Chapter Text
“I’m not spending your heat with you again, Shoto. It was fucking awkward for both of us.” Mysta made a face. “And you said it was just the one time.”
Shoto also made a face, but he still said, “It wasn’t that bad.” He thought about it as Mysta stared at him incredulously. “Okay, it was pretty bad. But who else would I even ask?” Shoto whined. “I don’t know anyone else who’s willing to only be with me for my heat, and taking care of an omega for four or five days is a ton of work.”
Mysta scowled. “I know.”
Mysta was surely recalling the time, five months ago, that he had spent taking care of Shoto while he was in heat. They lived in the same apartment and were best friends, and as a beta, Mysta wasn’t that affected by Shoto’s pheromones. Still, Mysta had set careful boundaries as his condition for helping out. He insisted only upon bringing Shoto food and water, and helping him get to the bathroom– and nothing remotely sexual.
With an omega in heat, however, it wasn’t that easy to avoid the more intimate experiences. There was one particularly cursed occurrence when Shoto begged Mysta to “lend him a hand,” and Shoto knew Mysta wouldn’t likely forget that encounter any time soon. Shoto had been extremely desperate and out of it, but still. When he imagined doing something like that with Mysta, without the influence of heat…yikes. No wonder Mysta was disagreeing so adamantly.
“Why don’t you ask someone else in our friend group? I’m sure they would help out…” Mysta trailed off, thinking. “Well, not Shu or Luca, since they’ll both be in Australia next month. Ike?”
Shoto pursed his lips. “Ike could help…actually, wait. Won’t he be starting at a new job sometime next month? He couldn’t afford to miss that many days…” Shoto frowned.
Mysta huffed. “Okay, what about Uki? Nothing wrong with two omegas helping each other, right?” He said it hopefully, like Shoto wouldn’t point out the obvious.
Shoto tilted his head. “You know Fulgur wouldn’t like that. Alphas have their limits, even with something like this.”
Mysta shrugged. “Anyone else from Nijisanji? Or other streamers you know. Anyone you consider a friend.”
Shoto recited names. “Sonny and Alban, relationship. Yugo, honestly I can’t see spending my heat with. Merry, Minase…” he continued listing names and reasons why they were occupied or unable to help. “Mysta, are you sure you can’t help out again? Please?” Shoto was getting frantic.
Mysta was still thinking. “There’s gotta be someone else.” His brow furrowed. “Holy fuck!” he exclaimed. “I can’t believe we didn’t think of this. Ask Vox! He’s not in a relationship right now, and he’s an alpha!” Mysta had the look of someone who’d just had a brilliant idea– satisfied and assured.
Shoto tried to hide his nervous expression. He was really hoping Mysta wouldn’t think of Vox, as obvious a choice though he was. Even if they had chemistry when they collaborated, he and Vox had an agreement– cater to the fanservice, but don’t let it get out of hand. There was a limit to how far they would go, and there was nothing between them beyond their friendship, as flirtatious as it was. Besides, they each flirted with so many others, so it wasn’t like it was personal. They’d also never even met in person.
Shoto shifted his gaze. “He’s, uh, probably. Probably busy. And he doesn’t even live in the US. So it would be really inconvenient. Yeah.” Shoto nodded at his own statements, as if that would make them true.
Mysta raised an eyebrow. “It’s not uncommon to fly out for something like this. I’m sure he’d want to help out. And it’s not like you haven’t thought about doing something like this with him before, right?”
Shoto sputtered. He had thought of it once or twice, purely because their fans had put ideas into his head, but Shoto knew it was strictly off-limits. “Th- n, no. We’re friends, Mysta. I could never just, y’know, ask him–”
Mysta cut him off, clearly spotting the double standard. “You asked me. And it certainly can’t be worse than that. Come on, give him a call.” Mysta picked Shoto’s phone off the table and put it in his hand. “Come on, do it. Don’t be a pussy, or you’ll be spending your heat alone.”
