#im tired so im not even sure how co herent is this

[teruel-a-witch]

that one time steve and danny took a sidebar at a crime scene for some eye-sex and emotional bonding

nbd, just eye-humping each other next to a bunch of barrels filled with corpses, it being a dumping ground for yakuza and all, like normal people.

danny asks steve how things are going with his mother but that doesn't stop him from checking him out in the process, multitasking is a skill.

he's particularly good at doing it when steve is distracted ↓

↑in case we forget, mcgarrett doesn't have monopoly on heart eyes.

only steve and danny can have unparalleled levels of romantic tension while standing at a crime scene filled with dead bodies and discussing the antics of steve's wayward spy mother.

steve tells danny about doris breaking into the fbi database, but danny astutely asks him if steve is more upset about that or the fact that she is in trouble, because he knows his man and his big heart.

steve is definitely conflicted because he knows he should be less forgiving of doris but he can't help it, his need to fix things.

'look, look, it's none of my business, alright? but whatever she did, so what? she's your mother, she's in trouble and you gotta help her, right?'

doesn't matter what he personally thinks about doris, danny knows steve, so he gives him approval to do what he wanted to do, aka help his mother, no matter what she has done. sure he could have preserved his dignity or whatever but danny knows if steve doesn't help her and something bad happens he will never forgive himself, so he takes pressure off of steve/absolves him of his doubt.

danny essentially plays a function of a sin-eater for steve in this instance which prompts him to give danny one of the most intense and longest looks ever, because he cannot adequately put everything he's feeling into words.

steve: danny is too good for this world and precious and boy do I love him so much but I can never tell him so I'm just gonna bore holes in the fabric of time with my gaze. who cares about the barrels with corpses anyway?