November 11th

Wore the color cranberry today. Yes I am sure of the color. The team discussed it for nearly the entire afternoon. Drank two caffeinated beverages due to a migraine. Tested the only security of a private client when at a big book store with Paige. She tried to engage me in another social experiment of hers.

"What do you have against book stores?" Paige asked taking a seat at one of the small coffee tables situated in the cafe of the book store. Walter squeezed in next to her, feeling pinched between the other tables, coffee bar and the different patrons walking through the cafe to the exit. The table barely had enough surface area to handle a normal size laptop computer, and he was thankful for grabbing his tablet. Paige was waiting patiently for their names to be called. She had coerced him to buying a beverage. He felt it was horribly overpriced, and the various sizes, options and flavors was confusing. Paige took pity on him, grabbing his hand, and stated to the barrista that he would have what she was having.

A venti pumpkin spiced latte with two pumps of vanilla flavoring.

Walter was shocked into silence by her hand holding his and he just smiled, handed the barista his debit card and then allowed Paige to pull him to an empty table. They were sandwiched between a table that was covered in coffee cups, mugs, books of anatomy and a slumbering student, this was on their left. On the right was a table of four older ladies. He would gather to say they were not part of the Greatest generations but yet not part of the baby boomers. The ladies were women that probably were stay at home mothers, not with empty nests they got together to keep some semblance of routine. They had flashy scarves, cable knit sweaters, and designer handbags.

They were also playing a game with cards. He couldn't quite name the game. It was something that involved keeping score, betting and the lady that most likely had a severe case of restless leg syndrome kept switching with with companions. Maybe hearts? As he focused on the chatter of the ladies, he missed Paige's smile and question. A distracted Walter was not often a thing she got to see. Well distracted by a bunch of gossiping ladies. Paige leaned back against the booth to focus on the genius man. The sweater had been sent in a care package from Ireland. A box that did not come often, but at the recent pushing of Paige, Walter had reached out to his mother. Making a connection now that he had the emotional depth to handle such a relationship, plus the physical distance helped him cope with the need of the emotional distance.

In the box, he found a few mementos from his childhood. A few pictures from when he was a child, one of the family had taken a trip to the sea side. There was a copy of his favorite book that he read multiple times and at the very bottom a knitted sweater. Walter had pulled the article from the box eyeing it with caution. It was red, and hand-knitted by his mother. A scrap of paper had fallen to the floor as he unfolded the sweater.

'Your favorite color. Hope it fits.' Love Mum

He had folded it up and placed it in the bottom drawer until today. He had come down the stairs pulling it over his head and the team watched in baited silence to see if it would evoke any angry emotion from the resident megalomaniac. He rolled his eyes when the team went into a deep discussion of what shade of red the sweater was. They settled on a cross between spice berry and cranberry.

Paige thought it looked comfy, and wondered what it felt like to be snuggled in the sweater. Only after Walter wore it, so it smelt of him. She twitched back to the present to glance upon the genius. He was still focused on the game. She heard the garbled names of "Pace and Walzer?", and she dashed up to the counter to get the proffered drinks. Setting the drink into his waiting hand brought the attention of the genius back to their table.

"I thought I lost you there." Paige laughed and took a sip of her hot beverage. It was one of her favorite parts of fall. Pumpkin spice beverage. It was the only pumpkin flavored items she like. She hated the pie, which she contributed to being the only food that she ate during her pregnancy with Ralph. She was afraid her baby was going to come out mushy and orange. Pumpkin yogurt, cake and hand wash all made her feel queasy. But a pumpkin spice latte with two pumps of vanilla was like heaven in a cup.

"I did not go anywhere?" Walter scrunched his eye brows into a scowl of confusion. Paige smiled and wanted to kiss the wrinkles formed when he made that face. She smiled as he took his coffee, removing the sleeve so he could gauge the temperature through the paper cup. His quirks were so endearing. "The temperature of the drink is a little elevated but it is still in the safety range to drink without burning the cells in your mouth." Walter stated and brought the drink to his lips and took a gulp.

Paige watched as he processed the flavors. He grimaced at the cup but took another drink of the liquid. He kept his mouth shut, and she knew he was trying to figure out what was the different flavors. Probably even the ratio that made up the drink.

"I meant you were distracted before." Paige said taking a heavenly sip from her drink. He watched as she swallowed and sighed expressing her happiness. "By the ladies."

Walter glanced back at the table. They had began another round of the game. "I was trying to place the game and make sense of it."

"You could always ask them." Paige smiled at the fact Walter did not know the answer. He turned back to his tablet. He punched into the user code to attach to the free WiFi. He scoffed at the strength and opened up a conversation box. "What are you doing?" Paige asked scooting forward in her seat.

"I am hacking into the secured network. This public access is a joke." Walter explained and hit three more buttons and he was fully online. "The password is Kittywhiskers99." Paige chuckled and sat back again in the booth enjoying what seemed like a semblance of a date. She and Walter at a coffee shop having a easy afternoon. To any unknown passerby, it was probably what they thought. She tried to engage him in another conversation.

