a/b/o lore

 Heats are intense, the sex that comes with them even more so; they often need their own form of aftercare. There are some schools of thought, Kuroo knows, that taking care of an omega in non-sexual ways during their heats is actually an alpha's most important function, not the sex itself. Omegas riding out their heats alone, or who choose to medicate their heats into oblivion, can use various toys and sex aids to make up for their lack of a partner. But there's no replacement - not even a poor replacement, as heat aid toys are considered to be on the sex side of things - for having someone there to care for an omega, to make them feel safe at their most vulnerable and needy moments, to give them calm in the brief windows where their body allows some quiet from their biological frenzy.

Of course there are replacements for having an alpha, specifically, with an omega during heat; omegas can have a beta or even another omega there with them, attempting to fulfill the sexual needs, the emotional needs, or both. Nothing is as effective in both areas as an alpha, however. And spending heats entirely alone, or skipping heats altogether...a lot more than just sex is sacrificed.