"What are you doing this weekend?" Tony asked the bullpen at large as he closed his drawer with a very satisfying 'bang'.
It was a Friday; they were done for the day and it wasn't even that late for a change! Sure, it was still later than five o'clock but it was also before eight so he was counting this as a win. And They had the whole weekend ahead of them and they weren't the team on call. See? Definitely a win.
"Don't tell me, McGee," he said, holding his hand up before the longer man could even speak. "Playing video games for forty-eight hours."
"I'll have you know, Tony, that I have tickets to a jazz concert this weekend."
"Like that's better than the video games," he scoffed.
"As if you're much better with the two-day movie marathon I'm sure you're do it this weekend," McGee shot right back. "What is it this time, Bond?"
Look, there were some things that would never change and that was him and McGee mocking each other about their interests. And he didn't want it to change. Didn't mean that McGee had to go for the jugular like that.
"I'll have you know that I have a very involved weekend planned."
McGee scrunched up his nose in disgust. "I don't need to hear about your conquests after the fact never mind before."
He stood over Ziva who was fidgeting with something on her desk. Absentmindedly he hoped that it wasn't a paperclip. Though, he hadn't been threatened with that recently. She had noticed him, he could tell. That, and this was Ziva David, of course she knew where everyone in her near vicinity was.
"What is it, Tony?" She asked in exasperation when he didn't go away.
He just grinned at her.
"You never told me what you were doing this weekend."
"And I told you that it was nothing you needed to concern yourself over."
"Which means you aren't going anywhere."
She didn't say anything which was just as good as a confirmation. She did glare at him, however, but he didn't let that bother him. He rarely did.
"Good thing I have an idea what you can be doing."
"Maybe I do not want to be doing anything."
"Now that's just boring."
"Boring can be good, inquire like boring."
Tony just scoffed at her. "No, you don't."
She stated at him for a moment before replying, "Recently I do."
He flinched at that, realising what she meant and not really wanting to think about it. Which was stupid because technically his whole idea was due to the same reason. Argh. He really didn't want to think about it.
"Well, this isn't going to be too strenuous. It's going to be relaxing, even."
He hoped, anyway. It was kind of the whole point. Relaxing. They both needed to relax.
He still couldn't believe that he had managed to get her to agree to this. Sure, he had turned up her apartment this morning with the hope that she would but that didn't really mean much. But here she was, in his car. Willingly.
"Where are we going?" She asked as they drove out of her apartment complex.
"The beach."
"I already knew that."
"Then why did you ask?"
Was he making a very obvious and painful attempt at their normal banter? Absolutely. Was it working? The vote was still out on that one. Mainly because she was giving him this cross between a suspicious and annoyed look. Not normally conducive to good banter.
"What beach?"
"Ah," he paused so that he could wait for the car in front of them decide what to do and then take the left turn. "You'll just have to wait and see."
He could feel her narrow her eyes at him.
"I do not want to."
"Well, you have to because I'm the one driving."
"Unfortunately," she grumbled.
He had to hide a smile at that. That was the first time she'd complained about him driving since everything had went back to "normal". There had been no complaints or fighting for the right to drive if he got the keys. None at all. It had been starting to freak him out more than those time she got contemplatively quiet (Which was never a good thing). But today she had actually wanted the car keys. She had wanted to take them off him. She had even tried to snatch them from him and was almost successful but he had done the childish thing and stretched his arm right up. He didn't say it often but it was a good thing that she was shorter than him. Not that that would stop her if she really wanted the keys. He had taken a quick jab to the side often enough to know that that move wasn't exactly the most successful. But he had paired the dangling them out of her reach with moving quickly to his car so she had to focus on catching up with him as well as trying to get the keys. And it had worked. He was driving with Ziva still looking disgruntled next to him.
But maybe that wasn't about the car and maybe it was about today? She may not have refused to go and she wasn't complaining but she hadn't exactly been enthusiastic either. Like she was just going along with it to make him happy.
He suddenly felt like this wasn't a good idea. Actually, maybe it was a bad idea. Which was stupid considering he was the one who had suggested this whole thing. It had been his idea.
Then he looked over to Ziva (as subtly as he could) and noticed that she didn't have that haunted look in her eyes again. That look she got when she thought that no one was looking. Except he was always looking. Okay, that sounded creepy. He meant that in the least creepy way possible. It wasn't there today, that was the main thing, you know? Did she still look a bit sad? A bit lost? Like the whole world was on her shoulders? Absolutely. He didn't like that look.
He nodded to himself. That's why this day was necessary.