AN ACCEPTABLE CLICHÉ
By
Ashleigh Anpilova
A sequel to Sometimes You Are Wrong.
Tony is trying to find a non-clichéd way of telling Ziva how he feels and asking her to marry him.
An established relationship story.
Written: January 2012. Word count: 500.
Tony sat at his desk, staring despondently at his computer flipping from one website to another. He'd been so happy when Ducky had told him that he had Gibbs's 'blessing' to ask Ziva to marry him, but now he wasn't so sure.
"What are you doing, Tony?"
Tony jumped. "Nothing!" In an attempt to stop McGee from seeing what he was doing, he spun around to block his computer screen. Unfortunately he sent his coffee flying; it hit the ground with a resounding 'squelch' and he watched as the brown liquid began to seep into the carpet.
Apart from moving out of the way, McGee ignored the flying coffee and instead leaned over Tony and stared at the website Tony had been looking at. "How to find a non-clichéd way to say 'I love you'," he read out.
Tony spun back around. "Did I tell you you could look at that, McNosey?"
McGee sat on the edge of Tony's desk. "No," he said placidly. "Did I tell you you could go through my desk drawers?"
Tony frowned, opened his mouth to say something clever and then closed it again. "I guess not," he said.
"Then we're even." McGee smiled at Tony who glared back. "So what's wrong with just saying 'I love you, Ziva?" he asked.
"How do you know it's Ziva I want to say it to?" Tony demanded; McGee just stared at him. "Okay, well let's say it is Ziva -"
"Which it is."
Tony ignored the comment. "You should know why, McAuthor."
McGee frowned. "Huh?"
Tony flipped to another website. "It says here one of the things you should avoid is the cliché. And 'I love you' is a cliché. See it says so here." Tony flipped to yet another website. He wasn't quite sure how he'd managed to have three different pages open at once, but he was impressed with himself. "So I'm trying to find something else to say."
McGee leaned over his shoulder again and began to read out some of the alternatives. "'I dote upon you'," he shuddered and looked aghast at Tony.
"I wasn't going to use that one."
"I'm glad to hear it."
McGee read another couple. "'I care about you. I have a soft spot for you'. Well I care about dogs and have a soft spot for puppies, but I wouldn't want to marry one. And how about 'I delight in you'. I swear if you say that to Ziva she'll have you committed."
Tony sighed. "I know," he said. "So what do I say?"
McGee shook his head. "I love you."
"Keep your declarations of love for DiNozzo for outside the office, McGee," Gibbs said, striding by with his ever-present coffee in his hand.
McGee jumped off Tony's desk. "Boss, I wasn't . . . I mean you don't think . . . I wouldn't . . . I'm not . . . Not that there's anything . . . I mean . . . Oh," he said, trailing off as Gibbs just stared at him. "You didn't really think that I was . . . Did you?"
Gibbs laughed.
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