[AU]

[haolehothead]

Danny's one downfall to staying in Steve's guest room is presenting itself at an alarming rate, at this point. And that's this: come his weekends with Grace? Now he's got a SEAL near him, being unpredictable and generally bad with kids. That and he's got beach access, so now Grace just wants to swim.

Danny has let her play on the beach, suntanned and hatted up, and once he's through, he heads up to the kitchen to grab a beer and give Steve a Talk about his expectations. "Okay, one," he says sharply, holding up a finger. "No guns around my daughter. No knives. No weapons in any fashion."

Comments

[haolehothead]

"What, rules for dating me? I told you, Rachel has them in stone. They vary from person to person, but they're there." He grabs a pair of boxers so he has something resembling decency. "Rule seven. I don't do rimming."

[newkindofcop]

Steve sits up, frowning visibly, and moves to sit at the edge of the bed, watching Danny's back.

"Rim - what? I don't know what that is."

[haolehothead]

Danny's eyes practically bug out for a minute and then he's laughing, a bit smugly, and he just shakes his head. "You don't know what rimming is," Danny echoes. "Okay. Okay, Steve, that's good to know."

He leaves the room and lets the door stay open while he heads for the guest-bathroom's shower. "And strip the sheets!" he shouts back at Steve. "I am not sleeping in my own filth!"

[newkindofcop]

He hides a grin, ducking his head, and gets to work on changing the sheets, tossing the dirty ones in the laundry hamper to wash later.

By the time Danny gets out of the shower, Steve's changed into a pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt for sleeping in and is in the middle of adjusting the guest bed comforter.

[haolehothead]

Danny is dripping wet and is kind of only wearing a small towel because he's not putting dirty clothes back on and all his clean stuff is in the room with Steve. Not entirely ashamed in front of Steve, Danny lets the towel fall into a pile on the floor as he turns to start rooting through his drawers. "Rule eight," he continues. "I am not wearing your clothes, namely your letterman's jacket. There are boundaries."

[newkindofcop]

At this point, he's pretty much given up on actually being able to comprehend Danny's whole thought process - especially when it comes to these so-called rules, and so Steve just sits down on the bed again, holding a pillow in his lap and watching with a vaguely amused expression on his face.

"Of course," he replies, nodding slowly.

[haolehothead]

Danny pries on a pair of sweats and pushes both hands through his slicked hair, grabbing a t-shirt and pulling it on before turning back to Steve, towelling his hair dry as he can get it. "Rule number nine," he cites, straining to remember if this is the one about his parents or if that's eleven. What the hell, it's nine now, "You never pick up the phone if it's my mother. She will bleed you dry with questions because I'm lonely," he spits out, "and I need monitoring."

[newkindofcop]

He subtly sets the pillow aside, pushing himself off the bed to his feet, reaching out to pluck the towel away as Danny finishes drying his hair with it.

"I wouldn't necessarily say that either of those things are true about you right now," he points out, leaning in, breathing in the scent of soap and shampoo.

[haolehothead]

"Oh, Jesus, I just showered," Danny protests mildly, but what the hell else is he supposed to do when Steve is lumbering over him so close? So he leans in and grabs hold of his hair and hauls him close. He smells messy and like sex and it makes Danny want to push him to the bed and bring him off, all over again.

[newkindofcop]

"I'm not saying a second round is in the cards," Steve murmurs, settling his hands on Danny's shoulders and kneading with his thumbs. "I'm saying you need to relax, get some rest."

[haolehothead]

Danny lets out a sinful moan at the fingers on his shoulders. His whole body practically kicks into relaxation and he shuts his eyes, letting his spine go into a state of bliss. "Yeah, I'm keeping you," Danny announces, words muffled by the fresh linens.