Work Text:
“Are you moving to Silverstone, Max?”
Max rolls his eyes but whatever intensity or leverage that could hold fails when he shoves the two large suitcases with a backpack on top and one almost topples over because of it.
“Go on with your jokes, see how far that will take you after today’s shit show.”
Alex laughs, but still raises his hands in surrender.
“Jokes aside, since when do you carry so many things?” Lando asks when he manages to sit down. “I didn’t take you as the kind who brings everything.”
“Charles,” he replies simply. “Until today, the season has been shit.”
And Lando is glad when he glances at Alex and finds him as confused as he is, but Max, thankfully, doesn’t seem to be in the full mood of making them suffer because he hums, leaning back with one arm swung over the largest bag.
“Nests,” he says. “After everything, he likes feeling safe, comforted. Once we ended up carrying a ridiculous mass of new blankets, decided to carry them around.”
“That’s sweet,” Alex coos. “But I totally get you, George is the same, this whole thing has been a complete rollercoaster and whenever he’s back before me, he’s buried beneath a thousand things.”
“Yeah, feeling comforted was a necessity.”
Lando smiles with a nod when they glance at him in a very normal thing for the conversation they are having, but when they look away to continue talking, his smile drops entirely.
Oscar doesn’t nest.
Well, they have been together less than Max and Charles and even less than George and Alex, but they spend most of the time together, stay in the same hotel, the same room and back in Monaco, his apartment has a full side dedicated to Oscar just like Oscar’s has one for Lando.
And yet, Oscar hasn’t built a nest.
Lando knows omegas aren’t all the same, just like alphas aren’t, but nests are pretty much universal, harmless. The only thing they do outside of the whole sexual aspect is bring comfort for the individual and, once bonded, the pair. It’s a space created by themselves to feel secure and safe, where they have complete control of everything.
It’s just… odd Oscar hasn’t done it, especially when his life has been far from calm.
The season received him in the worst way possible. Ending on the wall in his own home race after what happened last year was like being punched in the face and the world had followed by not even letting him start in China. Japan had been better and Miami, but after that it was a full up and down where things were either good or acceptable or completely horrible with no in between.
Lando isn’t doing that much better, his car seemingly got the worst of it, but that’s beyond the point. Oscar was and still is under the same amount of pressure Charles and George are and he’s not doing much to make it better.
Well, he does seek Lando. They probably spent days without going out after Australia because Oscar felt and was a mess and found strength on each other after China. He’s all soft and pliant when Lando scents him, gets stressed when his scent isn’t this powerful thing on him and makes these adorable noises when it’s only both, but still, there’s no nest and he can’t help but find it… concerning.
What if it’s his fault?
Maybe only he believes everything is good and going well, maybe he’s missing something and that something is big enough it keeps Oscar from feeling fully comfortable around him.
Maybe he just doesn’t feel safe around him.
It’s devastating to think that, of course. Lando holds onto his chair while Alex and Max continue talking without noting it, he feels dizzy, sick. A complete failure, an alpha who can’t even give what his omega needs, who can’t provide enough safety so he feels comfortable enough to build a nest he can rest and feel better in.
“So, uh, you carry the same blankets around?”
Both stop talking with his question, Lando doesn’t even know if they have moved on from the topic, he wasn’t listening and his face burns at thinking how ridiculous this is, but he manages to hold it. Casually raising his head to look at Max while keeping his posture from becoming too stiff.
“The ones he used more when we last were at home, some small pillows, too,” Max says after a moment. “There are some he just loves to have.”
“Or just clothes,” Alex adds. “George took this one hoodie from me that makes him collapse if he doesn’t have it around.”
Lando nods in acknowledgment, he’s doing everything to play it cool and casual, and not just because of his own ego, but because the least he wants is to do or say something that makes them believe Oscar is the problem.
“Charles took one polo from the team’s kit, had to ask for a new one.”
He can relate to that better. He used to have a sweater he wore a lot and one day, he found Oscar curled around it. It’s, technically, still his, but Oscar takes care of it and only makes Lando wear it so his scent sticks back to it after washing it. That’s important, a strong sign of their bond, but without it… what else?
