Chapter Text
He’s in the restroom, and the disgusting smell that he usually can smell there doesn't make him scrunch his nose in distaste. He stares at himself in the dirty mirror, one hand holding the phone to his ear as he inspects himself closely, trying not to succumb to the panic. It rings once before Deaton answers it.
“I can’t smell anything!” Liam blurts out, before he even hears a greeting.
“Okay, calm down. Liam. Where are you?” Deaton speaks, voice calm.
“I’m at school, I’m supposed to be in biology class right now but then everyone started complaining about how bad that thing in the box smelled, and I didn’t smell anything. I couldn't. I can't.” he explains quickly, barely breathing as he lets the words flow out in the panic.
“Can you come to the clinic? I’ll call Scott.” he answers. Liam inhales. He cannot leave out the fact that scares him most.
“There’s worse.” Liam breathes. Deaton waits.
“I can’t smell anything-” he pauses, breathing in deeply. He can still catch the very faint and distant scent. Easy, when you think about it, as it is the only one. “-apart from Theo.”
They’re in the clinic, Scott standing in front of him as Deaton flashes a light in Liam's eyes. They both look worried. Though he cannot believe they are half as panicked as he feels. He waits with bated breath as Deaton sighs. He looks at Scott, and drops the bomb. Nothing is abnormal. At least on the outside.
Liam had tried changing, but his wolf surfacing doesn’t change a thing, he cannot smell a thing. The fact that he focuses very hard to smell, anything at all, makes him realise how strong his olfactory system is. He can catch an old scent, as Theo has been there before.
Deaton decides that it’s best to call Theo over, to figure out something together. As he is probably the key to what is happening. Liam doesn't want to believe it, it makes him uneasy. Although, he must admit, the quicker they find a solution, the better for him. He thinks he would lose his mind, fast, if the only thing he can truly smell is Theo, out of all people.
Liam paces around the room, and his wolf inside does, too, putting him on edge. He feels apprehensive. He doesn’t want to tell Theo about it, it sounds stupid, it is stupid, but he has that weird feeling that he’s going to be laughed at, even though it’s technically not his fault.
Deep inside he thinks it has something to do with him, more than with Theo. Perhaps linked with something burried inside his bones, very, very deeply.
They wait in silence, Deaton messaging Theo as to have him join them as soon as possible. Liam is texting Mason as well, and it seems the two of them are heading over as they speak, in a way that makes Liam wonder why they both were on their way before they were asked. Liam understands why Mason would come as soon as he got out of Biology class, but the reason why Theo is tagging along as well is a bit unclear. Something stirs in his chest. He ignores it.
The thing is, Liam cannot sit still. He wonders how he didn’t notice it earlier, the fact that he couldn’t smell. It’s one of his main senses, and one that has become even more important after the bite, but no, it had taken him half a day to realise that the little something missing was his ability to smell – that is not even totally gone, for some reason. Liam hates the situation.
Ignoring Theo before had been an easy task, or must he admit, acting like he was ignoring him had been somewhat easy. It had become normal to act like his mere presence didn’t put Liam either on edge or at peace. It had become an habit to act like Theo wasn’t there by not looking at him and tuning out his voice and focusing on other smells, but now... Now, what is he supposed to do? More so because Theo would know. They all would know, that during every moment of the day, every minute spent together, Liam would not, quite literally, be able to breathe anything but Theo.
The thought terrifies Liam.
Mason all but runs towards Laim, closely followed by Theo, an air of nonchalance on his face. Boredom, almost, but Liam can distinguish the way his eyes scan the room quickly, ready to react in cas of potential danger. When his eyes land on Liam, he raises an eyebrow. Liam takes in a shaky breath, far too noticeable.
“Is this kid alright?” Theo asks, pointing at Liam. He leans against the door frame, not coming further into the room. Liam is thankful he doesn’t, because his scent is once again everywhere, stronger than he remembered. Liam finds himself wishing the situation also facilitated reading the chemosignals Theo is so good at masking. Only that he isn't any better at it. He sighs, frustrated.
