05 - Daniel Comes Back

//--GM
It won't take much to locate Duncan if you're feeling the need - he's in his feed room, watching a dozen monitors at once, like usual.

//--Daniel
Daniel slips into the room and sets the coffees down, one within Duncan's arm's reach. He sits down and cups his own, letting himself fall into the rhythm of Duncan's work without interrupting. Daniel can just follow the threads, and sometimes for a few minutes he can actually anticipate them the way Duncan does so naturally; those are the moments he can see clearly what an artist the man really is.

//--Duncan
Duncan doesn't seem to register Daniel's presence at first, but he almost immediately registers the presence of the coffee, and begins sipping at regular intervals. It looks like he's doing a traffic analysis of the surrounding blocks, with some slight focus on the local public library, but Daniel's not sure how that's going yet.

//--Daniel
When there's a lull, Daniel says, apropos of nothing, "I want to play again."

//--Duncan
Since it's been nine years since Daniel last played music, Duncan takes the other meaning and brings up that Tetris-like puzzle game Daniel'd taken to when he was off his feet for the broken ankle. Maybe he's being funny, but he's still working, so it's harder than usual to be sure one way or the other.

//--Daniel
Heh. Not enough of a lull. Daniel dabbles a bit with the game and lets it die off, watching the screens some more.

//--Duncan
A lot of what he's looking at seems to be traffic camera footage, rather than what Daniel would expect from Duncan's usual equipment. Is he counting, building some sort of electronic collage, or what? Maybe Duncan doesn't quite know what he's looking for, or even precisely what he'd looking at.

//--Daniel
Yeah, maybe. Daniel kind of has confidence Duncan either does know or will figure it out soon. Eventually the coffee cup will be empty, and Daniel moved his thermos out of range so he could refill his own cup.

//--Duncan
After sipping from an empty cup the third time, he turns Daniel's way, pausing or stopping some of the footage, but letting the rest run. "I take it you weren't just coming by for Serpent Blocks Seven." He turns to face you, pushing his cup toward you before putting his feet up.

//--Daniel
"It's true." He pours Duncan a cup from the thermos. "I meant, I want to play with the musicians, after hours or whenever. This group you've got coming tonight, The Goldtones? Kind of a jazz outfit, right? I recognize three of the guys' names from way back.

//--Duncan
"Yeah. They were out of circulation for a while after Bruno O.D.ed, but you can't keep those guys down long. Shouldn't take much persuading to talk them into a three am set so you can shake the rust off. I think Willis said they were more brass than strings lately - might make them a bit more receptive to what you have to offer... or not. You know how fickle musicians are," hiding his smile behind his mug at that last part.

//--Daniel
"So, I want to see if they'll let me session with them later on. There're a couple of players I want to get in touch with -- assuming they're not dead -- for later on."

//--Duncan
"You lookin' to christen the place with the old set? Willis should know who's about. *grumbling a bit* I've been settling for garage bands too much lately anyway."

//--Daniel
Daniel sips his doctored coffee, watching Duncan's reaction.

//--Duncan
"You've got my blessing, if that's what you were waitin' for." A thought strikes him, and his fingers start dancing over one of his computer keyboards again, although Daniel doesn't get the impression that Duncan needs privacy to work on whatever's picking at him.

//--Daniel
Daniel's spent many a day (or night) watching Duncan do his thing. He can get the timing about as disruptive as possible: "So I think your new bar woman is having my baby."

//--Duncan
Duncan does not oblige Daniel with a spit-take, but he does stop typing rather abruptly. After just a beat, "Shit, now I owe Nikki money, too. I should know better than to drop coin on any pool our ladies lay out regarding you."

He puts his entire project on automatic and turns his chair to face Daniel. "Are you just laughing at me, or is this good news?"

//--Daniel
"Good news; dangerous news. I had no idea I'd had sex with her, so the surprise isn't entirely yours. And before you ask, I'd thought of the many ways she could be having me on, but I think she's not. Given the head-space I was in when I first met her... it fits the tale."

//--Duncan
Duncan smoothly finishes the fortified coffee in his cup before picking up a bottle from under the table and serving it to himself straight. Putting aside the paternity issue for the moment out of a sharper concern for his friend's mental health, "So what had you on to that point? I've never known you to take up with a forgettable lady, let alone forget one who'd inked the deal."

