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Spencer Reid | Criminal Minds

Spencer's thoughts on Gordon?

Gordon, why are you so mean to Reid's ears? :<

But no, seriously, Reid respects Gordon and would be willing to follow his lead if he pulled rank. He vaguely remembers what went on when Amanda was in control, and he's gotten a glance of how Gordon conducts himself and his 'team' in a crisis situation, so he feels like he's understanding why he's in a position of authority.

But Reid still has issues about letting people close, so at the moment, he holds Gordon at arm's length and considers their relationship professional. Friendly, but professional. That will probably change as Reid gets to talk to him more, especially during Thanksgiving when he meets him in person and talks to him in a personal setting.

Also, bonus: Reid is aware of Cobra and has watched/read his posts, but he hasn't replied, mostly because he's found that announcing that you're watching a megalomaniac doesn't tend to work out well. He's keeping an eye on him, just in case he does something that he really has to worry about. And he's baffled by how cartoon-y he is.

It's okay Reid. You'll come to accept Cobra Commander's cartoonyness in time. Hopefully.

And yeah, I'm totally up for Thanksgiving conversations between Reid and Gordon.

HELLO.

REID ON CRANKY MCBASTARD AND FLIRTY MCFLIRTERSON, PLEASE.

Can I call them 'Cranky' and 'Flirty'? :3

Anyway, Reid actually really likes the both of them, and I'm one of those weirdos who likes analyzing characters and never shuts up, so be prepared for lengthiness.

First off, Albert. Albert is, surprisingly, the one Reid is most comfortable with out of the whole Twin Peaks cast. Albert is gruff and cantankerous and sarcastic, but he's very honest about himself, and he's very honest about how he feels. He's abrasive, but he's safe, and that is a trait that is invaluable to someone like Reid. His innate certainty in himself and his perceptions reassures Reid on some level as well--while he always has lingering doubt as to his own sanity, Albert has a way of squashing those doubts without knowing he's doing it, even if it's only a temporary squashing.

The fact that Albert won't overtly baby him is also a major plus, since Reid is sick and tired of people treating him like he's twelve when he's thirty. Since Albert's insults and sarcasm towards him are never particularly cruel or vitriolic, Reid doesn't mind them at all, and could happily spend a lot of time around him despite that (possibly even because of that, because his abrasive but ultimately kind personality is part of what assures Reid of Albert's fundamental honesty). Because of all that, Reid really responds when Albert gives him a verbal smack when he starts to panic or isn't seeing the obvious, and he's extremely grateful for the help.

Although on the flip side, Reid would find it difficult to confide in Albert about anything, since he values Albert's respect and doesn't want to make Albert start considering him a victim or look down on him. Reid hates his vulnerabilities, and he feels like sharing any of them--that he was forcefully shot up and became a drug addict, that he is at real risk of inheriting schizophrenia, that he has serious issues with any kind of emotional intimacy, that he's been deeply affected by all the horrible cases he's dealt with, that he had the childhood from hell, so on and so forth--would cause Albert to lose respect and start babying him like everyone else.

In a nutshell, while Reid is far from blind to Albert's faults, he respects him and recognizes that Albert can get through to him in ways most people can't. And yet he still would have serious issues revealing more of himself to him, because he feels that would make him seem weak.

In comparison, Reid's thoughts on Carmen are easy to articulate. He honestly does find her attractive and enjoys their flirts and games, but he would probably get a little frightened if anything more serious happened just yet, because he doesn't know how to navigate romantic and/or sexual entanglements very well and he doesn't want to put his issues out on display for her. He's slowly letting her worm closer to him, since she's not out to hurt anyone and any illegal activity she does is for the sake of the game than the profit, but there's too much mystery for him to feel completely comfortable yet.

EDITED TO ADD: Carmen is actually really fascinating to him, because she's hard to pin down. For a profiler, that's a challenge and that immediately snaps up his attention, almost as much as all the trivia quizzes. He likes her and he wants to figure her out, but he'd be frightened by the idea of her figuring him out.

At the moment, he wouldn't feel comfortable with talking about himself too much beyond talk of education and the occasional anecdote about a case. Even if he isn't always conscious of it, his first instinct is to protect himself, and he'd only be moderately okay with revealing the same amount about himself to Carmen as she reveals about herself to him. I think as time goes on, he'll come to trust her more, but at the moment, he's very happy with her intellectual games and happy that for once he's able to flirt with a woman without Morgan coaching him beforehand. That's what happens when you hit on a topic he's confident with, Carmen.

Phew. And there you have it. Hope your eyes didn't bleed from WALL O' TEXT.

Edited 2012-11-20 23:53 (UTC)

Yeah, it's really interesting because one of the (subtle) signs that Albert really likes Reid is that his insults will never be directed at Reid personally. He might say something to the effect of "you did something stupid", but it won't be "you are stupid". BECAUSE HE'S NOT. He's just one of those gifted agents who occasionally needs Albert's brand of kick in the head, and Albert is always happy to deliver.

