spencer reid drabbles and short stories

the painting

au where s4 spencer reid enjoys painting
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you noticed spencer came home looking more exhausted than usual that day. his shoulders slumped, he had no emotion displayed at all.
"bad day?" you challenged while taking his bag from his left shoulder, up over his head, and setting it down on the kitchen table.
he groaned in agreement, his hands clasped behind his neck, head hanging.
"take a nap with me?" he asked. your hand was tangled into one of his behind his head. you nodded and lead him to bed. his head rested on your chest, arms tight around your waist.

after a couple hours, you woke up alone. you rubbed your eyes and glanced around the now dark bedroom. not seeing him, you slowly sat up on your bed, not sure how he didnt wake you when he left.
"spencer, where are you?" you asked aloud, your voice nearly cracking with sleep.
"im in here.", spence called from the living room.
"are you painting?" forming a slight smile while you waited for his response.
"im trying."
you always loved watching him paint. his hands would get so steady to make a small detail. and even the tiniest detail would change the whole paintings meaning or feel.
so, you padded to the doorway of the dimly lit living room and asked, "may i watch?" to which he looked up at you and nodded.
when you pulled your stool up next to his easel, the canvas was painted using only grey tones and shades. spencer is more of an abstract artist, simply painting what he feels and not people or a bowl of fruit. it helps express what he cant say with words. he had a professional term for it, which had slipped your mind.
his paintings always turn out gorgeous. the true meaning only fully makes sense to him, but he tries his best to put it into words for you.
he made a couple more strokes and a final black circle in the middle before picking up the canvas.
"what do you think?"
"i like it! what do you think?"
"i don't love it, but i feel better."
"thats good." you kissed his cheek. you giggled when he turned red and smiled, as he often does.
"hey spence?"
"hmm?"
"do you think you could teach me to paint like you do?" you winced at your own question, not wanting to impose.
"you want to paint?"
"is that okay?"
"of course its okay, hold on." he took off the black apron you hadnt noticed he was wearing, and placed it on your head. you tied it around your body while he got out more paints and brushes.
"how do i start?"
"think about how youre feeling right now, you can close your eyes if you need to, and try to bask in that feeling. a color comes to me, but it could be a shape or pattern for you"
you closed your eyes and tried to do as he said. spencer watched intently as your face twisted. you tried to match colors to your emotion and pink ended up being the match.
"pink"
"pink. okay so pick up a brush, pick a pink shade, and do what feels right. it may not be pretty at first but it gets better."
you picked up a brush and dipped it in a dark pink. your hand seemed to move on its own, painting two thick pink lines diagonally through the middle of the canvas.
"now what?"
"just relax and roll with it."
"relax and roll with it", you repeated.

after painting and painting for about an hour, it was done. you shed the apron and called to spencer.
"spence, im done."
"oo let me see"
he bounced up from the couch and waddled over to the canvas.
the painting was mainly pink with rings of different shades of pink, starting at dark pink in the middle and getting gradually lighter with every ring of color. like a non-blended gradient. there were dark black lines painted like the cracks in sidewalk. and there were 3 other explosion-like color patches in blue, yellow, and green near the center of the pink gradient circle.
"i love it!" he cheered.
"do you?" you gazed and smiled at him with pure excitement in your eyes.
"i do! i really really do!" he giggled.
"what is it about?" he asked while analyzing every bit of the painting.
"love."
"love?"
"yes. what love feels like to me."
"thats beautiful, darling" he smiled and pulled you off of your stool and into his chest, peppering your face with kisses and dancing about the living room.