"You never did answer my question." Paige asked. He was focused but she knew he could multitask. He probably was already finished running the diagnostic algorithm and was now loading up a suite of programs to attack the structural resistance of the book store's fire wall.

"Hmm, what was that?" Walter asked. He was loading up a visceral attack on the firewall.

"What do you have against book stores?" Paige repeated her first question. Slowly, drawing out the words to pull his attention back to her. She figured that out a few weeks ago when trying to talk to Walter about the company's finances. He looked up and stared intensely into her eyes. The brown of his eyes caused her breath to catch in her throat. Paige had never considered that the color brown was attractive until she felt the intense glare of Walter O'Brien at the diner when he essentially tore her parenting down as she filled his coffee mug. But now, months after the fact she still felt her heart beat faster and she had to remind herself to breathe. She was thinking of all the answers to her question.

Really what could make you hate book stores.

"Multiple reasons. I feel knowledge should be for anyone who wants to learn so you shouldn't have to pay for the information. I also find book stores a place for people to go to pretend to be smart. Like this guy." Walter motioned to the slumbering student. "I guarantee he carried all those books over here for show, to get some attention from a pretty girl." He blushed at her smile. "Also, it should be a haven, a retreat for the masses to find solace in the pages of a book, not some watering hole mentality that you dress up in your finest to impress your friends while you play cards."

"What about bookstores with cafes?" Paige asked which was nearly impossible as his reasons were so humorous.

Walter took a sip of his latte and grimaced. "Just another part of the capitalist mentality. Feeding the people's addiction to caffeinated beverages to get them to walk about the store to purchase books." He set the drink to the side and returned to his tablet. The program had completed and he went on to the second stage of his attack, putting and influx of strain on the router which in turn overwhelm the system to cause it to crash. Paige smiled at her genius. The poor man just never stopped. He had such a negative outlook on everything.

Well almost everything.

"I think you are just being a negative Nancy." Paige teased and stood up holding out her hand to the genius. "Let's try an experiment."

Walter finished up his code and looked warily at Paige. Chaos seemed to ensue when she uttered those words. She didn't wait for him to take her hand and just grabbed his then laced their fingers. He followed as she yanked from the coffee shop, abandoning the now cooled confections disguised as coffee. She gave him just enough time to slide his tablet in his satchel and swing over his shoulder. Paige pulled him through the maze of bookshelves.

He got dizzy.

"So what is this experiment?" Walter asked focusing on how her fingers fit perfectly in his hands. Paige pulled his down another row. They were dead center in the building. Equal lengths surrounding the pair and she faced him.

"I propose that we each pick a book for the other to read. It can be anything in the store. We each have to read our book and then in a week we will come back here and discuss the books." Paige suggested releasing his hand which gave Walter a feeling of being loss. He stared into her light blue eyes that were filled with an almost amused expression. Like she was daring him to partake of the experiment.

"I don't see what this will prove." Walter shook his head as he consented to the experiment. Paige clapped her hands. They spent the next thirty minutes sifting through the different works of fiction, non fiction and cookbooks. Paige had left Walter at one point to get the book she chose wanting to keep it secret. When they returned to the garage did they present their book choice to the other. Walter had picked up "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde. He picked it because it was the battered book that had been sent along with his sweater and he found the thought of discussing the book with Paige fun. Paige had bought Walter a copy of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". Her eyes lit up with excitement when Walter pulled the book from the bag. He looked to her confused.

"Ralph and I are starting it tonight." Paige explained, "I thought you would like to be able to discuss the progress." Walter smiled at the gesture behind the book. Paige also wanted the group of geniuses stopped being so serious. They needed to lightened up so a little magical fantasy. Plus, she tricked Ralph into reading the book by saying Walter was going to be reading it with the pair.

So it became their weekly tradition. A new book and discussing the previous week's choices. And after a bit, Walter found the appeal of book stores.

November 14th

Couldn't sleep again. Due to Ralph spending the night with his father. Not at his apartment. But he was staying at Paige's apartment with Ralph. Stayed up all night designing a gps app. One that could ping the size of batteries that fit in watches. Saw Happy getting out of Toby's car in the morning. Wearing the same outfit from the day before. Paige came to the garage in a mood. Gave her a hug.

Paige was stewing at her desk. The team had gone out on a 'run of the mill' mission. Something that Agent Gallo said Paige was not needed. She was okay with that because there was a mountain of paper work to go through, and errands to run. She also was not in the mood to be in a confined area with a behaviorist dissecting her every sigh. Paige also didn't have the patience to deal with the anxiety of Sylvester, and she didn't have the ability to avoid the probing looks of Walter.

The work took all of two hours. She was really stewing because the night before she had allowed Drew to spend the night at the apartment. Not with her. To spend time with Ralph and have some bonding time. It was awkward at first, and then the boys bonded over video games. She had to listen to the her son open up to his father in a way she had only witnessed before with Walter. What hurt more was Drew understood exactly what he was talking about. Paige looked over at the game systems the team kept at the garage. She had sat through hours of the boys and sometimes Happy playing the various games.

