In My Time of Need

by 1monster2

FIX-IT AU & A/B/O DYNAMICS (non-sexual)! It is a generally well-known fact in Lucis that females do not let males who aren't in their Pack see them while they're going through heat. Prompto doesn't exactly know when to leave well enough alone, however, so what happens when he and the Chocobros go to visit a friend and end up finding her going through this very dilemma?

A/N: Hello, everybody! So, this is a bit of a departure for me from normal fanfiction… XD XD I recently (as of…January, I think?) got heavily interested in the video game "Final Fantasy XV", due to my friend Naynish (her penname on the NaNoWriMo website), who is a huge fan of it. Thanks to her I have fallen in love with the characters and the story (NOCTIS WHY? THANK GOODNESS EPISODE IGNIS ALTERNATE ENDING!), and she even got me into the pocket edition of FFXV! 3 Thus, this story is dedicated to her, in thanks for getting me obsessed with such a fantastic game. 3

Also, this is a sort-of AU. I have been reading stories on AO3 as well as (at least until my school's WiFi blocked AO3…), and there's one set of stories that I can't stop writing. The stories include A/B/O dynamics (Alpha/Beta/Omega), and I have based this story off those stories. They're called "Cramped Up" and "Clothing Thief", and they are written by "Kestrealbird". I'd recommend reading those, since they write that sort of dynamic really well! Noctis also survives in this one. I have no idea how at the moment, which is why the story just says that the Chocobros aren't telling anyone. XD

Also, just an FYI…I normally don't swear in my work, and I try to keep to friendly-family topics. I just wanted to put in a warning that Noctis swears twice in this story, and the boys and my OC discuss a situation that females deal with every month. I don't go into much detail, but I included "lady time" for a specific reason…

DISCLAIMER I DON'T OWN FINAL FANTASY XV AND NEVER WILL I JUST LOVE THE BOYS TOO MUCH! 3 3 3

Please enjoy "In My Time of Need"!

Pain.

That was all Naomi could feel.

She was currently lying on her bed in the fetal position, trying to breathe through the pain. "Lucky Prompto," she muttered, "his heats don't involve blood coming out of him." Unfortunately for Naomi, most females' heats—especially female Omega's heats—lined up with their periods, and hers just so happened to be brutally painful. It had hit her the night before, and she had called out of work the next morning.

The boys could do without her for one day.

Naomi wasn't exactly sure how it had happened, but she had somehow become friends with all four of the so-called "Chocobros"—King Noctis, his Shield, Gladio, his advisor, Ignis, and his best friend, Prompto. If she remembered correctly, though, she had accidently run into Prompto and knocked him over once when she was delivering documents to her father, who was a mid-level advisor working in Insomnia. She had immediately begun to stammer an apology, but Prompto had waved it off, asking her where she was headed and walking there with her instead. "Noct'll be fine without me for a while," he said, smiling at her. "Plus it's good to get away from Iggy's mother-henning once in a while. I swear he worries more now than he ever did before he went blind." Naomi giggled, glancing shyly at the ground as they approached her father's office. "That sounds like my mother," she said, "and I unfortunately can't get away from her."

Once they arrived outside the office, Naomi prepared to head through the door. Prompto stopped her, however, with a hand on her shoulder. "Could I get your number?" He froze for a moment, suddenly realizing what that sounded like. "You know…you're a sweet girl, and I like talking to you. Is that all right?" Naomi smiled shyly, handing him her phone. Once he was done, Prompto gave it back to her. "It's good to meet you, Naomi…I hope I get to see you again soon!"

And with that he headed down the hall, only to break into a sprint a second later as a voice came from behind him, "Prompto! Noctis wants to see you—where have you been?"

She had met the other three a few days later. Prompto was attending a training session—though he didn't really need it—and Naomi had decided to go with him and watch. She didn't know how to fight, since she was the daughter of an advisor, but she was always interested in watching her friend do what he did best. She was startled, therefore, when a tall young man came and sat down near her. He was so tall that she had to crane her neck to actually see his face.

"And who might you be?" he asked, looking down at her. Naomi blushed, hesitantly making eye contact with him. "I'm Naomi Englemann…I'm a friend of Prompto's, and he asked me to come watch him."

"So you're the young lady he's been talking so much about," the older man said. He held out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Naomi. I am Ignis Scientia, the advisor to Prince Noctis." Naomi let out a quiet squeak of surprise, but shook Ignis's hand. "May I ask how old you are?"

