The Rings in the Heart
Chapter 4 – Product placement hell
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Disclaimer: Where BONES is concerned, I have no claim to their fame.
A/N: Something a little more fluffy, ahem...to progress the developing relationship between our central protagonists. Warning: contains subtle product placements
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Office of Dr. Temperance Brennan – All Star Genius
17:00 sharp (she did say not to be late)
"Hey Bones, are you ready to roll?" asked Booth as he strode into her office.
"Come on in and shut the door behind you Booth" replied Brennan who was sat on the Ikea couch and did not turn around. Booth heard the determined tone in her voice, noted the tension in her posture, and complied; Bones had something on her mind that was failing to process. Anything that she couldn't control was the enemy. Booth realised that now, more than ever, that he was her 'go to guy' for social strategy; plus a number of additional fun pursuits lately.
Booth warily sat down on the Ikea couch with Brennan and waited to see what she would do next. For the past two weeks, they had found themselves in pleasantly uncharted territory. After such a prolonged period of mutual restraint and constraints, finally becoming unfettered was like being on a Disneyland rollercoaster ride; scary, exhilarating, trying to defy gravity, and the laws of physics all at once. She leaned into him and placed her head on his chest.
"Are you in need of a guy hug Bones?" he asked placing an arm around her.
"You know exactly what I need Seeley Booth...and it is not a 'guy hug'" replied Brennan poking at his 'Cocky' belt buckle to punctuate her statement.
"Hey, hands off the merchandise lady!" Booth said in his best 'Tony' voice. "How about a kiss from my best girl?" Brennan gave a low chuckle.
"You are such a distraction..." she admitted, tilting her face up to look at him and bravely holding his gaze, even though she knew that it was her undoing.
"And publicly showing off your Victoria's Secret underwear to me over FBI monitored bandwidth is not distracting Bones?" countered Booth. He had already had words with the Cisco systems IT collaborative at the FBI, calling in some favours – the master footage had been handed over to him. At least Bones was not going to be featured in the 'Jugs of the Jeffersonian' calendar this year. His teasing made her smile in recollection, and relax a little. "Besides, is my distracting you such a bad thing?"
Brennan narrowed her eyes in thought, pondering the question and needing clarification. "Are we officially 'off the clock' Booth?"
Booth glanced at the Tag Heur clock on the wall and nodded in confirmation, a twitch of a smile forming in anticipation of her response.
"Not enough data to establish an opinion at this time," she replied, pulling him in for a kiss which involved a complex tongue crossover methodology. It was times like this that Booth thoroughly enjoyed donating his body to science. Booth was also secretly hoping like hell that Bones continued collecting her precious data for the next 30, 40, or 50 years.
As Seeley Booth contributed to the osculatory dataset, he considered that if his 'off the clock' response had been in the negative, all he would have gotten was saucy science talk and eye-sex as a consolation prize. Regardless, it was proving increasingly difficult for him to say 'no' to Bones as their bond became stronger. She would have accepted his call on the matter, either way, with the enduring equanimity that formed the root of her reasoning. Booth sometimes felt guilt, and it wasn't entirely irrational; with Bones it was too easy to manipulate her emotional responses, even if the outcome was mutually satisfactory – this was sadly one of the issues that had contributed to her disastrous 'track record' with men in the past.
After the passing of what was possibly the World's largest flotilla of Mississippi steamboats, their lips unlocked, both faces flushed, wearing mirrored smiles of wonderment. They had discussed this issue that very morning over a hurried Pop Tart breakfast. That a relatively tame act of a kiss could still trigger this powerful response from them collectively was a positive sign, undeniable proof that they remained compatible in spite of, and despite the risks to their commitment to a longer term 'experiment'.
"Do you think that will get us through until Pittsylvania?" asked Booth, referring to the kiss within the context of the hours of driving ahead of them.
"Absolutely not," shot back Brennan.
"Didn't think so," he responded with his head shaking in mock dismay. They would work something out. Booth moved to get up with a slight groan as his back twinged in complaint at the prospect of an evening at the wheel.
She reluctantly disengaged from their clinch on the Ikea couch and stood straightening her clothing, and looked around for her Colorado jacket, which she found on top of her North Face compact travel duffel, next to the feet of the mummified remains displayed in an environmentally-controlled display case.
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Somewhere on the US-29
Booth gave a curse at a driver who had tried to break the laws of physics by attempting to simultaneously occupy the same space as his SUV.
"Is this large shiny SUV not conspicuous for you to notice pal?" he ranted at the driver of the Prius in the lane next to him. "Anyways, aren't those darn things supposed to 'keep you in your lane'" Booth asked rhetorically, mimicing some ad that had plagued the airwaves since leaving D.C. late that afternoon.
Brennan stirred from her slumber, having nodded off before the outskirts of Arlington. She rubbed her face with her hands and sat up from her semi-curled up posture against the shoulder padding of the passenger seat.
"Where are we Booth?" she asked in a voice still husky from sleep.
"In product placement hell Bones, somewhere outside Charlottesville" he answered testily.
Brennan only understood half of what he had said, however, her question had been answered. She made a suggestion, it was a new skill that she was learning. "Should we stop there Booth? I need a bathroom and some food. You need rest and a Sam Adams beer".
Booth grunted non-committally, but gave a small nod and grinned in recognition of her effort to suggest.
"A massage? Some other form of stress relief? But only if I get to drive" added Brennan cheekily. She had no issues when it came to being suggestive. What a difference a suffix made.
"Temperance the tough-talking temptress. You drive a hard bargain Bones, how could I resist an offer like that?" Booth asked, reaching over to smooth down her hair, which was mussed up from being drooled on while she slept.
"Driving the large shiny SUV will suffice Booth" she replied evenly as he changed lanes to take the next exit to find a rest stop.