Finding Out

"What are you doing?" Seeley Booth asked Temperance Brennan as she poignantly sifted through his shoes at the bottom of his bedroom closet.

"I'm finding out," she replied as she systematically poked her left hand into the tip of the last pair of dress shoes on the shoe rack.

He closed his eyes and squinted. Once opened he spoke, "Ok, Bones, I bite, what are you trying to find out?" His face and voice were perplexed.

"Well if it is your tongue you are biting, which only makes sense as I see no other visual objects you could bite, it will heal relatively fast as the mouth is one of the fastest healing parts of the human body."

"Thanks for the anatomy lesson Bones, but why are you sticking your hand in my shoes?"

She stood and smoothed her skirt with the palms of her hands. "I was seeing if you keep your masturbatory aid in your shoes. You did tell me it was for you to know and me to find out."

"I was referring to you asking me while we weren't in a murder victims bedroom and in the presence of our shrink," he said as he stepped forward and closed the sliding closet door.

"Fair enough, do you keep a masturbatory aid in your shoes?" she asked as her eyes scanned the room for a pair of shoes she may have missed.

"Not anymore," he replied as he turned towards the door and headed for the kitchen.

"When did you stop keeping it in your shoes?" she asked as though she were asking a stranger for the time.

"I don't think that is any of your business."

"You said it was for me to find out and you know I am a literal person."

"I said it was for you to find out if I kept one in my shoes."

"I use a vibrator on occasion," she blurted out.

He shot her a glaring look. "Too much information Bones," he recanted as he grabbed a glass from the cupboard.

"You told me I should offer something of myself if I want someone to share something about themselves."

"I mean a family secret, dreams of building a personal space craft, who really killed Kennedy. That kind of thing. Not that you use a –"

She knew he couldn't say the word in her presence so she offered it to him, "Vibrator."

Booth felt the blood pool in his cheeks and quickly turned to the fridge, opened it and grabbed the water jug.

"Booth, masturbation is normal. Everyone does it, even you."

The thought of her even remotely thinking about him masturbating was enough to bring on an erection. He knew she wouldn't give up unless he gave her something.

"I use my imagination," he said as he made his way to the couch, grabbed the remote and aimlessly started channel surfing.

Brennan looked towards the couch and could clearly see something was aggravating him. Talking about masturbating would frustrate him but not aggravate him.

"What are you looking for?" she asked as she sat beside him.

"Nothing," he replied and banged the remote down on the coffee table in front of him.

"Booth, look, I'm sorry, if talking about masturbation makes you uncomfortable, I will end the discussion. But something else is clearly bothering you. I'd like to try and help. You tell me talking about problems can help fix them."

He hated when his words came back to haunt him.

"Thanks, but this is something I have to figure out on my own."

"Maybe you should talk to Sweets. He can be extremely helpful at times."

"Listen it's getting late Bones, and I have a meeting in the morning, thanks for bringing the files by and snooping through my personal belongings." He voice was hard and cold. Temperance Brennan read bones better than living people but in this instance she read Seeley Booth like an open book: he wasn't just aggravated, he was angry.