and the trigger pulls, eloisa

[reid]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,305,true] Reid Harris Gannon, boy genius as everyone at the precinct knew him. As much as he knew he was smarter than your average person, he didn’t like the fact that people had to point it out all the time. The worst was that everyone seemed to have their own language that Reid didn’t speak. Course he could have the same effect on others, but at least he tried to explain things as best he could. Sitting at his desk he put down the file he was holding, if there was one major flaw about his job it was the paper work, no one enjoyed it. He rubbed his eyes as the head ache that had been pounding dully in his head for the last couple of hours was suddenly full force. Finding the clock with his eyes he realized everyone was filtering out for lunch. Being that he was only working part time at the precinct it occurred to him that he could just check out, after all they had his cell number if they needed him for some reason. In all honesty he wasn’t even supposed to be there today, but he didn’t really have anything better to do. Yeah, it was sad, but he wasn’t exactly the most social guy, especially since all his friends were in Virginia. Quite frankly he missed his job, but he knew he needed a break from serial killers and any other depravities he happened to come in contact with. Not that he ever had any, but it had a knack of crushing any possible whimsy one might acquire. A tall and obviously good looking officer stopped at Reid’s desk and smiled “aren’t you supposed to be off today Reid?” Reid smiled and nodded awkwardly “yeah, I just wanted to get in some paperwork” the officer laughed “why don’t you have anything better to do?” nodding he responded “yeah, I’m leaving now” he’d lied, he planned to stop at a little café, get a coffee and read a couple books. Grabbing his messenger bag and slinging it over his shoulder, he waved quickly “bye Radisson” the man nodded him good bye “take it easy Doc”. Another thing that bothered him, he was a doctor, but something about the title seemed out of place to him, he had PhD’s not Medical Degrees. Something about it made him sound like he could do a tracheotomy with a ball point pen. Not being able to get out of those pulsing florescent lights fast enough he bee-lined toward the door and shot quick waves at the people he passed. Before hitting the bright sunlight out side he put his sunglasses on, which could never be dark enough lately. He started to make his way to main strip, there was a great little café there that he loved going to, it was always oddly quiet and quaint even though it was outdoors. Perfect for reading away his afternoon and trying to ignore his head ache. He took a seat at a small table at the corner, funny how all the tables were made for at least two people, yet he didn’t often see both chairs used, maybe this little café was a magnet for the socially deficient. Not that Reid thought he was socially impaired, in fact he felt he was pretty good at being able to talk to random strangers; the only problem was he often found things interesting that most people found odd or creepy. It’s not that he tried to, it’s just the way things went with him, people didn’t often appreciate his quirks, course he wasn’t sure that’s what they were. He’d lived with himself for his whole life, to him he was more normal to himself than most people, isn’t everyone that way though. After ordering a coffee, he pulled out a book. If there was anything you could count on Reid to do, it was to read. Hardly ever could he be caught without a book, whether it be in his hand, pocket or bag he always had at least one on him. It was obvious to most that there was something different about him. For being a genius he never seemed to have matching socks and that fact was usually obvious since his pants were always too short when he sat down, but there was really nothing he could do about that, his work pants were tailored to code. For some reason he still got teased about it. Reid was never one to have thin skin though; he’d gotten that his entire life and kind of learned to live with it. People always seemed to expect him to curl up into a little ball and cry and when he didn’t people always seemed surprised. A waitress put his coffee down, he smiled and thanked her and took a sip as she walked away.

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[eloisa]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,300,true] "Your usual, Miss Radisson?" Her eyes snapped from the menu back to the teenage boy working in front of her. A small smile found its way to her face, but her cheeks flushed a light shade. It was a little embarrassing that she came her often enough to be a "regular" and have an "usual" order. Did she really drink that much coffee? She didn't think she had in the past couple of days. Was that enough for employees to remember who she was and what she ordered? It took her a moment to realize that the teenager was staring at her. He probably didn't understand what was so complicated by her question; besides the fact she hadn't been paying attention. She recognized his face. Apparently, she did come here often enough to be one of "those" customers. It didn't help that a few of the employees had been at the store since she had moved to town. "Oh, yes, please." She reached up to tuck a piece of hair behind her ears, nodding slightly. "Thank you, Eric." She quickly handed him the money, waiting as he finished the order and handed her money back. "Oh, for here, by the way." After a moment, she was handed the coffee. She beamed at the other woman before walking past the tip jar, dumping a dollar or two inside of the glass jar. Eloisa couldn't remember if she normally gave tips, but did it matter? Her attention was soon consumed not by her usual habits, but by the challenge at hand. She needed to find a seat. She didn't normally have this problem. At least, she didn't think she did. She wasn't normally here in the afternoon, so that was probably the main difference. A frown tugged slightly at her lips as her eyes drifted over the tables. None of them were vacant. "Well, I guess it's just time to make a new friend." That thought lightened her mood slightly. Eloisa hadn't exactly come to socialize, it was more to grab some coffee, read the paper, and then move on with her day. She would have to be at the studio later, ready to teach kids. She needed the energy. She didn't need to spend all evening inside the café, and she could always stop at home if she wanted to get something to eat. She drifted close to a paper rack, taking one before once more looking the patrons over. She found her victim. He had a book out. That was either a good or bad sign, she had learned. Some people hated to be interrupted. Others just wanted something to distract them. She figured she would be able to read without him getting too annoyed with her. Hopefully, he would understand that she was rather limited in where she could sit. She narrowed her eyes slightly. Did he look familiar? People who normally wore mismatched socks didn't normally fit in when in a crowd. She took her mug with her as she wandered over in his direction. She had definitely seen him before. She bit her lip as she debated what exactly she knew him from. Now it was starting to bother her. Eloisa paused in front of him, head tilted slightly to one side. "Hey." She gestured in the direction of the chair. "Do you mind if I sit here?" She didn't even wait for a response before setting her mug down. She slid onto the chair, unfolding the paper as she did so. She peered down at the typed font for a moment before looking back up. She was still trying to place why he seemed to look familiar. "Have we met or something?" she asked after a moment, her brow creased. This was too difficult. Eloisa was tired of trying to figure it out, if she had, the odds would be that he also recognized her. No sooner had the words left her lips when she realized something – she probably had seen him through Gerard. She had stopped by a few times, mostly just to leave things for her brother. She was certain that most of the other officers or employees despised it, but he was her brother. What else was she going to do, ignore him? She hadn't been there in the past week or two, but that probably wasn't a huge deal. She flashed a smile for a moment at the man who was seated across from her. "You know, I think you work with my brother. Gerard Radisson. I mean, I could be totally wrong or something." Eloisa nodded slightly before her eyes drifted back to the front cover of the paper. She was probably one of the few people who still even bothered to read the paper. She folded it to the next page before picking up her coffee. "I'm Eloisa."

