[ He'd be less concerned, but definitely still concerned. He's kind of a soft touch and hates people getting hurt, even when it's temporary. ]
Good. Then don't let me stop you. Even if I don't understand it.
At least you had friends to stick around and graduate with. [ At one point he wouldn't have understood that decision, but having had real, good friends now, he understands it. She's like an odd reflection of his life experience in some ways, smart but intentionally sacrificing some of it for the sake of social connections. As shown in how easily she embarrasses him again with the heart emoticon and the sentiment. ] A good friend, or a paranoid one? [ Self-deprecation, always safe. He still has a hard time taking compliments about things that aren't his intelligence. ]
If there's something you want to do, I could help you figure it out. If you wanted the help. There's no reason to waste your time while you're here. It's no CalTech, but there is a university if you want to take a few classes.
[ And if he ends up teaching, he might need an assistant... Reid isn't quite impulsive enough to just type that out, but it occurs to him. ]
Where I come from, a paranoid friend is the best kind of friend to have.
( They're the ones that will go above and beyond with worry if something feels off; it's how they keep each other safe. That's how they have to operate in Beacon Hills. Without a healthy dose of paranoia, they'd probably all be dead by now. )
Yeah, I thought about the university actually, I just haven't decided if I want to go or if I want to put school on hold until I get back home, yet. I appreciate that, though. I think for me, step one: wrap my head around the time differences between my friends and I, step two: decide between school and work, step three: apparently give you a heart attack because I'm fast and direct ;)
( She almost makes a joke asking if he'd feel better if it was him she was pursuing, but Lydia figures that they're not really there yet and it could be perceived as more offensive or uncomfortable than funny or flirtatious, especially over text. She'll save it for later, though, that's for sure. )
That makes me deeply worried about where you come from. Although as someone who catches serial killers, I can only professionally endorse paranoia.
[ That's only half a joke. It is enough of a comment to wonder, and worry, over, but Reid isn't going to pry, and there's nothing he can do about it here. If he were in a position to get a case brought to the BAU, he might press when he hears things like this, but here in Cadelle it's pointless. ]
The fast and direct just took me by surprise. I'm not that bad. [ This has the definite note of a little brother with an oft-repeated complaint. He can practically hear his teammates ribbing him already, and has to swallow a pang of unexpected homesickness. He'd decided to be here, right? Asking about Lydia's problems is much easier than thinking about missing his friends. ] You have time differences with your friends? I thought you just meant you were from a different decade from the rest of us.
I wish we only dealt with serial killers. They're at least semi-predictable. And human.
( Bombshell number one, Spencer; welcome to her life. It's a lot harder to fight a thing when one doesn't know the thing actually exists and has to research what the thing even is before one can actually fight it. )
Yeah okay. :P lol
Yeah, let's see... I'm still trying to figure out exactly when Scott's up to. My ex-boyfriend is from before we even started dating, so that's awkward. Malia is from a little bit before me, but not a ton, which is easier. I'm literally the furthest ahead from what I can tell. So I don't know if anything I say will actually have an effect on their actual futures. I really hope not. I would like to think that if this place is able to bring us from different points on the same timeline, then it would be able to protect from paradoxical anomalies, right?
Non-human threats? Wait, like aliens? I met an alien earlier! She was incredible. Oh, but probably not incredible if you're comparing them to serial killers.
[ At home, Reid would be incredibly, deeply skeptical, and quietly pondering different mental delusions. Here... well, he's not putting fully aside that possibility, but he's much more apt to get excited about the alternatives. It's half the reason he'd wanted to stay, frankly. His wish meant a lot to him, but he wouldn't give up the good he could be doing at home to save one victim when there's so many potential others he could be working on, cold as that is. No, the chance to experience all of this, learn all of this, is incredibly compelling to him.
So-- he's excited, if properly skeptical, as any scientist would be with a whole new field. ]
You'd have to think so. It would be ludicrously irresponsible to go jumping us around the timeline without an ounce of protection to the integrity of the time stream. You'd think they'd know that much from Doctor Who. [ Okay wait, real conversation here. ] But that's definitely awkward. Is there anything you want to tell them?
Oh God, no. I don't know if I could handle aliens on top of everything else. At least not the kind that would be a threat. I'm talking about supernatural creatures. Stuff of mythology; werewolves, the Ghost Riders, hell hounds...stuff like that.
( It's probably a little fucked up how casually she can talk about this kind of thing now, but it's a lot easier for her to pretend she's not one of those things than it is for her friends, probably, so it comes a little easier, too.
If he wasn't so quick on the uptake, she probably wouldn't bother, but he seems open-minded enough. Besides, what has she got to lose? If he doesn't believe her, then he doesn't believe her. It'd hardly be the first time people thought she was crazy when she wasn't. )
Doctor what now?
