Life, Lies and Video Surveillance
By Cortexikid
Chapter 6: Satiate
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to SunnyCitrus10 who suggested the word for this chapter. Thanks so much! Hope I did it justice! =]
A little pre-Densi is in order I think... =]
WOTD: SATIATE; sa·ti·ate adj. To satisfy (an appetite or desire) fully.
"No way can surfer boy here actually cook."
"I'll have you know Sam; I am a culinary genius..."Deeks replied, looking sideways at the man he begrudgingly had to share a desk with.
Sam and Callen shared a look before simultaneously snorting their disbelief.
"What? I am! Tell them Kensi!" Deeks haughtily demanded, waving his hand dramatically in his partner's direction as she smirked over at him from across her desk.
"Tell them what? I thought you were a frozen pizza pocket kinda guy?"
"I am. Luckily, I'm easily pleased. That doesn't mean I can't spruce up a lady's meal though," he grinned, winking at Kensi who grimaced.
"Why do I get the feeling he doesn't mean the food?" Nell asked, sauntering in and shrugging on her jacket.
"Because I don't. When I say 'spruce' I really mean—"
"You ready?" Nell interrupted Deeks pointedly, turning to Kensi, a nervous smile on her face.
"You bet," Kensi grinned back, standing up and grabbing her bag.
"Where...where are you ladies off to?" her partner enquired, a frown line forming between his eyebrows.
Nell and Kensi shared a look before the intelligence-analyst shrugged and muttered, "I'll uh...wait for you outside."
Sam and Callen took the hint and made themselves scarce too, scrambling to follow her, Kensi rolling her eyes at their retreat.
"Cowards," she grumbled to herself as her partner stood up to lean against his desk, his ankles crossed, arms folded, his gaze unwavering.
"Don't look at me like that," she faux-glared, mirroring him, arms across her chest.
"Like what?" he asked, sounding no-where-near as innocent as he thought.
"I'm not telling you where Nell and I are going. Boundaries, Deeks."
Deeks snorted.
"Okay Kens, if you're too embarrassed to tell me—"
"I'm not embarrassed—"
"Using 'boundaries' as an excuse is pretty lame. I mean, what could possibly be bad enough to—"
"I'm going on a double date alright?"
Deeks gaped at her. Kensi mentally scolded herself at her lack-of-control when it came to her partner's jibes. He was getting to her too easily these days.
"You and Nell are hooking up with some guys?"
"No Deeks, me and Nell are secretly dating and are hooking up with two friends from college," Kensi replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Sounds hot."
"Deeks!"
"Eric will be unbearable though. Last time Nell had a date he was PNSing for a week."
"PNSing?" Kensi grumbled, weary of his response.
"Post-Nell-Syndrome. He gets moody and comfort eats every time he even gets a whiff that our favourite little analyst is on the hunt for a geek-connection," Deeks smirked.
"Reminds me of another blond I know when he can't catch the 'perfect wave'," Kensi laughed, tilting her head at him.
"Excuse me, I don't do moody. And which one of us here has the junk-food problem?"
"It's not a problem—"
"Spoken like a true chocoholic."
Kensi glared at him, throwing her arms up in frustration. Why did he always have to distract her with his stupid little conversations? Chancing a glance at her watch, the NCIS agent groaned, she was running late.
"I'm late. I gotta go...night Deeks," she began to walk away.
"If you get bored Kens, my door is always open," he called after her, a smile lacing his tone.
"You might wanna rethink that if you don't wanna get robbed," Kensi yelled without turning around – a spring in her step.
"Ha, ha," Deeks grumbled quietly, his face falling slowly into a frown as he watched he leave.
Deeks pulled a t-shirt over his damp head as he scuffled into his living room, freshly showered and planning to spend the rest of evening sat sprawled out on his couch. Throwing the towel over the back of the arm chair, he heaved a sigh and plonked down onto the couch, grinning as he saw his canine companion eye him hopefully.
"Monty—here boy!" Deeks called his faithful cohort, patting the space beside him. The excitable dog's ears pricked up alertly before he bounded over and jumped up onto his master's lap.
"Oomph! Monty!" the detective groused, wincing at the heavy weight landing on him.
"What have I been feedin' you huh? No more doggy jerky for you buddy," he murmured, laughing as the dog began whining loudly as if he were well-aware that his favourite treat was being taken away from him.
"I'm sorry bud but—" Deeks' retort was interrupted by a sharp knock on his door.
With a confused frown, wondering who could be dropping by at this hour, he gently pushed away his canine friend, brushing off t-shirt and sweat-pants and muting the TV. Before he could step towards his door however, another bout of persistent knocking sounded loudly throughout the apartment. Shaking his head, he plodded over to it and looked through the key-hole, a small beam spreading across his face as he saw a familiar face. Quickly, he unlocked it, opening it wide and standing back.
"Well, well—"
"Men are pigs!"
Kensi Blye stormed into his apartment, an angry gleam in her eye, looking incredibly flustered.
"And hello to you too..."
Deeks closed the door with a snap, locking up and turning to face his partner –who was already perched on his couch with Monty's head planted firmly on her knee.
"Man's best friend my ass, try Special Agent's best friend," he faux-grumbled (as his heart warmed) at the sight of his partner and his so-called faithful companion cuddled up, one enjoying a scratch under the chin while the other heaved a sigh and drew her feet up to fold underneath her.
"So...you gonna elaborate on why men are pigs or am I gonna have to guess? 'Cause I tell ya Kens, I don't think my gender can handle that kinda betrayal," he smirked, shuffling his sock-clad feet over to the fridge, grabbing two beers and plodding over to the couch, holding one out for Kensi to take. When she did, he sat down and together they clinked their bottles in a silent toast.
