Rest Stop
(rough draft)
A Final Fantasy XV fanfic by Raberba girl
Summary: ABO AU; gen; chocobros deal with heat and rut while on the road.
Author's notes: In my version of ABO, alpha = male, omega = female, and betas have no sexual organs and a neutral gender. This means I have to use "they/them/etc." pronouns, which I hate because it's frickin' confusing, but it seems to be the most commonly accepted gender-neutral pronoun set in English, so. X'''D
Also, I've never actually played Final Fantasy XV and this is my very first fic in the fandom (why is it an ABO... *facepalm*), so sorry for any mistakes... X''D
Part 1 - Prompto
Prompto seemed fine in the morning, energetically chatting and bouncing around as usual. She and Noctis fell asleep on each other in the backseat. When they stopped for lunch, the whole pack was hobbling and groaning a bit from the long hours of driving, some more obviously than others, so any extra discomfort the omega might have been feeling went unnoticed.
It wasn't until Ignis had already ordered their food and Prompto finally came out of the bathroom and joined her packmates at the counter that they finally realized something was off. "You okay?" Noctis asked, watching their friend trudge up to them.
Prompto smiled wanly as she slid (as opposed to her usual little hop) onto the stool next to them. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Uh huh." Noctis slipped an arm around her waist for balance and nuzzled her a bit. This close, they could detect it now. "You're going into heat?" they said, leaning back again.
"Not yet, not yet!" Prompto yelped. "Maybe tomorrow? I'm fine today, though!"
"Hm," Ignis murmured, obviously already planning, and Gladio got up and relocated to Prompto's other side, closing her in between packmates.
"I'm fine," Prompto said again with a bit of her usual energy, lightly swatting at him. "I don't even need to nest yet."
"Do you think you can last until we camp for the night?" Ignis asked.
"Yeah, sure! Yeah!"
"We can always put the spare blankets and stuff in the backseat," Noctis said.
Prompto smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, that would be good... Yeah."
There was a little less conversation than usual during lunch, and then they headed back to the car, getting some bedding out of the trunk to have ready in the backseat. Prompto didn't really use it at first, but as the afternoon wore on, she wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, then eventually piled more around herself and the napping Noctis and leaned against them.
"How're ya holding up?" Gladio asked when they stopped for the night.
"I'm fine, just a little tired..."
Gladio scooped her up, blankets and all, and began carrying her over to the little clearing where they were going to pitch the tent.
"Not that tired!" Prompto yelped, flailing a bit as Gladio laughed. The omega did help a bit to set up camp, then started building a nest in the tent.
"Noct," Ignis murmured, nodding toward the bag of less-dirty laundry kept separate for this exact purpose, "take it to her."
"In a minute," the royal heir said absently, scrolling through their phone.
"Now," Ignis ordered, this time in alpha-voice. To their own dismay, they had quickly emerged as the pseudo-Alpha of their little road trip sidepack, but the development of an alpha voice to go with it had been rather nice.
Noctis flinched at the tone and then, still scrolling, started moving toward the nest-laundry bag. "Okay, okay, I'm going..."
Prompto spent a good half hour constructing her heat nest as Ignis made dinner and Gladio forced Noctis into some training, since it was the last chance they'd probably have to be active for the next couple of days. The meal had barely been served when Prompto started chirping to call her pack, then whining at the slow response.
"Let us eat first, at least!" Noctis called, moving their spoon more rapidly in an attempt to finish faster.
There was a pause, then the whimpering started up again, growing more and more obnoxiously pathetic.
Ignis sighed and carried a bowl into the tent, where Prompto immediately perked up and yipped happily at seeing him. "Almost," they said sternly, "not yet. Eat first."
"Iggyyyy, I'm coooold," Prompto whined, throwing her arms out and arching to bare her throat and belly in an attempt to entice her packmate into cuddling.
The beta held her gaze. "Prompto. We will finish eating, then we will nest."
Prompto growled her displeasure and then practically crawled into them, aggressively cuddling. Ignis had to feed her the first couple of bites, but then the taste distracted her from the heat haze and she sat up properly, taking the food out of their hands to gobble it down herself.
