Silly Harry
By Leah Day
Summary
Nikki gets a call from a distraught Harry.
Disclaimer
Copyright infringement was not intended during the typing out of this ficcy. Written using Australian and British grammar and spelling.
Rated PG 15 for mild language and some faint sexual references. Contains references to animal culling.
Nikki's bedroom
Nikki groaned and raised her head to stare at her alarm clock in disbelief.
6 am already?
Nope, 9 45 pm.
So what on earth was that damnful noise?
Her face fell.
Her phone.
That gay ring tone she had liked so much no longer seemed bright and happy anymore. In fact, it now seemed dreadfully unappealing.
"Oh god!" she hissed.
Muttering furiously under her breath, Nikki rolled onto her belly, grabbing her phone and holding it against her ear.
"Hello?" she snapped. "What happened?"
"You have to come to the restaurant," her colleague insisted mournfully. "I need someone to get inebriated with!"
"Harry, we have to be at work by 8!"
"Leo will be kind to us. Come to the restaurant!"
"If you are so certain that Leo will be so understanding why do you need me?"
"Because we're mates, Alexander, and you're gorgeous."
Nikki smacked a hand to her forehead.
"Oaf," she whispered.
"But tonight I'm your oaf."
She paused, gnawing her lower lip as she considered the matter.
"Flattery will get you everywhere! What kind of dress code?" she asked finally.
"Cocktail."
"Oh Harry!"
She had been hoping he'd change his mind and meet her at a pub so she could rock up in in trackie dacks and a jumper. Unbeknownst to most, she did have trackie dacks … just designer label trackie dacks.
"I'll make it up to you," Cunningham promised fervently on the other end of the phone, "Just please, pop on something amazing and get here quickly so we can consume outrageous amounts of alcohol."
She huffed,
"Fine, give me the address!"
The Posh restaurant
As she strode toward Harry's table Nikki was forced to bite her upper lip, thus ruining her lippie.
The sight of Cunningham looking at her like a lost puppy was both endearing and damn it all … quite amusing.
'Don't laugh at him,' she told herself. 'He'll thrive on that!'
"Don't look at me like that," Harry moaned woefully at her. "Have a seat and order a drink."
"Harry, you're damp all over."
"Daniela threw her water at me," the pathologist revealed ruefully.
"Why?"
"We were having a discussion on animal culling. She didn't agree with my theory that kangaroos ought to be culled down to a controllable number so that they may not become extinct all together. I called her unrealistic, she called me a cold-hearted bastard, I then told her that she was taking things out of proportion and was acting like a prat, then she threw her water at me! Me, Nikki, me!"
Harry hoisted his head upwards and snorted.
Nikki shook her head.
"Harry, Harry," she sighed.
The pathologist glared at her from his long nose.
"What?" he demanded almost petulantly.
"It's a touchy subject!" she told him, exasperated. "Like abortion. You can't just expect everyone to agree with you. Some people find the idea atrocious."
"But you and Leo agree with me," Harry pointed out.
Nikki nodded.
"Yes, we do. But not everyone will. Tell me, Harry. Did you call Daniela a prat because she disagreed with you or because she has a soft spot for marsupials?"
Harry squirmed in his seat sheepishly.
Nikki groaned and smacked a hand to her forehead.
"Idiot!"
"Oi!"
"Well you deserve that and more! Sometimes you can be so bloody clueless!"
"And you can be completely inflexible and an utter smart arse!"
"Really? Really? Oh come on, Harry! There has got to be a lot more then that!"
Cunningham sat back in his chair, brooding.
Nikki arched an eyebrow, tapping her fingers on the table.
"Waiting."
He said nothing.
"Waiting."
Still nothing.
"Harry," she growled.
"We should get together," he told her, a smirk slowly forming on his lips.
Nikki blinked.
"Clueless and the utter smart arse. It'll be fantastic. Think of how gorgeous our children could be."
Nikki felt her mouth drop open. She quickly shut it and continued to stare.
"I think I should leave," she managed at last.
"But you haven't even ordered yet!" the artless Harry pointed out.
Nikki swiftly rose from her seat, slinging the strap of her bag over her shoulder.
"Find someone else to whinge to!" she snapped venomously. "I'm going back to bed!"
With an outraged parting glare, the cute little blond pivoted on her heel and stalked off, muttering as she went.
