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Walking away from Louis was difficult, but knowing that they were going to see each other outside of work the following day certainly softened the blow. His sweet scent still lingered in Harry’s nose, teasing down to the back of his throat so that he could almost taste the ghost of it on his tongue. If he could’ve held his breath to keep it in, he would have, but that wasn’t really an option. Especially not when he had a destination in mind.
There was a store not far from his house that he’d realized sold sexual health products-- from blocker strips to synthetic slick and everything in between --for substantially cheaper than most other places. He’d discovered it completely by accident, wandering in because of a candle sale, and he’d made a note of it for the future. With his heats regulated by prescription meds that usually kept his pheromones under control as well, he wasn’t sure he’d have a use for it, but it was still helpful to know.
It certainly came in handy now. He greeted the cashier-- a blonde woman bent over a copy of the Sun who didn’t bother to acknowledge him --and searched the aisles until he found what he needed, breathing a sigh of relief when the prices were still as low as ever.
He immediately realized he’d have to study the packages to make sure he was buying the correct thing, since there were a lot more types of blocker strips than he’d initially thought. Some blocked the wearer’s scent as well as neutralizing the smell of alphas, while others blocked omega scents but heightened the wearer’s own. Each seemed to be formulated with a traditional alpha and omega pairing in mind, and Harry rolled his eyes, annoyed but not at all surprised.
In the end he grabbed the only box of scent blockers that would work for his needs. They claimed to block omega scents while slightly dampening the wearer’s own, and the package specified that the formula was safe for anyone ages twelve and up. He looked through the candle section while he was there, picking up a vanilla scented one even though it didn’t smell half as good as Louis had, then headed up to pay.
When he set his purchases down on the counter, the employee who’d ignored him earlier huffed quietly as she set her paper aside and moved the items closer to herself. She picked up the candle and sniffed it, wrinkling her nose at it before scanning it and setting it back down. Moving on to the blockers, she studied the package for a moment and then looked from the box to Harry with a souring expression.
“I think you grabbed the wrong box, sweetie,” she said, leaning over the counter and sniffing at the air before giving him a curt nod. “Mmhmm, you did. These block omega scents. You’ll want ones that block alpha pheromones.”
Harry blinked back at her, clenching his hand into a fist at his side as his heart pounded in his ears. Not only was this woman speaking to him as if he were a child, she’d also decided it was fine to actively scent the air around him without even acknowledging how rude it was. And then she’d had the audacity to assume that because he was an omega, he’d need to block alpha scents. Harry tried his best to stay calm as he answered her.
“I’ve grabbed the right ones, actually. I spent quite a while reading the packages, so if you’d just let me buy those I’ll get out of your hair.”
The woman’s already sour expression curdled even further. “You’re one of those slickers, then? Nasty.” Her lip curled in disgust, and she clutched the box of blockers with an even tighter grasp.
Meanwhile Harry’s guts churned as the word she’d used echoed through his mind. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard it-- or some variation of it --in his life, but it was the first time he’d been alone and not ready for it somehow, and it stung him in a different way than having it whispered behind his back in school or hearing it hurled at him from passing cars when he walked hand in hand with a date.
Harry took a deep breath and pushed his shoulders back, trying to take up as much space as he could. “What if I am? You don’t know why I need those particular blockers and I have no reason to tell you.”
“You’re not buying them here, slicker. Get out of here and don’t come back, or I’ll--”
“Aster, is there a problem?” Another woman stepped out from an aisle, giving Harry a sympathetic nod. “Why don’t you go to my office for a minute? I’ll finish up here.”
With Aster gone, the woman who took over-- the owner, Harry found out --let him pay and offered her apologies, promising Harry wouldn’t have any trouble if he shopped with them again. He was glad for it in a way, but it didn’t make the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach any less worse.
It stuck with him through dinner and kept him from getting much sleep that night, and when he woke up the next morning still feeling off he considered staying in bed and calling out from work. The only thing that kept him from doing that was the promise of his date with Louis. It was hours away, but it was still happening. And he wouldn’t miss that for anything.
He affixed the blocker strip right beneath his nose before leaving home, the adhesive itchy at first and giving off a medicinal odor that made him feel like he was inside a hospital. It made the walk to work a bit strange-- other omegas’ scents were usually part of the comforting background --that missing them made him feel like he was walking among ghosts, and by the time he entered the kitchen he’d mentally prepared himself for how unsettling it would be to see Louis without smelling him all day.
That was why his first breath of Louis’ sweet vanilla scent was such a shock to his system that he nearly fell over from it. They weren’t even particularly close to one another and yet Louis reacted too, his knees buckling for a moment before he righted himself, turning to meet Harry’s gaze.
Even from a distance, Harry could see that Louis was also wearing a blocker. Neither of them should be able to smell each other. Especially not like this.