"I'm thirteen," Naomi said, glancing at the floor again. "My father has me assist him with documents from time to time." Ignis nodded, briefly glancing at the training ground and letting out a quiet chuckle. "That is understandable—I know your father, and he has been under a lot of stress as of late." Naomi nodded, following his gaze to see Prince Noctis and another man—who she eventually recognized as Gladiolus Amicitia, the prince's Shield—dueling with swords.

Judging by Noctis' expression, it was not going well for him.

"Why aren't you participating in the training, if I may ask?" Naomi asked. "If that's rude, I understand, but…"

"It's a fair question," Ignis reassured. "I went through my own training earlier, as Gladio is the only other of our Pack who has any experience with daggers." Naomi froze.

Pack.

Prompto's part of a Pack.

…Crap.

"Is…" she began, looking away from Ignis as she spoke, "is Noctis the Alpha?" She bit her lip, sure that what she was asking was a very rude question. She was surprised, therefore, and the quiet huff that came from behind her and the warm hand that rested on her shoulder. "Surprisingly, no," Ignis said. "Noctis is actually a Beta. Gladio and I are Alphas, and Prompto is our only Omega." He squeezed the hand resting on Naomi's shoulder. "It's confusing to most people, since Noctis is the prince."

"Yeah, that is confusing," Naomi said, leaning into Ignis's touch. "I wish I was in as cool of a Pack as he is…being an Omega with no Pack is not very fun." The second half of her sentence was said almost inaudibly, as she didn't exactly mean for Ignis to hear her. It was clear that he did, however, as his arm moved to loop around her shoulders. "You will find one eventually," he said. "It's almost guaranteed once you are older."

A few seconds later, two loud thumps came from the bench in front of them.

"Damn it, Gladio…"

"Hey, it's not my fault you haven't been practicing recently." Naomi shyly looked up to see Noctis and Gladio teasing each other. She shrank back shyly, but not before Gladio noticed her. "Hey, Iggy—who's this?"

"This is Naomi Engelmann," Ignis said, "and she is the new friend that Prompto will not stop talking about." Noctis peered at her for a few seconds, clearly contemplating something. "We went to school together, didn't we?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Naomi replied, "but you and Prompto were always many grades ahead of me. I'm actually surprised you recognize me." She shyly glanced at the ground, avoiding eye contact. "I'm not the most interesting of people."

"Hey—if Prompto thinks you're interesting, then you're definitely interesting to us," Gladio said, gently punching her in the shoulder. "He tends to talk a lot, as you may have noticed, but he hasn't talked this long about a girl for a long time."

"Plus," Noctis said, reaching out a hand and lifting her chin, "Prompto's my best friend, and he doesn't have many other friends, so…it's always nice to meet someone else who cares for him like I do."

That was the first time that Naomi had interacted with the prince and the rest of his retinue, but it wasn't to be the last. As she had spent more time with Prompto, the other three had found reasons to talk with her and get to know her, to the point that she was as close to them as she was to Prompto. They sometimes got on her nerves—since she was an only child, the four had begun to fill the "overprotective older brother" slot in her life—but she was always amazed that Prince Noctis and his three closest friends had actually decided to talk to her. She never felt like she was part of their Pack, as that was reserved for the four of them alone, but she still loved hanging out with them. They had lost contact briefly once Noctis and co. left for Altissa—and once Insomnia fell—but they reconnected once the group had returned…ten years later. Somehow Noctis had been resurrected after his final fight with Ardyn; the specifics of which no one had ever explained. The four had—understandably—grown busier after Noctis retook the throne, but they still made time to hang out with Naomi and make sure she was all right. There were a few times that she refused to let them come see her, however…one of which was right now…

Naomi jumped as her phone buzzed again. Prompto had been texting her for the last few hours, trying to get her to come hang out. Naomi knew that the other Omega could tend to feel left out, even given the tight-knit Pack he was a part of, but today she was in too much pain to do anything.

"COME OVER WE MISS YOU!"

"Can't, in pain, staying in bed."

"Come on—Gladio misses his favorite Omega."

"I thought that was you?"

A few seconds went by with no response, and Naomi went back to failing at relaxing. All of a sudden, her phone went off again. When she saw the response, though, she let out a quiet whine.

"Hey, Nay, it's Noct. Prompto was showing the rest of us your texts, and we figured that we should stop by and check up on you, just to make sure you're all right. We'll be by soon, so don't leave your room!"

Naomi groaned, curling in on herself even more. Her heating pad was failing, and the cramps were too painful for her to even consider moving. She really didn't want the men to come over, especially since they were such a close Pack. She was an Omega, the same as Prompto, but she hadn't found a Pack of her own yet. She was close…ish…to the men, but she didn't really want them to see her while she was in heat.

