My Name is (What?)

[SharkyTGirl185]

((Meghan “Meggy” Roberts Continued from Insert Cop Joke Here))

Hi, my name is, What? My name is, Who?

My name is, chka-chka, Slim Shady.

Meggy walks up towards one of the vending machines, quietly singing Eminem as she places her pail down next to the machine as she took out a dollar, sticking inside and pressing the button for Dr. Pepper.

“Hi, my name is, what? My name is, who? My name is, Chicka-Chicka, Slim Shady!”

The Dr. Pepper falls out into the slot and she grabbed it, cracking it open and beginning to sip it, throwing her head back as she began to chug the beverage.

[Dr Adjective]

[Enter Heather Klein, some time after before.]

Something about Skyline Heights held a certain appeal for Heather. Something besides the friends she had there, that is. Something about the utilitarian setup, no frills, no ostentation, a dense community sharing infrastructure and space in a way that… well, if it actually saw some love and investment, if it wasn’t where society dumped those deemed just barely worthy of not being homeless, there’d be a lot to like about it.

If Heather were planning her ideal commune, a complex like this one might be a good base model to work from. Minimise waste, bring people together, share, collaborate. As if that would ever fly in Canon’s America…

The metal railing creaked under her weight as the beefy young woman leaned partially against it on her way down the stairs towards the central hub, near to where she’d parked her bike. Flakes of rust came away under her rough nails, and she eased off, wary of being responsible for breaking anything.

She had no business at the laundromat. Heather had a washer and dryer at home, bourgeois swine that she was cursed to be, but having decided not to bother wearing her headphones for all of five minutes walking down to her ride meant she was privy to an odd sort of sound. Familiar, yet not. Uncanny, she might even say. Her head turned, canted to the side a little quizzically. She clutched her helmet between elbow and flank, and took in what appeared to be Cop Girl pausing her recital of Eminem lyrics to - very literally - toss back a soda.

She couldn’t help but pause for a second and raise an eyebrow.

[SharkyTGirl185]

Meghan didn’t notice Heather at first, being too busy chugging her Dr. Pepper. After finishing the fizzy drink, she lowers her head, covering her mouth with one hand before burping, crushing the can and stuffing it in the trash can. She took a deep breath, before happily taking out another dollar to stuff into the vending machine.

“Hey kids! Do you like violence?! Wanna see me stick nine-inch nails through each one of my eyelids?” Meghan sings as the second Dr. Pepper falls down and she takes it, leaning back against the wall, fiddling with the tab of the can “Wanna copy me and do exactly like I did?”

She paused as she glanced up, seeing a familiar face. Her eyes lit up a bit, smiling “Oh, Heather!” She calls out, grabbing her pail from next to the machine and walking over.

[Dr Adjective]

Synthetic leather creaked in that inimitable way as its wearer turned to fully face Meggy, and Heather appraised the shorter girl quizzically. Based on the cadence she could tell that Cop Girl was singing, or rather rapping, but beyond that she had no point of reference. Presumably quoting, unless singing about showing off self-mutilation to children was the norm for her? Unlikely. Probably quoting.

Between that and chasing one full-chugged soda - oh lord, Dr Pepper too? - Heather felt compelled to wonder aloud:

“Are you… okay?”

[SharkyTGirl185]

Meghan tilted her head as she stopped a few feet from Heather, cracking open her Dr. Pepper “Oh, me? Yeah I’m good!” She cheerfully nodded as she took another sip of Dr. Pepper “Just got a really rough workout with Manuel a bit ago. And I came back from Lunch! Just wanted to get a nice cold Pep!”

She glanced around, confused “Sorry, I didn’t expect you to be here! No one usually comes here willingly unless they live here. Or don’t have any washing machines or dryers.” She laughed a little

[Dr Adjective]

Heather likewise approached, leaning her shoulder against the doorway on the side she wasn’t carrying her helmet. Meggy reeled off her day so far, and in return she offered appropriate facial expressions of mild interest. Rough workout, eh?

“I just swung by for… doesn’t matter. Just overheard you on the way past and I was curious.”

Heather reached up, running a finger through her white-blonde hair, tucking a loose strand back behind her ear.

“You and Manuel, huh? Didn’t think Cop Girl mixed with bad boys.”

[SharkyTGirl185]

Meghan blinked a bit, confused and shook her head “Oh no, Manuel just spotted me, helped me with my weightlifting.” Meghan flexed her arm, while deciding to leave out the embarrassing bit of her almost getting killed by a barbell.

[Dr Adjective]

In response, at first Heather merely pulled a face. The kind that said oh, never mind then. That sort of face. She let her eyes linger on the flexed arm, giving a little, just-about-noticeable nod of approval. All else being equal, she couldn't bring herself to have a problem with girls getting stronger.

