Work Text:
Spencer takes pride in his clean-cut, professional appearance – anyone who lays eyes on him can see so. His clothes are never wrinkled, his shoes are never dirty, and he washes his hands so frequently that they crack and hurt in the winter months.
This is what made the small splotch of paint on his thumbnail so obvious to his coworkers. Even if they weren’t profilers, they’d be curious about what he’s been up to that’s caused a bright splash of color to appear there. From a distance, it could barely be seen and almost resembled a piece of lint. Up close, it was obvious to be some sort of paint smear.
♡♥♡
JJ noticed it first and asked if he had taken up a new hobby. He didn’t know what she was talking about. He has a lot of hobbies and tries new ones with his girlfriend all the time.
With furrowed brows, he answered, “Um, not recently, no?”
She looked confused and surprised, and shrugged it off.
♡♥♡
When Penelope got close enough to see it, she picked up his hand and brought it closer to her face to better inspect it.
“Huh, it kinda looks like a heart?”
Spencer blushed and pulled his hand back, quietly saying, “Oh, um, yeah?” which was essentially a non-answer.
Before Penelope could interrogate him further, Hotch announced a meeting.
♡♥♡
Derek and Emily sat on either side of him during the briefing, and the bright smudge caught the former’s attention. “Reid, you been painting?”
“No?”
Derek nods at his hand, “Then what’s that?”
“Um, nail polish?” Spencer sheepishly responds.
That caught Emily’s attention, “Nail polish?”
“Yes.” He simply stated.
“Do you paint your nails?” She gently asks, treading lightly as not to offend or upset him.
“What? No!” He tucks his hands under the table and into his lap. Pushing his glasses up his nose, he continues, “Not that there’d be anything wrong with that, men wore nail polish in ancient societies like Babylon, Egypt, and China to signify their social statuses. Babylonian warriors would prepare for battle by adorning their nails with ground minerals as a means of intimidating the enemy. The first nail salon didn’t open in the United States until 1878, and nail polish wasn’t firmly established as a feminine cosmetic until the 1920s and 1930s.”
Emily purses her lips outward, “Huh, I didn’t know that.”
JJ then enters the conference room, “Denver has requested our help…”
♡♥♡
Aaron and Dave aren’t the type to inquire about the hobbies of their coworkers. What they do outside of work isn’t any of their business, as long as it doesn’t affect their job performance.
♡♥♡
Everyone let it go after the first week. They noticed that the splash of color would change every so often, about once a week or so, but they hadn’t examined the situation any further. They each had bits and pieces of what the truth was.
♡♥♡
Spencer had been at work for about an hour when she noticed that he had forgotten his lunch on their kitchen counter. She texted him about it, but he’s notoriously terrible at responding to any messages in a timely manner. It’s like he forgets that he has a phone, sometimes.
About an hour before he normally eats, she decides to just take his lunch bag to him. She’s never been to headquarters before, but she knows that he’ll live off of vending machine granola bars if he doesn’t have anything better.
She was expecting to just drop it off at the front desk or something. She was not expecting the man who was standing there to do anything more than ask for Spencer’s name and maybe hers. After she told him her name, he searched on his computer and informed her that she’s registered as a certified guest for Dr. Spencer Reid, so if she wants to take the bag directly to him, she’s more than able to.
She was hesitant, not wanting to be a hindrance to Spencer’s workday, but figured it’d be a quick drop-off and maybe she could steal a fleeting kiss from him. So, she accepted the visitor's pass, clipped it onto her shirt, and followed the man’s instructions to the elevator. “8th floor,” he told her.
The elevator had a handful of men and women dressed in pristine suits, and she felt incredibly out of place in her jeans and blouse. Soon, she was stepping off the elevator and scanning around the office space for her boyfriend, when a bright blur of neon colors appeared in front of her.
“Hi!” The woman beamed, “Are you looking for someone?”
“Um, yes, actually. I’m here for Spencer? Reid?”
“Oh! Our boy genius! Yes, yes, come with me!” The woman –Penelope, she’s pretty sure– grabbed her hand and led her through the glass doors, straight to Spencer’s desk. “He should be right back!” She informed her.
“Thank y-”
As Penelope let her hand go, she gasped, “Oh! I love your nails!”
She looks down at them and smiles, “Thank you! I do them myself!”
“That color is just gorgeous, I swear I’ve seen it before…”
She blushes, “I forget what it’s called, but I can check when I get home and have Spencer tell you?”
“Have me tell her what?” Spencer appears from behind Penelope, walking straight to his girlfriend and kissing the top of her head, “Hey, baby.” He murmurs to her.
She grins up at him, “Hey, you forgot your lunch. I’m sorry to bother-”
Penelope gasps, again. “Dr. Spencer. Reid.”
“Yes?”
“Do you have a girlfriend?! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me…”
A large, muscled man –Derek, she thinks– appears seemingly out of nowhere, “Pretty boy? A girlfriend?”
Two other women materialize near her boyfriend’s desk, and the room suddenly feels extremely small. “A girlfriend? Reid has a girlfriend?” The brunette mutters incredulously to the blonde.
She looks up at Spencer in confusion and slight uneasiness. They’ve been dating for almost a year, she thought he had already told his coworkers about her existence.
He places a hand on her shoulder, “Guys, relax, please.”
Then, the blonde woman gasps this time, before gently smacking Penelope’s arm, “The paint!” She then points at Spencer’s girlfriend’s hands.
The brunette woman interjects, “Oh my… he did say it was nail polish.”
Spencer’s girlfriend glances at the hand on her shoulder, and warmth spreads up her cheeks. If she had known that he hadn’t told his coworkers about her, she never would have suggested putting the nail polish on his thumb.
She feels like she should explain herself, but she doesn’t really know how, “I- Um,” so she looks at Spencer for help.
He sighs and shakes his head before he addresses the team, “Yes, this is my girlfriend. Yes, the nail polish on my thumb matches hers. Any more questions?”
Derek smirks, “Oh, pretty boy. You know we have a plethora of follow-up questions.”
Penelope tugs on his arm, “But we’ll wait to ask them all. C’mon, we’re overwhelming her!” and begins shooing him and the other two women backwards.
She looks directly at her, “I love it by the way, it’s super cute! How’d you get the idea?”
“Oh! Um, Pinterest, actually.”
Penelope squeals, “I love Pinterest! We should follow each other!”
She laughs and nods, “We should! I would like that.”
Finally, Spencer’s team disperses throughout the bullpen, but they’re still stealing glances at him and his girlfriend from across the room.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause such a fuss. I just came to drop off your lunch.” She lifts the bag to show him.
Spencer’s face softens, and he tilts his head, “Thank you, sweetheart. I probably wouldn’t have noticed until the afternoon.”
As he grabs the bag from her, she notices his hand and pouts, “Oh, no. It’s chipped…”
He glances at his thumbnail, “Oh,” and frowns. “Can you fix it tonight?”
She meets his eyes, wide-eyed and surprised, “You still want to wear it?”
His expression shifts to perplexity, “Of course I do.”
With a smile, she tells him, “Okay. And while it dries, you can tell me why you never told your friends about me.”
His mouth gapes open, and he scrambles to say, “It wasn’t on purpose! It just never came up!”