Work Text:
Nesting was a luxury Babe didn’t allow himself to have. He was an alpha, intended to be ruthless and superior, and not conform to anything that could make others view him as weaker. To nest was to show he was soft, and Tony had beaten any of the nesting tendencies he had displayed from a young age.
When his adopted father had walked into his sterile room, and seen how Babe had fluffed up the pillows and duvet into a heap of softness, he had torn it apart. His fluffy duvet had been exchanged for a thin and rough blanket, and his pillows were taken.
The young alpha hadn’t even known what he had created, not beyond something he had made out of instinct. But from Tony’s reaction, Babe found out that it was something too soft and omegan for what he should be.
So Babe had pushed the feeling out of his mind and squashed it until he no longer yearned for the softness. No longer craved to be surrounded by something safe. Instead, it turned a nest into something ugly and weak.
As he grew older and removed himself from Tony’s care, the thoughts had become too engrained in him to change.
Then he had gotten an alpha boyfriend who didn’t shy away from nesting.
At first, Babe hadn’t taken too much notice of it when a few things had been placed in the bedroom. Not until he had realised it was the same materials that Charlie used to make a small nest in his own apartment. Babe hadn’t commented on the behaviour, but it had felt natural. Charlie had always displayed tendencies that didn’t fit into the manual for an alpha.
So Babe had written it off as just another weird quirk of his boyfriend.
But then the alpha had felt his heart tug when Charlie dumped materials on the bed in Babe’s house. Over the months, the bed had turned into their shared one as Charlie’s one-night stands turned into a sleepover, and then turned into moving in together. The other alpha had been allowed to bring whatever he wanted, and thus a mountain of soft things had entered the bedroom. But Babe never saw Charlie himself nest in Babe’s bed.
Instead the materials only laid there folded.
As it kept happening, it only felt like his boyfriend tried to tempt him. Like Charlie just waited for Babe to slip up and show how weak he was.
The blankets ranged in different sizes, colours, and textures. From them, he could smell Charlie’s delicious scent; and it called for him. On one occasion, Babe pressed his face into the material, just to catch a whiff of Charlie’s calming scent, before he pushed it away in shame.
In theory, they were cosy and comforting, but to Babe, they were akin to the enemy; of the brutal beatings Tony bestowed upon him. So when he climbed into bed, Babe simply pushed them over the edge and laid under the duvet. And then underneath the duvet, he felt suffocated as he thought back to the duvet taken from him during his first and only nest.
Later in the night when Babe woke up, the soft materials would somehow always end back up on the bed, and slowly became the bane of Babe’s existence.
Until one day when Babe couldn’t take it anymore.
Right as they were about to head to bed, Charlie lifted the different materials up to the bed. He looked at Babe with a curious gaze, but made no moves to move the materials himself.
The anger that brewed in Babe boiled over in the ways he hated. In the ways, he couldn’t hold back. One second he had been fine, the next Babe pushed Charlie up against the wall with his forearm pressed against his chest to keep him in place.
Babe’s face was twisted into a snarl, teeth on full display to make the other alpha cower for him. But annoyingly enough, the man only stared back at him with a soft smile.
“Just because I let you fuck me, doesn’t mean I’m an omega you need to coddle and protect,” Babe said and the hurt bristled out into the words. “Don’t think you are better than me.”
But Charlie didn’t look frightened or intimidated. He simply stood there with his gooey smile, as if he was proud and had been waiting for this outburst.
Somehow it made Babe feel even more furious.
“I never implied that,” Charlie said. “Do you think nesting makes you an omega?”
For a split second, Babe hesitated. Both of them knew the answer, and it hung awkwardly in the air between them.
“Of course, nesting is only for omegas.”
Charlie furrowed his brows. He placed his hand on Babe’s forearm and slowly held it against the skin to bring him some comfort.
Babe hated that it worked.
“I nest too, you have seen it yourself,” Charlie said slowly, as if to drive the point home. “Am I less of an alpha than you?”
Babe stared at him, but he had nothing to answer with. Both of them knew he couldn’t say anything against it.
He sighed. Babe knew he entered a battle that could not be won, but it didn’t change the fear he felt. “Don’t do this,” he muttered.
“We both know it nesting doesn’t make you lower than me. And it certainly doesn’t determine your subgender. So why don’t you want to nest? I would have let it go if I hadn’t seen the way you are drawn to them.” Charlie said.
“Just because Tony didn’t allow you to, doesn’t mean you have to take it away from yourself too, P’Babe. You might enjoy it or bring yourself some feeling of safety from trying it out.”
Babe scanned his boyfriend’s face, but he didn’t see any traces of deception.
So Babe clenched his jaw and removed himself from his boyfriend.
“I’ll sleep on the sofa,” Babe muttered and walked past Charlie.
When the other man tried to reach for him, Babe simply took a step to the side and continued towards the stairs.
Babe understood Charlie’s reasoning and everything he said. But it still felt wrong.
