(A/N: smells, not seems, wow spelling)

lwj took another deep breath, sucking in the smell of his phone like it was the most delicious smelling thing in the whole damn world, which under different circumstances jzxuan would have found flattering, but—

"It smells like sex,"

lwj's phone instead, thinking she could trick the alpha into taking that one. This had resulted in both phones being confiscated, because, well...

lwj lifted jzxuan's phone to his nose. "It seems like you," he said, wrinkling his nose as jzxuan squeaked and tried to get it back.

visit any children they would be forced to have...

jyl had continued her story, successfully distracted away from lwj's agreement with her mother over zjd. Apparently, after her mother had asked for her phone, jyl had guessed she was trying to take away it and had given her

his mate into a position of being assaulted by their father-in-law, not that his disinterest in omegas was likely to save him from a loveless marriage. It would make it easier to send them off somewhere else, though. Somewhere safe, where they could live a good life and he could

to stop doing business with a few people after their names had shown up on such leaks, much to the older alpha's annoyance. His father didn't care about omegas or what happened to them, and sometimes jzxuan thought it was a good thing he wasn't into omegas— he would hate to put

knew that anyone who had ended up on those lists had probably tried to assault an omega— why else wouldn't they press charges against the omega who had bit them? Leaks of the lists weren't uncommon, with everyone on them being publicly disgraced. His father had even been forced

(A/N: implied sexual assaults, no details, and jgs's generally shittiness)

that in some foreign countries, alphas who turned up at the ERs with an omega bite were put on lists if they didn't admit who had bit them. The lists weren't official records or anything, but everyone

Omega bites were a bitch, burning through an alpha's system for weeks if they happened to end up on the receiving end of one of an omega's few natural defences. It was rare for an omega to bite though— it was considered a serious assault for them to do so. jzxuan had even heard

hiding something.

lwj had nodded along with yzy's opinion once again and jzxuan had had to quickly attract jyl's attention lest she notice her friend's continued disapproval of her first pick and kick him... possibly in the balls, given her current mood. Or worse, bite him.

so as to stop her from "engaging in communication with *that* man." This had been after some heated back and forth between the two women— with jyl insisting zjd was a perfectly acceptable alpha and potential mate, and her mother insisting he had a bad vibe and was

"Stupid," jyl muttered as she resumed her pulling. "Stupid, bitchy, controlling, alpha supremacist—" On and on she went as she dragged them who knew where. Eventually, once they had been walking for at least ten minutes, she told them that her mother had taken away her phone

"You do, do you!? Then tell me, why is it that even when I think one of *her* suitors is great, she turns around and says he is unacceptable!?" she hissed.

Behind her, lwj nodded— although jzxuan thought he was more likely agreeing with yzy's stance on, he presumed, zjd.

"I don't care!" jyl yelled, her shoes noisily across the stones. "If she doesn't care about me, then why should I care about her!"

"I'm sure yima cares about you—" jzxuan said, squeaking when the omega woman turned on him, her scent rising around them like burning sunlight.

about how horrible her mother is," lwj volunteered, which jzxuan did not think was liable to help the situation, given how many people were lingering around, watching them push their way out of the building.

"I still think it, ah... might be something best kept private..."

her voice so loud that jzxuan regretted being right next to her, "she's a bitch! And everyone should know— No! You know what? I'm sure everyone already does know it! It's not like she every bothers trying to hide how horrible and mean and unreasonable she is!"

"A-Li often talks

"I just—" jzxuan started to say as jyl began tugging on their arms to get them moving again. "I dunno, I didn't really think you'd talk about your mom like that? Not out in public ,anyways."

"Yeah, well," the omega practically hissed, before sucking in a breath and yelling,

"Nope! Muqin took them!"

"Why'd she do that?" jzxuan couldn't help but ask. To take even her own daughter's phone away seemed a bit extreme, but to also take lwj's...

"Because she's being a controlling bitch!" the woman said, startling both lwj and jzxuan to a stop. "What?"

the man or not, a moment later lwj asked, "Do you have my phone?"

jyl slipped her arms through both lwj's and jzxuan's— the benefit of both of them being with her, people were less likely to misconstrue their actions and familiarity as inappropriate —as she cheerfully bit out,

lwj's face before it was quickly replaced by one of annoyance.

lwj hummed as though he very much did not believe that, despite the fact that jzxuan was pretty sure the other alpha was probably loosing his shit trying to track them down. Regardless of whether he was annoyed with

"Mn..." lwj hummed darkly. "Do not want to go back to Xian-gege's."

"You do realize he was probably trying to call someone to come find us, right?" jzxuan pointed out as jyl ushered them down the hall, his plan of retreat forgotten as he watched a considering look pass over

"We're gonna go somewhere much more fun," and ignoring the way jzxuan moaned in distress. He should leave! That's what he should do! Leave his drunken friend from a quite obviously distressed jyl to handle and retreat to his room where he would be safe from their insanity!

to wwx's house?" jzxuan asked, giving the omega a pained smile as she blinked slowly, almost cruelly at him before scurrying back into her room, appearing a moment later with her wallet and some shoes.

"Nope!" she said, her tone cheerful if still a little wet, adding,

"A-Zhan!" jyl squeaked, having apparently heard her friend's words despite her attempts to drown out his voice. "That's my father and uncle you're talking about! They might not be related by blood, but they are practically brothers! That— that—"

"Yeah, that tracks,"

jzxuan agreed over her complaints. "What?" he asked when the omega woman turned her indignancy onto him. "It's not like your dad hides that fact that he wants into wwx's pants."

Beside him, lwj growled while jyl began running away, singing, "La la la, I can't hear you!"

"So, it was not just my perception..." lwj said darkly, his head turning back towards Lotus Pier— which they had left the confines of after several minutes of walking in the direction jyl insisted they "needed to go."

jzxuan sucked in a harsh breath when an absolutely murderous

scent reached him and he had to abruptly reach out— even as his instincts were telling him to get away from the scary, scary alpha —to grab lwj's wrist and keep him from going anywhere. "Hey now! You can't just go and murder jfm!"

"Why not?" lwj asked coldly, although he didn't

attempt to remove himself from jzxuan's grasp— or drag him down the path as well, which jzxuan knew the other alpha would be perfectly capable of doing if he really wanted to.

"Because it would cause a scandal. For the Jiangs, the Lans— for wwx. What would you even say when the

police arrested you? That you offed him for being interested in an extra marital affair? It's not like you can tell them it's because the guy is constantly hitting on your man— have you ever even personally seen him flirt with wwx? How are you gonna explain that? Plus, wwx isn't

even here, so even if we lived somewhere were alpha/alpha relationships were accepted and you begged territorial instinct override, it wouldn't stand up."

lwj growled, seemingly annoyed that he couldn't claim his territorial instincts had gone haywire— something that

occasionally happened when an alpha or omega was too close to their rut or hear and their territory was infringed upon or mate was threatened. It was a controversial law and many places had banned or significantly limited its use— usually to only heat of the moment incidents.