Title: Office Flirting 101
Author: willowwood
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Bones, if I did they'd be past this stage already.
Summary: There's flirting going on at the Jeffersonian, but between whom? BB and AH
Spoilers: Possibly for Season 2, but nothing too revealing.
Office Flirting 101
As he walked into Angela's office Hodgins looked up from the file, he had been studying.
"Hey Angela, could you put these distribution boundaries on to a map so I've got something to show Cam" he asked flipping it shut.
The artist sat perched against the edge of her desk, arms and ankles crossed, as she was studying something over his shoulder. After a brief second, she turned to face him and smiled, the one corner of her mouth lifting slightly.
"Yeah, Just a second", she quickly agreed before once again her gaze returned to whatever was over his shoulder. Hodgins laughed at the mischievous expression he could see dancing through the eyes.
"What are you up to?" he asked curiously passing her the folder. She reached out without looking at him, causing her hand to brush against his gently. Hodgins' skin tingled at the fleeting contact, but to his disappointment, she didn't appear to register the action.
"I'm observing the fine art of Office Flirting," she said dropping the file on the desk besides her, with a nod across the workstation.
"Office Flirting?" he asked bemused, following her gaze in time to see Booth making his way towards Dr. Brennans Office.
"You know if you were doing that in the streets you'd get arrested, right?" Hodgins questioned, as he turned back to face her.
"Whatever" Angela began rolling her eyes, as though 'Office Flirting' was a well know sport and not something she'd just made up. Hodgins shook his head in disbelief, catching Angela's attention she smirked challengingly.
"Look, come here and watch….I know it'll be a little hard for you to comprehend, but I'll explain everything" her smile widened with excitement, and Hodgins couldn't help but feel himself reflect the anticipation she radiated.
Quickly he moved to lean on the table next to her, ensuring that both of them had a clear view into Brennans Office.
"Ok Office Flirting 101..." She began with a smile. "The first lesson is to watch how Booth just walks into Brennans office without knocking…..even if she's on the phone" and as they watched.
Sure enough, Booth climbed the small flight of steps that lead to the platform surrounding her office, and without hesitation, he opened her door and walked inside.
"See, how many other people would get away with that? Even we'll wait until she's finished on the phone, she could be talking to anybody-" Jack turned to her one eyebrow raised "-Ok, I do it some of the time but I am her best friend"
"But what does that prove exactly….I just came in here without knocking"
"That's completely different," Angela, protested, her brow slightly furrowed "One, my door was already open, and two I wasn't on the phone"
"Right" Hodgins agreed confused, once again watching his boss and her partner as Angela's commentary continued.
"Now for lesson number two…Booth'll wait for Bren to finish on the phone. Then he'll pass her the file, at which point she'll look up to him with one of those sly little smiles that just pulls at the corner of your mouth-"
"-Eyes wide?" Jack asked interrupting her; shocked Angela turned her gaze to Hodgins for a second
"Yeah…how-"
"-You did that" he stated matter of factly. Angela's brow creased in confusion
"What?" she asked
"When I came in and gave you the folder, you did that sexy little half smile thing baby…" his eyes twinkled, and before either of them could contemplate his use of the word sexy, something in the other room caught his attention
"You did that too…." he continued. Angela swung her gaze around to see what was going on between Booth and Brennan, but she'd already missed the movement and glanced towards Hodgins to explain.
"…when I gave you the folder, you took it from me and just placed it on the desk besides you" He gestured towards the folder as though to emphasize his point.
"Ahh, lesson the 3rd. The unfathomable eye contact…." she agreed recognising what he was talking about. Then after a few seconds
"I did not do that," she returned as realisation of what he was suggesting set in, heat rising to her cheeks slightly. Hodgins smirked
"Whatever you say"
"Look can we just forget about us for a second, and focus on the love birds in there please" Angela pleaded, annoyance clearly in her tone.
Hodgins' smirk grew slightly wider.
"So what's next?" he asked turning his attention back towards the other room.
"Now Brennan'll look through the folder, pointing things out to Booth…." she explained gesturing towards the other room.
As she did so, Zack came to stand in her office doorway blocking Hodgins' view. In order to see he leaned closer to Angela, his one hand coming to rest on the table behind her, almost subconsciously wrapping his arm around her back.
"Hodgins, Dr Saroyan wants to see you now," he informed. Hodgins merely ignored the graduate student, as he struggled to see what was going on behind him. Also ignoring Zack's presence Angela face broke into a large smile. Curiously, Hodgins turned to face her.
"What?" he asked
"Now Booth'll rest him arm on the back of the chair. It really does amaze me that neither of them seems to realise that he's practically got his arm around her" Angela explained the excitement clear in her tone. Hodgins quickly glanced towards his own arm that was precariously close to her waist, with a slightly fulfilling smile he once again turned to follow her gaze only to be confronted by Zack still standing in the way.
"Ok, Zack. I'll be there in a minute," the entomologist snapped his tone harsher than was probably necessary. With a hurt expression, Zack left the office without another word, returning to the skull he'd been working on.
Hodgins turned to face Angela once again. He marvelled at the way she looked just like a kid waiting to open there Christmas presents at 4 o'clock in the morning. Her eyes wide, as though she were scared of blinking in case she missed something, an ecstatic smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. Hodgins knew that he was meant to be watching what was going on between his boss and her FBI partner but having found something that was far more enjoyable to watch, he couldn't seem to pull his gaze away.
Then with out a second thought, Angela reached out placing a hand on his arm in an attempt to get his attention.
"Have you seen him, He can't even take his eyes off her" she almost laughed. Hodgins swallowed a little nervously
"I know the feeling," he whispered without thinking.
Immediately, he hoped she hadn't heard him, even though he new it was an impossible wish with how quiet everywhere had seemed to suddenly become. His fear came to a crashing reality as he watched her eyes open a little bit wider, the smile he'd been admiring disappearing from her lips. In that, second he wished the earth had opened up and swallowed him whole, his heart dropping to the floor at her feet.
Slowly she turned to face him, both of them quickly realising for the first time, how close to one another they were actually sitting, there faces mere millimetres apart. At first Angela hadn't even realised he'd been staring at her, then for what seemed like hours, she watched as Hodgins' clear blue eyes swam over her face as he attempted to read her reaction.
It was almost as if he were taking in every detail, before his gaze came to rest on her lips. With a nervous breath, she couldn't help but consider how easy it would have been for them to simply lean forward, closing the gap between them. As though reading her thoughts she was sure she could feel Hodgins gently inching closer to her.
Nervously she moistened her lips. Surprised when the simple movement appeared to cause Hodgins' gaze to break. Quickly he looked back up to her eyes once again, questioningly. When she sat frozen he let out a nervous laugh that held a hint of disappointment rubbing a hand against his forehead, he climbed to his feet.
"I should probably, go and see Cam" he explained lamely, hating the way his voice sounded out of breath as he tried to find any excuse, he could to leave her office.
Angela smiled sympathetically, as he quickly scurried from her office. She watched, as he turned out of her door, unaware that Booth was also exciting Brennan's office, closing the door behind him.
When Hodgins had disappeared out of view, she cast one final curious glance towards her best friend's office. Brennan sat on her couch with a somewhat amused but frustrated expression on her face. Narrowing her eyes Angela wondered briefly, what was going through the anthropologist mind.
Then with a sigh she squeezed her eyes shut, and realised she had just missed her chance at that long awaited kiss.
The End
Authors Note: But whose long awaited kiss did she miss? As the audience, you get to decide insert evil laugh. Well hope you enjoyed it, I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a review and let me know what you think.