A Claire-shaped Shoulder Angel

May 16, 2018:

Claire meets the (in)famous Danny Rand.

Rand Industries HQ - Midtown

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions: Jessica Jones

Plot:

Mood Music: [*\# None.]


Fade In…

Rand Enterprises might not be as showy as Stark Industries' HQ (why even play that game when you're playing with the master?) but it is shiny and impressive nonetheless. An assistant called Claire the day before to tell her she's got a meeting set with Mr. Rand. When she steps into the executive elevator, there are no buttons to push. Instead, the lift just climbs quickly and seamlessly to the proper floor.

The executive suites of Rand are likewise polished and neat. There's a rounded admin desk and a young man seated behind it. "You can go inside. Mr. Rand will be along shortly."

The office itself has a sweeping view of the Manhattan skyline. Everything is fairly simple, though it would be difficult to miss the Tibetan rug on the floor, or the incongruous old wooden desk against the far end of the room. There's a lingering scent of incense in the air. The assistant then asks Claire, "Coffee, tea, cold drink?" and then gives her a moment to get situated.

*

She's adjusted to people wandering in to her apartment by door or window. Blue skin and other abnormalities have stopped phasing her (though the fascination hasn't died - that's still up and kicking). Rand Enterprises calling her back after Jess' prank call? That threw her. And of course there was no time to get the interview outfit dry cleaned. That next best thing would have to do. And that was great until there wasn't even time to change into her scrubs before she was getting someone's grey matter on her blouse. Or it may have been coffee. Look, these things blur.

So the Claire walking up to the help desk on the first floor looking skeptical as hell? She's in an ill fitting sweater set salvaged from a friend at work. Or what passes for a friend these days. At least the slacks still fit and the shoes are comfortable AF. Right up until she's pointed to the executive elevator, the nurse keeps expecting someone to pop up with a camera filming her for some elaborate prank. But unless a lot of the building is in on it…
That's a serious gulp when she gets in the elevator and confronts that missing bank of buttons. "Right. What did you do today Claire? Oh, just went to meet someone on the Forbes 100 for a quick chat in Mindy's twinset."

Once she's at the right floor, she's every bit the sore thumb as she follows the assistant in and ends up staring out at the skyline like an out of towner. "Oh. Um Tea. Tea would be dandy." She waits until the assistant is out of earshot, in theory, to mutter, "God, did I just say dandy?"

*

It isn't long until Claire has an exceptionally good cup of tea presented to her on a tray with cream, milk, sugar and honey available. It isn't longer after that until there's a bit of a commotion.

"Danny!" Joy Meachum's irritated tone preceeds slapping footfalls.

"SorryJoyIHaveAMeetingTalkToYouAfter." And then the young CEO that is Danny Rand enters his office and firmly but softly closes his door. He exhales, turns, smiles, "Hey. Sorry. She's just not letting me alone about press briefings and stuff. You're Jessica's friend?" The young CEO is every bit as unconventional in person. He's not even wearing a suit - just blue slacks and a brownish button-up. The matching jacket is slung over the back of the chair behind the desk. "What can I do for you? Jess didn't give me a lot of details."

*

Honey, a bit of lemon if that's hiding on the tray somewhere. She's a simple gal. And an easily amused gal if that expression on her face is to be believed when she hears Joy's voice and Danny's in quick succession. At least the voices give her a minute to snap out of the looking around and trying to find details to be nosy about. Details that aren't really there in abundance. Claire steps back when Danny enters, turning to watch him over the rim of the mug. It's almost diagnostic, just looking for hints of demeanor, how he moves. It's second nature to look at people as potential patients.

"Well, the good news is that I didn't have much time to plan out a whole presentation and what I was going to say. So it's not all bad that I'm going to need a few seconds more to finish getting over you being the last piece to Jess' sarcasm clearly having limits and that she actually does know you." The voice is all New York, born and raised. She more smirks than smiles and then steps forward and holds out her hand. "I'm Claire Temple. And all the press briefing business is why I'm here. Your response and the community center you wanted to open. You're missing something."

