Hawaii 5-0 fic: Perspectives

[sealie]

Rating: gen
Warning: bigotted POV in one 'chapterette'
Spoilers: none
Disclaimer: writing for fun and not for profit
Beta: Springwoof gave it a looksee, because she is awesome that way.

Comments:
1) British English spelling
2) Sentinel AU fusion in the ‘Uhane universe
3) OC POVs'

'kay this is a little fic that popped into my mind. I'm not 100% sure I want to put it on A03. It works, imo, as short 'chapters'; so I think that i'll extend it through the comments like the WIP BH fic.

Comments

[sealie]

~*~

“Nahele, we’re leaving in forty minutes. You have time for a shower and breakfast. You need to do both,” Steve’s tone was uncompromising.

Nahele pushed in his face into his pillow. What? Comfort enfolded him. The hustle and bustle of the world was so distant outside the boundary of Steve and Danny’s home.

“Nahele?”

“Yes, sir,” Nahele managed. He knew he needed an hour in the morning. He knew that Steve had knocked on his bedroom door twenty minutes ago.

“Seriously, kid. If you don’t have a shower, I’m gonna make Danny follow you into school berating you on your poor life choices and lack of hygiene.”

“What?” Nahele sat up straight. Steve was grinning so brightly that he was practically a silhouette against Nahele’s senses. “You wouldn’t!”

“Do you want to chance it?” Steve outright cackled as he left the room. Sprinkles of laughter wafted in his wake.

Nahele staggered blearily through his morning shower. He didn’t get mornings. Steve was horrendous in the morning. Danny was cool, though. It was the only time the man was a relaxed balm.

Hair a little damp, Nahele picked his way down to the kitchen.

“Mornin’, Kiddo. Heard you coming down – finally.” Danny was setting a plate of eggs and waffles in Nahele’s place.

He had a place.

There was also hot chocolate, not coffee. Danny had detailed opinions on kids drinking coffee, mainly around the effects of caffeine on bones. Nahele simply drank the hot chocolate and didn’t argue. Danny made good hot chocolate with full-fat milk topped with cream, and Nahele could, if he really wanted, get a Kona coffee at school. He didn’t, because he lived with a sentinel who had a snozzle that could detect molecules of caffeine. Nahele kind of thought that chocolate had caffeine in it? Danny ruffled his hair as he sat. “What?”

“Thank you,” Nahele said.

Nahele breathed in Danny's simple pleasure in feeding his family. A bowl of fruit and bottle of maple syrup were pushed in his direction. Worry coloured Danny's aura. While he never broached the topic, he was concerned that Nahele was both a vegetarian and a guide. Meat simply wasn’t something that Nahele could bring himself to eat. Truth to tell, he was a little creeped out that both Danny and Steve revelled in the occasional steak, but he could deal. On one hand, he really didn’t understand how a guide and sentinel could eat the flesh of animals. But he also knew that it wasn’t simply an ethical choice, especially for Steve.

A Steve without fish and shellfish wasn't possible. Basically, Steve got ill, especially if he didn’t eat oily fish. It was kind of odd, but Nahele could taste it on his own skin when Steve was heading to the bad place. Weirdly, steaks also made Steve happy. Honestly, Steve and a steak were a match made in heaven. If his guardian was running a little low, and his demons were hovering around him, sapping his energy, meat buoyed his mood.

Nahele was fairly sure that Danny didn’t need to eat flesh. But he also knew that some war’s battles had to be carefully planned. Grace would be an ally; she was invested in her Danno’s health.

“What’s worrying you, kid?” Danny asked.

“Nothing.” Nahele shovelled maple syrup drenched waffle into his mouth.

“Hmm.” Danny eyed him over the rim of his gianormous coffee mug. “Well, if you want to talk about it, I'm here.”

Nahele nodded mutely, gagged by the biggest mouthful he could get in his mouth. He was the luckiest guide alive. He had Steve and Danny looking out for him. Months -- actually over two years -- on 'Aina had soured his stomach. Never relaxing, because they had always been under surveillance. Mrs. Malone had been terrifying. Then Danny -- proud and obstinate, and not the slightest bit afraid of Mrs. Malone -- had arrived to investigate Akeakamai Iona’s death, and Nahele’s world had changed.

A sentinel. A sentinel who said that he didn’t want a guide, even as his guide – tall and proud, stood beside him prodding and teasing him to eat. And then a flicker and the guide had disappeared from Nahele’s inner sight, as if never one of the ‘Uhane. No brightness; only a haole.

He had stared, along with his fellow students, at the pair eating their carefully, nutritionally prepared lunch.

Then, next thing that he knew was that he was running from the table, stampeding with his friends, impelled somehow to leave.

Nahele had stopped dead outside the dining hall.

The guide had made him run. He could also compel!

Nahele wasn’t alone.

He wasn’t unique.

Thank Kane and Kanaloa.

“Kiddo, food is better in your mouth,” Danny advised. Making a great show, Danny consulted his watch. “As our militarily-conditioned associate will state, T-minus three. I might have that wrong, though.”

Nahele shovelled faster.

“Try not to choke yourself to death,” Danny advised. “Did you do your homework and pack your stuff last night?”

Nahele nodded. He jerked his head into the living room. His backpack was by the front door, ready to be snatched up as he bolted out the door on Steve’s heels. Danny, Nahele knew, was aware of this, because Steve was pretty insistent about ‘proper preparation’ under all circumstances. It was just the way their militarily-conditioned associate rolled.

Nahele didn’t mind, because otherwise he would be running out the door naked instead of wearing his school uniform.

Danny grabbed a ceramic bottle of cold water from the fridge, and sauntered into the front room to store it in Nahele’s backpack.

Nahele glanced at the kitchen clock. Time. He washed down the last mouthful of eggs with a glug of hot chocolate.

“‘Hele?” Steve called. “Time to get you to school.”

Nahele quickly dashed water over the plate and rinsed out the mug and set them on the draining board.

“I’ll see you in the office, Babe,” Danny was saying.

Standing by the open front door, Steve was leaning over, smacking an affectionate kiss on Danny’s lips. Lifting his chin to meet his guide one-on-one, Danny curled a hand around Steve’s neck, pulling him closer for a more intimate, tender kiss.

They stood in the doorway, their love a tangible barrier from the great, wild world outside their home.

Nahele toted his backpack over one shoulder and waited patiently.

And maybe-definitely enjoyed basking in the warmth of their love.

~*~

[saphirablue]

OMG. This is so adorable and heartwarming and just wonderful. <3