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Tong
—
Qin wasn’t sure when it started.
Okay.
No.
That was a lie.
He knew exactly WHEN it started.
It started one day after basketball practice when he, Kim and Tong were heading back to the locker room. The three of them were fooling around, pushing each other and making stupid jokes based on nothing.
Now that Qin and Duang were together all the time, and Tong and Pae had been getting suspiciously closer, it became natural for the six of them (seven when Mars came along) to become one big group.
Qin still had his alone time with his beta’s, and Duang still went out alone with Jamie and Pae, but they’d all gradually been getting closer and building their relationship as one big unit.
Anyway, it was because of the amount of time the three of them had been spending with Duang and his friends that physical forms of teasing and pushing each other around had started becoming more common for them.
Usually Qin loved it, loved the thought that his relationship with the two people who he had come to trust as friends was evolving and becoming stronger.
Today was no different.
As established, Qin knew the moment the thought planted itself in his head the moment Tong’s wrist accident brushed against his neck and the beta’s chamomile scent entered his nose.
I need to steal one of his shirts.
Qin had no idea where that idea came from.
It was foreign in his mind as he had never had such a thought regarding his friend.
Had never had a thought like that ever.
So yeah, he knew WHEN it started.
But knowing when it started didn’t help to explain WHY it had started.
Why, after over a year of knowing Tong did he suddenly crave his scent like this? Why did he suddenly need it so badly, that he was currently concocting an idea on how to steal one of the beta’s shirts right out of his locker.
It felt like he was moving on auto pilot the rest of the walk to the locker room. The idea to take the shirt and hide it somewhere in his room overpowered any other conscious thought in Qin’s mind.
As the three of them moved through the doorway they walked over to the bench to put down their stuff. Qin sat down, slowly as if moving through syrup he reached down to grab his own bag.
He watched as Tong walked over to his locker, unlocked it, and started taking off his practice clothes and grabbing his stuff to go wash off in the locker room showers.
Qin eyes were locked on the sweaty shirt now lying in a crumpled pile on the bottom of the locker, wafts of chamomile somehow making their way over to Qin despite the beta’s scent never having been so prominent like this to Qin before.
“Hey, Tong!” Before Qin could think about what he was doing, he was calling out to the beta, making the other man pause mid way through closing his locker.
“Yeah?” Tong questioned, eyebrows raised, as Kim looked over at Qin as well.
“Umm…I forgot something in your locker last practice. Mind if I grab it?” Qin asked, hoping he sounded believable enough.
“Okay, sure man. Just make sure you close it before leaving.” Tong nodded at him, walking past the two of them toward the showers.
Qin felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment with himself. He quickly shuffled over to where Tong’s locker left open and started rifling through the pile of clothes that had built up each time the beta left them in there after practice was over.
Glancing over to make sure Kim wasn’t looking, Qin quickly grabbed the shirt Tong had worn that day and shoved it into his own, praying that it wouldn’t lose its scent too much in being so close to his own sweaty body.
Closing the door, he shuffled back over to where his bag was sitting on the bench in the middle of the room, discreetly moved the shirt inside of it and made to leave the room before he could convince himself what he’d done was too crazy.
He waved goodbye to Kim, making up an excuse about Duang texting him and that he needed to meet the alpha somewhere quickly.
Rushing out to his car, Qin was once again taken aback by himself and his own actions. The shirt inside his bag sat like a heavy brick, but for some reason Qin couldn’t find it in himself to want to give it back.
Kim
—
Later that week, the three of them were at practice. There was another showcase coming up and they needed to get their performance perfect as a couple of their professors had hinted that this showcase would be a large part of their final grade for the year.
In the days after the ‘shirt nabbing’ as Qin had dubbed it, he struggled to look Tong in the face.
When the beta had expressed confusion on where his shirt had gone, Qin had acted like he had no idea what the other was talking about. Avoiding eye contact and pushing that maybe it had gotten lost among the pile of clothes that was in his locker.
Kim had agreed with him, going on to say how Tong shouldn't avoid doing his laundry any longer.
Tong had just shrugged his shoulders, shoving the dirty clothing pile into his bag, and had said that he’d take care of it that night.
