hold me closer, necromancer

Apparently, they were going to have Thanksgiving at Sam's house. Haley had suggested the idea because of the space and with Sam's large array of interesting friends, it would just be safer and more comfortable. Sam hadn't really argued that much. The house was still clinging to some of the uneasiness that it had come with when it had been in Douglas's possession and he hoped that maybe this would vanquish it.

But, Sam wasn't cooking. He could cook but he wasn't. Instead, he was sitting on the counter in his kitchen, eating an apple and watching Haley get a pie together. James was nearby, glancing over to Haley every once in awhile and pretending he definitely wasn't doing that nope not at all. It amused Sam. Maybe he'd given James the 'if you hurt my sister, I'll kill you' talk just to make him sweat.

Before Sam could entertain that fact further, Haley dumped a bunch of flowers and a basket in his lap.

"Make a centerpiece."

"What's the magic word?" Sam asked.

"Shut up."

"Ding ding!" Sam laughed and went about making the world's worst centerpiece.

[NFB but open for stuff]

Haley had been trying to organize a 'Welcome to Spring!' party for a few weeks now. When Sam had told her she just wanted a convenient reason to throw a party, she hadn't denied it but she'd still said she was going to use his house. And Sam, being the oh so dutiful brother, had let her. The party was tonight and Haley had commandeered James, Ramon, the gnomes, the minotaur and Frank into helping her decorate. Sam had begged off, not wanting to get in the way and had retreated out to the half pipe in the yard.

He'd climbed to the top to dangled his legs over the edge when he noticed that even the half pipe was decorated with cheery flowers and little sunshine stickers. Sam shook his head and let the stickers be. It made the half pipe a little brighter at least.

Down below on the lawn, the statues were getting decorated in flowery sashes and seemed to be loving. Sam had to admit that even if he wasn't a huge party person, it did seem a little brighter and warmer here now. Haley did good work. Taco appeared in the spot next to Sam before making himself at home in Sam's lap. Sam scritched him underneath his chin and smiled down at the chupacabra.

So far, not a bad way to start a party.

[NFB but open for calls/texts/emails/visits]

Nick came to sometime on the hike down. He didn’t look super happy, but then again, he didn’t complain either. He kept an eye on Ramon for the rest of the trip, even though Sam's friend was just smiling and whistling. Sam scratched Taco’s head and tried to hide his smile.

( Ramon offered to drive... )

[NFB, NFI. Taken from Necromancing the Stone and TBC as this chapter is super long. Warning for: description of a dead body.]

At some point after the funeral, Sam had passed out in the car. The world had started spinning brutally and he had closed his eyes just to stop from puking again. Sleep had overtaken him.

( And canon continues... )

[NFB. TBC since this chapter is super long. Lifted lovingly from Necromancing the Stone Warning for: not much. Nothing objectionable here. Open if you wanna talk to Sam (or, in this case, his sister, mother or James).]

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.]

Sam was actually sleeping this morning. There had been a nightmare or two but nothing he couldn't get past and he'd settled into a fairly restful sleep sometime around two in the morning. He was going to guess the addition of the other person in the bed with him might have had something to do with it.

He was still on his side, still fully clothed, and she was still there behind him. He hoped she was sleeping too because her staying up all night just would have been exhausting.

And that's what this morning was going to be: exhausting. So, they both needed some rest now.

[NFB but for the girl in the bed and then someone else a wee bit later]

Sam was pretty tired. With the increase in nightmares lately, it wasn't unexpected but it was annoying. He could deal with low levels of exhaustion but this was getting ridiculous. He constantly felt like someone was whispering in the back of his mind or that someone was right over his shoulder, smirking wickedly.

He needed to sleep. But right now, all he was doing was sitting up in his room, propped up by a bunch of pillows and covered with various blankets. The window across the room was open and he could see the rain hitting the window panes with some quiet thumps. Rain in Seattle. What a novel concept.

Sam rubbed his chin and realized he hadn't shaved lately either. He'd been so caught up with everything going on in his head that he was physically showing signs of exhaustion now too. If Brid saw him like this, she'd say something and then make him shave.

