Work Text:
Damn original goods, damn that hack author, and above all damn whatever perverted fangirl dreamed this up!
Listen, Shen Qingqiu (previously Shen Yuan, now in Shen Jiu’s previous body), had maybe partaken in reading some omegaverse fanfiction and novels in his life. They weren’t gay- it was practically straight no matter what if the omegas had pussies and the alphas had dicks! He just liked how they dove into that fake wolf pack dynamic and let it influence the plot, okay?!
That didn’t mean when he ended up in the worst novel known to unfortunate online readers, PIDW, in the worst possible scenario of omegaverse, he was prepared for what to expect. After all, omegas were always soft and submissive characters, alphas were the big and strong ones, and betas got to be whatever background character some horny author didn’t want to write sex about. Instead, as soon as he figured out where he was and what was happening using his amazing transmigration genre knowledge, he was struck dumb by the inconsistencies of this omegaverse.
He’d expected pheromones, which of course a character who must be a beta like himself was basically immune to. Instead he got a barrage of scents so powerful his head spun the second he left the safety of Mu Qingfang’s office, and he heard himself make a pathetic little trilling noise that seemed to rip itself out of his throat without so much as a hint of hesitation. Mu Qingfang froze, giving him a harried look and ushering him right back into the office away from a group of particularly flabbergasted disciples.
Which was how Shen Qingqiu found himself here, in the bamboo house, what felt an eternity later still mourning the loss of his manly dignity (if he’d ever had that in the first place). The conversation with Mu Qingfang had gone something like this.
MQF: Are you sure you’re alright?
SQQ, sweating: Why wouldn’t I be?
MQF, visibly excited: You’ve always worked so hard to suppress your subvocals and your scent to come across as a beta even though you still choose to be an omega. Are you finally comfortable enough to tell everyone you’re an omega?
SQQ, sweating harder: Of course not! This one just needs rest and recuperation.
MQF, visibly disappointed: Of course. This master apologizes for his misstep. Would you like assistance with a scent suppressing talisman until you are rested enough?
What followed after that, was an intense and rage filled conversation with the system. In which Shen Qingqiu learned that in this world, he was in fact not a background beta but was instead a particularly vengeful omega that hid his designation behind careful cultivation, behavioral training, and limitless hatred towards any around him comfortable enough to share their designations without shame. At least, that’s what he thought the system explained.
There’d been a lot more graphic images about the genital situation of the world as well as lessons on the gender identity situation that resulted from that. It was all a lot more complicated than the “male and female with sometimes other genders” he grew up with, and he couldn’t read the middle school sex-ed style pamphlet he’d gotten without feeling like he was going to explode from embarrassment.
Having settled into a routine wherein the System had relieved his OOC limitations he found, horribly, that he just might… prefer being an omega. It was a fact he kept tightly wrapped up in his own mind, as tightly concealed as his new sex and the scent and sounds that came alongside it.
Hiding it felt like smothering a piece of his soul, and left him miserable in his own skin. Sitting here having tea with Liu Qingge (an omega, by the way! That had blown Shen Qingqiu’s mind when he found out!) whose scent was carefully controlled and whose subvocalizations never dipped into whiny omega neediness, but rather stayed sharp and full of hissing and bile, his heart hurt.
How come he got to be so cool, and calm, and collected, and still be an omega?
No one treated him any differently even though sometimes Yue Qingyuan’s mellow alpha scent spiked with stress when he was the target of that prickly omegan hissing. In fact, his rarely expressed scent or subvocals seemed to hold a sense of power when Liu Qingge chose to use them to truly express his displeasure in a meeting. The same power was used in a similar sort of way by Shang Qinghua, Mu Qingfan, and the other cultivators that were omegas.
That wasn’t to say the alphas and betas didn’t have their own influence, but he didn’t envy them their blunt snarls or level mediation. No, he was only jealous of the omegas that were able to be themselves, and of the way they seemed so happy and confident.
Why did he have to hide?
He must have been lingering for too long, gazing at Liu Qingge over his cup of tea enough that the beautiful man had a red tinge to his ears and an almost embarrassed hint to his scent. Ah, he must be making his friend uncomfortable. How careless of him.
