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No New La Mua (To New Beginnings)
When Steve told him the Governor wanted them to allow the talk show host Savannah Walker to shadow them for a segment of her show, he’d about busted his gut laughing. Steve, along with his shorter blonde detective, had equally disgruntled expressions in the face of his amusement.
He tried to stop the laughter, but by the time he was able to, tears were filling his eyes and he could feel the flush in his face. “This isn’t funny.” Steve said, arms crossed and a surely expression on his face.
Tony snorted out another laugh from his spot reclining in the sand of the private beach in his partner’s back yard. “It isn’t?” He managed. “Have you ever watched her show?”
“No.” Steve said, at the same time Danny said “Yes.” The exchanged looks, Steve’s disbelieving and Danny’s defensive.
“What?” He demanded. “I grew up in Jersey with my ma and three sisters around most the time. What the hell kind of crap do you think they watched? Give me a break.” He finished in a mumble as Steve joined Tony in laughter.
“I’m sorry, man.” Steve said, raising his had to cover his heart. He snorted again. “Truly.” He choked out. “That must have been terrible for you.”
“Yeah, Yeah. Fuck you.” The short man replied. So maybe they’d all had (more than) a few beers already, but it was the weekend, the Five-O team didn’t have a case, and Tony still had a couple of weeks before he was due to meet his new team.
“I don’t know what you’re making fun of him for.” Tony spoke up. “As the leader of the team, you know the cameras are gonna follow you the most, right?”
“Hey!” Danny exclaimed in an offended tone. “Why do you think they’ll follow him more than me?” He demanded.
Tony laughed again, head dropping back to rest in the sand. “No offense, Danny. You’re a good looking guy, but come on.” He said, shooting ‘come hither’ eyes at his partner. Danny scoffed to the side, but the two’s gazes had locked and Steve started to move towards him with a predatory expression over taking his face.
Steve rolled onto his knees and then crawled the short distance over to him, coming to loom over him on all fours. ‘Oh, come one.’ Could be heard in the background, but Tony’s sole focus was on the chapped lips pressing firmly against his. He allowed his hazy focus to become lost in the sensation for an indeterminate amount of time.
The sand falling over the two gained their sudden, startled, attention. Danny stood over the pair, arms crossed as he glared down at them. “I’m going to bed. Don’t wake me up falling over each other on the way to the bedroom.” He demanded, tone grouchy.
Tony broke first, startled expression fracturing into another laugh. Steve joined him a second later, dropping his head to rest on the reclining mans chest. The detective huffed again before he left and then they were alone before the gently cresting waves of the ocean. Steve raised his head up a second later and met his lips in a much gentler kiss than they’d been involved moments before. The full moon above them lit the world in an ethereal glow and they quickly found themselves lost in each other again quickly.
When things started to get more heated, Steve pulled back. “He was right about one thing.” Steve rumbled, voice deep and fractured. “We should move this to the bedroom.”
“What’s wrong?” Tony teased, near breathless. “Not a fan of sex on the beach anymore?”
Steve pulled back to shoot him a look, and the swollen redness of his lips shouldn’t have been as much of a turn on as they were. “Anymore?” He replied incredulously. “Do you remember how long you were bitching about sand after that?”
Tony tilted his head and studied the man above him. “Not really.” He finally said, drawing him back to his lips. “Mostly just remember the feel of you matching the sound of the waves.”
“Well I remember.” Steve disputed, drawing back. “Come on,” He enticed, tugging gently on his hand. “I’ll still match the waves- just, in the comfort of my bed.” Tony laughed again as he allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. He over balanced, but Steve caught him before he could fall. They were quickly distracted by each other, and found themselves pressed together once again.
The journey was complicated by grabby hands, clumsy kisses and less than steady gaits. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Steve took advantage of the solidness of the wall by pressing the shorter man firmly back against it. He cupped his neck with one hand, the other resting low on his hip, and delivered a filthy promise of more to his partner.
The pillow colliding with the wall beside them broke them apart suddenly, and they remembered that Danny had gone to sleep on the couch. They’d clearly broken their promise not to wake him, Tony thought with another laugh. He pushed Steve away and turned to stumble up the stairs. But when they did get to the good part sometime later? Steve definitely kept his promise to match the sound of the waves.
