Tap Haunting (fic)
Title: Tap Haunting
Fandom: Heroes
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2230
Characters/Pairings: Sylar, Maya, Authur
Disclaimer: Don’t own.
Spoilers/Time Line: Vol. 3?
Summery: ... Can't Buy Me Love
Author’s Notes: Following Mightier Than the Sword. And not Beta'd so ...
PROMPT TABLES Un_love_you prompt #17 "I wish I didn't love you." 100heroesfics #16 "Purple"
Maya awoke, as she did every morning in her new American apartment. She felt, at first, that it was a dream. That she hadn't awoken yet and the plush pillows against her face were just a part of the illusion.
But it wasn't.
It was real.
She was here, safe, with her cure and well taken care of by the rich man who cured her. She smiled against her pillows, stretching in her bed before she moved to begin her day.
She sat up, shaking her bedhead out before throwing the covers back and sliding out. Padding along the corridor to her bathroom her morning smile started to fade as she remembered something ...
The pluming had gone funky in her apartment earlier in the week. The water would start out fine but as soon as she got comfortable with the temperature, as soon as she got a good lather going with her shampoo; the tap would jet freezing cold against her skin.
She groaned as she thought about it, bypassing her shower and opting to brushing her teeth and wash her face in the sink instead. That was safe enough and the landlord said he'd send someone by today. She stared for the kitchen and took out some things for her breakfast could make it until then.
*
There was a knock at the door and behind it was a small roundish man who barely looked up as he looked down at his clip board. Maya opened the door and was greeted with what seemed to be a huge purple horse that was stuffed into her arms.
"Urff! Que?" Was all she could get out as she almost lost her balance while trying to grip the mass in her arms.
"You the Maya Herrera that lives at 619 Mayfleet Avenue in Montville?" His New York accent was almost indecipherable.
"Uh. Si. What is this?" she asked adjusting the slipping load.
"It looks like a big purple unicorn to me. Sign here, please."
"I didn't order any --"
"I'm just the delivery guy. And now, this is your problem now. Enjoy." He said as he took back the clipboard and waddled off down the hall without another word. Maya set the stuffed animal down and then leaned out into the hallway to yell after the little man. She was so focused on him that she almost ran into another body that seemed to just appear in her door frame.
"Oh!" she caught her breath and laid a hand over her racing heart.
"... I'm hear because of a problem in your bathroom?" He lifted up his hand and pulled the lip of his cap first down and then smoothly lifted it from his head in a grand gesture. The movement distracted Maya for a moment before she stepped back into her living room giving him a suspicious look and bracing her hand against the door frame.
"You are the repairman?"
"Yes, miss."
"If you are the repairman then where are your tools?"
"Right here, miss." He said and kicked a toolbox that she hadn't noticed at his feet.
Maya's mouth twisted, puckering slightly but she still hadn't moved from her door.
"Uh ... a Mister Petrelli sent me down to have a look at your faucets, miss." The man looked down at his own clipboard and then showed it to her. And that was it. Maya clicked her tongue and nodded taking a step back to let him in.
"The bathroom is back this way." She pointed closing the door behind them.
He was scanning her apartment when his eyes fell on her newly acquired gift. He shifted his gaze curiously between Maya and the stuffed mythical creature and smiled. He pointed at it.
"Is that a unicorn?"
*
He smelled of cigarettes, was quiet, but in an overbearing manner and his eyes lingered too long for Maya's taste. But she bit her tongue and let him do his job (which seemed to consist of him banging a wrench at the pipes under her sink).
"I'm sorry, miss. There doesn't seem to be any real trouble with the plumbing." His voice was uncharacteristically soft and she wrapped her arms about herself and he rose up from where he'd been crouching. He towered over her.
"Well, that's not where the problem is. It's the shower that's giving me-"
"It's all connected. And its like I said, there's no problem here."
"You tell me that when you're in there and the water suddenly goes cold."
"Was that an invitation?"
Maya furrowed her brow. "Que?"
"I said, why don't you try baths? It's better for the environment, you wouldn't get such a shock if the water is all ready waiting for you in the tub ... And, beast of all, why stand when you can sit?" The repair man shrugged his shoulders.
She looked up at him as he leaned casually against the the bowl of her bathroom sink, her mouth hanging open in an awkward way. He looked at her, a tiny smile pulling across his lips as he polished his wrench. She blew out a breath to calm herself.
"Sir, If you would, please, just fix my shower."
He straightened up and cleared his throat, fixing a serious look on his face. "You say it just gets cold?"
"Si. When I'm in there. It's fine until I'm under the water ... like it waits or something." She cut her eyes at it and he laughed.
"That's silly. Faucets don't wait. They aren't living."
"I didn't say it was! I'm just saying that's what happens."
"Okay calm down," he said raising his hands in a way that unsettled her. "You're saying the nozzle just slips."
"Yes, when I'm in there." She huffed out folding her arms.
"I'm gonna have to see this for myself."
"Okay fine, have at it." She said gesturing toward the shower as she moved to exit the bathroom.
"No, I'm going to need to see a reenactment. Get in the shower."
"Excuse me?"
"It's the only way to assess the the real problem."
"Are you kidding me?"
