“Wait!" Danny stopped running and rested his hands on his knees. "Hold... on... just...”

“Come on Danno," Kai said, jogging around Danny in a circle, he stopped and started running the circle backwards. "We’re almost done!”

“Will you stop that!” Danny growled, reaching to make a grab for him.

Kai easily evaded it, sidestepping with a chuckle.

“You look like some crazy animal," Danny huffed, "running around in circles.”

Kai stopped running and stared at Danny.

“Some crazy animal?” He repeated it slowly. “I mean, your comebacks aren’t always that great, but you usually put in a bit more effort…”

“Shut up, I’m tired.” Danny shot back, huffing as he stood up, resting his arms over his head for easier breathing.

“What happened to ‘I chase bad guys around, I’m good’?” Kai mocked, imitating Danny, hand gestures and all.

“I hate you. And I hate running.”

“Who hates running!” Kai said, looking genuinely shocked.

“I do. I just said I did!” Danny said shooting Kai a death stare because who in their right mind liked running? Well, besides Elena of course.

“It was a rhetorical question, Daniel.”

“You're a rhetorical question!” Danny quickly shot back.

Kai smirked, his eyebrows quirked up, his whole face screaming: Really?

Danny rolled his eyes, so his comebacks weren't A game right now, who could blame him? He was tired and sweaty.

“Alright, come on you caught your breath. We’re literally just around the corner.”

Danny groaned as Kai started jogging backward away from him. He took in another deep breath and ran after him.

“So,” Danny asked, taking sips from the water Kai had given him, “Do the kids know that they signed on to some crazy extensive training boot camp or…” Danny trailed off, eyeing Kai, not surprised at all by the smile he saw.

This guy's always smiling, Danny thought.

"C'mon," Kai said, leading Danny back towards his cabin.

Danny wasn't sure why he followed without a second thought. He figured he was probably too tired from the run.

“So," Kai said as they walked, "Camp 50 isn’t just kids, though that's a big portion of camp. But, we've got things for all age. Our main business during the school year is from companies— from half hour sessions to week long retreats."

Danny nodded, couldn't help but feel a little impressed by the camp. By the fact that Kai was running all that.

He tried his best to keep up with Kai as he gave him an overview of the camp.

Danny nodded along, then realized they were passing Kai’s cabin. He'd assumed that had been where they were going.

He furrowed his brows as they kept walking, the trees surrounding them getting a little bit thicker and the trail inclining more.

Kai explained more about the camp and the tracks they offered for their summer campers.

“They vary depending on our counselors," he said, "The usual tracks we have are Dance, Theater, Endurance, Aquatics, Art, and Survival,” he pointed at himself, a huge grin on his face.

"Wait, wait, wait." Danny put his hand out to stop Kai from walking.

His hand landed on Kai's chest. Kai looked down at it.

"So..." Danny said, trying to wrap his head around it, "you're telling me, my sweet little Elena, who still sleeps with all of her stuffed animals and uses a nightlight, actually chose to participate in your crazy death trap of a track?"

"Yeah," Kai nodded, looking up from Danny's hand on him. "She was also in the art one, with Malia."

"She hasn't mentioned any art activities." Danny's brows furrowed. "It's all been Kai did this, Kai did that, Kai threw some scary pointy object that shouldn’t be around kids, Kai showed us how to- insert something incredibly dangerous!" He said, throwing the hand that had been on Kai's chest into the air, nearly smacking Kai's face in the process.

Kai was able to move out of the way.

"Well," He said, giving Danny a smug smile before continuing his trek up the hill, "that's probably because she liked my track the best!”

“Why," Danny said, scrambling after Kai again, "would my sweet little monkey choose your track anyways? And why didn’t you tell me this before?”

Kai shrugged, glancing over at Danny, “I thought you knew.”

He slowed his pace a little for Danny's sake.

“Yeah well, you thought I knew about the waivers and stuff too,” Danny said, “stop assuming I know things!”

Kai smirked, “okay, from now on I’ll assume you know nothing.”

Danny rolled his eyes, “alright wise guy.”

“By the way, I think she joined my track because of you.”

Danny scrunched his face. “Hm?”

