Mcdanno, #39. Long distance relationship??
Thank you for giving me a prompt!! :D
This story takes place in the âChosenâ universe, but you neednât have read that to understand this little piece. Hope thatâs okay
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Steve scrambles for the phone, jumping over the coffee table and almost landing on one of Charlieâs Lego structures.
âYes, hello,â he pants into the receiver, as he plops down into the couch, his leg already sore from the exertion. âHello?â
The line crackles, followed by, âhey, babe.â
Steve sits up, never minding his cramping leg. âDanno! How are you?â
âBetter now that Iâve got a hold of you.â
âAwww, you really think that sounds romantic, donât you? I pity your game.â
âOi, I have ten minutes to use the phone, you sure you want to use it up insulting me?â
âMaybe?â
âYeah, kinky, but, how about not.â Steve pouts in response, and Danny continues, âtell me, how are you? How are things? The leg? The kids? My parents? Did Nahele find his lucky socks, did we bring them from Hawaii? How aboutâ
Steve blinks, adjusting to the change of pace. This is not how he envisioned a long-distance relationship with Danny.
âOkay, hold your horses there, more conversation, less interrogation, okay? The kids are fine, or as fine as they can be, your parents are lovely as usual, and absolutely delighted to have the kids around.â
Danny snorts (and it does not sound pretty over the phone).
âYouâve been dumping them with my Ma every week, huh?â
Steve takes a beat before answering, âdumping sounds harsh, itâs more likeâŚâ
âSorry, giving them the opportunity to enjoy the kids on a semi-regular basis.â
âYeah,â he nods to himself, âmuch more dignified, that works.â
Danny snorts again. Steve can almost see him shaking his head.
âBut in all seriousness, Steve, howâs the leg?â
âItâs fine, Danno, much better than last time we saw each other. Iâve been doing PT and everything.â Steve strokes his thigh as he talks, remembering how it used to be less than a year ago. âToday I walked all the way from the kidsâ school to your parentsâ house.â Steve wiggles his eyebrows satisfied with his accomplishment.
âOh, wow, thatâs actually a lot more than I expected,â Danny says, a huge smile in his voice. âCongrats for you.â
âThank you.â Steve answers, satisfied smile of his own dangling from his lips. âSo, uhm, howâs your thing going, you adjusting to training well?â
âUuuuh, yeah, people are, you know, a bunch of average joes for the most part, and a good part of them wash out in the first week, so Iâm holding my ground, comparatively Iâm okay.â
Oh, thatâs code speak for I hate it, Steven, I hate it so much.
âDoes that mean youâre objectively a klutz and your drill sergeant hates you?â
âHa-ha, very funny. Naah, Iâm fine, Iâm five-oh, we know how to keep it cool and interesting, you know?â
âRiiiight, you bored out of your mind yet?â
âMaybe.â Steve can sense the way Danny shrugs only one shoulder and finds it endearing.
Next to the telephone, thereâs a whole wall of salvaged pictures in mismatched frames. Thereâs a handful of people there heâll never get to see again, whose voice heâll never hear again. Some of them were gone way before They came, but some other, he just couldnât save.
Thereâs a shift all around him, reality sets in, the strangeness of it. Danny deployed, Steve pining for his boyfriend, unable to help, still convalescent from his various wounds.
âDid they test you already?â Steve blurts out, unable to rein it all in, profoundly aware of how these things go, it is after all what he does as a âhobbyâ since Danny went; get as much information as he can on the situation. He couldnât pretend the test wasnât happening at some point, all people who present the gene and are clearly not wash-outs, are tested. Danny was bound to get tested as soon as the alliance could get their hands on him. His background as a LEO is a huge asset that canât go ignored.
Thereâs a small fraction of a second where the line goes silent, and then it connects again.
âYeah, yeah, no, sure, I mean, yeah. I got tested. A bunch of us did.â
Steve frowns, thatâs Danny deflection 101.
âHow was it?â
One more time, the line goes silent for less than a second.
âHmm, uhmm, babe, look, Iâm pretty sure this callâs been monitored and as you know we canât really discuss⌠the process: itâs classified.â
Steve huffs. He hates that ultimately, he canât truly know, because heâs not there.
âSucks been told that, huh?â Steve rolls his eyes, trust Danny to keep grudges alive
for the better part of a decade. âCanât believe it took a major world-wide disaster to get you back on that one.â Danny tries to keep it light, but even before he says it, Steve knows whatever Danny comments will fall flat.
