07 - Duncan's Mission
4/20/2007

Saturday afternoon, in Duncan's central work room....

"I've been tinkering with a glitch in the feeds from some local traffic cameras, and I need you to check out some of these locations in person to see if anything has been tampered with." He hands Oshi and Daniel pairs of thick-framed tortoiseshell sunglasses and a tool kit. "Some of these things will take some... disassembly to get into, but I'll talk you through it. Chances are, it's nothing, but a few hours of leg work will let us all be sure."

As soon as Daniel puts the glasses on, a feed of what he's looking at appears on one of Duncan's monitors.

Duncan hands each of them a laminated map of Northtown, also. "Any questions?"

"So if the glitches were caused by a traveller, what's the order, timing, and direction of them?" Daniel picks up a grease pencil and gestures towards the map.

Duncan starts reading off the timings of the glitch he's tracking, and the first wave of 'blinks' seems to fan out from a traffic light on the far side of the library like a fuse lit in the middle. Then the next wave starts at the factory that had the power surge and runs clockwise along the mains toward the arboretum. The final grouping starts behind a nearby strip mall, and seems to stretch out toward the back lot of the library, with the final short appearing in the security camera that watches the librarian staff parking.

Daniel looks at Oshi and shrugs. "Does that track anything that you can think of that you've been doing?"

Oshi thinks for a moment before speaking. "I have been to the library many times but do not think any of my actions there could have caused this."

Daniel nods. "Okay. And I suppose the timing doesn't indicate someone else tracking you?"

Duncan tosses Daniel a cell phone; largish and clearly behind the times, but sturdy enough to back over and still call a tow truck with.

Mandy answers on the second ring. "Blue Research Ventures; Mandy speaking. How can I help you?" Doesn't sound like she's kidding.

"Hey, Mandy, it's Daniel. I remember you said you were on your way to the library; I want to ask you to hold back for the day, and come to the club instead. It happens my work for Duncan is taking me there exactly."

"Oh, um... okay. I guess I'll go the other way; hit the record store and the scrap-booking place... maybe get some more play clothes... unless you really need me close to home." Mandy's voice goes from lightly confused but compliant, through playful, and then into worried.

Daniel frowns, thinking, then he replies to her, "Mm. What's the distance from the library to those places, in case you need to call? The number on this cell I'm using is..." Daniel hears some beeps as Mandy records the number. When she describes the location of the stores she's going to, it sounds like the strip mall at the opposite end of the 'phenomenon' you're looking into - so quite close by. "I've got some ideas for Sunday, but we can talk about that later." There's still a hint of concern behind her voice, but she's pretty level now.

Daniel looks up at Duncan questioningly and repeats back down the phone what he's told.... "Also, can you tell me if you were at the library at (he gives the times / dates of the glitches there)?"

(They were all on the same day; minutes - in some places handfuls of seconds - apart.) "That was the night after you got back, right? No, I was working... went home and collapsed."

"Ah, okay." He sighs a little. "I don't know. Just call if you feel... at all worried; maybe you could go with someone? We don't know what this is we're looking at. Could well be nothing, or friendly. I don't want to squash your plans with my paranoia."

Brief, faintly tense silence, and then, softly but firmly, "If you're back Sunday, you're teaching me how to shoot. Meanwhile, I'm not so fat that I can't run... yet... and nobody else is around to go with. I will keep my phone in my hand, and your Trump in my pocket..." and that sounds like the end of her willingness to appease.

Oshi interrupts. "Daniel, I could follow Mandy if you wish, keep her safe. She not even need know I am there."

"Hang on," he says to the phone, holding the mute. He glances between Oshi and Duncan, and to Oshi he replies, "I think if you and I work on this thing together, we'll resolve it most quickly. And Duncan can call us if he sees any more glitches arise while we're out there." He still looks a little uncomfortable, undecided. Finally he shakes his head. "Nah, thanks for the thought, but I would feel bad about following her without her knowing." He still doesn't look completely convinced, but he speaks back into the phone. "Sorry, I'm back. What was that you were saying?"

Not unpleasantly, "Shooting range. Sunday."

Daniel grimaces, and replies, "Yep. It's a date. See you later."

