Title: Turquoise and Moonlight (or The Gift in the Drawer)
Author: DianeB
Rating: G
Summary: Booth makes a purchase for Bones, but because things are going so badly with their personal investigation into the death of Angela's boyfriend, he doesn't give it to her. Instead, he tucks it away, waiting for a better time – which arrives quite without warning at a much later date.
Author's Notes: Loving Santa Fe as I do, my interest piqued with the second Bones foray into the Land of Enchantment. And I always hated what happened to David and Maddie back in 1986 and figured this could be one way I could "fix" that.
This is my second Bones fic but my first to tackle the relationship between Bones and Booth. It's a short post-ep to the S5 episode, "The X in the File," with references to the S1 episode, "The Skull in the Desert." Written in February, 2010. Thanks to Anna ("bite-or-avoid") for her help with the Bones Universe and her willingness to beta my work. Undying thanks as always goes to Brenda S., my Mighty Editor Goddess (MEG).
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Bones. I'm only having fun with a show I enjoy. I know a little more than that about Santa Fe, but any errors regarding The City Different are entirely my own. Errors regarding Bones are also my own.
Bones was in a silly mood, rare for her, and Booth took extreme pleasure in it, marveling to himself at the way she'd changed over the years. Bantering in this manner would have been unheard of for her a mere four years ago. Booth took personal pride in the fact that he'd been part of the change, but knew he'd deny it if anyone cornered him about it.
It was this sort of paradox that made them such a great team, of course, but Seeley Booth wasn't exactly an idiot about the sexual tension. At times such as this, when they were relaxed and just goofing around, it put him in mind of Moonlighting, a television show from the late eighties. He'd never watched it in anything but late-night re-runs with an old girlfriend who'd been crazy about it, but he discovered he liked the male lead, liked the guy's swagger and his smart-ass attitude.
Still, the show had been cancelled not long after the male and female leads finally stopped dancing around each other and did it, and Booth knew how often art imitated life. He definitely didn't want to be "cancelled," so he kept his counsel, pretending the sexual tension wasn't thick enough to cut with a knife.
Repositioning himself on the hood of the car next to Bones, he felt the weight of the tissue-paper package shift in his jacket pocket and it reminded him of the day he made the purchase. As Bones prattled on about being an "advanced scout" for the alien anthropologists of the cosmos, Booth – not for the first time – remembered.
oOo oOo oOo
It hadn't been the best reason to visit New Mexico, and, in fact, the desert southwest was no place for a Philadelphia boy, but walking around the Plaza in downtown Santa Fe had given Seeley Booth an unexpected opportunity he intended to take full advantage of. It added a spring to his step that would have made him suspicious if he'd stopped to give it deeper thought, which he did not.
Bones, he noticed from the first day he'd met her, almost always wore gorgeous jewelry. Not only that, but the necklaces were hard to miss, often being large, overdeveloped pieces that one might think would look gaudy on someone built like Bones. But they didn't. Nope, on her they looked regal, and they fit her personality and attitude as perfectly as if they had been genetically designed just for her.
Genetically designed. He snickered to himself. This phrase and others like it had not been in his vocabulary before meeting Temperance Brennan. Of course, "Can I have a gun?" had certainly not been something Bones would have ever said before she met him, so he figured they were even on that score.
Nevertheless, as he stood next to the gazebo in the middle of the square, surveying the shops around him and the Native Americans sitting along the Palace of the Governors, selling their hand-made wares, he decided to act on his opportunity.
Several hours later, armed with far too much information about turquoise, coral, red and orange spiny oyster shell, and what exactly the words heishi and cabochon meant, Booth had settled on jewelry from one of the Native Americans along the Palace, realizing immediately how much better their prices were compared to those in the shops nearby.
Contrary to what one might have thought by the looks of the unadorned set-up along the Palace, the man Booth chose had been a shrewd businessman with a very sharp eye. He identified Booth as a Fed the moment Booth stepped up to the guy's blanket, right down to the "special" part.
"Special Agent, what can I do to help you this fine afternoon?"
Booth looked around first, certain an actual agent on duty – suit and all – must have come up behind him. When he turned back, he saw the man rise up from his haunches with his hand out, a genuine smile on his face.
