somebody-not-from-here

[somebody-not-from-here]

Treasure

Spencer Reid x MusicalGenius!Reader

Fluff - this is kind of for any season, but I’m partial to the haircut era Spencer seasons. so sue me.

Warnings: none? This is unedited and Spencer is instantly whipped because I adore when people driven by logic are faced with love at first sight.

Staring is rude.

His mother told him so when he was five years old. It was basic social etiquette. He has read up extensively on the increased anxiety induced in people who know they are being constantly watched. Hell, it’s literally an interrogation tactic he’s used many a time on potential unsubs throughout his career.

Staring unblinkingly at someone statistically increases the chance of engaging in direct eye contact with them. And while Spencer Reid isn’t particularly averse to eye contact in general, he has a feeling that if the current object of his staring happened to look back at him right in this moment, he’d combust on the spot.

“Reid. Reid you’re practically drooling. Cut it out.” Emily’s voice snaps him out of it.

He says nothing. Knows he’s been caught way too red-handed to dig himself out of the amused look she’s giving him. But the sheepishness of his expression seems to be enough for her not to tease him further about it. She hands him the file she was explaining before he so rudely tuned out and walks back to her desk. But not before nodding in recognition of someone behind him. Indicating him to Rossi’s presence half a second before he speaks.

“Reid, I’d like to introduce you to someone.” Rossi gestures to the person with him and of course it’s her. Spencer has to stop himself from getting pulled into another slack-jawed staring episode, he can’t lose what little oxygen he has left when she’s clearly stealing all of it directly from his lungs.

Somehow he manages a wave and a smile and maybe even a ‘hello’. And she smiles and waves and ‘hello’s back. But the way she does it is more wonderful and perfect, somehow. The moment he hears her voice he mentally denounces the need for any other sound or music ever again, because nothing ever felt like it could compare.

Jesus Christ, Reid. Pull yourself together.

He doesn’t know what’s happening. Well, that’s a lie, actually. He always knows what’s happening. That’s kind of his thing. And he’s been alive and in enough situations to be able to identify his body’s response to physical attraction. But it’s never been so sudden and intense so quickly, before. He’s getting vertigo.

“I’ve heard so much about you.” She giggles and he thinks he might die. “Uncle Davey has a lot of stories about you, Dr Reid.”

Uncle Davey? “Oh uh, good things, I hope.”

She laughs. “He’d claim otherwise, but I know he secretly loves you.” He has enough of his mind left to shoot Rossi a propped up eyebrow and a glance, and the older agent mutters something about ‘annoying, chatty geniuses’ that he doesn’t bother trying to catch.

“I didn’t know you had a niece, Rossi.”

She jumps in to answer. “He’s not actually my uncle. I just call him that. I’m his goddaughter, truthfully.” She glances up at the man in question with an amused expression, “He was almost my stepfather, but thankfully we avoided that potential disaster. He still babies me like a father, though. So I guess he hasn’t got the memo.”

There’s definitely a story there. One Rossi is clearly not in the mood to tell, because he chooses that moment to take control of the conversation.

“Yes well, we’d best be off if you’re going to make your concert in time.”

“Who are you going to see?” Spencer had no opinion on current music personalities - everything he did know, he knew because Penelope had told him - but he was desperate for any reason to keep talking to her. To learn everything he could in this brief encounter.

“She’s performing!” Rossi butts in, with a smile. Spencer can see the fatherly pride in it. “Tesoro here is a conductor for the New York Symphony Orchestra!”

She smiles bashfully. “Assistant conductor. But our primary is too old to handle touring, so I tend to step in when we go across country.” She leans in conspiratorially and Spencer leans in instinctively in response, ready to dive into the pools of her eyes. “Between you and me, he’s on the verge of retirement, so I’m expecting a promotion pretty soon.”

“She’s being modest.” Her godfather eclipses her humility immediately. “She can play a million different instruments and knows every musical note by ear.”

“Twelve. I play twelve instruments. And really, only three of them, regularly.” She counters. “And I do have perfect pitch, but that’s usually more of a genetic thing than a talent thing.”

“That’s still amazing!” And he means it. Spencer has basic adeptness at the piano and nothing else. Twelve instruments and a conducting position in one of the most famous orchestras in the world - and at her age - made her seem like- well, a genius. And the irony was not lost on him.

