Archive of Our Own

Phainon presented as an alpha shortly after his eighteenth birthday. No one was surprised. He was tall, built, assertive, and his sister was an alpha too.

It shouldn’t have been a big deal. Anaxa had a lot of other things to worry about. Work, bills, his increasingly distant relationship with his beta teenage daughter. He wasn’t exactly invested in the subgender of the kid next door. He didn’t even find out until a few weeks later, when he came downstairs to refill his tea and found Hyacine and Phainon studying at the kitchen.

It was summer break before their senior year of high school, and instead of messing around doing whatever stupid things teenagers were up to these days, the two of them were hard at work with laptops and notebooks open in front of them. For a moment, Anaxa smiled in pride. He was so lucky to have a kid with a good head on her shoulders.

Hyacine glanced up as soon as she heard his footsteps. Seeing it was just him, she turned back to her much more interesting laptop screen.

“Hello,” Anaxa supplied. 

Phainon perked up at the sound of his voice. “Hi Mr. Anaxa!” he said cheerfully. “How are you?”

“I’m well. And please, my name is Anaxagoras.” He walked to the fridge, retrieved the filtered water, filled the electric kettle, then clicked it on. He leaned awkwardly against the edge of the counter as he waited, fingertips drumming, trying to think of something he could say to his daughter.

Luckily, Phainon was happy to fill the silence. “I didn’t know you were home today,” Phainon said with a bashful smile. “If I knew I would’ve dressed better.”

Anaxa gave Phainon a glance. From his memory, that child was always wearing some horrendous color pairing like purple and yellow. It wasn’t very clear what Phainon meant by dressing better. 

“What are you two working on?” Anaxa asked instead.

“Oh! We’re doing a practice test for the college exams.”

“We’re in the middle of it right now and it’s timed,” Hyacine said without looking up. 

“Ah.” said Anaxa. He glanced at the electric kettle. It wasn’t ready yet, but he could hear the water start to bubble. It was probably hot enough. He snatched it off the stand and poured the hot water into his mug. A bit splashed out and burned his hand but he pretended not to notice.

“Well,” he said, hovering by the table holding the mug with both hands. “Let me know if I can help at all. I was quite good at standardized testing back in my day.”

Anaxa was in the middle of a forced laugh when he caught it.

A scent. It was subtle, something he couldn’t quite put a finger on. It was citrusy, bergamot, like summer and the sea, with a trace of earthy cedar underneath. It was faint, but it took Anaxa to a different world. Suddenly, he was a child again, by the sea for the first time, digging for crabs in the sand. There were no worries and the world was bright and warm and full of curiosities. His shoulders relaxed. The tension eased out of his body.

He inhaled again. Before he knew it, he’d taken a step closer.

By the time he came to his senses, he was already standing very close to Phainon. Things suddenly clicked in his head.

“Phainon. You — are an alpha?”

Phainon’s eyes widened and then he rubbed his neck, a sheepish habit that only released another, stronger dose of his scent. 

“Yeah,” Phainon said.

At the same time, Hyacine said, “Dad! I already told you!”

“Ah.” Anaxa took a step back. He wracked his memory. Had Hyacine said that to him? Sometimes, at the end of a long day, it was hard for him to follow conversation.

“It’s okay!” Phainon quickly said.

Anaxa opened his mouth, probably to stumble over some more useless words, but he suddenly froze and went pale. 

Something had leaked out of him.

He gasped. His face must have looked horrible. Hyacine’s expression filled with concern. “Dad? Are you okay?”

“I’m sorry!” Phainon was saying, although it was unclear what he was trying to apologize for. 

Hyacine put her pencil down and leapt to her feet to support Anaxa by the elbow. “Dad? What’s wrong? Did you forget to eat again?”

“I —” Anaxa blinked. “No, I didn’t. Ah. I’m sorry. I’m fine, I’ll just — I’ll go.”

He darted back upstairs as fast as his thirty-nine year old feet could carry him, and went straight to the bathroom. There was no way…

He took off his pants and looked with horror at the inside of his underwear. There was a wet stain.

He touched the scent patch plastered to his neck, which had grown itchy and uncomfortable in the past minute. He peeled it off, and the scent of his arousal wafted out.

He tried not to panic. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Right?

But as the days went on, it became glaringly obvious it wasn’t.

In the past, Anaxa had never paid all that much attention to Phainon. Sure, he came around every now and then. He was the boy next door, Hyacine’s friend since grade school. Sometimes he mowed the lawn and gave Anaxa a hard time when he tried to pay him afterward. He was a polite kid.

But now, everything was different. Whenever Phainon came around, Anaxa would hole up in his home office like a coward, and then later in the evening, when Phainon was gone and Hyacine was gone too, off to wherever it was she went these days (she didn’t really keep Anaxa updated anymore, and he wasn’t the type to pry as long as she was back before midnight), Anaxa would go downstairs and sit at the kitchen table, as far as possible from the chair where Phainon had sat, which wasn’t very far at all. He’d eat his microwave dinner while looking at his phone and pretend he wasn’t there to scavenge for the lingering traces of Phainon’s scent. And then he would go back upstairs and go in the bathroom, and his underwear would be wet.

But he wasn’t lusting after Phainon. He couldn’t be. Phainon was less than half his age. Anaxa was many things, but he was not a sexual deviant.

He decided that he must be suffering from a hormone disorder. That was the only explanation that made sense. He managed to get a doctor’s appointment within the week and went in with high hopes.

They checked all his vitals, did bloodwork, told him his cholesterol levels were high and he had low blood pressure likely due to dehydration. Like usual, they recommended that he wear scent patches less frequently. But nothing was wrong with his hormones. With a flushed face, he explained what had been happening, carefully omitting the detail that Phainon was his daughter’s eighteen year old friend.

“That sounds like a sign of a healthy system!” the doctor said enthusiastically. “You’re lucky — a lot of omegas in your age group are starting to lose their sexual function.”

“...Ah.”

He trudged out of the clinic. 

And then he did the only thing he was good at doing: avoiding the problem. He spent more and more time in his office at the university, even though it was still summer break and he’d previously vowed to spend more time working at home so he could connect with Hyacine. The university was filled with stubborn old idiots who had it out for him, but dealing with them was a million times easier than dealing with whatever the hell was wrong with him.

