bakerstreet | Stuck in this rut

Stuck in this rut

THE IN HEAT/IN RUT AU MEME
not an alpha/beta/omega meme

There's no need for elaborate backstories for this AU. You go into heat, rut, whatever you'd like to call it. You've always done so since you were of age to do so. It's a socially accepted norm, and people have gotten used to the difficulties that come with the mating seasons. Life goes on.

Isn't this alpha/beta/omega, then? No, not at all. In this meme, there are no gender-variant genitalia unless your character comes prepackaged with those. No giant cocks - again, unless your character is already packing - or self-lubricating assholes or anal wombs, and no knotting. Unless that's your thing. There's also no set in stone roles with regards to dominance and submission, and some people do not even feel the inclination towards either. Still, there are a few similarities, mainly being that the pheromones of others can put someone into heat that was not in it before and the bond between mates. In addition, some humans/human-stand-ins have created packlike dynamics in response, but this is not universal.

In this meme, it's just regular old human...oids feeling the urge for sex. And by "urge," we of course mean all-consuming drive. If characters choose to ignore that urge, it will backfire on them. The more they put it off, the more they will lose their control, becoming more irritable and aggressive, and eventually be nothing but a rutting animal until the need to mate is satisfied. Not all heats call for mating, of course, and most people can just relieve themselves, but when you do mate, you feel the urge to stay by their side and essentially "nest." These desires don't always pan out into offspring, and mating isn't forever unless it's mutually decided upon. However, impregnating your mate is said to be one of the most euphoric experiences a person can have, even if some people only mate because they want to utterly possess someone, as mates are bonded for a while.

If there's anything that's to your fancy that's been left out, go ahead and add it in. Play it how you'd like!

HOW TO PLAY

Comment with your character and preferences.

Include what you're interested and not interested in.

Respond to others!

PROMPTS

first heat: Baby's first heat. YOU'RE A TEENAGER/LATE BLOOMER AND WHAT IS THIS?

old hand: You've done this a million times, but it never gets any easier.

happen to be here: You're not picky. You can't afford to be. You'll take anybody who's nearby.

old faithful: You're going to the person you always go to in order to relieve your problem.

worked something out: The two of you aren't involved. You just help each other out.

unexpected: You never expected to rut with this person, but here you are.

forbidden: AKA the obligatory incest or age difference option.

volunteer: You've offered yourself up out of the kindness of your heart.

tribute: This isn't your offer. You're the offer from others, a gift for someone powerful to sate their appetite.

mating: You've decided to go one step further and make your relationship deeper.

nesting: Aaah, (temporary) domestic bliss. And lots of fucking. Lots and lots of fucking. Like, you'll barely be able to stand.

bonding: The bond, which is mildly psychic and intensely physical, makes sex even more intense.

the natural conclusion: Heat calls for pregnancy. Get someone pregnant.

already pregnant: Unfortunately, being knocked up doesn't abate your partner's desires. Or yours.

mates for life: Now you're absolutely certain that you want to be with no one else. Of course, this means you'll be in synch with their heat for the rest of forever.

save you: You've been saved from the advances of an undesired mate by someone who may be much more suited. Show your gratitude?

cockfight: Two people want the same mate. That won't do. There are ways to figure that out, not always involving fists.

increase in dominance: Exactly what it says.

increase in submission: Again, exactly what it says.

unexpected dominance: No one expects you to ever be dominant. Prove them wrong.

protect: You want to protect your mate from others, and that means putting your scent all over them.

set off by someone else: You were doing fine until you got a whiff of someone else's pheromones.

resisting temptation: Your heart belongs to someone. You want to stay out of this "heat" thing. You want to rise above it. Whatever it may be, you just have to not take the bait. Easier said than done.

all worked up: You're beginning to lose control and yourself. Quick, do something before you're jumping anything that moves.

pack: As mentioned prior, some people, especially those far out from civilization proper, have formed packs that hold to the more traditional alpha structure. Of course, these packs come with their own rules when it comes to heat and mating.

suitable partner: The desire for certain mates can come from a subconscious level, and you can find yourself aroused by someone showing how strong they are (they can protect you), how curvaceous they look (that must mean they're fertile), or any other number of traits that can benefit you.

desperation: You'll take anyone! Anything!

final release: You've reached your breaking point and your mindless. At least you'll get relief.

fighter: Part of your process is seeing who's worthy of you by testing their mettle. That, or you want to fight anything.

off your meds: It's fairly rare, but some can get blockers for their heat. What if those blockers run out? Why, it makes your heat ten times worse!

noncon: They don't want this. You don't want to stop this.

dubcon: You say no, but your body says yes and you can't stop loving it.

calm you down: Whether it's to fuck or to fight, you're going mad, and they have to bring you back down to Earth.

territorial: How dare someone look at what belongs to you? You'll have to make things right.

odd man out: For some reason, you don't go into heat. Never have. Being with you is pretty relaxing, and some find it appealing to not have to deal with pheromones that aren't theirs. You do have to learn how to appreciate their problems, though.