She thanks him, and he preens a little at the way she blushes in response to his compliment. Rossi ushers her towards the elevator, waving goodbye.

Spencer feels Derek and Emily eyeing the entire interaction from across the room as he waves pathetically after them, and he purposefully avoids eye contact with them when he makes a beeline for the break room so he can finally get a fucking grip.

Because holy shit. He was in trouble.

———————————————————————

AN: I’m planning on making this a loose non-linear series simply because I have a lot of Feelings about the concept of Spencer dating a classical musician. But like, do let me know what you think bc this could very well just be a me problem, lol.

[somebody-not-from-here]

my mom is 61 and her bf is a huge nerd and he’s teaching her to play magic the gathering and he had her watch avatar the last airbender with him and his ringtone is terra’s theme from final fantasy 6 and he paints pictures of sephiroth. my mom’s bf is nerdier than i’ll ever be.

and she does all these pinterest crafts and now she makes little bejeweled vials of healing potions for him and his buddies. my little geek heart can’t handle all this.

edit: just picture a 60-something woman with a VERY thick minnesotan accent saying “mike is having me watch the naruto”

[somebody-not-from-here]

part one: alert synchronicity

— ★ spencer spends a day surrounded by small reminders of you—and finally understands that he's already lost his heart to you.

pairing: spencer reid x fem!reader ( no use of y/n ) content warnings: nothing!

masterlist. - part two ✦ part three ✦ part four

Something shifted.

It wasn’t just a minor change, a fleeting blip in the rhythm of his day—no, this was something bigger. It was subtle, almost imperceptible.

Whether it was a trick of the mind or a deeper instinct trying to get Spencer's attention, he didn’t know.

He woke that morning with an odd heaviness in his limbs, the kind that made the simple act of opening his eyes feel like a monumental effort.

The space beside him was empty. Cold.

And for a long, disorienting moment, he stared at the undisturbed sheets, his mind caught between sleep and wakefulness, reality and the lingering traces of a dream he couldn’t quite recall.

You weren’t there.

Of course you weren’t. You had left hours ago, after the movie credits rolled and the apartment had settled into silence.

You had laughed at something he said, before gathering your things and slipping out with a quiet "Bye Spencer."

That had been the plan. That’s how it always went.

Yet, for twenty minutes, he lay there, motionless, his gaze fixed on the vacant space beside him as if expecting it to offer answers. His mind was a paradox—simultaneously blank and overcrowded, thoughts swirling like leaves caught in a gust of wind, too fast to grasp, too numerous to ignore. It was as though a hundred thoughts were scrambling for attention at once, but none of them quite made it to the surface. He couldn’t grab onto anything.

All he knew was that something didn’t sit right.

Was it just exhaustion? The residual effects of too many late nights and too many cases blurring together?

Because the truth was, he had felt it before. That eerie, inexplicable tug of fate, the universe nudging him toward something he couldn’t yet name. And today, it was stronger.

Today, it refused to be ignored.

The sensation clung to him like static, prickling beneath his skin even as he dragged himself out of bed and into the bathroom. His reflection in the mirror looked tired—more than usual.

His eyes landed on the toothbrush—the one that wasn’t technically yours, but might as well have been. A soft pink handle, sitting next to his own.

He’d bought it months ago, after the third time you’d stayed over and sheepishly admitted you’d forgotten yours. It had been a practical decision at the time—a small, logical accommodation for someone who kept ending up in his space, in his life, for longer and longer stretches.

His fingers hovered near it, not quite touching, as if it might burn him. A strange warmth spread through his chest, fluttering and restless, but beneath it was something hollow, something aching.

He didn’t understand it. Didn’t want to understand it.

Shaking his head slightly, Spencer wandered into the kitchen. The fridge door groaned as he pulled it open, half-hoping for inspiration, half-hoping to distract himself.

He frowned at the nearly empty shelves. A few containers. Half a bottle of almond milk. Some leftover takeout he wasn’t entirely sure was still safe.

He pouted, just a little. That soft, childlike disappointment that slipped out before he could mask it.

And then, out of nowhere, a thought sparked:

Your cookies. The chocolate chip ones.

The kind you never used to bake until you learned he liked them more than your usual vanilla batches .

