a/b/o verse

[unmelting]

Kaeya is in over his head, which is not something he's used to. The cavalry captain of the Knights of Favonius is usually prepared, usually pulling strings and planning and plotting before he even sets a foot into any situation or gets his own hands dirty.

But something has gone wrong. Clearly.

It started a few days ago. Kaeya hadn't felt right, but there was nothing he could really pin down as specifically wrong, so it was easy enough to shrug it off. Sure, he's feeling vaguely overheated, his thoughts too easily distracted, every little scent suddenly overwhelming. But he can still manage.

So when Jean asks that he go investigate some trouble in the ruins outside of the city, he really doesn't have a good reason not to agree. It should be fine. A simple trip really, though he does see the vague concern in the acting Grand Master's eyes at how distracted he seems. He pulls himself together to wave it off. And off he goes.

Now here he is, having found the root of the problems that Jean has sent him to. The source of the trouble is a band of treasure hoarders, ones that he has dealt with before. Tensions rise, and Kaeya should be able to handle this -- either through clever words or icy sword blows. It's nothing he hasn't overcome before. Except this time, he feels like he's losing his mind. And two of the treasure hoarders realize it, two alphas who have caught the very distinct scent of an omega in heat.

Kaeya, on the other hand, is still clueless. He's a beta, after all. When his peers had begun presenting, he never had, and had accepted what that meant for him. Honestly, it was simpler that way. Wasn't it? But here he is, sword in hand but not raised, one visible eye wide, pupil blown, face flushed, as he watches the men approach.

'Don't worry,', one of the men croons, 'We're more than happy to help. You're lucky you found us.'

A frown crosses Kaeya's face. That doesn't... sound right. But maybe he does need help. Hmm.

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[unmelting]

Sometimes Diluc is so rational it's infuriating. Or maybe that's just his own impatience and restlessness speaking. He feels entirely out of sorts -- though markedly better the closer he stays to the other man -- and if Diluc is right, and this is his first heat, then it's only just starting. He's in for worse than this. "Fine. Not impossible," he agrees, distracted as he tries to wrap his mind around it.

He looks up at Diluc when he hears his name, and there's something uncharacteristically open and vulnerable in his expression. It's hard to remember to keep his masks in place when he feels like he's burning up, when even Diluc's voice sounds like music and safety and home, even if that hasn't been true for years now.

So maybe he's a little surprised that Diluc answers the way he does. And really all that Kaeya hears is that first yes. Relief floods him as he steps inside, and he glances back at Diluc over his shoulder. "I'm sure. I trust you." A laugh and he admits, "You might be the only one." Trust is a funny thing. For all the tension and strain that's been wedged between them, Kaeya trusts him. Diluc is a good man -- stubborn, infuriating, headstrong, but still a good man.

And beyond that, the warning about pregnancy strikes as less of a warning and more of a siren song to the instincts already overwhelming him. Yes. Alpha. Breeding. This. This is what he needs.

[searingwing]

He stares at Kaeya and can’t fathom why Kaeya trusts him at all. His rage had blinded him all those years ago. It had been all he had left when the glittering shards of all he knew rained down and he tumbled into darkness. He had been a foolish young man who believed the world was clear cut.

He should have known better. Once he had been the apple of his father’s eye. His pride and joy. In a better world than the one it really was. He doesn’t blame his father for loving him and wanting him to do all he couldn’t.

Diluc closes his eyes for a moment and wonders if he is making a mistake again. Kaeya is heat addled. He should shut the door and lock him in, keeping him safe and protected even from his instincts that yearn to be close. But he can no more say no to the pull, to Kaeya when he truly needs him than he could breathe water while in the depths of the sea.

He steps into the house behind him and shuts the door. Here in the Serenitea pot, Diluc’s cottage is a modest thing. There is no ancient family legacy here. Nothing but what he brought. The table and chairs in the main room are all made by hand, a rich red wood that has weight to it in color and feel. It’s unfinished because there is beauty in natural things.

The doors are the same way. Everything is made by hand from the hand towel in the small kitchen before a wide stove, to the pots and pans hanging above it. Even the couch with soft cushions and a few blankets. Books line a bookshelf by the bedroom.

