Author's Note: Folks, I think that, after this one, there's only going to be one more part to this series. I hate not having all fourteen chapters, but inspiration has been running dry, and that's why it took so long to get the most recent chapters out. I'm sorry for everyone expecting fourteen parts, but I don't want to force out the words and have badly-written stories. But, everything is going to end in the next part, and it'll end in a good way. I promise.
The war was on.
Kono didn't think there could be anything more adorable, for lack of a better word, than Danny trying to figure out who was sending him all the flowers. She was wrong. The absolute picture of utterly, freaking adorable was Steve and Danny trying to outdo each other with flowers – without letting the other man know what was going on. Steve obviously knew that Danny had found him out, and Danny had to know that Steve knew. It was the only explanation for how much fun they were having.
After the case where Danny tackled a suspect into a mud puddle, a dahlia showed up in the middle of the smart table. Dignity, the card read, and Danny rolled his eyes as he carried the slim vase into his office, trailing muddy water behind him the whole way. Daisies for innocence, after Steve got hit on by every prostitute in a five-mile radius while chasing down a drug dealer one night. A green carnation that Danny tucked into a buttonhole and wore for three hours before Chin pointed out that he was wearing a flower to a crime scene.
After Steve slogged through two miles of sewer, and came back smelling like, well, like he'd slogged through two miles of sewer, Danny filled Steve's office with gardenias, freesia, and roses, the fragrance strong enough to obliterate even the smell coming off Steve. No symbolism, you just stink, the note read, and Steve cracked his first smile since learning exactly where their suspect had escaped to.
Kono was watching the two of them in their offices, wondering what the next flower was going to be. She glanced over when Chin came up beside her.
"Who's winning?" he asked, in an undertone.
"It's a tie," Kono told him. "And I haven't seen or smelled a single flower all morning." Stopping to consider what she'd just said, she added, "Do you think it's bad that we have nothing better to do than speculate on our coworkers' love lives?"
"Half the island thinks they're married," Chin pointed out, "and the other half is wondering when they're going to tie the knot. I hardly think we're alone in this."
"True," Kono said, with a chuckle. "So, what do you think is next?"
Chin nodded at Steve and Danny as they both rose from their desks, simultaneously, each of them clearly trying to conceal something in their hands.
"I have no idea," he remarked. "But I think we're about to find out."
