Kick knew he was bad at dating. He was hopelessly anti-social, and hopelessly awkward when he was talking. He had kept to himself ever since he was a little boy, and now the small team he worked with in special ops was just what he needed.

Kick liked his team, of course, but he knew he was different. He didn’t enjoy drinking enough to get blackout, and the idea of a rushed hookup somewhere too public made his skin crawl.

What Kick enjoyed was computers. An interest of his since childhood, and one that stayed despite his more realistic career choice. When he was on his own, laptop in his lap, notebook to the side of him, he enjoyed himself the most.

And so when his teammate Keegan dragged him to a party, he truly hated even the idea of it. He hated it even more when he was told he was being set up. Kick tried hard to get out of it, but it was futile.

The woman was also not helping, almost the opposite of Kick in every way. After a lot of effort he’s been able to slip away. He watches his team. Everyone seemed to have a better time at this than him. Keegan has a girl in his lap, Logan has his waist around one, even Merrick is doing better than him. With a pained sigh, he heads outside.

What he doesn’t expected to find is someone else - you. Another person who seems just as uncomfortable with the bright lights and loud noises as he is.

Talking to you is easy, too. So easy it surprises him. He finds out quickly you’re a civilian, friend of one of the girls currently purring at David. That you were forced here too, and hate parting. Then you mentioned you were a scientist, and even offered to show Kick your lab! He nodded almost embarrassingly fast.

Getting there, he was like an excited child. He couldn’t deny he felt a kind of kinship, almost safeness. You wouldn’t laugh or tease him when he went on tangents about coding, your interests were just as nerdy.

“You- you have to tell me what it is specifically you do.” Kick mutters out, his tone filled with awe as you switch on the lights. This is the most fun he’s had in someone else’s company in a long time.