log; ongoing

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

When; Wednesday afternoon, April 15th
Rating; PG
Characters; Temperance Brennan (phdinbones) and Seeley Booth (peopleskills)
Summary; Booth thinks it's high time his partner saw a real live unicorn.
Log; Brennan honestly couldn't remember the last time she had been to a zoo. She hadn't really been a fan of them as a kid, being firmly convinced that it was essentially a luxurious prison for animals. As she grew older, she had come to accept and appreciate the philosophy behind their existence, but she was too busy to ever take the time to go to one. There was always something -- usually studying -- that seemed more important.

Even now, there were a lot of things she could, and probably should, be doing. She needed to finish getting her apartment in order, look into getting a pet (she had thought that a repetitive sound like the ticking would eventually fade into the background, but it never did, and it was beginning to get on her nerves), read over the ARTEMIS materials and prepare herself for her first day at work. Spending an afternoon at the zoo just seemed silly.

But she had promised Booth, and while the outing had been delayed several times for one reason or another, she knew that he really wanted to go, although she didn't understand why. So she sat outside the ticket counter for the City zoo, reading through the ARTEMIS materials while she waited for him to arrive.

Comments

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

Booth was smiling as he headed towards the zoo, looking forward to spending the time with Bones. While most people would have found the idea of spending an entire afternoon with her exasperating, Booth found it pleasant. Alright, pleasant and exasperating. Besides, how could he resist the chance to see how she reacted to the dinosaurs and mythical creatures at the zoo.

In jeans and a t-shirt with a light jacket Booth smiled at Brennan as he arrived at the zoo, already digging into his pocket for the brightly colored coins to pay for their tickets. The money wasn't really practical, but Booth kind of liked it. It was like using Monopoly money to pay for things.

"So are you ready for this?" he asked her. "And if you brought work I'm going to take it away from you."

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

Brennan looked up from her paperwork and gave Booth a look. "What? I was just doing something useful with my time while waiting for you to arrive." Nonetheless, she obligingly put the paperwork in her bag and stood.

"Why did you want to go to the zoo, anyway?" she asked as they got in line to get tickets.

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

"Because, Bones," Booth said, gesturing at the entrance. "Dinosaurs! Dragons! Unicorns! Where else are you going to get to see things like that walking around? I'll tell you where, no where but here."

He wasn't entirely sure if Bones would get that excited about it, but he was determined to at least try to get her to show a little enthusiasm for it. Maybe once she saw them she would get into it.

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

"Circuses and carnivals, especially in the early days, would often lure customers in with the promise of a mythical animal," Brennan informed him. "They would glue a horn onto a horse and call it a unicorn, or sew together the body parts of different animals and claim it was the corpse of a chimera. The general population fell for these tricks because of a sort of culture of credulity and overall deficiecies in education."

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

"And doctor's would bleed people's bodies to try and balance their humors," Booth said. Anyone else might have become frustrated already with her arguments, but for Booth this was just conversation with Brennan.

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't go to doctors," he added. "Why don't we make a bet if you're so sure?"

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

"I didn't mean that's why we shouldn't go to zoos," Brennan said, maybe just a little defensively. "I was just saying there's a long history of fraud when it comes to displaying mythological creatures. And of course we should go to doctors."

"What's the bet?" she asked, eyeing him.

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

"Well that's because back home mythological creatures aren't real," Booth countered as he picked up a map of the zoo as they headed inside.

"I don't know, what should we bet?" he asked.

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

"I don't know!" Brennan retorted. "It was your idea."

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

"Only because you don't think they're real," Booth said. "And it's not very often I get to prove you wrong."

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

"That's because I don't jump to conclusions before gathering all the evidence," Brennan retorted smugly. "Also, I'm smarter than you are."

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

"In some ways," Booth corrected. "You're absolutely horrible at dealing with people. Especially ones that have feelings and emotions."

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

"That has nothing to do with intelligence!" Brennan protested. "They're just skills.

"You still haven't decided on a bet," she added, a little childishly.

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

"So anyone can learn what you know with studying but you can't learn what I can do?" he asked.

"And I have it. If there are really unicorns here, you have to say 'I believe in faeries'," he said. "Loudly."

