Scents - A Shinkami Omegaverse AU

Fated Mates

The next morning, when Hitoshi woke up, Denki was still in bed. The omega was usually up before him, but he was probably tired from the two more rounds (and another in the shower) they'd had the night before.

"Hey, kitten," Hitoshi said quietly, shaking his omega awake as he sat up. Denki rolled over with a groan, throwing his arms around Hitoshi's waist and trying to pull him back into a sleeping position.

Kaminari fluttered his eyes open, then looked up at Shinsou. He mumbled something under his breath. "What?" Shinsou asked.

"I can't move. My back hurts like a bitch and I can't even sit up."

Shinsou snorted. "Profanity?"

"We both know that only applies to you." Denki's voice was still grumpy, but he snickered. Somewhere down the line (Shinsou barely remembered where) he'd lost the lingerie he was wearing, and now his brown skin and delicate body were in full view when Shinsou moved the blanket over. He allowed himself to be pulled back down by Denki and nestled his forehead against Denki's chest, kissing the soft skin there.

"You were the one who wanted to go for another."

"Shut uppppp."

"You know I love you, right?" Shinsou murmured against his boyfriend. He shut his eyes and breathed the shorter boy in, that familiar scent of caramel acting as a wonderful sedative.

"You told me a lot last night."

"But that was during sex. I want you to know I love you right now too. And all the time in general."

Denki flushed, hiding his face in Shinsou's hair. "I love you too," he whispered.

"I can carry you all day if you want."

"I'll be fine in an hour. Just can't sit up right now."

Shinsou nodded, hugging Denki tighter. "You said something about pups last night." He looked up at his omega's face, gauging his reaction.

Denki being Denki, he panicked immediately and tried to play it off. "Did I? Sorry- just me being irrational- it was an accident-"

"No, no it's okay," Shinsou soothed. "I want pups too. Just... eventually."

"Really?" Denki's face cleared of apprehension.

"Really."

Denki started playing with Shinsou's hair, threading his fingers through it and speaking. His sentences meandered, with no actual direction, until eventually he touched on his dreams. "I always wanted kids. Maybe like a house in the suburbs and a nice car. 'Cause my parents always wanted something big for me, you know? But I want a quiet little suburban life. Maybe a puppy and a cat. Two pups. A big backyard. Husband or wife to come home to- or to come home to me."

Denki spent much of the morning cuddling close and talking with Shinsou about their dreams for the future, delighted when many of them aligned.

It was only when Shinsou was sitting at his desk at work four days later that he realized he'd never wanted to talk about the future with a partner. Much less a partner he'd only been with for four months.

Hmmm.

Once he was home, Shinsou opened a browser on his private computer and typed in "soulmates." He got absolutely nothing of scientific value from that, so he tried a broader term, "mating instinct." He had never had the motivation to mate someone before, which made what he was feeling for Denki odd.

The mating process is a natural phenomenon that occurs between humans of all genders and subgenders, including, despite previous controversy, betas. Mating is often a highly sexualized concept, especially in the popular romance novels and movies of today. Contrary to what pop culture may indicate, the urge to make the process as painless as possible for the one you want to mate is the more natural response to the mating instinct. When two individuals are truly compatible and have a good chance of a successful partnership, the individual of the higher subgender will develop the urge to mark the scent gland of the lower. This may cause the fangs of the higher to show themselves more often, due to hormone buildup in the glands behind the teeth. The lower gender usually begins to adopt more submissive tendencies and will put themselves, almost unconsciously, into situations that will elicit sexual urges from the higher. This is not "teasing," nor is it something worth degrading. It is purely the urge to create an environment in which mating will occur. This means that sexual intercourse will likely happen more often until the mating process takes place. Close contact with the partner of the lower gender while remaining unmated will manifest protective behavior from the higher gender, as they will develop the fear of having their potential mate stolen from under their nose.

Shinsou continued scanning the article. Much of this he already knew. Some of the information he was reading was interesting. He sort of understood why he wanted to mate Denki- it said you only wanted to mate for reproductive advantage- but why only Denki? His eyes caught on the word "soulmate" near the end of the writing.

I am a woman of science. That much is true. However, the concept of 'soulmates' has intrigued scientists for centuries. While it seems like a concept of 'fate,' the soulmate bond is proven to exist, though no one knows why these people are chosen for one another. Fated mates are all around you. Indeed, even I have my own soulmate out there, if I can ever find her. It is difficult to identify the signs of a fated, other than the scent being stronger and more enticing, which doesn't apply to betas and is therefore a risky tell. It is true that soulmates have the most reproductive advantage, but that isn't the only factor that determines soulmates. It has been noted in the past that soulmate relationships move faster than relationships between others and generally end happier. The mating process between regular relationships is also painful, while the mating of fated mates is more of a pinch and then a warm feeling. Hormones act as an anesthetic when the mating bite is made with fated mates. However, this should never be used as a test, as mating bonds cannot be broken. It is entirely possible that you may never find your soulmate; it is also possible that your soulmate is your best friend. You may have one soulmate; you could also have multiple. Relationships between those who are not fated are still beautiful and may still end in mating, but in the end, the one that would likely make you happiest would be your soulmate. Some choose to have queerplatonic relationships with their fateds, which is of course perfectly acceptable...

Shinsou shut the computer. After that, the article just delved into the pros and cons of QPRs. Okay. So basically what the article had just told him was that he could only really tell if he and Denki were fated if the mating didn't hurt.

Shoot. What if Denki only wanted to mate his fated? Then, if Shinsou mated him and they weren't meant for each other, Denki would be stuck with a deadweight alpha stopping him from going and finding the love of his life.

Shinsou knew he shouldn't be overthinking. It wasn't healthy; Denki and his family had told him as much before. But he couldn't help but wonder if Denki was going to leave him. How hadn't he known that about soulmates before? To be fair, he'd never really felt the urge to have someone he could define as his fated before, and so had never really felt the need to do research on mating and the like.

I should talk to my dads.

Was Denki ready for that, though?

-

i think i was supposed to publish this yesterday that's my b

happy birthday to all my homies reading this on their birthday

glitter rainbows,

- gale