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Danny and Steve walked towards Kamakona's from the lot where Steve parked the Camaro. They planned to celebrate the closing of another case with a couple beers and a garlic shrimp dinner before heading home. The two had just about reached the back of the shrimp truck when Steve suddenly stopped. Danny thought he probably should have been more surprised when Steve dropped down to his hands and knees to look under the truck, but he’d known Steve long enough that something as mundane as an impromptu stop, drop, and crawl garnered no more than a raised eyebrow. A second later, Steve sat back on his haunches, lifted one arm backwards towards Danny and made a grabbing motion with his hand.
“Danny, take your shirt off,” Steve demanded.
“What?” Danny exclaimed. Unlike Steve's actions moments earlier, the sudden command definitely elicited surprise.
“Take your shirt off, and give it to me,” Steve repeated as he continued to look at something under the truck.
“Is this some kind of payback for making you take your shirt off last week? I explained why I did that. That homophobic jerk deserved to see what he was missing. Besides, you love taking you shirt off in public, don’t try and tell me you don’t.”
Steve briefly glanced up at him. “Danny, this has nothing to do with that. I need your shirt, now hand it over.” Steve continued to make a grabbing motion with his hand. “Hurry up.”
Danny reluctantly unbuttoned his shirt, a very nice Hugo Boss dress shirt he’d gotten on sale the last time he was in New Jersey, and handed it to Steve. He watched as Steve loosely wrapped each hand in one of the sleeves and held the shirt open as got down on his stomach and reached under the truck. When he scooted back out, Danny could tell there was something wrapped in his shirt. He loved that shirt because the color reminded him of Steve’s eyes when they were dark with passion. Steve moved to sit cross-legged on the ground and pulled the squirming, shirt-wrapped object close to his chest. He murmured something to it, but Danny couldn’t quite make out what he’d said.
“What is it? A kitten?” Danny asked, curiosity temporarily pushing aside thoughts of his beloved shirt and the fact that he was no longer wearing it.
“It’s a puppy, can’t be more than two or three months old. Someone must have abandoned it. The poor thing probably crawled under the truck to get out of the rain shower we had earlier. He’s wet and shivering and looks half-starved.” Steve looked at Danny with pleading eyes.
“No. Just, no," Danny held up both hands as if that would be enough to stop Steve from suggesting something crazy, like maybe they should keep the dog. "Do not give me that look. We already have a dog, not to mention two children.”
“It’s a puppy.”
“Puppies grow into dogs eventually, Steven, and until then, they pee in the house and chew on shoes and furniture. The last thing we need is another dog. Between you and Eddie, we have plenty of animals in the house already, thank you very much.”
“But Danny, he needs us. He could keep Eddie company when we’re not home, and Charlie would love to have a puppy. Please, Danno.”
Danny sighed. This was definitely not going his way. “What kind of dog is it? It’s not a Great Dane or something is it?”
Steve carefully set the dog down and gently held on to it while he unwrapped the shirt. Danny was surprised the dog didn’t growl or try to get away. Instead it just sat there shaking. “I’m not sure, he looks like he may have some lab in him, but I’m not sure what else, some cocker spaniel maybe.”
“Check his paws,” Danny told him, bending over slightly with his hands on his knees so he could get a better look at the dog. “You’re supposed to be able to tell how big they’re going to get by the size of their paws.” Just then the puppy looked at him and tilted his head to one side in a way that reminded him of Steve when he was trying to talk Danny into something ... like adopting a second four-legged pet. The phrase “puppy dog eyes” was coined for a reason and Danny knew he didn’t stand a chance against both Steve and the dog when they turned those twin looks on him. “Damn it.”
“So that’s a yes, then?” Steve asked, smiling as he stood up with the dog cradled in his arms.
“Yes, okay, fine. We can keep the damn dog.” Danny answered reluctantly as he straightened up. “But, he is your responsibility and you’ll have to teach Charlie how to take care of him. Plus, as soon as he’s old enough, you’re getting him neutered and enrolling him in obedience school. Even as well-trained as Eddie is, he can still cause chaos when he’s bored. Our lives are chaotic enough without adding an undisciplined dog into the mix.”
“I’m going to name him Murphy,” Steve said, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet as he hugged the dog to his chest. Danny had a sinking feeling that his partner had ignored everything he’d just said about the future care and feeding of the dog.
“Murphy? Why Murphy?”
“Because we already have an Eddie, now we'll have an Eddie and a Murphy, and together they’ll be Eddie Murphy, you know, Beverly Hills Cop?”
“Beverly Hills... seriously? You’re naming him after Eddie Murphy, the comedian?”
“Hey, I loved that movie as a kid and I hear they may be making Beverly Hills Cop IV, so it’s a timely pop culture reference.”
“Oh, as long as it’s timely,” Danny shook his head fondly at Steve’s excitement.
