sunspotted | a/b/o but make betas more relevant

a/b/o but make betas more relevant

"Jean."

That's Marco wrinkling his nose a little for the second time in ten minutes, looking at the other boy in exasperation. He knows it can't be easy for Jean to just sit here while Marco scents him and tries to smother it, but he could stop squirming so much. Marco needs to get a read on his scent if he's going to try to cover it up with his own!

That's what Instructor Shadis has entrusted (or outlawed, to hear Jean put it) to them today - scent training. More specifically, for Marco's ability as a Beta to suppress Omega and Alpha hormones if they were getting too out of control. Jean just had the unfortunate luck of having recently presented as an Omega and gone through his heat a few weeks ago.

Marco was still getting used to his own ability - out in Jinae, Betas hadn't been anything to really make note of, and he'd been a little disappointed when his notably calm, even demeanor did belie the noted calm, even demeanor of many Betas. Shadis had insisted differently in their training classes. In a group like the Survey Corps, the Betas ability to smother things like Alpha and Omega heats until they were back within the walls was worth its value in horses, to hear him explain it.

(And, well, he'd heard enough schoolyard talk from others about how they could do the opposite. How a Beta could drive an Alpha or Omega straight into a pseudo heat if they messed with their pheromones enough.)

He could recognize the scent coming off Jean now - something akin to boredom irritation annoyance - and leaned back a little further, putting out his own soothing scent, urging Jean's irritation to smooth out. "Do you wanna take a break?"

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"I don't want to be doing this at all."

They've been banished, Marco! Thrown out of the Training Corps and abandoned to doing this stupid exercise that isn't going to work and is just wasting both their time! More importantly, it's wasting Marco's time, and that feels like a much worse insult than simply wasting Jean's. He's still uptight and jangled over having a recent heat--which was the most godawful embarrassing thing he's ever had the misfortune of suffering through, he showed his ass to Reiner of all people before being swept off to the infirmary to suffer it out alone--and now Shadis is pointing it out again and making them do this.

He can't even be mad at Marco, much as he wants to be. Marco is just following orders; it't not his fault the orders suck.

Jean puts a hand to Marco's face and shoves him away. "Get off me, I'm going to suffocate if you keep rubbing your chin on me."

Marco makes a light noise that he will deny is a squawk when Jean shoves at his face, but he doesn't push back, scooting back a little from where he's sitting on the floor and then standing up. He gives a loud sigh, feeling his knees complain a little from sitting cross legged too long - he needs to go a little easier on the 3DM gear, the way they're protesting lately.

He gives Jean a few minutes reprieve before he pipes up again.

"I know this must suck having me huff all over you but at least it's a break from class?" He tries, resting his hands on the small of his own back as he tilts his head back in a stretch. "And like, the worst that's going to happen is I'm gonna make you not smell like anything for a couple minutes." If he can get the hang of it!

Edited (word repetition ) 2023-11-05 18:46 (UTC)

It's a squawk, Marco. Don't try and pretend otherwise.

"I'd rather go to class than do this." Jean knows he's being mean, but if anyone can take it, it's Marco. Marco is also the only person who will get any kind of explanation for why Jean is being mean. "I hate this. I hate stinking and smelling so goddamn horny all the time. I hate everyone knowing what I am and not being able to hide it. I hate that everyone thinks I'm some loose omega now just looking to get filled with dicks."

Jean groans and flops over on his back, his arm dramatically covering his eyes. He's unaware of it, but his scent lets off a soft whiff of sadness, genuine and honest in a way he can't be himself. "I'd rather just be a beta like you."

Lies, he'd prefer to be an alpha and everyone knows it, but being a beta would certainly beat this.

"What if they kick me out of the Training Corps over this?" Add in some nerves to that scent cocktail! "What if we can't figure out how to control it?"

Marco feels his heart break for his friend, hearing him say everything, and loosening the curl of sadness in his scent. To Marco it smells like something acidic, like a wine gone too sour into vinegar. It sticks in the back of his throat, draws him over to where Jean's flopped on his back.

"They're not going to kick you out," he says, flooding more reassurance into his scent as well as his voice. "You're just one of the first omegas. Soon more people will present, and it won't be as big a deal to the others." He moves to rest on his heels, crouching next to Jean.

"You'll learn how to control your scent too. You weren't immediately good at the ODM gear either, you know. And if anyone actually thinks you're 'some loose omega'," Marco stops here, biting back the uncharacteristic growl. He's not an alpha but the thought of people saying those things makes him mad, "I'll - tell Eren they made fun of Armin."

