#orphan instinct

[whitesatinboots]

Shen Qingqiu had been careful. He’d had it down to an art. He’d spent years experimenting to find the best mix of herbs to form a salve to blend into his cosmetics. Daily, he painted a dark mixture across his upper lip, almost like makeup but for the way it was astringent enough to fill his nose and dull his tastebuds.

orphan instinct, ch 1

it smears a little by the end of the day :)

[whitesatinboots]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/? Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Luo Binghe/Shen Jiu, Shen Jiu/Yue Qingyuan, Luo Binghe & Shen Jiu Characters: Shen Jiu | Original Shen Qingqiu, Luo Binghe, Yue Qingyuan Additional Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Past Rape/Non-con, Child Abuse, Parental Instinct, Imprinting, Dubious Consent, Miscarriage, Dissociation, Vaginal Sex, Oedipal Issues, Omega Shen Jiu, Alpha Yue Qingyuan, secondary-gender-fluid Luo Binghe, Fix-It of Sorts, Mating Bites, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Triad Relationships, sqq has two hands and he's gonna hate using them both, No Underage Sex

It is a truth universally acknowledged that no one is immune to Luo Binghe’s protagonist halo—the villain least of all.

In a world in which omegas have a biological imperative to protect orphaned children, Shen Qingqiu is at war with his instincts. Luo Binghe wakes from whippings with his shizun’s hands carding gently through his hair, the man’s eyes fogged and hazy.

At first, he doesn’t know how to handle it, so he just lets it happen. Shizun knows best, right? By the time he’s fourteen, he realizes that Shizun hates himself more than his disciple, and at that point it’s only logical to take advantage of the scraps he’s given.

And take, and take, and take.

[whitesatinboots]

luo binghe's protag halo makes it so that his lonely little-kid scent gets through sqq's scent blockers :) Adoption time!!!!

(sqq is full of rage once the haze of instinct wears off. lbh is getting kicked out of that nest faster than a speeding bullet)

[whitesatinboots]

ughh i am doing SO much more work arranging and rearranging sections of this story than usual, it's a nightmare!!!

and i'm only up to lbh-age-14. meanwhile so much action happens after he gets shoved into the abyss...but the groundwork is IMPORTANT

however, i am delighted that this AU manages to have SJ doing SY shit and it makes perfect sense in-character!

[whitesatinboots]

therapy sesh at the warm red pavilion :)

[whitesatinboots]

Yue Qingyuan had already been watching Shen Qingqiu and thinking about stepping forward, considering what to say to defuse the friction. So he caught the precise moment that Shen Qingqiu’s pupils dilated and his face went slack. Yue Qingyuan thought to grab the boy—to silence him, shove him away, anything to prevent the oncoming storm—but it was too late. Shen Qingqiu had turned to pure instinct.

orphan instinct, ch. 2

[whitesatinboots]

also i don't know what LBH should be. yqy is tentatively an alpha. should LBH also be one? or an omega? hmmmmmm

[whitesatinboots]