But he couldn’t run forever. At night, he’d toss and turn from the guilt. He imagined finding out that someone his own age was lusting after Hyacine. Just the thought made him want to commit murder. His dark eye circles got worse and worse. Just one year, he told himself. One year, and Phainon would go off to university and be out of the picture. All Anaxa had to do was keep this nasty secret for one year.

As summer vacation neared its end, Hyacine spent more time outside by their backyard pool, taking advantage of the last few weeks before it would become too cold to swim. One weekend afternoon, Anaxa heard her voice and the sound of splashing through the window in his office upstairs. He peeked out and saw Hyacine lounging on one of the pool chairs, her head laying on the lap of a lavender-haired girl who looked vaguely familiar.

After some deliberation, Anaxa decided to go down to say hi. He didn’t want to show up empty-handed, so he went to the kitchen and made her favorite drink — or, at least it was her favorite drink when she was a kid, equal parts pink lemonade and soda. He put it in a glass with the ice crushed instead of cubed (which he also remembered Hyacine preferring when she was younger), and he clutched it like a temple offering as he went out the glass sliding door to the backyard. 

Anaxa called out a greeting and made his way over. Hyacine looked up and the lavender-haired girl beside her sat up straight, seeming a little nervous. 

Anaxa was so focused on his impending interaction with his daughter that he didn’t notice another person swimming. Just then, there was a noisy splash and a large figure sprang out of the pool.

Anaxa jumped, almost spilling the drink. And then he filled with dread.

Before him was Phainon, very much shirtless, wearing a pair of short swim shorts that rode up his thigh. He’d leapt out of the water with the easy grace of someone who’d been an athlete all his life.  He shook his hair out like a dog, splattering water droplets everywhere, including onto Anaxa’s face. 

Anaxa stared. His eyes seemed to develop a will of their own. They traced over every inch of Phainon’s exposed skin, tan and shining in the hot afternoon sun. His muscles, perfectly defined, flexed subtly underneath his skin as he moved. His shoulders were broad and his waist was narrow, the sort of perfect proportions that ancient sculptors spent a lifetime trying to capture. Even the water seemed to cling to him, like it couldn’t bear the thought of letting him go.

Phainon finally glanced up and caught sight of Anaxa. He immediately stopped shaking his head. His expression became stupidly happy, like a wolf pretending to be a puppy. “I didn’t know you were here!”

Anaxa forced himself to look away, hoping that sun exposure would explain his pink face. He turned toward Hyacine.

“Um, hi sweetie. I, um, brought you a drink.”

“Oh!” Hyacine seemed surprised, but in a positive way, to Anaxa’s relief. “Thanks!” She gestured toward the girl beside her. 

“You remember Castorice, right?”

Anaxa was sure he’d seen her before, but the details were unclear. “Yes, of course,” he said. His eyes unhelpfully flickered to Phainon again and then quickly looked away. His only reprieve was the fact that the chlorine in the pool bleached away all other scents. Hyacine got to her feet.

“Let me come get that from you,” she said. 

“No, I can bring it over,” Anaxa insisted. Phainon was standing close to his path and didn’t seem keen to move — which was alright! Anaxa could walk past him. It would be no problem. 

Anaxa’s indoor slippers flopped against the concrete as he walked. They were old, his favorite slippers he’d been wearing for years. The part over the foot was a large head shaped like a Dromas, the animal character he never grew out of liking. The problem was that they were very structurally unsound, making it easy to trip.

At first all he could smell was chlorine, but then underneath it, there was that unmistakable scent. Bergamot and cedar, sweet and warm. 

Anaxa forgot to lift his foot up enough and his slipper caught. In slow motion horror, he tumbled forward.

He didn’t hit the ground. Instead, he found his face smushed up against a warm chest. It was large and firm and very much unclothed. A pair of muscular arms caught him around the waist. 

“Are you okay?!” Phainon said worriedly from above him.

Anaxe was dazed, enveloped in the scent he had grown obsessed with. It filled his nostrils, seemed to embrace him like a lover, making him dizzy and lovedrunk.

How badly he wanted to seek more of it, to bury his face in Phainon’s skin and breathe. To let himself be held, for just one second more… 

With a jolt, he pushed himself violently out of Phainon’s arms and stumbled back. The pink drink had spilled all over Phainon’s chest, covering his abdomen and staining the front of his light-colored swim trunks, right over the outline of… 

Anaxa took another step back. “Sorry,” he said. He seemed to be apologizing a lot recently. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. He gestured at the empty glass. “Sorry. I’ll. Um, you — you kids have fun.”

And then he turned tail and ran.

Back in his bedroom, he slid down the back of the door, panting. He’d made such a fool of himself! He slapped a hand over his scent patch, hoping to high heavens it was still working properly. He didn’t even need to check to know his underwear was soaked through. He recalled the feeling of Phainon’s skin and his thighs inadvertently squeezed together. When was the last time he’d made that much human contact with anyone at all, let alone an alpha?

Phainon had felt warm and firm and solid, and for a moment Anaxa’s body had gone limp, wanting nothing more than to just melt into it. His omega pheromones begged him to remove his scent patch and set them free, so they could entice the alpha they craved so badly.

Anaxa was so frustrated and embarrassed he wanted to cry. He looked down. He was still holding the glass cup. His hands were sticky. He couldn’t even bring his daughter a drink without his stupid omega hormones making a fool out of him. 

That night, he had an unusual dream. It started vague. He was in a bed, pressed up against a body. The body was warm and firm and large and held him gently. 

A familiar voice spoke in his ear.

Anaxa, it said, sweet and reverent. Usually, he bristled when Phainon used that stupid shortened version of his name. This time, it made warmth bloom in his chest. Large hands touched his body with easy confidence, claiming him. They rubbed in between his legs. He heard words of encouragement in his ear. You can do it, Anaxa. Come for me, just for me… Anaxa whined in the dream. He moved his hips back and forth like a slut, chasing the pleasure, faster and faster.

But the climax never came. Instead, he sat up with a gasp to the sight of his empty bedroom. It was still dark outside. His pajamas were soaked through with sweat and slick.

He put his face in his hands. 

The dream replayed in his head. He’d never dared to imagine anything like it before. It was just his body, he thought. Some weird dysfunction.

But there was no avoiding the truth now. He wanted Phainon. He wanted him sexually. A kid he’d watched grow up. Who was still in high school. He wanted Phainon to hold him and touch him, to fuck him until he passed out. He wanted Phainon to wake up the omega inside him that he’d shut away and locked up ever since Hyacine’s other parent had walked out halfway through his pregnancy. 