The first ones you made had been slightly burnt on the edges, the chips off balance, but you kept trying. Adjusting the recipe, tweaking it each time like it was a science experiment. The way you’d squint at the oven timer and mutter about ratios—it made him smile more than he ever let on.

Over time, they’d gotten better. Perfect, even. To the point where Spencer had started associating the smell of melted chocolate and brown sugar with you—with the way your nose scrunched when you laughed, with the flour dusting your sleeves, with the way you’d always leave a few extra in his freezer "just in case."

Now, the absence of them felt like a physical thing.

He closed the fridge door slowly and let out a long sigh, his back pressing against the cool metal as he leaned there for a moment.

But then his eyes caught something on the counter and his breath caught.

There, on the counter—your box of cookies. The very ones he’d just been craving.

The universe had a cruel sense of humor sometimes, dangling the answer to a thought he hadn’t even fully formed. A coincidence? Maybe. But the way his pulse jumped at the sight made it feel like something more.

A slow, disbelieving smile tugged at his lips as he reached for the box, his fingers brushing over the familiar creases in the cardboard—the same way you always folded the edges to keep them fresh.

On top, a note in your unmistakable handwriting:

“For my favorite genius. I know you probably don’t have anything to eat for breakfast. And you need to stop living off coffee.”

Next to it, a lopsided smiley face, the kind you always drew when you were teasing him.

And beneath it, another slip of paper—this one with a quote:

“I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them.” —The Importance of Being Earnest.

His book. The one he’d lent you months ago, dog-eared and annotated in the margins with his cramped scribbles. You’d not only read it, you’d remembered it. Enough to pluck this line, this line, the one he’d laughed at when he reread it next to you.

Something warm and unnameable curled in his chest.

He gently traced the smiley face with his index finger before carefully peeling the note off the box and walking to the fridge. He smoothed the edges against the metal and stuck it there. Right in the center, right beside the magnet he never used. The quote followed, aligned just so.

Two little pieces of you.

He fully enjoyed the cookies—more than he wanted to admit. One turned into two, two into five, and before he knew it, he was staring at the bottom of the box, only two left. He hesitated, tempted to finish them off, but something made him stop. Maybe he wanted to save them. Maybe it felt symbolic somehow—leaving just a little behind.

He set the box aside with a quiet sigh, realizing it was probably time to face reality. If his breakfast consisted of cookies and the last splash of coffee from yesterday’s pot, then yeah—he needed groceries.

The thought alone was exhausting.

Reluctantly, Spencer went to get dressed. As he rummaged through his dresser for a sweater, his fingers brushed against something soft in the corner of the drawer. He paused, then slowly pulled it out.

The scarf.

The one you’d given him last winter, wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine, a little handwritten tag that simply said “For when the cold gets into your bones.”

He hadn’t worn it much. Not because he didn’t love it. He did. Too much, maybe. He was worried he’d ruin it, spill something on it, or catch it on a subway door or lose it in a moment of distraction.

So instead, it became a part of his quiet morning rituals—he’d look at it while choosing what to wear, smile to himself, then fold it back gently, like preserving something sacred.

It became a small, secret reminder of you that never failed to make his lips twitch upward.

But today, something tugged at him. Wear it.

He paused, hesitating. There was no case today. No flights, no crime scenes, no risk of ruining it in some chaotic whirlwind of work. It was just grocery shopping. A quick errand. No danger. No reason not to.

Before he could overthink it, he looped the scarf around his neck. The wool was warmer than he expected, carrying the faintest trace of cedar and vanilla—your perfume, maybe, or just the ghost of memory.

He slipped on his shoes, grabbed his coat, and stepped outside into the crisp morning air. The cold hit him immediately —but the scarf helped.

You helped.

And for once, Spencer didn’t feel quite so alone.

The drive to the grocery store should have been routine—just another mundane task.

Spencer flipped on the radio out of habit, his fingers automatically tuning to his usual station: the one that dissected quantum physics and debated the ethics of emerging technologies in monotone, academic voices. It was comforting, familiar. He usually looked forward to it. Even if he already knew most of the facts being discussed, there was something soothing about hearing others speak his language.

There was comfort in the predictability of it.

But today, the voices grated.

He listened for maybe a minute, maybe less. The words blurred together, sounding hollow in a way they usually didn’t.

He stared ahead at the red light, fingers tapping rhythmically on the steering wheel. Restless. Unsettled.