I already told Stiles about us, because I figured it was better he heard it from me on purpose than finding out if I slipped up and tacked a reflexive I Love You onto a goodbye or something. We just recently split, back home. I'm still adjusting. It was mutual and amicable; long distance just wasn't working for us. It's just still kind of...I don't know. I'm getting used to it again, being single. I figured he was going to find out one way or another, I just wanted it on my terms.
But there's a few things I wouldn't mind saying to the others, if I knew it wasn't going to screw up time or whatever, yeah. Mostly about the battle I think they're still in the process of fighting, which I've already been through and moved past.
Supernatural creatures? I take it you have direct evidence that it's more than collective delusion, folklore, and circumstantial proof?
[ Here he is, giving the benefit of the doubt. Reid is, of course, extremely interested in even the possibility that it's real. ]
You haven't seen Doctor Who? It's a classic.
It would be hard for someone close to you to be on a different page about your shared history. [ He can't help thinking of his mom, odd a comparison as it seems... Of course, this has a simpler answer. ] Telling him was probably a good idea. Are you sure you want to tell them about something traumatic that's going to happen? A 'battle'?
Yeah, I don't love it, but if I can talk freely without breaking the whole universe or something, then I'll be able to deal better. You ask that like they're not used to traumatic events. Besides, they're already in the middle of the battle, I just made it through the end. They're aware of what's going on, just not how it ends. Spoiler alert: we kicked ass. We always kick ass.
Not over a dating app, but if you want to get together. Some of it isn't mine to share, but what is, sure. If you promise not to think I'm crazy. I'm sick of people thinking I'm crazy. Especially when I'm hardly the only person who knows what's really going on in Beacon Hills.
( Her mother finally got fed up enough thinking that Lydia was crazy like her grandmother — who, incidentally, wasn't crazy at all; she was just also a banshee — that she checked Lydia into Eichen House. Given that all they were interested in doing was experimenting on her to see how far they could push her banshee abilities, if she had been legitimately mentally ill, her stay there certainly wouldn't have done her any favors. She still has a scar carefully hidden under her thick red hair from where they drilled a hole into her skull. Treppaning wouldn't have been her choice for mental health treatment, if she'd had a say in it, that's for sure. )
It's not just high schoolers. We're part of it, but we have adults fighting with us. We live in Beacon Hills. It's literally called that because the town is a beacon for the supernatural and, just like people, there are bad ones just like there are good ones. But most of the town hadn't been aware of all of that until recently.
...let's just say they didn't like what they found out much. The rest, I'll save for talking in person, if it's all the same to you...
[ He'd sort of guessed, but look, it's confusing. Okay-- focusing on the serious topic at hand. ]
No, I understand. We can meet up. I've spoken with genuinely crazy people, and experiencing something you can't easily explain is completely different from delusion.
If you literally had no adults involved I would start to question the capacity and compassion of the adults in your town. [ AKA, he's relieved to hear that, although he's still trying to swallow this information. ] I definitely want to hear everything you're willing to say about your experience of the supernatural.
Yes, sweetie. I think it's mostly meant to be a dating app, like Tinder or whatever.
( Not that she's ever bothered with them for herself; she's never really had to. )
For a while, it was just us, but that was mostly because we kept everything secret; we didn't think they would believe us. My mom was the last parent to come around. I guess it was easier to believe in the supernatural if you can actually see it and she didn't really have that luxury. But yeah, I'll talk about it, if you're interested. Some of it — a lot of it — will sound like I'm making things up. It's not pretty and I'm not going to sugarcoat or romanticize it, so...just be sure you really want to hear it before you ask when we see each other next.
( Lydia isn't actually worried that that'll be an issue with Spencer, especially given the nature of his own job back home and the way he talks freely about it, but she figures she needs to say it still, for her own peace of mind. )
It wasn't obvious! Is that what people are using check marks for?
You put a check mark!
[ The tones of these two conversations are wildly discordant but Reid just... can't help it. ]
I can't blame you for thinking they wouldn't believe you. I'm not sure I would if you didn't have all the hallmark indicators of telling the truth, and I know I'm in another universe that serves as a multidimensional meeting point. But your mom did come around eventually? [ He zeroes in on that as a momma's boy himself. ]
There's pretty much nothing you could tell me that I wouldn't be able to take hearing, Lydia. You can say whatever you want to say.
[ There's maybe a little bit of his soft-spoken, careful, talking-to-victims mindset in there. ]
[ He can't entirely deal with those implications. They meet his brain and slide right off, unable to compute. He just... moves on. ]
If I give someone a check mark, are they going to think I'm interested in them? I can't manufacture sentiment for someone based on a picture and a three-line bio.
