Kisses and comfort
A/N: Happy birthday Ivana (hope you have a great one). Remember how you asked me to write you something fluffy, involving the boys kissing and more fluff? Well, I started with angst, but ended with fluff. Hope you'll like my present :**
It was one clusterfuck of a day. It wasn't like Danny woke up and wanted it to be like that. He wanted to go to bed, last night, together with Steve, but the breakthrough they got on their latest case around 10 p.m. was from a trustworthy source and they set on planning a strategic op to get the sons of bitches once and for all.
They all took it hard, but Danny took it the hardest. Whenever kids were involved Danny was always the one to connect on personal level with the case, both with the child and the parents. This time it was child abuse that went on and on in a home where the foster parents took little to no care of the kids that were given to them.
Danny almost broke the nose of the "father" when they first went to investigate, because of the body of a child not much older than Grace turned up on the North Shore. The response of the man was that the kid ran off and "it's not like I can keep track of where those buggers wander off". That's what tipped Danny over the edge, but then Steve stepped in and gently took Danny's hand in his. That seemed to have had the desired effect, because Danny silently backed off and held Steve's hand with trembling fingers.
That night Danny went to sleep crying and shaking in Steve's embrace, that offered solace. Steve trailed kisses along Danny's face and neck to offer more comfort.
The following days brought nothing new. The little evidence that was found on the scene did not give a clue as to who the perp may be.
Danny was in no better shape than that first day. He barely slept, ate when reminded by Steve or the others. Kono even threatened with her spoon once (and knowing her happy trigger around a rifle, he knew he shouldn't test his faith) and that's all it took for Danny to oblige.
Steve found few and rare moments where he could steal a kiss or a hug and Danny seemed lighter after the exchange, which did funny things to Steve's insides.
He was completely out of his skin when Danny was in question.
Getting their lead last night was the best that could've happened to them because if Steve saw Danny with that forlorn lost look in his eyes one more time, his heart would've snapped in more pieces than just the proverbial two.
Danny was the most sensitive man Steve knew and all he wanted to do was to keep him safe from all the things that ever acted like trigger for his sadness or anger.
For his record, Danny stayed calm as they knocked on the door. The man looked like he got a reward, but one look at Danny and the murderous glint in his eyes, the confidence died.
At Steve's "Book 'em, Danno", Danny smiled for the first time in days and it reached his eyes. It had Steve smile, too, on autopilot.
The questioning went late into the night and by the time they wrapped things up and handed the man to HPD for custody, it was already 8 a.m.
Case solved and with nothing pending, Steve released everyone and told them to take the next two day off. Kono was excited to get some waves as she left the office with her surfboard. Chin went home to get some much needed shut eye and Grover was eager to go home and hug his kids. He was a father after all, just like Danny.
It seemed like the gloomy mood was still hanging around Danny, like a dark cloud and he was determined to make it go away. They drove in silence, but halfway through Danny grasped Steve's hand and intertwined their fingers.
"Can you stop by my place? I need to… uh, to shower and get a bag of clean clothes before we go to your place."
"Sure thing, buddy." Steve squeezed Danny's hand and received a contented hum for it.
His romantic and sappy side went a bit overboard and raised their hands to his mouth, where carefully he placed kisses on Danny's knuckles. The quiet half giggle and half laugh he received was the most beautiful thing he heard in a while.
Once inside the house, Danny went straight for the shower, and Steve was left all by himself. Out of habit he started pacing and assessing the space. He noticed some things he didn't before. And there were wrappings of Oreos lying around the living room and the kitchen. Steve wondered if Grace left them around from when she stayed.
He ended up in Danny's room where he found some more wrappings on the nightstand next to the latest book Danny was reading and a glass of water. Steve wasn't sure what made him alert of the Oreos, but he filed that to the back of his mind and continued pacing.
He stopped in front of Danny's closet and rummaged through his clothes. Picking up his favorite outfit of Danny's (sue him) he laid them out neatly over the bed.
Soon enough Danny paddled into the room. The crestfallen look on his face threw Steve into despair once again and he reached to touch Danny's cheeks and draw him in a kiss.
"What's the matter, Danno?"
"The hot water stopped in the middle of showering and I still wasn't clean enough and I had to endure that ungodly cold temperature and I…" Danny had to stop to take a breath, lest he wanted to start crying over something like hot water.
But Steve knew this thing ran deeper. He just tightened the grip over Danny's cheeks to soothe him and kissed him gently.
"I got your clothes ready. I'll be over in the living room."
Steve knew when to give Danny his space and now was one of those moments.
He sat on the couch and counted to 100 in his head when a loud "You gotta be kidding me!" reached his ears.
He leaped to Danny's room just in time to see the socket was blackened and the blow dryer smelling like burned plastic.
"Danno?"
"This fucking thing just exploded. Just, can't I get a break or something?" Danny was dangerously close to tears now.