~*~*~*~
The crews filming had been rough, and they were all glad when the Savanah Walker and her posse packed up to head back to the mainland. With pressure mostly from Tony and Kono, Steve agreed to record the show when it aired at some ridiculous hour, and then to have the Ohana over later that night to watch it. The time had finally come, and no one was sure exactly what had made the show and what hadn’t. It had to get approval from the higherup’s, but Steve had washed his hands of the whole thing as soon as he could, and chose not to be part of that review.
Thus, when they were all settled in they were all eager to see what was going to happen. The opening bit was expected fluff, but luckily it wasn’t long before they cut to introducing Five-O. “Aw, look how cute you were.” Tony whispered to Steve, who sat beside him, when they flashed a picture of him as a kid. “Mmmm.” He added a second later when it showed his image in full dress uniform.
“Oh, was I supposed to say something back to you?” Brought laughter all around, as did Danny’s reaction to her attempts to talk, and his dramatic exit from the room. They watched in silence for the next couple of minutes, broken only by laughter and other random little sounds.
When they got to the actual crime scene, Tony heard Steve mutter ‘Seriously?’ at the footage and audio they manage to get even before they got Max to spy. Tony rubbed his thigh sympathetically. Max’s introduction caused laugher all around, and more than a few pieces of popcorn flew towards his own seated form when his response to her request for a favor was ‘of course.’
“Really, Max?” Danny spoke up. “You agreed that easily?”
Tony flinched slightly when Wo Fat was identified a minute later. Over the course of the investigation, Steve had filled him in on just who Wo Fat was, and everything the man had done to his family. The hand still resting on Steves thigh squeezed again during Chin’s interview, and Steve brought his own hand to rest over the top of Tony’s, fingers lacing with his own from above.
Unified scoffing occurred during Fong’s interview, especially when he claimed that most of the heavy lifting occurred behind the microscope. “How about next time, he can get shot at and I’ll stay in the lab.” Danny muttered from Steves other side.
“This woman is unbelievable.” Tony murmured when they were talking to their victims girlfriend and the camera man panned in through the blinds. “I’m surprised you hadn’t kicked her out by that point.”
“Trust me, nothing would have made me happier. I did have words with her after that, but the Governor ordered the show to continue.”
They continued to watch, mostly in silence. Tony’s brow rose when Catherine came on camera. He hadn’t expected her to make an appearance, and he had to bite his tongue when she said “he usually repays in in breakfast or dinner- it’s kind of a game we play.”
When Savannah asked if she was his girlfriend and she smiled and then coyly didn’t actually answer the question, Tony felt a small spark of anger. It was clear by Steves tensing that he wasn’t expecting that conversation any more than Tony had, though he had much more of a reason to be angry. He could get in serious trouble over conduct with some of the stuff the woman was saying. When she brushed off a misuse of government resources, both he and Catherine’s’ CO could have gotten pulled under investigation. Steve let out a quiet huff of aggravation and glared at the woman onscreen with a muttered ‘unbelievable.’
And really, what did she think she was going to accomplish with that little stunt? It wasn’t going to do anything to endear Steve to her, it wasn’t going to change the state of their relationship. Convincing the world that she was his girlfriend wasn’t going to make it so. Was she delusional? It kind of seemed like it. Still, Steve didn’t say anything further, and so Tony bit his tongue.
They watched the rest of the show, but found it to be a bit more depressing than amusing once they got more involved with the crime scene. By the time it was over, everyone was a little somber as they made their way out. When Steve came back from showing everyone off, he plopped down onto his back, left knee was pulled up and propped against the back of the couch, while the other hung over the edge and rested comfortably on the floor.
Tony took the open posture as an invitation and moved to lay across the other man’s body, resting his head over Steve’s chest and settling himself between the spread thighs. Steve moved to welcome him, bringing his other leg up to bracket Tony’s body and resting his arms loosely over his lower back. Tony signed in contentment from his perch. “I’m sorry the filming ended up being as awful as you thought it would be.” He said quietly. Steve shrugged slightly, but didn’t respond.
They continued to lay in silence for several long minutes, each lost in thought. “So, what do you want to do this weekend?” Steve finally murmured.
“Mmmm.” Tony hummed, reaching up to toy with the end of Steve’s shirt sleeve. “You’ve been talking about wanting to take me spear fishing. We could do that.” He offered.
“We could do that. There’s a great spot about an hour’s drive from here. Could make a day of it.”
“That sounds nice. I’m going to miss this when I have to start working again.” He joked.
“What do you mean? We’ll still be able to do plenty.”
