usually I don't like abo au's because they tend to perpetuate some weirdly homophobic/sexist/toxic ideals? like idk why so many of them are so. . . like that? but i wanted to write something nice and pleasant and not full of the creepier tropes that tend to tag along with abo imho
Ai being unpresented isn't as much of a problem as Reiji expected. Sure, it'd be nice if Ai were a Beta or Omega to help Reiji (a long suffering but fairly efficient Beta himself) deal with the two idiot Alpha's they were stuck with, but Ai seemed to have a knack for being totally level headed in the face of posturing bullshit regardless.
Ranmaru and Camus were bizarrely territorial for men who claimed to not care much about their little group.
"Don't grow up to be an Alpha," Reiji begs tiredly one day, head throbbing. Ai placatingly runs his fingers through Reiji's hair, weak nose still able to pick up on Reiji's distressed scent. "Promise me that much."
"I can't promise you that, but I have a feeling I'm not an Alpha." Ai replies honestly as he scrolls through his phone. "I don't really show many pre-presentation symptoms that line up with Alpha symptoms."
". . . Well you don't really show many symptoms at all, do you?" Reiji wonders.
"I don't." Ai confirms. "Then again, I am still fairly young to be presenting anything."
"Freshly fifteen!" Reiji coos, only for Ai to shove him away lightly. "Don't be mean, I'm going to be the one who'll help you with your hormones soon enough!"
"Hardly."
"You say that now~"
Ai just rolls his eyes and scoots away from Reiji resolutely.
When Ai turns 16, his status is still an enigma. Not that the rest were expecting him to present just yet- presentation tended to come at the tail end of 18 on average- but he should have been showing symptoms. If his body was leaning towards Alpha, he'd be just as irritable as Camus and Ranmaru. If Beta, he'd spend more time breaking them up than anything else. It makes Camus think Ai might be an Omega, since his presence flickered between being provocative and soothing all in one.
Camus and Ai are curled around a thermos of tea each, out in the snow for a photo shoot. Ai is pink cheeked but content, and Camus feels like he's finally back in his element; the winter makes him feel a little less homesick, and (completely unironically) cools his head from the constant angry simmer it gets when he's forced to spend time with. . . unsavory characters.
Ai rests his head on Camus's shoulder with a soft thump, eyes trained on Ranmaru and Reiji's shoot going on a few meters away. It's unobtrusive after its done, and it pleases some inner Alpha part of Camus to have Ai relying on him a little.
"Those two will never grow up." Ai teases lowly.
"Never." Camus agrees, but now that his mind is on the idea, it wanders.
Ai is growing up right there in front of them all- although, that may be too strong of an idea; Ai had already come to them fairly grown and ahead of himself, mind much older than his pretty face was given credit for. But still, he is growing in a unique way and now Quartet Night was surely intertwined with it. If they're still a unit when Ai presents, they'll inevitably be a part of the after; after he presents, after he gets through the worst of it, after he's accepted it.
Camus sighs. He only hopes that Ai is just as pleasant to be around in the after as he is now.
It smells vaguely like a thunderstorm inside the apartment despite the blue sky just outside, and Ranmaru's nose leads him straight to the kitchen as he follows. Shining had insisted they live together in a thinly veiled attempt to get them to act more like a pack than a group of people who would much rather be somewhere else, but all its done is teach Ranmaru that he hates Camus's peppermint scent and Reiji's springy scent triggers Pavlovian headaches.
This scent is different, though. Almost. . . metallic-y. When he goes looking for it, he finds Ai at the end of the trail, and it clicks suddenly- Ai is finally showing some symptoms of his presentation. It's not strong, but it is late summer and they're much closer to Ai's 18th birthday than his recently-passed 17th.
"You're starting to smell," Ranmaru announces as he steps closer and inspects Ai's cooking over his shoulder. Ai pauses, but doesn't lose focus. "I smelled something off and it lead me here."
"Are you sure it's not the food, Ranmaru?" Ai teases, knowing full well Ranmaru's nose is more finely tuned than the rest of them combined. "You might just be hungry."
"Brat. Tilt your head, then." Ranmaru insists gruffly. Ai complies, head tilting to the right so that Ranmaru can sniff at the scent gland at Ai's pulse.
Ranmaru casually drops his nose to the spot and gives it a good whiff and there it is, the odd scent that has started permeating the apartment. It smelled like a thunderstorm brewing just above the middle of the ocean, hot and cold all at once. It'd be too faint for anyone else to ever catch it, except maybe a couple of the presented Starish brats with strong noses- so, neither of Ai's juniors would manage to catch it anytime soon, Ranmaru would hazard.
"It's you." Ranmaru confirms, straightening back out.
"Do I at least smell nice?" Ai sighs resignedly.
"Like lightning."
Ai hums.
"Maybe you'll be a Beta or Alpha with a scent like that." Ranmaru continues, reaching around Ai to stir a pot Ai had been neglecting for a little too long.
"Maybe." Ai concedes without much fight. "I can't really smell it though."
"You usually won't unless you smell it on someone else, or something of yours suddenly doesn't smell like you."
Ai hums again, nudging Ranmaru to the side softly.
"I guess I'll learn once I can smell even a fraction of what you do."
The thing about presenting is that it's really just a gentle slope until the very end. Ai's scent slowly refines itself into a less aggressive, more appropriate combination of thunderstorms and winter breeze; it was much more befitting than the salt that used to line it, which was sharp and difficult to not notice. Ai's pack instincts came in just as smoothly, until he could attune himself with his bandmates without having to think about it. His senses sharpened in tandem, not quickly enough to be stunning but noticeably enough that Ai began actively using them.
