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Steve finds it one day in the office. It’s a Saturday, so there’s no one else around and his pen suddenly runs out. Not being one to keep spares in his desk or be bothered to go all the way to the supplies cupboard to get a new box, he goes to Danny’s office instead. Mainly because it annoys him and he’s not big on privacy.
He’s rooting around in the desk when his fingers brush against something soft and leathery. At first he thinks it may be his wallet, but he knows Danny wouldn’t forget it over the weekend, like he often does.
He knows he shouldn’t, but it’s not like he’s ever been able to resist curiosity so he pulls it out. It’s a notebook, old and worn, some of the pages wavy from water damage. It’s tied together by string in a neat bow. Very Danny.
Now that he’s worked out what it is, he should just put it back and go on with finding some pens, but as the boss, he has to make sure that everyone under his command isn’t hiding something that could impact the team. Yeah, that’s a good excuse. He’ll go with that.
And despite how much he talks, Danny can remarkably closed off about himself. He knows the basics, about Grace, his hate for pineapple on pizza, the divorce and that he’s from New Jersey, but apart from that…not a lot. He uses all his bluster to cover himself up, smart tactic.
He pulls on the string carefully, placing it on the desk with care. His heart’s pounding in his chest as he opens it, revealing the first page.
Huh, that wasn’t what he expected. He thought it might be full of curses on him, maybe some voodoo stuff, or even a diary of some sort. Instead, it’s a sketchbook, full of drawings, some unfinished and little doodles.
And they’re good as well, all in pencil, some of objects like a beer bottle or fruit (no pineapples sadly), some landscapes like the one from the lookout point that Danny likes, but many are portraits of people. There are a lot of Grace and even some a Rachel, (which means that Danny’s had this since before the divorce).
Then he turns the page to see one of him, it’s beautifully done, he’s smiling, a small cut above his eyebrow, which means it was after one of their busts. He feels honoured for Danny to hold him in high enough esteem to sketch him.
After that, he decides that he’s been prying enough for one day and carefully ties the book back up with shaking fingers and places it back when he found it. A quick search of the rest of the desk turns up a box of pens which he takes back to his office, running like someone’s gonna come in and catch him snooping.
He tries, to no avail, to put the drawings out of his mind. But the thing is, they were amazing. And he wonders how he’s never seen it before now. He’s been in Danny’s apartment numerous times and never noticed any art supplies, which means that he probably doesn’t have any. Number Two pencils only go so far. And that’s just sad that a talent like that isn’t being explored to it’s full potential.
He has an idea.
———————
Christmas in Hawaii is very different from Christmas on the mainland. The normal Christmas dinner is a barbecue on the beach, along with surfing and shave ice. So it’s understandable that Danny’s ranting has ratcheted up a notch in the run up.
“- And who the fuck has desecrated the tree with a bloody pineapple!?” Is how Danny greets them all on Christmas eve, he’s carrying a tray of coffees in one hand and juggling a pile of wrapped gifts in the other.
He, Chin and Kono all share a look as Danny continues on his rant, while handing around coffee and gifts. He finally pauses for breath when he’s on the other side of the tech table, holding his own drink.
“You done?” He asks with a raised eyebrow.
Danny looks over at him and smirks, “For now,” he mutters, "Anyway, Merry Christmas and open your presents” he adds in a lighter tone with a wave of his hands
He tears open the wrapping on his and laughs, because this is just so Danny, a grenade mug and a pack of bandaids.He places the gifts down to walk around the table and hug his partner, ignoring the complaints that it’ll mess up his hair, he knows Danny keeps a whole range of hair products in his locker. He’d broken in once on a bet between him and Kono. He’d won.
She gets a bag of Kona and a pretty flower hair grip, obviously made by Grace. Chin gets a potted aloe vera plant, which he seems to love. But then again, Chin’s like that.
They don’t really have time for anything else festive that day when some daughter of an official goes missing and it’s a desperate race across the island to find her. It ends in one very grounded teenage girl and her boyfriend being banned from coming near her ever again. Although privately he figures that they’ll disobey their parents anyway. Teens are like that.
Danny doesn’t even bother trying to go back to his apartment at the end of the day, kicking his feet up on the couch and asking for a beer, switching the TV on to some random sports game like he lives there.
Steve brings out some snacks, because he’s such a nice guy and he has a feeling he might need to bribe Danny into not killing him when he sees the gift he’s gotten him.
“Steven, you are amazing and I want to marry you” Danny says, voice muffled around a mouthful of chips.
“I know, I’m just that great, you’ll love me even more when you see your present” He smirks.
Danny sits up, “Is is a ticket back to Jersey?” He asks hopefully.
He nails him with a look and Danny shrugs, “I miss pizza” He says sadly.
“But you like malasadas” He argues.
“Good point, now you said something about a present, I’m excited and slightly scared”
“It’s not a weapon, I promise”
He gets up and pulls it out from under the tree, (That does have pineapple decoration, thank you very much) and thrusts it in Danny’s face. The man looks up at him and takes it carefully, examining it for any signs of it being booby-trapped.
