A/N: Thank you for reading and favoring and especially for commenting on this fic. I know it's been a while, but my computer crashed with the already finished update, and I had to (after getting over the initial hysteria) write it from the beginning. I'm not sure it came out as I originally intended, I hope it still makes sense.
Please tell me what you think.
The date goes pretty well, she thinks. The food is good, the sake makes them all relaxed and comfortable, and James is sweet and kind and very very beautiful. She asks a few questions about his acquaintance with Steve, but when she realizes their shared time together is practically less than twenty four hours, and that they hardly know each other, she abandons this line of questioning immediately, before she'll say something they'd all regret.
He tells her about his workout regime and she tells him about surfing. He lets her try his fish, and she offers him some Hawaiian sushi, and he smiles at her appreciatively every time she looks at him. It's really not as bad as she thought it would be. It feels good to be admired after so long. When he puts his arm over her chair, and his hand accidently touches her hair softly, she starts to suspect she's even starting to enjoy it a little bit.
When James excuses himself to go to the restroom she has a chance to look over at Steve and Lilly. She was so lost in James's green eyes, she almost forgot about the other members of their little party. It takes her exactly two seconds to recognize what's going on there. She exhales in frustration when she sees them, for crying out loud, why she is even surprised.
"So Steve" Lilly smiles at him enticingly "tell me, how do you like your job?"
"What do you mean?" he asks her with apparent suspicion.
"I mean, how do you like it? Do you enjoy it? Is it a good place for you to…" He takes a glance over at Kono in confusion, and sees her shaking her head in disdain.
"Of course I like it. Why would I do it if I didn't like it?" He frowns.
"She didn't mean it literally" Kono tries to stifle a groan of despair when she looks at him furiously "she's only trying to get you to talk about yourself. It's a general question, just to open a conversation."
He looks at her curiously for a few seconds, and she raises her eyebrows at him expressively.
"It's a good job" he says to Lilly "I like it very much." The only reason she doesn't slap him at this point is the fact that he ends his sentence with one of his sweetest smiles, and it makes her lose her train of thoughts for a moment. For god's sakes, he can always get away with everything, using these smiles of his. She swears, it even works on Danny.
"I'm sure you can do better than that" Lilly smiles at him encouragingly "Kono told me you're the best team leader she'd ever seen. She said you're brave and dedicated and very protective" she leans closer to him, and puts her hand on his arm, making him look at her perfect red nail polish curiously "I find it extremely sexy in a man…" she whispers to him.
He looks at Lilly with a faint smile. She can see from her position on the other side of the table how his eyes flicker from her eyes, to her bright red lips, to her disturbingly deep cleavage. He looks again at her gentle hand on his forearm before he raises his eyes towards Kono "did you really say that?" he asks, smiling mischievously at her.
"I had to" she grumbles, sending a pointed look towards what turns out to be, her shameless cousin "Danny said to use any low tactic I need to get you a date…"
He only laughs at her annoyed response, and takes another gulp from his sake, forcing her to break into a smile too.
"I have a great team" he says to Lilly "and we get good results. The work is hard, and we put a lot into it, but it I think it gives us…" he stops, trying to think of the right word.
"It gives us a sense of accomplishment. Makes us feel that we make a difference on the island." Kono explains, looking at him thoughtfully.
"Yes" he smiles towards his young teammate "we protect our home. I think this is the most important thing we do."
"That's nice" Lilly smiles at him approvingly "and what do you do for fun?" He looks at her dumbstruck for a moment "you do have fun from time to time, don't you?" she tries again, a little unsurely now.
He only frowns in concentration. Can't think of anything that might fall under this category.
"Oh, for crying out loud" Kono cries from her place in front of him "you do like to swim, and you run every morning…"
"Yeah" he shrugs "I also go to the shooting range every weekend, but it's a part of my training routine, I didn't realize that's what she was looking for."
"Well…" she has to admit he has a point there "you go fishing sometimes…"
"With Chin, yes" he nods "not so much anymore, though… not since he has Leilani…"
"You go out, right?" Lilly tries again.
"Nooo… not really" He confesses "only rarely, for drinks, with the team, after we close a big case."
"He cooks" Kono says after some thought "he cooks really well."
"Really?" Lilly looks genuinely intrigued "I cook too, it's my favorite pass time."
"No you're not" Kono looks at her with surprise "you mostly order in. Or go to your mother. I've never seen you cook anything, and I've known you your entire life."
"I do cook" Lilly sends her a furious look "I took lessons. I'm very good, actually." She smiles towards Steve, proudly "besides" she glares towards her cousin "how would you know how good someone cooks? You need a map just to find the kitchen in your own home."
