seattle ; tuesday

[necroslacker]

Coming back hadn't been...pleasant. Sam had figured it wouldn't be so he'd prepared himself. Frank was angry but he was, at least, talking to Sam. Ramon had yelled at Sam upon his return and then stalked off and now was refusing to talk to anyone. Sam figured it would pass and he'd just give Ramon time. If he'd been that angry, he would have just moved out altogether and he was still here.

Sam didn't tell Frank much, keeping everything very low key just to possibly avoid Frank texting everyone and their brother about his return. He'd said he was tired and had promised to talk about it later. With that, he'd meant to go to his bedroom to just decompress.

But, he'd ended up in the basement. It still gave him a chill and he still felt an almost painful tugging in his gut but he tried to ignore it, to beat it down and not let it overwhelm him. He leaned against one of the bare walls and thought about maybe doing something with this space.

Maybe that would help.

[NFB but open for interactions. If you think you got a text from Frank about Sam, feel free to mod it.]

Comments

[whenshewasnice]

She turned her attention back towards him.

"But not better, either?"

[necroslacker]

"I just got back, Natalie," Sam told her, meeting her glance. "There's not a lot that's going to make me feel better. Things are hard."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie gingerly reached out a hand to give his shoulder a brief, gentle squeeze.

"I know. Sorry. I shouldn't be getting my own issues on you right now."

Possibly ever.

[necroslacker]

"It's okay. It's fine," Sam said, sighing and rubbing his cheek against his arm. "Your issues are as important as mine. Just wish I could help more."

[whenshewasnice]

"So do I." She let her hand drop again. "Have you eaten? Can I get you anything?"

[necroslacker]

"I'm not hungry," Sam said, looking back at the wall across from them, "but I have been eating. Just not hungry right now. And I don't need anything. I'm okay."

[whenshewasnice]

"Okay," Natalie repeated. "I'd ask the same about drinking and sleeping but you're probably got those covered already. And your bandages look recent enough."

... Sometimes she got the urge to fuss over people. Mostly when she was at a loss about what else to do.

[necroslacker]

"I'm okay," he repeated, a little softer this time. "You don't need to worry, Natalie. I'm taking care of myself as best as I can."

[whenshewasnice]

"I'll still worry. I've had enough practice." She rubbed her temple a little. Spoke softly again. "But, okay."

[necroslacker]

"Yeah, but don't spend too much time on it," Sam told her. "I'm sure you have better things to spend time on that aren't me."

[whenshewasnice]

"I care about you more than I do most people." Which was to say she prioritized worrying about him pretty highly, no matter what he said. "And there's only so much time I can pour into getting familiar with Madagascar."

[necroslacker]

"Well, I'm okay," he said, trying to reassure her. "I'm fine. Don't worry too much. I'm not gonna run off again."

Not for the next while, at least.

[whenshewasnice]

"Okay," Natalie replied, nodding. "So... Is it okay if I just stick around for a while? We don't even have to talk."

She just wanted to take a little bit of time to sit next to him and reassure herself.

[necroslacker]

"Yeah." Sam nodded. "Yeah, it's okay. You can stay. I'm not in a very talkative mood but you can stay if you don't mind that."

[whenshewasnice]

"I don't mind it."

She wasn't feeling very talkative, either. In fact, she straightened her legs against the floor and sighed, and fell silent.

She wasn't going to stay too long. But she could take a little calm silence first.