All Anaxa’s life, his secondary gender had been a hassle. It stood in the way of his goals and ambitions. No one believed an omega could be a leading academic and do cutting edge research, all while raising a child on his own. He had to prove them wrong. So of course he had to shut away the part of him that craved intimacy like some primitive beast. It had been so long, he thought he didn’t have needs anymore. 

Clearly, he’d been wrong.

He got up and started stripping down his sheets to put in the laundry, moving stiff like a zombie. He remembered a conversation he’d had years ago with Hyacine, back when she still looked to him as a source of wisdom. He’d been trying to teach her about boundaries and consent. He remembered telling her about how people older than her might make advances, might try to convince her that it was okay. Tell her she was mature for her age. He told her those people were up to no good, and she had to protect herself at all costs. 

Anaxa felt like such a hypocrite. Little did Hyacine know her own father had been one of those wretched people all along.

The next morning, Anaxa woke up before his alarm, feeling groggy and achy, but he couldn’t fall back asleep.

He peeked out the window at the driveway and saw Hyacine’s car. At least she came home last night. He went down to the kitchen to make coffee, and suddenly got the idea in his head to cook breakfast for the two of them. Partially to make up for the failed drink yesterday. Mainly to assuage his immense guilt, which was sort of like using a hairdryer to melt a glacier.

Of course he was behind on grocery shopping, so there wasn’t much in the fridge. He ended up digging out some old pancake mix that was already several months expired and then scrambling a few eggs to go with it. The plates looked a little sad and colorless, but at least he didn’t burn anything.

Hyacine came downstairs as he was finishing up. She rubbed at her eyes, wearing an oversized T-shirt Anaxa had never seen before.

Anaxa gestured toward the table. “I made breakfast,” he explained, as if the two plates on the kitchen table weren’t enough evidence.

“Thanks,” she said, sleepily slipping into a chair and taking a bite of the eggs. She immediately reached for the salt. 

“I haven’t seen you wear that shirt before,” said Anaxa.

“It’s Castorice’s.”

Anaxa remembered. Castorice, the lavender haired girl from yesterday. 

He awkwardly took a seat beside her. “Do you want to drink anything? Coffee? Unfortunately, I don’t know how to make any of those fancy drinks you order at cafes, so it’ll just be regular coffee.”

She shrugged. “Only if you’re having some too.”

Anaxa tried a few times to initiate small talk. He failed drastically, so he gave up, and the two of them ate in silence.

When Hyacine was done, Anaxa cleared his throat. “Hyacine, sweetie, actually, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“What is it?” 

Anaxa shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “It’s about your friend, Phainon.” 

Hyacine gave him a strange look. “...What about him?”

“He is an alpha, correct?” 

“Yes? And?”

“Well…” Anaxa rubbed his slippered feet together. “I know you two were close before, and you were comfortable inviting him over. But… he’s a newly presented alpha. It might be good to be more careful in the future.”

Hyacine bristled. “What?”

“It’s nothing personal and I don’t mean to stereotype. It’s just —”

“What is your problem?” 

Anaxa’s mouth shut immediately. He’d never heard Hyacine talk to him like that before. 

“Phainon is my friend. He’s not like that. Do you seriously think he’s different now just because he’s an alpha? You used to always say not to judge people based on subgender.”

Anaxa winced. “I’m not judging, I’m just trying to look out for you.”

“No you’re not. Do you think I’m stupid? You’ve been acting weird ever since he presented.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Hyacine rolled her eyes. “Clearly you’re the one who has a problem with him, so don’t act like you’re trying to protect me.”

Anaxa deflated. “I’m sorry,” he said.

He’d always gotten along with Hyacine. She never had a rebellious teenage phase and rarely even talked back to him.

They sat in silence. After a while, Hyacine reached her hand across the table. It stopped before it reached his. 

“Dad, I didn’t mean to raise my voice.”

“It’s okay.”

After a while, Hyacine sighed and got up. “I’m heading out,” she said. “I have plans with Castorice.”

“Alright,” Anaxa said. Hyacine left easily and didn’t look back.

The next day, Phainon was in his house. 

Anaxa came downstairs and stopped in his tracks. Phainon was sitting on the couch in the living room. 

Phainon heard him and stood up. He was wearing a pair of red running shorts and a blue tank top that showed off the muscles in his arms. He had a purple jacket tied around his waist. The colors were so horrible they almost completely counteracted the appeal of Phainon’s body.

“Hi,” Phainon said in his typical cheerful tone. “Mr. Anaxa…goras.”

“Where’s Hyacine?”

“Showering.”

“Huh.” Anaxa turned toward the kitchen. 

“Wait!” Phainon said, jogging around the couch and intercepting Anaxa’s path.

“What do you want?” Anaxa said curtly.

 “I…” Phainon hesitated, looking down as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, um, Hyacine told me what you said. About me.”

Anaxa cursed internally. “I didn’t mean any offense.”

“I — I know!” Phainon said. “And it’s okay! I wanted to, um, ask you if it was because I did something wrong. Because if it was and you tell me then I can fix it.”

Anaxa walked around Phainon to the kitchen and got a glass out of the cabinet. He needed to increase his physical distance before he did something like leak through his pants and drip a puddle onto the ground. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Me and Hyacine are just friends, if that’s what you’re worried about! And I only want to be friends. I’m not interested in anyone like that.”

“Okay,” Anaxa replied, trying to end the conversation as quickly as possible. But when he turned around, Phainon was standing behind him. Too close. Anaxa subtly switched to breathing through his mouth. 

“It’s my scent, isn’t it?” Phainon said sheepishly. 

“What about it?”

“It — it bothers you. I, um, I can tell. Actually —” Phainon took a step back. “ — sorry.”

Anaxa grit his teeth. “Your scent is fine.”

“I could get scent blockers.”

Anaxa’s eyebrows flew up. “What are you thinking?” he exclaimed. “Blockers at your age? Do you have no sense of self preservation?”

Phainon didn’t expect Anaxa’s outburst and shrank back. “Sorry! It’s just because I don’t want to bother you anymore.”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. If you’re really so worried about that, wouldn’t it be easier to just stop coming here?”

Anaxa thought it was an extremely logical thought process. But for some reason, Phainon didn’t seem to like it very much. He stared at the ground. “Right,” he said in a quiet voice. “That’s — true.”

