Thread by @Good_Salt_Witch

A New Untitled Fic. Self Control Has Never Been My Strong Suit.
tags: a/b/o; Kiribaku; Kiri's the omega and Bakugou's the alpha; background MinaTetsu because I have a brand to protect; permanent injury; disabled character; mental illness; forced time off; potential forced

nest in his bed, but Bakugou had made it really clear he wasn't looking for a mate or a relationship out of this. Kirishima wasn't either; a nest that smelled of omega might be good for Bakugou, but not in his bed.

Instead, Kirishima shoved around the couch and armchairs to make

walls, and filled the cubby they formed with his nesting materials and blankets and pillowd he found from the guest closet, padding it out to make it soft and comfy. He rubbed his wrist glands over everything to make it smell welcoming, and hoped that Bakugou would see it for the

comforting space it was supposed to be. Maybe he could get some of Bakugou's friends to bring over scented materials to round it out.

That would work, right?

⛑️
Bakugou fell asleep almost immediately after getting home. He didn't mean to, not with a strange omega in his space.

But despite being unconscious for a big chunk of his hospital stay, he didn't feel rested, and knowing his bed, drenched in his own sleepy scent was right there, made it impossible to resist.

The only thing that slowed him down was getting his shirt off.

He struggled for a moment with having only one hand to do a two handed job, but he got the shirt over his head and kicked his pants away, and hit the sheets in just his boxers.

The smell of cooking food woke him up a few hours later.

He pulled sweatpants on, not wanting to bother with the fly of jeans, and one of many black t-shirts. Getting it on was easier than getting it off, and he didn't bother biting back a string of curses at having to struggle with once-simple tasks. No doubt this was one of the many

things the support omega was probably there to help with, but he wasn't going to let Kirishima get any closer than he had to. Having to rely on him for cooking until he got his prosthetic was indignity enough.

Bakugou opened his bedroom door.

"What the actual fuck," he said, looking at the mess in his living room. "What the hell. Who the fuck said you could make a fucking nest in my fucking living room? Hey, omega! Kirishima! What the fuck?"

The mane of black hair was the first thing

to pop out of the piles of blankets and cushions, followed by red eyes and a huge grin, despite his shouting.

"Shizuka for one, the research on support omega effectiveness for two. I'm supposed to help keep you content and stable, and a nest with welcoming omega and pack scents

was found to be 'highly effective in assisting alphas with maintaining emotional equilibrium,' my dude! And I made dinner!"

Bakugou sneered. Those studies were bullshit. Probably. Full of alphas just trying to get omegas under them to take a knot, saying what they wanted to

hear. You woudln't catch /him/ crawling into a nest for comfort. Or fucking emotional equilibrium, whatever the fuck that was.

He latched onto the idea of dinner instead.

"You better not have left a mess in my kitchen," he warned. "And why the fuck did you even cook, you can

just order. The agency and the comission are paying for all your expenses anyway."

Kirishima pulled himself out of the nest, and Bakugou noticed for the first time he was collarless.

"I know, I know, but Shizuka said -"

"Where the FUCK is your collar!?"

Kirishima's eyebrows scrunched up.

"Hey man, I'm not going to let you talk to me like that. I'm here to help you, but that doesn't mean I'm your verbal punching bag. If you have a problem with what I'm doing, we can talk about it like grown-ups."

Bakugou's jaw went slack.

What the actual fuck? People ran away or cowered when he shouted. That was how the world worked. Kirishima should be rushing to put his collar back on, not telling him how to behave.

"Excuse me?"

"I," Kirishima said, with the air of a preschool teacher telling a three year old that they were wet because they jumped in a puddle, "am not here to let you shout at me. I am here to help you, emotionally and physically, because omegas are good at balancing alphas out. And cause

you might have trouble with regular tasks until you get your prosthesis. And because after trauma like you've just gone through, it's not unusual to have some mental health issues and you shouldn't be alone. I am not here to be shouted at."

Bakugou blinked.

"And I took my collar off because a big part of support omega's efficacy for supporting their alphas is scent. You won't get that if I've got a collar on all the time!"

Bakugou ground his teeth. "I want you to wear a collar around me."

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

Forgetting about food, Bakugou stormed back to his room to call Shizuka. And then his agent. And then Ashido and Sero, who were running the agency while he was convalescing.

All of them said Krishima was doing the right thing, and Bakugou wasn't allowed to fire him.

