dann_0 | PSL: Sentinel AU

A faux glare is sent in Eliot's direction. "You know he's going to try to get New York tap water delivered out here now, right?" The smile he's fighting twitches at his lips as he turns to Danny. "There's nothing wrong with Hawaii's water. And before you say it, we don't filter it through pineapple or coconut." Steve has to admit that this feels nice. The easy banter and the comfort of them sharing a relaxed meal. He could get used to this. Actually it would be too easy for him to get used to this, but right now he's got no interest in fighting it.

Beside Steve, Grace nods enthusiastically at her father. There's a huge, happy closed-mouth grin on her face. If the chipmunk cheeks and the amount of sauce covering her mouth and fingers are anything to go by she is fully enjoying her meal. Steve can't help but smile down at her. Grace can be a very clean and precise eater, she has to be with her mother, but Steve enjoys the fact that when she's here and eating out on the beach she relaxes and eats more like a kid. He teases her that after dinner he's going to have to take the hose to her or better yet, toss her in the ocean for the fish to clean her up.

"No cuddling with the sharks. Got it." Steve says with an easy nod. "We'll swim out to the east instead of the west. The Tiger Sharks I usually snuggle up to in the west won't take no for an answer." Gracie giggles beside him.

"Not a superman, sweetheart, just a light sleeper." He squeezes Danny's hand lightly under the table again, wondering just how pathetic it is that he hasn't let go yet and when Danny's going to want it back. He's acting like a damn teenager with his first crush.

"Hey." Eliot shrugs and lifts both eyebrows, giving Steve an innocent look. "There're worse things to get delivered. Water here sure tastes better for drinking, though."

It's remarkably comfortable, sitting here holding Danny's hand, feeling almost like part of this little family. He can't let himself get used to it, but he's going to enjoy it while he can. "Just lemme know," he finds himself saying, turning back to Danny. "I've got a, uh, a friend who keeps a place in the city if you wanted to catch a show or something."

... and then he's thoroughly derailed from that train of thought by... cuddling with sharks. "Okay, that? That's gotta be... uh, gotta be hokey." Because bullshit is not okay to say in front of Danny's kid. "Punching tiger sharks I get, but I'd rather steer clear, thanks."

Danny smiles at the squeeze and lets his fingers curl tighter around Eliot's. He is more than happy to hold it. He reaches over to offer Grace a napkin before he glances at Steve and then back to Eliot.

"Steve has a whole rant about how you shouldn't punch sharks and that you should respect them and all that." He smiles. "I don't actually think he cuddles with them."

He smiles softer. "I will, just have to work out when with Rachel. And I guess I have to convince my boss to give me time off." He grins over at Steve. Though he really hopes Steve would come too if they did go.

"I don't rant," Steve says with a scrunched up face, "That's completely you."

Swallowing the food in her mouth, Grace accepts the napkin and wipes her mouth. "You shouldn't disrespect animals. The shark is a sacred animal to the islands and deserves our respect and protection. Its best to stay out of their way and give them the space they need. If you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone."

Steve looks down at Grace and then raises surprised eyes at Danny. "That's not all from me. I mean, she's right, but..." Steve shrugs and bumps his elbow to Grace giving her a grin. She is mostly right after all. Sometimes sharks can attack without provocation but being aware of them and giving them lots of space is better advice to her than anything else.

"A lady from the shark conservation came to talk with us at school." Tilting her head she looks over the pizza's. "Can I have another slice please? These are really good."

With a nod, Steve smiles at Danny. "I doubt that will be a problem. I hear he just generally signs whatever paperwork you put in front of him anyway." Right now, Steve's not including himself in any of that. Eliot will barely see Danny, when they're here he hopes they'll hang around so he can join them for some of the time, but he won't encroach on Danny's time there.

Eliot doesn't even feel left out by the banter between Steve and Danny, not with Danny's hand curled warmly in his, and he smiles at Grace. "That's very true," he agrees. "And I promise that if they don't try an' chew on me, I won't try an' punch them."

Eliot's polished off his own pizza and most of his beer and he's content to just sit back for the moment and enjoy this, mostly ignoring the sweet, tight ache in his chest. It would be so easy to... hell, not even give it a nudge, just let it loose, let the bond snap into place between them. So easy, but he's sure it would ruin everything. "Well, that's up to your daddy, but remember you wanna save room for the dessert pizzas we made." One a relatively basic but delicious fruit tart version, and the other her much more... creative effort. Also much more sugary.

"I usually just need a few days' heads up to be available, so just lemme know if something works out for you, sweetheart."

