It starts out as a barely-noticeable itch between Danny’s shoulder blades. He twists around, contorting to reach the spot so he can scratch the hell out it and he catches Steve watching him from across the office with the kind of scary laser-focus that Danny’s more used to seeing when Steve’s staring down some baddie over the barrel of a gun.
Steve blinks, suddenly a deer in the headlights, and looks down at whatever’s on his desk. There are papers there, but Danny knows Steve can’t be doing paperwork, because it’s Danny’s thankless job to do the paperwork around here, thank you very much, and if he ever catches Steve filling out requisition forms or accident reports, he’d be seriously worried about the state of the guy’s mental health. Not that he’s not already seriously worried about that.
Whatever. It’s not like this is the first time Danny’s caught Steve staring into space, lost out in the ether somewhere.
Then it happens again, during a meeting with the Governor, and again, while Kono’s giving a report on a human trafficking investigation she’s working on, and again, over beers with the gang one night after work, and again, after Danny takes down some Yakuza goon who weighs about twice as much as he does with a well-placed left hook, and a bunch of times in the car, several of them when Steve is driving. Danny gets that familiar itch in an unreachable spot in the middle of his back and he looks over at Steve and, every time, he’s staring. Steve always looks away when Danny notices it, and once or twice Danny would swear that Steve’s cheeks turn pink.
Danny doesn’t say anything about it, which isn’t like him. He isn’t in the habit of keeping his thoughts to himself, especially about something that’s driving him nuts. But being the focus of Steve’s attention like that – thing is, Danny likes it. He likes the little frisson of excitement that shoots through him whenever Steve’s got his eyes on him, he likes knowing that, for whatever reason, Steve McGarrett finds him worthy of his attention, he likes the way Steve drops his gaze when Danny’s eyes meet his, lashes dark against flushed cheeks, strangely shy. It’s heady, and it’s not as if Danny was looking for more excitement in his life, because he would have thought that his crazy job supplies him with enough thrills to satisfy even the most hardcore adrenaline junkie, but the thrill he gets when Steve’s got his eyes on him is another kind of thrill altogether.
And it’s not like Danny’s dumb, or blind, or naïve. He knows what that kind of look means. And it’s not like he’s immune either. He figures, on balance, he and Steve are pretty much on the same page, have been from those early days when they were still discovering that somehow and against all odds, all their sharp edges fit together perfectly, like the two weirdest-shaped jigsaw-puzzle pieces in the box. Danny’s always figured the thing with him and Steve fell into the ‘maybe in another lifetime’ category of attractions, or at least he had until Steve started staring at him like he was starving and Danny was a piece of rare Kobe beef. These days it’s seeming less and less like something happening between him and Steve is a pipe dream and more and more like it’s bound to happen any day now.
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Hawaii Five-0; Steve/Danny, attention
Date: 2011-01-08 03:43 am (UTC)Steve blinks, suddenly a deer in the headlights, and looks down at whatever’s on his desk. There are papers there, but Danny knows Steve can’t be doing paperwork, because it’s Danny’s thankless job to do the paperwork around here, thank you very much, and if he ever catches Steve filling out requisition forms or accident reports, he’d be seriously worried about the state of the guy’s mental health. Not that he’s not already seriously worried about that.
Whatever. It’s not like this is the first time Danny’s caught Steve staring into space, lost out in the ether somewhere.
Then it happens again, during a meeting with the Governor, and again, while Kono’s giving a report on a human trafficking investigation she’s working on, and again, over beers with the gang one night after work, and again, after Danny takes down some Yakuza goon who weighs about twice as much as he does with a well-placed left hook, and a bunch of times in the car, several of them when Steve is driving. Danny gets that familiar itch in an unreachable spot in the middle of his back and he looks over at Steve and, every time, he’s staring. Steve always looks away when Danny notices it, and once or twice Danny would swear that Steve’s cheeks turn pink.
Danny doesn’t say anything about it, which isn’t like him. He isn’t in the habit of keeping his thoughts to himself, especially about something that’s driving him nuts. But being the focus of Steve’s attention like that – thing is, Danny likes it. He likes the little frisson of excitement that shoots through him whenever Steve’s got his eyes on him, he likes knowing that, for whatever reason, Steve McGarrett finds him worthy of his attention, he likes the way Steve drops his gaze when Danny’s eyes meet his, lashes dark against flushed cheeks, strangely shy. It’s heady, and it’s not as if Danny was looking for more excitement in his life, because he would have thought that his crazy job supplies him with enough thrills to satisfy even the most hardcore adrenaline junkie, but the thrill he gets when Steve’s got his eyes on him is another kind of thrill altogether.
And it’s not like Danny’s dumb, or blind, or naïve. He knows what that kind of look means. And it’s not like he’s immune either. He figures, on balance, he and Steve are pretty much on the same page, have been from those early days when they were still discovering that somehow and against all odds, all their sharp edges fit together perfectly, like the two weirdest-shaped jigsaw-puzzle pieces in the box. Danny’s always figured the thing with him and Steve fell into the ‘maybe in another lifetime’ category of attractions, or at least he had until Steve started staring at him like he was starving and Danny was a piece of rare Kobe beef. These days it’s seeming less and less like something happening between him and Steve is a pipe dream and more and more like it’s bound to happen any day now.