He sighs and leads Kaeya to the bedroom while taking up the blankets. He claims the cushions too. Then he lets his guards down. Saying things that should have been said a long time ago. “I did you a great many wrongs. I should taken the time to really listen to you. I shouldn’t have raised my sword at you.”

He breathes out slowly, “I’m not…angry at you.” The world, yes. Kaeya? No. Kaeya had been caught in his own problems. He opens the bedroom door. The bedroom is as modest as the rest of the house. The bed is big and the lamp on the bedside table is a delicate thing of wood and glass in the shape of a lamp grass. Anemo elemental energy glitters in the center and gives it the light.

“You’re the only one I trust too.”

[unmelting]

Diluc had reacted with anger towards a traitor all those years ago; it's hardly something that Kaeya can blame him for. He can't change what he was, what he is, no matter how much he might wish that he could. Better that Diluc knows, better that Diluc wouldn't hesitate to raise his sword, which is why Kaeya looks startled at those words.

If his thoughts were less storm-tossed, if he could think clearer about what Diluc is actually saying rather than the soothing sound of his voice, he'd have a better response than staring at him in confusion. What is this, Diluc? His heart, poor confused thing, doesn't know whether it should allow the little seed of hope that wants to bloom.

"Or maybe you shouldn't have lowered it," he sighs even as he steps in closer, despite the blankets and cushions the other man is holding, more or less molding himself up to his side, nuzzling his way into his hair. Gods but he smells good. Like smoke and sun-drenched grass. Kaeya hears himself whimper before he realizes he's the one who made the sound.

Embarrassing. How do Omegas live through this?

But Diluc trusts him? Even now? It makes his throat feel tight, voice strained as he speaks. "I like your house. It feels like you."

[searingwing]

“I shouldn’t have raised it at all.” Diluc repeats with confidence. But things had ended up as they are. And shudders at the whimper of the omega that is his former best friend. His brother in arms.

He tosses the blankets and cushions onto the bed. “Thank you. When Aether said I could move here…I wanted a space that…” He closes his eyes. “A place that was mine and everyone else’s. It’s a small community here, isn’t it?”

And he had wanted to be part of it. Gave all he could to it. “We can talk more about that later. I don’t want leave you stuck like this. Can I touch you?” Kaeya said he would ask him to but he wants to again give him one last chance to say no.

[unmelting]

A lifetime ago, when they were young, before so much had come between him, Kaeya had daydreamed a bit about this. Diluc had presented as an Alpha, and maybe, just maybe back then he'd considered the possibility he might be an Omega, that Diluc would notice him that way, that maybe he'd be worthy of being looked at as a mate by the young shining star that was Diluc. But that time had passed; he'd been certain of his own status and then that day had changed everything anyway.

So what if he never really shook his childhood crush; he'd done a good job of walling it up in the back of his mind, a room that he tried to pretend didn't exist.

Walls are falling down now though, all his careful masks burning away with the fever that's boiling his blood. "Please? I need it. I feel like I'm losing my mind."

[searingwing]

He turns fully towards him and the past when he had childish fantasy and now collide. There’s a world of things in his gaze as he steps closer and wraps an arm around Kaeya’s waist. He leans in and presses their lips together. It’s a gentle kiss. He tests the waters as he pulls him closer and the scent of Kaeya fills his nose.

He smells like fresh snow and pine. He seems like home and the song of that scent has a deeper meaning to him. Mate. This is so complicated.

Nothing is ever simple between them. He had been naive to think it was back when he was a foolish boy. Yet still now he has allowed it in the embers of the flames of his heart burst to life as he moves his lips over his and breaks away from his mouth. He follows the line of his neck down to the scent glands he knows will be there. He presses his face against it, breathing in deep.

He recognizes the crooning noise he makes, one that asks for an answer from the omega. Kaeya has to surrender to the heat. A scary thing for someone so used to always being in control. He forces himself to speak and his voice is deeper than usual. “Let it in, Kaeya. The more you fight it the worse it gets. I’m here. I’ll be here and I’ll guide you through this.”

