Prompts: I didn't really follow them all that much today as this peice had a mind of it's own, I did manage to get a forehead kiss in there so we'll go with that one lol
This one is a bit early for me but it's already the 12th for my friend @nonagesimus who's Rook, Ayden De Riva, along with my own Rook, Ziva 'Mercar' Fontaine are the main pairing of this piece so I figured I'd put it out there a bit early. This is a piece set in a Alpha/Beta/Omega AU and they are polyamorous, with multiple partners briefly mentioned in the fic (Hex and Daphne, two of the ones mentioned, both belong to @lucaniseyebrowlicker
Ziva's pre-heats usually left her feeling like a live wire was running through her; she didn't sleep much, spending days obsessing over the build of her nest, a buzz and tightness under her skin that only the touch of her partners could relieve. This pre-heat had hit her different though, and she was miserable. The buzz and ache were still there but all the energy had been zap from her with sleep still eluding her, muscles spasms and cramps reeking havoc on her pelvis and back, leaving her unable to do much but lay in the pile of blankets on her bed. Her partners had been amazing in trying to comfort her and take care of her, bringing her food, electric blankets and extra nesting material, and at least one of them usually with her whenever was possible to provide the physical comfort and heat her body demanded to be able to sleep. But because they all already had time off coming up for her heat the following week, this afternoon all of them had ended up with appointments and work commitments they had to attend to, leaving Ziva home alone for half the day.
Hex and Lucanis had both brought up trying to get out of their commitments but Ziva had insisted she'd be fine. And Daphne had lingered in bed with her for as long as she could that morning, rushing out of the house at the last minute when they had spent too long exchanging sleepy kisses. And she would be fine but fuuuuuck. She'd managed to sleep a bit off and on but had been awoken by her back protesting the position she had managed to talk herself up in. Ziva shifted uncomfortably on her bed, her back and hips protesting the moment so harshly she let out a loud whine involuntarily. It was only when she heard hurried footsteps down the hall and a sharp knock on the door that she realized anyone had come home yet.
"Ziva?" Ayden asked as they pushed open the door, their brow furrowed as they scanned the pile of blankets in front of them trying to find signs of life. Ziva groaned, burning herself deeper in the the fabrics with a muffled
"'m fine, just cramps. Anyone else home yet?"
"Nope, you're stuck with just me for now."
Ziva rolled her eyes even though Ayden couldn't see. The blankets shifted and lifted in front of her, Ayden having correctly guess the location of her face to peer in at her.
"Have you eaten yet today?"
Ziva stuck a hand out of the blankets at a small cluster of granola and fruit snack wrappers on her bedside table. Ayden followed the hand's movement then turned back to give her a deadpan "that's not real food and you know it" stare. They stood with a sigh, eyes raking over the bed once more before moving back towards the door.
"Wait here."
"No." Ziva mumbled into her pillow but she made no effort to move, hearing Ayden give a quiet snort of laughter as they exited. Ziva wasn't sure how long they were gone, maybe a half hour, before the door swung open once more, Ayden dragging in a hamper of clothes and blankets behind them and balancing a bowl and bottle of water in the other hand.
"I warmed up some of the gumbo Lucanis made the other night, come on" Ayden insisted at Ziva's groaning protest, reaching in to help pull her into a seated position. Despite their insistence their touch was gentle; being the only other Omega in the house Ayden understood Ziva's complaining, even if they never passed up a change to give her a hard time about it. Once up Ayden helped her scoot back to sit against the headboard, placing the bowl and water into her hands. Ayden stood back with their hands on their hips, once again looking around Ziva's bed.
"Was this their attempt at helping you set up your nest?"
Ziva nodding before taking a long sip of water wearily.
"They get an A for effort and being cute when they tried but I fear nothing beats years of experience in nest building to account of things like the fact that I've been known to mimick an alligator death roll in my sleep." She responded dryly, Both of them laughed for a moment before an emotion flashed across Ayden's face. They knelt down next to the bed, reaching out towards one of the blankets but pausing before they touched it.
"You mind if I give it a try?"
Ziva felt her chest tighten at the offer, pressing her lips together to fight back the sting of tears as she nodded her consent. Ayden promptly went to work pulling the new material they had brought out, recently worn clothing from all their pack with some of the extra blankets they kept around just for their heats. They diligently started to arrange it all, their brow furrowed in a serious face that felt almost odd to see on them. They paused to ask Ziva for her preferences here and there, and managed to quickly catch on to when to make adjustments based on Ziva's facial expressions. By the time Ziva has managed to slowly eat the food they had brought her, there was a legitimate nest built up around her. Ayden put the finishing touches up; pinning a few darker sheets around the bed to darken the space, leaving just the fairy lights Ziva had wrapped around her bedposts and a small lamp inside to give light.
Once they had finished Ayden ducked inside, a grin spreading across their face when they caught the sound of a faint purr from where Ziva had curled up, the now empty bowl and water bottle set on the side table. Ayden went to reach for them when Ziva's hand came up and curled around their wrist.
"Can you-Would you mind-" Ziva cut herself off, worrying her lower lip between her teeth as she gave a soft tug on Ayden's wrist towards her, into the nest proper with her. Ayden looked down at her hand with an impossible to read expression for a moment before turning towards her.
"Scoot over." Ziva grinned, moving to give Ayden space. They ended up tangled in a mess of limbs, Ziva's face pressed into the juncture of Ayden's neck, their hand buried in her curls.
"Thank you." Ziva whispered into their collarbone, her fingers gripping the back of their shirt tightly as she felt the buzzy ache in her body start to quiet. She felt the light press of Ayden's lips to her temple, a fluttering erupting in her stomach at the move.
"Someone's gotta take proper care of you, right?" They responded teasingly, but with no real bite to it. Both of them knew the rest of their pack were all likely extremely anxious to get back home to check and dote on her as soon as they could. Ziva giggled and scooted up, her nose bumping against Ayden's, both of their mismatch colored eyes half lidded as they took each other in in the dimly lit space.
"If you're offering to take 'proper' care of me, I have a few other ideas for that." Ziva whispered cheekily, watching the corner of Ayden's eyes crinkled as they smiled in response, their hand on the back of her head sliding down to cup the base of her skull, pulling her in to press their lips together, a promise of more to come.