"Sorry about that. I've gotten pretty good at reading people. Joseph Singer, at your service."
Booth was mostly flabbergasted and didn't bother to hide it. The man was good. Booth connected his hand to Joseph's and shook it firmly. "Seeley Booth. Sheeyeah, I guess you're pretty good. What's my tell? I think maybe I should know."
"Nah," the man shook his head. "No tell. In fact, I wasn't one hundred percent certain and figured the worst I could do is mistake you for an FBI agent, which you might've found flattering." He paused and then rephrased his original question, waving his hand over the wares on the blanket. "So what are you looking for?"
In the end, after describing to Joseph what he had in mind and who he was buying for, Booth chose a necklace and pair of earrings he thought would look good on Bones. No amount of coaxing, however, could get Booth to tell Joseph anything more about the reason why he was buying the jewelry, other than his partner was fond of this type and wore it well.
Turning away, Booth heard Joseph chuckle and had the distinct feeling the big man knew perfectly well he hadn't been given the whole story.
oOo oOo oOo
In light of what had happened to Angela's three-weeks-a-year boyfriend, Booth decided it was not a good time to give Bones his gift. In the weeks that followed, he kept thinking a good time would present itself, but it never had.
The jewelry, wrapped in a thick cushion of tissue paper, eventually found its way into his "symbols of rebellion" sock drawer, where it stayed for four years. Booth wasn't entirely clear on his motivation for rummaging through the drawer as he packed for Roswell, but he smiled when his fingers closed over the tissue paper.
oOo oOo oOo
Now, after putting a fright into the moment with his little "Did you hear that?" scam, Booth settled back against the windshield and chuckled, again feeling the weight of the jewelry shift in his pocket.
"Nothing, Bones, it's nothing. I was just messin' with ya."
She returned the playful poke he had given her earlier. "That was evil, Booth. You know what? I'm going to get my alien anthropologist associates to probe you. I am. And they have really big—what are you doing?"
Booth had distracted himself, reaching into his jacket pocket, worried the jewelry was about to fall out. Without thinking, he'd pulled the bundle halfway out and now realized too late that he'd been caught.
Bones, still in playful mode, immediately reached across him. "What have you got there?"
He pushed her away, heard her huff in surprise, and as the sound registered, his mind offered up mismatched images of adventures they'd been on, of newspaper articles calling them an "unlikely duo," and of discussions they had had about destiny. "You remember Ange's psychic friend, Avalon?"
The non sequitur didn't faze Bones, but she clearly recognized it as one. Giving him a look he'd only seen directed at rookie interns, she answered his question. "Yes."
"Well…" He fumbled one-handed with the package, afraid it was going to tear open and spill its contents onto the ground. Alarms sounded in his head, along with a biting voice. So you're waitin' for the "right time," are you? What in hell are you thinking? We're sitting on a car in the desert, and we need to get movin' back to DC. This is nowhere near the right time, but you just couldn't leave the package alone, could you? And why'd ya mention Avalon Harmonia? Bones is gonna think your tumor's back!
Meanwhile, reacting just as Booth feared, Bones went clinical, her voice laced with concern. "Booth, what's wrong?" She sat up, repositioning herself on the car's hood, and placed her hand on his arm, trying to look into his eyes.
Booth fought for some control, hyper-aware of her hand on his arm, of the distress radiating from her. How on earth did this go from silly to serious so fast? "Bones, whoa, I'm okay. Okay? Wait a minute. Just wait." Now he used both hands to bring the bundle into full view. "I…I got something for you."
Childlike, her mood switched abruptly to cheerful again as she looked down at the package. "Me? You got something for me? When," she looked up, puzzled, "when did you have time to—"
"Listen, Bones, hang on." He was in it now. This wasn't how he had planned for this to go, but really, he wondered, how he could have planned a damn thing when it came to this aspect of his relationship with Temperance Brennan? "I didn't buy this now, I…I bought it when we were in Santa Fe four years ago, you know, when Ange's boyfriend…you know, the thing with Kirk?" At a loss for any more words, he mutely held the tissue paper out to her.