He'd do it later. Right now, he was just going to stay in bed, in his blanket fort to try and maybe get some sleep. But he doubted that'd happen.

[NFB but open for interactions]

And Sam was back on the island.

It was pretty safe to say that Sam hadn't expected to be back on the island today but after receiving a voicemail from his apparently grown not at all possible kid, he figured he had to put in an appearance. It would have been really pretty crappy not to.

So, he was back. And, somehow, he'd gotten the exact same hotel room as he'd been in just this past Monday. How in the hell that had happened, Sam didn't know but this room was filled with memories that Sam didn't think were appropriate when he was about to see his kid again.

Fake kid. Impossible kid. Whatever.

He was trying to ignore all that. He'd sent Natalie's phone a brief message that he was there because he didn't think either of them would sense him being there (well, maybe Ada would) so he'd bitten the bullet and done it.

And now he was eating some cereal and watching television. It was something to do.

[For a mom and a kid, natch]

Sam had gotten roped into taking Haley out shopping today. His mom had asked him and Sam really couldn't say no to his mom when she put her mind to it. Besides, he hadn't spent a lot of time with Haley and she did need some new things for school.

Right now, Sam was sitting on a bench in the shoe section of some store while Haley modeled different pairs of sneakers for him.

"The first time it rains and you step in a mud puddle, those are ruined," Sam said of a the pair of white sneakers she had on today.

"I'd just avoid mud puddles," Haley told him smartly.

Sam shook his head. "No, you wouldn't. Or maybe you'd try to avoid it but no one avoids every mud puddle. No one's that good."

"I am," Haley said and stuck a hand on her hip. Sam chuckled and crossed his arms.

"Then, they look fine," he said, nodding. "Very good for not stepping in mud puddles."

"They'll go in the maybe pile," Haley said before skipping away down another aisle. Sam laughed and closed his eyes before sitting up immediately.

"Wait, you have piles? Haley, we can't stay here forever!"

Haley didn't answer. Just laughed. Sam sighed and got more comfortable. He was gonna be there awhile.

[NFB but open for phone calls/texts]

With nothing going on in Seattle, Sam had decided to make his way to Washington DC in the hopes that he could convince Natalie to stop studying and join him for an afternoon at the mall. He had some Christmas shopping to do and he thought just an afternoon of hanging out and walking around and talking might be nice. Maybe they'd even grab a bite to eat or something.

She'd agreed so now he was waiting for her outside the huge mall, thumbing through some messages in his phone and enjoying the unusually warm day. One message came in as he was waiting from Ramon, asking Sam to get him lots and lots of expensive things just because he could.

Sam chuckled and shook his head.

[NFB and for the girl!]

Sam was back on the mainland for a few days. He'd made promises to be around more and if he couldn't be on the island and in his former room, he'd be as close as he could. And he'd found that he liked this particular hotel and Natalie knew where it was so it was convenient to use when he did spend time away from Seattle.

He'd gotten up early (or he hadn't slept, take your pick) and gone about showering, ordering breakfast and climbing back into bed to both watch daytime television and await his breakfast. While he did that, he pulled out his phone and dialed up his voicemail. There was a message which wasn't unusual.

What was unusual was the absolute incoherence of the message. He was able to figure out it was Ramon (and maybe Frank in the background) and they seemed to be singing happy birthday to him. They were a few days late and they sounded drunk but he didn't tend to keep alcohol in the house.

So, Sam was confused. Very confused. That confusion settled onto his face while he listened to and then saved the voicemail. What in the heck were his friends doing without him?

[NFB but open for the usual communications, of course! Inspired by a conversation I had with whenshewasnice about Chace Crawford's ability to look confused all the time.]

Sam hadn't gone back to Seattle yet. After the tumultuous week he'd had, he'd gotten a little lazy and a little tired when he'd taken Natalie back to the island after she'd stayed with him in Seattle. He'd promised to hang out and that's exactly what he'd been doing.

The room was small but he didn't need much space especially when he was mostly relaxing and trying to recover from the injuries he'd suffered a few days ago. Luckily, they didn't hurt as badly as they once did though he still had thick bandages on them and he was still taking painkillers every so often.