There, he's talking about setting Eren on them, surely that's a fate worse than death, right?

"They might kick me out." Jean is going to fuss about this, dammit, and Marco can't stop him!

He does catch that reassurance scent, though, and it calms him down a little. As Marco talks, Jean moves his arm to peer up at him through one eye. Everything he's saying makes sense--stupid Marco and his stupid logic when Jean wants to be dramatic!--and Jean continues to simmer down. By the time Marco is done, Jean huffs a reluctant laugh and sits up.

"Yeah, then they'd have Mikasa on their ass too." Eren is an annoyance at best; Mikasa is terrifying. Jean huffs a big dramatic sigh and tilts his head back. "Okay, you can try the muffling thing again."

Fuss all you want, Jean, Marco is sure about this! There's plenty of omega instructors in the training center, after all, and some of them are retired from positions in the Military Police!

"And you know no one gets away from Mikasa." Truly, she's terrifying. Marco's pretty sure she's going to be an alpha, which tugs weirdly at his chest when he thinks of the fact that Jean's an omega, and has had a crush on her forever. Jean offers to let them try again, and Marco beams at him before he rocks back, dropping onto his ass with a loud oof for his efforts. He scoots forward after a moment.

Instead of just sticking his face into Jean's neck like he had last time, he does something different. He rests his cheek against Jean's shoulder and closes his eyes, taking a small inhale. He has to do it with his mouth open, he's found, to really get the distinct parts of scents. Which makes sense - his nose isn't as sensitive as an alpha or omega, so he's got to taste it too.

This time he thinks he gets it. Underneath the myriad of scents Jean can throw off - cedar and sunshine - there's something spicier, like tea. The omega part of his scent. After he smells it, he very deliberately starts throwing his own scent out to cover it, differently than an alpha would.

Alphas flood out everything but their own scent to hide. This feels more like cutting a precise path through Jean's scent, like burning a forest line to hold back a fire. And if it works, Jean will notice the scent of omega - and horniness, as he'd called it - fading from the room.

Edited 2023-11-06 13:50 (UTC)

Jean is a little surprised when Marco rests his head against his shoulder, but he goes along with it. He's learned to trust Marco's instincts on a lot of things; why should this be any different? He hears Marco breathing through his mouth and makes a face--he sounds like a little kid with a cold when he does that--but manages to keep from making a snarky comment. He'll let Marco concentrate, for now.

After a few moments, Jean starts to smell Marco's scent. His has always been a weaker than a dynamic's scent, but Jean still knows it. How could he not, with the amount of time they spend together? Marco smells like clean laundry on the line after a day in the sun, and fires in the hearth. Fires lit with good, expensive hardwood, not pine or something cheap. Cherrywood, maybe, that hint of sweetest that comes along with the smoke.

The clean linen scent gets stronger, and Jean lets his head fall to the side, resting it against Marco's. He can't really judge his own scent, but he's going to trust that the clean linen one can drown it out. If anyone can figure this out, it's Marco.

Marco at least closes his mouth now that he has the bead on Jean's scent. As it'd been explained to him, if he could coax the hormones low, it should have an effect on Jean himself. So he keeps focusing on covering up that scent, until he can't smell it anymore.

He was going to raise his head, but Jean rests his head on his, so he doesn't move. Instead he looks up at Jean through his lashes.

"Feel anything?" He asks after a moment, curious.

"I can smell you more than me." But again, that doesn't really mean much. Jean can't smell himself much at all, being so used to his own scent. The only exception was when he went into heat, and that was so embarrassing and traumatic that he's wilfully forgetting the spicy pheromones he'd been blasting.

But does he feel any different? Jean actually thinks about that question for a moment, and yeah, he does. "Calmer. Less annoyed."

He gently elbows Marco in the stomach. "Maybe you just tired me out with all your fussing."

"If you were tired out, you'd be complaining that you wanna take a nap," Marco retorts, but he's grinning. Reluctantly, he lifts his head off Jean's shoulder, slipping out so he's sitting in front of his friend.

"I think it's me, though. I found the part of you that's new and - well, covered it up?" Burned it out, for the time being, and he keeps pushing his own, cleaner scent over it. He reaches up and takes one of Jean's hands in his, without really thinking about it, closing his eyes as he runs his thumb over Jean's fingers.

