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Scenting. The act in which someone leaves their smell/pheromones on something or someone to show people they own or have a relation to a person or thing.
Scenting had become a language in of itself that infants learn from the moment they get introduced to their parents, their home. their family or any object they are given. From a young age we are surrounded by other smells and pheromones that we learn to differentiate as we grow older. Which scent is from which parent, what scent means what.
Some have a greater sense of smell and others have a stronger scent. As you grow you learn about the fact that not all scents are just smells, that they can be pheromones too. Stress, distrust, anger, sadness, joy and lust are a few emotions that can be told through smell alone. Sometimes though, scents are a warning. A declaration.
That something is already owned by someone and that taking it will lead to consequences.
But sometimes these pheromones within scents are a sign of family, of friends, of partners, bonded pairs, of pups, cubs or children. It can be a sign of home. Of belonging or being part of a pack.
Scents can mean a lot of things but can lead to misunderstandings if not done properly. God knows Grace has had a few situations where people misunderstood things just because his scent was just a little too strong or smelt a little too possessive.
It's why Grace avoids scenting objects too harshly when it'll be around people. It's why he doesn't scent people.
It's not like he's had many people to scent when he was on earth and he doesn't have many people now (despite his instincts SCREAMING at him to scent those he has now). He hasn't joined a pack or formed his own ever since his parents had.. Moved on.
He avoids scenting people because the last time he did his Ex got uncomfortable. She always told him that he scented her too often but he never felt scented enough himself. She'd complain that his scent would be too strong, so intensive and possessive in fact that it made others anywhere she went wary and keep their distance.
To say the least.. Him scenting people never works out. So he doesn't. And he had been fine not scenting people or anything of his that other people would be around. He was fine not being scented himself.
Or he was until he had befriended Rocky. When the two had been on the Hail Mary and working together Grace had to hold himself back. To rain in the gut twisting urge to scent the giant talking rock when Rocky told Grace he could scent him after finding out that it was a big thing to humans after having gone through the human thinking machine.
When Grace did scent Rocky it was mild, held back and not a proper scenting he would have preferred to do. Because even if Eridian's couldn't smell it and there wasn't anybody to judge them, the things Grace was told played in his head on loop like a broken disk. So he held himself back.
Grace scenting Rocky got less and less frequent as time went on and the two made their way to Erid. Grace was low on food and his body had decided that it would much rather save the energy for keeping himself alive and moving rather than making pheromones when nobody around could smell and understand them.
So for a good while before and after reaching Erid Grace had been scentless. The only scent on him being that of his dead crew and the lingering smell of pain that clung to everything when Grace had still been producing a scent and pheromones.
But now time had passed and things were getting better. Grace had been doing well enough that he was producing smells again, his scent filling the house he was built and things he owned. (Grace had made sure to utterly SMOTHER his favorite quilt and fox cardigan in his scent and pheromones because those were his and his alone. They were two things he wasn't afraid to scent to high hells.)
…
Which leads them to now. At the moment Grace and Rocky were in Grace's classroom, chatting as Grace went around his desk, prepping stuff for tomorrows class while Rocky stayed with him on Grace's side in his suit.
"Oh and Marble! She was having a bit of a problem with wrapping her head around the concept of things like light but she finally seems to understand and she's made a huge leap in her grade!" Grace had continued to ramble on, talking about the different pebbles in his class, currently putting emphasis on a certain pebble called Marble as he shuffled some papers around his desk.
Rocky let out an encouraging trill, moving to bump up against Grace's leg as if encouraging the lanky man to continue his ramblings. And so Grace did, letting words spill out of his mouth a mile a minute as he kept sorting his desk, noting down a few things or waving his hands around to emphasis anything he was yapping about.
Once Grace finished setting up everything in his classroom for the next day he had moved over to a cozy corner beside his desk and out of view of the class and sat down (It totally couldn't be seen through echolocation…. Okay maybe it could but that's not the point!! And it was definitely "not a nest! I don't know what you are talking about Rock!").