Still pissed off, Bakugou stomped into his kitchen and sat at the breakfast bar, his still bandaged stump bumping on the countertop and making him hiss in pain. Kirishima had apparently plated the food while he was calling around, and there was a dinner plate over his bowl to

keep the heat in, chopsticks and a spoon sitting on top of it.

The brickhouse of an omega was placidly washing dishes as Bakugou moved his utensils as aggressively as possible without breaking his shit.

"Apparently I'm not allowed to complain about anything you do, since

you're here to help," he said, trying to be graceful using the chopsticks with his off hand. Now his only hand. It didn't work too well.

Kirishima just waved his own phone at him. "I got texts from everyone you called, and we both know that's not true. You're just mad cause

you're used to getting your way all of the time."

He flipped a dishtwoel over his shoulder and leaned against the breakfast bar.

"Here's what I'm going to do, and what I"m ot going to do. I'm going to make sure you eat; I'm not going to make you eat my cooking. We can order,

we can go to a restaurant, you can cook if you're feeling up to it. But I am going to make sure you eat. I'm going to make sure you go to your PT appointments. You can decide if we take the train, or walk, or Oober, but you're going to the appointments. Same thing for counseling

with Shizuka or prosthetic fittings with Hatsume. I'm going to spend a few hours every day collarless, because it's supposed to help you. You can decide what we do during that time. I'm going to do my job until it's not my job anymore. And I'm not going to mate with you."

Bakugou didn't have much to say about that, so he slurped his noodles and glowered.

⛑️

The rest of the day didn't go much smoother. Kirishima tried to get Bakugou to rest in the scented nest, bit he refused - even if Kirishima wasn't in it. Bakugou wouldn't let Kirishima help him with laundry, even though it took much longer to fold one handed.

He decided to skip a shower rather than let Kirishima help him. He'd figure something out. On his own.

He ended up wiping himself down with a washcloth and resolving to buy some dry shampoo.

Then, because his living room was overtaken by a nest and the smell of saltwater, he

took his laptop back to his own bedroom.

He had been planning a bouldering trip for his next vacation in two months. That would have to be called off now. Even if his prosthetics were done, he'd have to be working on arm conditioning and retaking his spot on the hero billboard.

Who knows how many spots he'd slide down each week he wasn't patrolling? Tomorrow he'd call his agent again, look for ideas of what he could do to help keep his spot.
⛑️

Kirishima was true to his word, and after scenting the nest in the morning, he put his collar back on and called the car service to take them both to Bakugou's pt appointment. Why a regular Oober wasn't good enough he didn't know. He wasn't going to pick an argument about it.

This was Bakugou's first pt appointment outside the hospital, where he'd be going from now on. Kirishima brought his tablet, intending to do research on accommodations for one handed people while he worked.

That was until Bakugou met his physical therapist and set off sparklers

in anger.

'Fucking Deku!' he said. "You're Doctor Uraraka?"

"Hi, Kacchan -"

Then there was an argument - more of shouting and placating - until Kirishima loosened his collar and tried to be zen, hoping it would at least calm Bakugou down. He wasn't sure if it would help the

beta doctor.

It worked after a few minutes until Bakugou realized what was happening and turned to Kirishima - probably to yell at him.

Kirishima stopped him in his tracks. "Support omega. Emotional well being. Screaming at your doctor is not cool, yeah?"

"Fucking FINE."

"Let's get this done with, fucking Deku."

As far as Kirishima could tell, the rest of the appointment went okay. Bakugou did everything the doctor asked for at least, and the doctor seemed to mostly ignore Bakugou berating him.

Kirishima worked on his research.

The research quickly became overwhelming. There were so many suggestions for so many tasks that had to be done, and Bakugou wasn't exactly open to letting him know what he /actually/ needed help with. Or at all. Kirishima made notes on the things that seemed the most useful, and

quietly emailed his agency with suggestions for a few items, like a one handed keyboard and forearm supports to prevent muscle strain. The rest of the stuff he'd have to get Bakugou to accept, one way or another.

Maybe if he thought it was his own idea?

It was worth a shot.

That would help with the 'support' part of his job, at least. But the 'omega' part - well. Shizuka had made it clear that sex was not required or expected when Kirishima had initially agreed to the post, and he was relieved about that. He wasn't looking to be a rut helper.

But Bakugou seemed utterly resistant to anything at all the omega part of Kirishima could do to help him out - any scenting, any instinctual behaviors, even his presence in his home.

And Kirishima didn't know what to do about that aside from standing his ground.

⛑️
The day didn't get any better as it went on. Bakugou did his exercises with a scowl on his face; Deku went through the at home workouts with him and Kirishima, like the omega had any reason to need to know this. Bakugou could keep track of his own workouts.

