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The knock on Ziva’s door was a little timid.
She supposed that was apt, when she saw it was five minutes to midnight, but still she checked through the peephole to make certain of her assumption.
Tony was smiling into the glass sphere, anticipating the action. When she opened the door, he held a bag of popcorn out in front of him.
“Are you sleeping?”
She frowned. “I am stood at the door, Tony.”
“Kay, good. There’s a great movie about to start on Channel 4.”
"Please, help yourself to the remote." Ziva said redundantly as Tony sat on the foot of the bed and began flicking.
The two of them had something of an open-door policy on foreign missions these days, coming between each other’s rooms constantly in the evenings for drinks or to discuss the case (when they weren’t sharing one, that is). Ziva would reluctantly have to admit that she enjoyed the company - even on nights like this when he was boisterous and insistent and, more often than not, talking about a movie that she simply had to watch.
“What sort of film?”
“Horror, obviously.”
“Is that obvious? It has never been your main interest, as far as I am aware.”
“Symptom of the season, they’re all on TV. Plus this is a classic.”
"I thought you hated Halloween."
"It's not Halloween. And this isn't a Halloween movie."
"Sorry, you are right. It's the 29th of October. We are free to watch, then.”
“Exactly. Are you not cold?" Tony signalled Ziva's shorts. She wrapped her arms around herself as though she'd only just noticed.
"The heating in here is more like a slight warming. I wish I had bought thicker pyjamas."
"You wanna borrow mine?"
Knowing Tony felt the cold more than she did, she dismissed him with a palm of her hand. A reminder that she wanted to get warm, Ziva grabbed the popcorn bag and climbed into bed, sitting with her back against the headboard. Tony grabbed a beer from the fridge where they’d placed them a couple of days ago and plonked down next to her.
"Too scared to watch on your own?"
"Hah. Good one."
Ziva pulled a blanket up from the bottom of the bed and drew it around herself, turning diagonally to fold her legs underneath her with her knees facing Tony. He grabbed the edge from her without asking and put it across his own legs. Ziva placed the bag of popcorn between them and Tony opened it with no hesitation, taking a handful and dropping it unceremoniously into his mouth.
“Is this a very long film?” Ziva asked with a yawn, stretching and rolling her neck. They’d found themselves on foot pursuing a suspect through the woods that evening, and though it was a relief to have him in custody she was certainly feeling the effects now.
“Not sure. Probably.”
“Perfect.”
“Good work today, Lara.”
“If you are referring to my scaling that old wall, I think we would have been here until Christmas waiting for you to get up there. All being well, we will be on a plane far above the Atlantic during your least favourite night of the year."
“Here, I just thought you were trying to impress me.”
Ziva moved her hand backwards lazily to bat his chest, where it was cushioned just to the side of her shoulder. Her fingers lingered for a couple of seconds longer than necessary. “Hush. It’s about to start.”
“I knew I’d win you over.”
Ziva chose to ignore his smug tone as the channel ident gave way to opening credits with dark, ominous music. “’Hotel of Shadows’,” she read the title card, “sounds appropriate.”
“If you’re too scared..”
"I have an older brother, Tony, I think it is safe to assume I have watched a scary film in my time."
The blankets were thick and warm and Ziva couldn't help but burrow down in them a little.
The film was quiet and brooding, which had Tony reaching for the remote to turn up the sound within the first couple of seconds.
Volume adjusted, his hand found its way to her top thigh under the blanket. He stroked his fingers lightly, slowly, over the bare skin. In return she turned further into him, basking in his residual body heat. His hand was strangely clammy despite the cold surroundings and Ziva could feel her leg starting to warm as he ran his fingers rhythmically in a circle.
There had never particularly been a touch barrier between them, but it had always seemed even more non-existent on overseas missions, as though being physically and metaphorically away from prying eyes impacted their behaviour.
It had always been easy for them to curl up a little while watching a film. Never anything significant: a hand on a leg, or fingers in the ends of hair. Something that could just about be called innocent.
The film was in black and white – though Ziva wasn’t quite sure if it was a sign of the times or a stylistic choice. Either way it added to the atmosphere, and she had to admit it was a little scarier than she’d been expecting even only a couple of minutes in.
"Boo." Tony's voice was suddenly at Ziva's ear, his lips almost touching skin. She turned to look at him, their eyes meeting with faces only inches apart.
"Be careful, Tony. My reflex when someone sneaks up on me like that is a headlock.”
"Go ahead. Try me."
Ziva narrowed her eyes at him, atmosphere charging. Their gaze held for a couple of seconds until a loud noise on screen made both of them jump. Tony looked away first, eyes darting in fear, before he relaxed again.
“Maybe it is you who should be careful about getting scared.”
“Yeah, right.”
He scoffed as they settled back down into watching, his shoulders adjusting until they were pressed fully up against her.
Ziva didn't scare easily, especially not at something fictional, though even she had to admit to feeling her heartbeat flutter a little as the shadowy figure loomed just off camera.
Tony’s eyes continued to flicker back to her as the film continued, as though checking her reaction. She maintained a cool disinterest whenever he did, hiding any drop of fear. She hoped she did a better job of disguising it than Tony himself was doing.
When his hand found itself clasping hers tightly, she didn't say anything. Simply squeezed back with a smile.