room 216 ; saturday afternoon

[necroslacker]

Sam's week hadn't really improved after Brannoc's phone call. It hadn't gotten worse but he'd hoped for good news. Brid had called him last night and hadn't given him that. The conversation hadn't been terse, thankfully, but he could tell she was worried which worried him. Something supernatural was attacking locals in Seattle and she hated that she couldn't figure it out. He'd tried to remind her that she wasn't a superhero but she'd said she was and Sam had laughed because he kind of figured she'd say that.

No one had died though and Brid had promised to keep looking. Sam had hung up with her promising to call if things got worse. And he'd actually admitted a fear that maybe Douglas had somehow escaped which she'd tried to reassure him was false.

Currently, Sam was trying to shove dirty laundry into a too small basket and getting more and more frustrated with it as minutes passed. He knew it wasn't the laundry that was causing his stress and frustration but a build up of a few things and his poor clothes were just in the way. He felt like he just kept hitting brick walls in every area of his life. He'd manage to climb over one and hit another and it was just an unending process.

Sam was getting a headache from all the brick walls. And his laundry was just not fitting in the freaking hamper. That was the story of his life, right there.

[Door & post are open, sure]

Comments

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie could frown too, though. "That's it?" she asked his back. "You're not treating this a chance to enlighten me?"

[necroslacker]

"No." He shook his head. "I'm not gonna always be the one to talk and talk and talk between us. I tried a few times last week to get you to talk and you weren't having it. So yeah, that's it. I can't keep being the only one to initiate things."

[whenshewasnice]

"How crappy." If not entirely unjustified, as Natalie would've grudgingly had to admit. This had to be the first time that someone sounded like they were giving up on her before the relationship even had any kind of official status.

"I seem to remember that when I did try to volunteer my thoughts on the things that you so wanted me to talk about," she added, after a pause, "I got nothing but variations of 'yeah I got it' in return, so. No one's perfect, right?"

[necroslacker]

"Natalie, I'd beaten my head against the wall for awhile before that talking to you about things before I finally decided to cut my losses," he said, whirling around. "Did you forget that part?"

It seemed to him like she had. "I gave you free reign to ask me what you wanted to ask me about a fairly serious discussion and you decided to ask me about Halloween. And then something I said obviously bothered and I asked you about that and you waved me off on that one too. I feel like I'm always hitting walls with you, that you just don't want me to know you."

[whenshewasnice]

"And yet you're still learning." Even if it was mostly about the many ways in which she was not always an easy person to deal with. "Sadly not the fact that I didn't want to have a serious discussion. Or that I don't ask the big questions because I think you deserve to tell me when and if you want."

[necroslacker]

To someone like Sam who wasn't used to the kind of person she was, it sounded to him like she just didn't want to work at finding out more about him. She wanted him to talk, she wanted him to hit walls and learn that way.

"Learning about you and you wanting me to know you aren't the same thing," Sam replied, shaking his head. "They're not. But, I still get the feeling that you want me to do all the talking and take all the initiative. Half the time I get close to you, you stand still like you're trying not to scare some wild animal."

[whenshewasnice]

"It's more like observing," Natalie remarked, dryly, because yes, she was aware that she tended to do that. It wasn't something she could really explain. "I'm sorry if the kind of person I am disappoints you."

[necroslacker]

"Don't do that," Sam said, shaking his head. "Don't put words into my mouth like that. The person you are doesn't disappoint me. But, you've gotta stop expecting me to do everything. I wanna be with you but I need some freaking help here. I need to know that you want me around."

[whenshewasnice]

"I do," she replied, though it felt pointless to say when she'd been called out on it. It sounded meaningless to her. "I don't know if I can do more than say I'll try to be more... open, I guess."

[necroslacker]

"I know you're a private person and I'm not asking you to suddenly become something you're not," Sam said, shaking his head at that statement of hers. "But, I like you and I'm a guy. I kinda wanna know that you like me and wanna be around me. That's all."

[whenshewasnice]

"So, guys that like me are needy." It was a very faint attempt at a joke. She wasn't entirely sure the timing was right, either. But she couldn't help it. This was unfamiliar territory. Things had gone a little differently with the guys she'd dated before. "I haven't exactly done this before."

[necroslacker]

"You haven't done what before?" Sam wondered because he was pretty sure she'd had boyfriends and dates before. At least he was taking her joke as a joke and didn't go to defend himself.

[whenshewasnice]

"This conversation," she said, shrugging. "The whole bit about not making you work so hard. It's not a concern I've run into before."

[necroslacker]

Sam sighed and rubbed a hand over his face before he gave his head a shake.

"That's not what I'm saying. You're making me sound lazy now. I'll work hard but you've gotta work hard too. You can't expect me to do everything. If you don't wanna do that, then I don't know what else to say."

[whenshewasnice]

That merited him another eyeroll. "No, Sam, I understand what you are saying," she enunciated carefully. "I'm not making you sound lazy. I don't think you're being lazy. Stop assuming, I hear that makes us into asses or something."

[necroslacker]

Considering he was already stressed about things, hearing her say that almost sent him right into irritation but he got a hold of himself and calmed down by taking a breath.

"Okay." He crossed his arms again and didn't move from his spot near his bed. "My mistake."

[whenshewasnice]

"You're doing it again," Natalie noted, reaching for trademark mildness again. "That thing were you say something's fine but I'm left with the feeling that it's not. Not really surprising right now, considering."

[necroslacker]

"I've had a long week," Sam admitted, shaking his head and shrugging. "It sounded like you were calling me lazy, though, the way you phrased it. You corrected me. I'm fine."

[whenshewasnice]

"If anything, you're doing more than the others I've dated," she replied, sort of idly, lightly. Masking that maybe that was important. "What's wrong with your week?"

[necroslacker]

"It's just been long," he said and exhaled quietly. "I got some bad news from home and nothing's changed the whole week. It's just been a crappy week."

[whenshewasnice]

"I hope the next one's better," Natalie replied, quiet but sincere. "You wanna talk about it?" She paused, resisted an eyeroll. "Now I feel weid asking that."

[necroslacker]

"You feel weird?" Sam asked, pretty sure that was the first time she'd asked him to talk about something. "Why's that?"

[whenshewasnice]

"I just do," she said. The communication thing wasn't coming easy right now. It was like she didn't quite know how to act. "I don't know. Because of what we just talked about. But it was just an idle comment."

[necroslacker]

"We don't have to talk about anything," Sam said, sighing again and dropping down onto the edge of his bed. "It's not a big deal anyway. Just stupid home stuff."

[whenshewasnice]

"It's not stupid if it upset you," Natalie replied. "And I didn't ask to be polite. I asked despite the weird."