This is based on a prompt from Bookdiva I got a while back and started writing for That-s-How-We-Roll, but it got a little long so it's going down as a separate one shot.
Obviously it's a tag to 4×17 Wanted, hope you like it!
How would you describe the way we settle disagreements?
I apologize, even when it's not my fault. Typical male/female dynamic. Why?
What's your greatest fear?
Quicksand. No, headhunters, actually. Headhunters and being buried up to my neck in an ant hill, which headhunters do.
So, basically, anything in a Tarzan movie?
Pretty much.
Do you have reoccurring nightmares?
Just the one with Hetty and the burning monkey.
What?
What? I thought everybody had that. I know Eric does. That's awkward.
"I found it digging in some old boxes from my single days." Kat giggled, tilting her lemonade up to her lip gloss covered mouth. "Of course I immediately took it with Brian."
"And?" Tiffany rose a hand in questioning.
"We got a high score of course!" Kat smirked, taking another gulp of her cold drink, before resting the glass on the poolside wicker table and reclining on the soft cushions of the lounger, stretching luxuriously in her bikini.
"Mmm, that's nice," Kensi murmured, absent-mindedly swirling her toes in the water and wishing she'd brought a cover up for her own pale pink bikini instead of coming to Kat's spontaneous girl's day pool party without one. Her jeans and tee shirt sat neatly folded in the house, but the delicious contrast of the warm sun beating down on her sore shoulders and the cool water swirling around her feet was something she didn't want to lose for even a moment.
"You want to take it too, Kay?" Mandy shifted restlessly beside her and caused little tidal waves of pool water to splash up around Kensi's calves.
"Some couple's quiz from a 2007 bridal magazine? Hell no."
"No need to get snobbish." Kat rose from her lounger, toed off her glittery flip-flops, and grabbed her nose before canon balling into the pool, her huge splash narrowly missing Kensi.
"Whoa!" Kensi reared back, defensively reaching for her towel. "What would I do with a couple's quiz?"
"Take it?" Kat bobbed up in the water by her feet, water streaming down her hair into her tan shoulders.
"With?" Kensi was smiling, her face full and bright, but there was a tinge of sharpness to her tone as she was reminded of things that didn't need to trouble her mind.
"Someone." Mandy's shoulder playfully bumped into hers. "You've got to have a friend at least, a hot, single, professional woman like yourself."
"No, I don't, and I am extremely happy this way. C'mon guys, it's time for a subject change."
What other job would you be doing if you couldn't be in law enforcement?
Gigolo.
Seriously?
Schoolteacher.
Really?
Who lives a double life as a gigolo. Why are you asking me all these questions?
It's just a… partner survey.
I didn't get one.
Well… Hey, give it back!
Hold on, hold on. How would you describe the way you smell?" What the... This isn't from Hetty, this is from a bridal magazine. No, no, this isn't for partner-partners.
Of course it was there, sitting on top of the haphazardly scattered pile of reading material in the Laundromat down her street.
A 2007 bridal magazine, the particular magazine that Kat had referenced several times over the course of their impromptu pool party.
It sat there, perfectly placed on the center of the stack, seemingly taunting her. All of her few friends had boyfriends, husbands, significant others. Then there was her, alone, not entirely, but alone all the same.
Deeks was the closest thing she has to a long term relationship since Jack, and their relationship wasn't even a relationship. It was a partnership. A partnership filled with bickering, petty disagreements, sly teasing, almost compliments, reality TV marathons, and purely platonic late night snuggling on the couch. It wasn't anything real.
Marty Deeks wasn't even her type. He was a silly, flirty, beach bum who had apparently made it his mission to know every last detail of her life. She didn't want him too, getting too close meant getting burned, and getting burned was something that had happened far too many times to Kensi Blye.
He was her last resort, her last attempt at trust and a true friendship. If this partnership broke, she would break.
She knew of his little quirks and flaws, the chips in his armor, and parts of him that shone out above the rest. The best parts of him. But there were still so many things she didn't know. She didn't know if his hair really was as soft as it looked. She didn't know how his hands would feel strongly gripping her waist and pulling her in. She didn't know how it be if his lips were warmly pressed against hers for minutes on end, not for a few brief seconds in which he was too shocked to even respond. She did know how he tasted now, and that was something she'd never forget.
Maybe they should take the test. Purely from a partnership standpoint, just to see if they have a harmonious relationship. It might be a little hard to work around some of those questions Kat had mentioned, but she'd figure it out. She always did, didn't she?
God, it was a stupid idea. She shouldn't do it. Shouldn't plan it. But here she was.
In a moment of weakness, Kensi grabbed the magazine, rolling it up and stuffing it deep inside her purse.
What could it hurt?
Okay, just give it back. I'll– Forget about it.
No, no, no…Hold on a second.
What?
Why are you reading bridal magazines?
It was in the Laundromat.
So, you "schtole" it?
Just– It's from 2007.
Oh, my God…Your biological clock…
Shut it. Don't say another word.
That's so funny, 'cause I always thought that ticking was a bomb, but it turns out it's you "wantin' to make a baby".
Stop it.
You want to make it with me? We can make some ninja assassins…
How awkward it must have been for Nell, Kensi grinned slightly as she spotted her quiz stuffed in Sam's trash can in the bullpen. Nell's careful writing on only the first few answer boxes.
Pulling out the clipboard, Kensi ran an eraser over the filled out boxes and perched on the edge of her desk, chucking as she remembered his earlier answers.
Having him take the quiz with her hadn't been a bad idea, just not a well planned one. He'd been caught off guard by her onslaught of questions and resorted back to his usual defense mechanism.
Surely she knew enough about him that the stupid thing was unnecessary. He was her partner, anything he thought about her she'd know too, right?
Grabbing a pen from amidst the knickknacks on her desk, Kensi scribbled back down the questions she'd already done with him.
How would you describe the way I smell? Sunshine, or at least that's he'd yelled out behind her as she left the boatshed. A faint pink blush settled over her skin and Kensi shook her head to rid the thought.
What part of my body are you most attracted too? The blush appeared again, brought on by the implications of the question. Her ass probably, or her breasts. Because just who Deeks was. A playboy, an annoying, silly, considerate, sweet playboy.
What moments with me do you most enjoy? Probably the ones where he was annoying her, it couldn't possibly be those quiet nights when they fell asleep and woke up cuddling on the couch, limbs wrapped around each other. Couldn't possibly be.
Do you love me? No! No, no, no. Throwing her pen down, Kensi snatched the paper from the metal clips securing it to the board and tore it once, twice, three times before tossing the wads of paper in Sam's recycling bin.
It had been a stupid quiz, a stupid plan, and a stupid, stupid question. She'd forget about it, Deeks would forget about it and they would both be better off. Better off not filling out the quiz. Better off never knowing the answer to that question.
I know that some of you will probably remind me that Deeks said Sunshine and Gunpowder, but just remember that he yelled sunshine, but only whispered gunpowder when she had already left the boatshed so she wouldn't have heard it.
Thanks for reading, please review.