Work Text:
Qifrey sighed. "I don't suppose I could convince you to take this conversation for me."
"You knew the deal when I handled the period one. Because someone forgot taking on four girls was going to entail things we never had to go through."
"I didn't forget!" Qifrey protested, leaning forward, daring Olruggio to close the remaining distance.
"Who was the one who made sure the atelier was stocked?" He shot Qifrey a look of faux annoyance before sinking further into the couch.
Qifrey sighed, leaning back once more. Knowing he'd lost this particular battle.
"That bein' said. Don't think I'm leaving you on your own." He assured him. "I'll be there. They're all bound to have a thousand questions."
"You're far too kind to me."
"Think of it as a 'this is what you should have done for me' rather than a kindness."
It wasn't even so much a 'what you should have done for me' if Olruggio were being entirely honest. It was far closer to putting Qifrey up to this for his own amusement. Truth be told he wouldn't have minded talking to the girls about it. They'd been perfectly fine, if a little hesitant at first, not that he blamed them. Treating it as it was, a fact of life, had made it far less awkward than it could have been.
This was at the very least going to be entertaining. If Qifrey's fidgeting, his thumbs doing circles around each other, was anything to go by. A lesson in not pulling a stunt like that again that Olruggio got to watch from where he was laid out on the couch, head on the armrest. Tetia was tucked against the back of the couch with her knees over his and a book in her lap.
She'd been hesitant to leave his side, though as his hand healed she'd been looking at him with a little less guilt each day.
Coco was folded over her palm quire, glancing between it and the open book beside. She'd situated herself closer to the center of the room where Qifrey sat. Agott leaned against the couch, a stack of paper next to her and a book in her lap to use as a makeshift drawing table. Richeh was seated with her back to all of them, though not as far from the group as she used to put herself.
"Girls," Qifrey started, putting his hands in his lap.
He just needed to treat this like a lesson. In it's own way that's what it was. Just a lesson. Maybe not on magic, but it was still something they'd need to know. Except they were all staring at him, waiting for him to speak. He didn't usually get cold feet before a lesson.
Typically if he could have all of their attention at once it was a miracle he didn't dare waste. This felt different. Having the four of them looking expectantly for their next lesson. For the next thing that would put them on the path of being some of the greatest witches the world had ever seen. Except he wasn't giving them that. He was practically giving them an anatomy lesson and that was certainly not what he'd been preparing for when he said he wanted to take on apprentices.
Still… it wasn't something he could keep putting off. Tetia was proof of that. The longer he did the harder the conversation would get. Worse yet, it might very well have his apprentices thinking he didn't care about them if it didn't relate to their studies. Or that they were unable to come to him with concerns or questions, no matter how embarrassing it might feel.
Tetia was forgiving, he'd gotten lucky she was the first to present. There were two in this room that would not extend that as readily or kindly.
"You're all getting older and it has come to my attention I may have neglected parts of your… uh… development as my apprentices than I should have."
Tetia tilted her head, letting it flop to the side her curls bouncing even as her head settled. Agott took that time to go back to the paper in front of her. A quick peak told Olruggio she was working on a new spell. Something to do with levitation and an uneven distribution of signs, but he couldn't decipher anything more with the angle he was at. Coco sat back on her heels, hands in her lap as she waited for Qifrey to continue. Golden eyes sparkling at the thought of learning something new.
Richeh was the one that spurred him on. Eyes blinking slowly as she put her wand down and half turned to face him.
"I don't understand."
"Are you going to teach us a new spell?" Coco asked, nearly leaping to her feet, the irritated squeak of the brushbuddy being the only thing that stopped her.
"Well-"
"Or are we going on a field trip?" Tetia asked, closing her book with a clap and leaning forward. "Are you going to show us how we can be helpful?"
"Maybe somewhere we've never been before? Are we going to learn about different cultures?" Coco asked, excitement growing to match Tetia's.
"Do you know how late it is? Where would we even go?" Agott asked. "If we were doing that he would have pulled out a map."
"Or taken us to the window way," Richeh added.
"Actually-"
"Wait! But there are some animals that only migrate at night! Some of those might be close by, especially in the spring!" Tetia exclaimed.
She rocked back into the couch, drawing her feet back-
It was like Olruggio was watching everything in slow motion. Agott's head leaning back to get a better look at Coco as if that were going to make her thought process make any more sense. Tetia's feet pushing her back like a spring as she readied herself to catapult toward Qifrey in her excitement. His hand snapped out, grabbing the side of Agott's head with just enough time to keep her out of the trajectory.
