Archive of Our Own ^beta

When Nagi slowly started to wake up, everything around him felt wrong. He blinks a couple times before he opened his eyes immediately closing them again when the sun shines directly onto his face. He’s overheating making him sweat and his clothes feel itchy. He feels around for his phone, squinting as he lets his eyes adjust to the light of the device then sighs as he reads the time. There’s still a full hour before he has to get ready for school.

He drops his arm, the phone bouncing away as he stares at the ceiling. He moves his feet idly that he now realizes are not underneath his blanket that’s practically falling off the bed. He rolls over onto his side, curling into himself attempting to ignore everything. His omega is nagging at him, but he doesn’t bother to listen to it. Everything still feels wrong and uncomfortable as he lies in the same position for some time before he groans when his body doesn’t let him fall back asleep. Sitting up he looks around now noticing just how empty his bed is. He swings his legs off the bed, making his way to the hallway closet to look for his two other blankets he only really uses during the winter.

Nagi digs around the closet, dust flying everywhere as the closet usually remains untouched most of the time. When he finds the blankets, he picks them up, grimacing at the stale scent as he walks back to his room. Looking at his bed again, he frowns. Even after he adds the blankets, his bed will still look too empty for his liking. The blanket that barely fits his body sits sadly in the middle of his bed along with his two flat pillows around the top of the bed. He drops the blankets on his bed, going to look for more items in his closet to add to the pile. He grabs a couple shirts he doesn’t wear anymore along with a hoodie. As he continued to look for more things to add, he found an unopened box that held some of his favorite childhood toys. In the box, he finds his bonobono plush and grabs it to assess it. The texture still feels the same as if he had just bought it even though it was given to him for Christmas when he was young. The omega nearly purrs at the memory. Nagi adds it to his pile of clothes to bring to his bed.

Nagi looks at the pile on his bed and gets to work. He folds the bigger blankets, placing them against the walls, along with shoving the shirts in the corners and cervices of the blankets. He scents a few of the shirts as he goes, not liking how the stale scent of the bigger blankets overpowers his scent that’s interlaced in his sheets. He fluffs his pillow (even though they go back to their original state quickly) then lays in his bed, feeling pleased. His clothes still feel itchy, but his own lemon and chamomile scent is enough to lull him back to sleep with his rediscovered bonobono plush hugged to his chest.

_____

He hardly was able to get any more sleep before his alarm started to go off. He grabs his blanket, throwing it over his head, ignoring the annoying sound. He spent too long making his bed comfortable and doesn’t want to leave it even if he still feels too warm and sticky as he continues to sweat. Instead of getting up, he tries to distract himself with his phone, playing his games to claim his dailies, but can’t seem to focus. He gives in to get up and shower not too long after. He might need to take a little longer than usual anyways.

He strips, dropping the clothes to the floor in a messy pile. When he starts the water, he sets it at a higher temperature to the point where the heat nearly burns his skin. He stands under the showerhead, letting the water soak his hair, running down his back looking at the bottles that had multiplied since he met Reo. The alpha claims he bought them for the times he may need to spend the night- something that hasn’t’ happened yet- which has Nagi feeling he actually got them for him to use. He grabs one of the bottles, opening the cap to smell the soap. If not for it being synthetic, it smells almost exactly like Reo’s scent. Lavender with a hint of vanilla. Now Nagi knows Reo’s insecure about his scent, but Nagi doesn’t mind it at all. He loves that he doesn’t smell like the average alpha. To Nagi, an average alpha’s scent usually comes off too strong since he’s not used to it as his parents are both betas. Not to mention the fact that he isn’t around others without scent patches often making him not used to different scents anyways.

Nagi squeezes the bottle, already feeling the scent calm him as he starts to wash his hair. While it’s not as good as the real thing, it’s close enough to help settle whatever he’s feeling. As he continues to wash his hair, Nagi thinks he might start using the shampoo instead of his unscented one from now on.