His gaze drifted to the radio display. Without really thinking, he pressed the button to change the station.

Click. Static. Then a beat.

And then—your favorite song.

It took him a second to register it, but once he did, his breath caught in his throat. It wasn’t a popular song, not one that played often. In fact, he could count on one hand the number of times he’d heard it on the radio.

But here it was. Blasting softly through his speakers like the universe had handpicked the moment.

The same song you’d hum under your breath while baking, the one you’d insisted on playing three times in a row that one rainy afternoon when he’d pretended to complain but secretly memorized every lyric.

His breath hitched.

For a heartbeat, he just stared, as if the universe had reached into his chest and plucked out a thought he hadn’t even fully formed. Behind him, a horn blared—sharp, impatient—jolting him back to reality.

“Oh. Sorry,” he muttered, flushing as he hit the gas, the car lurching forward a second too late.

He didn’t change the station.

The rest of the drive passed in a haze, the music wrapping around him like an echo of your voice.

By the time he pulled into the grocery store parking lot, the song had faded into something else, but the melody lingered, tangled up in the wool of your scarf and the ghost of flour on your hands.

Once he stepped out of the car, Spencer paused and looked up at the sky. Heavy clouds loomed overhead, dark and swollen with the promise of rain.

He shoved his hands into his coat pockets and muttered to himself, “Alright. Just in and out. Quick.”

October weather was unpredictable. He quickened his pace toward the store, shoulders hunched against the cold. The last thing he needed was to get caught in another downpour.

Like last night.

The memory surfaced unbidden: you, standing in his doorway, drenched and shivering, your hair plastered to your forehead while rainwater pooled at your feet. He’d panicked—of course he had—fussing over the cold you’d surely catch, the inconvenience, the unnecessary risk you’d taken just to watch some movie with him.

And then you’d grinned, wide and unrepentant, before launching yourself at him.

The hug was instantaneous, your arms locking around him, soaking his shirt through in seconds. He’d stiffened—“You’re getting me all wet!”—but you’d just buried your face in his shoulder and mumbled, “We’ll be sick together, Spencer.”

He hadn’t stood a chance.

You’d spent the rest of the evening wrapped in mismatched towels, pressed shoulder-to-shoulder on the couch, your laughter warmer than any blanket. And if a cozy evening like this with you made him get sick? Who was he to care? If anything, he had used the rain and the cold to scoot even closer to you on the couch, mumbling a small "My apartment is cold" as an excuse to press his thighs closer to yours.

Now, standing in the grocery store parking lot with the wind gnawing at his scarf—your scarf—he realized something with startling clarity:

He missed you.

Not in the abstract, distant way he missed people when they were gone. But viscerally, like a pit in his stomach, that couldn't be filled with anything but the sight of you standing infront of him with a smile.

The clouds overhead rumbled softly, like the sky missed you too.

Spencer turned toward the store, tugging his scarf a little tighter, and stepped forward, but something caught his eye.

Next to the grocery store, nestled between a laundromat and a pharmacy, was a new coffee shop. That in itself wasn’t unusual. But the name?

His breath caught slightly in his throat as he read the sign above the door.

Drip Drop Brew.

His eyes widened. He blinked, like maybe he had read it wrong. But no—those words stared right back at him, painted in playful script across the front window in soft red and black.

His breath stuttered.

“Drip drop drip drop,” you had murmured just last night as he made you tea, still damp from the rain.

You had stood beside him in the kitchen, doing absolutely nothing useful, your hair still curling with leftover stormwater. You never offered to help—and he never minded. You just liked being near him while he moved around the kitchen.

“Drip drop?” he’d repeated back, bemused, pouring hot water over chamomile leaves.

“The rain,” you’d said, as if it were obvious, tilting your head toward the sound. “Listen.”

And he had. Not to the weather, but to you—the way your voice softened around mundane things, how you found rhythm in the ordinary. It was ridiculous. It was perfect. It was such a you thing to do, finding magic in something as ordinary as the sound of water hitting glass.

Now, standing frozen on the sidewalk, the memory wrapped around him like the scarf still knotted at his throat.

A coincidence. It had to be.

But the way his pulse jumped said otherwise.

He took a slow breath, torn between stepping inside and continuing to the grocery store. He didn’t need coffee.

Groceries were forgotten the moment he pushed open the coffee shop door.