Tetia landing on her feet and bouncing a few steps to catch her balance, unaware of the chaos that had narrowly been avoided. Agott had one hand on Olruggio's while the other was firmly planted on the ground, fingers splayed perfectly around her ink. Another mess avoided by sheer dumb luck. She fell into the couch with a sigh.
"You alright?" Olruggio's voice was hidden under the mess of excitement, only audible to her.
"Yes," she pulled his hand away, fluffing her hair back up. "Just startled." After a moment of silence she added. "Thank you."
"I'm the watchful eye, it's my job-"
"You know no one believes you anymore when you say that, right?" She fixed him with a stare that stopped most others in their tracks. "Not even Coco."
Olruggio sighed, turning his attention back to where Qifrey was struggling to get a word out. Richeh had moved part way across the floor to be closer to the commotion while Tetia and Coco were trading excited theories about their next lesson. Qifrey with his hands up trying to catch even the slightest break in conversation to grab their attention.
Agott put the cap on her ink, one close call was enough for her tonight, before turning her attention back to Olruggio. "So, Watchful Eye of Master Qifrey's Atelier, are you planning on letting him suffer or do you intend to step in."
"I'll give him a little more time."
"Starwing Butterflies migrate around this time, right?!" Coco's hands were pressed against her chest, excitement rising as she and Tetia forgot the meaning of personal space.
"Or!" Tetia grabbed her shoulders. "Maybe we're going to learn a new recipe! Something super complex and so secret Master Qifrey's never shown it to anyone ever before."
"Maybe he'll show us what goes into his secret spice blend? It tastes the best on meats, but I can't get any of my imitations just right." Richeh chimed in.
"We've lost the plot," Agott muttered under her breath.
Olruggio gave a soft chuckle, earning him a smile from Agott that he didn't have the chance to see. His focus was on the gaggle of children who were getting a bit too excited.
"Girls," his voice sharp, but he was careful not to yell. Just pushing to be louder than the commotion. "Focus. You can't learn if you keep talking over your teacher, can you?"
That had them sufficiently chastised. Coco and Tetia plopped to the floor as Richeh scooted up next to them. Deciding she was safe to join the lesson now that there was no threat of being forced into study, but rather they seemed to be the ones with the upper hand here.
"Right," Qifrey clapped his hands now that he had their attention. "It's not exactly a lesson, girls. It's something I should have talked to you about sooner-"
"I'm not going back to the great hall." Richeh muttered, eyes narrowing.
Where in the world had she gotten that idea? "What? No-"
"Master Qifrey wouldn't do that to us," Tetia assured her quickly, bumping their shoulders together before looking up at him for reassurance. "Would you?"
"No!" Maybe he'd been a bit loud in his panicked haste.
All of the girls flinched and Olruggio shifted to partially hold himself on an elbow. He could handle this. He just needed to get two sentences out. He took a deep breath to calm himself and give the girls a visual que to calm down.
It was something he'd been teaching them, though it wasn't something he'd openly admit to. When he paused, taking in a deep breath in conversation it created a pause. If Coco was running away with herself it often drew her attention back to something calmer. With Richeh he'd learned it was best executed as a place holder to let her know he was considering what she was saying. The more he'd done it the more the girls had used it.
Agott tilting her head back and taking in a deep breath as Tetia and Coco whirled around her like a wildfire bent on destroying everything in its path. Loosening her fingers where they were clutched around her wand. Rolling out her shoulders from where she'd been hunched over trying to keep her annoyance inside.
It was Tetia bouncing around, voice rising higher and higher. Excited about her newest, 'most creative idea yet to bring comfort and joy directly to the people'. Hands endlessly moving as she hopped from foot to foot nearly out of breath. Unable to get all the words out because she simply had too much going on to leave room to breathe. Settling onto her feet, bringing her hands toward her body as she breathed in, holding it for a moment, before pushing her hands away as the air followed.
As much as Olly used it as a gotcha to get more sleep- as if he were one to talk- he'd been right. The girls learned just as much from what he taught them to what he showed them. They were young and impressionable, of course they would mimic the behaviors they saw. He just hadn't realized they believed him worthy of that high an honor. On some level they saw him as someone they wanted to be.
For everything he was and wasn't. The way they saw not only the best in him, but parts of him they wanted to emulate in themselves. Wasn't that all he could have ever hoped for?
"Please," he said once he could trust his voice had leveled out. "Let me finish."
He looked between them. Expecting one more question or interruption. When all he found were his apprentices waiting patiently for him to continue he smiled.
"Thank you," the words were said softly, not a hint of sarcasm to be found. "I'm sorry to disappoint, but this isn't a lesson."
