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bymagajonesSteve looked at Danny’s sad face and realized that probably for the first time ever, Danny didn’t want to be right, but he’d made all good points. Steve couldn’t even pretend that he hadn’t begun to feel attached himself, and he wasn’t about to lie and say that sex between them wouldn’t make things more complicated. He sighed and walked toward the scroll.
“What’re you going to say?” Danny asked, slipping off the bed on the opposite side.
“No sex,” Steve said simply. He carved, “No sex. What’s plan B?”
A few seconds later, he smiled faintly when he read, “That was plan B! Stand by.” He looked at Danny, who had leaned over to read the scroll, their faces so close that he could see Danny’s lashes, his lips. “There! You’re biting your lip!”
Danny frowned, lip pulling his lip away from his teeth. “I was not…” he said weakly.
“You totally were,” Steve crowed.
The scroll vibrated, and a second later, “Having trouble locating Kamekona and need to do more research. This might take some time.”
Steve turned his head, his eyes locking on Danny’s. He knew a perfect way to spend the time, but he was trying to recall why he was hesitating…
It all came back to him when Danny pulled away, running a shaking hand through his hair. “We might as well be proactive.” He grabbed two books, tossing one to Steve.
Reading the spine, Steve – well, he didn’t whine, because that’s not what princes did- “This looks incredibly boring. Don’t you have a good thriller over there somewhere?”
“No thrillers, no mysteries, no sci-fi or romances. Just non-fiction, which I was kind of partial to before I got stuck in here.”
Steve raised an eyebrow. “No romances?”
“I’m just saying,” Danny said, glaring, “that it would be nice to have something different.”
A thought came to Steve, and he grabbed for the scroll.
“You’re so desperate for a change in reading material that you’re gonna bother them? They kind of have their hands busy, I imagine.”
“They can multitask,” Steve said, already carving. He finished quickly and set the items aside on the bed, grabbing the book and heading toward the bookshelf. Danny gave him a look as he passed, and he said, “Excuse me if I’m not in the mood to read about suppression of thought – ” he glanced at the book, “ – in a controlled environment, whatever that means.”
“Eh,” Danny said, “that one wasn’t too bad. If you really want to be bored, try the books on the top shelf over there.”
Steve took one look at the long words in the titles and didn’t even bother to touch one. “No thank you.” He looked over a few other books, nothing even remotely interesting catching his interest.
“Just pick a book already,” Danny muttered, his eyes still on his own.
“They’re all boring,” Steve complained, flopping back on the bed. “I’m bored.” He sighed when Danny ignored him. He looked around the room, nothing catching his interest, and he sighed again. “I’m bored.”
“No kidding,” Danny muttered, putting his book on the desk and standing. He stood there for a moment, just staring at Steve with that intent look on his face that made Steve want to wrap himself around the shorter man, to hell with Danny’s damn list. Steve was just about to do just that when Danny seemed to shake himself and moved to sit at the foot of the bed. “How about I tell you a story?”
Sitting up, Steve found himself excited to know more about Danny. “What story?”
“I’ll tell you about one of my cases.”
Steve rolled his eyes. “Like that poor goat?”
“That poor –” Danny narrowed his eyes, glaring at Steve, who tried – slightly – to hide his amusement. “You know what? Forget it. Just sit there and be bored while I go back to my book.”
“No, Danny, wait.” Steve reached out a hand, wrapping it around Danny’s wrist. “I’m sorry. I’d love to hear one of your stories.”
Apparently he’d lain it on too thick, because Danny continued to stare at him for a few seconds before sighing and rolling his eyes. “Enough with the puppy dog look.” He moved back toward the foot of the bed, forcing Steve to reluctantly let him go. “Actually, I got a break on one of my first cases thanks to a dog and a blind man with an eye patch…”
Steve made himself comfortable on the bed and let Danny’s words wash over him as he sat there, smiling, focused on Danny’s waving hands and the myriad of expressions crossing his face.