He shakes his head as he hangs up, shaking off the mood and the distraction as he returns to the task at hand. "So, Duncan, what do you want us to do? Should we just get to the sites and call in for instructions?"

"That's it exactly. Everything you need is in the toolkits, and I should be able to talk you through any sticky parts. If you want to speed things up, you could even split up to cover more ground... assuming Oshi can put names to tools and Daniel's lady doesn't kill him on her way out. *wink* I can track you both easily enough. Four switch boxes are our main targets..." he highlights a map display with a laser pointer, and the software behind it then adds circles to the areas he indicates. "... Library... Mall... Factory and... Arboretum. How do you want to do this?"

"I am able to handle myself with simple repairs." Oshi says before turning to Daniel. "If you think you can handle being without me for a time." She smiles wryly at her own joke.

Daniel raises an eyebrow. "I will try to soldier on." He smiles back, and addresses Duncan. "I'll take those two from the second wave... factory and arboretum. Sound good?"

"Works for me. The factory is the only one with any heavy lifting anyway, since the box is in the industrial substation."

Daniel checks to make sure Oshi has a mobile also, and is alarmed to discover that she apparently got a Hello Kitty one from Kaylee the first time she asked for directions to the library. Shuddering, Daniel memorizes the number.

Perhaps primarily for Oshi's benefit (since he has a much better idea of Daniel's actual level of electronics proficiency), Duncan gives them both a quick run-down of how to get the panels open, what wires not to touch, etc. and then he sends them on their way with his thanks.

Daniel is armed with a gun slightly more subtle than the Ingrams. Other than that, he heads out by public transportation. Public Utilities ID was included in the top 'drawer' of the toolbox, and Daniel puts it on, discovering that he's Bob Daniels.

He decides to work backwards from the arboretum towards the "source" of the blip at the factory.

Duncan talks Daniel through probing the arboretum switch junction, and finds nothing wrong. After having him clean a few corroded connections "just in case," he sends Daniel toward the factory. Something odd... unfamiliar... starts creeping at Daniel, raising the hairs on the back of his neck, but nothing and no one seems out of place as he walks.

Daniel changes his route to force whatever's following him to travel in such a way that he might catch them at it. For example if there is a street with few enough side turnings that it would have to be exposed before he gets to the end...

He completes several of these maneuvers, but he's left with just the feeling still. The walking and turning and scheming gives his mind time to work over what it is he feels, though, and it seems more and more like his first steps into Shadow when he crashes to an elsewhere, but writ large somehow. Perhaps someone has passed through here? Given Daniel's limited Pattern skills, all he feels confident of is that they aren't here now... and even that is not an utmost confidence.

The sensation does rise and fall a bit as he moves around, perhaps like a trail, but not precisely.

First Daniel completes Duncan's task at the second station. Then he casts about a little more to see if there is anything he can pick up if he does treat it like a trail, but again, he finds no clear signs. Duncan walks Daniel through some more sophisticated diagnostics and fine tuning, but he's still muttering indecipherably when Daniel finishes.

Away from the panel, the shadow sensation waxes and wanes as Daniel moves, but never refines into a 'trail' he can make sense of. Whatever it is, it's stronger near the factory and almost imperceptible near the library, vanishing once he's on the library grounds proper.

Daniel phones Oshi when he's done.

Oshi will pause long enough to conceal herself then answer. "Hello Daniel, what do you need?"

"Hey, Oshi. Done here. You have any signs of a trail or break in Shadow where you are? It's the only anomaly I could come up with here, and I'm not really sensitive enough to it to track it."

"I am approaching the mall. I saw no one unusual at the library and I was very careful to keep watch. I did not find any Shadow breaks, though I did feel something strange. I cannot really explain what it felt like."

"Fair enough. Unless you want me there, I'll head back to Duncan's; we can compare notes there."

"I should be fine on my own. Thank you for your offer though Daniel."

"See you back at Duncan's then. Adios!"

Oshi hangs up and continues on.

Daniel heads back to Duncan's. On his way he tries to be very aware of any one following him (he is not hiding, himself), and he also tris to be sensitive to any more occurences of the strange "other shadow" feeling. But there's no sense of pursuit, and the 'other Shadow' feeling is completely gone by the time he reaches Duncan's.

