#let me know if brackets are annoying bc i needed the sigh bc sighing is such an important jenn thing amen

[workingchemistry]

Hello my dearest and most beloved friend! How are you doing today? I hope your well. I, on the other hand, am not well. My “you-know-what” is here and it’s not good. Usually it has little to no effect but there’s sometimes where it hurts so much I can’t get out of bed and others where all I want is to be cuddled and sleep for days (which is what’s happening now(also sorry for the tmi lol)) Could I pretty please have just a sweet little something with O!Jay and Dami? Or maybe A!Kara? Thanks love❤

Hello darling! My love and my light. :) I’m doing okay. Trying to hard core focus on self care bc I’m burning out. I’m so sorry to hear. :( I highkey empathize with your experience. Don’t worry about tmi, it’s a natural part of the XX lifecycle. Wish I could give you all the hugs and lazy cuddles, but this’ll have to do instead. :) I was gonna do Kara, but then I was thinking about Dami and this is what I got. Hope you enjoy!

Most days Damian does not mind Todd’s penchant for playing the part of a pack omega. If only to himself, he can admit it’s not as though he is ever truly bothered by Todd’s warm nests and soft hugs. Though the lessons are annoying, he does not hate being taught to nest or cook. Todd has promised them to be useful skills and Richard corroborated the story in an unrelated conversation.

No. What Damian hates is when Todd speaks of Damian inheriting the pack.

He sits in silence, letting his anger ferment as Todd passes him another ball of noodle dough. For an omega with a reputation for withdrawn brutality, Todd certainly enjoys chatter. “Our alphas all have tunnel vision pretty bad, even Alfie. It’s your job as the pack omega to make sure they take care of themselves. Even Timtac. He’s one of the worst actually, even if he does have a schedule for “body maintenance” it’s all—“

It’s too much.

“Cease that at once.” Damian snaps. His rolling pin thuds on the marble counter top beside his down in a cloud of flour. “I’ll hear no more.”

“Dami...” Todd sucks on his teeth. He looks hurt. “I know you’re not besties, but I thought you and Timmy got along now.”

“We— what does Drake have to do with anything?” Damian asks. He has to fight down a growl. There’s nothing wrong with omegas growling, or so Todd says, but sometimes they cheapen your grievances. Everyone loves to blame hormones for an unruly omega.

“He—“ Todd starts, stops to consider Damian, and then sighs. His elbow lands in a pile of flour, narrowly missing rolled dough, when he goes to lean on it. “Okay, kiddo, I’ll bite. But you gotta explain yourself, I don’t know what’s upset you.”

“You—you—“ Damian splutters. Inexplicably his throat hurts. There are no words to explain what he feels when Todd speaks of leaving the pack. It hurts worse than Heretic’s sword. At one point he might have wanted the pack, though certainly he never wanted the position of pack omega, but now he has been rethinking his place in the pack. “You cannot. I refuse to allow it.”

“Can’t what, Dami?” Todd leans forward and nuzzles the top of Damian’s head with a soft croon. “I don’t understand, habibi. Explain.”

“You can’t leave again.” Damian’s hands fist in Todd’s red hoodie, smearing white across his back. Against his will, Damian’s gives a plaintive cry, the call of a pup to his mother. It bubbles out of him, black tar fear that scalds his throat. “You can’t leave me, Rasha.”

Todd’s arms sweep him up to nestle against to softness of his broad chest. The arms that bracket him in are strong and the scent that surrounds him is vanilla sweet. It slides over his skin like warm honey. Todd’s answering rumble vibrates through Damian’s bones, settling them. “I’m not leaving. No one is leaving you, pup. You’re safe.”

“You—“ Damian wants to sound accusatory, but his cursed pup instincts give everything a slight wail. “You’re the pack omega. You can’t leave.”

“Oh.” Todd’s hold shifts so they can sit, Damian draped across his chest. “I’m not leaving, I was.. I was waiting. Once you’ve been presented to society I was going to step down. I know pack omega isn’t pack alpha, but... I like to think it’s a pretty sweet gig.”

“You’re the pack omega.” Damian’s brain feels stuck like a buffering video. “I don’t—I’m not.”

“Okay. Okay.” Todd croons. “It was just an idea. I can keep the position as long as you want me to.”

“Forever.” Later, Damian knows he will deny this moment to the ends of the earth, but he hunches instinctively as small as he is able.

Todd wraps him up tighter, shielding Damian’s weakness from the world. “Okay. Forever then.”

He nuzzles behind Damian’s ear and then stands to head towards the servant’s tunnel. It leads to all of the main bedrooms, built long ago when there were servants to need them. It’s a question with an obvious answer, but he asks it anyway, “Where are we going?”

“Nest.”

Damian nods in response and lets his tired eyes drift shut. He doesn’t need to stand guard for once, Rasha will keep him safe and watch over the nest.

It’s what makes Todd such a good pack omeega.