"I don't kid, miss. I've been tinkering with his thing for two hours and it seems to be just fine to me. Now either you're lying about this, or it's all in your head. Either way I don't have time to drop by to pay you personal visits, just because you feel a little lonely."
Maya felt her cheeks warm up and he hands balling into fists. And he continued to ramble on.
"If you wanted some company I don't think you should have thrown out that handsome fellow from a few weeks back."
"What are you --? I am not making this up! How dare you!"
"How dare you Maya -- uh Miss! Having me come by here when there obviously isn't a problem with the shower!" he said significantly.
"Get out! I cannot believe you!"
"Do you want your pipes worked on or not?"
"GET THE HELL OUT!"
He felt her jabbing her fists into his back, roughly pushing him along and was strangely relieved even though she was hurting him. He moved along at her urgings then suddenly stopped putting his hands up in surrender.
"Okay okay, I'm sorry that was out of line! Let me just ask you one thing." the repairer man grabbed her hands in his, holding them. Amazingly enough she quieted down enough to hear what he wanted to say. She was breathing hard and her skin flushed from her anger. She tried to pull her hands away but he held fast. "Tell me you at least like the unicorn? Cause there's a whole set I could have delivered --"
She shouted for him to get out, though it mostly came out like a growl, and shoved him into the hallway. The door slammed loudly behind him and he flinched from the force of it.
He walked and didn't stop until he reached outside of the apartment building owned by his family. He let the veil drop and lit a cigarette, holding it in his hand but not really smoking it. It was a new thing he liked to do and just like all his other recent 'bad habits' he did it because he thought it made him look cool. He did it because it was a very un-Gabriel thing to do.
He flipped out a cellphone that was in his pocket, annoyed that he had to have one at all, and dialed the office of his father.
*
The next day Maya awoke in her apartment, just like she had everyday since she'd moved in. The sun streamed in through the windows, warming her face, waking her up. She smiled stretching in her bed. She started her morning routine with a shower and wound it down with her morning coffee.
It was there that she noticed a tiny disruption while she shuffling through her mail. Just one letter, no return address, among the other scant pieces of post she did receive. Most of them from news letters and checks from Pinehearst, but this one sparse letter was so banal that it actually stood out from the others.
Maya set her steaming mug of coffee down on her coffee table and leaned back into the soft cushion of her couch with a sigh.
Hello Maya,
I'm writing you this letter to keep the lined of communication opened between us. I am making the best of a bloody substitution.
Too much?
I'm taking the pen you left me and writing you a letter, because I know that's the way you wanted it. I mean, that is why you left me the pen right?
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I can understand that you need your space. And I also want you to know that I can do that for you. I've got the pen so we can still ... write each other ...
I guess on some crazy level I can understand why you might think it's a good idea for us to spend some time apart, but to do it the way you did was very rude! The stabbing was a bit on the dramatic side, don't you think?
But I can forgive that. See I'm growing as a person. I can forgive you for your actions. You could think about doing me the same courtesy.
I mean it was just the one time that you're bother got caught in the cross fire and really how close were the two of you? Maybe unhealthily so. I mean, maybe I did you a favor ...
But ... that's neither here nor there. And ... I digress. I just want us to get along considering we're practically family. You living off of my family's money and all ...
By the way I've been meaning to stop by again. Just to take care of some repairers that might happen to crop up. And that reminds me; you should have that leak in your shower check. The repair man is right, it is absolutely wasteful and the constant dripping could go on to drive a body mad.
Don't you think?
So no more overreacting, Maya. From either of us. We're going to be calm and civil to each other (even if it kills us). Dramatics.
Sorry.
So, I'm calling a truce.
Okay, Maya?
Truce.
So until next time, Maya. Enjoy the Unicorn.
Sylar.
(but you can still call me Gabriel if you like)
PS. Thanks for the pen.
PPS. I was thinking I should explain the whole Unicorn thing, but it might be too much on paper. You know what? Never mind. I'll just call you -- better yet -- I'll tell you about it next time I stop by.
Yeah. That's better for everyone, I think. I'll just do that.
Maya finished the letter set it down on the table and sat on the couch and finished her coffee. When she was done she reached for her phone and dialed directly to Arthur Petrelli's office.
"So Gabriel, how have you been spending your time as of late? You seem ... cheery."
"I am becoming a better person I think. I've begun to come to terms with the things that I've done and the people I've ..." He cleared his throat before continuing. "hurt. I'm working on becoming a better me."
He smiled like a school boy who'd gotten a very smart answer.
"I'm taking things slowly and thinking about the things I've done in my life that have causes others pain."
"H'm that must've kept you busy for quiet a while then."
"Hours."
"H'm." Author grunted before he raised a single finger and picked up a sheet of paper covered with rows of checks and balances.
"Well, I have to say that I'm glad you're at least using the family funds to get what you want. Much different than your usual matter of murdering people."
"Awww dad."
"What I want to talk to you about are some of your more erroneous purchases."
"My what? You're checking up on me?"
"Well, you are in a state of recovery, Gabriel. You have to understand that this is a probationary period and we're looking out for everyone's best interest here."
Gabriel sat scrunched down into his seat. His face was the very definition of sour.
"Don't slouch, you'll ruin the upholstery. Now tell me, Gabriel, what is this burning need to buy a giant, purple unicorn?"