Fic : Squishy
I forgot about that.
Title: Squishy
Fandom: Bones
Characters/Pairing: Pretty much the whole cast. Could be seen as Hodgins/Angela pre-ship or simply as a friendship ensemble fic.
Rating: G
Spoilers: None. Well, small mention of Parker. If you don’t know who that is, don’t read.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Bones or any of those characters.
Notes: Set somewhere in season 1 (it does not fit in the context of season 2). It's far from being my best fic, it's too dialogue-oriented but I hope you'll like it anyway. I was trying to write another fic that would have been much better I think but this plot bunny kept coming back and I couldn't make it go away. Thanks to the_cat07 for betaing the fic.
Summary: It's Angela's birthday.
The cheerful voice of Hodgins filled the quiet little office. “Happy Birthday Angela!”
Angela spun around in her office chair to face her visitor before she exclaimed, “Thanks!” in an equally cheerful tone. “You’re the first one to mention it today!”
“Ha! I win!” He grinned and she giggled before noticing that he had his hands hidden behind him. He caught her glance and said: “I got you something.”
She got up from her chair, smiling.
“Oh, what is it? I want to see.”
With a swift movement he presented her a small fishbowl, wrapped with a blue ribbon.
Her eyes lit like one of a child and she exclaimed excitedly, “You got me a goldfish?”
“Better than that, I got you a chromis cyaneus.”
“A what?”
“A chromis cyaneus, most commonly known as a Blue Reef Damsel fish.”
As Angela looked more closely, she saw an exotic little blue fish swimming happily in the bowl.
“Oh wow, it’s gorgeous!”
“Yeah, I thought it would bring colours to your office. Not that you really need it…” He added as he looked at all her colourful paintings hung on the walls. “But I also thought you might like a fishy friend to keep you company when you’re locked in here, drawing the dea… victims. Hum…” For a moment he wanted to slap himself and to cover it up, he quickly added “Oh and if you look at it at a certain angle and the fish is at a certain spot, because the bowl is circular, you can’t see it and it’s kind of cool.”
Angela smiled her brightest smile. “Thank you, I love it!” she said as she moved in to hug him.
Zack passed by at that moment and stopped dead on the doorstep.
“Why are you hugging Hodgins?” he asked in that same tone he would have asked what some sort of scientific term was.
“Because he’s squishy.” Angela replied with a grin. “I shall call him squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my squishy.”
Hodgins burst out laughing, but Zack was puzzled.
“He gave me a blue fish.” Angela gave as an explanation, but it wasn’t enough to change the younger man’s expression.
“So… you’ll be naming the fish Squishy?” asked Zack.
“No, she was talking about me.”
“Then…” Zack started tentatively “why are you calling him Squishy? Are you involved? I heard people give each other pet names when they are involved in repeated mutual sexual encounter.”
Hodgins shut his eyes in irritation, very tempted to snap the elastic around his wrist to calm himself down.
“No, Zack” said Angela sweetly, obviously amused by this whole situation. “It was just a joke because of the fish is like Dory.” Zack stared at her blankly. “You know, Nemo?”
“Nemo is a blue fish? I thought he was the captain of the Nautilus?”
“No, dumbass! Not the Nemo from 20 000 leagues under the sea! The fish, from the cartoon!” added Hodgins.
“The Disney movie.” added Angela, looking at Zack expectantly.
“I don’t think I saw that one.”
“Don’t you have like, tons of little brothers and sisters?”
“Yes. What is your point?”
“Oh Gosh!” Hodgins was getting really annoyed by this whole thing.
“It’s ok Zack.” said Angela, calmly. “Just forget about it.”
“Ok, well I’ll look into that movie.” Zack nodded and had a foot out the door when he turned around to ask one last question. “So why did you get Angela a fish? Is it a sign of growing affection?”
Angela tried to suppress a giggle while Hodgins snapped is wrist band.
“No Zack” he replied sharply “it’s her birthday!”
Zack’s eyes grew big and he turned to look at Angela. “Is it?”
“Yes.” She replied with a smile. “And don’t even try to ask for my age.”
“No, I… I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was your birthday. I don’t have anything for you.”