It seemed like there was something else he wanted to say, but instead he looked up, a half-smile already plastered back on his face. “You’re right,” he said. “I guess I’ll go home.”

Anaxa nodded with relief. “That’s probably for the best.”

After the front door shut behind Phainon, Anaxa leaned against the kitchen counter and finally let himself breathe. Of course the air was still permeated by Phainon’s scent, so all he managed to do was agitate himself further. He filled his glass and chugged down mouthfuls of water. He had definitely lubricated during their brief conversation and now his thighs squeezed together of their own accord.

On his way back to the staircase, he stopped in his tracks.

There was an ugly purple bundle on the ground.

Anaxa got closer. That was the jacket around Phainon’s waist earlier. It was a truly hideous shade of purple. Anaxa cursed. What an eyesore. He reached down to pick it up.

Suddenly, he was hit in the face with a lethal dose of Phainon’s scent. It was so strong he took a step back and gasped. Phainon must have worked out in that jacket and soaked it with his sweat. 

It should have been gross.

Anaxa should return it right away. Or tell Hyacine to.

He held it in both hands. He could feel where it was the most damp, in the lower back and underarm areas. 

He could… wash it first. Before returning it. That would be the polite thing to do, right? 

He held it carefully and walked to the laundry machine. For a few moments, he stood there like an idiot.

And then he turned around and took the jacket to his room. 

The reasoning was simple: he was planning to do his own laundry in the next day or so, and it didn’t make sense to waste an entire load on one item when he could just throw it in with his own. So he tossed it in his laundry hamper, trying not to pay attention to the way it filled his entire bedroom with a subtle undertone of bergamot and cedar.

But by night, it was impossible to ignore. He could hear the sound of Hyacine watching something on the TV downstairs. He couldn’t sleep and knew exactly why. He looked at his phone, read through multiple scientific articles, all of which he took issue with and made him more irritated. Eventually, he heard Hyacine turn off the TV and walk up the stairs, past his room and to her own.

He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Biting his lip, he locked his phone, closed his eyes, and reached in between his legs.

Ten minutes later, his wrist was cramping but he still hadn’t managed to get himself off. There was the nagging feeling of not enough. And the repeated intrusive thought that there was an item in his laundry hamper that might help.

The faint trace of Phainon’s scent wasn’t enough at all. It only served as a constant reminder of what he was missing.

What he could have more of, easily.

All he had to do was get up, walk across the room, pick up the jacket, and come back to bed. 

He tried not to. He really did. He lay still and squeezed his eyes shut and tried to will himself to sleep. 

But thirty minutes later, he was still wide awake. And the jacket was next to him on the bed.

It was a foot away from him but the scent was already so strong. Slick was dribbling out of him. It became very easy for Anaxa to imagine that Phainon was there too. That the scent wasn’t from a measly jacket, but from the lover he wanted most, holding him, touching him… 

Anaxa whined out loud in frustration. He’d stuffed two fingers inside himself and still it didn’t feel like enough. He started to fit a third, and winced at the stretch. After being sexually inactive for so long he was stiff and tight. 

But underneath the pain was a deeper satisfaction. He rocked against those fingers, his palm inadvertently pressing on his clit. It felt good. So good, but not enough, still not enough… 

He rolled over and stuffed his face into the jacket.

He moaned. It was like he’d buried his face in the crook of Phainon’s neck. He was so overwhelmed, so hot, completely intoxicated. He came almost immediately, hand slapped over his mouth to keep quiet. His vision whited out and his body shook erratically.

He lay there, panting, fingers still stuffed inside himself, feeling the aftershocks.

There was a knock on the door. Anaxa jumped out of his skin. He yanked his fingers out of himself fast and winced from the friction. 

“Um, dad?” Hyacine said through the door. 

Anaxa was completely red and he wanted to dig a hole in the ground and die.

“Y-Yes?”

“Is everything okay?”

He made a strange snorting sound. “Yes, why?” 

“It sounded like you got hurt or something.”

“Oh.” Anaxa buried his face in his hands. “Um, no, don’t worry sweetie. I’m perfectly fine.”

“Okay. Night then.”

He heard Hyacine’s footsteps trudge sleepily down the hall.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. He wanted to kill himself. He violently stuffed the jacket to the bottom of his laundry hamper where he wouldn’t have to see it anymore. He didn’t have any more clean sheets this time around, so all he could do was scoot to the side and try to avoid the disgusting puddle he’d made in the middle of the bed. 

It was only once, he tried to reassure himself. He’d wash that stupid jacket and give it back. Tomorrow. And then he could pretend all this had never happened. He’d take the secret to the grave.

Four days later, he still hadn’t given Phainon his jacket back. Not just that, he hadn’t washed it either. And he’d used it to get off every single night since. Every time he told himself it was the last time. But the next night, he’d be pulling it out again, rolling around in bed until he was satisfied. 

It was Friday morning and Hyacine told him she’d be spending the weekend over at Castorice’s place. He could tell from the way she spoke she was still upset with him, like she was simply informing him, not asking for permission. 

He knew he should’ve been concerned. If he were a better parent, a better person, he would’ve stopped her. Tried to talk or work things out. Instead, he quietly watched her pack her things in a big tote bag, bidding her goodbye and locking the front door behind her. 

Because the truth was, when she told him she’d be gone, the first thing he felt was relief. 

He’d have the whole house to himself for days. By Saturday morning, there was a new package on the front door step, something he’d ordered for himself with next-day delivery. He poked his head out with just his robe on, looked left and right to see that the street was clear, picked up the package and darted back inside. 

He took it straight to his room and opened it. Inside was a toy. He felt so embarrassed just looking at it. It wasn’t very realistic, a pink cylinder, just shy of six inches long, with a slight curve to it and a flare at the base for safety. It was the smallest one they had on the website. It didn’t vibrate or do anything fancy. But it… seemed like enough, for his purposes.

He’d already stopped pretending to put Phainon’s jacket back in the laundry and it was now bunched up in the middle of his bed. It wasn’t even noon yet, but he peeled off his robe and got back into bed with his newly purchased toy. 

He’d been using his fingers, but they could never satisfy him right. He eased the toy in slowly. It was certainly thicker… but not too thick. It was bearable.

It was sterile and cold, nothing like what he really wanted. But it would have to do.

The real problem was that Phainon’s scent was fading from the jacket. Just sniffing it wasn’t enough for Anaxa anymore. He growled in frustration, turning this way and that, rubbing his face all over it but it still wasn’t enough. 

