The morning after, Tony and Callen both get dressed in silence. Friendly silence, but silence nonetheless.
And in all that quiet, Callen is thinking.
He's thinking that he and Tony have a lot in common.
For one thing, they're both blank slates.
Odd that someone as privileged as Tony would be like him. But G realized long ago that neglect and abandonment, that empty, lonely childhoods come in every price range.
And when you're a blank slate, you're good at reading people. You're good at pretending to be someone you're not. You're good at throwing your own safety to the wind in order to follow orders, to please some authority figure or just to finish the mission.
You're a good agent, in other words. Undercover, investigative, whatever. Which is why people like Tony and Callen become agents in the first place.
But then maybe not. Maybe that's why people like Gibbs and Sam become agents. For those noble reasons.
But maybe if you're just a blank slate, you need a badge to make you feel like you're sure you're one of the good guys. Maybe you need to carry a gun as an accessory, a statement that you are in control, that you are not just an old rag tossing around in the wind....
As they finish getting dressed, they turn back to each other, each giving their semi-awkward morning-after-the-first-time smiles. As if to avoid a real conversation, Tony nodded toward the piece Callen carried in his shoulder holster.
"Nice bling," Tony said.
"Back at you," was the reply.
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AN: Originally written for comment_fic, a multi-fandom prompt community on lj (livejournal)
Prompt was Tony/Callen, guns as accessories