The place was you—cozy and vibrant, with mismatched armchairs in deep red and black , shelves lined with well-loved books, and the scent of freshly ground coffee.

He could already picture you here, curled up in that corner nook by the window, a half-finished report abandoned in favor of people-watching.

You both had a habit of doing reports in cafés—something that started as convenience and turned into tradition. A small ritual between the chaos of the job. He could still remember the first time you'd convinced Hotch to let it happen.

It had been on a slow day, paperwork piling up, everyone dragging. You'd walked into the bullpen and said, “What if we were… slightly more productive in a cozy public setting with caffeine and pastries?”

Complete with your best “convince-Hotch” smile.

Somehow, it worked.Honestly, most of the team had a hard time saying no to you. Even Hotch, who wasn’t exactly known for bending rules.

But Spencer? Spencer never stood a chance. He wasn’t even sure the word no existed in his vocabulary when it came to you.

Truthfully, he wasn’t sure he’d ever truly said no to you. The word dissolved in his throat whenever you smiled at him.

He ordered a coffee—black, simple, but he let the barista add a drizzle of cinnamon syrup, just because it reminded him of the way you'd order his drinks when you thought he needed “spicing up.”

Then he settled down in the corner seat, back against the wall, giving him a view of the whole shop. It should’ve felt peaceful.

Instead, the absence beside him was deafening.

He let his eyes wander, taking everything in. The handwritten menu on a chalkboard. Cute drawings of animals, such as ladybugs. The tiny potted succulents lining the windowsill. A basket of dog treats by the door. A stack of used books by the counter with a handwritten sign that read: “Take one, leave one, love always.” C

Time slipped through his fingers like sand.

What should have been a thirty-minute grocery run had stretched into nearly two hours—first the coffee shop, then the quiet absorption of his book (of course he’d brought one; he’d sooner leave the house without pants than without reading material).

Eventually he forced himself to leave.

With a full bag of groceries and a head full of thoughts, he made it home. The sky had darkened even more, a low rumble of thunder in the distance echoing through the streets. Rain hadn’t started yet, but it was only a matter of time.

He unpacked everything robotically, stacking the pantry and fridge, then tossed his coat aside and curled up on the couch, blanket wrapped loosely around him.

He traced the spine of the book in his lap, his thumb brushing over the slight crease near the top.

Your book.

The one you’d pressed into his hands last week with theatrical solemnity, your brows furrowed in mock severity. “This one is my favorite,” you’d said, voice low, as if entrusting him with state secrets. When you’d jabbed a warning finger in his face, he’d barely suppressed a grin. “If anything happens to it—”

He’d waited, eyes bright with amusement, until you’d leaned in close, your voice dropping to a theatrical whisper: “You will know my rage in ways you’ve never known before.”

The threat was absurd—he’d seen you genuinely angry exactly once, and even then, you’d mostly just frowned harder—but he’d played along, snatching the book from your grip with exaggerated defiance.

“Terrifying,” he’d deadpanned, already flipping to the first page.

That was another one of your rituals: swapping books every week, your version of a love language. You’d once called it “literary matchmaking.” Every Friday, without fail, a book would be passed between you—sometimes annotated, sometimes dog-eared, always loved.

This book had been your favorite.

Now, tracing the dog-eared corner of page 111—your favorite passage—he realized with a quiet ache that he could almost hear your voice between the lines.

He’d read three chapters today, but the words blurred together, his focus frayed by the day’s odd synchronicities—the cookies, the scarf, the song, the café.

And now this: your favorite book in his hands, your phantom laughter between the lines.

Spencer exhaled, tilting his head back against the couch.

The universe, it seemed, was determined to remind him of you.

Thirty minutes later, he turned the final page.

The book was finished, and God, he understood now why you loved it so much—the way the prose curled around his ribs like smoke, the underlined passages that felt like secrets shared between just the two of you.

Your notes in the margins had been his favorite part: little exclamation marks beside plot twists, sarcastic commentary in the corners, the occasional doodle when you’d clearly gotten distracted.

With a quiet sigh, he set the book on his lap, but the spine—well-loved and cracked from years of your hands holding it—fell open again of its own accord.

And there it was.

A single line, highlighted in soft yellow, framed by a constellation of pink hearts you’d drawn with the same care you reserved for frosting cookies or arranging flowers in his too-empty apartment:

“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”

The air left his lungs in a rush.