When Grace had settled, somehow still managing to continue his ramble of words Rocky had sat down ("That's loafing bud.") beside his best friend. Rocky had tilted his carapace so it was pressing up against Grace's side, to which Grace eagerly leaned into, wrapping his hands around Rocky and nuzzling against it.
Their conversation continued and Rocky occasionally went on his own rambling session when he believed Grace needed a break to breathe. So the two stayed close through out it all, wanting to stay together as long as possible before Rocky eventually had to go.
However, during his rambling Rocky had noticed how Grace had occasionally taken to rubbing the inner side of his wrists or the underside of his head along any surface of Rocky's carapace he could reach in his current position. Rocky had been a little confused for just a second before remembering it was the same action Grace would do when he scented Rocky back when they were in space.
To see and feel his friend doing it again brought joy to Rocky's core, making it feel like it was singing in delight as he let out a joyful note while leaning into his best friend, finally seeing he was well and comfortable enough to be doing it again.
In response Grace let out a pleased purr, delighted with the fact his best friend had leaned in and embraced the fact he was being scented. The sound however was quickly cut off as Grace pulled back and slapped a hand over his mouth, cheeks going warm with the rising embarrassment at having caught himself scenting Rocky like that. It wasn't the first time by any means and it wasn't the action that he was embarrassed by but the fact he could smell the aggressive "Friend! Pack! Pack, mine! My pack-mate!" off of Rocky.
"Oh fudge- Sorry! I hadn't-" The apology spilt from Grace's mouth but before he could even finish it Rocky had let out a sound that was the equivalent of an appalled squawk. "Why are you sorry? Is this not a human custom question??" Rocky asked with two offended sounding taps, like Rocky had done research about scenting and was mildly confused and offended about the fact that Grace was apologizing for something that's considered normal and a huge part of human culture.
Grace sheepishly smiled, hand raising to rub at the back of his neck "Uh, Yeah..It is. I just didn't notice I was doing it." He explained, not wanting to delve down memory lane that is his issues with scenting others and social norms. "Well then rocky don't care. Grace can scent all he wants!" The talking Rock stated with the confidence of a much larger Eridian making Grace snicker lightly, soon after a low purr rumbled from deep in withing the scientists chest, the omega part of him delighted at his best friend being so confidently accepting of being scented, even encouraging of it.
Grace had to admit (Though only to himself) it felt nice to be able to finally scent someone and having them accept it so easily. And this time just because Grace could (and knew it'd make his best friend happy), he leaned in, rubbing his cheeks and the underside of his chin against Rocky's carapace, letting out a louder and much more delighted purr as he did so, grinning when Rocky thrilled in joy.
Maybe Grace should do this more often..
…
The next time Grace caught himself scenting someone it was Adrian, however this time it had been more of a request. Grace and the bigger Eridian had gotten along shockingly well once Grace got over how intimidated and nervous he was over meeting Adrian.
The two bonded quickly over their love of science. Grace had ended up working with them in labs a lot more once he was better, helping them modify Taumoeba so the Eridian's could spread them off to other solar systems. Grace, always needing to feel useful and wanting to spend time with Adrian had taken to helping wherever he could, being Adrian assistant in where human sight helped a lot more with things the Eridian couldn't echolocate.
It was a much calmer day when Grace had caught himself scenting Adrian just like Rocky, except this time like stated before it was more of a choice than not. "Grace, I have a question." Adrian had randomly stated when Grace was putting away some taumoeba. Turning his head to glance over his shoulder at the taller eridian Grace had hummed, tapping his foot twice to indicate it was an inquiring sound.
"Rocky had recently mentioned a human custom called scenting. What is it? How does it work?" The scientist had asked, mimicking the double tap that all eridians did when asking a question.
Once again Grace hummed, turning back to double check taumoeba he had just out away was stored correctly before he tilted his head in thought "Yeah, scenting is a human custom that other earth animals do too. It's the act of leaving a scent behind on something like an object to let others know someone owns it or to mark a space as somebodies." He started of with a short explanation, spinning on his heels to face Adrian before walking over and hopping to sit on a table beside them.
