Zack and Brennan were alone in the bone room, surrounded by a screen's hazy glow and the silence that indicated the two were intensely concentrating. Temperance turned a bone over and over in her hand, occasionally pausing to run her fingers over a foreign indent or two. Zack, as usual, mimicked his advisor's motions. He hefted a vertebrae in his right hand, then tried the left.
Slowly he lowered the bone back into it's place on the skeleton spread out on the table. He picked up the next, glancing quickly at Brennan. He took a deep breath, opened his mouth, paused, then closed it. Dr. Brennan seemed not to notice. He tried again, this time forcing her name out.
"Dr. Brennan?"
"Yes?" Brennan replied, eyes not leaving the rib she was still scrutinizing. A steep inhale.
"I'm gay." Bones' hands stopped turning and she looked up. Zack, after a moment's hesitation, met her gaze. She cocked her head.
"Okay," she responded.
"I-it won't affect my work," Zack stuttered, unsure what came next.
"I don't think anything could affect your excellent work, Dr. Addy," she said, and redirected her concentration to the skeleton.
Zack exhaled and picked up the next vertebrae, heart racing, but calmer.