It hit him with the force of a bullet train—no warning, no gradual buildup, just the devastating certainty of it.

The cookies. The scarf. The radio station. The coffee shop. The way his chest ached when you laughed. The way he’d memorized the cadence of your voice without meaning to. The way every road, every book, every breath seemed to lead back to you.

Oh.

Spencer Reid was in love with his best friend.

And the terrible, beautiful truth was—he’d been in love with you for a long, long time.

[somebody-not-from-here]

Snippet of something I started on the bus home from watching Thunderbolts bc hooo boy did I miss Bucky

No spoilers just congressman!Bucky x media assistant!reader

“Well, at least you have a lot of online support.” She posited. “Especially with younger people.“

That piqued his interest. “I didn’t know the younger generations cared about veteran’s rights policies.”

She fiddled with the screen of her laptop, pushing it back and forth on its hinges, contemplating how to phrase her next sentence. “Well, it’s not exactly your policy - though that definitely helps - it’s more. Well, congress is filled with mostly old white men, you know?”

A scoff. “I’m an old white man. I literally fought in world war 2.”

“Yeah but… how do I say this…The other old white congressmen, with good policies, don’t have the added advantage of being the de facto sex symbol of politics, right now.”

Fuck. Worst possible way she could have said it. Proven further by the look of utter confusion and dumbfoundedness on her boss’ face right now.

“The- what?”

“You…” god. Her face was burning. “To put it plainly; you’re a hit with the straight ladies and the gays, uh, sir.”

“They think I’m…attractive.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Why?”

That was a hilarious question to receive - from the man that pays her salary, no less. From the winter soldier, even. And the sheer comical nature of it all was heightened by how genuinely he had asked. Clearly he had never been literally anywhere on the internet, in the last year. How does she even begin to answer, not only something so incredulous, but also (in her non-professional and very much personal unshared opinion) kind of obvious?

“Well,” her eyes couldn’t help but trace his figure. I mean surely he knew he was attractive, right? She could only imagine the amount of girls he would have pulled back when he was just a boy in uniform on his days off from punching nazis and protecting the country. She wasn’t even particularly pro-military, herself, and even she could see the appeal.

Add to that the beard scruff and the hair you could only dream of running your hands through and those eyes and the fucking motorcycle-

“You’re just naturally likeable. It’s attractive.” Is what she settles on, so that she doesn’t sound like a college freshman in heat in front of her fucking boss.

Something makes him hesitate, then. Blue eyes assess her for what feels like forever. And, for a moment, she’s so sure that being blipped all over again would be preferable to the whatever energy that this conversation has brought into the room and has her face turning every shade of red.

Then he smiles, amused. “Naturally likeable.” He actually laughs a bit, and seeing Congressman Barnes laugh feels like something extremely precious and rare. Something she is getting an absolute privilege to see. “There’s very viable claims out there that I could have killed JFK, and you think I’m naturally likeable.”

“You’re mysterious! Dangerous but noble. Intimidating but not an asshole about it,” - and you have a great ass, she holds back, “it’s appealing!”

“ I have a metal arm that could crush a person’s skull with barely any effort.”

“Yeah! It’s hot!”

His eyebrows shoot up and she curses internally. Shit. “Um, that’s what the demographics say, anyway. Sorry. That was just my professional opinion and I spoke out of turn. I’ll just stop now-“

“No, no, please. Continue, sweetheart.” His smile turns ever so sinister and she’s pretty sure she’s going to pass out. “I’d love to hear your unprofessional opinions on why I’m appealing.”

———————————————————————-

Maybe I’ll continue it. I have ideas…

[somebody-not-from-here]

Treasure

Spencer Reid x MusicalGenius!Reader

Fluff - this is kind of for any season, but I’m partial to the haircut era Spencer seasons. so sue me.

Warnings: none? This is unedited and Spencer is instantly whipped because I adore when people driven by logic are faced with love at first sight.

Staring is rude.

His mother told him so when he was five years old. It was basic social etiquette. He has read up extensively on the increased anxiety induced in people who know they are being constantly watched. Hell, it’s literally an interrogation tactic he’s used many a time on potential unsubs throughout his career.

