03 - Mandy's Revelation

//--GM
Mandy does a good job of keeping herself busy at night behind the bar, and sleeps a lot during the day. It's hard to get her alone, or at least it has been while you've both been healing up.

//--Daniel
Mm. Daniel needs to get Duncan to move her shift a couple of hours...

Daniel tracks down Duncan at some point so they can talk about what / who / when might have been how the old place was found, though it's mainly grunt work as Daniel strongly suspects it's he himself who is the weak link. Makes him angry, but there is shit-all he can do about it without working through yet more people he doesn't need to be indebted to. He will tell Duncan that; the guy knows Trump some and will empathize. Besides, he and Duncan have been friends for years; he doesn't intend to ditch him just because the place is no longer a secure resource.

//--Duncan
Duncan breaks things down as thoroughly as possible, even referencing almost a year of archived security tape - in manageable little chunks, of course. The area he covers in the most detail is the first time you brought Oshi to the old place, meticulously analyzing every suspicious frame. After an hour or three of squinting and comparing, Daniel comes to the same conclusion Duncan did: whatever made the place had to be magic (or Trump or Pattern outside your experience), because there's not so much as a blip visually or in any rational EM band that says 'spy.' Duncan seems a bit pissed himself, but after his second glass of whiskey, he shrugs it off, muttering, "Guess I've gotta hire a goddamn wizard, eh?" smiling ironically at the perceived near-impossibility of that little project bearing fruit.

//--Daniel
"Mm, yeah. I'll start looking." Daniel shrugs, "I don't know what I'll come up with." He looks in glum seriousness at the scattered evidence, then laughs. "Fuckin' family, eh?"

//--Duncan
Duncan nods, smiling ruefully as he refills your glasses to toast. "Any regrets I had over being an orphan you have kindly banished, time and again, my friend."

//--Daniel
"Cheers."

The other thing he asks is what Duncan has come to learn about Mandy. It seems like she's fitting in well, and Daniel's happy about that, he makes clear. He also asks for a couple hours of her time so he can talk to her and make sure her back-trail's clear.

//--Duncan
"Mandy? Smart as a whip, quick study... maybe the best find you've brought to my door. She's good with the customers, good with the equipment - well, as much as I could tell before we decided to keep her away from the extra EM, anyway - and almost as cheerful as Kaylee, which I didn't think was possible." His smile twists a bit, like that's as much a curse as a blessing.

//--Daniel
Daniel makes the "ouch" face.

//--Duncan
"I'll make sure she has some time to talk to you. When I cooked up her ID, there was no near-match for her here by my means, so she should be easy to clean up after, but I'll let you judge for yourself."

//--Daniel
If Duncan agrees, he'll spring on her that she has the time as she comes on shift. If not, he'll just make sure to catch her just after her shift, and make the conversation a little shorter.

//--Mandy
Mandy comes in the back just before her normal start time, wearing a particularly roomy version of the jeans-and-a-DUNCAN'S-T-shirt waitress uniform, with a bar apron over her arm. She's wearing some light makeup, and her hair's pulled back with a soft blue headband, making her look even more friendly and approachable than usual, albeit in a tavern-professional sort of way. At first, she half-ignores Daniel, but when she sees Sally behind the bar setting up, she turns to face him. "I get the feeling that I've been set up."

//--Daniel
Daniel looks up innocently.

//--Mandy
Her gaze flicks around the room, noting Duncan's absence, which seems to confirm her suspicions. "Looking to get me alone for a while, boss?" She smiles disarmingly, extending a blue-nailed hand toward your waist, or maybe your rump, as she moves closer.

//--Daniel
"I'm being assaulted by a sexy pregnant lady employee. I think this is not appropriate workplace behavior, ma'am." More seriously, he adds, "C'mon, apparently I didn't give Duncan your background interview results. And, uh, now that I think of it, I didn't give you a background interview at all."