A small part of Qin cried at the thought of the clothes being washed of their scent.
He ignored it.
As they were working through the songs, getting to know the beats, the tempo, the right times for each of them to have a solo to ensure they all had moments to shine in front of the professors, Qin could feel the length of the day wearing on him.
They were all exhausted, having been up early to set up and ensure they grabbed a good practice room before they filled up as it was the part of the semester where everyone was cramming for finals.
Qin had already sent Duang a message saying that he’d be home late, having to put his phone on silent once the alpha started spamming him with endless crying faces saying how much he missed him and wanted him to come home quickly.
Safe to say they were all exhausted.
Eventually, they had agreed to take a short break as the practice room had started to heat up due to both the sun shining right through the windows and the ac in their school’s building being temporarily shut down for maintenance.
Qin had walked out to fill his bottle up with water and to splash some on his face to cool off before walking back into the practice room and making his way over to where the three of them had left their stuff.
As he put his water bottle down, he was suddenly hit by a strong scent of coconut. He looked over, noticing that the sweatshirt Kim had been wearing earlier that day had been dropped next to where they had put their bags.
Just like when he’d unexpectedly been hit by Tong’s scent a few days prior, he suddenly felt the urge to take the sweatshirt home with him and put it with Tong’s shirt that still somehow maintained some of the beta’s chamomile scent.
That would be crazy…right?
Taking Tong’s shirt that day had already been weird enough, but thinking about doing it again with Kim’s sweatshirt somehow seemed worse. Especially since Qin knew the other man would notice its sudden disappearance.
He glanced behind him, wanting to see where the beta was.
Kim seemed to be locked in a heated discussion with Tong over something having to do with their instruments.
They were both seemingly distracted, providing Qin with the perfect opportunity to do what he needed to do. Before he could question himself further, he was once again shoving his friend's clothing item into his bag and pushing it down so it was under his stuff.
A second later and Qin knew he would’ve gotten caught as suddenly the voices of his friends were right behind him. He turned, taking in the fact that they were still arguing over whether the piano or the drums was more important for a performance.
Great, so they hadn’t noticed the sudden disappearance of Kim’s sweatshirt.
Qin was trying to come up with an excuse for what had happened to it when a bang on the practice room door made all of them suddenly turn to face it. They looked between each other, confused as to who or what could’ve made that noise when the door swung open, revealing Duang holding bags of food and a tray with drinks on it.
Qin raised an eyebrow, unsure as to why the other man had suddenly appeared as the alpha laughed awkwardly before motioning with the bags in his arms. “I brought you guys dinner.”
Tong and Kim looked at each other, glanced back at Qin who just shrugged, before making their way over to the man still standing awkwardly in the doorway.
Qin sighed, glad that the beta’s attention was off him for a second. He grabbed his bag, thinking of a way for the sweatshirt inside of it to be successfully taken from the room without any suspicion from either beta.
Now that Duang’s arms were empty, the food and drinks having been taken by Tong and Kim to be set up across the floor for them to eat, he threw himself to the ground, wrapping his around Qin’s waist.
“Terrrrrrr,” Duang whined, digging himself deeper into Qin’s stomach. “I missed you. I’ve missed you all day but I knew you were busy and I didn’t want to bother you. But I knew that because you were all probably so focused you wouldn’t think to eat so I got you food.”
Qin sighed, patting the alpha on the head fondly.
“Thank you,” he said as Duang looked up at him. “We should be done soon, so I started packing up a little. Do you wanna take this bag home for me?”
Duang jumped up, smiling widely at the thought of being able to do something for the omega. He nodded quickly. “Yes yes yes yes yes.” His hand flew up to his forehead in a mock salute. “Anything for ter!”
Qin scoffed, rolling his eyes and shoving Duang toward the door. “Whatever. Go home. I’ll be there soon.”
Before Qin could fully push him out of the room, the alpha turned, pouting and making kissy motions at him. Qin turned, taking in the way Tong and Kim were watching them with knowing looks on their faces, before turning back at his boyfriend who was still motioning for the omega to kiss him.
Qin leaned forward, pressing a quick peck to the alpha lips before fully pushing the man through the doorway and closing the door behind him.
