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]

"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."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie's dry look was a lot more on the mock dry side. She kind of just wanted to smile at him, right now.

"Mm. And where are you in this scenario?"

[pursuedthestars]

"Probably eating chicken in a chair somewhere," Jim quipped, smirking. "I like food, you know."

[whenshewasnice]

"You do look a little more round than when I saw you last," she teased, as she got on the bed. No flopping, just a slow lean until she was stretched out next to him.

No touching, though.

[pursuedthestars]

"Have you really been so starved for my affection that you're going to be critical of me the whole time?" Jim asked, shaking his head. "That's not a nice reunion."

[whenshewasnice]

"You're the one who brought up food and how much you like it."

So really, he could only blame himself for this one.

[pursuedthestars]

"I do like food but I've also been keeping myself lean and mean for all the girls out there," he joked. "Can't let the figure go to waste."

[whenshewasnice]

"Eating chicken in a chair somewhere while a girl sleeps cuddling a doll seems like a waste too," Natalie told him, reaching out slowly to run her fingertips down along his arm.

Except about an inch, maybe half an inch away from his skin. She'd earned her little bit of idle playfulness.

[pursuedthestars]

"Yeah, but would you actually cuddle the doll?" he asked, glancing down at her fingers. "I don't think you would."

[whenshewasnice]

"I walked into the enemy's lair with a group of largely unarmed men last week," she pointed out lightly, keeping up her slow lack of touching. "I might feel like cuddling things."

If she'd had Moxy, she definitely would have.

[pursuedthestars]

"You wouldn't wanna cuddle something that would cuddle back?" he asked her quietly.

[whenshewasnice]

"Well, obviously," she scoffed quietly, trailing her fingertips over his wrist. "But you were eating chicken. So in this scenario I took what I could. Reality is a different thing."

[pursuedthestars]

"I wouldn't let you cuddle with a doll if I was around," Jim told her. "The food could wait. Room service is always available."

[whenshewasnice]

"I didn't really see why you'd need chicken in that kind of a moment anyway," she noted. Her fingers traveled up along his arm again, and she watched them move. "Thank you."

[pursuedthestars]

"Are you all right?" Jim asked her quietly.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie looked up at him, her hand still hovering over his arm. She shook her head.

"It's been a long and traumatic few months. Topped off with seeing someone die and not even feeling too bad about that."

The trauma of having to see it? Yes. The fact that Achilles was finally gone and wouldn't come after them again? No, couldn't say she felt bad about that.

[pursuedthestars]

"Do you wanna sleep? Eat? Watch television?" asked Jim. "I don't really know what to do in times of trauma like that. You sound like you just need to rest and relax. Do nothing at all."

[whenshewasnice]

"I just want to touch you," she said. Not that she'd actually done that yet. It'd been three months and she wasn't rushing into anything. "I just want to savour the fact that I'm here. This is a safe place."

So was Ribeirao Preto again, but it was a different thing to be a universe away.

[pursuedthestars]

"So, why aren't you touching me?" he asked quietly. "You can, you know."