Five-O First Dates
Title: 5-0 First Dates
Paring: Steve/Danny
Rating: R
Warnings: AU
Summary: bfive0 this is all your fault!
Danny stumbled down off the ladder struggling under the weight of the 100 pound box of deer eyes he was pretty certain Maleko bought in 1988. Seriously, how many deer eyes could you possibly sell per year in Hawaii?
He shifted the box until he had a better hold on it and tromped out of the stockroom. He had just made his way onto the sales floor when he collided with a brick-wall masquerading as a human. He bounced backward off said brick-wall, the box of deer eyes went flying, but found a nice spot under his feet causing the ground to roll out from under him so that he fell flat on his back on top of a few more of the same deer eyes.
He groaned and swore loudly. A second voice joined him and he felt someone leaning over him.
“Hey, man, are you okay?”
“Ugh, no!” he yelled gritting his teeth against the pain in his back, “Damn it, why don't you watch where you're going you big oaf!?”
When he opened his eyes he found a dark haired man looking down at him.
“Did you just say 'oaf'?” he asked.
“You got a problem with that?” he demanded staring up at the guy.
“Yeah. Who uses the word 'oaf'?”
Danny moved his gaze from the guy's face to the ceiling in a 'why God?' gesture, which was more difficult to do when laying on the ground, before planting his hands and pushing himself into a sitting position.
“Well, maybe you'll like the next person whose neck you nearly break's vocabulary better.”
He grabbed Danny's shoulders as he sat up.
“Careful! You're joking but you could really have a spinal injury,” he explained as he moved his hands up to Danny's neck. He gently felt around for a few seconds before the awkwardness of the moment set in.
Danny cleared his throat, the guy's hands still a large, warm presence around it, “I'm fine.”
With that he brushed the guy away and stood up.
He took a deep breath and plastered an overly solicitous expression on his face, “Welcome to Big Maleko's Sport and Surplus. How may I help you today, Sir?”
“Well, I really just came in for some gun oil-” he started.
“Any particular brand?” Danny asked. The guy told him a very detailed brand and product name of top of the line oil.
Danny sighed, “We actually sold out of that over the weekend. There was a big show in town. We ordered more but it hasn't arrived yet. If you want to leave a number or email address I could let you know when we get more in.”
“No,” he shook his head, “I won't be around. I'm only on the island for my dad's birthday.”
“Oh yeah?” Danny asked, “Your dad into hunting or target shooting?”
“No,” the guy answered
“He own any kind of firearms?”
The guy looked at him, “Yeah.”
“Not a sport shooter, though,” Danny observed, “So either he's a collector or he uses them for work. What's he do?”
The tall man raised a bemused eyebrow, “He's with HPD.”
“Cop?” Danny asked, perking up. He stepped behind the counter, dodging deer eyes along the way.
“I got just the thing for him,” he pulled a box out of the case, “Brigade shoulder holster. Fits most service weapons. It's made out of real saddle leather. A lot softer and more comfortable than the mass produced brands most cop shops give their people.”
Normally Danny would feel slightly sleazy about such a blatant pitch, but running into this guy nearly killed him, he at least deserved to get a decent sale out of it.
The guy picked up the holster and looked it over.
“And this is really going to feel a lot different than the one he has now?” he asked doubtfully.
“You ever wear a weapon all day?” Danny asked.
The guy's lip twitched almost imperceptibly in amusement, “Occasionally.”
“Use more than one holster?”
“At times.”
“Did how they fit make a difference?”
The guy thought it over for all of a second before setting the holster back in the box, “How much?”
Danny went over to the register and scanned the barcode, “It's on sale special price. $177.89 including tax.”
The guy dug out his wallet and opened it before saying, “I don't have my credit card with me.”
Danny held down an audible sigh and he stared out the window. He knew it was too good to be true.
“Oh wait,” the guy went on, “I have cash.”
He produced two hundred dollar bills. Danny checked the watermark discreetly as he typed in the sale, and slid the holster into a bag.
“Thank you very much,” he said as he gave the guy his change, “Hope your dad enjoys it.”
“Thanks,” he picked up the bag and walked to the exit. With the door half open he turned around and quirked a smile.
“Sorry about your box of eyes,” he said letting the door drift closed behind him.
“You were really sorry you'd have stayed to help me clean them up, asshole,” Danny grumbled as he made his way back to the storeroom to find a broom.
00000000000
Danny was going through inventory reports when the guy walked in the next day.
“Hey!” Danny greeted
“Hey,” he nodded back absently.
“Here to finish me off?”
The guy snapped his head to Danny's face, “What?”
“I'm still cleaning up those damned eyes because of you,” he said, “How'd your dad like the holster?”
“I think you got me mistaken for someone else, buddy,” the guy said.
“The holster that you bought here yesterday for your dad's birthday?” Danny prodded.
“That wasn't me.”
“I'm pretty sure it was.”
“Well you're wrong,” the guy said firmly, “I wasn't even on the island yesterday. Look, I just need some gun oil.”
Danny raised an eyebrow at him before shaking his head and gesturing to the far wall, “Just got a new shipment in this morning.”
The guy stalked off intently and returned a few seconds latter setting a bottle of the exact product he'd asked for the previous day down in front of Danny. He stared at it, and at the strange man standing in front of him before picking up the bottle and scanning it into the register.
As he did so he felt the guy watching him, “Someone bought a holster for their father's birthday, yesterday?”
“Yeah,” Danny answered slowly.
“Why a holster?”
“Okay are you fucking with me or something?”
“No,” the guy chuckled, “I mean it. Why a holster? I mean what makes a holster so special?”
