Anthophile (Spencer Reid)

Chapter 5

"Shit." Iris ran to turn the stove off, checking the contents of the pan. "Get it together." She took a deep breath and stirred the curry inside, glancing at the clock on the stove. He would be here in ten minutes and she was a wreck. On the inside at least. On the outside she appeared to have it all together; her hair was pulled back with a clip, a few strands framing her face. She had put some mascara on and tamed her eyebrows. Her outfit consisted of a pair of loose fitting high wasted jeans with a black tighter fitting t shirt tucked in, her feet were bare; save for her favorite pair of fuzzy slippers.

"Okay, almost done." She had decided to branch out and make a Thai curry for dinner. She thought it would be safe, seeing as he mentioned eating takeout  a lot. She set some plates out on the bar along with some wine glasses, wanting him to see the effort she had put into the meal.

She didn't have a dining table, instead there was a large kitchen island and her living room was joined. Her living room held, of course plants, and a few pieces of art. There was a medium sized tv on an older media console, a large book self containing mostly books, but also some pictures. Most were of her when she was young with her grandmother. There was a yellow velvet couch she rescued from the curb and cleaned like it had been drenched in blood, and a small stand with a record table and a crate full of records. It was a very eclectic style, but it was warm and homey. It was hard not to feel at home when you walked through the door.

As she started setting the pot on a trivet she heard a knock. "Coming!" She sat the pot down and took a deep breath one more time before opening the door. "Hey." She said with a smile. Though they hadn't seen each other for a few days they had texted back and forth a few times, having little conversations. Spencer wore a pair of grey joggers and a green sweatshirt that had the star trek logo on it. He looked adorable.

"Hi, it smells good..." Spencer looked down at her and smiled, "these are for you, I wanted to get some flowers...but I figured you have plenty." He handed her a box of chocolates."

"Thank you, that was very nice." She said taking the box. She moved aside and motioned for him to come inside. "Make yourself at home." She shut the door behind him, setting the chocolates down on the island. "I made us a Thai red curry...I hope you like it..." she grabbed the bottle of cheap wine she purchased. "Do you want wine or water?"

"I'm not much of a drinker, but maybe just a small glass...and some water if that's okay." He leaned against the counter, waiting for her to invite him to sit. He didn't want to rush her.

"Of course!" She opened the wine and poured them a glass, then opened her cabinet to reach a glass for water. Looking around she couldn't see her stool, she got on her tip toes and tried to reach.

"Here, let me help." She felt Spencer come up behind her, a blush came to her face and her breath caught in her throat. He grabbed a glass and handed it to her.

"T-thanks..." she quickly moved and pour him some water and sat it by one of the plates. "Alright, let's eat." He watched her move and sat down beside her. Iris served him and then herself. They started eating.

"This is great!" Spencer said before taking another bite, "honestly, way better then take out."

She laughed, relieved that he liked it, " I would hope so!" She took a sip of wine and let herself start to relax. "So...I guess work has been pretty tame?" She asked.

He nodded, taking a sip of wine himself. "Pretty tame, just paper work. Which I don't mind, it's actually kind of relaxing."

"I can see that, sometimes mindless tasks like that are nice. Kind of get a chance to go into, what I like to call, auto pilot mode." She said motioning a flying motion with her hands.

"Exactly!" He said with a smile, "I've never heard it called that before, but I like it." He looked around her apartment and then took another bite. "So uh, how's the shop?"

"It's good, I have a wedding coming up. Which is nice money wise, but also hectic. Normally working by myself is fine, but I have to have help on those days and..." she thought for a moment, "I uh...May be a little bit of a control freak. Which is why I like to work alone."

Spencer chuckled, "I don't think I would have pegged you for a control freak, but I guess that makes sense." He took another sip, "you are kind of an artist though, and most artist work alone."

"I'm glad to see that an FBI profiler couldn't figure out my control freak tendencies."

He shook his head, "I'm trying not to profile you, I want to get to know you without figuring you out myself." He said staring into her eyes.

Iris blushed, how could this man have such a strong effect on her in such a small amount of time? "Well, that's nice to know..." she wasn't sure how to respond to him, instead she focused on eating. Leaning forward and crossing her arms as she finished, "you know, you should feel special, I don't have many guests up here. It's kind of my little oasis." Which was true. Most of the time when she hung out with people it was somewhere else or their house. Every so often she invited people to hang out in the shop, in her little seating area.

Spencer finished his food and leaned back in his chair a little, looking at her "well, I'm...thank you." He nodded, his brow a little furrowed. "The food was really good by the way."

"Thanks, would you like a tour?" She asked standing from her chair and grabbing their plates before placing them in the sink.

"Sure!" He stood and put his hands in his pockets.

"So, you've seen the kitchen." She walked past him, motioning to the living room. "Living room."

Spencer walked in the room and looked around, he stepped closer to the book case and looked at her books. There were a lot of older books, classic works and some biographies. He had read a good amount of them but some he hadn't. He noticed the pictures with an older woman and what looked to be a little Iris. "Is this you?" He asked looking back at her.

"Yea, that's me and my Gram. I was probably," she stepped closer to him to see which picture he was pointing to, "I was probably 6 in that picture."

"You were adorable." In the picture she was wearing overalls, her hair in pigtails and she was holding a small shrub. Her face held a huge grin with teeth missing.

"Thanks." She said with a blush.

"So you must have been really close with your Grandmother." He said, noticing there weren't any other pictures of family.

"Yea, she basically raised me." All by herself with no help.

She smiled at the picture, the memories it held.

"And then my bedroom and bathroom are back there." She said motioning to the far left door. "And that hall way takes you down to the shop."

Spencer followed her hands and then nodded, he then spotted the records. "Mind if I look through them?"

She nodded, he squatted down and looked through them. It was a mix of older records with some classical, jazz, and indie. "This is a pretty broad selection." He pulled out a Miles Davis album, "I don't think I've heard this specific album of his."

Iris stepped closer to him, gently taking the record out of his hands and placing it on the player. Soon the sounds of soft jazz filled the room. It was a favorite of hers, she liked to play it when she was cooking.

Spencer stood and held out his hand, she looked at him confused. "I'm not normally a dancer, at all...but would you wanna dance?" He asked a small blush on his face. Iris slowly reached out and took his hand, nodding.

Spencer gently pulled her closer and placed his other hand on the small of her back, making sure not to pull her too close. Iris placed her hand on his shoulder and looked up at him, then away. She hadn't been this close to someone in a while. Normally she wouldn't like being so close, but it felt...natural with him. And that scared her a little.

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Don't worry! Part two coming soon! Just felt like it would be way to long to make just one.