(Untitled)

[npcz]

At 3:00 in the afternoon, there's quite a crowd gathered at Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park. Most of them look pretty much like any citizen of Chicago - all races, all ages from early teens up to the smattering of grey-haired but stalwart protestors, people from every apparent profession and walk of life. A few have shown up in their work

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[gotbottle]

Rachel is in the crowd, listening. And scowling, though she's doing her best to make it seem a thoughtful scowl, and not an I-oughtta-punch-somebody-in-the-testicles-for-this scowl. Even though that's really what she wants to do, hearing and seeing all this. It reminds her too much of what was going on at home, before she came through the Rift. She didn't like it there; she sure as hell doesn't like it here.

She sees one of the t-shirted volunteers roaming a bit away from where she's standing. Rachel murmurs a few polite words to get people to move and begins to cut through the crowd on an intercept course, intending to get a pamphlet, and some more information.

[gotbottle]

Rachel nods, and slips her arm through Daniel's, so she won't lose him in the crowd. They make their way through, weaving between people here and there, most of whom seem to be paying the speechmaker rapt attention.

The crowd gets thinner and thinner, until they're at the edge of the gathering. Rachel steers Daniel toward a bench. "Here?"

[buzz_me]

"Much better," says Daniel, shooting a covert glance around towards those nearby. None of them are listening; he knows how to tell that well enough.

He turns his attention to Rachel. "Different how?" he asks.

[gotbottle]

Rachel draws her legs up under herself, much as she did when they sat side-by-side on a bench a few days ago. She shrugs a bit, stealing a glance at Daniel.

"I can do something nobody else can do. That scares people, I guess. They don't understand."

[buzz_me]

"We all can do something no one else can do," says Daniel. "Well, most of us," he allows, "but it's a matter of finding what it is."

He examines her, for a moment. "It's supernatural, then?" he asks.

[gotbottle]

"I guess, yeah," Rachel replies. "It's not normal, that's for damn sure."

She eyes Daniel, and remarks, "You seem to be taking this scarily well. Again."

[buzz_me]

Daniel raises his eyebrows at her. "Maybe I'm a Vulcan," he suggests, a hint wryly. Which does, in fact, belie his reaction to Rachel's confession. If she does have a power, he should know about it, and quickly.

"I'm no stranger to the unusual," he admits, then.

[gotbottle]

Rachel shakes her head sadly. "Even Mr. Spock's not a Vulcan anymore," she murmurs. "He's here. Or some dude claiming to be him. But if it is him... he's human now."

She gives Daniel an appraising look. "Oh? Why's that?" she asks, trying to feel him out. "Can you do something supernatural yourself?"

[buzz_me]

"I've never, I don't know," says Daniel, waving a hand, "breathed fire, or leaped tall buildings or anything like that." He shakes his head. "I employed several quite extraordinary individuals."

[gotbottle]

The blitheness is rather maddening.

Rachel casts a look around to make sure no one's paying them any attention. Then she holds her hand about a foot and a half above Daniel's nearest knee, fingers splayed. She takes a deep breath, and lets her eyes fall closed.

Her shadow is falling just above his knee. Rachel's fingers wiggle nearly imperceptibly, and then still again. The shadow below, however, does not still. It twitches, and seems to flicker in and out of being for a moment.

And then its fingers close around Daniel's knee, giving it a palpable squeeze.

Rachel holds Daniel's knee that way for a few heartbeats; then she closes her hand, and withdraws it. Her eyes open and she lets out a breath, regarding Daniel with curious eyes and an arched brow.

"...Like that?"

[buzz_me]

Now that is very interesting.

And dangerously reckless - Daniel does do another quick glance of his surroundings, to know for certain that no one is watching this.

He's silent, for a moment, as two people walk past the bench, then he turns back to her.

"Now that," he says, "is quite extraordinary."

[gotbottle]

Rachel blinks, nonplussed.

"Well. At least you didn't, like, run away screaming. That's something."

She rests her elbow on her knee, and her chin on her hand, and fixes Daniel with a very direct gaze.

"What's a girl gotta do to get a reaction out of you, hmmm? Kick you in the balls?"

[buzz_me]

Daniel laughs at loud, at that. "I'm sure that would do it," he tells her.

He pauses. "There was a time in my life when I told myself that I wasn't going to be afraid. That I was going to seize chances on their own merits, and not allow - trepidation, shall we say, to hold me back."

He indicates the protest all around them. "This, everything like this, is borne of fear. These people are so insecure of their place in the world that they will find others to blame their problems on."

This last accusation of insecurity does actually catch the ear of someone nearby - a someone who shoots Daniel a glare, and turns and goes.

Daniel seems unconcerned.

[gotbottle]

Rachel nods. "I'll keep that in mind."

She listens to what Daniel has to say, and she shrugs. "So it's sheer force of will on your part? Cool. I guess."

She sees the look Daniel gets, and sees the person stalk off. Daniel seems unbothered, but, just in case... Rachel slides to the edge of the bench, and lets her legs dangle again, hands braced against the edge of the seat.

Which conveniently leaves her pretty much completely in the sunlight.

Just in case.

"They wanted to make me and the people like me their scapegoats back home. People disappeared. I think people even died over it. I don't want to live it all over again."

[buzz_me]

"Force of habit, I think," says Daniel. "You get used to it after a while."

At least she doesn't seem outright unnerved by it, now. He wouldn't want to alienate the only person he knows here, so far.

"So then it falls to every person here to stop the tide," says Daniel. "If everyone here knows about the existence of new arrivals, why isn't there anyone to speak for them?"

[gotbottle]

"Because nobody wants to die."

Rachel eyes the stage.

"Though, Lord knows, with the death wish I've had lately, maybe I'm the person for the job."