Over the next few days, they developed a routine of sorts. Danny had tried sleeping on the floor, but Steve only waited until he fell asleep and put him in the bed. It was a tight fit, but Steve wasn’t complaining. Well, his body wasn’t too happy with his permanent state of arousal, but he loved the feeling of Danny’s warmth against him, the feel of Danny’s hair against his nose, Danny’s body as Steve wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close.
That first morning, Danny had awakened and spent a good five minutes ranting and pacing, arms waving about, before Steve grabbed him and pushed him back on the bed, tickling Danny until the shorter man gave up and laughingly pushed him away.
The following nights, Danny just rolled his eyes and climbed into bed, his fingers intertwining with Steve’s the moment Steve’s arms slid around his waist.
They took to exercising together in the mornings, alternating who’d go first, the second person always pushing to complete at least one more rep than his predecessor. They took turns in the shower, the first one out in charge of setting up the breakfast when the arrival bell rang. They prayed, ate, and shared stories, only bringing up lighthearted tales by unspoken agreement. Afterward, they checked the scroll, swapping escape options with Kono, getting dragon progress reports from Chin (Steve), and playing goofy games with JennaKaye (Danny). They signed off when the lunch bell rang, ate, and then researched (Danny) or wandered around, making a general nuisance of himself (Steve) until Danny sighed, put down his book, and focused his attention on Steve. They eventually did another round of exercises, only stopping when the bell rang announcing the evening meal, and they ate, swapping more stories. Afterward, they checked back in with the three camped outside until the room fell dark. Steve pretended not to notice Danny’s random questions whenever he got antsy for the outdoors, and they both walked around trying to ignore their attraction toward each other.
It was all working quite well until Thursday, when Steve awoke to find Danny already three quarters through their exercise circuit.
“Up awfully early,” Steve muttered, running a hand over his jaw, still not used to remaining clean-shaven. Kono had come up with a theory why that kind of thing affected him too, but he’d been distracted by Danny’s horrible singing in the shower at the time and had missed her explanation.
Danny grunted, moving on to the next exercise.
Steve watched Danny, noting the man’s set expression. “Feeling okay?”
“Yep,” Danny said, sweat running down his face.
Steve remained silent as Danny pushed himself harder than Steve had ever seen him, until he finished the circuit, staggering over to the bed and falling across it.
Normally, Steve would get up and start his own exercises, but he was too focused on Danny.
After a few seconds, Danny groaned, rising and grabbing the water out of the cupboard. He drained it twice before walking toward Steve, wiping the sweat off his brow and off his hands against his shirt. “Ready?”
Steve threw him a questioning look.
Danny sighed, sweeping his arm in a gesture for Steve to rise and move forward. “You go first today. I’ll go second.”
“But you just –“
“I have extra energy,” Danny said.
Not about to let him get away with the lame excuse, Steve continued to sit on the bed, staring at the other man until Danny sighed and dropped down beside him.
“It’s Thursday,” Danny explained.
When it was clear he wasn’t going to add more, Steve said, “Umm, congratulations?”
“Grace comes on Fridays.” Danny sighed. “Sometimes.”
“How long before you know?”
“Know what?”
“Danny,” Steve said, exasperated.
“I honestly can’t figure out what you’re trying to ask,” Danny said.
“How long before you know if she’s going to be here?”
“Perhaps you’ve forgotten my little story, Steven,” Danny said, his voice filled with longsuffering patience, “but the only contact I’m allowed is every weekend when Grace is allowed to visit me –”
“ – barring any official functions, within reason.” Steve said along with him. “But say there’s an official function on Friday. Does that mean she isn’t allowed to come for the entire weekend?”
“Sometimes she’ll pop in on Saturday or Sunday for an hour or so before she has to go back,” Danny said, sighing. “It depends on the weekend.”
“So, you what? Just have to wait it out?”
Danny’s eyes moved around the room. “You got it one.”
“That’s bullshit!”
“That’s my life,” Danny said quietly. “I try not to think about it too much.”
Steve wanted to tell him that it obviously wasn’t working that well, but the pain radiating from Danny’s eyes struck his heart. Instead of dwelling on what he couldn’t change – for the moment - he smacked Danny on the leg. “How’m I supposed to start my workout with you in my way?”
