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

[necroslacker]

"Ah." He nodded but didn't move just yet. "You could always ask me to come back over, you know. I probably would."

[whenshewasnice]

"Come back over."

Her tone suggested just the hint of an eyeroll that didn't happen.

[necroslacker]

"What's the magic word?" Sam asked even if he was already walking back towards the bed. "It's always nice to use the magic word."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie held off on replying for a beat, looking up at him.

And then she said, "Abracadbra."

Well, it was a magic word.

[necroslacker]

"Smartass," Sam said but dropped down beside her again. He leaned back on his hands and when quiet because, well, she wanted quiet or something.

[whenshewasnice]

Except Natalie had never actually said that. She glanced over at him. "So, we're probably waiting until the spring with that skateboarding thing, eh?"

It was random, but the thought came to her so she let it out.

[necroslacker]

"I'd almost completely forgot about that," Sam admitted, eyes widening a touch. "We can do it whenever. You're from Montreal though, I didn't think winter here was that tough for you. Like a brisk spring day."

[whenshewasnice]

"I didn't say the winter here was tough." It barely felt like winter, actually. "But skateboarding doesn't really feel like a winter sport."

[necroslacker]

"Skateboarding's a sport for whenever," Sam clarified, shrugging. "Me and Ramon, we'd go in the pouring rain if we wanted to. It's not really a seasonal sport. If there's clear streets, you can go."

[whenshewasnice]

"Montreal brain," Natalie retorted, tapping two fingers lightly against her temple. "You would not skateboard in Montreal in the winter."

Unless you had some weirdo powerup that made the board move even when you were ankle deep in snow.

[necroslacker]

"I don't think that'd even count as skateboarding," Sam agreed. "That's being stupid and standing in the snow on a board that won't move. So..."

He paused, looking thoughtful.

"...being stupid, yeah."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie looked briefly amused at something she probably wasn't going to share. "So, even if the winter isn't like that here, I think I'll still rather wait until after Christmas."

[necroslacker]

"Cool with me," Sam remarked, nodding. "It's not like I'm going anywhere or anything. My skateboard'll be around after Christmas and so will I."

He'd done his disappearing act for the year. Hopefully.

[whenshewasnice]

"You better be," Natalie replied, masking that very real wish in trademark mildness. She did not need him disappearing again. "I don't bother with people who keep vanishing."

[necroslacker]

"Yeah, don't worry, I'd rather not up and disappear again. It's never really all that fun. You never disappear and end up in that candy room from that movie about the chocolate factory."

He'd wanted that to happen to him as a kid. It never did.

"So yeah. Don't worry."

[whenshewasnice]

"The place we ended up in in the Special Collections was a little like that," Natalie shared, since... she'd actually talked about that with the guy in the red pajamas. "The Depp version. With the giant toadstools and a gingerbread house in the vicinity."

[necroslacker]

"Really?" He was almost sad to have missed that. "Sounds like a halfway decent place to take shelter, I guess. Better than some accommodations I've had in the past."

[whenshewasnice]

"I guess it would've been okay on a good day," Natalie said, shrugging. "Now it was just like the library was mocking us."

Well, it had felt like that to her, anyway.

[necroslacker]

"Yeah, I get that," Sam said and trailed off. "Sorry. Wasn't trying to make light of it or anything."

[whenshewasnice]

"At least the place gave us tents," Natalie added, leaning further back on her hands and glancing up at the ceiling. "It redeemed itself with that, somewhat."

[necroslacker]

"Mmm." Sam was just gonna take her word for it. He nodded and fell quiet, letting some less intrusive thoughts gain his focus for a bit. He glanced over at her briefly before turning his attention back to the room at large.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie ended up leaning so far she was eventually flat on her back on the bed. That worked as well as anything, she supposed.

A moment later, she held a hand out for him.

[necroslacker]

Sam didn't immediately see her hand but he did eventually glance down and he did take her hand though he wasn't sure where he was supposed to go from there.

He figured she'd do something to let him know what to do.

[whenshewasnice]

She tended to be utterly helpful like that, didn't she?

This time, she gave his hand a little tug. And, look, even some words! "Come here."

[necroslacker]

"Where am I coming?" Sam asked, letting himself slide backwards until he was flat on his back, next to her. Hopefully that was where he was supposed to be.