Written for the 2017 NCIS Holiday Holidays Advent Challenge over at ncis-discuss.
There was pizza and beer in the basement when Gibbs got home, but Tony was nowhere to be seen, even though he knew that the man was in the house somewhere. Christmas music was playing quietly in the background and when Tony came down to the basement freshly showered he was dressed in the most Christmassy pyjama outfit that Gibbs had ever seen. They ate in silence listening to the music, not feeling the need to fill the air with meaningless conversation. Occasionally Tony would break his silence to hum along with whatever song was playing or even rarer to sing along. He sang along to the last verse of Silent Night as he began to clean up the remains of their dinner.
Gibbs took a quick shower whilst Tony finished the clean up and met him in the bedroom, forgoing the Christmas pyjamas that Tony had picked out for him with a half amused half exasperated glare. They climbed into bed, Tony starting the movie he had picked out for them that evening, and snuggled up together under the duvet. Still no words were exchanged between them, it was unnecessary really, they knew the script. This had been their Christmas Eve routine for years now, even before Tony had moved in, the only difference now was that they watched the movie on the giant tv that was now a fixture on the bedroom wall rather than Tony's small portable DVD player.
They didn't need words, actions always spoke louder, and as Gibbs pulled Tony closer to him he knew that the other man felt the same, they had no need or wish to be anywhere else or with someone else. Christmas Eve was their time, their own silent night, or at least it was until dispatch called them in.