It isn't deliberate. Not that first night, at least. He just can't sleep sometimes. Drifting off is easy, but then John wakes up screaming, clutching at a rope that hasn't been wrapped around his throat in years— clawing at his neck, gasping like he's suffocating. He still remembers what dying felt like; the trembling, fragile intimacy of it.

Hanzo wants to see his eye light up again, wants to watch the world slow down— that breath of a moment between intent and destruction. Mostly Hanzo just wants, and he's long past denying himself. Sojiro taught Hanzo many things, but his first lesson and his last were one and the same. He's a Shimada, and if he wants something, he takes it.

Eren is one of the few Alphas who go into rut without the presence of an Omega in heat nearby, and after suppressing for nearly two years, the drugs are no longer working. As a last resort he heads to an Omega refuge, hoping to find a suitable temporary, mate. When he finds one lost in a fatal 'red heat', he'll do whatever it takes to ease his suffering. Cover image by Ackergay.