"Booth? You there?"

His partner's voice floated through the door. Nearly choking on his cereal, Booth made his way over to the sound, depositing a few cornflakes and splashes of milk on the floor as he did.

He opened the door, looking surprised, but not in the least bit disappointed.

"Morning, Bones. Can I be of assistance?"

Rolling her eyes at his over-formal greeting, Brennan crossed the threshold into the apartment.

"Now don't be shy or anything. Come right on in."

She couldn't help but grin at him, which quickly turned into a giggle when she saw the steady stream of milk dribbling down his chin.

"Food goes IN the mouth, Booth."

He gave her a brief glare, giving his chin a quick rub as he did. He began to move back into the kitchen. The clicking of heels told him she was following.

Depositing his now empty bowl into the sink (the spoon followed suit after he'd given it one final lick), he turned to face her.

"What's up?"

"I couldn't sleep." She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Since I was awake, I figured I'd get ready early and take you out for breakfast." She offered him a quick, hopeful smile. "But, you've already eaten, so…"

He recognised the effort she was making to appear sociable and appreciated it.

"Sounds great, Bones. Cereal never really fills me up anyway."

His heart warmed when he saw the look of pleasure spreading across her face.

"Can't possibly let you pay, though. Wouldn't be chivalrous."

He smirked as she groaned loudly at his words.

"Just for once, could you leave the alpha-male tendencies at home?"

Booth quickly cut her off before she could get anywhere close to full steam.

"I just need to find my tie. It's around here somewhere… Would you mind going into my room and getting me a pair of socks from the top drawer of the dresser?"

He gestured at his bare feet. She nodded curtly, then made her way towards his room, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "Good for nothing ball of testosterone." Apparently she wasn't about to let it go just yet.

Booth walked into the living room. He had been watching the game last night and had gotten overly excited at his team's victory. He was almost positive the resulting celebrations included taking the tie off and flinging it somewhere. All he had to do was find it.

A couple of minutes and a bumped head later, the tie was in his hand. Humming triumphantly to himself, he started putting it on. While he was doing this, he absently began to wonder what had happened to Brennan. She was only looking for a pair of socks after all. What was taking so long?

He began to move towards his room. He was about halfway there when he suddenly realised what might have distracted her. Breaking out into a run, he reached the doorframe with a bang. He looked inside fearfully. The sight that met his eyes made a number of things on his person constrict sharply.

Brennan was standing in front of the dresser. The early morning light from the window behind her cast a hazy glow all around her figure. The top drawer of the dresser was open, as he had directed. Brennan's arms were hovering over the open drawer, a pair of underwear in her hands.

Only, this was no ordinary pair of underwear. They were about the same size and cut as a pair of Speedos and had a distinctly jungle pattern across them.

Why didn't I throw them out? Why did I "hide" them in my sock drawer? Did I really think I'd use them one day?

Chuckling softly to herself, Brennan lowered her arms and held the underwear up against her hips. Her lips curling into a delighted smile, she raised her head to meet his eyes.

"What are these, Booth?"

Booth shifted his weight onto one leg and forced his face into a neutral expression, desperate to appear unconcerned.

"Oh, those? They're…eh…they're just…em."

She brought the underwear up to eye-level and squinted at them. "The tag says 'Fluffy Toys for Manly Boys'." She nodded thoughtfully "They are rather soft."

A low moan escaped Booth.

"Yeah, well, as you can see, I never wore them. Don't really know why I kept them. Novelty Christmas present, you know…"

She frowned at him. "You never wore them? Why not? They'd look good. Make you look like Tarzan."

"Yeah, well, you see…you know who Tarzan is?"

She nodded delightedly, dimpling at him.

"Right, well…wait, did you say they'd look good?" He was so distressed that it was taking him longer than usual to process information.

She nodded absently. "Even though they're very small and" she gave them a little stretch "probably very tight, you have good muscle definition. They'd look good on you."

Booth stared at her, flabbergasted.

He was snapped out of his trance when she moved her hands back over the drawer, muttering, "I wonder what else is in here."

He was beside her in two seconds. He gave her outstretched hands a quick slap, wrenched the underwear off her, threw them back into the drawer (making a mental note to burn them later), pulled out a pair of socks and shut the drawer with a snap.

Brennan looked disappointed but began moving obediently towards the door.

"Next time I'm at your place, I'm having a quick rummage through your top drawer."

She shrugged delicately. "You won't find anything."

Booth's face dropped.

"You'd have to try the third drawer. That's where all the good stuff is."

There's a whole drawer?!

"I'll remember that."