A/N: From the Tumblr list "Nonsexual Acts of Intimacy" – One character adjusting the other's jewelry/neck tie/ etc.


Small Gestures

It's been a long day, she's tired, and it honestly felt like as if the debriefing was dragging into eternity, so she swears she honestly heard a choir sing hallelujah when Coulson finally dismissed the team. So now there's nothing on her mind other than her comfy PJs and her even comfier bed (and maybe some cocoa before her head hitting her pillow, because, yeah… sue her).

Only before she could step into her bunk a voice calling her name stops her.

"Skye, got a minute?" Grant asks almost softly, stepping up to her.

She lets her face break into a small smile.

"For you? Always."

If she is tired, he must be exhausted; for her, this mission was mostly just sitting behind a screen, hacking and coding and watching surveillance tapes, while he was on the ground for days, going undercover in Istanbul to catch the bad guy. And they did catch him, and Grant was great and badass and a foolish, brave idiot at some points, but there he is now, looking down at her almost sheepishly, a hint of a smile in the corner of his mouth.

"It's just, um…" He clears his throat and starts again. "I got you something," he says, making her eyes go wide a little as he reaches into his pocket, pulls out a small, black, rectangular box, and hands it to her.

"You shouldn't have." He really shouldn't; they have only been kinda-sorta dating (she doesn't have a better term for their thing) for a short while, and it's not even exactly official (it's not like they have made a statement of it, or even done anything romance-wise beyond having sex), and she doesn't want him to think that she wants grand gestures or gifts or anything, because she's not that kind of girl, but she still takes the box and opens the lid with slightly trembling fingers.

It's a necklace – a small, silver pendant of three intersecting circles with a tiny, red stone in the middle, on a thin, silver chain.

It's beautiful.

"But I wanted to," he says. "I've noticed you like this kind of… jewelry," he gestures vaguely towards her neck, where three thin chains are residing even now, "and it reminded me of you."

She looks up at him.

"Thank you," she blinks. Damn him. Damn him and his cool and professional façade, and the sensitive, sweet, unsure, considerate, kind guy hiding beneath.

"You're welcome," he says, his smile widening. He points at the box. "May I?"

Understanding what he means, she nods, hands the box back and sweeps her hair to one side before turning around. He gently lifts the necklace from the box, then lowers the chain in front of her face before fastening the clasp behind her neck. He gently draws a fingertip along the curve where her neck meets her shoulder, then carefully frees her locks from under the chain.

When she turns back towards him, she is fingering the pendant that rests just under her clavicle.

"Thank you," she repeats. "I love it."

Then she sneaks a careful glance around – just to make sure nobody is there to witness what she's about to do –, places her hands on his shoulders, raises herself to her toes, then presses a gentle, chaste kiss against his lips.

"Now, you… you must be tired," she says, brushing imaginary dust off his shoulder. "You should go get some sleep. We should get some sleep."

"Yes," he agrees with a small nod, his eyelids dropping for a moment. "Good night."

He steals one last kiss.

"Sweet dreams," she replies, then, letting go of him, she steps into her bunk and slides the door closed behind herself.

She falls asleep with a smile on her face that night, clutching her new necklace in her hand.