Chapter Text
For Lio, encountering an Alpha close to one of his heats always went something like this:
The person, concentrating on whatever they were doing, slowly stilled. Their head would lift, sniff sniff, and then their body would tense. A few moments later, they would inevitably decide to investigate, and slowly, the head would turn.
Eyes would look this way, that way, until they locked on Lio.
A deep breath. A flash of eyes. A lick of the lips and a shift of the hips. An awareness that this was not just a ready omega, but a very pretty omega, one who was deliciously small.
It was so predictable that it never failed, and Lio hated every moment of it.
There were a lot of misconceptions about omegas, not the least of which was that they had to be paired up to be protected. That they belonged at home, with a family, tucked away and not bothering the hardworking alphas and betas. Lio would fight any alpha to the death and he would win, but he couldn’t hide the fact that he had heats and they turned him into a raving mess mewling on the floor, yearning to be painted in alpha scent and held down by a hot, sweating alpha body or two.
Some people tried to hide their status, with products and pills and convenient colds, but you could almost always tell anyway; you just didn’t say anything if they didn’t, and most of the time that just bread discrimination no one could openly combat.
A lot of managers still didn’t want to deal with it though, so in a lot of government work, there were omega-based squads. They were always ridiculed and belittled and had to work twice as hard as everyone else just to get by, but in the last few years, heat-based paid leave had become a thing, as had certain costs associated with dealing with it.
Being Burnish only worsened matters, though. Burning Rescue got called to quite a few incidents where Burnish omegas literally burned up when no one was there to temper their flames. They’d lock themselves away during a heat and get so hot they’d ignite spontaneously and either die or burn the place down. It set a whole new meaning to the term sex crime.
Too, Burnish omegas were said to be more sensitive in general, and alphas more intense, so they were fetishized and commoditized. Being a Burnish omega put a lot of forks in someone’s back.
So maybe, Lio shouldn’t have been so defensive when Galo had suddenly “remembered” he was an omega.
But he still was.
Galo had figured it out when they’d first met, or at least suspected it. it was part of why Lio had wanted Meis and Gueira to be there with him while getting locked up, because Vulcan and his ilk sure has hell had.
But here—a few months later during a visit to Burning Rescue, with Galo at the kitchenette, his back to Lio whilst making coffee—Lio saw those tell-tale signs again as he entered the room: Pause. Head tilting back, sniff sniff, as if the entire rest of the world had fallen away.
And in Galo’s case, his already broad shoulders squared, and his upper half expanded visibly as his lungs filled with air. It was absolutely as enticing as it was intimidating.
But this time, rather than turn around and leer at him, Galo just hovered a second, wavered a little on his feet, then went back to stirring his coffee. “Oh yeah,” he mumbled to himself, pouring in the creamer. “I forgot.”
And then, sipping at his coffee, he went over to Ignis’s office, for whatever they were going to discuss. He didn’t even look at Lio.
Lio could have kissed him. But he probably shouldn’t be encouraging that sort of behavior. Not so close to a heat, anyway, and not with a guy he actually kind of liked.
“Hey, Galo,” Lio said, catching him in the hall after the meeting. Heads were turning, the alpha ones anyway, every time someone went by, and Lio pulled the man aside into one of the bunk rooms before the situation could get more awkward.
“What is it?” Galo trilled at him gently, a soft light in his eyes as he looked Lio over. With the proximity, he took in a deep breath through his nose and hummed contentedly, eyes fluttering shut like he was smelling a nice candle.
Lio huffed and whacked him on the shoulder, which honestly had no right being that meaty. “Focus. I need to talk to you about the next few days.”
Galo lit up like an eager lightbulb. “Yeah?” he asked, as Lio closed the door. Galo put his hands on his hips and cocked them to the side, watching him appraisingly as he moved.
“I’m gonna head out for a few days,” Lio stated, putting his back against the door and crossing his arms. “So, don’t wait up. Or…worry. Is all.”
Galo bit his lip. “Your…heat, right?” he asked, his innocent face a little hesitant.
It was a bit of an improper question, and Lio blinked in surprise. But it was what it was, he wasn’t a liar. He nodded, deciding to stare at his feet instead of Galo’s beautiful skin.
(He wasn’t sure why Galo’s tanned, clear skin was suddenly so interesting and attractive, why a vivid flash of licking a line up the muscle in his neck as he sat in his lap came to him, but his mouth was watering with the thought of it anyway.)
“Hah, knew it,” Galo boasted above his head, dispelling some of the heatwave that was threatening to overtake him.
“What? How?” Lio spat, glancing up sharply through his bangs.