Danny stared incredulously at the guy, expecting him to burst into laughter at his little joke any moment but he showed no signs of doing so. Finally, Danny sighed and dug the same Brigade out from under the counter.
“Made of real leather, fits most semi-automatic hand guns, softer than the holsters the police use.”
The guy examined the holster before asking Danny, “This guy's father was a cop?”
“That's what he said,” Danny answered still searching for an explanation for the guy's weird behavior.
“Really?” he asked interestedly, “What was his name? I probably know the family.”
Danny did his best to shoot the guy a 'seriously?!' look before finally giving up and answering, “He didn't say.”
“Oh,” the guy answered turning his attention back to the holster, “It does seem nice.”
'No way,' Danny thought to himself a second before the guy asked “How much?”
“$177.89 with tax.”
The guy smirked, “You must sell a lot of these.”
It was Danny's turn to smirk, “I seem to be lately.”
The guy took out his wallet, opened it, and looked up with a sheepish expression that was a polar opposite of the cocky smirk he'd been sporting as Danny showed him the holster, “Um, I don't seem to have my credit cards with me.”
“Got any cash?” Danny prompted.
“Well probably not that much...oh,” the guy said as he pulled out two hundreds, “Yeah, I guess I do.”
This time Danny didn't even bother to hide it as he thoroughly checked the watermark, but every thing seemed legitimate. He rang up the purchase and handed it to the guy along with this change.
“Thank you,” Danny said habitually, “Come back soon.”
The guy looked up from where he was putting his change in his wallet and gave Danny a wide smile, “Thanks. Maybe I will.”
00000000000
On the third day the guy came in about mid-morning while Danny was on his second cup of coffee.
This time he waited for the guy to acknowledge him, but instead he simply began browsing around.
“Morning,” Danny finally called.
“Morning,” he answered back.
“So what'll it be today?” Danny asked.
“Just came in to have a look around,” he answered distractedly just like any other customer. Danny stared after him for a moment, getting rather tired of this particular deja vu, before simply turning his attention back to his coffee.
He watched the guy wander around the store as if he were searching for something, but didn't quite know what.
“Anything in particular you're looking for?” Danny asked stepping around the counter.
He shook his head, “No, not really.”
Danny took the opportunity to try to find out more about this strange repeat customer, “So you from around here?”
He looked at Danny cautiously before answering, “Originally.”
“What brings you back now?” he asked.
“In town for my dad's birthday.”
Danny nearly choked on his sip of coffee.
“Actually um...I suppose maybe I should get him something?” he said uncertainly.
Danny stood open mouthed for a moment before answering, “That is generally the tradition, yeah.”
“Right,” he nodded looking completely lost, “You...have any suggestions?”
Danny thought of the Brigade, but abruptly shook away the idea.
“We'll if you don't know what he'd like you can never go wrong with gift cards,” he lead the man to the display counter and pointed out the small rack, “We've got several that pretty much anyone could use... Amazon, Starbucks, that kind of thing.”
The man examined the rack for a moment before picking out $50 Amazon card. Danny scanned it and the guy handed him a single hundred this time. This time he didn't bother to check the mark before typing it in.
The guy took his change and said, “Thanks.”
“You're welcome,” Danny answered.
He lingered for a second as if waiting for something, but finally picked up his gift card and left.
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The next day when he came in Danny didn't say anything. He simply watched while pretending to have his attention on the order forms he'd been filling out when the guy walked in.
He observed the man as he wandered around the store looking at seemingly every piece of merchandise in it. He did so for a good hour, not so much as sparing Danny a glance, before he finally sighed agitatedly and walked out the door.
00000000000
Danny ended up ignoring him the next day as well, but entirely by accident. He came in around 5 in the evening when apparently everyone and their brother decided they needed to stock up on fishing supplies, camping supplies, or bullets.
He caught a glimpse of the guy's tall form wandering around the store a few times, but was too busy on the register to spare him much attention.
By the time he got that particular herd of customers all rung up and out the door, the found that, at some point the guy had also left and he wondered why he felt bothered by the fact.
00000000000
When the guy came in the next day Danny greeted him immediately, even though he knew there was no reason he should be feeling guilty.
“Howzit,” he answered back easily as he looked around the store.
“Anything I can help you find?”
He shrugged, “Don't know really.”
“Well we just got in these new car holder insulated cups,” Danny said, “Makes a good gift if you have any special occasions coming up.”
The guy instantly gave him a piercing look, but Danny managed to keep his face neutral.
Finally, he looked at the display of cups. He examined them sharply before his face softened into a smile as he caught sight of one with a pineapple on it.
He payed for the cup with a twenty, but as he opened his wallet Danny was almost certain he could see a couple of hundreds inside.
00000000000
“So how've you been today?” Danny asked as he rang up a Rainbows beer cozy and a packet of grass-fed beef jerky.
“Pretty good,” he answered pleasantly, “You?”
“Can't complain much. Got anything going on later?”
“My dad's birthday.”
Danny paused but finally just said, “Congratulations.”
He gave a leery smile, “Thanks. Catching the swell at the North Shore first.”
“Surfer, huh?” Danny asked.
“This is Hawaii. Who isn't?”
Danny snorted, “Yeah, that's true, unfortunately.”
“You don't like surfing?”
“Balancing on a piece of driftwood isn't my idea of fun.”
He guy chuckled as he opened the jerky and munched a piece of it, “So what is your idea of fun?”
“Things normal people do,” he answered.
“Normal people surf.”
“Not where I come from.”
“Where's that?”
