(Untitled)

[nothingtomiss]

Some days are better than others. He's been spending a lot of time alone, no humvee to lie under, but he's been at the hut that he shared with Nate whent hey were together, methodically cleaning things out and stowing things away. He's putting their life together away because, as far as he can see, there's no other way to go on. He's got Terry

Comments

[haolehothead]

At first, well, at first it's just Danny's eyes playing tricks on him. He figures it out soon enough and can't help the disappointment that sits in his stomach in knowing it's not one of Five-O, it's just someone else. Someone he's never met. "Is this a thing?" Danny calls out to the guy. "Or is this like, some kind of art? Half-Naked Man Reads in Grass. I have seen New Art, I could sell you for a lot of money," Danny advises, very seriously.

[nothingtomiss]

"...It's not a thing and it isn't art," says Brad, craning his neck to look over his shoulder, eyebrows raised. "It's just a book. I've got a shirt I could put on if I'm making you uncomfortable, man."

His face is straight but, maybe, he's trying to smile.

[haolehothead]

"Nah, no, it's fine," Danny dismisses, even though there's just something about this whole situation that feels strangely comfortable and familiar. "Seriously, this happens to me more often than you think. Not the book part in the grass, but..hey, I'm good, I'm fine," he promised, taking a couple steps closer because yelling all this would be even more awkward.

[nothingtomiss]

"I feel much better knowing that," says Brad, deadpan. He pushes up to sitting, leaving Nate's book in the grass and reaches for his shirt, anyway. "I haven't seen you around," he says.

He's Recon.
He notices everything, eventually.

[haolehothead]

"Me? No, I'm new," Danny assures him and wanders closer, extending a hand as he leans down, his tie falling forward. "Danny Williams. New guy. I uh, I applied? I applied for a badge with the precinct here, but apparently all I gotta do is go through training, but they won't give me a new guy badge, despite how very nicely I asked."

[nothingtomiss]

Cop. Brad really hasn't got a leg to stand on: he's worn dog-tags since the first day that he found himself here. Some things, he figures, would be easier to let go of than others.

He offers his hand.

"Good to meet you, Danny Williams. Brad Colbert. Where were you a cop?"

[haolehothead]

He gives a rueful smile, one that says there's a story and after a heavy grimace, he finally decides he's gonna be honest. "Originally? When life was good and all was blissful? I was stationed in Jersey," he says with an expansive gesture to the great wide beyond. "And yet. And yet, my ex-wife has a thing for hating me and so recently, I was working on a task force in Hawaii," he says, like he's been working out of the Arctic and not paradise.

[nothingtomiss]

"I've spent some time in Hawaii. Surfing's good," says Brad, with a little smile. The USMC could fuck a lot of things up but, before the island, Brad had actually been pretty happy wtih his lot in life. There wasn't much more than he could have asked for.

"I was stationed at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, but I was in Iraq before I arrived here."

[haolehothead]

Danny's gaze is getting narrower by the second, like he's about to make a real enemy. "I am not a surfer. I am not any kind of surfing man. I think that the ocean has a vendetta against sane people who fear sharks. Who are normal, who have a sane sense of balance," he says, gesturing to his feet.

Danny looks the guy over, arching his brow as little pieces start to call attention to similarities. "You uh, you do the 'Stan at all?" Oh god, he feels ridiculous calling it that. Who is he, anyway, Nick?

[nothingtomiss]

Brad's been surfing almost since he could walk; he loves the ocean but he's not about to get protective of it. He's pretty sure the ocean can look after himself. He shrugs it off and raises both eyebrows.

"The what?"

[haolehothead]

Danny practically giggles with insane relief. "Oh good, not everyone uses that douchebag phrase," he says with heavy complaint, rolling his eyes. "This guy I met once, he used to call Afghanistan..." Danny trails off, letting his hands do the talking for him. Emphatically. With great detail. "Long story short, that guy was an asshole."

[nothingtomiss]

"I'm a Recon Marine. I am possessed of a proud warrior spirit," says Brad, almost primly. He closes his eyes and takes a restorative breath. "And no. I do not use that...douchebag phrase."

He looks up.

"But I did serve there."

[haolehothead]

"A proud warrior spirit, huh?" Danny's smiling, but it's not teasing or anything and it's not to mock the guy. It's just...fond. It's fond because he knows a couple guys who have got that going for them and it's served them well. "You come right from there to here?"

[nothingtomiss]

"Yeah," says Brad, and Danny can't know that this makes Brad think about Nate so he just keeps on smiling. "Straight off the street in Baghdad. With some live ordinance."

[haolehothead]

"Yeah?" Danny lets out a huff of a breath. "Shit, anyone get hurt in that?" The last time he saw live ordinance, it had been strapped around his buddy's neck and memories like that keep him pretty shaken up when it comes to bombs.

[nothingtomiss]

"No," says Brad, almost looking afronted that it's even being suggested, like it's a question of his skill. "Safely peformed a controlled-det down on the beach."