"For humans, scents can be smell or pheromone based, usually a mix of both. Scents and pheromones are usually released by the body in multiple areas via scent glands, an example of the areas would be the inner wrist, around the neck and other areas." While explaining he had rolled up the sleeves of his cardigan, displaying his wrists before continuing to point out the other spots that could have scent glands.
"Though scents vary depending on the person and possibly their second gender." Grace was more than happy to elaborate, he may not like his own scent too much but that didn't mean he was going to limit another scientists knowledge (especially if it's a friend).
The rock shifted their carapace, tilting it as they sat on their hind 3 legs. "Hmm..You mentioned humans have a..smell sense?..If scenting things and people is important to human culture and health why don't you scent anything or anyone? Why not scent Simon like you did rocky?" The eridian tapped twice, their whistling pitching into a question as they spoke.
At the question Grace couldn't help with how his cheeks flushed at the thought of scenting Simon.. The alpha had been more than happy to scent Grace whenever he wanted or whenever Grace asked. And it's not like Grace doesn't scent Simon, he does! It's just.. Grace isn't so good at asking to be scented or scenting others without over doing it. "Wha- i do! Maybe not often or when others are looking but I do scent things! And I definitely scent Simon! Just not how I'd like to." He tried defending himself but he could tell Adrian was unamused as they let out a low grumbly whistle, standing to nudge the lanky scientist.
"Well if it's important and healthy than Grace should scent things and others. Would it be rude to ask to be scented or to say I wouldn't mind being scented if it made you happy?" The question made Grace pause, feeling the concern and care for Grace deep in his heart.
The omega in Grace jumped with joy, screaming to just lean down and to scent the rock. He could smell Simon's scent coming off them "Friend. Trusted, safe. Pack-mate." it told, smelling of lightly dirt but mostly vegetation. The smell was something Grace found himself addicted too. He could never get enough of it and always wanted to get scent bombed by it whenever Simon allowed (Which Grace sometimes got fussy with when he's clearly scent drunk and Simon refuses to scent bomb him in fear of harming or scrambling Grace's brain).
Grace let out a thoughtful hum, watching their boulder sized friend as he thought. "…Is this also to learn more about my biology?" He questioned, once again double tapping, but this time using his fingers to tap against the table.
"..Yes…But Rocky made it sound nice too.." Adrian admitted though he clearly cared more about Grace than the research. The comment made Grace grin and the omega in him scream in joy, bouncing around like a happy pinky pie.
It didn't take long for Grace to move so he was standing properly and able to lean against Adrian as the human sized rock came into hugging distance. And just like requested Grace had started scenting them, rubbing his chin along their xenonite suit as a delighted purr escaped his lips.
This time he didn't mind the intense smell of apple crumble that screamed "MY PACK! FRIEND! PACK-MATE!!" that came off Adrian, as much as he thought he would. Even if there was a tiny bit of him rolling in fear and anxiety. That part had been quickly pushed aside as the two started talking science and biology after Grace deemed the scenting session finished.
(He made sure that any individual could still smell Simon off of Adrian. If they have a sense of smell that is!)
…
When Grace found himself scenting someone again the third time it had been Simon and Grace had been having a bad day.
If you asked Grace why he was in such a crappy mood he wouldn't have been able to tell you. He had woken up and while it had been nice being cuddled up next to his bonded, Grace had gotten antsy and agitated quickly. Normally, the nest wouldn't have bothered him this much but the blankets felt itchy and the sun had been too bright.
Luckily, it was the Eridian equivalent of a weekend so Grace didn't have to go anywhere or do much besides relax, do science if he wanted and grade papers. The fact he could take it easy and be lazy today was good…But it was also bad. Because him being able to relax and have nothing to do let him do just that, relax, but also gave his brain wayyyy too much time to think.
