A/N: I have a new summer project to tell you about! Last year I got into a double story set of vignettes. After 400 short song vignettes written over the course of six or so months, I've decided to put the songs of our lives to rest, and start something new. With the lack of inspiration I was feeling lately my friend bought me a journal and in that journal is 642 prompts. At the sight of the journal my mind went crazy and right away I renamed it. It is now Danny's 642 things to rant about. Here are the first ten.
I invite anyone who is a writer or a reader to take any of the prompts and write their own stories. They don't have to be Five-O, as mine are, but hopefully if you are feeling any writer's block these prompts might help you out.
Happy summer everyone!
Prompts 1 – 10:
I thought, that what better place to start but a return to Danny and Steve's beginnings; their first meeting and the rants I am sure will accompany them throughout their partnership.
What can happen in a second?
"My entire world changed because of you!" Danny yelled as he flailed his arms and Steve sat by calmly driving through the streets of Honolulu; way too fast for Danny's liking.
"And you love me for it!" Steve smiled and fueled the fire with his mocking tone.
"No, no I do not love you for pulling me into this crazy, insane, navy saturated world of high speed car chases and mad scientist, criminal masterminds!" Danny yelled, "I should have known things would go all wrong when you wouldn't leave the crime scene when I ordered you to. I should have run myself the moment I saw your navy credentials. I should have just peaced out and my life could have continued on in a peaceful manner, but no, I had to get involved with the likes of you!"
"You were a homicide detective before you met me. Minus the naval influence, how is this any different from that?" Steve asked with a laugh.
"Oh it is completely different!"
"Enlighten me Daniel, I'm just dying to know how this is completely different from that moment; right now, tell me!" Steve stated sarcastically as he shook his head and took another very tight, very sharp corn at break neck speeds causing Danny to hold onto to the 'holy shit handle' for dear life.
"Whoa, stop right there Steven!" Danny shouted.
"Because you know this isn't any different?" Steve asked with victory on his tone.
"No!" Danny yelled, "Because your suspect just bailed from that car and took off into that park!" Danny stated as he whipped his head around trying to keep eyes on the fugitive.
"Shit!" Steve yelled and slammed on the brakes.
Before the car had come to a complete stop, Danny was out, hit the ground running and was making up ground on the suspect. Moments later Steve had caught up and Danny had tackled the suspect, cuffed him and was brushing at the grass stain that had appeared on his light blue, very business looking, button down shirt.
"This, in this moment right now, is completely different from my past life because before I met you I did all my own driving and had a way cheaper dry-cleaning bill!" Danny stated angrily and pulled the fugitive to his feet. "I also would have never tackled a suspect like that because that's not how civilized people behave on the mainland, but I learned it from you, and clearly you can't keep up with me now." Danny added with a smirk, "now take your fugitive and book 'em McGarrett, and give me back my keys!"
Danny's first Thanksgiving in Hawaii wasn't exactly what he expected.
The worst Thanksgiving dish you ever had.
"What the hell is that?" Danny asked as he placed a beautifully prepared roasted Turkey, with all the trimmings, down on the counter at Steve's and eyed an extremely questionable looking dish that sat among the more traditional Thanksgiving fair.
"That is Poke," Steve answered.
Danny stared at him with a look that screamed 'what the fuck?'
"You said you'd handle the traditional and I could deal with the non-traditional, so I made Poke!" Steve added after Danny didn't respond.
"I meant non-traditional like smoked salmon or avocado salad, not something that some sea bird threw up all over your back yard!"
"I'll have you know that Poke is a very traditional Hawaiian delicacy."
"And I'll have you know that you currently hold the title of the person who brought the worst Thanksgiving dish ever. Well done, McGarrett, well done." Danny sighed and walked away to join his other friends.
I am Danny in this scene…
A houseplant is dying. Tell it why it needs to live.
"Seriously plant? What the hell is wrong with you? Live, god damnit, live!" Danny stated to the drooping, wilted plant on the corner of his desk. "At least till Friday, you have to live at least till Friday!"
"What's the problem little buddy?" Steve asked as he walked into Danny's office.
"This stupid plant is dying and I've watered it and put it in the sun. I've even talked to it, but the goddamn thing is still dying!"
"And why is it so important that the plant live?" Steve asked with a smirk.
"Grace got it for me for Father's Day and she's coming to check on it on Friday!"