[ Yes, he's a touch grumpy. Spencer's love life and lack thereof is a regular source of discomfort. In many ways, growing up has been a blessing for feeling less alienated than he had as a too-smart too-young kid, but some things just haven't changed in their ability to make him feel like there's something off about him, and how he approaches human connection is one of them.
As for this-- when he puts it together, it hits surprisingly close to home. But he doesn't just... blurt out things about his mom. It's too soon for that. Yet he's definitely thinking it, and can start to understand. ]
I don't agree with referring to the mentally ill in pejorative terms to start with. If you had something wrong with you, you would deserve sympathy and help. Even crazy people should be listened to.
They'll think that you're interested in, at the very least, getting to know them to see if you're interested, probably. That's how I would take it, anyway. I don't think anyone expects you to fall in love with them based on their stupid okCuddle profile sweetie, you're overthinking it. It's just an app. A facilitator. It's up to you whether you use it for facilitating platonic, romantic, or sexual encounters. Or for all of the above. No one's going to judge you no matter what direction you go. Or if they do, I'll kick their asses, problem solved.
Seriously, don't worry about it so much, Spencer.
( She sighs a little. He's preaching to the choir. )
Even if I had been mentally ill, Eichen House isn't a mental hospital anyway. It's just a torture lab pretending to be one. But my mom didn't know any better, so I don't hold it against her. It isn't her fault she trusted people presenting themselves as medical professionals and it isn't her fault that she thought my best friend's death broke me. She was just doing what she thought was best for me. ...she just happened to be wrong.
Me calling it the looney bin because it isn't a legitimate mental hospital at all, not for people like me. She never would've called it that. She never did; my grandmother was there, too. She died in there. Now I know why.
[ This is extremely important information and you better believe it's memorized now. The whole message, really. ]
I'm not worried, I just want to communicate effectively. [ Sure, okay. He's not lying about that, but he is, also, uncomfortable with the idea of intimacy writ large. ] Thanks for offering to kick their asses, but I'll be fine. I'm not comfortable trying out people but I know it's standard behavior for most of the human race.
[ Reid doesn't get attached often, and without that, he just can't trust enough to be intimate in any way with someone. And when he does get attached... he attaches hard.
As for the next part, this wells up so much emotion in him, fear for something like that happening to his mom-- and his brain can supply so many scenarios for it, in graphic, explicit detail, given prior cases-- that it takes him some time to reply. Reid has to take a deep breath and remind himself of reality first, recenter on Lydia's actual life rather than his baseless fears. ]
I'm so sorry that happened to you. And your grandmother. That's horrific. I understand your mom was trying to take care of you. I can only imagine how guilty what happened must make her feel. [ He really can imagine it. This is the appropriate time to confess about his mom, but Reid can't make his fingers type it out. He's gotten less hyperdefensive of the information, but less hyperdefensive is still plenty defensive. He wants to reach out, but he spent his whole childhood pretending nothing was wrong so he wouldn't get taken away from her. Who would take care of her, then? ]
You seem like you've repaired your relationship since then.
[ That's the more important part of this to him, rather than details on what sounds like a closed case. The human impact is always what Reid is most concerned with. ]
If the check marks make you feel uncomfortable, just don't use them, sweetie. I don't think anyone will care. I noticed you didn't give me a check or an X; I just assumed that meant you hadn't decided or whatever. It didn't bother me any.
( Lydia shakes her head a little at her phone, but mostly just because she and her mom have a very special relationship, since her father left, so... She hopes that she's right in her opinion: )
I think she feels more angry with them than guilty. I hope she doesn't feel guilty. I know it isn't her fault. And if I'd been actually mentally ill, I wouldn't have wound up downstairs. I might actually have gotten good care, but the people in that place had been waiting for someone like me. They manipulated my mom into thinking there was something wrong with me that she couldn't fix with enough love and understanding. I know that at least she knows that I don't blame her for it and I never could have, so I hope that alleviates the guilt.
I never told her everything that happened. I never will. She doesn't need to know what they did to me in there and she definitely doesn't need to know that they did the same thing to her mother that they did to her daughter. She probably couldn't handle that information. My grandmother was old. I'd rather my mother think that's how she died.
( The truth is that Lydia doesn't actually know for a fact that her grandmother died in the banshee experiments, but what little she remembers of her grandmother toward the end is symptomatic of what nearly killed Lydia herself. She's more powerful than her grandmother was...she's pretty sure that's because of her pack. )
Maybe we should just meet up at my place or yours and continue this conversation. It's pretty deep and dark for an app...sorry. I didn't actually intend for that to happen.
[ Please Lydia, he's not that sensitive. He's extremely sensitive, but being identified as such still embarrasses him after a lifetime of ridicule for it. His mother had always told him it was one of his greatest assets, but-- his mother also made a career out of studying literature. ]
Okay, okay. I'm not completely hopeless, I just don't use technology. And I don't want people to think I'm hitting on them.
