Participants:
| Scene Title | An Unusual Gift |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Claire and Bones have a small chat after Peyton and Mack leave. Bones gives Claire an unusual gift. |
| Date | January 31, 2010 |
Once upon a time, the New York Public Library was one of the most important libraries in America. The system, of which this branch was the center, was among the foremost lending libraries /and/ research libraries in the world.
The bomb changed that, as it changed so much else.
By virtue of distance, the library building was not demolished entirely, like so many others north of it; however, the walls on its northern side have been badly damaged, and their stability is suspect. The interior is a shambles, tattered books strewn about the chambers and halls, many shelves pulled over. Some have even been pulled apart; piles of char in some corners suggest some of their pieces, as well as some of the books, have been used to fuel fires for people who sought shelter here in the past.
In the two years since the bomb, the library — despite being one of the icons of New York City — has been left to decay. The wind whistles through shattered windows, broken by either the blast-front or subsequent vandals, carrying dust and debris in with it. Rats, cats, and stray dogs often seek shelter within its walls, especially on cold nights. Between the fear of radiation and the lack of funds, recovery of the library is on indefinite hiatus; this place, too, has been forgotten.
"Yeah, probably just easier to accept that I have likely hidden snacks all over this place so that I don't have to carry around a pack and can keep from passing out from not eating." Bones gives a shrug as he inhales the candy bar in two and a half bites and gives Peyton a wave as she makes her way out for the night. Left alone with Claire, nothing really to say at the moment, he kicks back in the chair and props his feet up on the table which would surely be considered a sacrilegious act were the local librarians still in residence.
Moving to lean against the table near Bones, Claire studies him. "So… you have to eat all the time then?" She asks curious, crossing her arms, head tilting to the side a bit as she considers. "My ability has never drained me like that…. what…." She glances over here shoulder at the door, before asking him straight up. ".. what is your ability?" A brow arches as she waits for an answer.
"My body burns whatever I eat at such an accelerated rate because my skeletal frame is much more heavy and dense than the average person." He leans forward and places his arm on the table before her. "Go ahead. Lift it. Muscles are all relaxed. You won't feel any resistance whatsoever. Just… try to lift it." he suggests, giving a shrug.
Glancing down at the arm and then looking at him, Claire looks curious. Arms unfold slowly and she wraps fingers around his wrist. Of course, her small hands don't quite wrap around. She gives him an amused look, before trying to lift his arm. As she works to lift his arm, all amusement fades away into surprise. "Whoa…" She says softly, looking at him again. "Seems more like a disadvantage then an advantage huh?"
"Well it certainly helps me not get broken bones. And in my line of work that can happen fairly easily. Not to mention…" He nods down at his arm as the bone literally ripples and reforms against her palms, allowing her to feel sharp bone spurs that press against the inside of his skin, as if much more pressure might cause those thorns to puncture it and cause her some damage as well. "Definitely comes in handy in a fight." he says, turning his hand for her viewing as wicked bone spurs form on his knuckles as well. "It's called osteokinesis, I guess. I can form my bones any way that I want to. And if a bone punctures the skin, it clots right over and heals pretty damn fast. Probably not as fast as you if what I hear is right, but fast enough."
The feels of the spurs, causes Claire to let go of his hand. "That's… wow." She says softly, moving to lean down to examine what he shows her. She runs fingers carefully across his knuckles with interest, feeling the spurs. "That… is really cool." She comments, glancing at him. "And yes.. I have what is called rapid cell regeneration. It's how I survived having part of my head blown away. I do die if vital organs are hit.. otherwise I can keep going while my body continues to heal."
"Thank you." He says in response to her compliment, slowly taking his arm back through he allows his hand to stay on the table so she is able to watch those bone plates and spurs sink back down easily enough. "See, now that is a very handy ability to have. Besides being able to sculpt my bones, all I am able to do is this.." he says and demonstrated by giving his hand a quick flick which is accompanied by a few quick pops and his hand lays limp on the table once more. "See, most of my bones are now held in place by muscle or tendons which I can relax and throw out and pull back at will. Enables me to get in to places most people could never dream of."
"Was really useful in Madagascar.." Claire agrees with a small smile. "I always went in first.. took the hits and everyone mowed down the bad guys." Blue eyes fall back to his hand, brows lifting. "I don't know, that's pretty damn handy… though I can't imagine it feel all that great." Straightening again, her arms refold as well. Studying the tall man, she grins. "There was a time I envied other peoples abilities. Except for fast healing, I'm just as plain as everyone else. My uncle.. you to be… I guess you could say like a swiss army knife of abilities. He could copy abilities.. He can now too, only difference is he can only copy one ability at a time, before he had quite the arsenal…. I was definitely jealous."