“Yeah, of course we will, but we just won’t have quite as much freedom.”
“So, you know what that means?” Steve asked slyly.
“What’s that?”
“That we need to take advantage of it as much as possible while we still can. Oh, we could hop over to Hawai’i’ and go to the Volcano National Park. Halema’uma’u has been pretty active, I’ve heard.”
“Oh, we could do that. I still haven’t been.”
“Great, I’ll make the arrangement.” Steve said ducking his head down to nuzzle Tony’s hair. Tony looked up at the sensation and then pulled himself up further so that he could reach Steve’s lips. The first kiss was soft, just a pressing of lips on lips, but then Steve shifted, scooting himself a bit further down, and lifting his arms to grasp at Tony’s narrow hips. It was a favorite move of his, he loved how well Tony’s frame fit in his hands, how perfect he felt held against him. The kisses turned more heated and after a few minutes, Steve pulled Tony’s shirt over his head in a sudden, unexpected, motion. Tony moved to return the favor, but quickly realized Steve’s shirt was tucked under him in a way that wouldn’t be removable in their current position.
Steve realized the same thing and decided to flip their positions. Their legs became slightly tangled together, and it was enough that Steve miscalculated the move and ended up resting over Tony, who found himself laying on the floor in front of the sofa. Tony’s head dropped back and he laughed huskily, but quickly found himself moaning as Steve took advantage of the new position, unfazed by the change in location.
~*~*~*~
The next morning, the two men woke still pressed together on the hard floor. Both were used to sleeping in odd, uncomfortable places, so it really wasn’t surprising that they were able to get a decent night’s sleep, despite the unusual choice of bed. And that they woke still naked and mussed from the night before simply lead to easier access when they silently decided to skip their morning workout in favor of round two.
When they finished, Tony sent Steve upstairs to start getting ready for work while he cleaned up and started coffee. When he made his own way upstairs, Steve was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, shaving. Tony stepped up behind him and wrapped bare arms around the still naked form of his lover, and lent up to press a kiss to the underside of Steve’s freshly shaven jaw.
He could feel Steve’s eyes on him when he pulled away and headed over to the shower, and if he put on a little show while starting the water, well, who could blame him. He stepped under the spray and heard Steve’s razor clatter into the sink just a few seconds later. He was joined by the other man and found himself pinned against the wall, Steve’s lips on his.
Tony allowed it for several long seconds, but eventually pushed him away with a laugh. “Haven’t you gotten enough?” He joked, stepping back under the spray. Steve followed him, trailing his fingertips over wet flesh.
“Mmmm, never.” Steve replied, ducking under the spray himself to kiss him again.
“Never? Well I don’t know about you, but I’m not twenty anymore, and don’t think I can go again quite this fast.” Tony joked, pushing him away again.
Steve pouted at him, but broke out in a smile at the look Tony sent him in return. They did eventually finish showering, though both were impeded by grabby hands and easy distractions. It wasn’t until they stepped out that Tony noticed something. “You should fix you sideburns, they’re a little uneven.” He commented casually, wrapping a towel around his waist.
“What?” Steve replied, turning to wipe away the small amount of condensation that had formed. “Damn it.” He cursed when he could see. Tony passed behind him to get dressed and was just pulling on his shirt when he heard the front door close and Danny’s voice call out to Steve.
“I’ll tell him you’ll be down in a sec.” Tony offered, moving towards the door.
It ended up being several minutes before Steve came down, and Tony and Danny heard him coming from where they stood in the kitchen. “You’re teaching him some bad habits you know.” Danny said, voice deliberately loud and carrying. “He was never late before you came into the picture.”
“I’m still not late.” Steve disputed, moving to stand in front of the travel mug that waited for him next to Tony.
“You are late, actually.” Danny argued, holding a cup of his own. “You’re supposed to be ready when I get here, not just getting outta the shower.”
“We technically don’t even have to be at the Palace for another hour.”
“Yes, but I like to be early.”
“Not being early isn’t the same thing as being late, Danny.”
“No, but not being early opens the door to being late. What if there’s a car accident, or a sinkhole, or a frigging hurricane?” Danny demanded.
Steve shook his head and turned to his amused partner. “We’re going.” He said, pressing a kiss to Tony’s forehead. “Mahalo for the coffee. I’ll see you later.”
“I’ll lock up when I leave.” Tony promised.