[ God forbid. Anyway. As morbid and dark a conversation as this is, Reid is perfectly at home with it, but he can take a hint or three about moving it off-network. Which, frankly, he is always ready to do. When he's not talking about his nonexistent love/sex life, he's much more socially adept. ]
Pretty sure it's at least half my fault. Don't worry about it. Come over here? I'll buy us coffee. Possibly make you watch goofy sci if it gets too serious again.
And for what it's worth, I wouldn't have told her, either. [ Reid never tells his mother what happens to him, of course. Never. ]
I didn't say you were <3 I think you can just skip the check marks and not worry about it. If someone asks, just tell them you'd rather meet in person or something. It's fine, sweetie.
( Lydia can't help wondering if he's worried what she thinks as much as he's worried about what other, hypothetical people will think. She certainly hopes not; she'd like to think that she's made her own interest clear, however not a priority. If she's interested with or without the check mark in return, then he hasn't anything to worry about. )
What's half your fault...? Yeah, I'll come over. Which apartment is yours?
( She smiles a little, although it doesn't reach her eyes. At least she's in good company, if nothing else. )
[ Spencer honestly has no idea how seriously to take her 'interest', given everything, and is mostly just shelving it for now. Like he'd said, he's slow, and him being interested in anyone has a necessary prerequisite of trust and, well, friendship first. He's getting there. He's good enough at reading people that he's not concerned about how things are going with Lydia; she's comfortable and assertive enough that he thinks she would say something if she wanted to. ]
The conversation turning dark. Occupational hazard. I'm in Beta, floor 1 east.
It's okay, yeah occupational hazard indeed. I'll be there soon. I'm in Alpha, so it might take me a minute.
With that, Lydia tucks the phone away and does a quick hair and makeup check, mostly by reflex, before heading out. Just because Spencer hasn't shown any signs of interest or physical attraction to her doesn't mean she won't bump into someone on the way there, after all.
The fact that she's opening up to suddenly to someone comes as a bit of a surprise, but there's just something trustworthy about him. Maybe it's the fact that he's said he's in law enforcement. Maybe it's that he's a little bit awkward and that reminds her of Stiles before they got together. Maybe he just has one of those faces. Whatever it is, he's a good listener and he seems genuinely interested in hearing more, so Lydia decides she might as well go. The worst thing that can happen is that she can have poor judgement of character on this one and she ends up having to defend herself unexpectedly. That's not so bad. She can do that. She doesn't think she'll have to, though, which is better.
When she reaches the east door, Lydia tosses her hair back over her shoulders so that it cascades down her back and isn't in her way when she knocks purposefully and firmly, intending to be heard on the first try.
Spencer makes friends so rarely that he's honestly somewhat baffled at the speed with which he feels comfortable with Lydia. The last time this happened was, well, his teammates at the BAU. So it's not the first time, but it still happens infrequently enough that he feels a little tentative, afraid of getting ahead of himself and ruining something, or getting hurt.
People leave. He knows that they leave.
He uses the time it takes for her to make her way over getting coffee together. He's been here a handful of days and he already has a coffee machine and grounds up and running (he has his priorities straight) and has some percolating when he answers the door. For this part, Spencer hasn't spared a single thought about how he looks: slightly unkempt, in too-formal clothes for the occasion, and just a little jittery with nerves. At home, he has people over at his place almost as rarely as he makes new friends. This apartment being so new to him it barely registers as 'his place' softens it somewhat, but the whole thing still ends up being sort of surreal.
"Hi. Um. Oh, come in." He steps to the side belatedly. Here at home, he doesn't use his cane, although that means it takes him somewhat longer to traverse, and with heavier steps. "Thanks for coming?" Spencer sounds vaguely unsure. "Sorry, I usually don't... have guests. Or live here. But I do have coffee."
Lydia smiles at him when he opens the door, taking note of the fact that he doesn't have his cane and it takes him a second to step aside. "Thanks," she replies, moving into his apartment with no hesitation once he's given her the indication that it's okay with him. Lydia Martin tends to ooze confidence, whether or not she happens to be feeling it in any given moment in time. Right now, she doesn't have any reason not to feel it, so she isn't uncertain about being in his place, since he's invited her into it.
"You're welcome, it's...just not a conversation I want to have online, is all. I don't mind sharing," she assures him. Smirking a little, she shakes her head and waves off his apology with one hand. "Don't worry about it. My place doesn't look a whole lot different yet. I got here the same day you did, remember? I'm still working on making it more homey. You're allowed to be in that process, too, hon."
