Work Text:
JOHNNY SMELLED like different scents, depending on the time of when he returned home temporarily from being on duty. When he first returns home late at night, dropping his duffel bag by his feet to wrap his arms around you, your nose burying against Johnny’s cheek, he smells like a cheap body wash you get for cheap, as well as semi-prominent smells of gunpowder and smoke–almost as if Johnny tried to scrub it from his skin for you. When you find yourself in his arms by the front door, his hand grasping the back of your shirt, you don’t mind the smell. In fact, you started looking forward to the scents he brings home; because it’s him.
When it’s a few days into his leave, you turn over in bed and your nuzzle into the back of his neck, wrapping your arms around him from behind, and you smell his fantastic shampoo that you bought him; this poor man was previously using a 3 in 1 on leave before meeting you, and you bought him new products which he keeps buying for himself, murmuring that you “know him so well”. You smell his new body wash as well that makes his skin so soft and moisturized, causing you to rub your hands on him so often to the point where Johnny grumbles and swats your hands away when he’s doing something important. Johnny smells like the food he cooks for you and himself; he smells like the food he grabs on the way home from a friend’s house, he smells like mild dirt, grime, and sweat after he’s done playing rugby or shinty.
Johnny smells like the tequila that he spit out of his mouth out of shock from simply tasting it, insisting it tastes like pure dog piss. He smells like mint in the mornings from his toothpaste, and he smells like shaving cream from shaving. Every single thing Johnny has ever smelled like, you have learned to love. At first, you hated the smell of gunpowder; now you miss it when you drop Johnny off at the airport when he has his next deployment. You hated the smell of the cheap body wash, but you find yourself shamefully buying it when sniffing the other body products decorating your shared home wasn’t enough.
You thought you were a bit odd about enjoying his smells, enjoying him; but when you begin to notice the way he nudges his nose in your scalp or under your chin, or even your shirt; you can’t help but smile, knowing the feeling is mutual when he murmurs, “missed ‘ya.”