i have been fighting for my life trying to put together a coherent ask about omegaverse!john that’s not just !!!!!!!!!!! but i’m doing my best. i guess i’m curious as to how everyone reacts when his status is revealed. also, did malcolm know? or did john keep it a secret from him too
NOT TO WORRY BECAUSE A/B/O JOHN ALSO HAS ME !!!! ALWAYS! wrt reactions to his status being revealed, the point at which it happens actually works to his favour (though he doesn't know it at the time) everyone's so busy trying to stay alive that his lie is kind of glanced over, and crozier is wayyyyy softer with his men post-withdrawal. edward is just a well of sympathy, having omega sisters and an omega mother he's aware of how rehabilitating heats can be, and he knows enough of john's religious nature to guess that his reveal is something that's causing him a good deal of discomfort. also, with all of the men very lead poisoned, it's fucking with their rut cycles making the environment even fractionally safer for john. that said, his scent is still very much causing problems across the alpha crew members who are just drawing more and more agitated over it. also, john being confined to a sick bed puts a drain on their resources and, unlike the regular sick, there's a belief that john brought this upon himself by lying. on top of that, the expedition was outfitted with a supply of heat suppressants for the stewards (the only role in the navy where omegas are permitted to serve) according to their designations on the ship's muster. because john lied, and because the suppressants lose efficiency the longer they're stored, he's been siphoning off a supply not calculated for an extra man which might not have been a problem had they not been trapped. so now some of the stewards (tom jopson) are starting to get sick and john is, to a degree, aware of this and deeply shamed by it
as to the question of malcolm!! no. malcolm never knew. malcolm's a beta and, while on the belvidera, john liked to think that he could be a beta too, someone who is treated far better by victorian society and christian doctrine. so he never told malcolm, wanting them both to enjoy a fantasy where they could remain together as platonic life partners, something that john told himself he wanted and something that malcolm long knew he'd never be satisfied with. during their years separated, john always thought about confessing to malcolm, and came very close while they saw each other at cambridge, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to. largely because, if others knew, they wouldn't allow john to live unmated (because he's ultimately a man from high society) and as beta men are not allowed to marry (and only alphas may marry omegas) it would mean that he could never be with malcolm in a way he'd come to covet. john's ultimately a man who's had to live with so many contradictions in his identity and his beliefs and this kills him slowly over time. when the survivors reach england, john is remanded into the care of lewis and kate irving, who also didn't know, and he spends a lot of time half-heartedly playing with his nieces and having very heavy and sad conversations with lewis
