AU PLOT

[haolehothead]

Danny is not accustomed to: Hawaii heat, spam on restaurant menus, pidgin English, and waking up with too much hair, less height, and distinctly different body parts. He's too goddamn tired to put much thought to it beyond 'really wacked-out dream' and so he grunts and shifts in order to clamber on top of Steve a little more, working half his torso -- what the fuck, how is he so short, how is there so little of him? -- on top of Steve and wrapping his arms around him to get more comfortable.

"Steve," Danny mutters, voice low but clearly a bit different. "If you freak when you wake up, I'm kneeing you in the balls." And after a year of waking up next to Steve, Danny's got a pretty good read on how to do it half-asleep.

Comments

[haolehothead]

Danny notices when the bag stops swaying. He doesn't know how long it's been, just that he's sweating and it's pouring down in rivulets from hair through his whole body. He's barefoot and he's short and Kono's shorts and shirt are just a little too tight and Danny wants his clothes back. He wants his body back.

He lets out a growl of frustration and clubs at the bag, wrapping both hands around it and pressing his forehead to the fabric, breathing out raggedly and wanting something that can hit back.

[newkindofcop]

Steve stays quiet for a few more moments as Danny's arms encircle the bag, grazing his fingertips, and he frowns in thought, looking down at the floor mats.

He only moves to reach for a pair of hand pads, strapping them onto his fingers, and holds his hands up, palms out towards Danny, offering him a more realistic target on which to vent.

[haolehothead]

Danny pries himself tiredly away from the bag. He brushes at his cheek with the back of a hand, sweat and just the slightest of tears there from the hopeless feeling he gets down in his very stomach. He retapes his hands and still doesn't go for the gloves, just stepping forward as aggressively as possible, wailing on the pads with each fist, like he's back in training and he has to do this to make up for his height.

[newkindofcop]

"Sure you don't need the gloves?" Steve quietly suggests. It's not that he thinks Danny's fragile, but the bones in his hand are smaller than the ones he's normally used to, and given the way he's going all out on the pads, Steve's starting to get concerned about potential stress fractures.

[haolehothead]

Danny abandons the hits for a minute, palms flat and out, and he shoves at the pads instead, shoves and shoves until he's got Steve back up against the wall and his chest feels so hot and tight that he wonders if this is what a heart attack feels like. He swings for the face, trusting that Steve's gonna block it.

[newkindofcop]

Steve does, especially when Danny pulls back and leads with his shoulder, clueing him in that the hit's coming higher to begin with, his forearm blocking the hand when his back hits the wall, brow knit with confusion as Danny pushes his way into his space. The sound of the velcro is almost deafening in the empty gym when he rips the pads off his hands, pressing his own way forward, looking down at Danny, almost silently challenging.

[haolehothead]

Danny can feel that white hot burning by his eyes now, a sign that it's not a heart attack and that he's just upset -- so upset. His breaths are ragged and he tears desperately at the tape on his hands, ripping it off before clasping Steve's cheeks with both hands and kissing him desperately, jumping up into his arms and trusting, this time, that Steve'll catch him.

[newkindofcop]

He's almost about to open his mouth to ask Danny exactly what the hell is going on when he finds it occupied, instead. Danny's lips are hot, salty from a combination of sweat and tears, and Steve's arms slide around him, hoisting him up to eye level and turning, nudging him back up against the wall to use it for leverage as he kisses back - not aggressively, not overtly rough, but slow, almost longingly.

[haolehothead]

It's a different kind of sparring, but one that uses up every inch of Danny to keep alert and attentive. He wraps his arms tightly around Steve's neck and just loses himself in this for a second. He kisses Steve back the way they do not all the time, but when it means something. It's the way Danny kisses Steve when he wants to, without words, show how much he loves him.

Danny presses his tongue to his lower lip when he eases away, looking at Steve through half-lidded eyes. "I'm sorry I'm a hotheaded jackass," he says quietly.

[newkindofcop]

Steve rests his forehead against Danny's, hitching him up a little when he feels him start to slip, sliding a knee up underneath to keep him steady against the wall, and shakes his head.

"No. You have every right to be pissed off about this. God knows I would be."