"I'm…" she tries to deny it, but can't.
"She's a good eater" Steve says seriously "she really enjoys it, and it's a pleasure to…" he stops in the middle when he sees Kono's horrified expression "what?"
"You don't cook for me" she says quickly "he cooks for the team sometimes, you know, after we…"
"Close a big case… I get it." Lilly says dryly, looking at the both of them thoughtfully for a few seconds, not missing Kono's blushing face in the process.
There's a tense silent around the table when James is back "what did I miss?" he smiles at Kono.
"Nothing" she mumbles as she takes another sip from her sake. It doesn't feel like it's going well at all, all of a sudden. She smiles towards James, hoping he'd say something helpful.
"So Steve" James says "How are things in Five-0? Closed any big cases lately?" Right. That's just perfect.
They eat in silence from then on. They are all very civil and nice to each other, but they hardly talk about anything of consequence. She can see from her position at the table how Lilly continues to move her hands around Steve, how she sends lustful smiles towards him, and laughs at everything he says, making him focus on her the entire time. She is too busy following her cousin's every move, she doesn't even notice when James is sending his hand to her thigh, doesn't respond to him whispering things in her ear, she just fixes her gaze at her boss and his date, absentmindedly drinking more and more sake.
They order desert and some coffee, and while they wait for the waitress to come with their orders, she hears Lilly asking "so Steve, when was your last relationship?"
"Emmm…" he looks a bit confused. She shakes her head in mortification, she has no idea if he's more confused about the timing question or about the actual definition of the word relationship.
"He broke up with his girlfriend three months ago." She tries to help him out.
"She wasn't my girlfriend" he murmurs under his breath automatically, and earns himself curious looks from James and Lilly.
"Fine" Kono agrees "she wasn't your girlfriend, you still broke up with her three months ago."
"I didn't do anything with her" he clarifies "she'd just…"
"Well, she's not around anymore" Kono says kindly "that's the important thing."
"That is true" he nods with satisfaction, raising his glass towards her.
"Three months?" Lilly says slowly "what a coincidence."
"What do you mean?" he asks her.
"Three months ago you came back, after you left Adam, didn't you?" She looks at Kono, strangely.
"So…?" she asks tensely, trying to avoid James's curious look "what are you saying?"
"I'm not saying anything" Lilly shrugs "I'm just mentioning the timeline. You don't have to be so defensive about it."
"Adam and I was a mistake from the get go. I was stupid. I regret everything about it, and I'm glad it's over." She says seriously, looking at Steve.
They stare at each other in silence for a few moments, while the waitress shows up with their deserts and puts them on the table.
"Kono, I'm going to the ladies room" Lilly says, standing up "would you like to come with me?"
"Why would I want to come with you…?" She starts to protest, but Lilly only stares at her deliberately for a few seconds "sure" she sighs "I'll be happy to come with you."
"He's my date, you know" Lilly tells her the minute they're in the ladies room.
"What?! I know he is" she blushes completely.
"Stop talking to him" She pokes her in the chest "you're distracting him from me."
"I'm not" she tries to defend herself "I'm just trying to help, you can see for yourself, he's not so good at this whole dating thing."
"He's good enough!" Lilly glares at her "a bit out of touch from reality and with the verbal skills of a baby Orangutan but still, nothing I can't work with."
"Lilly, he had a rough time. His girlfriend cheated on him, left him for another man. He was a shitty boyfriend, I grant you, and none of us was surprised, but still he has… he has issues. Trust issues, and she really pulled a number on him. I only try to…"
"He's taking me home tonight." She tells her, turning towards the mirror and fixing her hair.
"What?!" she shrieks, looking at her through the mirror "no way, you came here with me, I'll take you back... Did he... Did he say anything?" she asks quietly.
"He doesn't know it yet" Lilly smiles brightly at her "but I know I got his attention. You saw how he looked at me…"
"Lilly, look…" she starts to get nervous from an unknown reason, and she thinks maybe it's the fact that she had a few more drinks than she probably should have.
"I want you to stop talking to him" she turns towards her "don't mention your team, don't try to help him express himself. I'm taking him home with me, and I'm going to sleep with him tonight because he's the best looking man I've ever dated. God, he's so sexy I have to forcefully stop myself from attacking him right here and right now."
"Lilly, he's not that kind of…"
"They are all this kind of guy, Kono" she winks mischievously at her "thank you for introducing us, you're a really good cousin, but I think I got it from here."
She walks out of the restroom and back to the table, Leaving Kono standing there, speechless, for a long long time.