He turned back around as Kim and Tong both started making kissing noises at him as well. He flipped them off, making his way over to where the food was spread out, taking a seat on the floor and starting to make a plate.
As Kim and Tong continued to rag on him, Qin was just glad that the attention was far away from anything having to do with their stuff.
He’d endure teasing about him giving in to his boyfriend if it meant avoiding any questions having to do with where Kim’s sweatshirt had gone.
Jamie (& Mars)
—
On a Saturday night, Qin was out with Duang, Jamie, Pae, and Mars. The five of them were eating food together and Qin had spent the majority of the dinner smiling and laughing at the friends' antics.
At first when they all hung out Duang did his best to ensure that Qin felt included; sticking by his side, ensuring they sat next to each other, and making sure Qin was included in any conversations that were going on.
Now don’t get him wrong, Qin appreciated it, but he also knew that there was a part of the three of their friendships that he wasn’t a part of and he wanted to make sure his alpha didn’t feel like that was wrong.
Jamie and Pae had been incredibly welcoming to Qin and had quickly made him feel like a part of the group, but Qin also knew there were some times when the three of them enjoyed going off on teasing whichever of them became that day’s victim.
Today it seemed that Jamie was who they were focusing on, especially with Mars having joined them. The omega seemed to have a certain effect on Jamie, something that Duang and Pae took full advantage of exploiting whenever they could.
At some point, Qin had excused himself, making his way over to the bathroom. After washing his hands, he was walking back to the table while looking down at his phone to see if he had missed anything from Kim and Tong when he felt himself collide with something causing him to fall back onto the ground.
He looked up, noticing that it was not in fact a something but a someone that had bumped into him.
Jamie, looking immediately apologetic, reached out a hand to help him stand up. “Oh shit, I’m so sorry Qin, please don’t tell Duang. He’ll be insufferable if he knew that I knocked you back.”
Qin shook his head, taking a moment to steady himself after being stood up so quickly. He was about to reply to the alpha, something about it not being a big deal and that he’d take care of it if Duang said anything when the scent of whiskey suddenly made its way into his nose.
His head shot to look at where his and Jamie’s hands were still connected and realized that the alpha must’ve accidently brushed against the scent gland on Qin’s wrist with his own.
Once again that same thought to get something that smelt like the alpha entered his mind and Qin couldn’t do anything to make it go away.
He removed his hand from the other’s grip, laughing slightly while wiping off imaginary dust from his pants. “It’s fine. I’m alright. I’ll take care of Duang if he becomes pouty or says anything, don't worry.”
Jamie smirked before laughing to himself at the idea of his friend being so whipped. They nodded to each other knowingly before Qin continued making his way back to the table.
As he sat down, Duang threw his arms around Qin’s neck, whining. “Ter! What took you so long? I missed you.”
Pae scoffed. “You act as if you haven’t literally been together all day.”
Qin just rolled his eyes, used to his alpha’s antics, trying to distract himself by replying to Duang, though the thoughts surrounding Jamie’s scent didn’t leave his mind.
-
For the rest of the night Qin found himself making subtle glances at Jamie from where the alpha was sitting across the table.
The idea that he wanted something of the alpha’s scent confused him way more than when it had happened with Tong or Kim.
With Tong and Kim, Qin had been able to convince himself that it was because the betas had been his friends for so long and now they had been getting closer.
Plus, they were betas, so it seemed harmless.
They were friends. Best friends even.
But with Jamie?
Why would he want something of the alpha’s when he was dating Duang? Shouldn’t he crave his alpha boyfriend’s scent?
Qin thought he was being subtle with his glances, and for the most part he succeeded as neither Duang, Pae, or Jamie seemed to notice the way he was looking at the man.
Mars, however, must’ve sensed something was going on as after they had finished up for the night the other omega made his way over to him as they were walking out of the restaurant.
“Can I talk to you privately for a minute?” Mars asked, causing their two boyfriends to look at him strangely.
“For what?” Duang asked, not liking the idea of them being by themselves.
“Don’t worry about it. Just some omega stuff,” Mars said, winking once, causing the two alphas to immediately start protesting.
Pae rolled his eyes, reaching out and grabbing his friends shoulder to prevent them from following as Mars led Qin away from the three of them.
