Title: Just a matter of time
Author: Ligeia / gothikmaus
Fandom: Hawaii Five-0
Pairing: Steve/Danny
Rating: PG-13
Category: humour, ficlet
Summary: Danny wakes up the morning after Wo Fat's arrest.
Author's note: Written for the h50_flashfic LJ community challenge "The morning after".
Hawaii Five-0 and all related characters are property of CBS. I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.
Danny groaned. He had been awake for less than five seconds but could already feel a familiar sense of nausea and a tell-tale throbbing in his head. Great. He slowly rolled over, hoping the movement wouldn't make him puke, and felt the tip of his nose brush against something. He gingerly opened one eye and found himself staring at a denim-clad leg. Kono's leg. She was sitting on the floor, her back leaning against the couch. She smiled down at him and popped a grape into her mouth. The mere thought of food was enough to make his nausea flare up.
"Good morning, Danny, glad to see you're still alive."
"Please, tell me I didn't lay a finger on you, I don't want Chin to shoot me in the balls with his shotgun."
"Relax, brah, you didn't touch me. You were too busy draping yourself all over Steve."
"Oh, thank Go- Wait. What?"
"What exactly do you remember about last night?"
Danny frowned. "Um, not much."
They had decided to celebrate Wo Fat's arrest in style, that is, getting smashed. Steve had invited them over to his place and dug out an alarming quantity of alcohol. Danny had wondered why Commander Healthy had so much booze in stock, but that particular thought quickly left his mind, along with any other coherent thought he might have had, after they upgraded from beer to shots. He had vague memories of Steve being quite touchy-feely, sitting closer than strictly necessary, putting an arm around his shoulders and letting it slide down until it was circling his waist. And then he had burst out laughing for no apparent reason and fallen back against the sofa cushions, taking Danny down with him. Danny had found himself lying half on top of Steve, one of Steve's arms wrapped loosely around him, the other one dangling off the couch. He remembered looking down at him, his smile even goofier than usual, and then Steve's hand was in his hair and...
"Oh, fuck."
"Did he just remember about last night?" Chin asked appearing from out of nowhere. He was holding a steaming mug and didn't look hung-over at all. Life just wasn't fair.
Danny slowly sat up, grabbing his head with both hands when the living room started spinning around him.
"You know, I lost fifty bucks because of you two, I fully expect you to make up for it. Dinner at that new steak house on Auahi Street will be fine."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Lori claimed Steve would only make a pass at you after catching Wo Fat, something to do with his daddy issues or something. I, on the other hand, said you two just needed the right amount of alcohol to fall all over each other. Turns out I was totally right, but because it happened after we actually arrested the bastard, she said it was a draw and didn't give me my money. Smartass."
"Wait. You had a bet going on? About me and Steve..." Danny trailed off and waved his right hand in a general you know what gesture.
"It was just a matter of time, brah."
"Where is Lori anyway? Last I remember she was mixing drinks like she had been a pro bartender in her former life."
"She got a call from the governor about an hour ago. I don't envy her, facing Denning with a hangover."
Danny felt a small measure of satisfaction knowing he wasn't the only one suffering. Then he realized Lori wasn't the only one missing.
"Um, what about..."
"Steve? He went swimming," Chin said, holding out a glass of water and two pills for Danny.
Danny would have snorted if he hadn't been afraid even such a simple action would make him puke all over the carpet. He took the pills, washed them down with the water and handed back the empty glass.
"Is that the McGarrett way of recovering from a night of heavy drinking? Can't the guy just be grumpy and miserable like every other human being?"
"You seem to be grumpy and miserable enough for the both of us."
Danny turned around very, very slowly. Steve was standing in the doorway, toweling his hair dry. His blue swimming trunks were still wet and clinging to his hips and holy fuck, was that a hickey on his neck? He gave him one of his small smiles, part amused and mostly fond, and Danny found himself unable to speak.
"Um, I think we'd better go," Chin said to no one in particular.
"Yep!" Kono got to her feet so fast Danny felt dizzy. Seriously, were those two genetically incapable of being hung-over? Did it run in the family?
They were out of the door in a matter of seconds, leaving him alone with Steve. And he still couldn't come up with a single thing to say. Shit.
Steve draped the towel on the back of a chair and sat down on the couch.
"Look, we don't have to talk about it, OK? We were drunk, people do a lot of stupid things when they're drunk."
OK, Danny might be hung-over, but that didn't mean his brain had completely stopped working. Steve was obviously going for nonchalant, but the clipped tone of his voice and the rigid set of his shoulders told an entirely different story. And sure, Danny had done his fair share of stupid things when drunk out of his mind, but making out had only ever happened when he had already wanted to do it sober but had been too chicken to go for it without a little liquid help.
"Hold on." Danny placed a hand on the armrest of the couch and slowly pushed himself to his feet. His nausea wasn't getting any better, but it wasn't getting worse either, so he counted that as a small success. He went to the bathroom, rummaging about until he found the mouthwash. God, he hoped he had read all the signals right.
Satisfied that his mouth didn't taste like something had rotten in it, he walked back into the living room and sat down next to Steve.
"You're right, we don't have to talk about it."
He framed Steve's face with his hands and kissed him. This time it was Danny who ended up lying against the sofa cushions, a very enthusiastic Steve on top of him, kissing and running his hands all over him as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Maybe Kono was right after all, it really had been just a matter of time.
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October 2011