Staring unblinkingly at someone statistically increases the chance of engaging in direct eye contact with them. And while Spencer Reid isn’t particularly averse to eye contact in general, he has a feeling that if the current object of his staring happened to look back at him right in this moment, he’d combust on the spot.

“Reid. Reid you’re practically drooling. Cut it out.” Emily’s voice snaps him out of it.

He says nothing. Knows he’s been caught way too red-handed to dig himself out of the amused look she’s giving him. But the sheepishness of his expression seems to be enough for her not to tease him further about it. She hands him the file she was explaining before he so rudely tuned out and walks back to her desk. But not before nodding in recognition of someone behind him. Indicating him to Rossi’s presence half a second before he speaks.

“Reid, I’d like to introduce you to someone.” Rossi gestures to the person with him and of course it’s her. Spencer has to stop himself from getting pulled into another slack-jawed staring episode, he can’t lose what little oxygen he has left when she’s clearly stealing all of it directly from his lungs.

Somehow he manages a wave and a smile and maybe even a ‘hello’. And she smiles and waves and ‘hello’s back. But the way she does it is more wonderful and perfect, somehow. The moment he hears her voice he mentally denounces the need for any other sound or music ever again, because nothing ever felt like it could compare.

Jesus Christ, Reid. Pull yourself together.

He doesn’t know what’s happening. Well, that’s a lie, actually. He always knows what’s happening. That’s kind of his thing. And he’s been alive and in enough situations to be able to identify his body’s response to physical attraction. But it’s never been so sudden and intense so quickly, before. He’s getting vertigo.

“I’ve heard so much about you.” She giggles and he thinks he might die. “Uncle Davey has a lot of stories about you, Dr Reid.”

Uncle Davey? “Oh uh, good things, I hope.”

She laughs. “He’d claim otherwise, but I know he secretly loves you.” He has enough of his mind left to shoot Rossi a propped up eyebrow and a glance, and the older agent mutters something about ‘annoying, chatty geniuses’ that he doesn’t bother trying to catch.

“I didn’t know you had a niece, Rossi.”

She jumps in to answer. “He’s not actually my uncle. I just call him that. I’m his goddaughter, truthfully.” She glances up at the man in question with an amused expression, “He was almost my stepfather, but thankfully we avoided that potential disaster. He still babies me like a father, though. So I guess he hasn’t got the memo.”

There’s definitely a story there. One Rossi is clearly not in the mood to tell, because he chooses that moment to take control of the conversation.

“Yes well, we’d best be off if you’re going to make your concert in time.”

“Who are you going to see?” Spencer had no opinion on current music personalities - everything he did know, he knew because Penelope had told him - but he was desperate for any reason to keep talking to her. To learn everything he could in this brief encounter.

“She’s performing!” Rossi butts in, with a smile. Spencer can see the fatherly pride in it. “Tesoro here is a conductor for the New York Symphony Orchestra!”

She smiles bashfully. “Assistant conductor. But our primary is too old to handle touring, so I tend to step in when we go across country.” She leans in conspiratorially and Spencer leans in instinctively in response, ready to dive into the pools of her eyes. “Between you and me, he’s on the verge of retirement, so I’m expecting a promotion pretty soon.”

“She’s being modest.” Her godfather eclipses her humility immediately. “She can play a million different instruments and knows every musical note by ear.”

“Twelve. I play twelve instruments. And really, only three of them, regularly.” She counters. “And I do have perfect pitch, but that’s usually more of a genetic thing than a talent thing.”

“That’s still amazing!” And he means it. Spencer has basic adeptness at the piano and nothing else. Twelve instruments and a conducting position in one of the most famous orchestras in the world - and at her age - made her seem like- well, a genius. And the irony was not lost on him.

She thanks him, and he preens a little at the way she blushes in response to his compliment. Rossi ushers her towards the elevator, waving goodbye.

Spencer feels Derek and Emily eyeing the entire interaction from across the room as he waves pathetically after them, and he purposefully avoids eye contact with them when he makes a beeline for the break room so he can finally get a fucking grip.

Because holy shit. He was in trouble.

———————————————————————

AN: I’m planning on making this a loose non-linear series simply because I have a lot of Feelings about the concept of Spencer dating a classical musician. But like, do let me know what you think bc this could very well just be a me problem, lol.

[somebody-not-from-here]

There isn’t enough singer!reader x Hotch and I’m beginning to think I’m gonna have to do this myself