seattle ; monday afternoon

[necroslacker]

It'd been another night racked with nightmares. They were getting worse and worse and Sam had no idea what had seemingly opened the floodgates. He didn't know what was causing everything to spiral out of control. He'd found himself downstairs in the basement way too much and for way too long. Ramon and Frank had even started questioning him and he'd just snapped angrily and stalked away.

That had just concerned them more. And they'd threatened to tell Brid which was great. He didn't want to deal with her when it came to this. He didn't want to deal with anyone. He just wanted to internalize it and make it go away.

He'd locked himself in his room for right now. The bed was unmade and messy and his clothes were strewn about, a testament to just how unfocused he was. But, he was still up and he was still mobile. Well, he was looking out one of the windows at the gray afternoon.

But, that counted.

[NFB but open for interactions]

Comments

[necroslacker]

"Because -- "

Well, there were a lot of reasons. So many of them.

" -- this isn't the same thing. This is dangerous."

That hadn't been what he'd expected to say.

[whenshewasnice]

It wasn't exactly what Natalie had expected to hear, either. There was a tiny part of her that preferred this.

"So is being a social recluse," she snarked anyway, but her heart wasn't in it. "What is it, Sam?"

[necroslacker]

"No, Natalie."

He wasn't going to bring her into his thoughts that he might be losing it. Not gonna happen.

[whenshewasnice]

Because she would so enjoy finding out about it once he did.

"Whatever it is, you're underestimating me."

[necroslacker]

"No."

He wasn't budging. Not right now.

[whenshewasnice]

"No, you're not underestimating me, or no, you won't tell me?"

A beat.

"No, save your breath. I know which one it is. You're being stubborn. I guess I should respect that."

She really didn't want to. But still.

[necroslacker]

"It's fine and I'm fine," Sam told her, not sounding like he believed it. He just sounded tired. "I just need to sleep."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie pushed her annoyance aside.

Now she just sounded concerned. "Can you?" she asked. Because she knew all about his insomnia. Lived with it for a good chunk of time.

[necroslacker]

"Soon enough."

Which was avoidance and uncertainty.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie sighed. "Once you keel over from exhaustion, you mean?"

[necroslacker]

"Soon enough, like I said," Sam said, shrugging.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie rubbed her temple again. "Can I help with that in any way?" she asked, almost a little helplessly. "Treat the symptom, not the cause."

[necroslacker]

"What, like tell me a story?" Sam asked, trying to tease.

[whenshewasnice]

"Or sing you a lullaby," Natalie replied, trying to reciprocate. "Even though I don't know any lullabies. I could come over?"

That was just one of those things she never expected to say until it was out of her mouth.

[necroslacker]

"...you can," Sam said after his surprise at that had worn away. "I'm not -- I don't wanna do anything but you can still come over if that's okay."

[whenshewasnice]

"It's okay."

It was more than okay. She needed a little human contact in the most innocent way possible.

"See you in a little while?"

[necroslacker]

"Okay," he murmured, saying his goodbyes before hanging up the phone and turning it off all together. He pulled the blinds in his room, dropping it into darkness.

He climbed in his bed, curling up on his side and waited.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie didn't waste time. Why would she, when she had nothing she needed to be doing? She portaled out, and then she was there, letting herself into his house.

And just a moment later, she was knocking on his bedroom door. "I'm here."

[necroslacker]

"So am I," he said, still in bed. "In bed."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie opened the door and slipped in, then had to blink a bit while her eyes adjusted to the darkness when she closed the door again.

"How angsty of you."

[necroslacker]

Sam shrugged a shoulder. "What can I say? I like my bed."

[whenshewasnice]

"Well, it's an okay bed," she replied lightly, moving forward a bit uncertainly until her legs bumped into the edge of the bed and she could get one knee onto it. "And you're supposed to sleep, so the affection is helpful."

[necroslacker]

"Mmm." He stayed still while he listened and felt her get into his bed with him.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie quietly lay herself down next to him on her side for now, unsure how to proceed from there.

She hadn't planned this far.

... Scratch that, she hadn't planned this at all.

[necroslacker]

Sam wasn't going to offer suggestions either. He stayed still, just trying to breathe easily and relax enough to maybe close his eyes and get some sleep.

It wasn't working that well but he was trying.