“Jersey.”
He coughed around his bite of jerky, “New Jersey, seriously?”
“You got an issue with that?” Danny asked, prepared for whatever crack the guy was, no doubt, about to make.
“No just-”
He never heard what joke he was going to go for because a chatty old-timer came in the door at that moment and commandeered Danny's attention. By the time he sent the old dude happily on his way the mysterious dark haired guy was gone.
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Danny wasn't sure when he got into the habit of setting aside things he thought the guy might like for when he came in.
Generally small stuff, new flavors of jerky or dried fruit. Always the organic, no sugar added, grass-fed, hippy stuff.
Small surf accessories. For some reason he had the feeling going outside the guy's $200 budget wasn't a good idea.
A few bottles of his brand of gun oil. Which the guy always bought even though he couldn't possibly have used up what he'd purchased just days before.
Even gifts the, Danny was fairly certain, fictional cop father might like. Which the guy also always ended up buying.
Finally one day at the end of such a purchase he offered, “I'm Danny by the way.”
“Danny,” the guy repeated.
“Yeah,” he answered.
The guy smiled, “Good met you, Danny.”
He didn't offer his name in return simply strolled out of the store looking entirely content with the world.
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Danny tired a different tactic the next day.
“Okay, $12.36 is your change Mr. um...I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name.”
“I never said it,” the guy answered.
“Mine's Danny.”
“Danny?” the guy repeated back before saying just as sincerely as the day before, “Nice to meet you.”
“And you are....” Danny prompted, wondering, not for the first time, at how this guy survived with the social skills (or rather lack of) that he had.
He curled up one side of his mouth, “If I told you that I'd have to kill you.”
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“That's pretty fucking lame, you know,” Danny said the next day when the guy gave him the exact same answer.
The guy paused and looked and him.
“I mean really? Whoever told you that you were funny lied, my friend.”
“Do you always insult your customers?” the guy asked.
“I do when they use lines that went out with powder blue suits and feathered hair,” he shot back.
The guy stared at him for a minute before his lips moved into a smile, “Yeah, I can believe that.”
He still left without offering up his name.
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The next day the guy came in the late afternoon as Danny was restocking the shelf of fishing lures at the front of the store.
“Hello,” he said as he leaned down to grab another handful of red sparky lures that looked and felt like gummi squid.
“Hey,” he answered, casually as always.
“See anything you like today?” he asked as he hung the gummi squid up.
He could feel that the guy was still standing behind him, but he didn't answer.
Danny glanced over his shoulder. The guy's expression was startled so briefly Danny couldn't be sure he actually saw anything.
“I haven't had a chance to look yet,” he answered.
Danny straightened up and stretched the cramp in his lower back.
“Well you're welcome to look all you want,” the word were out of his mouth before he could stop them.
The guy's expression darkened, and this time Danny was certain of what he saw.
“All I want, huh?” he asked crossing his arms over his chest.
Definitely certain.
Danny considered before answering, “Yeah...sure”
His lips twitched, “I might take you up on that sometime.”
“Sometime?”
“Yeah um...” he looked guilty which made Danny feel a bit gratified, “...I have somewhere I have to be.”
Danny thought about asking where, but quickly decided not to because if the guy said his father's birthday party he might just go insane...that is if he hadn't already. And as he watched the guy whose name he still didn't know walk out the door he considered that there was a pretty good chance of that.
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The next day the guy came in 10 minutes after 6PM. Closing time on Sundays, but Danny hadn't noticed because he was busy with other things.
“Damnit, Rachel, I thought we worked this out!” he yelled into the phone, “This wasn't our agreement!”
He pressed his fingers to the bridge of his none, “Okay fine, that's great. Whatever, so long as you aren't inconvenienced who gives a fuck about anything else?!”
With that he slammed the phone down. When he looked up and saw the familiar man standing in the doorway he snapped, “I'm not in the mood right now, okay? So just cut the crap for one day and leave me alone. We're closed!”
The guy stood silently for a moment.
“Are you alright?”
Danny sighed and laughed bitterly, “No, I am most certainty not alright.”
“Is um...is there anything I can do to help?” he asked, and looked entirely surprised that he'd done so.
“No, there isn't. I have to clean up that pile crap over there,” Danny gestured in the general direction of a fallen rack of diving supplies, “and then close out this place before I rack up too much overtime. Big Maleko isn't big on having to pay that out in case you couldn't guess.”
“I can clean up that stuff,” he offered.
Danny looked at him, “Look, man, this...this isn't your job. Don't you have somewhere you need to be?”
He hesitated for a moment before answering, “Not for a while.”
His expression told Danny that there was no point in arguing, so he relented wearily. By the time he'd counted down the register and prepared the deposit slips for the next morning, the guy was more than half-way through reorganizing the diving supplies and was doing as good a job of it as if he did work there.
Danny came over and crouched down to help him, “Thanks...I um, I really appreciate this.”
He smiled, “No problem.”
“So,” he asked after a second, “I guess it's probably none of my business, but what was that about on the phone?”
“My ex-wife changed our visitation schedule at the last minute,” he answered.
The guy stilled, “Ex-wife?”
“Yeah,” Danny answered, “Divorced 5 years.”
“I'm sorry,” the guy said, disappointment evident in his voice. Danny would have found his lack of subtlety funny if it weren't so damned endearing.
They finished picking up the diving equipment fairly quickly, and Danny lead the guy out of the store, locking the doors behind him.
They stood in the parking lot awkwardly.
“So going to that thing you had to be at?” Danny asked.
“Yeah,” he nodded with a sigh, “My dad's birthday.”