She can smell the coffee and hear it percolating even before he points out that he has it and she smiles again. "You already know me well," she says, only half-joking. "I'll get it. Unless you prefer I don't?" she offers, because again, he isn't using his cane and she imagines that it probably isn't comfortable to not have that crutch, even if it's also probably a good thing that he doesn't use it all the time.
"Feel free to hit me with your questions, I don't mind answering them. Any that I do mind answering, you'll know it," she promises. "We talked about a lot and skirted around even more. I kind of lost track of what I'd pushed under the rug..."
Spencer is forever an odd mix of self-assured on certain things and completely unsteady about others. He's gotten more graceful about it as he's gotten older, at least; at Lydia's age he was an absolute mess with this sort of thing, but now he shuts the door behind her and limps over to his kitchen.
"No, I can do it. It's better if I don't baby it too much, or it gets stiff." Also, he's obstinate about doing things for himself, and letting someone get him coffee in his own apartment while he's capable of walking is just completely counter-intuitive to him. Reid's tall enough that he doesn't have difficulty getting the mugs down, either, and pulling out creamer and sugar, using the counter to steady himself when he needs it, which isn't too often. "And believe me," he jokes back, "the coffee is definitely for me first."
Once he starts pouring, he glances over his shoulder at her and picks up the real conversational thread at hand. "I think I asked if you made up with your mom?" Spencer knows he asked that. He also hasn't stopped zeroing in on it as a critical piece of information, determining whether her major support network is still in place. He hasn't missed that she hasn't mentioned her father, and given his own father, he isn't about to ask.
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Good. Then don't let me stop you. Even if I don't understand it.
At least you had friends to stick around and graduate with. [ At one point he wouldn't have understood that decision, but having had real, good friends now, he understands it. She's like an odd reflection of his life experience in some ways, smart but intentionally sacrificing some of it for the sake of social connections. As shown in how easily she embarrasses him again with the heart emoticon and the sentiment. ] A good friend, or a paranoid one? [ Self-deprecation, always safe. He still has a hard time taking compliments about things that aren't his intelligence. ]
If there's something you want to do, I could help you figure it out. If you wanted the help. There's no reason to waste your time while you're here. It's no CalTech, but there is a university if you want to take a few classes.
[ And if he ends up teaching, he might need an assistant... Reid isn't quite impulsive enough to just type that out, but it occurs to him. ]
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( They're the ones that will go above and beyond with worry if something feels off; it's how they keep each other safe. That's how they have to operate in Beacon Hills. Without a healthy dose of paranoia, they'd probably all be dead by now. )
Yeah, I thought about the university actually, I just haven't decided if I want to go or if I want to put school on hold until I get back home, yet. I appreciate that, though. I think for me, step one: wrap my head around the time differences between my friends and I, step two: decide between school and work, step three: apparently give you a heart attack because I'm fast and direct ;)
( She almost makes a joke asking if he'd feel better if it was him she was pursuing, but Lydia figures that they're not really there yet and it could be perceived as more offensive or uncomfortable than funny or flirtatious, especially over text. She'll save it for later, though, that's for sure. )
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[ That's only half a joke. It is enough of a comment to wonder, and worry, over, but Reid isn't going to pry, and there's nothing he can do about it here. If he were in a position to get a case brought to the BAU, he might press when he hears things like this, but here in Cadelle it's pointless. ]
The fast and direct just took me by surprise. I'm not that bad. [ This has the definite note of a little brother with an oft-repeated complaint. He can practically hear his teammates ribbing him already, and has to swallow a pang of unexpected homesickness. He'd decided to be here, right? Asking about Lydia's problems is much easier than thinking about missing his friends. ] You have time differences with your friends? I thought you just meant you were from a different decade from the rest of us.
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( Bombshell number one, Spencer; welcome to her life. It's a lot harder to fight a thing when one doesn't know the thing actually exists and has to research what the thing even is before one can actually fight it. )
Yeah okay. :P lol
Yeah, let's see... I'm still trying to figure out exactly when Scott's up to. My ex-boyfriend is from before we even started dating, so that's awkward. Malia is from a little bit before me, but not a ton, which is easier. I'm literally the furthest ahead from what I can tell. So I don't know if anything I say will actually have an effect on their actual futures. I really hope not. I would like to think that if this place is able to bring us from different points on the same timeline, then it would be able to protect from paradoxical anomalies, right?
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[ At home, Reid would be incredibly, deeply skeptical, and quietly pondering different mental delusions. Here... well, he's not putting fully aside that possibility, but he's much more apt to get excited about the alternatives. It's half the reason he'd wanted to stay, frankly. His wish meant a lot to him, but he wouldn't give up the good he could be doing at home to save one victim when there's so many potential others he could be working on, cold as that is. No, the chance to experience all of this, learn all of this, is incredibly compelling to him.
