helloo! i'm new to the concept of omegaverse! i'm curious to know how platonic relationships/packs work :-) could you tell me more about it? like, how do family/friends interact with each other? from what i've read scent is important, but what if they get separated for a long time? like, i assume that the scent thing would get weaker as they're not spending any time together... would that affect their relationship?
Howdy!
Check out my post on traditional omegaverse packs for some more background info on packs.
Packmaters aren't your romantic/sexual partners, I mean they can be, but that's not common. Packs in general are traditionally family based (aka they are directly related to the pack leader), but that doesn't mean that's all it can be. For example in a traditional omegaverse most people in a pack are related, they might be cousins or go as far out as third/fourth cousins in a larger pack. It's similar to irl tribes, medival villages, etc.. Groups of people were normally connected by familial ties.
As we move away from traditional aus, we can start to see packs of different kinds. A platonic pack would be one where the members aren't related to or in a relationship with the pack head. Perhaps they are all friends or started a pack based on mutual philosophy.
In either situation, families and friends act the same way. Families tend to stay close, both geographically and emotionally. It wouldn't be uncommon for a pack of any kind to observe a "sabbath" sort of day devoted to spending time with loved ones, sharing a meal, and maybe doing chores/stuff around the house.
Families share similar scents. Perhaps not the same scent, but similar. Perhaps your mom smells like the forest, you smell like summer rain, and your sister smells of buttercups. Your scents go together. Packs often share scent families as well - of course because many old pack were familial based.
Likewise, when you bond to a partner, you sort of pick up their scent too. So if you smell like summer rain, but you bonded someone who smelled like apple pie- other people would be able to discern notes of that second apple pie scent on you as if it was your own (this scent shift is more permanent than if your partner just perfumed you with their own scent via spending lots of time together or intentional scenting). Therefore, I'd theorize that a new pack, based on platonic bonds, might all have their scents take on a new undertone as well.
The scent shift that occurs due to bonding can't fade - or let's say it can and it's magically based on how close the bond is. As long as you are happily bonded, the scent stays even if you've spend decades on different continents . But if you say, unbond, that second note will fade. Another caveat I guess would be if your bond-mate dies while you're bonded and happy - you'll have their scent with you forever.
Now, the perfuming that comes from sharing a lot of time with someone - that scent can fade. And I'm surprised I haven't seen more fics where "scent slip" (when an individual starts smelling like people they've been around recently, and perhaps less like people they haven't seen in a while) isn't a bigger spark of conflict/jealousy.
Scent slip could affect a relationship I suppose. I mean if you start smelling like someone else, now that could get messy.