A/N: My birthday :) Jake is my character. Pure fluff considering it is a present to myself. Also – thank you to a certain flamer for the influence for one of these lines! Couldn't have done it without you ;)
March 22
"To be without some of the things you want is in indispensable part of happiness." - Bertrand Russell.
Anthony DiNozzo loved days when the weather clearly showed summer was on it's way.
A crisp, spring morning shooting hoops with a friend from Baltimore PD.
Did it get any better?
"You're getting slow, old man." Jake Adler grinned as he dodged Tony's attempt at a block. "I thought you NCIS agents were supposed to be fit."
"I could lay you out on the tarmac without even flinching Adler."
"Suuuure." He drawled, laughing as his friend shoved him away. "You think I'd waste an afternoon of my vacation seeing you if I didn't think I could beat your ass?"
"Why are you in Washington for a vacation anyway?"
"Carly's parents live here, remember. It's more of a trip to see them."
Tony laughed, sharing a knowing look with his friend. "The joys of marriage."
Jake laughed too, throwing a bottle to Tony before taking a sip of his own. "I call a drinks break."
"Now who's getting old?"
The two men rested on the bleachers, letting the slight breeze cool the sweat from their skin.
"You're different." Jake noted after a few minutes of silence. "Good different."
"Things are going well." Tony smiled, thinking of his friends. His job. Ziva.
"I've seen that DiNozzo grin before." Jake nudged his shoulder, shaking his head. "You're like a horny teenager!"
Tony really did laugh then, shaking his head at the statement. "I feel like one." He confessed, biting his lip.
"You look happy."
"I look like normal." He argued, his voice thick with humor. "She's the strange one."
"I don't even want to know." Jake jumped up, stealing the ball from Tony's hands and sinking a shot that should have gone wide. "No more chick flick moments, let's play some ball."