[haolehothead]

Danny clambers to help, tightening his legs' grasp around Steve's body and holding on tight. "I just want things back to normal. I wanna wake up with you in bed and the puppy outside the door and I wanna be short, but not crazy short, and as much as I enjoy driving you crazy like this, I wanna. I wanna just..." he trails off and sighs, sliding his legs down until his bare feet touch the ground. "Let's go home. I'm gonna go soak in the ocean and pray maybe there's some kind of sea-god who can help me out."

[newkindofcop]

He finally nods, letting Danny slide his way down, leaning in to brush lips against his forehead and tasting the salt of sweat again. "You do whatever you need to, okay?" he murmurs, warm breath ghosting over his skin while he talks. "Whatever helps. Just as long as it's nothing I'd need to book you for."

[haolehothead]

Danny takes a step back and twines his fingers in with Steve's to pull him along. "I think I remember distinctly something about me making you crazy. I was gonna suggest you screw me up against the wall..."

[newkindofcop]

"Really," Steve says, squeezing Danny's hand in his, using his grip to spin his partner back into him, swaying with him slightly while his free hand starts to wander. "Well, if it would help."

[haolehothead]

Danny can't help the laugh that escapes him when Steve tugs him back. He pushes right back against Steve and shakes his head. "Oh, no, no, no, no babe. I'm in Kono's clothes. Do you know how many times she's gonna kill me if we mess 'em up with sex?"

[newkindofcop]

"You just got them all sweaty anyway, Danny," Steve points out. "Either way, they're getting washed. But you're right. She'd be pissed if we returned them to her ripped in half."

[haolehothead]

Danny's eyes widen at Steve and oh god, certain parts of his body are very interested in that visual image. "What are you planning on doing with my clothes!" And if Danny's actual voice is high-pitched, his voice now borders on inaudible.

[newkindofcop]

"Well, I can't do anything to them anyway, so what would be the point in telling you?" Steve answers matter-of-factly, shrugging once, and reaches for a sweat rag to toss it in Danny's direction. "I'll wait for you if you need to hit the showers before we go."

[haolehothead]

Danny catches the sweaty rag and just gestures with his chin. "You have the truck, you go. I'm just gonna change back into the work clothes and come back in the Camaro, okay?" he says, flicking the rag into the laundry bin and collecting a brief kiss from Steve before heading back for the changeroom.

[newkindofcop]

"See you at home," Steve says, returning the kiss when it's planted on him and reaching for his own set of keys in the bottom of his pocket, spinning the keychain around his index finger as he heads out to the truck. He makes a quick call to Chin on the way, just to check in, but the answer is the same as it was earlier, and Steve tries not to feel too defeated.

He makes it back first, grabs two beers from the fridge, changes into his swim trunks and heads out to the back, taking a seat in one of the beach chairs and sipping from a bottle.

[haolehothead]

Danny changes back into the work outfit. Stockings, skirt, shirt, hair let loose. He drives straight to Steve's and on a whim goes out to the backyard, heels dropped by the door. He greets Zulu for just a moment before carrying a bathing suit in hand and heading out to where he can see Steve.

Danny stands above Steve, smiling and just nudging his feet with one of his own. "Hey sailor, looking fine," he says with approval.

[newkindofcop]

"Hey, baby," Steve murmurs, reaching out with his free hand, fingers curling in along Danny's hip, tugging him in and down into his lap to say hello properly in the form of a brief but meaningful kiss.

He breaks away and nods to the suit. "Going swimming?"

[haolehothead]

Danny keeps himself fully out of Steve's lap by pressing one hand on the chair behind his head and the other on Steve's shoulder and he indulges in the long kiss, grinning against Steve's lips. "Our neighbors are gonna think you hitched up with my sister or something," he says, holding up the suit to study it. "And yeah. I didn't shower, so I figured maybe a quick dip before dinner."

[newkindofcop]

"Go ahead," he says, leaning back in the chair and taking a quick pull from the beer, feet burrowing a few inches deeper into the sand. "Water's not too cold, anyway. And for both our sakes, let's just pray the neighbors aren't that observant."

[haolehothead]

Danny just shakes his head at the idea of the neighbors noticing any of this, popping open the buttons on the shirt and stripping it off with a roll back of his shoulders, draping it atop Steve's head and unzipping the skirt to do the same. It leaves Danny in the stockings hooked to the underwear and the bra -- care of Rachel's advice, they match. "Thank you, for letting me go postal on you earlier," he offers. "I admit, I'm a little disappointed I jumped you before we got to wrestling around on the floor, but needs must."