So, it being his first birthday away from her, turning 19 and alone in his single dorm... he didn't really know what to feel. He was sat up, it was just a few minutes after midnight, and he couldn't sleep. He didn't have classes in the morning, so really he should be wanting to sleep in... but he just couldn't go to sleep. All he felt was anxiety and dread, knowing his mother was going to call him at some point and have him try to visit for dinner over the weekend. (Of course, he's going to use every damn excuse in the book to not go back.)
By one in the morning, he's decided, fuck it. If he isn't going to sleep, he might as well celebrate his birthday in a way he wanted to.
He pulls out his phone and sends off a text to the last person he'd texted.
'I'm awake and I'm getting high. Come to my dorm if you want to join me.'
Once the text is sent through, he sets his phone on his nightstand before getting up and heading to his desk to turn on his lamp and computer. He settles in his chair and opens his desk drawer to pull out his bowl, ash tray, stash jar and grinder. Happy fucking birthday to me, he thought, somewhat of a slightly sour look on his face.
Honestly, he'd picked up weed pretty quickly after getting to college and going to a few parties. Now he had a hookup, so he was able to grab some whenever he had the time. It helped a lot with his temper, and helped him relax whenever he started thinking about his mother. Old bitch.
He puts on some music on his desktop, keeping it a bit low so it won't disturb the neighbors, but loud enough where he won't have to use headphones to listen. From there, he focuses on grinding up the bud he has, somewhat working on autopilot, he's done this so many times. Hopefully he'd have company... but he sure as hell wouldn't put it past them to decline. Especially so late at night.
He knew he should probably be asleep but he always had been a night owl... Fuck it. He went over to his bowl of clementines and plucked one up, starting to peel it when his phone goes off. Who could that be at this hour...? Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he unlocks it and is shocked by the text he's gotten. Why would Katsuki "in bed by 8pm" Bakugou be texting at this hour?! He set his fruit down, honestly too worried to eat as he opens the text.
: I'm awake and I'm getting high. Come to my dorm if you want to join me.As benign as the text itself was, the hour still worried him. With a sigh, he started to type then sent off a reply.
: Be there in 10, bro!With that sent off, he quickly changed out of his PJs, grabbed his messenger bad, stuffed his own stash and a little wrapped box into it, and took off. The walk was thankfully not a long one and soon enough he was pulling out his keys and letting himself in. The whole pack had given each other copies of their keys just in case and as he'd been invited he figured it was alright for him to let himself inside.
Quiet music greeted him, clicking the door shut behind him and locking up. He toed off his shoes at the door and sniffed the air. Shit... He could smell how distressed Katsuki was and that was telling as betas didn't have as strong of a sense of smell as alphas or omegas did. "Bakugou?" He called softly to his pack leader, venturing further in to find him. The dorm wasn't exactly big, none of them were, so he wasn't hard to find at least. "Hey... Never thought I would see the day you would be up this late." His teasing was very gentle as he closed the distance between them, sitting himself down next to him.
"Brought some of my stuff in case you didn't want to share." He added, cautiously leaning in to nuzzle his cheekbone against the other's shoulder, unable to help scenting him when he was so upset. As it was, he was already pumping out his own soothing scent in hopes of calming the distressed omega. "You wanna talk about it or is there nothing to talk about?" He knew him. If he didn't want to talk about what was bothering him, he wouldn't. Most weren't even bold enough to ask, but as the pack's beta he instinctively wanted to and he cared deeply for his pack. He wouldn't let any of them suffer if he could at all help it.
Sero responds, and Katsuki is glad he'll have someone to keep him from unintentionally going into some kind of downward spiral while smoking alone. Sero was a Beta. He was level headed and knew how to help and Omega cheer up or an Alpha calm down from a rampage. They were pretty damn important in packs and Sero, being the only one in the pack, was definitely the best one.
He helped him when he couldn't seek the comfort of anyone else without being overwhelmed.
So, by the time Sero joins him, he's got his bowl packed and has already taken his first hit, exhaling it as the other entered. He sends a slight nod, though knows his uneasiness and distress was evident. He hated how his scent betrayed him, but he couldn't bother with putting on scent patches when inside his own dorm. At least the doors were scent-proof.
"Couldn't sleep." He grunts at the teasing and, when he feels the nuzzling against his shoulder, he can't help but lean a little into it, scoffing a little. "'S my birthday. Course I'm gonna share." Katsuki frowns a small bit, but when he hears the other question his mood, he looks down at his lap at the bowl and lighter he held. He chews the inside of his cheek, his scent turning more bitter, more burnt as he thinks about his mother, about how disappointed she'd been when he presented as an Omega, rather than the Alpha she expected him to be.
