Work Text:
Luke caught sight of Penelope in the hallway, walking back towards her office, notebook in one hand and morning coffee in the other. Her back was to him as he jogged up behind her.
“Hey, Garcia,” he called out, trying to catch her attention. She either didn't hear him or was ignoring him - either was equally likely - so he decided to try again, taking a different tactic.
“Penelope!” he called again, as he caught up to her.
The use of her first name had its desired effect - she stopped short and whipped around to face him. The juxtaposition of her curls adorned with flower clips bouncing around her face, which wore an annoyed look as she scowled at him, struck him as adorable, and he felt himself smile despite himself.
“Newbie,” she said shrewdly, looking him up and down. She didn't comment on the use of her name, but he could tell she was suspicious about it. “What do you want?”
“I wanted to show you this,” he said, fishing out his phone and pulling up a photo. It was of Roxy, sitting pretty in the middle of a running trail, proudly wearing her new camo collar that Penelope had gifted her. He'd taken the photo while on a run the past weekend, wanting to show Penelope how appreciative he was of the gift.
Luke handed the phone to Penelope, who examined it closely and broke into a smile, all her previous annoyance forgotten.
“Oh my gosh look at her!” Penelope gushed. “She's so adorable! The collar really suits her.” After another moment of appreciating it she handed the phone back. “Text me that photo right now!”
Luke grinned at the order. “Yes, ma’am.”
Penelope had the grace to go a little pink in the cheeks, but she straightened her shoulders as she forced out a “please and thank you.”
Luke was wearing Penelope down, he could tell, even though she was continuing to keep up the act of being annoyed by his very presence. Tiny cracks were appearing in the facade and he was doing his best to get into them and break them apart further. But Luke had to admit - he found her attitude towards him strangely cute and he couldn't help but provoke it.
“I'll get that right to you.”
“See that you do,” she said haughtily, right as her phone chimed. She looked at it and shook her head. “Looks like we have a case. I need to get my laptop.”
“I'll see you over there,” Luke said, pausing a second before adding: “Penelope.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Newbie.” With that, she turned on her heel and stalked towards her office.
Luke smiled and shook his head as he made his way to the round table room. Yeah, he was wearing her down.