Which was why he was having so much trouble getting through it. It wasn't embarrassing, well, that wasn't exactly true. It was. It was terrible, having to listen to adults talk about something that happened to everyone with half truths and uncomfortable laughter. Sliding past topics they didn't want to talk about even if you wanted to know.
Yeah. It was awful. It was always going to be and had always been- No. It didn't have to be. Not for them. Maybe it had been for him and Olly and who knows how many others. But it didn't have to be for them. There was no getting around awkward, but it was only going to be uncomfortable if he made it that way.
"You're all getting to the age where you'll start presenting-" The way he saw Tetia shrink in on herself had his heart aching.
He should have had this conversation with them earlier. It might have saved her at least a little bit of the stress. Maybe it would have made it more obvious she could come to them instead of having to hide herself away.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly, knees drawing up to her chest.
Qifrey was opening his mouth to comfort her. To find some way to let her know it hadn't been his intention to single her out. Of course it had felt like it, but he wasn't sure there was a world where it wouldn't have. Not with the conversation coming so soon after she presented. But he couldn't put it off any longer.
Before the words could leave his mouth someone was already coming to the rescue.
"Why are you apologizing?" Agott asked, tone no nonsense and gaze firm. "For presenting?"
"That's a stupid thing to apologize for," Richeh agreed.
"It's not something you have to apologize for," Coco echoed, taking Tetia's hands in her own. "It happens to everyone."
"Not everyone," Agott cut in.
"Well no, but like twenty percent of the population, right?" Coco asked, looking between Qifrey and Agott.
"Forty," Agott corrected.
Coco tilted her head, bringing her fingers to her lips. "Are you sure? Not to say that you're wrong or don't know what you're talking about it's just-"
"It really depends on the population you're looking at," Qifrey interrupted her frantic over correction. "For those who aren't witches it does tend to stay around twenty percent. For witches it's closer to forty. Betas make up the majority in either case."
"Why is it so much higher?" Coco asked, calming as she turned to him.
"Well, when outsiders can't see you practice magic or even know how it works," Tetia said quietly. "It gets hard to even be friends with them, let alone fall in love."
"It's why Tetia's favorite books are 'the forbidden love between a witch and an outsider'." Richeh added.
"Richeh!" Scandalized Tetia launched herself for her, something Richeh was particularly skilled at dodging.
"And that leads to a different… uh… percentage?" Coco asked.
"Over time, genetics change." Richeh explained, still engaged in a halfhearted wrestling match that had really turned into sitting top Tetia's back.
"Which means there's still a high probability the rest of us will be betas," Agott pointed out.
"Even if we aren't, there's nothing we can really do about it now." Coco pointed out. "It's not like we'll know until we present right?"
"There are tests," Richeh explained, patting Tetia's head as the other pouted up at her.
"Richeh, no fair, let me up." The whine wasn't enough to distract from the conversation, but Qifrey couldn't stop a smile from lifting his lips as she pretended to flail.
"There are," Qifrey confirmed. "Most people don't choose that route they can be quite expensive-"
"And inaccurate." Agott added firmly.
"Well, that's not quite right," he aimed for something guiding rather than correcting, but the look he received told him he was so far off the mark he might as well have been in Kalhn. "The tests are around ninety-nine percent accurate-"
"So they can be wrong."
"They can, but-"
"I'm going to study in my room. I'm a beta. I've heard what I need."
Qifrey held up a hand to stop her, but quickly sighed, deciding better of it and letting his hand fall to his lap. He had been about to ask if they had any questions themselves, but the other three were more than happy to beat him to it.
"Do you and Master Olly have subgenders?" Coco asked, looking between the two of them.
For a moment Qifrey was taken back. Lining up when Coco had started staying with them to his most recent heat. His were infrequent and Olly had skipped his last several to focus on commissions- despite all attempts from multiple people to explain why that was a terrible idea.
"They're omegas." Richeh explained, tucking her head the moment the words were out of her mouth. "Sorry. I should have let you answer."
"It's quite alright." Qifrey assured her.
"Not like it's a secret or anything," Olruggio added, head back down against the armrest with his eyes closed, clearly unbothered by the conversation or commotion.
"So…" Tetia started, almost nervously. "How did you know what would help me?"
"And come to think of it," Coco added. "I've always heard that alphas like lose control and stuff-"
"It felt like I was." Tetia admitted. "But I know what you mean. I didn't ever stop being me, not the way that people make it sound."
She started to push herself up, giving Richeh the time she needed to roll off her back, landing her between the two other girls.
