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[bugsandslime]

Hodgins has some serious thinking to do.

Not about anything deep or dark or dire. But actual concrete details regarding having kids with the woman he loves? That is something that requires thought.

The kind of thinking that is best accomplished in a relaxing atmosphere with a comfortable perch for his feet and a bottle of good beer.

Feel free to ask him what is on his mind. Just be prepared—you may find yourself being shanghaied for a ride through his thought processes.

Comments

[argyle_princess]

"Hey, Dr. Hodgins."

[bugsandslime]

Hodgins looks up with a half-distracted smile.

"Hey, Hannah."

Hmm. Hannah.

"Hey, Hannah," Hodgins repeats, more alert this time. "You're a girl."

"Er. Young woman," he amends. She's probably at the age where she's not fond of the childish term.

[argyle_princess]

"Yeah," says Hannah, eyebrows darting for her hairline.

"Please just stop, if this is about to get creepy."

She'd kind of have to tell Brennan. And Booth. And it would get all kinds of ugly.

[bugsandslime]

Hannah is probably finding herself on the receiving end of a very exasperated look right about now.

"Why do I keep getting quasi-accused of being creepy?"

Hodgins swings his feet off his table and sets down his beer.

"Say....say you said to a guy that you were involved with that you wanted 'a million kids.' What exactly would you mean by that?"

[argyle_princess]

"Because most people who say things like that to seventeen year old girls are about to do or say something creepy. Case in point. In what possible world is that a non-creepy question for you to be asking me?"

[bugsandslime]

"We're not in a world. We're between dimensions."

Hodgins sighs.

"And why would I be creepy around you? You're Brennan's protege. Booth would seriously main anyone that creeped you out. Angela would kill me."

"I just need an objective feminine perspective here."

[argyle_princess]

"Fine. But, again, I'm seventeen. So if I was going to say that to Sam, and I can't really think of a reason I would, I'd probably mean, 'I suspect you are not paying attention to me and I'm saying something outrageous to check.'

"Which is probably not what Angela meant when she said it."

[bugsandslime]

"Look. All I'm asking for is a little feminine insight here. Consider it me cashing in my Stepford chips."

Surely he's owed something for reprogramming Rosemary's Robotic Baby.

"And........wait. Why do you automatically assume it was Angela?"

[argyle_princess]

Hannah shrugs. "Brennan told me Angela told you she wanted millions of kids."

Duh.

[bugsandslime]

Hodgins would cast his head upon the table. Except it would probably hurt.

He settles for sighing in defeat.

"Figures."

The women in his circle are conspiring against him, it seems.

[argyle_princess]

Yes. It's totally a conspiracy.

Hannah drops into the chair opposite his.

"Okay, let's look at this rationally. You and Angela are both kind of old, so it really can't mean more than, you know, five, six tops, unless there are some impressive multiple births in there. Or, you know, if you decide to go all Brad and Angelina and adopt your way around the globe. Which, given that you have more money than God, is a viable option. If you wanted."

[bugsandslime]

It's a very rational, well-thought-out perspective. Hodgins listens and picks out the single most important, salient point.

"I'm not old."

Seriously. Not old.

[argyle_princess]

"Your biological clocks are ticking."

Hannah, it must be said, is enjoying this.

[cutting_edgex23]

There's a girl, dark-haired and green-eyed, watching him from nearby.

She seems a little wary.

But eventually--

"Hello."

[bugsandslime]

Hodgins looks of from the (clearly fascinating) beer bottle label.

"Hi," he says to the strange girl.

There's a moment of silent consideration, and then Hodgins swings his feet down off the table.

"Hey. Can I ask you a question?"

He needs an outsider (preferably female) perspective.

[cutting_edgex23]

X does not take a step back.

She does, however, look a little more wary.

But--

"Okay."

Beat.

"It is important?"

[bugsandslime]

"Yeah. Kind of. I mean, not necessarily life-or-death important, but...."

Hodgins looks a little sheepish.

"It's sort of something I need a woman's take on."

[cutting_edgex23]

"Okay."

If possible, X looks even more dubious.

Silence falls.







"Why?"

[bugsandslime]

"Well, it's......"

Really really hard to explain.

"Okay. Say a woman says, and I quote, that she wants a 'million' kids. What does that really mean?"

This is a case where Hodgins's translation skills have broken down.

[cutting_edgex23]

X frowns.

This is very far outside her experience.

She blinks once, tilting her head very slightly.

"She is not a humanoid alien spider?"

[bugsandslime]

"A humanoid....? No. No way."

Hodgins is an entomologist, but he doesn't swing that way.

"No--human. Fully human. The 'million' thing is an exaggeration."

Humanoid spider? Maybe polling the electorate in Milliways wasn't one of Hodgins's brightest ideas ever.

[cutting_edgex23]

"Oh."

Beat.

"She likes children?"

X is guessing. Many people seem to like them, at least.

And it seems reasonable.

[bugsandslime]

"Yeah. Yeah, she definitely seems to."

They way she cuddled that baby. Hodgins can't quite help but smile a little at the memory.

"And not that I don't. I mean, I don't dislike kids." Not that he's spent a whole lot of time around them. "See, I was kind of vaguely thinking of having two. She's talking about how she'd like a bunch."

Bunch is a bit more ambiguous (and less spider-esque) than an million.

"So, if you were talking about having a bunch of kids, how many would you be talking about, numerically?"

[cutting_edgex23]

X looks blank.

"I do not talk about that."

Beat.

"You could ask Lilly. Or Susannah. She has a daughter."

[bugsandslime]

Hodgins slowly shakes his head.

"I don't know a Lilly. Or a Susannah."

Not in Milliways, anyway.

"Hey, um..." Hodgins shifts in his seat a little uncomfortably. "I'm sorry if I touched a nerve there."

He's not sure if he actually has. But the blankness is a little unnerving.