*

Danny moves to a sideboard and pokes around for…ah, yeah, he has a good assistant. Green tea was set to brew at just the right time. "Hi Claire, nice to meet you." He fills up a little earthenware cup and then turns back to Claire. He looks…well, a little harried and overwhelmed. But he moves smoothly, confidently, despite his unconventional position. He leans on his desk, swallows a mouthful of tea, blinks owlishly. "Um?"

*

"Medical. For every bulletproof or fast healing person out there, it seems to me you have a few dozen more whose only 'gift' may be that they can hit a high not perfectly every time, and oh, their skin is a funny pattern. Or something like that. People falling through the cracks who last got a physical before all the strangeness started creeping into their lives." Claire launches into the spiel comfortably enough, if if she didn't really have time to rehearse it. She shows herself to a seat and keeps an eye on Rand as she talks, looking for his reaction. "Most of them probably have plenty of reasons not to trust doctors and the like. But if you could just get some equipment and a few exam rooms set up there, there's a lot of good that could be done."

*

The young CEO wraps both hands around his mug. An observant doctor might note that his knuckles look a little big for a businessman. But he just might like to box in his spare time. Danny looks at her sympathetically and takes a deep breath. "If you'dve come to me a few days ago, before this press conference stuff…" he tosses up a hand, "…I'd be all over that. And I agree with you. People who're different have all sorts of potential health problems that hardly anyone is considering. It's a question I asked about our drug trials." Rand, after all, is a big player in pharmeceuticals. "But according to what feels like ninety percent of the city, I should be staying out of all this."

*

Claire Temple raises an eyebrow at Danny. There's a lot of judgement in one little eyebrow. Claire reaches into her pocket only to realize … her phone is not in Mindy's sweater pocket. There's a quiet curse words muttered, one she doesn't bother to apologize for. Instead she gestures towards the desk. Presumably there's a phone or a computer in there. "What was it that got announced last week? The "Merit Center?" How hard is it to put in a little extra real estate in there and let word get out. Because trust me. Word gets out." The eyebrow raise of judgement is now accompanied by an eyeroll of epic proporitions. "You actually manage to get some of it. Your … okay, I can't remember the fancy job titles, but they quoted someone talking about homelessness and drug abuse. Well those things come with increased risk of health problems."

She gets to her feet and tilts her head just slightly, fixing Danny with an unflinching gaze. "There are kids getting jumped walking down the street. The ERs aren't equipped to handle it, and a lot of those kids are afraid to go to them. Sure, some of it is 'different' health problems. But a lot of it is not getting an every day broken arm reset. Or getting tested for strep throat. Is some iffy press all it takes to keep you from doing the right thing?"

*

Danny is pretty naked in his facial expressions. It doesn't take someone adept at reading people nor a psychic to get just how conflicted he is. He sort of looks like he got an ice cream headache and he doesn't know how to feel about it. "Are the kids going to feel safe going to Merit, is the question? Because someone pointed out to me that Rand is a big company and many of the kids are anti-establishment." He holds up a hand, "For good reason. I get it. I just…" A sigh. "No matter what I try to do lately it seems to blow up in my face."

*

Claire Temple gestures to herself. "And that's why you have someone like me there. I'm not a doctor. I've lived in New York all my life, worked in the ERS. I know people. And people know me. You heard Jessica. I know a couple of good lawyers. I'll have him walk me through a grant proposal if that will make it easier. But there's a need for this, and somewhere a bit better equipped than someone's living room." Claire nods over Danny's shoulder towards the skyline out there. "It's easy to talk about the establishment and who's going to trust who from up here. It's different when there's a bullet in your gut and a hospital has to call the cops. If things are going to blue up in your face either way … why not have them blow up trying to do the right thing?"

*

"Nelson and Murdock?" says Danny with a bit of a grin when Claire talks about 'a couple of good lawyers.' The chances of it being those two seem rather high given the Jess connection and the general do-goodery. He sips his tea as he considers Claire's words. He looks her in the eye and then exhales a held breath. "I'll…ask…" he runs fingers through his messy curls, "…my people what it would take to get something set up."