[unmelting]

It's a gentle kiss all right, but that doesn't mean the moment that their lips touch that something doesn't tear through Kaeya, a dangerously sharp blade that rips away everything but Diluc. Diluc kissing him and holding him. His Alpha. His mate. And he knows neither of those things are true, knows that Diluc would never think of him that way (right?) but he also knows that he needs him more than he has ever needed anyone right now.

He's surprisingly breathless when the kiss breaks, and when Diluc presses his face to his neck, scents him, Kaeya can feel his knees go weak, and he wraps his arms around the other man to hold on for dear life.

It's probably best that he does because that sound would've floored him otherwise. He may be entirely new to this whole Omega thing, but late as it is, his body knows what it wants, what it needs. Surrender is terrifying, but the other option is pushing Diluc away and that is unthinkable. He couldn't, and gods he doesn't want to. The redhead is right. He's been resisting this for days and it's tearing him apart. The low, answering cry that leaves his lips is pure instinct, answering Diluc in a plea and permission wrapped into one. Kaeya lets go. It's frightening, a metaphoric freefall, but he trusts Diluc to be there to catch him. "Don't leave me."

[searingwing]

He pulls Kaeya closer when he notices him clinging to him. The world seems like it goes still as he waits for a reply. If Kaeya doesn't let go and let the heat take him this will be so much harder to help him through it.

Relief sweeps through him at the low answer that sends heat rolling through him. His Omega. His Mate. He has to fight with the instinct to bite him. Kaeya is heat-addled. He can't properly consent to it. Later when the heat is gone from his mind he'll talk it over with him. He has no idea how he'll act when he's utterly rational again.

He draws Kaeya towards the bed and draws him down onto it as he drags his tongue over Kaeya's scent glands, scenting him again. He tucks the pillows around them in a makeshift nest. He doubts Kaeya will give a shit right now.

Not with the heat howling through him. He leans up and kisses him again, mindful of his fangs. He can't help it. It had been so hard not to bite him. Make him his. His hands slide over Kaeya's chest down to the fastenings on his vest. He gets it open, followed by the belt. He croons again.

Relax Kaeya. You're safe.

[unmelting]

There is nothing in Kaeya that would even begin to protest if Diluc bit him. It takes all the fragmented willpower he has left not to plead with Diluc to do just that. For now, at least, his self control holds.

He's given in to instinct and desire now, and he moves with Diluc eagerly, chasing the promise of more of touch and of some relief. His breath catches at the drag of that tongue over such a sensitive place. His hands grip at Diluc's clothes, which very much need to go.

That kiss takes his breath away, and Kaeya leans in to return the kiss, unable to hide the growing desperation. His tongue teases its way over Diluc's lips, catching at the feeling of those fangs. Oh. He likes that too. His own hands can't stay idle and he's moving to start undressing the redhead as well, working buttons and fastenings undone, impatiently pushing his clothes down off his shoulder. He needs to feel his skin, against his own, all of him. That sound sends a shiver through him and he croons back.

All this time, even not knowing what was going on with himself, his guard has been up, fighting against the instinctual fear of being on his own for this, unclaimed, without an Alpha. But now Diluc is here. Diluc will help him. Stay with him. "Diluc..." he nearly purrs his name, "Alpha." He tugs at his shirt. "Off."

He's usually more eloquent than this, but words aren't exactly what his brain is focused on right now.

[searingwing]

Their clothes are rapidly being shed and he shudders. Kaeya calling him Alpha destroys the last of his guards. A low rumbling possessive growl rolls out of him. He sits up enough to shed his shirt and peel Kaeya's off of him. Naked from the waist up, he reaches back and gets rid of their boots.

They don't need them. The scent of Kaeya is everywhere. It would be overwhelming if it didn't feel like home. He finally lays down over Kaeya, kissing his chest and back up to his mouth.

With deft hands, he gets Kaeya's belt open and off. His own follows suit. Diluc reaches down and pulls Kaeya's pants down, hooking his fingers enough to get his underwear off too. He has no idea how many days Kaeya has been fighting himself. Getting him through the first coupling during a heat will at least give him a short window of time before he loses it again.

