He was a nerd. A huge nerd.

While the rest of the BAU team scattered across the room—laughing, dancing, and clinking glasses—he ended up beside you in a booth, nursing a cocktail that was 95% juice and maybe, generously, 5% alcohol. He sipped it like it was the most exotic drink on the menu.

His chosen conversation starter? Star Trek.

Star. Trek.

You didn’t even know him. He’d simply spotted the empty booth, slid into the seat across from you, and began talking as if you’d been in the middle of this discussion for hours. The whole time, he sat with the posture of an excited school kid on his first field trip—knees together, hands resting primly on them, leaning forward with bright-eyed energy.

“It was a great episode, truly.”

He concluded with all the sincerity in the world.