Steve spent the rest of the day trying to keep Danny occupied, regaling him of stories about growing up as a prince with Chin beside him, the demands they tried to duck so they could catch just one more wave, the accidental damages they incurred trying some of the adventures they’d read about in books. And all the time they both ignored the way Danny’s hands fidgeted and his leg bobbed when he sat for longer than five minutes, the fact that he ate nothing more than a few pieces of fruit all day.
By the time the tower grew dark, Steve was exhausted. Unfortunately, he couldn’t sleep and could tell that Danny’s heart never slowed down to signal his relaxing into sleep either. Closing his eyes, Steve prayed that Grace came the next day; he didn’t want to see what happened if she never appeared. And while his heart ached to see Danny so lost, he was still glad he was there – the thought of Danny having to go through this alone was almost incomprehensible. His last thought before finally submitting to sleep was that he needed to have Kono and Chin do some digging into custody laws in Danny’s land.
On Fridays, Danny didn’t wake so much as open his eyes. This time he realized that he’d managed to doze a little, obviously due to the man whose arm was currently wrapped around his waist, whose warm breath puffed against the back of his neck. Danny closed his eyes again for a moment, just absorbing the feeling of having someone so close. He hadn’t had that since Rachel. As tough as it had been losing Rachel, what had been the toughest to adapt to was the lack of that physical presence, the warm body in the bed beside him, the constant intimate touch of someone who cared. Steve had respected his wishes and hadn’t pushed the physical, but now Danny realized that he’d made a rookie detective mistake: he’d been so busy looking at the obvious clues that he’d missed the smaller, quieter ones in the background. They hadn’t so much as kissed since their pro/con conversation, but they’d gotten to know each other so much better, sharing stories and experiences, lowering their defenses and exposing their vulnerabilities.
And damnit, Steve was right behind him, morning wood pressing against his butt cheeks, and Danny wanted nothing more than to grind back, just a little.
Then that little whisper wound its way through his mind, the one that appeared at the end of every week, the song from his heart containing only one word, “Grace”.
Master post with chapter breakdown
“What’re you going to say?” Danny asked, slipping off the bed on the opposite side.
“No sex,” Steve said simply. He carved, “No sex. What’s plan B?”
A few seconds later, he smiled faintly when he read, “That was plan B! Stand by.” He looked at Danny, who had leaned over to read the scroll, their faces so close that he could see Danny’s lashes, his lips. “There! You’re biting your lip!”
Danny frowned, lip pulling his lip away from his teeth. “I was not…” he said weakly.
“You totally were,” Steve crowed.
The scroll vibrated, and a second later, “Having trouble locating Kamekona and need to do more research. This might take some time.”
Steve turned his head, his eyes locking on Danny’s. He knew a perfect way to spend the time, but he was trying to recall why he was hesitating…
It all came back to him when Danny pulled away, running a shaking hand through his hair. “We might as well be proactive.” He grabbed two books, tossing one to Steve.
Reading the spine, Steve – well, he didn’t whine, because that’s not what princes did- “This looks incredibly boring. Don’t you have a good thriller over there somewhere?”
“No thrillers, no mysteries, no sci-fi or romances. Just non-fiction, which I was kind of partial to before I got stuck in here.”
Steve raised an eyebrow. “No romances?”
“I’m just saying,” Danny said, glaring, “that it would be nice to have something different.”
A thought came to Steve, and he grabbed for the scroll.
“You’re so desperate for a change in reading material that you’re gonna bother them? They kind of have their hands busy, I imagine.”
“They can multitask,” Steve said, already carving. He finished quickly and set the items aside on the bed, grabbing the book and heading toward the bookshelf. Danny gave him a look as he passed, and he said, “Excuse me if I’m not in the mood to read about suppression of thought – ” he glanced at the book, “ – in a controlled environment, whatever that means.”
“Eh,” Danny said, “that one wasn’t too bad. If you really want to be bored, try the books on the top shelf over there.”