Danny looked at him wearily. What was with this guy? Why did he keep telling such an obvious lie? Was it code for something? Was he insane? Did Danny really care?
Evidently not, because he found himself asking, “You in a hurry to get there?”
The guy laugh mirthlessly, “No, I can say with complete honesty that I'm not.”
“There's a sports bar not far from here,” Danny commented, “They have pretty good draft beer.”
The guy studied him for a moment before reaching over to take Danny's car keys from his hand, “You tell me where. I'll drive.”
Danny bitched at him for his audacity, which, to his chagrin, the guy seemed to actually enjoy
About four beers in Danny finally asked.
“So what's your deal?”
“My deal?” he asked
“Who are you really?”
He looked confused, though in a charmed way, “Who do you want me to be?”
“That line work for you past high school?” Danny snipped
The guy smiled, “Usually, yeah.”
He plonked his beer down on the table in exasperation, “Anyone ever tell you're an arrogant son of a bitch?”
The other man smiled even wider, “Usually...yeah.”
Danny rolled his eyes, “I'm serious, man, who are you?”
“If I told you I'd-”
“Don't!” Danny pressed his fingers against the guy's lips, “Don't finish that sentence!”
He seemed content enough to follow that direction, and instead opened his lips to nip one of Danny's fingers. The nibble sending a jolt of electricity through him.
The other man grinned shifting closer to him in the booth to say across his lips, “Wanna get out of here?”
00000000000
They stopped only briefly back at Maleko's to pick up the guy's truck, and made it back to Danny's apartment in less than 15 minutes.
Once inside the door the guy seemed content to latch on to Danny's lips, while Danny focused on getting his clothes off as quickly as possible.
The guy was a tall, sculpted giant with a body that Danny could climb like a ladder, and he decided he was going to do just that.
Having sex on his pullout bed was noisy, but he didn't care if every busybody neighbor in the complex heard.
00000000000
Danny woke up onto a firm, yet soft and so incredibly warm surface.
He looked up into a pair of soft lidded eyes.
“How long was I asleep?” he asked.
“About 10 minutes,” the guy answered before smiling smugly, “and I think it was more liked 'passed out'.”
“Asshole,” Danny murmured shifting up to nuzzle in the guy's hair which, although short, was rumpled and curling slightly at the ends.
He sighed contentedly before jolting his head toward the direction of the bedside table, “Oh shit!”
“What?” Danny asked.
He groaned sitting up, “I'm late.”
“You're late? For what?”
“My dad's birthday,” he said as he slid out of bed.
Danny stared at him, “Look if you want to leave, just say so.”
“No,” he shook his head as he slid his cargo pants on, “It's not that. It's just that I was supposed to be there at 8 and it's already nearly 9:30.”
“Whatever,” Danny rolled onto his stomach.
He heard the guy pause, “I'd um...I'd like to see you again.”
“Look I'm not under any illusions about what this was. I mean I don't even know your name for fuck's sake-”
“Wha-” he sputtered, “I don't know yours either!”
With an exasperated sigh he shoved the covers back and stood up.
“It's Danny!” he yelled, “Danny Williams. Goodnight and have a nice life!”
He brushed past the guy toward the bathroom, but he spun him around and captured his mouth in a surprisingly tender kiss.
“Danny Williams,” he said, “Steve McGarrett, nice to meet you.”
He left Danny with another heated kiss, bounding his way down the stairs with his shirt in one hand and his cargo pants not quite completely done up.
He tore out of the parking lot leaving Danny thoroughly confused, and his downstairs neighbor Mrs. Takimoto thoroughly scandalized.
00000000000
Jack McGarrett looked out the blinds of the living-room window, “It's after 10PM. Where is he Kono?”
The young woman sitting behind him sighed, “I don't know, Jack! I told you he left the range around 5 and I haven't heard from him since!”
“Could he have gone up to North Shore?”
“He said he went earlier in the day,” she said, “The surf forecast was best for morning. Besides, even Steve wouldn't do something so stupid as go surfing alone at night!”
“Kamekona, said one of his friends saw him in town around 6, but not since then,” his parter Chin-Ho Kelly said, “There hasn't been anything on the scanner about an accident. I'm sure he's fine. Even with the memory loss, Steve is always lucid when awake.”
Jack sighed. He hoped his two young friends were right, though their assurances did nothing to assuage his worry.
Luckily for him, however, the next second brought headlights and familiar rumble up the driveway.
A few minutes later the door opened and his son walked in.
“Dad, hey, good to see you,” he said.
“Good to see you too, son,” Jack answered.
“I know I'm late,” Steve said.
Jack nodded and asked casually, “Where ya been?”
“Lost track of time,” he shrugged. Jack's years as a cop told him immediately that it was a lie.
“Ah, well that's okay. It's good you're here now.”
“Yeah,” Steve shifted uncomfortably, “I um...I didn't have time to get you anything.”
Jack paused. Steve's memory was stuck at his birthday, but, even so, the bringing gifts had been a recent thing.
Some of them had been downright strange themselves, but just the giving of them was something different. That hadn't been something they'd done in....hell, Jack couldn't even remember and that fact alone pained him.
“I've told you, Steve, you don't have to get me anything,” he said instantly tensing at his mistake. Steve didn't seem to notice, though, he simply offered to make everyone drinks instead.
The fact that Steve hadn't picked up on the error in what Jack said was very much unlike him. His son was sharp and observant. However, Steve also seemed relaxed, even...happy lately.
Jack was definitely curious about what was inspiring this change, he just wasn't sure if it was something he should be worried about or not.