“Bet Oscar is less wild with it,” Max comments, a very normal thing to ask. “Can’t imagine him building a crater in the middle of the bed.”
Lando’s mind panics, this is the thing he wanted to avoid because Oscar doesn’t deserve to be judged or even criticised because it’s Lando’s fault. He should be the one owning things and now he has to answer something and—
“People have him in this concept of being the embodiment of order but he’s even messier than me,” he says. “Don’t let him deceive you all.”
At least his brain still works.
°°°
Something needs to be done, however.
Nesting is the most basic and natural thing to do and him not doing it says there is something there that is failing and or not good enough, and honestly, Lando wants to be Oscar’s alpha until he draws his last breath, as cheesy and ridiculous as that sounds. So if he can’t find it, then he’s not worth it.
Resolution and all, finding out what is the tricky part.
The season is still going, it’s not that he has all the time in the world to check every single thing he does and see where he is failing or if there’s something he is doing that makes Oscar feel unsafe. The car may be shit but they’re still somehow managing to get points almost all weekends and they need to work around that.
The thing is, he needs to do something.
His alpha is tearing itself apart at the idea of not being enough, of failing his omega and he is sure not doing something to change it will end up killing him for real, so he decides to do something and reassure himself that he’s trying and maybe, just maybe, he deserves to have such a wonderful one.
“I found this, it’s very soft and warm.”
Oscar looks up from his phone when he hears him, eyes falling on the fluffy brown blanket he’s holding with a confused frown. “Uh, it’s nice, yes, well, it looks.”
“Took a nap with it, it’s great,” he hums, trying to paint it all with a normality that feels impossible to reach. “Here, have it.”
There’s only a bit of hesitation in his body before reaching for it, thumb sweeping over it to let out a pleased hum. “Yes, very soft.”
Lando smiles. It’s not that he did something big, but Oscar accepted it which means he doesn’t hate being gifted things and maybe the reason why he doesn’t build a nest is because dumb Lando has never gifted him something for it.
That afternoon Oscar has the blanket covering his legs while watching some random movie. He’s clearly comfortable and when they move to the bed he takes it with him to lie down on top of it.
That, however, is not a nest.
Oscar is weirded out by every new blanket and pillow he brings that weekend, he even asks if he’s planning a full renovation of their apartment back in Monaco, but doesn’t really complain much beyond it. He uses the blankets, once he even caught him sniffing his scent, and uses the pillows to nap and rest between the mass of things a weekend with sprints brings.
Lando still walks out of the hotel room without seeing a nest.
It’s both depressing and disappointing.
Above all, Lando is worried about Oscar’s state.
The weekend wasn’t a complete tragedy, but it’s still far from what used to be the last two years and Oscar struggling with the brakes again was the reason he dropped one position instead of gaining one. Lando could see and sense his stress during the debrief. It’s not that he was happy or liked seeing him in that state, but he thought he would feel comfortable enough to build a small nest.
But no.
Lando is not giving up, of course.
Back at their apartment, when Oscar goes out with his mother and sister, he excuses himself by arguing he is exhausted due the car’s shit just to get the time to turn the apartment upside down and make sure nothing feels out of place or in a way he knows Oscar dislikes. There’s nothing.
Too bad at least.
A couple of things that Lando swore would do later and ended up forgetting, some missing ingredients and that Oscar enjoys, but nothing that bad. Their combined scent is everywhere, due the number of people that’s always around them, it’s impossible to keep their scents from sticking, but they are set on keeping them from actually sticking for too long. The apartment smells of them. No one has really came to disturb everything they have there, last visitors before today’s were Lando’s parents and like Nicole and Mae, they have just arrived to greet them before leaving for the restaurant they were going to visit.
“So, how was it?” he asks when Oscar sits down at his side with a sigh of content. “Food was good?”
“Yeah, Mae said the one we visited the other day was better, though,” he hums, leaning into his side. “You should have come.”