After half-heartedly finishing his shower, he feels a bit better. He doesn’t bother drying his hair knowing he doesn’t have enough time before Reo’s going to pick him up. He throws on his most comfortable sweater he owns and the uncomfortable uniform haphazardly throwing on a scent patch. Frowning in the direction of his bed one last time, he leaves the comfort of his home. Reo’s limo sits out front with Ba-ya standing by the open door. Nagi greets the older alpha before he slides into the limo sitting as close to Reo as physically possible.

When Nagi rests his head on Reo’s shoulder, the alpha chuckles as he ruffles his hair. Reo’s nose catches the scent of his shampoo which has him leaning in to smell Nagi’s hair. He creases his eyebrows then leans back again, “Did you use the shampoo I got for you?”

Nagi doesn’t answer verbally, nodding into his neck instead. Reo runs his fingers through his hair again, his alpha feeling a sense of pride at the thought of his omega not only using what he got him, but now smelling like him as well. Before he gets too distracted, he realizes that Nagi’s hair is still wet. Reo flicks Nagi on the top of his head.

“What have I told you about drying your hair? You’ll get sick one of these days.” Reo chides with a ‘tsk’.

Nagi grumbles something, trying his best not to fall asleep. Reo sighs before he starts to ramble about anything that comes to mind. Nagi makes another noise when he starts to move his arms too much, but otherwise feels at ease at the sound of Reo’s voice. Unfortunately, the moment is short lived when the limo comes to a stop.

Reo walks Nagi to his class as he had started doing not too long after they started playing soccer together. At first Nagi didn’t find it necessary, but after a while got used to it. The alpha had started talking about new strategies he wanted to try during practice later, but Nagi hardly processed any of his words, but would nod along anyways. Occasionally Reo will stop, greeting some of their classmates as they fawn over him before he returns his attention back to the omega. Any other day Nagi wouldn’t bat an eye, used to the attention Reo gets, but today the weird feeling has him glaring at some of their classmates if they look at his alpha for too long.

Once they reach Nagi’s class, they stop by the door. Reo faces Nagi with a smile, “Well, this is your stop,” he announces. His smile drops when he notices the far away look in Nagi’s eyes. He waves a hand in front of his face to grab his attention, “You alright? You’ve been out of it all morning.”

Nagi hums when he comes back to earth, rubbing his eyes with a stifled yawn, “Didn’t sleep well last night.”

Reo nods, looking over his face, “Okay, if you don’t feel better by lunch, we can skip practice, how does that sound?” The look in Nagi’s eyes has Reo rolling his eyes, “I’ll know if you’re faking it, you’re by no means subtle,” he then shakes his head with a fond expression, “I’ll see you at lunch, don’t slack off too much during class!” Reo takes Nagi’s hand, lightly scenting him before he heads off to his own class with a wave.

Nagi waves back, walking into the classroom to settle into his seat. He crosses his arms, laying his head on the desk looking out the window. Reo’s scent smells nice as he looks between the different trees even if they haven’t changed from the day before. The sight of the sun makes him realize he forgot to open his blinds enough where Choki could get some sun. He buries his face into the crook of his elbow, continuing to ignore the nagging from his omega along with the feeling of longing to be closer to Reo. He’d much rather be in the comfort of his own bed with Reo by his side, but knowing the alpha, he’d most likely drag him out of bed scolding him about getting behind in school and practice. Nagi’s eyes grow heavier by the second after the bell rings and all he’s thinking about is how he can’t wait for lunch.

_____

Ten million years later- only about three hours later- lunch finally rolls around. Nagi lays on the roof, watching videos on his phone while he waits for the alpha. The longer he waits, the more irritated he gets. Lunch time is supposed to be for him and Reo. Nobody else. Nagi waits a while longer, watching more videos until he finishes a ten-minute-long video is when he starts to open Reo’s contact ready to press the call button. He flinches when Reo comes bursting through the door which has the omega perk up. Nagi cocks his head with a confused expression as he looks at Reo who looks like he just ran a mile.