Daniel reports in to Duncan and turns in his equipment. With him, Daniel monitors what's going on with Oshi as she finishes up. He also asks Duncan to queue up the internal tapes from the bar for the last couple of days; Daniel wants to look over any newcomers in the crowd.

Daniel has debriefed and unloaded his tools, etc., when Oshi comes in, holding Mandy's hand. Mandy is lightly laden with store bags, and seems to be in good spirits.

Daniel raises an eyebrow and smiles. "Good afternoon, ladies." He nods to them.

Oshi leads Mandy to Daniel, sort of handing her off, to which Mandy has no protest.

Reaching toward Daniel with her now free hand, Mandy asks, "So... how did it go?" sounding a little worried, but trying to cover.

"Well," he shrugs, "it went... well. I guess." He flicks a glance to Oshi and then to Duncan for confirmation -- quickly giving up on getting anything other than a grunt from Duncan. "Someone from elsewhere has definitely been through here. But what they did and whether they stayed.... It'll be a while. I was going to go over the security tapes from the past couple of nights and see if I could pick out anything."

"Want some help, or some company? It'll only take me a couple minutes to put this stuff away."

"I'll be here." Daniel smiles at her.

He settles in at one of Duncan's alternate stations, and, true to her word, Mandy shows up shortly. She's empty-handed, but her outfit now includes a broad-fronted aluminum-foil-silver apron with a 'Baby-No-Bake' logo on it. Pulling up a chair beside and just behind Daniel, she watches him work, rubbing his shoulders or nibbling at his ear every so often when the monitors are loading or otherwise showing something boring.

He returns her attentions when he can, and sometimes just absently with a hand over hers on his shoulder or a tilt of his head when he cannot.

She seems most content with that, and they enjoy each other's 'polite' company in quiet while he works.

No one seems to pass along the Shadow marks in view of the cameras that Daniel can pick out. So what he starts checking, timing-wise, is if someone were travelling in the "blank spaces" of the tapes, they could show up at a certain time "x" far down the block. He's got two sets of locations, so he looks for either the same person showing up at the right time (or close to it) in both locations, or for a person showing up in one of the areas with slightly anomalous clothes or something.

But nothing like that shows up. The only odd thing he spots is a posted notice at the library that seems to disappear in one of the blanks... although the wind might have pulled it loose and blown it from the frame in the time that elapsed. Blowing it up, it looks like some sort of pagan religious research group, advertising a night meeting / membership drive in the library's community room. According to the date on the flier, the meeting was already past when the glitch occurred.

Still, it might be worth investigating. Daniel makes a note of it and of the timestamp on the tape to mention to Duncan after Mandy leaves for her shift.

He had also thought about looking through the bar's internal tapes, but with the number of cameras Duncan has installed, it could take almost a week to review any particular twenty-four hour period, depending on how exacting he wanted to be. Duncan has software that does cursory sweeps - facial recognition, etc. - all the time, but nothing has gone off on that system in a long time. Figuring Duncan probably has more experience and a better chance of seeing anything before he would, Danile decides to leave that aspect to him.

Mandy will stay until an hour or so before her shift starts, spending at least five minutes wordlessly saying 'see you later' before she goes.

Daniel takes her hand and pulls her into his lap for a proper kiss. When she pulls back, he says seriously, "I have to apologize for earlier, Mandy. And I have to let you know, things will be like this -- rarely, but off and on. My being here is a bit of a magnet for others who can travel the paths; Oshi's is, also. But it might be this way simply because you carry our child, so me just upping stakes wouldn't necessarily fix things. And, frankly, maybe selfishly, that's not what I want to do."

He shrugs. "So, I'm happy to teach you to shoot. What I don't want you to do is expect to rely on any gun for protection if these people get it in their heads that we're their enemies. That's the part, the politics part, that I've got to play for us now." He motions to the monitors. "I'm hoping to get a chance to talk to... whoever's coming by before they're here long enough to form a wrong opinion."

"I've seen you and Oshi fight; I know better than to try ANYONE in your league. I just want to learn to make me feel better... and because I've never had anyone I trusted to teach me before. When Dani's done, I want to learn how to sword fight, too, and for the same reasons." She pauses, running her fingers through your hair playfully, pushing aside her concerns with the feel of you. "Is there anything you DO need me to do for our safety? 'Cause I'll do it."