“I will make you all up for it,” he says, arm wrapping around his middle to keep him close. “I just had too much in my mind today.”
Not that it got better, but he’s not going to make the other feel bad.
Oscar, wonderful Oscar, hums, nuzzling his face into his chest, pulling himself closer. “You feel better?”
“Yeah, as better as it’s possible.”
If he didn’t like Lando he wouldn’t be doing this, if he hated him he wouldn’t be here, if he didn’t feel safe he would have already say it.
Then why.
It’s a landslide of questions that little by little fill his brain, questions that don’t have an answer and that only make him feel worse. With the worst coming when Oscar notices.
“Is… everything alright?”
“What? No, yes, everything is alright, well, outside of what’s not alright,” he snorts. “Penalties are not the nicest things to have.”
Oscar nods, but everything in him says he’s studying his reactions and weighting everything to make sure he’s not lying. Oscar is good at observing, people don’t give him enough credit for that, and with Lando, everything is much more intense. Ever since they bonded, the man seems to know Lando better than he knows himself.
But being frustrated with the car and everything isn’t new or a lie, Lando is frustrated with the complete inability to fight and defend his title and while he has kind of come to terms with it, that’s how life is, really, it doesn’t mean he is happy to know he squeezed everything from the car and still couldn’t reach the podium. Oscar has been dealing with that, too, and maybe that’s why he nods again, surer this time, and moves to wrap his arms around him, pressing his nose to the gland on his neck even when covered by a patch.
Lando feels undeserving.
Still, he hugs him back with all his might, lips pressing a kiss to head. Oscar is like that, quiet and simple gestures that shows how much he cares and how much he needs. Lando knows it is reserved for a very limited number of people, he’s one of them and while he always loved it, still does, this time it manages to hurt.
He doesn’t deserve it.
Now he’s thinking that maybe he said something wrong, something that didn’t sound bad for him but was for Oscar and now something inside him broke enough he can’t feel safe. Not enough to dump him, but enough to make him feel insecure, so Lando decides being better for him is the way to go.
“Let’s have dinner tonight.”
Oscar once more raises his brow at hearing him. “Weren’t we returning with Max and Charles? They leave tonight.”
“We can leave tomorrow morning,” he says with all the nonchalance he doesn’t have. “Better yet, I’ll buy a jet for both.”
He means it, but Oscar takes it as a joke and doubles over in laughter, so it is still worth it. “We’re getting a jet?”
“Yeah, a lot have one, why don’t we?” he smiles, Oscar laughs again.
“We’re not getting a private jet, Lan,” he says, shaking his head. “One of the sponsors offers that service and we don’t travel enough to get one.”
“Then it’s a sign to travel more?”
Oscar rolls his eyes, but he looks fond, happy, a part of him feels that should be another thing his mind can use to further reassure himself that he is doing fine, but it’s not.
“Let’s go to a restaurant when we’re back in Monaco.”
That makes it better.
But still, there’s no nest.
Lando is running out of ideas, that somehow makes him even worse, as if he should just go to whoever is in charge of that and take his alpha away because he doesn’t deserve it. In the end, that doesn’t exist and if he really wants to have Oscar forever, then he’s sure he will do everything until he looses his mind.
Oscar starts getting a new blanket every now and then, a new pillow, sometimes even a new plush toy. Lando has never been neglectful, or so he believes, but he does things ten times more and while Oscar at first finds it weird and constantly ask if everything is alright, the season puts his part and complicates things for both.
It’s becoming impossible to balance everything. Lando is not stupid, but he’s used to dealing with things he can see what the issue is and that’s completely absent here. He believes he covered everything that could be wrong and nothing changes, he just keeps feeling underserving, that he’s lacking and that will end up with Oscar walking away and that’s honestly as bad as the worst thing he can imagine.
And of course the car is still shit.
Oscar misses the only practice of that weekend because something failed and they couldn’t repair on time. People love saying he’s more than capable of pulling through with no practice but why do thy even need to go through that?
