The Appointments of the Scientist
A/N: Set early S5 right after Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood but mentions things from the previous seasons. Inspired by Brennan's impeccable personal grooming and my own experiences receiving and performing epilation treatments. Contains scenes of a sexual nature, if that's not your thing then move along.
Booth knew there were days that Bones couldn't go to lunch to discuss the case with him. Sometimes she had meetings with her publisher, other times she had faculty meetings or one to one sessions with her students. Other times she just said she had 'appointments', Booth didn't ask for further details.
As time went by, he got more curious about these appointments, there was one every few months where he'd go to the lab in an afternoon and her hair would be a little shorter, glossier and styled slightly differently than it had been in the morning. He concluded that hair salon visits came under the 'unknown appointment' column.
Other times her shoulders would be less rigid and her voice would be softer after an 'appointment' he hoped it was massage but, knowing Bones, it is possible she had a nooner to relieve urges … it was better for his stress levels to stick to the massage theory. Not too long after they had kissed under the mistletoe, he broached the topic. He commented that she seemed really relaxed and she replied that if he would like the number of her masseuse, Helene, she would be happy to provide it. He declined, the information that it was indeed massage and not some friend with benefits chilling her out aided his relaxation levels enough, the fact that her masseuse was female made it even better.
Sometimes, if there was a special event coming up, she would return with rosy, glowing skin or exquisitely tidy nails with a shiny coating that it seemed like a shame for her to cover them with her nitrile gloves. Facials and manicures were only for occasions where she would be in the public eye and have her photograph taken. His Bones took very good care of herself - and why not? She worked hard and earned megabucks, she deserved it!
Another type of appointment pulled his investigator mode into play. She would seem no different aesthetically after it, but her mood seemed a little off if they had to do something right after this mysterious appointment and she always wore the same loose fitting, wide leg pants those days. Booth had figured out it happened every six weeks give or take a day or so, he was observant like that. So when, a week before her mystery appointment was due, they were informed that they would be joining the circus and she took a look at her costume; he listened carefully to the phone call she made straight after.
"Yes, I have an appointment next week but I'll need to bring it forward, I'm more than happy to pay extra for the inconvenience to you … 7pm? That would be perfect … thank you Tracy."
"What's up, Bones?"
"Oh, I was moving my waxing appointment to tonight, this costume is rather revealing, my underarms, legs and bikini line will be very visible."
Ah! Waxing, that's where she went every 6 weeks. It explained why he couldn't see the differences and her mood was off, the loose clothing must be a waxing thing too. All his previous girlfriends shaved the parts they wanted hair free, some shaved more parts than others and a couple didn't shave at all but it was all good. He would never have pegged Bones for being bothered by that kind of thing and wouldn't have been surprised if she had some anthropological explanation as to why women's body hair was necessary for society to function.
In his opinion and experience, women only got rid of their body hair when there was a chance someone would be seeing it. He'd heard women in the office chatting about looking forward to a date but bemoaning the shaving rituals before it. He remembered some of the women at army bases rejoicing that wearing fatigues meant they didn't need to shave their legs and a couple of girls at his high school always wearing pants and long sleeve shirts because they didn't want to date, therefore, didn't need to shave.
So when he next saw Bones wearing her wide leg pants and peasant blouse, he was surprised because she hadn't mentioned she was seeing anyone. Although it was possible that their previous case, with multiple instances of infidelity, had reinforced her beliefs that getting what satisfaction she could from one night stands was the safest way to experience sex and relationships. He really thought he was bringing her round to seeing his view of monogamy and intimacy; it was like a knife in his chest when he thought about what yahoo was going to be putting the moves on his Bones.
When he visited the lab to see if she wanted to catch dinner, he was pretty sure his emotional pain would match her physical discomfort and they'd be on an even, sombre mood level. But he was wrong, so wrong. Bones was far more irritable than usual, she was pacing in her office with a strange gait and, from the look on her face, talking very clearly and firmly on her phone.
"Hold up big guy." Cam stopped him as he passed her door.
"Hey, Cam, you need me for something?" His eyes flicked to his ex-lover briefly but his attention was definitely not being torn away from the very angry looking forensic anthropologist thirty feet away.