They step out of the restaurant and walk towards the cars. She feels a little wobbly. That warm sake she drank really went straight to her head. She sees Lilly hanging on Steve's arm, laughing at something he said, and she feels a bit nauseated suddenly.
"I don't think you should drive" James tells her with concern when she takes a big breath of the Hawaiian night air, trying to control her nerves. Unfortunately, she's not even drunk enough to contradict him.
"I'll take you home" she hears Steve's confident statement.
"What about your car?" James, who is probably the most infuriating guy she'd ever met asks reasonably.
"Maybe James can take her home" Lilly offers with a faint smile "she lives close to the base anyway…"
"I'll be happy to" He says quickly, holding Kono around her shoulders.
She can see Steve's guarded expression, and Lilly's innocent smile and decides to admit defeat. She pulls out her keys and hands them to James, and smiles reassuringly towards Steve who looks quite skeptical about this whole idea. "It's fine" she tells him "I'm not that drunk. If he tries anything, I can still break his neck."
"So I guess you'll be taking me home then" Lilly says to Steve in a sweet flirtatious voice.
She is already half way to her car, with James, when she hears Steve's short response "fine. Let's go."
"So, how was it?"
"How was what?"
"The date, how was the date?" Danny rolls his eyes towards his partner.
"It was fine. I think Kono really liked James."
"J-Jame… Who the hell cares about James? How was your date?"
He looks at his partner thoughtfully "It was fine. I told you. Absolutely fine."
"You are such a waste of my time, I swear" Danny mumbles "was she nice? Beautiful? Did you get her phone number?"
"Yes. I guess."
"You guess?" Danny looks at him incredulously "what do you mean, you guess?!"
"She was fine" Steve looks at him with annoyance "what do you want me to tell you?"
"Okay, Casanova" Danny shakes his head in despair "let's try something else. Let's pretend we're back in the SEALS and I'm your supervising officer."
"My supervising officer? You? I really don't think so…" he scoffs.
"Just humor me" Danny states dryly "let's pretend the date last night was some really complicated and dangerous operation behind enemy lines" they both look at each other for a second, this assumption might be more accurate than either of them cares to admit "so now you're back, and you have to give me your report, okay? Go on then, tell me, how was the date?"
He looks at his partner thoughtfully "I told you" he says after a few seconds "it was fine."
"So" he smiles towards her "how was it?"
"The date?"
"Of course the date. What else would I be asking about?"
"It was fine." She shrugs, looking back at the screen.
"Fine?" he asks her with concern "it doesn't look like it was fine. You look… discouraged…"
"Discouraged?!" she looks at him with surprise "what the hell are you talking about. Discouraged? I am not discouraged. It was…" she sighs and shakes her head "it was fine."
"Right…" Chin looks at her unsurely.
"He had a great time, he really liked Lilly. Obviously. She's your cousin too, you know how great she is."
"Lilly…? I'm not talking about Lilly. I don't care about… How was your date?" he shakes his head unbelievingly.
"Oh…" she says sheepishly "James. James was nice. Very cute, and very kind. Steve made an excellent choice there."
"He did?" Chin looks impressed.
"Yes" she grumbles "he picked the perfect guy for me. If I wouldn't have known him better I'd say he did it very thoughtfully."
"Maybe he did" Chin smiles "he really cares about you, you know. Wants you to be happy."
"He took the first guy he met the night before our date" she informs him "it was no more than a lucky bet."
"Perhaps" Chin smiles at her obvious resentment "still, you liked him, you had a great time, did you make any… future plans…?"
"He took me home at the end of the date." She shrugs.
"He did?" Chin looks a bit apprehensive, and she can see he's already regretting asking about it in the first place.
"He did" she smiles at his obvious discomfort, as she's walking towards her office "and he was such a perfect gentleman, and so good looking, I let him stay the night…"
"Fine, fine. So you don't want to tell me about the date. I get it" Danny tries a different tactic "I can always ask Kono, she'll be a better witness anyway, she actually has a sense of how a proper date should look like. Just tell me, how did it end?"
"How did it end?" He looks at his partner blankly.
"Yes, Steve" he sighs "the end. You know, the part when you say goodnight, and make promises for the future."
"I didn't say goodnight" he says offhandedly as he stops the car and cuts off the engine.
"You didn't?" Danny looks at him stupefied "why the hell not? I swear, you make no progress whatsoever. Your manners are actually getting worse, as you get older."
"I didn't say goodnight, Danny" he opens the car's door, and glares towards his partner "because it wasn't night anymore. I said good morning and then I left, to get ready for work."