Raven!Neil a/b/o au
Literally just the Au that no body asked for.
Background:
· Mary is killed before she can get Neil out and he is sold to the Moriyama’s
· Neil spends 5 years in the Nest before presenting as an omega at 16
· Jean, who’s a Beta, wakes up to his partner presenting as an Omega and immediately goes to Tetsuji
· Tetsuji won’t let him go on suppressants because he doesn’t want the side effects to impact his performance, but Neil also knows the consequences of letting his heat and him being an omega effect his training
· I think the Ravens wouldn’t recruit Omega’s because their bigoted
· Tetsuji shoves scent blockers at him and tells him to take care of it
· Neil suffers through his first heat, while continuing his normal Raven schedule
· After his first cycle, Neil does everything in his power to block out any omega instincts, and everyone just assumes he’s a Beta.
· Jean tries to help him by scent marking in the privacy of his room, but Neil says that it just makes it harder to go back to suppressing everything in the morning.
· This goes on for 2 years (3 more heats – every 6 months) then Kevin leaves (they weren’t super close outside of the Court).
· Sidenote: my headcanon is that heats in the omegaverse aren’t inherently sexual, the omega is just driven a bit more by their designation. In a normal instance the omega will have the urge to make a nest, scentmark their friends and family, just generally indulge in their comforts. When they can’t do these things for some reason, it causes distress and makes them anxious, etc.
· After Riko takes more interest in tormenting Neil because he doesn’t have Kevin to focus on and it gets harder to hide his designation.
· When Neil turns 18, Ichirou comes to the Nest on business (I imagine just generally learning about the Empire for when he takes over) and Neil pleads his case to leave the Nest (
· Despite the punishments he had to endure, Neil slowly let his performance drop as time went on, so he wouldn't seem like such a valuable asset to the team. And so he pleads his case, knowing damn well that the Moriyama's and Ravens are biases against omegas and very traditional(1. He’s an Omega 2. His performance has been dropping since he presented almost two years ago 3. He could still go play for Palmetto State and give the Moriyama family 80% of his professional earning if he gets recruited)
· Ichirou refuses to admit it, but he has a soft spot for omegas and he’s low key kind of pissed his uncle knew this kid was an Omega and didn’t do anything to get him in a better environment. "I mean honestly, you can smell in the kids scent how consistently he’s been stressed over the years."
· Ichirou warns Nathan to stay the fuck away from him so none of that happens (b/c the ultimate goal here is to get Omega Raven Neil all the love and care he deserves, not to traumatize him more)
· And so Neil goes to Palmetto, talks to Kevin (who’s very shocked to find out Neil is an Omega) and Wymack and he’s on the team
· Andrew is so fucking ready to hate this Raven that’s coming onto their team, into their pack, but then he smells him…and fuck if his scent isn’t soaked in years of stress and anxiety, and paranoia
· So…Andrew keeps his distant and is his usual moody dark self, but he isn’t outright hostile cause contrary to popular belief he’s not a monster
· Cue Neil settling in, his scent starts to mellow out, and he stops taking the scent blockers cause his scent going back to normal means it doesn’t immediately make other people uncomfortable and anxious to comfort him and figure out what's wrong
· The foxes adore him and he doesn’t know what to do about it
· Seth doesn’t die, but also Seth isn’t as much of a dick. He’s still kind of an asshole, but he’s not outright cruel or malicious. Seth would be a ride or die if anyone tried to fuck with his pack other than him, and I will fight you on that (I've read enough redemption arc fanfiction for Seth that I've slowly started to like him)
· Andrew was never on his drugs. When he attacked those guys for attacking Nicky it was justified because they were trying to assault an omega and Andrew was just protecting someone he considered his pack.
