2008-09-18: Use what you Have

Starring:

Meryl_icon.gif

and

Niki_icon.gif as Peter_icon.gif

Summary: Meryl is stealing parts from Angela's computer. Probably not for the first time. She gives Niki some advice.

Date It Happened: 18 September 2008

Log Title Use what you Have


Angela's Office

The door to, undoubtedly, the most important office in the building is slightly ajar, though not enough for a glimpse; it's quiet inside, save for the faint shuffle of fabric.

Surrounded by the many belongings, books, files and decorations of Angela's, in a dim glow of a desk lamp, the son of the Company founder stands in the office. So it seems, but the reality — rumour has it — is … more than a little different. Still, it looks exactly like a shirtless Peter Petrelli who hesitantly holds up a neatly pressed, white button-up shirt that's been draped over the back of an antique chair, all in all looking uncomfortable over the seemingly simple matter of changing clothes.

—-

Meryl has no reason to be anywhere near Angela Petrelli's office, which is one of the reasons that she's here. Places that are off-limits (There should be a sign on the door that says 'NO MERYLS ALLOWED') are infinitely more appealing than, say, her own office.

So with no reason to actually be in here, she's created a reason.

Slung in a burlap bag over one shoulder is… Something. It doesn't look to be too heavy, but the sound of metal and plastic pieces sliding around within is evident. She pushes open the door to the office, and sees…! "Oh, I envy you. Las' time I tried to walk around with my shirt off, some chivilrous dolt put his coat around me. Bet it was Ben."

Seemingly unaffected by the fact that someone's in here, she drops her bag on Angela's desk, and starts removing things from it — first and foremost, a skinned Furby.

—-

Startled, the man turns around, spinning too fast and knocking into the chair. Steadying the furniture, and clutching hastily at the shirt, holding it in front of his chest and ruining the fine ironing job of some minion or servant. Nothing explodes and no one spontaneously collapses in sudden panic; a good sign. Niki — not Peter — stares with unsure eyes through the mismatched body at Meryl. Meryl, who looks familiar… and the voice confirms it. "Uhh— " What's with the bag? And the… what is that? Dark eyes squint in confusion. "…did they send you in for me?"

—-

"T'ch, no," Meryl says, reaching into the bag for a small screwdriver so she can remove the speaker on the front of the naked furby. "This? S'a Furby. Or it was. I'm making him better. Or her. I never could tell. Speaking of…" She's still carefully removing the speaker plate, not looking up at the man. "What's it like?"

Finally, she looks up, smiling this horrible grin. Oh, she is so giving Niki a hard time about this. She's bored, after all. Reaching for one of Angela's computer speakers, she starts to disassemble that, as well. "Y'won't tell Cankles about this, right?" she asks, pointing between the Furby and the speaker, which is now in her hand.

—-

Niki backs away from the strange agent 'til she's in front of the wall of files — not out of fright, but because, really, she'd like to put Peter's shirt on with some vague semblance of modesty for his sake. She's halfway through putting the shirt on, unbuttoned, fixing the collar when Meryl earns another flat-out mystified stare. "…What? It's, u-uhm. I— " She fiddles with the bottom button, peeking up skeptically at Meryl. "What're you doing?"

—-

After getting the speaker open, she pulls out a whole bunch of wires, and then a small metal disk, which she sets next to the furby. The wires are stuffed back into the speaker, and it's closed. Really, it doesn't look like it's been tampered with at all, which will make it really confusing when it doesn't work. There's no cracks, no scratches, it's even back exactly in the spot where Meryl found it. "That's not fair, I asked you first. I mean, c'mon, what girl doesn't wonder once in awhile, huh?" Arching her eyebrows, she gives Niki another smile. "Don't be so modest. Show off your manly chest! Like a gorilla! OOK OOK." With her hand still clasped around the screwdriver, she beats her chest. "I mean, y'only get one chance, right? Unless you're planning on stayin' like this forever. Personally, I'd rather be back in my own body if I were you. You're a knockout. Speaking of, if you're going to be standing up in my wedding, you're going to have to dress down just a little, because no one should be prettier than the bride, and the bride has a big nose."

Nodding, because all that made perfect sense, she plops herself down in Angela's chair and starts to put the little silver disk into the Furby. "S'a bit of an amplifier."

—-

The process of shirt-buttoning slows down just for a moment — only because Niki is distracted by Meryl, not for purposes of showing off. At all. Peter's brow becomes all the more furrowed the more Meryl goes on. "It's— awkward and I just— I want everything to go back to normal." Oh, right, buttons. She hurries it up, but fumbles, fingers not as slender and feminine as she's used to working with. "Wedding? And— " A glance to the … amplifier. "Aren't you going to get in trouble for doing that?"

—-

Carefully, she fits the speaker back onto the furby. "See? Good as new. Can't even tell I did anything." Smiling as if this is the most awesome thing ever, she turns it upside-down so she can open the battery door and put batteries into it. "Yeah! Me and Ben are getting married." There's a pause, then she adds, "For real, I didn't just make that up. He proposed and everything. See?" Holding up her arm, she shows off the bracelet that doubles as a wedding ring. Then, she turns the Furby on. It yawns, then says something incredibly rude and inappropriate, which both insults someone's mother and calls the recipient of the insult a female dog all within the span of a few words. The words are suspiciously stated with an Australian accent. "I'ma put this in Ben's room somewhere."