But they'll be lucky if Kaeya doesn't end up carrying his heir. ...or would that be unlucky. He doesn't actually know how Kaeya feels about that.

[unmelting]

Kaeya, when he's clearer minded and looking back, will appreciate Diluc's efficiency at this particular moment. His own hands are hard to keep steady, trembling from the need. Like the rest of him. And he's nowhere near as coordinated as he'd like to think he is.

It's hard to think straight, hard to concentrate on anything aside from the way Diluc feels against him, above him. He moans in response to that growl, welcoming that possessive sound, everything in him agreeing with a wordless: Yes. Yours.

He helps kick off his pants, his underwear, fitful and eager to be done with it.

His hands are moving fitfully over newly bared skin, like he can't possibly touch Diluc enough. There's an almost frantic desperation in him, as if now that he's let himself sink into this, into his heat and everything that comes with it, everything he's held back and staved off with denial for the past few days has struck him at once. "Diluc. I need--" Everything. Anything he'll give him.

[searingwing]

Kaeya responds to him with an eagerness he can’t sort out is the Omega in him finally having sway or the man himself. His touch is like fire, stirring him to heights of want he hadn’t thought possible outside of a rut. But he can’t ignore how desperate and frantic he seems. Diluc removes his own pants and underwear as fast as he can.

He quickly grabs the blankets, tucking them in around them to form the bowl shape of a nest. It might help. Diluc settles over Kaeya, between his thighs as he reaches down to feel if Kaeya is already ready to pair.

He’s aware Kaeya has had sex before. But sex as a beta and sex as an omega are different things just because of certain factors. “I know. Relax for me, you’re doing so well.” He croons. He has had sex himself in the past. It had been strictly to aid but never to claim and breed.

None of it compares to right now with Kaeya under him. How right it feels. How his fangs won’t retract because the want to have this omega as his is too strong.

[unmelting]

Kaeya looks around to see the way that the redhead has arranged the blankets. Oh. That's good. Safe. It settles some uneasiness in him that he hadn't even recognized. Despite himself, Kaeya laughs, looking up at Diluc, a small moment of clarity in the haze of his heat, "I'm terrible at this. The worst Omega. I... ah!" His voice breaks and all laughter stops as Diluc's hands go wandering. Now that his attention has been drawn to it, Kaeya is all too aware that his body is ready, wet and slick and that is new. So while he's the worst Omega, at least his body seems to know what it's doing.

That's something. Maybe.

The praise from Diluc undoes him though, and he whines softly. More of that. More assurance that he's doing good, that he's being what his Alpha wants. There's that possessive again. He's going to get himself in trouble with those thoughts.

[searingwing]

"Not. The worst." Diluc tells him as he presses a kiss to his neck. "You weren't raised that way. That's all." He positions himself, fingers pressing into Kaeya long enough to confirm he's ready. His control is fraying. Kaeya is right here and so willing.

He draws his fingers out and uses the slick on them to get himself ready. His breath comes out in short puffs of air. Diluc braces himself over him as he says, "Breathe," He instructions as he slowly presses into him, taking his time.

Kaeya is hot and right, accepting him as if they were made for each other. He drags his fangs over his bottom lip and a flush blooms on his face as he presses his forehead to his. "Kaeya," He breathes as he takes his time, only lifting his head to look at him when his hips meet skin.

"Are you okay?"

[unmelting]

Not the worst is nice. He can work with that. But Diluc is right. Years ago when it seemed clear he was a beta and wouldn't present otherwise, he'd never found any reason to learn how to handle a heat. And here is his crash course in it, and he's grateful for Diluc being here, with him. Even the thought of dealing with this on his own -- or what may have happened with the treasure hoarders if Diluc hadn't shown up -- has him choking on a distressed whimper, or maybe that's just the protest as Diluc draws his fingers out of him, leaving him feeling emptier than before.

"Diluc..." Just his name, like it's really all Kaeya can even manage now. But he takes a shaky breath as he's told, arms winding tightly around Diluc, like he can urge him even closer. This is what he needs, Diluc hard and hot and inside him, filling him up, bearing over him.