"No, just preventing you from having your head bitten off by Dr Brennan." She smiled sweetly when he turned to look at her fully. "Unless it's case related I'd give it a pass, she had … an experience today. She's not seriously hurt, physically or emotionally … just really pissed off."
"Oh, well I was just going to see if she wanted to get something to eat but …" He glanced back at Bones and heard her raised voice say something about revoking a licence … maybe she had been in a small car accident or some idiot had dinged her door in a parking lot. Seemed to be a little heavy handed for Bones but Booth figured if he'd just had his pubes ripped out, something normally slightly irritating would probably send him on a tear as well. "I'll catch up with her tomorrow."
#
The next day she was wearing a different pair of wide leg pants when she came out of her building and got into his SUV to go to a scene. Booth had a cup of coffee waiting for her and she smiled and thanked him like any other time they had taken part in that routine. She seemed fidgety, crossing and uncrossing her legs and shifting her butt around on the seat. Booth kept quiet, if she had something to tell him he'd wait until a better moment to get her to open up and talk about it.
Booth was shocked to find the Jeffersonian van there with Wendall and Hodgins, Bones immediately started directing them from the edge of the taped off area. Turned out the bones were a dog and Wendall managed to find the microchip so they called animal control to take over and find out who would bury their dog in a public park. Back in the SUV, Bones was pretty pissed that her precious time had been wasted and Booth took the opening.
"You seem pretty irritable today, Bones. I came by the lab last night but you were on an intense phone call by the looks of things so I left you to it."
"You are correct, I am irritable. My usual waxing specialist has Norovirus … stomach flu … she understandably took time off as it's highly contagious but her replacement was awful. She didn't test the temperature of the wax and I now have first degree burns on my genitals."
Booth winced, yup that would make anyone irritable. "Damn Bones, that must be uncomfortable!"
"Yes, it's very uncomfortable. The phone call that you described as 'intense' was me relaying my experience to the DC board of Barbers and Cosmetology to have her licence to practice reviewed."
"Well, yeah, you can't just go around slapping burning wax on people's … y'know, personal hygiene shouldn't be an extreme sport!"
"Indeed." Bones sniffed in agreement and turned to look out her passenger window, Booth realised the conversation was over and he was quite glad, even though it was regarding an injury, he didn't want to talk about, or think about, Bones … parts right then. That was a road best travelled alone … in bed.
#
Like clockwork, Bones' phone rang at 6.50pm on Friday night. Without even checking the caller ID, she answered and greeted Booth; no, she didn't have plans for the evening, yes, she would love Thai food. She had only been in her apartment long enough to remove her jacket and put her keys in the bowl by the coat rack when his signature knock came. Booth breezed into her home, internally glad she was spending the evening with him rather than anyone else and started placing all the containers of food on her coffee table.
"I'm just going to change, I'll be back in five minutes." Booth watched her walk back to her bedroom and went to the kitchen to grab a couple of the beers he knew would be in her fridge.
She returned wearing a loose long sleeve shirt and yoga pants and they dug into their meal heartily. When the food was done and Bones killed her bottle, she got up and came back with two tumblers and a bottle of Woodford Reserve.
"Are we celebrating or commiserating?" Booth took the glass from his partner and sipped.
"It has been a week of annoyances and I wish to be inebriated." Bones sighed and drained her glass.
"Yeah and you'll get there quickly if you keep going like that!" She drew him a look that said 'drop it' and he acquiesced "Hey, I get it, I wouldn't want you to drown your … annoyances alone so let's drink! Hope your guest room is ready!""
Bones laughed and refilled their glasses. And they drank, when half the bottle was gone and they'd exhausted their usual light topics of conversation, the mood in the room dipped.
Booth cleared his throat "So, does it happen a lot? Getting burned by wax?"
"I have heard of others it's happened to but I've been getting waxed since I was 21 and that's the first time I've experienced it."
Frowning, Booth remembered something he'd learned not too long before. "I thought you didn't have sex until you were 22?"
"I didn't." Bones looked at him, her expression completely confused. "Oh! You believe the only time a woman would remove the terminal hair that grows after puberty is due to having a sexual partner?"
"Umm … well that's the impression I've gotten through overhearing things and my experiences with women." He shrugged, wondering what her reason was and also wondering if this meant that she was not sexually active at this point like he feared.