WILDCARD

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Can’t say I do.

( with his hands freed, sylvain awkwardly crosses his arms. he stares up at the ceiling, lightly kicking at the floor as he puzzles out the best way to word this. )

Avoided it, actually. There was always a difference between this and messing around.

( he hadn’t wanted to send too many mixed signals or, goddess forbid, accidentally mate someone and bond them together. so he had resigned himself to only “chasing skirts” when he wasn’t in rut and when he was certain the girl was either a beta or an omega nowhere near heat. )

[ when felix looks at him, he's genuinely surprised. then again, felix knows that sylvain avoids serious relationships, so maybe it shouldn't be shocking that he's never been with an omega in heat before. still, has he never been tempted? but felix believes him, and lifts a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.

he doesn't want to ask for help. hell, he doesn't even want to accept this jacket. ]

I don't need help.

[ but felix doesn't toss it back at sylvain. he's barely resisting pulling it closer, holding it out awkwardly between the two of them. this is... not good. ]

( the problem is, if felix asked, sylvain would. without a second thought. he’s come to that painful conclusion years ago and it’s certainly calmed down his string of failed dalliances.

sylvain takes another deep sigh. they certainly do keep going in circles tonight, huh? )

Do you want me to go? ( he can’t ask the opposite: to stay. probably doesn’t want to hear the likely answer of “go”. )

[ the truth? no. felix wants anything but that. but he can't ask sylvain to stay; that's a recipe for disaster for the both of them. what he needs is to lock himself in his room, and ride this out. ]

You should.

[ felix feels hot, and he forces himself to turn away, to push open his door. what does he need to do? ]

Tell Manuela.

Sure.

( yeah. yeah he can do that.

sylvain frowns when he’s certain felix’s back is to him. he isn’t sure why he had even thought for a second there would be a different answer. )

Just—take it easy. ( he knows it’s lip-service but he does mean it. with a deep breath, he turns on his heel to go to the infirmary. what a nightmare this day is turning into. )

[ manuela is going to give him hell for pushing this off for so long, and felix knows it. he also knows that someone needs to know, and that she's the safest. in the meantime, felix needs to push through the fog that's trying to cover his thoughts; he's pretty sure he's stuck like this until it passes.

he pushes through the door, stumbles, and falls forward. it's suddenly difficult to put one leg in front of the other. ]

( sylvain definitely got an earful. he returns about an hour later with a teapot that has been brewing for awhile now.

he taps his knuckles gently against felix’s door. )

Hey. Manuela sent me with this. She said she’ll stop by in the morning with a few other things and to give you more guidance, but for now this is all she can do until it fully hits.

( sylvain isn’t sure how much the tea will take the edge off the symptoms, but he hopes it will keep felix from being in pain. )

[ felix has managed to take off his outer layers and collapse on his bed, but that's about all he's done. he feels dizzy, and the nausea is giving way to something else, the part he hates worst of all. sylvain's jacket is... fisted in one hand, but felix is telling himself it's only because he doesn't know what to do with it.

but when he'd tried tossing it in the corner, he'd found himself unable to just leave it there. ]

Just bring it in.

[ felix already sounds miserable. he's never handled being sick well, and this is far more than that. this is humiliating, and his body aches, and he has no idea how long it will last. he doesn't even want manuela here, but felix knows that's his best bet for ending this early... if it's possible. ]

( sylvain dutifully heads inside. he sets the tea pot and cup down beside the bed and offers a rare sheepish smile. )

Try and finish it before you sleep.

( he sits on his haunches, fingertips twitching with the restless energy due to wanting to reach out and brush felix’s hair off his face for him or to just … tug him against his chest and ease the ache any way he can. he definitely keeps those thoughts to himself. )

[ as if felix is going to be able to sleep like this. he feels both listless and restless, and he doesn't even order sylvain not to tell him what to do. there's that scent again, the one that clings to the jacket, and it eases something momentarily. ]

You can't tell anyone about this, Sylvain.

[ so, felix has given up denying it. it would be stupid to do so now; sylvain can clearly see what's wrong with him, and had been sent to get something to help. he's in on this now, but after it's over, felix will never, ever speak of it again. ]

Who am I gonna tell?

( in all seriousness, he offers another lop-sided smile. it’s rather forced. this isn’t really a situation he thought he’d ever be in with felix. )

It doesn’t change anything.

( he still thinks felix is the strongest swordsman he knows; that he isn’t some stereotypical omega.

sylvain rests his hand idly on the edge of the bed but knows better than to place it too close. ) Have some tea or I’ll feed you myself.