"Father's Day was less then a week ago. How did you manage to kill it already?" Steve asked.
"How the hell should I know? Why don't you ask the plant?"
"Danno, how often are you watering this plant?" Steve asked with a smirk.
"Every day!" Danny stated about ready to pull out his hair.
"Well there's your problem. This is a cactus Danny, you're drowning it."
"I swear to god, I'll show you drowning!" Danny stated angrily at the plant as he started to sulk and fell into his desk chair.
"There, there little cactus, Uncle Steve will take care of you. Mean old Danno just doesn't know anything!" Steve stated mockingly and removed the plant from the corner of Danny's desk.
"Hey, where are you going with that?" Danny asked as he sprang forward but was too slow for Steve.
"I'm going to set it in my window and let it dry out. By Friday it will be as good as new and then Grace will think you have a green thumb when really you don't. You're welcome." Steve winked and left Danny's office.
"Stupid freakin plant…stupid freakin McGarrett," Danny huffed and went back to his paper work.
Oh Facebook…you cause so much trouble and controversy sometimes.
Write Facebook status updates for the year 2017.
"Hey Danny, what's brought on aneurism face?" Steve asked as he walked into the detective's office and sat down before the desk.
Danny couldn't answer, he simply swiveled his desktop computer screen so it faced McGarrett.
"Why are you creeping Grace's Facebook page?" Steve asked. "Don't you have better things to be doing on company time? She's going to kill you."
"Read her status for last night; a school night." Danny stated ignoring Steve's other comments.
"'Went to the movies with Tommy, Bradley and Kole. Had a great time! Avengers was amazing!'" Steve read aloud. "What's the problem? So she went to the movies on a school night. I've heard that Avengers is amazing." Steve stated. "We should go some time."
"Yes, I'm mad about the movie on a school night but what I really want to know is, who the hell are Tommy, Bradley and Kole? Please tell me that some hippy parents are naming their daughters after men to prove some feminist point." Danny stated as the flailing of his hands started.
"Oh calm down," Steve sighed. "Grace is allowed to have boy friends."
"No she is not!" Danny yelled. "That is my baby girl you are talking about so tread lightly McGarrett. This week her status is the movies. Next week it will be 'went out with Jimmy, he's in high school' and by the time she's 15, in five years, it will be 'made out with Tommy, Bradley and Kole, it was great' or 'don't tell dad but I went all the way with Jimmy' or God forbid, 'oh shit I'm pregnant!'" Danny's tone got louder and louder with every possible Facebook status.
"Danny, dude, calm down!" Steve stated feeling the tension. "Grace is smarter then that."
"Then my Facebook stated will be something along the lines of 'Going away for 25 to life for the murder of the little shit that impregnated my 15 year old daughter. Watch out for her uncle Steve, he's coming for you next!'" Danny sarcastically ranted as he began pacing.
"You have Facebook?" Steve asked more shocked by that then Danny's overreaction.
"That's all you got out of that?" Danny yelled. "I have to change my current status to 'Steven J. McGarrett is a moron!'"
"Danny, Grace is going to be fine. Clearly her mother didn't have a problem with her going to the movies, so you shouldn't either…unless it was Stan that said she could go and Rachel didn't know, then you can be pissed off," Steve sighed and stood. "And if you say anything about me, without my permission, on your Facebook, I will have you charged with slander." He added and shut the door before Danny could yell at him again.
Danny is more likely to be a Trekkie rather then an astronaut.
You are an astronaut. Describe your perfect day.
"You've been awfully quiet all afternoon," Chin commented as he and Danny sat together in Chin's vehicle on their stakeout.
"I'm quiet because I'm bored out of my mind," Danny sighed. "How long do we have to wait for Super SEAL to give us a 'sign' to move in? Oh but wait, he didn't tell us what the sign would be or give us a hazard word so we have no freakin clue if he's okay or not."
"I can here you, you moron," Steve whispered into his concealed microphone. "I'm fine."
"Shut up!" Danny stated.
"Is that really what had you so quiet or did that just spew out because I had to open my mouth and ask you a question." Chin asked contemplatively and sarcastically all at the same time.
"Before I opened my mouth I was day dreaming about being an astronaut or anything other then a cop on a stakeout."
"An astronaut, really?" Chin laughed.