This was going to be awkward.

"Naomi?"

Naomi sighed. She had had about five minutes to herself before she began to hear footsteps heading her way. They paused outside of her door for a few moments before a quiet knock came against the door. "Naomi? Are you all right?"

"Uh…yeah…I'm fine," she called back. "You guys can go back to whatever you were doing beforehand—I'm fine." A loud scoff followed almost before she finished speaking. "Yeah, kiddo, you know that isn't going to get past us. We're coming in now." The handle turned, and all four men walked into the room. Ignis, who was the first inside, froze and sniffed the air. "Naomi…are you sure you're all right? There's something wrong with your scent…"

"Yeah…I, uh…" Naomi said, trying—and failing—to get more comfortable. The movement reignited her stomach pains, and she quietly whimpered.

"Come on, Nay, we know you're not—whoa," Noctis said, heading directly for the couch. He crouched down in front of Naomi, brushing the hair off her forehead. "What's going on, Naomi? I know you're not hurt…at least, I'm pretty sure you're not…" Naomi shook her head, biting her lip. "I'm not hurt…but I'm fine. You didn't have…to stop whatever you were doing…to come here."

"Eh, Iggy was making Noct actually do paperwork for a change; he was glad of the opportunity to get out," Gladio laughed. He had come around the side of the couch to rest his hand on her back, pausing a second later as he noticed the heating pad. "What is that for, Naomi?"

"What is what for?"

"The heating pad, you moron." Naomi growled, snapping at Gladio's hand. The Alpha froze, moving back a step. "Easy, Naomi," Ignis murmured, gently resting a hand on her shoulder. "None of us want to hurt you. We just want to help you."

"I know, I'm sorry…I just…" Naomi sighed, grunting a second later as her cramps started up again. It took her almost five minutes to relax, but when she finally did so, she noticed that Prompto had placed his hand on her ankle and was squeezing gently. "…You're in heat, aren't you." Naomi whimpered, flicking her feet as she tried to calm down. She glanced down at the ground, thus not noticing the looks that shot between the men.

"Here, Nay, let me reheat that for you. It doesn't look like it's helping very much." Gladio slowly reached down, keeping his hand in full view of Naomi as he grabbed the heating pad. As Gladio walked to the microwave, Prompto sighed. "I know how you feel, Nay…heats do not feel good."

"Hers seem worse than yours, though, Prompto-"

"Yeah, because I'm not a girl." No one spoke for a moment or two, but Naomi finally nodded. "Yeah…and mine started happening at the same time as my…lady time…back when I was twelve. I've gotten used to it, I just…owh…" She whimpered again, curling further into the fetal position.

"How did you go to school and work with it? You never seemed to be incredibly bothered by it."

"I just took a bunch of painkillers and toughed it out. That's what pretty much every single woman in the world has to do." Noctis rested a hand on Naomi's cheek, and he smiled as she immediately leaned into it. Ignis cleared his throat. "Naomi, what do you usually use in times like this?"

"Um…I've got some Midol in the bathroom, and…that's about it." Ignis nodded, squeezing her shoulder before slowly rising to his feet. "Very well, I shall grab some of that for you. I also brought along some of the tea that Prompto likes during his heats, so if you would like to try some-"

"Sure, Ignis, that sounds great." Ignis nodded, Prompto getting up as well to help him navigate. Once they walked into the kitchen, Naomi sighed. "Owh…"

"That bad, huh?"

"Yeah…"

"Damn, that's rough. Here—sit up a little bit." Noctis helped Naomi sit up a bit on the couch before he laid her head down on top of his lap. Naomi froze. "Noct? What are you-"

"Helping. I know you feel the most comfortable when you're in physical contact with someone, and I've heard from Prompto that I make a good pillow." He smiled as Naomi giggled. "Plus, this way I can help you with your back."

"Wait, how did you-"

"Once you mentioned that you had to deal with them back in school, I remembered that you would have random back pain for a week or so every month. You can't really do that much for it right now, since you're on your side, but I can." He rested a soft hand on her back, focusing for a moment before guiding healing magic into her body. Naomi sighed, her eyes fluttering closed in relief. "Thank you."

"No problem." Noctis sighed, glancing down at her once again. "Why didn't you tell us, Nay? Why'd you keep telling Prompto not to come? You know we all love hanging out with you, and I'd definitely be able to part with him for a few hours. He doesn't do that much around here anyways, the lazy lug."

"I heard that!"

