"So how does this work?"

"Well, we purchase tickets to the film of our choice, possibly along with snacks in the form of soda, popcorn, and candy, and then we find the auditorium that corresponds with the number on our tickets and settle into our seats for the film."

Tim groaned and rubbed his temples as his date for the evening watched in amusement. "Don't make this hard, Tony. I've never been on an actual date with a guy and I was just wondering if one of us is supposed to buy the tickets or if we should just go Dutch."

The line moved forward and they ambled right along with it. "I guess for tonight we could just buy our own tickets and, if it leads to more…" Tony trailed off uncertainly. "Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

It had been nearly a week since the two had shared a brief kiss outside Tony's apartment building. It had been a surprise to both and had caused both confusion and awkwardness as they tried to figure out how to proceed from where they were. Did they leave it at a kiss and just enjoy the moment they'd had? Did they forget that the entire thing had even happened and just chalk it up to inebriation on Tony's part? Did they plunge head first into a new kind of relationship that neither had experienced before?

Tony had ultimately made the suggestion that they try out a movie date. Though their conversation the day after the kiss had cleared the air between them, it hadn't completely made things clear and he knew that Tim was just as lost as he was in how to act when they were together. Even if the movie date only led them to realizing they had no future in a romantic relationship, they could look at it has having been a friendly get together and no one would feel embarrassed about the failed date. After all, men and women went on platonic movie dates all the time; why should it be any different between two men?

If the date went well, though, and they saw that there was a chance for something beyond friendship…well, as Tony had said before, they'd cross that bridge when they came to it…if they came to it.

"One for Quantum of Solace," Tony said to the teenage girl who stood behind the glass, adding a wink for good measure. The girl giggled at his attention as she pulled up one ticket. Behind him, Tim was fuming slightly.

"Do you always flirt with other people when you're on a date?" he asked as soon as the two had purchased their tickets.

"C'mon, McGee! I was just being friendly! That girl couldn't be more than seventeen."

"Are you implying that age has ever stopped you before?"

"You wound me, Probie!" Tony exclaimed, good naturedly slinging his arm around his young companions shoulders.

Tony had meant it in his usual teasing way, but Tim's pout didn't go unnoticed to him. In a moment of genuine care, Tony added, "Honestly, though, if it bugs you that much, I'll try to keep my charm to a minimum."

Tim had to smile when he heard the tone of sincerity from Tony. He could tell that this situation was just as new to Tony as it was to him and he was willing to cut him some slack. "Nah. You wouldn't be Tony if you weren't acting all smug and arrogant, and that would just seem strange."

"I'm arrogant?" Tony asked incredulously. "Mr. 'Don't Forget That I Went to MIT!' is calling me arrogant? Ha! If we weren't in a public area right now, I'd…I'd…"

"You'd what, DiNozzo?" Tim furrowed his brow, confused as Tony trailed off midway through his empty threat. When he glanced sideways he was shocked to see that Tony's face was red; beet red! Tim couldn't recall ever having seen Tony blush and it was both amusing and disconcerting at the same time. "What's the matter?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"Nothing…nothing, McGee," Tony mumbled. He reached up and began rubbing his forehead, trying to conceal his reddened cheeks from Tim.

The truth was that as he had been brainstorming how to properly "punish" Tim, a thought that Tony hadn't expected to ever be in his head popped up. To say that it was a sexual image that involved Tim was all that Tony needed to grow uncomfortable by it. They were only on their first date and they weren't even sure that it was a date. Was it proper for Tony to be having such thoughts on the first date? He'd had similar thoughts of women on first dates. Sometimes he'd had similar thoughts of women without any date at all. But Tim was different, and it wasn't just because he was male. It was Tim, the computer geek!

Catching Tony's discomfort, Tim let the topic drop. "Should we get some popcorn or something?"

Tony immediately snapped back to his old self, now that he had something new to concentrate on. "Is it even possible to watch a film without popcorn?"

"Uh…yes…"

"Wrong answer, McGee," Tony chided as he pulled his wallet out from his back pocket. "Popcorn is a necessity for proper film viewing. See, it's a good thing you've got me here to let you know these things."

"Yes, Tony, very lucky," Tim replied dryly as he followed suit.