//--Mandy
She catches you in a one-armed hug, her fingertips just dipping inside the back pocket of Daniel's jeans.

Turning to Sally, Mandy asks her, "How long do I have?"

//--Sally
"All night if you need it."

//--Mandy
Mandy bumps Daniel's hip with her own. "I've got a bit more background than when we first met, so maybe we should go back to my place. I wouldn't mind sparing the work clothes before you quiz me, and there's fewer witnesses for the sexual harassment suit that way." She smiles broadly enough that she might just be teasing, but you can't be sure.

//--Daniel
Daniel laughs. "Sure. Lead on." Scooping up his coat and helping Mandy with hers, he follows her out. As they walk, he says, "Don't know if you heard, but that situation with the escaped murderer back in Basin City is resolved."

//--Mandy
She eases into her faux-fur-collared denim coat easily, but doesn't bother to button it, despite the wind outside. "Baby keeps me warm," she mutters by way of explanation, blushing a little.

At the mention of Basin City, "Nope, hadn't heard. Haven't really thought much about that place in quite a while. Good news for Old Town, I guess, but I'm not going back, so...." She shrugs, smiles. "Thanks for telling me, though. Anything you had a hand in?"

//--Daniel
Daniel nods shortly, dismissive. "It crossed over into some family business." He walks on, angry for a few minutes while he shakes the feeling off.

//--GM
The walk across the parking lot to the renovated building the girls call 'the Dorm' is a short one, so Daniel has to shake pretty quickly to be cool when they reach the outer security door, or his agitation will linger in the entry hall. Place isn't much to look at so far - industrial carpet, cheap drop tile ceilings, and painted cinder block walls. The elevator up is modernized classic; wrought iron gates, but automated buttons for the floors.

//--Daniel.
Yeah, he does his best not to bring that negative stuff inside.

To break the silence, he says, "Sounds like you've decided to stay, then? I'm glad you feel settled here. I hope the sudden move last month wasn't too disruptive. After all that work it turns out it's me being traced, so unless and until I work that out, you guys can be settle in here. Maybe even after; depends whether there's much point in keeping this place secure. Duncan's pissed; makes him feel cool to be sneakin' around."

//--Mandy
"I don't think Duncan gets how cool he is just sitting around. He's probably even cooler playing Charles Townsend for all the other guys and gals working in the network. 'Good morning, angels...'." She laughs.

//--Daniel
"He's a good guy. The best."

//--Mandy
"Like the kind uncle or big brother I might have wished for growing up..." and then Mandy gently clamps down on that thought, not wanting to get all misty-eyed at this juncture.

//--Daniel
"That 'you're like my kind older relative thing' has been killing his chances with women for years, poor fellow."

//--Mandy
"I, uh... I can sympathize. I've heard the 'you're like my kid sister' excuse more than once from guys I was interested in." Daniel can almost 'hear' her pull back on the 'you don't see me that way, do you?' question crossing her mind.

//--Daniel
"Anyway, we should go through your past and contacts some, in case there's anything that might follow your trail here. Shouldn't take more than half an hour or so."

//--Mandy
As she unlocks the door to her room, she shoots Daniel a teasing look. "I'm sure I could keep you busy for a lot longer than that."

//--Daniel
He smiles at the joke, but his eyes don't entirely shut the door on that idea.

Daniel helps, holds doors for her and so on.

//--GM
Mandy didn't go out of her way to be helped, but she certainly didn't mind. Most of the doors are heavy; built to fifty year old fire code standards. Her room door is wooden, but even that has a solid core.

