Archive of Our Own

Daichi’s hair brushes Kuroo’s cheek when he laughs, his head touching Kuroo’s shoulder as he leans over, his eyes bright and his cheeks flushed with alcohol. Kuroo giggles helplessly with him because it was an absolutely hilarious story, even if he did tell it himself, and he grabs Daichi’s forearm to keep him from falling right off the sofa, his fingers warm against Daichi’s skin.

They aren’t drunk, not really. They haven’t had enough for that to happen but Kuroo feels distinctively tipsy. Tonight, the air between Daichi and him is cotton candy sticky and sweet, good vibes humming in the air and clinging to the both of them crammed side-by-side on the sofa. Kuroo’s knee is touching Daichi’s, Daichi’s head is resting on Kuroo’s shoulder, and Kuroo can’t seem to bring himself to pull away from Daichi. He swipes his thumb over Daichi’s forearm and shivers, a crackle of electricity lancing through his body. In its wake, heat courses through Kuroo’s body like a trail of ozone, leaving him breathless, anticipatory, his senses dulling and heightening all at once, narrowing down to focus on the bright presence next to him that is Daichi.

Kuroo hasn’t let go of Daichi’s arm but Daichi doesn’t seem to mind as he finally straightens up with tears in his eyes, a smile wide on his lips, his whole body still trembling in the aftermath of his laughter. He feels like an earthquake contained within Kuroo’s grasp, shaking the ground right beneath Kuroo’s feet, dislodging, disarming, and absurdly charming.

There must be something wrong with Kuroo, because while he has always found Daichi absurdly charming, a gorgeous mix of cute and handsome topped with a perfect hint of deviousness, he has never really wanted to act on it as strongly as he does now. Now, gripping Daichi’s arm in his hand and soaking in the lingering warmth from his laughter, there is only one thought recurring in Kuroo’s mind, expanding like an exploding star in the suddenly shrinking universe of his head.

Kuroo really, really wants to fuck Daichi.

“Kuroo?” Daichi tilts his head to the side, his lips still curved into a smile as he asks, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

With his head tilted like that, Daichi’s neck forms a perfect curve from his jawline to his shoulder, leading into the neckline of his shirt, and Kuroo can’t tear his eyes away from that exposed strip of skin. He wants to get his teeth on that, on Daichi, everywhere on him. There must be something wrong with Kuroo because they have been friends forever and more recently, friends who have sex occasionally, but he has never had this strong of an urge to do something to Daichi.

Kuroo is an alpha and Daichi is an omega, and despite popular misconceptions, they have never had problems with that. Kuroo has spent time in close proximity with Daichi, in closed confines, up close and touching, and, once, even within range of the intensely sweet scent of Daichi in heat, but anything they had done together was usually arranged in advance, carefully planned around Daichi's heats and Kuroo's ruts to avoid compromising this relationship-not-relationship they had between them. Tonight was just supposed to be for them to drink and unwind, both of them too exhausted from anything that happened during the week to actually have sex, but apparently Kuroo's body has other ideas, given how it is reacting to Daichi at this very moment.

Kuroo can tell when exactly Daichi realises that something is off because his eyes go wide, his smile fading at the edges as he looks closely at Kuroo and takes a deep breath. The flush on Daichi's cheeks darkens to a deep red and his pulse stutters in Kuroo’s grip as he asks incredulously, “Are you going into rut? Right now?”

So that was what it was. It all makes sense now that Daichi has said it out loud—only that it doesn't because Kuroo knows he wasn't supposed to go into rut now, but two weeks later when Daichi and Kuroo had planned to put some distance between them. Just as Daichi avoided Kuroo during his heats, Kuroo vanished from Daichi's sight during his ruts, secluding himself in his apartment and spending a miserable day or more bursting with heat, ready to claw himself out of his skin, and missing Daichi intensely.

Kuroo has thought of Daichi on more than one occasion—all the time—in rut and coming out of those heat-laden days had always left him burning with a shame that left him unable to meet Daichi's eyes for days after that. He wants Daichi but he doesn't know if Daichi would want him in his rut, or if he would be able to stop himself if Daichi didn't. Kuroo liked having control of himself when he was with Daichi, spending long moments sweetening him up with his hands and lips, exploring his body and getting explored in return before getting down to the actual intercourse.

Kuroo wasn't sure if he liked who he was in rut. Kuroo in rut wasn't exactly a paragon of self-control, all that tightly contained self-control just about fraying to nothing in front of Daichi. There was not going to be any slow teasing, no smirks and banter, just the need to stay close to Daichi, to be in him, to keep him near until the heat washes out of Kuroo. Kuroo needs to get out of here now, or to get Daichi out of here.

Kuroo stops breathing. He clamps his mouth shut so that he doesn't breathe in any more of Daichi's scent, then, slowly, agonisingly, Kuroo pulls his hand away from Daichi's forearm and scoots away from him on the sofa. Kuroo almost whines at the sudden loss of Daichi in his space but he swallows it down, wrenching his mouth open to say, “Daichi, you might want to leave.”

