Chapter 7
Run, romp, and play daily. On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
“Hey Probie! Miss me already?” Abby’s cheerful voice rang out from the front door. There was a shuffle of claws on floors then something landing before the sound of Abby’s giggling filled the front of the house.
“Abs? Is that you?” Tony’s head poked out from the entrance to the kitchen, only to find Probie with his front paws on Abby’s shoulders, licking her to within an inch of her life. Abby was lying on the floor giggling as she played with Probie’s big head and furry body.
“Probie! No!” Tony said sternly.
Probie whined loudly at Tony’s disapproving tone, getting up reluctantly from licking Abby to sit on his haunches next to her, tail tucked between his legs.
Laughing as she got up, Abby greeted Tony with a bright smile. “Hey Tony! It’s not a problem, really! I love it when dogs say ‘hi’ to me like that!”
“We’re trying to house train him, so please don’t encourage him. Can’t have him ‘attacking’ every house guest that comes by.” Tony sighed, making a quoting motion. “He gets excited too easily.”
“Aww, but that’s why Probie is so adorable! He’s like a puppy! Haven’t you ever heard of the saying ‘a dog can grow bigger but they never grow up?’” Abby quipped with a grin, and then tapped her chin. “Or was that about men?”
“Abby…” Tony gave her a mock glare, and the two of them burst into laughter. Probie let out a few healthy barks, joining in with his tail wagging.
“C’mon, we’re in the back. Gibbs is just starting up the grill.” Tony motioned towards the double French doors as he led Abby through the kitchen. “Thanks for dog sitting Probie this past week, by the way.”
They’d been working overtime on a fraud case. It was mostly legwork for the team, but there were so many witness statements and way too much financial data to sort through, none of them had gone home for more than a shower and change of clothes in four days. And since there wasn’t too much actual forensic evidence, Tony had asked Abby to help take Probie for walks before and after work, keep him company and make sure he was taken care of. Needless to say, Abby and Probie had become fast friends, and Tony was a bit afraid to think what Abby was saying to or teaching Probie.
Vance had taken them off rotation for three days, unless anything urgent came in, effectively giving them a long weekend. They all spent the first day relaxing at home, except for Tony, who had gone over to Gibbs’ to help with some secret woodworking project in Gibbs’ basement. He’d casually mentioned that it was too nice a weekend to not have a barbeque, which Gibbs had agreed and proceed to call up everyone to meet at his place for dinner the next day.
Tony could hardly believe his own eyes and ears when Gibbs quirked an eyebrow and gave an amused smirk before asking Tony. “How about tomorrow? Invite the whole gang for dinner?”
“Oh that’s no problem at all!” Abby said cheerfully as she followed Tony through the kitchen, with Probie running past them and out the door. “I take care of Jethro for Timmy all the time when he had to stay late so it’s not a problem!”
“God! I can’t believe Probie’s been with us almost a month!” Tony stretched his arms up as he stepped through the threshold onto the deck. His eyes fell automatically to the man standing over the grill, and he couldn’t help the smile when he saw Gibbs taking a break to wipe sweat off his forehead.
After that first weekend, Tony would drop by in the evenings after work to walk Probie. Sometimes he and Gibbs would have dinner before walking down to the waterfront together, chatting about whatever-the current case, politics, woodworking and sometimes, even popular culture trivia. Tony was worried at first that it’d be boring for the older man, who seemed more interested in current affairs than celebrity gossips, but he’d surprised Tony. Gibbs turned out to be quite knowledgeable about some movies-mostly stuff from the seventies and eighties, but some more recent ones as well.
Other times, Tony would walk Probie by himself and let Gibbs be alone with his basement for a few hours. He was never sure what Gibbs was doing down there-he’d finished the boat and stopped building more. But Tony secretly wished that the older man would build another one. He would’ve loved to help sand the wood, to just get lost in the repetitive motions. He very much admired the way Gibbs could create something that massive, that magnificent, out of nothing but a pile of wood and a vision. Tony had always imagined that the meditation-like trance Gibbs seemed to get into was one of the reasons why he kept building them.
Tony would drop by on the weekends too, to help Gibbs with smaller woodworking projects. Gibbs had begun teaching him about the craft after Tony had mentioned how he loved the way the wood felt so smooth after Gibbs was done with it.
This whole “arrangement” they had felt so… domestic to Tony, and he just couldn’t help coming back for more. It had helped ground him in more ways than one, and it’d showed at work. He focused better and was less prone to going off on tangents. He’d still occasionally go into work in the middle of the night, but now it had more to do with having breakthroughs, rather than the insomnia that often plagued him at night.
If only there was more to it than just friends hanging out.
Tony sighed. He was well aware of the fact that Gibbs didn’t have a lot of friends. Gibbs had deliberately kept his social circle small, so Tony was probably just the convenient choice to hang out with-they worked the same hours, got along fine and they shared a dog.