He must’ve looked like one of those sex-crazed omegas in porn. He didn’t care. It wasn’t like anyone could see him. He needed more. He became so desperate he pressed his tongue into the fabric so he could taste the salt left behind by Phainon’s sweat.

It was like all the sexual neglect and frustration from the past eighteen years decided to come out now. He came, but he wasn’t satisfied and he wanted to come again. And he dreamed.

He dreamed about a larger, stronger hand touching him. Pleasure drove away every modicum of restraint and rationality. The fantasies in his head ran wild. Phainon pressing his face into the mattress and taking him from behind, even as he struggled, penetrating so deep he could feel it in lungs. Phainon kneeling in between his legs, his blue eyes shining with eagerness as he lapped at Anaxa like a dog.

He fantasized about Phainon humiliating him. Hitting him. Calling him pathetic and old and unattractive and making him beg to be fucked. And then, he imagined Phainon kind and gentle, holding him with tenderness, whispering sweet words in his ear and he took him like a lover.

The room filled with Anaxa’s rare aroused scent. There was a woodsy nature to it, sharp cypress mixed with mint. Back when he was younger, he’d often been told it was an unattractive scent for an omega, not sweet or calming the way omega scents were meant to be. But now that there was no one else around, he could remove his uncomfortable scent patch and let it spread freely. 

He became completely lost in his hedonistic pursuit of pleasure. His body was insatiable and his desire was never-ending. 

Which explained why he didn’t check his phone even once for almost twenty-four hours.

Hyacine, who had lied to her father and actually gone on a road trip with Castorice, was currently a few hours away and getting worried. All her texts and calls were going unanswered. Sure, their relationship hadn’t been great recently, but at the end of the day he was still an omega in poor health. He could get caught up in his work, but he’d never ignore her for so long.

She was still hours away, so she did the next best thing: she asked Phainon, who lived next door, to go over and check on Anaxa. 

Phainon tried to explain that he was probably the last person Anaxa would want to see. But in the end Hyacine’s worry won out. Phainon followed her instructions. He knocked and got no response. So he went around to the backyard to go in through the sliding door, which was unlocked just as Hyacine predicted.

When Phainon slipped inside, the first thing he noticed was a scent. It was unfamiliar. But even though he was sure he hadn’t smelled before, for some reason it gave him a great sense of familiarity. It was subtly woodsy, and left him standing there in a trance, curious for more. 

He blinked and shook himself out of the daze. Anaxa. He had to find him. He opened his mouth to call out. But he was interrupted by a sound. 

An anguished cry. And it came from upstairs. 

Phainon’s heart plummeted. Was Anaxa hurt? 

He took the stairs two at a time. There was a door at the end of the hallway, slightly ajar, that Phainon knew led to Anaxa’s bedroom. The scent got stronger as he got closer. He paused outside the door. 

Was he really about to show up unannounced in Anaxa’s bedroom?

He was an alpha now, and a legal adult at that. He’d never be able to live this down.

There was another cry from inside, and all thoughts left Phainon’s mind. Nothing else mattered if Anaxa was hurt! He rushed to the door and shoved it open. 

He stood there in shock.

The sight before him was something he’d never dared to imagine, not even in his wildest, most shameful dreams.

Anaxa was laying on the bed, on his back with his legs spread wide apart. He was using a small pink dildo, fucking it rapidly in and out of his slick cunt. And with his other hand he was holding onto a piece of clothing, a bright purple jacket, which he was rubbing all over his face.

Anaxa thought he heard something unusual and his eyes opened. They were red and glassy and it took a while for them to focus on the figure blocking out the doorway.

Anaxa shrieked and leapt back, yanking the blankets around his naked body.

“What the fuck!! What are you doing here?!?”

Phainon stood there in the doorway, bright red, gaping like an idiot.

“Get out!” Anaxa grabbed the closest pillow and chucked it as hard as he could at Phainon. It fell a meter short.

“Um,” said Phainon. “Is that mine?”

Anaxa followed Phainon’s line of sight to the bunched up purple jacket, which was bunched up into a disgusting, spit-soaked ball next to him. It was such an offensive shade of purple it couldn’t possibly belong to anyone else. 

“No!” Anaxa grabbed it and stuffed it underneath his pillow. He stared at Phainon for several beats. And then his lip started to quiver. 

“Please don’t tell Hyacine.”

The gears spun in Phainon’s head. After a while, he finally made a sound.

“Oh.”

“Phainon,” Anaxa said weakly. “Phainon, I’m sorry. I can explain. I’m… Please. I can do anything. But you can’t tell Hyacine.”

“Okay,” Phainon said easily.

Anaxa was about to continue groveling and paused instead. “What?” 

“Okay,” Phainon repeated. “I won’t tell her.”

And then, to Anaxa’s chagrin, Phainon actually stepped into the room, and closed the door behind him. 

Anaxa bristled. “What are you doing?” 

“You took my jacket.”

“You left it. I was going to give it back.”

“I like you too.”

Anaxa blinked. “What?” 

“It’s okay that you have my jacket because I like you too.”

Anaxa shook his head like he was trying to get water out of his ears. “Phainon, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but — ”

“You put my clothes in your nest. That means you like me, right?”

Anaxa bristled. “It’s not a nest.”

Phainon had gotten closer and closer as he spoke and was standing at the foot of the bed.

“I lied the other day when I said I wasn’t interested in anybody like that. I’ve liked you since forever. I liked you so much, even when I —”

“Stop talking. Please.”

“ — even when I was a kid. I like you so much. You can’t make me go away now.”

Phainon put a knee on the bed. “I thought you hated my scent. But I was wrong. You like it. Right?”

He tugged on the blanket. Anaxa’s eyes widened and his grip tightened. “What are you doing?!”

“I want to see again.” 

“No!”

“Please.” Phainon looked at him with pleading eyes.

Anaxa’s breath stuttered. He’d dreamt about those eyes, over and over again. But none of those images could compare to the real thing. 

He thought his lungs were already saturated with Phainon’s scent but now that the real deal was here, it was completely different. The stale traces on the jacket were nothing compared to the fresh source in front of him. 

He wanted to breathe it in, press his face against Phainon’s body and inhale…

His grip grew looser and looser. 

Eventually, Phainon pulled, and the blanket fell out from his hands.