"And I didn't feel…" Tetia hesitated, picking at the strands of carpet, trying to pluck the word she needed from the fibers.
"I'll answer the other questions first, and if you feel comfortable after you can always ask. You never known I might answer your question along the way." Qifrey offered, giving her a soft smile when she nodded. "Right," he clapped his hands. "You wanted to know how we knew what would help."
"That one's easy enough." He was finding his flow more easily than he'd expected. Teaching was teaching and his apprentices were some of the best students. Far better behaved than he and Olly ever were.
"There's a lot going on in your lives right now. Try as we might, Olly and I can't stop time. These next few years are where a lot of changes physically-"
"Master Olly told us that already." Coco piped up.
"And environmentally." He gave her a pointed look that barely lasted a moment. "Because of that your first few years of heats or ruts- doesn't matter which one you end up with- are mild."
"That was mild?!" Tetia stared at him with wide-eyed shock. "That was awful and it's going to get worse."
"It's going to be different." Qifrey corrected gently. "These are the ones that give you time to adjust to what they're going to be. Once you hit between twenty and twenty five they'll stay fairly consistent and that's when you'll see the uh…" how to phrase this delicately.
"Other stuff you were talking about," Olruggio finished for him, true to his word stepping in when Qifrey was well and truly out of his depth. "What you felt then is what it's probably going to feel like a few days before a "true rut" kicks in and a few days after as your hormones start to regulate."
"And is that when… I won't be me any longer?" She asked, looking down at her hands.
Richeh leaned against her side as Coco crawled to wrap her arms around her neck, leaning heavily on Tetia's shoulders.
"That's not entirely the case," Qifrey moved quickly to assure her, offering her a hug, though she seemed fairly preoccupied with her friends hanging off her.
They were good kids. All they wanted to do was take care of each other and the people they loved. If only the rest of the world could be like that. Maybe they wouldn't have as many problems as they did.
"It's an outright lie," Olruggio growled, pushing himself into sitting up. Though he still leaned heavily against the back of the couch.
His quiet 'Olly' was easily overshadowed by the rest of his friend's speech.
"If anyone tries to tell you they did something because they were in rut or heat you run. I don't care how old you are, you come tell me or Qifrey. That's not how it works." His blue eyes dangerous, threatening.
It was an expression he wasn't sure any of them had seen on his face before. He tried to smooth it out when he saw three worried faces looking back at him. They were still kids after all.
"What Olly means to say is it can be overwhelming and feel like a lot, but there are steps we can take to mitigate the effects. By doing so it gives us back that feeling of control." His tone shifted to something slightly more serious. Losing the cheery demeanor he tried to take when teaching.
"Just because something is overwhelming doesn't give anyone the right to guilt or force something or themselves on anyone." He looked at each one of the girls, giving them time to process what he was saying and ensure they understood.
"Everyone is responsible for their own actions always. It doesn't matter what time or day, year, or anything else you can come up with. It's important to remember that in situations like that - with high emotions people can say things they don't mean, but it shouldn't be used to harm you. Or the other way around."
"How do you know the difference?" Tetia asked.
With a small sigh he pushed the jovial tone back to the front. "That's why what you're going through right now is as important as it is."
She opened her mouth to protest, but he silenced her with a gentle smile and a raised hand.
"I know, it feels awful and like your world is falling apart. Learning how to work with these emotions now will make it easier to identify in the long run and give you the tools to not feel as overwhelmed the entire time."
"But the overwhelm doesn't go away." It was as much a statement as it was a question. Richeh looked between Olruggio and Qifrey, judging their reactions- looking for a lie.
"No. Not entirely. Not until it's over." He replied, trying to keep his tone neutral. It wasn't something to be ashamed of. It happened to anyone- alpha or omega. Eventually you had to deal with yourself. There would come a point in time when being with the people you cared about no longer staved off the feelings need.
"But, I haven't even answered your first question yet, have I?" He asked, drawing them back to the conversation. "You wanted to know how I knew what would help, that's an easy one to answer."
"Spending time with the people you care about always eases the worst of it. All of those hormones swirling around is your body's way of saying it wants a family. Showing it you have one helps."
He smiled down at Tetia. "And when we figured out you were an alpha all we really did was show you how to see the things you enjoy doing in a new light. The biggest thing is figuring out what your body is trying to ask for. When you want to protect someone there are thousands of ways to do it. You don't have to fight someone when you could just as easily turn around and hug the person you're fighting for."
"And the things we hear about…" she started quietly, one hand resting on Coco's still around her neck and the other to Richeh's. "The… urges."
Olruggio barely held back a small huff, catching himself only because he could feel Qifrey's glare angled at him.