Daichi looks at him, confusion and concern mingling in the brown depths of his eyes. Instead of doing exactly as Kuroo says and leaving immediately, locking the door behind him, and letting Kuroo deal with his rut alone, Daichi stays put. There is consideration there in Daichi's eyes now as he weighs the pros and cons of whatever decision he is coming to, and despite himself, Kuroo finds himself hoping that he stays.

"Should I?" Daichi asks carefully and Kuroo knows exactly what Daichi is offering in those two words.

It is new territory for both of them and Kuroo doesn't know if he will regret it but he finds himself reaching for Daichi even before his mouth can form the words, "I don't want you to go."

"Okay," Daichi exhales, speaking more to himself than Kuroo. “Okay. Shit, how do alphas’ ruts work?”

“I really, really want to fuck you, Daichi,” Kuroo says and it is the easiest thing he has said tonight. "And that's all I really want to do for the rest of the night and most of tomorrow."

Daichi turns scarlet all the way to his ears and Kuroo leans in close to watch the colour climb, rising on his skin like a swelling tide across sand. Kuroo's arms drop to either side of Daichi, his hands flat on the seats as he boxes Daichi in loosely, nudging him against the back of the sofa as he surges forward. He gets a knee in between Daichi's legs, his other knee coming up to part his thighs as he eases himself under Daichi, pressing him back against the sofa and pulling him onto his lap all too easily.

Daichi grabs Kuroo by the shoulders, holding him back just as Kuroo makes to press his nose to Daichi's neck, and Kuroo actually whines this time at being denied the close comfort of Daichi's scent. Daichi moves his hands, ghosting past Kuroo's neck and moving upwards to cup Kuroo's jaw with both hands, his thumbs lightly caressing Kuroo's cheeks. Kuroo shudders at his touch, nuzzling his face against Daichi's hand, taking in the intimacy Daichi offers him.

"Kuroo. Kuroo, listen to me," Daichi says, his voice low and pulling, even as he holds Kuroo at bay with his hands. "Are you listening?"

"Mm," Kuroo hums, his tongue too heavy in his mouth, and it takes him a moment to realise that Daichi is expecting a more coherent reply. "Yes."

Daichi tilts Kuroo's face up with his hands, making Kuroo look him right in the eye as he says, "I’ll help you through your rut. But you can’t put it in, okay?

"Why?" Kuroo asks, his hands already tracing patterns up Daichi's sides, touching him through his shirt.

Exasperation flits over Daichi's face as he says, "I didn't prepare for this. You didn't tell me that your rut was going to hit you today. I didn't know we were going to have sex tonight."

"I thought I still had time. A long time. At least two weeks." Kuroo closes his hand over Daichi's hand, holding it in place as he traces his lips over the lines on his palm.

Daichi shivers and Kuroo takes advantage of his distraction to push him further against the back of the sofa, sliding his thighs under Daichi's and opening Daichi's legs up a little wider to accommodate him. But Daichi's grip on Kuroo's jaw remains firm, keeping him from leaning in, determined to get his point across before he lets Kuroo do anything else. "Either way, you can't put it in tonight. Okay, Kuroo?"

"Okay," Kuroo repeats obediently, his hands already going to the waistband of Daichi's jeans and tugging insistently. He thinks he would agree to anything if Daichi stays right where he is. "Can I take this off? I promise I won’t put it in. I just need to...” He grinds the bulge in his pants against Daichi's ass, a groan slipping out from between his clenched teeth at the promise of friction between Daichi and him.

"Fuck," Daichi hisses under his breath, his hands going to Kuroo's shoulders to steady himself as Kuroo bucks under him again and again as if trying to fuck him through the layers they have on. "Kuroo, you can but you actually have to stop for a moment so I can take them off."

Kuroo's fingers grope for the button and zipper on Daichi's jeans as soon as Daichi says that, working them open in record speed before he slips his fingers into the waistband of Daichi's boxers and jeans and yanks them both down. He doesn't actually stop grinding against Daichi because he can't and it takes more than a bit of manoeuvring, mostly on Daichi's part, before Kuroo finds himself with Daichi's bare legs on either side of his waist. Kuroo loses his shirt in the process as Daichi yanks it off him, determined not to be the only one missing clothing. Before he can situate Daichi's ass back down on his bulge, Daichi slides his hands into the waistband of Kuroo's loose pants, his fingers curling around his cock.

"You're going to give me a friction burn if you try to grind against me with your pants still on," Daichi grumbles, tugging Kuroo's pants down and pulling his cock out from his waistband. It sits thick and heavy in Daichi's hands and Daichi strokes it from base to tip, his thumb resting on the slit. "What are the chances of you letting me go for the lube?"

Kuroo shakes his head, his hands gripping Daichi's waist tightly. He shuts his eyes, his breath coming in hot and shallow pants as he fights the urge to just yank Daichi down onto his cock.

Daichi moves one hand up to the back of Kuroo's neck, his fingers resting lightly against his nape, and his other hand moves up and down Kuroo's length, his thumb rubbing the tip of his cock coaxingly. With Kuroo this worked up, it doesn't take long for the precum to start dribbling out and Daichi swipes his fingers through it, using it to slick Kuroo's length up.