“My apologies, I was simply lost in thought,” he said softly and informally, setting his cup down gently and staring at the delicate porcelain. Did he… really have to hide? It seemed the original goods must have had his reasons to not present as an omega, but he wasn’t that person anymore. “Shidi, if I said I wasn’t a beta, but rather an omega like you, what would you think?” he asked, not daring to look up.
Liu Qingge didn’t move immediately, and nothing about him changed to hint at his feelings on the matter one way or another. Luo Binghe’s scent, however, that puppy-milk-burgeoning-alpha combination all his own, seemed to fill the room with protective excitement. It was kind of cute, but also annoying because when did that sticky little limpet sneak into his private tea time again? He’d have to remind the boy that there was absolutely no reason to be territorial over an omega being in Shen Qingqiu’s home, and that it was very rude to throw his scent around like that in front of his seniors.
“If Shizun was an omega, I’d protect him every day for the rest of my life!” he loudly declared, puffing out his chest and glaring at Liu Qingge defiantly.
“Little beast!” Liu Qingge snapped, looking moments away from destroying yet another tea set and fighting Shen Qingqiu’s disciple in his living room, “You think omegas need protection just because you’re an alpha? Has your master never taught you any manners? I’ll beat those into your thick skull!”
The answering growl was cute in that it came from his young disciple, and something inside Shen Qingqiu cooed at the thought that one of his children, for that was what all the children on the peak were, was growing up into such a strong alpha. It was still childish in its core notes, but impressive all the same! Why, if he didn’t know better he’d think Luo Binghe was jealous of his old master spending so much time with an omega.
While his hands shook slightly with nerves and his heart fluttered with uncertainty, he let just a hint of that fondness leak out into the room. While he’d never fully smothered his scent or his subvocals, he was always careful to only release the universal ones like simple greetings or pack scenting. This, this floral overtone with an unmistakably parental undertone, it couldn’t be anything other than that of an omega expressing their joy with their pack.
The room stilled, and Liu Qingge’s quiet and strained voice breaks the silence with a hesitant, “Oh, Shen-shixiong, you have already started- erm, that is, are you working on becoming an omega already?”
It is with a self-satisfying smirk (braver than he truly feels, through the turmoil roiling inside his stomach) Shen Qingqiu replies, “Not quite, this master had always been born an omega. I am simply choosing to share it now. You have been quite inspiring in that regard, Liu-shidi.”
Proud, preening rumbles fill the room at the shameless praise from his martial brother, and Shen Qingqiu grins into his teacup at the intense stare and stern face being hopelessly overtaken by a red tint to his ears and the undeniably cute sound escaping Liu Qingge.
Always so innocent and careless with his words, Luo Binghe disrupts the moment by breathing out almost quietly enough to be unheard by the two martial masters, “Shizun is an omega? This lowly disciple has been living with not only his shizun, but he has been caring for him as an alpha does an omega as well?”
If he didn’t know any better, that would be the sort of thing a jealous and clingy alpha preening over caring for an omega they wanted to court would say. Thankfully, Shen Qingqiu knew his disciple so very well, and it couldn’t be anything more than the protagonist’s complicated turmoil over living with an omega for the first time since the death of his mother! Oh, what a perfect little lamb!
Unfortunately, Liu Qingge doesn’t seem to have the same pure context as Shen Qingque, and that is the last straw that snaps the remnants of control keeping the war god of bai zhan sitting and treating the tea set with respect. No tea splatters on his robe, but the porcelain is not so lucky as it gets rocketed off the table and the table in return gets kicked in the direction of his poor, innocent disciple. Ah well, Shen Qingqiu always picked the ugly sets when Liu Qingge was visiting.
“You dare presume-” is the last of the coherent words before his disciple and martial brother devolve into a hissing-snarling brawl.
Of course Luo Binghe would be beaten into a pulp, the boy could barely do basic forms without falling helplessly into Shen Qingqiu’s chest and arms after all, but it was good exercise for the both of them. Like letting dogs tussle! Or something like that. They always behaved so much better if Shen Qingqiu didn’t stop them from occasionally beating the snot out of each other like strong, straight, manly men do.
The subtle scent grows as he watches with fond exasperation, his control being fully released and filling the room with the undeniably omega sounds and scents of comfort, love, pack he’s been feeling all this time.