He hears his name and opens his eyes to look up at Diluc, face flushed and pupil blown, looking almost as blissed out as he feels. The question is confusing given his state and the fact that his brain has decided to let other parts of his body be in charge for the moment. So by way of answer, he trills a soft, pleading sound before he remembers he can use his words. "Feels good. So good. More? Breed me?" His fingers curl against Diluc's back, sinking his nails into skin.

[searingwing]

Diluc's eyes widen. Kaeya is so far gone that words are utterly beyond him. He'd trilled. That shouldn't call to him like a siren song but he chirps back in reply. He sets his hands on either side of his head and leans in until he can gently kiss him. Then he draws back, thrusting back in with a slow, steady roll of his hips.

His fangs drag on Kaeya's bottom lip as he breathes, He slips his fingers into his hair with a shaky exhale as he builds the pace. Kaeya is tight and wrapped around him, begging him for what he needs. "I'll breed you," He breathes as some part of his control slips.

His father was a beta and his mother an omega. His father had looked at him and seen his mother in him. Until he presented. And then Diluc has spent all his life controlling him to make his father happier. Look at his son so composed, so calm, so poised. Deep down in his soul he was never tame.

He growls in possessive sound that is deeper than any other growl he's made until now. Like a lion bearing their fangs. His voice tinged with it, "You feel so good. So right." He clamps down on the want to say my omega. But presses his face close to his neck and inhales. "Missed your scent, Kaeya. Kaeya."

[unmelting]

The kiss undoes him. He leans up to meet it before crying out as Diluc finally starts moving, losing most of the sound to the other man's lips. He can feel the sharpness of those fangs and again all he can think of is how much he wants to feel them sinking into his neck, marking and claiming him. He's greedy, and he knows it, but it's Diluc, who despite everything, has always been the most important person to him, his true north. Not that Kaeya has ever told him that.

His back arches, rocking to meet each thrust, everything about him an encouragement, an open invitation for more.

Kaeya trills again at the praise, at how that deep growl in Diluc's voice runs through him like his own personal earthquake. Nails drag down the redhead's back. "So good. Need you. Missed you, so much. Always, I--" He cuts off, mercifully, before he spills all his secrets. Kaeya lets his head fall back to bare his neck, his throat, to Diluc's attention. It's dangerous, all trust, surrender, a wordless and subconscious invitation for the redhead to claim him once and for all.

[searingwing]

This is dangerous. He has to walk the fine line of giving Kaeya what he needs. What they both need. And not taking from Kaeya what he isn't sure he wants. He still presses his face to his neck, dragging his tongue over the scent glands, and rubs his face against it as he drives into him.

Kaeya missed him. It rings in his head as he grabs his hips and snarls against his throat. He arches into the sting of those nails and kisses him on the mouth. He swallows another growl and mercifully silences them both.

He licks into his mouth, eager to taste him. His control slips and he presses down onto him, pinning him with his weight and his strength, building the pace to something that steals their breath.

[unmelting]

It's not the pain of those teeth that his instinct is singing for, but the feeling of that tongue in such an intimate place has Kaeya's entire body shaking in pleasure. His legs wrap around Diluc's waist, clinging tightly him.

It really is a mercy that Diluc kisses him because Kaeya doesn't know what might come spilling past his lips next. Maybe he'd continue begging Diluc for more, to breed him, knot him, claim him, everything. Or maybe the buried truth would slip free now that all his usual walls and defenses are in tatters, that missed isn't a strong enough word, that Kaeya has been in love with him all this time.

Much better that Kaeya can part his lips eagerly, muffle pleasured sobs lost in the middle of the kiss, and not go blurting out things that he can't take back.

[searingwing]

He feels the base of his cock swell and works into him in shallower thrusts. He shifts the angle to find that spot that will make Kaeya lose it. He's never knotted anyone before. Even in his ruts it had been that risk and he'd had to finish another way.

Kaeya in his first heat can't be soothed any other way. And he realizes how much he wants to claim Kaeya in some way. His knot swells completely and locks him in. Pleasure is building in them both, he's getting close.

He licks that spot on Kaeya's neck and purrs deep in his chest, a pleased Alpha that's utterly content. It's the first time he's ever purred since he had to kill his father. This man dear to his heart is where he belongs.

