A/N: This fic is for Densimber day 2 prompt: Decorating the bar. Features a somewhat unenthusiastic Callen.
"No, move it to the left!" Deeks shouted through a face full of pine needles. "My left!" Kensi made a frustrated sound and gave her end of the Christmas tree a shove. Deeks narrowly avoided falling by bracing himself against the banister and managed to move up another step to the bar's second floor.
"Deeks, just move," she said.
"Now you're running me into the wall. Oh, this is not how I intended to die." He didn't need to see Kensi to know she was rolling her eyes.
"What the hell are you two doing?" Callen asked, appearing at the top of the stairs. Deeks shifted his end of the tree to look over his shoulder and grinned.
"Hey! We're decorating for Christmas. Yeah, you uh, somehow missed the first couple years," Deeks told him.
"That was by design," Callen commented, watching with his arms crossed as they finally got the tree safely on the floor and upright.
"That's because you're smart," Kensi said, making a face as she tried to wipe some sap off her sweater. It left a sticky white mark on the dark material.
"Oh come on, you know you'll love it," Deeks coaxed as he manhandled the tree into its metal stand. Maybe Kensi has been right when she said it was a little on the large size.
"I'm pretty sure I won't."
"Yeah well, it's too late now." Kensi blocked the stairs, crossing her arms. "You should have left when you had the chance." Chuckling, Callen apparently accepted his fate and grabbed hold of the tree's trunk, rescuing Deeks from being crushed to death.
"Does that look straight to you?" Deeks asked for the fifth time several minutes later. He popped his head out from under the tree, his hair sprinkled with pine needles and shirt scrunched up from scooting around on the floor.
"Yes," Callen and Kensi said together.
"Kens, you're not even looking." She nodded, continuing to root through a box of decorations.
"That's because it looked fine the first time and no matter what I say, you're going to keep messing with it."
"It was crooked," he defended himself, looking to Callen for support.
"I'm siding with Kensi. It's fine," Callen said unapologetically. Sighing, Deeks rolled out from under the tree, getting to his knees with a groan. Kensi reached over to help him stand, a snow globe in one hand and roll of garland draped around her neck.
"Ok, but if the star isn't straight, I'm blaming you two."
"Surprisingly, I'm completely ok with that."
"You guys just do not have the Christmas spirit," Deeks said, shaking his head, but didn't protest anymore. Honestly, though he would never, ever tell Kensi, he did not feel like getting back down on the ground.
He tilted his head as he gazed up at the tree. The top branch almost scarped the ceiling; it was a good thing they decided to use this one at the bar instead of at home.
"So is that it?" Callen asked, sounding mildly hopeful. Though Deeks noticed that he wasn't exactly running away.
"Oh, I love your naivety, Grisha Callen." He tossed a ball of sparkly garland at him, which Callen easily dodged. "We've only just begun."
"And unfortunately, he's not joking," Kensi commented, although she was smiling so Deeks figured she wasn't too miserable either.
"You can help Kensi string lights on the tree," Deeks delegated, starting back downstairs. He paused on the second step and added, "And, uh, you can tell which ones Kensi put away last year because they're nice, neat, completely impossible to untangle, balls."
"That was one time," Kensi protested loudly.
"Then why do I keep finding new ones every year?" Deeks asked and Kensi gave him a dark glare. Callen chuckled under his breath, busy rooting through a box.
"Oh Kens, this could be considered criminal," he said, holding up a wad of lights-there was no other word for it. Kensi turned her glare on him.
"It's not that bad. Look, you just have to know how to untangle it."
"Yeah, Deeks gave me one of these travesties a couple years ago. I had to cut it apart."
Deeks silently left, grinning as he heard them continue to bicker all the way to the main floor. Hopefully no one would get hurt in his absence. He returned several minutes later to find them starting on a second strand.
They didn't notice him watching and he stood back for a couple minutes. Kensi was in charge of the wrapping while Callen held the strand for her, following her around the tree. Deeks noticed several discarded tangles of lights put to the side.
"Hey, that looks great!" Kensi turned towards him, smiling in a way that sent a warm feeling into the pit of his stomach.
"It turns out that Christmas decorating isn't quite as awful as I thought it would be," Callen said.
"So you've really never decorated before?" Deeks asked. They'd discussed it before, but he'd figured he was exaggerating.
"Not aside from whatever Nell cons me into helping with every year at the mission. Usually I volunteer for the hard labor. And Anna's of the opinion that anything more than a couple snow globes and a pre-decorated tree is unnecessary."
"That does have a certain appeal," Kensi mused, looking around at all the boxes.
"Oh come on, you guys were enjoying yourselves." Deeks jabbed a finger at each of them. "I saw both of you smiling and laughing."
"Ok, I'll admit it, I don't hate decorating that much," Callen allowed. "But that does not mean this is becoming a regular thing."
"Understood," Deeks agreed as he pulled out his phone to snap a quick picture. "You know, I almost forgot the last essential component of any Christmas decorating party."
"What's that?" Callen watched suspiciously while Deeks fiddled with his phone a little. A second later the sound of Bing Crosby singing "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" filled the room.
"And everybody join in on the second line."
"Not a chance, Deeks," Callen said adamantly. Kensi shook her head with what Deeks chose to interpret as fond exasperation and grabbed another set of lights.
"Just be glad that it isn't "Feliz Navidad." At Callen's horrified look, she added, "And yes, he attempts to sing in Spanish."
"How dare you, my Spanish accent is delightful," Deeks said, unable to keep himself from grinning.
"In deference to Christmas, and my love for you, I'm going to refrain from commenting further," Kensi told him, reaching over to pat his shoulder.
"Merry Christmas, Deeks," Callen said cheerfully, plopping a Santa hat on top of his head.