They eventually all settled in, Prompto adjusting her nest to accommodate the whole pack and scenting them all thoroughly before snuggling into the middle of the pile, wrapped around an already asleep Noctis. Her purring seemed to cover them like a blanket.
There was a confused moment where Gladio's natural protective alpha instincts clashed with his deference to the pack leader, and Ignis felt the same in reverse. They nuzzled each other to silently sort it out, then Ignis laid their head down and Gladio's senses sharpened as he kept alert for danger. However, it was a quiet night, and the little pack of four rested undisturbed.
o.o.o
The next day was a lazy one. Gladio and Noctis spent most of it reading and messing around on their phone, respectively; Ignis kept busy mending clothes, organizing their notes, and other tasks they could do while sedentary. Prompto fussed happily over her packmates, grooming and scenting them, at one point simply gazing lovingly at Noctis's face as they napped. "This is a good pack," she declared several times.
Gladio snorted the first time she said it. "We're just a road trip sidepack."
"Still a good pack," she insisted, stretching up to give his cheek a little lick. He rolled his eyes but then reached to ruffle her hair, and she purred happily.
o.o.o
Ignis kept guard the second night. At some point in the dark hours, they noticed that certain distant animal howls were slowly approaching. They nudged Gladio awake, and the two older pack members crouched tensely, listening.
Prompto suddenly sat up, her sweet omega scent turning sharp with fear. Ignis immediately turned their face to nuzzle her in reassurance, and Gladio made a low growl, wordlessly promising protection from the threat.
"They're not close," Ignis whispered. "I'm just concerned that they are not as distant as they were twenty minutes ago."
Prompto whimpered and curled protectively over the still oblivious Noctis.
All three of them remained awake for nearly an hour. Then a howl suddenly rent the air mere feet away from their tent, and alpha and pseudo-Alpha rushed to engage, weapons materializing in their hands. Noctis tumbled out of the nest in surprise.
"Take care of her, Noct!" Ignis shouted over his shoulder.
Noctis hastily snatched up the closest blanket and scrambled after Prompto, who was crawling out of the tent. He wrapped her up and swiped a line of scent across her cheek. "Be right back, okay?"
The omega made a high noise of distress and Noctis growled protectively in response, then raced after their companions. They had struck only a couple of blows when the sound of gunshots cracked through the night, and Prompto's shrieking could be heard in between shots: "I'M TRYING TO HAVE A FUCKING HEAT HERE WHY DON'T YOU FUCKING WHATEVER-YOU-ARES GO THE HELL AWAY SO MY FUCKING PACK CAN COME BACK TO MY FUCKING NEST WHERE THEY FUCKING BELONG...!"
"How is she yelling so loud when she's so tiny?" Gladio laughed.
The beasts were finally dispatched, freeing the pack to return to their extremely displeased omega. Now that the danger was gone, Prompto's rage had dissipated along with her weapon and she was rolling around in the blanket burrito, whining for her packmates. "Nooooct, Iggyyyy, Gladioooo...!"
"We're here," Noctis called, quickening their pace. As soon as they knelt down beside their friend, Prompto chirped eagerly and freed her hands from the blankets again to drag them down and cuddle them.
"Noct, Noct, you're safe~!"
"Yeah, we're all fine...we're fine, Prompto..."
The omega's purrs abruptly cut off when she realized the rest of her pack wasn't joining her. "Hey!"
"We'll only be a moment," Ignis called back, tending to the fire. Gladio, meanwhile, was venting his instincts by marching around the perimeter of the camp, snarling into the darkness as a warning to any other potential threats.
Prompto growled in displeasure and fought free of the blankets so she could crouch over Noctis. "Come here!" she barked.
Ignis flinched, feeling suddenly like they'd been summoned by their mother, and speeded up their movements so as to obey sooner.
