Work Text:
“I have a scent...?”
She questioned, dumbfounded by his observation.
It's been a while since they met -she had been out of the city for a mission while Valko had been busy at the Laboratory- and they had just encountered each other. But as they hugged as a greeting, she felt his warm breaths fanning over her cheek and shoulder more and more frequently until his nose buried into her hair.
She froze at his awkward behaviour.
“Are you... sniffing me?”
He tensed at her question, she felt the muscles of his back coil tight under her palms.
A beat of silence passed without any of them moving from their embrace.
“...maybe.”
“You are.”
She insisted, not because she felt uncomfortable but... she could sense that there was something bothering him and she wanted to understand what it was.
“Fine... I might have.” Valko gave in and returned nosing at her temple, a frown appearing on his face.
“You smell different.”
“Do I...?”
She asked, still confused but her mind was beginning to get it.
She had taken a shower just an hour ago and had even shampooed her hair. She had used the same products as always and-
“Your scent... is different.”
And that was how she discovered that she had a scent.
It wasn't a concept completely stranger to her, because she associated people or places to some perfumes and smells too. But what Valko explained to her was a completely different story.
It was more logical for a werewolf, since their nose worked differently from the human one... still, he did his best to make it clear to her.
And as he talked about his ability to catch the others' scents surrounding him, she realised that what she had thought was keen perception and attentiveness on his part was actually... this, a natural instinct that allowed him to read her like an open book.
Now she understood why he could tell so easily when she diminished her tiredness or stress after long days at work. He hadn't taken a guess whether she had eaten or not, he could smell her hunger even before her own body told her.
It was... mind-blowing.
She felt both flustered and touched that Valko could know her so well.
“...then what does my scent smell like?” She asked curiously as they sat on the couch, her legs draped across his lap. One of his hands rubbed soothing circles on her knee with his thumb, while his free arm was wrapped loosely around her waist to keep her close.
Valko smiled softly at the mere idea of her scent.
He looked at her quietly for a while, admiring her curious expression -the way her eyes seemed to shine just a tad brighter and the smallest pout jutted on her lips as she waited patiently to know. A warm, fuzzy feeling bloomed inside his chest just like it always happened when she showed genuine interest towards his true identity.
“That’s difficult…” he murmured honestly and a low chuckle escaped from him as her eyebrows knitted together.
“I thought you said you always recognize it,” she used his own words against him.
“I do,” he stated with quiet confidence.
“...then why is it difficult?” She insisted one more time.
“Because humans don't have words for everything I smell.”
That made her blink, pause and let the admission sink in.
Valko watched the moment realisation dawned on her and she nodded in understanding but failed to hide the hint of disappointment from him. She cared to understand him better, so he tried to come up with an explanation that could satisfy her curiosity.
“It changes… it’s never the same. A mixture of everything, actually.”
As he began to talk, she unconsciously leaned against his chest, fully invested in what he was going to say. Knowing that he was trying to describe her through his werewolf senses was both fascinating and… overwhelming, but in a good way.
“Layered through the environments’ smells that cling onto your clothes, other people’s scents you meet or pass by… beyond the body wash and shampoo you use everyday, there’s something distinctively yours.”
Since he couldn’t find words that could convey what he smelled and recognised among a lot of different kinds of smell, he used metaphors in hope to be more understandable.
“It’s like wilderness, earth, open savannas and the wind. Other times it’s a stream, a mountain, a pretty moonrise…”
Her heart skipped a beat as she listened to Valko.
And she realised that he wasn’t just putting efforts in giving her a proper description but he had actually thought about this whole thing -her scent- enough to find figurative images just for her.
“And it can often remind me of a burnt pancake on the stove…”
But obviously he wouldn’t miss a chance to tease her and rile her up, always ready for a good banter.
She playfully swatted at his chest and bit her own smile when he laughed warmly at her flustered reaction.
“Just kidding-”
“It happened just once. And it was your fault,” she retorted and leaned in to gently bump her forehead against his.
“You distracted me. Did you forget?”
“Of course not.” He murmured, leaning into the touch, his forehead nuzzling against hers in an affectionate manner.
She huffed, her annoyed pretence crumbling almost immediately, and her arms reached out to wrap around his neck, hugging him closer.
He hummed lowly and tightened his own grip around her waist in return, enjoying having her sit on his lap -cozy and comfortable again after they had been apart for so long.
“How…? How have you been carrying all of this?”
She couldn’t help but wonder, the question slipping out of her lips before she could rethink. Because what Valko just admitted to her made her see him under another light.
He could experience the world through a sensory richness she would never fully understand.
But if she were in his shoes, she could only imagine how overwhelming that keen sense of smell could actually be.
“Must be though, mh?”
His golden eyes softened at her empathy and he nodded slightly as he pulled back just enough to press a light kiss on her forehead.
“Sometimes, yeah… but if I have you close, it’s definitely more bearable.”
The next evening, they agreed to meet again so they could have a proper date out.
Valko was a bit too enthusiastic about it and involuntarily reached her place half an hour before the time they had established.
He didn’t want to disturb her if she was still getting ready, so he didn’t text her and simply took the elevator to her floor.
Once he stood in front of her door, he barely had the time to lift his hand that it just opened.
He blinked, stunned.
“How did you know I was here…?”
She smiled in amusement and shrugged nonchalantly.
“I smelled you.”
His gaze narrowed at her playful callback.
“You absolutely did not.”
“I didn't.”
She laughed sweetly.
“I just knew.”
His heart did a somersault at her confession.
And when she stepped forward to hug him, Valko didn’t waste any time to welcome her in his arms.
This time he didn’t pretend he wasn’t doing it -his nose nuzzled against her temple and breathed her in.
She relaxed in his embrace and let herself enjoy the warm feeling of his breath against her hair and skin, wanting him to smell how happy she was to have him there.
Because now she understood.