“It’s ok, you don’t need to give me anything.” She wasn’t bothered at all that he forgot.
“Well, happy birthday Angela.”
“Thank you.” She answered.
Once again, he was at the door when he added “But, you did call him yours.”
Before he could add more, Hodgins cut him. “Oh, just leave Zack!”
Once he was gone, Hodgins let out a sigh and Angela shook her head. “I keep forgetting that he’s not from this planet.”
“Yeah… You know, I did tell him a week ago that it was going to be your birthday.”
“It’s ok, don’t worry about that, I was not expecting him to remember about that. Bet 10$ that Brennan also forgot?”
“Haha, yes, probably.”
There was a silence before he added “I got to go back to that dirt now. Oh, and I also got you enough fish food for like a year, just because, you know… You can come and pick it up whenever, it’s at my desk, but I fed it a couple of hours ago, so it should be fine for now.”
“Ok. And thanks again for the fish… Squishy!”
Hodgins let out a laugh. “Yeah, you’re welcome. See you later Ang.”
After he was gone, Angela turned her attention to her new fish in its bowl. For a moment, she couldn’t see the fish.
-----
Later that day, Angela walked into Dr. Brennan’s office with a satisfied look on her face.
“I finished the drawing. According to her bone structures and the information you gave me, our victim should look like this.” She said as she handed the piece of paper to Brennan.
“Thanks.” There was a silence for a moment while she looked at the drawing before she added “So Zack told me you are now calling Hodgins ‘Squishy’?” She looked up at her best friend with questions in her eyes.
“Oh god. No, no, it’s Zack, he got it all wrong. I was making a joke because Hodgins gave me a blue fish, that’s it.”
Brennan looked even more puzzled. “I… don’t get it. What is the joke?”
“Oh right. I tend to forget that you’re from the same planet than Zack.” She took a deep breath. “There is this animated movie with fish and one of them is blue.”
“And its name is ‘Squishy’?”
“No, no, her name his Dory, but… It’s a long story, it’s just… Forget it, you have to have seen the movie to understand. But it was just a joke.”
“Ah. Ok.” Brennan glanced back to the drawing before returning her attention to her friend. “So Hodgins got you a fish?”
“Yeah.” replied Angela with small smile.
“Isn’t it a bit strange?”
Angela didn’t really think about it. “No, I mean, maybe. Yeah, I guess a fish is sort of a weird gift but you should see it, it’s really cute.”
“No, I didn’t mean the fish per se, though it might have some sort of meaning I don’t know about, but I meant that he gave you the fish.”
Brennan looked at Angela as if what she just said made sense, but Angela was a bit confused.
“I’m sorry sweetie, I know you’re trying, but the two things you just said sounded the same to me.”
“I meant, anthropologically speaking, gift-giving have a lot of significance, especially in smaller societies, but in the materialistic society of abundance that we live in, it has lost a lot of its meaning and symbolic gifts are less present. We give gifts for specific reason, either asking for things in return or set in a particular calendar of events that…”
Angela cut her and said calmly. “Don’t over think this, it’s not a bribery gift, it’s just my birthday.”
Brennan jolted a little in surprise. “It is?”
“Yes.”
“I’m very sorry Angela, I…” said Brennan quickly, looking very guilty and embarrassed.
Once again Angela cut her gently. “It’s ok sweetie, don’t worry about it, I was not expecting you to remember. Birthdays are not your strong point.”
Brennan still looked sheepily. “No, but still. I’m sorry Angela. I’m not very good at the whole best friend thing. I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She said for the second time. “It’s no big deal.” She got up and stroked her friend’s hair once before she started to leave, a combined mark of affection and forgiveness. Once at the door, she turned back and said “You should call Booth for identification.”
“He’s already on his way. Should be here any minute now.”
“Ok, good.”
As Angela walked back to her office, she saw Booth in a discussion with Zack. The agent looked very relieved to see her and he seized the opportunity to cut short what must have been a painful conversation.
“Angela!” He called, making a leap to her. “Happy Birthday!”
He handed her a card.
“Hey, thanks!” she replied enthusiastically.
Zack had followed to join them. “How come you knew it was her birthday?”
