Page 38 of The First Omega Made
“Fine. I told you what to look for, but why you insist on doing a checklist, I do not know.” He pulled a new window up and gestured. “Are your hips feeling loose and pliant?”
“Yes. Since yesterday, and let me tell you, it’s not fun fucking like that.” I grumbled and Noel nodded, his face a mask of understanding.
“Alright, and has your arousal fluid thickened and increased?” Noel glanced over.
As I thought about it, it did seem a little more plentiful, but I didn’t have a large span of experience with it. “I think so.”
“Okay, your temperature has spiked. That’s good.” Noel compared some documents to his checklist. “And your channels have shortened. This will make the split easier.”
Noel pondered over a 4D scan. Progenitors help us if he ever put his mind to evil. The male could read like lightning. “Oh, and how is your bond doing with them?”
“Still just this odd content feeling. Sarge is obsessive about it. He says it seems antsy, but I don’t feel it.” I shrugged.
“That’s interesting.” Noel’s flat voice was so hard to read at times, butinterestingwas not a word I wanted to hear from him, as he was usually far more concise with his answers.
“So, you’ll lay anytime in the next week. That’s all I can say. We know the relative time of conception, but I’ve got so much conflicting information. All I can say is you’re ready. The calmer you are, the easier it will go.” Noel closed the window and stared me down, his head tilting. Our eyes, so similar now, met for a brief moment before he reached out to rest his hand over my swell. “Make sure to reassure him. They feed off your bond, too, you know? Nexus knows when I’m upset.”
“Nobody else can tell if you’re upset, you apathetic Popsicle.” I glared and Noel’s eyes narrowed for a moment.
“Live through what I have and see how adept you are at interpreting your own heart.” Noel stared me down, and I shrank back, realizing what I’d said.
“I—I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that. I’m—” Tears stung my eyes, and I winced as they emerged and wetted my cheeks.
“You said it because you’re hormonal and were thinking it. I’m supposed to forgive you and make myself believe you’d ordinarily never say such a thing—despite you constantly thinking it.” Noel blinked once and turned, using his tail to scoop Nexus up as he whimpered, little full lip trembling. “It is alright, Nexus. Your papa is weird, and you will learn that is just one of the prices I pay to live as I am.”
The babe sniffled and Noel slipped from the room, far too quiet as he soothed his little one.
Vil’s harried footsteps pattered down the hall, breath labored as he caught up with his mate. Soft whispers quieted to nothing as they left my hearing’s range.
“I’m such a piece of shit.” I sobbed into my hands and didn’t move until Sarge, likely keying off my own sensations, came jogging in.
“Doc?” Sarge wrapped his arms around me and let me bury my face in his chest. His comforting scent drew me in and eased my tears.
“I fucked up. I was so mean to Noel just now.”
“When have you ever been sorry you were mean?” Sarge snorted and I slapped his arm.
“I called him an apathetic Popsicle! Nexus was crying because he was upset. I did that.”
“An apathetic Popsicle?” Sarge patted my back a few times. “Yeah, that’s dick.”
“How do I apologize for that?” I huffed.
“‘I’m sorry I’m a dick? Sorry I say mean things sometimes? Despite being an apathetic Popsicle, I love you to pieces?’” Sarge gave me a gentle squeeze.
A moment later, our moment was interrupted by Noel stepping in without Nexus in tow, his expression as flat as ever. “Knowing you feel bad makes me feel that much better.”
I peeked over Sarge’s arm and pouted, the pale vision of him wobbly from tears.
“I’m well aware that I’m not great at expressing myself. It’s who I am, and I may change in time, or you may change. I’m not well-versed in how Naleucians behave…” Noel strode across the bay and tidied up a little, organizing one of my cabinets. One of the many reasons I didn’t feel anxious about him in my space. He put things back.
“I was able to tap into memories before this body was infected. He had an omega he loved and a beta he was partnered with… They were openly affectionate without the bond.” Sarge pulled away from me and I sniffed. “Nothing like you, Noel. I’m sorry. That stent in the cryo really did a number on you.”
“I was this way before.” Noel pulled open a view screen in midair and panned through a plethora of files before pulling up a video of a much younger Noel. His head was shaved, body rigid,eyes focused somewhere offscreen. “I think I was about fourteen Earth years old when this was filmed.”
“Filmed?” Sarge tilted his head.
“Recorded video. They call it filmed because it used to imprint individual images on a polymer sheet they called ‘film’ and spanned them rapidly to create video. Highly inefficient.” Noel stared at the screen as his body snapped into action and leaped out of view.