"Well, I suppose for a lot of women that could be the only reason." More drinks were poured, and the glasses emptied into looser mouths.
"So what's your reason? Honestly I thought you'd be more of an au naturale kinda chick."
"You've thought about how I groom my pubic hair?" Bones snorted at the shocked and guilty look on Booth's face. "Relax! I'll tell you the embarrassing story that started my epilation journey.
When I had just turned 20, I took part in my first overseas anthropological dig. There were too many of us shoelaced into too many tents."
"Shoehorned …"
"Right, anyway, we were sleeping in shifts and sharing sleeping bags and one of the girls I was sharing that arrangement with had pubic lice and liked to sleep naked. It was a few days before we noticed and we were quite a distance from any medical help. One of the other women we shared a tent with told us that shaving all of our body hair off would prevent them from laying eggs until we could be treated so that's what we did. After we were treated I realised I liked not having pubic hair, it's that simple. After a year or so, another colleague suggested I try waxing as it was less damaging to the skin and there was no itchy stubble to deal with."
"Huh!" Booth was enjoying hearing her explanation and it occurred to him that never really asked women about these things before. "So it just feels better?"
"Well, when I started waxing it definitely felt better but it wasn't until I returned from a four month dig while I was seeing Michael, where I wasn't able to maintain my waxing routine; but I realised that being waxed also aided with sensation during foreplay and intercourse."
"Oh so it really feels better then?" They drunkenly giggled at that. "But your … injury, it's not still bothering you is it?"
"Not at all, loose clothing and plenty of aloe gel and I'm fine! Why? Were you going to ask to kiss it better like you do with Parker's minor injuries?"
While Bones laughed, Booth's eyes dilated. "Maybe."
She stopped laughing and sobered immediately, looking into his soulful brown eyes. That was not the reply she had been anticipating "I think we've had enough alcohol for tonight, you know where the guest room is. Goodnight, Booth."
"Bones, wait!" Booth put a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from getting up off the sofa. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, I made things all weird but …. In vino veritas, right?"
In wine there is truth. They were obviously attracted to each other, Bones couldn't deny that one bit, and they flirted and glanced longingly since the first moment they met at American University around six years ago. "It may be the truth, but that doesn't mean we should act upon it, Booth."
"Maybe this is more of the bourbon talking, but the longer we're partners, the less reason I see to hold back." Booth got off the sofa to kneel in front of her, his hands grabbing both of hers. "We have this amazing connection, Bones, we get each other, we love spending time together … I honestly feel closer to you than any other woman I've ever been with."
"I agree with those sentiments but what about the issues that would arise? The FBI, the danger we're constantly in … all the reasons you said there had to be a line?"
Booth laughed and shook his head "I put that line there to protect me, I thought if I made a clear boundary it would stop me from falling … getting so close to you. The FBI already thinks we're sleeping together, that's why they insist we see Sweets so often."
"Well, we have slept together in the literal sense …" Bones grinned at Booth "but I concede your points."
"So … we're doing this?" Booth pulled her towards him by the hands.
"When you say 'this' … what does that mean, exactly? Are we just adding sex to our current interactions or is there something I'm missing?" Her brow was slightly furrowed, Booth let go of one of her hands to smooth his fingers across her forehead.
"You're not missing anything, Bones, but just so you know - I'm yours now, I'm your boyfriend, man friend, beau, lover … whatever label you wanna put on me. No other woman will touch me … and I … I expect the same from you. Monogamy."
"I understand." She smiled softly. "For some time I haven't been amenable to the attention of the opposite sex, I suppose it would be fair to say that I'm yours too. As to labels I find 'partners' to be more than adequate."
"Sounds good. I'm gonna kiss you now."
And he did. Booth took Bones in his arms and slanted his mouth over hers more intensely than outside the pool hall, more passionately than under the mistletoe and more sensually than she had ever been kissed before. The dam broke and they were caught in the current that was sweeping them into uncharted territory. When they surfaced for breath, Booth realised they had manoeuvred themselves into him lying between the warmth of her thighs on the sofa.
"Do you wanna … uh" He got distracted by the sweet taste of the skin on her neck "should we move …"
"Yes … we need more space."
