#i have another prompt sitting in my inbox that's more valentine's-themed than this one

[doom-dreaming]

Do you think she said/he heard something funny enough that got him to smile/laugh and look away for a fraction of a second. Do you think she felt enamored and secretly tried to get him to laugh again. Because in midst of chaos she's never really seen him simply laugh and rarely seen him smile.

"You always take me to such nice places," she remarks. It's half-sarcastic (the body of the Jackal they'd ambushed is floating down the creek at the bottom of the ravine) but there's an undercurrent of sincerity to it - it is a nice little place. Leaf-filtered light dapples the grass under John's boots. High overhead, the glittering curve of Delta Halo's alien landscape fades into a cloudless blue sky. Her sensors pick up birdsong; she runs a quick comparison scan through her database...no match to a familiar species. Interesting. She files the call under a new entry.

A nice place indeed.

John shoots two more Jackal snipers off their perches, sending them sprawling limp against the rocks. Shouts echo up the cliff walls from somewhere beyond the range of both sight and sensors; Unggoy cries of alarm, silenced by a swift Sangheili command.

"Seems like we've crashed our own surprise party."

John drops from the ledge and hits the ground running, clearing a gap in the rocks around the waterfall with the effortless grace of a jungle cat. Cortana swears she can feel the mist swirling past his shields. He meets the oncoming Covenant as he always does, a wall of metallic green titanium, an unstoppable force and an immovable object all, somehow, rolled into one.

The next thirty seconds are a blur of bullets, brutality, and blood. Cortana wanders. A frog, an unremarkable little brown thing only a few inches long, launches itself from the bank of the creek, kicking through the water to the safety of a submerged rock. A dragonfly as dazzlingly blue as Cortana herself alights on the flowering stalk of a reed. A lizard with a brightly-colored tail three times the length of its body skitters up a nearby tree. A shiny black beetle, unperturbed by the chaos around it, trundles under a clump of fallen leaves.

This ring is alive in a way so different from the first, with an entirely separate ecosystem— "Wait." She folds in on herself, collapsing back into the confines of the Mjolnir, pressing at the barrier separating her—just barely—from the electrical storm inside his brain on the other side.

He stops.

"...I wonder if there are fish in that creek."

A mixture of amusement and confusion splashes up against the barrier, but he humors her curiosity without a word, picking his way over the rocks, deeper into the ravine.

Sure enough, there they are. Tiny silver things wriggling at the edges of stones and within the stands of reeds, breaking the surface tension to swallow up pinprick-small insects resting on the water, leaving behind perfectly round, glistening bubbles.

She relaxes again, swelling outward, soaking in everything she can touch. The rocks here are slick with waterfall mist; moss grows in the crevices, lush tracks of green and pink. Somewhere close, another frog croaks. Insects buzz. Leaves rattle in the breeze. There's no gunfire. No alien shrieking. No radio chatter. It's serene.

"Hard to believe these were built to be weapons," she muses, focusing on a miniscule spider as it climbs across a branch over their head. His head. She had to stop doing that. "...we should keep going. Regret has to be close. Sorry about the detour."

Calmness and nonchalant acceptance greet her from John's side of the neural barrier when she tucks herself back into the nooks and crannies of his armor. Part of her—a rather loud part of her—wants to stay and analyze the intricacies of this halo's flora and fauna and how it had all developed and fit together, but...they have work to do.

She can't resist one last quip as John navigates through the winding cavern out of the ravine. "On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate this date?" She's not expecting a response, but he surprises her. It's nothing more than a huff of air and a low sound in the back of his throat, but Cortana feels the chemical-electrical rush of amusement behind it and knows what it's supposed to be.

And in spite of the frogs and insects and birdsong, it's the sweetest sound she's heard since they landed.

[ejzah]

Here another one suggested by @wanna-be-bold. For the following prompt: Densi's first Valentine's day

A/N: This may be a bit different than what you were expecting. Takes place during season 2.

***

Friends Day

“Hey Partner, how was your weekend?” Deeks asked, sitting down on the due of Kensi’s desk. From the look of things, she’d been there for a while.

“Wonderful,” she answered tightly without looking up.

“I spent all Saturday surfing and the swells were awesome. I think-”

“Deeks, I think it’s really great that you had a good weekend, but I really do not care about surfing.” Kensi’s voice was filled with irritation and she looked pointedly at Deeks’ current location. Getting the message loud and clear, Deeks quietly sat down at his own desk.