[reid]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,305,true] All he needed was a good distraction then his head ache would dull down again right? The book he was holding in his hand was riveting, funny that he left his job to try and get away from the murderers and discover some beauty and whimsy. Yet now he was reading a book about an especially heinous crime. He couldn’t help but try to profile the killer in the books, trying to solve an imaginary crime while everyone in the book tried to cover it up. Hearing a voice he looked up from his book; a distraction from his distraction, well if that wasn’t distracting what was? Standing before him was a dainty blonde, he nodded at her even if she wasn’t wait for an answer “of course” he spoke quietly, looking at the girl in confusion. Most people didn’t just walk up and ask to sit with people, especially with him. He was reading book, wearing sunglasses and sitting in the back corner all of which were signs that someone didn’t want to be disturbed. Not that Reid was meaning to send those signals; in fact he’d just realized it now. That happened often, he never realized he was closing himself off until someone or something pointed it out. It was obvious to him that the café’s sitting area was a bit more crowded than usual, maybe on account of the fact it was a pleasant day and who wouldn’t want to sit outside on a day like today. Reid for one, even in the corner under a shade it was still too bright to look too far out of the small shaded corner. The girl looked oddly familiar, but he couldn’t really place her, she spoke again. She thought she knew him “yeah maybe” he said, he wasn’t sure why she looked familiar, but he couldn’t give her a name. Not sure of where they might have met he stayed silent instead of offering a possible common ground. After all he spent most of his time at the precinct and something told him this girl wasn’t the type that spent much time in lock up. Saving him she spoke again “yeah, yeah I… work there” he wrinkled his brow at his own awkwardness. He smiled hopelessly, she introduced herself and suddenly it dawn on him “yeah we’ve never actually met have we?” that’s why he couldn’t put a name on her, he’d never been introduced to Gerard’s sister, he only seen her walk through the office to visit him. After sitting quietly for a moment he looked up suddenly “I’m Reid, Reid Gannon” he scratched his head, as if he wasn’t already awkward enough with women, he was all foggy headed on top of it. “Um, you guys are from Ohio right?” he’d remembered Gerard saying something about it “Ohio has quite the record for serial killers, probably the most commonly know is Charles Manson who was born and raised in Ohio though he committed his crimes in California. Jeffery Dahmer also lived in Ohio for about ten years and committed his first murder there” he let his last word trail off realizing someone probably doesn’t want to hear about all the serial killers that lived in their state. Sometimes he just had verbal diarrhea and couldn’t stop himself from spewing facts that he had locked away in his brain, a lot of which happened to be serial killers. He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat uncomfortably “sorry” he said finally, giving a small apologetic smile. Straightening his sunglasses “do you still dance?” he could tell that she had dance training from the way she moved, she had grace in her movements. However people may not be very keen on someone knowing things like that about them, he just wanted to change the subject that he said the first thing that popped into his head. In this particular case she could possibly assume that her brother had told him she was a dancer or she could think he was a really strange guy. Well if she didn’t already. Once someone knew more about Reid they tended to understand him better, which could be why he wasn’t nearly as awkward with the people he worked with or when he was working in general. After all he was supposed to have an endless knowledge of serial killers for his job, in fact in was a requirement. He felt in his element there. Here he was just a weirdo serial killer fanatic; he was probably making this girl think he was a serial killer himself, since for some reason that was a common assumption regarding him. People found him hard to grasp, yet he never understood why, since he never found himself to be all that complex. Normal wouldn’t really be the way to explain him, he knew that he wasn’t an average person, but complexity had nothing to do with being average. Somehow he never seemed to talk with strangers well and he really couldn’t blame the girl if she jumped up and ran away.