So-- he's excited, if properly skeptical, as any scientist would be with a whole new field. ]
You'd have to think so. It would be ludicrously irresponsible to go jumping us around the timeline without an ounce of protection to the integrity of the time stream. You'd think they'd know that much from Doctor Who. [ Okay wait, real conversation here. ] But that's definitely awkward. Is there anything you want to tell them?
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( It's probably a little fucked up how casually she can talk about this kind of thing now, but it's a lot easier for her to pretend she's not one of those things than it is for her friends, probably, so it comes a little easier, too.
If he wasn't so quick on the uptake, she probably wouldn't bother, but he seems open-minded enough. Besides, what has she got to lose? If he doesn't believe her, then he doesn't believe her. It'd hardly be the first time people thought she was crazy when she wasn't. )
Doctor what now?
I already told Stiles about us, because I figured it was better he heard it from me on purpose than finding out if I slipped up and tacked a reflexive I Love You onto a goodbye or something. We just recently split, back home. I'm still adjusting. It was mutual and amicable; long distance just wasn't working for us. It's just still kind of...I don't know. I'm getting used to it again, being single. I figured he was going to find out one way or another, I just wanted it on my terms.
But there's a few things I wouldn't mind saying to the others, if I knew it wasn't going to screw up time or whatever, yeah. Mostly about the battle I think they're still in the process of fighting, which I've already been through and moved past.
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[ Here he is, giving the benefit of the doubt. Reid is, of course, extremely interested in even the possibility that it's real. ]
You haven't seen Doctor Who? It's a classic.
It would be hard for someone close to you to be on a different page about your shared history. [ He can't help thinking of his mom, odd a comparison as it seems... Of course, this has a simpler answer. ] Telling him was probably a good idea. Are you sure you want to tell them about something traumatic that's going to happen? A 'battle'?
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( Does actually being one count? )
I've never heard of it...
Yeah, I don't love it, but if I can talk freely without breaking the whole universe or something, then I'll be able to deal better. You ask that like they're not used to traumatic events. Besides, they're already in the middle of the battle, I just made it through the end. They're aware of what's going on, just not how it ends. Spoiler alert: we kicked ass. We always kick ass.
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[ He would definitely accept that as conclusive evidence, yes. ]
I'm glad that you 'kicked ass' but what actually happened? What are high schoolers having battles about? Are supernatural forces that endemic?
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( Her mother finally got fed up enough thinking that Lydia was crazy like her grandmother — who, incidentally, wasn't crazy at all; she was just also a banshee — that she checked Lydia into Eichen House. Given that all they were interested in doing was experimenting on her to see how far they could push her banshee abilities, if she had been legitimately mentally ill, her stay there certainly wouldn't have done her any favors. She still has a scar carefully hidden under her thick red hair from where they drilled a hole into her skull. Treppaning wouldn't have been her choice for mental health treatment, if she'd had a say in it, that's for sure. )
It's not just high schoolers. We're part of it, but we have adults fighting with us. We live in Beacon Hills. It's literally called that because the town is a beacon for the supernatural and, just like people, there are bad ones just like there are good ones. But most of the town hadn't been aware of all of that until recently.
...let's just say they didn't like what they found out much. The rest, I'll save for talking in person, if it's all the same to you...
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[ He'd sort of guessed, but look, it's confusing. Okay-- focusing on the serious topic at hand. ]
No, I understand. We can meet up. I've spoken with genuinely crazy people, and experiencing something you can't easily explain is completely different from delusion.
If you literally had no adults involved I would start to question the capacity and compassion of the adults in your town. [ AKA, he's relieved to hear that, although he's still trying to swallow this information. ] I definitely want to hear everything you're willing to say about your experience of the supernatural.
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Yes, sweetie. I think it's mostly meant to be a dating app, like Tinder or whatever.
( Not that she's ever bothered with them for herself; she's never really had to. )
For a while, it was just us, but that was mostly because we kept everything secret; we didn't think they would believe us. My mom was the last parent to come around. I guess it was easier to believe in the supernatural if you can actually see it and she didn't really have that luxury. But yeah, I'll talk about it, if you're interested. Some of it — a lot of it — will sound like I'm making things up. It's not pretty and I'm not going to sugarcoat or romanticize it, so...just be sure you really want to hear it before you ask when we see each other next.
( Lydia isn't actually worried that that'll be an issue with Spencer, especially given the nature of his own job back home and the way he talks freely about it, but she figures she needs to say it still, for her own peace of mind. )
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You put a check mark!
[ The tones of these two conversations are wildly discordant but Reid just... can't help it. ]
I can't blame you for thinking they wouldn't believe you. I'm not sure I would if you didn't have all the hallmark indicators of telling the truth, and I know I'm in another universe that serves as a multidimensional meeting point. But your mom did come around eventually? [ He zeroes in on that as a momma's boy himself. ]
There's pretty much nothing you could tell me that I wouldn't be able to take hearing, Lydia. You can say whatever you want to say.