Phainon moved slowly like he was trying his best not to spook a skittish animal. He peeled the blanket away, inch by inch, until it was in a heap at the foot of the bed.

Anaxa watched Phainon’s eyes scan over his naked body. It was both humiliating and exciting. Anaxa knew his body wasn’t youthful anymore. He’d refused to place a full length mirror in his bedroom because he didn’t like to look at himself. He had no muscle tone and he rarely went outside, making him bony and pasty like a ghost. He frequently forgot to eat and was very thin, except for a small bit of fat on his stomach, a pouch from his pregnancy that had never quite gone away. 

Phainon looked… and looked, and looked. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Anaxa fought the need to apologize.

Finally, Phainon spoke. “...May I touch you?”

Anaxa’s knees were pressed together, trying to retain a modicum of modesty. His pride didn’t let him say yes. But he couldn’t bear to say no, either. He just looked at Phainon and hoped he got the message.

Hesitantly, Phainon pushed his knees apart. And then everything was visible. His cunt, ripe and reddish, oozing slick that coated his inner thighs and had formed a small puddle on the mattress. It carried a distinct smell, Anaxa’s scent of mint and cypress, but overripe and pungent from arousal. 

“Phainon. You can stop looking now.”

Phainon shook his head. “I won’t.”

He climbed in between Anaxa’s legs and lowered himself down onto his stomach.

“Can I?”

It was obvious what he was asking. Anaxa’s fists clenched. They hadn’t done anything yet. He had the distinct feeling of teetering on the edge of a precipice. 

Phainon tilted his head. His blue eyes were big and desperate. His cheek smushed against Anaxa’s thigh, making him look cute and pathetic. “Please,” he said. 

Phainon was so attractive. Anaxa’s head dropped onto the mattress, the fight leaving his body.

“Okay,” he whispered. 

Phainon didn’t waste a single moment. 

Anaxa felt his tongue, wide and warm, lick a streak all the way up the length of his pussy.

Anaxa cried out, back arching off the bed. Phainon froze for a moment, before realizing Anaxa had reacted in pleasure and not protest.

When he went back, it was even more enthusiastic. He didn’t quite seem to know what he was doing but he learned very quickly. He did everything. He licked at the entrance and sucked on the clit and flicked it with his tongue. It felt so good that Anaxa’s hips bucked up, pushing himself further into Phainon’s mouth. He looked down and met Phainon’s eyes. Phainon’s eyebrows were slightly knit together, not in anger but in desire, like he couldn’t get enough of Anaxa, like he needed more. 

Anaxa gasped, and then he came. It took him by surprise, and liquid gushed out of him, even more of it, flooding into Phainon’s mouth and coating the bottom half of his face. 

Anaxa panted on his back. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I didn’t realize, didn’t realize I was gonna —”

And then he was cut off, because Phainon was kissing him on the mouth. 

It was a dirty, disgusting kiss, with Anaxa’s slick smearing between them. Anaxa should’ve been grossed out.

But Phainon was kissing him like he wanted to eat him, and although it was sloppy it was so eager that Anaxa moaned into it, letting Phainon lick into his mouth, meeting him halfway.

Anaxa tugged at Phainon’s clothes and managed to get his shirt off. Their bodies pressed together, skin against skin. It was so warm, filling Anaxa with an instinctive satisfaction he wasn’t sure if he’d ever experienced. It was just like he’d fantasized about — better, but terrifying, because it was real.

They kissed and kissed and kissed, rolling this way and that in the large bed. He felt something poke him below Phainon’s waistband, hot and hard through the fabric. It pressed on him, at his hip, in between his legs, and he couldn’t help but to grind himself on it. He was so disgustingly wet he ruined Phainon’s pants.

They rolled onto the pink dildo Anaxa had been using, and Anaxa tried to hide it in embarrassment. But Phainon was faster.

“Is this the size you like?” Phainon said, holding it up and examining it this way and that. 

Anaxa grabbed for it but Phainon held it above his head like he was playing keep-away with a child. 

“Give it back,” Anaxa said with a red face.

“Hm.” Phainon set the dildo down on the nightstand. “If this is what you like, then…” 

“Then what?”

Phainon decided to show, not tell. He tugged down the waistband of his sweatpants, revealing a sizeable bulge in his boxers. And then he pulled that waistband down too, and revealed something truly terrifying.

Anaxa’s eyes went wide. That was surely the largest dick he’d ever seen. It was the sort that was in porn and made viewers feel sympathy toward whoever had to take the massive thing inside them. How… was that possible? What had Phainon eaten growing up?

But when Anaxa saw it, the emotion he felt wasn’t fear. It was something a little more like… his mouth watering.

Phainon flashed him a boyish grin, a little cocky, like he knew it was impressive. 

“What, think you can’t take it?”

Anaxa glared at him. “Of course I can.” 

And then he suddenly remembered that he wasn’t supposed to be doing this. 

It was another line in the sand he’d never be able to go back on. It wasn’t too late to stop. He could — he could, right…?

Phainon held his cock with one hand, and rubbed the tip up and down along Anaxa’s cunt. It felt so warm, soft but firm. It slid back and forth over his clit and even though he had only just come, he felt pleasure all over again from it. And then Anaxa couldn’t really think anymore. He fell back to instinct, and the instinct told him that he needed it inside.

“Do you want to?” Phainon asked. 

“Fuck,” Anaxa panted. “Yes. Yes, please…”

“Tell me if it hurts.”

Phainon pushed in. Anaxa immediately cried out, back arching off the bed. He was so sopping wet it slid in easily. But it was still big, bigger than anything he’d ever taken. The stretch hurt. He scrambled to push Phainon back. 

“Wait, slow down!” 

“Fuck.” Phainon’s forehead fell against his shoulder. “Feels so good…”

He could see Phainon trembling with effort to hold himself back. He pushed in slowly, bit by bit, letting Anaxa adjust, until finally, he bottomed out. 

Anaxa could barely breathe. He was so full. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so full. The simultaneous pleasure, pain, and overwhelming fullness made his eyes water.

“Phainon,” Anaxa mumbled nonsensically. “Phainon, s’too big…”

Phainon groaned, pressing his nose into Anaxa’s neck. 

“Anaxa,” he mumbled. “You smell so good.”

Anaxa was so overwhelmed he couldn’t even correct his name. He felt Phainon rocking inside him. Every little motion moved his guts around and pushed them all out of place. 