“Could smell it on you, of course.” He flashed a proud, toothy grin, and gave Lio a friendly cuff on the shoulder. “You smell like roses and ripe red apples right now, bud.”
“God dammit,” Lio grumbled. “I’ve been trying to suppress it.”
“But you’ve been suppressing it a few times, haven’t you?” Galo asked, getting out his concerned EMT voice and sniffing the air a couple of times subconsciosly. “It’s really strong, even though it’s subtle right now. It’s gonna be a rager.”
Lio took a deep breath—of Galo’s amber-like scent of dark honey, harvest grains, and the orange-laced bar soap he liked—and made a dissatisfied hum in his throat. Galo’s smile disappeared, wilting.
“Ah…sorry. I just mean, I get it,” Galo rushed out, holding out his hands, only to look off and slide one through his hair. Lio wished it were running over himself, but he pushed it aside with effort. “You had a war to run,” Galo continued nervously. “Makes sense.”
“Well, and,” Lio rubbed the bridge of his nose with a sigh, memories of thin, rough hands coming to life on his hips and arms. “Last time, Meis and Gueira were a little enthusiastic and it lasted a few days, and—”
He trailed off abruptly, turning red; he could feel it burning his cheeks. Lio cracked his eyes open, only to find Galo still standing there, arms crossed, and looking entirely too impressed. Lio hid his gaze behind his hand, shutting off the view.
“Lio…” Galo sighed after a bit, his professional tone back. Lio could hear him shifting on his feet. “Can I make you an offer?”
Lio’s eyes widened as he stared at Galo’s very large shoes.
“How would you feel about spending your next heat…with me?”
There was a lump in Lio’s throat the size of melon. It had to be, because when he spoke, his voice was all squeaky.
“I—” He was suddenly all warm, and the heat filled his lungs. “I dunno…”
Galo’s pretty blue eyes shone like the summer sky, and his smile turned fond but understanding. “Hey, it’s okay. You can tell me the truth, I won’t be mad. Really.”
Lio chanced a glance at him, and the smile in his voice was indeed also in his eyes.
“Here’s the deal I want to make you.” He grinned perkily, showing off his pearly teeth. “How about I take you to dinner and you can come over to my place tonight. I want to show you how gentle I can be.”
Galo took Lio’s hand in his, gently sandwiching between his own. It was big and warm, and there was an immediate sense of safety in them. The calm radiated up Lio’s body, and he even sighed a little.
So Galo’s hands were like that. Not everyone’s were. Now that he knew it, Lio instantly wanted his body to be kneaded in their warmth and then to fall asleep in their hold.
The realization made him blush; he could feel it crawl down his neck and brighten his chest until he was burning. Even though he looked away, his gaze came right back to the hand he so desperately wanted.
Galo could see—and smell—the thoughts going through the little omega’s head and he leaned in just a little, as if to catch the scent and an early kiss. Lio wanted to protest on that fact alone—he wasn’t easy dammit—but he was also…wanting to accept. Achingly so.
So he sighed, looked up into Galo’s eyes, and leaned ever so slightly closer to him, too.
What would it feel like, to have those rough-hewn hands on his shoulders, slipping down to his biceps to warm him before a kiss? What would they feel like on his waist, as Lio rolled his slender neck against the herculean muscle of Galo’s, picking up scent along the way?
It wasn’t like he hadn’t daydreamed about it: To watch this absolute specimen of a firefighter move above him in the soft blue light of the night, his thick form outlined in the quiet dim. The way his voice would turn husky and gentle as he leaned near in the dark; the way the bed would creak just slightly too, reminiscent of palm trees in the tropics at night when combined with his lover’s body heat and gentle sighs.
Or what it would feel like to finally have the world fall away because this man’s entire attention was on him, his excited blue eyes turned soft and heady. They would gaze half lidded over his form, commanding all of Lio’s attention as thick fingertips traced over his skin lovingly, on the way down his body. The jolt of excitement and fear that would come, as those hands that swung axes and saved lives at a moment’s noticed trailed slowly over his knees, only to hitch them over his shoulders. What parts of Lio would melt, as this man leaned in for a whisper and a kiss, Lio’s hands twined into his hair…
“O-okay,” he whispered, and Galo whooped in celebration that wasn’t at all upsetting despite its proximity. He swooped in and planted a happy peck on Lio’s cheek, then danced around briefly.
“You won’t regret it, I promise!” he vowed, once he’d found his words again. He flashed Lio a brilliant smile. “You’re much too precious to disappoint!”
Lio was still standing there with a tingling cheek, stunned into a warm and fluttering stupor, when Galo winked and finger-gunned him from the now-open doorway. “Pick you up at six!”