Comments | twilightzonerpg: fröhe weihnachten! (or, how to pick out an ugly christmas sweater)

youcallmespence in twilightzonerpg

fröhe weihnachten! (or, how to pick out an ugly christmas sweater)

Dec 15, 2010 00:08

WHO: Spencer Reid, T-X
WHERE: Dining Area
WHEN: Day 46, after journaling with T-X, and definitely after a panic attack ( Read more... )

{t-x}, [day 46], [log]:, {spencer reid}

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t_x_unit December 15 2010, 05:20:36 UTC

'Samantha', as she had named herself, refused to wear such garments. They weren't necessary. Not for her. Still the same leather outfit in red, as per usual. In fact, she had yet to be seen in anything different, at all. Twice as strangely, she had yet to wash the clothing, too, but there were no ripe smells about them.

But the machine had not been witness to much in the way of social interaction to learn from. Her speech patterns were still formal, perfunctory and tainted with an interest in experimentation. Anyone who showed an interest in her, likewise, was given interest in.

And his interest had, relatively speaking, been considerable.

Her steps down the stairs were more graceful than most. Posture was an important thing, but all the more so for the element recognised as attractiveness. For that, more than most things, appeared to be what humans prized the most. They gave trust to attractive members of their own species, either due to sexuality or a desire to be near and emulate someone with traits they held physically dear.

"Hello."

Appearing in the doorway, the T-X greeted him with a smile. Albeit, a functionary one. One which lacked warmth in the same way as how tightly that blonde hair was tied back.

youcallmespence December 15 2010, 05:26:08 UTC

Spencer clears his throat. "Hi." One glance at her gives permission to have a bolder one, and relief strikes him as strongly as the smell of cookies. He dampens his lips and holds out his hand, able to find a smile for her, too. "Dr. Spencer Reid. I didn't get your name."

His relief comes in the lack of emotion in her smile. He's curious about how detached she is. "I was sort of thinking I'd make some cookies. I've never been a good cook, but the urge-" And West's message. This is the first time Spencer's been tossed in, and he's going to take Kirk's advice and just let it happen. "Where's your sweater?"

t_x_unit December 15 2010, 05:37:51 UTC

There was a moment as she glanced down at that hand, analysing its dimensions and known biological properties. Finding little of interest, until a few second later, when the expected reaction to extend her own and shake it was acknowledged.

Her grip was firm.

"It is in my room," she answered, technical to a fault. Or perhaps, to an absence of a fault. Everything about her being an emluation of what was concluded to be neat and perfect. "I didn't want to wear it. Should I?"

youcallmespence December 15 2010, 23:08:40 UTC

"The beauty of being human is having a choice." Spencer squeezes her hand - it's a good handshake - then the cookies catch his eye. And his nose. "How long did it take you to make all of these?"

Spencer's already confused by her, by the way she seems almost... mechanical. Is this her way of coping to being in a situation like this? He picks up a still-warm chocolate chip cookie and after taking a bite, decides that he's overanalyzing. "These are really good."

t_x_unit December 16 2010, 00:02:29 UTC

"Speed increased with practice," she asserted and watched the following interaction with quiet interest. She needed to know how humans responded to food they found positive or negative and adapt her own reactions, accordingly.

"They are. They are really good."

It was her own voice, but a precise verbal copy, in so far as tone, inflection and emphasis given to each rise and fall of the phrase. She was learning.

"You should take as many as you can ingest." Head tilted. "A gesture of good will."

youcallmespence December 16 2010, 00:24:58 UTC

"I can understand that." Spencer licks melted chocolate off his fingertips and glances at her again. "I can read 20,000 words a minute. It comes with practice."

He knows sometimes he speaks too fast, too much, when engrossed in a subject, so Samantha's inflections are interesting. She speaks as precisely as she moves, formal and slow. "I probably could eat these until I was sick." Which is what Spencer says as he helps himself to another cookie. "Do you like snow?"

t_x_unit December 16 2010, 00:45:43 UTC

"That's impressive," she replied. "I like impressive."

Deliberately not pointing out a 'by human standards', of course. This one was analytical and had Federal clearance. She needed to know more. One method to achieve this aws to endear herself through flattery.

And casually moving closer.