"Yeah... I think so. I can pull it back now, see if you get less calm." He starts to do just that.

"Yeah, keep going." Whatever Marco is doing seems to be working, and Jean isn't going to start actively complaining about it. He'll still complain, because he's Jean, but it won't be active complaining.

Jean lifts an eyebrow when Marco takes his hand, but doesn't pull away or otherwise comment. Maybe there's a touch element to all this that he's missing? He watches as Marco concentrates, as Marco touches his hand, and almost without realising it, Jean twists his hand and entwines their fingers.

The clean linen scent is billowing around them now, but the spicy Jean scent is making a resurgence. As Marco starts to pull back, Jean's scent surges up to fill the void. There's a different edge to it now, a brighter, more expectant undertone, that Jean doesn't notice. He's too intent, watching Marco's face as he tries to control both their scents.

Marco doesn't really have a reason for taking Jean's hand, other than he wanted to. He's so focused on this he didn't really think about it. But then Jean turns his hand, entwining their fingers together. Maybe there is something about there being touch, because he feels like his sense of smell sharpens a little.

Marco takes another small inhale, his mouth falling open for a second before he snaps it shut. The spicy tea-like scent is there, caught in the back of his throat and sinuses... Marco snaps his eyes open, looking at Jean for a moment.

And then he turns his head and sneezes, barely managing to not hit Jean or his hands with it.

Whatever moment was there is broken.

"Goddammit, Marco!" Jean lets go of his hand and scrambles backwards. "What the hell!"

The spicy tea scent spikes, very briefly, then fades almost completely. The annoyed scent comes roaring back as Jean picks himself up off the floor and flounces off to the room's attached bathroom.

He returns a moment later and chucks a roll of toilet tissue at Marco's head.

"Sorry!" Marco holds the hem of his jacket to his face. He looks a little crestfallen despite himself, and absolutely gets beaned in the head with the tissue roll.

He fumbles to catch it, pulling some off to actually blow his nose and sniffling.

"Sorry," he repeats. "Your new scent is spicy, I guess it set me off..."

"Give me some warning if you're going to do that again."

Jean clearly isn't too butthurt, though, as he comes back and settles down on the floor next to Marco again. He gives Marco a moment to collect himself and get his nose dealt with, then sighs.

"What does it smell like?"

Marco could retort that he wasn't expecting to sneeze, but he knows it'd just get Jean arguing again. So, he lets it go, especially since Jean comes back over and settles down.

"Mmm... It reminds me of a kind of tea my mom used to save for holidays. Chai, she called it? It's black tea but it has things like cinnamon and ginger in it. That's what it smells like to me," He tells Jean as he makes sure he's not left any residue on himself or his sleeve and then tosses the tissue towards a trash can.

Without really thinking about it, he continues. "It reminds me of places I consider home."

Edited (i wanted to hint about mates teehee) 2023-11-08 18:55 (UTC)

Jean's eyes widen a little at Marco's description, making him look younger and significantly less criminal.

"My mom gets that tea too." And also saved it for the holidays, but that's not the important part. Jean scooches a little closer. "So it's, like, not a bad smell?"

That's what has been weighing on him the most: that he reeks because he's an omega. He hates the thought of walking around stinking and everyone knowing.

Marco, ever the more perceptive one, picks up that Jean wants reassurance that he's not stinking to high heaven. But he's not lying when he shakes his head.

"It's not bad at all, I really like it," he promises Jean. "I know it takes me longer to pick stuff out, but yours has never bothered me. Well."

He scrunches up his nose playfully. "Unless you've been in the ODM gear all day and haven't showered yet..."

"You don't smell very good on those days either." But all right, Jean is reassured. He has no reason to think Marco is lying, and while he might have moments where he'll need further pampering and convincing, he can go about his days now and not worry about stinking.

Except after being in the gear all day.

"You smell like clean laundry that's been on the line all day." Are they sharing now? Yes, they're going to share. "It smells like summer."

"I don't think any of us do, honestly. Reiner's the worst, though." Though that's because Reiner is more developed than most of them! Either way, Marco is glad he's reassured Jean that he doesn't smell bad.

When Jean says what he smells like, he blushes a little bit. Marco's own scent is something he's a little nose blind to as well, and he looks down and grins. "I guess that makes sense... Something clean, since I'm a beta." He looks back up at Jean.

"You smell like cedar and sunshine, too - still do, I should say. Like fresh cut cedar wood, and the smell in the air on a hot sunny day."