//--Daniel
Daniel looks at him a minute, trying to figure whether it'd just push Duncan's friendship too far. He takes a breath and replies, "Tried to put a bullet in my brain. Random'd rigged the gun, so that didn't quite work out. I called Mandy to hook me up with the dragon, and apparently what happened between us happened while I was out of it."

//--Duncan
Duncan's first reply is a quaint local vulgarism, followed by a long, hard look to see if Daniel's all there. There's a longish silence, and then, "You should have come home if you were hurting that bad...."

//--Daniel
Daniel gives him a look, large-eyed, jaw clenched tight, like, if he could've done that it'd all have been different.

//--Duncan
Right or wrong, Duncan doesn't back down from his assessment, too shaken by the mental image of his best friend's brains painting a wall and ceiling in some nowhere he'd never find to budge right now. He settles forward in his chair, his elbows on his knees as he cradles his mug in both hands. Softly, but still a little harsher than he probably intended, "What the fuck did your old man do to you to take you to THAT head-space?"

//--Daniel
"I don't know what to tell you, man, how to sum it up. We had him. I had him down and injured, fighing us; I think in the end he was surprised I'd go that far. Oshi'd been with me, and she left me to... whatever I was going to do. And Random lay on the floor and lied his way right into a grave. I... feel like I used every piece of me to keep him out of it and he wouldn't turn, wouldn't give me fuck all. I mean, we'd caught him flat out trying to trade his wife for a piece of security, like she was nothing. And all he could conjure was, didn't I have any loyalty? Couldn't I walk in his shoes?

"I had him cold, and every bit of what care I'd carried for him was ground out. I had no doubt that the world would be a better place without him." Daniel can't help but picture that three shot pattern, the one he started but couldn't carry through, and the vision binds him up for a second. Unable to speak it, he looks at his friend helplessly, shrugs and shoves his finger-gun hard up under his chin. He closes his eyes, then shrugs again and drops his hand. "Fucker'd majicked the gun out while I was busy hoping he'd throw us a bone, to save himself from the end he saw coming. He didn't know I couldn't do it. He didn't know it was me he'd save with that."

A fierce smile comes to Daniel's face. "I would guess my body took the hint, and set about ensuring there'd be more to come if I succeeded later at what I first failed."

//--Duncan
Duncan is fiercely silent though Daniel's description of the events that led up, listening intently and trying to understand. Then that slightly savage smile of Daniel's shows up as he talks about the conception, and Duncan softens a little, maybe trying to think of an analogy in nature for the survival behavior, and none come to his mind. At a final loss for questions, for explanations, almost even for words, all he can think to say is, "I'm glad you made it home."

//--Daniel
"Yeah. Me, too."

//--Duncan
He might still be confused, maybe even mad, but none of that seems to matter to him right now. If Daniel isn't careful, he might just get hugged.

//--Daniel
"I'm sorry, man. Duncan, to you, to all this, to people who count on me, I'm sorry." Daniel gets up, pulls Duncan to his feet, and hugs him.

//--Duncan
Daniel just hears Duncan sniff, but doesn't quite catch him tearing up. Nerd-macho, after all. He hugs Daniel good and hard, hangs on for longer than usual, and then reaches for the bottle again as they both descend toward their chairs.

//--Daniel
Daniel says, "I oughta go talk to the band between sets, here. What're you looking for, anyway?" He gestures at the traffic-cam feeds.

//--Duncan
"There's three to five frames missing from fourteen separate traffic cams spaced out over an hour from a few days ago. (Talk about needle in a haystack, but Duncan is GOOD.) I'm trying to figure out if it's just that rolling blackout from when the steel mill shorted a substation, or something else. On the surface, it jives, but... something's itching at me, is all." He tries to rub away his puzzled frown. "You got time for some poking around tomorrow? I wouldn't put off your comeback over what's probably just an electrical problem, but it's bugging me."

//--Daniel
"Absolutely. If you're bugged... it's worth being bugged about. Given the late night I'm planning, I'll probably be here, but if not I'll be at Mandy's, so I should be easy to reach." Daniel looks at him seriously. "You're sure this can wait until tomorrow?"