Daniel shakes his head. "Just be prepared to let someone know if you see anything, or feel weird, or whatever. Now's not the time to assume you're jumping at shadows. If you feel like jumpin', call somebody. Me or Oshi or Duncan... whoever you can reach."

"I will." She shifts suggestively. "Do you have plans for after work tonight?"

"I don't. I was going to noodle out some tunes." Daniel lets his hand slide a little too far under the edge of Mandy's work skirt. "I realize you wouldn't be able to tell by my nights of late, but I... don't sleep much."

"That sounds like a handy trait in a man, Mister Howethorne...." A bit of purring, and a soul kiss later, "Should I come looking for you at your place, or do you want to play for my plants until I'm done with work?"

"If you don't see me on the floor, come upstairs and get me... I could be up for walking you home."

Whispered very close to your ear, "You might not have to wait 'til morning this time...." As she eases away, Mandy presses a key into Daniel's hand, "So you can come and go as you please."

Daniel nods to her, smiling. "Thank you, Ma'am. I know it will come in handy." With a parting kiss on the cheek, he turfs her out of his lap and stands. "I'll follow you. I've gotta get some dinner anyway."

On the way out he asks whomever he sees working if they want anything.

Duncan is deep in his zone, but Kaylee has some cookies and sandwich triangles set out for him close at hand. Everybody else is bustling around, getting ready for the night crowd, but all the ladies acknowledge Daniel when he comes into view. Mandy, who had headed out with him, makes sure he gets what he's looking for.

Daniel's thoughts turn to music as he eats. He thinks through how he's going to get hold of the cello and violin he wants. The only music store he knows of around here went out of business a year after Daniel went into the revenge business... hopefully a coincidence. He could let his fingers do the walking, cruise around one night... check the local equivalent of E-bay, but he'll take the time to ask around the other musicians before doing that.

Checking the paper, he sees that the Friday night jazz guys are playing across town tonight, but he finally decides to stay in and take in the talent here at the club, figuring if they're truly appalling he can take his drink upstairs. And he might see someone interesting.

The Saturday night lineup at Duncan's is a couple of local, bluesy rock-n-roll crews for the most part.

The first act is just so-so, but the second has its moments; nice arrangements, a little spice in the guitar work, and the lady lead singer seems to really be feeling it tonight. They call themselves the Remnants, a play on the fact that they all came from other bands that broke up around the same time. They've been together less than a year, but they sound a lot more polished than that. Angela Barnes is the singer, Corky Witt on lead guitar, Monica Bennet on bass guitar, and Bobbi Link and Randy Carr trade off percussion and keyboards.

Daniel commits the name of the band to memory, chats with them a little, remembers their names... nothing heavy or pushy, just getting the feel for them and how long they've been in the scene.

Angela and Randy have heard of Daniel, and they all seem friendly enough. Most of them have been playing ten years or more, and professionally for a good chunk of that. Nice contacts to keep, perhaps. Daniel doesn't really have enough of an idea what he wants to do to really tell them much about it, but he does say he is testing the water again having been out of the scene for a long time.

Angela invites Daniel to join her for a drink around last call, after she's helped her band mates tear down their gear. She's a curvy little blonde, not much over 5' tall, with blue-gray eyes that remind him of stormy skies... and she seems interested in more than his music.

Daniel does share a drink with her, flirting a little but keeping the conversation on the music. He'll tell her he's on the lookout for a good violin maker, or a nice used one coming on the market if she knows anyone who'd know.

"Can you wait until we play here again in two weeks, or do you want her number?" said with an odd twinkle in her eye.

"Mmm, might want to hunt around before that. Here, have her call the bar. They take my messages here. I gotta get a personal cell, but I don't have one yet."

"Sure thing."

After a while he leans back in his chair looking over his shoulder for Mandy, and motions her over if he can catch her eye.

Mandy seemed intent on ignoring Daniel once Angela sat down with him, but he catches her attention again with just a little effort. She comes over with fresh drinks in her hands, a slightly vapid smile plastered on her face.

Daniel quirks an eyebrow at her and grins broadly as she comes over. Staying seated, he slips an arm around her waist as she gets close to the table, making it just a little awkward for her to put the drinks down. "Angela, meet Mandy Blue, and Dani," he puts a hand flat on the side of Mandy's stomach.