[ There's maybe a little bit of his soft-spoken, careful, talking-to-victims mindset in there. ]
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You're attractive and I like talking to you. Of course I gave you a check mark.
( Obviously. )
Eventually. After sending me to the looney bin for a while. Long story not meant for the dating app, though, again.
Yeah...you say that now. We'll see. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt since you said you won't think I'm crazy.
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If I give someone a check mark, are they going to think I'm interested in them? I can't manufacture sentiment for someone based on a picture and a three-line bio.
[ Yes, he's a touch grumpy. Spencer's love life and lack thereof is a regular source of discomfort. In many ways, growing up has been a blessing for feeling less alienated than he had as a too-smart too-young kid, but some things just haven't changed in their ability to make him feel like there's something off about him, and how he approaches human connection is one of them.
As for this-- when he puts it together, it hits surprisingly close to home. But he doesn't just... blurt out things about his mom. It's too soon for that. Yet he's definitely thinking it, and can start to understand. ]
I don't agree with referring to the mentally ill in pejorative terms to start with. If you had something wrong with you, you would deserve sympathy and help. Even crazy people should be listened to.
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Seriously, don't worry about it so much, Spencer.
( She sighs a little. He's preaching to the choir. )
Even if I had been mentally ill, Eichen House isn't a mental hospital anyway. It's just a torture lab pretending to be one. But my mom didn't know any better, so I don't hold it against her. It isn't her fault she trusted people presenting themselves as medical professionals and it isn't her fault that she thought my best friend's death broke me.
She was just doing what she thought was best for me. ...she just happened to be wrong.
Me calling it the looney bin because it isn't a legitimate mental hospital at all, not for people like me. She never would've called it that. She never did; my grandmother was there, too. She died in there.
Now I know why.
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I'm not worried, I just want to communicate effectively. [ Sure, okay. He's not lying about that, but he is, also, uncomfortable with the idea of intimacy writ large. ] Thanks for offering to kick their asses, but I'll be fine. I'm not comfortable trying out people but I know it's standard behavior for most of the human race.
[ Reid doesn't get attached often, and without that, he just can't trust enough to be intimate in any way with someone. And when he does get attached... he attaches hard.
As for the next part, this wells up so much emotion in him, fear for something like that happening to his mom-- and his brain can supply so many scenarios for it, in graphic, explicit detail, given prior cases-- that it takes him some time to reply. Reid has to take a deep breath and remind himself of reality first, recenter on Lydia's actual life rather than his baseless fears. ]
I'm so sorry that happened to you. And your grandmother. That's horrific. I understand your mom was trying to take care of you. I can only imagine how guilty what happened must make her feel. [ He really can imagine it. This is the appropriate time to confess about his mom, but Reid can't make his fingers type it out. He's gotten less hyperdefensive of the information, but less hyperdefensive is still plenty defensive. He wants to reach out, but he spent his whole childhood pretending nothing was wrong so he wouldn't get taken away from her. Who would take care of her, then? ]
You seem like you've repaired your relationship since then.
[ That's the more important part of this to him, rather than details on what sounds like a closed case. The human impact is always what Reid is most concerned with. ]
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( Lydia shakes her head a little at her phone, but mostly just because she and her mom have a very special relationship, since her father left, so... She hopes that she's right in her opinion: )
I think she feels more angry with them than guilty. I hope she doesn't feel guilty. I know it isn't her fault. And if I'd been actually mentally ill, I wouldn't have wound up downstairs. I might actually have gotten good care, but the people in that place had been waiting for someone like me. They manipulated my mom into thinking there was something wrong with me that she couldn't fix with enough love and understanding. I know that at least she knows that I don't blame her for it and I never could have, so I hope that alleviates the guilt.
I never told her everything that happened. I never will. She doesn't need to know what they did to me in there and she definitely doesn't need to know that they did the same thing to her mother that they did to her daughter. She probably couldn't handle that information. My grandmother was old. I'd rather my mother think that's how she died.
( The truth is that Lydia doesn't actually know for a fact that her grandmother died in the banshee experiments, but what little she remembers of her grandmother toward the end is symptomatic of what nearly killed Lydia herself. She's more powerful than her grandmother was...she's pretty sure that's because of her pack. )
Maybe we should just meet up at my place or yours and continue this conversation.
It's pretty deep and dark for an app...sorry. I didn't actually intend for that to happen.
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Okay, okay. I'm not completely hopeless, I just don't use technology. And I don't want people to think I'm hitting on them.