"I didn't have those because it's still new?"
"Exactly," Qifrey said before a slight blush rose to his checks as his hand went to the back of his neck. "Though you might still get those and your doors lock, so please use them."
That sent a nervous giggle through the girls. If he and Olly were at indicitive of "normal" teens they'd probably already been doing that.
"Did her scent change?" Coco asked, nearly pushing Tetia to the ground as she leaned over her friend.
"Oh! That's a good question! Did it?" Tetia asked, hands firmly planted on the ground to stop the both of them from tumbling over.
"Changed might be a dramatic way to put it-"
"So it did." Richeh pushed.
"It would probably be more accurate to say it got stronger." He explained thoughtfully. "It's not as if you didn't have a scent before."
"What did it smell like?" Coco asked. "Why weren't we able to smell it?"
"It smelled mostly of spicebark. Warm with a hint a earth." Qifrey placed a hand on Tetia's. "Comforting."
The bright smile he recived in return had a weight shifting in his heart. Inspite of everything they'd gone through they were still the same apprentices who'd joined him years ago. They were kind, bold, and brave. None of those things had changed and he could only hope they never would.
"Why couldn't we smell it?" Coco prompted.
"It's likely you did on some level." Qifrey move his attention to her. "Betas and those who haven't presented yet aren't able to consciouly register pheromones. That doesn't mean they aren't affected by them. The effect just isn't as strong."
He could see the gears in Coco's head turning as she tried to comprehend.
"Think of it this way," he offered. "There are some sounds you can't register in your range of hearing, but it doesn't mean your body doesn't react to them. Same thing, but with your sense of smell."
"So… they aren't able to detect the exact moment your scent goes all burnt, but they still notice the changes." Tetia said more to herself than the class.
Qifrey rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassment creeping in. He hadn't meant for her to know he'd been agitated by the situation. Some stress did a body good, but that had been something else.
"Burnt?" Richeh asked.
"Well, you see-"
"When anyone gets agitated, excited, or any variation of a heightened emotion the pheromones shift slightly."
Thank the stars for Olly. Qifrey wasn't entirely sure he would have been able to properly have this conversation without him.
"For obvious reasons phermones get more prevalent the closer someone gets to a heat or rut so stress is the one you'll smell more frequently." He added. "And the closer you are to a rut the more obvious other people's pheromones are going to become. If we get to be too much let us know. There are seals you can put on jewelry or clothing to keep it a bit more contained."
"Does it have to be you?" Coco asked. "I mean, it seems… odd that you should have to cover your scent up when it should be something the other person does to not be bothered, right?"
Tetia nodded along. "It feels… victim blamey."
Qifrey could see Olruggio hesitate. The girls weren't necessarily wrong. And there were still times when Coco's outside perspective could throw them for a loop.
"Think of it more like talking in public spaces. Everyone talks at a lower level so the people around them can have conversations as well." Qifrey explained. "I believe what Olly meant to say was he could make you a contraption. If he hasn't started one already."
That had Olruggio looking away, mumbling something under his breath about taking care of people being his job. Ensuring people feel cared for, obviously.
"Can I ask something else?" Coco positioned herself so she could look between both Olruggio and Qifrey. Since they seemed to be taking on this topic together.
"I believe you already have." Qifrey teased behind a smile, chuckling at the halfhearted glare he recieved. "But please. Ask away."
"How does it work? Like, why do female alphas have trouble having kids? Why don't male omegas?"
"I believe I heard more than one question." His tone was light, smile playful. "Still, it sounds like you're looking for an anatomy lesson."
The words were barely out of his mouth before his apprentices were turning to Olruggio. He supposed that was fair. They'd already had a similar talk with him, it made sense they'd look to him.
Olruggio slid off the couch to join them on the floor. They learned better that way, feeling like whomever was speaking to them wasn't talking down to them, but rather having a conversation with them.
"Remember when I told you that everyone, regardless of sex or subgender starts off as a lump of cells with all the same parts?"
"And that as the baby forms and genes kick in all of the things that they relate to start to show up." Tetia's words were slow as though she were working through that conversation to pick the right ones.
"Exactly. In female betas and omegas the testes don't really form. Sometimes they get reabsorbed during the formation of the rest of the body, sometimes they sit there taking space, but not having a purpose or affect on the body."
"You called them vestigial organs, right?" Richeh asked.
"I did. The same thing is true of beta and alpha males, but in regards to the uterous, filopian tubes, and anything else related to growing an entire being inside you. Most of the time you really get left with bits and pieces of one or the other."