Reo fixes his hair and uniform with a smile while walking towards him. He takes his shoulder bag off when he sits next to Nagi, opening it to take out a bento box. Taking the lid off, Reo’s taken back by the way Nagi scrunches his nose in disgust, “What’s wrong?”

Nagi pouts as he moves to put space between him and Reo, “Smell.”

Reo blinks at the answer. He looks at the bento in his lap, bringing it closer to his nose. He looks back at Nagi, “It doesn’t smell bad, did you want something else? You could’ve told me.” Nagi shakes his head.

“You. You stink.” Nagi tells him. Reo frowns at the accusation, taking the inside of his blazer to bring to his nose. Different scents appeared to be sticking to his clothing which was odd since nobody besides Nagi had gotten close enough to scent him by accident. He takes it off, putting it at a decent distance away from them.

“Sorry, I didn’t notice,” Nagi continues to pout, eyebrows furrowed in what looks like dissatisfaction. Reo scoots closer to him, flicking him on the forehead. Nagi winces, rubbing at the spot.

“What was that for?”

“Your attitude. It’s different from usual,” Reo remarks. He grabs the chopsticks that sit on the top compartment of the bento, “Don’t think I didn’t notice you glaring at some of our classmates this morning.” When he looks at Nagi again, the omega is looking away from him with a small blush on his face along with a guilty expression.

“Sorry.” Nagi mutters. He looks at Reo again, now looking like a kicked puppy. Reo could smell his scent that had soured slightly, even with the scent patch on.

“You’re okay,” he assures softly, ruffling Nagi’s hair. Nagi closes his eyes as he leans into his touch, a small broken purr coming from his chest. Reo’s eyes widened at the sound, “Are you sure you’re not sick? I’ve never heard you purr before,” Reo brings the hand in his hair, down to his forehead eyebrows raising in concern, “What the hell? Nagi, you’re burning up!” Nagi whines at the sudden change in volume, before he opens his eyes.

“I’ve been feeling like this since I woke up,” Nagi mumbles. Reo’s concern only grows as Nagi continues, “I dunno, I’ve been feeling weird all day. I made my bed this morning,” he pauses looking up, “well, ‘making’ is kind of pushing it, but I also don’t want anyone getting close to you.” Nagi gets closer, resting his head against his shoulder, taking Reo’s wrist to scent him.

When Reo smells Nagi’s lemon and chamomile scent, he realizes it smells sweeter than usual and with what Nagi just explained, there’s only one reason why he’s acting this way. Nagi’s most likely in heat. Reo’s cheeks flush at the thought, but looking at the omega, it doesn’t seem like he’s having the same symptoms he’s learned about in health class. Maybe it’s different for everyone, Reo thinks. There’s only way to find out if he’s right.

“Nagi…” the omega hums in acknowledgement, “Are you potentially… in heat?” Nagi freezes at the question. He lifts his head to meet the alpha’s eyes. Nagi starts to fidget.

“It’s been a while, but maybe?” Nagi thinks for a moment looking towards their interlaced fingers, “My heats are usually irregular, so I never really know.”

Reo throws his head back with a groan, “It’s probably because of your unhealthy habits,” Reo half scolds, “If you told me this sooner, you could’ve stayed home,” Reo turns, digging around his bag for his phone, “Here, I’ll cancel practice for the day and call Ba-ya to pick you up.” He looks at Nagi when he hears a another whine, raising an eyebrow with a questionable hum.

“I don’t wanna be away from you.” Nagi states. His voice now becoming sluggish either from the start of what could be a heat spell or from being two seconds away from sleep, Reo couldn’t tell. His cheeks start feeling on fire when Nagi puts his head in his lap. Shouldn’t Nagi want to be alone? He didn’t ask him to be his…heat partner…beforehand, so would it be wrong to accept the silent invitation now? Reo doesn’t know what that would entail, but his alpha is screaming at him to take care of his omega, although Reo’s still wary of the idea.

