Who: Penelope Garcia and Bobby Finstock What: Winterlude date When: Backdated to Winterlude Where: Near the ice rin Rating: low
Finstock didn’t normally go to festivals and those kinds of things back home. This was partially because any big event was likely to have supernatural shit going on and Bobby liked to be alive. It was also because the idea of running into a student was highly unpleasurable. In Madison, however, he was starting to do more things and it was solely Penelope’s influence. It wasn’t a bad thing, but it was definitely different.
He was looking at the little pamphlet he had been handed when they approached and was eyeing the skating - that seemed romantic, right? He glanced to Penelope and then back at the skating section where it said you could rent skates. “So… any idea what you’d like to do first?” He was trying to figure out if she knew how to skate by just looking at her which was, of course, impossible.
–
Following his gaze, Penelope got the sense that he wanted to skate. It had been a long time since she’d done so, but she was willing to give it a shot. She knew that Bobby liked to partake in more physical activities than she normally did and it was good for her to stretch beyond her comfort zones.
“We could try skating,” she said. “As long as you promise you won’t laugh when I fall. And that I get hot chocolate afterwards.”
She grinned at him and hoped that she wouldn’t break any limbs.
***
Either she was newly psychic or he had been terrible and hiding his inside thoughts from his face. Since he wouldn’t wish clairvoyance on anyway, he went with the latter and really all that thold Finstock was that Penelope was able to break down his barriers a lot more than anyone else had ever. That was saying something.
He grinned at her answer, though. “I am definitely not above bribing with hot chocolate. Besides, if anyone’s getting laughed at, it’ll be me. Are you kidding? I’m a middle aged white dude. If you want I’ll even fall on purpose a few times to make you look good.” He thought she already looked good in comparison, but he was happy to stock the fire more in her favour.
–
Garcia was glad that she wasn’t wearing a skirt. If she did fall, at least she wouldn’t give the rest of the crowd a show. “That’s not necessary,” she assured him. “We’ll both try to stay on our feet and avoid any hospital visits.” It was too close to Christmas to deal with any serious injuries.
“So skating and hot chocolate,” she said. “Sounds like a good date to me.” She appreciated when the town gave them these opportunities to do things like couples always got to do on television or in books. At home, her job with the BAU usually interfered with anything fun she tried to do.
***
"Thank you for putting up with me." While, yes, he was meaning today, he also meant in general. He was pretty surly on a good day though admittedly he was better at that now thanks to her.
He was still smiling from the use of the word date. "Wish my mother was still alive so I could pretend she'd see me on actual dates with a woman who wasn't just looking for a good time." He meant it as they headed slowly towards the rink. "You know, since you're doing this for me, that means you get to pick the next date and I don't get to complain about it. That's the rules."
--
“You never have to thank me for that,” Garcia said, leaning over to kiss his cheek. “I never consider it putting up with you.” They were good for each other and she was glad they met and had a chance to develop a relationship here.
She did chuckle a little when he said she got to pick the next date. “Be careful what you agree to,” she teased. “I am a champion shopper and you could carry a lot of bags.”
***
“Is that a date activity?” He had a dramatic look of terror of his face for a moment before it morphed back into a smile of sorts. “There are worse ways to spend the day… like grading. If I ever ask you out on a grading date, profusely refuse and then check to see if I have been taken over by my evil twin.” There were probably other ways to figure that out, but that’d be a good sign.
They headed to the ice rink where Finstock paid to rent skates. Then he sat down and started to lace up his shoes, offering Penelope help if she needed it. “You’ve been here a long time… Santa ever show up here? Like the real deal, I mean.”
–
The look of terror made Garcia laugh. “Anything can be a date activity,” she teased. “I wouldn’t put you through that though.” She took her shopping very seriously.
“Hmm, no, not since I’ve been here,” she said. “At least not that I remember. It’s possible it happened before I got here though.” So many weird things happened around here that it wouldn’t surprise her if Santa showed up.
She sat down and took off her shoes so she could lace up her skates. This was going to be interesting and she really hoped that she wouldn’t make a complete fool of herself.
***
"I can't figure out if I think that would be terrible creepy or not." Would Santa be nice? Bad? Want to sell you Coca Cola products? Who knew?
When he was laced up, he stood up and offered her hand to her to help her stand up. "If you hate this next part, I'll make it up to you somehow." He gave her a grin.
He then helped her slowly onto the ice. Surprisingly he didn't fall. It'd been a while since he had been on skates, but it seemed like it was like riding a bike. Now hopefully the rest of the day would go that well.