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They watch in silence. There’s little more that they can do - that their omega would let them do - than this. Should Jeonghan or Seungcheol move, no matter how little, they’ll be glared at and promptly pinned to the spot by the ferocious gaze. It’s a little amusing, and entirely their fault. Above all, however, their hearts swell with fondness.
Their home is filled with the sweet scent of wild strawberries, growing stronger and sweeter every day. A faint hint of vanilla starts to blend in, as it always does when Joshua’s heat gets close. There are more signs, of course - the mood swings, his body getting more sensitive, his appetite growing. The thing they adore the most about Joshua’s heats is that he gets clingy. He craves his alphas’ presence and attention, their touch and reassuring words, no matter how inconvenient it might be to him.
Point in case - as well as the most glaring hint Joshua’s heat is due any day now: Seungcheol and Jeonghan are banished to the corner, yet absolutely required to be present, while Joshua fusses with his nest.
He’s usually very secretive about it. The alphas only get to see the finished product and their omega wearing dark circles under his eyes, his messy hair, and nervous demeanor in the days preceding his heat hitting. So this is entirely new and, somehow, they’ve already managed to mess up by asking Joshua if there’s anything they can get him.
They both know Joshua will eventually realize their intention was to help and to save him from looking for a specific item - not giving him instructions on how to build the nest. But for now, they’re banned into the corner where the omega can see them and get comfort from their presence while at the same time they can’t mess with his nest. As if they would but alas, their omega isn’t currently in the mood for reason.
No, right now Joshua’s eyes scan the nest while his hands already smooth out the fluffy blanket draped over the top layer of everything - pointlessly, he’s soon going to add more things, or so the alphas think. The frown pulling at Joshua’s features tells them so.
Something’s not to his liking. Something is missing. Jeonghan catches on quickly as he watches the omega rearrange the plushies stuffed between the pillows (and hidden by a blanket so that they don’t witness the debauchery of the following days) for the third time and then fluffs the pillows again.
Seungcheol meanwhile wrecks his brain for what it could be that the omega is looking for. While they’ve never seen the omega build his nest, they’re naturally familiar with how it feels, what items go missing. The alpha can’t figure it out. There’s most of the pillows, blankets, the large duvet from their bedroom, his favorite plushies and some clothes the alphas recently wore. That should be it. So what is it that the omega is missing?
“Look at what he’s wearing,” Jeonghan leans closer to him while Joshua is distracted and turns his back to them.
Seungcheol does and immediately feels his heart clench painfully, then swell to the point of bursting with love and affection.
What Joshua is wearing is the oversized hoodie that’s somehow lived through all possible stages of their relationship. First being Jeonghan’s hoodie, on his own, that he bought at a low point in his life where everything seemed hopeless and he craved anything to take the edge off. The hoodie was so ridiculous a thing for an alpha to buy that the cashier immediately started packing it as a gift. But it worked - it was, still is, so fluffy and fuzzy and warm and soft that it indeed gave Jeonghan the strength he needed.
Then Seungcheol came along. Jeonghan forgot to hide the ridiculous thing away when he brought his date over but instead of questioning him, instead of mocking him, Seungcheol immediately decided that the hoodie is now his. His eyes were so wide, so pleading - how could Jeonghan say no? And so the piece of clothing served again as an emotional support to a new master. (On and off, Seungcheol always returned it when Jeonghan’s scent faded too much.)
Once they became a couple, the hoodie naturally became a shared item. One they wore so often that when Joshua came into the picture, he immediately became attached to it. At least after they explained the entire story to him because even the omega couldn’t imagine the composed, dependable alphas he knew wearing that. But it just smelled so strongly of them that there was no other explanation. And it was perfect - it was indeed the textbook thing for an omega to wear, made to be soft and comforting, and his alphas’ scents wrapped around him like a hug.
Joshua’s adored the hoodie since the first time he wore it and always included it in the nest, never wore anything else during his heats for the short trips to the bathroom when it was too cold to walk around bare.
So it’s understandable that he’s upset now that he can’t find it and, presumably, finish his pretty nest.
Seungcheol spots the hearts in Jeonghan’s eyes as he watches the omega nervously move all around the nest, looking for that something that’s out of place. He knows his own gaze is no less loving, no less enamoured. Though he does feel bad for their mate, he knows speaking up would only set him off.
And so they watch him pull the blanket off and nervously readjust everything, only to return and smooth out the blanket again, to fold the duvet again. Then repeat the process once he walks over to the other side of the nest. He lays down, trying and failing to get comfortable. It’s such a heartbreaking sight, at the same time the alphas feel themselves falling harder.
Finally the omega looks at them, the corners of his lips drooping, his eyes sad. Jeonghan opens his arms and that’s all the encouragement that Joshua needs.
He rushes to them, lets himself be embraced and held, nuzzling gratefully against Seungcheol’s jaw when he squeezes both the omega and the other alpha tighter. Joshua purrs happily when both pairs of lips meet his skin, his hair, and then take turns worshipping his lips. Their hands don’t roam his body, they anchor him. To them, to safety and comfort. Away from the upset that he can’t fix on his own.
“Hello, baby,” Jeonghan whispers into his hair, “Everything alright?”
“We got you,” Seungcheol adds, “Just tell us what you need.”
Joshua sighs and instead of answering drops his head low, resting where their shoulders meet. He doesn’t want to ask them for help. It’s his pride as an omega to build a nest that his alphas will approve of, all on his own. But he’s reached the end of the rope here.
“I can’t find it,” he mutters, hoping they won’t hear - yet hoping he’ll understand.
The alphas exchange a look and a smile. Seungcheol licks his lips.
“Can’t find the hoodie, love?” he asks, just to check. Maybe they’re wrong.
They’re not. Joshua nods against their shoulders, pressing closer. Jeonghan stops himself from laughing but not from smiling widely.
“Look at me, darling,” he says gently, and before the omega can get mad at him for taking pleasure in his misery: “Now look down.”
And Joshua does.
“Oh,” he breathes, neck and tips of his ears warming up into a reddish hue.
The alphas share a chuckle, Seungcheol pulling Joshua close to peck his cheek. Jeonghan just watches, incredibly fond and in love. As much as he enjoys Joshua in heat and all that it entails, maybe the pre-heat phase is actually better.
“We didn’t want to make you annoyed by speaking up,” Seungcheol explains, “Since we were already on thin ice.”
Joshua looks apologetic, murmuring something that sounds suspiciously like a sorry. Jeonghan runs his hand through the omega’s hair, pushing it back.
“You’re cute,” he coos, “Always working so hard on your nests.”
The omega perks up despite himself, his eyes now hypnotizing both of them to say more.
“They’re so comfortable,” Seungcheol purrs, his thumb stroking Joshua’s side, “I could stay there forever.”
And he could. He really could. With his omega all over him, one way or another, with his alpha right there, equally as close and desperate for contact. It might be just Joshua who’s in heat, yet somehow all three of them get so needy. Not just for pleasure, but for touch. For closeness. For whispered confessions and sweet nothings, gentle caresses and slow, lingering kisses.
Jeonghan’s eyes meet his and Seungcheol knows they feel the same.
“Wanna finish up? Maybe we could already snuggle up there, hm?” Jeonghan turns his attention back to Joshua, who seems taken aback by the suggestion.
But only for a moment.
Seungcheol and Jeonghan always feel like they’ve won the lottery when Joshua smiles at them like this, so they really have no idea how to describe what they feel now when the smile is a promise of heaven itself.