"No use being jealous. Only makes you dwell on something that probably should not be." Bones flexes his hand and all of those bones snap back in to place and he raises his hand to slowly reach out in an attempt to smooth a few strands of her hair back over her ear. "Everyone is just the way they are for a purpose. Most people will more readily accept how another person is more readily than how they are. How much more at peace would the world be if everyone was just content to be, whatever that form might take?" he shrugs again and drops his hand back on to the table. "We have to accept who and what we are before we can ever expect other people to accept us."
"Hey.. you never had to live around that ability." Claire says with a teasing grin, "Easy to be jealous." The touch from him tucking that strand behind her ear, gets a slightly, startled look, but then she looks away and down at the ground with a small shy smile. "I've been told I suck at this leadership stuff… about the time I was in charge of PARIAH." She grimaces and glances back at the door, "Seems I'm still not doing much better." She sighs softly. "I was worried Liz made a bad choice when she said I was to keep things moving." There is a bit of a hesitation, before she looks back at him, "I'm better at standing in the way of bullets… that's for sure. Much easier."
"Wouldn't that be true of anybody though? Anyone can stand there and be hit, or just take the punches. You're not though. You are firing back and doing a fine job of it, really. As far as I can see at least. Maybe I am just too new at this whole thing to give a solid opinion on the matter though…" Bones says, making an allowance for any error in his perception. Slowly getting up from his chair, he walks over to one of his packs and rustles around in it for a moment before he comes back with a smallish box and lays it before her on the table. A box of shot shells. "Here. For you. It's the same shot my police buddy says the cops use to put holes in big-block engines."
"Thanks." Claire says a touch blandly, watching him get up out of his chair, her head tilting a bit to one side to watch what he's doing. Hand rest on the table and help her level up to sit on it, ankles crossing. The box of shells gets a chuckle as she picks it up, pulling one of the shells out. "Why are you giving me these?" She asks highly amused with the gift. "I have to say.. it's the most unusual gift a man has given me…." A frown touches her lips… "Or at least that I remember. Who knows what Magnes gave me when we were dating."
"Dating?" Bones asks, looking at her a little curiously for a moment before a small smile tugs at his lips and soon enough is in full bloom. "I know you are going to rush head long in to danger and there's absolutely nothing that I can do to stop it short of tying you up and I would be the last one to do that, try and change who you are." he reasons easily enough as he watches her pick up one of the shells. "Doesn't mean that I don't like the thought of being able to keep you that much more safe if I am able to help it. If that makes giving you shot shells strange then so be it, but the to me it means I stand a better chance of being able to say hello to you and ask you how your day went."
"Yeah.. there was a guy I dated before I got…" Claire lifts a hand to her head, holding it like a gun. "It didn't work out afterwards… I… guess more then just my view of the world changed. He didn't fit me anymore." There is a shrug of her shoulders, as she glances at the box again, which makes her smirk.
"I'm glad I don't have to make you shoot me to prove that I don't need to be protected." Head turning to look at Bones again, she gives him a searching look. "Supposedly I made this other guy do that to prove I wasn't a damsel in distress." Giving him a matter of fact look, Claire adds. "I'd say there is hope for you…" Sliding off the table and grabbing Cardinal's notebook, she holds up the box. "Thanks for this… I'm actually flattered."
Motioning at the door, Claire gives him a sheepish smile. "I.. ah…" Fingers lift to tuck hair behind her ear, "… I should get a few things done before I go to bed."
Blinking out of something of a daze, as if he had been listening too intently to her words to remember that he should be speaking, Bones gives a bit of a jerk and nods his head as he thumbs over his shoulder. "Yeah, I uh… I have billion things I should probably be doing before I hit the sack. Yeah…" he thinks for a moment and looks to the side as if the answers might be found there. "I can't remember for the life of me what any of them are but…" he shrugs and waves her on her way. "I'll figure something out. Good night. And remember, I'm just going to be sitting up here freezing all night long if you decide to you're cold as well." Nevermind the layers upon layers of comforters behind him as well as the sub-zero sleeping bag he has.
"Nice try, Bones." Claire quips lightly with a grin, as she slips out of the door to the map room.