Abby had finally managed to pull herself away and again, was settled on Ducky's bed. She hadn't trusted herself to stay where she was, and she certainly didn't want to kick him off the futon. Moving seemed like the best option. It had been raining all day, but the storm had passed, all that was left was a few gusts of wind and the heavy rain.
"Hey Ducky, wanna play that game again?"
"Of course. Are you sure you wouldn't like your bed back?"
"That counts as your question! Yes, I'm sure."
"As am I."
"So… Ducky? Why are you single?"
"I'm not sure that has a simple answer, or indeed any answer."
"Of course it does!"
He raised his eyebrows questioningly, so she set out to prove it.
"Seriously! Gibbs is single because he's terrible at managing relationships, Tim's single 'cause he doesn't realise he's hot, Jimmy's single 'cause he's twelve years old, Director Shepherd's single 'cause she wants Gibbs, an Tony an Ziva… By the time they grew out of being a commitment phobic playboy an a mindless killing machine, they were already in love with each other, an now they don't know what to do about it." She sat back, smiling proudly.
"I see. And me?"
"You're still single 'cause you won't settle for anything less than perfect… an I think you have a little of Timmy's problem."
"And what about you, my dear?"
"I used to date psychopaths because I was scared of commitment an becoming all normal an having an SUV. Now I've decided that's not a good idea… And I haven't quite worked out what is."
"I see…" He really was impressed, he wasn't quite sure what to say. She was always full of crazy theories and paragraph long sentences without breaths, but he'd never really stopped to think about them. Her theories were always crazy, but perhaps they were also correct.
"Hey! I didn't have to answer about me, you didn't!" she threw a stray marshmallow at him "My turn again! What kind of gi… wo… member of your preferred gender… do you go for?" she was determined not to get caught again.
"Hmm…" He thought for a moment "intelligent, professional…" he stopped and thought again "generally in a suit… Often blonde"
"Okay… confident, caring, generally dark hair, often with tats. Your turn!"
As the conversation went on, Abby snuggled down into the bed which seemed to be hers for the night, and Ducky did the same. Abby couldn't remember when she'd last had such an enjoyable evening with pants on, well, with a cartoon animal suit on, but in some ways, it's even harder to compete with that. She lay chatting in the darkness feeling warm and contented, glad that her power had gone out, although she wouldn't admit it. The conversation was intimate without being suggestive, it all just felt so comfortable. Abby didn't really notice as her hands slowly started to wander over her own body, gently feeling her own skin.
"Ducky, what do you regret doing?"
"I've only ever regretted what I haven't done"
"Same!" She grinned in the dark thinking Oohh, I'm gonna regret not doing not doing this… but not as much as I'd regret ruining everything. Maybe I only regret things I didn't do 'cause I never doing anything this stupid. She made no move to get up, but she considered it, then fought the urge.
Ducky heard her breathing change. He tried to ignore it, he tried not to let it affect his own. He felt guilty. For half an hour he'd been lying there, quietly fighting his body. Every few minutes, he'd realize where his hand was, and what it was doing, very slowly, very gently, but undeniably. And he'd quickly remove it, and put it somewhere sensible, but it never lasted.