"Sometimes, usually in the cases of testes or ovaries being present, they can cause issues where they produce either testosterone or estrogen and are a little less vestigial than they really should be, but such is the human body." He shrugged.
"But female alphas and male omegas. They're different right?" Tetia asked.
"Yeah, female alphas have functioning testes and ovaries. Now that you've presented and your testosterone production will start going through it's own cycle you might notice your periods and cramping getting worse." He gave her a firm look with only concern behind it. "If that happens let Qifrey or I know. We'll figure out how to get you something."
Tetia crossed her arms in a pout. "They're gonna hurt more? That's just wrong."
"They'll probably be infrequent due to your secondary gender. Don't know if that makes it better or worse." Olruggio added a but more quietly.
"We can figure something out," Coco assured her, wrapping an arm around Tetia's shoulder. "I'm sure we can come up with something if we put our heads together."
"Do female omegas have worse periods?" Richeh asked.
"I can't speak to worse." Olruggio pointed out. "Though heats- on average- work on a six month cycle. Two per year. For female omegas they can find that the closer they get to a heat the more frequent their periods become. Sometimes even getting to the point of two a month as the body works to release as many eggs as possible. It also means your periods could be darker or heavier than usual as well."
"The jelly fish." Richeh muttered, glaring at the floor.
Olruggio gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder. There wasn't much more he could really offer and the reality of that had hit him harder than he'd expected. They weren't his apprentices, he'd agreed because Qifrey had pulled who knows how many strings to have him as his Watchful Eye. These girls were always meant to be Qifrey's. Qifrey's apprentices. Qifrey's charges. Qifrey's students. And he was meant to watch Qifrey.
He could blame the instincts on it all he wanted, but the moment Agott had felt safe enough to smile for the first time it was over for him. She was his responsibility as much as Qifrey's. After that the other two had fallen into place along side her in his mind. Not being able to do anything while they suffered was a damn cruelty.
"So if we have two periods a month we're an omega." It was less a question and more committing it to memory.
"Or something is wrong and you need to see a doctor," Olruggio's voice came out a bit harsher than he'd intended. He took a breath, scratching the back of his head as he continued. "I just don't want you to go thinking something is normal because it's a typical presentation symptom and ignore something that really shouldn't be ignored."
"What about male omegas?" Richeh asked.
Qifrey's head dropped immediately, red rushing to his face, rapidly climbing over his ears. He had to have known this was coming. There was no way he hadn't. The girls, if nothing else, were Qifrey's students. They would leave no stone unturned to get answers. But he knew Qifrey. That was exactly why Olruggio had taken it upon himself to have the other talk with the girls. It was why he'd taken over the conversation he was supposed to be watching the teacher suffer through. There was no way Qifrey could have handled either of them.
That was fine. He didn't mind and it gave him something to hold over Qifrey's head later.
"For male omegas, rather than having all of the reproductive organs inside the body like a female alpha, a male omega would appear at a glance no different than a male alpha or beta. Same way female alphas look the same as their beta and omega counter parts until they hit a rut."
How Olruggio explained this so effortlessly Qifrey would never know. There was no hesitance before answering a question. No stutter in his words. The girls were more or less facing him entirely now. Just as happy and excited to learn as they were when he pulled out a lesson on magics they'd never seen before.
"Do male omegas change too? During heats?" Coco asked.
"They would have to." Richeh answered quietly. "If they look the same anatomically any other time."
"Birds have a cloaca right?" Tetia asked. "Maybe it works like that? Tubes to the womb or to the intestines."
"That doesn't sound anywhere near right." Coco's face scrunched half way between disgust and horror, mirroring Qifrey's. "The baby would get all dirty and probably sick. That's why birds lay eggs."
"So what do you think it is?" She challenged. There was hardly any heat behind it, mostly filled with curiosity.
"Maybe there's a slit or something that opens up when the right hormone is produced?" Coco suggested. "The same one that starts ovulation," she looked at Olruggio. "I know you told us what it's called."
"Luteinizing Hormone."
"Yeah! That one," she turned her full attention back to Tetia. "Maybe that causes some kind of change in the body?"
The two of them through wilder and wilder suggestions back and forth between each other. Olruggio knew he should have interrupted and pulled them back on task. But he was having too much fun watching Qifrey's expression grow more and more horrified with each hair brained scenario. The way her curled into himself like he was going to escape his own mind. He was just making it worse on himself and if it made Olruggio a bad person to find amusement in it, that was just fine by him.
"Okay, okay." He calmed them about the time he figured Qifrey was near leaving the room or exploding from embarrassment. "How much more creative liberty would you like."