“Because I’m a people person Zack.” He turned his attention back to the woman.
“I didn’t really know what to get you so I settled for a card instead.”
“It’s great Booth, thanks.” She hugged him quickly.
“So what did the other squints give you?”
“Well, Zack and Brennan expectedly forgot…” Zack blushed and Booth shook his head. “But Hodgins got me an exotic blue fish.”
“And now she calls him ‘Squishy’.” added Zack in an informative tone.
Angela sighed, ready to explain the whole thing a third time. “No… It’s because…” But Booth interrupted her.
“I shall call it Squishy and it shall be mine and it shall be my Squishy.”
Angela’s face lit up.
“Yeah, Parker loves that movie. And Dory…” he laughed softly. “She’s quite funny!”
Angela smiled “Thank you! At last, someone I don’t have to explain to!”
“Squishy, that’s a good name for a fish.” commented Booth.
“No, I meant she’s calling Hodgins ‘Squishy’.” Zack felt the need to clarify.
Booth, now confused, glanced at Angela for explanation.
“Long story that’s really not that interesting and completely blown out of proportion, thanks to Zack.” She shot a death glare to the assistant, who really didn’t understand what he did wrong.
“I was simply giving information so that if people hear you say ‘Squishy’, they will know you are talking about Hodgins.”
Angela sighed, Zack’s cause was hopeless.
“Forget about Hodgins, Zack.” She turned her attention to Booth. “I will be calling the fish Squishy, because it is a great name. Now, if you boys excuse me, I have to go get my fish food from Squish… Hodgins. See you later.”
-----
Hodgins was looking into a microscope when she got to his desk.
“Hey Squishy!”
Hodgins looked up with a smile.
“Hey, birthday girl!”
“I’m here for the food.”
“Of course.” He handed her three plastic bags full of fish food. “There.”
“Thanks!” She kissed him on the cheek, taking him completely by surprise. “The fish is a great gift.”
She smiled and left, a little bounce in every step.
“Oh, and you owe me 10$!” She shouted without looking back.
Hodgins laughed, shook his head and shout back “Hey, I never accepted your bet!” but she was already gone.
Title: Squishy
Fandom: Bones
Characters/Pairing: Pretty much the whole cast. Could be seen as Hodgins/Angela pre-ship or simply as a friendship ensemble fic.
Rating: G
Spoilers: None. Well, small mention of Parker. If you don’t know who that is, don’t read.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Bones or any of those characters.
Notes: Set somewhere in season 1 (it does not fit in the context of season 2). It's far from being my best fic, it's too dialogue-oriented but I hope you'll like it anyway. I was trying to write another fic that would have been much better I think but this plot bunny kept coming back and I couldn't make it go away. Thanks to the_cat07 for betaing the fic.
Summary: It's Angela's birthday.
The cheerful voice of Hodgins filled the quiet little office. “Happy Birthday Angela!”
Angela spun around in her office chair to face her visitor before she exclaimed, “Thanks!” in an equally cheerful tone. “You’re the first one to mention it today!”
“Ha! I win!” He grinned and she giggled before noticing that he had his hands hidden behind him. He caught her glance and said: “I got you something.”
She got up from her chair, smiling.
“Oh, what is it? I want to see.”
With a swift movement he presented her a small fishbowl, wrapped with a blue ribbon.
Her eyes lit like one of a child and she exclaimed excitedly, “You got me a goldfish?”
“Better than that, I got you a chromis cyaneus.”
“A what?”
“A chromis cyaneus, most commonly known as a Blue Reef Damsel fish.”
As Angela looked more closely, she saw an exotic little blue fish swimming happily in the bowl.
“Oh wow, it’s gorgeous!”
“Yeah, I thought it would bring colours to your office. Not that you really need it…” He added as he looked at all her colourful paintings hung on the walls. “But I also thought you might like a fishy friend to keep you company when you’re locked in here, drawing the dea… victims. Hum…” For a moment he wanted to slap himself and to cover it up, he quickly added “Oh and if you look at it at a certain angle and the fish is at a certain spot, because the bowl is circular, you can’t see it and it’s kind of cool.”
Angela smiled her brightest smile. “Thank you, I love it!” she said as she moved in to hug him.