"Oh my God, Booth!" She exclaimed. "You've had this for four years?"
He shrugged, trying to make it seem like it was no big deal. "Um, yeah."
She first looked like she was having none of it, shooting him a dubious look, and he prepared himself for another of her bald statements of fact about the gift-giving rituals of naked men from ancient Bohemia or some such a thing.
To his surprise, he didn't get one. Instead, her face went through a series of expressions, like she was struggling with how to respond, before finally settling on what he could only describe as genuine joy. He watched, feeling a little off-balance because she hadn't acted as he'd assumed, as she carefully tore the paper open along its taped seam and began to unroll it. He worried a moment that it was too dark to see, but the white tissue paper and the moonlight took care of that.
Once the jewelry was revealed, it was a second before she spoke, and when she did, it was in an awed whisper that took his breath away. "Oh, Booth," she said, "they're gorgeous." When she looked up, her eyes were brimming, and the sight loosened his tongue and reminded him to breathe.
"Do you like them?" He asked, inhaling profoundly and talking too fast. "I know they're not quite what you usually wear, but turquoise is the best, the best, and I thought they'd look great on you. I bought them at the Palace of the Governors on the Plaza in Santa Fe, from a Native American named Joseph. He was great! And, boy, was he clever. He gave me a good price, too, but wait, you don't need to know that. Anyway, here, let me help you."
Bones was trying to put the earrings on without dropping the necklace and was having a hard time of it. He took the necklace and paper and waited while she finished with the earrings. Reaching over to pluck up the necklace, she asked him if he'd fasten it for her. She twisted around, waiting, holding the necklace up.
Booth took it, brushed aside the collar of her overcoat and the fine hair at the nape of her neck and carefully joined the silver clips. It had been a long time since he'd actually handled the jewelry. Turquoise, he decided, was, indeed, the best. The necklace had significant weight, and the beads felt smooth and cool in his hands. Finished, he patted her shoulder. "There ya go."
She twisted back around, one hand on the graduated turquoise beads at her throat, the other fingering the ones hanging in a sizeable loop from her ear. "How do I look?"
The mood of the moment changed again, and it was abundantly clear to Booth that Bones knew exactly what the mood had changed to. Therefore, it was hard to say who moved first, or if they both moved at the same time, but the next thing Booth knew, her lips were on his, her hands were up in his hair, and she was making a sound that was a sort of cross between a moan and a sigh.
The feel of Bones in his arms was at once exactly as Booth had imagined it and again entirely different. Her kisses certainly reflected the experience he knew she had, yet her touch, her moans, everything about her in this moment seemed to cry chastity.
His thumping heart figured it out about a second before his brain: Bones was fearful, skeptical even, now that the line had been crossed, that they would not be able to maintain professional distance when it would invariably become necessary.
But Booth knew differently. He allowed this knowledge to transfer to his lips, inordinately pleased when he felt her relax against him and her kisses become decidedly less chaste.
It wasn't long before biological need forced them both to pull back for breath. Smiling at Bones in her lovely turquoise, Booth reached out to stroke her cheek, recalling her question. He answered simply and honestly, "You look beautiful."
Their lips met again, this time in more measured tempo. The theme to Moonlighting began to play in Booth's head, but he resolutely ignored it, knowing it would not go that way with himself and Bones. In fact, once he secured a copy of the series on DVD, he was sure Bones would be able to point out with wicked anthropological accuracy the errors in behavior that led to the downfall of David and Maddie.
Errors they could and most certainly would avoid.
This thought caused him to grin against her mouth and felt her ask without breaking the kiss what was so funny. His grin widened as he mumbled "Real life," and instinctively pulled her closer, the action nearly sending them both tumbling off the car.
oOo oOo oOo
There may have been alien anthropologists out there in the cosmos – perhaps even headed straight to Earth with malicious intent – but it was a very long time before Booth and Bones gave it any further thought.
End.
oOo oOo oOo
- Heishi (hee-shee): Handmade tiny beads made of any natural materials. The oldest form of jewelry in New Mexico.
- Cabochon: Shaped and polished (as opposed to faceted) gemstone. Convex on top with a flat bottom.