—-

There's a long pause where Niki says nothing after the toy speaks up. She eventually suppresses an incredulous chuckle before stepping ahead and looks at Meryl's hand— then her gaze travels up to the bracelet. "Y— you and Ben. Congratulations," she says unsurely with Peter's voice, melded into different inflections by the person using it. "…I don't— really know Benjamin any more… I mean— you know that."

—-

"'e says more," Meryl says, giving the de-furred demon creature a good poke.

"Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!"

Meryl rubs her chin with a thumb. "Might have to take that one out. Not rude enough. Ever seen that movie? One of my favourites. That and Airplane. Airplane is a good movie, too."

The Furby says something best not repeated. Ever. And Meryl beams. "There, see?! That's better," she states, before pushing the toy aside and resting her chin on her hand. "Ben took a bit o' work, but he's doin' a lot better. More like 'imself." There's an almost wistful sigh as she remembers all the mannerisms that were completely eradicated by his reprogramming. "I'll introduce you, if you want. You an' I can be B-F-F or something. I'll take you shopping for manclothes."

—-

Niki's weird look at the little robotic creature thing suggests that she has no idea what it's quoting. She steps back to the chair and picks up wrinked, lived-in clothes from its seat; Peter's clothes he— … she came in here with. "He locked me up when he thought I was a stranger." There's no bitterness to the words. It's just how it is. She's been in a similar spot as Ben; she might've done the same. "I uhm— " Niki can't help but smile, a little off-kilter on Peter's features — and sillier than it might normally be. "I don't … need man clothes. We're gonna fix this. Sooner, rather than later."

—-

"Well, of course you're gonna fix it. Manclothes are much comfier, though. Y'get those oversized collar shirts and just wear 'em around the house with no pants."

She speaks from experience.

"Niki, I'm not excusing what he did." Meryl reaches up to rub her head. She can still feel the scar under her hair, which is a lot shorter since the last time she barged in randomly on Niki. For a moment, she seems as if she's about to say something profound…

"You know, I forgot what I was going to say." Cue a sort of lost look that rests on Niki for a moment. Surely she can think of something to say! A mere millisecond later, she does. "So, you want to come to my wedding? I'll need security, and you're about the strongest strongarm I know. I mean, there was this other agent named Armstrong and she was scary as hell, but she could not bench press a bus." Breath. "Okay, I don't really need security, but I think as many people as I can find should see me get married. Pleeeeease?"

—-

Is she inviting random strangers to her wedding. IS SHE INVITING RANDOM STRANGERS TO HER WEDDING!? "Yep." There's a beat, and then, "But you're not a stranger. We met once."

The Furby interjects with something obscene.

Finally standing, she comes around the desk, pushes some of Angela's stuff off to the side, then, on second thought, she picks up some stationery and an expensive-looking Pen, and starts drawing. "I dunno, I'd started planning it for next week, but Ben put 'is foot down on that one. I'll letcha know."

She winks, rips off the top piece of paper, and puts it on Angela's desk where she'll see it. It's a drawing of Meryl and Angela holding hands. Or, rather, it's a drawing of two stick figures, one with very large cankles, holding hands. "So— so while you 'ad this other body… did you use it?"

—-

"I'll see if I can make it," Niki says, sincere even though she still sounds a bit thrown off by the whole concept. Everything Meryl says seems to throw her off, but her last question especially is a winner. "Did I— " Eyebrows leap up in guarded surprise and… building horror. "Use— what?"

—-

"I'll take that as a no," Meryl says, voice piqued with mischief.

The question we all ask ourselves at some points in our lives is 'why.' Often, the better question is 'why not?' since filling an endlessly mundane day with fun stuff is very important! Meryl's programmed somehow - in the strange wiring up in her brain - to always ask 'why not', which means she has to rationalise why something might be a bad idea, rather than how it could be a good one. In other words, she doesn't stop to think at all. She just does.

And now she's giving Niki the seductive eyes. She is so telling Ben later than she flirted with Niki. "D'you want to?"

—-

"…"

For the tenth time — really, it hasn't stopped — Niki stares incredulously at Meryl. Just straight-up gapes. "Are you hitting on me?" Screw this week, seriously. She waves a hand wildly, dismissively through the air and hugs the old disrobed clothes close. Her answer is… adamant. "No!" She stalks toward the door in a hurry. It should be noted that Peter's body now walks with an awkward sashay. "I have to go."

—-

Oh, where is her sense of humour?

"No, no, no, Niki, wait! C'mon, I was only funnin' you." She scurries to attempt to get in front of the woMan before she-he can make its escape. WOW, pronouns are really gonna get confusing. "I was kidding, really."

And for a couple seconds, she seems entirely sincere. Then that look is back in her eyes. "…Unless you don't want me to be— " By the end of her statement, she's laughing again. "Come on. It's funny. You've got to admit that!"

—-

Meryl sighs. "All right, all right, go on. But r'member, you aren't gonna get another chance." Actually, she might, knowing the way these Evolved Alien powers work. "I'll send you an invite, soon as I know the date and steal your address out of our files." With a grin, she turns back to Angela's desk so she can collect Vulgar Furby.

—-

"…I think I can live with missing my one shot. Thanks. For the… invite." Niki pauses as that could be taken two ways: the wedding and the … other thing, but she manages a bigger smile and just shakes her borrowed head, slipping out the door to be escorted away.

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