Note: The second scene in this chapter contains some explicit lines. Look forward to next week for much, much more~

Over the next few days, August slowly unpacked as he found what he needed and put them in place. He got used to his new bed, his new route to school, and his new kitchen. He was starting to feel more confident with the stovetop, at least. He also got used to rarely seeing the Former Crown Princess. He didn’t want to think Galen was avoiding him, but it was getting a little suspicious.

Galen had also realized that he was getting a little suspicious. He didn’t actually know how often normal roommates talked to each other or saw each other, but they probably didn’t leave the room as soon as the other showed up. At least, they probably didn’t do that all the time, so for once, Galen forced himself to stay in the living room even though August had come down to make breakfast.

With all the recent changes in his life, Galen had never felt less equipped to talk to another person. August wasn’t his friend, wasn’t his fan, wasn’t his prison guard, and wasn’t the press. At the moment, August was frying bacon, which made him impossible to ignore as Galen ruminated on the couch. He fiddled listlessly with the comm in his hands. It looked just like his old comm, with its flashy mirror finish, except this one monitored everything he did on it.

Ever since his husband had died, Galen had lost a huge part of his life and his personality. People had told him it would get easier, and it did, but the missing parts of him had never grown back. All he had left were his principles; that he should be good to good people, and let justice handle the rest. He sighed at his own reflection in the polished metal of his comm. That justice had almost failed him when the Emperor had closed the investigation into his husband’s death, but he’d found a way to fix it. It had only required a little determination and everything he had had left.

All of that was the stuff that Galen had made peace with; the part where he survived a death sentence by spending the rest of his life helping someone else in the most embarrassing way possible, that was what he couldn’t quite manage. August looked normal, acted normal, and was normal, but Galen didn’t for the life of him know how to look at him without thinking of the night in the hospital.

Galen caught himself blushing in his comm’s reflection. With a practiced breath, he wiped the expression away. He was good at acting like the Future Crown Princess, like the Crown Princess, like the Former Crown Princess, but he couldn’t be any of those things anymore. August tiptoed around him like he was still the darling of the Astral Empire, but that was over, and he couldn’t pretend otherwise.

The sound of sizzling bacon stopped, and August started cooking something else. Galen was sure it was eggs. His stomach was reacting to the bacon smell, and he was even more tempted to get up and leave lest he give himself away. He’d been buying pre-made food online rather than bother himself with cooking. Clearly that plan had backfired, if August’s breakfast could bully him like this.

Galen was determined to pretend that he wasn’t avoiding August, though, so he resolved to find something to do on his comm until August left. Galen was sure he had to leave for class soon, since August had offered him his schedule at some point. He just had to hang on a bit longer and he’d have the house to himself, so Galen opened his comm and went straight to videos of puppy agility classes, his go-to topic for when he needed a distraction. After a few minutes of watching the puppies’ enthusiastic face planting, Galen had succeeded in mostly forgetting about August until he called over from the kitchen.

“Hey, um, have you had breakfast yet?”

Galen looked at him with his most disinterested, least hungry poker face, and said calmly, “I ate before you got up. It’s already almost lunch.”

August laughed self-consciously. “Yeah, well, I lost track of time. I’m actually running late, and I don’t have time to eat it. So I’m going to pack some leftovers to take with me instead.”

“That’s a shame,” Galen said. “the bacon smelled really good,” he added absentmindedly.

“So do you want it?”

“Pardon?”

“The bacon. And the omelet. It’s got peppers, ham, and cheese in it.” Before Galen could even respond, August had brought the meal over and placed it on the dining table nearby. He put some cutlery beside it, and a glass of juice. “Sorry, I gotta run! If you don’t want it, just leave it. I’ll deal with it when I get back.” August grabbed his bag and was out the door the very next moment.

The house was empty save for Galen and the smell of bacon. The whole thing had happened so fast that he couldn’t help but suspect that August set him up with the omelet on purpose. It smelled so good, though, and he was about ready to eat again, and the table was already kind of set, so Galen quickly made up his mind to accept this convenient mistake of August’s.

He got up off the couch and sat himself down at the table. The plating wasn’t pretty, but the bacon was perfectly crispy, and the omelet fluffy and filling. As he ate, Galen was filled with a warm feeling that was definitely food-related. He decided that he should be nicer to August from then on.

August’s omelet bid paid off, and there was a definite thawing of relations between he and Galen over the next few days, but August’s pheromones came back before either of them were ready for it.

Galen was getting up after August for once, and as he made his way down the stairs, there was something faintly bothering him. He didn’t feel any better in the kitchen, and became certain there was a smell, but the food he was reheating almost masked it. He abandoned the modulator and went around sniffing the living room, stopping where August usually sat.

The smell seemed slightly more noticeable there, and Galen was hit with a hypothesis. Leaving his meal, he rushed back upstairs to confirm. For the first time, he went into August’s room, grabbing a corner of the comforter and holding it up to his nose. Sure enough, this was where the smell was strongest.