[unmelting]

Kaeya breaks from Diluc's lips to cry out, a scream of need and pleasure and relief. Archons help him, he needs this more than he needs to breathe. His voice rises again as feels Diluc's knot growing, feels the way his body takes him in. It's too much, it should be too much, but it's what he needs and fuck it's what he wants. It's Diluc.

It's the sound of Diluc purring that is the final straw for Kaeya. He hears that sound, and there's a white hot thought that his Alpha sounds that pleased because of him. "Diluc... Alpha, I..."

His voice breaks on a cry as he tumbles straight over that edge. He comes hard, vision going white as his orgasm crashes over him, body bowing sharply, nearly arching off the bed entirely, nails dragging down Diluc's back.

[searingwing]

His back stings and he buries his face into Kaeya's shoulder as he finds his own release. He spills into Kaeya with every shallow rock of his hips. Then he collapses on top of him, still purring. It's a deep rumble in his chest. He reaches out over the edge of the nest to grab the cleaning towel he'd gotten.

Diluc wipes Kaeya and himself down, then tosses it over the edge. He has a feeling Kaeya will be a bit more lucid soon. He arranges the pillows a bit better, tucking the blankets at the edge into a more nest-like shape.

Kaeya calling him Alpha in his need will haunt his better dreams. He's worried what reality and clarity will bring to Kaeya. What's done is done. When his nerves won't allow him to fuss anymore he looks back at Kaeya's face.

[unmelting]

Slowly, pleasure fades and the worst of the delirium and haze of his heat slowly begins to clear. The sound of Diluc purring is beyond soothing though, and Kaeya's hands release their grip, smoothing softly down his back now, stilling when the other begins to clean them.

Bit by bit it's all coming back to him, every sensation, every sound and okay, well, that will live in his head and heart for the rest of his life. But he also remembers the way he acted, the begging and the need and oh god he called Diluc Alpha, he pleaded with him to breed him.

The blush blossoms over his face, a full and obvious red when Diluc looks back up to him. Kaeya blinks at him before lifting both hands to cover his face. Don't look at him, Diluc. His voice is muffled as he manages a, "I am so sorry." Look what he's dragged Diluc into. Fuck. He'd almost confessed everything too. That is one small mercy, he supposes.

[searingwing]

He'll never tell Kaeya that blushing makes his skin look richer. It gives him away every time. Diluc reaches back and undoes the tie in his hair, letting it fall down about his face and over his back. He tosses the tie aside off the bed.

"I meant every word." He says into the ensuing silence. His fangs haven't retreated and it's a little harder to speak but he makes sure his words are clear. "And I wouldn't have gone through with it if I didn't want to be here."

He hopes that sinks in. Kaeya seems...he takes a breath and looks away. "But I need to know what you want while you're still lucid. Your needs come before all else."

[unmelting]

Peeking through his fingers, Kaeya sees that hair fall down in a fall of fiery red. Diluc is stunning, and has always been. He lowers his hands from his face and instead reaches up without thinking to card his fingers through that hair. When they were younger, when they were closer, incidental little touches were commonplace. He spent hours sprawled across Diluc while they rested in between adventures. But it's been so long.

When Diluc breaks the silence, Kaeya looks up at him, startled. Every word? He remembers the things that Diluc said, words of trust and regret for the way things have been, promises that he'd be here for him in this.

He may still be blushing -- and darker once he realizes that they're still joined together, and quite stuck that way, and doesn't that want to reignite the fever in him straight away -- but now his fingers find their way over Diluc's cheeks. If I didn't want to be here. Does that mean he does want to be here... with him?

Diluc knows him well enough that Kaeya is sure he can see the gears in his mind turning. Kaeya is an intelligent man, sharp and perceptive, and assembling everything in this moment of lucidity. He takes a breath of his own when Diluc looks away, and takes the biggest risk he's taken in his life. "I want you. I've always wanted you." It can't really be a surprise, can it? For so long he was ever the shadow to Diluc's brilliant burning light, and even after years, Diluc is still the most important person in his life.

A pause and he adds, petulantly. "And I want to never have a heat again. People really deal with this regularly?"