No idea what this is supposed to be, a bit random and hastily written but just taking a break from writing my wip to write some omegaverse and so ...
Established Lestappen | Alpha Charles | Omega Max | Feat Alpha Dani Juncadella| Protective Charles but perhaps a little jealousy also |
Charles is still drying off after his shower when he hears his phone go and almost trips over himself in his rush to get it. He’s not normally so eager but he’s spent the past hour trying and failing to get hold of Max so he can only assume it is his boyfriend finally returning his call. And, as suspected, it is indeed Max’s name that is flashing up on the screen.
“You finally found your phone then,” Charles teases except it's not a voice he immediately recognises on the phone.
“It’s not Max, it’s Dani.”
“Where’s Max?” Charles’ question comes out a lot more accusatorial than he intended but his stress levels spike immediately. When Max hadn’t answered early on Charles had already run through a number of horrifying imaginary scenarios in his head as to why Max couldn’t answer. Charles is not normally prone to panicking, but there’s an overwhelming protectiveness he feels in his gut whenever it comes to Max.
“He is.. well… he’s on top of me.”
Is not the response Charles was expecting. And he’s not sure if this is some funny joke he isn’t understanding or if Max’s teammate has some sort of a death wish because if thoughts could kill then Dani would be in serious trouble right about now.
“He’s in heat,” Dani adds and Charles’ anger morphs into panic.
“I should take him to medical maybe because… no its okay, hey its okay, don’t cry..,” Dani’s voice trails off midway through his sentence and Charles strains to try and hear what he is saying. It's comforting at least. Charles can tell from the lull of Dani's voice that whatever he is saying to Max it is meant to be reassuring. But then he hears Max whimpering and his heart sinks.
“He is .. not so, there is something wrong,” Dani’s voice cracks and Charles gets the sense that Dani is also panicking. Which is -, well its not really surprising if he currently has an in-heat Max clambering all over him.
Max’s heats are unlike anything Charles has experienced before. There is very little time between the heat hitting and Max being completely and utterly out of it. Wordless, stressed, floaty. All the things you don’t want to be when you’re on your own. It’s fine when Charles is there of course, Max happily just clambers into his lap and nuzzles into the crook of his neck and is allowed to be as clingy as he wants. The wetness and the unrelenting need to be filled hits soon after but for those first few hours Max just wants soft kisses and scenting and to lie curled up against an alpha. Without it he gets anxious and crippled with pain.
Which is not ideal right now.
They have a whole plan to make sure that something like this never happens. A whole plan so that Max never finds himself alone during those initial few hours of heat. They’ve got a number of safe alphas picked out that Max can go to in the paddock should he find himself without Charles for some reason. The alphas are all more than willing to keep Max warm and give him the affection he needs as he floats in and out something close to subspace. If Charles could be there every single time he would be and he tries his hardest but sometimes unexpected things happen and so it was always important to have a backup plan. Hence the safe alphas.
Unfortunately they haven’t yet talked about an appropriate safe alpha that can help out when Max is talking part in his other racing endeavours. And Charles suddenly feels so guilty he could be sick. It was on their list of things to talk about, they talked about talking about it, they just never did. Max isn’t anywhere near due a heat though so it's not like they thought there was a possibility of him needing someone this time.
“Should I call someone?” Dani mumbles, clearly distracted by whatever Max is doing. Charles doesn't even want to begin to imagine.
“I can be there in a few hours,” Charles is already trying to throw things in a bag and work out the quickest way to get to Max, “His heats are like this, it is probably just a heat. Can I speak to him?”
“I don’t know if that is possible,” Dani mumbles, “You can try.”
The next thing Charles hears is Max whimpering down the phone. As suspected he is no longer able to get his words out. He tries to say something but its so slurry even Charles can’t work out what it is he is trying to say.
“Max, sweetheart,” Charles soothes as softly as he can, “I will be there soon, don’t worry. You feel safe where you are yes?”