“So full, too full,” Anaxa whimpered. But even as he did, he was clinging onto Phainon’s shoulders, refusing to let him go. His nails dug into the skin. His face went into Phainon’s chest and he inhaled the scent there with greed.

Slowly, Phainon began to ease his massive cock out. When he made it halfway, he pushed it all the way back in. 

Anaxa cried out, his body shaking from the raw sensation. Phainon did it again. And then again. He began to move faster. With each thrust, Anaxa could feel a slightly painful impact deep inside him. His cervix? Phainon was certainly large enough to slam into it.

Before long, Phainon’s movement started to become erratic. “I’m close,” he panted. “I — I should pull out —” 

Anaxa heard the words and agreed. But his body did something entirely different. His arms and legs wrapped around Phainon and squeezed. 

“You — have to let me go —!” Phainon said in a panic.

But Anaxa didn’t listen. Phainon was much stronger and could have forced Anaxa off him, but he was only eighteen, sleeping with the omega he’d had a crush on for as long as he could remember. He didn’t need any more encouragement to come deep inside of Anaxa’s body. The tip of his cock was pressed right up against the entrance to Anaxa’s womb, and all his seed was shot inside. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” It felt so good that Phainon almost passed out.

His knot swelled up, fat and swollen, and locked the two of them together. It was huge, meant to keep Anaxa in place, but Anaxa wasn’t satisfied yet. He started to grind on it.

“More, I want more…”

Even though Phainon already came and knotted, he was a newly presented alpha. He was still hard. Tentatively, he thrust again, knot and all.

Anaxa wailed. It was so intense. It felt even deeper than before. Had Phainon’s cock grown even larger? 

Still, Anaxa didn’t want to stop. He dug his heel into the base of Phainon’s spine, like he was driving a horse. 

It was hard to move much with the knot inside. But Phainon managed. He pulled it out just enough to see Anaxa’s cunt stretch obscenely around it. And then he pushed back inside. 

He could feel the tip of his cock kiss Anaxa’s cervix, and then, when he pushed harder, that tight, tiny entrance began to open for him.

“Do you feel that?” Phainon whispered. “Does it feel good?”

“Ah, Phainon, it — it’s so much… ”

“Can you come?”

Anaxa bit his lip. “Need, need to touch here…”

His hand traveled down his own body and his fingers settled over his clit. It had long become swollen and emerged from the little hood from all the rubbing he’d done to it earlier.

“Fuck…” Phainon watched with awe as Anaxa pleasured himself while his knot was still buried inside. 

Anaxa’s breathing quickened. He heeled Phainon’s back again. 

“Fuck me,” he said. 

Phainon was too happy to oblige. He fucked Anaxa with his knot, pushing his cock deeper and deeper until the entire tip was going in and out of the womb with every thrust. Anaxa felt like his entire insides had been dug open and touched.

But he loved it, because it was Phainon. His body put up no resistance toward the alpha it craved. Together, the two of them brought Anaxa unending pleasure. His sounds got louder and louder.

And then, with a final jerk of the hips, he came. His eyes rolled back, his back arched, and his body shook. His pussy squeezed and pulsed around Phainon’s knot.

Phainon kissed him. But it could barely be considered a kiss. Anaxa’s mouth hung limp and open and Phainon licked into it like a dog. His knot had gone down, enough that, with some effort, he eased it out of Anaxa’s pussy. 

With how much he’d come earlier, he expected come to leak out of Anaxa’s cunt when he finally pulled out. But there was barely any. All of it must have been contained in his womb.

The thought of it made Phainon even more excited. He flipped Anaxa onto his stomach. Anaxa was so light it was extremely easy for Phainon to manhandle him. 

Anaxa looked back, confused. “Phainon, what are you — oh —”

Phainon was tracing a finger around his rim. Anaxa tensed. He’d never been touched there, never touched himself there. Even though it lubricated just like his cunt did and he knew other people did it, he’d never even considered using it. 

He squirmed. “Wait, not there…”

For some reason, Phainon, who had been decently obedient, completely ignored him. Instead, he pushed the tip of his finger inside. 

Anaxa gasped, and kicked his legs. “Stop it Phainon, take it out!” 

Phainon’s other hand landed on his lower back and, with just a bit of force exerted, easily held him in place. 

“Please,” Phainon said. 

Anaxa shook his head. “No!” 

“Please.”

Anaxa’s forehead pressed against the mattress. “Take it out.”

“Can you give it a try? I’ll stop if you hate it.”

Anaxa bit his lip. He felt Phainon’s finger push deeper inside. It curved inside him. A faint feeling of pleasure spread from the area, and Anaxa let out a quiet moan. 

Phainon took it as a yes. Anaxa didn’t complain anymore. Phainon took his time. He used one finger, and then two, then three, then four. He licked around the rim and reached down to rub Anaxa’s clit as he did it. After a while, Anaxa felt… good. 

“Are you ready?” Phainon asked, lining up his cock with that little hole that, despite all his preparation, was still small and tight.

Anaxa whimpered. Phainon eased his way in.

Anaxa winced. It hurt, in a different way. 

“Okay?” 

“Yeah, fuck — ”

Phainon pushed in a little more. And then a little more. Anaxa felt so strange. He’d never felt anything like it before. It felt wrong, but the fullness was even more potent. The feeling of Phainon inside him there sent chills up and down his spine and made his whole body weak like jelly.

He whimpered into the pillow, feeling like he was going to cry. But it wasn’t just from the physical sensation. It was because he finally, finally had Phainon, not just the phantom of a fantasy, but his body, so strong and reliable, on top of him, all around him, inside him in his most vulnerable, intimate places. 

“Phai,” Anaxa moaned into the pillow. “Phai, I want you, want you deeper…”

He heard Phainon gasp behind him. And then suddenly Phainon was pushing all the way in, bottoming out with one hard thrust.

Anaxa cried out. It was too much, way too fast! It hurt deep inside and he kicked his legs, writhing in discomfort. “Phainon, wait, wait, too deep —!” 

Phainon didn’t move. “M’sorry, just feels so good…”

Anaxa whimpered. When did he become so boneless? But after a minute had passed, the pain faded. And it was replaced by need. 

“Move,” Anaxa said. “Phainon, you can — you can move now.”

Phainon made a sound of agreement. And then he started to fuck Anaxa, in the ass, and it should have been degrading, a punishment, but Anaxa liked it. He liked it so much.

