Room 223, Sunday Early Evening

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie was actually pretty proud of herself, for walking away from the brunch like she had. Not getting along with one of your boyfriend's friends wasn't a reason to be proud, of course, but she'd stayed cool and not let herself get drawn into any kind of a bitchy cat fight with Brid. She felt she deserved some credit for that.

Of course, that meant she ended up spending a considerable portion of the day on her own, but that was fine. She'd had laundry to do, anyway, and a book she'd read only halfway through, not to mention things for the impending move. She'd been fine. Even now, she was rearranging stuff in her desk drawers in a way that would make them easy to move to another room in a few days.

And maybe wondering whether Brid was off the island yet. But she'd tell no one about that.

[ooc: Door and post open!]

Comments

[necroslacker]

Eventually, Sam showed up at her door. All of his friends had been shuttled back to New York and he was a little tired from everything that had been going on. He leaned against the door frame and was quiet while he watched her.

[whenshewasnice]

It looked like she hadn't noticed him. She kept going through notebooks, stacking them in an orderly fashion according to some system that was known to her but probably not obvious to a random observer.

And then she said, "You can come in, you know."

[necroslacker]

"I know."

He did.

"I'm just watching you for a bit, though."

[whenshewasnice]

"Okay."

Her voice was a little softer as she said it. She kept doing what she was doing, her little pre-move organizing.

[necroslacker]

"What're you doing?" he asked, finally pushing inside and shutting her door behind him. "Cleaning?"

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie glanced up. "Just reorganizing," she said, as another stack of notebooks found its place in the desk drawer. "Making sure things are in order."

[necroslacker]

"How are things?" he asked after a little bit of quiet. "With...the reog -- everything?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Fine," she replied, shrugging. The notebooks were nearly all back in their rightful place. "We should probably pick a day for the move."

[necroslacker]

"Sure," he said, sliding his fingers through his hair and leaning back against her door. "Whenever's fine with me."

[whenshewasnice]

The last stack went in the drawer, and Natalie pushed it closed. Then she got up from her chair.

"Tuesday, maybe."

[necroslacker]

"You're very focused," Sam notated, crossing his arms.

[whenshewasnice]

"Better than not being focused," she shrugged, as she came closer to him. "Good to have something to do, I guess."

[necroslacker]

"I guess."

Sam shrugged. He could deal with being unfocused right now. It'd been a long weekend.

[whenshewasnice]

Well, he was a different sort of person. She liked mundane tasks to focus on when weekends were long the way this one was.

She stopped in front of him, and planted her hand against the door right beside his shoulder, watching him.

[necroslacker]

It was still a little disconcerting to get watched like that but he didn't blink or look away like he might have done in the past. His gaze stayed steady on hers.

[whenshewasnice]

And while Natalie wasn't bothering to blink, her gaze was... almost fond. As if looking for any signs of him being too tired or anything.

"And how are you?"

[necroslacker]

Sam shrugged a shoulder. "I graduated."

So, that was...good? It was.

[whenshewasnice]

"That's not really what I meant," she replied, putting her other hand against the door next to his other shoulder. "But that's good. It's an accomplishment."

[necroslacker]

"What'd you mean?" Sam asked, wetting his lips quickly.

[And I have to step out for a bit!]

[whenshewasnice]

"This afternoon," Natalie said, gaze briefly flicking down to his lips, like a reflex. "Me walking away."

[Take your tiiiime!]

[necroslacker]

"Well, it wasn't what I wanted to happen but I understood why you did," Sam said, shrugging. "So, I'm cool."

[whenshewasnice]

"Okay," Natalie said, with a slow little nod. "Didn't feel like getting involved in a catfight. Thank you for understanding."

She didn't want to give Brid opportunities to get under her skin.

[necroslacker]

"Yeah, I mean, of course I want everyone to get along and be all happy but I know that's a pipe dream." Even if he still hoped for it some day. "I missed you, though."

[whenshewasnice]

Maybe some day.

"Missed you too," Natalie told him, idly glancing down at his lips again. Didn't even know why. Maybe it was a detail thing, since she was pretty close to him. "Had to be done but I missed you."

[necroslacker]

Sam didn't notice that she was staring at his lips so he worried his bottom lip with his teeth. He was just being thoughtful.

"I know," he said quietly. "What'd you do all day?"