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Louis dragged the box marked “Nesting Materials” into the room just off the bedroom that he and Harry had designated as their official nesting space. It wasn’t the first time for either of them to build a nest, but it was the first time that both would have a special room for one as well as the first time they’d ever built a shared nest. Louis’ own box of materials was already in the room, and as he sat down he gave Harry a little nod to go ahead and open it up before opening Harry’s as well.
The materials inside Harry’s box were familiar from the nights the two of them had spent together in Harry’s nest. There was the soft crocheted blanket that Harry had made when they started dating and the now almost threadbare hoodie that Louis had given him during Harry’s first heat as his boyfriend. He rubbed the hoodie between his fingers, wrinkling his nose at the worn out fabric.
“You kept this?” Harry asked, holding up the towel that Harry had put down the first time they’d had sex in Louis’ bed. From the look on his face, he remembered its significance.
“I hand washed it with scent saver detergent first, obviously,” Louis said with a snort. The towel was soft but with just enough texture that it gave Louis something to fidget with when he was in a nesting mood. Add in Harry’s scent and it was easily one of his favorite nesting materials.
Harry sniffed it carefully, stifling a giggle as he drew it back. “Does take me back to that day. You really hand washed it? You usually hate doing laundry.”
“It was all stiff! Had to make it comfortable for it to be nestworthy, didn’t I?”
“Mm, yeah.” Harry shrugged. “Towel is a little pill-y though. Not as soft as you need for a nest.” He looked down into Louis’ box of materials with his lips pressed together, avoiding Louis’ answering glare.
“Well, this old hoodie isn’t much nicer, is it?” Louis held up his old hoodie in front of his face. “Can practically see through it in spots.”
“Those are the parts I like the best!” Harry snatched the hoodie from Louis’ grasp, rubbing his nose into one of the worst spots. “It was already pretty worn when you gave it to me-- I just made it even nicer.” Louis was about to respond with a bit of snark when he saw the soft look in Harry’s eyes. He sighed, shaking his head.
“Think we’ve got a harder job ahead of us than we realized, baby. Turns out we might not like the same sorts of nesting materials.” He dug through Harry’s box a bit more, pulling out a t-shirt that was almost more holes than fabric. “Something like this would be the only thing I could think about-- all the holes, and the thin fabric?” He brought it up to his nose and inhaled. “Can hardly smell you here.”
Harry plucked it from his hand, holding the shirt to his chest. “The holes are what make it so perfect, Lou!” He slid one hand into a hole, fingers finding a few more to slide into so that the shirt was on him like a loose fitting glove. “Gives me something to focus on if I’m having a hard time getting settled.”
“This is why most of those websites said an omega pair should have separate nests, I guess. I don’t know how we’re going to make this work.” Harry scooted closer to Louis, wrapping his arms around Louis’ neck. The hole-y t-shirt was still wrapped around one of his hands, and Louis had to admit it did feel nice to have Harry’s touch bleeding through the fabric. It changed the smell and feel of it into something comforting-- like a photograph of Harry from his youth brought to life.
“I’m willing to keep working on it if you are.” Harry kissed Louis’ temple before resting his head on Louis’ shoulder. “Neither of us really nests all that much, so we have a bit of time before we’ll need to have it finished.”
Louis nodded slowly. “You’re right. And we have the rest of the week to get unpacked before we’re back to work.”
After a bit more discussion, it was settled. They’d spend a few hours each day trying to figure out what their shared nest-- one that fit all their specific needs --would include.
It wasn’t easy, but they soon found that they had more common ground than they realized. Both of them preferred natural fibers to synthetics, and they both needed something to fidget with at times. Neither of them wanted anything that masked the other’s natural scent, which meant they didn’t need to have everything freshly laundered for it to be included, and they only had two or three items that they considered ‘must haves’ when nesting. Those items, they agreed, couldn’t be excluded, but anything non-essential was up for discussion.
With that in mind, they slowly began to build their nest. After creating a plush yet not too squishy base layer, they took turns adding items to their respective sides, carefully overlapping items in the center so that their nest was a unified whole and not simply two separate nests stuck together. They brought items out of their wardrobes and closets and tried them out in different places, occasionally handing a t-shirt or blanket over to each other at night asking for it to be well scented before bringing it into the nest for final placement the next day.
It took two weeks, not one, but the shared nest they created was absolutely perfect for both of them. Louis’ towel was right beneath his pillow-- the perfect spot for him to rub at when he couldn’t quite settle at night --and Harry kept his hole-y band tee at waist level so that he could twist his hand in it while Louis spooned him. They brought Harry’s silk sheets in and several pairs of Louis’ old joggers, and they topped it all off with Harry’s crocheted blanket and super soft quilt of Louis’ that he’d never nested without.
They were both itching to try out their new nest by the time they’d finished. Louis crawled in first, clicking on the planet-shaped salt lamp that Harry had insisted on using to light their nesting room and waiting for Harry to join him. Harry appeared a few minutes later, his eyes drooping a little with how tired he was. He climbed into the nest and cupped Louis’ face in his hands, smiling as he stroked Louis’ cheek before leaning in to give him a soft kiss on the mouth.
“Tired, love?” Louis asked. He couldn’t keep the fond smile off his face as Harry closed his eyes and nodded. Bathed in warm pink light and wrapped up in their first properly shared nest, Louis knew in his heart that he’d found his home. “Let’s go to sleep, then.”