And truly, Liam wants to slap himself because it’s Theo they’re talking about, Theo the nemesis, who’s gotten into everyone’s mind and had made him try to kill Scott. And who actually managed to.
Liam realises he should feel sick, smelling only him, should want to run away, but instead he finds it comforting, somehow. He tells himself the reason is that it makes him forget he’s lost his ability to smell, even for a while, that takes the emptiness away.
“Not really.” Scott says, an answer to Theo's question. With a sigh, he continues.
“You see, he can’t smell anymore.” At that, Theo snorts, an honest reaction, before regaining composure. Liam shifts uncomfortably on his feet. He sits down on the table behind him in aim to stop it but it makes it worse when they start swaying. He stands back up.
“And here I was thinking he ran away because he couldn’t bear the smell of lamb hearts.” Liam scoffs at that, and he plans to answer something along the lines of oh that’s what was in the boxes, but something entirely different gets out.
“It’s your scent I can’t bear.” he says, narrowing his eyes at Theo. It’s a lie, of course it is. Theo stares at him quizzically for a second, eyebrows slightly furrowed. Liam hates when people look at him like he is stupid, it makes his blood boil.
“What about my scent if you can’t smell? That’s idiotic.” Theo says, taking one step closer to Liam.
Something inside Liam almost makes him take a step back, but he stops himself before he does it.
Scott clears his throat, redirecting Theo’s attention. Liam closes his eyes in anticipation, he knows what is coming.
“He can’t smell anything.” Scott repeats and Liam just wants to scream at him to just say it. He inhales sharply, only to be met all over again by that same reality. Theo, only Theo, everywhere. “Apart from you.” Scott finally says, and Liam cracks his eyes open, right on time to catch the baffled look on Theo’s face.
The shock is replaced by a deep frown, confusion, perhaps, frustration even. “Come again?” he says, obviously directed at Scott, even though his eyes are now glued on Liam’s face. He sounds angry.
Scott repeats his exact same words, voice calm and seemingly collected while Liam feels the panic rise inside hiw chest, making his throat close up the longer Theo looks at him.
“Care to explain that, Liam?” he says accusingly. As if Liam had anything to do with this.
“Do you think I know?” he answers heatedly, feeling the anger boil in his stomach, taking over his limbs and going to his head. He wants to scream, as much as he wants to run away. “What can I say other than I can’t smell anything but you?”
“What do you mean, me?” Theo answers, taking another step closer. It's provocative, almost as if he was trying to make Liam prove his point. In fact, it might be that easy – Liam feels himself suffocate.
“You, you and your shampoo, you and your toothpaste, you and your skin and your sweat! You all over, and I want to vomit!” he screams. When he inhales again, looking away from Theo's face, he realises the room has fallen silent.
Liam can barely breathe, he wants to stop smelling Theo, he hates the way it affects his body, it isn’t supposed to do that. He stares at his feet that seem to be stuck on the ground as his mind screams at him to run.
He feels Theo’s gaze burn the top of his head, he hears the way Mason is shifting uncomfortably right next to him until he seems to decide on what to do and puts a reassuring hand on Liam’s shoulder.
“What can we do about it?” Theo speaks again, the same neutral voice he always uses to seem uninterested and not involved. Liam knows it is all an act. It has to be. He concentrates on his breathing and doesn’t look up, even when Deaton answers.
“We do not know yet.” At that, Theo huffs angrily, and Liam clenches his jaw to keep any nasty comment from coming out. It doesn’t help with the anger, though. He needs to go out, away, far from here.
“I’m going out a second. I need fresh air.” he says, walking away. No one says a word to stop him.
He stands outside, the cold air tickling his nostrils and stinging at the back of his throat. Surprisingly, he hasn’t run far away, standing a few feet away from the door he just exited, pacing up and down along the wall of the clinic.
It is crazy how he wants to both run away and stay there, close enough in case anything happens. He hears conversation inside, mostly between Scott and Deaton, about how none of them truly has an idea on what is going on and why a witch would cast that spell, out of the many available. It has to mean more than Liam just losing is ability to smell, it has to be deeper than that – and as the people inside realise it, it also comes crashing down on Liam.