There’s a squeak from Max in response and Charles can only assume that Max has found his way to Dani’s room purposefully. In lieu of them actually picking out a safe alpha and having a well thought out conversation Max has likely had little more time than to let his instincts carry himself somewhere safe.
Lack of planning does leave them with one huge glaring problem though. Charles has no idea how comfortable Dani is in having an extremely clingy in heat omega in his room, most likely still on top of him. Charles barely knows the other alpha, he doesn’t even know if he has a partner of his own.
“Just let me speak to Dani again,” Charles coos to Max, trying his best to sound calm, the last thing Max needs to hear is him panicking.
“Should I take him to medical then?,” Dani asks again before he trail off once more, cooing something softly presumably to Max, Charles can’t quite make out what he is saying.
“This really is just his heat,” Charles is still stuffing things Max might need into a bag, “Its always like this. Just for a few hours.”
Dani makes a strange strangled sound down the phone and Charles has to close his eyes to try and compose himself because he has no idea what is going on there and none of this ideal - Max is hours away, with another alpha, another alpha who Charles doesn’t really know too well but who Max has clearly decided to seek out in a moment of need. Above all else Charles just wants Max safe and comfortable, he isn’t without jealously though.
“How comfortable are you with him there?” Charles ask tentatively.
“He is …,” Dani sounds like he is trying to pick his words carefully, “I don’t want to .. .does he know what he is doing because…”
Dani doesn't finish his thought, instead Charles hears muffled noises and then what sounds like Dani trying to settle Max down.
“He was probably really scared,” Charles decides the best tactic is to lay it all out bare, “He just needs someone to hold him right now, he normally has safe alphas he can go to if I’m not around … just …I think he has tried to go to someone safe.”
“He’s safe with me,” Dani says without hesitation and there’s certainly a sincerity about it, or at least there seems to be, “I would never let something bad happen to him.”
And look. It’s not gone unnoticed by Charles that Dani is happy to speak out for Max so he’s certainly someone who has protective instincts toward the omega. It is just Charles isn’t one hundred percent sure if that is just a platonic protectiveness or if there are other deeper feelings there.
“So I just keep him here with me?” Dani asks, “He is… “ Dani’s words drop to a whisper, “.. scenting me. Is that.. will he be okay when he realises …”
“If you need me to tell him to stop I can,” Charles offers because he supposes he could end this, if he used the right tone of voice. It is not something he’s ever done before though, the idea of using his alpha voice on Max is not something he would normally want to consider.
“No, no its fine by me,” Dani says, and maybe Charles is imagining the enthusiasm in the voice, “Should I .. scent him back?”
Charles grits his teeth as he mumbles that yes Dani can scent Max back. The safe alphas in the paddock do it all the time. It helps. It’s just - , those are alphas Charles knows well. And Dani, well Dani isn’t someone Charles is overly familiar with and he isn’t sure how he is going to feel about walking in and finding Max covered in the other alpha’ scent. But Charles has always put Max’s needs before petty jealousy and he knows how distressed Max will be right now.
“I’m going to be there as soon as possible,” Charles grabs his jacket and his keys and gets ready to make a mad dash to Max, “I’m going to send you a list of do's and dont’s and .. can you put him on the phone for me again.”
Charles assumes the phone has been handed to Max because its silent now other than some clipped breaths. At least the whimpering seems to have stopped.
“Dani is going to look after you until I get there, he is going to keep you safe okay? I wont be long, I promise. I love you, I will be there soon.” Charles coos softly, “Be good for me until I get there, just relax.”
There’s a soft little noise in response and Charles’ heart clenches.
“I will try and get him to maybe sleep,” Dani is back on the phone, “until you are here. Don’t worry, he is safe. I will look after him.”
Charles is hurtling down the stairs from his apartment as he gives Dani his thanks and assures him that he will be there before Max goes into the next stage of his heat. And Charles will one hundred percent be there before then even if he has to run all the way there because the next stage will require Max to be knotted and Charles is absolutely not about to hand that responsibility off to anyone else. Maybe if Dani has done a good enough job of looking after Max then he can watch if he wants to.