He hands off the bowl and lighter before crossing his arms over his chest as his frown deepens.
"Just hate my birthday. Hate havin' to deal with the idiots at home." His jaw tightens.
The fact that Bakugou was so quick to lean into his nuzzling even a little right off the bat was telling. While Katsuki was surprisingly tolerant of people touching him, it was rare for him to seek touch unless he was very comfortable. He was clearly anything but comfortable which meant he had to be so distressed that he needed the contact. Sero couldn't be happier that he'd been around to respond to the message, he couldn't imagine how bad his pack leader would be by morning if he had to spend it all alone in this sort of mood. It didn't take long before the reason for the upset was revealed.
So it was his birthday. Their pack had formed in their first year of high school so they were all well aware that Katsuki's birthday was always a stressful time for him and also tended to throw him a party whatever weekend was closest to the official day as he always went home for his birthday. They had assumed he would be going back home like he usually did, but now that they were farther from his parent's home it sounded like he would be likely be spending the weekend with his parents as it was too great a distance to travel back and forth on the same day like before.
"We figured you wouldn't want to go, but we were hesitant to make plans like we usually do." He hesitated not sure if the suggestion would be a good idea in the long run, but he instinctively wanted to soothe his packmate's distress in any way he could. He accepted the bowl, taking a hit of his own to stall a little so he could think on how to approach this. Even as he did, he realized that it was rather silly as Katsuki almost always preferred blunt force directness rather than more delicate methods. A side effect of some people very mistakenly trying to push the delicate flower omega cliche onto him as he was growing up, he suspected.
"You know what...? Why don't we throw you your weekend party anyway? Your parents should know by now we always do that so they shouldn't be surprised we're doing it again this year. We can just keep it small this year, if you want, just the pack?" His words left him laced with smoke, setting everything down on the nightstand for now just so he could wordlessly slip his arms around the blond and loosely hold him. He even went so far as to lean in and nuzzle cheek to cheek this time.
"It's a little last minute, but if we all pitch in we can probably find a campsite to rent. Probably not a cabin with such short notice, but we can pitch a tent or two, go hiking, be closer to nature, and, best of all, have no cellphone service so you're not gonna be getting any calls from your mom while we're out there. How does that sound?" They would have to really scramble to make this happen, but if they were willing to rough it, he was pretty sure they could manage.
There was something about Sero's personality that just... calmed him. The guy was a beta, but even so, he seemed more relaxed than most. Though, to be fair, he and Kaminari had been his introduction to weed in the first place, so he supposed it made sense that he was like this. He was one of the vital parts in the pack, and Katsuki found himself appreciating his role more than he initially though he would.
"I'd rather be with the pack than the fucker's back home." The Omega frowned. "Old hag keeps fucking asking about mates 'n pups and shit like that. She wants me to start workin' on pups after graduating." He scoffed, he was her only kid and she seemed pretty dead set on making sure she had grandkids. He was the only one left of his cousins to not already have a mate. It pissed him off, why the fuck would he want a brat? He wanted to focus on his schooling and eventual career, but all that hag wanted--
Before he could get lost in the spiral of negative thoughts, he found arms wrapping around him and a cheek rubbing into his. Almost immediately, his attention tunes into Sero's words, and he realizes he was spit balling plans to celebrate his birthday. It was sweet, and as the other spoke, Katsuki found himself leaning into the taller man with his own arms wrapping around his middle. A gentle sort of purr starts in his chest as he tucks his head into Hanta's neck, rubbing his cheek into his calming scent. The weed also helped, but it was mostly Sero's presence.
"... I think I just want a night of pizza and smoking with you guys. A night in would be fucking amazing, and maybe a hike up the mountain at night to smoke at a spot I know..." He exhales a soft sigh, and his scent is starting to sweeten, showing his comfort and contentedness. It seemed Sero always knew how the hell to help him during a stressful time, and his pack was always good at distracting him to begin with. It was amazing, having such a supportive pack.
He doesn't think he could've survived the stress of school and his parents without them.
"We'll make it a phone-free night, lock the shits up in the lock box I have." He grins. "She'll freak out not being able to reach me but the old hag can suffer." His nose rubs gently against Sero's jawline.
".... Thanks.." He mumbles. 'For being here.' He wants to add, but his pride won't allow it. So, instead, his tongue flicks out to give a gentle, appreciative little lick at the corner of Sero's jaw, his purr still going quietly in his chest.