//--Duncan
"Whatever it is has already been done, days past. Even if it is a 'something', I don't have anything outgoing on those data lines, so we're not talking about a big security risk. It's just a puzzle. Tomorrow is fine." He smiles. "I've waited a decade to hear you play again, old man. You think a hum in the lines is going to keep me from it?" He raises his glass. "To the best bass in Southside... soon to be the best bass in Northside."

//--Daniel
Daniel repairs his empty mug situation with a good double before raising it as well, "In the company of friends," and drains it. He sits for a moment in companionable silence, then pushes himself up out of the chair again. "I'm off to listen to the lads and have a chat. Later."

He ducks out of Duncan's office and heads up to his room, where he grabs the bass.

//--GM
The bar is doing decent business, but with the much larger footprint of the new building, it hasn't really gotten crowded yet. There seems to be a bumper crop of college students tonight - mostly football [soccer] players from the local inter-mural league, some still in their jerseys. Seems they beat their crosstown rivals for the first time in a few seasons.

//--Daniel
On the way to the bar floor, he stops in at Oshi's room. Daniel'll take up his common post, leaning in the doorframe after a small knock to announce himself.

"'evening, Oshi," he greets her. He seems a little more relaxed than he's been for a while; easier in his skin. Maybe it's whatever the instrument is that he's carrying. The case depends from his hand comfortably, like an old friend. "I thought you'd want to know, I got Mandy to admit her child's mine." His face doesn't give away his feelings about that news, or perhaps he wants to see Oshi's reaction before sharing.

//--Oshi
Oshi will smile brightly. "Joyous news Daniel. Congratulations. Is there anything I can do to aid you in this new adventure?"

//--Daniel
Daniel's smile answers hers, and he replies, "Come up with an excuse to talk to Mandy sometime. She's still scared shitless of you, though I've eased her down quite a bit. If anything else comes up, well, I will ask for sure." He hefts the instrument case experimentally. "And I'll be playing tonight, after the band's official sets. If you're up, maybe come down and listen?"

//--Oshi
Oshi rises and bows deeply to Daniel. "I will do both of the things you request my friend."

//--Daniel
Daniel bows back, laughing. "I hope the music is not too burdensome. The folks I've talked to are all in jazz, but I'll probably cool down with some classical afterwards when I'm in no danger of emptying the bar, so I imagine we'll find something to you'll like."

//--GM
The Goldtones, a six-piece jazz band, are swinging through a lively set.

The bandleader is an energetic young tenor sax man, Willis Overkirk. He's wiry with a short black ponytail and a sense of syncopation that wracks rhythms right up his torso into the sax. He's bringing with him a fine trumpet man who plays with a lazy, distant air, and seems always about to do something else just as he gets the horn to his mouth to blow fine and clear. A second brass player with an equally laid-back manner switches from trumpet to trombone and back. Carrying the background rhythm on a cut-down drum kit, much taped and packed around with towels, is an older man who seems to sweat as furiously as he plays. Clarinet, alto and bass sax are covered by a serious-looking fellow with black skin and a shaved head, whose age shows in the grey grizzle of his beard and a tick of arthritis in his hands and wrists, none of which seem to slow him down. A keyboard player gives tone and rounds out the rhythm section.

They seem like talented musicians. Sometimes their overall sound is a little brass-heavy, as though picking up slack for something missing.

//--Daniel
Daniel orders a nice drink and some dinner from Mandy and finds himself a good place to sit and listen to the end of the set.

//--GM
Mandy and Kaylee wordlessly switch stations for a few minutes so Mandy can serve Daniel at his table. Other than that special smile and the occasional touch on the hand or shoulder, she doesn't do anything more special than putting a couple cookies on a little plate to the side for his dessert. She seems happy, busy, and happy to be busy, but something lit up in her when she was near him.

//--Daniel
Daniel gives her a small, private smile, his eye contact lingers a little longer...

//--GM
Unless Daniel initiates something further, Mandy silently mouths, "I'll see you later," before returning to her place behind the bar, all smiles.

//--Daniel
He gives her the slightest blink and nod, letting her get back to business.