Mandy's expression runs through surprised and catty and then all the way back to her usual friendly self as she catches on to what Daniel's doing. She kisses the top of his head, balancing the drinks like a pro despite the awkward positioning. "What time should I pick you up tonight, love?" she asks, trying not to rub it in too hard.

Angela seems to do some threesome-odds math in her head and comes up with a negative number.

A bit sad, but the timing just ain't gonna work out.

"Nice to meet you," Angela says, as pleasantly as she can manage through her tight smile.

"I'll be up late as you are, I'd imagine," he says to Mandy. To Angela he continues, "So you guys did a lot of original stuff tonight. Who's doing your writing?"

With a sweet (and almost believable), "Nice meeting you," Mandy goes back to work, with a 'thank you kindly' in her eyes for Daniel as she goes.

"Corky and I do most of it. He's got a good head for rhythm, and I can pretend my way through the poetry stuff. The others have a say, and Monica pitches in on some of the solos, but it's mostly us."

Daniel nods. "Some good stuff, there. Where else do you play?"

Angela names a couple clubs and venues in Southside that Daniel's quite familiar with. Seems that Willis Bruce, the promoter lured them out this way, but they had a good enough time of it for the drive to be worthwhile.

He'll happily chat away with Angela until at least they're done with their drinks and then thanks her and says his goodbyes.

She moves way into small talk, even scooting her chair to a slightly more conversational distance, but her disappointment doesn't dominate her mood for long.

When they're done talking, he spends the rest of the evening kind of watching the bar, checking if anyone looks or feels odd to him.

Things are pretty quiet, metaphorically speaking, and the crowd seems pretty well behaved tonight. After Nikki shoots you both a look, having noticed your crowd-scan face, Rip swings by your table, leans in, and asks you, point-blank, "Are you expecting trouble?"

"Always," Daniel half-jokes. He looks around again. "Specifically, just a vague feeling. But if you get any hunches, feel weird about anyone in the next couple of days... maybe somebody who has to go through their change to find the right currency, something like that? Well, point 'em my way, or Duncan's, rather than doing anything directly, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Gotta run everything through Nikki as it is." He rolls his eyes, playing like it bothers him more than it really does. "Some special reason why I shouldn't make my bone with your trouble?" He may be underestimating what he's heard about you, given that he's a head and a half taller, despite the lesson he already got from Nikki.

That doesn't bother Daniel so long as the guy has proven able to follow instructions. [Is magic known in this Shadow? I know Duncan knows, but are ordinary folk familiar with it? I'll change what Daniel says if so.] "Basically we don't want to close any doors before getting a good talk in with these people's bosses. Plus if they've decided in advance we're enemies, there's no guessing how they'll be armed. Best not to spread the trouble wider than it needs to be."

Rip is a little headstrong, but no kind of stupid. No is no with him, but maybe is occasionally heard as yeahsureishouldtry. You get the impression that he's suitably dissuaded from trying something solo at this point. [Magic is virtually unknown here - fairy tale stuff - price you pay for the technological thingies available.] "So... like Mob stuff? Yeah, okay. You call the play and I'll back you, man."

Daniel nods, "Thanks. Seriously, trust it if you think anything's out of place, and let one of us know; that's all."

"All right," and he goes back to slouch in his chair near the door.

Later, when things empty out pretty well he retrieves the bass and fools around with it a little, using the stage with the sound turned down if noone seems to mind.

Kaylee actually puts a hat out in front of his seat, which starts collecting coins from the girls pretty quick.

This makes Daniel laugh, and he starts some jovial mock-blues tunes, about his lost dog, lost home, lost Pa, lost love, and last quarter. Oh, thanks, "next-to-last," just kicking around until he trades the coins for another whiskey and plays some more upbeat, almost jive jazz, hearing the accompaniment in his head. He's not being super coherent, letting one thing drift into the next, looking for a thread, something long and sweet he can push his heart into. He ends up in the allegretto of a bit of Beethoven, and washes that down with the background rhythm of some jazz standards... playing just to make himself smile.

His playing makes the work go quickly, despite the distraction of throwing coins, and everyone has a good time.

