Title: Someone Who Understands
Pairing: None.
Rating: K+
Genre: Gen
Cat: Friendship
Spoilers: None, really. You can read it as taking place after Check if you want, but it can take place anytime.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Boat. Bourbon. Basement. Fornell gets it, too.
Author's Note: Written for iheartGibbs for the Nepal auction on NFA! She requested Gibbs & Fornell friendship, with lots of snarky banter (not sure how much I actually got in there, but there's some), the boat in Gibbs' basement, Emily & the phrase "How's it hangin'?" I hope it satisfies.
Gibbs looked up from his sanding, but didn't look to the stairs as he spoke. "How's it hangin', Tobias?"
Fornell paused in his trek down the basement stairs. "How the hell do you do that, Gibbs?"
Gibbs smirked, returning to his sanding. "I could smell you coming." He sensed the look of disbelief on Fornell's face and finally turned to look at him. "Emily called me."
Fornell raised an eyebrow as he finished descending the stairs. "She did, did she? Worried about her ol' dad, huh?"
Gibbs waited until Fornell had reached his workbench before responding. "She have reason to be?" he said, pouring a small amount of bourbon into an empty jar and then handing it to Fornell.
"You know her," Fornell said, accepting the makeshift glass and swirling the alcohol before taking a quick sip. He hissed a little at the burn, then finished his statement. "Too grown up for her own good."
Gibbs nodded, then paused, taking a moment to really look at Fornell. "Okay. What's up?"
Fornell snorted. "Is that your attempt to be young and hip, Jethro? Not working."
Gibbs rolled his eyes. "No, I just meant, why are you here?"
"Can't a guy come and see his bastard of a friend once in awhile?" Fornell asked, grinning and taking another sip of his drink.
"No wonder you don't have any friends, if that's how you talk to them," Gibbs said, earning a laugh from Fornell.
Fornell turned his attention to Gibbs' project then, shaking his head. "Another boat?" He walked over to it, running a hand over the now smooth wood.
"Careful," Gibbs said, his tone dry, "you might get a splinter."
"I bet you would just love that," Fornell mumbled, and Gibbs smirked to himself. He continued to give his attention to the frame of the boat, then said, "Do I really need a reason to come see you, Gibbs?" He didn't look over at the other man, not wanting him to see the emotion on his face. Sometimes he just needed to be around someone else, someone who understood.
Gibbs blinked, focusing his own gaze on the boat. "No," he said softly. "No you don't."
THE END