Before the dreams had started Danny hadn't even looked at another man before. Well, he'd looked at Steve... but it hadn't been in a sexual way. At least he hadn't thought it was in a sexual way... Danny didn't know anything for sure anymore.
And it would have been great if that's all it was, a physical attraction, because that's something that Danny could get over, but of course it wasn't that simple. It wouldn't be the friends-with-benefits situation that Kono had proposed. Oh, no. If this were for real, Danny had realized, he'd want the whole thing. And wasn't that just great?!
The realization was driving Danny insane. It became the only thing he could think about half the time. And Kono's little tidbit of knowledge, that apparently Steve was into guys, had not helped! Now Danny couldn't stop himself from hoping that it could actually happen.
The dreams weren't helping either. They just made Danny realize what it could be like to actually be with Steve. And, short of not sleeping, there wasn't anything Danny could seem to do to get the dreams to stop. He seemed to be in a relationship that, for once, he couldn't run from. It was almost therapeutic... in a completely psychosis inducing sort of way.
"Danno?"
"Hmm..?" Danny stopped staring out the window and looked over at Steve. He had his I'm-afraid-you're-actually-mad-at-me face on. It was one of Danny's favorites because it very closely resembled Gracie's puppy dog eyes. He looked so adorable that it kind of made Danny want to punch him in the face. It was sort of like when something was so cute that you felt the need to harm it physically.
"You're being very quiet and it's freaking me out."
Danny couldn't help but smirk. Steve had a point, when he was really mad he tended to go quiet.
"Clam down, GQ. I'm not mad."
Steve genuinely looked relieved before matching Danny's smirk. "You know, you make reference to my looks more than any girlfriend I've ever had."
"Well, what am I, blind?" Danny cringed because that had sounded just a little too playful. He hadn't consciously made the decision to flirt with Steve, but when he spent all his free time thinking about dating him it was only a matter of time before it just kind of started happening, right?
Steve looked at him for a moment. Probably a moment too long considering he was driving. But Danny knew he probably looked uncomfortable. He was at least trying to make it hard too tell by not looking at Steve.
There was probably too long of a silence to be anything but awkward before Steve said, "I'm just surprised you can see anything from all the way down there."
Danny sputtered, finally turning to look at him. "Excuse you. I am not that short! You are just a gigantic freak, okay? This is not a matter of opinion, it is a fact, my friend."
"Sure, Danno."
"Besides," Danny said, throwing caution to the wind, "we're all the same height when we're horizontal."
Steve looked over at him sharply.
Danny grinned at him, a slight flush to his cheeks. "I'm just saying, I haven't gotten any complaints from you."
"What?" Steve squeaked. Squeaked! Danny didn't even think Steve was biologically capable of doing something so unmanly.
"Well, I mean, in our partnership. It's never actually been a problem, right?"
"Right, yeah." Steve's face went kind of blank. "Partnership," Steve said in a dejected voice. Hmm... interesting.
"Well... I mean," Danny said, trying his best to sound nonchalant and not like he was about to have a heartache, "even if the two of us were to have sex, what I'm saying is that my height would be the farthest thing from your mind."
Steve kind of made a choking sound.
Danny tried really hard not to laugh. Steve's reaction was hilarious don't get him wrong, but the implications of Steve's reaction were making Danny giddy, which just made him want to laugh out of pure joy.
Steve cleared his throat. Then cleared his throat again. "So, it's never a problem while, you know..."
Danny smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know."
Steve shifted in his seat and Danny smirked again. This looked promising. Danny could work with this.