The strangest thing happened: while browsing for more inspiration, I had more ideas about the "Bones modeling for Angela" story. So I figured "what the hell."

Picture Perfect, Part 2

"Hey, Booth, do you have any plans for Saturday afternoon?"

Booth looked up over the table, forkful of pie halfway to his mouth. "Not particularly, why?"

"Well, I was planning on going over to Angie's for a couple of hours to do some posing, and she thought you might want to tag along and see what it's really like."

Booth set down the pie. (This told Bones just how upset he was – he certainly didn't give any other indications.) "I dunno, Bones. Normally I'd jump at the chance to see you naked, but I don't think I could properly appreciate it while Angie was there painting away."

"I told you, Booth – it's not 'naked,' it's 'nude.'"

Booth snorted "Naked, nude – there's no difference. You're still standing there with no clothes on."

"There's a world of difference, Booth, and even your own Bible backs it up."

"Huh?"

Bones smiled. "It's part of the Judeo-Christian creation myth. God created Adam and Eve, and initially they were both unclothed and unashamed – like when I pose for Angie. It wasn't until the serpent persuaded Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil that she felt shame, and the same happened to Adam when she talked him into it."

"You mean the snake and the apple, right?"

"Actually, no version of the Bible uses those precise terms, just 'serpent' and 'fruit.' The snake and apple technically have no Biblical source. Anyway, it wasn't until after they ate the fruit that they started associating nudity with shame."

Booth made a note to re-read Genesis later – it annoyed him when proud atheist Bones demonstrated superior knowledge of HIS Bible. But he knew that she'd be right anyway. "And you think that seeing you naked – I'm sorry, 'nude' – in front of Angie will help me somehow?"

"It might, but not this weekend. Angie's already told me what she wants to do, and I'm sorry to say I'll be fully dressed."

Oddly enough, Booth found that more appealing than naked Bones. "Really? What's she got in mmind?"

Bones smiled mysteriously. "You'll have to come to find out."

BB BB BB BB BB

"Tempe! I'm so glad you talked him into coming! Studly, I'm so proud of you, and promise you're in for a real treat. Or, if you get bored, you can go hang with Hodgins and do guy stuff."

"Thanks, Angie. I kinda thought this was yours and Bones' thing, and I didn't want to interfere, but she twisted my arm pretty seriously."

"I just bet." She led them to her studio. "Sweetie, your outfit's in the next room. Why don't you go get ready while I entertain Studly here."

As Bones ducked out, Booth took around Angie's studio. He noticed that she had a lot of her own finished works set out – including a couple of Bones' book covers. He nodded at them.

"When Tempe said you didn't realize I'd done a couple of her book covers, I thought you might appreciate seeing the originals – both the ones her published accepted, and the ones they didn't."

Booth walked over and started studying the paintings. Helpfully, Angela had paired up the rejected ones with the actual books, encompassing books three through seven. "These are... really neat, Angela."

Angela smirked. "Come on, Studly. I told you I wanted your honest opinions, and I'm curious to what you think of these."

Booth realized she was totally sincere, but wanted to be certain. "How honest do you want me to be?"

"Brutal. If I can't handle criticism from someone I know cares about me, then I'm gonna get slaughtered by the critics in this exhibition."

Booth nodded, and started studying the paintings. "OK, here's your proposal for Number 3. I can see why the publisher rejected it – either you didn't know what you were doing, or you counted on your friendship with Bones to grease the wheels and half-assed it. Either way, the published one is a lot better than yours."

Angela gave a chagrined sigh. "It was kinda a little of both. I didn't do any homework on what book covers are supposed to be like, and her publisher was even more nasty than you were."

He moved on to number four. "Now this one, you totally hit it out of the park. It's damn near perfect. It's like you took not getting the first one and wanted to prove that you could do it, and did you ever."

Angela beamed. "Even after several years, it's still one of my favorite pieces."

"It should be. Now, number five... it's good, but it's not great. It would have been OK for the cover, but the other artist just plain did a better job."

"He really did. He's the one who did Tempe's first three books, and I think he took my getting number four as a challenge."

