"I swear, I did not mean for it to happen…"
"Would you just stop moving and let me stick it in?"
"Just, be gentle."
"I'm always gentle. I'm a gentle man."
"I know, but I do not want it to hurt."
"As I said, stop moving, and it won't."
Their voices quieted as a knock came from the other side of the door.
"Tony? Ziva?" came the muffled sound of McGee's voice. "Are you two in there?"
"We're in here," Tony replied.
"Are you both… decent?" asked Abby, pressing her ear against the wood. McGee glared at her with his 'what are you doing' face, to which she answered with a smile. When neither Tony nor Ziva responded, she gently pushed the door open, their two heads peering around the doorway.
Ziva was sat on a stool in the middle of the kitchen, covered head to toe in white powder. Her face was crestfallen as she looked around at the mess she'd made. There was flour everywhere – on every visible surface, and in every nook and cranny.
Tony hovered over her with a Q-tip, attempting to clean some from inside her ear.
"Ziva…" McGee started, stifling a laugh, "what did you do?"
"It was an accident," she replied, coughing out a mouthful of flour into the air. "I had a little… mishap with the mixing bowl."
"Noodle came in and scared the shit out of her," Tony replied, concentrating deeply as he cleaned out her ear. In the corner of the room was a caramel cockapoo, happily licking the flour off the wood. Tony spotted her out of the corner of his eye. "Noodle, stop!" he scolded, the tiny dog turning her head abruptly to look at him. She bowed her head, padding over to her bed in the corner of the kitchen, and curling up.
"I wanted to make cookies for everybody," Ziva started, "but Noodle made me jump and the flour… well, you can see."
"She's taken up baking," Tony stated, nodding as he finally got the stubborn section of flour that had attached itself to her earlobe. "A lot of the mothers at Tali's school bake, and she felt like she need to be more like them."
"Oh, Ziva," Abby replied walking into the kitchen, being careful not to tread on the big heaps of dust, McGee following behind her. "You don't need to be more like them," she continued. "You're wonderful exactly the way you are."
"I've told her that too, but she doesn't listen to me," Tony muttered.
"I look like a Yeti," Ziva said, shaking the flour out of her hair, though it didn't do much for her appearance.
"Tony," Abby replied, "why don't you get her cleaned up and McGee and I will… sort this out." She gestured to the kitchen, now in disarray.
"Oh, no, I do not expect you to do that," Ziva said, looking at her friends. "You're here in Paris as our guests, not our maids."
"Though, we wouldn't object if you'd want to wear the outfits," Tony joked, earning himself a slap on the shoulder from his girlfriend.
"Tali is keeping her cousins and Delilah entertained with her ballet routine, and Gibbs and Senior won't be here for at least another hour and a half, maybe more if Jimmy makes them stop to see the Arc De Triomphe again." McGee replied.
"Let us help. Please?" asked Abby.
There was a silence in the air as Ziva quietly contemplated their offer.
"Okay," Ziva said hesitantly, nodding. "But I promise that I will make it up to the both of you."
"We're here for another week. There's plenty of time," McGee replied.
"And I don't have to be back at the charity for another two weeks, so we can fit in all the baking practice you'll need! You'll be queen of the cookies!"
"Is that an expression?" Ziva asked, eyes eyebrows furrowing.
"N-Never mind, just, go…" Abby said, waving her and Tony out of the kitchen door. When they were far enough out of earshot, Abby turned to McGee.
"Ziva… baking?" she whispered, raising her eyebrow. "Who would have thought that Ninja would go all domesticated housewife on us?"