Zenosyne: The sense that time keeps going faster

Deeks groaned as he stretched all of his limbs, his joint cracking in protest. Argh, he was so stiff. Crouching over a table, staring at a single piece of paper did nothing for his posture. He couldn't help but groan again when he saw the colour of his fingertips. How come most days he could use a pen just fine yet when something urgent needed down he was inexplicably covered in ink?

Glancing down the list of largely unchecked things, he had to shake his head in dismay.

What was it with planning and making lists that made the timeline to the event shrink and seemingly bend the laws of time and space? Surely, organisation should give them more time since they weren't flailing about for things to do or jumping drone half-finished task to another like an excited toddler with too many toys to play with?

Now, staring at his neatly organised lists, it felt like they didn't have enough time in several lifetimes to get all this done before the wedding.

Deeks groaned loudly and rubbed at his eyes. He'd been staring at list for too long, they were imprinted behind his eyelids with their ghostly outline. Great, he was being haunted by them. Somehow, they were more terrifying than the thoughts that usually haunted him. Probably because if they didn't get them done it felt like there would be no wedding.

He rubbed at his forehead in an attempt to ease the thronging that had been steadily building up all morning.

He couldn't even get Kensi to help, she was dealing with both a hysterical Tiffany (he still didn't know which one) and a botched dress alteration. He didn't dare try and interrupt that.

There was just so much still to do. And this was them keeping everything low key! Deeks didn't even want to know how other people put together even just marginally more fancy weddings! There was absolutely no way that they would get any of this done on time. It just wasn't possible.

Reluctantly, he reached for his pen and pulled his laptop closer. Maybe he could sense of it if he saw it on a bigger screen...

"Right," Sam announced, swanning through the kitchen door with an abrupt 'Bang'. "You're coming with us."

"Surfing," Callen added, close behind his partner.

Eric trailed in behind them a bit more hesitantly and closed the door behind them.

"What the?" Deeks yelped, jumping back in his chair. "What are you guys doing here? How did you even get in?"

"Saving your sanity," Callen replied.

"What's left of it," Sam muttered.

"And are you seriously asking that?" he continued, answering the second question.

"You picked it?" Deeks checked and got a set of rolled eyes in return. "Is the door still in one piece?"

"We didn't let Sam get at it," Callen assured him, ignoring his disgruntled partner.

"Why are you guys even here?" Deeks asked tiredly. "Unless you want to help with seating arrangements..."

"Surfing," Eric said quickly.

"And you're not doing any seating arrangements today," Sam informed him.

"No, I need to get some of this done today. Something accomplished," he told them, waving a fistful of lists at him.

"No," Sam said shaking his head as Called plucked the papers from him. "You need to come down to the beach for some surfing with all of us."

Eric nodded vigorously next to them, looking more than slightly intimidated by the sheer volume of paper that was in Deeks and Kensi's kitchen.

"Dude, don't mess those up," Deeks said to Callen, ignoring Sam as be felt panic well up in him at the sight of the papers getting slightly crumpled.

Thankfully, sensing that, his team lead carefully set them down and stepped away from the table.

"Deeks," Sam said warningly.

Deeks sighed heavily and rubbed a fist across his eyes tiredly. It felt like they were popping out of his head.

"Look, guys, I appreciate what you're trying to do and all but I can't."

"Why not?" Sam demanded.

"I don't have time!" he exclaimed, as if it was obvious.

Sam gave the papers a cursory look over, pointedly checking all the neatly underlined easing of each.

"Nothing here needs to be done right now," he pronounced.

"But it needs to be done," Deeks stressed. "And soon."

"Tomorrow is soon," Eric piped up but shrank under the glare Deeks shot at him.

He was getting frustrated. None of them got it.

"Look, I get it," Sam said gently. "I went through it with Michelle."

A pang of guilt shot through Deeks, feeling guilty for making Sam think of his wife-

"You have all these tiny little things to deal with that seem to be the be all end all of the wedding," Sam continued. "You think they need to get done-"

Deeks was now the one nodding vigorously. See? Sam did get it. Callen was just smirking at him from the counter.

"But they don't," Sam finished.

Say what now?

"All that matters is that you and Kensi it a ring on each other. Nothing else."

Huh. Deeks frowned at his friend. Sense? What was that concept?

"Think about it," Callen urged, or ordered.

So, he did. Repeatedly. Silence stretched between the four men, Eric visibly restraining himself from fidgeting.

"I guess you're right," Deeks admitted slowly.

"I am," Sam said confidently.

Deeks looked at the now out of order lists and then l up at the men he considered his brothers.

"I can get these done tomorrow," he finally said, standing himself up and stretching.

"Exactly."

"Did someone mention surfing?"

Everyone chuckled at his overly eager tone. Hey, he was Kensi's suffer boy after all. That required him to surf.

He gave Eric a questioning look.

"We're getting Sam on a surfboard?" he asked.

Eric looked vaguely alarmed but intrigued at the idea.

"Yeah, yeah," Sam said dismissively as they walked out the door. "I said we're bringing you to the beach."

"And surfing," Callen reminded him.

"Yeah, Deeks and Eric. Not me."