"Yes, I think it might be the perfect thing, and place, for me. Lots of space, literally and figuratively speaking, I could rant and no one would care. It would be quiet without any threats of being blown up except if an asteroid that comes barreling toward my space craft and I could fire the lasers to stop that from happening. I could be like Captain Kirk, and the Enterprise would be my playground, with no McGarrett's allowed because it would be an air force vessel, not a navy vessel. It would be the perfect world!"
"I'd still make it onto the Enterprise," Steve stated from somewhere that Danny and Chin couldn't see him.
"Shut up," Danny stated.
"You wouldn't do well as an astronaut." Chin commented.
"Why not?" Danny asked.
"Because you have to live in a very confined space and you don't do well with confinement. The shuttles now are not like the Enterprise, there are no lasers, and you would be with multiple other people who would complain about your ranting unless they strapped you into your suit and sent you on a space walk all by yourself. Also, its months and months in a confined space and you can't handle this stakeout." Chin explained.
"True," Danny sighed. "How about a nuclear physicist in a lab working with particles every day; still no talking back and I would be making the bombs that men like Steve drop on people!"
"Bombs are a last resort Daniel," Steve stated.
"Shut up!" Danny ordered.
"Still a tiny space and you'd be more likely to die in an explosion." Chin reasoned.
"Hmm, you're right, how about a cave man?"
"You hate the wild."
"A doctor?"
"You have a hard enough time on this job when you can't save someone. What would you do if you lost your patients?"
"Dentist?"
"Were you aware that Dentists have one of the highest suicide rates per capita?" Chin asked.
"I could be a statistician," Danny laughed.
"That's my job," Chin chuckled.
"Ok so being a cop really might be the perfect job for me."
"Yup, I'd say so and you're good at it, so I don't see why you'd want to change." Chin smiled. "Oh, look, it's McGarrett." He added and pointed across the lot to the building they had been surveying.
"Its about time, we have other work we could be doing." Danny stated, "Warp speed Mr. Scott."
"Wouldn't I be Sulu?" Chin asked with a laugh.
"Oh, right, and Steve would be the doctor," Danny winked.
"Why would I be the doctor?" Steve asked as he peeked in the vehicle.
"Because I said so, now get in the car!" Danny ordered.
"Whoa, who died and made you Captain America?" Steve asked and jumped into the back seat.
"Captain Kirk," Chin corrected.
When I first read this prompt it brought me back to another little vignette I wrote called Meanwhile and then simplyn2deep commented that a follow up about Steve's search for the Marquis was needed. Here is that follow up.
Tell a story that begins with a ransom note.
"I swear to god, Danny, I'll kill you!" Steve stated as he angrily burst through the HQ doors and stomped across the room toward his friends and his smirking partner.
"What's got your knickers in a twist Steven?" Danny asked as Kono and Chin stared on in shock and awe.
"Give me back my car!" Steve yelled and slammed a folded piece of paper onto the computer table.
"You must meet the demands of the ransom note and then you'll get the Marquis back."
"This ransom note is nothing more then a rehashing of all of your ranting." Steve stated angrily.
"Give back the Camaro keys; stop telling me that I'm the back up; no more Guantanamo antics…" Kono read the list of Danny's demands.
"Sounds reasonable," Chin smirked.
"Don't encourage him!" Steve stated and continued his pacing.
"I'm going to assume you are frustrated because you thought a Haole like me couldn't possibly hide a vehicle the size of that beast on an island you grew up on. Your search, I believe has come up with nothing; hit a reef so to speak." Danny stated mockingly.
"Where did you hide my father's car?" Steve yelled.
"Patients my dear Watson," Danny laughed.
"I'm through with you," Steve huffed.
"Now, now, don't give up old chap." Danny smiled. "You've been extremely close on several occasions."
"This isn't a game!"
"Oh but it is or perhaps a rather glorious farce. Either way I will prove my point to you."
Kono and Chin both smirked.
"Alright, I get it, you are a far better detective then I am." Steve stated as he threw his arms up in defeat." Is that what you wanted? I give up!"
"Oh Steven, that is not what I wanted!" Danny sighed and threw his arms up in frustration.
"Then what; tell me what you want!" Steve asked just as frustrated as Danny.
"I wanted you to learn the frustrations and ramifications of leaving bloody notes before disappearing rather then just telling me your god forsaken suicide plans." Danny yelled angrily.