And then Kirishima

wanted to go shopping.

Bakugou shot that plan down. He'd order groceries to be delivered, like he always did.

He and Kirishima took the car service home in an uneasy silence. And they took the elevator up in the same way - silence. That was fine by Bakugou.

But Kirishima didn't let him escape to his room as he had intended.

He wanted to sort out weekly dinners. And arrange a time for his friends to visit. And for Bakugou to not hole up in his bedroom again.

"No."

"No?"

"No. I'm not doing any of that."

"I'll go into the guest room if you spend some time in the nest. Or I'll get to work making dinner -"

"I can make dinner! I don't need your help!"

"But I'm here anyway. Why not let things be easier on yourself?"

"Because I can do it myself."

"But you don't /have to./"

Bakugou ended up sitting in the nest after a phone call from Shizuka. He had to admit - the nest was pretty comfy. As long as he had it to himself, it wasn't a problem. Kirishima took a book into the guest room to read, and Bakugou had the nest to himself.

He could see why omegas built them. He felt safe , soothed by Kirishima's scent. At least until he realized he was relaxing because of the omega's scent, not in spite of it, and he got himself all twisted up again.

He struggled out of the nest, soft layers trying to trap him,

and decided he'd cook himself something to eat.

Except he hadn't realized how much he'd need two hands to do.

Slicing carrots ended up being what ruinend his day. He was using a mandoline, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get far with a knife, but the stump of his arm could

not keep the mandoline steady enough. He cut his fingers on the blade when it slipped, and his cursing brought Kirishima out of the guest room.

At least Kirishima didn't try to pull an I-told-you-so. He just bandaged Bakugou's fingers and asked if he needed any help.

"Just order somethign for dinner," Bakugou groused. "I"m going back to bed."

"You should try the nest out again," Kirishima said. "You'll feel better."

Kirishima didn't seem to understand that Bakugou wasn't ready to feel better yet.

⛑️
The first few days passed like that. Kirishima tried to get Bakugou to engage with him, and Bakugou tried to force Kirishima to back off. They each had their little victories: Kirishima put his collar in when Bakugou was in the room after a morning scenting and Kirishima got

Bakugou to sit in the nest while he caught up on paperwork with his new voice to type software. Kirishima didn't notice much improvement in his mood, but at least it was something.

Then Bakugou set the bathroom on fire.

It was a silly mistake. Bakugou should have known better: he had nitroglycerin for sweat and he was using a propellant dry shampoo to clean his hair. With the build up and oils, he was lucky it wasn't worse. Singed hair and wet towels to smother the fire; he might have been able

to hide the incident if the smoke detector hadn't gone off.

Instead, he got tattled on to his agent, the agency, and Shizuka who all shared the same opinion: no more dry shampoo. And Kirishima would be helping with his hair.

Fuck.

He'd rather go to an overpriced salon than

suffer the indignity of it all.

And being naked save a towel in front of Kirishima? The thought had him cringing like he was in high school all over again. He was never his best around attractive omegas.

Yes, he thought Kirishima was attractive. If not for the situation of him

being assigned as a support and Bakugou's previous attempts at dating all just with him for fame, he might entertain asking him out. Might.

But Bakugou had been through it before, and Kirishima was just his assigned helper. He wouldn't let it be more that that.

Even staring Kirishima in the pecs when the omega tied up his black hair and cheerfully told him the sooner he stopped grumbling, the sooner it would be over.

To his horror, the attractive omega, already half naked and in his bathroom, put a motherfucking/shampoo hat / on him to shield his eyes from the shampoo and conditioner, and then proceeded to give him what was essentially a very sudsy massage. Bakugou felt like melting, and bit

through his lip to avoid groaning with pleasure.

Instead he sat stock still in his goofy ass shampoo hat and tried valiantly to not find Kirishima's 'happy content helping' smell completely addictive.

At least he had his soak in private once Kirishima helped him rinse off .

Link to the top

https://twitter.com/Good_Salt_Witch/status/1614100942764347392?s=20&t=FoWLvCBF1KV_o_8EEFkbeA

Also I try to reply to all QRTs but twitter is being a buttface about notifications again, so I am sorry if I miss you! But I read all the ones I can and they warm my heart.

⛑️

With one hurdle down - Bakugou letting him help with personal care, even if it just was shampooing his hair - Kirishima felt invigorated. Surely he'd be able to keep making progress, and by the time Bakugou got his prosthetic, the alpha would be well adjusted and able to live on

his own!