Shoto glanced away again. “I’m sure he’s got other plans, you know, like streams he’s planned out, work stuff–”
“Shoto, if you don’t call him, I will.” Mysta didn’t usually take initiative like this, but he knew Shoto well enough to understand how to motivate him.
Shoto bit his lip. “Fine. I’ll call him.” He turned over the phone in his hand, gripping it tightly.
Mysta narrowed his eyes. “A real call. Not you going into another room for five minutes and then coming back out to say he’s busy.”
Shoto stammered again. “Huh. Wh- whaaat? I wouldn’t do that…!” His tone wasn’t very convincing.
“Mmhmm.” Mysta looked disbelieving. “It’s honestly none of my business, but you should get this settled by the end of the week. It’s a lot to plan out.” Mysta gave him a look before standing up and stretching. “Now. I’m gonna go get food.”
Shoto stood up. “I could eat. Maybe–”
Mysta glared at him. “Call.”
Shoto held up his hands in surrender, and his canine ears flattened against his head. “Fine.”
Mysta left on that note, so Shoto sat alone on the couch.
There was no way Mysta could prove Shoto hadn’t called Vox. Shoto could just lie and say Vox was busy. There wasn’t really any other choice, since he absolutely couldn’t propose something like this to Vox.
It wasn’t like there were no other options. Shoto could take suppressants, even if they made him sick for about a whole month after his heat. He could endure his heat alone…he cringed at that idea. Or, he could find a partner online. Surely, there were websites for situations like this.
Should he call Vox?
No.
----------
Shoto was looking at options online when Mysta came back. There were actually a surprising amount of available betas and alphas who lived in the area and were trained to help with an omega’s heat. Of course, their services were ridiculously expensive, since they would be “on-call” for more than half a week…but it wasn’t like Shoto had many other choices.
Mysta saw the tab before Shoto could close it. “Heat services, huh? I take it Vox really was busy, then.” He eyed Shoto keenly.
Shoto wasn’t the best at making stuff up. “Yeah, uh. He was busy.” His tail thumped against the couch irregularly, and Shoto put his hand over it to make the sound stop.
Mysta pointed at him. “Liar! I fucking knew you wouldn’t call him. That’s why I told him to call you at six, or let me know if you’d called him first.”
Shoto’s eyes widened. He looked at the clock: 5:59 PM. “Mysta!”
The phone rang.
Shoto panicked. “I can’t answer that…!”
Mysta picked Shoto’s phone off the table and threw it at him. “Answer it, for fuck’s sake!”
“No!” Shoto tossed it back like a hot potato.
Mysta pressed a button and flung it back at Shoto, and then he sped out of the room with a maniacal laugh. Shoto was stunned as he watched him go.
“Hello?” A voice came from the phone and Shoto glanced down at it as if it was a bomb. “Shoto, it’s Vox. Are you there?”
Shoto’s ears perked up involuntarily. “Uh, hi, Vox. What’s…what’s up?” He tried to sound casual, but it came out strange.
Vox must’ve thought it was strange too, since he paused before answering. “Hmm. Well, Mysta texted me saying you wanted to talk about something. Of course I thought it was weird that Mysta reached out if there’s something going on with you, but if there’s anything you need to talk about…you don’t need to be nervous.” His voice was reassuring, but it didn’t calm Shoto in the least.
Shoto took a breath. “Yeah, um. Mysta was just trying to help me with a…a problem that I’m having, but really, you don’t need to get involved. It’ll be fine.” His voice had a faintly hysterical edge. “Actually, I was thinking, we should collaborate sometime. It’s been a while. Since Elden Ring, maybe?” He desperately tried to change the subject.
Vox wasn’t swayed. “Yeah, I’d love to collab with you again. But what’s this problem that you’re having, exactly?”
Shoto waved his hand despite knowing Vox couldn’t see him. “Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.” He definitely sounded unstable.
