Room 227, Thursday Afternoon

[whenshewasnice]

Looking up Portalocity deals for a trip back home was a whim. Natalie had stuck around the island for Canada Day. It struck her as funny to flee back to Montreal today. She hadn't gotten that far yet, though. The Portalocity site was open on her laptop on the desk, but she was momentarily distracted by the contents of one of the drawers. Namely the fact she'd found an unexpected packet of Pocky even though she'd thought her stash had already run out.

So with Japanese snacks and thoughts of home, it was safe to say this holiday was not managing to make her feel terribly American yet, no.

[ooc: Peter's thread will be chronologically last, but door/post are open to all!]

Comments

[lockestheway]

Natalie's door was open and she was actually there - and Peter was just taking a break as he waited for important emails to roll in.

So of course he poked his head in. "Afternoon, sunshine."

[whenshewasnice]

"Afternoon, sweetie," Natalie replied dryly, glancing back over her shoulder, a Pocky stick between her fingers, held like a cigarette. "Stretching your legs?"

[lockestheway]

"They were starting to cramp," Peter said merrily. "I live a hazardous life."

[whenshewasnice]

"Mm hmm." She nodded. "One of these days you'll sprain a finger on the keyboard and rue your recklessness."

[lockestheway]

"See," Peter said, stepping into the room and making a big production of pressing his hand to his heart, "You get me."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie rolled her eyes as she turned her chair to face him without having to crane her neck. "Well, someone has to."

[lockestheway]

"So what's happening, Nat?" Peter said, flopping down on her bed like he usually did.

[whenshewasnice]

It was getting to be such routine that Natalie barely noticed. "Pocky and maybe a portal home," she shrugged. "Exciting things, I know."

Not that she needed excitement.

(She was going to get it anyway, though.)

[lockestheway]

"My god," Peter said, dropping his head back onto the mattress, too. "Doing nothing during break week. Are you going high school student on me?"

[whenshewasnice]

"I also went to a Canada Day party," she drawled. "Shocking."

[lockestheway]

"It's our big day today, isn't it?" Peter mused at the ceiling. "I have to admit, I haven't paid attention to that one in years."

[whenshewasnice]

"And why would you?" Natalie replied, mild and rhetorical, as she got up from her chair. "Larger fish to fry."

[lockestheway]

"Almost makes me wish I'd been born in an old Soviet country or something," Peter mused. "Now they knew how to do a good patriotic celebration - all that stomping around in formation."

[whenshewasnice]

"Militant and off-putting," came Natalie's verdict. She picked up a few things from the desk, and wandered over to put them in her nightstand where they actually belonged. "Never liked it."

[lockestheway]

"It showed they had power," Peter said, shrugging his shoulders. "All the flag waving we do is cute, but it doesn't really mean anything. Sure, my dad would hold his little speeches about the ocuntry over the barbecue, but, let's be honest - in my planet's political climate, I would've been better off if he'd stayed home and I'd been born in Poland."

Beat.

"Strategically, anyway."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie glanced over with a raised eyebrow, closing the drawer in her nightstand. "Your dad's from Poland?"

Not that she'd ever had a particular interest in anyone's family roots but still.

[lockestheway]

That was fine, because Peter's interest in his own family roots didn't really go beyond 'occasional rants about the unfairness of being born in not the wrong, but at least not the most optimal country for his ascent to world rulership'.

"Tak," he said - he would've drawled it if he could. "He crossed the good ol' ocean back when the Hegemony was at the height of power. I should know, rambling about it was his favorite Fourth of July tradition."

[whenshewasnice]

"Huh." Well, that was another one of those things she committed to memory. It was unlikely to ever be useful, but then her motivations for learning about people weren't all that closely tied to usefulness, anyway. "It should be unsurprising we had none of that."

[lockestheway]

"Not much for maple-leaf-waving, huh?" Peter asked.

[whenshewasnice]

"No." She sat down on the edge of the bed like she usually did. "We were usually more interested in seeing the fireworks."

[lockestheway]

"No wonder you didn't go home for that one, then," Peter said. "We do fireworks in much more interesting ways here."

He was mocking something, but what it was, he wasn't even completely clear on.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie rolled her eyes, just because it was the thing to do in response to comments like that. No real annoyance in it.

"Don't mock places you've never even been to."

[lockestheway]

"I've seen pictures," Peter said. "It looks cold."

And now he was just messing with her.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie gave him a look. "Only in the winter. Stop trying to be funny, it doesn't suit you."

[lockestheway]

"I'm terribly funny, you just haven't figured it out yet," Peter retorted. Remarks like that had largely lost their sting coming from her, so his tone was light.