And while I have no doubt that Carmen will keep trying to knock Reid off-balance when the opportunity arises, she won't press him to the point of outright discomfort. It's funny to watch him squirm and fluster a little, but she'd know when to stop if it came to that. She does the same thing herself, when people get a little too close, except her response to discomfort is usually to disappear, and Reid's probably not as adept of an escape artist as she is.

Slowly, Reid's actually realizing that, since he observes more personal insults coming from Alfred when he's talking to/about other people than he does when they're speaking to each other. After a couple more months (because he is one insecure man and it actually takes him that long to understand that he is cared about if he's not slammed over the head with a sledgehammer), signs like that will build up and give him a more solid understanding of the fact that Alfred actually likes him on a personal level as well as a professional level. And then he'll get even more secretive about the source of his migraines and aversion to painkillers...

Reid's response is usually to clam up like a boss and evade like hell. But he can deal with teasing, and if she respects his limits, he'll gradually become more and more comfortable with her. Once he knows exactly how to predict a person, his comfort level skyrockets, so a lot of conversations and time knowing each other will contribute to that.

desu.

Fluttershy, you are good people.

Reid doesn't get to see a lot of innocent, genuinely kind people in his job, so Fluttershy is very refreshing to know. He likes talking to her and would lend a hand any time she needed it, but he wouldn't be willing to talk too much about his job or life to her. She was deeply affected by the mere concept of murder, so he isn't exactly eager to introduce her to things like sexual sadism or violent psychopathy. She's a breath of fresh air, and he has no interest in soiling her innocent worldview.

Spencer on Sion?

Reid is actually pretty neutral about Sion with a tendency towards 'like'. He shows interest in intellectual pursuits and he doesn't make fun of Reid for his quirks, so he's automatically on Reid's good side, but he hasn't engaged Reid on a personal level to the point where Reid feels at all close to him. Which Spencer actually considers to be a good thing, since he doesn't like having too many personal connections on account of his trust issues.

If Sion asked him for help with something intellectual, Reid would be more than happy to oblige, but for now he considers the relationship a cross between professional and an acquaintanceship.

...it's cool, Sion can understand wanting to keep people at arm's length. :|b

Reid on Coop? c:

Reid likes Coop, and his naturally friendly demeanor has managed to soothe Reid's usual 'oh god new person' anxiety, so much so that he was comfortable enough to start competing with Tetris. (His Tetris app has gotten such a workout since they started that game.)

At the same time, Reid takes a long time before he trusts someone, so he's still going to avoid talking about his own life and the various issues that come with that. More extensive personal engagement should help that out, and Thanksgiving would probably be a good opportunity for that.

Man I'm just basically assuming that they're still spamming each other with Tetris scores. >>

(and it's okay bro, Coop will never talk about himself ever either, but they can still be pals.)

Mr. Smart Cop on Thief Bird?

~~reid wants to know how your hair stays like that~~

Actually, he likes Crow and is interested in him, partially because of his 'street smart yet kind' streak, which reminds him a lot of various people he's met during cases. He wouldn't consider them friends (mostly because he is very, very careful about allowing people to have that label), but he wants to get to know Crow more, since profiling can't really replace personal interaction.

Reid on Kayneth? If he has an opinion, anyway, I need to follow up on that more...!

Reid's pretty neutral about Kayneth at the moment, but he's very interested in learning more about his world now that he's more okay with the idea of there being multiple worlds. So there's a conversation gambit there!

oh man reid

prepare to get an earful of nasu

(I love my canon but hahaha it's full of so much convoluted bullshit)

You know I have to ask.

Pony buddy, come be his friend forever. <-- accurate summary of Reid's thoughts.

Part of the reason Reid really clicked with Twilight despite meeting many other intellectuals is because she is very personable without making him feel uncomfortable. She gets that he's socially awkward, mostly because she is too, and that goes a long way for his comfort level. The fact that she is the type to seek out friendship instead of just professional acquaintanceship is also a plus, because he is not the type to initiate a personal connection and tends to reject said connection if it's not made organically, so if she had tried getting too familiar with him too fast, he would have spooked, but if she had kept all their conversations strictly intellectual and acted aloof, their relationship would have stayed strictly professional.

As it stands, because of how personable and clearly innocent she is--not as much as Fluttershy, but still very much so compared to Reid--Reid feels comfortable with her, and he's glad to spend time together. On the other hand, her innocence would make it difficult for him to talk much about his own life to her (since he knows that it's one thing to hear awful stories and another thing entirely to know it happened to someone you know), but not as difficult as he would find talking to Fluttershy. If it ever occurs to her to try to use the POWER OF FRIENDSHIP to deal with his issues, he'd react reticently and try to evade it, but he wouldn't outright clam up.

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