Danny smiles at her. "Eat as much as you want, Monkey. But Eliot is right, you want to save some room after all that work you did on making them." He smiles at Eliot.

"What do you think Steve, think we can take you to the big city and show you some culture? You'll be alright if there isn't a jungle around? Then again, central park..." He chuckles.

"And I am pretty sure he doesn't even read the paperwork, must be why I get stuck with all of it."

The idea of Eliot punching a shark in the nose for chewing on him makes Grace giggle before she tilts her head in what appears to be great deliberation. "Mmmmmmmm... Desssssssssert pizzzzzzzzas..." She finally says, then nods her head once. "I think I'm done dinner, thank you."

At the question directed towards him, Steve's eyes dart to Grace and then to Eliot, before resting back on Danny. "Uh... Maybe. We'll have to see when the time comes closer." As far as Steve is concerned, it's not his or Danny's decision it's what's most comfortable for Eliot. Whatever he decides and wants Steve will support.

"And here I thought we had a great balance with the paperwork." He grins then chuckles lightly. "You write it, and I sign it." Steve did read it all. He turns to Eliot. "When we started Five O, my paperwork kept getting sent back. Apparently the way the Navy trained me to fill out forms and the way civilian law enforcement wants it done is a bit different."

"Well yeah. Law enforcement wants all the details. It is one of the things we actually learn when we study and if you don't do it well enough your captain might stick you with all the record keeping for a year until you learn to do it well."

Danny finishes his last slice and then looks around the table. Finally, he lets go of Eliot's hand and moves to stand. "Help me clear the table, Monkey, and we'll get the dessert on the table. You want another round of coffee boys? Or more beer?"

"You guys are welcome to the paperwork. Man, I hate that stuff." And fortunately, in his line of work, there's rarely any to speak of and what there is Hardison takes care of. All he has to deal with is staying on top of inventory for the pub, and that's not a job, that's a... a calling.

He doesn't offer any comment on Danny's invitation to Steve, because he's more than torn. Danny had clearly, from the get go, intended both of them to come along on this hypothetical trip, but if it happens, if things last long enough for it to happen, he can't pretend in the quiet of his own thoughts that he wouldn't rather have Danny to himself. That's not his call, though, so he'll just keep his mouth shut and see how things shake out. Maybe it'll never even matter... which is a helluva lot more depressing than the idea of having to share Danny if the trip happens, and he has to make himself let go of Danny's hand when the other man pulls away.

"Coffee, please," he answers, pushing his hand through his hair in a gesture that's not as casual as it looks, spreading Danny's scent there to help settle him and ease the ache in his chest as Danny walks away. He can't quite help lifting his other hand to rub restlessly at his sternum, even though he knows it won't make any actual difference.

Steve can't help but smirk. "It's not that the military doesn't want all the details, but I think the Governor wanted more explanation around why something blew up with witness statements and aftermath reports, and less how it blew up with a very detailed play by play of the action." Steve was more accustomed to outlining just the facts to justify the action, not worrying about what happened after or impact on civilians and property. Really he thought his initial reports scared the Governor and she hadn't wanted those on file, hence her request to let Detective Williams write those reports.

After Eliot requests a coffee, Steve nods. "Same, please. Thank you, Danno." After handing his plate to Gracie, he winks at her. "And thank you, Gracie. You make a mean pizza, I'm looking forward to trying your dessert."

Seeing Eliot's action, he waits till Grace and Danny are in the house and with the closed door, out of the little girl's earshot. "You okay? We have antacid in the house if you need anything. Or organic milk if you prefer." The latter is what Steve usually took for an upset stomach, it was easier on his system then the chemically filled antacids.

Edited 2017-07-09 16:57 (UTC)

"Yeeeah, given the paperwork civilians want just 'cause someone 'discharged a firearm' I can see how they might'a piled it on even higher for explosions," Eliot agrees, amused.

"Yeah, she's a d--arn good sous chef." Eliot grins at her and watches and she and Danny head back into the house. Damn, he'd never seen himself getting involved with anyone with kids, but fatherhood's a damn good look on Danny, and she's a sweet kid.

He drops his hand abruptly and turns back to Steve at the question. "Huh? No, I'm fine." He shakes his head and curls his hand back at his thigh, but his scent's gone a little sour with something like anxiety and he rolls his shoulders restlessly before settling back in his seat. "You got a nice place here." He tips his head in a way that includes the house and yard and the short walk down to the ocean. Because, yes, he is changing the subject.

