Fandom High Dormitories

The realization that Nathan had been on this island for several months without seeing or even sensing one Hunter was a sudden one. It him him early in the morning when he'd been sleeping soundly against the crook of a tree in the preserve. He'd woken up gasping and nearly crying, feeling selfish and cowardly for secluding himself away on an island while Annalise slept endlessly and Gabriel was lost.

As he trudged back to the dorms, Nathan wondered if Mercury had grown tired of waiting for Nathan and had done something horrible to Annalise and if Gabriel was experiencing the same thing with Clay. He wondered where the Fairborn was and if it had fallen into White Witch hands.

He wondered about Arran and if he was being punished for Nathan's absence and if Jessica is doing the punishing. He wonders where Deborah is and before Nathan realized it, he was in the common room instead of his room, standing in front of the kitchen and gripping the counter.

Nathan shook his head, trying to clear the fog and the thoughts and decided that since he was there, he could get something going for lunch. Maybe some soup or something else simple and easy since he didn't think he had it in him for something overly complex. He started getting the ingredients together for a simple soup recipe that Celia had taught him and push all the other things down and behind a locked door in his head.

Maybe later he'd try to leave. Or maybe he'd continue to be a coward and go back to his room. Nathan hadn't decided yet.

[Open, of course]

One reason that Nathan was glad to be back in the dorms was that the walk back from the preserve was a lot shorter. He didn't have to take a ferry and it meant he had more time to do things like flopping down in the common room to eat a late breakfast and work with his newly received tablet. The reading wasn't going very well but he'd gotten pretty good with using the apps that played movies and television shows. He couldn't really pick a favorite but the cooking shows he found were pretty fascinating.

The common room television was off but Nathan's tablet was on while he watched an older woman bustle around her kitchen while she talked about what she was making today. Every so often he took a bite of the omelette he'd made himself but most of his attention was on the show and trying to remember the various ingredients and instructions so he could maybe give the meal a try later.

He had a brief thought of what Celia or Arran or Jessica or his grandmother would think of right now, using technology and not worrying about if people saw his tattoos or his scars. Jessica would try to kill him considering she was a Hunter. Celia would probably be impressed but she'd keep that to herself. Arran would want to play with the tablet and his grandmother would...well, he wasn't sure.

Nathan sighed and put them out of his mind. He couldn't think of them now. They were gone and he was here.

[Open common room]

Nathan had no idea something strange had happened to the island overnight. He'd been blissfully tucked away in the preserve on the other island, counting the stars before they passed behind clouds and falling asleep quicker than usual. Nothing seemed amiss when he'd walked back.

When he wandered into the parlor, he was first hit with the smell of a cigarette. He hadn't smoked in awhile so he knew it wasn't him. When he looked around to try and find the source, he spotted a shadowed...person in one of the corners. Nathan tilted his head and took a few steps closer to try and get a better look but the person in the shadows disappeared.

A groan from behind him had Nathan whirling around just in time to see a mess of books come tumbling down off the shelf. Had the person that he'd just seen done that? And had they been smoking too? Nathan rubbed his head, pretty sure that maybe this house was going to drive him crazy.

Still, he took a seat to eat some of the breakfast he'd brought back from town and to try and give reading another go. There were books all over the floor now so he had a nice selection to choose from even.

[Open post. Nathan's not affected by the Noir this weekend]

Nathan actually kind of like the house they'd been moved into for the time being. Sure, he'd been hearing voices at night and it was colder than he was used to but it just seemed a little more fitting for him. He still didn't like sleeping inside but with his roommate yet to show up, it meant he could have the space he needed to be inside when he was there.

But, he wasn't there right now. The porch was large and warm and wasn't currently being invaded by any strange voices right now. It meant that he could lean against the railing and enjoy the warm (but not too warm) weather while eating a late breakfast he'd managed to make.

The kitchens were really well stocked and Flick had made a pretty large plate of waffles since the ingredients had been there and he'd been hungry. The plate was settled on the rail beside him while he had his own separate plate for his own meal. Maybe he'd have a lot of leftovers. Waffles weren't a bad lunch choice either.

[Open public place. Waffles are for sharing]

The last time Nathan had cooked in the common room, he'd gone for a fairly basic recipe because he hadn't purchased ingredients beforehand. Today was a little different. Having time to actually cook and relax on weekends was still somewhat of a foreign concept and Nathan couldn't help but take advantage even if a part of him hated himself for acting like nothing was wrong while Gabriel and Annalise remained in danger.

Nathan was trying not to think about that. Yesterday, he'd gone out to a store (using money that he'd gotten by stealing stolen goods because a job was not yet in the cards) and picked up a few things that he remembered making in Gabriel's small apartment. Gabriel had told him that you could make waffles in a variety of different ways but the pre-made waffles just looked wrong. So, waffles from scratch it was. There was no recipe nearby, just the remembered instructions from a time that seemed so long ago.

The television, like always, wasn't on when Nathan was around so he didn't get distracted by any buzzing. He worked quietly, opening and shutting the waffle iron (such a great invention) and moving ingredients around to make room. There was some flour on his chin and shirt but he otherwise kept it clean.

Off to the side, he set up the various toppings that tended to go on waffles. Fruits, honey, syrups, sweets, just about anything. It was a bit of a splurge but he'd allowed himself this one thing. Tomorrow, he'd go back to brooding.

[Open place, open post, enjoy the waffles, if you'd like]

This morning, Nathan had woken up with Gabriel and Annalise on his mind. It wasn't surprising, he thought about them a lot but it disheartened him. They were both out there, lost or hurt, and he was here, unable to leave and not doing a thing to help. His father was out there, being hunted, and he was here, taking educational classes and leaving him to the Hunters. He was here and safe and Nathan couldn't help feeling guilty about that.

He'd tried to leave the island again after class and again, he'd just reappeared right back at the start of the causeway. The only good thing about that seemed to be that no Hunters would be able to get to him either. Still, between the thoughts of his friends and that, he'd trudged back to the dorms slowly. He figured he could cook since that was something he was good at but there weren't a lot of ingredients right now. He didn't even know what he could make with what looked like dried cereal, some jerky treat, and cinnamon.

Eventually, Nathan gave up on cooking (after pouring himself a bowl of dried cereal since there didn't seem to be any milk around) and sat down on the couch. He thought about turning on the television but he decided he didn't want to deal with the buzzing that would surely assault his head. There couldn't be anything that good on the telly.

Besides, Nathan's attention was captured by a magazine someone had left sitting on the couch. Nathan couldn't stop himself from picking it up and staring at the cover. The words were mostly foreign but he tried reading them anyway, sounding out a few letters here and there and putting them together into words.

[Open. Nathan's attempting to read a gossip rag but he can barely read at all. Feel free to hear his attempts. The tattoos on his neck and little finger are also visible.]