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Duke, being a beta, is not very affected by scents. He can smell people, but it has never been as useful to him as the way light touches them, the way it lingers on some people, the way certain colors render against their skin. In a distant way Duke knows that Damian smells like rain, and that he is an omega, but that doesn’t matter nearly as much as the fact that even through his clothes Duke can tell he’s been gripping his own arms too tightly and scratching his skin in discomfort.
“Are you alright?” The question is low, as casual as he can make it.
Damian clicks his tongue — unsurprising — but his cheeks darken as blood begins to rush into them — very surprising. “My heat is on the horizon.”
He says it like he’s walking to war or the grave and Duke has to hold back a laugh. He’s aware that being an omega isn’t a cake walk, but if one were to compare omegas — obviously not something he’d go about saying out loud — then Damian is among the most high functioning omegas during their heat. It is one of the reasons the teen doesn’t take suppressants, the other being that if an omega doesn’t take suppressants their heats tend to be shorter and more regular once they adapt to having them. Damian’s is just now starting to hit that regularity which is why Duke and Barbara — the pack betas — have been sticking around pack spaces a little more to offer stability. With a pack mostly consisting of alphas, it’s a necessity.
“Do you need help gathering nesting supplies or anything?” Duke offers. If Damian is already pulling and bruising his skin in discomfort then he clearly is at the point of needing to find the supplies to hole away in his nest for a night or two.
Two months ago, the teen had managed to handle an assault on Arkham while in the throes of heat, but right now there’s no emergency popping off and Tim, Jason, and Dick are back in town from their various trips. Meaning, Damian should be more than able to settle in and enjoy his heat, not that Duke has really ever seen the omega enjoy anything other than art or hanging out with his animals. If Duke didn’t have his vision he figures that Damian would be the hardest person in the family for him to read.
“I already have everything for my nest,” Damian informs him. The teen looks away, cheeks growing even darker, the red spilling to the tips of his ears. His hair isn’t styled today so it feathers across his forehead and falls around his ears in dark waves that Duke can’t help but imagine the texture of now that they’re free of gel.
Is the hair damaged by the constant mistreatment of styling? Or is it as soft as it looks brushing against Damian’s blemishless face? Has presenting as an omega changed the texture of it the same way that it sweetened Damian’s scent and cleared his skin?
Valiantly, he tries to get his thought process back on track. He’s been falling into fits of fantasy lately about the people around him, little things like this. Duke opens his mouth to offer company on Damian’s way to the kitchen to gather the usual care basket Alfred usually makes for the omega, but he doesn’t make it that far.
Damian’s eyes flick back up to him, green in shades only Duke can see and uncertain. His nails dig into his own elbow through the fabric of his tunic jacket roughly and he takes a deep breath in only to click his tongue again. “The only thing I don’t have for my heat is… a partner.”
Duke blinks, trying to figure out why Damian is sharing the information with him. His first thought is that, as a trusted beta, Damian might expect Duke to help him sneak in some alpha lover under the noses of everyone in the manor. He supposes he could, he does sort of owe the kid for a save a few months ago. He doesn’t think it would even get him into too much trouble, Damian is on birth control last he heard and the kid wouldn’t let anyone unworthy near him during a time of incapacity.
Not that Damian is incapable in any way.
Though Duke does wonder who the alpha could be. Jon, maybe? Or perhaps Raven? He doesn’t really know if either of them have secondary genders though, being that their physiology isn’t all human. Maybe it’s—
“Would you,” Damian steps towards him, “be my partner?”
Duke’s entire thought process shuts down. Under no circumstances did he ever think that any omega, much less Damian, would be asking him to be their heat partner. For a moment he’s sure he misheard the teen but the way nerves are gathering on Damian’s shoulders sort of clue him in. Still, he levels a finger at himself and asks for clarification. “Me? Not that I’m not flattered, but are you sure, Damian? I’m only a beta.”
Damian’s lips tug into a sharp frown. “I didn’t ask because of your secondary gender.” There’s a pause like Damian wants to call him an idiot but is holding back. “I asked because I have feelings for you.”
That’s… oh… oh!
Duke’s never let himself think about that kind of thing with Damian, mostly because he never saw it as an option. Being a beta and being more than a handful of years older than Damian means that while he’s had stray thoughts about how pretty the teen is he hasn’t really indulged in them beyond a moment of recognition before pushing those thoughts away. Though, other than the idea that he’s definitely going to be put through the wringer when the Alphas find out, Duke can’t come up with any reason to actually say no to the invitation.
“If I join your nest for your heat,” Duke asks, hand dropping down to slide back into his hoodie pocket, “does that mean I get to take you on a date after?’
The hues of his eyes are a kaleidoscope of greens that only seem to brighten in surprise. “You would want that?”
“I mean I would have preferred to take you on a date first, but it seems like we’re a little stalled for time,” the beta answers before confusion dances its way through him. He stares at the omega’s surprised face for a moment, attempting to figure out why someone asking him to share a heat nest would be confused about something as simple as a first date.
“Why wouldn’t I? No offense, Damian, but if you like me enough to invite me to be your heat partner then,” Duke drifts off for a moment, tilting his head to try and emphasize his point, “I’d like to see if my feelings can come to match yours.”
All he gets in answer is another click of Damian’s tongue. The teen’s hand snaps out, grabbing Duke by the sleeve before he about-faces and starts to drag the older man towards the heat room.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Duke points out amused.
“I always crave sushi from that place near the movie theater you showed me a few years ago,” the omega says softly as they begin to climb the stairs. “Can we go there for our first date?”
A grin spreads across Duke’s face. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll look at what movies are showing during your rest stages. We can make a night of it.”
“That sounds nice,” Damian breathes. There’s something there under the petrichor of his normal scent and the sweet florals of his heat pheromones, something that Duke as a beta has a hard time pinning down. It’s nice, though, and he hopes to grow familiar with it.