Paring: Steve/Danny
Rating: R
Warnings: AU
Summary: bfive0 this is all your fault!
Danny stumbled down off the ladder struggling under the weight of the 100 pound box of deer eyes he was pretty certain Maleko bought in 1988. Seriously, how many deer eyes could you possibly sell per year in Hawaii?
He shifted the box until he had a better hold on it and tromped out of the stockroom. He had just made his way onto the sales floor when he collided with a brick-wall masquerading as a human. He bounced backward off said brick-wall, the box of deer eyes went flying, but found a nice spot under his feet causing the ground to roll out from under him so that he fell flat on his back on top of a few more of the same deer eyes.
He groaned and swore loudly. A second voice joined him and he felt someone leaning over him.
“Hey, man, are you okay?”
“Ugh, no!” he yelled gritting his teeth against the pain in his back, “Damn it, why don't you watch where you're going you big oaf!?”
When he opened his eyes he found a dark haired man looking down at him.
“Did you just say 'oaf'?” he asked.
“You got a problem with that?” he demanded staring up at the guy.
“Yeah. Who uses the word 'oaf'?”
Danny moved his gaze from the guy's face to the ceiling in a 'why God?' gesture, which was more difficult to do when laying on the ground, before planting his hands and pushing himself into a sitting position.
“Well, maybe you'll like the next person whose neck you nearly break's vocabulary better.”
He grabbed Danny's shoulders as he sat up.
“Careful! You're joking but you could really have a spinal injury,” he explained as he moved his hands up to Danny's neck. He gently felt around for a few seconds before the awkwardness of the moment set in.
Danny cleared his throat, the guy's hands still a large, warm presence around it, “I'm fine.”
With that he brushed the guy away and stood up.
He took a deep breath and plastered an overly solicitous expression on his face, “Welcome to Big Maleko's Sport and Surplus. How may I help you today, Sir?”
“Well, I really just came in for some gun oil-” he started.
“Any particular brand?” Danny asked. The guy told him a very detailed brand and product name of top of the line oil.
Danny sighed, “We actually sold out of that over the weekend. There was a big show in town. We ordered more but it hasn't arrived yet. If you want to leave a number or email address I could let you know when we get more in.”
“No,” he shook his head, “I won't be around. I'm only on the island for my dad's birthday.”
“Oh yeah?” Danny asked, “Your dad into hunting or target shooting?”
“No,” the guy answered
“He own any kind of firearms?”
The guy looked at him, “Yeah.”
“Not a sport shooter, though,” Danny observed, “So either he's a collector or he uses them for work. What's he do?”
The tall man raised a bemused eyebrow, “He's with HPD.”
“Cop?” Danny asked, perking up. He stepped behind the counter, dodging deer eyes along the way.
“I got just the thing for him,” he pulled a box out of the case, “Brigade shoulder holster. Fits most service weapons. It's made out of real saddle leather. A lot softer and more comfortable than the mass produced brands most cop shops give their people.”
Normally Danny would feel slightly sleazy about such a blatant pitch, but running into this guy nearly killed him, he at least deserved to get a decent sale out of it.
The guy picked up the holster and looked it over.
“And this is really going to feel a lot different than the one he has now?” he asked doubtfully.
“You ever wear a weapon all day?” Danny asked.
The guy's lip twitched almost imperceptibly in amusement, “Occasionally.”
“Use more than one holster?”
“At times.”
“Did how they fit make a difference?”
The guy thought it over for all of a second before setting the holster back in the box, “How much?”
Danny went over to the register and scanned the barcode, “It's on sale special price. $177.89 including tax.”
The guy dug out his wallet and opened it before saying, “I don't have my credit card with me.”
Danny held down an audible sigh and he stared out the window. He knew it was too good to be true.
“Oh wait,” the guy went on, “I have cash.”
He produced two hundred dollar bills. Danny checked the watermark discreetly as he typed in the sale, and slid the holster into a bag.
“Thank you very much,” he said as he gave the guy his change, “Hope your dad enjoys it.”
“Thanks,” he picked up the bag and walked to the exit. With the door half open he turned around and quirked a smile.
“Sorry about your box of eyes,” he said letting the door drift closed behind him.
“You were really sorry you'd have stayed to help me clean them up, asshole,” Danny grumbled as he made his way back to the storeroom to find a broom.
00000000000
Danny was going through inventory reports when the guy walked in the next day.
“Hey!” Danny greeted
“Hey,” he nodded back absently.
“Here to finish me off?”
The guy snapped his head to Danny's face, “What?”
“I'm still cleaning up those damned eyes because of you,” he said, “How'd your dad like the holster?”
“I think you got me mistaken for someone else, buddy,” the guy said.
“The holster that you bought here yesterday for your dad's birthday?” Danny prodded.
“That wasn't me.”
“I'm pretty sure it was.”
“Well you're wrong,” the guy said firmly, “I wasn't even on the island yesterday. Look, I just need some gun oil.”
Danny raised an eyebrow at him before shaking his head and gesturing to the far wall, “Just got a new shipment in this morning.”
The guy stalked off intently and returned a few seconds latter setting a bottle of the exact product he'd asked for the previous day down in front of Danny. He stared at it, and at the strange man standing in front of him before picking up the bottle and scanning it into the register.
As he did so he felt the guy watching him, “Someone bought a holster for their father's birthday, yesterday?”
“Yeah,” Danny answered slowly.
“Why a holster?”
“Okay are you fucking with me or something?”
“No,” the guy chuckled, “I mean it. Why a holster? I mean what makes a holster so special?”
