Yet another "I have no idea how-to-romance" thread....

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So, I have another person that I fancy at my job, but we don't work together and rarely see each other. When we do see each other, our interactions are awkward (thanks to myself not responding/inability to make eye contact/saying nothing). This person has expressed interest in me, but I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT-SO-EVER to say or do to make my mutual interest known.
Other than: "Hey, I think we may like each other- want to do something about that? are you free?"
which apparently is not socially acceptable... so I've been told, especially for a female to ask/say.

How can I send those circuitous NT smoke-signals without making things awkward/not being SUPER obvious so that we become the office gossip for lord knows how many weeks?
Also, we rarely see each other.... we work rather far apart in a decent-sized large company. Also, my work keeps me pretty busy......

Talk to you her like a friend. Find out what she's interested in. Don't mention anything about "getting together" until you've talked a while. Talk about your family; she'll talk about hers. People love talking about their families, usually. Talk about your family in a general sense, and don't reveal private secrets.

If the weather's been odd, that's a good topic of conversation. Maybe she might be into Global Warming?

Just listen to what she has to say. People like to be listened to.

I'm discovering that I SUCK at talking about things other than my special interest(s). Also, this person happens to be male (I'm the female in this scenario) sorry if that was confusing lol.
I love the idea of this person being into global warming, because I've made my interest in the sciences very clear, and when I first started working there (a while back now...) I talked about some science classes/articles I had read, and he knew about them which was super exciting. But it has been a while since then, and I don't want to randomly be like: "So, the other day I was reading about geologic ice-cores samples from the arctic and how mass-sampling data in further support of global warming."

I like the suggestion of talking about family- I wouldn't have thought about that one!
I find it difficult to talk about family a bit though, just because we don't all get along because they were ... not very supportive of the whole autism thing.
But I guess in the back of my mind I just don't want to drive (yet another) person away by being "too aspie" although I intellectually realize that if they can't handle my autism we would be a horrible match.
But, I also just don't want to come off as creepy/clingy/too strong.

And this person is very respectful and ..... after the first like 5-ish attempts (most of which I floundered and none of which I initiated) I think at this point he's just leaving it up to me.... but I have no idea how to initiate conversation... without being super obvious:
"Hi, I came to talk to you, to initiate discussion. So that we may converse about socially acceptable things. I see you are drinking coffee- I like coffee too here are some facts about coffee...." (I think I maybe am only somewhat exaggerating with that mock-example? )
Not sure if I'm over-thinking this hmmm....

But thank you for the suggestions! I'm good at listening, it's just responding/formulating a response (that is socially acceptable) that is not my forte.
And we are physically rather distant, so I would have to go, out of my way... rather obviously in order to speak with them.... *sigh*

Since you don't get to see him much, I would suggest corresponding with him using email, text messaging or some messaging program like skype, kik, etc. It's less personal, but it will also give you more time to respond. It will lessen the potential gossip as well. I do find many aspies are more comfortable with this method of communication compared to the phone or face to face.

Kortie pretty much said it, but ask about him. Like your coffee example, ask how the coffee is today. Also, I don't think it's bad to go up to him, when he isn't busy of course, and say you've read/heard about something dealing with global warming. That's a rather good icebreaker if you're both interested in it on that level. Obviously, you don't want that to be the only thing you talk about, so find other common interests. The more you talk and get to know him, the more natural it will become.

All the things you suggested, like saying "Hey, I think we may like each other - want to do something about it?" sound like awesome initiaters to me, as a male (not sure if I'm an Aspie or not). It's blunt, which cuts through some of the initial flirting/realization stage of liking each other that he may like, but if that's what you would think of to say, you should do it.

My point is, it sounds like you're overthinking it. And if you guys get together, you're going to start saying things without the input of others. Better for him to know how you approach these situations and talking sooner than later, right? I suppose you want to maximize the chances of getting something started, and for that I can't say I have something; I work on maximizing the chance of staying together, and I did that by being honest about my feelings, etc. It worked for a long while.

Looks like you'll have to decide whether the potential relationship with him is worth the risk of making a fool of yourself asking that inappropriate question which, as ArtemisHolmes said, a lot of us would love to be asked. If not, your shyness will be nature's way to keep you both apart.

I personally find it incredibly stupid that outright saying that you're interested in the person is bad.

Perhaps things like Facebook or emails or texts scattered throughout the day will be good because then you can both work and take your time responding, and generally feel more comfortable.

Asking him out on an honest to goodness date isn't a bad idea either.

I think that -not- being obvious is making the situation more awkward than it needs to be.

The best piece of advice I have is, YES! Go out of your way to communicate with him. Go bring him a coffee one day, if you don't know what he takes in it keep it black with cream/sugar on the side. Drop it off and if he's not engaged with someone else in conversation at that time, ask him how his days going, how his family is. Don't ask anything about him that you wouldn't mind sharing about yourself.

As a guy your age, I can confirm that I would absolutely appreciate it if a girl were this straightforward. Though, it may feel a bit awkward to say it out of the blue, so maybe try leading up to it in a conversation a little bit, like:

Guy: "I really like coffee and long walks on the beach"
You: "Hey, me too! You know, we have a lot in common, and I think I might like you. Maybe we should go for coffee sometime?"