It has to mean something special. There has to be an explanation on why the shiny purple ball had been directed his way, there has to be an explanation on why it had been Liam, on why it is Theo.
And it scares Liam to no end. There’s a connection deeper than the one of Liam being the one to bring Theo back, deeper than Theo being Liam’s responsibility because of it. There’s a connection, and the simple thought of it twists Liam’s stomach.
The others inside offer ideas, reasons, idiotic ones, none of them as scary as the one Liam’s mind can ever come up with, not as real. Maybe Scott doesn’t want to say it, maybe he’s thought about those reasons too, but doesn’t want to acknowledge them, not yet, not yet because no one’s ready to hear it.
Deaton doesn’t care though. “Witches are clever creatures, they have contact with ancient entities, entities that know more about some of us than we do ourselves. They know about destinies, about the balance of the world, about what can die and relive, what can be broken and what mended.” he pauses, and Liam cannot stop his heart from starting to beat wildly in his chest, and he steps closer to the wall to hear the rest, afraid he’ll miss it.
“Which soul are meant to be sealed together.” he finally adds, and the guillotine might as well have fallen on Liam’s neck. Deaton has not said that that was their case, not even indirectly, but Liam jumps to conclusions and his guts keep telling him it is what is bound to happen.
He shakes his head harshly, trying to get the thoughts away, trying to forget, but he cannot stop and he wonders if Theo’s face just fell when he heard that, he wonders if the statement had been said with Deaton’s gaze locked with his, he wonders if his steady heart is all an act.
Liam, on the other hand, cannot control his, and he is sure they all can hear it inside; even Mason.
“What do you mean?” Scott finally asks, his voice not as grave as Liam would have imagined it.
“I don’t know yet. We have to do our researches, and I have some contacts – I’ll meet them as soon as I can, but not until the witches are gone, or at least less likely to attack again. I both hope it is only what I think it is, and isn’t.” And now Deaton’s voice is the solemn one, and Liam realises it is worse.
“What does that even mean?” Theo talks, after what feels like forever, and Liam’s heart skips a beat. With the way his voice sounds, Liam is sure his face is contorted to form an ugly scowl. And he realises he shouldn’t know that. Shouldn’t even imagine what Theo's face looks like when he talks.
He doesn’t get time to blame himself and find a way to get punished for it that Deaton answers. “I don’t want to speak before I am sure of it. But I do advice every one of you to do researches on witches, and spells as well as oracles and… destiny.” Liam would have liked just keeping the field on witches, on their stupid appearances like the colour of their hair or robes, but nothing about destinies, everything but destinies. Liam suddenly hates the word. It resonates in his head.
Theo scoffs, frustration clear in his voice. There’s silence for a minute, everyone processing the new information and Liam finds himself getting suck in the endless spiral of his mind.
Mason is the first one to break it with a worried voice. “We need to keep an eye on Liam, do you think something more could happen to him?”
“Do you mean about that spell doing more to him than what already happened?” Deaton asks as an answer, to what Mason probably nods because he starts talking again. “I don’t think so, no. We’ll keep an eye open in case, but I don't think there should be anything else.” he states, and just as he says that, the door to Liam’s right opens, making him jump back. Scott pokes his head out, looking right then left, and his eyes lock with Liam’s.
“You okay?” he asks, stepping outside and heading Liam’s way. The question renews Liam’s inner panic, and he feels his heart beat harder in his chest. The urge to run away hits him again but he stays put instead, sighing with his head hanging low.
“Yeah.” he mumbles. Scott is in front of him now, a hand on his shoulder.
“Did you hear what was said inside?” he asks even though he probably know Liam had been listening. When he gets confirmation, he continues. “So you know what we have to do. Can you go back to school for today, we don’t want to skip more classes...” Liam meets his eyes then, lips pinched as he nods again.
There’s an encouraging smile on Scott’s face to which Liam tries to answer with one of his own, then a squeeze on Liam’s shoulder before they both make their way back inside.
The first thing he sees is Theo, inevitably. He is everywhere around.
Liam wonders if he is going to manage ignoring him, and getting away with it, the way he used to.
He sure as hell is going to try.