"Maybe it's like the laughing dogs," Richeh offered her first suggestion since Tetia and Coco had started. "The females give birth through their penis."
Qifrey made a noise somewhere between pain and horror. Face twisted at the image alone looking at the thirteen year old like she'd personally wronged him. "That sounds awful."
Olruggio wasn't sure if it was Qifrey's reaction or the suggestion itself, but that was when he broke. The fit of laughter tearing through him sending him doubled over and wheezing, hands on his knees as he struggled to take in air.
"So, not that?" Richeh asked.
Olruggio, who still hadn't found the chance to catch his breath, could only shake his head.
"It is most definitely not that." Qifrey's voice came out as an embarrassed huff which only served to spur on Olruggio's laughter.
"So, how does it work then?" Tetia asked.
"Coco had at least the right train of thought there. Hormones play a large role in it. Had the right hormone too, or at least the one that has the largest role."
The way Coco smiled. Her pride blooming like a flower having its first taste of sun after a hard winter.
That was exactly why Qifrey, much to his surprise, enjoyed teaching. Watching his students grow and learn. Being able to guide them to the amazing witches they'd become. Sharing the joy in their accomplishments, being there to pick them back up after failures.
Even in conversations he found rather embarrassing still offered him chances to see them grow.
"So how does it work? Can you get someone pregnant even though you're an omega?" Coco asked.
Qifrey was halfway to chastising her for such a question when Olruggio stopped him with a look. It wasn't rude or threatening. Far from it. Rather, his blue eyes were understanding, but the slight shake of his head was enough to keep him quiet.
"Hypothetically I could, not likely for a multitude of reasons. The main two being hormonally estrogen and testosterone don't get along. It's the same issue female alphas run into when they try to carry."
"You said there were two reasons. What's the other?" Tetia asked leaning forward.
"The four of you are enough of a handful. Why would I want to add another?" He had a griping tone, but the smile overrode any harshness as he launched forward a playful threat to grab her.
She scooted back with a peal of laughter, heels digging into the carpet.
His bandaged hand hit the floor when he leaned forward. Pain shooting through his arm, burning the way on healing skin can. A reminder of heat that had caused the wound in the first place. He hissed, pain twisting on his face before he could cover it.
"You should be more mindful of your wounds," Tetia scolded, scooting closer with the intent to help him up, but by the time she got there he was already back to sitting properly.
"Oh should I now?"
She nodded with full confidence and a small 'humf'.
"You're dodging the question." Richeh grumbled.
"I'm not dodging anything. You keep asking more than one question."
He sighed, settling himself so he could lean against the back of the couch. "Like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted."
Tetia stuck her tongue out at him and he continued with nothing more than an eye roll.
"Coco was closer than I think you may have realized," Olruggio explained. "Remember the vestigial organs we were talking about? In beta, alpha, and omega males there's a small line that sits just above the scrotum."
"It's called the vaginal seam. Consensus is it's one of those things left over from when everyone had a more homogeneous gender and both fully functioning reproductive tracts."
He paused to give them time to take in the information. Sitting patiently as they processed what they were hearing.
"And we don't have that because we're girls. So ours is already fully formed?" It was phrased as a question, but he could see Tetia connecting the dots.
"You said it's a seam and kind of vestigial right? So it should be closed up…" her voice trailed off for a moment before her head snapped up, bright eyes fixed on Olruggio. "That means it opens right? In the presence of that hormone Coco was talking about."
He barely had time to nod before Coco's quiet, almost sad voice cut in.
"That must hurt…"
"It's certainly not comfortable." Olruggio admitted.
"Does it go away after a heat?" Richeh asked.
Over the girl's heads he could see Qifrey shaking his head slightly. Pleading Olruggio not to continue. As uncomfortable and personal a topic it was he was going to answer as many of their questions as he could. It was impossible to know the presentations of a future partner or close friend. Having answers now could save people from dangerous situations further down the road.
"No. Once an omega presents it's there for good."
"A baby comes out of that?" Tetia asked. "How?"
"Same way it does for anyone." He said with a shrug. "Muscles stretch and contract. The pelvic floor angles itself forward and the hips widen. All the same things it does in alpha, beta, and omega females when they get close to a period or giving birth."
"The fact that hips just widen like that is still so-" Tetia didn't have a word that could properly convey the twinge of disgust and uncomfortability of that fact, so she enunciated it with a shudder instead.
Coco turned to Qifrey, the movement startling in her haste.
For his part Qifrey managed to keep most of the heat out his face, trying to shush the embarrassment. This wasn't something he'd been quite as prepared to talk about as he'd assumed. As usual, Olruggio was his saving grace. He just hoped if more questions like that came up he'd take charge again.
