50 Sentences Expanded
31. Book – After being kept at home by a blizzard for five days, Gibbs retreated to the far side of the house, but not before handing Tony a book, and telling him to "try reading it" so that he could gain insight into something other than 'chinima'.
On day one all Tony could do was marvel at the blanket of white that covered the street outside as well as everything else in sight. He wouldn't have believed the three feet of snow on the ground if he hadn't gone out and measured it himself.
There was no official state of emergency but everyone in the D.C. area had been advised to stay indoors unless it was absolutely necessary to venture out. This morning at roughly four Gibbs and Tony had been woken by Gibbs' ringing phone; an NCIS automated message telling them not to come in. Tony wasn't sure Gibbs had actually realized that he had agreed to this until he woke up again hours later.
He was shoveling the driveway. Tony found this humorous; after an hour of shoveling only half the driveway was clear and even it was being slowly covered again by the newly falling snow.
They were set on food and basic supplies. They knew various ways to keep themselves entertained (although Tony had yet to demonstrate these to Gibbs).
So Tony got a paid vacation and smokin' hot bedmate for the duration. (Oh the head slaps he would get for thinking that…)
All was well.
Tony slept in on day two and when he finally woke it was to an annoyed look from Gibbs; clearly disapproving of the hour.
Aside from the required news reports telling them the snow was continuing on there wasn't much else on. Gibbs' TV had been upgraded at Tony's request months previously but that didn't mean there would be anything besides cooking shows and game shows on the five hundred channels.
They ate steak for dinner, cowboy style; just like Tony liked it. They drank beers and watched crap TV waiting for a game to come on. They fell asleep on the couch because it was warm.
It was nice.
On day three Tony decided that he was going crazy. This epiphany came to him after watching four hours of the game show network. He nearly tripped down the basement stairs to where Gibbs was working on wooden toys for Christmas. Gibbs was not impressed by his epiphany but he did take a leisurely break from working to fumble Tony out of his layers and take his mind off his worries.
Tony felt better.
On day four the TV went out. Tony nearly cried. He sat for three minutes staring at the screen watching the technical snow drift across, much like the snow outside the window. The irony was disgusting.
So he spent the rest of the day following Gibbs around the house. Gibbs was only slightly intrigued by Tony's sudden interest in wood working. By the end of the day Tony had actually managed to make something that sort of resembled a car, or an animal. It was something, anyway.
However Gibbs was growing testier by the minute. Tony was like a child, hanging onto his parents' heels. The grin on Tony's face when his project was complete was both charming and sexy but it also made Gibbs feel like a parent congratulating their child on a job well done.
This paid vacation was taking their relationship to places he didn't want to see.
After being kept at home by a blizzard for five days, Gibbs retreated to the far side of the house, but not before handing Tony a book, and telling him to "try reading it" so that he could gain insight into something other than 'chinima'.
Tony's bottom lip had popped out like a petulant child's but he did scour the house searching for stimulating reading material.
After five hours without a peep from Tony Gibbs was worried. Never had a silence gone on this long for the entire time he had known Anthony DiNozzo. He laid aside his tools and made his way up the stairs and into the living room. The sight he found nearly took his breath away.
Tony's book had fallen to the floor and the man himself was curled up on the sofa which was two feet too short for him. He had a quilt tucked under his chin and his head resting on a matching pillow. He looked serene, almost cherubic in his peacefulness. Gibbs stood watching him quietly, marveling at the handsome young man before him who was sleeping so childlike.
Moments like that didn't come along very often. Sure he could nudge him gently and ask if he wanted to head up to bed. But instead he stepped forward and wrapped the quilt tighter around Tony. It was a small gesture, romantic in nature; something Gibbs liked to do when no one was looking.
He drew the curtains on the darkening winter sky and then stooped to pick up the book: Defining a Classic: Films That Made History.
Gibbs chuckled softly as he placed the book on the end table. Some things would never change.
A/N: The book mentioned is not a real novel but made up for the purposes of this story. I'm quite sure, however, that similar books could be found.
This expansion was requested by SLE 74 and Silver Ardor Dragon. I hope it made you smile!
And to all the lovely readers who are reading now please leave a review, size doesn't matter. They make me smile!
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Disclaimer: NCIS is the property of Donald P. Bellisario and Don McGill.