Feb 9

A friend is a second self. – Marcus Tullius Cicero

Tony grinned as he allowed Ducky to ramble. There was nothing urgent about their current case. He would go as far to say there was nothing important about it, but Gibbs seemed psychic and would head-slap him into next week if he thought his Senior Field Agent was not taking things seriously.

Ducky always took things seriously. They were not alike in that manner; Tony only coped by viewing things in a very different light. Humor was a wonderful tool; something which Ducky understood, although he didn't always appreciate it.

But rambling – they were both good at rambling. With Duck, it was a little more obvious. The elderly man happily rambled away, whether it was to himself or his corpses. Yet Tony was happy to ramble as well. He usually talked about movies and women, but the difference in subject matter did not change anything.

Gibbs was aware of both of his rambling colleagues, but dealt with them in different ways. Ducky was normally cut off sharply, but in a somewhat friendly manner. But Tony found himself glared at or head-slapped. He did not dislike this, knowing it was a better method for dealing with himself.

Tony suddenly realized that Ducky had ground to a halt and pulled himself together rapidly. If he wanted to leave tonight, he needed to pry a cause of death out of the medical examiner.