prodigious ;

           he chose the same restaurant as their first date  ;  a kind gesture to hold them together  ,  just a bit  .     it’s the first time in weeks they’ve both been off work at the same time   (   the first time in days that they’ve even been in the same state   )   ,  and as such  ,  there is an aura of joy and affection and exhaustion and stress  .      he pulls her chair out and nearly hits her ankle  ,  moving over at the last second and nudging the table instead  .       he cringes  ,  but makes his way to his own seat  ;  there are worse things in life  .        ❛       we need to  ,  ah  ,  schedule video chats or something  --  that can wait  ,  though  .      for now  ,  tell me anything you haven’t had a chance to tell me yet  .      ❜

          he’s in a bad mood  ,  something that seems to be the case more often than not nowadays  .        his headaches are getting worse  ,  and he blinks away fuzz as he tries to pay attention to the interview records before him  .      it should’ve been a five-second read  ,  but evidently  ,  that isn’t the case  .        he sees a flash of movement in the corner and tenses up  ,  risking a glance to insure it’s his ghost and not a concerned coworker  .         ❛       i can’t  ---  i don’t have TIME for your case right now  .      there’s been a series of fires  ,  fifteen dead  --  take a number  .       ❜

            it’s another LATE NIGHT  --  as much as he wants to leave his work at the office  ,  he doesn’t have much to occupy his time at home  .     sitting in near silence at his kitchen table  ,  files spread around him  --  it’s all normal  .     he can’t quite explain why this case is so important to him  ,  even to himself  ;  perhaps it is merely the girl that watches him work  .     he reminds himself that he is an adult  ,  an FBI AGENT  ,  but no amount of experience will ever quite allow a traumatized kid to move on  .    ❛  did you and veronica ever interact before the incident  ?     if we got witnesses from the school  ,  would they be able to identify a MOTIVE ?  ❜

smash that like for a starter !!

           he’s doing his best to stay quiet  ;  by now  ,  they were used to leaving each other at unfortunate hours  ,  and he tried to lessen the blow by not waking her up  .      as much as he loved being with her  ,  they had stayed  up far too late the night before  ;  in his defense  ,  he wasn’t supposed to be working today  .      a combination of exhaustion and the dark  insures his stealth is decreased  --  in searching for his go-bag  ,  he trips over it instead  .    he isn’t even sure if lexie is awake when he apologizes  .      “ sorry  --  sorry  ,  i just needed  --  the bag  .  ”

it is becoming increasingly obvious that he shouldn’t be allowed in romantic relationships -- his mind leans towards one of his last endeavors, in which he blamed her attraction on transference. “ words are -- i’m not good with -- i mean, me too. ”

       he is glad one of his first cases is a relatively non-gruesome one. no criminal activity is free from some unfortunate portions, but compared to what he’s already seen ( and what he’ll see in the future ), this is a walk in the park. he glances around the room at the few witnesses still around -- most had fled the scene as soon as they realized the police were involved.         his eyes land on the only woman not already being interviewed, and he clears his throat before approaching her. a forced smile and a flash of his badge later, he launches into his speech, obviously avoiding her eyes. “ excuse me, ma’am. dr. spencer reid, with the fbi. do you have time for a few questions ? ”