Title:
Just Ducky
Author: Taisa Prongsie.
Rating:
PG
Pairing: Donald "Ducky" Mallard / Abigail "Abby"
Sciuto / Leroy Jethro Gibbs
Summary: Special occasions are
wonderful opportunities to spoil the ones you love.
Warnings:
None.
Disclaimer: Ducky, Abby & Gibbs (as with the rest
of the NCIS team) are not mine.
----
Ducky loved the holidays and special occasions for a number of reasons: the visible joy the team – particularly his Abigail – exudes, the foods, the company, and presents. Just because he was older, it did not mean he suddenly stopped enjoying the tokens of affection he received.
For all of the major occasions in which gift-giving was expected (and some that weren't), Gibbs and Abby sought out very specific gifts for their beloved Medical Examiner.
Every since Abby began working with him, she thought it would be perfect to buy him tacky-yet-endearing rubber duckies per each occasion. When Gibbs caught wind of this habit, he smirked bemusedly. Similarly, since the ex-sniper became friends with his Duck, he would carve him a traditional wooden duck. The very concept of the doctor's two lovers unknowingly buying comparable yet contrasting gifts was often a source of amusement for him.
Over the years, Gibbs' hand-made presents transformed over the years. Originally starting as a basic, plain carving, with each occasion, something new would be added with each reincarnation. One year, Gibbs added stain and paint, the next year, engravings, and so forth. Once the embellishments were made to the point where the younger man was pleased, the doctor would often receive them in different colours, different sizes, and sometimes different poses. One on his desk at work was a duck with his wings spread wide, which served as an adored paper weight.
Yet, it wasn't just on his desk in the morgue that Doctor Mallard proudly displayed his tokens of affection from his Abigail and his Jethro. Throughout Reston Home, a number of rubber and wood ducks were presented on mantles, desks, and sporadically on window ledges. When the three finally became involved, Ducky shifted many of the tokens around so that his most cherished possessions were featured within his – their – bedroom.
Though Abby often snuck in the middle of the two men when she would creep in at odd hours, for the most part, she often would fall asleep to Ducky's left. Above her sleeping frame was a mahogany shelf that prominently showed off the first wooden duck Jethro had made him, surrounded by the ones Duck held closest to him.
Conversely, above Jethro's quietly snoring figure was another shelf, this time with rubber ducks dressed up as a Devil (which always made him think of Abby in her Goth style), a Cop, and a Doctor in particular.
Neither of his loves inquired about the placement of the figures, as they simply accepted what they meant: Jethro looked out for Abby, and vice-versa. Furthermore, while in Ducky's room, he looked over them both, and – being above his head – they looked over him.
With every gift Ducky received, the shelves became more crowded, though it made him warm deep down inside to be spoiled in such a way. Alas, they weren't aware of what spoiling he had in store for them.