Work Text:
Charlie loves the way their home smells. The lingering lemon scent of cleaning products, the warm, sweet smells of the baked goods Nick makes, and the savoury ones from the meals they cook together.
On some days, the freshness of sun-warmed laundry being brought in off the line permeates the air, and on others Charlie throws open the windows during a summer rainstorm and breathes in the petrichor.
Sometimes there are less pleasant smells: wet dog, mold from leftovers that were forgotten in the back of the fridge, or mustiness from the boxes that have been brought over from Sarah’s basement as she begins the process of downsizing. But those smells, too, are familiar, part of their life together.
Charlie’s favourite smells of them all, though, are the ones carried on his husband’s skin and clothes. It’s something he revels in, even two decades into their relationship. He loves to tuck his nose into the curve of Nick’s neck when the older man gets home from work. Charlie tugs Nick’s tie loose and undoes the top button of his shirt so he can press in under his shirt collar and breathe in the remnants of cologne and the hint of old books and fresh photocopies.
Sometimes when they go to bed and Nick puts one hand behind his head while he reads, Charlie tucks into his side enjoys the heady musk of Nick’s underarms. He licks and mouths at the skin and hair, taking in the deep salt-sweat funk that gathers there. Sometimes the tickle of Charlie’s tongue makes Nick laugh, and others it makes him throw his book to the side and slide down the bed to kiss Charlie passionately.
He loves the way Nick’s warm skin smells when they first wake up in the morning, and the way his hair products permanently seem to scent the air in their bathroom.
Really, he just loves Nick and all of the individual pieces that make up the life they have created for themselves.