Spencer

[just_hex]

They'd set another date and Hex was excited. Maybe more excited than he had any right to be. Spencer was a puzzle, to be sure, but Hex felt he was worth working out. He'd done a bit of reading up on Autism and he found some things fit and some didn't so he was left unsure. He reasoned that was a good indication he should stay in nursing and to leave the diagnoses to the doctors.

Spencer was due any minute and Hex had sprang for pizza and some Cokes. He'd set out plates and such and then settled on the sofa to catch up on the sports scores while he waited for Spencer to come round. If only he could stop checking his watch.

Comments

[dr_spencer_reid]

"I can," Spencer smiled. "Some people you can just tell that they're good. That they have their hearts in the right places and no hatred in their hearts. I see it in you... And I like that. I spent so long chasing monsters, I'd nearly forgotten what good people were like."

[just_hex]

"I really believe there's more good people in the world than bad," Hex replied as he gently tugged Spencer closer so he could touch him. Just soft touches, slow and affectionate.

[dr_spencer_reid]

Spencer let himself be pulled closer, and after a long moment, he settled against Hex, embracing him gently.

It felt good to touch someone, and to be touched. It felt like it was suddenly something he'd been missing from his life.

[just_hex]

Hex was content to hold him but after a while he grew warm, comforted by Spencer's presence.

"Either we need to do something or I'm going to fall asleep right here," he said warmly. "Which isn't bad, but the bed would be more comfortable."

[dr_spencer_reid]

"We could watch a movie- Or I could watch you play your game," Spencer offered, perfectly content to watch Hex play video games for a few hours.

[just_hex]

"You'd do that?" he asked, then smiled. "Let's watch a movie. Here, you pick from Netflix. Anything you like. I even speak some French if you feel like a foreign film. But I need the bathroom. I'll be right back."

Then he carefully squirmed his way out of the corner of the sofa and got up.

"Right back. Swear," he said, then ducked off to the loo, curious to see what Spencer would choose.

[dr_spencer_reid]

Spencer nodded, flicking through Hex's to watch list, not recognizing anything, but wanting to find something they'd both like. In the end he settled on a science fiction film based on a book he was familiar with. He hadn't even realized they'd made a film based on it- he was terrible at keeping up on pop culture- but it seemed like something they'd both enjoy.

[just_hex]

It didn't take Hex long and when he came back he flopped on the sofa next to Spencer.

"Oh, I've been meaning to see this," he said with a nod of approval. "Do you want to, erm...do you want me to hold you more? I'd like that. If you want."

[dr_spencer_reid]

Spencer smiled, nodding a little as he settled in against Hex again.

"I love this book," he said. "I didn't realize they'd made a film. I remember reading it when I was seven. I wanted so badly for it to be real. For there to be a world where everyone was like me... Where I could be normal without giving up what makes me- Well, me, I suppose."

[just_hex]

Hex's hands moved lightly against Spencer, petting him with slow, oft, regular motion.

"I wouldn't know what to do if everyone in the world was as smart and gorgeous as you," Hex said kindly. "Best that you're one of a kind."

[dr_spencer_reid]

Spencer blushed, flattered but not sure what to say. He grew flustered, his hair falling in his face a bit as words failed him- A rare occurrence for someone who could talk as much as Spencer.

[just_hex]

Hex could tell he'd embarrassed Spencer a bit and so he leaned in and pressed a kiss to his hair. His hands slowed and simply held on.

"I just mean to say...I think you're brilliant, Spencer. Pure brilliant."

[dr_spencer_reid]

"I think you're brilliant too," Spencer replied, still looking embarrassed, but smiling as he settled in to enjoy the film.

[just_hex]

Hex was quiet then, comfortably holding Spencer as the film played on. It was quite good, telling an excellent story with just enough action to keep Hex completely rapt. He didn't talk, not until the credits began to roll.

"Don't move," he said then. "Don't get up. I love having you so close."

[dr_spencer_reid]

Spencer said nothing.

Honestly, he sort of liked this... It was so rare that touch didn't leave him feeling overstimulated and sensitive, and he closed his eyes as he nodded a little and kept close to the other man.

[just_hex]

"Did you like it?" he asked after a long moment. "The film...was it like the book?"

[dr_spencer_reid]

"There were several glaring discrepancies, and a few plot points that appear to have been cut in favour of focusing on the main plot and romantic sub plot- But overall it was fairly enjoyable," Spencer replied. "I prefer the book though, I think. I'll lend it to you if you think you'd like to read it," he added.

[just_hex]

"I don't read that often, but if you'd lend it to me...I'd read it for you," Hex said softly.

[dr_spencer_reid]

"You don't have to read it for me, you're not obligated. You should read it because you think you'll enjoy it. ...Because there's a possibility it'll take you somewhere," Spencer replied, sounding thoughtful.

[just_hex]

Hex wasn't sure it would take him anywhere now that he'd seen the movie, but he was willing to try.

"I think I'd like to give it a go," he said. "If you bring it to me, I'll read it."

[dr_spencer_reid]

Spencer smiled at that, his hair falling slightly in his face as he settled in again.

"Somewhere past stardust lined asteroid belts, and the ships and settlements of man, there is a city that never sleeps, on a planet just like our own. A planet contoured by science and ravished by man," he said, quoting the opening line of the book and then tilting his head to look at Hex as he smiled again.

"I'll bring it over," he promised.

[just_hex]

"That's beautiful, Spencer," Hex said softly. "I bet you know...well, everything, don't you? Everything you've read?"

[dr_spencer_reid]

"I do. It's rare I forget anything," Spencer admitted. "It unsettles some people- Does it bother you?" he asked.

[just_hex]

"No. Or...not yet? I can't see that it would, though. I think it's remarkable," he said. "I can't say I've ever met anyone like you. I've known some brilliant people...really smart...but most of them I couldn't even relate to. You're not like that."

[dr_spencer_reid]

Spencer smiled at that. No one had ever said they could relate to him before. Never. Not even once.

"Intelligence shouldn't be a factor in how well people get along- so it's a shame how often it becomes a barrier. I've read studies about how children with high IQ's have a harder time socializing- Not just with their peers, but with older children as well. I can recite all the data, but- I never understood it. I mean, I understand it, but- I don't see why it has to be true. The way people are, the way we work, the way we grow and connect... It's all so foreign to me. It's the one thing I can't seem to teach myself."