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[eloisa]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,300,true] She probably should have been able to see some sort of conversation coming. Although, that would have been entirely her fault. Eloisa had been the one to approach him, not the other way around. She didn't want to be mean or anything; especially not to someone that there was a chance she would see them again. That just wasn't a good idea. Her eyes slid back to the paper for a moment, before she placed it on the table. It was rude to keep reading after striking up some words. Of course, she half expected for him not to respond. He seemed completely confused by her presence, as if he had never interacted with a stranger. She figured that it probably seemed weird for her to just plop herself down, as if he wouldn't mind. Had she been in his shoes, she wasn't sure how she'd be feeling. She wouldn't have been wearing sunglasses inside, she knew. Eloisa wasn't really afraid of people, and she probably would have been comfortable with it. She was never really sure what people thought when she spoke to them; she just knew that she was fine with socializing. It had crossed her mind that others weren't always the same; she had just never really been able to figure those people out very well. "Thanks," she said at his small response to her first question. Thank goodness she was right. Eloisa had no idea what she would have done if he hadn't worked with her brother. That probably would have been one awkward conversation. "Yeah, I've definitely seen you there." The statement was probably to reassure herself that she was, in fact, correct. Silence settled briefly, enough for her to try to catch up on the newsprint in front of her. Her gaze drifted back to the paper for a moment, skimming over an article, before he spoke up again. She smiled as she looked up at him. "Nice to meet you, Reid." Eloisa couldn't tell if he was uncomfortable or something, maybe he was still confused as to why she was sitting across from him. That was probably a logical reaction, she figured. Capeside wasn't the largest town, she had learned, and it wasn't that hard to make people stop and think. Nor was it that hard to be a regular customer, apparently. It was a drastic change from New York City. At the mention of Ohio, her eyes snapped back to him. Gerard obviously liked to talk about home more than she did. She nodded slightly. "Yeah, we're from Akron." She wasn't exactly sure what sort of bridge that made for him, but suddenly he was talking about something that she was certain she hadn't been expecting. Serial killers. Of all the things for someone to talk about, he was bringing up freaking serial killers. Her brow creased for a moment. "Jeffrey Dahmer? He's the cannibal one, right?" She had heard that name before. Maybe it was a psychology class in high school? She couldn't exactly remember. Maybe it was some sort of rant her brother had gone on over the phone when he was in college. Eloisa shook her head after a moment. She could only hope that this guy wasn't judging her for being from the state. "I know Ohio has some weird people, but I swear, they're not all insane." She figured that there were probably other people who would be better advocates for sanity. She frowned slightly, trying to think of how to recover from something like that. Eloisa had to admit that it was interesting stuff, it just wasn't her scene. She could watch as many crime shows as the next person, but once it started to strike home, it could get a little weird. She wasn't like her brother. They weren't exactly on the same page for interests. She took another sip of her coffee, glancing at Reid. "I don't really know anything about any of that. Not going to lie. Sorry." She let that quiet spread until he spoke up once more. Eloisa had never been a fan of too much silence, but she didn't want to break it unless she knew that he was comfortable with her talking to him. It was hard to gauge if he was bothered by her, or fine with her sitting there and chatting with him. At the mention of dance, her cheeks flushed slightly. The transition between subjects may have been a bit awkward, but it was awkward in an endearing way. Another smile tugged at her lips as she glanced down at the table. She may have been dancing for years, but she still didn't really brag or anything about it. "I'm in the local company. I don't dance as much as I used to. I help out with a little, local studio, too." Eloisa paused, tilting her head slightly to one side. Her fingers curled around the mug in front of her as she shifted in the seat, moving in slightly closer to the heavy wooden table. She tossed a chunk of blonde hair over her shoulder before her hand rested back in its previous situation. A thought passed her mind and her brow creased. "How did you know that I danced?" She hadn't thought she had mentioned it. It was possible for her brother to have done so, but she doubted that. She raised the mug to her lips once more, peering at him from above the rim.

[reid]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,305,true] Nodding he smiled lightly at the girl, he’d heard her brother make several comments about Eloisa before, but none of them had ever been that telling of what kind of person she was. One thing Reid always noticed about her was that she often had a sunny disposition about her, something that most people around the precinct lack. It was obvious she didn’t work there the second she walked in and not only for her lack of uniform. It’s not that everyone was a downer or anything, just a lot of the time it seemed they were forcing their own laughter, that they had to force themselves to see that the world isn’t a horrible place. Most days he kept to his own business, but he found it difficult to not pick up on the little queue’s that people gave away. Always being quite to ask people if they were okay, he’d gained the reputation of the station’s shrink. Saying it bothered him wouldn’t be the right word; he was more annoyed by the fact that they seemed to think it was an amusing thing that he actually held concern for people. As if it wasn’t a good thing. He nodded “it’s nice to meet you too, Eloisa”. Often Reid found that once people talked to him that he was supposed to continue to talk and this usually had the result of him saying things that he realizes later he should have kept to himself. Spewing facts had gotten him into trouble various different times in one way or another. Obviously he didn’t intend to upset people, but things that interested him tended to put other people off. He nodded at her question “yeah though his crimes entailed…” he stopped himself before going into all the dirty details “a lot more” he finished offering a smile, he already screwed up already and for some reason she hadn’t gone running. “oh I wasn’t implying they were, I…” he rubbed his head before saying “I have what people like to call verbal diarrhea” he laughed lightly “I just say what I know”. a small laugh escaped past his teeth “you don’t have to be sorry, I’m around people who never talk about anything but bad guys” he shrugged “it’s actually kind of refreshing” he could go back and forth with the best of them, but when even your free time is spent talking about the worst side of a human being got a bit… depressing. Even if it hadn’t been like a breath of fresh air, he didn’t think she should feel the need to apologize for it, whether it was sincere or not. Reid wasn’t the type to brag about what he knew; he wasn’t one of those people that just needed to constantly prove that he was smarter than everyone. In all honesty he didn’t think he was really smarter than anyone, but he did know he liked to learn and that he learned something new from every person he met, everyone had something to teach. Superiority wasn’t his thing; no one was perfect he of all people knew that people were far from perfect. Why would he think he was any different, granted he didn’t think he had it in him to kill people for fun, but never the less he wasn’t perfect and he knew that. The funny thing was people seemed to think he still needed to hear it, not that it really bothered him; he just felt it was an unnecessary waste of time to tell him something he already knew. Taking a sip of his coffee, he listened to her answer and let a smile creep across his lips. Placing his coffee in front of him “sounds nice” Often people overlooked the ones that spent their time teaching, but the simple fact was no one would be able to be that graceful lovely ballerina on stage if someone hadn’t taught them to do it. “why don’t you dance as much anymore?” the thought hadn’t occurred to him that she may not want to talk about it, that it may be a sore subject. If he known more about dancer he might know that often dancers don’t quit dancing because they just don’t feel the need to anymore. His eyebrows raised up and dropped just as quickly “oh, um… well people with dance training move in certain way, you’re very graceful and delicate in your movements which implies that you’ve been trained in a classical dance such as ballet and your lean muscle tone implied that you were probably still active in it in some way” taking a breath and another sip of his coffee, he felt the need to explain himself “I study behavior for a living” he spoke with a smile. He knew that people often found the accuracy of his guesses to be a bit creepy causing him to be very conscious of explaining how he came to that educated guess. After all he didn’t want people to think he was stalking them. Studying behavior was something he’d been doing since he was a kid, people were fascinating to him from a young age, but when he got to school was when he really got to explore why people did things, when he got answers to the questions, though you can never learn everything you can know about a person, they’re ever growing ever changing and never boring.