Right.

Well, able to live on his own. He wasn't sure Bakugou had ever been well adjusted.

But Kirishima had a goal now. He had found that was the way to work with Bakugou - little steps, little goals.

His next little goal was to get Bakugou to socialize.

Not a lot - Bakugou plainly needed his own space. But some. Enough to help him feel like he wasn't all alone in the world. And since he was determined to treat Kirishima more like a live-in PA than real support, Kirishima would have to turn to Bakugou's friends.

If only the man had any friends.

Kirishima kept a weather eye out. Bakugou rarely called anyone - and when he did it was usually his hero agency, his agent, or Shizuka. He didn't seem to ever text either. At least, Kirishima didn't see him texting.

Kirishima decided that a casual lunch with his coworkers would be a good first step.

He called the hero agency while Bakugou was doing PT with Dr. Uraraka - a man that certainly wasn't being paid enough - and tried to get the three other heroes in Bakugou's agency to coordinate

a free afternoon.
Not as easy as he hoped.
With Bakugou out they were covering more shifts; one of the three was just back from an undercover mission - the same one that had lead to Bakugou's injury - and the poor assistant handling all their schedules was completely overwhelmed.

Eventually though, Kirishima got a time booked for Bakugou to have lunch with Alien Queen, Cellophane, and Chargebolt after PT one day. Bakugou just had to be persuaded it was a good idea.

Kirishima knew if he just suggested a friendly lunch, Bakugou would reject the idea without even taking the time to think about it. Which is why Kirishima framed it as a strategizing meeting that happened to be taking place over lunch.

Bakugou barely agreed to that.

But he did agree, under duress, that the other heroes at the agency would need to know how he was doing. Partner patrols worked only if the partners knew what the other was capable of.

Before the secret lunch meeting, Kirishima had his one day off a week. Which was kind of Bakugou's one day off as well - alone in the apartment, apparently how he liked to be every day.

Kirishima told himself firmly he wasn't going to worry about the alpha on his day off.

He heavily scented the living room nest, packed his things, and said his farewells.

Tetsu was out when he got home - probably with his alpha girlfriend again. That was alright. Kirishima could use some proper alone time, like he didn't get at Bakugou's place. It was hard to be

alone, really, while he was working.

Not that Kirishima didn't like being around people! He did, and he loved to help. But even as a support omega - maybe especially as a support omega - there were things he couldn't do around Bakugou.

He got out his heat aid, locked the bathroom door, and had a good wank.

Then he had a long, proper soak in the tub and caught up on everything he had missed in the last week while trying to take care of Bakugou.

His boss at the recovery team let him know his spot was waiting

when this job was done. Tetsu had posted loads of photos to his feed - work out selfies, work selfies, and a few food shots tagged #datenight - and was trying to set up a good time for Kirishima to actually meet the girlfriend.

He had dramas and anime to catch up on, chores around the house, his own laundry, sleep - he never slept as well outside of his own nest - and by the time twenty four hours had passed, he felt ready to deal with Bakugou at his most grumpy.

He'd need to to make it through lunch.

⛑️
Bakugou had a quiet day while Kirishima was out. He sat in the nest again when he was watching the news or doing paperwork, but his nose noticed that the seabreeze scent wasn't as strong.

It felt strange.

Everything was as it was before his injury - except the loss of his hand, and the nest.

Maybe Kirishima was helping him by scenting every damned thing in the flat. Or maybe he was just finally 'beginning the grieving process' whatever that fucking meant.

Shizuka had sent him stuff about loss and the five stages of grief and accepting help and all that shit, and he had barely looked at it. He was fully aware of what he had lost - and what he'd need to replace. Like the support omega, therapy and all that shit were only on his

schedule as long as his agency required it. He wouldn't climb the ranks talking about feelings to Shizuka.

He pulled one of the more heavily scented blankets onto his lap, feeling the cold badly. He wasn't a man that liked the cold.

He was lucky Kirishima had such a nice scent.

⛑️

"Was everything okay while I was gone?" Kirishima asked, putting the groceries he had picked up onto the counter.

"You were only gone a day. I'm not completely helpless."

"Yeah, man, but you're still adjusting. And you avoided the question. Was everything okay?"

"It was fine," Bakugou said shortly. "I even sat in the nest without you to nag at me."

"I don't nag. I provide helpful advice to speed your recovery." Kirishima put his yogurts in the fridge and Bakugou's chili oil by the stove. "Any word from Dr. Uraraka or your prosthetics?"

"Just the appointment tomorrow before the lunch meeting. What's the point of having you on my schedule if you don't look at it?"