· The events of The Kings Men doesn’t happen and the assault over Thanksgiving never happens. I guess you could still imagine that Riko still sets it up to get back at Neil and Kevin for leaving the Nest, but I don't imagine the assault happening or Drake getting as far as he did in the book, because a little angst is nice, but not that much
· Also, concerning Drake and how Andrew grew up, I think that Drake would always taunt him about how he would ‘make such a good Omega when he grew up’. I don’t think they ever mentioned what the age gap between Andrew and Drake was, but I imagine he was at least over 16 and presented
Designations
Neil: Omega
Andrew: Alpha (He would refuse to admit it, but he is super protective of every one of the Foxes)
Aaron: Beta (specifically because I think Beta Aaron and Alpha Katelyn would be cute, and you could justify that Andrew doesn't like Katelyn because he doesn't want Aaron to be hurt by an Alpha like he was.
Nicky: Omega (the first thing I knew when I started thinking about this au was that Nicky is an omega. He just has omega energy and I think he is the complete opposite of Neil. He is constantly doing whatever his instincts want him to do (i.e. cuddling, scentmarking, making nests, etc))
Kevin: Beta (Kevin was a walking anxiety disorder if I've ever seen him. He's kind of overbearing, but I don't see him being an Alpha for this au. Besides who needs alpha and omega instincts when you can just live and breath Exy.
Matt: Omega (I think Matt would be very comfortable in his designation and my heart absolutely melts at that thought of Dan and Matts dynamic in the omegaverse, they would be such a power couple)
Dan: Alpha (I think it makes sense for Dan to be an Alpha, it's mentioned a few times in the book that it's impressive that she's a female Captain and as fucked up as it is her being an Alpha would probably give her role as Captain a bit more credibility.)
Allison: Alpha (she's overbearing and protective enough for it to fit, I think)
Seth: Beta (mostly because he rooms with Matt and Neil and I think it would make Neil uncomfortable to room with an Alpha when he first gets there, so by making him a Beta we don't have to deal with that
Renee: Honestly, I think she could go any way, depending on how you felt about her in the books. I can imagine her any of the designations.
Katelyn: Alpha
Tilda: Omega (Andrew don't discriminate, he'll kill whoever fucks with the people he cares about, Omega or not)
Mary: Beta
Nathan: Alpha
Wymack: Alpha
Abby: Omega
Betsy: Beta (I think it's on track in the Omegaverse for therapists to usually be Beta's cause they're scents aren't as strong and Beta's are stereotypes for being peacemakers and calm or whatever - Seth is singlehandedly breaking that stereotype.)
Specific scenario that I think would be cute (and the idea that prompted this entire post)
- Neil and Andrew courting after the incident at Thanksgiving
- Neil going into heat for the first time after joining the foxes (preferable after him and Andrew have started dating/courting.
- Neil immediately falling into old habits. Wearing patches to cover his scent, but they irritate his glands and just make him more fidgety and uncomfortable. Practicing and running more to distract himself. Taking ice baths when he feels too hot. Isolating himself from the others. Fidgeting and picking and being anxious in general. Nobody knowing he’s in pre-heat, so he’s more vulnerable to criticism and praise, so Kevin being his normal overbearing self during practice making Neil feel like he’s having an anxiety attack but he pushes it down until he’s alone.
-Andrew comes back to the dorm after Neil takes a shower and before he can put his patches back on and immediately knows he started in heat and that’s why he’s been acting so weird the last couple of days.
-Cue Andrew being protective and Neil being defensive and trying to act like he’s fine. “You’re a walking disaster Josten. Let me help.” A pause as they look at each other. “Yes or no?”
- Andrew takes him to Neil’s bed and makes him sit there wrapped in his blanket while he goes and takes care of some stuff. Like 15 minutes later, Andrew is coming back with an armful of blankets and clothes. He tells Neil to come to the living room and he’s pushed together the couch and table into an L shape in front of the tv, so the floor in front of it is completely surrounded.
-Andrew drops all the blankets and clothes into the middle of the makeshift nest area and looks at Neil, jerking his head towards it. “Arrange it however you want” Neil being confused and not knowing what he’s doing cause he’s never done anything for his omegan instincts and no ones ever showed him how. Andrew giving Neil gentle prompting on what to do while trying to not get into the nest without Neils permission.
