"Are you Leon from Vivi's phone?" The kid asked.
"Yeah, I'm her cousin. Where is she?" Leon answered.
"Hold on, you could be anyone! Prove that you're her family first!"
Leon nearly did a double take; this kid was challenging him?! Then he calmed his alpha and thought that it was only reasonable to be asked to prove his identity. He pulled out his phone and swiped till he got to pictures of Vivi's last birthday and showed the kid a few with Vivi, him and their family.
"Alright, you pass. My mom has her in our guest room. Top of the stairs, first door on the right." The kid then hollered up the stairs about Leon coming up.
Taking the stairs two at a time, he wasn't even winded by the time he reached the top. Waiting for him at the top of the stairs was a woman that was obviously an omega. That relieved him a bit since the lady would understand that this was a heat and was serious.
"Oh, so you are the famous Leon! Please, I think she's been waiting for you. She's been quite delirious, but none of the suppressants I have on hand seem to have worked for her. I'm a nurse by the way, but I can't seem to make heads or tails of why her heat won't respond to suppressants unless she's bonded."
Leon didn't have time to explain much, so he let her think what she wanted. Especially when she came to the conclusion that he was Vivi's pair. He was a bit surprised when the lady let him into the room and then closed the door behind him with the words, "Take all the time you need to calm her heat. I'll keep my son busy, so you won't be disturbed…" With that the door was closed behind him and he heard the muffled sound of the woman going downstairs.
He soon realized how thick the pheromones were in this room. He was used to Vivi's pretty strawberry pheromones, but these; these were thicker, muskier, and definitely not the sweet summertime berry he was used to. He fought back his initial instinct to take Vivi for himself while she was in this state. He would never, ever allow himself to do such a thing. He scolded his alpha as he readied Vi's first injectable suppressant.
After he injected it, he murmured words of love and encouragement, and used this opportunity to release soothing pheromones for her. He tried his best to keep his rising desire to mate her under control. It was possible, if only barely. He knew he could do this. His dad had told him that mind over matter was the best bet for an unruly alpha. He trusted his dad's advice and kept chanting to his inner self to behave and that in due time if and when Vi was ready to accept them, then it could have its way.
After a few minutes, Vi became coherent enough to detect an alpha's pheromones. She struggled for just a moment, thinking she was going to get hurt, but then her omega registered the light and almost bubbly feeling of champaign. She recognized these pheromones, so she relaxed back into a dream. This dream, though, was quite vivid and stirred something in her that she didn't want to admit. She couldn't bring her conscious mind to say it, but she was attracted to Leon. She had been trying her best to evade and ignore him ever since her 22nd birthday when she caught a glimpse of him looking at her longingly through the crack in her door, but she never mentioned nor acknowledged that she had caught him looking at her then.
Drifting in and out of a dream-like state, Vivi cried out, uttered, and sighed Leon's name several times. She longed for him yet cried that she couldn't do that. He was a kid. Too young for her and certainly too young for the kind of thing that her stupid omega wanted. Finally, after who-knows how long, she came to her senses…
She was back in her room at home with her mom looking tired and relieved as he hovered nearby.
"What happened? Did you come to fetch me, Mom? My stupid heat won't respond to any of my suppressants again! I was counting on those to work so I could work through the week before practicals!" Vivi said, frustrated as she made an attempt to get out of bed, only to be stopped by her mom.
"Vivian Alexandra Victoria Hendrix! I know you are an adult, but sometimes I still wonder! How many times has it been now?!"
Vivi cringed at her mom's full usage of her entire name, double middle and all…
"Mom! I'm too old for you to call me by my full name!" She whined a bit as her mom, again, prevented her from getting up.
"Young lady! As long as you are my daughter, I reserve the right to use your full name when you are being uncharacteristically stubborn!" Darrol exclaimed.
Actually, it was pretty typical of Vivi to be stubborn, but this was one trait he wished she hadn't gotten from him. She had on multiple occasions been brought home by Leon after she had a rogue heat instead of paying attention to the condition of her body and instead relying on suppressants to make it through whatever she was needing to do at the time. She did this oftentimes to the point of collapse. This time, Leon had gone to fetch her from her part time job, tutoring a kid that needed extra help in school.
When she told him the name of the student and the mother that had hired her, he'd had reservations about her accepting the work, since it turned out that Kelly, Asher's old nursing student neighbor, from his days living at the apartment, was the mom of the kid she was tutoring. The last time he had seen her was when Emma had been born. The woman had gotten herself just what she wanted, but without it being Asher whom she had hooked her claws into. Instead, she had been taken advantage of and left to raise a child all on her own. It was sad and at the same time he couldn't find pity for her with the way she had come on to a taken man; HIS man.
"Ugh! My head hurts! Come on Mom, let me get up and take care of it so I can get back to studying! Practicals are just around the corner, and I still have a ton to edit on my thesis before I can submit it!" Vivi whined, making a third attempt to get up.
Darrol called over his shoulder, "Ash! Come and talk sense into our daughter! Don't just hover outside her room! Also tell Leon to come in!"
Vivi's eyes widened in horror. If Dad was being called in to talk to her, then she really had stuck her foot in it. Plus, she had no desire to see her cousin in her probably disheveled state.
"Mom! Really, I'm fine!"
"Don't you 'fine' us, young lady! As a med school student, you know exactly why we are worried about you! Do I need to break it down for you like your mock practical exams?!" Asher said as he entered with Leon right behind him.
Her dad was now slightly graying at his temples, much like her Grandma Ashina had looked when she was still little. It suited him and gave him more of a distinguished professor's air about him. Being more conscious of her own looks, she made a quick attempt to smooth her fly-away hair and realized in even more horror that her hair was greasy and tangled. Just how long had she been out of it that she hadn't been able to bathe?! She was almost afraid to sniff herself and find out if she smelled bad too. How could her parents let Leon into her room while she was looking like a complete mess?!
She squeaked and hurriedly pulled her blanket up to her chin and laid down again. She hissed, "Mom! Why are you letting Leon in here?! I'm a mess! I don't want to see him!"
"Because, of all your family members, he is the one that selflessly takes care of you when you get this way. You only become more consciously aware of yourself and your actions when Leon is around…" Darrol didn't add that it was because he knew how much Leon loved Vivi, yet his daughter was stubbornly blind to his feelings that were plain as day to his eyes. Thankfully Asher hadn't noticed that part of his devotion to their daughter, otherwise he wouldn't let him anywhere near the house, let alone Vivi in her current state. He was rather overprotective of their daughter after all.