Gibbs had been sneaking peeks at Tony as soon as the younger man came back out onto the deck, accompanied by Abby and Probie. He had been acutely aware of Tony’s presence, even more so than normal when they worked side by side. He couldn’t help staring secretly from behind the small towel he was using to wipe sweat off at the small sliver of toned abs under the hem of Tony’s t-shirt when Tony stretched. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to concentrate on finishing wrapping the potatoes for the grill.
Tony looked relaxed and happy, Gibbs decided, if the bright grin on his face as he and Abby chatted away was anything to go by. It was the one thing he treasured about the younger man-the genuine smiles and real emotions that weren’t obscured by the masks he wore at work. Gibbs took time to watch and remember each and every single one of them. He felt smug-and maybe just a bit prideful-that he had been the cause of a great number of these cherished moments lately.
He could hardly believe that it’d been a month since Probie came into their lives. He didn’t think it’d work, but somehow they made it work. The added bonus of having Tony at his house practically every evening, sharing a meal-whether it was take-out or either of their cooking-had made him look forward to coming home every day. The younger man had this uncanny ability to detect his moods, better at it than anyone ever had-except for Shannon, maybe-and knew just when to drag him out to walk Probie together and when to let him hide out in his basement.
They talked about everything, whether it was worked related or pop culture references that Gibbs was slowly becoming acquainted with. It had given Gibbs a rare glimpse into just who Tony DiNozzo really was. Underneath the skirt-chasing jock was someone who was well spoken and smart, had a vast interest in economics and psychology, and a wicked sense of humor.
Occasionally, when a case was especially hard on either of them, they wouldn’t talk at all, sometimes for the entire night, but that was okay. Tony just got him. The younger man would sit on the bottom stairs of the basement, watching him work the wood and his emotions through.
He was charmed by the way Tony found his hobby interesting, and he couldn’t believe that Tony had taken up on his offer to teach him woodworking. Now they spent time on the weekends to work various projects.
Gibbs often wondered what kept Tony coming back. He’d thought that Tony would find his life too boring and opted for other, more interesting things to do outside of work. But Tony hadn’t. Gibbs couldn’t be happier about the fact that Tony found him worth spending time with. He had noticed that he felt more relaxed at work, less prone to snapping at people-generally not as much of a second-b as he had been.
The only thing troubling him was the increasingly graphic dreams he’d been having. He found himself staring at Tony more often than not, and imagining the hard body he knew was under the fancy suits and ties. He’d woken in the middle of the night on more than a few occasions, achingly hard, from dreams of him in various positions with another man, and he just knew that it was Tony in his dreams.
Stealing another glance at the firm ass jutting out as Tony leaned forward, resting his arms on the back of one of the deck chairs, Gibbs sighed. He was just hopeless when it came to resisting the temptation named Tony-that was for sure.
“Gibbs, I’m gonna go bring in the potato salad and the dinner rolls. McGee texted me, says he’s on his way. Would Probie be okay with other dogs?” Abby asked, looking up from her phone.
“He seemed fine when we went to the dog park the other day,” Tony pointed out with a shrug. “Why?”
“McGee was wondering if he could bring Jethro. I left Toni with him as well, and he was going to get one of his neighbor’s kid to dog sit but the girl called this morning and canceled because she forgot she has soccer practice.” Abby bit her lip, looking worried.
“As long as they’re okay with another large dog, I don’t see why not.” Gibbs thought for a moment before replying. “Anyone who gets too excited gets a timeout in the kennel.”
“Great! Thanks so much, Gibbs! I’ll be right back.” Abby ran over to Gibbs to peck him on the cheek before rushing out the door for her food, hands typing rapidly on her phone to fire-off Gibbs’ reply to McGee.
The rest of the afternoon passed in a flurry of activities. McGee, Ziva, Ducky and Palmer had all brought their own contributions for food and beverages, and Palmer had brought a small football as well as other games at Tony’s request.
Probie was at first a bit shy and growly towards the four-legged new comers, but once Gibbs had told him to stand down and Tony had given him a pep talk, he seemed to get along just fine with the German Sheppard and the Jack Russell.
Tony had gotten a bit emotional when he saw Toni. She was a reminder of Kate that none of the team had the heart to get rid of. Abby had ended up adopting Toni-Kate was her best friend after all-since Kate’s parents couldn’t take the little dog. Toni still didn’t like Tony much, but he was okay with that. The little dog brought back the happy memories.
“Ya okay?” Gibbs had pulled him into the kitchen and asked him quietly.
“I’ll be fine,” Tony answered with a quick nod.
“Kate?”
“Yeah.” Tony looked out the doorway at the dogs playing in the yard. “I still miss her.”
“I know. Me too.” Gibbs reached out a hand, intending to cup the younger man’s face but stopped himself at the last minute and squeezed Tony’s shoulder instead. “Coming?”
Tony smiled, leading the way back out.
“Tony! Where did you go? We’re gonna start!” Abby dragged Tony out onto the grass, where the gang had set up to play touch football. Gibbs smiled, watching Tony call out the play as he tended the grill. The days had been getting hotter, now that summer was approaching, and Probie was lying in the shade, panting with his tongue out and Toni tucked at his side, after Gibbs had fed them with kibbles and water.