Booth stood up and held out a hand to Bones, unashamed of the way his jeans struggled to contain his arousal. He followed his partner with a sense of wonder, was this one of his dreams? Would he wake up in his own bed, unsatisfied and frustrated any moment? Bones turned to him at her bedroom door and looked at him hesitantly.
"Booth … once we do this, there's no going back to how things were before."
"I don't wanna go back, let's just keep moving forward."
"Forward, yes." Bones smiled and wrapped her arms around Booth's neck as she walked backwards to her bed, pulling him along with her.
They continued to explore each other with their lips and hands, fingers stroking, nips and licks, clothes tossed haphazardly around the room. While his mouth suckled on Bones breasts, Booth's hand travelled to the area of previous discussion; moaning around her puckered nipple as he felt how slick her smooth folds were.
"You want me to kiss it better?"
"Oh fuck yes!"
Booth growled at her profanity and kissed down her body until he reached her folds, using his tongue to part the soft petals of her sex to kiss her deeper and more intimately than of her previous partners. There was no doubt in Brennan's mind - Seeley Booth was a man who loved going down on a woman … and she was a woman who loved going down on a man.
"Lie back, I wanna play too."
Booth removed his mouth from her but continued to stroke her with his hand "Another time, baby, I'm ready to explode just tasting you."
She groaned as his fingers pushed into her and he gave a hard suck on her clit before using his dextrous tongue to drive her to an unforgettable crescendo, gasps and moans emanating from deep in her chest before her walls pulsated around his digits and her hips lifted from the mattress. He pet molten, soaked core gently as she recovered and stretched out on the bed next to her, kissing her neck and shoulders as she got her breath back slowly.
"Gotta say, Bones, watching you come apart like that? Magnificent!" The 'mmm' of agreement from her was just pure satisfaction vocalised. "Feel better?"
"Booth, that's the best damn head anyone's ever given me." She rolled onto her side and pushed at his shoulder so he would lie back, she straddled him quickly when he acqueised and took him in hand. He whispered a curse and the muscles in his neck and shoulders tensed.
"It's been a while .. mmh … do we need … need …"
"No" Brennan said softly and stopped stroking him, holding him at the base of his cock as she soothingly caressed his chest with her other hand.
"C'mere" Booth slid his hands up her thighs to her waist and pulled her closer until her center was directly above where she held his hard length. She lowered herself onto him so slowly, almost excruciatingly slowly, if Booth had the presence of mind to think straight he would have admired her incredible muscle control.
When he was fully inside her, and he could feel the wet heat of her against him, their eyes met. This was it, that final connection that made all of the puzzle pieces slot into a beautiful picture of what being whole felt like. With a shaky exhalation, Brennan began to rock gently against Booth as his hands stroked over her neck, shoulders and torso … showing her how much he adored her because he couldn't bring himself to speak and break the spell.
She blinked back the tears that had formed from how emotional the experience was and leaned down to capture his lips in a kiss so sensual but laden with uncertainty it almost wrenched his heart from his chest. He held her to him tightly, pouring all the love he felt for her into every stroke of his tongue and swivel of his hips, every squeeze of his hands and nip of his teeth. He tucked a hand behind one of her knees and rolled them smoothly, maintaining the amazing connection and tempo that was building to consume them as they became one whole entity. Brennan gasped as she felt immense pleasure from the tips of her toes to the roots of her hair, Booth groaned and began to pant, his hips increasing the pace and pressure of their joining.
"Booth … I …" She whispered.
"I know" He slanted his mouth over hers and they moaned against each other's lips as they reached the zenith and toppled over the edge together, leaving them shaking and silent in the moonlight that peered curiously through her blinds.
Still holding her close, Booth rolled to the side and nuzzled his head into her hair. "Bones, that was incredible, I've never …"
"Me either … when you talked about making love I had no idea!" Her voice was softer than he'd ever heard it, her breaths catching in her chest still.
"I thought I'd made love before but … I had no idea it could be like that."
"Well, you did say you'd never had the same connection with another woman that you have with me. It's logical that our experiences together would be greater than what you were previously exposed to."
"Yeah" Booth yawned, the exhaustion of their emotional and physical release pulling him into slumber "It was the most amazing love making on the planet because that's the logical conclusion."
The drifted to sleep in each others arms, Booth before Brennan, and as she was slipping into dreamland she agreed that kissing thing really did make them better.