room 216 ; saturday afternoon

[necroslacker]

A weekend spent in here and now was a good weekend as far as Sam was concerned. He hadn't even existed last weekend so, slow or not, this weekend was gonna be a good one. He'd spent the morning talking to people in Seattle and he'd even gotten a visit from Ashley. She'd been pretty scarce lately and when Sam had asked about it, she'd just given her head a shake and kept typing on her Blackberry.

Sam took that as meaning she'd just been busy and he needed to not worry. Or something. So, that's what he was doing right now. He was not worrying about anything. He'd gotten mail from his mom and Haley that morning (a care package containing cookies) and he was nibbling on those every so often while exchanging text messages with Ramon.

Poor Ramon was still adjusting to the whole were-bear thing and was bitching about Frank nearly peeing himself when he'd run into a transformed Ramon in the hall and hadn't expected it. Sam was just lucky that Brannoc and his family were around and were helping Ramon through since he wasn't really there right now.

Ramon forgave him and even started sending him stupid, joking text messages about them getting married and running away and living as husband and husband. It was just good to joke with his friend and, for a split second, the part of Sam that was constantly reminding him that he'd go evil one day disappeared.

It was just a second but still, it'd been nice.

[Door cracked, post open.]

Comments

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie picked up a cookie and took a bite out of it. "How's your mom?"

[necroslacker]

"She's fine," Sam answered, setting the box back down and shrugging. "She's got Haley for company and Ramon and Frank go over there to eat her food and all. She's fine. She's a mom, you know."

He paused and finished his cookie. "How's yours?"

[whenshewasnice]

She shrugged a shoulder. "Normal. Asking about Christmas. I'm supposed to go home for that."

[necroslacker]

"Wow, I completely forgot about Christmas," Sam answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I should probably -- "

He winced and made a note to give his mom a call back later.

"Going home'll be nice, won't it? Give you a chance to spend time with your family."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie shrugged a shoulder again. In actuality, it was going to be really nice and she was going to stock up on certain things to bring back with her to Fandom, but... She was just like that.

"I'll probably leave pretty early next week," she said, instead. "The city's at its best at this time of year."

[necroslacker]

"Well, have a good one if this is the last time I see you till after Christmas," Sam said, nodding. "Enjoy Montreal and all that. Eat lots of food, drink lots of hot beverages because you love them so much and relax a little."

[whenshewasnice]

"Mm." That last one was probably a little too much to ask for, at least beyond what level of relaxation she was generally able to achieve. "Are you going home over Christmas too?"

[necroslacker]

"We'll see."

He wasn't sure if that was in the cards or not but hey, he kind of wanted to.

"I might have some stuff to do in Seattle that'll take me there anyway but yeah, we'll see."

[whenshewasnice]

"Well, say hi to Ramon and Frank for me if you do," Natalie shrugged, before pausing to finish off her cookie. "I'd say the same about your mom but I haven't actually met her so it seems weird."

[necroslacker]

"Sure," Sam agreed, nodding and leaning back on his hands. "If I make it back there, I'll do that. Sure."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie sipped at the last of her hot chocolate, which was really more like lukewarm chocolate by now. Still tasted okay, though.

"Everything seems to have gone back to normal."

[necroslacker]

"Uh huh." He nodded and glanced at her. "That's a good thing, isn't it?"

[whenshewasnice]

"That there's more to the multiverse than the Special Collections of a high school library? Yes, it is." She just liked being damn mild about everything. "And you're here."

[necroslacker]

"Yep, I'm here." Sam nodded and fell quiet because, well, sometimes he didn't know where to go when she was being as mild as she was.

[whenshewasnice]

Which was... most of the time, really. He must've liked the challenge.

Natalie, not bothered by the silence, finished her lukewarm chocolate and brushed hair away from her face. "So, you've bounced back okay from not existing?"

[necroslacker]

"Yeah." He shrugged and looked down at his hands. "I don't even think it's the worst thing to ever happen to me."

[whenshewasnice]

"Well, I suppose... torture or a painful near-death experience could be worse than just not existing."

And she wasn't even trying to insinuate one of those might've been the worst that had happened to him – although the state of his back could've pointed to that.

"But then it's more of a thing that affects everyone else rather than the person it happens to."

[necroslacker]

Sam nodded though his thoughts went elsewhere for a few moments while she talked. He almost didn't hear the last bit of her statement, in fact.

"I'm glad to be back," he said though the statement might not have really fit there. "That's a given."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie quirked one of her eyebrows just a bit. "Of course," she agreed, mildly. As was a given, though the reason was maybe a little different. "Nothing else would make sense."

[necroslacker]

"Yeah," Sam said, getting to his feet and wandering over to his desk while his thoughts continued whirring. He hated when they did that. "And even if I don't make a lot of sense, I gotta make sense about this."

[whenshewasnice]

That eyebrow stayed up, and Natalie took her turn to fall silent. Watching him and wondering what was going on in his head.

He was not an easy read, either.

[necroslacker]

There was always a lot going on in his head. Sometimes, he really hated that. Right now, he was just slightly irritated with the fact that he'd turned onto this path again.

He shook his head and turned around. "What?" It was hard to keep that question to himself when she was watching him like that.

[whenshewasnice]

"I'm just wondering what you're thinking about now," Natalie replied honestly. "That's all."

It was plenty, really.

[necroslacker]

"Just...stuff." He shrugged and didn't elaborate because it was stuff that she was new to and he didn't want to run her off. "It happens."

[whenshewasnice]

"Mmhmm." What else could she really say? She wasn't sure it was the right time to prod him for anything more. Wasn't sure if she really wanted to know anything more right now. "I know."