He'd gotten some food from the restaurant downstairs and was eating said food in bed while he watched television. Every so often, his phone would go off and he'd talk to someone back in Seattle but that was about it for Sam's days right now.

[NFB but open for calls/visits/whatever!]

Frank had decided that Sam had freaking awful coping mechanisms. This decision had been solidified when Brid had dragged Sam home early this morning with what Frank had guessed was a concussion and what Frank guessed were werewolf claw marks stretching from the side of his neck all the way down his shoulder and to his bicep.

Brid hadn't said much mostly because she'd been a little beat up herself (and maybe a little embarrassed? Frank wasn't sure about that) but she'd assured Frank and Ramon that Sam wasn't going to die and then had promised to come back a little later once she got some sleep and recovered.

So now, after Ramon had convinced Frank that the hospital was out of the question, and he'd managed to slap some bandages on the gross looking claw marks and made sure Sam was even freaking alive, he'd left the other boy alone in one of the rooms with instructions to Ramon not to let him sleep too long and to make sure he didn't stop breathing.

It was one of the rare times that Frank was assertive. Mostly, he was just worried about his friend. This was becoming a habit. Once Frank was out of earshot, he pulled his phone out and made a few calls.

[NFB but open if you think Frank would have called you for any reason]

Sam had climbed out of bed maybe an hour ago and he'd immediately found his way to the overstuffed couch he'd treated himself to a few months back. It wasn't that he was tired or anything (though he had been out late doing his necromancing thing) but he did like to take advantage of quiet moments when he could.

He'd gotten himself a bowl of cereal for breakfast (or a late lunch) and he'd turned the television on to give him something to do while he lazed around on the couch. Frank tried to get him to come out to lunch or at least to help clean up the house. Sam had promised to do it later but later was later and it wasn't now.

He figured Ramon could go out with Frank if Frank was that desperate for company. Sam would probably get himself going soon. Right now, he was comfortable on his couch in his pajamas and battered t-shirt.

Sundays were made for this.

[NFB and mostly for the girl that's visiting him!]

Sam was eating cereal outside of his mansion.

That probably wasn't an image befitting someone who lived in a house as big as he did but he didn't care. He also didn't care that he was sitting outside in a pair of loose pants, a flannel shirt that was nearly threadbare and socks to keep his feet warm. He wasn't a millionaire. He was a slacker who was enjoying the beginning of autumn in Seattle.

Besides, it'd been a long night. Ramon had gone through a transformation which meant were-bear shenanigans anywhere and everywhere and it meant a mess where he'd trampled across the estate. Sam was letting Frank clean that up because he'd been up all night making sure Ramon didn't hurt himself or anyone else.

With a yawn, Sam closed his eyes and kept eating quietly. Maybe he'd do some gardening today.

Yeah, right.

[Mostly for the girl and her pet daemon but open for anything else!]

It hadn't taken Sam long to fall right back into being a slacker when he'd gotten back to Seattle. Even with Ramon and Frank and Brid and his mom around, he'd still found time to do nothing at all.

Today, he was holed up in his room, laying around in a pair of shorts and a worn t-shirt that he probably should get rid of but couldn't bring himself to do. There was music playing but it was at low levels and Sam himself was just staring at the ceiling, wondering if maybe he should get a job or something.

That would require...work though. And he didn't wanna do that.

[NFB but open for phone calls/texts/visits/etc]

Sam was heading into his last week on the island and he wasn't looking forward to it. He found that while a part of him wanted to go home because he did miss Seattle, another part didn't want to go anywhere.

There were reasons for both sets of thoughts and they were giving Sam a headache. He figured he should maybe start packing but, well, he didn't have a lot to begin with and what he did have could be shoved in suitcases and bags a few hours before he actually left.

So, he wasn't doing anything. Or, well, he was doing something but it wasn't packing. He'd turned his record player on and was spinning something jazzy currently. It was giving him some motivation to go through his clothes and, at least, so he could start sorting things that he wanted to wash before he left and things he knew he wouldn't wear before he left.

It was the start of packing but he was being slow about it. Slow and slackerish.