Toronto, Not Brazil Nor Space, Tuesday

[whenshewasnice]

This felt surreal. After the... several months Natalie had just had, taking a day or two to actually be away from Brazil and the Hegemony and Peter was just surreal. Knowing she was going to get to actually see Jim for the first time in over three months? Yeah, weird.

Since they were not very into the idea of meeting in either Ribeirao Preto or Iowa, Natalie had picked a place almost at random from the first selection of package deals Portalocity had happened to offer her. So now she was standing in the Drake Hotel lobby in Toronto, with her bag slung over her shoulder and check-in already dealt with, just waiting for Jim to arrive.

[ooc: NFB, for the boy!]

Comments

[pursuedthestars]

Jim didn't keep her waiting for too long. He arrived a few minutes later, bag over his shoulder. He stepped inside and glanced around, trying to get his bearings since Toronto wasn't a place he was overly familiar with.

[whenshewasnice]

"Jim!"

Natalie wasn't really the type to run into anyone's arms, so she didn't. There was nothing keeping her from calling his name and giving a little wave, though.

[pursuedthestars]

After hearing his name, Jim found Natalie through the crowd and smiled. He ambled over, giving her a once over as he got closer to her.

"Hey there," he said, standing in front of her. "Long time no see. I thought you'd be taller or tanner or something."

Not really, no.

[whenshewasnice]

If anything, she was probably shorter than last time. No heels. Just comfortable flats to go with the rest of her age-appropriate look. This whole trip was about comfort. She wasn't going to look like her job here.

"I thought you'd be handsomer," she retorted with a tiny smile. "Oh well."

[pursuedthestars]

"Bite your tongue, I'm as beautiful as ever," Jim told her. "And you know it."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie snorted, then nodded towards the elevators. "Come on. I already dealt with the check-in."

She would've taken his hand, except she wasn't sure she'd stop touching him anytime soon if after she started, so she was saving that. She pushed the bag further up on her shoulder and turned to head for the elevator.

[pursuedthestars]

"Have you been here long?" Jim asked, walking behind her. "Did you get bored waiting for me?"

[whenshewasnice]

"I've been away from the rest of the world for so long that it's not going to bore me in just twenty minutes," Natalie told him as she stepped into the elevator. "It was fine."

[pursuedthestars]

"Everything finally good back wherever you consider home or home away from home now?" Jim asked, stepping into the elevator and leaning against the wall.

[whenshewasnice]

"Achilles is dead and we have the compound back."

Pushing the button for the right floor was really convenient to do while she said that.

[pursuedthestars]

"Dead, huh?" Jim asked, crossing his arms. "How'd that happen?"

[whenshewasnice]

This was going to be pretty clinical-sounding. That was her way of dealing with it. "There was a standoff, his guards betrayed him in our favour at the last moment, and Bean shot him."

[pursuedthestars]

"...were you there when this was happening?" Jim asked, frowning. "Or were you tucked away somewhere safe when he was getting shot?"

[whenshewasnice]

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. They were on the right floor. "Peter had to be there in person to regain some credibility," Natalie said as she stepped out into the hallway. "And I had to be there because Peter has practically no self-defense skills to speak of."

So that was a long-winded way of saying yes, she'd been there. Not too many feet away.

[pursuedthestars]

"You watched someone die?" he asked, waiting for her to step out of the elevator. "Are you okay?"

[whenshewasnice]

"No."

She saw no reason to lie about that. She had some nightmares, and it was likely he'd find out about those sooner or later. She looked around befor heading down the hallway.

"But it's been about a week, so I'm getting there."

[pursuedthestars]

"Sorry," Jim said quietly. "Must be hard. Do you need anything?"

[whenshewasnice]

Once she was at the door, she finally looked back at him over her shoulder again. "I just need to be around you for a while."

[pursuedthestars]

"Well, that's what I'm here for," Jim told her, nodding. "No plans for the next few days that I know of."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie nodded at him. "Come on, let's check out the room." There were probably a few more things to say about her most recent trauma, but that could wait for a moment.

So she turned the key in the lock, and opened the door. The room was called the Crashpad, and while it wasn't huge, it was cozy and cute.

Natalie sighed as she stepped in and took a look around.

[pursuedthestars]

"This is pretty cute," Jim remarked, stepping in behind her and dropping his bag. "Cozy. Means we'll have to pretty much lay on top of each other. Not a bad thing in my opinion."

[whenshewasnice]

"It's not a bad thing at all." In fact, she sounded glad for it. "Can you close the door?"

[pursuedthestars]

"Yep."

Jim closed the door behind them and then moved further into the room, checking out the little room and its cute amenities.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie dropped her bag on the floor. And then kicked her shoes off. And then took a little tour of the room.

"Is that a doll, on the bed?"

Yes. Yes it was.

[pursuedthestars]

"A convenient cuddle thing for you," Jim joked, flopping down on the bed and sighing. "You can cuddle up and fall asleep with it."