Scenes from a Hat for 1_million_words
1_million_words is having a "Scenes from a hat" challenge. My prompt was things you should never say to your dates parents on a first meeting. Here is my response. Exactly 500 words. (No warnings. No spoilers. Steve/Danny fluff.)
~o0o~
“Well,” Steve said, staring blindly up at the ceiling of the Holiday Inn. It was the hotel closest to Danny’s parents’ house, where Grace was spending the entire week. Steve had requested that he and Danny stay elsewhere, sleeping together in Danny’s parents house holding no appeal to him. Danny had easily agreed, sharing his need for a little privacy.
“North Korea. That’s what you start with,” Danny asked, laughing.
“I know, okay,” Steve said, his right arm flung over his eyes. “I blanked out when your mom asked when I knew I was sure.”
“Changing it to when Danny nearly died from the bomb was a great cover,” Danny informed him.
“I know,” Steve repeated. “I know.”
“Babe,” Danny said, rolling on his side to face Steve. “Mom is a Google-fiend. They knew about the bomb. They didn’t know about North Korea.”
“I know,” Steve sighed, lowering his arm to look over at Danny’s laughing blue eyes. “I thought you’d be more upset about this.”
“I told you we should practice. But you said role playing was so...what was the word? Kindergratenly. A word I’m sure never before existed.”
“Okay. Okay. You were right. I was wrong. Is that what you need to hear?” Steve asked, chagrin in every word.
“It’s a start,” Danny laughed, kissing him.
“What about you? Telling them you nearly died of smallpox,” Steve said, deciding that the best defense was a good offense.
“Again. Mom already knew. You know things like that make headlines.”
“Okay,” Steve sighed. “And thanks for not clueing me in that you hadn’t told them you and Grace are learning to surf.”
“How could I know that you would cross their threshold and suddenly be unable to keep a single thought contained inside your head? You aren’t exactly known as the loquacious of the two of us.”
“I know,” Steve said for what felt the thousandth time. “Your mom is so…nice. And comfortable. When she asks me a question, I have to answer.”
“You have no internal editor?”
“I apparently left it in Hawaii,” Steve said. “Do they hate me?”
“They couldn’t possibly hate you. Because I love you and Grace loves you. That’s all they need to know.”
“So they didn’t need to know I was arrested for the murder of Governor Jameson?”
Danny laughed, shaking his head. “You are something special. How did that even come up?”
“I don’t know,” Steve admitted. “She said something about Charlie and Rachel and suddenly I was telling her about being in prison for that week.”
“But she knew, didn’t she?” Danny said soothingly.
“Yes,” Steve agreed. “She didn’t know about Doris. That’s all on you.”
“I’ll take it,” Danny said. “Now go to sleep. You have more interrogation to face tomorrow when my aunts and uncles come over for lunch.”
“Oh God. I’ll end up telling them about all of my classified missions,” Steve groaned.
“Probably,” Danny laughed, laying half on top of him before they both drifted off to sleep.
~o0o~
“Well,” Steve said, staring blindly up at the ceiling of the Holiday Inn. It was the hotel closest to Danny’s parents’ house, where Grace was spending the entire week. Steve had requested that he and Danny stay elsewhere, sleeping together in Danny’s parents house holding no appeal to him. Danny had easily agreed, sharing his need for a little privacy.
“North Korea. That’s what you start with,” Danny asked, laughing.
“I know, okay,” Steve said, his right arm flung over his eyes. “I blanked out when your mom asked when I knew I was sure.”
“Changing it to when Danny nearly died from the bomb was a great cover,” Danny informed him.
“I know,” Steve repeated. “I know.”
“Babe,” Danny said, rolling on his side to face Steve. “Mom is a Google-fiend. They knew about the bomb. They didn’t know about North Korea.”
“I know,” Steve sighed, lowering his arm to look over at Danny’s laughing blue eyes. “I thought you’d be more upset about this.”
“I told you we should practice. But you said role playing was so...what was the word? Kindergratenly. A word I’m sure never before existed.”
“Okay. Okay. You were right. I was wrong. Is that what you need to hear?” Steve asked, chagrin in every word.
“It’s a start,” Danny laughed, kissing him.
“What about you? Telling them you nearly died of smallpox,” Steve said, deciding that the best defense was a good offense.
“Again. Mom already knew. You know things like that make headlines.”
“Okay,” Steve sighed. “And thanks for not clueing me in that you hadn’t told them you and Grace are learning to surf.”
“How could I know that you would cross their threshold and suddenly be unable to keep a single thought contained inside your head? You aren’t exactly known as the loquacious of the two of us.”
“I know,” Steve said for what felt the thousandth time. “Your mom is so…nice. And comfortable. When she asks me a question, I have to answer.”
“You have no internal editor?”
“I apparently left it in Hawaii,” Steve said. “Do they hate me?”
“They couldn’t possibly hate you. Because I love you and Grace loves you. That’s all they need to know.”
“So they didn’t need to know I was arrested for the murder of Governor Jameson?”
Danny laughed, shaking his head. “You are something special. How did that even come up?”
“I don’t know,” Steve admitted. “She said something about Charlie and Rachel and suddenly I was telling her about being in prison for that week.”
“But she knew, didn’t she?” Danny said soothingly.
“Yes,” Steve agreed. “She didn’t know about Doris. That’s all on you.”
“I’ll take it,” Danny said. “Now go to sleep. You have more interrogation to face tomorrow when my aunts and uncles come over for lunch.”
“Oh God. I’ll end up telling them about all of my classified missions,” Steve groaned.
“Probably,” Danny laughed, laying half on top of him before they both drifted off to sleep.