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[eloisa]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,300,true] A slight smile tugged at her lips. Ah, so Eloisa wasn't totally clueless, after all! It was only in place for a moment before Reid confirmed her answer. However, it had redeemed itself upon her features at his save. She knew that murderers weren't exactly subjects to be smiling over, but she couldn't help it. The way he had stopped himself was the amusing part. Soon, though, she found herself laughing. "I think some other people just say that you don't censor yourself." She smirked slightly. "I've never heard anybody just openly admit that, right off the bat." Eloisa covered her mouth slightly, as if that could mask another giggle. She recovered slightly, tucking a stray piece of hair behind one of her ears. "It's good, though. I mean, you obviously talk, so obviously you're not completely lost." A slight hint of sarcasm edged into her words, seeping in alongside a joking sort of tone. She shrugged, leaning back in the chair for a moment. Her eyebrows rose as she struggled to wipe the amused look off of her face. "I just talk. About whatever I want. Whether or not I know anything about it. So you've got one step on me." One of her fingers found the side of her mug, drumming slightly at it. "I don't mean to sound rude, but I would probably hate working at a job like that." She paused. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with being into that. People have different tastes." She shrugged, glancing down. Eloisa fell silent for a moment. Had she said too much? Her brow creased slightly. Maybe the uncensored stream of information he had brought up had gotten her to stop thinking things through. "I'm sorry, that was probably too harsh. Verbal diarrhea? Is that was the term was?" That sort of joking tone came through in the last portion. Eloisa's eyes widened slightly. She wanted to apologize for rambling, but that would have been more that she could have said. She found herself hesitating to speak. He may have said whatever came to his mind, but she probably shouldn't have done the same. She bit her lip slightly. Luckily, she still had some coffee to save her. She took a drink before setting the mug back on the table, her newspaper forgotten. She could catch up on the news later. It was all over the television and internet. She didn't have to rely on reading the paper. She grimaced slightly at his question. She should have seen that one coming. If there was anything she knew about people, it was that they could be as curious and questioning as she was. Eloisa waved a hand, as if dismissing the thought. "Things happened." The last thing she wanted to do was tell this guy why she had moved, honestly. It had taken all sorts of confidence to tell herself that she needed to leave, yet alone tell others. Her eyes drifted towards the mug. "Things changed. People changed. It's hard to keep up in a big place like that." She mentally prayed that he would be able to catch on, that he wouldn't press it any further. It was an anticlimactic fate, she figured. The entire early part of her life had been devoted to dance, but she had missed out on her chance in the spotlight. Not to mention, dancing on sprained ankles probably hadn't been the best idea. She couldn't risk another injury so late in the game. It probably would have devastated her. She wasn't going to be bounding and twirling around stages on Broadway. It wasn't going to happen, but she didn't want to admit that maybe she had left too soon to know. She sighed softly, before looking back up. His explanation made sense, she noted with a nod. Eloisa drew a smile to her face, attempting to draw attention away from herself. "That sounds interesting. How long have you been in your position?" Her eyes were brimming with interest. Of all of the people in the place, she was thankful it was somebody who was fine with talking to her. She was content that it hadn't been someone who would just brush her off or shut down any form of communication. She rested her hands back on the mug, peering at Reid with her head tilted to one side. She hesitated slightly before saying anything more. That intrigued sort of look was still firmly in place, a drastic difference from the awkwardness a moment before. Eloisa was trying to push that moment from her mind, to not let it get her down. She didn't need to get all fussy just because he asked about something that wasn't great. "Don't take this the wrong way or anything. But. What exactly is your job? I mean, I know most of the people Gerard works with are just cops. But he wouldn't have been able to guess anything about a stranger, yet alone have a job made out of figuring people out."