"And since we discharge firearms fairly regularly..." Casually he smiled and shrugged. It wasn't something he worried about. They did what they needed to do in order get the job done. He was aware that some cops could go their entire career without discharging their weapon on duty. Five-O simply didn't have that luxury due to the type of criminals they went after.

Steve grins at the catch and change of words for Gracie's behalf. It had taken him a while to get used to what was kid friendly language and what was not. Eliot was doing far better than he had originally, but it was still amusing for him to hear someone get caught up in their words.

His brows furrow a moment as he's pretty sure that he's missed something, but he lets it go when Eliot changes the topic. Turning his head, he looks over the areas Eliot's referring too. "Thank you. The house has been in the family for three generations. My Dad and aunt grew up here and he took over the property when she moved to L.A. When dad died it fell to my sister and I. She still lives in L.A." He looks back at Eliot and smiles. "I never could afford a place like this otherwise."

"You know..." Steve starts off with a fair amount of hesitation in his voice but he figures this needs to be said before Danny comes back. "You are always welcome here if you want to come back. Or I can make arrangements for Danny to be on one of the other islands for a longer period of time. They're often asking for our services and there's less military presence there. But uh... When Danny goes to the mainland... I know what he's thinking but between us I can understand why you'd want him to yourself. I'll make the excuses for not being able to come along to give you guys that." There's no reason for Eliot to have to accept having him around or be the one to say no. He's not sure he could say no if the shoe was on the other foot and he's not interested in putting that pressure on Eliot. With work, it's easy enough for him to say the Governor can't let them both go or have a military reason why he can't join them.

And it is right around then Danny and Grace comes walking back out. He is carrying the fruit tart and plates for everyone and she is carrying a tray with three mugs of coffee. He leans down to give Eliot a quick kiss as he places the tart on the table. "Anything else we need?" He glances around the table before he quickly darts back into the kitchen to fetch Grace's dessert pizza.

Eliot can hear them coming back, even before they reach the door, as he knows Steve can as well. It doesn't leave him time to answer beyond a quick duck of his head and a muttered, "thanks, man." He appreciates the offer, though, even if he doubts much will come of it.

He tips his head up for Danny's kiss, warm and casual and easy in a way he never would have expected. "Nah, we're good once you've got Grace's masterpiece," Eliot answers, smiling warmly at the little girl as he accepts his coffee from the tray.

Eliot's response is heard, as is the noise from the kitchen as Danny and Grace prepare to come back out. For now, he got it out there and that's all that really matters, that Eliot knows where he stands.

As Danny puts the tart on the table, Steve nods in thanks to him with a small smile. It's still more difficult than he believes it should be for him to witness the affection between the two men but it's getting easier and he turns to Grace and winks at the little girl as she giggles over the display of affection.

"This looks fantastic," he says to her as the deserts appear in front of him. When her creation comes out, his mouth twitches in amusement but there's only pride and affection in it. "You are going to have to tell me all about what's in this!" As she tells him about all the goodies she included, he cuts a piece for her, and another small one for himself before looking at the other two men to see if they are going to try her creation as well. It doesn't matter what it tastes like, he will eat every bite and says he loves it before he tries the tart.

Danny gives Steve his coffee and then cuts himself a piece of the dessert pizza before he offers the knife to Eliot. "It is certainly creative. I don't think I've ever seen a pizza like this." In his book, this isn't even close to pizza but that doesn't matter, Grace made it so he will eat. "Maybe you should cook for us more often Monkey? I could get used to that."

"She did a good job on it," Eliot agrees, taking the knife and leaning forward to cut himself a slice of each. "Good use of ingredients, good addition of complementary flavors an' textures. Should be real tasty."

Steve can't help but grin at Danny for calling their dessert 'pizza'. That's a hell of an amount of progress for the other man. Beside him, Grace is beaming at Eliot's words and she sits a little taller under the praise. She's watching the men carefully to see what they think, so Steve takes a good sized bite...

The amount of sugar in that bite is likely more than he gets in three days otherwise. (And it's only three days and not a week because Danny picks up Cocoa Puffs or Malasadas about once every three to four days for the office). Steve might have to go for another run and a swim tonight in order to burn off all these calories.

Smiling while he's chewing he swallows that bite with a drink of his coffee. "That is very good, Gracie. It's everything a dessert should be!"

Danny watches Steve's face with an amused smile. He can tell this is going to be sweet and he knows Steve doesn't get too much sweet. Then he takes a bite out of his own slice and grins at Grace. It is sweet yes, way too sweet for his taste, but besides that Eliot is right, it is decent. "This is good, Monkey."

