Loop de loop luau, 1/1

[gilascave]

Title: Loop de loop luau, let's have a luau
Author: james
Rating: G
Pairing: Gen, Team
Word Count: 1,300
Spoilers: reference to S1 episode Mana'O
Disclaimer: not mine, no profit made
Summary: Kono invites Danny to a luau, and Steve is not allowed to teach Grace anything which involves knives or demolitions.

Notes: For shoot_the_curl from embroiderama's prompt "playing tourist."



Danny looked at Kono, raised an eyebrow at her -- which did nothing to change her expression, deceptively guileless and straight-forward. Danny shook his head, because he'd had younger sisters and now a daughter and he couldn't connect this innocent face with the words he'd just heard her say. "You want me to go to a luau? What, are we playing tourist to catch bad guys or something?"

They were in the conference room and Kono had just wrapped up her debriefing of the Calhoun case; Danny was helping her get all the is dotted and ts crossed so it wouldn't get thrown back to her fourteen times for re-writing. Steve, he figured, could sink or swim when it came to official police reports but Kono was still technically a rookie and Danny didn't really mind guiding her through the hoops.

She'd done a good job with nearly everything, just a couple details he'd been able to point out on the forms. He'd told her she'd make a good cop one day and she'd grinned at him, then hit him with the invitation. Which made no sense.

But Kono just rolled her eyes, grinning a little at the same time and how exactly she could be annoyed and frighteningly adorable at the same time was beyond him. "It's not for tourists, Danny. It's family and friends." She paused. "And cousin Lan, because nobody's brave enough to tell her she's not invited. If a woman wearing neon pink, smoking, and drinking peach brandy hits on you, tell her that you're taken. Grab anybody, whoever's closest. Kiss them if necessary to dissuade her. Otherwise she'll have moved in by Monday and you'll never be rid of her."

Danny ignored the warning, because it sounded like cousin Lan was the twin sister of his own cousin Darlene, who'd been married five times already. Or six. The shortest marriage had lasted nine days and the longest nearly two years. The scary part was, Darlene liked to wear bright purple, floral prints, so she'd actually match Lan quite well.

"You want me to come to a luau," Danny repeated, still feeling like he'd missed something, because he'd been to team dinners at Chin's place, and beers and pizza at Steve's, and Kono had bought them drinks at Manuelo's so he got that part of it. He'd hit the beach with the others, Grace in tow, a few times himself so the idea of hanging out with them wasn't exactly strange. He shook his head again.

"For God's sake, Danny," came Steve's voice from behind him. "Didn't you ever go to barbecues back in New Jersey? Or...whatever it is you do in tenements?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "We have backyards in Jersey, and yes, I've been to barbecues, thank you very much. We do not live in tenements; we have actual houses on actual streets with yards and picket fences and too many cars parked in the street."

Steve shrugged, leaning one hip on the table. "Well, that's all a luau is. Everyone brings something and we eat, drink beer, and tell lies about how our boss at work is a complete asshole." He smiled, smugly.

"Then why not say so?" Danny turned back to Kono and nodded. "Fine, yes, I'm sorry. I'll be there. What should I bring?"

Kono had barely opened her mouth when Steve said, "I'll pick you up and we can swing by and grab some beer. Kono's family always has too much food, but you can never have enough beer and ice. Last time they had an entire roast pi--" He stopped suddenly, and Danny didn't have to ask why his face had gone slightly pale and expression, guilty.

Kono laid her hand on Danny's arm. "I already talked to Uncle Milo, and they're not making kalua pork. Just chicken, some shrimp, and fish. It's okay," she added, and her voice dropped. "Some of them knew Meka, too."

Danny just nodded, swallowing against things he didn't want to remember. "Thanks," he managed after a moment, and he glanced over to Steve who was looking apologetic. He half-shrugged, because he knew Steve hadn't meant anything by it and he wasn't upset. Steve still had a tiny frown on his face, though, so Danny asked, "So if you're picking me up, does this mean I actually get to drive my own car home for once?"

Steve visibly relaxed, then he looked affronted. "I let you drive your car home all the time!"

"You let me?" Danny stared at him then looked at Kono, jerking his thumb towards McGarrett. "You heard that? He admits to allowing me to drive my own car."

Kono just rolled her eyes again, grinning at them both. "We'll see you at around seven, then, yeah?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah. I'll even make sure he's appropriately dressed."

"I'm not wearing a lei," Danny warned him, even though he got, now, that it wasn't that sort of thing. "Or anything that...wraps."

Steve's eyes popped a little as he tried to hide a laugh and Danny just pointed a warning finger at him. Then a thought occurred and he turned back to Kono. "Hey, is this a.. grown up thing, or can I bring Grace? Rachel said I could get her, sometimes, for an evening if...stuff came up like this."

"Oh, sure!" Kono brightened. "There'll be tons of kids there. The whole family. Make sure she brings a suit, okay? The kids usually end up in the water before dark."

"I'm pretty sure she lives with a swimsuit under her clothes, now," Danny admitted, and he wasn't sure he liked the idea of his little girl adapting to life on an island. Time was she lived the whole winter with her ice skates right inside the front door so she could dump her school bag and grab them, running down the street to catch the city bus with her friends and hit the rink. She would have carried them to school with her, except Danny had known if she didn't have to come home for her skates they might not have seen her at all between breakfast and bedtime.

He felt a hand squeeze his arm and he gave Kono a rueful smile. "We'll be there, swimsuit and all." He glared at Steve. "And you're not allowed to teach her anything about underwater demolitions and tactics."

Steve tried to look innocent, but he was worse at it than anybody Danny had ever met, even if it wasn't fair to compare him to girls with dimples like Kono and Grace. "What'd I say?" Steve demanded, looking wounded.

"I think he's referring to that little dive knife you wanted to give her," Kono stage-whispered.

"You wanted to teach my daughter an activity that requires her to be armed," Danny reminded him, even though the matter had been discovered, settled, and closed five months ago when Steve had first asked Rachel about it. But he was willing to bring it up whenever he felt like it, because Steve had wanted to give his little girl a knife.

Steve frowned, like he honestly didn't understand the problem, just like he had every other time Danny had yelled at him about it. "I told you, it's for scuba diving. I even found a small pink knife. She would have--"

Danny put his hand over Steve's mouth. He told Kono, "I will be at the luau on Friday. Steve, on the other hand, is grounded, and is going to be scrubbing my floors with a toothbrush for the next four weeks."

Kono just nodded, biting her lip and her eyes shining at them both. Steve just glared at Danny over Danny's hand, and Danny thought about whether it was too late to book a flight back to Jersey for him and Grace for the weekend. The ice rinks would be open for the weekend, and his parents would be delighted to stuff them full of lasagna and cannoli.

He looked at Steve. "If I take my hand away, are you going to behave?"

Steve just shook his head.