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He hated changeover. Being hungry during changeover meant Merope had to stalk the vending machines and pine away at the overpriced snacks inside until his willpower crumbled, enticing him to pony up before tearing into a snack that initially sounded good only to realize too late that the picture very rarely matched what was on the inside.

So here now Merope stood with his arms crossed, scrutinizing the menu of the cafeteria. He could take some of this and then a little bit of that except that thing sounded good t-

"Gah!" The person the long and green glowing tail was attached to jumped, flailing about as he tried to grab hold of his tail and pull it away. Realizing quickly he wouldn't win this particular tug-of-war match he dropped to the ground and tried to flop across his tail. "This is mine!"

As Helmut's stomach growled, Merope's fins spread out and wide as he bristled in return. His fins lowered as he caught her look, conflicted. He suspected it was an act, one to get his guard down before she could dig her claws into his flesh and rip a chunk away and... And then what?

"What do you want a piece of my tail for?" He demanded, tightening his own grip on it. "You don't look like you could use it, and this one is mine. Though..." He trailed off, sitting up to lean closer to stare. Not at Helmut exactly, but above her. "That's a neat skull you have. Wanna trade?"

Her initial protest earned a shrug from him, along with a disapproving look. Just eating something was a waste but then again it did leave the bone behind. Bones were often hidden beneath layers of skin and meat, and providing the marrow wasn't cooked out of them it was entirely possible that they were an entirely new resource to scavenge from. New bones were always welcomed.

As she released his tail, Merope picked it up and hugged it to himself protectively. He clung to it, ignoring her apologies until she stopped. A look towards her brought a blank response from Merope. "You... You named your skull? That's. Uh. I'm sorry I didn't know?" He hazard after a pause, releasing his tail and moving it behind him. "Why's it called Uncle Carl?"

"Oh. Oooooh." Merope viewed the skull with new respect, going so far as to sheepishly wave at it. He really hoped Uncle Carl wasn't sentient and took offense to him. Or that he would come after Merope in the middle of the night with a hollow clthunk clthunk as it hopped through the hallways seeking him.

And apparently he knew a lot about stalk brokers. Merope warily watched skull as Helmut spoke, waiting for signs of movement.

He glanced down as she presented the femur, taking it from her and holding it just so he could spy at the skull without needing to move his eyes too much. "Uh, what do you mean he doesn't walk?"

Great, instead of a skull going clthonk clthonk in the middle of the night instead something was going to drag its way through the halls seeking him out.

Merope offered the femur back. "Does he have difficulties with doors? Just... curious."

Merope slowly blinked his single good eye as the news settled in and made itself comfortable on his mental couch. It shifted around, taking hold of his inner remote and flipping the channel from paranoia to thank the deep lights and swift currents relief.

The undead dropped his fins, letting them relax against his back and make him look much smaller than be was before. He was well on his way to slumping over with relief until Helmut's question made him sit up. "Eh?! What? It's nothing, just curious. It's a nice skull though, your Uncle Carl," he said quickly as he raised his hands. "I mean, you don't really know whether a skeleton's really a skeleton until it starts yelling at you when you try to pick its leg up yanno?"

"Ehh? Those little things are antlers?" Merope reached up, tapping his own horns. "Well! That explains why you wear... er," Was it proper to refer to the skull as a "him" or "it"? "Uncle Carl on your head," he finished quickly. "But you might have to poke additional holes in him if you wanna keep wearing him. My own hat's squished between my horns, see?" He reached up and removed his hat, using his hands to stretch it out to its full size before squishing it back into place between his four horns.

He tensed as she slouched forward. What did he do? What can he do? "Er, hey hey! Wanna --"

The words were cut off as she sat up straight, then stood up and held her hand out. Merope stared at it before he scrambled to his feet, looking uncertain.

The uncertain look dropped, shifting into a bewildered stare as Helmut introduced herself. "Uhm... Nice to meet you too?" He hazard, gingerly taking her hand and wiggling it a bit. "I'm Merope, by the by. Not so new but, uh." He let go, his talons clicking against the ground as he shuffled his feet. "Uhm. What was that all about?"

"All... that?" Merope asked, gesturing aimlessly. Then he mimicked shaking her hand again. "That. What was that about? Or do you normally great people by trying to chew on their tails first then give them their name?"

He reached up and tapped his head for indication. "Well, whatever that was, why don't you just take his horns off and put them where your's go?" This time both hands went up to tap Merope's horns. "Just swap'em out when needed, yeah?"