Brazil (but not Ribeirao Preto, sigh), Sunday

[whenshewasnice]

If you'd asked Natalie just a year ago whether she could imagine herself ending up in a situation where she'd be glad almost to the point of tearing up just to just be on Earth... She would've said no, she couldn't imagine a situation like that. And yet here she was. They'd finally returned, and she was looking all calm and collected about it – because that was the Natalie V. Adams way – but inside was a different story. There was a ton of work to do, and to continue on, now that they were back Earthside, because the situation with Achilles was far from over.

But her first order of business (well, after all the unavoidable stuff like getting sort of settled) was still to get to making a single, important phonecall. There was someone she'd missed dearly.

[ooc: NFB, but open for the one being called, for the one who's probably around, and any calls or texts people might want to fling this way after a long bout of unreachability.]

Comments

[pursuedthestars]

Jim was on his way off the island when his phone rang. He picked it up and clicked it on without a second thought.

"Hello?" he asked, sliding a pair of sunglasses on.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie couldn't help it that her first reaction to hearing his voice was a sigh. A relieved one. She hadn't worried about him, or anything, but she'd been stuck very far away for much longer than she'd hoped. And restricted to the company of just one of the already small handful of people she was close to.

So, that sigh slipped out.

And then, "Hi."

[pursuedthestars]

Jim stopped walking and stared at his phone.

"Natalie?" he asked, sounding surprised. "You're...huh. Didn't expect to hear from you."

[whenshewasnice]

"We finally got back," Natalie replied. She just sounded... well, like she was doing her best to hold on to her mildness. "We've been up in space since –– well, about since I left. Since your graduation."

[pursuedthestars]

"Wow. Long time," Jim said because it was. "And you're back now? Are you all right?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Well, as it turns out, I hate being in space." So there was that. But she managed to get closer to a wry tone as she said that. Reassuring. "Other than that, I'm okay. Everyone's okay."

[pursuedthestars]

"Where are you at right now?" Jim asked. "Are you safe? Is it safe for you to be back?"

[whenshewasnice]

"We're back in Brazil." If not where they'd started, since Achilles still had the compound. "It's safe enough. We wouldn't have returned if it wasn't."

[pursuedthestars]

"Well. Good." It was hard to think of what to say to someone who'd been gone for so long. "I'm glad to hear from you. I was pretty much thinking it wouldn't happen again."

[whenshewasnice]

"Don't say that."

The last part. She hadn't meant to really say that out loud, but maybe her filtering was shot. Or worn down by actually getting to talk to him again.

"It was always going to happen again."

[pursuedthestars]

"I just didn't know," Jim told her, shrugging. "Meant nothing bad. It's just been a long time and I was...worried. Thought the worst."

[whenshewasnice]

Well, she really wasn't going to be telling him anything about any plans to blow their shuttle out of the sky, now. Even though that had been smartly thwarted.

"I know," she said, even if she didn't really want to know. "I missed you."

[pursuedthestars]

"I missed you too," Jim told her easily enough. "Are you back for good now? Do you get to keep your feet on the ground?"

Did he have to come and punch Peter to make that happen?

[lockestheway]

"Okay, Bean will be meeting us in a couple of days," Peter said.

Did he just wander in without warning? Yeah, but that was the Peter Wiggin way. "Better prepare mentally for His Royal Majesty."

[whenshewasnice]

At least Natalie had gotten her phonecalls out of the way. That meant she didn't have to glare at him.

"Well, he's not a Wiggin, so I think my mood may actually be in his favour for once," she drawled. "No offense."

[lockestheway]

"Oh, no, I'm not going to take offense to you randomly hating on me," Peter said, shooting her a look.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Peter, dearest, you're my favourite Wiggin, and you know that." God, at least she hoped he'd figured that out by now. "I was only referring to the fact that I haven't seen a lot of people I know lately, apart from you and your parents."

[lockestheway]

Never underestimate Peter's ability to take things personally.

He rolled his eyes. "As soon as we figure out this Achilles situation, you can have a vacation," he said, sounding way too long-suffering for the circumstances.

[whenshewasnice]

"'Figure out' as in have a plan that leads to solving it, or actually solve?" Natalie asked dryly.

[lockestheway]

"Actually solve," Peter said lightly. "I'd rather not put anyone at risk by letting them move around in ways that'll alert him. That includes you."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie heaved a sigh, but at least saved the eye roll for another time.

"Well, that was a nice dream while it lasted."

[lockestheway]

"It won't be much longer," Peter said. "I promise. And I'll even let you go if I die horribly."

[whenshewasnice]

"That sounds like you're going to come back to haunt me just to let me go," she noted, because she had to. "Please don't do that."

The haunting or the dying? Either or.

[lockestheway]

"Oh, no, if I'm coming back to haunt anyone, it's the giant legume-shaped pain in my ass," Peter said.

[whenshewasnice]

"Good." In a sense, anyway. Natalie brushed her hair back, then spared a second to examine one strand. It'd gotten a little longer again. "But let's not make that a part of Plan A."