Thereâs a short silence where neither of them talks, and Steve can hear the hub dub behind Dannyâwherever he is. It sounds familiar in a disorienting way.
On more the one occasion he had told someone from outside to not purposefully make it hard on his team guys. His stomach clenches, and Steve takes a deep breath as he racks his brain for safe topics to talk about.
âHow about the food? We can talk about that, right?â He exhales after the last word, ordering his body to relax.
Danny clicks his tongue. He knows what Steveâs up to, and heâs game.
âOh, yes, we can! I donât know whatâs the deal with these guys, one week everything is delicious and hearty, makes you want to go for seconds and thirds, some seasoning has been so inspired it I use my free time trying to figure out the recipes.â
A distant memory flashes behind Steveâs eyes, Danny cooking back in Pikoii street, barefoot and carefree. Steve sniffs against his will and has to cover his mouth with the back of his hand as to not disturb Danny.
âAnd then for a few days or a whole week, bland crap, gruel, Steven, veritable gruelâmakes me want to go in an involuntary diet. Yuck.â
Steve swallows thickly. âSounds like regular military experience if you ask me, in fact, above regular, all I ate was gruel for the first four years of my service.â
âNu-uh! Impossible, I know from a good source you were happy to eat rations in the comfort of your own home when good steak was readily available.â
Steve swallows again, tears spilling over his hands.
âIt was Italian food actually,â he croaks.
âEven worse, babe, youâre really not helping your case.â
âWhat can I say, I get nostalgic sometimes.â He trips mentally on the nostalgia and a sob slips past his tight emotional control.
Danny sighs. Heartbroken as well.
âBabe, babe, Steve. Iâm sorry, please donât cry. Iâm sorry.â
âNothing to be sorry about,â he sniffs.
âI know I just meanâŚâ
âI know, Iâm sorry too.â
âLook, I donât mean to beat you while youâre downâŚâ Danny trails off, but Steve can connect the dots.
âBasic training is extending then? You gonna be a specialist now?â
âUgh, youâre killing me Steven. Itâs claâno, you know what, fuck this shit, whoever is out there screening my calls, you listen to me you son of a bitch,â Danny yell-whispers to the third party on the line. âIâm talking with my boyfriend right now, who I would have married if not for the giant clusterfuck we are all living through right now, heâs the father of my children and my best friend, so Iâll tell him whatever the fuck I want, you censor this call and I swear Iâll hunt you down and bash your head in, you hear me?!â
Steve chuckles wetly, this is the hothead he loves.
There's a soft clicking sound in the background. It sounds definitive. So, he chooses to believe the censorâs gone.
âYou would have married me, huh?â
âOf course.â
âWhat if I said no.â
âPfft, please, you were a sure thing.â Steve wants to protest, but Danny keeps talking
over him. âLook, now that the censor is gone. Thereâs something Iâve been meaning to tell you.â
âWhat?â Steve rushes to ask, fearing the worst.
âI love you.â
âI love you too. What else?â
âI miss you.â
âI miss you more. What else?â
âI already made it through basic and Iâm being fast-tracked to pilot.â
Even though he suspected, having confirmation is like a punch to the lungs. No wonder the censor left, a pilot has different privileges, a pilot scares people away, even if theyâre being hoisted as the only chance they have left.
âSteve, you there?â
âYouâve never been one to pull your punches.â
âNo, I havenât. Which is why, once Iâm done with that Iâll be coming home for a whole month, okay?â Danny pleads, âI got special leave. Iâll be home for Christmas, okay?â
For Steve, itâs like the worldâs ending all over again. The future path folding in on itself in front of him, rearranging into a yawning void made of the fearful and the unknown.
Christmas.
Christmas is only two months away. He can foresee his life up until Christmas. He can push through to that.
âChristmas it is.â He sniffles again.
âYeah, Christmas. Look, I still have about five minutes on the line, why donât you tell me about the kids, they adjusting well?â
More tears run down his face, but he talks. About homework, about tantrums, about movie nights, about burnt popcorn, about the kids begging to get a dog, about shortages of chocolate and coffee, about going insane with the bickering and the meaningless fights, about never doing so much laundry in his life, the herb garden Charlie and Nahele are doing together as a school project, Graceâs dissertation and newfound interest in nursing. Steve talks and talks, enough to carry Danny home, safe and sound, only two months away.
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*beams* Iâve been wanting to expand this little verse forever, thank you again! :D












