For the jellyroll to my jam, who requested "Deeks and Kensi buying a couch" like six months ago. (I'm more than a little behind on these prompts. It's like cutting off the head of the hydra here, guys. I do one and five more sprout up. I'm cracking under the pressure. I've gone crazy and started cutting the heads off celebrities and pasting them on other bodies. NBD. JUST A LITTLE CRAZY. I'M FINE.)
"No. Huh uh. Absolutely not."
Kensi flips the price tag over. Not too bad. "I don't remember asking your opinion."
Beside her, Deeks folds his arms over his chest in a demonstration of his - petulance, maybe? She's not sure.
"You going to ask me to help you haul it into your new place?"
She drops the tag and trails her fingers over the arm rest. "Yes."
"Then I have to approve of it."
She laughs. "That is not at all logical."
"I'm just trying to save you from yourself."
She raises her eyebrows but doesn't take her gaze from the couch.
"It's hideous, Kens," he says. "It's got zebras on it."
She eases onto it and bounces a little before sinking in. It's a little bit glorious. "Only on the pillows."
"'Only on the pillows' is still too much zebra for any piece of furniture."
She looks up at him with a sigh. "What do you have against zebras?"
"What don't I have against zebras." He makes a face as he drops down beside her. "Did you know they bark? They bark, Kens."
"I did not know that."
"They've got no self-respect. None."
She tries not to smile. "Because they bark?"
"Not even good, hearty barks. They yip. Like little yippy dogs."
He's scrunching up his nose. It's adorable.
"You don't like yippy dogs," she says.
"I don't like yippy dogs," he confirms.
"The kind people carry in purses."
"Dogs are not supposed to be in purses! They have four legs! Four!"
"You changed your mind about poodles -"
"I did not."
"- maybe you'll change your mind about zebras."
"I doubt it," he huffs.
She grins and leans over. "But look at how wide and squishy it is. It would be a great place for -"
"Kensi, I am not having sex on zebras."
She snorts.
"Okay," he amends, "I will have sex on zebras. But I'm going to be cranky about it."
"This from the guy with a -"
"Don't even - "
"- pink cat pillow."
"Pink cats are more masculine than zebras."
"Oh yeah?"
"The Pink Panther? Kickass."
"Hello Kitty is also pretty fierce."
"Hello Kitty is white."
She raises her eyebrow.
"So I've heard."
She puts her hand on top of his. "You going to tell me what's really going on?"
"I just," he scratches at the back of his neck, "I just thought that maybe we were close to, you know."
She doesn't know. She has no idea. "Close to what?"
He looks over at her, expression uncharacteristically vulnerable. "I thought maybe we'd do future furniture shopping, you know," he shrugs, "together."
It takes her a moment to process the words. "But, we've - we've only been together for like six weeks."
"We've only been having sex for six weeks, Kensalina. We've been together for a lot longer than that."
She's floundering. "Platonically."
It's his turn to raise an eyebrow.
Okay, she'll concede that point. "Not biblically?"
He shakes his head. "Kens, you're it for me. I don't want to have to wait on some predetermined timetable because of someone else's standards of what's acceptable. We're a different case. We've never done things the normal way." He turns his hand in hers and laces their fingers together. "I love you Kensi and I love being with you. I want to be with you all the time."
At least, that's what she thinks he says. It's kind of hard to hear over the echo of her pounding heart in her ears. "It does suck to sleep alone."
He smiles.
"Without Monty, I mean."
He makes a face. "Really? I tell you I love you and you still -"
She cuts him off with a kiss. Her lips are smiling as they press against his. "I love you, too, Deeks."
"More than zebras?"
"More than zebras."
"But you're still getting -"
"We're still getting the couch, yes."
"I'll take it."
As it turns out, he totally does have sex on zebras. And he's not even cranky about it.