Daichi's touch feels good, his hands moving with an intimate familiarity and his thighs pressing against the outside of Kuroo's thighs as he kneels on the sofa, taking his weight off Kuroo. He still has his shirt on and Kuroo's hands slip under it, sliding up to the warm skin and muscle underneath. Kuroo opens his eyes, his mind still a hazy fog of instinct and desire, and he sees Daichi's chest before him, still covered up by his shirt, rising and falling quickly as Daichi breathes hard.

Kuroo splays his hands against Daichi's lower back, nudging him forward towards Kuroo, and Daichi's grip on the back of Kuroo's neck tightens as he falls against Kuroo. This close, Kuroo can push his nose right against the dip in Daichi's chest and he does, following it right up with his mouth as he nips hungrily at Daichi's chest through his shirt. Daichi moans as Kuroo's lips find his nipple, his teeth closing around cloth and skin, and a shudder wracks Daichi's entire body as Kuroo bites down without thinking.

"Kuroo!" Daichi's hands push at Kuroo's chest, trying to put some distance between them, and Kuroo moves his hands down Daichi's back, gripping the underside of his thighs as he hitches Daichi closer to him and pushes him back against the sofa in the same breath.

When Kuroo pulls back, there is a wet patch in the shape of Kuroo's mouth on Daichi's shirt, his skin reddening under the damp white cloth, and Daichi's face is flushed with indignation. He had let go of Kuroo's cock to keep his teeth away from him and his hands now grasp the front of Kuroo's shirt, ready to keep him back if he tries to bite him again. Sprawled out on Kuroo's lap and backed up against the sofa, Kuroo's cock rests between Daichi's open legs like a suggestion that Kuroo is more than ready to act on.

Thanks to Daichi, Kuroo's cock is slick with his own precum, throbbing with need as he drags Daichi closer to him by the hips and shoves his cock between Daichi's asscheeks. Daichi stiffens for a moment as Kuroo adjusts the angle of his hips so that his length fits perfectly against Daichi before he starts grinding against him and Kuroo lets out a ragged gasp of air at the friction against his cock. Kuroo wrenches his eyes open from when they had slid shut in pleasure and holds Daichi's gaze, reading the hesitation in his eyes.

Kuroo knows what Daichi is worried about and it is a valid concern when all of Kuroo's rut instincts are screaming at him to shove his cock into Daichi. But Kuroo had made a promise with Daichi, a muddled and hazy one, but a promise nonetheless, and he is going to stick with it, rut or not. Kuroo's hands are trembling where they touch Daichi, straining with the need to act on his instincts, and he takes a hand away from Daichi's waist, untangling Daichi's hand from his shirt and bringing it up to his lips.

Kuroo kisses the back of Daichi's hand chastely, his lips brushing over his knuckles in light, fleeting touches. As much as he wants to, he doesn't move his hips just yet, forcing himself into stillness under Daichi, and gradually he feels the tension ease out of Daichi's body, the hesitation in his brown eyes finally giving way to arousal. Kuroo grazes his teeth playfully over Daichi's knuckles and Daichi shivers, heat pooling in his eyes as he looks at Kuroo. Daichi's hips shift over Kuroo, rubbing him against Kuroo's cock, and Kuroo hisses at the heat that spikes all over his skin from that slight movement.

Kuroo's current self-control is a fragile thing but he thinks that between Daichi and him, they can make this work in a way that will satisfy both of them. He drops Daichi's hand and wraps his arms around Daichi, keeping his hands flat on his back, following the fluid ripple of muscle as Daichi rolls his hips over Kuroo in a slow, controlled wave. Kuroo groans long and loud, aching with need, and he drops his chin onto Daichi's shoulder, nuzzling the side of Daichi's neck as he breathes in Daichi's deepening scent.

"Move with me, baby?" Kuroo murmurs against Daichi's neck and gets his reply in the form of Daichi dropping his weight fully onto his lap, his hands curling around the back of Kuroo's neck to keep him tethered as he grinds down tantalisingly against Kuroo's cock.

Kuroo moans, pressing the sound of his voice against Daichi's skin as he follows Daichi's lead and bucks his hips eagerly up against him. He still wants to fuck Daichi, to pin him down flat on the sofa and push his cock into his tight warmth, but this feels good enough that Kuroo can shove that thought aside and concentrate on the slick friction between Daichi and him. Having Daichi here with him during his rut is infinitely better than any fantasy of him Kuroo can dream up, his scent thick in Kuroo's mouth and his body warm and pliant in his arms. Daichi’s cock swells against Kuroo’s stomach and Kuroo reaches for it, wrapping his fingers around his length and stroking him like what Daichi did for him just now.

It doesn't take long from there between Kuroo's increasingly desperate thrusts and Daichi's low moans in his ear as Kuroo jerks him off sloppily. Kuroo tugs at Daichi's shirt and it almost rips in his eagerness to get it off him so that he can put his hands on all that warm, bare skin underneath. He leans in, trapping Daichi between the sofa and his body, and Daichi lets him do it, his arms wrapping around Kuroo's shoulders as Kuroo plants frantic kisses on his neck.