Galen could finally make out the humid, earthy, and sweet tones of August’s Alpha pheromones. It reminded him more than anything of freshwater beaches, and made him nostalgic for childhood vacations on the lake. Or it had, the first time. Now the smell brought him back to a different set of memories.

He thoughtfully smoothed out the comforter as he worked through the implications of this discovery. Before leaving, he sent a message to August, then went back downstairs to eat and wait for a response.

August: Since you’re sure, just wait til I get back. The doctor said we had a few hours anyway.

Galen accepted this course of action, and looked at more cute videos while he waited.

When August arrived home, he found Galen waiting on the living room couch for him, one arm slung over the back, looking at something on his comm. “I’m back,” he said as Galen looked up, “Do you still smell it on me?”

Galen walked over and checked. He stood on tiptoe so that his nose could reach the crook of August’s neck. The smell wasn’t any stronger than on the bedding, but it was definitely there. He told August as much.

“Well—” August started, but didn’t finish. He wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to say.

“The inducer’s upstairs,” Galen offered.

“Yeah”

By tacit agreement, they both climbed the stairs. Once they were in the library, Galen said, “I’m going to go take the inducer.”

“Do you need any help?” August asked. This would be the first time Galen gave himself the injection.

Galen considered it for a moment. “No, I think I’ll be okay. It seems pretty straightforward,” he eventually said. With that, he turned and went into his bedroom.

August stayed standing by the top of the stairs. The doctor had said that the inducer wouldn’t work immediately, so that meant he had plenty of time to be nervous. After the test run, he was less afraid of having a reaction, but he didn’t feel any less anxious. He knew Galen a little better now, but all he’d really learned was that this was awkward for him, too.

However, August wasn’t only nervous. The events of the previous treatment floated into his mind, and he remembered the smell of fresh cut grass, the feel of Galen’s skin, and how warm and tight it was inside of his Omega. He got lost in the daydream for a moment, recalling the sound of Galen’s moans and the need in his eyes, before realizing that he was already having a reaction.

Chastising himself, August called out to Galen, “Did you take it yet?”

“Yep!” Galen replied from his room. He had put the needle disposal away and was preparing to go back out into the library when he heard August.

“I think I’m going to take a shower, then.”

Galen heard August walk off. He felt somewhat relieved. Once he was in heat, things would progress naturally, but this waiting period gave him all the time he needed to overthink things. He didn’t particularly like going into heat, either. He didn’t find it liberating or relaxing, like some Omegas did. Instead he found his lack of control frustrating. He remembered the morning after the test with August, when he’d seen the bandages on August’s hands. It had been mortifying.

As he listened to the faint sound of the water from August’s shower, Galen tried to distract himself from this train of thought. He was what he was, and he’d agreed to this treatment plan, so there wasn’t much of a point in fretting.

Galen let go of the lock of hair he’d subconsciously been fiddling with and decided to take his own shower. It had only been about ten minutes since he’d taken the inducer, so he figured he still had time.

On the other hand, August was freezing cold under his showerhead, having spent an embarrassingly long time getting his body to calm down. If he came too early, it would make the marking process more complicated. He wanted to avoid that, even if a part of him wouldn’t mind at all if he had to spend all afternoon tossing Galen around. After another minute or two, he came out of the shower and wrapped himself in a terry cloth bathrobe, trying to warm up.

August heard Galen’s shower running and realized he’d be waiting a few minutes more. He sat on one of the couches in the library and pulled out his comm to do some class reading. He couldn’t think of anything less sexy to do while he waited.

In his bathroom, Galen was realizing he had miscalculated slightly. He could feel a warm sensation starting at his spine and wrapping around him beneath his skin, threatening to engulf him. There was a fuzziness pressing at the back of his mind, and the water on his skin felt sharp and weak at the same time.

He quickly started rinsing himself off, recognizing that his heat was now imminent. “Don’t rush,” he reassured himself, “there’s no need to rush.” But the feeling continued to wrap itself around him, tightening its hold. His eyes moistened and his throat went dry.

“He’s right outside,” Galen said quietly, but he had to say it out loud, otherwise he wouldn’t hear himself. He looked down at his own body, and saw that his cock had already started to swell.

Galen took a shaky breath and gingerly stepped out of the shower. He shivered slightly, and he couldn’t hold back a soft moan. He took another breath and counted to ten, then reached for the towel. The touch of the cloth fibers on his palms caused him to moan again.

“Shit,” Galen whispered to himself, clutching onto the corner of the towel for dear life, “he’s right there. Don’t panic. He’s right there. You can at least dry yourself off.” But the very thought of it, of waiting for a second longer, was too much for him. He dropped the towel and opened the bathroom door instead.

August was hit with the scent of fresh cut grass a moment before the soaking wet Omega landed on his lap. His comm went flying as long, slender fingers reached into his hair, and a hot heady breath landed on his ear.