Yahtzee!
NCISLA Hiatus Fic Challenge #4 Unlikely Pairing: Deeks/Nell. Words: 1,149 Content Warning: Primarily cheekiness and innuendo. Though, nothing “descriptive,” if you will.
A/N: hermionesmydawg is my dawg. I feel like this proves we can not be not dawgs now. She was literally begging for this, and I felt bad for her. I made a joke in her inbox, and in a strange turn of events this somehow happened.
Summary: Deeks/Nell. It’s a party at the Hanna household, and two guests enjoy themselves more than the rest.
Nell’s exclamation caused all barbecue attendees to look towards Sam Hanna’s house.
While Kensi and Eric were confused, they were still grateful this interrupted yet another one of Callen and Sam’s arguments over at the barbecue pit.
After a bit of silence, Kensi realized she was going to have to be the one to ask the question they were all thinking. “Did she say ‘Yahtzee?’”
Inside what Deeks and Nell were extremely hopeful was the Hannas’ guest bedroom, the two began to quickly sort themselves out.
Deeks was alternating between flattening his hair with his hands and mussing it, looking for that perfect balance. Too tidy and it was suspicious. Too messy? Also suspicious. There really was a science to it, and Deeks never felt like anyone truly understood nor appreciated it.
“So, I was wondering, you, um -- Yahtzee, huh?” Deeks was still a little confused by that. He had heard plenty of variations on deity names in this situation, but the dice game was a first.
Nell looked up from de-wrinkling her dress with a smirk. “Something wrong?”
“No, no. It’s just, that was a first for me. Yahtzee.”
“Yahtzees are exciting. They are also not common, hence why they are exciting. Take it for the compliment it is, Detective.” She then winked.
Deeks decided to move on. “Do you think they heard you?”
Nell shrugged. “Possibly. Quite possibly. We work with people who look the other way and don’t pry on our really private matters, though, Deeks. If they did, they won’t say anything. You worried?”
“No, I mean, maybe,” admitted Deeks. “It could be...weird.”
In the grand scheme of things, Deeks knew, there was nothing to necessarily feel weird about. He and Nell were two consenting adults. Things like this happened. He was still trying to figure out how they had gotten to this point in the first place, though.
They had all come over to spend most of the day at Sam’s while his wife and little girl were out of town for a couple weeks. Sam was lonely, you could tell. In the bullpen one day, Callen pointed out to Sam that he had just gotten the new barbecue pit. Sam pointed out to Callen that he had just built the new barbecue pit. Callen just shook his head and suggested a barbecue. Kensi and Deeks had then jumped in with some stuff they could bring. Callen gave Kensi and Deeks a look that suggested he had intended for the barbecue to be just between Sam and himself. However, before they knew it, it was a party. Nell and Eric were invited. The team also assured Sam they would bring all store bought food, nothing homemade. This seemed to quell the big guy’s initial hesitation.
Deeks brought the salad, and Nell brought some pie. Fetching these items for a second round of food was actually their cover for going inside the house. Deeks couldn’t help but laugh thinking about this. Appropriate. But still, he had just...”yahtzeed” with Nell, to borrow her term, which was starting to grow on him.
True, everyone had been getting a little tipsy earlier. At one point, Callen was doing magic tricks for a very entertained Eric while Kensi had somehow been moved to google Bazooka Gum jokes. Nell wasn’t drinking today. Kensi pointed out they had an array of choices, but Nell declined. She said she was feeling a bit off today, and it was a little warm for her outside. She’d make frequent trips inside to cool off. She also brought a batch of popsicles to enjoy while the others drank and waited for the various foods to cook.
The popsicle. That’s what did it. That damn popsicle. Deeks happened to look over at her, with all honorable intentions to make sure she was doing alright. They had actually all taken their turns checking on her when she would do things that signaled the “off”ness was getting to her -- fanning herself more or going inside the house more frequently. They all thought she was being a really good sport hanging out despite not feeling 100%.
On one particular moment when Deeks was inclined to check on her, though, she looked back at him. Actually, she stared him down. While eating a popsicle. Deeks initially thought he was misreading this. Then she smirked. Nell’s sass was definitely not taking a day off. She continued to stare him down. Deeks hesitated. Did he want to do this? I mean, she was sending all the signals. And that red sundress she was wearing, much more outdoor friendly than anything she wore in Ops, made the offer all the more inviting.
Finally, Deeks just raised both eyebrows and turned his head slightly to nonverbally ask if he was reading her cues correctly. Nell read this loud and clear and returned a nod.
Yep. This was happening. And then it did. It most definitely did.
Deeks and Nell were picking up their respective dishes to bring them outside. Deeks was trying to prepare himself for the looks of his co-workers. He knew it shouldn’t matter. Again. Two consenting adults. But, also again, so much potential weirdness. He would try and make as much eye contact as possible, and he knew he’d have to force himself to do it. Shying away from looks would only raise suspicions. Much like the hair, there was a perfect balance needed. Nell promised she had a cover story for the “Yahtzee” thing, noting she wasn’t exactly an amateur in this department.
They opened the door to discover the rest of the team standing, almost in a line, in the path to the table. They’d have to pass all four of their co-workers to put the food down. No pressure at all.
When everyone turned to look at them, Nell exclaimed, “Good news, guys! I thought I had lost the earring my grandmother gave me, but Deeks helped me find it! I’m so relieved!”
“Was that why you yelled, ‘Yahtzee?’” asked Eric.
“Oh, yes. That was our favorite game to play together,” replied Nell.
The suggested death of a relative was a good way to prevent any additional questions. This only reminded Deeks that Nell was very, very smart. And in charge. And, man, that dress. But he stopped himself before his mind wandered too far. He then proceeded with the task at hand: put the salad on the table.
He smiled and nodded at his co-workers as he passed them by, playing it cool. Nell did the same, but her smile was more cheeky and accompanied by a glint in her eyes.
When Deeks looked back at his co-workers just before putting the salad down, he noticed they all looked uncomfortable and were looking around as if trying to avoid eye contact with anyone else.
They know, Deeks thought.
Five in a row, Nell thought.