Daichi's scent spikes at the same time that Kuroo comes, an almost violent explosion of omega pheromones that knocks Kuroo completely off-kilter as he slumps over Daichi's body, the place where his cock is pressed up against Daichi growing hotter and slicker. Kuroo's head lolls against Daichi's shoulder and he whines heatedly, sliding a hand under Daichi's ass and pushing his fingers between slick skin, his fingertips searching for his hole. Vaguely, Kuroo realises that Daichi had come right after him, his body now limp and unresisting in Kuroo's lap, and Kuroo is still hard, his cock pushing up against the best place for anything else to happen.

A growl builds up in Kuroo's throat, mingling with a groan as it spills from his lips, and Kuroo leans sideways, taking Daichi down with him onto the sofa seats. From there, it is all too easy to push Daichi flat onto his back, keeping their previous position with Daichi's legs still tangled around Kuroo's waist.

"Daichi," Kuroo moans, bucking his hips between Daichi's thighs and hearing him bite back a gasp as Kuroo grinds down roughly into the mess between them. "Daichi, Daichi, please."

Daichi's knees dig into Kuroo's sides and Kuroo bends over at the waist with a groan, his hands slipping against the sofa seats as he tries to catch himself before he crushes Daichi under him. Daichi's hands slide into Kuroo's hair, tugging him closer, and he hugs Kuroo tight against his body, locking his legs behind Kuroo and limiting his movements.

"Kuroo," Daichi's lips brush against Kuroo's ear, his hands stroking the nape of Kuroo's neck soothingly as he says, "Kuroo. I can't. I ran out of birth control pills earlier this week and things were so hectic I didn't have the time to go pick up more. I didn't think we were going to have sex any time soon since your rut was coming up."

"You can—"

"If you finish that sentence, Kuroo Tetsurou, I'm going to jam my knee into your cock and you'll never go into another rut again." Daichi grabs Kuroo's face between his hands and pulls him away to look him in the eye. Despite the threat he just uttered, Daichi's eyes are soft and sympathetic, his voice still low and soothing as he continues, "Kuroo, baby, listen to me. We've talked about this before, haven't we? Neither of us are ready to be parents now, are we?" Daichi chuckles a little as he adds softly, "We're not even properly dating."

Kuroo wants to sob, caught between the need to act on his instincts and the need to hold back for Daichi. He wants to bury his face into Daichi's neck and breathe in his familiar sweet scent and maybe everything will be alright. "I want you," Kuroo whimpers, his voice coming out a bit brokenly, his body straining against the firm grip that Daichi has on him.

Daichi strokes Kuroo's cheek with his thumb, his face falling as he sees the pain in Kuroo's face. "Maybe I shouldn't have stayed."

Kuroo shakes his head. "I would have still wanted you anyway, whether you were there with me or not. I want you all the time, Daichi, god."

"You're in rut—“

"Ask me again afterwards. Ask me again any time," Kuroo says desperately, barely aware of the words tumbling out of his mouth and what they mean. He just knows that they are all true, spilling from a place deep in him that had broken wide apart with the onslaught of his rut. "But, Daichi, please."

Daichi bites his lip hard, confusion flickering in his eyes. A crease forms between his eyebrows and Kuroo can almost see the thoughts racing around in his head. Kuroo wants to kiss him, to close his teeth around the deep red colour blooming where Daichi bites down on his lip, but Daichi keeps him firmly out of reach even with all of Kuroo straining against him.

They have had sex countless times before, when the both of them were lucid and never in heat or rut. Kuroo doesn't know— he knows why Daichi is being so adamant about this when they had discussed this before, when they had first started this arrangement between them. Plenty of alphas and omegas had on-and-off partners to take them through their heats and ruts, but neither Daichi nor Kuroo had really wanted to be just that for each other.

Kuroo likes Daichi. They had been rivals before they became friends, and they had been just friends before they became friends who had sex with each other. Kuroo doesn't quite have a word for what Daichi and him are now but he likes what they do together, having sex and having dinner and getting together to bitch and moan about the things that happened during the week. Factoring in their biological imperatives only complicates things between them and rather than deal with that, Kuroo had opted to skirt around it entirely. He knows that Daichi takes measures to prevent any unwanted consequences between them but it hadn't really sunk in until now, of all times, when Kuroo's self-control is all but non-existent.

Kuroo really doesn't like who he is in rut.

"Do you have condoms?" Daichi asks, snapping Kuroo out of his fevered stupor. He had only been able to grind shallowly against Daichi with Daichi's iron grip on him stopping him from getting a proper angle to push his cock in. His head is still being held back by Daichi despite his best efforts to get his mouth to Daichi's neck where his scent is strongest.

Something in Kuroo rebels. He doesn't want to put a condom on. He wants to come in Daichi, he needs to come in Daichi. Kuroo shakes his head fiercely, almost dislodging Daichi's grip on him.

"Kuroo," Daichi says again, tightening his grip on Kuroo's face. "I'm not having unprotected sex with you when I'm off birth control."

"Don't omegas only get pregnant if they have sex during their heat?" Kuroo asks, grasping at straws.

Daichi scowls. "That's not really proven."

