I will write for any fandom that I have listed in my bio. Most of these will be character x reader. Aside from fictional characters, there will be some Parent!Character(s) x Readers as well. Some won't be x Readers at all, but ships that the read...
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Sara huffed heavily as she turned her computer on. Christmases with her parents never went well, and even though they had to meet online because of travel restrictions and were separated by thousands of kilometres, Sara knew that she would be able to feel the discomfort through the screen. She brought up the appropriate interface and typed in the link to the online meeting, having memorised it.
Or, at least, she thought she had. When she joined the call, she did not see her parents, but instead saw two strangers. One was a man who looked to be in his forties while the other was a woman who looked to be in her sixties. They were both staring at her. She shrunk back in her seat. The man unmuted his microphone; she newly perceived that the woman's microphone was muted as well and found it strange. "Who are you?" He signed it as well; at least the curiosity of their microphones being muted had been clarified. His voice sounded passive and enquiring, but was not upset in any way. Sara did suspect that he was merely acting, but...he really did sound so sincere and gentle.
"I-I'm Sara Sidle," she murmured, still not daring to meet his gaze.
"I'm Gil Grissom, and this is my mother Betty. Why are you here?" All the while, he interpreted their verbal speech in ASL.
"I must have typed the wrong link...I'm sorry." Her eyes were downcast.
"What do you mean you typed it? Why not just click on the saved link?" Strange; he was deviating from the topic. Sara guessed that he was neurodivergent.
"I-I have eidetic memory. I thought I had memorised it."
"It's okay. No harm, no foul." She was taken aback at how gracious he was. To distract herself, she checked the link. When her face fell, Grissom frowned in concern. "What's the matter?"
"It's just one letter off..." she sighed.
"It's alright. You just made a mistake. And hey, you got it mostly right," he smiled genially. She did not know how to respond. She remained staring wistfully at the man. Being autistic, Grissom did not feel comfortable with the prolonged eye contact and looked away, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "What...what is it?" He signed without looking up.
Sara shook her head to clear it and averted her gaze. "Sorry. It's just...I feel more welcome here than if I had been in the call with my parents." She did not know why she said that. Mrs. Grissom signed something. "Uh, your mother is saying something."
Grissom looked up, and Mrs. Grissom repeated what she said. "She says you're welcome to stay."
Sara sat up a little straighter in surprise. "Really? Why?" Grissom signed it.
Mrs. Grissom answered, with her son interpreting, "You seem to prefer being here rather than on the call you're supposed to attend. We are happy to have you here."
"Wait, 'we'?" Sara asked, looking at Grissom's rectangle on her screen. He smiled and nodded.
Sara smiled from one side of her mouth. "Thank you."
They delved into conversation, the Grissoms and Sara asking questions about each other and getting to know one another. They took breaks when Grissom's hands got tired. Mrs. Grissom and Sara took to each other well. As from Grissom and Sara, they found themselves liking the other very much.
After some hours, the time for their session to end approached. But none of them really wanted to leave, especially Sara. And Grissom, too. Even after they had said their goodbyes, Grissom and Sara remained staring at each other. Mrs. Grissom sighed in fond exasperation, and signed, "Get her number."
Grissom vocalised, "Get her numb- oh!" His head jerked up a little in realisation, and he looked away.
Sara was also smiling shyly. She typed her phone number in the chat box. "There."
Grissom returned his gaze to the screen. He sent his own number to the chat box as well. Their smiles returned to their faces at the same time. Mrs. Grissom smiled while shaking her head and rolling her eyes. Grissom and Sara added each other's number into their phones. Being done with that, they looked up at each other. Seeing as they were not going to stop staring at each other for the foreseeable future, Betty signed, "Alright, I think that's it. See you next time." The two children shook their heads, bringing themselves out of their heads.
"Goodbye," they bade each other. All three people exited the meeting. Even as Grissom and Sara rose from their chairs and walked away from their desks, they could not stop staring at the new contact they had added and grinning uncontrollably.