After a long gulp, Kensi let out a sigh and flung her head back onto the couch, her eyes trained on the ceiling.
"Nell and I—we went on the double date, I wasn't really into the idea but she didn't wanna go alone – said something about her sister setting it up, so she asked come with her and he brought a friend too. Everything was goin' okay at first, the friend of Nell's date was a little forward for my taste but nothin' I couldn't handle until..." she trailed off, her eyes closing.
Dread rose in Deeks' chest.
"Until?" he prompted gently.
"Until he suggested over the appetisers that we change our 'two-some' into a 'four-some in every sense of the word.'"
Deeks' eyebrows shot up his forehead as he let out of soft whistle in surprise. The illustrious story of Spring Break, the handsome guy and Kensi's friend Monica spung to mind, but the detective quickly shoved it back down. This was different. It was a first date between strangers - two of them not even that comfortable with the situation, it was all kinds of wrong.
"Smooth talkin' for a first date," he grumbled sarcastically.
"I know right? But what made it worse was that Nell's date was all for it too. Said he liked to mix his tastes...sugar and spice and everything nice," she gritted, her jaw clenched, her deep seethed anger formidable.
Deeks' face darkened, furious that his partner and friend had to take that crap from such lowlifes.
"How's Nell?" he asked, concerned for the petite red-head.
Kensi sat forward, planting her feet on the floor, gulping down the last of her beer.
"Oh she's fine, said she wasn't that into him anyway...and dunked a pitcher of beer over both their heads for good measure," she grinned gleefully, as Deeks let out a snort of laughter.
"Always knew that girl was a firecracker," he murmured before a loud beeping caught his attention.
"Oh crap—I almost forgot," he leapt up off the couch and walked briskly to the kitchen, Kensi hot on his heels.
"What'cha cookin' Chef Ramsay?" she asked curiously, standing on her tip-toes to look over his shoulder, her eyes watching the oven with interest.
Deeks grabbed some over-mitts and opened the oven-door, a sweet smell wafting from it.
Kensi's stomach grumbled – loudly.
"Someone's hungry," he commented in his terrible English accent, before closing the door with his foot and placing the dish on to the counter. With his back turned to Kensi he blocked her view so she couldn't see what was in it – it was extremely frustrating.
"Come on Deeks, I didn't get to touch my hot-wings thanks to Captain Sleaze-bag. I'm starv—" her voice caught in her throat as Deeks suddenly whirled around and presented the most enticing, mouth-watering Banoffee Pie she'd seen in her entire life.
"Mr Culinary-Genius made dessert for dinner?" she gaped, biting her lip, her eyes bulging as they drank in the tasty-looking dessert.
"Oh don't judge. You're sugar-junkie, isn't this like a dream come true for you?" Deeks teased, cutting off a large piece and placing it on a plate.
"Pretty much," she replied, her gaze locked on him, sliding the plate her way and leaning over to pluck a fork from a drawer, her orbs never faltering from his face.
Perhaps it was the gleam in the eye, the tilt of her head or the tone of her voice, but something made Deeks' heart jump in his chest, his stomach coming alive with butterflies. Her words sounded so...so much more than just words. Her admission of a dessert being a dream-come-true sounded hollow, as if a double meaning was carefully hidden in place. A meaning that one Marty Deeks wasn't quite sure what to do about.
They were just having dinner (well, dessert) and sharing a beer after all, same as many nights before then. After this, they'd more than likely retreat back to the couch and he'd put on some mindless drivel they could make fun of and Kensi would kick off her shoes and fold her feet underneath her, her and Deeks' shoulders inches apart, Monty sitting dutifully between them – waiting impatiently for his scratch behind the ears. It would be the same as every other night...was the same as every other night.
Except, it didn't feel that way. Something felt...different about tonight. There was something just a little unusual in the ambience, a shift in the mood between them, which certainly was not a bad thing but was most definitely there. Something that wasn't ignored, but wasn't quite acknowledged either. Not yet.
Deeks met her eyes and threw her a soft smile – one which she returned whole-heartedly. Slowly, offered a fork to him and held up her own.
"To misguided idiots and culinary geniuses," she toasted, clinking her fork with his before digging her fork into the pie and bringing a hefty piece to her lips, practically cross-eyed as she stared down at it in wonder.
"You haven't tasted it yet..." Deeks warned with a smirk before taking his own bite, eyes trained on Kensi as she did the same.
"So...how is it?" Deeks asked, a satisfied grin spreading across his stubbed face as he watched his partner's eyes close and savour the morsel as if it were her last meal.
Damn. He was good. Sam could kiss his ass!
"It's...perfect..." she murmured, her eyes opening and catching his, their gaze lingering for a moment – silent words passing between them.
And it was perfect. The meal, the atmosphere, but most of all, the company...neither would change a thing.
Life was good.
A/N: Next up is a 3-chapter-long monster which revolves around Kensi being attacked and dosed with a drug and a very concerned team – especially Deeks. Yay for Kensi whumpage and worried!Deeks.
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NEXT CHAPTER TEASER:
"Kensi...Kensi! Hey, stay with me..." a large, soft palm cupped her cheek, shaking her gently.
"Sam, Callen, Kensi's down! She's been injected with whatever was in that syringe; we gotta get her to a hospital now!" Deeks yelled frenetically, bringing his right hand to cup Kensi's other cheek, holding her head steady, staring intently at her.
"Hey, hey Kens...look at me! Come on partner, come on, open your eyes, stay with me!"