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I bet you didn't know Daisy Adair could play the piano, did you?

... well, her mun didn't either, and had to check a couple of canon resources to be sure.

But, lo and behold, Daisy Adair can play the piano, and is currently doing so!

To Ben Folds' 'Lullabye.'

Goodnight, goodnight,
Sweet baby
The world has more for you
Than it seems
Goodnight, goodnight
Let the moonlight take the lid
Off your dreams

We took a small flight
In the middle of the night
From one tiny place
To another
And my parents they remain
At the shack with Lorraine
And my aunt and my grandpa
And brother ...

She's very fond of the song -- even has her eyes closed as she plays it.

So you'd probably scare her to death (again) if you poked her.

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"Oh. Well, in that case, I'm dreadfully sorry for the harsh implications."

She offers her hand, smiling.

"Daisy -- Daisy Adair."

I grab her hand and use it to pull myself up.

Well, if that isn't what she wanted me to use it for, she shouldn't have offered it.

"Taylor. John Taylor."

And I'm waiting for the reaction...

She doesn't mind, really.

But her brow furrows -- and he gets the reaction he wasn't looking for or expecting.

"You don't look like the John Taylor I know," Daisy remarks, referring to the musician (http://www.johntaylorjazz.com/pages/biography.html), who is the only John Taylor she happens to know, "so you must be a new one."

"What John Taylor do you know?"

Cause I'm well aware of my reputation. Hell, I depend on it.

"John Taylor is a very fine Bostonian jazz musician."

She eyes him.

"Who would sooner trip and die than hit a piano, so I'm assuming that it's not just the lack of gray beard and frizzy short hair that separates you from him."

...

"No, I'm definitely not your man. I'm the John Taylor who can find you anything, the scariest son of a bitch in the Nightside."

I grin.

"Nice to meet you, Daisy Adair."

"You aren't really striking me as frightening, John Taylor."

That doesn't stop Daisy from grinning back, though.

"It's only been about five minutes," and I say it with a smile, "gimme some time. Though I'm not about to start trouble. That's, uh, just about as long as it takes for someone to try and start some with me, though."

"You have the wrong girl, as I am not really one for trouble."

She's as innocent as her icon.

I raise an eyebrow.

Right.

Suzie'd probably already have the shotgun up one nostril on this one already.

"-- no, really. I don't ask for it."

A slight narrow of the eyes.

"You're not psychic, are you, John Taylor?"

I put up both hands, but I don't answer. Always good to keep them guessing as to how much you can do.

"Not saying anything, ma'am."

"But you say you can find anything."

She will find a way to find out if he Knows Something.

Really.

I nod.

"That's how it works."

"Which way would you turn if I asked you for a grim reaper? Provided you want to find me something," she adds.

I shake my head.

"I don't start up my gift for shits and giggles, lady. There are these people after me, and every time it I use it, they get an idea of where I am. If you've got a real job for me, I'm up for it, but otherwise..."

I spread my hands.

"I was just asking for a vague direction. But if you're being traced, well -- I don't want to waste your safety. At the same time, I think you're pretty off the radar, hereabouts."

"You'd think that."

And it's flat, because from what I've seen, the only place off the radar is out of the Nightside and I'm not so sure I'm out of the Nightside, wherever we are.

"Being at the physical end of the universe tends to do that. Cut off radar, that is."

Daisy shrugs.

"What'd you do, anyway?"

"Physical's got nothing to do with it. For the folks trying to kill me, it's a minor obstacle."

I lean on the piano, mostly because I'm sore and I don't feel like standing up but I'm not going to take the bench from her or anything. I'm not that bad.

"And I find things."

"... do you want to sit down?"

There's room for more than one person, and Daisy belatedly realizes she's been rude.

"You did just crash, after all. How callous of me."

"At least you didn't kick me. That gets you points."

"I don't usually kick strangers. Especially not after they've crashed into pianos."

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