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“Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“What’s Hotch’s petname?”
“Dare.”
“Oh no, you can’t change it! You chose “truth” Spencer, you must answer the question!” shouted Penelope from her place in front of the young genius.
The team had organized a night out for everyone after having dinner at Rossi’s. The man had hogged Aaron and Morgan to go to his favorite gentlemen’s club for a poker night. Spencer couldn’t attend since he was still banned from the only time he’d visited, and Prentiss had brought some very fancy swiss chocolate to share with everyone, so he’d had to stay with the girls. At least they had the whole house to themselves, and permission from Rossi to choose from his wine cellar.
They had camped out in the den, with all the cushions they could carry, face masks courtesy of Garcia, and JJ’s favorite strawberry cheesecake. They had talked about their current personal news, which wasn't a lot since they’d had cases back to back for weeks, so they were mostly together, they changed to new places to visit and then the last drops of wine gave Prentiss the fabulous idea of playing “Truth or Dare”. The first victim had been García and she had chosen “dare”, just to have JJ make her file her nails while they continued playing.
Spencer should have fought harder for them to agree and watch a dog movie before settling for the game. Now the three women in front of him made him more scared than facing an unsub.
They seemed to grow bigger each second and their piercing stares made him wish he had a place to hide. Their eyes were twinkling with excitement. They knew Aaron and him were very private about their relationship, and at work they would never slip. The young genius gulped loudly, averting his eyes and drinking the rest of the wine as fast as he could.
“I will do anything, but let me change to ‘dare,’” he tried
“You’ll call your man right now and say his petname.”
“That’s not fair!”
“Then you can tell us here and get it over with!” Emily smiled at him.
“Come on, Spencer, we are your friends and you know we won’t tell anyone… It will be our secret.” JJ’s eyes glistened with joy and the obvious drunkenness from all the wine.
“I can show you how to do a magic trick, Jen, you know Henry will love it!”
“Don’t care. Tell us now.” She completely changed her face to something serious.
He looked at Penelope and Emily. They were definitely not going to change their minds.
He sighed loudly.
They squealed so loud he could hear his ears ring. For such high-profile agents, they turned to little girls when it came to such mundane things. They always made sure to make him welcome though, never had he felt self-conscious when sharing his intimacy with them. Aaron would definitely frown at him when he found out, but he just hoped he had some time before it happened.
“You all have to promise to never bring it up.”
The unisonous “promise” with barely contained excitement reminded him of himself sharing secrets with his own mother in her lucid moments.
“Well, Hotch doesn’t—”
“Hotch?! You call him Hotch?!”
“No!”
“How sad would that be?”
“I don’t call him Hotch! I do it at work but at home it’s different!”
“Don’t tell us you just call him by his name…”
“What else would I call him?”
Penelope’s loud gasp made her cough and Emily quickly swatted her back making her yelp in pain.
“Em! Careful with the goods! I almost spit a lung out!”
“You would've died choking with your own saliva if I hadn’t done it.”
“Girls, don’t get distracted,” Jen looked at both women.She moved closer to Spencer, her knees almost hitting the plate with the crumbs of the cake, “Spencer, please continue.”
Spencer gripped his glass harder and he thought he might break it.
“I do call him by his name at home. Just as he uses my name at home. Like everyone else does. I don’t know why that’s so difficult to understand.” He tried playing it off as if he really didn’t get it, maybe they would have mercy on him and not pry any further.
“Tell us the petname, Reid.” Replied Emily to his left. She was sharper when she drank, apparently. He knew she could drink them all under the table. Her voice meant business.
“I don’t know why you all are so invested in us! I don’t ask about what you call your partners!”
“I call Will ‘honeybutt’” replied Jen, slapping his knee, “and when I’m mad at him, I will use his full name so he knows not to mess with me.”
“You all know all my favorite pet names for our very own Agent Morgan, though thanks to the last seminar, I’ve had to get more creative, so that’s also fun.” Penelope smiled at him from his right. “Many of those I’ve used with other gentlemen, and even some ladies…” She raised her eyebrows at him.
“I’ve done a couple but they made me cringe so bad and I haven’t gotten to that level with someone recently so no luck on that one for me.” Emily said non-chalantly, drinking the last of her own wine. “We’ve all heard Dave’s and Derek’s, so the only ones left from the inner circle are you two lovebirds.”