"Snow? Yes," she decided after some deliberation, "I like snow. Colder temperatures preserve things. Stop them getting overheated. What are you a Doctor of?"

youcallmespence December 16 2010, 01:00:49 UTC

"I like your cookies." After two more, Spencer makes himself stop to answer her question. "Mathematics, Chemistry and Engineering, and I have B.A.'s in Psychology and Sociology. I was working on a B.A. in Philosophy before I came here."

She moves closer, he steps away. It's a way of keeping a safe distance, especially with only partial knowledge of her background. "I didn't see snow much as a kid. With the cookies and the sweaters, it... kind of feels nice. I might go out in it, later. If you wanted to come, I mean."

t_x_unit December 16 2010, 18:25:27 UTC

> PRIORITY INCREASED: TARGET KNOWLEDGE EXTENSIVE

While the new resident's brain might work like a computer, the machine's was literal and a personality profile was overlaid with symbology, connecting him to useful fields of investigation. But he wasn't being placed in the default category of eventual termination.

Spencer couldn't have known it, but the information he had just volunteered may have quite possibly saved his future life.

While his body language was telling her other things. Noticing the constant attempt to keep a specific distance apart, the machine halted her actions, respecting it. She had no need to intimidate, only to endear.

But she did feel the need to comment on it.

"Has someone hurt you? In the past. When you didn't see much snow."

youcallmespence December 17 2010, 01:00:23 UTC

"No? No." It's just a way of protecting himself until he's more comfortable in his surroundings. With this woman. She has no idea that Spencer had been severely bullied, or that living with his mother had been incredibly unhealthy.

So instead of telling her that, Spencer takes another cookie, a different kind, and eats it. "I'm from Las Vegas, and I joined the FBI when I was 21, so I moved to Virginia." He shrugs. "Where were you from, before?"

t_x_unit December 17 2010, 01:16:51 UTC

Pupil dilation, apparent skin temperature and motor functions... She was watching it all and there was something off about the initial answer he gave. He had given a closed answer, reasserted it and done something to occupy himself.

And it was logged as a potential psychological weakness. Something she could exploit for leverage if it was verified.

"Crystal Peak. It's in the Sierra Nevada mountains," the blonde answered, feigning helpfulness. All true, however. "I was incapacitated there. Being made structurally intact upon my arrival was a welcome development. I want to know how."

youcallmespence December 17 2010, 01:20:17 UTC

"I know where that is. Why were you incapacitated there?" The best answers sometimes come from direct questions, startled into honesty. Another follows on the heels of the first: "Why do you talk about yourself like you're mechanical?"

t_x_unit December 17 2010, 01:45:55 UTC

"I'm not mechanical."

But unlike him, there were absolutely no hints of body language to betray the lie, whatsoever. She could literally look someone in the eyes and repeat any phrase in the world. The down side to that was that there were also no clues to suggest she was telling the truth, either. None of the usual things, like accidentally looking in the right direction to show she was recollecting something from memory. Nothing. Completely zero.

Total poker face.

And if she ever did look someone in the eyes, up close, that particular someone would probably get a very ominous feeling about her.

"I was attacked while stopping intruders, Doctor."

youcallmespence December 17 2010, 02:51:52 UTC

Her poker face makes Spencer glance at her and away; she's pretty enough to make him uncomfortable, even with the snow and the awesome cookies and the sweater. On one turn, Spencer finds himself comfortable with her, with the way she's completely non-intimidating in her own way, yet on the other, she makes his stomach feel funny.

He's profiling her; he knows this. She could be a sociopath, she could be a megalomaniac, she could have past trauma issues. There are so many factors. It's best to focus on the cookies. And the snow. "Call me Spencer," he says, hazarding a little smile. "You want to go out in the snow? I guess this is supposed to be something like Christmas."

t_x_unit December 17 2010, 03:12:34 UTC

Discomfort. Avoiding eye contact. Lies? Something to hide?

Something worth hiding could be worth finding.

"Because you didn't see it much?" She put to him, head tilting just a fraction to express curiosity. "Yes, Spencer. I can go out in the snow with you. Would that help to put you at ease?"

youcallmespence December 21 2010, 01:15:55 UTC

She's scrutinizing him! She's sizing him up as much as he's trying to read her. But the way she says his name definitely does not put Spencer at ease, not at all. It's formal and strange.

"I never said I wasn't at ease!" Spencer helps himself to one last cookie (so he tells himself) and motions for the door. Ladies first. "But yes, let's go out in the snow."

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