Mars guided Qin around the corner and Qin felt himself getting worried, not quite sure what the other man was going to say.
“Okay,” Mars began, looking Qin dead in the eyes. “Do you want my boyfriend?”
“What?!” Qin exclaimed. He had no idea where that idea had come from, but it seemed so incredibly foreign and impossible to him. “Absolutely not. I’m very happy with Duang and would never do anything like that to any of you. What gave you that idea?”
Mars looked at him, eyebrow raising as he crossed his arms across his chest. “I don’t know, you tell me. You’ve been making subtle glances at Jamie all night and I don’t know what else to think other than you want to sleep with my boyfriend.”
Qin grimaced. The thought of sleeping with his boyfriend’s best friend was…unpleasant. Plus he knew how much Mars and Jamie complimented each other, he would NEVER think about someone else’s partner that way.
Suddenly, Qin was reminded of why he had been staring at Jamie the whole night. As embarrassing as the real reason was, Qin felt like he owed a truthful explanation to the other man as it seemed weird that Qin was suddenly so interested in the alpha.
He took a deep breath attempting to look up at Mars, who seemed to be waiting for an explanation, before quickly looking back at the ground. “Okay. On the way back from the bathroom I wasn’t looking at where I was going and I bumped into something. But then I realized that it was someone. And that someone was Jamie. And he started going off about how he didn’t want Duang to get all upset that he had knocked me over. And then I think he somehow brushed his wrist against mine and his scent got left on my shirt and it was suddenly all I could smell. And for some reason I really wanted to smell it again. But not in any weird way. Like I would literally never think of Jamie that way. I just for some reason really wanted his smell to be left on something that I could have. Like I did with Tong and Kim. Which sounds crazy. I don’t know why I would even think that, you know?”
Qin opened his eyes, not knowing when they had closed and glanced up at the omega standing in front of him.
Mars was smirking.
Why? Qin had no idea. But he knew it was never good when the beautiful man made a face like that. He was used to it being aimed at Jamie, so having the look turned at him made him hesitant.
“I understand now,” Mars said, taking a step closer to Qin, causing him to move backwards.
The other omega leaned in, taking a deep breath once his head was close enough to Qin’s neck. He leaned back, a knowing looking shining in his eyes though Qin couldn’t quite tell what the look meant exactly.
Without saying another word, Mars began taking off the jacket that had been wrapped around his waist and handed it over to Qin. “Here, take this. Jamie gave it to me earlier to wear, but it got too hot in the restaurant so I took it off. Hope you don’t mind that it smells like the both of us.”
Qin took hold of the jacket and without thinking lifted it up to his nose. He was immediately hit with an overwhelming mixture of whiskey and honey that made something inside him sing.
He looked up, his whole face turning red as he realized what he had just done in front of the other omega.
Before he could explain himself, however, the sounds of their boyfriends calling out to them took their attention.
“We should head back," Mars said before swiftly moving to head back to where the others were waiting.
Qin shook his head, holding onto the jacket and making his way back over to where Duang was sitting looking all like a sad puppy waiting for its owner to come home.
He looked up as Qin approached them, smiling widely before he noticed the jacket in Qin’s arms. His smile fell. “Ter why do you-”
“Hey! Let’s go grab some ice cream, Qin was just saying he wanted some right?” Mars cut the alpha off, giving the two alphas a look that begged them to question them anymore.
“Ice cream sounds great,” Pae agreed, linking his arm with Mars which caused Jamie to chase after them.
Duang gave him another questioning look but Qin just shook his head, so the alpha let it rest.
Qin knew it would only be a matter of time before his alpha started questioning him some more about it though.
Hopefully he’d have it a little more figured out himself by then.
Pae
—
While Qin and Pae didn’t have the closest relationship, Qin liked the other man and it was obvious that Pae was happy to have another omega join their friend group.
The two of them hadn’t hung out alone before, but recently, whenever Qin had been with the three of them, the omega had stolen the spot next to him making Duang pout and complain until Jamie made a teasing remark, causing the two alphas to start arguing.
Qin would let out a sigh and watch from the side, meanwhile Pae would occasionally say something to add to their squabble.
