A Seal for a SEAL

By Cortexikid

A/N: Hi! I wrote this a loong time ago and found it on my hard drive. While I'm a veteran fic-writer, this is my very first for the McDanno fandom (despite being a fan from the very start) excluding a cross-over with my NCIS: LA fic "Life, Lies and Video Surveillance) so yeah...it's a silly little one-shot that I hope you enjoy!

Time-Line: No particular time-line and no spoilers.

Disclaimer: The wonderful Hawaii Five-0 is not mine. I weep.

Warning: FLUFF. I just can't help myself with these two. Oh and pre-Slash. Duh.

"You, my friend, are a goof," Danny shook his head as Steve walked into the kitchen.

"So I've heard," he murmured in reply, shaking his wet-hair out like an unruly dog.

"No, no, this time I mean it Steven, you sir, are the goofiest of the goofs, the King of the Goofs, Mr. Gooferson—"

"Not that I'm not enjoying this goofy rant but do you actually have a point somewhere or are you lost in the goofiness?" McGarrett asked, flashing him a smirk.

"Hilarious. No, stop, you're killing me," the blond grumbled with a roll of his eye.

Steve flashed his partner a quick grin before wiping his brow with the large beach towel. Danny watched his movement meticulously, as the towel ventured to all the wondrous places he wanted to follow with his tongue.

"So, why am I a goof today?"

The words spat Danny from his reverie, his eyes seemingly stuck on the fascinating trail of light hair that began at Steve's chest, travelled down towards his navel and disappeared behind the towel wrapped around his taut waist. Danny could honestly say he has never been more jealous of an inanimate object in his entire life.

The feeling of eyes boring into his skull brought his distracted attention back up to Steve's face to where he was now practically beaming at the blond Detective. Never being happy to be caught in the act of Steve-watching (a fascinating pass-time indeed) Danny squared his shoulders and raised himself to his full height (not that it made much of a difference) and folded his arms across his chest.

"You are a goof Steven, because of that little experiment that's currently baking in your oven," he informed the Navy SEAL, trying desperately not to bite his lip as a droplet of sea-water edged its way down Steve's shoulder to rest on his chest, glaring, taunting Danny with the utmost desire to lick it off and replace it with a biting kiss.

"The gingerbread men?" the Lieutenant Commander asked with an air of innocence that he had no right to have for a man of his stature, age or general badassery.

"Is that what you're calling them?" Danny dead-panned, not bothering to suppress the urge to roll his eyes.

"Well what would you call them?"

"Mini-goofs."

"I'll leave you to explain that to your daughter," Steve murmured, walking in from the lanai and towards the kitchen, sniffing the air appreciatively.

"You do that," Danny muttered, following him closely, making sure that his eyes never ventured any lower than the man's bare back, "I have a good reason to name them after you."

"It was Grace's idea."

"What are you, ten?"

"Ten and a half actually."

"And the half is so important."

"You'd be surprised how much of a difference a half makes."

"And like that you went from being ten to a dirty old man."

"I'm younger than you."

"Yeah, like I said, you're ten! I can only imagine what you must have put your poor parents through. Tarzan re-enactments and G.I Joe worship come to mind."

"Aww Danno, you wound me."

"Takes more than that to wound you, soldier boy."

Steve spun around to throw him a mock-glare before slipping the towel from around his waist and throwing it over Danny's head, effectively ending round one of their banter-sesh. The shorter man peeled the towel off his face, his eyes mere slits, his jaw locked in anger. Little did Steve know, this was just a thinly veiled attempt at hiding his obvious...discomfort as now Steve's tight, low-riding swimming trunks were on display.

The towel he could manage, his imagination may have been driving him crazy but now that he was met with the reality, well, that was just adding insult to injury. Damn that bastard.

"I'm gonna go change, keep an eye on the oven, Grace will kill us if we let anything happen to them," Steve cautioned over his shoulder before bounding up his stairs as if he was on a mission from God. Danny watched him disappear, a warm feeling floating in the vicinity of his chest cavity. The way Steve spoke of Grace always brought a fond smile to his face. It had been another one of those days – just him, Grace and Steve hanging out and having fun on the beach, Steve and Grace swimming in the ocean as Danny watched from his beach towel. His daughter had taken to the sea like a fish and Uncle Steve was her perfect companion, a mixture of light-hearted fun and loving cautiousness. Danny truly couldn't trust anyone more with his monkey.

While he waited, Danny made himself comfortable at the kitchen table. He chuckled to himself as he looked down at the photo he'd taken on his phone not twenty minutes before. It was of the dynamic duo, his monkey and seal, covered from head to toe in flour. Danny had snapped it unawares of either, both preoccupied with the task at hand. Steve had dough on his nose from where Grace had poked him and was in the middle of pulling a silly face as the little girl giggled heartily. It really was a picturesque moment frozen in time. Danny shook his head at that thought, the island really was making him soft (not that he wasn't always where his daughter is concerned.)

With one last grin, the detective pocketed his phone as he heard frantic shuffling coming from upstairs before a high-pitched voice called out.

"Uncle Steve! Uncle Steve! Come on! They're probably ready now!"

"Yeah Gracie, I'm coming, hold on a sec," a muffled reply floated down the stairs to where Danny stood shaking his head in amusement. Before his chuckle could morph into a jovial laugh however, the thundering of footsteps bolted down the stairs and skidded toward him.

His daughter, bold as brass, stood with her hands on her hips, her head cocked to the left – her long brown hair swishing from side to side, waiting impatiently for Steve to join her. True to his word, Steve was barely a second behind her (clad in a black t-shirt and his ever-favourite cargo pants) and together they re-entered the kitchen and made a bee-line for the oven.

Hurriedly, Steve grabbed the pineapple-clad oven mitts off the table and gingerly opened the oven door. Danny and Grace stepped closer, the sweet smell assaulting their noses. Father and daughter watched wide-eyed, their faces looking oddly similar, their smiles synchronised. Steve glanced from the pair down towards his handiwork, his own smile gracing his handsome face as the perfectly shaped, golden gingerbread seals lay on the tray.

After placing them on the table, he chanced a peek at his partner, only to see him smirking and shaking his head, murmuring something under his breath that sounded like "a mini seal for a crazy SEAL" before nodding at him and raising his voice, "see babe? You're a total goof."

A/N: Fluff overload! Ha! Hope you enjoyed! I always loved the idea of Steve and Grace making cookies together as Danny watched on...=]