Kensi is pretty sure that her partner is trying extremely hard not to laugh at her. He keeps narrowing his eyes and clearing his throat, so she is pretty sure he is hiding something. "What?"

Deeks taps the top of her white, thin shell helmet. "Nothing. I just can't believe you've never attempted skateboarding before." Then he thumps her elbow pads and makes an annoyingly smug and adorable face. She hates it. She loves it.

"Well," she replies haughtily, adjusting her knee pads. "I can't believe you still hum the bunny ears song when you tie your shoes." Maybe she has gone a little overboard with the protective equipment, but you can never be too safe. Unless of course, you're a federal agent that dodges bullets better than a skinny kid playing dodgeball. But that's her job - she's not getting paid to bust her ass falling off of a skateboard.

He scowls. "There is - I don't do that."

"Your knot is quite beautiful and bold," she teases and points to his sneakers, a fairly uncommon sight for her to see outside of the gym.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." But his wide grin gives away the truth. He definitely does it, and just thinking about it makes her smile. Dropping his and her skateboards to the ground, Deeks steps onto his and holds his hand out to help her.

Stubborn as always, Kensi steps up unaided. "You don't have to hold my hand."

"So you don't want me to hold your hand?" It should be illegal for his eyes to be able to twinkle that damn much.

"I can do this." She holds her head up proudly. "It's basic physics, Newton's Law of Motion."

"Fine." Deeks pushes off with his right foot and she copies him, albeit a little slower. She watches the back of his head as it tilts curiously. "Wait, did you Google how to skateboard?"

Yes. "No."

He pivots to face her with his arms crossed, coasting to a stop. "Okay, Madam Curie, show me what you got."

Kensi propels herself forward with her back foot, flying past him. "See? Piece of cake."

"You're just going in a straight line, even dogs can do that," he calls out as she rolls further and further away. Actually not just away, downhill. "Can you turn?"

"Yup!" Balancing herself, she bends her knees and tilts her body slowly. The skateboard adjusts with her and she changes direction with ease. "I still don't see what the big deal is!"

Since he can barely hear her anymore, Deeks pushes off again so he can try to catch up with her. There is one more test she needs to pass for him to be satisfied. "Hey Kens?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you stop?"

Kensi balances herself and looks down at her feet, trying to remember which one she is supposed to put on the ground to slow herself down. Is it her front foot or back foot? In the midst of her confusion, she fails to pay attention to the path in front of her - the next thing she knows, she's tumbling to the concrete.

Another skateboard rolls to a stop behind her as she stares at the ground, worrying more about her bruised ego than her scraped hands. This certainly isn't her most graceful moment.

"It's okay." Deeks kneels in front of her, reaching out to help her sit up again. She braces for the onslaught of jokes and teases that, amazingly, never come. Instead he brushes the dirt off of the scratched palm of her hand and applies a gentle kiss. "Practice makes perfect."

A lot of practice is going to be absolutely, positively necessary. She has never looked more forward to repeatedly falling on her ass in her entire life.