"I'll take care of you if—"

Daichi’s scowl intensifies, his muscles bunching up under Kuroo to push him off and Kuroo backtracks, smoothing his hands over Daichi’s forearms to placate him. If Daichi leaves now, Kuroo thinks he might actually die from sheer need, the heat consuming him from the inside out if he spends his rut alone after having Daichi here with him.

"I'll go look for them. Now," Kuroo says hurriedly, his voice edged with desperation. "If I find them, can I put it in?"

Daichi nods. "If you keep it on."

"Wait here." Kuroo disentangles himself from Daichi, nearly falling off the sofa as he tries to take off in a run before pulling away from Daichi. Once his feet are safely on the floor, he darts to his bedroom, moving faster than he ever has in his life.

Kuroo tears his room apart, trying to remember if he had condoms in his room, if someone had given one to him, if he had any free samples, anything. He barely used them when he was with Daichi since the pills Daichi usually took were enough to ward off any unwanted pregnancies, and he has only been with Daichi ever since they started doing this. Kuroo can't remember as he searches his room frantically, can't think of anything but Daichi waiting for him on the sofa, and his cock throbs so violently with need that it hurts.

Finally, Kuroo drops to his hands and knees, pressing his cheek to the floor as he peers under his bed and discovers a box of unopened condoms, a buy one get one free thing he had been wheedled into getting with Bokuto, and he snatches it up with a fervent prayer of thanks to Bokuto. His hands fumble with the box, ripping it apart to get at the condoms inside and he runs back to the living room with them clutched in his hand like a lifeline.

Daichi is still sprawled out on the sofa where Kuroo left him, still all deliciously bared skin splattered with traces of their previous activity. His legs are stretched out before him, bent at the knees with his feet pressed to the seats, his thighs awkwardly hovering close like he doesn't know what to do with them after Kuroo had vacated the space so abruptly. Kuroo is just glad that he hadn't left. The sight and scent of Daichi makes Kuroo feel too tight in his own body, swelling fast and ready to burst out of his own skin as he slides onto the sofa and hitches Daichi's knees up around his waist.

Kuroo brandishes the row of condoms he had managed to extract from the ruined box and Daichi's mouth falls open in a silent "oh", his throat bobbing as he swallows hard. There is a hunger in his eyes that resonates with the hunger gnawing at Kuroo and Daichi raises his legs to give Kuroo a better angle, his knees brushing against Kuroo's sides sensually. Now that Daichi has stopped trying to pin Kuroo down, Kuroo can see the full extent of the mess coating the inside of Daichi's thighs. It would be all too easy to slide his cock home into Daichi now and Kuroo nearly drops the condoms in his rush to act on that impulse.

But first, he should bring Daichi to his bed, a sudden suggestion rises in his head, pushing its way through the heated haze clouding his head. The sofa can't be comfortable for Daichi. It is narrow and the seats would leave friction burns on his skin if he rubs up against it. Kuroo needs to give him the best, to make him as comfortable as possible if they are going to do this through the night. To Daichi's confusion, Kuroo shoves Daichi's legs back down. Then Kuroo eases his hands under Daichi's body and picks him up from the sofa with far more ease than he has ever done on any other day.

Daichi makes a surprised noise, throwing his arms around Kuroo's neck and hanging on for dear life as Kuroo dashes for his bedroom with Daichi in his arms, making sure not to catch Daichi's head or feet on the doorframe as he eases through the door. He lowers Daichi onto his bed, tosses the condoms down beside him, and takes a breathless moment to admire how Daichi looks spread out on his bed. It is nothing he hasn’t seen, but now, more than ever, Daichi’s body calls to him in ways Kuroo has never felt and Kuroo is all too eager to respond.

Kuroo drops to the bed on his knees, his hands grabbing Daichi’s legs as he fits himself between them and slides a hand up the inside of his thigh, his fingers slipping in sticky liquid. On a normal day, when Kuroo has a tighter control on himself, he would have done this slowly, sensually, smirking as he teases Daichi’s rim with his fingertips. But today, with the heat pounding urgently in his head, Kuroo presses two fingers into Daichi, getting him open just enough before he shoves them fully in.

Daichi’s body jerks like he has been electrified, a gasp shooting out of his throat as he tightens up at the sudden intrusion, his hips trembling hard as Kuroo pumps his hand, pulling his fingers in and out of him roughly. Daichi groans, his hands clutching the pillow under his head as he turns to bury his face in it, consciously trying to relax himself as Kuroo fingers him too roughly to actually help. Kuroo swallows hard at the pulsating warmth around his fingers and pushes his cock against the soft underside of Daichi’s thigh, unconsciously thrusting against him to take the edge off.

Daichi takes a third finger well enough, his voice rising in a muffled quaver as Kuroo stretches him, stil clumsily trying to prep him when all he wants to do is shove his cock in. With his face half-buried in the pillow, Daichi reaches down and closes his hand around Kuroo’s hand, stilling his frantic movements for a second. Kuroo’s fingers are still fitted into Daichi and Kuroo watches, his mouth impossibly dry, as Daichi adjusts their angle, keeping Kuroo’s fingers pressed deep within him as he shifts his hips, showing Kuroo where he wants to be touched. Kuroo follows his lead, relearning things he had already known but lost in the mindlessness of his rut, and Daichi moans appreciatively, taking his hand away from Kuroo's. The tension seeps out of Daichi gradually as he relaxes against Kuroo's bed, his eyes hazy with pleasure as he stares at Kuroo from his pillow.