[ it might not change anything for sylvain, but for felix, it's really something he would rather ignore. for the rest of his life. glenn had been an alpha; this is just another way he can't match up to his brother, and felix hates it more than anything.

but he's given up denying it to sylvain, at the very least.

with some effort, felix rolls onto his back and sits up, pouring himself a cup of the tea with a slightly shaky grip. ]

I don't see how tea will help anything.

It’s supposed to help with the body aches and fever.

( but the other stuff? sylvain snorts a short laugh as he addresses that part of manuela’s lecture: )

You can pretty much guess how she suggested you take care of the other stuff. ( a beat. ) Can cross off Manuela holding that from my list. ( knotting toys. worthy of nightmares. )

[ well, that's one thing, but felix would much rather deal with body aches and fever than the 'other stuff'. that's the part that humiliates him; he can fight through aches and fever, but what is he supposed to do when all he can think about is how horny he is?

and he knows how it's suggested he take care of it. he'd looked into various things before deciding that simply not having a heat at all was the best course of action. at least, not until after the war. before that, he used the excuse of school.

he downs the cup of tea, suddenly realizing just how thirsty he'd been. ]

The answer is no.

[ felix would rather die of horniness than use anything manuela might give him. and it dawns on him then: ]

Is she intending on trying to convince me?

Probably.

( well. he ought to be more honest than that.

sylvain rubs the back of his neck and stares at a random spot on the wall. how fascinating was that water stain always there?! )

… she also didn’t seem to believe me that I wasn’t going to help you like that.

( refusing. to. make. eye contact.

he supposes manuela did have a point—they were usually hanging around each other, sylvain hadn’t been messing around much since the war started, and any alpha seeking meds for their—for an omega, not theirs—certainly had some established trust and connection. )

[ ...felix isn't shocked. he wants to be, but of course the natural train of thought would be that sylvain, someone very close to felix, would help him. there is vague indignation visible on felix's face, and in his scent, but he can't muster the energy to really get furious. ]

When you leave, you can tell her to fuck off.

[ that means do not bring anything weird into this room and of course my arguably best friend isn't going to help me like that. ]

I’m pretty sure she can kick my ass.

( sylvain laughs, though. he’s glad that felix still has enough control over himself through whatever discomfort he’s feeling to talk. that’s a good sign.

sylvain drops his hand down on the bed, awkwardly letting it linger in the space between them. his legs are getting tired from sitting on the floor, but he isn’t planning on budging. )

It’s fixed, by the way. The uh. Scent.

I'd be willing to let her kick your ass.

[ a half-hearted joke. it's clear felix isn't feeling himself, especially judging by his listless, flushed appearance, but he's still coherent enough.

and then he realizes sylvain is right. the scent that had been bothering him so much before is gone; felix's eyes go straight to sylvain's hand, and he-

no. he's not going to do anything weird. felix sort of wants to apologize for freaking out over that; if he'd realized this was happening, he would have sequestered himself away way earlier. ]

You should take a bath after leaving.

Why?

( sylvain glances down at his hand with a quirked brow. he had been very attentive to washing off the strange scent before coming back here. )

It’s not like your scent is going to just magically float through the air and get all over me.

( maybe. sort of. he isn’t sure. he wouldn’t mind it, if it did, actually. )

[ because felix is paranoid, that's why. he doesn't want anyone to smell him on sylvain and get the wrong idea, and because the idea of sylvain smelling like him is going to make him crazy. ]

You're too careless about this sort of thing. You were just going to walk around earlier smelling like some woman you don't even know.

[ and now felix is wondering what it would smell like if his scent mingled with sylvain's, and he wants to die. ]

( sylvain lifts a brow. and then laughs. )

We train together all the time. No one is going to notice.

( not like he’s ever truly smelled felix before. )

What a rumor that’d be, though. Chances our Dimitri would lose his mind? ( two strong nobles in his kingdom canoodling?! )

[ felix does not want to think about dimitri, and he shoots sylvain a look as vicious as he can manage. ]

Let him lose his mind then. It's already half gone.

[ his eyes keep straying to sylvain's hand. felix knows that he should kick him out, tell sylvain not to linger. ]

Eh. Pretty sure the Professor is fixing that.

( watching dimitri court someone is actually comical. but a little endearing.

sylvain stretches out, tucking his legs under felix’s bed as he stares up at him. he leans a little more weight on his arm and hand that’s draped on the bed. )

Tea helping at all?

[ that earns sylvain a snort; felix would really rather not think at all about dimitri's love life. the tea is helping a bit, at least; his headache has lessened, and the feverish aches are slight enough to be ignored. ]

Yes, but you don't need to sit here and monitor me.

[ in fact, sylvain really shouldn't. ]

Is it so wild that I’m worried? I know, you can handle it. It doesn’t mean I won’t stress about it. Manuela said what you’ve been doing is hell on your body.

( sylvain won’t lecture him. he gets the reasoning. he just wants to make sure this isn’t completely hellish for felix.

his hand twitches just a bit. he… wants to comfort him. somehow. someway. )

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