“Oh for god’s sake!” He cries, “Just open it, and I am insulted by your lack of trust” He adds.
Danny waves his arm at him, “Patience Steven” He mutters whilst carefully pulling off the tape on it.
He knows the moment that Danny works it all out, and he’s braced for being ranted to death.
“Okay, so before I throttle you for snooping around my desk, I would like to say thank you.”
Well it could be worse, Danny could be yelling or trying to kill him. Well, there's still time.
“I didn’t mean to, I swear, I just needed a pen and came across it by accident. I probably shouldn’t of looked inside, but you know me- I’m not good with the whole privacy thing” He explains.
Danny’s looking down at the sketchbook and pencils, “I wanted to go to art school originally” He says quietly, almost to himself, ignoring his excuse.
He waits, giving Danny time to talk.
“My Dad, he said that I’d never get a job, so I followed him into the force, became a cop instead. Rachel was the only other person I’ve told until now, she still has the portrait I did of her in the house.”
His curiosity finally gets the better of him, “That picture of Grace, the one in the bedroom, you did that too, didn’t you?” He asks, remembering admiring it when they did surveillance of the house next door.
Danny nods and smiles up at him, “Yeah, she always loved it when I drew her”
“You know, I was in there too.” He adds lightly, meaning the notebook.
Danny laughs, “Babe, I spend so much time with you, that I may as well spend all of the time you spend driving my car to get some inspiration”
“I don’t always drive!” He argues, throwing a peanut at him.
Then it descends into an all out food fight, where by some miracle, the art supplies are not ruined. Although somehow, he ends up on the floor, leaning over Danny, trying to get to the salsa. Since he plays dirty, Danny distracts him by kissing him smack bang on the lips. Damn, he’s been waiting for that for a long time
He has no choice but to return the kiss, wrapping one arm around Danny’s neck to support it. He’s so lost in those soft lips and the little breathy sounds coming from his partner, that he doesn’t notice Danny getting ahold of the salsa and dumping the entire thing over his head.
It’s not really a bad thing because it gives them an excellent excuse for a mutual shower, one where he gets to see Danny attempting to wash his hair, failing, then grumbling about ‘damn tall SEALs’. But he’s pretty good with distractions and soon has his arms full of a very happy Danno.
They fall asleep wrapped up in each other, and it’s perfect, the way they just fit, even if Danny’s feet are fucking freezing. They can clean up downstairs tomorrow.
When he wakes up he can already tell that Danny’s already been awake a while. He’s pulled on a pair of Steve’s sweatpants, (rolled up at the bottoms which is just too cute). He’s got his new sketchbook out and is sitting on top of the covers, brow furrowed and lip between his teeth as his pencil scratches on the paper.
“Were you watching me sleep?” He asks, laughing lightly as Danny merely waves him off and continues to sketch, deep in concentration.
Well he’s more than happy to lay around and be Danny’s model. He’s naked, although the covers are keeping him decent for now. He wonders what exactly Danny is sketching.
“Draw me like one of your French girls” He says seductively, hoping Danny’ll get the reference.
By the short laugh and smirk that appears on his face, he does, although he still doesn’t look up. Or say anything for that matter.
It’s nearly an hour later, and by now he’d have been for his swim and had breakfast. Since it’s a Saturday he’d be doing yard work, but right now, there’s no where he’d rather be than here. Stock still, letting the sun warm his skin as Danny sits silently next to him, only glancing up briefly. It may be the most intimate thing he’s ever done, the way that they seem to connect through the paper, their breaths matching. How time seems to have stood still, the moment held forever.
By the time Danny appears to have finished, his fingers are a mess, most the bed covers under him as well in fact. But he doesn’t notice any of that above the look of pure pride on Danny’s face as he holds up the sketchbook to show him what he’s done.
God, those sketches in that little notebook haven’t got anything on this. It’s stunning, so much depth for something only in greyscale. It makes him want to book a flight to New Jersey to punch his dad for not letting pursue the amazing talent Danny obviously has. Then again, if Danny hadn’t become a cop then they have never met. Maybe he’d thank him instead?
He realises that Danny’s starting to look a little uncertain at his continued silence, smile starting to drop. He’s quick to shake himself out of his thoughts.
“Danny, Jesus, it’s- I don’t think there’s actually a word for how amazing this is. I love it, thank you”
Danny’s smile ramps up to about ten times more and he places the pad carefully on the nightstand, along with his pencils before throwing himself into Steve’s arms, muttering thanks into his neck.
He ignore the wetness he feels there, he already knows how much this means to his partner and he feels honoured to be part of this secret.
Danny pulls way and wipes at his eyes, kneeling next to him.
“Come on, we should go clean up the mess, otherwise we’re going to get rats” Danny remarks and the moment’s over. Not that he minds, he has a feeling he’ll be modelling for Danny a lot in the near future.
Best present ever.