“We’re just not that interesting, guys.”
“You absolutely are. I know the boss man is a romantic. We all know his history, so we’ve seen it. But you, my boy genius, are still a mystery, and that ends today.”
Spencer knew they would cage him until he gave up, and while he wanted to keep his intimacy with his lover to himself, he could be human enough to recognize that he really wanted to talk about the fluffy feelings he had inside when that man called him anything but his name.
“I hate you all just as much as I love you right now.” He dragged his hands over his face. He felt sleepy from all the food and alcohol. Besides, having his hands exfoliated and moisturized had been an experience he would repeat as often as possible. He couldn't wait to share it with Aaron.
“We love you very much too, Spencer Reid, now stop digressing.”
“I call him by his name, I told you, we don’t really use petnames!”
“That’s bullshit!”
“We should tickle you.”
“I cannot believe you, Spencer.”
A sudden noise from the main door made them all turn their heads.
“I hope you’re all awake because we’re celebrating!” came Rossi’s loud voice from the entrance.
“Queens of my heart, and Doctor Pretty Boy, come see!” Morgan decided to join the older man with the shouting.
They all got up and walked down the hall to the foyer where the men were taking off their shoes. Spencer walked behind the women, trying to see what they were talking about but they didn’t have anything different about them except for their demeanor. He saw Aaron smiling, which in itself was not that uncommon outside of work but he seemed to be amused and Spencer wanted to kiss him.
“What’s with the yelling? What happened?”
“It’s my house, I can do what I want, dear Emily!” Rossi walked closer to all of them, “We are the three men who just won the top three prizes of the poker tournament at my Gentlemen’s Club. So we must celebrate, so if you excuse me, I have a wine cellar to visit. I’ll be back in a minute.” He walked past them to go to the entrance leading to his wine cellar, while the others talked among each other.
“That’s great you guys, how much did you get? Are we talking enough for a new car?” Emily immediately started.
“Gambling is bad but winning is good! I bet Hot Stuff over here gave them hell, right?” Penelope went to hug Derek, who opened his arms for her and Emily, who tried to get a clue if he had cash on him.
JJ and Spencer had walked closer to Aaron. Both waiting for the man to elaborate. He smiled at JJ and then went for a kiss on the corner of Spencer’s mouth.
“Congratulations are in order, I guess, but I really want to know which place you all got. I suppose Dave’s going to tell us all the details,” JJ said while looking at his friend blushing, but still moved to hug his lover and stay by his side clinging to his arm.
“Let’s go to the kitchen and get some glasses. You can listen to all of it.”
They all walked towards the kitchen.
JJ had joined her friends in congratulating Derek and they walked behind Spencer and Aaron who were talking in a very hushed tone. She looked at the others, and they understood. They needed to hear what was said.
At the kitchen, Spencer moved toward the cupboard with the glasses and started taking them out. Aaron was just by his side helping to hold them.
They moved in tandem and even without words they communicated so easily. The girls were laser focused on them, while Derek just preferred to observe them. He really didn’t want to get in their way, so he sat on the stool, waiting for Dave to appear again.
The Unit Chief had gotten a wooden board and Spencer was rummaging the fridge for stuff to make a light charcuterie board for the group. Some cut-up fruit, some cheese, and cold cuts would be nice. He reached for some olives too. He closed the door but he almost dropped the jar. However, Aaron had been ready and at lightning speed he’d moved his hand to steady the jar on top and help him move everything to the counter.
“My knight,” he whispered to the man, oblivious to the hawk-like stares just a couple of feet away from him.
Aaron smiled softly and kissed him as he usually did in the safety of their home. Then, he continued opening the containers. They could hear Dave’s whistling.
“Aaww, that was cute!” Penelope’s voice cut through the spell.
“What?” Derek asked.
“Absolutely. Thank you, Spencer.” Emily smiled gleefully.
“Girls.” Jen’s soft voice replied.
Aaron looked at him and then at their friends. Their big smiles made him raise an eyebrow at Spencer.
He’d have to face the music, but he would do it later. Thankfully, Dave was entering the kitchen. He got close to his lover’s ear and whispered.
“Later, mi rey.”
Aaron nodded. Spencer kissed his cheek and mirrored his smile.