As the two made their way to the concessions area, Tony stopped short. Tim stopped only steps ahead and looked back as Tony rooted through his wallet. "Something wrong?"

"Ah…on second thought, I think we could do without popcorn, Probie."

"You said it was a necessity."

"Yeah, well so is the money to buy it," Tony said sheepishly. "I forgot to stop at the bank."

"So I'll buy for both of us."

"Nah, it's fine, McGee. It's just popcorn."

"Tony!" Tim bellowed, holding his hand up to stop the man's chattering. "I can handle it. I'm buying you popcorn, not a car."

"Are you offering to buy me a car?" Tony asked with an impish smirk.

Tim didn't even bother to respond. "One large popcorn and two medium Cokes."

"You aren't complaining."

"About what?"

"This is the time when you would usually complain about having to share popcorn with me and getting my 'geek germs' all over your hands."

Tony considered this while shoveling a handful of popcorn into his mouth. "I guess even geek infected popcorn is better than no popcorn at all," he mumbled with bits of popcorn spilling from his mouth as he did so.

Tim winced in disgust. "You can be such a slob sometimes."

He reached in to grab popcorn and found his hand brushing against Tony's. The two looked down simultaneously at the hands that now lay against each other. Then, they slowly looked up at each other, not sure how to handle the situation.

"I'm, uh, a bit full," Tony proclaimed, slowly pulling his hand from the popcorn bowl.

Before Tim could even think of how to respond, the lights dimmed and the screen flashed with the start of previews. He tucked away the occurrence in his mind, deciding to address it after the film. For now, he was just going to sit back and enjoy the film…with Tony sitting right beside him in the dark.

Tim almost regretted that they'd come in separate cars, because it meant that the night would end in parking lot with other movie-goers watching, instead of ending in front of his or Tony's door…or inside his or Tony's apartment. Either one would offer more privacy. They needed privacy.

"Good movie," Tony said vaguely. "Not as good as the first one with Daniel Craig, but a decent film."

"Yeah," Tim muttered. "It was pretty good."

He wanted to bring up the hand-on-hand situation that had happened right before the film, but now he felt as thought it may be better to leave it be. Maddeningly, Tim still couldn't tell where all of this left them. "Coffee?" he suggested to Tony.

Tony was tempted at the offer, but shrugged it off. "We've got work tomorrow."

Tim almost made another sarcastic remark about Tony staying up late on when he had work the next morning, but it died on his lips and was replaced by a sigh. "I guess it's good night then."

"Yep, McGee."

How could Tony be so blasé about the entire thing? He was acting as though this had all been another night with the guys and not a trial date for the two of them. Tim's mind was still buzzing with thoughts of the night, thoughts of how it had almost felt like an actual date; Tony's, it seemed, was just thinking about how the woman walking in front of them would look naked.

Tim broke away and quickened his pace. He heard Tony call out to him, but he kept going. If Tony wasn't taking any of this seriously, then they obviously had no reason to keep up the façade of this being any kind of date, platonic or otherwise.

"McGee?" Tony asked. He'd managed to grab the younger man's shoulder and halt him, but he wasn't sure what had brought it on in the first place. "You okay?"

"Fine, Tony. Just wanted to get to my car. It is a work night, you know," he said, mocking Tony's previous statement.

"What is wrong with you?"

"Hey, this was your idea! You said we should give a date a try and see where it lead us and how we felt about…us…and…and this," Tim said, gesturing wildly with his hands as though that clearly explained what "this" was. "And now you're just acting like it was nothing. I mean, I guess that's your answer on the whole thing."

"How am I acting like it was nothing? All I said was that I didn't want coffee. I didn't know the coffee meant that much to you."

"It doesn't…I…you pulled your hand away!"

"I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, Tim." Once again, Tim heard the sincerity in Tony's voice, and felt his anger dissipate.

"I'm still confused," Tim said feebly. "I mean, I really enjoyed this, but I don't know if it was a friendly enjoyment…or a…romantic enjoyment."

Making his mind up right then, Tony leaned in and gave his date a quick peck on the lips. It was shorter than their first kiss, but it was just as sweet, and this time they were both completely sober. "I guess," Tony said, grinning when he watched Tim reel from the surprise kiss, "that we just need to go on another date to find out."

The End!