He could smell Camus's mint and evergreen, Reiji's floral and sunshine, Ranmaru's smoke and woods. The combination was layered around the apartment comfortably, and sometimes Ai just let himself breathe it in for the familiarity of it all.
The bad parts of presenting came with the hormonal fluxes. As Ai's body tries to situate itself somewhere along the pheromone spectrum, it basically runs by everything possible until it hits a sweet spot that doesn't hurt like a bitch. Which means the scent of two Alphas is debilitatingly strong. Even Reiji's fresh but otherwise neutral scent is painful to inhale if Ai is around it for too long.
Shining suggests they use scent blockers until Ai stabilizes. Ai's response is to lock himself in his uncle's lab until it's over. Professor Kisaragi shrugs helplessly and let's Ai do whatever he likes.
(Of course, the professor himself was an older Beta with impeccable control of his physiology; it was easy for him to stay with Ai without causing his body to go haywire. Ai had grown up around his scent too, and as his body registered the professor as a parental figure, it eased up on making Ai miserable. He cries when he realizes he hasn't hurt in about 10 minutes once, and the professor dearly hopes he doesn't have to deal with Ai crying this hard ever again.)
So all the rest of Quartet Night can do is wait Ai's presentation out.
Ai returns to Quartet Night a week and a half later as a newly minted Omega, and it'd be awkward if it weren't for the fact that nothing has changed at all. Ai still stands his ground as strongly as ever, and still defers to his own benefit. Ai still hangs his superiority over anyone who gets smart with him, still bosses the Alpha juniors around, still subtly coddles Natsuki even though he's a perfectly capable Alpha and still pushes hesitant, Omega Haruka to be her most ostentatious self.
Ai is still Ai, and even the things that change aren't even that large.
Ranmaru and Camus rarely use their domineering Alpha voice around the apartment- even when it's not directed at anyone, it's a potent force to be reckoned with, and it's not appropriate to inflict it on unsuspecting parties. But it slips out of Camus once, and Ai's head tilts, and then-
-And then the room smells sweet, like someone just pulled some fresh brownies from the oven and satisfaction bubbles up from the inherent warmth-
-And the command leaves Camus's voice in favor of a sweep of calm, like he'd gotten what he wanted-
"You're not the only one who can use biology to control others, you know." Ai says smugly, leaning back into the couch comfortably. "Did you know that the quickest way to relax an Alpha is by having them smell a satisfied or relaxed Omega?"
". . . I can't say I did." Camus replies slowly.
Ranmaru sweeps by the living room, and freezes, nose twitching. He hadn't been tense before coming in, but his body uncoils regardless as he looks between Ai and Camus.
"You smell. . . happy." Ranmaru mutters. "I don't think I've ever smelled you so pleased."
"The smell of a happy Omega is probably the nicest thing around." Reiji sighs from the kitchen.
Ranmaru looks at Camus, and there's mutual silence for a moment as Ai passes by them to return to his room.
"I don't feel like fighting you for once." Ranmaru admits.
"It'll wear off." Camus replies.
Ranmaru nods slowly before continuing on his way.
Ai spends his first heat by himself, which is a concept that invokes agony in any status, but it's by his own volition. Ai had never been touchy-feely, not like Reiji, and even his Omega status couldn't make him any more comfortable. Sometimes he'd ask for a hand to hold when he was feeling particularly hormonal, but that had always been the max; any other touch was done with layers of clothes between them or was more like a hover.
So he locks himself away in the professor's lab, again, until his heat abates; professor Kisaragi makes a pained little face whenever anyone asks for Ai.
"It's bad," he admitted to Reiji at one point over the phone. "But he gets hysterical every time I suggest asking someone to help. Even the idea of another omega makes him upset."
Which is why, when Ai returns after the fact, Quarter Night unanimously decides to give him some space. Ranmaru is sitting on the couch, half slumped and napping, when Ai opens the door; his scent is almost thin, and Ranmaru can't help but pop and eye open to look at him. Ai silently moves to his room, eyes ringed with bags, so Ranmaru just waves and goes back to sleep.
He is rudely interrupted by Ai, freshly showered and vaguely damp, plopping onto his lap.
"Nobody else is home." Ai mutters miserably, sniffling, and Ranmaru stares as Ai just sort of. . . makes himself comfortable against Ranmaru's chest.
". . . Do you need anything?" Ranmaru asks, very much confused.
"No."
So Ranmaru just. . . complies, unsure of what to do except pat Ai's hip sympathetically.
Reiji and Camus arrive ten minutes later, and Ranmaru gives them a defeated, pleading look over Ai's head. Help, his eyes scream. What the fuck!, Reiji's face replies. Lord help me, Camus begrudgingly allows out.
Ai sniffles and squirms.
"They're home." he says quietly, not turning to look at the door.
"We are, Ai-Ai," Reiji coos, making his way over. "How are you feeling?"
"Lonely."
"Oh baby," the Beta sighs softly, sitting on Ranmaru's other side and pulling Ai's legs into his lap, rubbing his knee soothingly. "It's okay now."
Camus carefully pushes some of Ai's hair behind his ear, and Ai noses his palm lightly.
Yeah, Ai decides hazily, it's okay now.
camus ends up being right bc i really like the idea of cam/ai best friends and cam spending enough time w him t even if i didnt rly show it