Booth nodded. "So the competition made you both step up your game. That's good for both of you. Now, number six, that shows – yours is really good, but that other guy – it was his turn to hit it out of the park. I'd put it up with your number 4 as tied for 'best cover.'"

"Losing that one hurt, because I really thought I had it – but as painful as it is to admit, he really nailed it."

"And that brings us to number seven. It's not really fair, because I don't have his submission, but yours is really, really good. It's almost as good as number four. In some ways it's better, but overall I still ike that one better."

"You really do have a good eye, Studly."

Booth suddenly felt self-conscious about Angela's appreciative gaze and glanced at his watch. "Does it normally take her this long to change?"

"It's a pretty complicated outfit this time, plus she always likes to take her time. She usually takes a few minutes after undressing to meditate a little, which puts her in the right mindset – and also gives time for any lines from her regular clothes to fade. A nude with a big ol' bra strap mark on her shoulder just doesn't look right." Booth almost blushed. "But since we have some time, we can talk a bit more about our mutual friend's body. Have you ever really thought about how she looks?"

Booth responded instinctively. "What? She's beautiful. I've always thought so."

"That's mainly Little Booth talking there. I'm talking about specifics. You're an expert on people. Ignoring what you know about her background, what ethnicity would you ascribe her?"

"I never really..."

"Exactly. Your perception's colored by your bias. On the other hand, I'm a trained artist. Our friend Temperace Brennan is, ethnically, a perfect American – a mutt. She has attributes from the whole Caucasian spectrum, and they combine to make her an almost classic beauty. And for me, that means that – with just a few tricks of makeup, costume, and a little imagination, I can make her into a beautiful woman from almost any Caucasian group. Balkan, Mediterranean, Scandanavian, French, Irish-Scots, Germanic, Spanish, Eastern European – I can make her any of those, easily. Which is why I love having her as a model."

Booth nodded. He was already glad he's come; he'd never thought about Bones this way, and it was delightful to hear it from Angela.

"Plus, it's not just her body and face. It's her brain, too. She's an anthropologist, and makes a point of researching the culture, traditions, beliefs, and mindset of the group she's representing. That really brings something to the job that no other model can give me."

Just then, there was a rap at the door to the studio. "Ange? You ready for me?"

"Come on in, sweetie!"

Bones strolled in wearing an ornate tunic and carrying a hefty shield. "Do you need to do anything with my hair or makeup?"

Ange walked over and critically studied Bones' head. "No, it looks like you got the look just right from those pictures I left in there." She led Bones to the center of the room and carefully arranged her, holding out the shield as an offering. "We're gonna have to do this in short sessions, Sweetie – maybe fifteen minutes at a time. I know this shield is pretty heavy."

Bones smiled. "I could probably hold it like that for longer, if you need me..."

"No sense in straining yourself. I can work around it."

Booth couldn't help himself. "Angie, if you wouldn't mind a suggestion..."

Both women turned in surprise at Booth. "I'm always willing to listen to ideas. What did you have in mind?"

Booth grabbed a nearby music stand (carefully avoiding wondering why it was present) and adjusted the height, then bent the top down flat. "Why not rest the shield on this, and she can just pretend to be holding it up?"

The two women looked at each other. "Sweetie, you need to bring him every time. Studly, get that thing over here!"

After carefully adjusting the stand, Booth and Angela stepped back. Angela moved back and forth, carefully choosing her angle, then set up her easel.

"So, Angie, you said this is going to be part of a series?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking of Tempe as a bunch of warrior women from history, both real and mythical. Here she's a Spartan woman sending her man off to battle – you know, the Spartans and their shields?"

Booth nodded. "'Return home with your shield or on it.' Required reading in the Army."

"Anyway, here she's presenting the shield to her husband – or her son, it really doesn't matter."

Booth smiled. "I like it. What else do you have in mind?"

"Well, Tempe as a Valkyrie, as an Amazon, as Boudicea, Joan of Arc, maybe a few others." She picked up a brush. "Now hush, Studly. Time for me to get to work."