"Between him and Bertolt, that entire side of the barracks smells like ballsack after a long day." Is Jean wildly jealous of how masculine the two bigger boys smell? Why yes, yes he is. They stink like alphas, even if they haven't presented yet, and it pains Jean's delicate sensibilities.

"I do?" Those are both really nice smells, even if Jean is slightly unclear on what exactly sunshine smells like. Marco must be talking about what it smells like in the countryside; Trost in the summer mostly smells like sweat and rotting vegetables.

Jean smiles at the idea, and this time, he's the one who seeks out Marco's hand, barely aware he's doing it. Any irritation has faded from his scent; he smells pleased and flattered now.

Marco almost asks Jean if he's been smelling a lot of ballsacks - the wry twist to his lips says it all, really - but he refrains from voicing it. He just calmed Jean down, after all, he doesn't need to set him off again.

Marco does mean a country summer; it's not the most pleasant smell depending on area, but he thinks of lush, green fields with spots of yellow in them, the smell of loam and cut grass and the baking scent of earth.

"You do," Marco confirms, and this time Jean takes his hand. Marco's distinctly aware of him doing so, and his scent flares slightly with something like interest before he tamps it down. He still curls his fingers against Jean's though.

"Well.. we technically did what they wanted us to. We could report back... or pad it a little while."

Being accused of smelling ballsacks would definitely set Jean off. He's been informed he doesn't stink, which is good, but he's still sensitive about being perceived as a loose omega. This could turn very quickly from two best friends hanging out to Jean launching himself at Marco with both fists flying.

Jean catches the hint of interest that flares in Marco's scent, but he doesn't recognise it for what it is. He's very rarely had that particular scent directed at him, and thinks it's just some random blip going through Marco's scent pattern.

"Pffft, I'm not going back yet." Jean flops backwards onto the mat, still holding Marco's hand. "They banished me for the day, so they're just going to have to live without me for now." A few moments later, he shoots Marco a look out of the corner of his eyes. "I also want to know this works. Can we try again?"

He wouldn't be this vulnerable with anyone but Marco. He wants every memory of him being omega stamped out of everyone's minds, drowned with Marco's clean, inoffensive scent.

Their actual physical fights are comparatively much rarer than Eren and Jean's, but even they are not without them. Even if it usually ends with Marco putting Jean in a headlock, Jean's a spry grappler and it's no small feat to pin him down.

"Fair enough," Marco laughs when Jean says they have to live without him for the day, giving a reassuring squeeze to his hand. Jean's suggestion, though tied into his vulnerability, is a good one; they should get some more practice.

"Sure. Uh - don't worry about getting up." Marco has an idea - the scent glands are strongest on the neck, but it's considered very intimate to go huffing around there if you aren't a child or a mate. They also exist, in a smaller form, in other parts of the body - which includes the hands and wrist.

So, instead of making Jean sit back up, Marco lifts their entwined hands, shifting so that the inside of Jean's wrist is available enough for him to lean down and take a deep inhale. Without meaning to, his nose brushes the skin of the gland before he lifts up a little bit. It's easier to catch that hint of chai in Jean's scent this time, and he starts trying to cover it with his own.

Jean might not have grown up with siblings, but he scrapped plenty with the other kids in the neighbourhood. You learn to defend yourself when you're the chubby mama's boy of the street.

Jean lets Marco lift his hand without protest, but draws in a startled breath when Marco's nose brushes his scent gland. That had... that had been a lot more intense than it usually is. He and Marco grab each other's wrists all the time, and while the scent glands have always been there, it's never felt like a lightning bolt up Jean's arm when Marco touches it.

Jean watches Marco through his eyelashes as he toys with his wrist, and yes, there's chai in Jean's scent, but something else is starting to bubble up. Just as the muscles in Jean's abdomen are suddenly feeling hot, too full of blood, his scent isn't cooperating this time. It's meeting Marco's and pushing back.

in which Jean abuses italics mercilessly

jean has a mandatory number of italics he needs to use

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i know just enough about science to know this isn't how it works

where we're going, we don't NEED science

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older jean's weird ass haircut is growing on me

for whatever reason, the last icons I uploaded to this account were all older Jean ones

need to crop those nsfw arts for older marco into icons

I need to go trolling for Jaw titan images to make into icons

i sent you a picture of galliard with flowers in his eyehole :>

oh believe me, I'll be iconning that one too haha

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i know about you and your hand kink

called out!