Once, when the four of them were at a cafe together, Pae had once again taken the seat next to Qin, much to Duang’s dismay, and had ordered them an array of desserts to try.
The two of them had spent a majority of the afternoon discussing their shared love for sweets, desserts, really anything that could satisfy their sweet tooths.
It was nice.
Qin hadn’t really had a close relationship with other omega’s before.
Due to both his own introverted nature, and past in school, he hadn’t put much effort toward getting to know any other omegas in his classes.
With the ways the alphas used to talk about and treat him in high school, it quickly became apparent that he was standoffish and no other omega wanted to befriend the guy who all their alphas supposedly wanted.
But now, Qin was incredibly happy to have someone like Pae to become close to and talk about things he knew Jamie and Duang wouldn’t necessarily understand.
He loved Duang, really he did, but it was hard to have to explain why he always needed something sweet with his meals, why he didn’t like the alpha wearing revealing clothes in public where other people could see him, or why it was offensive when the alpha offered to do something for him without Qin asking him to as if he thought Qin wouldn’t be able to do it himself.
The thoughts were arbitrary, Qin knew that, and he knew that Duang always tried to be understanding of him. That’s why Qin fell in love with him in the first place.
But there was just something about the way he didn’t have to explain himself at all when it came to talking with and discussing things with Pae since the other omega felt the same way when it came to Tong.
Now those conversations were ones Qin was enjoying having more, now that the omega and beta had been spending so much time together on their own.
So while it wasn’t a complete surprise, it still took Qin aback slightly when he received a message from Pae one day asking if he wanted to grab a treat together, just the two of them.
Qin quickly agreed, swiping over to his chat with Duang.
Pae invited me out to get tea and try some desserts together.
So I’ll be home late.
AHHHHHH
MY BEST FRIEND AND MY BOYFRIEND ARE GETTING CLOSER
WAIT
CLOSER?!
TERRRRRRR
DON’T FALL IN LOVE WITH MY FRIEND
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
I’LL FLIP A TABLE AT THE TEA SHOP
PAE WILL NOT TAKE MY MAN
Stop it.
No one is stealing anyone.
Okay ter!
But only if you promise to only love Duang
Hmmmm
Hmmmm
Qin only love Duang
八(•᷄ □•᷅ )
Mm.
TERRRRRRR
(˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥)
Fine, Qin only loves Duang.
(,,♡ᵕ♡,,)
TERRRR
<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3
Qin quickly shut off his phone, rolling his eyes at the alpha’s messages.
Grabbing the rest of his stuff, he makes his way over to his car, before driving over to the tea place Pae had sent a link to saying that it had a lot of good reviews regarding its desserts.
-
As Qin entered he looked around, spotting Pae who seemed to have already gotten them a table. The omega waved him over, smiling widely as Qin took a seat across from him. “Hey! I’m glad you said yes to meeting me, sorry that it was so last minute.”
“It’s fine, I was finished with my classes for the day anyway. Though you might have an angry Duang in your messages. He thinks you’re trying to steal me,” Qin replied, sending the other man a look to let him know how he felt about the alpha’s antics.
Pae scoffed, reaching over to pick up his phone and presumably send something to the alpha. “Stupid Duang. Has no idea what he’s talking about. Why would I try so hard to help him just to steal you away.”
“So anyway, why’d you wanna meet?” While Qin was more than happy to hang out with the other man, he was just surprised by how out of the blue the invitation seemed.
Pae paused, hand halfway between where he’d been reaching out to grab the teapot the waitress had brought over as Qin had been settling into the seat.
“No reason,” He began, filling both his and Qin’s cups. “I just wanted it to be the two of us, without dumb and dumber around you know.”
Qin laughed, reaching out to grab his cup and try the tea the other had ordered for them. It was pretty good.
The rest of the afternoon with the two of them talking mindlessly about whatever came up, mainly embarrassing stories involving Jamie, Duang, Tong and Kim, and them going through and trying all the desserts the shop offered.
It was a nice evening, and Qin was quite enjoying himself when suddenly he felt the atmosphere shift once Pae looked at him with a knowing look in his eyes that reminded him too much of the one Mars had the night he got the jacket from him.
“What?” Qin questioned, not liking the sudden tension in air around them.
