For anon, who requested Kensi receiving flowers.

"So."

"So."

Deeks perches on the edge of Kensi's desk and nods to the assortment of flowers beside him. "Those are pretty."

Kensi smiles, tucking the card into her drawer. "Yeah, they are."

"That's very thoughtful of… Kevin."

She frowns. "Kevin?"

"Nick."

"Who's Nick?"

"Howie?"

Kensi folds her arms across her chest and looks at him pointedly.

Deeks just shrugs. "I can't remember the name of the guy you're seeing."

"So you thought you'd run through the Backstreet Boys?"

"Those are Backstreet Boys?"

She raises an eyebrow.

He waves her off. "I always get them confused with 'N Sync."

"And why exactly do you think I'm dating a member of a boy band?"

"Because of your horrible taste in music, of course."

"I have horrible taste in something, that's for sure." Kensi stands, scowl firmly set, and says to the room at large, "I'm going to the range. Back in a few."

When she's gone, Callen shakes his head but doesn't look up from his paperwork. "You really have a way with women, Deeks."

"A way of pissing them off," Sam says, tossing a completed report onto a pile of folders. "You should spend less time talking around Kensi. You know she's armed."

"Not when she's in the bullpen."

Callen snorts. "You think she needs to have a gun to do damage to you? I thought you were smarter than that."

Deeks slides off Kensi's desk and walks over to his own. "I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"Take 'em where you can get 'em," Sam agrees. "That's a good policy. You never know when or if you'll get a real one."

"So," Deeks says, not at all as casually as he intends, "those flowers are pretty."

Sam taps his pen on his chin. "Now where have I heard that before… oh yeah." He points to Deeks. "You. Like two minutes ago."

"Kind of focused on the flowers, aren't you, Deeks?" Callen asks.

"They brighten up the room nicely. I'm thinking of getting some for myself." He shuffles some paperwork around on his desk. "Do you happen to know where they came from?"

"Probably a florist."

"Right, yeah. A florist. Someone picked them out though. Someone with great taste, obviously." He clears his throat. "Do you happen to know who that would be?"

Callen pretends to think about it. "Probably that guy that she's been seeing."

"Right, that guy." Deeks scratches the back of his neck. "What guy was that again?"

"You remember," Callen says to Sam, "she was talking about that guy just yesterday."

Sam just shakes his head and does his best to hide his smile.

Callen turns to Deeks. "She hasn't mentioned him to you? Seemed pretty taken with him."

"Huh. Yeah, right. Of course. That guy. I forgot about that guy."

"Of course."

Deeks tosses the papers he's been playing with onto his desk and points toward the exit. "I'm going to hit the gym. Work off some of this uh, this boredom."

Sam watches him leave. "That's cold, G. That's cold."

"What?" Callen asks with the most innocence he can muster.

"You going to tell him those flowers are from her mom?"

"That's not my place, Sam. I'm not going to discuss a fellow agent's personal life." He tries to look scandalized.

"But you will make up a fictitious boyfriend and a fictitious conversation about said boyfriend."

"I'm practicing the art of deception. I'm an undercover agent, Sam." He presses his hand to his chest. "I have to hone my craft."

"Mmm hmm."

Callen's eyes light up. "Remember Nell talking about the great date she had last night?"

"No, I don't."

"Huh. Must have imagined it. Oh, well," he tosses down his pen and pushes away from his desk. "I'm going to go tell Eric about it. Brush up on my improvisational skills."

"You know what you should really brush up on?" Sam asks, halting his partner before he makes his way out of the bullpen. "Defensive tactics. Make sure to focus on protecting yourself below the belt."

Callen grins and turns to climb the stairs to ops. "Good advice, big guy. Good advice."