Short note : this is a continuation of the one-shot 'Brown Skin Shining in the Sun'. Since that story was for a challenge, I have opted to make this and any other possible connected tales one-shots as well.


Just for this Moment (Reid in Hawaii - Part 2)

"You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly." Sam Keen

It was the fifth day of Reid's Hawaiian vacation. The prior day had been purely dedicated to what Lila referred to as touristy things. All of it was more or less enjoyable - for the company, if not for the sights themselves. And many of those sights were admittedly spectacular, but there was only so long that he cared to stare at even the most scenic of views. With his memory, it wasn't like the views weren't always going to be with him. Still, if Lila wanted to stand and soak in the view, he didn't mind standing by her and enjoying her company.

He was pleasantly surprised to find out that silences with her could be very comfortable and there was no need to fill the silences with random speaking. He still ended up rambling a few facts off here and there, but really not that many and, when he did, she actually seemed to pay attention. No, not seemed. She did pay attention, because more than once, she went back to something he'd said earlier to ask him more about it. As much as his team-mates tended to zone out on him occasionally, it was a very pleasant change of pace.

The luau had been nice as well, if having a few awkward moments, such as both of them being picked out to attempt the hula. But he found that if he ignored the others around them and concentrated only on the one trying to teach him and Lila, it was actually sort of fun. He decided not to let it bother him if a few images made it into gossip magazines. Those were easier on his nerves than the shots Garcia would be trying to take if she were here, after all.

And he was sure that some images with the two of them would be cropping up. There were photographers that followed them now and again, but they were being polite enough. Lila told him that she'd made an agreement with most of the major ones in the area that if they wouldn't interrupt her life, she wouldn't hide from them and would allow them to snap shots whenever they liked when she was in public. It might not have worked for everyone, but Lila's upfront approach certainly seemed to work for her.

That morning in the shower, Reid noted that he was starting to pick up a little coloration himself. He briefly debated a stronger sunscreen before deciding that a little bit of color wasn't a bad change from his usual skin tone. After dressing, he cast another quick look at himself. Khaki slacks with a comfortably loose deep purple shirt, a combination that Lila gave her whole-hearted seal of approval to as she looked up from the bowl of fruit that she was breakfasting on. He was pleased to see that a carafe of coffee was already standing by for him. She was extremely thoughtful about things like that.

"I hope you don't mind if we hang close to home today, Spencer. I've got a package coming from the touring company with my script and rehearsal cds."

As he added sugar to his coffee (or possibly more accurately, added coffee to his sugar), Reid just smiled. He found he was doing that more too.

"Ah. Homework?"

Chuckling, Lila offered him a chunk of the fresh papaya from her bowl and he allowed her to spoon-feed him the juicy bite.

"Sort of. I want to read through it and listen to the score at least once today, but I won't let it interfere with our time together past that."

"Hey, I wouldn't mind listening to it myself. I looked up some information about the show when you told me you were hoping to get a role, but I've never listened to the music. Unless you count Garcia belting out 'Defying Gravity' at a karaoke bar. I don't know if she gets the words right, but she puts a lot of enthusiasm into it."

Thinking back on the stories she'd been told on the people Reid worked with as well as the ones that she'd met, Lila laughed.

"I'll bet she does. She seems to put a lot of herself into anything she does."

A knock at the door interrupted anything else she might have been about to say.

"Just stay there and finish your fruit, Lila. I'll get it."

A few minutes later, Reid came back holding the parcel he'd just signed for.

"I'm not positive, but I think this might be what you're waiting for."

A glance at the return address confirmed that and she opened it up, pulling out the bubble-wrap protected CDs as well as the script and the musical scores for Elphaba's numbers.

"Would you mind putting the first CD into the stereo, Spencer?"

"Not at all. Mind if I look over your script?"

"Be my guest."

As soon as he had started the CD playing, Reid took his coffee with him over to a comfortable chair and began flipping through the script pages. Lila had never watched him read for an extended period of time and watched with quiet fascination as he quickly moved from page to page. After a minute, she turned her attention to the lyrics, softly singing along as 'The Wizard and I' began playing. Before she had reached the end of the song, Reid was closing the script, an expression on his face that was partially bemused and partially contemplative.

He was lost in his own thoughts enough that Lila successfully moved behind him and ruffled his hair before he noticed she'd moved.

"So - what in the script prompted that look on your face?"

Reid tilted his head back to look at her.

"Well, I wasn't able to see the look on my face, but I suppose it had something to do with finding out that I have a great deal of empathy for Elphaba."

Lila angled just a bit to claim a brief kiss.

"I suppose I don't know enough about you to figure out why you'd be able to relate to the Wicked Witch of the West."

Remaining as he was, Reid reached back with his right hand and toyed with Lila's hair a bit as he thought of what to say.

"Things like her Grimmerie. Being able to just pick up a book and understand it. The way she was treated as an outcast at school. I can even relate to her relationship with Galinda."

"That I have to hear."

"Only if I can exact a promise from you."

"Regarding?"

"Never tell Derek Morgan that I've compared him to Galinda."

He was laughing and, after remembering Reid's stories about Morgan trying to drag him out to be more social, Lila made the connection and started to laugh as well.

"I've got this horrible mental image now of him bouncing across a stage singing 'Popular'. You so owe me for putting that into my head, Spencer. Do you have any idea how hard it's going to be for me to keep a straight face on stage until I can get rid of that?"

"Sorry, Lila."

"You don't sound the slightest bit sorry, Spencer Reid."

"No, I don't suppose I do."

The laughter faded, but Reid was still smiling. He coaxed Lila down a little closer by lowering his voice.

"I can also understand how Elphaba felt when she found out that someone that she loved but considered to be unattainable was actually interested in her."

Laying her hands on Reid's shoulders, Lila moved down for another kiss - a longer, deeper one this time. When they finally reluctantly separated their mouths, Lila brought the side of her chin to rest against his temple.

"Now that you've said that, I can't help but look at some of the lyrics a little differently. Like the one where Fiyero and Elphaba are singing about being in love, but not knowing how long the world around them will allow them to be together."

"And both of them deciding not to let what might happen later spoil the time that they have together right at that moment? Pretty good advice coming from a musical. So - in the mood to study the script?"

Moving just enough to lightly kiss Reid's ear, Lila spoke very softly.

"Maybe this afternoon. Right now, I can think of something I'd much rather be doing."

Moving the script from his lap to the table next to him, Reid shifted away from Lila just long enough to get up from the couch and join her behind it. Taking both of his hands into hers, Lila's eyes sparkled with the mischievousness of spirit he had grown so fond of as she began to back toward the door of the nearest bedroom. It was starting to look like she intended for them to make use of every bedroom in her friend's home at least once. He couldn't think of any reason to object to that plan.

In the background, the opening of 'As Long As You're Mine' came over the speakers. As Lila drew him into her embrace, Reid had to concede that this was one of the little perks of dating an actress. A sense of timing and a flair for the dramatic.

After that thought, he requested his brain to kindly take a little time off and, for once, it obliged him.