“Wait, we can’t go yet, I haven’t finished my coffee.” Danny said, lifting his mug for emphasis.
“Ohh no, I wouldn’t want to make you late or, you know, on time. Let’s go.” Steve responded, heading to the door.
Danny mumbled something under his breath and downed the rest of his coffee in one long drink. “Later.” He said to Tony before hustling after his taller counterpart. Tony shook his head with a smile as he heard the two continue to bicker until the door closed behind them.
~*~*~*~
Later that morning, Tony received a text from Steve telling him that they were having a slow day at work and asking if he wanted to meet them for lunch at Kamekona’s. When he arrived, he could see Danny’s car already in the parking lot and was a little surprised to see the makeshift Sumo Wrestling ring built into the sand beside the shrimp truck and a bright (and very interesting) sign reading ‘Kamekona’s Sumo Smash ‘Em Challenge.’
The familiar sight of Steve and Danny standing next to each other caught his eye immediately and he started making his way over to them. With the crowd of people forming a circle, he didn’t realize Catherine was standing beside Steve until he got closer. They didn’t notice him at first and he could hear them talking as we walked up behind them.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me, he’s not even trying to make it look like a fair fight.” Steve said when Kamekona selected the next contestant to wrestle Flippa.
“No no no no, I like her.” Danny disputed. “She’s uh, she’s very scrappy- I’m not gonna lie.”
“I like her too.” Tony said, announcing himself. “I think she can take him.”
“Hey you.” Steve said turning towards him.
“Hey.” Tony smiled at him and then nodded to the other two.
They were joined by Chin and Kona a few seconds later. “Whole new look there, boss.” Kono said as they arrived. Everyone turned to look at Steve, who shot them all a defensive, annoyed look. “Everybody, really?” He said. “Okay, it’s hair. You know the good thing about hair? It grows back.”
“Well, if you’re lucky.” Chin piped up, drawing laughter and another scowl.
Tony covered his own laugh with his hand, and Steve’s attention turned to him, looking betrayed. Tony dropped his hand and mouthed ‘sorry.’
“Sorry?” Danny spoke out loud, having caught the exchange. “Why are you sorry? Are you the reason he goofed up his hair? Is it the same reason he was late this morning?”
“For the last time, I wasn’t late.” Steve defended, but was interrupted before he could continue by his phone ringing.
They watched the fight while Steve was on the phone. “We’ve got a case.” The man said a second later. The team immediately turned and headed up to the parking lot but Steve paused. He pressed a kiss to Tony’s forehead. “Guess we’re going to have to take a raincheck on lunch.”
“No problem. Let me know when the case wraps up.”
“I will.” Steve promised before following the others.
Tony found himself standing alone beside Catherine and felt a flash of awkwardness. “Well,” He said as the fight finished and the crowd cheered. “I guess I’ll see you around.” He finished, turning to leave himself.
“Wait!” Catherine exclaimed. He paused, back to her. “You came here for lunch, right? Let’s have lunch.” She offered.
Tony was glad his back was to her, so that he didn’t have to try and control the expression that overtook his face at the idea.
“Uh,” He said, steeling himself, but in truth he did come there for lunch and he couldn’t think of a reason to leave without just coming across as rude. Not the worst thing, but maybe not necessary quite yet. “Yeah, sure.” He finally said, hiding a grimace. They made their way back to the truck and ordered separately. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, the majority of the crowd was down in the sand and so there were several empty tables. They sat across for each other, silence stretching into uncomfortable.
“So, you and Steve have been spending a lot of time together.” She chose to start with.
“Uh, yeah, I guess.” He agreed.
“Things must be getting pretty serious.” She continued, voice casual.
Tony raised a brow at her, but took a bite in lieu of answering.
“You’ve only been here, what, two months?”
“Almost.” Tony agreed.
“Things must be moving along pretty quick. You guys are hardly ever apart.”
Tony sighed quietly and set down his fork. “Or maybe it’s because I’m on an extended vacation, and have a lot of free time right now.” He shrugged and held up his hands. “But seriously, where are you going with this?” He asked bluntly. “No offence, but I hardly know you, and I don’t usually make a habit of discussing my relationships with strangers.”
“Oh, well, I’m hardly a stranger.” She brushed off. “Steve’s a really good friend of mine. I’m just looking out for him.” She said, shooting a smile his direction.
“Uh, yeah.” Tony said back, deadpanned. “I’ve heard about the nature of your relationship with Steve.”
