Another little side-snippet of the pack AU featuring Mirio and Eri, because they are adorable and I love them to pieces.
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It's not uncommon for Eri to have nightmares, and it's not surprising at all, considering what she's been through. The first time it had happened after he took her in, she'd been nearly inconsolable; he'd had to call Izuku for help, and the therian's methods had been strange to him, but they'd worked.
Teach me, he'd begged them both once she was sleeping calmly again, because Bakugou had come along to help.
It's gentling, the younger Alpha had explained, and both he and Izuku had walked him through what gentling was. Mirio wasn't so sure at first, but the faster Eri settled for him when he tried it himself after that, the more confident he became.
When the whimpers start tonight, he hears them in his sleep, he's so tuned into his little cub by now. Rolling out of bed, he lifts her carefully from her soft, thickly-padded nest and cradles her close, rumbling low in his throat to soothe her distress. He cups her nape and squeezes in gentle pulses, almost like a massage. Her head tucks under his chin and he scents her, rubbing his cheek over her hair and keeping up his low croon as he sits in bed and hugs her close.
It doesn't take long for her to relax, her nightmares fading beneath his comforting touch. She hiccups through a few more tears before falling quiet, and Mirio hugs her just a little bit closer, grateful to be the Hero of her dreams that he can no longer be while she's awake.