Once inside, any concerns about Mandy feeling at home evaporate. Her space is essentially one large room, but she's done quite a bit with the place. The expanse of window that makes up the far wall is crowded with potted plants on racks and macramé ceiling hangers. The wall to the left of the door is covered almost floor to ceiling with cork-board, and the cork is flush with pinned up fliers for various small time bands that have breezed through the new Duncan's, plus some old stuff from who-knows-where. "I know there's lots of duplicates right now," she explains, "but I'll be stapling new ones over old as time goes by... at least until my daughter can reach the pins." A well-worn old couch and a kitschy white dresser slouch against the wall, as if they form the reluctant foundation beneath her memento wall. Magazines spill from their rack on the dresser, showing off titles like 'Modern Maternity' and 'Populist Electromechanics.'

A small kitchenette fills the corner nearest the window, although it doesn't amount to much more than hot plate, microwave, cutting board, and snack fridge, it all looks to get regular use. The opposite wall is two-thirds bed, with a deep free-standing wardrobe against the head of it and a simple white bassinet at the tail. The smallish blue bedspread lets you see plastic storage trays peeking from underneath it, some of them already packed full of baby clothes. There's only one door other than the one you just came in, and judging from its faux-marble door frame footing, you'd guess that was for the bathroom.

//--Mandy
"Welcome to Casa Blue, Mister Howethorne," tugging you inside so she can close the door.

//--Daniel
He lets her pull him inside. "Nicely done, Miss Blue." He nods around at what she's made of the place. He pulls off his coat, taking his deck of Trumps out of the pocket, and hangs or tosses it where she indicates, then tucks his hands into the tops of his jean pockets. "Mind if we sit?"

//--Mandy
Mandy points out the coat hooks on the back of the entry door as she offers you her jacket to hang up as well. She sits on the couch, just left of center, giving Daniel every excuse to sit close to her.

//--Daniel
If she offers refreshments Daniel waves her down and follows her instructions to gather glasses, water or tea or whatever, and brings them over. Once settled, he says, "So, the biggest thing is, there's a group of folks who can travel between places like we did before, and I'd like to find out if any of them had made contact with you before we met, or anytime along the way."

//--Mandy
Mandy offers and asks for juice from the cube fridge without specifying a flavor out of the four large bottles Daniel discovers to choose from. There are cheap plastic cups on the kitchenette with cartoon characters on them, and she thanks you when you hand her a full one. After a sip, she turns one leg and then the other out to untie and remove her sneakers with her free hand with no apparent difficulty or discomfort.

//--Daniel
"'S a little easier, now I've got a full set of visual aids." Daniel lays out the cards so she can see them. Halfway through setting them out, he adds, "Don't touch them; they're sensitive like the one I gave you. A casual brush shouldn't do it, but you never know." He watches her face carefully while he does it, so he can catch any reaction she might try to cover.

//--Mandy
Once your instructions are clear, Mandy points to a cheap metal TV dinner table you can set up to lay the cards on.

//--Daniel
Daniel puts the table together and sits beside her while he lays out the cards.

//--Mandy
One hand holds her juice while the other settles on Daniel's thigh, giving her ample preoccupation to avoid touching the cards by mistake. She doesn't seem to be hiding her reactions, and she dutifully studies each card in turn. Gerard's card she identifies as 'the Admiral,' smiling softly at how nice he was to her. She puzzles over Random's card for a moment before asking, "Is that your brother?"

//--Daniel
Daniel gives a little huh. "My father." He blinks several times. "Quite often more like a brother to me, but, yeah."

//--Mandy
"My mom tried to be my 'big sister' a lot... made a mess of things between us." She shakes off the memories as best she can to try to stay on task for Daniel.

No one else seems to spark anything significant, other than a faint cooling of Fiona's card as you both consider it. Mandy is a little creeped out by the reaction, but doesn't seem to know her, and clearly doesn't want to.

//--Daniel
He nods at her reaction, then sweeps up all the cards and puts them away again. "Just a couple more..." He opens a carefully folded newspaper picture of the murderer / Sabrand from Basin City.

//--Mandy
"I saw him in the wanted posters at the Post Office, just before you and I first met... and I think I remember that article in the Basin Bugle. Never in person, thank god." She shivers.

