room 224 ; sunday evening

[necroslacker]

So, that had happened.

When Sam actually came back to himself, he was standing in someone else's house (or no one's house, he couldn't remember), leaning against a wall with some very, very strange memories rattling around in his head.

He blinked a few times and even pinched himself to make sure it wasn't a dream. Nope, this was him and that had all happened. Feeling a little hollow and a lot confused, Sam eventually did get out of the house and made his way back to his room.

He was tired but he wasn't and he was unsure and he was almost a little hesitant to go in his room. But, Natalie wasn't there right now so he took that time to change, at least.

And then he sat down on the bed and tried to get himself together.

[Door closed and post for that one girl who is his roommate]

Comments

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie shrugged a shoulder and kept her eyes on the food. "Like someone who'd pissed me off with his power but seemed useful for my side of the battle," she said. "But I also ordered a hit on the girl who looks like me, so..."

So this was actually the lesser evil.

[necroslacker]

"Oh." Sam sat quietly for a few seconds. "Sorry I used that power on you."

He didn't regret it but he was sorry.

[whenshewasnice]

She shrugged again. "I would've dragged you in if you hadn't. Or worse."

So, as far as she was concerned, it had been entirely justified.

[necroslacker]

"It's still not something I like to use," Sam replied, scratching his cheek. "So, I'm sorry. I don't just do that to people."

[whenshewasnice]

"I don't usually beat people up, either," Natalie noted with a mild tone. "That wasn't us."

Except she really wasn't so sure about that.

[necroslacker]

"You don't sound so sure," Sam said, looking down at the bed. "Really, you don't sound that good at all, Natalie. I don't think you're fine."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie looked over at him. "Told you I'm freaked out."

So at least he couldn't accuse her of lying this time.

[necroslacker]

"Why?" Sam prompted. "What's got you freaked out?"

[whenshewasnice]

She gave him a look of 'really?' They'd been out of a dystopian alternative universe for about thirty minutes.

"I hope you're not expecting anything more specific than 'I was just stuck in a dystopian alternative universe'."

[necroslacker]

"I was wondering if there was something specific that freaked you out," Sam sighed, shaking his head. "Never mind."

[whenshewasnice]

"Too soon for specific," Natalie said quietly, poking at her half-eaten sandwich, suddenly losing her appetite. "I'm fine just being freaked out by the entire thing."

[necroslacker]

"All right," Sam sighed before dropping his sandwich on his plate and standing up. "I think it's my turn for a shower."

He felt like he needed one and grabbed a pair of shorts and a tank top before slipping into the bathroom.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie just let him. She started cleaning up the food, taking it over to his desk rather than let it sit there on the bed.

Maybe she'd just go straight to bed soon.

[necroslacker]

Sam hadn't really expected her to stop him. He stood in the shower for a long while, letting the water sluice over him. It felt good. He wasn't tired but the water did a lot to relax him.

Soon enough, he was stepping out of the shower, into some clean clothes and out of the bathroom again.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie had put the food away and was straightening up some stuff on her desk. It didn't really need any straightening up. "I think I might go to Montreal for a while," she said.

This week had pretty much screwed them out of that trip to the comedy festival.

[necroslacker]

"You're leaving?" Sam asked, blinking and sounding a little surprised.

[whenshewasnice]

Hearing that surprise, Natalie glanced over. "Not right now. Tomorrow."

[necroslacker]

It was still pretty sudden and Sam turned around to hide his reaction to that. He made like there was something on his desk that he had to find or something.

"Fine," he said after a moment. "Whatever you need to do."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie went back to poking at the things on her desk, too. Just as needlessly.

"I thought you'd be the one urging me to go home when I'm freaked out."

He'd done it before.

[necroslacker]

"Whatever you need to do," Sam repeated, shrugging. "If you need to go, go."

He was pretty damn shaken too but he was keeping that down.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie didn't say anything in reply to that. She just stood still, looking down at her desk, forgetting to even pretend that she had anything to be doing there.

She closed her eyes, and just breathed, hoping she could keep her emotions in check enough that her horrible hollow feeling wouldn't bleed out to where he could read it.

[necroslacker]

Sam rubbed one of his eyes and picked up his phone. There were a lot of messages, most of them from back home wondering why he'd gone radio silent. He didn't even know what in the hell to tell them.

He was quiet as he scrolled through the messages. He wasn't picking up anything from her so he let her be for the time being.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie... probably appreciated that. She was a little uncertain about her feelings on anything right now.

She knew she'd been on the oppressive side of the battle. The wrong side. So why didn't she feel worse about it, or like that was completely out of character for her?

She sighed.

[necroslacker]

Sam heard that sigh and wondered if he should ask (again) if she was all right but he didn't. He returned a few text messages, being very vague about things and dropped his phone back on the table. Then, he dumped his food into the trash and went over to lay down on his side on the bed.

He was still leaving her be because he wasn't sure what she needed. He'd been in that position before, sure, but this was a little different than past instances of her seeming to shut down.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie stayed still for a moment further.

Then she breathed in, turned, and came over to climb on the bed – and over him, if he let her.

She had a reason.