“Nagi, are you sure that’s a good idea? It’s not exactly good for you to be out right now.” Reo notes. He then sighs when he realizes the omega is now dead to the world as he texts Ba-ya to pick him up.

_____

When Nagi wakes up after his third nap of the day, he’s disoriented. He rubs his eyes as he sits up to look around his room. It’s dark from his blinds being drawn closed, but other than that, his room looks the same. How is he even in his room anyway? He remembers being on the roof with Reo, talking about- oh right, his heat. Now the weird feeling makes sense now, he can smell the faint smell of Ba-ya’s sage scent which means she most likely brought him here. His omega feels disappointed that it wasn’t Reo, but he unfortunately still had to stay in school for the rest of the day. Nagi checks his phone, his mood going up when he reads a text from the alpha letting him know he’ll be over some time after school.

He gets up to change. Now that the scent of school is on his nest, he’s annoyed all over again. Being in heat is a pain. His senses are heightened making him sensitive to different textures and scents and he gets mood swings that almost give himself whiplash. It’s so tiring, although he knows it could be worse. He changes into a pair of sweats and a different sweater, scenting his nest again to try to get rid of the offending school scent. Curling into himself, he puts on a video half paying attention to it as he now waits for the alpha. He should be over soon, which has his omega becoming more antsy as each minute passes by.

When there’s a knock on the door, Nagi nearly jumps in excitement, borderline running to the door. He fumbles with the lock, finally opening the door and is face to face with his alpha. He notices that Reo has changed and is holding a plastic bag along with an overnight bag.

Letting him in, Nagi motions towards Reo’s hands, “What’s in the bags?” He asks. Reo looks at his hands, his cheeks reddening. Nagi furrows his eyebrows at the expression.

“I assumed you wanted some things to add to your nest…” He trails off, avoiding Nagi’s gaze, “Assuming you have one.” Nagi nods slowly, his omega preening at the thought.

“You don’t need to be embarrassed,” Nagi brings a hand to the back of his neck, his cheeks also turning a light shade of pink, “I don’t really have a lot of things for my nest since I don’t usually have one. That’s why my scent isn’t really strong.” He tells him. Reo frowns at how embarrassed Nagi looks but also ignores the hypocrisy of his words.

“Then it’s good that I brought these then,” He smiles, “I also brought food since I figured you most likely don’t have much to eat for the next couple days. Nagi mutters a protest, but Reo doesn’t have time to catch what he said before he’s being dragged to Nagi’s room.

“Nagi, wait-” he manages to free himself of his grip. He starts releasing a calming scent, letting it fill the area before the rejection can get to the omega, “First, let me put these away,” he walks to Nagi’s fridge filling the empty shelves with a few containers, before he focuses back on Nagi, “So…I’m assuming you don’t want me to leave, but I don’t really know how this works.”

Nagi nods his head agreement, more relaxed than a few minutes prior. When the rest of Reo’s words register in his brain, he furrows his eyebrows in confusion. Reo has a certain look on his face, his cheeks slowly reddening the longer the silence draws out. The hesitation in his eyes is when the assumption clicks in Nagi’s mind. With a disturbed expression, he shakes his head. “No, it’s nothing like that for me,” he then takes Reo’s hand to bring him to his room. He notices Reo letting out a sigh of what could only be relief, “Dirty minded Reo.”

Reo gawks at him, “Like I said, I don’t know how this works!” He exclaims with embarrassment. Nagi sits him on his desk chair, taking the bag from his hands, turning to drop the contents on his nest. Reo watches with a mix of wonder and awe as he watches Nagi evaluate each item, moving around on his bed to put the items in the spots he deems perfect. Reo notices a majority of the items he brought are near his pillow which has the alpha feeling flattered. Nagi then puts the items he didn’t use back in the bag to leave at the end of his bed. Reo tilts his head when Nagi looks at him.

