It was beautiful out- not that anyone would be able to recognize it over the sound of Hodgins complaining. Shilloh had insisted on walking to the diner, since it was so close to the Jeffersonian, and no one had agreed to go with her; which was fine by her, she knew how to enjoy herself alone. The problem had arisen when she'd taken a wrong turn once out the doors.

And then it was decided that Hodgins would walk with her, since she obviously couldn't be trusted to make it to the diner herself.

"Jack, shut up and enjoy the outdoors," she said over the sound of his voice, and then averted her attention over to Zach. "So I know why he came- Angela was giving him the death glare. Why'd you come?"

"Hodgins is my ride," he said simply, and then was quiet as he continued to walk next to her.

'Ok. So, I don't mean to pry- well, yes, I do. What I mean is, don't feel obligated to answer if you don't want to- or, well, something. Right, rambling, anyway, back to the original point. Intentional prying, he's your ride because... why, exactly?" Shilloh moved her hands about, intentionally arching her left arm a bit more than she needed to so she could accidentally hit Hodgins who was still grumbling.

"I live above his garage, it's more efficient that we car pool," Zach said, watching as she hit Hodgins again for calling her out on her not-so-accidental hitting.

"Yeah, that, and he doesn't drive," Hodgins said, eager to get Shilloh's attention off of him. It seemed to work, because she finally stopped flapping at him with her hands.

"Really? Can't afford a car? Don't like the traffic?" She asked, and then scrunched her face, "hold up, you live above his garage? That doesn't sound very well insulated, don't you get cold?" Her nose still scrunched, she looked between Hodgins and Zach. "And you just let him freeze, then, do you? Some friend you are," she swatted Hodgins on his arm again lightly, and he made a face at her that she didn't see- her attention was already back on Zach.

"It is very well insulated. Hodgins prefers that I say I am renting the room above his garage because it otherwise gives off the wrong impression. It is quite spacious, with a kitchen and everything," Zach said, elaborating because it was obvious that Shilloh still wasn't convinced that she much liked this whole garage set-up.

Her eyes narrowed at him, and he felt very much like he was being scrutinized. Finally, she nodded over at him, and said, "well that's good, then. Now, why is it that you don't drive, aside from it being more efficient?"

"I am working towards a doctorate in applied engineering," he said, and when she stared at him blankly, he elaborated, "I do not much care for the structural engineering of cars," Shilloh then looked at him again in that scrutinizing manner. It made him nervous, as if he had somehow said something potentially wrong, and she was deciding if he needed to be laughed at.

"You know, I only ever worry about other drivers, I don't think I've ever once given thought to the actual make-up of my car. Please don't tell me anything about it, I rather enjoy driving and I don't want it spoiled," she nodded at him again, and he realized that she wasn't judging him when he said something, but more where exactly she should place the words he said.

It made him feel just a bit more secure around her, knowing that she was listening to what he said and categorizing it, just as he did with her smiles.

"So, Hodgins," Shilloh began, sliding her arms behind her back and tilting her head up to look at him, "what sort of a man drives two different cars- I've seen you do it, and they both look positively shiny -yes, that was an intentional Firefly reference, drop it. And what sort of a man has, for all intents and purposes, an apartment above his garage," she narrowed her eyes at Hodgins, but the smile on her face made it apparent that she thought his squirming was funny.

When he snapped a rubber band on his wrist twice and looked thoroughly uncomfortable, though, she stopped smiling.

"Hey, Jack, I was only joking. I've got a couple of rich friends, it's no big deal- so you've got a few extra cars and enough space to let a friend move in; so what? I'm really sorry if my joking upset you, though, it wasn't intentional at all," Shilloh placed her hand on his elbow, and looked at him, trying to determine what was upsetting him.

He sighed for a moment, then looked over her head at Zach who wasn't able to offer any support- he was afraid anything he would say would just further his friend's distress.

Luckily for both boys, Shilloh was a fast thinker, "Oh, I see. Jack, don't worry about it, I get it. You want your privacy, fine; I won't tell anyone you've got some extra pocket money, ok? Although, really, if you don't want people to know, you should probably not take that beautiful thunderbird in anymore," she smiled up at him, satisfied that the situation had resolved itself. "Now, I'm hungry, and the diner isn't getting any closer with us sitting here moping, come on, guys."

"I only took the thunderbird in once! Last week! You barely knew me," Hodgins called after her, as she had already made a sizable gap between them.

"It's a lovely car- a person takes a car like that to work, you take notice," she called back, waiting for them to catch up to her. "Look! The diner! Finally!" And just like that, she was making to get a head start on them again.

"I suppose we will be stuck with the most undesirable seating, as we will be arriving last," Zach said as he watched her open the door with a bit more force than entirely necessary.

"Most definitely," Hodgins agreed when they finally reached the door themselves.

Ok, guys, here's the run down:

My laptop's going through some problems, so the chapters I have written down aren't going to be up until I get it fixed (which will be between the 25th and the end of the month). Because I love you all so much I found a way write a filler chapter between the last one and the one I've got written on my laptop.

Also, since I've been without my laptop, I've been doing future one-shots for this story like crazy, and I've realized that if I do every single episode it is going to be crazy-slow. I don't know what possessed me to think I could, or even should, do all the episodes, but there you have it.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, I'm cutting stuff out. If you've got any favs. you absolutely have to have (outside of the obvious- Man in the Fallout Shelter, The Man on Death Row) then let me know. Otherwise, forever hold your peace.

Once again, sorry this bit is so crazy short, I'll make it up to you once I get my laptop up and running by posting the two chapters I've got on there at the same time (crazy!).