dann_0 | PSL: Sentinel AU

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?"

"Don't worry, sweetheart." Eliot leans across and presses a kiss to Danny's cheek before he can escape. "You're def'nitely the second prettiest, an' I think she must'a got that smile from you."

He has to resist the urge to swat Danny's ass as he stands, but he's doing pretty good so far on remembering to be kid-appropriate. "Nah, I'm good. But how 'bout I help you clear the table."

When Danny stands, so does Steve. "Hey no. You guys sit. Relax. I'll clear the table and take care of the dishes." He smiles and winks at Gracie, this is a house rule. "Who ever cooks, the other cleans, right?"

Stacking up the dishes he takes the first load into the house.

Danny isn't hard to convince and he sinks back into the chair, taking Eliot's hand and holding it as he sips his coffee. "This is like that picture perfect dream they try to sell, right?" He smiles over at Eliot, giving his hand a squeeze. "So what do you think? You still want to be a part of this now that you've had a chance to see more of what it entails?"

Eliot squeezes back, and rubs his thumb back and forth lightly over the back of Danny's hand, just enjoying the warmth and the peace and the contact. Everyone's heartbeat is steady and even, everyone's content, the surf is lapping quietly in the background-

"Right up to it being filmed on a Hawaiian beach paradise," he agrees easily, even if he's pretty sure those picture perfect dreams don't generally include your new boyfriend's best friend who he's clearly in love with and just as clearly wants to fuck. But he knew he was only getting a part of Danny, and that part only on time share from the start, so he can't really complain. He'll take what he can get for as long as he can get it and try his damnedest to make it work.

"Think you're gonna hafta run me off if you want me outa the picture, sweetheart," he answers, lifting Danny's hand and pressing his lips to the back of it.

Putting the dishes on the counter in the kitchen, Steve smiles to himself as he hears the conversation taking place outside. Both Danny and Eliot sound happy and relaxed, and he's relieved that things are going well.

Bringing out the coffee pot, he places it on the table with a warmer underneath. Scooping up the remainder of the unneeded dishes he looks around at each of the others. "I'm going to start the dishes, anyone need anything first?"

Danny smiles warmly at Eliot. "Good, because I am not planning on letting you go unless you want to." He leans over to kiss Eliot. When Steve comes back out he once again pushes to his feet. "I think it is bedtime for the little lady." He moves to pick Grace up. "I'll be down soon, boys."

Eliot's surprised how easy this is, how peaceful. How despite the misgivings in the back of his mind that he can't quite push aside, he's comfortable with the sound of Steve moving around in the kitchen, the steady beat of his heart as a background to his quiet conversation with Danny. He smiles into Danny's kiss... and is still smiling when Steve emerges with the coffee pot.

"I'm good man, thanks," he answers. And, surprisingly... he is. Steve's presence actually makes it marginally easier for him to relax, at least a little. Knowing another Sentinel is there and on guard, that it's not all on him. "You sleep well, Princess, an' I'll see you for those pancakes in the morning," he promises Grace.

"Okay Danno," Grace says as she gets to her feet as well. With Uncle Steve right there she reaches for him first. Seeing her arms up he drops down to a knee so she can wrap her arms around him and give him a huge hug. "Love you, Uncle Steve," she says into his ear. He tilts his head and gives her a kiss on the cheek. "I love you too, Gracie. You sleep well and I'll see you in the morning. I'm looking forward to those pancakes." She gives him a kiss on the cheek as well before letting him go.

Then she moves around the table and wraps her arms around Eliot's neck to give him a hug. She doesn't think to ask if she should give him a hug or not, she just does it. "Good night, Chef," she says before letting him go. "I look forward to our date!" She gives him a big grin and then turns to run to her father to head inside for bed.

Danny picks her up and then carries her up to put her to bed and read to her. It takes him a good half hour before he is back down, settling into his chair at the table with the two of them and then smiles. "This was really great."

PSL: Sentinel AU

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

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

Re: Steve and Eliot cuddle pile

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