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Omega Ryland Grace had been shot into space as a last resort. The mission planners had not accounted for Omegas. He knew that now. He was very frustrated about it.
There were no omega supplies on board at all. No nesting materials, no suppression meds, nothing. And his first heat since waking up from the coma was coming soon.
The coma and all the stress had messed up his schedule, but now that the Beatles were gone and he wasn't in immediate mortal peril, his body had apparently decided it had waited long enough. He could feel it starting. That restless, uncomfortable warmth under his skin that he'd spent years making sure he never had to deal with.
The urge to nest had kicked in. All he had were his blankets, the three mattresses and some spare clothes. This was going to be rough. His instincts would be left unfulfilled. Well, even more unfulfilled than usual.
Grace was aro ace, so he didn’t really feel attracted to anyone regardless of gender and secondary gender, and did not feel a need to find a mate. This was rare for an Omega. His biology did not care. When in heat, his body still wanted all the things any other Omegas would, protection, comfort, and to breed. And he hated every second of it. So he'd just... not dealt with it. He simply used strong suppressants, year-round, problem solved. His doctor had not been happy about the long-term fertility implications, but Grace didn't care about that either. He loved his students. He didn't need pups of his own.
But the Hail Mary didn't have suppressants. Not even weak ones which would take the sharpest edges of the heat off. He yanked at his hair in frustration and then nearly jumped out of his skin when Rocky rolled up next to him.
"What wrong, question? Grace displaying stress signals, Rocky worried, statement," the Eridian said, stomping a leg.
Grace sighed and dropped down to sit on the floor. "You remember when I told you about human secondary genders? That I'm an Omega?" Rocky nodded. He'd picked that up from Grace at some point. "My heat's starting. And Stratt didn't plan for it, apparently. I don't have any of the usual supplies." He pressed his hands flat on his knees. "This is going to be bad."
Rocky let out a trill of concern. "Grace tell Rocky how to help, order!"
"I don't think you can, bud." Grace said. "We don't have the right chemicals to synthesize suppressants, and trying would probably just kill me. Not worth it." He leaned his head back against the wall. "I'm just going to have to make the best nest I can with what we've got and …be miserable for a few days. It'll pass."
Rocky went quiet. Grace had learned that meant he was thinking.
"What is nest, question?" he asked.
"Soft things. Blankets, clothes. You build something enclosed and… and it feels safe. Helps with the instincts." Grace waved a hand vaguely. "I know it sounds weird."
"Does not sound weird," Rocky said, very firmly. "Makes sense. Grace need safe space. Rocky understand." A pause. "Rocky know where more soft things are, statement."
Grace frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Equipment cases in lab and storage area. Foam inside. Fabric covers. Grace go get, have more soft things, statement."
Grace stared at him. He hadn't even thought of that. His brain was already going a little fuzzy around the edges, which was probably why. Thoughts of ‘Hide hide hide, need nest’, and ‘find Apha’, were swimming around in his head. He started to feel dizzy. "...Yeah. Yeah, okay."
It took a few trips, Rocky sometimes needing to remind Grace what to do from inside his ball, as the Omega stared into empty space. “Grace, need to go up to lab, statement. Left. No, Grace other left. The big cases, statement." Grace of course had to do the actual carrying. By the end of it he had a lot more to work with than before.
"Rocky," he said, a little helplessly, looking at the pile. He felt faintly embarrassed that he didn’t know what to do now.
"Grace build nest now, question?" Rocky asked, pleased with himself.
Grace laughed despite everything. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll build the nest now." His instincts were pleased by getting some needed direction, even if it wasn’t from an Alpha, but from what his instincts saw as a Beta.
He dragged the mattresses to a corner and piled them up. He spread a soft blanket over them, and then he got to work on the walls. He weaved different fabrics and pieces of foam together until it seemed solid and safe. Then he climbed in and covered himself in blankets and more foam panels. Rocky carefully watched him through the entire process while fiddling with some small project of his own.
It wasn't a good nest by any stretch of the imagination. But it was better than nothing. He tucked himself into the nest, layers of foam and blankets around him, and tried to breathe through the first real wave of heat settling in. There were packs of coma slurry and water tucked close. He lay there, panting and sweating, for what felt like an eternity. He’d quickly lost sense of time.
Rocky stayed close. Not really saying anything. Just there, occasionally shifting or making small sounds as he continued to work on his own projects, letting Grace know he hadn't left. That he wasn’t alone.
It helped more than Grace expected, having someone close. ‘Guarding him’, his thoughts whispered.
It wasn't good. It wasn't anywhere close to what a heat was supposed to be. But then again, he’d never experienced an actual good heat anyway.
Rocky stayed the whole time.