"This is about the dear Danno note?" Steve asked in shock, "I thought you'd like that."
"No, no, Steven, I do not like receiving notes and no follow up phone calls. I dislike worrying about you because I know not where you have ended up and you just choose not to answer me when I call you. And above all I hate, I repeat hate, being called as backup only when you find it convenient for you." Danny ranted. "And thus, my esteemed colleagues and I have plotted this mystery for your enjoyment and to which we will not be assisting you." Danny added as Chin and Kono nodded their agreement and confessed their involvement.
"You are both involved in this?" Steve asked in shock.
Kono and Chin nodded.
"This is to teach you how a team works." Danny smiled.
"You want to teach me about teamwork?" Steve asked in utter disbelief.
"Your time with the navy has skewed your idea of what true teamwork is. Perhaps without the assistance of this team you may learn how to appreciate how valuable we are." Danny stated and handed Steve the ransom note.
"I appreciate you." Steve stated.
"Yes, we believe that you do but you do not treat us fairly most of the time and so this quest of yours will not be fair." Danny explained.
"Daniel, where is my car?" Steve asked trying to remain calm.
"It has been moved to Kamekona's garage." Danny sighed and threw up his hands once more.
"Thank you." Steve stated and rushed from the office.
"Call Kamekona, tell him to move the Marquis to location number two." Danny stated when Steve was out of ear shot. "He's not getting off that easily and please tell Kamekona I will pay him double whatever Steve tries to bribe him with. He better not jump ship on us."
"Ten four." Chin responded with a smile and hit his speed dial.
"Check mate my dear Watson," Danny smirked, high fived Kono and headed for his office.
"The moral of this story is do not mess with a man that trust you with his life and the life of his loved ones." Chin stated to Kono when Danny was out of ear shot. "Because he can be a vengeful beast and will make you suffer for the suffering you have caused."
"I get it. Come along, dear sir, the game is afoot." Kono smiled.
"Indeed, cousin," Chin winked and followed Kono out of the office to retrieve the Marquis from location number two, in preparation to move it to the next location and out of Steve's grasp.
So Steve has a panic room in his house. What other secrets does it hold?
Something you had that was stolen.
"Just give me back the keys!" Danny stated as he held his partner at gun point.
"Daniel, you're over reacting," Steve sighed.
"I will shoot you," Danny threatened as Steve made to move toward the door.
"No you won't," Steve laughed as he inched closer to the locked door that only he and Danny knew about.
"I will, I swear, I will." Danny stated, "Now stop where you are and wait for backup."
"You will not and if we wait too long the suspects will get away." Steve stated.
"Of course they will. That's the plan so that we might survive!" Danny stated angrily. "Now drop the keys and stay put!"
"You know I can't do that," Steve sighed and again moved toward the locked door.
"Of course, why am I not surprised, you of all people could get us locked in your own panic room, in your own house, with a secret escape that no one know about except your and I and then you trust me to keep the keys only to steal them back from me." Danny ranted. "Why leave me with the keys in the first place?"
"Because I knew that if I should ever get locked in here, you'd be with me." Steve explained with a mischievous grin. "Or you'd be the person some random baddie locked down here to get to me. So the best person to have the keys to the secret passage is you."
"Of course, sounds logical enough." Danny stated sarcastically as the hidden lock's barrels clicked under the pressure of the stolen keys. "Remind me to shoot you when we live through this."
"I'll do no such thing," Steve smiled.
"Don't worry, I'll remember." Danny whispered as Steve opened the hidden door. Steve and Danny crept out of the hidden cellar door, to the absolute shock and amazement of the suspects. No one was expecting to see both Steve and Danny, with guns, pop out from the darkness, just as HPD back up arrived on the scene; to put an end to the stand off and the reign of terror that these fugitives had caused.
I wish, in the deepest recesses of my heart, that the writers would do something else with the whole Matty plot that they introduced in season one and then completely ignored.
The long-lost roommate.
Danny threw his cell at the dash of the Camaro as Steve drove, and fell oddly and eerily silent.
"Bad news?" Steve asked treading lightly knowing what Danny was going through in his life.
"Not the bad news you are thinking of," Danny sighed.
"Then what?" Steve asked.
"Back in the day, when I was in college and so was Matty; we lived in this apartment with another guy." Danny sighed.
