Natalie's Apartment, Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, Monday

[whenshewasnice]

The weekend had been unexpected. (That was a word for it, sure.) Clearly Natalie had been a little dumb and optimistic when she'd thought Fandom couldn't get her way out here. And clearly, she needed some kind of system in place for these things. Like a notebook on how not to draw too much attention to yourself while inhabiting Natalie's body.

Not that tiny Natalie had had much of a problem with that. She'd been much too preoccupied with taking care of Moxy to cause a commotion apart from letting security downstairs know Jim had been coming.

But still. Ugh. Waking up, she felt like there was a reopened wound somewhere in her mind or her heart, a kind of a hole that was always there but was harder to ignore right now. And she was still going to. She grabbed her phone off her nightstand and got to checking her emails. Back to work. No one minded that she was going to stay in bed for that, right? It was going to be her one last sliver of immaturity. And maybe a need for comfort, too.

[ooc: NFB, but open for calls and texts and visits and anyone who might have stayed over idk I'm too lazy to check in with people.]

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[whenshewasnice]

Natalie let him be, for the moment anyway. She padded into the kitchen and got started on the coffee.

It was going to be a long day of catching up on work. Best start it in the most optimal way.

[pursuedthestars]

Maybe the smell of coffee would wake him up. Or maybe he'd just keep sleeping on her couch, out like a light.

That was probably what was going to happen for awhile longer, yes.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie came back once she had the the coffee machine running. She gave him a little nudge, taking a seat on the very edge of the couch.

She drew a few shapes against his back, lightly, with her fingertips. She was going to wake him up, but she was taking her time about it.

[pursuedthestars]

Jim shifted slightly and tried to press his face further into the cushions. Waking up was hard. He liked sleeping.

[whenshewasnice]

"Sleepyhead," Natalie murmured, quietly amused. She let her fingers press against his back with a little more pressure, before rubbing lightly at one of his shoulders.

[pursuedthestars]

Jim made a sound, something to indicate her ways of waking him up was working though he wasn't quite at the stage of talking yet. He moved again, still trying to cling to his sleep.

[whenshewasnice]

Oh but he was getting a shoulder massage to wake him up. Both hands, both shoulders.

It was nicer than shaking him.

[pursuedthestars]

"What're you doin'?" he slurred, eyes still closed. "Time is it?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Early," she replied, still rubbing his shoulders. "You're not late for class yet or anything. In case you were wondering."

[pursuedthestars]

"Mm. Okay," he said, rubbing his cheek against the cushion and stretching slightly. "Wasn't wondering but good to know. I'm awake."

Sort of.

[whenshewasnice]

"Kind of," Natalie agreed with his narrative. "How was the couch? You looked comfortable."

[pursuedthestars]

"Couch was fine," he mumbled, nodding. "Slept fine. You okay?"

[whenshewasnice]

"I'm eighteen again." And a little sad, but she wasn't going to bring that up. She rubbed the back of his neck. "Peter knows I was a kid so I'm not facing a work catastrophe."

[pursuedthestars]

"S'good thing," Jim mumbled, yawning and stretching underneath her ministrations. "You were a cute kid. Seriously polite too."

[whenshewasnice]

"Thanks." Well, that was what you said, wasn't it? "My upbringing was kind of like that."

Polite and nice.

[pursuedthestars]

"You were adorable," he said, finally prying his eyes open and turning a little more onto his side. "Enjoy all the leftover ice cream and sprinkles."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie pulled her hands away from his shoulders, but trailed her fingers absently along his arm. "I'm sure it'll all get eaten eventually."

[pursuedthestars]

"You sure you're okay?" Jim asked, raising a sleep eyebrow. "You seem a little...off."

[whenshewasnice]

"Wouldn't you be, if you'd just unexpectedly been a kid for two days?"

It wasn't defensive in tone. Just... kind of rhetorical. Like it explained anything.

[pursuedthestars]

"Probably not."

But, he was that kind of guy. He shrugged one shoulder.

[whenshewasnice]

"Fair enough."

She fell quiet, brushing her fingers back and forth against his arm.

[pursuedthestars]

"Wanna talk about it?" he tried, watching her.

[whenshewasnice]

She wasn't watching him back this time. Her eyes were on her hand on his skin.

"Coming back to adulthood is jarring."

It was nice, to get the chance to be carefree and tiny and someone people couldn't help but care for. But it also made her remember things.

[pursuedthestars]

"Guess I can understand that," Jim said after some silence. "But, I would have thought you'd be used to it too."

[whenshewasnice]

"How so?"

She glanced up at him.