-“Do you need more?” Neil looking like he’s not sure and tentatively picking up pieces of clothing to sniff them and see where he wants them. “I-I don’t know.”
-Andrew nodding and telling him he’ll be back. He comes back with another armful of the foxes clothes and bedding. It takes over an hour, but slowly Neil makes himself a nest and burrows inside and muscles he didn't even know were tensed just immediately loosen and he relaxes.
-"I'll stand at the door and make sure no body comes in without your permission while you get settled." Andrew goes to leave and Neil stops him before he can go outside. "Andrew? Will you stay in the room?" It's so quiet and hesitant that Andrew almost doesn't catch what he says. When he turns around Neil is looking anywhere but his eyes and Andrew can see where he's started anxiously rubbing his fingers together again. He doesn't say anything, but he doesn't open the door, just slides down it's frame and starts looking at his phone.
-When the foxes get back later, Neil is asleep and when Matt and Seth try and get into their dorm Andrew is blocking their way and he slips into the hallway and explains to them that Neil started his heat, and basically threatens them if they do anything to upset him.
-The other gradually coming out of their own rooms like "what the hell? Who took all of our blankets off our beds?" and Andrew tells them the same thing. The foxes immediately not giving a shit half of their wardrobe and linens are gone (maybe Aaron gives some shits, but he's not a complete asshole, he's not gonna say anything. He is a little surprised that his stuff got included his Neil's nest and not just put off to the side.
-Andrew goes back into Neil's dorm and kneels next to his nest to wake him up. Neil slowly wakes up, this being the best sleep he's ever gotten, and Andrew tells him the others are back and wanna make sure he's okay and if he needs anything. Neil's a little apprehensive about everyone coming in and Andrew reassures him.
-Matt and Seth come in first, cause it's their dorm and they need to put their things away. If they weren't in love and protective of Neil before, they definitely are now when they see Neil surrounded in a dozen blankets and half used hoodies (definitely don't say anything about the fact that Neil's put all of Andrew's things closest too him and has his blanket wrapped around his shoulders where's sat up. The others have similar thoughts when they eventually come to check in on him.
-Later that night, Neil tries to get ready for his night practices with Kevin and Andrew stops him like "Neil. You don't have to go out. No body is going to expect to see you out of your door for a few days."
Neil: "Matt goes out during is heats." Matt's heat had been a couple months ago.
Andrew: "Yeah, he does, because that what he prefers. Nicky stays home, because that's what he prefers. You have to figure out what your prefer, Josten. What you were doing before doesn't work." So Neil doesn't go to practice that night. Or classes the next day.
-They leave the nest set up in the living room and nobody goes in it unless Neil is there and he invites them in, but by the next day Neil feels settled enough that he's okay to leave that safe space for more than a couple minutes to use the bathroom.
- They bring him snacks and small meals: fruit salads and granola bars, curry from his favorite Indian place 30 minutes away, etc. Things that aren't too sweet cause they know he doesn't like them.
- The others taking turns picking up Neil's notes and assignments from his teachers and bringing them to him.
-Just generally, over the course of the next few days, Neil slowly becoming more and more comfortable with expressing himself and letting his instincts do what they want instead of pushing them down. He lets Nicky and Matt tell him about what they usually do during their heats. He sits next on the couch next to Renee while she's doing homework and tucks his feet under her legs. He briefly scents Kevin when he passes him in the hallway. He comes up behind Andrew while he's making a cup of coffee in the kitchen of his dorm and asks "yes or no" before winding his arms around his torso and burying his face into his back. It's just cute shit.
- Last, but certainty not least, Andrew sitting with Neil's head in his lap while he cards his fingers through his hair and Neil slowly just starts purring. He's never done it before, so it freaks him out and Andrew is just like "it's fine dumbass, put your head back down." but secretly he's happy that Neil feels safe enough with the to purr.