He takes another bite and washes it down with coffee. "I think you make a good teacher, Eliot, maybe I should leave breakfast pancakes to the two of you tomorrow morning." Danny places a hand on Eliot's back and strokes it.

Oh, it's definitely excessively sweet... though Eliot figures he could add a scoop of ice cream and some whipped cream and stick it on the menu at the pub and, while it would't be flying out the door as their next big hit, it'd get ordered. Hell, Parker and Hardison would eat it at least twice a week.

"I think me an' my sous chef could handle that," he answers, though his voice has dropped to a slightly deeper rumble as Danny strokes a hand down his back. "What d'you think, Grace?"

Beaming at the three men, Grace looks very happy with their assessments of her creation. "I think it sounds like a date!" Her voice has that happy sing-song quality to it before she takes a bite herself. Her eyes light up and she hums out a happy sound. Clearly the desert agrees with her.

Danno chuckles and finishes his slice. Yeah, he is going to need another cup of coffee to wash that down soon enough. But for now this is just perfect, the four of them, his little family all together like this. He smiles contently as he leans back in his chair, watching them talk and eat. It might not always be this comfortable and easy but damn he is happy right now.

Eliot's rumble hits him right in the stomach and he has to take a deep breath to calm. Fuck he is way past thirty, not some teenager, this shouldn't affect him this much. He blushes slightly and looks down into his mug.

It's easy to relax into this, easier still because he can't just smell how relaxed and happy Danny is, he can almost feel it. It makes it easy to pretend--because he can't let himself believe--that this is something he can have. And keep.

And the way Danny's scent spikes with want, the blush faintly coloring his cheeks and heating his skin, the slight, barely there skip in his heart beat... christ, it makes him want right back. But he manages to stay focused on his plate, his coffee, to keep from blushing in turn as he smiles warmly at Grace and winks. "Prettiest date I'll've had in a long time."

Steve feels it too, the tug just under the rib-cage but it doesn't mean the same thing to him. This is a feeling he gets regularly, especially with Danny, and he knows it's not indigestion but he'd call it his sixth sense that he was allowing himself to relax too much. That things were just about to change and not in a good way for him. It's usually not long after he gets 'this feeling' that someone leaves on him. It was this feeling that prevented him from ever trying to move things forward with Danny - the worry that once he did, it would all be over.

When Danny's change in scent hits him though, he smiles. Smelling Danny's happiness and want, the skip then increase in his blood pressure as the surface temperature on his face goes up confirms what he already suspected about Danny. Hearing Eliot's heart beat skip, slightly speed up but then settle again gives away the other man. Eliot's good, but automatic responses are a near impossible thing to regulate when an unexpected change happens in the environment - like Danny's sudden rush of want.

The type of changes he's witnessing are the ones he wanted though, and that makes him happy. It overrides any and all amount of upset or trepidation he may have. This is the best possible outcome for Danny, Grace and soon to be Charlie. Any heartache he may experience now will be considerably less than when he gets called back to the service. It's not an 'if' in his mind, but a 'when'. It will be hard enough to lose Danny and his support, but to be worrying about how the other man is coping and what trouble he might be getting into on his own... That would be enough to drive Steve insane. No. He's convinced that this way is better. Much better.

And with that in mind the smile turns into a silly grin and he lightly taps Grace with his elbow and leans in only to speak in a stage whisper. "That's saying something, Kiddo, cause your Danno, he's got that really pretty hair that he's always fussing with. Although, I agree with Eliot. I think you're prettier too."

Grace's eyes get big and she rolls her lips over her teeth as she looks at her father trying hard not to giggle. Not missing a beat, she leans her head towards Steve and repeating that stage whisper, she says, "He is very pretty, isn't he? I think Chef thinks so too."

Danny glances between Grace and Steve, the blush deepening. He shakes his head and finishes his cup of coffee to cover it. He's never really thought of himself as pretty. Handsome maybe, vain, yeah a bit, but not pretty. He glances over at Eliot, trying to beg him to get him out of this situation.

"Still, you're prettier, Monkey. You got that after your mother." Rachel was still one of the prettiest women he knew. He sinks back in his chair, suddenly Rachel and Charlie are on his mind. What is he going to do about that? He shakes his head and then gets up. "I am getting some more coffee, you want some more boys?"

PSL: Sentinel AU

Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

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Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

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Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Re: Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Re: Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

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Re: Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Re: Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Re: Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Re: Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Re: Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Re: Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

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Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Re: Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Re: Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

Re: Steve and Eliot cuddle pile