"I do not understand why you want to do this," she said as she sat down next to him with a bowl of popcorn.
Tony nodded approvingly at the size of the bowl. Finally she understood the importance of the proper amount of popcorn.
And yes, after everything that had happened over the last few days, he had managed to persuade her to have a movie night. Which proved they were all good again. What was more surprising was that he had somehow managed to persuade her to tell him about the photos Nettie had sent him. Like what was going on in them and how old she was, that sort of thing. She had actually agreed to that. She hadn't exactly been enthusiastic about it or anything but he had figured that was down to him pestering her. Even ninjas had their limits, after all.
"Why wouldn't I want to do this?"
Seriously, there was never going to be a chance that he would pass this opportunity up. He thought that they'd been over this by now. That, and Ziva was his partner. She knew him. She knew how he kept his investigative skills sharp. Or, in McGee's words, she knew how nosy he was. This sort of thing really should have been expected.
"Because it is boring and pointless."
Tony shook his head and waved a finger in her face. In hindsight, that was a bad idea so he retracted it quickly before Ziva could bite it off or something.
"That's where you're wrong, sweetcheeks."
"Do you really think that calling me 'sweetcheeks' is a good idea right now?"
Probably not. Especially when she was looking as unamised as she was right now.
"Anyway," he continued. "It is not boring and pointless though I can't believe you agreed to do this," he said honestly.
"You did not give me much of a choice."
Which was also true but since when did not giving her a choice mean that she did want he wanted her to do? Basically never. Especially when it came to something like this. Not that he was going to mention that out loud, she would probably take the opportunity away.
"Photos then?"
"Okay," she said with a sigh, spreading the pictures out on the coffee table. "Which one do you want to pick first?"
"You aren't picking?" Tony asked in surprise.
"No," she said flatly.
"Oh."
He didn't know why he thought that she would pick the photos. Maybe she would want to pick the least embarrassing? Though, he had already seen them all, he just wanted to know the stories. Stories about his partner. He didn't really know a lot about his partner, did he? At least, not anything pre-NCIS. Of course, she had let some things slip over the past year or so but photos were different.
"What?" She asked impatiently.
"Nothing. I just thought that you'd want to pick. You know," he gestured at the photos, "regain some control over the situation."
She gave him a look.
"I believe I never had control over this situation. Especially once Aunt Nettie got involved."
Tony almost chuckled at the mention of her stubborn Aunt but he didn't because he valued his life. Instead, He opened and closed his mouth and then nodded. "True."
That got him an eye roll. What? It was the truth, wasn't it?
A thought made him stop suddenly and he gave her an appraising look.
"What?" She asked, back to sounding irritable again.
Maybe he should speed this up a bit...
"You really don't mind doing this, right?"
She gave him a long, hard look and then, thankfully, her gaze softened.
"No, I do not, I suppose," she admitted and took a deep breath. "I do not. Not now."
That sounded a bit more convincing to his ears but he still wasn't sure. Maybe this had gone on long enough? He had got what he wanted, after all. He had seen the pictures. The stories behind them would just be a bonus.
And he had thought it would be fun. There was no way that those beach photos were completely free from mischief. He saw the grin on the young Ziva's face. There was definitely a story there.
"Like, if you seriously don't want me looking at them I won't," he said earnestly.
"You've already seen them, Tony," she sighed. "And printed them out."
"Oh, yeah. Well, then, I won't look at them any more. I'll get rid of then."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Even the email?"
"Even the email."
No hesitation. If she really, really didn't want to do this then they were gone. The silence stretched between them and for once Tony couldn't tell what she was thinking but he was oddly peaceful about the whole. Either way, he would be satisfied. He had got what he originally wanted, anything else was just a bonus. Eventually, she shook her head again and this time her smile was more true.
"There is no need for that," she told him.
A complete one eighty from her attitude the last few days. And a change from the threats. Both were quite nice to experience. He felt like it was safe enough to smile back.
"Right," he clapped his hands and then rubbed then together. "Then we can get started?"
"I suppose so."
But this time it was said teasingly instead of a sigh. She had really perked up and Tony was glad to see it. It meant that going through these pictures was going to be even more fun? Did he have a one track mind sometimes? Almost definitely. The past week or so had definitely proved that.
He pushed the photos towards her. "Pick one to start with."
She pushed them right back. "No."
Feeling confused, Tony frowned. He thought that she was okay with this now?
"You sure you don't want to pick one?"
"Pick one or I am burning them."
Tony quickly lunged for the table.
"I'm picking. I'm picking."