H50 ficlet: Keep it to Yourself
Title: Keep it to Yourself
Characters: Steve/Danny
Word Count: 602
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None, unless introspection isn't your thing
Disclaimer: No ownship rights held; no money made
Beta: sadly unbeta'd again; please feel free to point out any glaring mistakes.
Author’s Notes: This one's for kaige68; she knows why. Follows Better This Way.
NB: this fic can also be read here at AO3
Danny's seen the way Steve looks at him sometimes. It could be something; it could well just be that his imagination's working overtime. He's strangely drawn to the man, which has never happened to him before; being drawn to a man, that is. He's certainly been drawn to women; it happens all the time and it's natural.
Not that being drawn to another man isn't natural; Danny's not so homophobic as to think it's against nature. He's read about apes that do it, and about other animals too: penguins, of all things! When he read about that, he'd thought about telling Grace - thought she'd get a kick out of it - but then he could imagine what Rachel would say about Grace being too young to hear such things, and didn't. If he'd thought about it more, maybe he should have said something to Steve instead; maybe he'd have got more than just a kick out of it.
Every time Steve turns one of those looks on Danny - when he thinks Danny doesn't see - Danny wonders again if he's reading Steve right. He's not sure it's worth the risk of saying anything though; Steve's one tough cookie when all is said and done, and although Danny already knows he has this soft side - this side that really cares for the people who are important to him - he's not sure how far that would extend. Is it possible the guy cares a whole lot more than he's saying; maybe as much as Danny feels like he cares now?
Although it's not something he's done before, Danny's not against the idea of something physical with a man - he may as well admit it: with Steve - but he's got to be careful if he approaches it at all. There's Grace to think of first. He can't see her having a problem with it herself; she loves Steve and she loves Danny, and somehow he thinks she'd see it as natural and easy as two male penguins being together. But he does worry about how people around her perceive things and how they might say or do something to upset her. If Grace was hurt by that... well, it wouldn't be beyond Danny to persecute the perpetrators to the full extent of the law, is all he can think.
There's also Rachel, his parents, Chin and Kono, Mary, and everyone else around them to think of. While their opinions wouldn't actually stop Danny - or Steve for that matter, if he's the least inclined that way - from getting together, he does care about all of them and how they might react initially.
He's fairly sure that some of them would have seen it coming a mile off and would have no issues, but he thinks about Ma and Pop and he knows for them it would be harder. They don't know Steve, they've only known Danny to be interested in women, and as far as Danny knows they don't know any gay people. That's not to say they'd disown him or disapprove exactly; he doubts that, knowing his ma. She'd never let his pop disown Danny, he decides, a grin spreading across his face. The more he thinks about it and about introducing Steve to them, he knows they'd come around soon enough.
Steve's looking at him in puzzlement now, and Danny thinks maybe he's letting himself get carried away. Steve can't possibly be having the kind of thoughts about Danny that Danny's just been having about him.
Perhaps he'll just keep his thoughts to himself for now.
~//~
Followed by: Research
Cheap Toner Cartridge
Characters: Steve/Danny
Word Count: 602
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None, unless introspection isn't your thing
Disclaimer: No ownship rights held; no money made
Beta: sadly unbeta'd again; please feel free to point out any glaring mistakes.
Author’s Notes: This one's for kaige68; she knows why. Follows Better This Way.
NB: this fic can also be read here at AO3
Danny's seen the way Steve looks at him sometimes. It could be something; it could well just be that his imagination's working overtime. He's strangely drawn to the man, which has never happened to him before; being drawn to a man, that is. He's certainly been drawn to women; it happens all the time and it's natural.
Not that being drawn to another man isn't natural; Danny's not so homophobic as to think it's against nature. He's read about apes that do it, and about other animals too: penguins, of all things! When he read about that, he'd thought about telling Grace - thought she'd get a kick out of it - but then he could imagine what Rachel would say about Grace being too young to hear such things, and didn't. If he'd thought about it more, maybe he should have said something to Steve instead; maybe he'd have got more than just a kick out of it.
Every time Steve turns one of those looks on Danny - when he thinks Danny doesn't see - Danny wonders again if he's reading Steve right. He's not sure it's worth the risk of saying anything though; Steve's one tough cookie when all is said and done, and although Danny already knows he has this soft side - this side that really cares for the people who are important to him - he's not sure how far that would extend. Is it possible the guy cares a whole lot more than he's saying; maybe as much as Danny feels like he cares now?
Although it's not something he's done before, Danny's not against the idea of something physical with a man - he may as well admit it: with Steve - but he's got to be careful if he approaches it at all. There's Grace to think of first. He can't see her having a problem with it herself; she loves Steve and she loves Danny, and somehow he thinks she'd see it as natural and easy as two male penguins being together. But he does worry about how people around her perceive things and how they might say or do something to upset her. If Grace was hurt by that... well, it wouldn't be beyond Danny to persecute the perpetrators to the full extent of the law, is all he can think.
There's also Rachel, his parents, Chin and Kono, Mary, and everyone else around them to think of. While their opinions wouldn't actually stop Danny - or Steve for that matter, if he's the least inclined that way - from getting together, he does care about all of them and how they might react initially.
He's fairly sure that some of them would have seen it coming a mile off and would have no issues, but he thinks about Ma and Pop and he knows for them it would be harder. They don't know Steve, they've only known Danny to be interested in women, and as far as Danny knows they don't know any gay people. That's not to say they'd disown him or disapprove exactly; he doubts that, knowing his ma. She'd never let his pop disown Danny, he decides, a grin spreading across his face. The more he thinks about it and about introducing Steve to them, he knows they'd come around soon enough.
Steve's looking at him in puzzlement now, and Danny thinks maybe he's letting himself get carried away. Steve can't possibly be having the kind of thoughts about Danny that Danny's just been having about him.
Perhaps he'll just keep his thoughts to himself for now.
~//~
Followed by: Research
Cheap Toner Cartridge