[reid]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,305,true] Laughing lightly, Reid spoke through a smile “I’ve never heard anyone say that to me before, it sounds a lot nicer” he took a sip of his of his coffee, “I don’t see how I could not admit it” he tucked a bit of his hair behind his ear with another smile “it’s pretty obvious” he touched the side of his sunglasses as if he was going to push them up, a habit of his lately even if they were sitting perfectly on the bridge of his nose he’d still go to adjust them. Eloisa seemed to find him amusing in some way, course most people found him to be amusing in one way or another, most just were in awe of how someone who seemed to know just about anything could be so incredibly oblivious about things that seemed to be common knowledge, like the twilight saga; something Reid really knew nothing about. Putting down his book he took another sip of his coffee, as interesting as it was he didn’t feel the immediate need for a distraction. After all he had quite intriguing one sitting in front of him; talking to him. A smile crept across his lips before he offered “well I pretty sure that most people don’t think what you talk about is creepy” With a smile he nodded he thought for a moment “I’ve always been fascinated by things I don’t understand, the idea of being able to take someone’s life is baffling to me. I feel like I’m good at it… I should use that” He gave her a shrug, honestly he missed jetting around the world, he felt like he was doing something for the world, but then it just started to feel like it didn’t matter. Picking up his coffee cup and then putting it down almost instantly “I understand though, it’s not for everyone. I don’t blame you for it” he said with a small smile, letting his hands rest comfortably wrapped around his coffee cup. Both of them had abandoned their reading material something that for him was almost unheard of, to talk to someone no less. Reid had never been much of a talker, especially a stranger. People always found it hilarious how different he was when he talked to people when he was working, compared to when he was off the clock; his awkwardness took a back seat to his expertise, he knew what he was talking about at work. When he wasn’t however he felt almost like he was from a completely different world. The way Eloisa’s demeanor changed was apparent; you didn’t have to be trained in that sort of thing to notice. Obviously it wasn’t the kind of subject that she liked to talk about, he could pick up on that and respect it. After all there were plenty of things that he didn’t like to talk about, he knew it likely wasn’t her choice or that she didn’t have much of one, but to slow down. Many dancers acquired injuries, some had to leave for health issues, long story short the boy knew there were a lot of ways a dancer’s career could end before their time. Nodding he didn’t pry, feeling he could relate due to his own situation, “I understand” he wanted her to know that he was sympathetic, but he didn’t want to make her think he felt sorry for her, she didn’t strike him as the type who would want a big pity party exploding around them. Giving her a small quick smile and nod he sipped his coffee. With his elbow on the table he rested his temple on his index finger and his jaw rested comfortably on his thumb. Knowing that in some eras he be hit with a stick for having his elbow on the table he was grateful to most people it didn’t seem out of place. Breathing in through his teeth he furrowed his brow in thought “well I’ve been in here for about… three month now” letting off a small laugh, he hadn’t even spent a full month at his old apartment, he was always jetting off somewhere else. Often Reid didn’t run into people who were actually interested in hearing about him, especially when he was willing to listen to them, in a world of talker he’d always been a listener. Maybe that was why his talking skills weren’t as developed, he wished there was an explanation for it. Crossing his arms in front of himself on the table as he let himself smile at her comment “I’m a profiler, um I’m basically a consultant for the Massachusetts police department” Another thing Reid had done since he was a kid was to move his hand a lot while talking, he paused for a minute before speaking again “I just made that sound incredibly boring didn’t I?” he laughed lightly “truth is uh, I’m taking time off from my real job at the BAU, I was there for... four years as a profiler” he nodded sounding almost surprised at the length of time that'd gone by, taking time off made it sound voluntary, it’s not that he didn’t know he needed to take time off, it’s just that he really didn’t want to. “it’s not exactly time off it’s more… part time” he laughed lightly, he still worked cases with them it just wasn’t a full time gig like it used to be. He didn’t know what to do with all his free time, after so many years of having his life run by the FBI, he was all itchy like he had nothing to do.

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[eloisa]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,300,true] A light smile found its way to her face. She laughed softly, rolling her eyes. "Maybe you just hang around people who are too negative." Eloisa shrugged slightly. "I mean, I guess when you put it that way, it kind of makes sense. But it's not really a big deal. Some people don't talk, some people talk all the time." She tossed a chunk of blonde hair over her shoulder, still smiling. At his next comment, she covered her mouth with her hand, as if that could hide the soft laughter. She shook her head after a moment. "Maybe you're right." She wasn't exactly sure if Reid was just trying to be polite, but he seemed honest enough. There was something about him that didn't seem like he was the type to lie just to make people feel better. It was a good break, she figured. Dancing could be about what the dancer did well, but that wasn't unless one was the best. She had never really been the best once she tried to make a career of it. She shrugged that thought off, refusing to allow it to bother her any further than face value. She drank some of the remaining coffee. Three months? Well, Eloisa hadn't really been in town for a particularly long time. It was an ironic shift in situations between the two of them, almost like they were on two different paths that intersected. She had left and stepped down willingly, once she realized her position was threatened. He had moved to town much less so, and wanted to go back. A small smile tugged at her features at that thought. "No, I don't think it sounded boring. I'm sure it's much more interesting than what Gerard would talk about." She nodded slightly. "I think it sounds cool. It's just not something I would be able to do." Eloisa didn't want to make him seem like she was totally uninterested. It really was something interesting. It just wasn't her cup of tea, and she didn't really know anything about it. Maybe that was what made it fascinating – here was this stranger who was completely unlike her. She had met many people, but the past several years had been spent around the same types of people. Everyone in New York wanted to be a star; some of them were out of control people who just wanted to see their name in lights. This town was nothing like that. Eloisa's head tilted slightly to one side as she peered at him. "Wow. That sounds like it'd be hard, to work with two different groups." She wasn't really one to talk, but she wasn't about to mention that. She didn't teach dance classes every night. "Do you ever go back there, or do you just work from here?" Eloisa paused for a moment, her brow creasing. She had just made assumptions about what he was doing with his life. It probably wasn't the best way to come across. She bit her lips as a light pink shade crept into her cheeks. She glanced back at Reid. "Sorry. You probably think it's really weird that I'm asking you all these personal questions. I'm not trying to purposefully confuse you or make you feel awkward." Now would have been a great time to stop talking, she realized. Her eyes quickly shifted to her hands as they retreated into her lap. This was so childish and immature. She normally was able to latch on to some good conversation that didn't make people feel uncomfortable. Then again, she didn't normally strike up conversation when she was getting coffee, especially when it was just a one on one conversation. She bit her lip slightly as she tried to recover the conversation and get out of the heavy subjects she kept bringing up. She was probably coming across as being a bit off, always apologizing. She didn't really know what his conversations normally went like, and she certainly didn't know what he thought was too far. Eloisa finally looked up, composing herself once more. She had no problems talking to people. She just was so used to only talking to those she knew. In Capeside, there weren't really any of those people. Strangers were caught off guard by snappy comebacks. They thought she was prying. She hesitated, before smirking. Her voice was playful, the joking tone obvious. "Do you always wear sunglasses inside?" So much for that thought. She raised her brows. Eloisa had to admit that she could probably be a bit confusing. In one moment, she was being personal and a bit negative. Seconds later, she was asking twenty questions. Here, the cheerful demeanor had appeared once more. She leaned back in the chair, locking her fingers together and resting her hands on the edge of the table.