There was another pause. “Shoto. Tell me what’s wrong.” Vox sounded concerned, and Shoto tucked his tail between his legs.
Shoto was reminded that he and Vox really were friends, and that they actually had a lot in common. They talked through Discord frequently, and they played video games together every now and then, outside of collabs. They’d both just gotten so busy lately. Shoto hadn’t heard Vox’s voice outside a stream, in a real conversation like this, since maybe a month ago.
It was for this reason that Shoto felt just a bit vulnerable. Once he started talking, he was unable to stop. “Mysta just wanted me to call you since my heat is happening next month, and I don’t really have many options for how to handle it. I mean I could get suppressants, but they make me sick. Mysta isn’t going to help out again because it was really weird last time, and all our other friends have stuff going on, so he thought that maybe you could help, like, as an alpha? But I know we have boundaries and it would be uncomfortable and we don’t even live in the same country. So I really wasn’t even going to ask. You know, I think I might actually go with the suppressants, yeah.” Shoto rambled, his heart racing.
Vox tried to interrupt a few times, but eventually he resigned himself to letting Shoto finish. “Shoto.”
“Yeah?” Shoto asked, out of breath.
“You called to ask me to come spend your heat with you?” Vox sounded surprised, and Shoto cringed, his ears twitching.
He knew this was an awful idea. “N- no…! Just forget about it, really! Maybe I should–”
Vox finally cut him off. “Hold on a second. I never said I wouldn’t do it.” Shoto was shocked into silence, so Vox continued. “You’re one of my best friends. And if the suppressants make you sick, you certainly shouldn’t take them. We have boundaries, yes, but I think we can make an exception this once.”
Shoto held the phone away from him and stared at it before bringing it back. Was this actually happening? “So, what you’re saying is…”
“I’ll fly out and spend your heat with you.” Vox’s voice was firm.
That was surprisingly easy.
“Th…thank you.” The words were shaky, so Shoto cleared his throat. “Are you sure, though? I know it might be expensive to come here, and I do have a habit of, uh, nesting, beforehand…so I might need you here a week early. It might be like two weeks that you’re here.” He spoke uncertainly, knowing this addition might be enough to make Vox backtrack.
Vox acknowledged him. “Shouldn’t be a problem. Whatever you need, I’ll be there.”
Shoto glanced at the ceiling in puzzlement. Why was this going so smoothly?
Vox spoke again. “Have you ever spent your heat with an alpha before? Or have you ever slept with an alpha?”
This was an important set of questions, but Shoto still blushed, his tail going further between his legs. “N- no, to both questions. It’s only been betas, or me by myself, in my heat. I’ve never…never taken a knot before.” Shoto curled in on himself on the couch, knowing it was an embarrassing thing for a fertile omega to admit. It was almost akin to saying that no potential mate had found him attractive.
Vox didn’t question it, to Shoto’s relief. “Alright. I’ve helped a few omegas with their heats before, so I do have experience with this. I’ll be gentle with you.” Shoto interpreted his tone as a bit condescending, though he knew Vox was probably just trying to be considerate.
He frowned. “Vox, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but I’m not exactly easy to handle in my heats. That’s why it was so hard with Mysta, since I was pretty much all alone. Even with betas, too. They couldn’t keep up with me or satisfy me.” It was true– even though Shoto had never taken a knot, he instinctively knew he needed one in his heat, so it always felt like something was missing. But even beyond that, no partner had ever left Shoto feeling that sense of “contentment” that omegas were rumored to have after a heat.
Shoto thought he heard a chuckle on the other end of the line. “Is that a challenge?”
Shoto didn’t know how to respond to that. Was Vox making a joke, doing some flirty banter like when they streamed together, or was his inner alpha coming out? “I’m just saying I’m kind of difficult to please, so hopefully that won’t be something that could dissuade you.” He really did want Vox to have all the information before agreeing to all this.
There was definitely a dark laugh that time. “I think I’ll be able to handle you.” Vox sounded awfully confident.