hell’s kitchen’s bloodhound 💌 m.murdock
𖦹˙— summary: matt, more than likely, has the whole menstrual cycle memorized somewhere in his head
°. 🐚 ⋆ 𐔌 word count: ꒱ ~1.2k
⋆. 𐙚 ̊ warnings: sort of bad and rushed writing | i love looking at anatomy…
₊ ⊹ pairings: matt murdock + (fem) reader
was it exactly matt’s fault all of his remaining senses were heightened? no… but they did provide some sort of added bonus that he never knew exactly how to feel about. one of those “bonuses” was being able to pick up on all of the women around him going through the various cycles within the menstrual cycle. he really did not mean to nor want to scent out when someone was going through their period like a bloodhound tracking down someone. it wasn’t like he was trying to detect the changes in pheromones and hormone levels in all the women around him… normally, at least.
this added feature was a bonus in the way that he could figure out when your period was coming. thankfully, it could never be a guessing game because matt was able to put the pieces together before even you had a chance to. occasionally, it was terrifying. there has been a handful of times matt would just announce you were about to start your period or even end it.
now was one of those times.
sure, you’ve felt a bit more out of it and a smidge more frustrated than usual… but work has also been making you want to pull out every strand of your hair. all of that really should’ve been your sign that something was off.
matt had only been home for a little while now. the sound of the shower running from the bathroom and the sight of his cane and shoes were a testament to that.
there had been small differences in just the air alone that matt was able to pick up on. it was very subtle, but that was something he could pick out easily. there had been the faint metallic scent lingering just around the apartment air that had thrown him off very slightly. originally, he had brushed it aside as maybe he had blood somewhere on him and only just realized it… but he would’ve noticed it way earlier if he had and he didn’t detect any blood on him when he had washed himself off. once he had gotten out of the bathroom, the scent was still there. even if it was slowly getting covered up by your cooking.
once matt had crossed over into the living room and closer to where the kitchen was, an answer hit him. the answer had eluded him because it wasn’t about him, but rather centered on you.
all the other puzzle pieces fell in place pretty quickly after that.
why there were shifts in your progesterone and estrogen, very slight increase of your body temperature from said progesterone, the aforementioned metallic scent that lingered just beneath the scent of your cooking, your heartbeat being only a couple beats faster than it should’ve been, even the depth of each breath you took being increased to a degree. all of it pointed at this being your luteal phase and your period likely just around the corner.
it was laughable — to him — that he hadn’t figured it out much quicker. then again, it could likely be excused as his brain taking an extra second to track down and tear into the exact pheromonal and chemical breakdown of all of the hormonal fluctuations.
matt tilted his head to the side a small bit, trying to focus on the hormones he was picking up on. he could likely figure out the day and time your period would come if he focused on it. he inhaled once, focusing on the subtle metallic scent that now felt much more there the more he noticed it. it wasn’t too strong and you didn’t seem much hotter than your normal temperature to go out and make sure they had everything in preparation for—
“are you just going to stand there all night?” your voice interrupted his investigation, softer to a degree as if you had an idea what he was up to. he took a few steps forward, still a bit more focused on keeping your body temperature and resting heart rate. he let his shoulders relax, straightening his posture as he did.
“maybe that had been my plan,” matt answered back, words slipping out easily as he found his place behind you. oh, he was definitely right about where you were on the menstrual cycle. he raised one of his hands, letting the back of it rest against your neck. the difference was minimal. it wasn’t like you were running a fever hot, but you felt just a fraction warmer than he knew you to.
he took an extra few seconds, taking a deep breath in. when he breathed out it was clear that he had something he wanted to say, but held off for a moment longer as he just listened to you cook instead.
“have you felt any different lately over the past few days?”
you just gave a dismissive wave of your hand with a small exhale. “i mean, maybe a little… why?”
there wasn’t any response for a few good seconds before matt let his head fall to rest against your shoulder. he let his forehead lightly press over where your acromion laid. “your period should be due in two days.. three at the very most,” matt stated almost as if he had your entire cycle written down somewhere in his brain. actually… it wasn’t extremely unlikely. it still made you laugh out of surprise.
“yeah? gosh, what— do you have a built in period tracker in your brain somewhere or am i just lucky?” you question, setting down the knife you had been using to cut up a cucumber. matt laughed, the feeling vibrating against your body slightly from how near he was to you.
he lifted his head to stand up more properly this time, his hands slipping down to rub gently down your ribs before settling down on your waist. “well, it just is breaking down the way your pheromonal and hormonal fluctu—” he cut himself off, not looking to bore you with his explanation of how his brain broke down every detail.
matt gave a faint amused exhale. “i suppose your answer would be yes, in a sense.”
one of his hands slid over to rest just below your belly button, fingers spreading a bit over the area.
“will you explain it more later or is this going to stay your secret that you’ll list as another part of your senses?” you ask while your hand falls away from his hair and to jab at his wrist of the hand resting over your lower abdomen.
matt laughed, smiling at your jab. “well… that would ruin the fun, would it not? why would i give you the direct answer when you can guess on it for days instead.”
that statement pulls a groan out of you, pulling his hand off of your lower abdomen.
“great way to ruin the moment, murdock,” you deadpan. not out of actual annoyance, more of fondness than anything. he’d more than likely give in and provide a real answer sooner or later. it’d probably just take a bit of time of poking and prodding at him. your tone seemed to amuse matt more than anything, judging by him laughing before pressing a kiss to the side of your head. to keep up the act, you lightly push him off with muttered words about him crowding you while you were trying to prepare dinner.
( -` 💋 ´- ) i hope this was decent at the very least !! this was a joke idea that just morphed into my silly thing as the time went on. it genuinely started because of one joke i made about if matt would be able to detect someone on their period… which; he can! so that’s fun to know!!! i have other ideas i wanna get done before pride month is over, and hopefully i can! we’ll see!