"I know, it's just…you guys are all busy with your own things—I mean, you're the freaking king of Lucis, for example—and you wouldn't have time to spare from whatever it was you were doing. I mean, I have no idea what Prompto even does, but I'm sure it's important…ish…"

"Seriously, guys?"

"Sorry!" Naomi exhaled, then continued. "And besides…it's always a little awkward for a woman to let men see her when she's full-on dealing with her heat…unless they're…cough cough part of the same Pack cough cough." Noctis sighed, running his hand through her hair. "You really don't get it, do you?" Before Naomi could ask what he meant, he reached down towards a bag that Ignis had brought in. "Hey Specs, did you bring a-"

"It's under the two books on trade regulations that you are supposed to be reading, Your Highness," Ignis replied, finally re-entering the room with Prompto alongside, Gladio following behind them. "You do have to know about trading in order to actually regulate it." Noctis huffed, rolling his eyes just enough to cause Naomi to giggle. "When has Noct ever read a book in his life?" she teased. Noctis huffed again, but finally found what he was looking for: a large woolen blanket, which he carefully draped over Naomi. The warmth from the blanket and the newly-returned heating pad, combined with the caffeine from the Midol and the tea that Prompto and Ignis had made, quickly eased some of her most powerful cramps, and Naomi slowly began to go limp with exhaustion in Noctis's lap. "Why?" she asked, blinking owlishly at them. "Why are you all here helping me when you probably have something you need to do? I'm not that important…"

"She's kidding, right?" Gladio asked, glancing at Noct, who shook his head. Gladio sighed, sitting down on the other end of the couch and sliding over until he had most of Naomi's torso resting across his lap. He then reached across, using one large hand to hold onto the heating pad and keep it in one place. "We're here because we want to be here, Naomi. We'd rather help take care of you then deal with stupid trade regulations any day."

"But…you guys all have super important jobs to do, and I just end up distracting you from them. Plus you're all in the same Pack, and I'm, well…I'm not." The four men sighed, causing Naomi to momentarily flinch.

Why did they not like that sentence?

"Naomi…" Ignis began, "yes, it is true that you are not a member of the Pack that is myself, Gladio, Prompto, and Noctis." Naomi sighed quietly, but froze again the moment Ignis's searching hand found her ankle and squeezed gently. "That is not because we do not value you as a friend, but only because the fourof us have grown up together and shared experiences that we cannot with anyone else. That being said…we do seem to have acquired a sort of…secondary Pack, if you will, made up of those we grew close to on our travels and the years since."

"Like who?"

"Like Talcott," Gladio replied, his chest rumbling behind her.

"And Iris," Prompto continued, smirking up at Gladio, who, Naomi was sure, was rolling his eyes (of course my sister is you moron).

"And you," Noctis finished. Naomi flinched again in surprise, tilting her head carefully to stare at him. "…me?" she squeaked. Noctis nodded, continuing to run his hand through her hair.

"Of course," Prompto replied, grinning at her. "You're like, a 'little sister of the Pack', or something. You might not be a part of the inner circle, but you're still a part of the Pack." He leaned over from where he was sitting on the floor by the couch—Ignis was sitting in the only other chair, of course—and gently pressed a kiss to her forehead. The men smirked at the quiet whimper Naomi let out in return.

"Therefore, as your Pack's Alphas," Ignis said softly, "Gladio and I want you to get some rest. I know you can't fully go to sleep, as you have to take care of… 'lady time', I think you called it…every few hours, but you should at least close your eyes and drift for a while. We'll be here the whole time, and nothing will hurt you whilst we are." Naomi let out a deep breath, nodding as she shifted into a slightly better position. "All right…just for a little while." Noctis smiled, moving his hand from her back to her face and resting it on her eyes until they closed—and stayed that way. Naomi figured it would be harder for her to actually drift off, since her cramps were nearly gone but still semi-present; the scents around the room, however—some from her, but mostly from her four friends…her Pack—were comforting, and relaxed her to the point where it was easy to slip into a doze.

Right before she did, she felt another kiss to her forehead, and a voice whispered:

"Sleep well, Naomi. We are watching out for you, and we will never let you fall."

A/N #2: Well, I hope this was okay…I was kinda nervous about it, but I think it turned out all right! I've got plans for more FFXV fanfics (when I'm not dying in school), so you should see more from me soon! (not another one of this sort of AU for a while, though…) My next one will hopefully be out sometime in late March…*fingers crossed*

Also, sorry if my A/Ns are awkward at all…I'm writing both of them in geology class, so I'm slightly distracted… :/ #LavaIsLiquidy #WhyDoesMURequireScienceWhy

I hope you enjoyed the story, and I'll see you all soon!

God bless,

1monster2