Danny stared incredulously at the guy, expecting him to burst into laughter at his little joke any moment but he showed no signs of doing so. Finally, Danny sighed and dug the same Brigade out from under the counter.
“Made of real leather, fits most semi-automatic hand guns, softer than the holsters the police use.”
The guy examined the holster before asking Danny, “This guy's father was a cop?”
“That's what he said,” Danny answered still searching for an explanation for the guy's weird behavior.
“Really?” he asked interestedly, “What was his name? I probably know the family.”
Danny did his best to shoot the guy a 'seriously?!' look before finally giving up and answering, “He didn't say.”
“Oh,” the guy answered turning his attention back to the holster, “It does seem nice.”
'No way,' Danny thought to himself a second before the guy asked “How much?”
“$177.89 with tax.”
The guy smirked, “You must sell a lot of these.”
It was Danny's turn to smirk, “I seem to be lately.”
The guy took out his wallet, opened it, and looked up with a sheepish expression that was a polar opposite of the cocky smirk he'd been sporting as Danny showed him the holster, “Um, I don't seem to have my credit cards with me.”
“Got any cash?” Danny prompted.
“Well probably not that much...oh,” the guy said as he pulled out two hundreds, “Yeah, I guess I do.”
This time Danny didn't even bother to hide it as he thoroughly checked the watermark, but every thing seemed legitimate. He rang up the purchase and handed it to the guy along with this change.
“Thank you,” Danny said habitually, “Come back soon.”
The guy looked up from where he was putting his change in his wallet and gave Danny a wide smile, “Thanks. Maybe I will.”
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On the third day the guy came in about mid-morning while Danny was on his second cup of coffee.
This time he waited for the guy to acknowledge him, but instead he simply began browsing around.
“Morning,” Danny finally called.
“Morning,” he answered back.
“So what'll it be today?” Danny asked.
“Just came in to have a look around,” he answered distractedly just like any other customer. Danny stared after him for a moment, getting rather tired of this particular deja vu, before simply turning his attention back to his coffee.
He watched the guy wander around the store as if he were searching for something, but didn't quite know what.
“Anything in particular you're looking for?” Danny asked stepping around the counter.
He shook his head, “No, not really.”
Danny took the opportunity to try to find out more about this strange repeat customer, “So you from around here?”
He looked at Danny cautiously before answering, “Originally.”
“What brings you back now?” he asked.
“In town for my dad's birthday.”
Danny nearly choked on his sip of coffee.
“Actually um...I suppose maybe I should get him something?” he said uncertainly.
Danny stood open mouthed for a moment before answering, “That is generally the tradition, yeah.”
“Right,” he nodded looking completely lost, “You...have any suggestions?”
Danny thought of the Brigade, but abruptly shook away the idea.
“We'll if you don't know what he'd like you can never go wrong with gift cards,” he lead the man to the display counter and pointed out the small rack, “We've got several that pretty much anyone could use... Amazon, Starbucks, that kind of thing.”
The man examined the rack for a moment before picking out $50 Amazon card. Danny scanned it and the guy handed him a single hundred this time. This time he didn't bother to check the mark before typing it in.
The guy took his change and said, “Thanks.”
“You're welcome,” Danny answered.
He lingered for a second as if waiting for something, but finally picked up his gift card and left.
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The next day when he came in Danny didn't say anything. He simply watched while pretending to have his attention on the order forms he'd been filling out when the guy walked in.
He observed the man as he wandered around the store looking at seemingly every piece of merchandise in it. He did so for a good hour, not so much as sparing Danny a glance, before he finally sighed agitatedly and walked out the door.
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Danny ended up ignoring him the next day as well, but entirely by accident. He came in around 5 in the evening when apparently everyone and their brother decided they needed to stock up on fishing supplies, camping supplies, or bullets.
He caught a glimpse of the guy's tall form wandering around the store a few times, but was too busy on the register to spare him much attention.
By the time he got that particular herd of customers all rung up and out the door, the found that, at some point the guy had also left and he wondered why he felt bothered by the fact.
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When the guy came in the next day Danny greeted him immediately, even though he knew there was no reason he should be feeling guilty.
“Howzit,” he answered back easily as he looked around the store.
“Anything I can help you find?”
He shrugged, “Don't know really.”
“Well we just got in these new car holder insulated cups,” Danny said, “Makes a good gift if you have any special occasions coming up.”
The guy instantly gave him a piercing look, but Danny managed to keep his face neutral.
Finally, he looked at the display of cups. He examined them sharply before his face softened into a smile as he caught sight of one with a pineapple on it.
He payed for the cup with a twenty, but as he opened his wallet Danny was almost certain he could see a couple of hundreds inside.
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“So how've you been today?” Danny asked as he rang up a Rainbows beer cozy and a packet of grass-fed beef jerky.
“Pretty good,” he answered pleasantly, “You?”
“Can't complain much. Got anything going on later?”
“My dad's birthday.”
Danny paused but finally just said, “Congratulations.”
He gave a leery smile, “Thanks. Catching the swell at the North Shore first.”
“Surfer, huh?” Danny asked.
“This is Hawaii. Who isn't?”
Danny snorted, “Yeah, that's true, unfortunately.”
“You don't like surfing?”
“Balancing on a piece of driftwood isn't my idea of fun.”
He guy chuckled as he opened the jerky and munched a piece of it, “So what is your idea of fun?”
“Things normal people do,” he answered.
“Normal people surf.”
“Not where I come from.”
“Where's that?”
“Jersey.”
He coughed around his bite of jerky, “New Jersey, seriously?”