[ God forbid. Anyway. As morbid and dark a conversation as this is, Reid is perfectly at home with it, but he can take a hint or three about moving it off-network. Which, frankly, he is always ready to do. When he's not talking about his nonexistent love/sex life, he's much more socially adept. ]
Pretty sure it's at least half my fault. Don't worry about it. Come over here? I'll buy us coffee. Possibly make you watch goofy sci if it gets too serious again.
And for what it's worth, I wouldn't have told her, either. [ Reid never tells his mother what happens to him, of course. Never. ]
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( Lydia can't help wondering if he's worried what she thinks as much as he's worried about what other, hypothetical people will think. She certainly hopes not; she'd like to think that she's made her own interest clear, however not a priority. If she's interested with or without the check mark in return, then he hasn't anything to worry about. )
What's half your fault...? Yeah, I'll come over. Which apartment is yours?
( She smiles a little, although it doesn't reach her eyes. At least she's in good company, if nothing else. )
Well, at least I'm not alone in that.
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[ Spencer honestly has no idea how seriously to take her 'interest', given everything, and is mostly just shelving it for now. Like he'd said, he's slow, and him being interested in anyone has a necessary prerequisite of trust and, well, friendship first. He's getting there. He's good enough at reading people that he's not concerned about how things are going with Lydia; she's comfortable and assertive enough that he thinks she would say something if she wanted to. ]
The conversation turning dark. Occupational hazard. I'm in Beta, floor 1 east.
okc » in person
With that, Lydia tucks the phone away and does a quick hair and makeup check, mostly by reflex, before heading out. Just because Spencer hasn't shown any signs of interest or physical attraction to her doesn't mean she won't bump into someone on the way there, after all.
The fact that she's opening up to suddenly to someone comes as a bit of a surprise, but there's just something trustworthy about him. Maybe it's the fact that he's said he's in law enforcement. Maybe it's that he's a little bit awkward and that reminds her of Stiles before they got together. Maybe he just has one of those faces. Whatever it is, he's a good listener and he seems genuinely interested in hearing more, so Lydia decides she might as well go. The worst thing that can happen is that she can have poor judgement of character on this one and she ends up having to defend herself unexpectedly. That's not so bad. She can do that. She doesn't think she'll have to, though, which is better.
When she reaches the east door, Lydia tosses her hair back over her shoulders so that it cascades down her back and isn't in her way when she knocks purposefully and firmly, intending to be heard on the first try.
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People leave. He knows that they leave.
He uses the time it takes for her to make her way over getting coffee together. He's been here a handful of days and he already has a coffee machine and grounds up and running (he has his priorities straight) and has some percolating when he answers the door. For this part, Spencer hasn't spared a single thought about how he looks: slightly unkempt, in too-formal clothes for the occasion, and just a little jittery with nerves. At home, he has people over at his place almost as rarely as he makes new friends. This apartment being so new to him it barely registers as 'his place' softens it somewhat, but the whole thing still ends up being sort of surreal.
"Hi. Um. Oh, come in." He steps to the side belatedly. Here at home, he doesn't use his cane, although that means it takes him somewhat longer to traverse, and with heavier steps. "Thanks for coming?" Spencer sounds vaguely unsure. "Sorry, I usually don't... have guests. Or live here. But I do have coffee."
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"You're welcome, it's...just not a conversation I want to have online, is all. I don't mind sharing," she assures him. Smirking a little, she shakes her head and waves off his apology with one hand. "Don't worry about it. My place doesn't look a whole lot different yet. I got here the same day you did, remember? I'm still working on making it more homey. You're allowed to be in that process, too, hon."
She can smell the coffee and hear it percolating even before he points out that he has it and she smiles again. "You already know me well," she says, only half-joking. "I'll get it. Unless you prefer I don't?" she offers, because again, he isn't using his cane and she imagines that it probably isn't comfortable to not have that crutch, even if it's also probably a good thing that he doesn't use it all the time.
"Feel free to hit me with your questions, I don't mind answering them. Any that I do mind answering, you'll know it," she promises. "We talked about a lot and skirted around even more. I kind of lost track of what I'd pushed under the rug..."
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"No, I can do it. It's better if I don't baby it too much, or it gets stiff." Also, he's obstinate about doing things for himself, and letting someone get him coffee in his own apartment while he's capable of walking is just completely counter-intuitive to him. Reid's tall enough that he doesn't have difficulty getting the mugs down, either, and pulling out creamer and sugar, using the counter to steady himself when he needs it, which isn't too often. "And believe me," he jokes back, "the coffee is definitely for me first."
Once he starts pouring, he glances over his shoulder at her and picks up the real conversational thread at hand. "I think I asked if you made up with your mom?" Spencer knows he asked that. He also hasn't stopped zeroing in on it as a critical piece of information, determining whether her major support network is still in place. He hasn't missed that she hasn't mentioned her father, and given his own father, he isn't about to ask.
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