(no subject)

[dr_temperance]

Brennan is putting pieces together.

Not bones, this evening. Or facts of a case. She’s restricted from working on open cases for the time being. Her father’s trial is officially beginning and, as Booth, Angela and the others are witnesses for the prosecution, they are officially not allowed to work together for the duration. Even casual socializing is being frowned upon.

Brennan had anticipated the social discomfort of being on the opposite side of a trial from her friends and colleagues. What she had not anticipated was the feeling of isolation. Or the boredom.

There is plenty of work she could be doing on her own; bones from Limbo, writing and reviewing articles, grading papers, drafting chapter eleven of the new novel. But her usually well-developed ability to compartmentalize and focus on work also seems to have been adversely affected.

So instead Brennan is studying the pieces of a large jigsaw puzzle, laid out on the table in front of her. She’s already gotten the edges together, and patches of Van Gogh’s Starry Night are floating in the center. There’s a lot left to put together, though.

She wouldn’t mind making the project a collaborative effort.

Comments

[argyle_princess]

"I think this one goes over near that corner."

[dr_temperance]

"Thank you."

Brennan moves the piece into place before she looks up and smiles.

"Hi." She tilts her head to the neighboring empty seat in silent invitation.

[argyle_princess]

"Hey."

Hannah slides into the indicated seat.

"How are you doing?"

[dr_temperance]

"I'm fine."

Brennan is answering that question a lot lately.

"I find myself with an excessive amount of time to fill, though. I had not expected that. Since I can't take part in open cases during the trial, I've found myself at loose ends."

"It's mildly disconcerting."

[argyle_princess]

"Sounds on the boring side, too."

Hannah picks up and discards three pieces of the puzzle.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

[dr_temperance]

"It is."

And it leaves Brennan with far too much time to dwell on things she'd rather not dwell on.

She studies the puzzle.

"Well, I don't have much of the mountains or townscape put together at all yet."

[argyle_princess]

"Okay," says Hannah.

"I was thinking more, you know, big picture helping, but townscapes work, too, I guess."

[dr_temperance]

"Your being here helps. With the big picture," Brennan says simply.

"It's just....I knew that I was not going to be able to work with Angela and Booth and the others while the trial is in progress. I had failed to anticipate that I would be largely restricted from having non-work-related contact with them as well."

And even if she had anticipated it, she would probably not have anticipated exactly how lonely that would leave her.

Brennan is very grateful now, for a new reason, that Hannah is going to college in DC.

[argyle_princess]

"Yeah," Hannah says. "Being cut off from everything you're used to is kind of a bitch."

Especially when it happens because of something your father did, not something you did.

"That kind of makes no sense, you know? Because it's not you couldn't have tried to influence them by now, if you were going to."

[dr_temperance]

"I agree," Brennan says. "I tried to tell that to Caroline, but she and her office won't listen."

Brennan is very good at compartmentalization.

"Hodgins even insisted on asking for my express permission to testify. Though I'm sure he knew what my answer would be."

That answer being, I want you to do your job for the prosecution to the best of your ability.

"I'm spending a good deal of time with my father and my brother. But--"

It's not the same as being able to talk to her friends.

[argyle_princess]

"Yeah," Hannah says, nodding. "Disruptive stuff."

She picks up a piece, tries all four sides without out success, and returns it to the table.

"What did you tell him?"

[dr_temperance]

Brennan picks up a light piece that looks like it probably belongs in the vicinity of the moon.

"Hodgins? I told him to testify, of course."

[argyle_princess]

"Yeah, that's what I would have guessed."

Hannah gives up on the puzzle for a moment.

"Do we need ice cream?"

[fighting_mad]

"Never understood the point of those."

Plourr was headed to the bar; she has stopped halfway to shoot a curious, critical look down at the slowly-shaping image on the table, her arms crossed. She's dressed from a recent flight and session spent tinkering with her X-wing's hyperdrive (she's not going to run away and become a mercenary on Nar Shaddaa, but it's good to be able to threaten to).

Said dress primarily involves military-style boots, a painfully orange flightsuit -- unzipped to the waist with the torso and sleeves dangling -- and a white tank top. Her hair is tied back loosely and there are smudges of dirt and grease on her face and arms.

"Just ... putting together a picture?"

Boring, says her face.

[dr_temperance]

Brennan looks up from a particularly stubborn piece. She would have sworn that it was a bit of mountain, but so far she cannot find it's place.

"I find them very useful as a relaxation and meditative technique," she replies seriously.

And Brennan can use all the relaxation she can get at the moment.

[fighting_mad]

"Really," Plourr says. "It's not boring."

It's a question, if lacking the ordinary verbal upswing at the end of the last word.

[dr_temperance]

"I don't find them to be, no," Brennan replies.

Brennan does not generally waste her time on activities she considers boring. Not if she has any other option.

"It's a mental challenge, albeit a mild one. Much like..." She studies the other woman's outfit for a moment. "Assembling a piece of machinery."

[fighting_mad]

She glances down at herself; lets one side of her mouth curl upward in a reluctant, 'well, okay, at least you're observant' sort of a move.

"End result's a hell of a lot less satisfying, though," she says, and she grins, broad and easy.

[dr_temperance]

"They are, no doubt, much more useful in your case," Brennan agrees.

A completed jigsaw puzzle has no intrinsic use. It's the satisfaction of having worked it that matters.

"But puzzles are a good way to pass the time."

"Would you like to try?" Brennan nods to an empty chair at her table.

[fighting_mad]

There are very few things that Plourr would like less.

She has, however, been honing her diplomatic skills over the past few years.

"Not really," she says bluntly.

(Honing. It's a work in progress.)

"Not unless you want the pieces cut up and pounded to fit into the wrong spots." She is nothing if not honest, and impatient. "I'll watch you, though." She drops into the offered seat. Why not? She might as well talk to somebody while she's having her lunch; she didn't bring a datapad to look over.

She offers a strong, clean hand. "Plourr." (She'll respond to any kind of pressure in a handshake with more of the same, always being sure that her grip is tighter.)

[dr_temperance]

Brennan can appreciate blunt. She herself is often accused of having extremely poor social skills. So directness in others doesn't bother her.

She much prefers it in fact. And takes no offense.

"Altering the pieces would defeat the purpose of the exercise."

She shakes the woman's offered hand. "Dr. Brennan," she replies.

Her own handshake is fairly firm, so it's probably to her credit that she doesn't flinch at the pressure exerted on the bones of her hand.

[fighting_mad]

It's not one of Plourr's infamous bonecrushing handshakes; not by a long shot. But it's strong.

"I thought making them fit was the point of the exercise," she says, and she waves a waitrat over with an imperioud gesture.

[dr_temperance]

"Not exactly, though we may be talking at cross purposes over a point of syntax," Brennan replies, moving a few pieces that look suspiciously tree-like to the side.

"The purpose is to find the pieces that fit together without forcing them to fit together."

She drops one piece into place, gently tapping it home to demonstrate.

[fighting_mad]

They're definitely at cross purposes.

"Something wrong with forcing it?" she says (a little amused).

The rat turns up; Plourr orders nerfloaf in omaton sauce, an order of french fries, and a glass of lum. The rat goes skittering off.

[dr_temperance]

"The pieces will break."

Cardboard doesn't stand up to a great deal of abuse.

"What do you do to relax?" Brennan asks, curiously.

She might need suggestions for the coming weeks.