[reid]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,305,true] Reid couldn’t help but smile, with a nod he spoke “yeah, maybe I do” at this point he was just astounded that she was still sitting across from him, not only that but being nice to him. Most people just perpetuated his idea that he was strange to other people, the people who loved him all needed serious time for him to grow on them; after years they finally just seemed to reach an understanding. They understood him and decided that he was pretty loveable. However three months wasn’t enough for the cops at the precinct to quite take him seriously. It took people a while to realize that he was actually a sincere person; that he wasn’t just trying to seem like a sweetheart. Reid was honest sometimes to a fault, the only thing he ever became less forthcoming about was his personal life; namely his childhood. He was never an open book about that time in his life; when his father left him or about his mother’s illness. All of it was a sore subject for him, something that got to him when nothing else seemingly did. Nodding at her comment he was grateful that she seemed to find some interest in his job; honestly it wasn’t boring in the slightest for him. If there was anything to keep his seemingly endless reservoir of knowledge busy it would be human behavior; even if he wasn’t exactly cleared for active field duty. “well I can’t dance” he offered with a smile “at least not well” Reid danced, just very few times had he done so in the presence of witnesses. “I couldn’t even attempt to teach anyone” he laughed lightly, he wasn’t even sure he could teach someone something he did know how to do; just because you can do something doesn’t mean you have the ability to teach someone else how to do it as well. Funny how Reid never seemed to have much faith in himself, yet the people around him relied on him more than they would admit and more than he ever would’ve realized. Running his hand through his hair he thought for a moment about her question; since he was put on leave he hadn’t really thought about the difficulty of constantly prioritizing his life. Compartmentalizing was something he’d always done well with little effort. The last few months had been hard on him, but more for the simple fact that he didn’t feel in his element; he was on leave, but not on full leave though whenever he went back home to work with the team he felt as if they were all waiting for him to have a breakdown. The idea that they seemed to thing he couldn’t do his job anymore was the hard thing; the fact the same question ran through his mind at times was debilitating. What was he without his job? Shrugging he answered her “I’m pretty used to it by now” he laughed lightly tapping his fingers against his coffee cup “I work with local authorities at the BAU too, so after six years I’ve learned how to organize my life” gosh did that sound sad and also wasn’t entirely true, even if he didn’t realize it at the time. In all his organizing he sacrificed… well his life. Quite frankly this was the first time he’d talked to anyone for more than a couple moments that didn’t have anything to do with doing his job. A sad simple fact that he’s yet to fully realize, after all he’d lived so long without a social life he didn’t realize that the lack of it was a sacrifice. “yeah I go where I’m needed, or rather wanted I don’t think I’m every needed; there are who can do my job” granted there were few true profilers in the world, but the boy didn’t ever find himself to be special from anyone; he only possessed a different skill set. It was funny how he enjoyed her speaking so much, there was something about her voice and demeanor that just seemed comforting and uplifting to him. He wondered if others felt that way while talking to her, maybe she had a gift or maybe she was simply there for him at the exact right time, but that sounded weird to say. Likely she was just a lovely young woman whose smile was contagious. A small laugh escaped him “no not at all it’s alright” he didn’t consider them particularly personal questions, though his idea of personal may be different from others. Drumming his fingers against the side of his coffee cup, her next question threw him a bit, causing his eyebrows to lift lightly, his hand found its way to his sunglasses “oh” he laughed “yeah they prevent cataracts” he smiled “no, um I have a head ache and it’s light sensitive” he said awkwardly with a laugh as he ran his hand through his hair. He’d forgotten about them all together, it was as if the dark cast they put on everything had become part of his vision now.

[/justify][/td][/tr][/table]

[eloisa]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,300,true] At his comment about dancing, Eloisa giggled. She was trying to picture it in her head. He certainly didn't seem like the type to dance, professionally or casually. He didn't seem like the sort of guy who would be seen in a club or virtually anything that involved dancing. Her eyebrows rose as she made a slightly exaggerated hand gesture. "Oh, I'm sure it's not that bad. Trust me, I've seen people on all ends of the spectrum. I normally teach beginners. Most of them are little kids, but not all of them." She paused for a moment, thinking. "I would offer to teach you, but I don't think you'd really enjoy that too much. Ballet is more of my specialty." She waved a hand, falling silent for a brief chance. It didn't last, however. She looked over at Reid, smiling softly. "Although, If you ever want to go dancing or anything, I would gladly go with you. I'm kind of tempted after you said you're awful." She quickly shook her head, her eyes growing wide. Her cheeks flushed slightly as she spoke up again. "Don't feel like I'm pressuring you into saying or doing anything." A part of her was wondering why he put himself in the position, but she didn't want to query it. Some people liked to be busy. Some people didn't. Eloisa couldn't imagine that he would have had some sad story to why he was working in Capeside. Of course, one could never be sure. She may have been able to smile and still act like normal, but she had given up on her dream before moving to town. She didn't want to pry too much. He seemed to be a bit too casual about the situation to really have a negative reason to be around. She pushed the thoughts from her mind as she leaned back in the seat, glancing over at the newspaper she had abandoned. Certainly, talking to this guy was much more interesting than whatever she would have read in it. Eloisa probably could have sat there and asked him questions all day, though she figured that probably would have been out of the question. There was something about him; maybe it was just how different he was than most of the people she ran into. She had no objections to hanging around other dancers and performers, but there came a point where it became far more fascinating to meet somebody who wasn't there for show business. She had to admit that he sounded much more productive with his time. She may have been marginally successful over the course of her dancing career, but it didn't sound like anything compared to him. Her two jobs were like having one job and having a girl's night once a week or something. She didn't have to travel anywhere. Eloisa smiled slightly. "Wow. That's impressive." Had it been some other job, she probably would have asked about where he traveled. She figured the effect would have been lost on him. Her head tilted slightly to one side as she shook her head. "I'm sure they need you. Don't be hard on yourself." Reid seemed so negative when it came to himself. Did he just have low self-esteem? She had never met anybody else who did was he did, or acted quite like him. That was proof of his necessity, right? Well, she didn't really know anybody else who was a profiler to compare him with, but the point still held. Her eyes were focused on him, drinking in what he was saying and what he was doing. He was an interesting guy. He was absolutely adorable, but how awkward would it have been for her to say that? "My brother hasn't been giving you any trouble, has he? If he has, I'll have to punch him in the gut or something. You're too good for him to be stupid." She smiled slightly at Reid's reason for the glasses. Eloisa had to admit that it wasn't something she saw or heard every day, someone inside with sunglasses. When she realized he had said headache, however, her eyes widened. She didn't really get headaches that often, but she knew that migraines were dreadful. She knew she wouldn't have wanted anybody to be socializing with her if she had a migraine, she would have rather been tucked in bed. "Oh, crap." Her brow creased and she peered at him, almost looking worried. "I-I'm sorry. If you had said that sooner, I would've stopped talking. I don't want to make it worse or anything." Her voice was lower, and she almost looked guilty for a moment. She wasn't exactly sure if she had been bothering him, she really hoped not. Eloisa didn't want to make him feel compelled to talk to her if he didn't want to. They had been talking for a bit, she would have felt horrible if she had made him feel bad or anything. She bit her lip, glancing down awkwardly. "Well." After a moment, she mustered up a few more words, glancing up at Reid. "I'm pretty sure caffeine is supposed to help with headaches."