Oscar is pure stress, his normally chocolate-filled scent is sour, heavy and unpleasant when he removes the patches and walks around the room with the data they got from Lando’s car and that he will have to use. Not even a bath manages to help him feel better.
“You will saturate your brain with that, Osc, let’s rest, yeah?”
He sighs in pure defeat, hands dropping to let the papers fall on the sofa. “I know, it’s just… Won’t make it to Q2, maybe the car won’t even be ready.”
“It’s not worth torturing yourself,” he whispers softly, caressing the side of his face. “Will take a bath and we will relax.”
Oscar nods with the same defeated expression, letting his head lean into his touch as he sighs. “I’ll be fine.”
“It is my duty to help with that,” he says, smiling when Oscar snorts with an amused smile. “Leave it all to me.”
He’s failing somewhere, doing something that keeps Oscar from having what he needs, but this, at least, is something he can control and help him with, so he presses another kiss to his head before rushing towards the bathroom. He’s not about to give up, he will continue pushing forward until he makes everything right. He can’t rush it, it all needs to happen at it’s time and he will just make sure he doesn’t miss anything.
And maybe that’s why light finally shines on top of him.
Lando really isn’t thinking about anything else when he leaves the bathroom and looks up to find Oscar awkwardly pressing a rolled up blanket to the large pillow he placed in the middle of the bed, fumbling with it before ripping it back and tossing it to the side.
“Oscar?”
Poor thing probably jumps out of his skin, he’s almost pale when he turns around to see him with wide eyes. His scent, that smelled a bit better when he walked inside the bathroom, spikes again, stress once more being the main thing filling him.
“Lando what are you— Didn’t even hear you.”
“Sorry, didn’t notice I was too quiet,” he says, looking back at the door and then at him. “But I just, it’s alright, I can get over there while you’re done.”
Because that was a nest, or the beginning of one and he walked out to ruin it. God why he has to be so stupid and ruin things up.
“No, leave it, it’s fine,” he says, tone defensive. “Wasn’t really doing anything.”
“Oscar—”
“Leave it.”
Despite the seriousness of his tone, his scent shifts to show his embarrassment and clear hesitation. For Lando, hesitation means there’s more, means he doesn’t really want the topic to be dropped entirely, this affects him differently.
“It’s okay, baby,” he says softly, moving slowly towards him. “I can bring you everything you need.”
Oscar’s breathing stutters, he looks at the bunched blanket he is still holding, at the bed and finally at him, something in his eyes manages to break Lando’s heart, even if he isn’t sure what is it.
“I… I don’t build nests,” he says, his voice dropping. “I was just thinking it would be nice to sleep with it, that’s all.”
Lando reaches him, hands coming to cradle his face between his two palms, his scent this soothing and controlled thing despite the anxiousness and worry that is consuming him at seeing the distress in his omega’s face.
“Are you missing something?” he asks. “Because I will go all the away to Australia to get it if that’s the case.”
Oscar smiles, but it drops almost immediately, eyes leaving Lando’s face as he looks down. “Nothing, I just… I don’t build them.”
Lando nods, trying to process it and, at the same time, find the best way to continue the conversation. All this time he has been avoiding directly asking Oscar what is going on because he wants to keep him safe, make sure he doesn’t feel the problem is him or something worse, but maybe this is the right moment, the only one he will have.
“You haven’t really build one in all the time we have been together,” he says. “Have I… Is it because of something I have done?”
Oscar’s face snaps back up, wide eyes filled with panic. His scent once more feeling as if he had been punched. “Lando, no, what are you saying?”
“You have been under a lot of stress, about a lot of things and you haven’t really done it,” he admits, it’s not the best sensation but he wants to make things right. “The other day Max and Alex talked about it and, well, I won’t be angry or anything, just tell me what I’m missing and I’ll make it better, yes?”
He has to let go of his face when Oscar shakes it, but tries to remain close. It will hurt, but he’s ready, that’s part of being an alpha and he, again, really wants to be Oscar’s forever.
So damn cheesy.
