Chapter Text
Kaveh sprinted back to his dorm room, panting though not from exertion. He was about to start his heat. Start it in a place where he had told no one he was an omega after only having presented 2 years ago. Fortunately for Kaveh, he happened to be close to his dorm room when he noticed the signs and hurriedly ran back to his solo bedroom. The familiar comfort of his nest greeted him and Kaveh lit up at the prospect of being able to press himself within his soft sheets, clothes and plush pillows.
He took off his jacket- the warmth of an early heat starting to get in his skin- when there was a knock at the door. “Senior Kaveh,” a soft monotone voice came out, “Are you doing alright? Some of your classmates said you ran back to your room in a hurry.”
Shit. It was Alhaitham, the little junior that took a liking to him for a reason he still hadn’t quite figured out yet. Or, whatever Alhaitham’s version of liking someone is considering academic debates were frequent enough that people said it was their love language. He totally forgot he agreed to sit with his junior in the library and was already running late when he started to show signs of his heat coming through. He couldn’t have Alhaitham come in here, and yet… he strangely wanted to? No Kaveh, you can’t bring your junior in your room just to have some kind of living pillow. He hadn’t even presented yet.
“Sorry Haitham,” Kaveh sighed out, “I just started to feel unwell all of a sudden. I know we agreed to meet in the library to parallel play some assignments together, but I really don’t want you to get whatever it is I seem to have caught.” Kaveh hoped the slight rasp to his voice would shoo Alhaitham off.
It seemed to, Kaveh heard a soft “oh” and the shuffling away of footsteps. Perfect. Well, perfect but sad. He hated to disappoint his junior, but he just couldn’t admit this to him. Not yet anyway.
Kaveh climbed up into his nest bed and began to organize his sheets again, working to maximize the comfort of his nest. Suddenly, there came a knock at the door once again.
“Senior Kaveh, I brought you something since you said you feel unwell. May I come in?” It was Alhaitham.
Archons above, he came back. Kaveh had just finished sending his emails to his professors that he was sick and needed time off and was settling himself into his latest for fun project before the heat fully kicked in and he was more mindless. “Haitham,” he said gently, “I really don’t want you to catch what I have.”
“That’s ok. I’m wearing a mask, so I should be alright.”
Kaveh wasn’t going to be sending him off anytime soon then. With a sigh he conceded. “Fine, come in.” Surely Alhaitham would just drop off whatever he brought and head out after that right?
Indeed Alhaitham stepped in with a mask adorned and walked over to Kaveh. “You look rather feverish,” he said bluntly.
“Yea,” Kaveh responded, “I had this wicked fever spring up on me out of nowhere.” He chuckled, hoping he didn’t look as rough as he was starting to feel.
Alhaitham stared at him for a minute, quietly judging something about Kaveh, before he pulled up a container. “Here, to help you feel better,” Alhaitham said rather flatly.
It was a large container of soup. Alhaitham went out of his way to get Kaveh something he loved that Alhaitham couldn’t stand. He tried not to let his emotions get too overwhelmed, but it touched something in him and he couldn’t help some of the tears that began to form.
“Senior!” Alhaitham climbed up into the nest and started to wipe his eyes. “Don’t cry, it’s ok. It wasn’t that big a deal, really.”
Kaveh noticed that Alhaitham had completely breached over the line of his nest, but he was actually quite happy the junior was there with him, even if the other didn’t know what was truly going on. “Sorry,” Kaveh sniffed a bit then gently moved Alhaitham’s hands away from Kaveh’s feverish skin to wipe his own eyes. “It was a very nice gesture from you, so I was so happy about how much you cared.”
Alhaitham nodded at his statement. “Right…” He paused. “Senior Kaveh, you’re not actually sick are you?”
Kaveh tensed a bit, looking at Alhaitham for any sign of judgement or recognition. As usual, his junior managed to keep a straight face with nothing to show. “I,” Kaveh started, “I’m not sure what you mean. Why would I lie to you?”
Alhaitham stared at him unconvinced. “It’s up to you if you want to tell me. I know I haven’t presented yet, but if you need someone to accompany you in your heat cycle just for the presence I’d be willing to support you. Also I won’t tell anyone about it if that’s what you desire. Though truthfully I don’t understand why you’re upset at being an omega.”
Kaveh sighed, realizing he was subconsciously worried over what his junior would have thought of him being an omega. Of course Alhaitham didn’t care, but Kaveh was always one to get into his own head. He did worry about how others may view him and possibly see him as inherently weaker than them simply due to his secondary sex, though it did make sense that Alhaitham didn’t consider this in judging people.
“You might understand when you present,” Kaveh patted Alhaitham’s head. “I do welcome you to stay with me though, even if you already broke social etiquette and just barrelled into my nest anyway.”
His junior looked down and flushed brightly, recognizing his faux pas. “It’s ok,” Kaveh was stifling his chuckles, “I’m ok with you being in here but do try and recognize what a nest is in the future.”
Alhaitham nodded and thought to himself for a moment before slowly unbuttoning his jacket. “I don’t quite know much about omegas and nests,” he said slowly, “But I do know that omegas like the scent of those close to them in their nest. I’m sorry if it’s presumptuous… but I also figured since we were friends…” Alhaitham trailed off.
Kaveh began to purr, delighted at the offer and he took the jacket from Alhaitham’s hands. “Thank you,” he smiled in delight and began to tuck it into the structure of his nest. “Come on, you have to hear about how my latest project is going. I think I’m going to call her Mehrak.”
Alhaitham tucked himself up against Kaveh as he began to explain his invention, purring the whole time. Alhaitham listened attentively and tried to mirror the same purring noise Kaveh was making, though to far less success. Kaveh ruffled his junior’s hair saying, “you’ll be able to make some kind of purr when you present. Though I appreciate that you’re trying to comfort me since you know omegas purr when content.” With that, Kaveh went back to his explanations and the two were at peace.