Rams Head Tavern, Annapolis, MD [Saturday evening]

[grenadesandohana]

The servers at the Rams Head Tavern, located so close to the Naval Academy, were used to cadets and veterans coming in, being rowdy, and drinking far too much. It's why they had an entire basement bar available to rent, and it was basically a home away from home for SEALs and former SEALs.

Steve had dragged Danny with him when his team had declared an impromptu reunion-slash-sucks you got retired, bro, party when a few of them had been asked by the Academy to talk about their combat experiences with the Second Class Midshipmen.

Steve sipped his non-alcoholic beer and poked at what was left of his crab cakes as his buddies talked over each other to give Danny a redacted and slightly incoherent explanation of how Steve had been given his "Smooth Dog" nickname.

It was at least the fifth version Danny had heard about the origin of that nickname.

[OOC: For that guy.]

Comments

[hatesparadise]

Which was why Danny was politely nodding along, enjoying how much redacting they were clearly doing and talking over each other to correct the dumbest details to a story so meandering. "Uh-huh," he said to the appropriate parts, encouraging this to keep going.

He'd reached over to take Steve's hand under the table, threading their fingers together to rest on his leg. It hadn't even been something he'd done consciously.

[grenadesandohana]

Steve's answering grip was far, far tighter than strictly necessary. His facial expression was easy, but he was white-knuckling his way through the evening. "I don't know why what I was saying to that poor girl would even matter," he protested over the group's laughter. "She only spoke Thai."

[hatesparadise]

Danny's hand would survive it.

"Was your shirt off? Because I'm pretty sure that's your go-to move to transcend language," Danny added dryly as laughter erupted.

[grenadesandohana]

"Shut up," Steve said.

So, yes.

[hatesparadise]

Which got Danny to crack up at least, leaning a little into Steve's side. "So smooth, McGarrett."

[grenadesandohana]

"That's what we said!" a man with enormous biceps boomed.

"I hate everyone in this bar," Steve declared.

[hatesparadise]

"That is categorically incorrect," Danny replied. "You at least like one of us."

He ran his thumb along the back of Steve's hand and took a sip of his own fake beer.

[grenadesandohana]

"Less and less as the evening goes on," Steve said with a grin.

[hatesparadise]

Danny shot him an amused look for that, glancing over at the door in a silent question. Because he could always play the buzzkill of a partner here.

[grenadesandohana]

Steve shook his head in a quick little no and squeezed Danny's fingers in thanks. He couldn't show weakness to these guys, no matter how well-meaning they seemed.

[hatesparadise]

The little quirk of Danny's eyebrow just informed him that he was a putz (loving) for that sort of thinking. But these were the perfectly normal silent conversations of two people who knew each other disgustingly well.

"Now I gotta hear about the other nicknames in this group," he said, letting the conversation pick up with a jumble of suggestions of who to make fun of first.

[grenadesandohana]

They immediately started with a guy whose initial nickname had been so inappropriate the brass had told them to pick a different one. Steve arched up an eyebrow in a silent "what can you do?" comment to Danny and waved at their waitress for another round for everyone.

[hatesparadise]

Well, this was going to be at least another hour of bickering over how certain nicknames happened and all the variations leading up to them.

Danny slouched a little in his seat, settling in to enjoy the show with a faint grin. No, still not letting go of Steve's hand until the other man did first.

[grenadesandohana]

Steve used his free hand to clink his refill against Danny's as they arrived.

He didn't mind his ridiculous friends, and they really were trying in their loud, Navy ways, to be supportive. It was just a lot, and even six months out he was having trouble reconciling with the idea that he wouldn't ever be adding to these near-death, funny-because-no-one-actually-died stories again.

[hatesparadise]

Danny kept the conversation going with interjections from time to time to set things off onto another tangent before anything could lull and quiet settle in on Steve. It wasn't much, but it was something, after all.

"You know, one of these days I'm gonna get the unredacted version of these stories and it's gonna be such a disappointment," he drawled.

[grenadesandohana]

"Scott's never giving the unredacted version of how he got shot in the ass," Steve told him with a snicker, "because it involves an anvil, a sheep, and a series of coincidences that would be unrealistic in a Looney Tunes cartoon."

[hatesparadise]

"I worked enough beats on party weekends to have an idea," Danny replied. "And I'm still confused."

[grenadesandohana]

"So were all of us," Steve said, nodding solemnly.

The other SEALs were snickering into their drinks.

[hatesparadise]

"None of you guys are allowed to come to Hawaii," Danny decided then and there. "I'm not dealing with that paperwork."

[grenadesandohana]

One of them fake-coughed a "whipped" into his fist as Steve rolled his eyes. "You know he's right," Steve told them. "Remember the thing with the guy and the dog in the place?"

They all nodded.

[hatesparadise]

Don't make him use emotional self-awareness on your ass. He would.

"Whatever that is? Not dealing with it. Not happening. You can do that here outside our jurisdiction."

[grenadesandohana]

"Don't be a bad influence on the plebes," Steve added, narrowing his eyes.

[hatesparadise]

"Okay, okay, I gotta know," one of them said, leaning forward to rest his forearms on the table like this was going to be a very serious, important conversation. "How the hell did McGarrett get someone so well adjusted? Is it a sex thing? Are you secretly a freak in bed and only Smooth Dog here matches it or something?"

"Jesus Christ, Mitch. I don't wanna know that," another groaned.

"I kinda do," said another all while Danny just started cracking up helplessly. This was Steve's mess, not his, thank you.

[grenadesandohana]

"Why are you like this?" Steve demanded, trying not to sound whiny because he was a grown-ass man but honestly, they were the worst. "Why?"

[hatesparadise]

"Oh, there's a betting pool," someone answered, causing half the table to groan in annoyance at ruining it. "Odds are high on the sex thing."

These were his people. These right here.

"Okay, I'm going to bow out of this conversation," Danny said, still laughing as he fished out his wallet to put money down for the tab.