“Texture.”

Reo nods, still confused, but goes along with the omega anyways. Nagi starts to fidget as he hesitantly gets closer to Reo. The alpha senses something wrong, so he stands taking Nagi’s hands.

“Hey, you okay?” He looks over the omega, starting to rub his thumbs across the back of Nagi’s hand.

“Do you like it?” Nagi asks. Reo looks over Nagi’s shoulder towards his nest. He still doesn’t really know what he’s doing, but he knows that if he doesn’t do something his alpha would most likely bug him until he did.

“Your nest?” Nagi nods, looking down at their hands where he’s playing with Reo’s fingers. Reo looks towards the nest again. Two thick blankets are folded along the walls where his bed is against, he can see a few different shirts that look old and worn out sticking out in some of the open spaces. The sweaters and shirts he brought are tucked neatly under the wall of his nest near his pillows and the softest sweater he owns is folded neatly on top of his pillow with a bonobono plush sitting on top.

Reo brings a hand to Nagi’s head where his forehead is resting against his shoulder. He can feel him getting warm. He scratches the crown of his head, “Your nest looks very nice,” Nagi raises his head with a glare, “What?”

“You don’t sound like you mean it,” Oh so he’s sensitive during his heats, Reo realizes. He takes a step back, taking his hands away, “If you don’t want to be here, just say it.”

Reo looks at Nagi’s posture how it’s more closed off with his arms crossed in front of his chest and a soft glare that’s avoiding him. The alpha reminds himself that he has to be patient with how he handles his omega, “I mean it Nagi.”

Nagi gives him a look, eyes searching Reo’s face for any hint of a lie. He drops his arms, grabbing Reo’s wrist to bring him closer. Nagi buries his face in the crook of Reo’s neck.

Reo’s arms circles around Nagi’s waist, “Getting tired?” he can feel Nagi nod into his neck. Reo looks around the room, wishing he could’ve been more prepared. When he looks at Nagi’s nest again he thinks how he should probably get the omega more items for his nest. It doesn’t look bad, but the alpha thinks it could use some more blankets to make it more comfortable.

When Nagi takes a deep breath, Reo feels himself having to hold more of Nagi’s weight, he starts to shake him softly, “Nagi, let’s lay down.” He tells him with a hushed voice. Nagi doesn’t say anything for a moment before he mumbles into his neck.

“Carry me.”

Reo rolls his eyes. Of course, he should’ve known. Reo shakes him again, “Fine, but I need you to work with me.”

Nagi moves enough to where Reo could pick him up bridal style. He bites back his excitement when the omega starts to purr again. He gently drops him on the bed, waiting while Nagi gets comfortable. When Nagi looks at him, in his half-dazed state, he furrows his eyebrows that have him squinting his eyes to focus on Reo.

“What are you doing?”

Reo gives him a sheepish smile, “Sorry.” He gets on the bed, making himself comfortable. He laughs when Nagi rolls over, throwing an arm and a leg over Reo, pulling him closer. Even grabbing his hand to put on top of his hair.

“Thanks, Reo,” his speech is slurred as he lets out a sigh in contentment, “You’re the best.”

Reo’s alpha feels gratification from the praise, “of course my treasure, now sleep, I’ll be here when you wake up.”

A few breaths later, Nagi’s breath evens out. Reo rests his head against the blanket behind him as he takes in the position they’re in not sure what to think. Here he is, in Nagi’s nest, something he never expected so soon or even at all. He looks at the sleeping omega on his chest, biting back another smile while he continues to run his fingers through the tangled hair. The way Nagi was acting today makes him a bit hopeful that something is going on between them. It even gives him confidence to officially ask to court him in the near future. Before his mind can wander any longer, their mixed scent has Reo’s eyes start to flutter shut, bringing him to dreamland.