[reid]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,305,true] Nodding he laughed “it really that bad” she was sweet for trying, but honestly Reid knew where to admit defeat and he couldn’t dance. Though like most people he sure thought he could when he was drunk, which was the only reason he knew he couldn’t dance in the first place; however camera phones are never very flattering. He let himself smile lightly at the thought of himself in a dance class; it was definitely an amusing one, he laughed lightly as he spoke “no I wouldn’t put you through that, I’m not a sadist after all” The thought occurred to him she may not get that joke as he said it, most of the general populations knowledge of sadists came from S&M fetishes. “if my everyday life is any indication, I don’t have the grace or general strength to pull off ballet” the little that he did know about ballet dancers was that it took quite a bit of strength to pull off. Taking another sip from his coffee he looked up at her again as she continued talking. She knew how to talk that was for sure, of course that didn’t bother Reid in the slightest. A laugh escaped him as he spoke “most people do and then they wish they hadn’t” In all reality he was usually the one regretting it the next day. Watching as her cheeks flushed he tilted his head in curiosity, wondering what could possibly make a girl like this blush. His brows shooting up he quickly answered “No, I’m good under pressure” he smiled. Oh gosh that might have actually come across as flirting, was he flirting Reid really had no idea how, so he couldn’t exactly figure it out what is considered flirting. Maybe Reid hung around too many people in law enforcement, in fact he didn’t tend to meet people in any other field, his work took care of that, but there was something interesting about this girl that simply sat down and began talking to him as if she did it every day. She was quite obviously different than he was; she was out-going, lovely and didn’t pick highly morbid topics to talk about; not to mention she was absolutely gorgeous. Surprisingly for Reid she was very easy to talk to, even with his awkward ways usually amplified by women. The simple fact was she was the kind of girl was passerby’s would say he must be her brother or she’s taking pity on him, why else would such a gorgeous girl be talking to such a dork. Reid knew he was a dork in the eyes of ninety nine point nine percent of people and honestly he was fine with it, how could he change himself anyway? All his life, since he was a little boy he was always doing something and often he was doing numerous things at a time. After all you don’t get a number of doctorates and degrees by the time you’re twenty two by doing one thing at a time. Though most people would never ask him if he had a problem with relaxing which really was probably his problem. He got bored when he wasn’t doing anything and honestly didn’t like the feeling of twiddling his thumbs; no the man didn’t know how to relax. He didn’t know what not being busy meant. Smiling bashfully at her words it was his turn to have his cheeks flush, against his pale skin the flush was a violent red. “thanks” he managed as his eyes fell to his coffee cup he drummed his fingers against its side. Most would think that someone with his intellect would be extremely full of themselves, but for some reason (possibly due to years of teasing and bullying) he’d never been that way; he knew he had his flaws and at the same time he knew he was abhorrently intelligent, but never meant or tried to hold that over anyone. His head shot up with the mention of her brother “Oh no, not at all he’s one of the nicer ones” he smiled, her brother did tease him, but he never felt that it went too far, friendly teasing one would say. A smile appeared on his lips “it’s fine, you’re not making worse” if anything she was actually making it a little more bearable, only it seemed weird to say that, he didn’t want her to think he was hitting on her; she probably got that a lot. All he knew was he didn’t really want her to stop talking while they both sat in awkward silence, he hated when things got weird because of him. Smiling as she said that coffee was supposed to be good for headaches he nodded “yeah, many headaches are caused by blood vessels in the head being open too wide and since coffee is a vaso-constrictor it takes away some of the pain.” he smiled like a little boy that had just successfully told a joke as he nodded again.

[/justify][/td][/tr][/table]

