Naming
Asa Emory x GN reader
The room is small, warm, sort of suffocating. You could see it be described as cozy, comforting. Perhaps by the man you share the room with now. You stand behind him in his chair as he carefully, slowly, guides an orb weaver spider into a small enclosure. This man is more gentle with this spider, than you’ve ever seen a man be with anything in your life. It’s a wonder to you.
You lean, attempting to see the spider as it explores its home. He catches you in the corner of his eye, and turns to face you fully. Your face heats.
“Does he have a name?” You ask, nodding to the spider.
“She doesn’t, no.” He answers you and turns back, securing the enclosure on the desk which he sits at. The spider, a beautiful specimen, brown and yellow, sits securely in a corner of her home, and seems to be staring right back out at you.
You see his hand wipe carefully at the glass, proudly.
“At home, I just use to call em garden spiders.” You hear yourself blurt out, and you don’t know why. Honestly you don’t. The silence was…getting to you.
“Well when I was younger-when I was a kid, I called them banana spiders. But I know thats-thats a whole different kind of spider. It’s just because. Y’know. Yellow.”
The man turns to face you once more, and you swallow. He doesn’t seem annoyed, nor do his eyes scream ‘I’m going to strangle you’ like other museum volunteers stated they do. To you they seem to…glow. Shine in this dim room, you equate them to those bright eyes in that enclosure on his desk.
“Were you scared of them. As a kid.”
It takes a moment to register that he was asking you something. You shake your head. “Oh no, not at all. I saw so many of them, and y’know they sorta kept to themselves. I named them all though.”
You smile at the memory. He stares you down, expression he holds you are unable to decipher. It was like he was wearing a mask, despite his face right there for you to see. You found it a bit too intense to look directly at him, though. With that hard look he was giving you.
“You named them.” He repeats. His voice is cool and level, but it weights heavy to you. Such a plain looking man to be so intimidating to most.
“I saw them as pets,” You give explanation, laughing slightly.
It happens. A smile, faint but there. Its the first time you’ve ever seen this man smile. According to the others that volunteer with you, he never seemed to at all. Suddenly the room didn’t seem so small, so cramped. Suddenly it was cozy after all.
“I kept spiders. As a kid.” He relates. “Was the only pet my father allowed. Playing fetch wasn’t as fun with them, though.”
The goofy dad humor shatters the hype of this intimidating people hating entomologist you built up in your minds eye, and you laugh, shuttering off the idea that this man was somehow dangerous.
“bad joke!” You state, covering your face with your hands. The man stands and dramatically, with a sigh, he shrugs and gives a ‘what can you do’ expression.
“My audience never lets me know whats bad and whats good.” The man argues, waving his hand around the scattered collection of insects in his office.
“You were waiting on me to leave?”
Its less of a question, more of a statement. To which, you nod yes. “I was waiting to make sure you’ll be ok uh, before I leave.”
“You don’t need to do that. I’m use to being the last one out.” He grabs his jacket, hanging next to you, and he pauses to look you in the eye. You cannot look away.
“You should be careful staying behind here. I hope you parked close to the building.”
He still stares into your eyes. You still cannot look away.
“I did. Did you?”
“Let me walk you to your car.” He finally breaks away, and you feel like you’ve been set free from being bound in place. Standing so close to him, you felt dwarfed by how large he really was. He certainly could handle himself after hours in the museum by himself, but then again, really, what danger could possibly be hanging around a museum.
“Yea. Ok, thank you,” You smile, and follow him out the office. He locks the door-three locks you notice. Cautious guy.
“You can give me some good name ideas on the way.”
Great. You had plenty.
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