haolehothead | (no subject)

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- game: tabula rasa

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See, when Danny was won through an auction to help the betterment of the Compound (which, even though he's been there for just a little while, he feels good about), he'd thought that maybe he'd be doing something like cooking or house-cleaning. Roof repair isn't his strong suit, even though he can do it. So, yeah, he's a little surprised that he's up on a roof with hammer and shingles, staring down at TJ and the kid that he'd rather be babysitting.

"You uh," he says, wiping sweat from off his brow as he fans himself with his shirt. "You sure you don't wanna trade? I can baby-care and you do the roof?" he suggests with a bright smirk.

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"Me and Rachel, that's Grace's mother," Danny explains, pitching his voice into a hum of a sing-song, something that babies like, "we were great for about eight years of marriage. Gracie was five, and then, well...implosion. And Rachel's got better lawyers than I do."

TJ winced a little and slid another shingle into place, falling into a steady rhythm.

"He was married. Not to me," TJ said quickly, hoping that she could blame any embarrassed flushes on the hot weather and not her own shame. "I didn't know until after we started hooking up and by then, well. I tried to stop. I couldn't."

"Yikes," is all Danny has to say about that situation, pulling a face that is more parts wincing than anything else. "Well, I mean, the heart is a tricky place and all." Not that Danny would do the same, not that he's ever been in that situation, but he might be. "But look at this beauty," he croons, rocking Carmen and pulling faces above her. "This is a real treasure right here."

"I love her a lot," TJ said, tone going a little softer when things shifted from her bad relationship to Carmen herself. "I didn't know, at first. I wasn't ready to be a mom and it was a really bad situation, but I'm kind of glad I stuck with it. I couldn't imagine being without her now, I really couldn't."

She slid another shingle on the roof. "You can watch her more often, if you want. Or come by. You seem to really click with the kids."

"I love kids," Danny says, so honest and pure that his chest practically aches with it. "I mean, it's part of why I'm at the children's office. The other part is that I just miss Gracie so much that it hurts some days, knowing some other guy is watching my daughter, even if it some other me. Because it's not me. And yeah, Steve'll watch out for her even if something happened to me, that's not the point, it's just sucky. It sucks."

"I'm sorry," TJ said quietly, trying to imagine what that'd be like for her. It might be easier, in some ways, but she would ultimately hate missing out on any moment of Carmen's life.

"If it makes you feel any better, according to my friend Eli, there's really no difference between other you and the you that's here. I don't know how much that means, but if it helps?"

"Oh, it helps," Danny says, in the way that it helps none at all at the very same time. "But, I mean, he gets every other weekend with her, so other-Danny could be with her right now for all I know. And I just kind of have to imagine that it's great." He sighs and stares down at Carmen, brushing his fingers over her hair. "Right, kiddo? No worries about you getting loved on."

"I think she gets the hair from her dad. My parents told me I was bald until I was almost three," TJ said with a laugh. "There's a lot of pictures of me sporting a rain hat and galoshes floating around there somewhere."

"I was born with this hair," Danny boasts with a smug smirk on his face. "I mean, I am telling you, I came out of my mother with a full head of hair, looking fabulous. And anyway, you don't look half bad right now. I say, go with it."

TJ laughed a little harder. "I guess if I was born with that head of hair I would be destined for...what is it that you were before you ended up here? A singer, right?"

Teasing, but it felt nice to just joke around with someone after months and months of being serious.

"Detective," Danny says proudly, smoothing a hand over Carmen's hair in lieu of his own, seeing as he can't let go of the baby. "Detective for the Jersey police." Which isn't the entire truth. "Well, and for Hawaii PD. Them, too."

"Hawaii must be nice," TJ mused, shaking her head a little as she remembered something. "My dad used to ask if I would get stationed out there. The base out there is mostly for guys looking for a cruise into early retirement...not for someone like me. I would never be that lucky."

"Well, I know someone on that base. Or, at least, he's in reserves and trust me," Danny says, attentive of the baby as he sways back and forth, "he's definitely not looking for an easy ride. So there's exceptions, if you ever wanted to consider it. If we ever get outta here."

"I don't know if I would want to go from one island to another," TJ admitted. "I think I want somewhere a little less tropical, at least for a little while. What about you? Right back to Hawaii or back to Jersey, if we ended up going home tomorrow?"

God, Danny wishes that he could get back to Jersey. "Well, my daughter and my partner are are back in Oahu," he admits. "So's the team. So, you know, I gotta get back there if we go home. They could come to me, because hell, one island's as good as another, but I don't see that happening."

"Maybe they will. There's probably a half a dozen people here from my world," TJ said, giving Danny a little smile. "We just had another one show up, actually, about a week or so ago. Maybe your team will show up too. Or your daughter?"

"See, I'd like that," Danny says, soft as anything. "I'd really like that. It'd be one of the few times that the universe actually wasn't seeming to try to make things worse. If Grace ever does turn up, you'll be the first to know. And if the team does, some poor kicked person will know first."

"Maybe we could trade babysitting," TJ said, hoping for his sake she did show up. "I couldn't imagine how hard it must be. I hope at least you can find something here to occupy your time and not think about it? That's what I'd have to do, work."

"I'd love to babysit," he says, honest and earnest, like he desperately wants to do this. "Seriously. You need anyone to watch over your little angel, I am your man. I am all over that."

"I think she probably needs some good male influences," TJ agreed. "Not that I have any shortage of friends, or anything, but I really...since she doesn't have a dad, I really want her to have those kinds of figures in her life. It won't be traditional, but I think it's probably necessary."

"I am an excellent male influence. I'd tell you to ask my daughter for a reference, but she's both not here and possibly slightly biased," he goes on with a bright grin. "Hey, come on, come down from there. Let's trade again. I feel bad stealing your kid from you all this time."

TJ climbed down and held out the hammer, grinning a little. It felt...nice, just hanging out with someone who didn't know her past. With Eli, there was always the shadow of the Destiny hanging over them but with Baze and Danny, it was just two people hanging out, talking about the state of things.

TJ had missed that, more than she knew, and it felt nice to be free of the Air Force and of responsibility. She didn't know what kind of person that made her, to feel relieved, when she knew that General O'Neill probably wanted to get back more than anything.

"She likes you, though," TJ mused, watching Carmen as Danny held her. "She hasn't fussed any at all. I think that's a ringing endorsement."

"Yeah," Danny says, utterly content as he stares down at her, passing her off when he figures he's taken up enough of her time. "I'm good with kids, though. I mean, I think it's because they sense I'm a softie inside. Not sentimental," he makes sure to clarify. "Just a softie for kids."

"They trust you," TJ mused, looking from Danny to Carmen and back again. "I think they can tell when someone isn't comfortable and it makes them uncomfortable, you know? But when someone feels safe, well. I think they just settle right in."

"She can settle on me anytime she likes," Danny assures, climbing up the ladder to get back on the roof. "Hell, I mean, sure, it says that I'm a total baby-guy, but there are worse things in the world to be."

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