If he finishes before Mandy, he tidies up and heads upstairs, finally.

Mandy got distracted toward the end when Daniel was pouring his heart into his instrument, so she'll need a few minutes to finish wiping down the stools and countertops. Everyone else has finished their night routine, and they say their goodbyes, leaving Mandy to lock up. She watches Daniel head upstairs, smiling about any number of things.

Daniel cleans the base and bow and puts them away. He then gathers some clothes for the next day. Finally he sits down and starts writing out a couple of arrangements... stuff inspired by the juxtapositions of the evening.

You're packed up. About midway through the second idea, the phone in your room rings; sounds like the ring-tone for an inside call, from Duncan or the bar maybe.

Daniel picks up. "'Lo," he answers.

Mandy: "Uhm, Daniel... I'm having a little problem in the girl's coat room. Could you come help me out...?"

Daniel smiles. "I'll be right down." And indeed, he heads down straight away.

She sounds just light enough for him to hope for the best.

He finds her leaning over one of the benches, lazily looking around on the floor, her backside clearly a bit higher than necessary. "I seem to have misplaced something, Mister Howethorne..." and Daniel's first guess would be underpants.

"Mm. Let me see if I can help you find... whatever you're missing. Or at least keep you warm while you look."

Mindful as before of Mandy's condition and potential discomforts, Daniel still manages a bit of "schoolboy rush and fumble" appropriate to the setting. He takes her with a smiling urgency that leaves his trousers dangerously 'round his ankles, and halfway through he carefully kicks them off one foot and sits back, so he's lying along the bench with Mandy astride him. He lets her finish there and finish him, enjoying the sight of her above him as much as the feel.

Much amusement is had by all.

Without getting up, Daniel reaches across with one hand to her unlocked locker and levers it open. "Um... I think I see where what you've lost has gone to."

"Mmm... what do you know..." perched as curled forward onto him as her belly allows, propped with her hands sprawled on his chest. With a hint of seriousness, suddenly, "Thank you for tonight, Daniel."

He quirks a grin up at her. "Yes, well. Yeah." He puts his hands over hers on his chest for a moment. He then says, "In case you were wondering, this bench is cold. Also, Duncan hates long sentimental finishes." He waves in the direction of the camera in the coat room.

Mandy waves at the camera, giddy enough to display a rare shamelessness for a moment. "Sorry, Duncan." She shuffles back enough to dismount, smoothing down her skirt and then reaching for her bag. Offering her arm, "Let's go get you warmed up."

"Sounds good." Daniel sits up, letting his shirt fall to cover himself, and picks up his shoes and pants. "I'll just duck into the restroom on our way out..." He slides down the hall on his socks and nips into the Men's to clean up enough to pull his pants on, and joins Mandy at the door. "After you, Miss Blue." He holds the door open for her.

On the way over he'll get an early edition paper from the machine outside her apartment building, and once upstairs and tucked in with her he'll alternate between sleeping and reading through the paper for any odd incidents.

Over the next several days, Daniel plans to drive around to a couple of music stores and instrument stores; follow up whatever leads Monica can give him.

She doesn't call until Tuesday afternoon, so that'll be a little later, unless Daniel gets impatient and looks around independently.

Nah, it seems like he'll be busy until then anyway. He's also calling around, getting concert tickets lined up for the next month or so -- including Mandy and/or whomever else at the bar can get a night off to go, plus for the string quartet and symphony and extra ticket for Oshi, which he'll present to her close to the day so she doesn't feel pressured (symphony, a couple of the bigger rock and blues groups, jazz, string quartet);

He also hangs out with all the bar staff more, just spending more time downstairs, knowing them a bit better -- the new ones particularly.

Sunday noon - "High noon," Mandy jokes, and they head to the range, a pleasant twenty-some minute walk from Duncan's. Mandy puts on her Kevlar "Baby-No-Bang" apron and then unpacks the Browning High-Power she bought through a supplier Duncan knows. "Start from the top," she says, with the gun fresh from the package, and it's clear that she wants to understand it all, from strip and clean to shooting stances.

