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Robin stands at the door to Steve’s bedroom, plastic bag in hand, and sniffs. She’s so used to checking on Steve during solo heats, it’s almost strange to catch an alpha’s scent in the air. They mix well together, Steve’s lavender and cherry soda with Eddie’s leather and vinyl. She’s sure the combination would be strong enough to knock her off her feet if she was an omega or alpha, but despite having a superior beta nose, the heady aroma of heat and rut trigger nothing in her. Instead, she reads them like a book.
There’s no trace of bitter stress or pain in either of their scents, thankfully. Robin lets out a breath of relief; she was used to scenting distress is Steve’s scent when he rode his heats out alone. Modern technology may have given omegas plenty of options to make solo heats easier, but none of them were perfect. The scents have had time to linger in the air without changing; they might still be knotted, but they’re between waves.
Perfect timing, Buckley.
She knocks loudly before opening the door a crack. She isn’t met with a growl, which is a good sign. Eddie never struck her as an alpha with an aggressive streak, but you never know. It was rare an alpha would ever attack a pack beta even in the worst throes of rut, but Robin has heard horror stories. Her sex-ed teacher pressed that during the one class betas got, that they need to be careful while doing check-ups. Which is important and all, but Robin wishes they got a little more about their own sexual needs than just “wear a condom,” especially when that advice is useless in her case. But if nobody thinks about straight betas, then they sure as hell don’t think about the gay ones.
She steps into the room carefully. They’re in Steve’s nest, surprise surprise, pressed close together. Eddie’s sitting straight up, staring at her with narrowed eyes. She can scent his alarm in the air.
Robin puts her hands up and tilts her neck to the side, exposing her scent gland. She puts out the most calming scent she can. “Calm down big boy, it’s just me. Your beta.”
He considers her for a few more seconds before his shoulders untense. She takes a tentative step forward. When he doesn’t react, she bridges the gap between her and the bed in her normal stride. Eddie reaches out towards her, and she lets him drag the scent gland on his wrist across her neck.
He and Steve are still knotted together, clearly, but one of them had the wherewithdrawl to draw a blanket over their hips. Steve, probably. She wouldn’t have cared, but she appreciates the thought.
Steve’s laid out in the nest, cuddled up into the blankets and covered in a sheen layer of sweat. He smiles at her, all big and bright. He doesn’t look like he’s been mauled by a bear, which maybe a sixteenth of Robin had been worried about. He’s never spent a heat with Eddie before, sue her.
“Hey, Stevie,” Robin looks at Eddie. “I’m going to touch him now, alright?”
Eddie nods. Robin reaches out to put a hand on Steve’s forehead, but he catches her wrist.
“Beta,” he mumbles as he nuzzles into her scent gland. He’s slightly breathless. Recently knotted, then.
“Your one and only,” she smiles. “Your alpha treating you right?”
She already knows he is. Steve smells great, satiated and happy, omega-sweet enough to make her gums rot. It’s the best she’s ever smelt his heat scent. Still, it soothes her when Steve nods. “Good. He better be.”
It takes her a few seconds to wrestle her wrist out of his grasp and put it on his forehead. He’s hot, but he’s not burning up enough to make her whip out the thermometer. Heats always raise body temperatures, and he’s well within his usual range.
She checks his collar next. Eddie’s clearly bitten it a few times, but Steve’s scent gland is still properly covered. The lock in the back is intact too. Robin has the key, to make sure that neither of them try to do something stupid while in the throes of it. She’d put it in Steve’s cutlery drawer to make sure she doesn’t lose it.
She gives Steve her wrist back, before turning to Eddie. She raises her hand slowly. Eddie bows down, letting her feel his forehead. She’s never checked in on him before during a cycle, but he’s much hotter than Steve. “Yeah, we’re going to have to check that.”
She breaks open her toolbox (plastic bag) and pulls out her thermometer. “Say ahhh.”
Eddie does not say ahh, but he opens his mouth, which is good enough. He’s at 100.1 degrees, which is a bit worrying. 99.7-99.9 is the usual range for alphas.
“Are you drinking enough water?” she asks him.
“Yes,” Eddie says.
“No,” Steve gestures to his left. Sure enough, there’s a water bottle there, only half-empty.