The whole pack finally returned to the tent, where Prompto scented them again and startled to settle back in their midst, but suddenly popped upright again. "You messed up my nest!" she cried in outrage. It took her nearly fifteen minutes to fix it, adjusting every piece just so and nudging her packmates around. Noctis, already asleep again, didn't stir through any of the manhandling. Once Prompto had finally gotten the nest back to her liking, she curled into Gladio with Noctis in her arms. "Stupid monsters, interrupting my heat..."
"The nerve of them," Gladio chuckled, and she smiled.
o.o.o
The next day was quiet as well, though Prompto was in pain for much of it as her heat culminated. She whimpered and pressed tightly into Ignis and Gladio, who took turns murmuring soothingly to her and rubbing her belly.
"She needs a primary pack," Noctis murmured, watching in concern as Prompto squeezed her eyes shut and breathed in pained little gasps. "She needs a real Alpha." Any alpha's touch helped, as did that of the Alpha of an affiliated sidepack, but it wasn't quite as effective as the ministrations of a mate or a primary pack Alpha would have been.
"We're the closest thing she has to a primary pack," Ignis said tightly. Ever since they had known and come to care for Prompto, it had always bothered them that she never seemed to bear any strong scent-marks other than from the three of them. Cor would leave some "affection/protection" on her the occasional times they met, and she tended to collect quite a lot of casual marks from friendly acquaintances, but when it came down to serious bonds, she was all but packless. Her parents were never home long enough to scent her properly, and Ignis was sure the little omega would have been targeted a lot more if she wasn't usually covered in the protection of the royal heir and their closest retainers.
Ignis nuzzled the omega, and she made a relieved little whine in response.
Noctis cuddled into her as well, scenting her as they went, and she bared her throat and gave their cheek a little lick. "Hey, Prompto," they whispered, "we're still gonna be your pack, okay? This isn't temporary. We love you."
"Love you too," she mumbled, nuzzling her face into their shirt.
o.o.o
The third night passed without incident. Ignis awakened when they were jostled, and blinked around in confusion. Prompto wasn't in the nest, and they could hear rapid shuffling and clinking sounds coming from outside.
They looked at Gladio, who shrugged. "She just high-tailed it out of here for some reason."
Ignis sighed and yawned, then made their way out of the tent. "Prompto?" The sky was dark blue, indicating that sunrise was close but still a ways off.
"I'm done, I'm done, I promise, I'm done!" the little omega yelped, shoving things into bags and boxes. "We can go now, I'm so sorry, I'm super really sorry, I promise it won't happen again, I'll have better self-contro-" She paused when Ignis caught her arm.
"Prompto. It's early even for me. What's the rush?"
"My heat finished," she said in a small voice. "We can go now. Maybe next time we should just drive straight through, I think setting up camp triggered me-"
"Prompto. I still don't understand what you're upset about."
She looked at him in distress, and they scented her in an attempt to soothe away the smell of her unhappiness. "We wasted two whole days because of me! I knew you'd all regret bringing a 'mega along, I'm so stupid-"
"Go back to bed," Ignis alpha-ordered.
Prompto flinched but obeyed, trudging miserably back into the tent and flopping into the nest, hiding her face against Noct's back.
Gladio scrubbed his fingers through her hair in rough affection. "What was that all about?"
Prompto mumbled something unintelligible. Noctis twitched but didn't wake.
"Prompto," Ignis pointed out, "we knew from the start that there was a chance we'd be on the road long enough to deal with these matters. And even if your heat was not a factor, it's still far too early to pack up."
Prompto turned her face to look at him, her smile sheepish and her eyes filled with anxiety. "Two days, though..."
"Don't see any of us complaining, do you?" Gladio pointed out. "Noct doesn't exactly seem to be in a hurry."
Prompto sighed and relaxed, purring a little when her packmates caressed her. She adjusted Noctis to make a more comfortable pillow. "It's not fair I'm the only one bogging us down, though."
"Are you kidding?" Gladio laughed.
Ignis raised an eyebrow. "Indeed. Just wait until he goes into rut."
Prompto grinned in response with genuine amusement at last. "Please be a much bigger pain in the neck than I was, Gladio; I'll feel so much better."
"You wish, blondie."
They bantered a bit more, then scented each other and settled down again to wait for the sun.