Zack passed by at that moment and stopped dead on the doorstep.
“Why are you hugging Hodgins?” he asked in that same tone he would have asked what some sort of scientific term was.
“Because he’s squishy.” Angela replied with a grin. “I shall call him squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my squishy.”
Hodgins burst out laughing, but Zack was puzzled.
“He gave me a blue fish.” Angela gave as an explanation, but it wasn’t enough to change the younger man’s expression.
“So… you’ll be naming the fish Squishy?” asked Zack.
“No, she was talking about me.”
“Then…” Zack started tentatively “why are you calling him Squishy? Are you involved? I heard people give each other pet names when they are involved in repeated mutual sexual encounter.”
Hodgins shut his eyes in irritation, very tempted to snap the elastic around his wrist to calm himself down.
“No, Zack” said Angela sweetly, obviously amused by this whole situation. “It was just a joke because of the fish is like Dory.” Zack stared at her blankly. “You know, Nemo?”
“Nemo is a blue fish? I thought he was the captain of the Nautilus?”
“No, dumbass! Not the Nemo from 20 000 leagues under the sea! The fish, from the cartoon!” added Hodgins.
“The Disney movie.” added Angela, looking at Zack expectantly.
“I don’t think I saw that one.”
“Don’t you have like, tons of little brothers and sisters?”
“Yes. What is your point?”
“Oh Gosh!” Hodgins was getting really annoyed by this whole thing.
“It’s ok Zack.” said Angela, calmly. “Just forget about it.”
“Ok, well I’ll look into that movie.” Zack nodded and had a foot out the door when he turned around to ask one last question. “So why did you get Angela a fish? Is it a sign of growing affection?”
Angela tried to suppress a giggle while Hodgins snapped is wrist band.
“No Zack” he replied sharply “it’s her birthday!”
Zack’s eyes grew big and he turned to look at Angela. “Is it?”
“Yes.” She replied with a smile. “And don’t even try to ask for my age.”
“No, I… I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was your birthday. I don’t have anything for you.”
“It’s ok, you don’t need to give me anything.” She wasn’t bothered at all that he forgot.
“Well, happy birthday Angela.”
“Thank you.” She answered.
Once again, he was at the door when he added “But, you did call him yours.”
Before he could add more, Hodgins cut him. “Oh, just leave Zack!”
Once he was gone, Hodgins let out a sigh and Angela shook her head. “I keep forgetting that he’s not from this planet.”
“Yeah… You know, I did tell him a week ago that it was going to be your birthday.”
“It’s ok, don’t worry about that, I was not expecting him to remember about that. Bet 10$ that Brennan also forgot?”
“Haha, yes, probably.”
There was a silence before he added “I got to go back to that dirt now. Oh, and I also got you enough fish food for like a year, just because, you know… You can come and pick it up whenever, it’s at my desk, but I fed it a couple of hours ago, so it should be fine for now.”
“Ok. And thanks again for the fish… Squishy!”
Hodgins let out a laugh. “Yeah, you’re welcome. See you later Ang.”
After he was gone, Angela turned her attention to her new fish in its bowl. For a moment, she couldn’t see the fish.
-----
Later that day, Angela walked into Dr. Brennan’s office with a satisfied look on her face.
“I finished the drawing. According to her bone structures and the information you gave me, our victim should look like this.” She said as she handed the piece of paper to Brennan.
“Thanks.” There was a silence for a moment while she looked at the drawing before she added “So Zack told me you are now calling Hodgins ‘Squishy’?” She looked up at her best friend with questions in her eyes.
“Oh god. No, no, it’s Zack, he got it all wrong. I was making a joke because Hodgins gave me a blue fish, that’s it.”
Brennan looked even more puzzled. “I… don’t get it. What is the joke?”
“Oh right. I tend to forget that you’re from the same planet than Zack.” She took a deep breath. “There is this animated movie with fish and one of them is blue.”
“And its name is ‘Squishy’?”
“No, no, her name his Dory, but… It’s a long story, it’s just… Forget it, you have to have seen the movie to understand. But it was just a joke.”
