Work Text:
Heartman had only been surprised by his heat two times: The first and the second.
He lived his life in carefully planned 21 minutes intervals, time never far from his mind. He counted years, months, weeks, hours, minutes, seconds. Going into heat two times every year, perfectly spaced out in six months intervals, had just become another way for him to keep track of time.
It was a strange condition that had only hit part of the surviving population, separating them into three groups that became known as alphas, omegas and betas.
Some, like Deadman, became alphas. They went into rut where they’d become more sexually aggressive, seeking out partners and gaining the ability to tell omegas from betas. The men mostly remained unchanged physically but the women grew new genitalia meant to impregnate. People settled on calling them ovipositors though Heartman continued to argue that the name was wholly incorrect. He was in the minority however, as calling them anything else made a lot of people uncomfortable.
Betas, like Sam, didn’t seem to change at all, staying untouched by this strange new human sexuality. They couldn’t inherently sense the difference in alphas, betas or omegas, having to rely on subtle signs. It was considered bad etiquette to ask someone what they were after all.
And then there were people like Heartman who became omegas. Almost as a mirror to the alphas the women stayed unchanged but the men grew a new internal organ not unlike a uterus. He didn’t feel any different most of the year, but in April and October he would be overtaken by a sudden, all-consuming desire to be taken. It was a bigger hassle back when he lived in the city, though Deadman had been kind enough to help him out. They had spent many a night together, Deadman’s scent keeping other alphas away. Not that Heartman would have minded more company if only it hadn’t been so disruptive to his work.
Up here in the mountains it made no difference however. He took care of it himself with toys and an excellent alpha pheromone spray that kept his head clear enough to keep working. Occasionally his heat would accidentally correlate with an alpha porter bringing him a package and against his better judgment he had let a few of them into his house to entertain him. It was a gamle but so far he had been lucky.
He could have lived the rest of his life this way if not for Samantha. They met at an online support group for 21 minute sufferers and didn’t disclose their secondary sexualities to each other for months. It was only when Samantha suggested he move in with her in Mexico that he told her. If they were going to live together she had to be prepared for his heats. Turned out they were a better match than even they knew. She turned out to be an incredibly loving and caring alpha and Heartman could not have asked for a better partner. They were both too old for pregnancy to be an issue so April and October became something they both looked forward to.
________
Higgs was only vaguely aware of what time of year it was. Every single time he wondered why he was feeling moody and oversensitive, only to realize a few days later it was that time of the year again. Then the fuckfest started. Didn’t care who, didn’t care how. He’d take every single man and woman who lined up and some who didn’t. Unlike a lot of other omegas he didn’t sit around coyly waiting for alphas to claim him. His poor men had to content with him suddenly pushing them to ground and taking what he needed. Don’t want it? Stay out of the way. He popped day after pills like they were candy, well past what any doctor would consider safe. Well, Higgs didn’t plan on being around for long anyway. Might at well ride into the last stranding ass first.
Fragile had been so much fun, always ready to go when he needed her, so having her turn against him was a bigger loss than he could ever bring himself to admit. When he realized he couldn’t get her out of his head he started to fear she might have marked him. Fuck. He tried everything, even disfiguring her, but little did it help. He just had to kill her, plain and simple. An omega killing their alpha to get rid of their mark was unheard of but Higgs was never one for socially acceptable solutions.
It did scare him into being more careful with his partners however. Betas, dumb and num to the world around them, became much more desirable to him. Sam was the perfect beta. He could only have been more perfect if he had been lobotomized. Higgs just couldn’t keep his hands off of him when heat hit and Sam understood fuck all, stumbling around confused as to why he was getting so much attention. Higgs wasn’t even sure if Sam ever caught on to him being an omega. It made it all the more fun. Then he developed an obsession with Sam too and Higgs started to suspect Fragile might not have marked him after all. Oh well, Sam would just have to go the same way as her.