Her eyes darted back to his, and it was pretty clear what he meant. “Oh, he told you? About, uh,?” She asked, looking flustered for the first time.
“Why wouldn’t he?” Tony asked in return. He knew he should stop there, but was feeling a little vindictive at her less than subtle probing. “I’ve had my own casual hookups since we broke up, I’d hardly hold his against him.”
Anger flashed over her expression, but only for a fraction of a second. He was a little impressed at how well she could control her expressions.
“Still,” She said, voice taunt. “I consider Steve a good friend- one of the best I have, and I just wanted to see how things were going.”
“Fair enough.” Tony replied easily, though the words felt like a lie as they passed his lips.
“Have things been going well?” She pressed, and Tony’s own control was growing thinner with her continued boldness.
“Things have been great.” He replied. “It’s almost like we never broke up.”
“That was a really long time ago though, right?”
“About eight, almost nine, years ago.”
“It must be weird. I’m sure a lot’s changed.”
“Not really.” Tony forced a smile.
“No?” She sounded surprised. “Well, like you said, we don’t know each other very well, so I’m not sure what your life has been like during that time,” she let out a synthetic sounding laugh. “But I know Steve has been through some pretty bad situations. He seems okay most of the time but, well. Have you been around for one of his nightmares yet?” she asked, ducking to lean closer to him.
His eyes narrowed the slightest bit as he tilted his head towards her. He didn’t reply right away- wasn’t sure how to reply to that, honestly. She continued before he could work it out. “They can get pretty intense, and he can be, well,” She shot him a pitting look. “He can be pretty difficult to be around when he gets like that.” The ‘Are you sure you can handle it?’ floated unspoken on the air, but was heard all the same.
Tony had, in fact, been with Steve when he’d suffered one of his nightmares, but unlike Catherine, he wasn’t prepared to use such knowledge to try and one-up her. He knew how private Steve was, especially when it involved something he perceived as weakness- like having nightmares in the first place. That she was willing to throw something out in the open like that so casually infuriated him on Steve’s behalf. He forced himself to be calm, and smiled again. Despite his best efforts, the smile came through brittle and vicious. “Can I ask you a question, Catherine?” He asked.
“Of course!” She offered, smiling at him and she was so transparent that disgust churned in his throat.
“You know Steve from Naval Intelligence, right?” He didn’t wait for her response before he continued. “Have you ever been in live combat?”
Her chin raised slightly as she stared at him. “I’ve done a lot of reconnaissance and intel gathering in hot zones.” She finally responded, when it was clear he wasn’t going to let the question go.
“Right, but I mean have you ever been in a situation where you’ve had to open fire? Have you ever been given a target that you’re responsible for?” He pressed further.
Her arms came up and crossed over her chest defensively. “No?” He continued. “You’ve never had to kill anyone?”
“No.” She finally replied. “I’ve never actually been responsible for someone’s death- at least not directly.”
“Then let me tell you something about it. I’ve been pretty lucky, I haven’t had to pull the trigger too often, all things considered. But when I do? I focus on the one small, bullet sized target I’m aiming for. I don’t think about them as a person- I can’t, not in that moment, or I wouldn’t be able to do my job. But after? When they’ve stopped breathing, and it’s done, and there’s no going back?” She met him stare for stare. “You think about it, you think about everything, for weeks, months- Year’s after, you’ll remember their face, or the last thing they were doing, or the picture of their family, and it’ll be so sudden and so vibrant it’s like it just happened. It’ll wake you in the middle of the night and you’ll swear you can feel the weapon in your hand. Then? Then, you think about everything. Did they have a family? Children? How many? Elderly parent’s they were caring for? How many people are still grieving the life you took?”
She didn’t seem to get it and so he pressed further still. “I’ve been lucky.” He repeated. “I don’t know how many times Steve has had to stand in that position over the last few years, and I probably don’t want to know. It’s great that you haven’t had to be in that position, that you haven’t had to face the knowledge that you ended a life, but those of us that have? Those of us that are still human, anyway? We have to face it. It doesn’t go away. Even when years have passed, even when the conscious memory had faded from your waking thoughts- it’s still there, lingering under the surface, and sometimes it just pops up. You might not have known how to respond to Steve when he falls into that pit, but luckily I don’t have that issue.” He cut himself off. There was so much more he could say, so much more that wanted to come out- but why? He hadn’t been worried about her before, not truly, but now? Now he knew he didn’t have anything to worry about. She may have been attractive, she may have had the Navy in common with Steve and they may have had a past, but she didn’t get him, not like Tony did, and not like Steve got Tony. He stood instead, gathering us his garbage with a small shake of his head. “This was nice. We should definitely,” He paused slightly with a crooked smile, “uh, definitely, do this again sometime.” He turned to walk away, but paused once. “I trust you’re not planning to gossip about Steve with anyone else?” He couldn’t help tossing casually over his shoulder just before getting into his car and driving away. He didn’t look back.