He liked it so much that he came again. And then after he came he passed out, but Phainon didn’t stop, and when he came to, it was to the sensation of Phainon pushing a knot into his ass. 

Completely spent, Anaxa just lay there and took that massive thing again. He felt the spurts of hot, thick liquid as Phainon came. He liked it. And then he passed out again.

When he came to yet again, he lay in clean sheets, and Phainon was nowhere to be seen. 

He sat up. Instantly, his body screamed at him. He felt muscle aches in places he didn’t even know he had muscles. His back felt just about broken. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to get to his feet. Except his legs didn’t work. He fell to the ground. 

Within seconds, footsteps rushed to his door and Phainon burst in. 

“You’re awake!” He ran to Anaxa and reached for his arm to help him up. 

Anaxa flinched away. 

Phainon paused. He grew hesitant, and took a step back. He watched as Anaxa pushed himself to his feet and sat back down on the bed. 

“Um, how are you feeling?” Phainon asked nervously.

Anaxa stared at him. Phainon seemed to have showered. His hair was damp. The clean scent of Anaxa’s shampoo mixed in with Phainon’s bergamot and sea. 

Phainon was so handsome, he thought. A good kid.

“Phainon.” Anaxa winced at the hoarse sound of his own voice. It hurt to talk. “This can’t happen again.”

Phainon frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but Anaxa beat him to it. 

“I’m sorry. I was irresponsible.”

“But…” Phainon’s eyes were pooled with sadness. “But I thought — I thought you liked me, and I told you I’ve liked you for so long, so why can’t we…”

“There is no ‘we’, Phainon.” Anaxa rubbed his temples. “This was a mistake. We can forget it happened.”

“What? It wasn’t a mistake. It wasn’t a mistake to me! It meant something!” 

Anaxa put his head in his hands.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “Phainon, I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault. You can hate me if you want.”

“No,” Phainon said. He sounded sort of weird. When Anaxa looked up, he was shocked to find that Phainon was crying. “No,” he repeated. “I don’t want to hate you.”

“I’m sorry.”

Phainon wiped at his tears. “Please. Just think about it. I — I won’t tell anyone. We can keep it a secret! I just want to see you again.”

“Phainon.”

“Please. Please! I’m begging you. Don’t — don’t make me go away.”

Anaxa shook his head. “I’m sorry, Phainon. But you know I’m right. We can’t do this.”

Phainon’s shoulders sagged. He gave Anaxa one last, pathetic stare.

“Okay,” he said, hanging his head. “I — I’ll leave you alone then.”

“Good.”

Phainon dragged his feet. When he was at the door Anaxa suddenly remembered something. 

“Wait! You should take this back.” He reached for the purple jacket which was still bunched up in a ball. He made a face when he saw how wet and gross it looked. “Actually, I should wash it first.”

“I don’t want it back,” Phainon said, turning so Anaxa could only see half his face. “If you don’t want it just throw it away.”

1.5 years later 

Anaxa sat at his desk, checking the time on his laptop. Only five more minutes left of his office hours. Once again, no one had come. 

Well, that wasn’t much of a surprise. He knew he was unapproachable and had a bad reputation. The only time anyone came to his office hours was to complain about unfair grading. 

He yawned and started packing up to go home. Life had been different ever since Hyacine had left for college. She’d gotten into her dream school, but it was on the other side of the country. Anaxa was so proud, was shelling out full tuition for her, but sometimes, he wished she’d stayed a little closer to home. He missed her.

And then there was… Phainon. 

Frankly, it had been a nightmare of a year after their… incident. Anaxa had pretty much resorted to ignoring and avoiding Phainon entirely. Eventually, Phainon stopped trying to get friendly. The only good news was that Phainon kept the secret. 

Occasionally, Anaxa would reminisce. He’d find himself missing Phainon’s scent. Recalling how it had felt to be intimate with him. It was just a one-time thing but it had easily been the best sex of his life. Not that he’d ever admit it. 

Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door. 

He sighed, checking the clock. There was only one minute left. 

“Come in,” he called. 

The door opened, and a figure stepped in.

Anaxa dropped the pen he’d been holding and it clattered noisily to the ground. 

The person standing there was tall and built, with soft white hair and a pair of striking blue eyes. The sort of face people in ancient times wrote poetry about.

“Um, hi,” Phainon said. He held a coffee cup in each hand.

“What are you doing here?”

“Ah.” Phainon smiled sheepishly. “I looked up your office hours so I could stop by.”

Anaxa lifted an eyebrow. “Looked them up how? Is that public information?”

“No, but, um, I go here, so…”

“What?” Anaxa did a double take. Phainon was attending his university… and he didn’t even know? 

“Yeah! Actually, I wanted to take your class, but I need to take the prereqs first.”

“Right.”

Anaxa was still standing there, stiff as a statue. Phainon approached, and placed one of the coffees down on Anaxa’s desk. 

“I got this for you.”

Anaxa frowned. “Phainon, what are you doing?” 

Phainon gave him a pleading look. “I… I just want to start over. Is that okay?” 

Anaxa rubbed his forehead. “Phainon, that’s a little difficult.”

“I told you before. I liked you for a long time. I can’t just stop. But I don’t have to be anything to you. I just want… to be around. Is that okay?” 

Anaxa’s muscle memory kicked in. When he breathed, he braced himself. Half dread, half excitement, waiting to catch a trace of Phainon’s bergamot cedar scent. 

Instead, he got nothing. His eyes zeroed in on a patch on Phainon’s neck. 

“Are you wearing a scent patch?” 

“Oh, yeah,” Phainon said sheepishly. “It’s been more than a year, so the doctor said I could… And plus, I didn’t want, um, didn’t want my scent to, um, influence, you know.”

Anaxa hummed. “I appreciate that.”

“So.” Phainon shuffled his feet around, looking like a nervous kid. “Can I come to your office hours again next week?”

Anaxa sighed and then bent down to pick up the pen he’d dropped. “Well, you’re a student at this university, aren’t you? I don’t think I can reasonably stop you.”

Phainon lit up like a dog with a bone. “Yay!” he said. “Thanks!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Anaxa started to put on his coat. “Now, it’s time for me to get out of here, so you better scram too.”

“Okay!” Phainon happily scurried to the door, and then turned around again.

“Bye,” he said. “Professor.”

----

And now - incredible artwork by Lumpia at Kanin for this fic!!! 

I love these sooooo much please go interact w their page/posts :))))) 

WAAAAAA

ok fin

<3