"The long-lost roommate?" Steve asked in shock.
"Not as long-lost as my brother…" Danny sighed.
"So was that Matt or the roommate?"
"The roommate, and private investigator now," Danny answered. "At the time he was in Matt's program so he was more Matty's friend then mine. Over the years we lost touch and then just after Matthew disappeared, Marcus found me, told me what was going on in his life and told me he had been contacted by Matthew. Matty didn't know about Marcus's change of profession so I've been paying Marcus to keep tabs on Matty with the strict orders not to tell me where they are so that I'm not under suspicion, and not to let Matty figure out that Marcus isn't actually an investor anymore." Danny explained.
"So Marcus called to tell you Matty's in even more trouble?" Steve asked.
"No, Marcus called to tell me Matty caught him in the act and has now disappeared again, and Marcus can't find him. He thinks Matty has skipped out and hitch himself on with another crime organization that got him further underground. I've lost my brother once more."
"I'm so sorry to hear that." Steve sighed.
"Not as sorry as I am," Danny said and fell eerily silent once more.
Danny and Steve having a moment, what more can I say?
What a character holding a blue object is thinking right now.
"You suck McGarrett!" Danny yelled just as Steve was releasing the bright blue bowling ball he was holding.
Steve didn't flinch; his laser sight was set on the ten pins at the end of the lane.
"I think I'm winning," Steve stated with a wink as all the pins tumbled over.
"Whose idea was it to go bowling anyway?" Danny asked with a sigh as the bowling ball reappeared from the hidden caverns of the lanes mechanism.
"Yours," Steve laughed. "You said you wanted to do something other then sit at my place drinking beer and feel sorry for yourself. I suggested the shooting range, you grumbled something about doing things normal guys do and suggested bowling, which landed us here, drinking beer and feeling sorry for ourselves while I kick your ass."
Danny stood, picked up the blue bowling ball and made his way toward the lane. He stared down the ten pins himself, measuring up, in his mind, what his next move would be.
"I only suggested it because I thought I could beet you at this," Danny stated as he thought out loud.
"Clearly you thought wrong," Steve laughed and sipped his beer.
"Clearly," Danny stated bitterly but in his mind he knew he was throwing the first game to make Steve comfortable, and then bowling, state champion, Daniel Williams would show McGarrett the true meaning of Turkey.
Last one for tonight, unlike The Songs of our Lives I am going to post these in increments of ten so that I don't end up with 600 plus individual stories. Hope you liked this beginning.
Write a scene where the only spoken dialogue is "uh-huh," "Umm," "Urrrr," "Mm-mmm."
Steve sat awkwardly silent next to his partner whose phone conversation was not going well. The usually extremely verbal detective had been rendered speechless, having managed very few actual words in the heated argument but he was now resigned to mono-syllabic noises instead.
Danny was frustrated. He kept rubbing at his eyes, miming pulling out his hair and grinding his teeth to keep his mouth shut as he listened to the very one sided conversations he was now reluctantly involved in.
Steve pulled the Camaro to a stop in the parking lot of the Five-O headquarters and just sat staring.
"Uh-huh," Danny sighed.
Steve sighed too.
"Umm…" Danny started to answer some question but was clearly cut off.
Steve became worried, it could be so many people and so many situations but he had no way of knowing anything except that things were not going well for his partner.
"Urrrr…" Danny stated with sarcasm on his tone but he was cut off again.
Steve threw his arms up as Danny turned to look at him with a pleading look that crossed his face.
"Mm-mmm." Danny stated as he rolled his eyes at Steve and turned away again waving Steve out of the car.
Steve got out reluctantly and began pacing the length of the parking lot, from curb to curb, waiting for Danny to finish his conversation so that Steve could get some information out of his partner and then possibly offer some suggestions or assistance.
Finally Danny got out of the car, pocketed his phone and walked toward Steve and the looming building where they worked.
Without saying a word Steve motioned for his partner to give him the particulars, leaving Danny to decided how much or how little to divulge.
"My mother is coming to visit." Danny sighed and walked toward the office doors.
A/N: For those of you who know me, you may now smack my hands or scold me for starting a new story when I have others on the go. I know I shouldn't have done it but, summer is starting and I felt like if I didn't start now I might night start. That is my excuse; I am prepared for the scolding. Good Night!