~*~*~*~
That weekend, Steve picked Tony up from his house at six am Saturday morning. Rather than heading for the airport, as he’d expected, they made their way to a private airfield that declared ‘Makani Kai Helicopters.’ Steve parked and hopped out immediately while Tony followed slightly slower. Steve grabbed his huge backpack out of the back of the truck and slung it over his shoulder before grabbing a good sized cooler. Tony grabbed his own duffle bag and followed him as he made his way over to the helicopter standing alone in the middle of the asphalt.
“Richard!” Steve exclaimed when they were closer.
“Steve, good to see you.” The other man said, turning to face them from where he’d been examining something within the open door. “She’s all ready for you. Remember there’s nowhere to land a copter up on the mountain, but I’ve already spoken to Hilo airport- they’re contracted with a bunch of helicopter tour companies, and they know you’ll be flying in. They’ll also refuel for your return trip tomorrow.”
“Hey man, I really appreciate this.” Steve replied, shaking his hand after he set down the cooler. “Uh, this is Tony DiNozzo, my partner, Tony this is Richard Schuman, he’s done some work with Five-O in the past.”
“Nice to meet you.” Tony said, reaching forward for a handshake of his own.
“Likewise.” Richard said. “But I won’t keep you. Need anything before I go?” He asked, directing the question to Steve.
“No, I think we’re good.”
“Alright, well then have a blast and we’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Mahalo.” Steve replied, taking Richards place in the doorway and loading his backpack, the cooler, and then holding out a hand for Tony’s own bag. Soon after, they were seated in the helicopter and flying over the ocean.
“It’s a two-hour flight.” Steve told Tony over the headset, who nodded in acknowledgement, eyes glued on the gorgeous spread beneath them. Steve pointed out various landmarks as they came into view- the different islands they passed over and random little tidbits about them. It was an enjoyable two hours and they were soon cleared to land at the airfield.
Steve had planned ahead, and a jeep was waiting for them at the airport car rental pickup. They set out immediately. “So where are we going from here?” Tony asked after a few minutes of driving.
“You’ll see.” Steve replied, shooting a smile over at him.
“You’re not going to tell me?”
“We’ll be there in about,” He paused to glance at his watch. “Thirty minutes, give or take. Trust me, you’re gonna love it. I have the whole day today planned, and then tomorrow, if there’s anything in particular you want to do we can do that. Otherwise, we just have to have the helicopter back before Monday Morning.”
“Alright,” Tony agreed with a small laugh. “I trust you.”
Steve shot him that smile again, the one that brought a feeling a warmth to his chest, and Tony knew he’d follow the other man anywhere he wanted to go, let him plan whatever he wanted to plan, and he’d do it all happily just to see that smile.
Twenty-five minutes later, they pulled up to the Volcano Village Lodge. Steve ran inside to check in while Tony waited in the car. When Steve came back out, he moved the jeep to another parking lot. They started walking, following the directions Steve had been given, and soon came to a wooden sign listing five different names and arrows. “We’re in Haleakala.” Steve said, changing course as the sign directed.
The room, when they arrived, was breathtaking. It was shaped like an octagon, with a queen-sized bed, vaulted ceiling, dining table set for two, private lanai, and tons of windows facing out into the rainforest surrounding the lodge. Despite being one of five rooms, it felt completely isolated and private. “How did you do this?” Tony asked, a bit in awe. “We just planned this a few days ago, how’d you get a reservation here?”
Steve shot him a boyish wink, but didn’t respond. “Alright, so we’re going to be doing a bit of hiking, so if you want to change you should do it now. We’ll come back to the room at eight to shower, and then we have a dinner reservation at nine. Sound good?”
“Mmm, sounds perfect.” Tony said, stepping forward to press himself against Steves chest and leaning up for a kiss. Steve obliged, but only briefly.
“We should head out.” He said when he pulled away a few seconds later.