//--Daniel
"Okay, that's the last of those. The next bit is harder. I heard what you said about your baby's father, but we need to know if he is someone we should keep track of. Also, is there anyone else you can think of from your past who might be trying to find you? I don't know how to ask this except bluntly, and to assure you that we really won't judge you on any of that... unless something bites us in the ass that you could have warned us about."

//--Mandy
Flatly, almost in Duncan-speak at first, "Mom's dead. Dad's unknown. One or two of my suppliers might wonder what happened to me, if only because they'll miss the money I represented, but not enough to waste much time looking. I can give you a few names if you want to be sure..." and she names a few 'cookers' and 'importers' from Basin City without any further prompting. None of them ring any warning bells with Daniel.

//--Daniel
He'll file those names away to pass to Duncan just in case. "Thank you, Mandy. This is one of the unpleasant parts of running an outfit like this; I appreciate you going through this with me."

//--Mandy
"No problem, Daniel. As these things go, it beats the heck out of what I've done to pass the 'security checks' for other jobs."

After a breath, "As to the father, he was so stoned that night, I don't think he even knows he got laid. You won't need to track him." Mandy is choosing her words carefully, but Daniel doesn't think she's lying.

//--Daniel
"Is it me?" Daniel asks bluntly, but without rancor. "The timing works."

//--Mandy
Softly, skipping right over the admission to the explanation, "You rolled over and said you wanted some 'company,' and I figured, with all the drugs in your system, that you'd just dry hump me a little and pass out. Save me the trouble of calling and persuading somebody and dickering over price, cut, and all that. Didn't take more than a minute or two to see the flaws in my plan, but by then I was committed... and you seemed kind enough. Aside from having to roll you off afterwards, it was fun... but then you kept shooting up, and your friend Oshi showed up with you down for the count... I didn't know what to think after all that." She wipes her eyes. "You don't owe me nothing. Just let me keep this life you've shown me." Trying to put on a brave face, she adds, "'Course, I wouldn't mind seeing how you are when you aren't so stoned...."

//--Daniel
Daniel puts his hand on the side of Mandy's face a second, then leans across to kiss her, hesitating just long enough to see if she comes forward to meet him.

//--Mandy
Mandy meets him halfway, a little shaken after letting all that out, but relieved as well, and clearly honest about her curiosity.

//--Daniel
He responds with more than a little heat, letting the fact that this is no longer something he is going to hold back from show in the kiss. After long enough for things to get a little warm, he pushes back and takes her by the shoulders. "Hold that thought. We've gotta get some things out of the way, okay?" He looks at her clearly and directly to show he's serious now.

//--Mandy
She takes a breath and then nods, a bit too confused for words immediately, but sobering quickly enough.

//--Daniel
"First, nobody's gonna take anything away from you, not me or anybody. You have made something real here," Daniel glances around the apartment, "and I wouldn't presume on your life or your choices over this. I hope you'll let me offer what I can; you take what you feel comfortable with. Always, right?

//--Mandy
"You made it clear that you didn't want to keep nobody, so that was how I planned. I don't want anything you'll regret parting with... but I'd like my... our daughter to know you at least."

//--Daniel
"I'd be upset if you didn't.

//--Mandy
There's a twinkle in her eyes, like that sort of reaction was something she had only prayed for in her secret heart, rather than dared hope. "Anything else... I'd be glad to see as it goes."

//--Daniel
Daniel just nods here, respectfully.

"What you've got to know is, this baby may mean trouble for you, which means for us, unless we're very clear about it. My family... the people in those cards... they can do a lot of things ordinary people can't do. They'll expect the same from a child of mine, and if they think they could use the child to their advantage, they won't scruple about it. I know you've met Gerard, the Admiral, but they're not all like him."

//--Mandy
Mandy nods. "Even he seemed to have more going than he was letting on."