“Oh, nothing,” Pae said as he began removing the cardigan he’d been wearing the whole time they’d been there. “I just had a chat with Mars the other day.”
Qin raised an eyebrow, unsure where the other was going with the conversation. “Okay…what about?”
“Oh, nothing, just…would you like my cardigan?” The omega asked, reaching out with said clothing item in his hands.
Qin immediately felt his face burn at the idea that the two omegas had talked about him.
Had talked about something so…embarassing.
Qin was about to reject the offering, but before he could Pae was somehow next to him plopping it onto his arms and Qin couldn’t help but take a deep breath of the eucalyptus scent now surrounding him.
He knew that he must’ve had some sort of visual or physical reaction as when he looked back up at Pae, the other omega was once more sitting across from him, a knowing smile painted across his face.
Qin clutched the cardigan to his chest, he knew he should reject it.
Reject whatever idea it was that Mars and Pae had…but he just couldn’t
Like everything else so far, Qin found himself wanting to hold onto the cardigan that smelt so much like the other omega and add it to the growing pile that he had shoved into the back of his closet.
“I-” Qin stuttered, unsure how to explain himself.
“You’re good,” Pae said, standing up and grabbing his stuff that had been next to him. “Take good care of it, yeah?”
Qin just nodded as Pae waved goodbye and went to the front of the shop to pay.
Gathering up his own stuff, Qin picked up the cardigan once more and brought it up to his nose, taking a deep breath and letting its smell surround him.
How the two of them knew he wanted their stuff, Qin didn’t know, but he also knew he couldn’t dwell on the thought too long or else he’d become too embarrassed to ever look at the two of them again.
Duang
—
Now that Qin had gathered items of clothing from each of their friends, it was easy to take something from Duang as well.
It helped that the two of them were basically living together at this point. The alpha had taken up part of his closet with his clothes, had left a toothbrush in the bathroom and had gotten them matching bowls and cups for the two of them (With one matching set including a dog bowl for them to match with Fluffy as well).
One day, while Duang was away for a class trip, Qin found himself sifting through the alpha’s clothing. Taking out anything that felt soft and comfortable to him. He grabbed an old flannel the alpha hadn’t worn in awhile, a sweater Qin loved to steal, a pair of sweatpants the alpha had worn the other day and had thrown on the ground near the laundry basket and had been too lazy to pick up.
Once Qin had taken notice of the laundry…he was done. All rational thought had left him as he dumped out their dirty clothing.
Here he found the things that smelt the strongest like his alpha; his mossy and citrusy scent the strongest on everything here as it had all been worn within the last few days.
Without thinking, Qin grabbed his newly acquired items and brought them into his closet where he had stashed everything else. He dumped it all on the ground, but it didn’t seem like it would be very comfortable yet.
So, he turned around, heading back over to his bed where he proceeded to take off all the pillows from the bed, grab the comforter from off the sheets and carry it into the closet. He set it out onto the ground, spreading it so it lay flat with the edges resting against the dressers that were lined up on the sides of the space.
Better, but not yet perfect.
He turned back, picking up some of the discarded pillows and brought them in with him to line the walls and create a softer edge to the space.
Walking out into the living room, he grabbed two of the extra blankets he and Duang had stored for when it got extra cold and they wanted to cuddle up on the couch together to watch a movie.
He lay out the blankets, weaving them into the sides and floor of the space to make it soft and comfortable.
Then, he remembered the pieces of clothing he had grabbed that were still sitting squished into the corner of the room. He walked over, carefully picking up each item, taking a deep inhale of their scents, and moving to add them into the space he’d been creating.
Chamomile,
Coconut,
Whiskey,
Honey,
Eucalyptus,
Moss,
Bergamont,
All slowly started to seep out and intertwine filling the space around him.
It was good.
It was comfortable.
But something was missing.
As Qin tried to get comfortable he couldn’t help but feel an itch like there was something else that needed to be there.
The sound of the front door opening broke him from the fuzzy state Qin hadn’t realized he’d fallen into.
He looked around at the space he’d set up.
He couldn’t believe what he had done.
“Ter?! Ter? Where are you?” The sound of Duang’s voice getting closer made Qin want to hide everything he had done.