After a few hours on the sofa alone, Babe had stealthed his way back into bed that evening and slipped underneath Charlie’s arm to fall asleep. Neither of them had commented on it in the morning, but Babe pretended their conversation hadn’t taken place at all.
It took a few days of digesting the information before Babe allowed himself to look at the piles of materials placed on the bed again.
In secret, he had looked at articles online which explained the practice. Multiple tabs with striking headlines were on his phone. Endless paragraphs about how nesting was deeply individual and not something that could be done wrong gave him a sense of comfort.
Only when Charlie had kissed him on the cheek and said he would be gone for a bit did Babe feel comfortable enough to try to do it.
When Babe entered their shared bedroom, the pile stared back at him.
Slowly, he walked closer until he could touch the things Charlie had provided him with. For a few moments, he only stood there.
Babe had no idea where to begin, or what to do. But then he remembered how one article said the flooring of the nest was a good place to start. Since anyone who entered the nest would settle down on the base of it, it needed to be comfortable and thick to keep them warm.
Gently, Babe took up the items from the bed and placed them on the floor to give himself space. Then he gripped onto the duvet that laid on the bed. He pushed the material in towards the middle and did his best to give it the shape of a circle. While being thick enough to give warmth, it also shouldn’t be too bumpy to make it uncomfortable to sit or lie down.
The alpha tried to fix the foundation of the nest as he had done on instinct as a child, but nothing about it felt correct. A heavy feeling settled in his chest as he yearned to continue to fluff up the duvet until it shaped as he desired, but he let it be.
Next, he focused on a fuzzy black blanket which Charlie had bought. Curiously, he lifted it up to his nose and sniffed the blanket, and a giddy feeling spread in him as he felt Charlie’s scent surround him.
Babe tucked in its edges underneath the duvet, but once again felt discontent. Nothing about it looked right, as he became more and more self critical.
With each placement, Babe felt his self-esteem sink further and further down. Even though the articles had assured him that there was no correct way to nest, the alpha still couldn’t help but feel useless.
All the pictures showed pretty setups of fabrics carefully put into place until a soft foundation was laid in the middle with pillows, clothing and other fuzzy things around it to keep the pack members safe inside.
But Babe’s nest looked nothing like it. It just looked like a pile of things. All thrown together messily without a plan.
The duvets, which made the foundation, weren’t laid flat enough, instead it had bumps here and there. The pillows didn’t make a convincing wall around it, and the clothing looked like someone had randomly undressed in the nest rather than be there to give a pleasant reminder of Charlie’s and Babe’s scents.
Instead of being happy at the sight, he felt sad. He continued to stare at it as he berated himself for once again failing.
Babe hadn’t even noticed that Charlie had come home and through the bedroom door, as he was too swept up in his self-pity. It was only when Charlie’s scent spread in the room that the alpha ripped himself from his thoughts.
“Oh, you’re home?” Babe felt his heart stop. He didn’t realise how much time he must have spent in the room, just to create that ugly thing. It could barely be counted as a nest.
Babe held his breath as the other alpha stared at the bed. He waited anxiously for whatever would come from Charlie’s mouth.
“You made this nest?” Charlie said, and surprise seeped through into his voice.
This nest.
Babe felt how the shame swept over him. Of course, his boyfriend would be surprised. Why would an alpha ever do something as weak as nesting? It was probably also an ugly nest since he had never intentionally made one before. It was all over the place, without smooth surfaces or pretty colour coordination.
“No, I just-” Babe didn’t even know how to explain it away. The feeling of disgust grew until he couldn’t take it anymore. “It’s nothing.”
Babe gripped the soft fabric of the fluffy black blanket and ignored how happy the texture made him feel. Instead, he held onto it tight and yanked it off the bed, sending it into a heap on the floor.
Charlie made a noise of pain, something Babe had never heard before. It was guttural enough to pull at Babe’s heartstrings. With a few steps, Charlie crossed over the floor so he could take the alpha in his arms.
“Why did you do that, P’Babe?” Charlie fussed. “It was such a perfect nest. You had done such a good job.”
Babe tried to shake Charlie’s arms off him, but his boyfriend didn’t let go.
“No, don’t lie,” Babe growled out. “I know it was really ugly. You don’t have to lie and try to fool me to make yourself feel better about forcing me to do this.”
His boyfriend’s mouth went slack and furiously shook his head.
When Babe wouldn’t look him in the eyes, Charlie nuzzled his head against Babe’s collarbone. Babe's scent had soured and smelled so full of sadness that Charlie had to make it better.
“It was such a pretty nest. I was just surprised that you finally tried doing one.” Charlie whined out.
But Babe still didn’t look at him.
In a sign of respect, and to show himself weaker, Charlie exposed his neck and his scent gland. “Can we please nest together, P’? I loved your nest.”
Babe swallowed at the sight. He knew Charlie wasn’t being mean about it. His boyfriend didn’t have a mean bone in his body. And he even went as far as showing himself exposed and at the hands of Babe, to show that he hadn’t tried to put himself as superior to the other alpha by making him nest.