Steve took one look at the long words in the titles and didn’t even bother to touch one. “No thank you.” He looked over a few other books, nothing even remotely interesting catching his interest.
“Just pick a book already,” Danny muttered, his eyes still on his own.
“They’re all boring,” Steve complained, flopping back on the bed. “I’m bored.” He sighed when Danny ignored him. He looked around the room, nothing catching his interest, and he sighed again. “I’m bored.”
“No kidding,” Danny muttered, putting his book on the desk and standing. He stood there for a moment, just staring at Steve with that intent look on his face that made Steve want to wrap himself around the shorter man, to hell with Danny’s damn list. Steve was just about to do just that when Danny seemed to shake himself and moved to sit at the foot of the bed. “How about I tell you a story?”
Sitting up, Steve found himself excited to know more about Danny. “What story?”
“I’ll tell you about one of my cases.”
Steve rolled his eyes. “Like that poor goat?”
“That poor –” Danny narrowed his eyes, glaring at Steve, who tried – slightly – to hide his amusement. “You know what? Forget it. Just sit there and be bored while I go back to my book.”
“No, Danny, wait.” Steve reached out a hand, wrapping it around Danny’s wrist. “I’m sorry. I’d love to hear one of your stories.”
Apparently he’d lain it on too thick, because Danny continued to stare at him for a few seconds before sighing and rolling his eyes. “Enough with the puppy dog look.” He moved back toward the foot of the bed, forcing Steve to reluctantly let him go. “Actually, I got a break on one of my first cases thanks to a dog and a blind man with an eye patch…”
Steve made himself comfortable on the bed and let Danny’s words wash over him as he sat there, smiling, focused on Danny’s waving hands and the myriad of expressions crossing his face.
Over the next few days, they developed a routine of sorts. Danny had tried sleeping on the floor, but Steve only waited until he fell asleep and put him in the bed. It was a tight fit, but Steve wasn’t complaining. Well, his body wasn’t too happy with his permanent state of arousal, but he loved the feeling of Danny’s warmth against him, the feel of Danny’s hair against his nose, Danny’s body as Steve wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close.
That first morning, Danny had awakened and spent a good five minutes ranting and pacing, arms waving about, before Steve grabbed him and pushed him back on the bed, tickling Danny until the shorter man gave up and laughingly pushed him away.
The following nights, Danny just rolled his eyes and climbed into bed, his fingers intertwining with Steve’s the moment Steve’s arms slid around his waist.
They took to exercising together in the mornings, alternating who’d go first, the second person always pushing to complete at least one more rep than his predecessor. They took turns in the shower, the first one out in charge of setting up the breakfast when the arrival bell rang. They prayed, ate, and shared stories, only bringing up lighthearted tales by unspoken agreement. Afterward, they checked the scroll, swapping escape options with Kono, getting dragon progress reports from Chin (Steve), and playing goofy games with JennaKaye (Danny). They signed off when the lunch bell rang, ate, and then researched (Danny) or wandered around, making a general nuisance of himself (Steve) until Danny sighed, put down his book, and focused his attention on Steve. They eventually did another round of exercises, only stopping when the bell rang announcing the evening meal, and they ate, swapping more stories. Afterward, they checked back in with the three camped outside until the room fell dark. Steve pretended not to notice Danny’s random questions whenever he got antsy for the outdoors, and they both walked around trying to ignore their attraction toward each other.
It was all working quite well until Thursday, when Steve awoke to find Danny already three quarters through their exercise circuit.
“Up awfully early,” Steve muttered, running a hand over his jaw, still not used to remaining clean-shaven. Kono had come up with a theory why that kind of thing affected him too, but he’d been distracted by Danny’s horrible singing in the shower at the time and had missed her explanation.
Danny grunted, moving on to the next exercise.
Steve watched Danny, noting the man’s set expression. “Feeling okay?”
“Yep,” Danny said, sweat running down his face.
Steve remained silent as Danny pushed himself harder than Steve had ever seen him, until he finished the circuit, staggering over to the bed and falling across it.