For some reason the thought of letting Duang see what he’d put together made Qin’s heart start beating faster, his breathing began coming out quickly.
“Ter are you in the- oh?” Before Qin could even make an attempt to hide what he’d done, Duang was standing in the doorway, hand half reaching out to the lightswitch Qin must’ve left off in his daze.
“I- I-...I’m sorry! I don’t know what came over me. But I just suddenly started going through your clothes. And they felt so soft. And it felt like I needed to feel them. And then the ones in the laundry smelt like you. And then I felt like I needed the space to be comfortable. And everyone’s clothing felt like they would fit so nicely inside the space. And it smells like us all. But…but I can take it apart!” Qin was rambling, something he wasn’t used to, but with the way Duang still hadn’t moved or said anything he could feel a part of himself going into overdrive.
“Ter…You made a nest?” Duang finally said, breaking Qin from his spiral.
A…nest?
Qin felt like he’d been slammed back into himself.
He took in the space around him once more.
Holy. Shit.
He made a nest.
His instincts had fully taken control and he had unknowingly built himself a nest.
He looks down at his hands resting in his lap, embarrassment burning through his entire body as tears fill his eyes.
How embarrassing.
To be caught doing something so…humilating.
“Ter! C-can I enter your nest?” Qin looked up, noticing the way his alpha seemed to be stressing, wanting to get over to him but hesitating to go over the edge of the comforter Qin had placed down.
“What?” He croaked, unsure why Duang was asking him that.
“Can I please enter your nest, I won’t unless you want me to. But it’s so pretty, I don’t want to ruin it. Please let me in?” Hearing his alpha call the nest pretty made something inside Qin buzz and he nodded.
Quickly, while being very careful not to ruin any of what Qin had put together, Duang made his way over to where the omega was sitting in the middle of the nest and wrapped him in his arms. “Ter, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
Qin sniffled, moving his head into his alpha’s neck, immediately the itch that had been telling him that something was missing went away. He felt his whole body slump forward, his weight falling onto his alpha as he sunk into the feeling of comfort that surrounded him.
After a moment, Duang moved back, ignoring the whine Qin let out at being forced away from the alpha’s scent glands. “Ter, please answer me. Why were you upset?”
Qin frowned, trying to shake off the fog that had clouded his mind once more. “I don’t…I don’t understand what’s happening to me right now. I’ve never…” He paused, unsure how to continue.
“You’ve never made a nest before?” Duang guessed, causing Qin to shake his head, cheeks once again burning red with embarrassment. “Oh ter! You’re so cute!”
Qin pushed at his shoulders, pouting at the other man calling him cute while he was feeling so vulnerable.
Duang just grabbed him close once more, guiding Qin back to his neck. “It’s completely natural for an omega that feels comfortable to nest. I’m just so happy you felt this way because of me” He paused, Qin could feel him taking in the space around them once more. “And from the looks of it, our friends. Though their scents seem kinda faded. When did you get all this stuff?”
Qin pushed himself away, finally realizing that all the times he felt the urge to get something with their friends' scents on it had to do with his desire to nest.
Realizing that something in the omega’s head was figuring things out, Duang carefully guided the two of them to lay down and get more comfortable in the space Qin had put together for them.
Qin began recalling all the times he’d taken their friends' clothing without realizing what was going on. Duang at times couldn’t help but chuckle which made Qin hit him in the shoulder once more.
After he had calmed down a bit, Qin realized why it was such a shock that Duang had caught him. “What are you doing home so early?”
His alpha looked down at him and smiled. “Bad weather so they let us go early. I wanted to come home to my omega as soon as possible so I got out of their as quickly as I could.”
Qin looked away from him, but something inside of him must’ve been soothed by this as suddenly he started to purr.
Duang reeled back in shock. “TERRRRRR YOU’RE PURRING?!”
His screech caused the purring to stop as Qin glared at him for ruining the mood.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Duang soothed, bringing Qin in close once more, directing him toward his scent gland.
This felt nice.
He’d have to get their friends to give him fresh clothes to add to his nest, their scents were too faded.
Qin closed his eyes, feeling himself start to purr once more as his alpha began rubbing his back.
He could deal with that problem later, for now he was more than happy to stay right here in their nest.