Even though he keeps his eyes averted, Reid can feel the intensity of Luke's eyes on him. It doesn't bother him that Luke would try to study him in this moment, Reid would be doing the same thing if their positions were reversed, but a part of him wonders if maybe Luke is looking at him and thinking that he knows exactly why he'd earn a nickname like 'Pretty Boy', even if Morgan had only ever been teasing. Reid's pretty convinced, in fact, that it's everything to do with his hair and the fact that a few years ago, he'd finally agreed to let Garcia, JJ, and Emily take him to the shops to pick out a new wardrobe.
Admittedly, what they'd initially found for him had stuck and once he'd realized Hotch didn't mind that he wore his Chucks, Reid made more of habit out of doing it. The cardigans, he's been told, still make him look like a grandpa but there's no compromising there. The cardigans stay, and they always will. The occasional vest and scarf, though, those have been welcome additions, courtesy of Garcia's fashion expertise.
He has to force himself away from that train of thought because it's a dangerous one that can only lead to more troublesome things for his imagination. If he lets himself think that Luke really does agree with the 'pretty' assessment, Reid will wonder then just how pretty Luke thinks he is or how far Luke would go to make sure Reid knows. The only time he's ever been insecure about himself or the way he looks has been with someone he cares about, those people being Ethan and Maeve, to some extent even Lila, and now Luke. To Reid, looks aren't even secondary, they're lower on his list of desired aspects of another person. He hasn't grown to be attracted to Luke just because his friend is exceptionally handsome, which he is but that's hardly the point.
Luke talks to him like so few others ever have, like a person and not a doctor or an agent or anything but himself. It's a nice feeling, a refreshing, to be able to count on someone, all the while knowing that if he needed anything, Luke would help him if he could, even if it was something awful. If Reid were to knock on his door at three in the morning completely out of sorts and practically in hysterics, Luke would absolutely let him in. That's the kind of trust Reid puts into this man, and it's exactly why he'll keep his feelings to himself for as long as as appropriate.
No matter what they have been them now, Reid doesn't want to lose it.
"I'd say I'd be happy to emulate him with the jokes, but I discovered not too long ago that I'm actually not a very funny person. My best one goes like this: 'How many existentialists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Two. One to change the lightbulb, and one to observe how it symbolizes an incandescent beacon of subjectivity in a netherworld of cosmic nothingness.'" He can't help but let out a little laugh at it, as he always does, though he narrows his eyes, waiting for a reaction. "It's always like I"m telling that joke to an empty room, nobody ever seems to think it's as funny as I think it is."
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Admittedly, what they'd initially found for him had stuck and once he'd realized Hotch didn't mind that he wore his Chucks, Reid made more of habit out of doing it. The cardigans, he's been told, still make him look like a grandpa but there's no compromising there. The cardigans stay, and they always will. The occasional vest and scarf, though, those have been welcome additions, courtesy of Garcia's fashion expertise.
He has to force himself away from that train of thought because it's a dangerous one that can only lead to more troublesome things for his imagination. If he lets himself think that Luke really does agree with the 'pretty' assessment, Reid will wonder then just how pretty Luke thinks he is or how far Luke would go to make sure Reid knows. The only time he's ever been insecure about himself or the way he looks has been with someone he cares about, those people being Ethan and Maeve, to some extent even Lila, and now Luke. To Reid, looks aren't even secondary, they're lower on his list of desired aspects of another person. He hasn't grown to be attracted to Luke just because his friend is exceptionally handsome, which he is but that's hardly the point.
Luke talks to him like so few others ever have, like a person and not a doctor or an agent or anything but himself. It's a nice feeling, a refreshing, to be able to count on someone, all the while knowing that if he needed anything, Luke would help him if he could, even if it was something awful. If Reid were to knock on his door at three in the morning completely out of sorts and practically in hysterics, Luke would absolutely let him in. That's the kind of trust Reid puts into this man, and it's exactly why he'll keep his feelings to himself for as long as as appropriate.
No matter what they have been them now, Reid doesn't want to lose it.
"I'd say I'd be happy to emulate him with the jokes, but I discovered not too long ago that I'm actually not a very funny person. My best one goes like this: 'How many existentialists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Two. One to change the lightbulb, and one to observe how it symbolizes an incandescent beacon of subjectivity in a netherworld of cosmic nothingness.'" He can't help but let out a little laugh at it, as he always does, though he narrows his eyes, waiting for a reaction. "It's always like I"m telling that joke to an empty room, nobody ever seems to think it's as funny as I think it is."