Wetness gushes around Kuroo’s fingers, warm and trickling out of Daichi, and Kuroo groans as Daichi twitches around his fingers. Daichi bites at the pillow in his grasp as a full body tremble runs through his body and Kuroo has his fingers out of him in a flash, reaching blindly for a condom and ripping the packet nearly in half as he fumbles to fit it over his leaking cock. He has never been harder, his cock swollen to its absolute limit as he hitches Daichi's legs up over his shoulders and pushes the head of his cock insistently against Daichi's hole.

Kuroo thrusts into him with one hard snap of his hips, sinking his cock in fully to the hilt and Daichi gasps, his back arching off the bed sharply. Daichi can't find traction on the bed with his feet up in the air and he grips Kuroo's sheets tightly in his hands as Kuroo pulls his cock out to the tip and thrusts it in again, his hips bucking against him hard and fast. Kuroo nearly sobs at the relief, wordless groans spilling uncontrollably from his mouth as he pushes his cock in deep, trying to get as close to Daichi as possible.

"Kuroo, ahh, Kuroo!" Daichi moans out loud as his teeth slip from the pillow, his hands coming up to scrape at Kuroo’s shoulders desperately.

Kuroo bends over Daichi, lowering his head to rub his cheek against the strongly scented skin of Daichi's neck and inhaling it deeply through his mouth. "Daichi," Kuroo purrs against his neck, intoxicated by Daichi's scent and his heat all around him as he keeps bucking his hips against him.

He licks a strip up Daichi's neck, nipping at the line of his jaw then brushing his lips downwards. With his cock still buried deep in Daichi, he can't bend that far down so Kuroo caresses Daichi's thighs before trailing a hand over his stomach and bringing it up to his nipple, leaving a sticky smear on Daichi's skin in his wake. Daichi's cock is hard against Kuroo's stomach, trapped between their bodies and Kuroo begins to grind down against it as he lowers himself between Daichi's thighs, pushing his weight into Daichi.

Daichi lets out a strained cry that borders on a wail, a sound that Kuroo has never heard from him before, and his hips tremble violently against Kuroo. A liquid warmth spreads against Kuroo's stomach and Daichi goes limp in the sheets, panting harshly into the pillow he holds to his mouth. Kuroo fits his mouth to Daichi's shoulder, laving at the sweat on his skin with his tongue and then biting down hard enough to leave an imprint of his teeth.

Kuroo thinks he might have come again, or maybe he didn't, but either way his cock is still hard, molten heat pooling in it as he rocks his hips into Daichi unceasingly. He wants Daichi so bad it scares it, all uninhabited lust and desire, telling him to take Daichi now and make him his. He wants Daichi moaning around his cock, his scent flooding Kuroo’s senses, his legs wrapped around his waist as Kuroo pins him to the bed and doesn’t let up until morning. He wants Daichi, all of him, until his sweetness is permanently seared on the roof of Kuroo’s mouth and his warmth melded into his skin.

Kuroo wants and wants and wants, and he only hopes that Daichi wants him the same way as he does.

---

Morning comes without Kuroo realising that he had fallen asleep and he blinks into a suddenly sunlit room, the curtains drawn to fill the room entirely with a warm glow. He is lying on his side, curled around another body, bare skin pressed to bare skin under the blankets engulfing them both. He has his arm thrown carelessly around a waist and his nose pressed into the nape of a neck, breathing in Daichi's sex-sweetened scent every time he inhales.

Daichi smells like him, Kuroo realises as he nuzzles closer, finding heavy traces of his scent all over him. It would be hard not to after spending an entire night with him, when Kuroo’s scent would have transferred easily onto his skin with every touch between them. Daichi would have smelt even more strongly of him if Kuroo had come in him but they had managed to avoid that as much as either of them could, burning through the entire box of condoms in a single night.

Curled up against Daichi’s back as he is, Kuroo’s bare cock rides up Daichi’s ass like a reminder of last night’s activities, but Kuroo feels no urge to move. He is satiated and warm, content to just lie here with his arms around Daichi and his legs tangled up with his. He feels amazing, which is a surprise because he always feels like crap after his ruts. Furthermore, his ruts usually last for more than one day, leaving Kuroo shaky, exhausted, and frustrated after thrusting his cock into his hand or the bed or anything to no real relief. Now, those urges are gone and his head feels fuzzy with sleep and contentment, not heat and uninhabited lust.

Drifting in and out of sleep, Kuroo noses the line of Daichi’s shoulder, mouthing at the bare skin there sleepily and noting the lovebites speckled across his skin. He wants to do something nice for Daichi. After all, Daichi had stayed with Kuroo through his rut even though he didn’t need to and he had been amazing last night, his body pliant and accommodating as he directed Kuroo to all the places he wanted to be touched, demanding that Kuroo give him as much pleasure as he took from him. Guiltily, Kuroo remembers that despite Daichi's best efforts to keep up, he had been a wreck towards the end of the night, dissolving into wordless moans and gasps as Kuroo entered him again and again, thrusting into him more roughly than he should have. After all that, the least Kuroo could do was to make him a breakfast of pancakes with bacon and eggs before throwing himself at his feet in apology.

