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 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.

Marco and Jean have been noted to be an unusually affectionate pair. There's only so much you can excuse to a beta's blind nose when they're all taught the same manners. Even with a weaker scent, it's not uncommon for Marco to nudge his wrist against the back of Jean's shoulders as he moves a hand to rest on his shoulder. And the thing is - Jean lets him. He's never stopped him the way he snarled at Eren the one time he tried it mockingly.

But it's still unusual that the newly presented secondary scent suddenly makes Marco's mouth water, filling with saliva. He tries to subtly swallow the spit back as he looks over to Jean, shooting him what he hopes is a shaming look. He thinks Jean is trying to push back against him on purpose.

So Marco pushes harder, with his scent. Flaring out that clean laundry linen scent, more insistent against the spicy chai. (Why does Marco think of sharing tea while there's laundry on the line? It's such a specific thought.)

Snarling is a nice way to put it. Jean had been ready to rip Eren's throat out. Bertholdt had fortunately gotten between them and stopped it, but it had been a tense few minutes. Eren, to his credit, never tried that again.

"What?" Jean is genuinely baffled by the look Marco shoots him. "I'm not doing anything!"

His scent has other plans. While Jean might not be doing anything purposefully, his scent is practically billowing now, so strong even Jean can smell it. It reminds him of the winter holidays, and curling up under a warm, clean quilt.

"You're doing something!" Marco insists, voice low, not quite a hiss. He's not really angry, and more concerned that Jean says he's not doing something. Also the fact that his mouth won't stop watering, to the point Marco slurs the s of the last word a little before he swallows again.

Okay, calm down Bott. Maybe it's just reacting bad to being suppressed. This is where a little knowledge damns him. He's done the suppression one way, and he knows he can do it the opposite way as well, to make it stronger.

But in his concern, he thinks maybe Jean's body is upset that he's trying to cover out the scent. So he eases back a little, which isn't the mistake he makes.

The mistake is trying to convince it he's done enough by trying to match that scent. In the course of sending out it's fine with his pheromones, there's no way to really differentiate between it's fine, heat now with his inexperience. It's especially a bad idea when Jean's hit a heat so recently.

Marco doesn't know any of that, though.

Edited (IM SORRY) 2023-11-10 15:47 (UTC)

"I'm not!" Jean has no idea what Marco is talking about! He keeps going on and on about Jean doing something with his scent, and he hasn't done a thing! He's just sitting here!

Sitting here getting progressively more uncomfortable, with cramps filling his gut, and Jean whines softly and rolls over, hiding his face against Marco's thigh. He curls in on himself, holding his abdomen, and tries to ignore how warm and muscular Marco's leg is. How strong it is, and how much it carries that clean laundry smell. When did clean linen ever smell this good?

"I'm getting cramps. Whatever you're doing, it's not working." Or it's working exactly as intended, and Jean, as inexperienced as Marco is, doesn't recognise the signs of an imminent heat. His scent, on the other hand, is reacting joyously to Marco's. The spicy tea aroma is flaring up, practically dancing in the air between them. It's fine? Really, it's fine? It's fine for heat now? THEN HEAT NOW.

Marco groans in frustration and drops the attempt with his pheromones to encourage it. But it's too late; it's a hormonal runaway of mounting proportions. His body's reacting the way a beta of sufficient age would to an omega pouring out these hormones - priming the need to take the role of an alpha.

It won't magically make him one. But his body has the capacity to knot just like one, with the right trigger.

He raises a hand to wipe at his mouth - seriously, why is he nearly drooling so much all of a sudden? and speaks again.

"... I stopped. Why aren't you stopping too?"

This isn't accusatory at all. Now he sounds worried, especially with how Jean is curled in on himself and hiding his face in Marco's thigh. He mentioned something that Marco almost missed in his panic. Cramps?

Oh. Oh no, cramps.

Marco timidly reaches down to brush some of Jean's hair back, and though he knows it's risky he remembers what they taught him - how to check if a gland is swollen. The instant his fingers brush one of Jean's, on the side of his jaw exposed to Marco, he knows.

Jean practically leaps out of his skin when Marco touches the gland in his neck, yelping plaintively when he does. "What the fuck!"

What the fuck, indeed. The realisation of what's happening hits Jean like a fifteen meter titan; mere seconds after Marco touched his gland, Jean feels a veritable gush in his pants. That happened last time too, a sudden deluge of liquid from his ass, intending to ease the way for an alpha. And now Jean has gone and done it in front of Marco, who is just trying to help, and he's gone and made an absolute embarrassment of himself.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck..." Jean curls in on himself, tucking into a little ball with his arms around his head so Marco can't touch his glands again. "Marco, I'm... I'm sorry. I'm heating. Fuck!"

The cramps are ripping through him now, agonising in their intensity, and Jean knows he's in for a rough night. There's nothing to do except bear down and get through them.

"Can you... can you go tell the nurse?" Jean is panting now, shivering in a ball on the floor. "Tell her I need... ow, shit, ow ow OW... I need to be left alone... for like twelve hours." He looks up then, his bangs hanging in his face, wet with sweat. "Should be over by then."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry -"

Marco scoots a little bit away when Jean curls up, feeling his heart plummet into his stomach as Jean covers his neck with his arms. The scent his brain interprets as chai goes absolutely molten in the air. He knows this is his fault. It's way too early for Jean's next heat to arrive, and so suddenly.

He shakes his head when Jean apologizes, but he has trouble finding his voice. Anytime he opens his mouth its like those pheromones pour down the back of his tongue. He starts sweating, the drool is really happening now, and there's a deep ache in his own gut.

"I-"

When Jean looks up at him from the floor, still curled in a ball, Marco means to say Okay, I'll go tell her, and I'll lock the door. Instead, what spills out is "I can help?"

He freezes a little bit, hands hovering out in front of him, because he was half reaching for Jean already. He pulls them back, curling them into fists and resting them on his knees.

"I think - It's my fault." Which implies it's his responsibility, but Marco knows it's not that. He knows he wouldn't just offer because he made a mistake. He doesn't offer to suck Bertholdt's dick if he accidentally bruises him during training, after all.

"But I'm - I'm a presented beta now. I should be able to help." He swallows the excess of saliva again. He won't go crazy and feral like an omega or alpha, but he knows he can at least give Jean what he wants enough to belay the heat, which is knotting him. Then he lowers his voice, and it's clear by the dilation of his eyes he means this.

"You smell ... really good, Jean."

Edited 2023-11-16 01:26 (UTC)

Reiner would probably punch Marco if he offered to suck Bertholdt's dick.

Jean peeks out from between his arms when Marco offers to help. He'd be lying through his teeth if he said he hadn't considered this possibility, after he presented as an omega. He'd carefully considered most of the other cadets, wondering what they'd present as, and if he'd consider fucking them during a heat. But really, he'd thought about Marco most of all. He trusts Marco--always has--and that alone pushes him to the front of the list. The fact that he smells great and is offering to help--not getting all enthusiastic about getting to pound a weak, simpering omega, but offering to help--is just a bonus.

"Really?" Jean unfolds his arms and sits up, wincing as the motion puts pressure on his guts. "You don't have to, it's not your fault this happened."

It's Jean's. It's his stupid body and its ideas about what it should do and when. Marco didn't do anything wrong here, and Jean wants that very clear. The only thing worse than suffering through another heat alone would be knowing Marco was with him out of some twisted sense of duty and not because he wants to be with Jean.

"But... if you want to?" It's a fine distinction, maybe, but it's one Jean needs to make. He has to stop himself from plunging right against Marco and burying his face in his chest. "If you... if I really smell that good?"

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!

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