“Seriously?” Robin flicks Eddie on the forehead. Eddie growls at her, but there’s no timbre behind it. “I just got Steve to start drinking enough to stay hydrated during his heats, and you’re going to undo all my hard work by setting a bad example?”
Eddie blinks at her, because she definitely used too many words all at once for him to comprehend right now. Robin sighs and reaches into her plastic bag, grabbing one of the water bottles she brought with her. She holds it out to him. “Drink.”
“Not thirsty,” Eddie says.
“I don’t care,” she shakes the water bottle. “Drink.”
Eddie stares at her. She stares right back.
“I’m not leaving until you drink,” Robin says. “It’s my duty as your pack beta and Steve’s best friend to make sure you don’t pass out from rut exhaustion until you’ve seen him through his heat. Drink.”
Eddie keeps staring at her. He let her get away with the forehead-flick earlier, so Robin’s bold enough to bonk him on the head with the bottle. He recoils from that, looking at her like she’s crazy, which maybe isn’t helping her case.
“Alpha,” Steve whines. “Listen.”
That’s enough to get Eddie to take the bottle. Robin tells herself it’s a numbers game, not a I don’t respect my beta game. It was probably the whine. Those are strangely effective on alphas, coming from an omega.
He tries to only drink half of it, but Robin stares him down until he finishes it. She takes the empty bottle before pulling out a new one for Steve. He, thankfully, does not need prodding to finish his. She pinches his cheek as a reward, which makes him scrunch his nose at her.
She pulls out the other six she had in her bag and puts them on the bedside table. “Those better all be gone when I check in on you guys tomorrow.”
“Or?” Eddie raises an eyebrow.
“Don’t test me, Munson,” Robin points a finger in his face, but cuts off the efficacy of her threat by standing up. It’s time to go; Steve’s scent is starting to grow sweeter, the way it does before another wave hits him. “You better keep taking good care of him.”
Steve whines when she pulls her wrist out of his grip. She kisses him on the forehead. His cheeks smell like her now, a problem she’s sure Eddie will fix the second she’s out the door. “I’ve got to check on Nancy and Jonathan, Stevie. Make sure she hasn’t bitten through his collar yet.”
Steve whines again, but she shushes him, and with one last wave to Eddie, she’s out the door. She shuts it tightly behind her and rests her forehead against the door, smiling to herself. She couldn’t be happier for Steve, now that he’s finally found an alpha to take care of him. It was often heartbreaking to check in on him when he was alone, scent bitter and desperate for touch. Eddie better keep taking care of him, or Robin would hunt. Him. Down.
The street outside is empty except for Vickie’s car, which is no surprise. Even if Steve’s house wasn’t in a more sprawling neighbourhood, two thirds of the population are currently squirreled inside.
She lets out a sigh as she throws herself into the passenger seat and greats Vickie with a quick kiss. “I am so happy we don’t have to deal with that.”
“I don’t know,” Vickie grins. “You and me, all cooped up together for three days?”
“We can coop ourselves together for three days whenever we want, and we won’t have to give up most of our brain function to do it,” Robin laughs. “Wait. What’s stopping us from doing that? We should totally do that. Though we’re going to have to do more than just have sex, because I’m pretty sure they need the loss of brain functioning to stop themselves from dying of boredom.”
“Are you saying you’d get bored having non-stop sex with me for three days straight?” Vickie raises an eyebrow.
“... No,” Robin pauses. Alert. Topic change needed. “Do you think I should be worried that one of their temps was 100.1?”
“Eddie’s temp was 100.1?” Vickie asked.
“How’d you know it was Eddie’s?”
“Because if it was Steve’s, you wouldn’t ask if you should be worried because you’d be worried,” Vickie laughs. “He’s probably fine. Some alphas run really hot. It’s something to look out for tomorrow, though.”
“If he makes me call the ambulance for him I’m going to be so pissed,” Robin huffs as Vickie pulls out of Steve’s driveway. “I don’t want to create any more work for those poor, understaffed beta healthcare workers, having to work through mating season.”
“As someone who’s going to be a poor, understaffed beta healthcare worker, thank you,” Vickie smiles. “Now, how the hell do I get to the Byers house, again?”