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

"No, not at all," Brennan said. "Intelligence is an inherent trait while skills are learned. Anyone can learn my skills, but that doesn't make them as intelligent as I am. That's why I'm the best in my field."

She gave him a deadpan look at his bet suggestion. "But I don't believe in fairies," she said.

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

"You are the best in your field," Booth agreed. He knew she had more book intelligence than he did too, although admitting that would just lead to a discussion about how she had more of other kinds of intelligence.

"Well, maybe then when you see the unicorns you can shout out 'I believe in the possibility of the existence of faeries'. How's that?"

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

Brennan thought about that suggestion. "Fine," she conceded. "If the unicorns are real, I will shout that I believe that fairies might exist. And if the unicorns are fake, you have to spend a week studying some basic scientific theories."

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

"What scientific theories?" he asked. "You make it sound like I was educated by cavemen. I did really well in school I'll have you know. For the most part."

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

"Whichever theories I decide," Brennan said coyly. "So are you in or out?"

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

"You know what? I'm in. Because it won't matter because there are going to be unicorns here and I won't have to read up on any theories," he said, sticking out his hand.

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

"Great." Brennan shook his hand with smug satisfaction. She really shouldn't have been so confident -- she had seen some impossible creatures while here in the City -- but she was used to be right against Booth and perhaps wasn't thinking things through entirely.

She peered at the map Booth was holding. "The so-called 'unicorns' should be this way," she said, and headed off in that direction.

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

Booth let Brennan have her smug satisfaction. He knew that it wouldn't last for long. Well, it would probably be back regarding another subject, but he'd at least win this one.

"So, who's the most interesting person you've met here," Booth asked.

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

Brennan thought about that for a minute. "Angel is very interesting," she said. "Mostly because you two are eerily similar and yet there doesn't appear to be any connection between you. And I also met a girl named Hong Mei. She's from China's Cultural Revolution. She's very interesting."

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

"He's also a blood sucking vampire," Booth pointed out. "Albeit with a heart of gold, apparently." That was still very weird for Booth, seeing someone that looked so much like him.

"China's Cultural Revolution?" he asked. "Isn't that when Chairman Mao came to power?"

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

"That is an important difference, yes," Brennan said, although her tone basically brushed it off as inconsequential. She nodded when Booth mentioned Chairman Mao. "It's a fascinating, albeit tragic, period of history," she said.

"So have you met any interesting people?" she asked.

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

"I've met some superheroes," Booth said. That was pretty cool. No Green Lantern, but that was okay. "Mostly I think I've met young girls. Which is strange."

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

"It's not that strange," Brennan said. "You're a warrior. You don't just fight; you fight to protect something. You're drawn to people that are vulnerable, such as young girls. It's just part of who you are."

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

Booth's head snapped around to face Brennan. "What? No, I'm not drawn to them, okay? It's just how it worked out."

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

Brennan was puzzled by Booth's reaction. "Of course you're drawn to them. You have very strong protective instincts. Just look at the careers you chose -- the military, the FBI, now the police. That is the role you play in society. Young girls in many cultures are taught to respond positively to men in those positions of power."

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

"No, there was just a curse where I was the head of a girls school," he said. He was not drawn to teenage girls.

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

"I see." Brennan still didn't see why Booth was being so touchy about the subject, but she backed off.

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

Booth doubted that his partner saw, but he didn't want to have to explain why her saying he was drawn to teenage girls was a bad thing. Besides, they were at the unicorn exhibit.

"Well would you look at that," he said, smiling and pointing to the unicorns. "I do believe those are unicorns, Bones."

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

Brennan squinted. "They're a little far away for accurate judging," she said. "They could still be horses with horns glued on. EXCUSE ME!" she shouted to one of the unicorns. "COULD YOU COME CLOSER, PLEASE? I NEED TO EXAMINE YOU!"

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

"Bones, they can't underst-" he stopped though as soon as they started to come over. "Well, I guess maybe they do understand."

[phdinbones.livejournal.com]

Brennan leaned dangerously over the rail as she examined the unicorns. "I can't really tell with all the flesh and hair in the way," she said thoughtfully, "but if it's a glue job, it's done very well."

[peopleskills.livejournal.com]

"Why don't, why don't we just not hang over the edge like that," Booth said, resting a tentative hand on her back. "And it's not a clue job, those are real unicorns."