“You haven’t done anything wrong,” he says, he almost looks angry at him. “This has nothing to do with you.”
It doesn’t really make a lot of sense. If it isn’t about Lando, then what else?
“Tell me so I can help you, baby.”
Oscar hesitates, taking each trembling step back until he sits down on the bed. Lando sees his fingers turning white for how hard he is gripping the blanket. As much as he wants to reach out to help, he’s worried that will make him feel worse.
“I don’t know how to build a nest.”
The world seems to stop for a moment, a short period of time where Lando’s mind seems to go fully blank because he doesn’t understand any of the things he just heard. That never even crossed his mind, all the scenarios were about him not being good enough, it was never because Oscar could be having some kind of issue.
“But—”
“It’s stupid, I know,” he cuts him, body curling a bit in a protective stance. “It’s just a fucking mass of blankets and things that smell like me and you but I just… I just don’t know.”
It would be fine if it didn’t really affect him, Lando doesn’t do some things that are fully associated with alphas and he’s perfectly fine with that, but looking at his little omega, he can tell it does affect him. His scent is a mess, his expression almost of pure heartbreak and he just looks as if someone has punched him in the face.
Lando moves slowly to crouch in front of him, reaching to hold his hands, caressing his fingers so he loosens his hold enough he doesn’t risk breaking them. “It’s not stupid. It may look simple, but it’s not, it’s important.”
Oscar shifts to bite his lip. His eyes are incapable of looking up at him, he only lasts a couple of seconds before he needs to look away.
“I moved out from Australia not too long after I presented,” he finally whispers, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds. “And with everything, learning how to build a freaking nest was such a non-issue. Not that my mom wasn’t worried, sure, but it just— isn’t it supposed to come naturally?”
“I don’t think I’m the best to answer that,” he says, smiling lightly. “I don’t do a lot of things that are supposed to come naturally for alphas.”
“So we’re both defective,” he chuckles, but it’s dry, completely lacks the sense of humour. “It’s a nest, Lando, the simplest thing, and I can’t do it, what kind of omega does that?”
“That’s not the only thing that makes you one,” he says, frowning. “You’re a shit ton of things more, Oscar.”
“Sure, so many and I can’t even build a nest.”
Land sighs. He has never liked when Oscar is this hard on himself just like Oscar hates when he does the same, but he’s a stubborn thing and he has been carrying this for so long it won’t be easy to just force him to think about something else.
“Let’s build one.”
“I just told you that I don’t—”
“I seriously doubt there is a right way to do it,” he shakes his head. “They’re just to make you feel comfortable and we already sleep everywhere, don’t we?”
Oscar snorts, but actually looks back at the bed, then at the blanket and finally, Lando’s hands holding his. “Lando…”
“Do you want it?” he asks, caressing the back of his smaller hands.
And it’s only a second of hesitation before Oscar nods shyly. “It would feel better when we’re just resting.”
Lando loves seeing the way his cheeks gain that reddish tone. Oscar likes physical contact, he’s just shy about receiving it.
“I will cuddle you better?” he grins, Oscar probably considers throwing him the blanket. “Then there’s our answer, let’s do it.”
Oscar is still full of hesitation, but Lando pulling at his hands until he stands up helps him shake off a bit of it and move back to the bed with the blanket in his hand. He allows him to take his moment there, rushing will ruin the little progress he has made, so he waits, pretending to be looking for other things until Oscar finally settles on extending it fully next to the pillow.
“It’s ridiculous…”
Despite that, he reaches for another of the blankets Lando brought, this time rolling it to press it near the large pillow. He follows with another pillow, near the top, another blanket and then going back to remove all of them and arrange them differently.
Lando is there, though, passing him the rest of materials, slipping that sweater and few other clothing items the other wears, but tries not to mess much. Oscar is constantly pulling and tugging things around because he ends up not liking it. He can hear his frustration, his disappointment, but only intervenes when he says something about being an awful omega.
He’s the fucking best, excuse him.
An hour probably passes by the time the mass on the bed resembles a nest, he has no idea how many times he changed it, but Oscar looks at it as if he has the fastest car in the world in front of him.