Harry stared after her, confused and feeling oddly … wounded.
The Lyell centre, the mortuary.
Leo watched his fellow colleagues with despair and annoyance.
The quiet, less then enthusiastic answers to his questions was bloody well becoming a cause of the greatest bamboozlement.
They had been acting like sulking children for an entire week and he still could not fathom why.
The pair avoided one another avidly and would only speak if it were absolutely necessary.
The constant "We're not fighting" and "I'm fine" was giving him a most aggravated headache inside and outside the Lyell Centre.
Janet, thanks to Nikki, was now on it and was giving Harry the infamous 'You should be ashamed of yourself,' glare whenever she entered Leo's office.
This was a problem of earth-shattering proportions.
Harry and Nikki's desk area.
There was a resounding bang as the door slammed behind Nikki.
Harry raised his head, watching her curiously for a moment then returned to his report.
This loud entry was then followed by two hard whacks as Dr Alexander threw her high heels at a wall then, to polish things off, a malleable whump as she sat down in her swivel chair, nearly causing its destruction in the sheer violence of her sitting, and giving a rather indignant huff.
Normally Harry would have asked her if she was alright, this time he chose not to do so. If he did, he fancied Dr Alexander would explode into a gigantic tirade about how perfectly horrid and unfair the opposite sex were.
Nope.
Wasn't going to fall into that trap.
OoO
"Harry?"
For the first time in two weeks, Nikki was not using a tone of voice that reminded him of Dunedin in New Zealand, which to some people, was the coldest place on the planet.
Or was it Invercargill?
The handsome pathologist raised his head, addressing her, mental fingers crossed that this would not be another lecture or a threat to pulverise his balls.
"I'm sorry," Nikki mumbled, large puppy dog eyes shining through the smudged eye shadow and runny mascara. "I thought you were taking me for granted."
She padded over and, to his surprise, sat in his lap.
"Let's get together, shall we?" she asked, casually putting her arms around his neck.
Harry didn't know what to make of this rather out of the blue idea of Nikki's.
He felt quite … unbalanced.
"Where did this come from?" he asked warily, surmising that it was in his best interests to test the waters before jumping into the lake.
Nikki smiled.
"I'm being sensible," she told him. "I've thought, thinked, and thought."
"That doesn't make any sense and it's really bad grammar you know."
"Oh stop being such a stick in the mud and kiss me!" Nikki snapped, her brow furrowing. "You win, Harry. You win!"
"Are you going to be a good little loser then?" Harry asked, finally enjoying himself.
"Yes," his colleague replied softly then lowered her head, kissing him gently.
"Oh thank god!"
Spinning around in his swivel chair, arms full of Nikki, Harry glared upon the intruder, a relieved Leo Dalton.
"The Lyell centre will no longer feel like a death trap waiting to spring," the professor said. "Hallelujah!"
Nikki bit her lip to hold back a giggle.
She failed spectacularly.
"Nice one, Nikki," Janet said, appearing beside Leo.
Harry glowered at the pair.
"Do you mind?" he demanded heatedly, the colour high in his cheeks. "We're having a snog."
Nikki, standing up and sitting on her desk, giggled even harder.
"Come on," Leo said to Janet. "Let's be off."
Janet smiled and took her partners arm.
"Night love birds!" she called over her shoulder.
"Sod off!" came Harry's indignant reply.
OoO
As soon as Janet and Leo had taken their leave of them, Harry turned to glare at Nikki.
"What the hell was that all about, Dr Alexander?" he demanded.
The woman shrugged.
"I have no idea. But I'd love a drink. Your place or mine, Dr Cunningham?"
The end
Authors note
This is my first silent witness fic. Perhaps my one and only. I say one and only because I had reasonably strong reservations writing about these two. The chemistry is so bloody well spot on!
As much as I enjoyed Tom on the show, and shall miss him, I cannot wait to see Jack, he sounds so exciting. Series 16, to my knowledge, has not aired in OZ yet.
As for the animal culling bit, I am not sure if Harry was pro or against animal culling but I wanted him to say something that would be considered touchy. Personally, I am fine with animal culling, I grew up around it, but I am always aware that some people are upset by it. And I also strongly believe it depends on the species, the amount of animals, etc. Those are important things to consider.
