Room 223, Early Monday Evening

[whenshewasnice]

It was already the evening when Natalie made it back from Montreal. Leaving had been harder than it should have been, somehow. Being sure of the basics of how the world functioned provided a kind of comfort she couldn't help feeling. And maybe clinging to, just a little. It had been a good weekend, by her standards. Reading, music, a few walks around the city that happened to coincide with a phonecall or two back to Fandom.

And now she was here again. She'd dropped her bag on her bed and taken off her jacket, and right now... She was standing in the middle of the room, looking around and wondering whether there was room for a keyboard, and whether Tara would mind, and whether she'd actually play even if she did get one. Her parents had offered to pay for one, after an idle mention of having played something on the Fall Break. Privately, she thought they were offering mostly so she'd keep the skill up and keep playing songs for family at Christmas.

Regardless, she was considering it. She just wasn't coming to any sort of a conclusion.

[ooc: Open door, open post, I'm on Fall Break now myself, whoot.]

Comments

[life_inshadow]

"Hi," Tara said, when she wandered back into the room and spotted the bag. "How was not-Homecoming?"

She wouldn't actually mind the keyboard, if Natalie asked. This was both because she had a cat and that kind of made it hard for her to say no, and because she liked to sing anyhow.

She sat on her bed to take off her shoes.

[whenshewasnice]

"Literal homecoming," Natalie replied with a glance sent the other girl's way. "It was fine."

More than fine, in one way at least, but that was more or less classified information.

"I didn't do much. How was actual Homecoming?"

[life_inshadow]

"Full of maple syrup and moose," Tara said. "They did this whole Canada theme. And my ex came." She shrugged. "Could have been worse?"

Tara was frankly glad it was over, but that seemed a little weird to share.

[whenshewasnice]

"Canada theme," Natalie repeated. Somehow that alone made her even more glad she hadn't decided to stick around for the weekend. She'd had enough of fake representations of home for a while.

Finally, she went to put her jacket away, while asking, almost absently, "Friendly or non-friendly ex?"

[life_inshadow]

"Yeah, I wondered if it was maybe insensitive?" Tara frowned, worrying about that anew. "And friendly ex. It's just awkward because ..."

She sighed, closing her eyes. "She's great. But sometimes I just don't want to deal with her. It's probably a little dumb."

A little dumb, because Kennedy was never anything but nice. But even a nice ex was still a little weird to deal with, no matter how often they said they were still friends.

[whenshewasnice]

"It's not," Natalie said. She stated it as a fact, on her way to her bed to start unpacking what few things she'd brought with her from home. "She's an ex. That happens."

Natalie might have hid from hers, had she come across them in Montreal.

[life_inshadow]

"It's even worse when you have almost all the same friends," Tara stated, also as fact. "This school is way too small sometimes."

[whenshewasnice]

"Yeah." Natalie was not going to address the fact that she had a few fears related to that... smallness of the school. She pulled stuff out of her bag and put it away. "But at least she's graduated?"

[necroslacker]

"Hey, you made it back," Sam remarked as he passed by her door and spotted the familiar figure standing in the middle of the room. "Everything okay?"

[I just got home so I hope SP is okay! I want to play but new job means new sched!]

[whenshewasnice]

"Everything's fine, Sam," Natalie told him with a glance his way. Maybe some hint of a smile, too, faint as it was. "Why wouldn't it be?"

[I shun your SP! SHUN. ... Or not. Maybe not.]

[necroslacker]

"You're standing in the middle of your room looking lost," he pointed out, leaning against the door jamb. "I would compare you to a lost puppy but you might not like that."

[whenshewasnice]

"I don't look lost." Well, she didn't think she did. Admittedly, that wasn't always the most reliable source for the truth. "I'm thinking."

[necroslacker]

"About?" he prompted curiously. "Thinking is a very broad, very general word that can apply to many things, Natalie."

[whenshewasnice]

"A keyboard," Natalie supplied. She didn't feel like making him play guessing games or anything like that. "For the room."

[necroslacker]

Sam's eyebrows arched up but he looked pleasantly surprised more than anything else. "Get nostalgic for it when we were in Canada or something?"

[whenshewasnice]

She suppressed the urge to roll her eyes at that wording. "My parents offered to get me one."

Of course, they hadn't offered that just out of the blue for no reason.

[necroslacker]

"My mom's offered to get me riding lessons before but that doesn't mean I wanted them," Sam said, happy to point out the flaw in her logic there.

[whenshewasnice]

This time, Natalie did roll her eyes. It had been inevitable. "I mentioned something about playing piano during the break."

[necroslacker]

"Was it really so hard to admit that?" Sam wondered, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think it was. So, why don't you have a keyboard now? I thought you'd jump on the offer."

[whenshewasnice]

"I wasn't sure one would even fit here," she claimed with a one-sided shrug, as she finally moved to come closer to the door. "I wouldn't have wanted to lug one through the portal, anyway."

[necroslacker]

"You think you're gonna say yes to the offer, then?" Sam wondered. "Seems like a keyboard would fit and it'd give you more to do than just reading and homework. The books would get jealous but I bet you can handle that."

[whenshewasnice]

"I also watch stuff," Natalie pointed out, like that made any difference. She stopped once she was at about an arm's reach from him, and shrugged again. "I haven't decided yet."

[necroslacker]

"Well, let me know when you do?" Sam requested, smiling briefly at her. "I'd like to come down the hall and listen to you play if I can. I liked it in Canada. I really liked it."

[whenshewasnice]

"I'm not going to get an instrument just because you like live music, Sam," she replied. Just ignore the smile she was sort of trying to hide. "You have your records."

[necroslacker]

"Come on, I know that," Sam said, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "You're gonna get an instrument because of me. You'll get it because of you but I can't like the combination of you and an instrument? I liked watching you do your thing back in Canada."