“Yeah, just let me change my shoes.” Tony said, opening his duffle to pull out his well-worn hiking shoes. He’d bought them upon arriving on the island, and he’d worn them enough they already looked old and loved.
The headed out and arrived at the Kīlauea Visitor Center just as it was opening at 9:00. They spent the rest of the day hiking around various points in the park. They did use the car to skip from one point to the next, rather than spending the time hiking it. If they had more time, they would have done so, but there was so much to see. They started with Kilauea Iki, then headed over to the Thurston Lava Tube, and then Devastation Trail. A yellow warning sign gave him a slight pause when they arrived at that particular point, proclaiming ‘DANGER- VOLCANIC FUMES ARE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH AND MAY BE LIFE THREATENING. DO NOT ENTER THIS AREA IF YOU ARE A PERSON AT RISK’ and then listed the following points: Respiratory problems, Heart Problems, Pregnant, and Infants & young children. Still, how dangerous could it possibly be? He asked himself, continuing on.
His lungs did feel a little irritated when they finished that point, but not too bad and so he pushed it down and ignored the prickling. After, they drove the Chain of Craters road which, unsurprisingly, ended where hardened lava flow covered the blacktop. They got out and explored a bit, and then headed to the Holei Sea Arch. They doubled back and hiked the short trail were the Pu’u Loa Petroglyphs were at, and then ended the day at the Kalapana Lava Viewing Area, just as the sun was setting. There were able to see the lava a short distance away and found themselves sitting and watching nature put on her show, Tony’s back pressed against Steve’s chest.
When eight o’clock came around, Steve nudged Tony up, who moaned quietly at the soreness setting into his body. They made the short drive back to their room to shower and dress and then set off again almost immediately. They arrived at a place called ‘The Rim,’ where they were shown to a window front table overlooking the Halema’uma’u Crater, bright flashes and billows of oranges, yellows and reds visible through the darkness.
The dinner itself was absolutely delicious. They had Hilo Chicken Satay for their appetizer, which was grilled chicken skewers glazed with pineapple puree, mirin wine, sugar cane and cilantro, served with some kind of peanut dipping sauce. For their entree’s, Steve ordered the Mauka & Makai- a New York Strip Steak, served with sautéed mushrooms, a butter poached lobster tail and then mashed potatoes, macadamia nut green beans and a fresh herb compound butter. Tony ordered the Hilo Coffee-Rubbed Lamb, which was half a rack marinated in Hilo coffee, garlic and rosemary and then pan seared and served with purple sweet potato mash, the same green beans, and a coffee demi glaze sauce.
“I have dessert back at the room.” Steve said as they were finishing up that amazing food.
“Desert?” Tony said. “I’m not sure I have room for that.” He joked, rubbing his stomach.
“Well we don’t have to eat it right away.” Steve replied, innuendo heavy in his voice.
“Oh? And what will we do instead?” Tony teased.
“We’ll think of something.” They fell into a comfortable silence as they waited for the server to return with Steve’s debit card.
“Thank you for this weekend.” Tony said after a couple of minutes. “Today was great, I couldn’t imagine a better way to finish my vacation.”
“Are you looking forward to work on Monday?” Steve asked, conversationally.
“You know, I think I am, actually. As nice as it’s been to go where ever and do whatever, I’m starting to go a little stir crazy. I haven’t had this much free time in- well, actually, ever.”
“You’ve never been one for relaxation.”
“Hey, I’m all for relaxation! Just, in small amounts.” He defended. “And as if you’re one to talk.” He shot back pointedly. And it was true, both when they were together the first time and since they’d been together again, Steve was like a machine. Even on his days off, he always got in at least one workout (though, that workout had been altered to include Tony and a flat surface more than once), and usually found something to do. He very rarely took an entire day to relax or do nothing, he’d go crazy if he tried. He’d go surfing, or go for a long run or swim, or run errands, or work on his dads old car.
Tony, on the other hand, occasionally had weekends where he’d lock himself in his apartment and spend two whole days doing nothing but watching movies and eating. It was rare and far in-between, but he did enjoy it every once in a while.
Their waitress set the receipt and Steve’s card down beside his elbow with a smile and asked if they needed anything else. She walked away when they declined and Steve quickly signed the paper, grabbed his card and stood to go. “That’s just another reason we’re good together.” Steve said as they began strolling towards the door, continuing where their conversation had left off. “Neither of us like being bored, and I, at least, am never bored when I’m with you.” He bumped his shoulder playfully into Tony’s.