//--GM
Willis introduces the rest of the band members at the halfway mark during the set (probably shortly after Oshi arrives). In order, Mike Shavits, Gabriel vonderVeer, "Mallet" Morris, Dorsey Hemingway, and "our newest member," Ty Ortiz.

When they musicians are breaking, Daniel approaches them, angling for the two guys he knows from the old days. After some talk about what's what, their current sound, drinking to the fate of Bruno, and so on, he asks who'd be willing to stay after tonight and let him shake the rust out with them.

//--GM
Mike starts to talk about having plans with his girl after, but Gabriel talks him into calling her to come here and listen to 'that Daniel guy they've been talking about' play. "Assuming you're buying tonight," they both tease. You can tell after just a few minutes of talking that they're not as comfortable with their 'new sound' as their sound seems to be with them... and the awkward silence after the toast to Bruno starts to tell why. Apparently, a lot of what they're doing now was his idea, born from Bruno's dragon rides. His ideas kept getting better, but it took more and more horse to get him there, and eventually his body gave him up. "To the tribute tour," ends up being one of the toasts.

After a little food and another round while the girls are cleaning up, they seem ready to go again. "Call the tune, Daniel," Gabriel says. "It's your comeback."

//--Daniel
Daniel gives Gabriel a raised eyebrow, and after a moment, leans to his own mike, flicks it a couple times, and says finally, "Uh, 'Pedal Point Blues' for the warm-up." (Try the album "Mingus Ah Um" by Charles Mingus for a feel of the sound this band makes with bass leading. They run decent-length samples on Amazon.com. The sound is very collaborative, not a lot of solo showboating.)

Daniel plays mostly with his eyes closed, like he's listening to something distant, letting the other players and the feel of the instrument guide him. It's a sound like someone loosening up, opening up, airing out his heart.

//--GM
It's just like old times, although maybe a little edgier and a little richer than Daniel remembers. No one is disappointed, and it takes the girls a lot longer than usual to clean up.

//--Daniel
By the time musicians are changing in and out, or they're packing up, he feels about ready to run some solo stuff... a few fast swing tunes, maybe a deep classical number thrown in at the end to stretch his range.

//--GM
After seeing his boys out, Mike and his girl chat with Nikki and Sally for a while during the solos, quieting when Daniel gets particularly deep. Mandy sits on a high stool behind the bar, head resting on her folded arms, watching him dreamily.

//--Daniel
When Daniel looks up and sees her there, he works a couple of bars watching her, just taking her in as he plays, until the music pulls him back in and pulls his eyes closed again. He lures the last few notes out of the piece and lets them hang a while, his head down, the bow half-mast to the side.

//--GM
Mandy sighs softly as she perceives a few draws going her way.

When Daniel wraps up for the night, Mike seems cool but pleased, and all the ladies applaud; Mike's girl perhaps a bit too quickly, and Mandy a few beats late, like she might have been caught daydreaming... if you can call it that at four or five in the morning.

//--Simone
[There was a reason Daniel and Random cut a swath through shadow those many years ago.]

//--GM
[Indeed! As to how it sounds... do you think one night would be enough to bring jazz back to Daniel's soul after so long? I imagine it could.]

//--Simone
[If it were just the playing? Maybe not. But it's the playing, starting from scratch, so many new endeavours. And whether it's because of the Pattern effect or just the kind of person Daniel is, when it sounds good, it sounds better, and makes the next round better, and so on.]

//--GM
[I'll try to work that sense of positive accumulation into things as the music comes up again in the course of our tale.]

//--Daniel
Finally, with a visible shake, he slides off the stool, sets the instrument down, and strides forward and off the stage. Mike looks up to catch him, but Daniel gives him a "one sec" gesture. He winks at Oshi as he walks by, mouthing the words, "thank you." He also seems to be asking Oshi to wait. He makes it across the room and behind the bar in a straight line where he pulls Mandy off her seat. He takes her by the shoulders and kisses her deeply, turning to put his back against the bar, and lets his knee ride up a little between her legs. He holds her there a moment, and finally says quietly, "I'll be finished in a minute."