Normally, Steve would get up and start his own exercises, but he was too focused on Danny.
After a few seconds, Danny groaned, rising and grabbing the water out of the cupboard. He drained it twice before walking toward Steve, wiping the sweat off his brow and off his hands against his shirt. “Ready?”
Steve threw him a questioning look.
Danny sighed, sweeping his arm in a gesture for Steve to rise and move forward. “You go first today. I’ll go second.”
“But you just –“
“I have extra energy,” Danny said.
Not about to let him get away with the lame excuse, Steve continued to sit on the bed, staring at the other man until Danny sighed and dropped down beside him.
“It’s Thursday,” Danny explained.
When it was clear he wasn’t going to add more, Steve said, “Umm, congratulations?”
“Grace comes on Fridays.” Danny sighed. “Sometimes.”
“How long before you know?”
“Know what?”
“Danny,” Steve said, exasperated.
“I honestly can’t figure out what you’re trying to ask,” Danny said.
“How long before you know if she’s going to be here?”
“Perhaps you’ve forgotten my little story, Steven,” Danny said, his voice filled with longsuffering patience, “but the only contact I’m allowed is every weekend when Grace is allowed to visit me –”
“ – barring any official functions, within reason.” Steve said along with him. “But say there’s an official function on Friday. Does that mean she isn’t allowed to come for the entire weekend?”
“Sometimes she’ll pop in on Saturday or Sunday for an hour or so before she has to go back,” Danny said, sighing. “It depends on the weekend.”
“So, you what? Just have to wait it out?”
Danny’s eyes moved around the room. “You got it one.”
“That’s bullshit!”
“That’s my life,” Danny said quietly. “I try not to think about it too much.”
Steve wanted to tell him that it obviously wasn’t working that well, but the pain radiating from Danny’s eyes struck his heart. Instead of dwelling on what he couldn’t change – for the moment - he smacked Danny on the leg. “How’m I supposed to start my workout with you in my way?”
Steve spent the rest of the day trying to keep Danny occupied, regaling him of stories about growing up as a prince with Chin beside him, the demands they tried to duck so they could catch just one more wave, the accidental damages they incurred trying some of the adventures they’d read about in books. And all the time they both ignored the way Danny’s hands fidgeted and his leg bobbed when he sat for longer than five minutes, the fact that he ate nothing more than a few pieces of fruit all day.
By the time the tower grew dark, Steve was exhausted. Unfortunately, he couldn’t sleep and could tell that Danny’s heart never slowed down to signal his relaxing into sleep either. Closing his eyes, Steve prayed that Grace came the next day; he didn’t want to see what happened if she never appeared. And while his heart ached to see Danny so lost, he was still glad he was there – the thought of Danny having to go through this alone was almost incomprehensible. His last thought before finally submitting to sleep was that he needed to have Kono and Chin do some digging into custody laws in Danny’s land.
On Fridays, Danny didn’t wake so much as open his eyes. This time he realized that he’d managed to doze a little, obviously due to the man whose arm was currently wrapped around his waist, whose warm breath puffed against the back of his neck. Danny closed his eyes again for a moment, just absorbing the feeling of having someone so close. He hadn’t had that since Rachel. As tough as it had been losing Rachel, what had been the toughest to adapt to was the lack of that physical presence, the warm body in the bed beside him, the constant intimate touch of someone who cared. Steve had respected his wishes and hadn’t pushed the physical, but now Danny realized that he’d made a rookie detective mistake: he’d been so busy looking at the obvious clues that he’d missed the smaller, quieter ones in the background. They hadn’t so much as kissed since their pro/con conversation, but they’d gotten to know each other so much better, sharing stories and experiences, lowering their defenses and exposing their vulnerabilities.
And damnit, Steve was right behind him, morning wood pressing against his butt cheeks, and Danny wanted nothing more than to grind back, just a little.
Then that little whisper wound its way through his mind, the one that appeared at the end of every week, the song from his heart containing only one word, “Grace”.
Master post with chapter breakdown
