Room 227, Sunday Afternoon

[whenshewasnice]

Sam had left on Friday, and so had Natalie, though with a different destination. She'd spent a couple of days in Montreal, just reading and playing the piano and getting stuff in order for the new term, and maybe avoiding the initial rush of new people into town and the dorms.

But now, she was back. Unlocking the door, setting Mr. Moxy down on the floor (where he immediately scurried off after a toy that she hadn't taken with them), taking a look around the room. Only one side was still full of stuff, but the two beds were still pushed together to make one way too large for her and her not particularly restless way of sleeping.

But she didn't feel like getting to work on separating them yet. Too much effort for someone just fresh off a portal, or so she told herself.

She sighed, quietly, then got to unpacking.

[ooc: Open door/post, my guests just left.]

Comments

[lockestheway]

And look, there was Peter - band-aids and visible scrapes on his face and all - sticking his head in. "Ah, you're back."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie glanced back over her shoulder, in the process of pulling clothes out of her bag.

"So are you."

Since they were playing State the Obvious.

[lockestheway]

Peter rolled his eyes good naturedly (for his standards) and stepped into the room. "You missed the picnic. I'm sure you're crying inside."

[whenshewasnice]

"All the picnics are the same," she informed him, turning her attention back to the task at hand. "I've been here a year, I can probably stand to miss a few now."

[lockestheway]

Peter pulled a face. "Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," he said, finding a spot to sit down and doing so.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie balled up her dirty clothes and went to dump them in the laundry hamper.

"I see that doesn't actually deter you."

[lockestheway]

"I'm just trying to spread a little sunshine," said Peter, in a way that he thought was charming but that really wasn't.

[whenshewasnice]

"That's not charming, Peter." And wasn't it nice that Natalie was so willing to tell him that? She grabbed her bag off the bed next, and went over to put a book or two away at her desk. "And no one associates you with sunshine, anyway."

[lockestheway]

Peter rolled his eyes. "You know, I just had to move back here for my own safety," he said, "Back to turning into ponies, going to class, and endless school functions. I should be the one sulking."

[whenshewasnice]

"Well, you're still free to do that," Natalie replied, mildly. And no, she wasn't going to admit to doing any sulking.

[lockestheway]

"I'm not," Peter said. "You are."

[whenshewasnice]

"I'm not sulking."

She was just being even more closed-off and allergic to any kind of bullshit than she usually was. If you asked her.

She hung her now-empty bag over the back of her desk chair.

[lockestheway]

"You're not actually fooling me," Peter pointed out, "Which means you must think you're fooling you."

[necroslacker]

Leaving had been low key but it had still sucked. And Sam was still feeling the effects of that suck even now. The house was big even with Frank and Ramon around and he was attributing to that to having gotten so used to a small room with one other person.

He wasn't adapting quickly to being back in Seattle.

Right now, he was sitting outside, covered up from the Seattle rain with a hoodie and a baseball cap. He had a coffee and some uneaten breakfast which was going ignore because he'd pulled out his phone and was giving someone all the way across the country a call now.

[whenshewasnice]

Well, at least this bit of human interaction was unlikely to make Natalie sulk more. Probably.

"Hey," she said as she picked up the call, even managing a small smile of sorts, that reached her voice.

[necroslacker]

"Morning," Sam said, smiling himself. "Or is it afternoon there now? I'm still getting used to the time differences."

[whenshewasnice]

"Afternoonish," Natalie told him. "It's not been long since I've been back."

[necroslacker]

"Where'd you go?" Sam asked. "Home for awhile? Or did the island take a trip or something?"

[whenshewasnice]

"I took Mox to see the parents."

That was a fun way of putting it.

[necroslacker]

"Your cat gets to meet the parents before I do?" Sam joked lightly. "How'd he do? Impress them?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Well, he did okay," she joked, taking a seat on the edge of their-- her bed. "Could've done with slightly fewer hairs left all over, but other than that, they liked him."

[necroslacker]

"And how are you doing?" Sam asked after some quiet. "Feeling okay?"

[whenshewasnice]

"I'm fine." Not according to Peter she wasn't. "Just a little weirded out by all the space in the room."

It was a small room, really, but after a summer of sharing it, having half of it be empty was weird.

[necroslacker]

"I'm in a gigantic house," Sam reminded her, glancing back at the door. "Think about how I feel. You need to come out here and keep me company."

He was gonna try and keep things light.

[whenshewasnice]

"I don't think that's really doable right now." At least her tone was light. If a little wry. "Gigantic house, eh?"