*

Claire Temple runs up against a little wall of silence when Danny brings up the lawyers. She straightens and gives him another one of those LOOKS, like she's trying to figure out if he's the one that stole the cookies out of the cookie jar. And a glance down at his knuckles. There's a slow sideways look neither confirms nor denies. "Good. Good press makes for crappy transfusions and splints. My dining room table thanks you." And then, because pushing one's luck is never bad. "And hey, if you want someone for your yearly flu shots and the like here once a week, I'll quote you reasonable rates," she says dryly.

*

The truth is, people give Danny strange looks all day. He's fairly used to them. So he doesn't react the way some others might to that scrutiny. Then he smiles a little, eyebrows arching. "I see why you're friends with Jessica." He pushes off the edge of his desk and sets the tea aside. "Y'know, we're looking for people to join the steering committee for The Merit Center. Joy wants to fill the seats with high profile people, but I'd like at least a few there who know what they're talking about. Interested?"

*

It's another of those moments where she starts to reach for the phone, fully intending to try and surreptitiously google steering committee. But no dice. Claire ends up pushing a hand into one of the pockets - and at least there are pockets! "A steering committee? What's the old saying - a camel is a horse designed by committee. If I can shoehorn it into my schedule so the horse ends up a horse? I'm in. Just need to pay the bills until you make up your mind on the clinic."

*

"You're a nurse, right? Up to date on all your…" Danny blushes a little, "…nurse…stuff? Certifications? If so, uh, most of the Rand buildings have an on-site clinic. Sort of like a nurse's office at a school. If…you would be okay literally bandaging paper cuts?" He's hedging around this. Some people react kind of poorly when he tries to just hand them a job.

*

Claire Temple stops just short of pinching the bridge of her nose at the Stuff of it all. At least her lips are twitching towards a smile. "I have all my certifications and everything. My job history gets a bit spotty, but if you need someone on-site now and then, a little security while I convince you to do the right thing wouldn't be out of line. Do you have information on your benefits package?" Hey, a girl has to worry about her dental! "And you don't mind me working two jobs for a while. I wouldn't want to abandon my patients."

*

Danny shrugs. He's the boss. If the boss says, 'hire this lady,' then they're only going to worry about basic qualifications - not a bit of spotty employment history. "I think they were looking for someone to pick up a few shifts a week. I've been told our packages are…good? I mean, we are a drug company." Among a literal dozen other things - some of which he doesn't even know about. "And then you'd be on-site for uh, steering committee meetings. The committee itself doesn't pay but if you worked here we could probably cover off meetings as part of your job?" He's really just making this up. But again, he's the boss.

*

At least she's honest about it, if a bit guarded. Her head's still a bit on the spinning side as she slowly looks around. "Mr Rand … I don't know the whole story of what happened when you were 'away,' but whatever it was? I think New York could do with a bit more of it. Will someone call with who I should meet with and when to take care of more concrete plans?" Claire's already starting to plan her escape before he comes to his senses and stops saying yes to things.

*

It hasn't happened yet, and it's likely not to happen in the next ten minutes - but it's not a terrible impulse to have. "Just…Danny, okay? Except uh, maybe when you're on the clock here. But other than that," he points at her. "Cause you're a friend of Jessica's, and when you call me Mr. Rand I sort of imagine her doing the same and I get a headache." His brow bunches. "Just leave your details with Martin…" he points vaguely to the executive assistant that sits out front, "…and he'll get you in touch with someone in HR."

*

"You're being incredibly generous, so I am going to resist the urge to text Jessica and suggest she start calling you that. Well. And my phone is in my jacket pocket." Which isn't here, but! We'll just skip telling him that part. Claire smoothes the sweaterset and takes one last look around the office, still a little in shock, still a little awed. "How do you know Jessica, anyway? Or is that one of those things better not to ask?" Which she'd probably ask anyway.

*

Danny grins a little and dips his head. "We know each other, uh…through friends?" Which is pretty much the truth? "We actually don't really know each other very well, to be honest. But I know her enough to trust her."

*

"Well, if your compensation package lives up to your office space? I'll take you two out to dinner to say thank you and you can get to know one another better. And if it's not? Well, that's what hot dog carts are for." Claire grins and then shakes her head, tongue poking against her teeth. "Every time I think I've seen it all, this city finds a way to top it. Thank you for your time, Mr. … Danny. Let me know if you need more convincing on that clinic." And then she's off to go talk to Martin.

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