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Danny was beautiful.
There was no other word for it. He was other things to him.
Handsome, hot, scrappy, athletic, etc. But what came to mind the most was beautiful.
Maybe guys weren't supposed to be beautiful, he really didn't care.
Danny was a walking piece of art. Trim hips, deceptively powerful legs and the sweetest derriere he'd ever seen in his life.
He had the wickedest walk-away on the entire planet, Steve was sure. He was well travelled and he had never before or since come across anyone who could rival Danny's form. Sometimes he thinks he works so hard to run ahead of Danny out in the field not to show off his freakish ninja SEAL endurance, as Danny petulantly declares, but to avoid being distracted for even a second by the siren call of his partner's backside. Steve was as professional as they come but he'd dare anyone to try to ignore Danny's back field in motion after seeing it day in and day out. He's caught Kono checking him out more than once. She just shrugs and laughs with a "Hey, sue me" expression. Steve's not jealous. He understands the lure all too well.
If only that's all there was to stare at. Because Danny looks just as good coming as going. His broad chest and shoulders should be outlawed.
He might tease Danny mercilessly over his "professional" attire but he actually loved it, more than was probably healthy. Except for the ties. He didn't miss the ties that covered him up too much and kept his shirts buttoned to the neck. He much preferred the new looser style the man had adopted, with no tie and a couple buttons undone. Just enough to deliciously tease with the perfect amount of chest hair exposed right above that maddening third button that was pulled taut across his sculpted pecs and constantly strained to be free.
Steve thinks those buttons must be reinforced with steel. How else could they continue to hold? He knew for a fact some of the women in the building had a pool going on when and how one of those buttons would finally blow. Steve did get a little jealous on that front. Danny was his and so were the circumstances on whether or not his buttons came undone. But he could live with it as long as they kept their fantasies to themselves and didn't try to help things along with a hands on approach.
Those shirts he wore would tempt a saint. Steve's favorite was the pale blue stunner with the coral pinstripes. Not pink, coral, as Danny furiously corrected him the day he commented on it. It was all good in Steve's book, he didn't care what it was called if Danny looked that good in it. Plus, he figured if Danny was calling something coral colored it was another sign he was adapting to island life and that was a good thing.
And then there was Danny's hair, his crowning glory, not to be too cliche about it. A cloud of spun gold that would make a cherub sigh in envy.
He loved the form his partner chose to mold and tame it into daily but he loved it just as much when the odd strand would escape and gently curl towards the nape of his neck. Steve always tried to be sly about helping to smooth it back if they were still on the clock but more often than not he'd take the opportunity to free more strands to the mercy of the warm island breezes. Danny in turn would give him a quick scowl and use both hands to rearrange his hair.
Better, though, was on their own time when Danny allowed him to muss it all up to his heart's content while he smiled at Steve, exasperated but amused.
Steve was pulled out of his reverie by his partner's approach to the car parked outside of HQ, ready to go home.
"You're staring. Why are you staring?" he said to Steve. "I get loco moco on my shirt or something again?" Danny frowned and rubbed both his hands down his chest to scrub at imaginary stains.
Steve laughed at his fussiness. "No, Danny, you're fine. And I wasn't staring. Just thinking."
"Bull. You were staring. Not the thousand yard death stare, which we should all be grateful for because you know how it makes the little kids cry, but still... staring." Danny crossed his arms.
Steve shook his head. "Just thinking, Danny. C'mon, let's go home." He jingled the keys and got in the car.
Danny slid in beside him and turned to him as he buckled up. "So? You gonna tell me what you were thinking about or are you going to be coy about it all night and drive me crazy?"
"Coy? Really, Danno? You think I'm going to start fluttering a fan and batting my eyelashes or something?" Steve grinned. He loved winding Danny up.
"No, I think I'm about five seconds from hitting you upside the head. Give."
"I was thinking about you, Danno, ok? Yeesh. You're like a dog with a bone, you know that?"
"Oh." Danny was surprised. It usually took alot longer for Steve to quit teasing and let him know what he was thinking. "What about me?"
"Well, I was thinking nice things. Right now though, not so much."
"Please, you love everything about me," Danny shot back. "Go ahead, list all my many, many wonderful qualities."
Steve leaned over into his space. "That's what I was doing, D. Right up until you got all mouthy on me."
Danny closed the gap between them. "You like me mouthy. You tell me that all the time. Just last night you said you loved my mouth."
"Danno, being mouthy and loving your mouth...two totally seperate things, ok?"
Danny pulled away then and leaned back into his seat. "Fine. Don't tell me then. I can't possibly tell you how much I don't care."
Steve watched his partner as the first rays of sunset streamed thru the window of the Camaro and backlit Danny's hair, practically forming a halo. And he felt that gut deep tug again. The one that first told him Danny was the one for him, all those months ago. He melted a little, reaching out and briefly running a finger gently against Danny's cheek. "You're beautiful," he said to him. "You know that, right?"
Danny's eyes went from snapping fire to soft and gentle in a flash. "Beautiful? Me?"
Steve nodded.
Danny pretended to think about that for a second. "Well, I might have gone with something more manly like 'studly' or 'hot piece of goods' but I can live with beautiful. Beautiful is good. Beautiful is nice." He smiled.
"Yeah," said Steve, smiling back as he leaned in for a kiss. "It really is."