"Here, let me." Steve took the blow dryer out of Danny's hands and left it on the nightstand to deal with later, noticing the wrapping again.
"Someone has a sweet tooth, huh? Charlie left these or Grace found a new addiction?" Steve slightly joked as he picked a towel to towel-dry Danny's hair.
Danny blushed furiously and said nothing, but Steve had that "I know it all" smile as he picked a towel to towel-dry Danny's hair.
Steve meticulously dried Danny's hair, Danny humming when Steve gently massaged his scalp. Running his fingers through the soft, blond curls, Steve felt like everything was about to get back in place.
Once he messed with Danny's hair and Danny swatted his hands, they were ready to go to Steve's. Picking up a slight shiver from Danny, Steve didn't have to think twice when he picked up a blanket and wrapped it around Danny.
"What are you doing?" Danny protested as he was wrapped in a burrito by yours truly (Mr. Octopus McGarrett).
"You are shivering. I just want to make you feel comfortable. What do you say if we stay here today? I am kinda wiped and I want you to stay where you are."
Danny just nodded which raised every alarm bell inside Steve. He shooed Danny and parked him on the couch while he ventured in the kitchen.
"Jesus, Steven, sit down, you are making me dizzy from coming and going."
"Be right there, Danno." Steve yelled from the kitchen.
He picked up mugs and opened the cupboard where he knew Danny kept the cocoa and some of the things you put in hot chocolate, like marshmallows and sprinkles.
What he saw surprised him, because inside were not just marshmallows and sprinkles, but also graham crackers and chocolate and shockingly, quite a stash of Oreos. He smiled to himself as he put the hot chocolate to brew.
Few minutes later he had a tray of hot chocolate, topped with marshmallows and sprinkles, Oreos and two bottles of water.
Danny was dozing off, but when the sweet smell reached his nose, he roused and was startled when he saw what Steve carried on the tray.
He blushed again and Steve smiled.
"Is it safe to assume you are the one with the sweet tooth? 'Cause I found your stash of Oreos and honestly I'm surprised. I know you know your food, but this…"
"Yeah…"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Danny looked a bit sullen and ducked his head. "It never came up in a conversation."
"It's okay. I mean it's not exactly I can ask you to share everything with me, God knows how hard it's on me to do that. But I would appreciate the intel."
"The intel? What's this, a tactical op?"
"You know… I thought I knew everything about you."
"Are you pouting Steven?"
"No…"
"You are pouting."
Now it was Steve's turn to blush.
"Okay, you need intel. What for?"
"Well, you know, we are together now… and I thought that it could be useful to have a stash of them at my place. You know… for emergencies."
Steve was abso-fucking-lutely cute and adorable looking like that and Danny's face softened at that.
"Awwww, babe, you want to stash Oreos in your house? For me?"
"Not just Oreos. Everything you like. Do you think the Peppermint patties were left in the fridge by the Easter Bunny?"
"Yes?"
They both burst out laughing at that.
"You, you are something McGarrett." Danny said wiped tears of mirth.
"Well, I can't help myself where you are concerned." Steve took a sip from his hot chocolate, looking lovingly at Danny who was blowing on his. "I love you."
"I love you, too. Goof."
For a while no one said a word. They sat quietly, enjoying the moment, sipping hot cocoa and munching Oreos. Danny loved the feeling of safety he had wrapped in a blanket, hot cocoa in hand, and Steve next to him (like it was possible for Steve to grow more hands in the last 10 minutes).
"Thank you." Danny's small voice startled Steve from his meditative state.
"For what?"
"For putting up with me. I realize, it must be hard for you to see me… like I was the last few days. I can't help it…"
"Hey, hey, none of that, okay? You think I come with a manual?"
Danny shook his head in the negative.
"Then? Listen, Danny, I know you think you are too much, but you are not. I went willingly into this and I'm not about to back down and throw you away like you are expendable. I love you. The whole of you."
Danny still looked sad and Steve decided to show him more than talk - that was his choice of operating either way. He started with butterfly kisses on Danny's forehead, cheeks, eyebrows, nose, even the eyelids. For a man that was a hardcore Navy SEAL, Steve could get sappy real fast.
Placing one firm kiss on Danny's lips, he communicated all that he couldn't say with words.
"Better?"
"Yes. Definitely better."
"Good. Now, do you want to move to the bed and have a nap or you wanna stay here and cuddle?"
"As much as I want to lie down and sleep, I'm too wired. I think cuddles are okay."
"Then cuddles it is."
Steve wrapped himself around Danny and pulled him impossibly tight to his body. Resting his head over Steve's shoulder, Danny inhaled Steve's scent and closed his eyes.
Turned out that being wrapped in a blanket, being fed Oreos and filled with hot chocolate was the perfect way to heal one's soul. And cuddles, of course.