Daniel's emphasis is safety for her, and avoiding her getting in the position of giving a gun to someone to use against her. So he starts with how it works, helps her compare it to the Ingrams and a couple of other examples they have at the range; cleaning and breaking down and so on; then basic firing, how to sight and target, pull the trigger, and deal with the kick. Then comes the part about never pulling the gun to scare someone off; never reaching for the gun if the person's already too close to shoot; never firing the gun wildly. And basically getting to the idea that if she pulls this thing out she has to know that someone will die by her hand. It may not come to pass; it may not happen. But she's got to know that is the outcome. This all may take more time than they have to work through the first day. He may focus only on her firing ability at first, but he's not going to have her carry it until she gets through the whole thing.

They get through cleaning, breakdown, and firing, with some comparison stuff at the end of the day. Mandy is surprisingly good [maybe better than Chaos level]. At the end of the range day, they discuss the basics of gun philosophy, which she digests willingly if not happily.

Mandy doesn't seem the least bit tired as of yet, so she and Daniel head out, have a meal. He was looking for someplace with a sloped lawn and maybe a concert shell or good buskers, and picnic fixings, and finds that there is a small lawn concert venue on the far side of the arboretum. It has seen better days, but in the daylight, it's safe and clean enough. Mandy loves the picnic idea, leading him to the store to get all the fixings and later making stuff right there on the blanket he spread.

Daniel mentions that he was able to get tickets to blues concert downtown, and he also mentions some of the tickets he's still on the lookout for. At some point during the preparations he'll ask her, "So, Friday, when I was helping Duncan and you were out, you came back in with Oshi. What was that about? Are you guys okay, now?"

"As for Oshi, I... well, I'd be lying if I said she didn't still scare me, but she's trying, and she's a friend of yours. I want to believe she was just looking out for you when she and I... talked the first time."

"I believe that, yes." He lets the topic drift off.

Mandy seems very happy about the tickets. "Can you help me find a dress? Maternity jeans are fine and all, but I'd like to look good on your arm for these things."

"Ah, well." Daniel looks mock-horrified. "I'm not sure I'm qualified for dress shopping. Personally I liked the little blue ribbon, but I'm guessing that's not what you had in mind."

"It can be blue, and I'm sure I can find something with ribbons." She puts her hand over Daniel's, comforting and teasing at once. "I can go by myself if it would hurt you too much... but I think I can make it less painful for you. There is a lingerie store not far from the dressmaker I'm thinking of visiting...."

Daniel leans back, a hand on his heart, "You're killing me, here. Dress shopping, lingerie shopping... You're not going to want me to go shoe shopping, too, are you?"

Despite the playful dramatics, Mandy withdraws her hand. "Sorry. I guess that was a bit too... domestic of me." Easing into a slightly less confident smile, "I'll go myself tomorrow, and it'll just have to be a surprise."

"Nah, not too domestic. Too... fashion-oriented." He grins, but gently, respecting her insecurity in this. "I am happy to come and ogle, but you need to tell me clearly in advance whether or not you want me to have an opinion."

Relaxing a little, but keeping her hands in her lap for now, "If you're taking me out, I just want to look good for you. I know what I want to do, but I'd like you to see me in it before I plunk down for it, so you aren't disappointed. You can just meet me to see the dress, if that's all you want to do."

Daniel looks relieved, too, when she says she knows what she wants to do. "Well, if you have an idea already, why don't I go to the store with you to check it out? That kind of shopping I can handle. When do you want to go?"

Mandy smiles, although her eyes betray a little guilt, like she feels like she's twisting his arm emotionally here. "I don't work again until Tuesday, so I thought tomorrow afternoon... if that works for you."

"Mm, I'll see if I can fit it into my busy schedule of sleeping and making love to you."

That catches her just enough off guard to make her blush. She looks around and, seeing no one else in the park at this hour, eases closer. "You say the sweetest things, Mister Howethorne."

"I just want you to know you don't have to dress up for me or to be seen with me. Let's buy you a dress because you want it, and because it makes you feel good, okay?"

"I know I don't have to, Daniel. I want to. It makes me feel good, feel special, doing things for you; with you. I know you're not used to it, but it's not so bad... really.

"Ah, well, then. I will try to cope." Daniel leans back onto his elbows, inviting her to lean against him, and continues to enjoy the music, the outdoor air, the remains of the picnic, and Mandy's company.