“Well,” Kai stopped walking and turned to look at Danny. He took in a deep breath and stared at him.

Danny began to feel self-conscious as Kai’s brown eyes bore into him in that unexpected silent moment.

He suddenly felt very aware of how sweaty he was, how unkempt his hair must look.

Holding Kai’s gaze, he couldn’t help but notice how nice Kai looked.

He wasn't sure how else to word it.

Just that Kai didn't look the way Danny felt, all gross and sticky. 

Kai looked like he belonged there, in nature, like it was his element. He was all freckles and dimples and big grin, his reddish brown curls looking extra vibrant and bouncy in the sun’s rays, his dark eyes reflecting the world around him, the green and brown from the trees, gold from the sun, blue from the sky.

It made Danny want to look around, experience the forest from Kai's point of view.

“I think..." Kai finally said, refocusing Danny's train of thought, he blinked, zoning back into the conversation. “Like I said, she talked about you a lot. Said you were one of the bravest people she knew. I think she joined because she wanted to learn how to be brave like you.”

Danny's chest swelled and his throat tightened, he managed to give Kai a soft smile before averting his eyes.

He figured it probably had more to do with Elena wanting to be like the characters in her favorite book. But he really liked Kai’s theory too.

When he looked back up at Kai, Kai was watching him, smiling.

It almost made Danny feel self-conscious again, but before he had a chance to, Kai turned around and was walking again.

Danny followed.

"Hey," he called out, "where are we going? We passed your cabin like ten minutes ago!"

"It's this clearing right above the hill." Kai said, pointing ahead, "It gives you a perfect view of camp and the island. It's one of my favorite places. You'll love it, totally worth the hike."

"Woah. Woah. Woah. A hike?" Danny skidded to a halt again. "Who said anything about a hike? A run, a 'short' 1.5 mile run is what I agreed to—well more like, was coerced into."

Kai kept walking.

"You said nothing about a hike Kalani!" Danny called out, "Kai stop—where are you—I'm not going!"

Danny crossed his arms and stared at Kai's back as it got further and further away.

"Wait-Kai- Wait for me!" Danny jogged to catch up to Kai, ignoring the smug grin that appeared on Kai's face when he caught up to him.

"Kai Kalani," Danny huffed out again after a few more minutes, "how much further up is this place? I don't know if I can keep climbing.”

"‘A’ohe Pu’u Ki’eki’e Ke Ho’a’o ‘Ia E Pi’i" Kai said, continuing up.

"No te entiendo wey," Danny said, then added, "we aren't all trained super seals okay? Please remember us normal humans don't have your animal like endurance—"

Danny was now struggling to keep up with Kai as the hill kept inclining.

"And speed, or goat-like balance," he added as he watched Kai jog up some rocks.

Kai turned to face him and extended his hand.

Under his breath, Danny mumbled, “not a centaur but maybe he’s a satyr...”

He reached up and took Kai's hand, using it to help pull himself up. He focused his attention on his footing and walked quietly for a moment, silently thankful for Kai's firm and steadying grip.

"Besides, aren't you the camp director?" Danny said, his eyes still watching where he was going. "I mean when is the campfire? You can't miss that. We should just go back."

"That's not for another couple of hours. We'll be back in time Danno, don't worry." Kai assured him with a radiant smile on his face.

Danny continued his hike up, still firmly gripping Kai's hand and, for a moment, he considered turning around and dragging Kai back down with him.

But he was too tired to put up with the fight Super SEAL Kai would undoubtedly give.

A few minutes after they got through the rocky terrain, Danny felt the nice warmth that had been wrapping his hand hesitantly subdue and then leave altogether.

Oh, right... Danny looked down in time to see Kai slowly pull his hand away from his.

He'd been holding Kai's hand, he remembered, flustered as he pulled his hand away too.

"Um," Danny tried to remember what he had been arguing a few minutes before.

"Uh..." Kai glanced at him for a second, then looked back up the hill. "It's a minute more Danno."

Translations

‘A’ohe Pu’u Ki’eki’e Ke Ho’a’o ‘Ia E Pi’i - No cliff is so tall it cannot be climbed - Hawaiian proverb

No te entiendo wey - I can't understand you dude - Spanish