“Ah. Ok.” Brennan glanced back to the drawing before returning her attention to her friend. “So Hodgins got you a fish?”
“Yeah.” replied Angela with small smile.
“Isn’t it a bit strange?”
Angela didn’t really think about it. “No, I mean, maybe. Yeah, I guess a fish is sort of a weird gift but you should see it, it’s really cute.”
“No, I didn’t mean the fish per se, though it might have some sort of meaning I don’t know about, but I meant that he gave you the fish.”
Brennan looked at Angela as if what she just said made sense, but Angela was a bit confused.
“I’m sorry sweetie, I know you’re trying, but the two things you just said sounded the same to me.”
“I meant, anthropologically speaking, gift-giving have a lot of significance, especially in smaller societies, but in the materialistic society of abundance that we live in, it has lost a lot of its meaning and symbolic gifts are less present. We give gifts for specific reason, either asking for things in return or set in a particular calendar of events that…”
Angela cut her and said calmly. “Don’t over think this, it’s not a bribery gift, it’s just my birthday.”
Brennan jolted a little in surprise. “It is?”
“Yes.”
“I’m very sorry Angela, I…” said Brennan quickly, looking very guilty and embarrassed.
Once again Angela cut her gently. “It’s ok sweetie, don’t worry about it, I was not expecting you to remember. Birthdays are not your strong point.”
Brennan still looked sheepily. “No, but still. I’m sorry Angela. I’m not very good at the whole best friend thing. I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She said for the second time. “It’s no big deal.” She got up and stroked her friend’s hair once before she started to leave, a combined mark of affection and forgiveness. Once at the door, she turned back and said “You should call Booth for identification.”
“He’s already on his way. Should be here any minute now.”
“Ok, good.”
As Angela walked back to her office, she saw Booth in a discussion with Zack. The agent looked very relieved to see her and he seized the opportunity to cut short what must have been a painful conversation.
“Angela!” He called, making a leap to her. “Happy Birthday!”
He handed her a card.
“Hey, thanks!” she replied enthusiastically.
Zack had followed to join them. “How come you knew it was her birthday?”
“Because I’m a people person Zack.” He turned his attention back to the woman.
“I didn’t really know what to get you so I settled for a card instead.”
“It’s great Booth, thanks.” She hugged him quickly.
“So what did the other squints give you?”
“Well, Zack and Brennan expectedly forgot…” Zack blushed and Booth shook his head. “But Hodgins got me an exotic blue fish.”
“And now she calls him ‘Squishy’.” added Zack in an informative tone.
Angela sighed, ready to explain the whole thing a third time. “No… It’s because…” But Booth interrupted her.
“I shall call it Squishy and it shall be mine and it shall be my Squishy.”
Angela’s face lit up.
“Yeah, Parker loves that movie. And Dory…” he laughed softly. “She’s quite funny!”
Angela smiled “Thank you! At last, someone I don’t have to explain to!”
“Squishy, that’s a good name for a fish.” commented Booth.
“No, I meant she’s calling Hodgins ‘Squishy’.” Zack felt the need to clarify.
Booth, now confused, glanced at Angela for explanation.
“Long story that’s really not that interesting and completely blown out of proportion, thanks to Zack.” She shot a death glare to the assistant, who really didn’t understand what he did wrong.
“I was simply giving information so that if people hear you say ‘Squishy’, they will know you are talking about Hodgins.”
Angela sighed, Zack’s cause was hopeless.
“Forget about Hodgins, Zack.” She turned her attention to Booth. “I will be calling the fish Squishy, because it is a great name. Now, if you boys excuse me, I have to go get my fish food from Squish… Hodgins. See you later.”
-----
Hodgins was looking into a microscope when she got to his desk.
“Hey Squishy!”
Hodgins looked up with a smile.
“Hey, birthday girl!”
“I’m here for the food.”
“Of course.” He handed her three plastic bags full of fish food. “There.”
“Thanks!” She kissed him on the cheek, taking him completely by surprise. “The fish is a great gift.”
She smiled and left, a little bounce in every step.
“Oh, and you owe me 10$!” She shouted without looking back.
Hodgins laughed, shook his head and shout back “Hey, I never accepted your bet!” but she was already gone.