//--Daniel
"I'm not trying to scare you. I am trying to say this is not something you should expect to go alone. We have a couple of choices in this: we can go together to the family, buy into what alliances we can, and get it all out in public, letting those alliances be what shield they may be. Or we can try and keep it under wraps, which may give us enough time to raise the child outside of all that."

//--Mandy
"If they can hear us just from us looking at their pictures, do we really have a chance of hiding?" Despite the fear and worry, you catch her smiling at the idea of raising a child together before sobering up as you continue.

//--Daniel
"Personally, I hate the first road. But it is, most likely, safest.

//--Mandy
"I didn't have it safe growing up, and you and the others seem to think I turned out okay. I don't want you to feel chained to us, Daniel, and have you hate us down the road."

//--Daniel
"It's something you have to decide, and I'll respect either way."

//--Mandy
"WE have to decide, Daniel. I... I don't even understand all of what's going on yet." She pulls herself more fully into your lap, more cuddling / comfort than foreplay now, although the tide could turn again when she stops shivering. "I know we can't go too long without a plan, but do we have to decide tonight? I mean... I can't even find Basin City in an atlas database here ... how much farther would we have to go to even try to be safe without the allies you're talking about?"

//--Daniel
"So much too far... It isn't really a choice, just a chance at running for a while." He turns towards her so she can rest against him more easily. "But we don't have to decide now or tonight or tomorrow." Daniel pauses a long while as he breathes the scent of her hair. "I just thought you should know that before I finally get to make love to you the way you deserve."

//--Mandy
Her hair smells of coconut and gentle citrus, like some fruity island drink perhaps.

Mandy makes a happy little noise - not a squeak, but certainly cute and excited - and starts unwrapping Daniel like a long-awaited present, only slowing down if Daniel suggests to.

//--Daniel
He's certainly happy with her reaction, and happy to let her set the pace with joking complaints about his modesty, wanton women and their wily ways. Though the subjective time passed isn't so long, it seems forever since he's been thoughtlessly happy. It's a huge relief as well as a pleasure to be cutting loose with her.

//--Mandy
She expresses some mild regret at not having 'dressed for the occasion' when her shirt and jeans are discarded to reveal underclothes that are far more comfortable than sexy, but otherwise there is neither modesty nor restraint in her this evening.

Any thoughts on the evening's progress, or notes on Daniel's approach? Mandy isn't reckless, but she certainly demonstrates more flexibility and athleticism (for lack of a better word) than Daniel might have been expecting from someone who's expecting. Not that it's all one crazed wrestling match, but she's by no means a passive lover tonight.

//--Daniel
Other than watching her signals pretty carefully to make sure she doesn't get hurt, Daniel is running pretty close to the edge. Hence he's less calculated than usual; with no sense that this is a woman he has to impress or dupe, he's less... precise in his approach. Not that he's not trying to please her, more that he's letting the reins go enough to be surprised and enjoy himself completely. Mandy's abandon matches his mood perfectly at the moment.

//--Mandy
The evening, night, and early morning unfold riotously, and aside from bumping her knee on the wall during a slightly incautious transition, neither of them could imagine a better night between them... "although I wouldn't turn away from a solid month or two of second best," Mandy whispers, during a slightly sleepy pause near dawn and the limit of her endurance.

During some interlude - well before they're quit of each other - Mandy asks if Daniel'll be there when she wakes up... and what he'd like for breakfast if he doesn't have somewhere else to be.

//--Daniel
Daniel stretches under her, raising his hips a little against her weight. "You plan on sleeping? I could hardly tell. Me, I would like a big breakfast. A very big breakfast. What am I making you?"

//--Mandy
"Promise me I can wake up with you next to me, and you can cook anything you like... although mint jelly pancakes around noon would be killer," and she starts moving over him such that he wants to promise her everything all over again....

Mandy finally falls asleep just before first light, leaving Daniel to watch the sun come up over the industrial skyline, an improbable hope hanging in the room like a long lost friend.