“You got an issue with that?” Danny asked, prepared for whatever crack the guy was, no doubt, about to make.
“No just-”
He never heard what joke he was going to go for because a chatty old-timer came in the door at that moment and commandeered Danny's attention. By the time he sent the old dude happily on his way the mysterious dark haired guy was gone.
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Danny wasn't sure when he got into the habit of setting aside things he thought the guy might like for when he came in.
Generally small stuff, new flavors of jerky or dried fruit. Always the organic, no sugar added, grass-fed, hippy stuff.
Small surf accessories. For some reason he had the feeling going outside the guy's $200 budget wasn't a good idea.
A few bottles of his brand of gun oil. Which the guy always bought even though he couldn't possibly have used up what he'd purchased just days before.
Even gifts the, Danny was fairly certain, fictional cop father might like. Which the guy also always ended up buying.
Finally one day at the end of such a purchase he offered, “I'm Danny by the way.”
“Danny,” the guy repeated.
“Yeah,” he answered.
The guy smiled, “Good met you, Danny.”
He didn't offer his name in return simply strolled out of the store looking entirely content with the world.
00000000000
Danny tired a different tactic the next day.
“Okay, $12.36 is your change Mr. um...I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name.”
“I never said it,” the guy answered.
“Mine's Danny.”
“Danny?” the guy repeated back before saying just as sincerely as the day before, “Nice to meet you.”
“And you are....” Danny prompted, wondering, not for the first time, at how this guy survived with the social skills (or rather lack of) that he had.
He curled up one side of his mouth, “If I told you that I'd have to kill you.”
00000000000
“That's pretty fucking lame, you know,” Danny said the next day when the guy gave him the exact same answer.
The guy paused and looked and him.
“I mean really? Whoever told you that you were funny lied, my friend.”
“Do you always insult your customers?” the guy asked.
“I do when they use lines that went out with powder blue suits and feathered hair,” he shot back.
The guy stared at him for a minute before his lips moved into a smile, “Yeah, I can believe that.”
He still left without offering up his name.
00000000000
The next day the guy came in the late afternoon as Danny was restocking the shelf of fishing lures at the front of the store.
“Hello,” he said as he leaned down to grab another handful of red sparky lures that looked and felt like gummi squid.
“Hey,” he answered, casually as always.
“See anything you like today?” he asked as he hung the gummi squid up.
He could feel that the guy was still standing behind him, but he didn't answer.
Danny glanced over his shoulder. The guy's expression was startled so briefly Danny couldn't be sure he actually saw anything.
“I haven't had a chance to look yet,” he answered.
Danny straightened up and stretched the cramp in his lower back.
“Well you're welcome to look all you want,” the word were out of his mouth before he could stop them.
The guy's expression darkened, and this time Danny was certain of what he saw.
“All I want, huh?” he asked crossing his arms over his chest.
Definitely certain.
Danny considered before answering, “Yeah...sure”
His lips twitched, “I might take you up on that sometime.”
“Sometime?”
“Yeah um...” he looked guilty which made Danny feel a bit gratified, “...I have somewhere I have to be.”
Danny thought about asking where, but quickly decided not to because if the guy said his father's birthday party he might just go insane...that is if he hadn't already. And as he watched the guy whose name he still didn't know walk out the door he considered that there was a pretty good chance of that.
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The next day the guy came in 10 minutes after 6PM. Closing time on Sundays, but Danny hadn't noticed because he was busy with other things.
“Damnit, Rachel, I thought we worked this out!” he yelled into the phone, “This wasn't our agreement!”
He pressed his fingers to the bridge of his none, “Okay fine, that's great. Whatever, so long as you aren't inconvenienced who gives a fuck about anything else?!”
With that he slammed the phone down. When he looked up and saw the familiar man standing in the doorway he snapped, “I'm not in the mood right now, okay? So just cut the crap for one day and leave me alone. We're closed!”
The guy stood silently for a moment.
“Are you alright?”
Danny sighed and laughed bitterly, “No, I am most certainty not alright.”
“Is um...is there anything I can do to help?” he asked, and looked entirely surprised that he'd done so.
“No, there isn't. I have to clean up that pile crap over there,” Danny gestured in the general direction of a fallen rack of diving supplies, “and then close out this place before I rack up too much overtime. Big Maleko isn't big on having to pay that out in case you couldn't guess.”
“I can clean up that stuff,” he offered.
Danny looked at him, “Look, man, this...this isn't your job. Don't you have somewhere you need to be?”
He hesitated for a moment before answering, “Not for a while.”
His expression told Danny that there was no point in arguing, so he relented wearily. By the time he'd counted down the register and prepared the deposit slips for the next morning, the guy was more than half-way through reorganizing the diving supplies and was doing as good a job of it as if he did work there.
Danny came over and crouched down to help him, “Thanks...I um, I really appreciate this.”
He smiled, “No problem.”
“So,” he asked after a second, “I guess it's probably none of my business, but what was that about on the phone?”
“My ex-wife changed our visitation schedule at the last minute,” he answered.
The guy stilled, “Ex-wife?”
“Yeah,” Danny answered, “Divorced 5 years.”
“I'm sorry,” the guy said, disappointment evident in his voice. Danny would have found his lack of subtlety funny if it weren't so damned endearing.
They finished picking up the diving equipment fairly quickly, and Danny lead the guy out of the store, locking the doors behind him.
They stood in the parking lot awkwardly.
“So going to that thing you had to be at?” Danny asked.
“Yeah,” he nodded with a sigh, “My dad's birthday.”