The brunet had always taken pride in his own friendly nature, easily befriending everyone he met even before he'd presented as a beta. It had actually annoyed him when people started giving his beta status all the credit for his soothing nature when there were plenty of betas out there that don't have the same results he does. It wasn't till high school when he was recruited into Bakugou's pack did he really feel like he was appreciated for one of the few things he felt made him really special. Even he didn't give himself enough credit for how truly special he was... He was so confident in this aspect of himself that when he turned 18 he'd enrolled to become a certified paramedic! He loved it, honestly, though having the extra classes on top of what he already had was tough.
He couldn't help the frown that pinched his brows at the news that she was pressuring her son seek out a mate and have pups already. It was so painfully alpha of her... While her husband's career wouldn't be impacted by pregnancy, Katsuki's career would absolutely be. You can't do hero work while pregnant, it wasn't safe which was one of the stigmas against omegean heroes. A fight could easily result in a miscarriage so pregnant heroes were often deligated to office work at the agency till they had their pups and recovered. That wasn't even touching on the fact that a mate and pups would both make excellent targets for villains willing to take the opportunity. Taking on a mate, let alone having pups were very very difficult choices to make! The fact Katsuki was being pressured into doing it... How horrible...
Thankfully, wrapping him up in his long arms and scenting him helped bring down a lot of the stress his poor pack leader was dealing with. What he would give to be able to solve these problems for him, but there was only so much he could do. One of those things, though, was support him through it all. A soft smile pulled at his lips as he got a reply, not at all offended that his suggestions were simplified to camping out within this very room. He had a feeling that a blanket fort was in their near future if Mina and Denki had any say in the matter. Oh, he was even purring! That was such a wonderful thing to hear!
"Then that's what we'll do. I'm sure the others will be up for a little hike and hanging out in here. You can still tell your mother we're going camping though, she doesn't need to know where we are and that should help keep her from freaking out too bad about your phone sending her straight to voicemail." He pointed out, hoping to minimize any confrentation Katsuki might have with the Bakugou matriarch. There were clearly already a number of issues between them, they didn't need more of them right nowadays.
Even his scent was losing the burnt quality to it, letting the sweet caramel being obscured under it to come to the forefront again. He tilted his head to nuzzle his face into ash blond spikes only to contently stay there. He took a deep breath only to sigh it out happily, his own quiet purr starting up to echo Katsuki's. "Of course, no need to thank me. You know we're here for you and always will be." 'We'... Even now he played down his own importance out of habit.
He'd been about to continue to speak when he felt a tiny warm, wet swipe at the junction of his jaw. His heart gave a little jump, throat tightening as he almost instantly realized what it had been. Katsuki wasn't known for being an affectionate person so the fact he was allowing himself to be now meant the world to him. One of his arms tightened around him a little while the other moved, long fingers dipping into his hair to gently start petting him. For once, he allowed himself to be the slightest bit selfish... "I'll always be here for you. Always..." He cooed back, pressing a lingering kiss to his temple.
Sero was nice to have around, he was so easy going and quick to help or intervene wherever needed, as well as being an idiot that could get others to laugh. Katsuki didn't favor any other beta's, there was a damn reason he was the only one in their pack. He only wanted Sero. Hell... He'd even stolen one of his hoodies when it was his turn to do laundry. It was tucked away in his closet.
He probably would've sought it out to help calm himself down had Sero not agreed to come over.
With him actually there, though, Katsuki wastes no time practically climbing onto Sero's lap and curling up into him, legs wrapping around his waist as his arms loosely wrap around him as well. Hearing his purr had drawn the Omega closer, and he can't help the possessive little nip to his jaw where he'd licked. Before he could say anything more, Sero's fingers thread into his hair. It makes him tense before his purr grows stronger, and Katsuki presses his face directly into Sero's scent gland.
"You better." He mutters, his own caramel scent seeming to get more sweet. Having Sero there was all he'd needed, it seemed, to get him out of the funk he'd started overthinking himself into. When feeling the kiss against his temple, it sent warmth through him, down to his core. He shifts a small bit as his lips brush over Sero's scent gland on his throat, his fingers lightly curling into the fabric of the Beta's shirt.
Would it be so bad to be a little needy for once? He wants... something. What, he doesn't know.
"Hanta.." Tilting his chin up, he leans in to rub his own neck to Sero's. His voice is low, his purr happy and a little chirpy, even. Something only achievable if he was high and comfortable enough. "'S my birthday.... You get me anything?" He's only mildly curious as soon he's rubbing his cheek into Sero's neck, then bringing his mouth back over the spot and dragging his tongue over it. The scent from stimulating it fills his head, and when he speaks next, his voice is breathy.
"If not... I've got a way you can make it up to me." He peeks up at him through his lashes, and his pupils are blown, his red irises a small ring of red around a sea of black. A soft, needy little whine just barely sounds. Okay, maybe he's slipping a bit into Omega headspace right now.