"I don't refresh your stuff every hour. And I had to go to three shops to find your chili oil; who knows what could have happened in that time?"

"Not much," Bakugou said.

Then, after a few seconds of silence while Kirishima continued to unload the groceries, Bakugou asked "How was your day off?"

Kirishima dropped the rice he was putting away, but caught it before it hit the counter and split open. He looked at Bakugou for a long minute before saying, "Oh, good! I caught up on tv and some chores. My roommate was out with his alpha, but hopefully I'll be able to see him

next time."

"Good. That's . . . Uh, good."

"Yeah."

Alpha and omega stood looking at each other for another long minute before Kirishima said, "I should rescent the nest" at the same time Bakugou said, "I want to do some food prep."

And they went their separate ways again.
⛑️

The next day was the lunch meeting. Bakugou's pt appointment was a bit earlier than usual, giving him time to shower and change before his coworkers would reach the restaurant.

He had lots of notes to go over with his teammates, a few written in Kirishima's bold pen, most

typed and printed via speech to text. While Bakugou worked on his shoulders with Dr. Uraraka, Kirishima practiced his deep breathing and reminded himself he was there to support Bakugou. Even if he was kind of stressed about meeting Alien Queen for the first time since middle

school, his priority would be Bakugou's comfort. He had even presecented one of Bakugou's many skull tshirts ahead of time to help Bakugou keep his cool.

They still managed to be late to lunch despite Kirishima's best laid plans. Bakugou had to shower at the PT facility and he got snarky about Kirishima towel drying his hair.

Cellophane, Chargebolt, and Alien Queen were in plainclothes but taking photos with fans in front of the

restaurant when they arrived.

Bakugou grit his teeth through a few photos of his own with some of the braver people; Kirishima went inside to make sure the private room was ready.

It was, and when he came out to get the heros, Bakugou was getting hugged.

He looked extremely uncomfortable, and Kirishima laughed.
Alien Queen was the first one to detach from the hug, and bounced over to Kirishima.

"Kirishima! It /is/ you, I thought it was you! I haven't seen you in ages, but then my omega's talking about his best friend Kirishima,

and Bakugou turns up with a support omega named Kirishima, and I'm just thinking it's like not THAT common of a name, what are the odds, right?"
Kirishima's eyebrows went up. "Wait - YOU are Tetsutetsu's new girlfriend? He didn't say -"

"I asked him not to, not yet. While we're

still new. I don't want him getting hasseled because he's dating me, right? I'm sure Bakugou's shared some horror stories about dating a pro-"

"Oh, it's not like that with us. Strictly professional support, yeah?"

Ashido nodded, and Kirishima flashed back to junior high.

She was as exuberant as he remembered - and if he remembered that look rightly, she was as eager to play matchmaker now as ever.

Bakugou took the moment of silence as a signal to intervene.

"He's support, raccoon eyes, that's it. Let's get the fuck inside, I'm starving."

Ashido swooped in and took Kirishima by the arm to walk into the restaurant.

"He's not as grumpy as I expected him to be! Whatever you're doing must be working!"

"He doesn't let me do much," Kirishima said. "Mostly I just scent the nest I built in the living room for him.

That's the most omega-thing I do. Otherwise, I'm just mostly a personal assistant, helping him with stuff he needs two hands for until he figures out accommodations. Oh, I guess he let me help with some of that. He goes along better if he thinks it's his idea."

"That checks out." Ashido slowed her walk down a bit, letting Chargebolt and Cellophane lead the way with Bakugou between them.
"How's he doing though, really? He's barely spoken to us since the warehouse fire - not that that's unusual for him - but we've been worried. And if I

hadn't been in harm's way, he wouldn't have gotten trapped. I want to help him, if I can."

Kirishima looked up ahead at Bakugou's back.

"It's hard to be sure, and I'm not sure what I'm allowed to say and not say. But he's not showing any risky behaviors. I don't think he's

letting himself mourn, really. He's just determined to be better as son as possible, no matter that his brain and his body need time to heal."

Ashido made a noise that was part agreement and part grunt. "Well, it's good you're going to be there for him. Someone has to be, and he won't let it be us."

"I'll do what I can," Kirishima promised.

By the time they made it to the private room, Bakugou, Cellophane, and

Chargebolt had taken seats; Chargebolt had his nose in the menu, and Cellophane was filling Bakugou in and trying to get him to talk.

As soon as Kirishima sat down, Bakugou turned to him to ask for the printed spec sheet on his prosthetics.