The Chariot (Spencer x Reader)

TWO

Monday had come and gone without a new case. The day was spent going through the mountains of files on my desk that never seemed to go away. Tuesday wasn't much different. As glad as I was about serial killers apparently taking the weekend off, I was growing restless without a case.

If I was going to get anywhere near finishing my work, I needed some caffeine. I got up and walked into the break room where I took my time making my cup of coffee.

I was walking back to my desk when out of the corner of my eye I noticed Reid watching me. I slumped down into my chair and looked up at him, our eyes instantly meeting. Though our desks were across the bullpen, we faced each other as we sat in our chairs.

I gave him a swift nod and small smile to acknowledge our eye contact. Without any sort of reciprocation from him, he averted his eyes back down to the paperwork on his desk. That was weird, even for him.

The end of the day had finally arrived. I gathered my things and stopped to talk to JJ, Prentiss, and Garcia all gathered around Morgan's desk.

"So, what's everyone up to tonight?" JJ asked.

"I'm going to see a movie downtown at 8 if anyone wants to come." Reid replied, clutching his messenger bag as he approached the group. He knew it was a long shot to ask because no one had ever joined him for a movie before. "It is entirely in Russian, but I've found you don't need a fluent understanding of the language to follow-"

"Actually, that sounds fun!" Cutting him off mid-sentence, I didn't process the words I said until they came out of my mouth. I tried to minimize the sound of excitement in my voice by adding "I-if that's alright."

"Watch out pretty boy, looks like you got yourself a date!" Morgan jabbed Reid with his elbow.

Prentiss noticed the embarrassment painted across my face and interjected, "hey take it easy on the kid, Morgan."

----

I pulled up to Reid's apartment at 6:57pm and started typing a text to let him know I was outside. Before I could press send, I saw him walking down the stairs to my car.

He hopped in, and we were off. We sat making polite small talk until he asked "have you eaten anything yet? I was thinking we could go to this Thai place right around the corner from the theater."

"No, I'm starving, and Thai food just so happens to be my favorite." Smiling and looking at him out of the corner of my eye, I was surprised that I let even such a small, inconsequential piece of information about myself slip.

At the restaurant, I ordered tofu Pad Thai. Reid noticed the lack of meat in my order and trying to make conversation, asked, "Are you vegetarian?"

"Yes," I chuckled. "I've been vegetarian for a year or two now, a direct result of watching one too many food documentaries on TV."

"Have you ever read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair?"

I shook my head, not knowing more about the book than what I learned in my high school history class over a decade ago.

"It aimed to expose the poor working conditions of immigrants in big cities such as Chicago to further the argument for socialism in the United States. He unintentionally captured national attention to a few passages about meat packing plants and actually caused a series of new legislation including the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act." Noticing the glassy look in my eyes, he added "I'm sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"No, not at all, I enjoy listening to you talk." And that was the truth. I couldn't help but get lost in his words as he spoke.

Spencer looked down at his food and blushed slightly, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. We split the check and walked down the block to the theater.