"Well. Keep it up, find a good routine, all that shit. You know the speil. I gotta head back."

She made a more to leave, before hesitating for a moment. Despite everything, despite all Heather had done and said in the past, Meggy was still willing to play it civil with her. Friendly, even. Least she could do was continue to offer the same courtesy. Reach out. Community, pool resources, all that good stuff she'd just been thinking about. It's not like Cop Girl was a committed slave to the system or anything, excited to sign up to be WalMart's strongest footsoldier, she just wanted to look after people, all the shit your average person thought police did. What was it de Cleyre had said of Goldman? The spirit that animated her was potentially emancipatory, and certainly willing to dare and suffer. Also, she was cute.

"How are you getting back, you drive?"

Beat. Should she offer pre-emptively, or wait to hear a need for it?

"I can give you a ride if you want."

[SharkyTGirl185]

Meggy stopped mid sip of her Dr. Pepper, swallowing it and looking back up. Give me a ride? Really?!

She cleared her throat, giving a giggle “Oh, uhh, okay! Yeah! Sure! That’d be nice!”

She says as she attached her pail to the belt hoop of her shorts and took a deep sip of her Dr. Pepper, crushing the can and tossing it into the trash. 5 points.

[Dr Adjective]

The giggle. The way her big auburn eyes lit up. Did Meggy think Heather was flirting? Or was she just that excited to not catch the bus?

Meghan shot a clean swish into the trash can, another thing that might’ve made Manuel proud, whilst the friendly neighbourhood anarchist stepped fully into the laundry room and perched herself on the edge of a dormant washer.

“Going that way anyway, be a waste of gas to go alone.”

Yeah. Cop Girl was cute and all, but this was strategy. Networking. A demonstration that her principles counted even for kids who aspired to be the boot. Having Meghan Roberts playing big spoon on the back seat, clinging to her midriff? Call that a perk.

“I’ve got a spare helmet, but you might want a thick coat too. In case.”

[SharkyTGirl185]

Meggy stood in the doorway, clicking her tongue as she pulled out her blue blazer with her late dad’s police badge on it “Always come prepared!”

She hummed as she slipped it on her person, adjusting the badge before doing a small, quick twirl “Think this is fine?” She asks, moving her arms up and down.

[Dr Adjective]

The twirl, what, did she think she was hanging out with the cheerleader crowd or something? Not that Heather minded, exactly. She herself was anything but cute and girly, but that was who she was, not out of a lack of appreciation for it. Biting back the instinct to say anything about the badge, Heather instead clarified the why of the coat comment.

“It’s to put something between you and the asphalt if anything happens… I’ll drive slow.”

She folded her arms, producing that unique creaking groan of faux-leather in her sleeves again.

“Anyway. Whenever you’re ready. I’m parked ‘round the corner.”

Not that it was her problem, but after watching Meggy forget there was a swimming pool behind her, felt appropriate to Heather to make sure the other girl wasn’t forgetting anything else before leaving.

[SharkyTGirl185]

“Well, lemme see…” Meggy muses as did a mental note of everything on her person “Hair. Sweater. Pail. Backpack. Shoes. Pants. Yes, all ready to go!”

She nodded as she stretched “Thank you again, Heather, I appreciate it a lot! Don’t know how to ever repay you!”

[Dr Adjective]

A hint of a smirk tugged at the left corner of her mouth, dangerously close to a rare Heather Klein smile. An amused little exhale out of her nose. Her icy blue eyes caught the artificial light for just a moment as her brows rose in amused approval. Suffice it to say, she could imagine a few options.

"I'm sure you'll think of something. It's just a ride."

Heather lead the unlikely duo out to the lot where she'd left her bike, a second-hand Kawasaki Versys 650 in eye-catching, wasp-like yellow and black. The stickers of of bands and punk slogans adorning the tank were of course her own additions.

She unlocked the top-box, retrieving a rather minimalist black helmet from within. Basically an open-faced 3/4 helmet with the minimum legally-required visor attached. It had sat atop a modest stack of posters bearing details on mutual aid organisations working on the Los Angeles wildfires, her diary, and a small first-aid kit. Turning it over in her hands, Heather smiled once again at the sight of a white eight-pointed star decal on the side, and offered it to Meghan.

"This is usually for the likes of, y'know. Lily, Mitch, Emma. But it is the law to wear one."

In the mean time she put on her own helmet and climbed astride her ride, before donning gloves she'd had stuffed into her pockets.

[SharkyTGirl185]

Meggy gave a small scoff of amusement as she took the helmet and pushed her hair back, securing it on her nogging.

“Indeed it is the law, which is why I’m gonna be watching ya. Go above the speed limit and I’ll have to write you up.” Meggy lightly joked as she climbed onto the back of the ride, adjusting herself “Damn, never been on a motorcycle before, this is cool.”