Kuroo straightens his body slowly, peeling himself away unwillingly from Daichi’s back. His lower half and arms are sore and he winces as he thinks about how much worse it would be for Daichi when he wakes up. He eases himself out from under the blankets carefully, tucking them around Daichi’s back to preserve his residue warmth. As Kuroo pulls himself up into a sitting position at the edge of the bed, Daichi stirs and Kuroo goes still, willing him to stay asleep.

Daichi turns over but his eyes are still shut, a furrow forming between his eyebrows as he throws a hand out behind him and feels for a body that isn’t there. “Kuroo?”

Kuroo is back under the blankets and curled around Daichi’s drowsing form before Daichi can say anything else. “Yes, baby?”

Daichi tucks himself snugly against Kuroo’s chest and reaches blindly for Kuroo’s hand, putting Kuroo’s arm around his waist when he finds it. Then he sighs, making a small contented noise before he starts to snore.

Kuroo doesn’t move. He can’t move because apparently he has become such an essential part of the bed that removing himself from Daichi’s presence would only wake him up immediately. Hence, he doesn’t move.

Kuroo hugs Daichi close to him, pushing his nose against the nape of his neck as he shuts his eyes. He is never going to recover from Daichi. Whatever they had between them was more precarious than Kuroo had thought and after spending Kuroo's rut together, there was probably no going back to the way they were.

But Kuroo can deal with that later, after Daichi wakes up.

Much later, Kuroo finds himself in the kitchen making pancakes with bacon and eggs while Daichi sits at the dining table, gingerly seated atop two soft cushions stacked on a chair. Daichi looks exhausted and he rests his head on his folded arms on the table, his hair sticking up at all angles. Kuroo had meekly offered to carry him to the dining table, only to realise that he couldn't make good on his offer when he didn't quite have the strength to carry Daichi with his own aches and pains weighing him down. So Daichi had hobbled over to dining table by himself and Kuroo had delivered the cushions to him before fleeing to the stove.

Daichi fiddles with a strip of morning-after pills Kuroo had gotten for him at the nearest pharmacy, two empty tabs where he had already taken them, and his brown eyes stare blearily out into the space past them. As Kuroo flips pancakes as silently as he can, Daichi speaks up, his voice hoarse and scratchy as he says, "So."

The pancake just barely makes it back into the pan and Kuroo puts it down before he drops the pan entirely. "I'm sorry," he blurts out, interrupting Daichi.

"For what?" Daichi asks, his voice calm and even.

"For..." Kuroo gesticulates at the air with a spatula. "Everything. Everything I did last night. For my rut. For doing all that to you."

"Did you do it on purpose? Did you know you were going into rut last night?"

"No!" Kuroo spins around with the spatula in his hand. At the table, Daichi looks up at him with his head still resting on his arms, his eyes clear and questioning, but not accusatory. There are shadows under his eyes and lovebites litter his neck all the way into the collar of his shirt, accompanied by the occasional teethmark. He looks exactly as he would have if he had spent an entire night with an alpha in rut and a warm flush creeps up Kuroo's neck. That had been all him, not just some alpha in rut, putting his mouth and scent all over Daichi. He had wanted to, and he did.

How were omegas around an alpha in rut? Kuroo knew how alphas were around omegas in heat but he had never really stopped to think about it the other way. Did his pheromones influence Daichi into staying and letting Kuroo do whatever he wanted to him? Did he pressure Daichi into letting him put his cock in him? There were reasons why Daichi and Kuroo avoided each other on their heats and ruts and this was exactly why.

"Kuroo— I think your pancake's burning." Daichi lifts his head from his arms to stare behind Kuroo as the smell of scorched pancake reaches Kuroo's nose.

Kuroo swears and spins back around to rescue the neglected pancake before it attaches itself to the pan. As he flips it out of the pan and turns off the gas, Daichi continues from behind him at the table, his voice still steady and calm, "I'm accepting your apology, but only because I'm mad about not being able to walk and sit and do anything without everywhere hurting. You said your rut was in two weeks and I believe you." He hesitates for the briefest moment before he adds, "Besides, I was the one who offered to stay with you last night."

“Why?” Kuroo gives everything on the stove a quick look over before he drops the spatula into the pan and turns around to face Daichi.

Daichi is sitting upright, a little taller than would be comfortable given the height of the table and the extra height the cushions under his butt give him, but he isn't quite looking at Kuroo as he says, “You looked like you needed it.”

I looked like I wanted you. Kuroo bites his lip. "But it hurt for you."

"Well," Daichi says carefully, the foil strip of his pills crinkling in his hand, "this is more of the aftermath of it."

Kuroo stares, not understanding for a long moment. Then he asks, "Did it feel good for you when we were having sex while I was in rut?"

A flush lights up on Daichi's cheeks but he finally looks straight at Kuroo, his gaze unwavering as he says, "I don't have sex with you on a regular basis out of obligation, Kuroo."