The day couldn’t have been any better, Gibbs thought to himself.
After a satisfying dinner and plenty of fun and games, the guests began to bid their good nights, wanting to get some more long overdue rest. Tony had stayed to help Gibbs clean up the place before they headed out with Probie for their daily walk. When they arrived back at Gibbs’ place, it was already past twenty-three hundred.
“Ya wanna stay for the night?” Gibbs tossed out as he packed up the garbage bag to throw into the can in the garage. “It’s late, and you’ve had a couple of beers. You can borrow the guestroom this time, instead of crashing on the couch.”
“Oh, God! That would be great!” Tony groaned his appreciation as he stretched his back and legs. “I’m beat. Who knew running around with three dogs would be so much work!?”
“No one told you to run with them.” Gibbs chuckled, shaking his head, and gave Tony a tap on the back of the head then ruffled his hair. “The guest bed is made up already. Go and get some sleep.”
Tony smiled brightly when Gibbs played with his hair, and Gibbs’ heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t help the small smile that appeared at the corner of his lips, or the hand that slid down to Tony’s face, giving the younger man a quick pat on the cheek. Gibbs could feel the bits of Tony’s five o’clock shadow under his fingers, as he looked into the brilliant green of Tony’s eyes.
There was a brief flash of uncertainty in Tony’s eyes before his eyes shined with joy. Gibbs felt his breath catch, his fingers lingering over Tony’s cheek as he moved his hand back, and Gibbs had to remind himself to slow down, fearing that he’d scare Tony off.
“C’mon.” He cleared his throat, turning back towards the kitchen. “Go get some rest. I’ll be up in a minute, just gotta shut off the lights. Holler if ya need me.”
Tony nodded, letting out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding as Gibbs moved his hand away. “Sure,” he said, clearing his throat. “Can I borrow a pair of sweats?”
“Yeah, bottom drawer in my room, help yourself.”
Tony made his way up the stair, his mind still swirling around the feel of Gibbs’ hand on his cheek. He found his way into Gibbs’ bedroom, hesitating only a brief second before curiosity took over and propelled him into the room. He saw the USMC hoodie that Gibbs had let him borrow once in a small pile on the bed and he smiled, having a hard time believing that Gibbs would be the type to just leave clothing in a pile like that. He picked it up, and buried his face into the fabric, breathing in deep.
There was the smell of sawdust, a bit of sweat and coffee, but mostly a clean, masculine scent that was almost overwhelming. Gibbs had been wearing it the day before as they worked in the basement, and Tony had to force himself to put the shirt down, folding it out of habit. There was too much temptation to just pull the sweater over his head so he could surround himself with Gibbs’ essence and pretend he was in Gibbs’ arms.
That was what Gibbs saw as he approached his bedroom, and it stopped him in his track. Was Tony…? He saw the way Tony was sniffing his sweater, looking at it with longing. Leaning against the wall outside of his bedroom, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He couldn’t stop the silly grin that was creeping up his face, the scene of Tony’s face buried in his sweater playing repeatedly in his mind.
Breathing deep again, Gibbs schooled his expression to something barely resembling his normal before turning towards his bedroom again. Tony looked up as he entered the room, hands fishing out a pair of sweats from the drawer.
“Ya finding everything okay?” Gibbs asked.
“Yeah.” Tony straightened up. “Thanks,” he said as he met Gibbs at the doorway. “I…uh, I’m gonna wash up and head to bed. I’ll see you in the morning?”
Tony was close, close enough to touch-close enough to kiss-but Gibbs held back.
“G’night, Tony,” he said, his voice low, trying not to let the lust and desire bleed into his tone.
Tony nodded, giving him a smile in return.
“Good night, Jethro.”
---
TBC
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs hosts a barbecue and invites everyone over, and makes a startling discovery.
Chapter End Notes:
This is written in response to rose_malmaison’s ‘If a dog was the teacher’ fic challenge :)
Thanks to gibbsgirlabby for the beta!
Sorry it took me so long to get to this point. RL issues with work and just general craziness of my life sucked my creativity dry. After being stuck on a bus for a grand total of 20 hrs this past weekend to go visit slashscribe, I've reclaimed some of that creative spirit and Probie decided to make an appearance. I'm trying to make good use of this and finish the fic sooner rather than later. I'm estimating that there will be 10 chapters in total, but there might be an epilogue to tie everything off. Thanks for sticking with me, and happy reading! As per usual, comments and feedback are always welcome :)
Thanks to gibbsgirlabby for the beta!
Sorry it took me so long to get to this point. RL issues with work and just general craziness of my life sucked my creativity dry. After being stuck on a bus for a grand total of 20 hrs this past weekend to go visit slashscribe, I've reclaimed some of that creative spirit and Probie decided to make an appearance. I'm trying to make good use of this and finish the fic sooner rather than later. I'm estimating that there will be 10 chapters in total, but there might be an epilogue to tie everything off. Thanks for sticking with me, and happy reading! As per usual, comments and feedback are always welcome :)