[eloisa]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,300,true] She couldn't resist a slight smile and laugh. Well, he certainly was dead-set in that fact. Still, she was somehow amused by it. What exactly did she know about Reid? He worked with her brother, he was a criminal profiler, he had a habit of sharing too much information, and he couldn't dance. It was a unique combination. Although, she imagined that she was probably some oddball girl. Here she was, possibly interfering in this guy's daily ritual to read and drink coffee, and she just kept chatting away. Who did that? Well, obviously, her. She didn't really know what impressions she gave off, especially to someone who knew she was a dancer before she had even sat down or who knew her brother. Of course, she figured most people kept their conversations on a certain level. She knew so many shallow dancers, it was no surprise that their subjects of conversation were narrow. "Okay, fine, I won't press the topic. But you have tried, I'm guessing? Otherwise you'd have no idea if you were good or bad." She didn't aim to make him feel uncomfortable, so she figured it was better to lightly drop the subject. She shrugged slightly. "Different people have different talents. Or different hobbies." Her tone was slightly teasing, but she batted her eyelashes and peered at him. She didn't want him to take her statement as a knock against how he acted or what he was interested. He seemed to be confused, but that didn't seem like the right term. Eloisa doubted that it was easy for the man to get confused. When he spoke, she laughed softly. It was almost difficult to interpret the statement, but she took it in a very literal sense. She wanted to ask more questions, find more out. She was positive that there was tons more that she could know about him. Her head tilted slightly as she tried to come up something to say back. However, she knew that she didn't have to say something constantly. It wasn't like they weren't talking. She fell silent for a moment, surveying Reid. Her hands laced together as she averted her gaze to the table for a moment. It didn't last, before her eyes shot back up at him, the slight smile once more tugging at her lips. Oh goodness, she had caused him to blush. She had complimented him, though, right? She tried to restrain a smile by biting her lip, though with the way her emotions were an open book at times, she probably wasn't very successful. He very much liked his work, that much was obvious. It made her wonder for a moment what he did in his spare time, but she didn't really want to press that issue. His jobs probably kept him rather busy. "Well, you're welcome, but it's true." Eloisa beamed this time, before absently tossing a piece of hair over her shoulder. At Reid's response to her brother, she nodded slightly. "That's good. I'd have to, have to…" She paused, trying to come up with a good way to respond. "I'd have to beat him up or something if he wasn't." The way the words came out was somewhere between a childlike seriousness, and something playful. She laughed, looking down. She had a head full of thoughts, and the best she could come up with was that she would beat her brother up? Her brother who was significantly larger than her? It was probably a dreadful comeback. "You're an interesting guy. I wouldn't let him be an idiot because of it." A slight smile slid to her face. "Okay. I'm not really doing a good job of being quiet if I weren't, though. Sorry. I'm not always so…" Once more, she was searching for a good word or phrase to use. "Clingy? Invasive? Talkative? I mean, I like to meet and get to know people. But." She left that hanging in the air. But what? He was far more entertaining than some of the people she worked with? He was fascinating, with his knowledge and interests? She didn't want to seem like some sort of creepy woman. When she had first got her coffee, she had expected to sit with someone who she had absolutely no chance of running into again. She pictured that their conversation would be very basic, with questions of the weather or maybe current events. Eventually, one of them would have grown bored enough or quickly finished their beverages and they would have left the other. This was much more amusing than the scenario she had played out in her head. When Reid mentioned the fact about how coffee was able to help, she nodded slightly. "That's cool. I never really understood how it worked. Or what exactly a headache was. You know a lot of facts." Wow, that was brilliant. You know a lot of facts? That was the best response? She smiled sheepishly, like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

[reid]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,305,true] The one thing that actually bothered Reid about himself to no end was his awkwardness with people; he had such a hard time letting loose and just goofing off, it took him years with people to get comfortable enough to dance sober in front of them. Occasionally he’d think he was alone or forget where he was and break out into some silly dance, but then as soon as it happened he’d remember where he was or something. Funny thing was he wasn’t a particularly self-conscious person, he just knew what he was good at and social interactions of any kind had never been his thing. Small talk to him was like another language all together, he could never understand how everyone else seemed armed with that skill and some in particular used it so well they had a new friend every day. Granted maybe they didn’t have lifelong friends every day, but they were rarely alone, something Reid himself never found to be the case with him. Except for right now anyway, people rarely interacted with him outside his work place, but there she was an adorable blonde dancer talking to him with no qualms what so ever. A smile tugged against the corners of his lips as she spoke, with a nod he answer “yes I have tried and like almost everyone I think I’m really good when I’m really drunk” he laughed lightly. Reid being drunk was almost a non-existent occurrence, but the few times that it did happen he was quite the topic the next day around the water cooler. When he was drunk it was like all of his suppressed urges to let loose came out in a hurricane like fashion. Though he was never sober enough to remember anything the next day and he never liked the feeling he had in the morning. Allowing himself to smile again at her next comment he nodded “true, makes things interesting” he with a smirk before sipping his coffee again. His mother had always stuck by the old life would be boring if every person in the world were the same and in all honesty Reid had to agree, after all he was in the business of human behavior because it was interesting and if there were a single formula to figuring out people he’d hate his job. People weren’t formulaic equations to be solved they were simply complex beings that you could only try to understand and care for. Reid hated to blush; the embarrassment of it always caused his cheeks to flame and even deeper red. That always seemed to happen, once you become aware of something it always gets worse. At least for him it did. He took another sip from his coffee cup, in a subconscious attempt to hide his red cheeks. He placed his coffee down just as she let her words hang in the air, he tried not to stare as she tried to find an ending to her sentence, though he wasn’t doing a very good job, he fixed his face with a light smile. Everyone knew what it felt like to have words escape them. He had enough times anyway; sometimes he dropped things without continuing at all. He laughed as she finished, it was that he doubted she could that wasn’t the source of the laughter, he had just never had anyone say they’d beat anyone up for him before. Who knows maybe she could take someone down, Reid would never doubt someone because of their size, there were some very deceptively strong and weak people out there. One never knows another’s true strength, right? His cheeks flushed again, most of the time people associated words like strange, dork, robot or interesting with a negative connotation. Elle however wasn’t saying that way, she was using it in the true definition of the word; engaging. Was he the type to hold ones attention? Letting out a small laugh and a twitch of his brows “thank you” he felt as if he should be complementing her more, but honestly he thought if he did it’d sound creepy or like he was hitting on her, “you’re interesting too” he settled on returning the complement with complete sincerity, she was interesting to him, more than just his general interest in people. She definitely held ones attention; Reid would guess that she had that effect on a lot of people, that it wasn’t just synonymous with him. He began laughing quietly as she spoke “it’s okay really it’s not bothersome in the slightest” he spoke with a smile “you’re a lot less strange than most of the people I come in contact with” Gosh, he’d attempted a joke, considering he came in contact with psychopaths and the like, she would be normal. Smiling awkwardly he nodded “I read a lot, my mom used joke that’s where I got my name” he laughed lightly, Gosh is that uncool talking about your mom? Since when had Reid ever been concerned about seeming uncool? Sometimes he did wish he had that effortless ability, but he didn’t so he didn’t usually worry about it.

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