"You said the split of betas to alphas and omegas is twenty percent in nonwitches and forty in witches." She asked. "But inside of that? How does that all work?"
Questions like that Qifrey could handle. "For subgenders it's split fairly evenly between alphas and omegas. Certain areas or cultures can lean a bit more one way or the other, but as a generalization it's fairly even. Within those subsets male alphas are more common than female alphas and female omegas are more common than male omegas. Since the allele that codes for the beta characteristic is dominant it appears more often."
"But there are other factors right? Like the alpha gene will win out over the omega one, but not the beta." Tetia asked, tapping her chin.
"And protein markers that make it turn on or off." Richeh added.
Coco was looking between all of them rightfully confused and overwhelmed by the sudden influx of information she seemed to be the only one no understanding.
"Here," Qifrey said gently, reaching for a sheet of paper Agott had left behind and a pen.
He began by drawing a 4×4 box with a set of four letters at the top. "The X and Y chromosomes at the most basic level determine your primary sex. Two X's for female, and X and a Y for male. Let's say B codes for beta, A for alpha, and O for omega." He tapped each of the letters with a finger.
"The gene for omega is going to be recessive in almost every situation. So we'll give that one a default lowercase. I'll leave the B and A capital, just remember if there's a B it will almost always result in the child being a beta."
He pointed to the letters at the top of the page. "Let's say the parents are a female beta with the alleles 'XXBA' and a male alpha with 'XYAo'. We'll write the alpha along the top here and the beta alleles along the side. So we have XA, YA, Xo, Yo, along the top here and XA, XA, XB, XB, along the sides. Each box is going to contain the traits of the top row and the side. So our first box will be XXAA and so on."
He pushed the paper in her direction. "Go ahead, try it."
As she worked away at the paper Tetia and Richeh settled next to her to watch, quietly offering the answer when she seemed to be struggling. When she's finished she looked up at Qifrey with the same nervous look he'd seen so many times. As if he were ever going to chastise her for getting something wrong. He really would have hoped she'd have grown out of the by now.
"So, can you tell me what presentations you would expect to see?"
Tetia leaned on Coco's shoulder, looking over the square. "Eight betas and eight alphas. A perfect half and half."
Before Qifrey could respond Coco was speaking again.
"What about what Richeh said, about markers?"
"Protein markers inform the presentation of the subgender. They're almost always found on the X chromosome. There are a few different markers each one does something different. There are some that will stop the subgender from appearing at all, resulting in the child being a beta even if they were to have all the genetic markers of an alpha. Some that will result in normally recessive traits showing despite a dominant trait present."
Another square and another presentation. "Let's say our female beta has all the same traits except on one of the X chromosomes there's a protein that halts the production of the hormones that spur on ruts and the formation of other alpha characteristics. We'll call that protein A1 and have it as a notation here just to the side of that chromosome."
"That one's way more complicated," Tetia murmured as the three of them watched Qifrey finish out the diagram.
"With this one you can see that even though there are three squares where the coding for alpha is present they would present as betas because of this protein." He tapped at the paper as he spoke.
"And you said there are proteins that can do the opposite, like they could make the omega gene stronger?" Coco asked.
"Allele, but yes." He hadn't expected them to get so into this, he knew he'd found it boring and tedious at their age. But his girls were strange ones and Coco would devour any information that came her way. Maybe he shouldn't have been so caught off guard.
"That would look something like this. We'll put an 'o' to the side of the female beta first 'X' and then an 'a' to the first 'X' of the alpha. And you can see with this one here there's a higher chance of omegas and alphas compared to the other two." He gave them a small smile. "Witches tend to have more of these proteins which contributes to the difference in percentages."
"You'll see differences within certain families as well." Olruggio added. "Typically royals and high society types."
"Because of the inbreeding." Richeh nodded sagely.
"Richeh!" Tetia lightly smacked her on the shoulder while Olruggio snorted, clearly trying to control his laughter.
"Does that make a little more sense?" Qifrey asked, pointedly ignoring where the other two apprentices were going back and forth on which houses they believed to be the most inbred. Olruggio should not have been laughing with them, but there was little he could do about it now.
"I think so." Her words came slowly. "I mean, I knew there was a lot to it… I just didn't realize it was that much."
"A lot of the more technical things you won't have to worry about." He put a hand on the back of his neck with an apologetic smile. "I may have gotten a bit too excited to teach you something entirely new. It's been a quite a while since I've been able to do that."
------
A link to the punnet squares on my tumblr if you want them. I refuse to let that work go to waste.