He and Simon had spent the day cuddling, sharing meals, watching movies and hanging out by the shore. They were until Simon had noticed how fussy the scientist had gotten to say the least and insisted that Grace take a nap, which grace did after Simon had carried Grace inside, letting the omega rearrange the nest before cuddling up and scenting him and purring to ease Grace into sleep.
And the nap did help, as the omega fell asleep he had felt much more at ease, sighing contently as he snuggled close, head ducked under Simon's chin as the omega let out his own much louder than normal purrs.
But despite the nap helping Grace had woken up with no Simon in sight. It had sent the scientist into an almost frenzied state until he had heard Simon's whistling from another room. It calmed the sudden panic and the omega in him as he got up and wondered off to find his mate.
Which is how Grace found himself in his current situation.
After having followed the whistling to the kitchen Grace had instinctively tried sneaking up on his bonded. And emphasis on tried because even if grace was in his name, Grace was anything but and was too frazzled to actually try. So when he saw the finned ear of his dear bonded twitch he knew he was caught and proceeded to finish walking up to his partner normally if not grumpily.
Grace wrapped his arms around Simon's waist, leaning down to press his forehead against Simon's nape whiles letting out a displeased chuff. While the chuckle Simon let out was like music to his ears, the omega wasn't so pleased to waking up to an empty bed.
"Morning to you too angel." Simon greeted softly despite the gruff undertones to his morning voice. Grace only responded with another annoyed chuff, the low huff fanning air across Simon's warm neck. "Someone's unhappy" The alpha hummed, placing down whatever utensils he had been using before turning to face the omega head on.
Simon's large, calloused yet soft hands met Grace's cheeks and Grace couldn't help but melt into the hold, letting Simon hold up Grace's head as the scientists eyes fluttered shut. The sight made the man's stomach flip, always enjoying the way Grace melted into the hold despite the annoyance and displeasure in his posture and scent.
"What's got you so worked up, hm?" Simon hummed once more, leaning up to rub their noses together which seemed to improve the omega's mood just a little. "You weren't in the nest.." was the grumbled response he had gotten from the scientist before Grace had leaned closer, tipping his head so it was in the crook of Simon's neck before taking a deep breath.
So Simon stood there as he started to lightly sway them, letting his bonded do whatever to let him feel better. The sight made Simon smile, if not worry a little. It's an irrational worry and Simon knows that well, because even with Grace being a feisty, territorial and bossy omega he was the sweetest and far from the meanest omega he knew (because while he hadn't met any, he's heard stories.) That's not to say Grace couldn't hurt anyone if he wanted too, no. Simon had seen his wonderful partner throw hands with a particularly dense eridian that had thought it be a good idea to approach Grace and Simon while the omega had been ill and in pre-heat.
Safe to say that eridian hadn't been seen since.
But now, watching the omega mumble and grumble in irritation, taking in Simon's scent while aggressively scenting him without a care? He wasn't as scared as when he first came to Erid. And without hesitation Simon started the process of scenting Grace back, making sure to reach any spot he could.
The alpha had learnt quickly after meeting Grace, that the omega wasn't one to ask for anything or to voice his needs or concerns. So the alpha had watched. And after a week since they bonded he had learnt that Grace's preferred way of scenting could only be described as intense and possessive. He noticed how the omega was always in a better mood when he was thoroughly scented, almost completely smelling of Simon and the alpha smelling of Grace.
The longer Simon scented Grace, the omega only become more relaxed as time passed, almost delighted as Grace started purring. This continued with Grace roughly rubbing his chin and cheeks along any area he could reach while interlocking his hand with Simon's, being surprisingly gentle as he rubbed their wrist scent glands together.
And Simon, being the wonderful mate he was, knew exactly how to scent Grace back. Excessively and intensively. By the end the bonded pair smelt entirely of each other. Some might have called it too much, too intense and uncomfortable but Grace called it enough. It was what he needed and enjoyed.
And Simon would continue scenting Grace the way the scientist wanted as long as he was happy and willing to continue having Simon as his.