More omega!Odysseus & alpha!Penelope thoughts
Continuation of my omegaverse ideas (found here)
Also while nothing explicit happens there's a little spice down the line.
Odysseus and Penelope definitely had their first serious argument before they were even married. While still courting/betrothed, it turns into a huge fight over who's going to be bearing the children once they're wedded and mated.
Not that Odysseus thinks his wife should be doing it, but that he should be the sole bearer with no exceptions! And the problem is that Penelope insists on the exact opposite...
Penelope was raised as a woman in Sparta so no matter her secondary gender, she was going to be taught to be tough. Her being an alpha just so happened to give her all sorts of special privileges and respect when she saw with her own eyes the many ways omegas were disregarded and looked down upon. (And let's say that Sparta has a famously low population of omegas because they view them as too weak to survive & just don't choose to keep most omega babies)
So growing up in that environment, when Penelope finds the omega she wants to spend the rest of her life with, the omega who's as precious to her as all the jewels in the world and as beautiful as the stars in the sky, there's no fucking way she's going to treat Odysseus as a slave or pet. She's going to defy Sparta's crusty traditions by carrying their children, even as an alpha. She doesn't care if it's "emasculating" (or like, the equivalent of emasculating for alphas).
Penelope loves her soon-to-be husband and will not make him carry her children or be treated as if that's all he's good for.
In contrast, Odysseus grew up in a culture with more omegas where he wasn't as much of an oddity. Yes, it's still a bit strange for the crown prince to be an omega, but he's more than proven his worth through his intelligence, cunning, and his surprising degree of physical strength for an omega (thanks to him being a prince, he was taught to hunt. And thanks to Athena, he was taught to fight).
As he grew up, Odysseus rejected alpha after alpha, suitor after suitor, not at all appreciating the ways they tended to underestimate or belittle him, until he met a particular Spartan princess. He becomes convinced that they were made for each other. There was no feat of strength that the other could not match, for each was a skilled athlete. There was no riddle one could propose that the other could not answer in time. The one way they differed was when it came to strings; Penelope was a fabulously talented weaver while Odysseus was a masterful archer.
(At first, Penelope tried to court Ody with a newly woven cloak and he attempted to impress her by doing cool trick shots- basically trying to stifle their secondary genders by doing what "typical" men and women did to court each other. Then they figure out the other is down bad and they stop trying to hide their true selves.)
And by the gods, Odysseus was going to make Penelope his and he was going to treat her right. And that includes giving her strong, healthy children.
The fact that childbearing was a dangerous and oftentimes deadly event was no secret to either of them. As Ithaca's future king, he would gladly protect his wife from such danger by having their children himself.
Which, Penelope points out, is exactly why he shouldn't be the carrier at all! His people need him- he cannot risk his life for something so unnecessary when his future wife & alpha is more than willing to take that risk.
Aha! Odysseus says, already having his retort ready. Is Penelope insisting that he, an omega, is not fit enough to take up such dangerous work? That he is weak?
Oh, Penelope says, rising to his challenge. Then is Odysseus content to enforce his will over her as a man? Will he deny her her own freedom by refusing to grant her the opportunity to carry their children?
(AKA they basically invent a super weird field of gender politics and keep trying to one-up the other and twist their words around)
Their whole debate goes on for weeks or even months on end, with the core of their argument being, "I love you, I want to be your mate, and I will not let you suffer needless pain if I can take it in your stead."
But they can't keep debating forever when both their parents want to see them married sooner rather than never.
They have their wedding on Ithaca when Odysseus' next heat draws near, just to increase the chances of successful consummation. And let's just say that while the wedding itself goes by smoothly, their wedding bed basically sees war as these two have some of the craziest, nastiest, most confusing sex ever as Odysseus desperately wants to bottom and Penelope really, really wants to top the banging hot omega begging her for it. But at the same time, Penelope keeps trying to ignore her instincts and coax him into topping and it happens to feel really strange but really good for them both but also Ody desperately wants to be the one to conceive–
By the time Odysseus' heat is over, they honestly have no idea who's gotten who knocked up. And hey, wouldn't it be hilarious if they happened to get each other pregnant?
Thankfully, or not, they get their answer soon enough. Penelope waits and prays for the telltale signs of pregnancy to kick in- the fatigue, hunger, morning sickness, etc...
Only to wake up to the sound of her beloved Odysseus dry heaving over the side of the bed. A little visit from the palace healers confirms it.
He won.
Penelope wishes she could sulk or complain, and for like 2 whole seconds, she contemplates telling the healers to mix an abortifacient right there and then because she's not thinking about the baby. She's thinking about her omega's future health/safety, but she takes one look at Odysseus' face and his tears of joy & she simply can't deny the fact that her inner alpha is jumping up and down, elated to know that her mate is with child.
"Don't be so disappointed, my beloved." Odysseus says, laughing as she holds him in her arms and kisses his hair, eyes, lips, nose, and wherever else she can reach, "Why don't you take the honor of naming them?"
Her?
Penelope is shocked. She will not have her omega go through the pains and difficulties of birth just to refuse him the right to name his own child!
And thus, a whole new debate begins.