Callen and Sam weren’t in yet, surprisingly, and he’d finished his own paperwork the on Friday. Which meant he had little to do except watch Kensi attack her keyboard with sharp, angry jabs of her fingers.

He tried to distract himself by clearing out old emails, but after about 15 minutes, his inbox was squeaky clean. Kensi muttered something under his breath, her tone clearly annoyed.

“Uh, Kens, is everything ok?” he tried again. Even though they’d been partners for about 10 months now, Kensi wasn’t exactly an open book. She preferred to keep things to herself and he was pretty sure didn’t fully trust him with...well, anything.

“I’m just trying to concentrate on my work,” she insisted. Getting up again, Deeks flipped through the stack of files on her desk before she could stop him.

“Those are cold cases, Kens. What’s really going on? I swear I won’t tell anyone, whatever it is.” He meant it too. If she was really this upset, he wouldn’t betray her trust. Sighing in frustration, Kensi closed the file in front of her and tossed it across her desk.

“Fine. If you have to know, everyone I know if making posts about their Valentine’s plans. It’s not good enough that someone is buying them flowers and chocolate and ridiculously overpriced jewelry. No, they have to make sure everyone else knows about it too.”

Deeks gaped for a moment at her diatribe. He hadn’t been expecting that at all. Honestly he’d almost forgotten it was Valentine’s at all since he didn’t tend to celebrate the holiday in any way.

“Um, ok. Well, you shouldn’t let the commercialism get you down,” he said, hoping it wasn’t the completely wrong thing to say.

Instead of looking angry, Kensi seemed to deflate; her shoulders caved and she suddenly seemed morose.

“It’s not just the stuff. It’s all the cheesy posts and declarations of love,” she admitted. “It’s just a reminder that the last good Valentine’s I had was in third grade when Charlie Wheeler gave me a chocolate heart sucker and a card that said ‘I like you’.”

“I’m sorry.” Deeks hesitated for a moment and then reached out to squeeze her shoulder. “But I don’t think most people actually enjoy today that much. It’s more of a kid thing or a day for adults to try and pretend their lives are perfect.”

“I know.” She sighed again and shrugged. Glancing across the room, her gaze turned a little distant. “Sometimes I just wish my life were more normal, you know.”

“I do know,” he agreed. She laughed then, barely more than a huff of air, but he could visibly see her pulling herself together again.

“Ignore me, I’m just being ridiculous,” Kensi said with a roll of her eyes. “But I do appreciate you listening to me complain.”

“Anytime.” They shared a smile and then the moment was broken as Sam and Callen appeared, mid-way through an argument about breakfast sandwiches.

***

It was a long day that ended in Deeks tackling a suspect into a muddy ditch. Not all together the worst Valentine’s Day he’d ever had, sadly enough. Kensi seemed to slowly perk up and by the time the case was closed, she was back to mocking him as usual.

He was surprised to find her waiting for him in the bullpen when he was finished showering. She leaned against her desk, bag over her shoulder, and an expectant look on her face.

“What are you still doing here? I thought you’d want to get home as soon as possible and avoid the love-sick couples,” he said, ruffling his still damp hair as he went to grab his own belongings.

“Well,” she started, pressing her palms together in a gesture he’d come to associate with slight discomfort. “I thought maybe you’d want to get some Chinese or something for dinner. That is if you don’t have a last minute date or something.”

“No, I don’t have a date,” Deeks assured her, allowing a have smile at her offer. “And I would love Chinese. Or really anything at this point.”

“Great. I’ll call while we drive.” Kensi started to walk towards the doorway, but he held up a finger.

“Wait a second, I almost forgot something.” Reaching over his desk, he rifled through the front drawer and removed a couple objects, keeping them slightly hidden against his side as he turned to face Kensi again.

“What are you doing?” she asked suspiciously. He cleared his throat, hesitated for a second, and then held out both items.

“Happy Valentine’s, Kens,” he said as Kensi slowly accepted them.

“Deeks.” She shook her head, looking a little confused as she stared down at the chocolate heart and cheap card in her hand. “Why?”

“I figured it’s about time you had a good Valentine’s Day to remember.” He shrugged and gestured to the card. “Sorry, but all the convenience store had left was Hello Kitty theme.”

“This...this is perfect,” Kensi decided after a minute. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now can we get dinner? Cause I really am starving.”

Kensi rolled her eyes, carefully placing the candy and card in her bag.

“You’re such an idiot.” As they walked out, she added, “Happy Valentine’s, Deeks.”

***

Thanks for the prompt!

A/N: Hopefully I didn’t offend anyone with the comments about Valentine’s.