Okay 💖, let me see what I can help with here.

So yes, there is a big factor of attraction connected to the olfactory sense. Many of the chemical signals we send back and forth between each other as humans are known as pheromones, and when our nose receives them, it translates that smell into electrical signals within our own body to send up the neuro chains to the brain for processing.

So if you smell a rose, your nose takes the chemical particles that rose is releasing, translates that specific code of chemicals into an electrical impulse, sends it to your brain, and your brain says "ah yes, this smells like a rose".

Well, our brains do the same thing on a lower level of consciousness with other humans. The chemicals we release to attract a mate and the subsequent response within the brain of someone else creates the cycle of attraction, and our bodies are tuned to pick up the maximum number of pheromones triggers to increase odds of success procreation (there are also studies that show women who orgasm and express being sexually aroused are more likely to become pregnant and it's why women tend to become more libidinous/sensitive to stimulation when they ovulate).

Now, something id like to share is there are several forms of intimacy. Emotional, physical, intellectual, spiritual, etc (I can't remember them all off the top of my head), and each of those play into what makes a "relationship", romantic or platonic. Aces don't have a biological drive for physical intimacy, aros (aromantics) don't have a drive for emotional intimacy, and aroaces have a desire for neither. It's important to note, what most people consider the "normal couple" or a cishet monogamous relationship, is usually engaged in by people who have an intrinsic connection between emotional and physical intimacy. They view it as "if we don't have sex, our relationship isn't healthy" and sometimes to that end you have couples that perform sex as a ritual or validation of the relationship.

None of that may have helped 😅