Abruptly, Kuroo spins back around, his hands gripping the edge of the stovetop before he can fall over sideways. Mechanically, his hands running on autopilot, Kuroo piles the pancakes on two plates and dishes out the eggs and bacon, filing the plate intended for Daichi until it nearly overflows. Then he walks over to the table on legs that don't feel like his, feeling floaty, like he isn't entirely there, and there is a worried furrow between Daichi's brows as he approaches him.

Kuroo slides Daichi's plate onto the table before him and leans over to kiss Daichi on the temple, inhaling his warm, familiar scent as he nuzzles his hair. As he pulls back, with his plate still balanced on his other hand, Kuroo finds a pool of courage within him that he never knew he had, drawing deep from it as Daichi looks up at him with surprised brown eyes.

Kuroo looks back at him, his heart an arrow that leads straight and true to Daichi as he says fondly, "I love you, Daichi. Did you know that?"

Daichi's eyes widen and Kuroo moves to the other side of the table, putting his plate down and sitting down opposite Daichi to watch the emotions that pass over Daichi's face. When caught off guard, Daichi has an expressive face and the flush on his face darkens to an even deeper red, his gaze dropping to the overflowing plate Kuroo had placed before him. Just as Kuroo starts to worry that he might have lost Daichi to a good breakfast, Daichi glances up at Kuroo and says, "You might have said that a few times last night. And I might have said it back a couple of times."

Kuroo grips his cutlery tight and searches his hazy memories of last night frantically. "Really?"

"If you don't remember then too bad." Daichi shrugs then picks up his cutlery and immediately starts shovelling food into his mouth.

Kuroo stays still for a moment, clutching his fork and knife and just trying to remember. It takes him a while and it still doesn't come to him, lost amidst the heat and haze of last night. Eventually, Kuroo gives up and returns his attention to Daichi as Daichi devours his breakfast in front of him. Daichi's cheeks are bulging with food and half his plate is already cleared, and Kuroo catches him sneaking a glance at Kuroo's untouched plate.

Kuroo's lips curl up in a smile, which he sharpens into a smirk as he leans over his plate and asks, "Does this mean that you like it rough, Daichi?"

Daichi swallows down his mouthful, his gaze falling away from Kuroo's plate casually as if he hadn't been eyeing it. "I like being able to walk in the morning. Being able to actually sit down on something with a surface."

"I could bring you pancakes in bed. Every single time."

Kuroo can see that for a split second, Daichi looks like he might be considering it, and he bites his lip to stifle a laugh. Finally, Daichi sighs and pokes at a piece of pancake on his plate. "As tempting as it is, every single time might be too much for me. You're not exactly the best listener when you're in rut, Kuroo."

"I understand," Kuroo says, trying not to let his disappointment show.

"Sometimes," Daichi says firmly, flicking his eyes up to look at Kuroo. "And in return, you stay with me through some of my heats too. Since we're in this for the long term."

"Deal," Kuroo says immediately. He thinks about what this means for both of them, how things might change between them, then realises, "Hold on. Other than the new heat and rut arrangements, this basically means that nothing changes between us, doesn't it?"

"Well, you can call me your boyfriend now instead of just a friend," Daichi says, a smile creeping up on his face.

"How about 'lover'? 'Honeybun'? 'Sweetcheeks'?" Kuroo lists off, returning Daichi's smile with a grin.

"If I ever hear the last two names in relation to me, I'm going to deny all association with you and spread rumours about your salacious relationship with pancakes."

With some food in him, Daichi looks much better, his face still flushed from Kuroo's abrupt confession and his movements less jerky and stilted. The smell of a delicious breakfast hangs over them and in the warm afternoon of a late Sunday, Kuroo realises that this was what he had always wanted with Daichi. He had wanted Daichi so badly during his rut last night, but wanting Daichi had meant more than wanting his body or wanting to have messy-haired babies with him. Wanting Daichi also means this, late night drinking and laughing with him and waking up with him in his arms and sitting across each other as Daichi demolishes pancakes and eggs and bacon at twice the rate that Kuroo could ever achieve.

It is in this curious moment of realisation that a thought strikes him, a lingering leftover sentiment from his rut, leaving Kuroo wistful and hesitant as he prods a piece of egg around in his plate. "Daichi?"

"Hmm?" Daichi mumbles around another mouthful of pancake.

"Do you ever want children?" Kuroo finds himself asking. "Someday."

Daichi swallows and that is the last of his pancake gone. Kuroo forks over one more from his untouched plate but Daichi doesn't dig into it yet, his eyes going thoughtful as he thinks over Kuroo's question. "I do, someday," he says eventually. "But not now."

Kuroo nods. So that doesn't change between them.

"I'll let you know when I'm ready," Daichi tells him. Under the table, Daichi's foot nudges Kuroo's ankle and Kuroo jolts as Daichi hooks his foot around his ankle and lets it stay there, just touching, his skin warm where it presses against Kuroo. Above the table, Daichi starts chomping into his newly acquired pancake with an air that tells Kuroo that he is going to lose all his pancakes to Daichi if he doesn't start making them disappear into his stomach.

"Okay." Kuroo bites down on a smile, a little frisson of happiness running through his body, and finally starts digging into his breakfast before he ends up giving it all to Daichi.