necroslacker | room 227 ; sunday night

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room 227 ; sunday night

After his uncomfortable conversation with Natalie earlier, Sam had retreated to his room and he had showered. It'd felt good, something he'd definitely needed and it did help some tension dissolve. Some, not all.

He hadn't stayed in the room long before he'd left again to get some food. He'd completely bypassed the island's offerings and gone to the mainland to find something new and vegetarian. He'd come back with a few bags and was now eating a salad at his desk. It was late so he had a set of headphones on while he played a few records to give him something to do besides think.

Thinking was just...bad. And he was already brooding so he didn't need to add to it.

[Door closed, post open of course]

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And he hadn't doubted she was capable of that but she seemed to think the worst of him sometimes. Or think the worst of his actions. He didn't know.

Whatever it was, it was her bed too and he wasn't going to stop her or get up and leave or anything silly like that. He stayed on his side and stayed quiet.

Natalie flopped down on her side of the bed.

Well, flopping may have been too relaxed a word. Natalie didn't tend to move like that. It was more controlled, like lowering herself on the bed bit by bit but smoothly.

But whichever way you wanted to put it, she ended on her back, looking up at the ceiling.

Yeah, he didn't really picture her flopping. He didn't peer over his shoulder to see how she'd ended up but he knew she was there, at least. Sam breathed quietly and even closed his eyes. It was his attempt to relax.

Natalie was making a halfhearted attempt at that, too. She closed her eyes, and soon enough found herself humming quietly again.

Moonlight Sonata, what else?

Sam recognized the tune and it just brought him back to feeling not wanted earlier. He knew it had been a misunderstanding but still, it brought back a few memories. Sam wasn't going to join in with the humming.

He was staying still.

And even Natalie stopped humming soon enough, opting to rub her eyes instead. She liked silence, usually. Just not like this. Not from him.

It was a little suffocating.

"So should we just go to sleep already?"

"I'm not tired."

Well, there were some words from him. Not many but some. He answered the question and fell quiet again.

"But you're not talking," Natalie replied, borrowing some of his earlier flatness, "so it seems about the same to me."

"There's nothing to talk about."

He'd gotten his feelings dinged and he was annoyed about that. Talking wasn't at the top of his priority list right now. If he'd felt like talking, he might have pointed out how she sometimes had silences like this that he had to break through but he didn't.

"Your sulky demeanor says otherwise," Natalie replied, reaching a hand out to press it flat against his upper back. Without hesitation.

"As does the fact that you still keep replying to me."

"Never said I was ignoring you."

He wasn't gonna argue about sulking because he was but he preferred to call it annoyed brooding.

"I'm answering your questions."

"It's still talking," Natalie pointed out as she brushed her hand back and forth against his back a few times.

At least he hadn't flinched away.

Again, he wasn't really sure what she was aiming for but he was trying not to pull away. He stayed where he was.

"Right, fine, it's talking." Sam just let her have that one because he was already annoyed enough.

And again, Natalie wasn't aiming for much of anything besides keeping up some kind of a connection.

She was quiet for a while, then rolled on to her side, not really against his back but close enough. Trying to get back to square one and straighten this thing out.

Sam was back to not talking again. He breathed in and out quietly, keeping his eyes closed and his arms tucked up against his chest. He could feel her warmth near his back and he wanted to lean back but he didn't. There were a few things stopping him so he didn't.

Natalie didn't lean forward, either. Not yet. Not a lot, anyway. She was still close enough for him to feel her breath against the back of his neck.

She was just taking things slow.

And he did feel that. He didn't really react but he didn't tense up or flinch or move away either. It was safe to say he was letting her take things slow and he was waiting to see what she did.

She stayed still for a while, before finally giving in to the urge to shift closer and lean against his back.

And though she was slow and careful to do it, she did slide an arm over his side and around him as well.

By this point, Sam had figured she was leading up to that. He stayed still while she did it and closed his eyes once he felt her arm settle around him. It felt nice, of course, but he was still quiet.

Natalie plastered herself against him, close and cozy and warm.

"If anyone can change my mind about anything, it's you," she told him after a moment, soft and quiet. "You've done it before."

"You shouldn't always assume the worst about things that I say," Sam said after a bit of quiet. "I shouldn't have to change your mind about simple statements that seem to get turned against me."

"That was me taking back what I said about you not being able to change my mind, by the way," Natalie replied, as mildly as was her way. "And I didn't assume the worst. You said it to be polite. I just told you what it sounded like."

One day she might realize most people found observations like that unwelcome.

"I know you were taking it back," Sam mumbled, sighing. "I got that. But, I'm telling you that it sounded like you were assuming the worst about a simple statement. It's not the first time you've done it either and it's not always great to hear you're thinking that I would even think to say that to you. It's not cool."

"Apologies." What more could she say, really? Everything was going to sound like an excuse. "I'll try not to do that."

That included.

"It's okay. I know you're not trying to be malicious," Sam said after some quiet. "So, it's fine. I just wanted to be honest with you."

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