“Well, I thought about Clara, after your mom, but he’s obviously a boy and I didn’t want to contribute to any gender identity issues. Your mom won’t be upset that we didn’t name him after her will she? I mean, Eddie was already named Eddie when I got him, I didn’t actually name him after your dad.”
“Oh, I can assure you that Ma will not be upset that we didn’t name a dog after her, a male dog at that. But, if she is, we’ll just promise her that Grace will name her first daughter Clara.”
“Good,” Steve said as if everything Danny just said wasn’t completely sarcastic. “Let’s go see if Kamakona will give us some water and food for this little guy and then we’ll find a vet clinic that stays open late and have him checked out.” Steve smiled as he leaned in and gave Danny a quick kiss on the lips before striding around to the front of the truck with the dog, who was apparently now named Murphy. Danny just shook his head. He was doomed. With those eyes and that smile, Steve could talk him into anything. For some reason though, he didn’t really seem to mind.
By the time Danny made it to the front of the truck, Kamekona was handing Steve a long length of twine that Steve immediately set about turning into a make-shift leash for Murphy. As Danny walked up, Kamekona passed him a bowl of water and a plate of what appeared to be plain shrimp and white rice. Danny gave the dishes to Steve who took them and walked with the dog towards one of the picnic tables, while Danny stayed to order their own food.
“Hey, Jersey, good thing I don’t have a dress code," Kamekona said with a smirk. Unbelievably, Danny had forgotten he was no longer wearing a shirt, but before he could make a snarky comeback, Chin and Kono walked up.
“Hey, what is this?” Kono asked, briefly placing a hand on Danny’s bare shoulder. “Are we having shirtless Wednesdays now? Last week it was Steve and this week it's you? I've got to tell you, so far I’m really liking this new Five-0 tradition, but I want to state for the record that when it’s my turn I’m keeping my bikini top on.”
“Hey, you want to be a part of team, you can’t go asking for special treatment just because you’re a woman," Danny told her, eliciting the intended laughs.
“Seriously, brah,” Chin said. “Where’s your shirt? Is the jerk from last week back? Did you decide to flex for him yourself this time?”
“No, Steve found a puppy hiding under Kamekona's shrimp truck. He was wet and shivering, so he needed my shirt to wrap him up in.” Danny gestured towards where Steve sat next to Murphy watching the dog lap up water from the bowl. By the looks of it, he’d already eaten all the food. Poor thing really had been starving.
“Aww, he’s so cute. Are you keeping him?”
“It certainly looks that way. I am apparently a very weak man and Steve has already named him Murphy.”
"Eddie and Murphy. Cute," Chin remarked and Danny just rolled his eyes.
Just then, Kamakona passed them their food and beers. Danny grabbed his and Steve’s plates and Kono and Chin each grabbed an extra beer. They made their way to the table and Danny sat down beside Steve, while the cousins took their seats across from them.
They were halfway through their meal when Kono gave Steve a knowing look and said, “Hey, Boss, why did you make Danny take off his shirt? Why didn’t you use your own instead? I mean your t-shirt obviously cost a lot less than his dress shirt.”
“It was a Hugo Boss. A Hugo Boss,” Danny proclaimed, once again lamenting the loss of one of his favorite shirts. "He buys his t-shirts in a three-pack at Target." He glanced behind Steve’s back and saw that Murphy was lying on the ground with the shirt bunched between his front paws happily chewing away. He groaned.
“Or,” Chin chimed in, “you could have just asked Kamekona for one of the t-shirts he has for sale.”
Danny’s eyes narrowed and he turned to look at Steve. The fact that they were standing right next to Kamekona’s truck where he had dozens of t-shirts for sale never even occurred to him when Steve was demanding he take off his shirt and give it to him. Granted, at the time Danny hadn't known why Steve was making such a demand, but Steve certainly had. The jerk, he could have used his own shirt or had Danny go get one from Kamekona. He knew exactly what he was doing when he insisted Danny take off his shirt.
Steve just smiled, “but then we wouldn’t have gotten to spend all this time watching Danny in nothing but his slacks, badge, and gun. You got to admit, it’s a pretty good look on him.” Steve grinned as he looked Danny up and down approvingly.
“True dat, brah,” Chin said, repeating the same tongue-in-cheek response he given the previous week regarding the appeal of a shirtless Steve.
“Oh, I’m not complaining,” Kono said, as she gave Danny a suggestive look.
Even though he knew they were kidding, Danny felt self-conscious all of a sudden.
“Shut up, all of you.” He turned to Steve, “And you,” he gave him a poke in the shoulder, “you Neanderthal animal, go buy me a t-shirt from Kamekona.” As Steve started to get up, Danny stopped him, “And, I expect you to replace my Hugo Boss. You can order it online from Macy’s. In fact, order two.”
“Totally worth it, Danny, totally worth it.” Steve gave him a wink and went to buy Danny an extra-large t-shirt with Kamekona’s face on it.
The End.