Tony laughed, pressing closer. “I think that may be a lie, but I’ll take it.”
“Why do you think it’s a lie?” Steve pouted.
“Because there have been plenty of time’s we’ve been together and bored, babe. It may have been a while, but I’m sure it’ll happen again eventually.”
Steve tilted his head. “Ok, I guess that’s probably true.” He agreed. “Still, I would much rather be bored and be with you, than be bored and not with you.”
“Sap.” Tony teased. “But I feel the same way.” The paused together by the jeep and met for long, leisurely kiss under the stars. They broke apart when another group exited, chatting away and breaking the silence. They pulled back and got in the jeep.
When they arrived back in their room, a bottle of champagne and an assorted variety of chocolate covered fruits sat on ice on their dining table. They ignored them at first, coming back together in the privacy and seclusion of their room. They eventually made their way to the bed, and indulged in a slow, leisurely round of love making with naught but the sounds of nature serenading them.
After, they made their way back into the shower for another quick wash. The shower was equally lazy, and filled more with slick limbs sliding together than actually washing. When they did get out, they took the champagne and fruit out onto the lanai.
Steve poured them each a glass and then held his up in toast. “To new beginnings.” He said softly.
“To new beginnings.” Tony replied with a smile as they clinked their glasses gently together. And they sat there together, under the cover of a rainforest, nibbling in their dessert and enjoying being in each others company.
~*~*~*~
The next day they took the scenic coastal road up north to explore more of the island. They spent the day essentially being tourists, though Steve had been to the big island many times before. They found themselves at a little walk up stand called ‘What’s Shakin,’ where they ate lunch. After, and with the recommendations of the locals they spoke to, they headed to Umauma Falls to take the zip line tour. They boasted over two miles of zip line, a suspension bridge and the view of eighteen different waterfalls.
They offered a ‘Rappel & River experience’ too, but when Tony had pointed it out, Steve had murmured, “If you want to rappel down a cliff and into a river, we can take my gear and do that back in Oahu for free.”
“Fair enough.” Tony laughed. “Zip line tour it is.” Tony headed over to book it for them. There was a thirty minute wait for their turn, and Tony asked the man behind the counter if he could recommend any other ‘must-do’s.’ At his recommendation, Tony took out his phone and looked up the Manta Ray Night Charter.
He wandered back over to Steve, scrolling through the various options. “Hey, look at this.” He said, offering it to his partner. Steve took the phone from him and glanced down at the screen.
“Oh, yeah, I’ve heard of this. It sounds pretty cool.” Steve replied.
“It does. We could do the Manta Ray Dive, and either the Twilight Reef dive at sunset, or the blackwater dive. What do you think?”
“The blackwater dive looks cool. Look at this.” He said, clicking on an image of a glowing jellyfish.
“Oh wow, that’s amazing.” Tony replied, scrolling through the various other pictures. “Do you want to do it?” He asked, clicking on ‘Book Now.’
“I’m fine with that, and then we can head to the airport after?”
“Yeah, that should work out pretty good.”
~*~*~*~
The rest of the day passed by too quickly, and they were soon touching down back on Oahu. It was coming up on midnight when they were back in Steve’s truck, and they knew the morning was going to come quick. “Do you want to come to mine, or me to drop you at yours?” Steve asked as he put the truck in hear and started off.
“I should probably go to mine.” Tony said, and damn it if he didn’t feel a bit disappointed at the idea. Need to go in early to get my desk and stuff set up before the team comes in. Plus, I don’t have any suits at your place, so I’d have to drive back to mine first anyway.”
“Well, we could stop by your place so you can get what you need, and then you could follow me back to mine in your car.” Steve offered.
“That’s going to take at least an extra half hour. It’ll be one o’clock by the time we make it to yours. Don’t you want to get home?”
“Well, sure. But not as much as I want you to sleep in my bed tonight.”
Tony knew it would be more logical to just go home and go to bed, but damn it if Steve’s puppy dog expression didn’t get him. And if he were honest, he didn’t really want to sleep alone either. “Ok.” He agreed. “Let’s stop by my place first.” Steve’s expression morphed, and an expression somewhere between contentment and satisfaction curled his lips.
And when Steve’s hand found his thigh somewhere along the way, well, Tony just leaned a little more in his direction, contentment of his own curling in his chest.
~*~ END ~*~