“It looks weird,” he still comments, crossing his arms. “I won’t even fit there.”
“Have you seen the way you turn into a small ball?” Lando teases him. “I can fit two of you there.”
He sends his way a very unimpressed look, but he looks back to the front to stare at it. “Do… do you think it looks decent, at least?”
Lando smiles, wrapping his arms around his waist to pull him close, pressing a kiss to the back of his neck and then the side of it. “It’s great, Mr perfectionist, I supervised the whole thing.”
He feels him shuddering in his hold, eyes closing for a moment before he opens them again. “Maybe it will feel better when I try it.”
There’s this impossible to hide spark of excitement filling his entire body when he lets go of him and pats his back to encourage him closer. It breaks his heart a little to know the other has been wanting this for so long, but at least, he could help him right now.
Still, Oscar moves slowly. He tosses the rest of unused things to the floor before taking a tentative step closer, hands falling on the edge of the nest as if to test the strength before finally climbing up, one leg first, then the others, both folding slightly to let the rest of his body settle int he middle of the blankets.
“And?”
“It feels nice, I guess,” he says, clearing his throat, patting the pillow, accommodating his body better. “It’s… a different kind of warmness, you know?”
“I am sure of that. Does it feel comfortable?”
“Yeah, uh, it feels… right,” he whispers, awkwardly leaning on his side to press his head against the sweater, taking a deep breath. “It feels like you, like when we rot in the sofa for a full afternoon.”
He swears he tried not to coo.
He failed.
“It will be good for when you are not around,” he says, nuzzling his face against it. “I just need to make sure it forever feels like this.”
And Oscar doesn’t really wait for him to understand or anything, he reaches for his wrist and pulls until Lando complaints and flips around to accommodate his body that, sure it’s slightly smaller, but that can still mess his nest. All while feeling his heart is ready to burst out of his chest because his stupid alpha didn’t know being invited to join his omega’s nest would make him feel like this.
“Told you we were going to fit,” he whispers, both are on their sides, facing each other, Oscar’s head on top of Lando’s arm, his hand pressed against Lando’s chest. “Perfect size.”
“Yeah… should trust yourself a bit more,” he says, brown eyes finally looking up at him. “Do you like it?”
“I do,” he hums. “Knowing you feel great is what matters more for me.”
His smile only falters for a moment. “You can say it, it was dumb I couldn’t make something this simple.”
“Call yourself dumb once more and you will see how it ends for you,” he snorts. “I was the dumb one for not noticing you have been carrying this.”
“Please, how would you know?” he sighs. “It was… embarrassing to think about it, I just knew people did it, wanted it, but couldn’t bring myself to even try.”
“That’s not embarrassing you muppet, it wasn’t easy,” he says. “And I should know, you notice when there’s something going on with me.”
“Yet failed at realising you thought it was because of you that I didn’t build a nest and that’s why you were gifting me things.”
Lando’s face turns red. “Listen...”
“I’m glad you did,” he interrupts him. “I guess I got a bit more courage to try because of it. You helped me.”
“Would be the biggest idiot if I didn’t,” he sighs dramatically, reaching to press a kiss to his lips. “I suddenly realised you only have a sweater to hug while waiting for me to return.”
“Not that I was miserable,” he whines. “But this… this is going to be nicer, so thank you.”
“Why are you even thanking me for?” he chuckles, his other arm coming to his waist to settle in that beautiful curve. “I’m your alpha, you’re my omega, it’s the only way this can go.”
Oscar trembles in that beautiful way he has whenever he hears that tone.
“You’re perfect as you are, Oscar Jack Piastri,” he continues. “You were before, you are now, and you will be in the future.”
He really has a thing for seeing him blushing.
“I’m… glad you notiiced,” he admits. “Though, now we have a mass of new things to carry around.”
“Are you making me carry everything?”
“Should have bought smaller ones.”
He whines, but truth is, even if he bought those heavy blankets, he wouldn’t change it at all.