Danny looked at him wearily. What was with this guy? Why did he keep telling such an obvious lie? Was it code for something? Was he insane? Did Danny really care?
Evidently not, because he found himself asking, “You in a hurry to get there?”
The guy laugh mirthlessly, “No, I can say with complete honesty that I'm not.”
“There's a sports bar not far from here,” Danny commented, “They have pretty good draft beer.”
The guy studied him for a moment before reaching over to take Danny's car keys from his hand, “You tell me where. I'll drive.”
Danny bitched at him for his audacity, which, to his chagrin, the guy seemed to actually enjoy
About four beers in Danny finally asked.
“So what's your deal?”
“My deal?” he asked
“Who are you really?”
He looked confused, though in a charmed way, “Who do you want me to be?”
“That line work for you past high school?” Danny snipped
The guy smiled, “Usually, yeah.”
He plonked his beer down on the table in exasperation, “Anyone ever tell you're an arrogant son of a bitch?”
The other man smiled even wider, “Usually...yeah.”
Danny rolled his eyes, “I'm serious, man, who are you?”
“If I told you I'd-”
“Don't!” Danny pressed his fingers against the guy's lips, “Don't finish that sentence!”
He seemed content enough to follow that direction, and instead opened his lips to nip one of Danny's fingers. The nibble sending a jolt of electricity through him.
The other man grinned shifting closer to him in the booth to say across his lips, “Wanna get out of here?”
00000000000
They stopped only briefly back at Maleko's to pick up the guy's truck, and made it back to Danny's apartment in less than 15 minutes.
Once inside the door the guy seemed content to latch on to Danny's lips, while Danny focused on getting his clothes off as quickly as possible.
The guy was a tall, sculpted giant with a body that Danny could climb like a ladder, and he decided he was going to do just that.
Having sex on his pullout bed was noisy, but he didn't care if every busybody neighbor in the complex heard.
00000000000
Danny woke up onto a firm, yet soft and so incredibly warm surface.
He looked up into a pair of soft lidded eyes.
“How long was I asleep?” he asked.
“About 10 minutes,” the guy answered before smiling smugly, “and I think it was more liked 'passed out'.”
“Asshole,” Danny murmured shifting up to nuzzle in the guy's hair which, although short, was rumpled and curling slightly at the ends.
He sighed contentedly before jolting his head toward the direction of the bedside table, “Oh shit!”
“What?” Danny asked.
He groaned sitting up, “I'm late.”
“You're late? For what?”
“My dad's birthday,” he said as he slid out of bed.
Danny stared at him, “Look if you want to leave, just say so.”
“No,” he shook his head as he slid his cargo pants on, “It's not that. It's just that I was supposed to be there at 8 and it's already nearly 9:30.”
“Whatever,” Danny rolled onto his stomach.
He heard the guy pause, “I'd um...I'd like to see you again.”
“Look I'm not under any illusions about what this was. I mean I don't even know your name for fuck's sake-”
“Wha-” he sputtered, “I don't know yours either!”
With an exasperated sigh he shoved the covers back and stood up.
“It's Danny!” he yelled, “Danny Williams. Goodnight and have a nice life!”
He brushed past the guy toward the bathroom, but he spun him around and captured his mouth in a surprisingly tender kiss.
“Danny Williams,” he said, “Steve McGarrett, nice to meet you.”
He left Danny with another heated kiss, bounding his way down the stairs with his shirt in one hand and his cargo pants not quite completely done up.
He tore out of the parking lot leaving Danny thoroughly confused, and his downstairs neighbor Mrs. Takimoto thoroughly scandalized.
00000000000
Jack McGarrett looked out the blinds of the living-room window, “It's after 10PM. Where is he Kono?”
The young woman sitting behind him sighed, “I don't know, Jack! I told you he left the range around 5 and I haven't heard from him since!”
“Could he have gone up to North Shore?”
“He said he went earlier in the day,” she said, “The surf forecast was best for morning. Besides, even Steve wouldn't do something so stupid as go surfing alone at night!”
“Kamekona, said one of his friends saw him in town around 6, but not since then,” his parter Chin-Ho Kelly said, “There hasn't been anything on the scanner about an accident. I'm sure he's fine. Even with the memory loss, Steve is always lucid when awake.”
Jack sighed. He hoped his two young friends were right, though their assurances did nothing to assuage his worry.
Luckily for him, however, the next second brought headlights and familiar rumble up the driveway.
A few minutes later the door opened and his son walked in.
“Dad, hey, good to see you,” he said.
“Good to see you too, son,” Jack answered.
“I know I'm late,” Steve said.
Jack nodded and asked casually, “Where ya been?”
“Lost track of time,” he shrugged. Jack's years as a cop told him immediately that it was a lie.
“Ah, well that's okay. It's good you're here now.”
“Yeah,” Steve shifted uncomfortably, “I um...I didn't have time to get you anything.”
Jack paused. Steve's memory was stuck at his birthday, but, even so, the bringing gifts had been a recent thing.
Some of them had been downright strange themselves, but just the giving of them was something different. That hadn't been something they'd done in....hell, Jack couldn't even remember and that fact alone pained him.
“I've told you, Steve, you don't have to get me anything,” he said instantly tensing at his mistake. Steve didn't seem to notice, though, he simply offered to make everyone drinks instead.
The fact that Steve hadn't picked up on the error in what Jack said was very much unlike him. His son was sharp and observant. However, Steve also seemed relaxed, even...happy lately.
Jack was definitely curious about what was inspiring this change, he just wasn't sure if it was something he should be worried about or not.