That is it.

She abandoned her desk and stalked to the couch. The x-box looked simple enough. She hit the remote to start up the TV, and the moved to crouch in front of the gaming system to turn on the box. The light turned on but the television screen was still showing the history channel show. American Pickers was a television show that Cabe and Walter watched together. She thought to the times that Walter or Sylvester started up the game and she couldn't figure it out.

Thirty minutes later..

Walter felt the buzzing of his phone. The team was driving back from the baseball field. One of the reason Agent Gallo did not want Paige to come along. He didn't want to drama of the connection between Paige's ex and Walter. It had to do with some drug smuggling, and the it took only twenty minutes for Sylvester to find the culprit. It was a drug ring surrounding the vendors. There was a code to getting the different drugs. The money was exchanged and it looked like a normal transaction. Unfortunately for Walter, it did not involve any of the players.

He pulled open his phone from his pocket and noticed the picture of Walter sleeping on her lap. He glared at Toby, who was smirking behind the laptop screen.

"Hi Paige." Walter said putting the phone to his ear. "You are trying to do what?" He looked back at Sylvester, then to Happy and then to Toby. "You are looking for the on button for the X-box?" The car stayed silent for a moment and it was Agent Gallo that busted up laughing. Walter could hold back his chuckle. "No, no I am not laughing at you. Toby just told a joke. What was it? Um Schrodinger's cat. What?"

Walter swallowed and ran his finger around the collar of his shirt. "Fine, yes we were laughing at you. I am sorry. Yes, I sincerely apologize. Okay, take the remote. Yes the gray one. No the other one is not gray., it is more like slate. No I am not patronizing you." He put the phone on mute and looked at the federal agent for assistance.

"I don't know game systems." Cabe laughed.

Walter returned to the conversation. "Yes, the light gray remote, hit the button at the top that says input. You will need to change it to HDMI 2. Wait hold on." He turned to Sylvester who made a shriek from the seat behind, "What?"

"Well is she playing the X-box 360 or the X-box 1. We have them set up on different inputs." Sylvester explained. "Also you might want to find out what game she is intending to play. I have certain games saved in spots because I don't want to rush through the game." He ran his hand through his hair. "If she could stay away from the Call of Duties, Halo, WOW." Walter stopped listening and raised his hand to stop the mathematician.

"Listen Paige, I need to know what system you are playing. Yes there are more then one. Because the gaming system of the X-box 1 is the most recent on the market and it gives the gaming experience. Yes, you are right we are just nerds. Anyway, which one are you playing?" Walter asked trying to assist the team's office manager who was incredibly inept at playing video games. He was trying to be gentle and offer assistance but Paige was in snappish mode, and his lack of sleep was not a good equation.

"Ask her if the light is on the white or the black one." Happy snapped, her fingers on the steering wheel were squeezing it tight, that her knuckles were white.

"Is it the white or the black one?" Walter asked, "The white one, okay that is the x-box 360. You really want to know why it is called that?" There was a high screech in his ear and Walter pulled the device from his ear. Toby held his hand out to take the phone.

"Hi Paige, yeah it's Toby." He said and avoided the searching look from Walter. "Listen, I hear you are taking an interest in video games. Well, yeah you could if Walter was able to tell you how to get the system going, I completely understand. I feel like there is a deeper meaning to your sudden interest in video games. Did Ralph and Drew bond over the video games? I see. Okay, listen a beat, we will be back to the garage in about twenty minutes. Then Walter will be able to walk you through the start to finish of video games. Would that be okay?"

Toby nodded, "Alright, thanks so much Paige." He hit the end button. "She asked if we wanted pizza for dinner tonight?"

"Can we get the stuffed crust?" Sylvester asked his eyes filled with excitement at the possibilities of the night. Pizza, beer, his friends and video games!

So twenty-seven minutes later the van pulled into the loading bay with two large pizzas, one stuff crust with extra cheese and light on the sauce. The other was a veggie. They also got a family order of bread sticks. Walter was the last out of the van, and before he could even make it through the door, Paige met him standing against the jam giving him an impatient look. "Hi." He said quietly. He moved to the spot before her and she arched her eyebrow. He could tell she was on edge from the phone call. Paige was the patient of the group. She did not raise her voice unless she was trying to get the group to focus. So he knew she was on edge from the bonding between Ralph and his father. He shifted closer to her, awkwardly bringing his arms about her waist and pulling her into a hug. She hesitated for a moment before reaching up and entwining her arms around his neck. She put her head into the crook of his neck and just rested.

"Listen." Walter murmured into her ear. Softly so not to break their trance. "I googled why the x-box is called the 360. There isn't a definitive answer." He felt her begin to shake with laughter, but the pair just remained. Tethered together for a few more quiet moments before he steered her to the kitchen table.

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Fin for the day. I have so many ideas for these two. The phone call is inspired by my own personal experience... A play station, x-box 360 or 1 are evil. What happened to the simplicity of power on and off. I made two calls to get help with starting it, but gave up until my nephew was able to get out of school and he helped me through face time.

Hope you guys enjoyed.