Second Floor Common Room, Quite Early Saturday Morning

[whenshewasnice]

It was still early, but Natalie had already been camped out on a sofa in the common room with her laptop and her cup of coffee for a while. If she couldn't sleep, then she'd try to be useful and search the multiversal internet for clues as to what exactly was happening, however futile the effort might have been.

As for why she wasn't doing it in the comfort of her room? She just didn't want to disturb Tara. ...And it was easier to keep her wits together in a more public space.

Her phone was on the coffee table in front of her but she hadn't even dared to think about calling home. It would've been too early for that anyway.

[ooc: Open! Assuming LJ access remains.]

Comments

[necroslacker]

Sam hadn't slept last night but that wasn't anything new. He didn't look too tired when he wandered in which he supposed was a good thing. Seattle was so far unaffected by whatever was going on but after expressing some concern to Brid, he was having to fight her from actually coming to get him.

"Morning," he said quietly, wondering if she was awake just because or if something had happened. "Early for you, isn't it?"

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie glanced up from yet another useless webpage that had nothing to do with what they were facing, and brought the coffee cup up to her lips before answering.

"I'm easily influenced," she drawled, "so I'm trying out this insomnia thing you're so fond of."

[necroslacker]

"It's not something I'd really recommend," Sam said, wandering over to find himself something to drink. "Why can't you sleep?"

[whenshewasnice]

"The multiverse is collapsing," Natalie said, flatly. Did she really need a reason beyond that? (She had one, but, just saying.) She clicked on a few new things and gave the computer a frustrated little frown when it yeilded nothing even vaguely useful. "Kind of stressful."

[necroslacker]

"Yeah, I know that," Sam said, sighing and shaking his head. "I kinda wondered if it was something specific to you. It's called showing concern since you're not looking too good."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie gave a dry snort. "Thanks." But she knew she didn't look good, as much as she was still trying to contain everything and keep up appearances.

She sighed, rubbing her eyes with her free hand and then added, quiet, like an afterthought, "There's no house next door to my parents anymore."

[necroslacker]

"Oh." He bowed his head for a second and sighed. When he'd gathered himself, he turned back around and made his way over to her. "What about your parents? They okay?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Don't know." She glanced up at him, then at her phone on the table. "It's very early in Montreal."

That was a total excuse.

[necroslacker]

Sam gave her a sympathetic look. He gathered up the bottle of juice he'd found for himself before coming over to sit next to her.

The phone on the table on the table caught his attention so he leaned forward and scooped it up. "Want me to do it? I can pretend I'm a wrong number or something."

[whenshewasnice]

"A wrong number from their daughter's phone?" Natalie replied, raising an eyebrow, showing off her sarcasm in the face of being scared. The dry look faltered, though, and the nod was so slight it almost didn't happen. "Yeah. I can explain it away if I need to."

She was trying so hard for a light tone.

[necroslacker]

"I can tell them I found your phone somewhere and I'm trying to get in touch with you," Sam decided, turning her phone on. "They don't know me, never met me, so they won't know my voice."

He could tell she was trying hard to be brave and not let him see that she was scared and that this was affecting her.

[Parents still there or no?]

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie cradled her coffee cup with both hands. "The number's listed under Home."

Not that it mattered. All he was going to get was a bilingual out-of-service message.

[necroslacker]

Sam nodded and found the number easily enough. He dialed and put the phone to his ear. He was hoping for a ring tone or something but when he got that out of service message, his stomach clenched.

He managed to keep that feeling off his face for the time being and hung the phone up. He didn't put it back on the table though. He kept it against his side.

"No one answered." He'd have to be more specific, probably. Or maybe not.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie was giving him an unblinking stare, though. Her grip on the cup had tightened.

"No one answered," she asked, almost harshly, "or it didn't even connect?"

[necroslacker]

"It didn't connect." He thought about lying but decided against it. "I'm sorry. I don't -- "

What did you say to something like that?

" -- I'm sorry."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie didn't say anything. She drew in an uneven breath and looked down, suddenly tense all over. Still, like a statue, except for the rising and falling of her chest even though that looked a little shallow too.

This was... not good.

[necroslacker]

"Natalie," he said quietly, hesitating just for a second before trying to wind an arm around her shoulders. They were still new to this whole dating thing but he cared and this sucked.

"Come on," he murmured, trying to move closer. "I'll fix it. I'll fix things."

He had all that power so there had to be a way.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie had the presence of mind to put her coffee cup away, although it seemed like a conscious effort to let go of it. She didn't push him away or anything, but relaxing into the embrace wasn't really happening, either.

Her voice was quiet, almost unsure. Moreso than he'd ever heard it, definitely. "This isn't something you can control."

Bcause her parents weren't dead, they were gone.

[necroslacker]

"No, but I've got some powerful friends," he shared, sighing and wondering if he was doing any good at all. "They might have some ideas. You'd be surprised at what the people I know can do. I know I was."

[whenshewasnice]

Silent for the moment, Natalie closed her eyes, and one of her hands curled into his shirt, like she needed to hold onto something.

"So," she said, quieter still, "this is what it feels like to be an orphan."

[necroslacker]

"You're not an orphan," Sam replied quietly, gently. "You don't know what happened and you don't know that it's forever. You start thinking like that and you're gonna go crazy."

[whenshewasnice]

Funny, she wasn't sure something hadn't already snapped in her brain. On a rational level she knew she was in shock and it would wear off, but... She felt tired yet utterly awake.

And more alone than she would ever admit. "Right," she said, because she could think of nothing else to say.

[necroslacker]

"What can I do?" He felt like a loser, not being able to do anything to help her or make her feel better. "I don't know what to do."

[whenshewasnice]

"I don't know, Sam." She didn't feel all that good about that, either. She loathed not knowing what to do. "What are you supposed to do when the world's ending?"

[necroslacker]

"The world isn't ending." He could try and be optimistic, at least. "That's not happening. You sitting here and giving up isn't gonna do you any good, though. It's not gonna help whatever's happening and it's not gonna help you feel like there's hope."