His boyfriend’s encouragement made him want to try again, just to show himself that it wasn’t as scary or bad as Babe had been made to believe. But it was still something too intimate to share, especially since the last time had ended with physical violence to force the behaviour away.
When Babe’s scent dipped down again, Charlie wrapped his arms around the alpha and pulled him into his arms.
“I can stand to the side and assist you, so you can show me how you nest. I promise I will love it.” Charlie continued.
Babe warily looked at his boyfriend, and then the bed. It was scary to open himself up for rejection when he did something so intimate as to try to nest.
But he couldn’t stop the way his stomach flipped with excitement at the thought of Charlie helping with nesting. The thought of putting Charlie in his nest made him all warm.
“Do you promise to not destroy it? Even if it’s really ugly?” Babe muttered, almost too afraid to say it openly.
Charlie’s eyes got that sad glaze over them, before he pulled Babe closer.
“I would never in a million years try to destroy it or berate it. I’m just happy that you’re willing to nest around me. No matter how you make your nest, it will be the prettiest nest in the world to me.”
At the words, the corner of Babe’s lips raised, and he pulled Charlie in for a short and sweet kiss.
He pulled away and looked at the bed in embarrassment. “I still don’t really know what I’m doing, though.”
Charlie shrugged his shoulders with a smile.
“That’s the fun part. You don’t need to know what you want to make. There’s never a right or wrong way to do it. Just do what your instinct tells you.”
With those words, he untangled himself from Babe’s arms. With a salute, Charlie stood up straight. “Tell me where you want me, Captain.”
Babe’s eyebrows raised high and he gave his boyfriend an unamused look.
“Stop being so corny,” Babe said, before he pushed Charlie towards the bed. “Just hold on to the things and help me decide where to put them.”
The other alpha gave him a wide smile and eagerly nodded as he got Babe attempted to nest again.
Together, the two of them began nesting. The foundation was made with multiple duvets and blankets, which Charlie let him continue to press on until he was fully content. Even when Babe had spent more than a few minutes on just tucking one blanket under the duvet, his boyfriend didn’t take note of it or try to hurry him up. Instead, Charlie pressed down with a wide smile on his face on each spot Babe pointed at.
Charlie kept supplying the different items to Babe to use, as the alpha contemplated how he wanted to make the safe space be displayed. He didn’t complain when Babe asked him to rearrange a spot to its original space, which he had spent the last minutes redoing. Instead, Charlie’s scent was pleasant and filled with happiness.
The alpha only left Babe’s side to bring more soft things his way. Duvets, pillows, worn hoodies. Anything Babe wanted, Charlie made sure to get.
The alpha’s whole body was filled to the brim with warmth and happiness as he made the nest together with Charlie. It was a feeling he couldn’t explain.
With every piece added to his creation, Charlie sang his praises. If they hadn’t made Babe feel so happy, he would have thrown a death glare at his boyfriend for using such a tone.
Now Babe only preened at the words.
“It’s so pretty, P’Babe,” Charlie mussed. He sounded so happy that it was contagious. “You did so well, made such a good nest for us.”
Pride swelled in Babe’s chest at the comments. When he looked at the nest, he felt giddy. It was something he had made together with the man he loved, a comfortable place for them to reside and relax in for the evening.
Once the nest was finished, Babe stood back and stared at it in wonder. It didn’t look too different from the one he had made before Charlie entered, and yet he loved this one so much more.
To have Charlie be there with him, to create such a space felt special. It didn’t feel dirty or weak, as Tony had put it. It made him feel loved and just all around nice.
Babe carefully stepped into the nest and sat down. His hands stroked over the soft materials and couldn’t stop the smile that spread over his face.
Too occupied with the giddy feeling, he didn’t notice that Charlie still hadn’t entered it. His boyfriend’s voice caught his attention instead.
“P’Babe?” Charlie carefully said.
The alpha’s hand snapped up and met the other’s eyes. For a second, Babe feared Charlie hadn’t actually liked the nest they made, or that he thought it made him less of an alpha.
“Why aren’t you sitting down, Charlie?” Babe tilted his head in confusion.
Charlie stood right at the edge of the bed, but had made no moves to enter it yet. He only stood there with a soft and hopeful look on his face. “You haven’t invited me in, P’Babe. This is your nest, even if I helped you make it. This is your safe space, and only people you allow get to be inside it.”
Babe had read about it in one of the articles, but he had only thought that it was a formality - not something people actually asked for consent to do.
“Am I allowed to enter your nest, Alpha? If not, that’s fine. I will sit right here by the bed as you feel the nest out,” Charlie said.
Babe’s heart skipped a beat at the word. Charlie almost never called him alpha.
“Of course you can enter, Charlie.”
Babe took hold of his boyfriend’s hand and pulled him into the nest. As the two alphas laid next to each other, Babe smiled widely. He threw his arm around Charlie’s shoulder and pulled the alpha against his chest. He breathed in Charlie’s happy scent and purred.
He was thankful for Charlie, and how he always seemed to make him comfortable enough to try things his childhood had taken away from him.