In another moment, he's grabbed some bottles from beneath the bar and is back across it to where Oshi is sitting. He sets the bottles down, two ice-frosted bottles of sparkling water, and gestures Mike and his girl to come join the table. "So," he says to Oshi as they approach, "you were very patient. You a jazz fan at all?" His eyes are sharply blue tonight, the hazel flecks drowned in electric energy, and there's a flush on his face.

//--Oshi
Oshi smiles a small smile and says in her quiet way: "I mostly prefer classical music but it had its moments."

//--Daniel
"'It had its moments' sounds like high enough compliment to me. Thank you. But when I get around to having a new cello commissioned I will have something special for you.

"Do you play at all?" Daniel asks while pouring himself a tall glass of the water. He motions to an empty glass while he speaks, offering her some.

//--Oshi
Oshi nods in response to the water and in response to the question says: "It is not the sort of thing I was taught when I was younger, it was not considered an important skill."

//--Daniel
"I'm sorry to hear," Daniel says genuinely as he pours. "Here, lemme speak to Mike a moment before they have to go."

Mike from the band has approached, a woman in tow.

"You guys headin' out?" Daniel asks. "It was great seeing you again. Everybody still smokes, and I like Ty; he'll fill out as a player when you find your sound." Kind of gently, like he's talking around a sore point, he adds, "Willis has got to cut loose. He's got it in him to do new arrangements."

//--Mike
"We'll... play around a while, see what develops. Pick one scab at a time, y'know." Then his girl says, "C'mon... I've got class tomorrow, remember." Mike looks at Daniel, shrugs, "Saturday classes... whaddya gonna do? Next Friday?"

//--Daniel
"Definitely, if you all want me. But talk to the guys, see what they want. I should call Cole and Fredericks, too. Maybe we can mix it up some."

//--Mike
"There's this eight-piece that Willis was doodlin' a while back. Maybe we get enough hands, he'll have to break it out." Then, looking at Daniel like maybe he hasn't been paying attention, "No amount of hellfire would keep any one us off the stage with you and you know it. 'Rusty' my ass. You want to embarrass yourself, you ask them, but I'm not going to be that cheerleader. You ARE back, Daniel. Get used to it." He claps the man on the back, as if to say 'get over it,' and then re-encircles his girlfriend, who's tugging on him to leave.

//--Daniel
Daniel looks surprised at Mike's forcefulness, and looks at Oshi a little embarrassed. "Uh, thanks. If it makes any difference, I didn't know I was back until I got up there."

//--Mike
He smiles. "We ain't mad at you, but if somebody I didn't know told me the bassist last night hadn't played in a decade, I'd be callin' him a liar. I know you've been goin' through some shit, but...." Mike changes his mind about opening that can of worms. "Just play, man. It's all we're all tryin' to do."

//--Daniel
Daniel nods, accepting, and waves as they go. He turns back to Oshi. "So, do you have plans tomorrow? Duncan's noticed something on the monitors and wants me to check it out with him. I'd be pleased to have you along."

//--Oshi
"I have no plans and would be pleased to come along with you."

//--Daniel
"Good. I'll find out at lunchtime tomorrow what Duncan's game plan is."

//--Oshi
Oshi will then wait to make sure Mandy is out of earshot before asking, "How is Mandy doing Daneil? Does she still fear me? I tried to make amends for my... rudeness."

//--Daniel
Daniel looks pleased that Oshi asked. "I'm not sure, Oshi. She hasn't mentioned it lately, and I haven't asked her since I talked to you. She is pretty happy about other things... relieved to have told me, I think, mostly, and that I didn't wig out on her. I'll let you know when I see any signs, one way or the other. I know she knows your first encounter with her was based on concern for me; that counts for a lot with her, apparently." He puts a hand on Oshi's shoulder a moment, just briefly. "And with me."

//--Oshi
She smiles at his gesture.

//--Daniel
He smiles, finishes his water and pours himself another glass. "Playing beats me up. I'm dyin' of thirst." Half done with that one, he stands. "Thanks again for coming down. I'll find you tomorrow after lunch?"

//--Oshi
"I will be in my room." Oshi says before heading to her room.

//--Daniel
After good-nights are said, Daniel heads to the back of bar to see if Mandy is done.