Room 222 | Sunday Morning

[pursuedthestars]

Jim hadn't wasted any time in getting back to his room. Hey, he would almost welcome Jackson's presence after all that time without privacy. He didn't mind the bouncy castles but man, the novelty wore off quick and he didn't like rolling over in the middle of the night and ending up splayed against the side of a castle with plastic up his nose.

He'd brought Natalie the snake back first, setting her up on his bed so she could slither around and do her snake thing before going back and getting the rest of his stuff. He'd dropped all that on the floor beside his bed and stretched before flopping down beside Natalie.

Who was still a snake.

"You ever gonna change back?" he asked idly, not expecting a response. He got none. Jim sighed and tucked an arm under his head. Snakes were not great conversation partners.

[Door is open, post is open]

Comments

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie did her best.

By which the narrative meant that she uncoiled and tried slithering over him. Because that might somehow make her less bored.

[pursuedthestars]

"What're you doing?" he asked, glancing down at him. "I am not a piece of playground equipment, you know."

He didn't think Natalie would care.

[whenshewasnice]

He was totally a piece of playground equipment and he just needed to deal with that. She was slithering all over him and she considered that her right at this point.

Because being a snake was so damn boring and she missed her limbs.

[pursuedthestars]

Someone obviously needed to choose a better animal to turn herself into. Jim made a face at being slithered on but didn't push her off of him or anything.

He did reach down to tap a finger against her head because he couldn't do much else and he still wanted to tease a little, at least.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie hissed at him.

What made it funny was that she transformed back into a human – half on him, half off – midway through it, so it was kind of a weird hiss. First snake, then girl.

[pursuedthestars]

Yeah, that was funny. He hadn't ever heard Natalie make that sound as a human so he started laughing as soon as he realized what had happened.

"Hello to you too," he said, still laughing.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie didn't laugh, though she did flop down against his chest. Finally not a snake. He could have his laughter for all she cared. "Hello."

[pursuedthestars]

"Finally decided to stop being a snake, huh?" he asked, still sounding amused though his laughter had died down.

[whenshewasnice]

"Not exactly my decision," she mumbled, lazily nuzzling his chest purely because she could. "I wouldn't have chosen to be a snake for most of my last two weeks in Fandom."

She was not going to talk about how much good it had probably done her to not be a human with stress when it had happened.

[pursuedthestars]

"Are you cuddling me?" he asked, snickering. "Missed me?"

[whenshewasnice]

"I missed me." She glanced up, even if it was just briefly. "But you too, I guess."

[pursuedthestars]

"Thanks, I guess," Jim said, shaking his head. "I'll deal with it."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie shifted and reached up to press a light kiss again his chin. "Thanks for taking care of me," she murmured, stretching some of the words a bit just because she could.

She did so prefer being a girl over being a snake.

[pursuedthestars]

"No problem," he said, smiling a little. "You were pretty low maintenance. Not a lot goes into making sure a snake is taken care of."

[whenshewasnice]

"But still," she sighed, pressing her cheek against the crook of his neck. "Of course, you left all my things at the castles, didn't you?"

[pursuedthestars]

"I was gonna get it later," Jim protested. "I can't really just go inviting myself into your castle if there were other people still in there. I was waiting till they cleared out."

[whenshewasnice]

"Uh huh." She sounded amused, but not necessarily like she didn't believe him. "Well, guess I'll have to make the trek later myself."

[pursuedthestars]

"I'm sure it'll all be there later for you," Jim said, shrugging. "Not too many thieves around here."

[whenshewasnice]

"Or people dumb enough to steal from me," Natalie supplied, mumbling the words against his neck. "So, no rush."

[pursuedthestars]

"Well, I wasn't going anywhere," he said, chuckling. "And since you're kind of on top of me, I guess that's a good thing."

[whenshewasnice]

"I've been on top of you earlier this week too."

Or wait, didn't snake slitherings count for him?

[pursuedthestars]

"You're right but you were a little easier to move when you were a snake," Jim told her. "Not that I want to move you."

[whenshewasnice]

"I'm naked and mostly on top of you," Natalie agreed. "I'd be surprised if you wanted to move me."

And then a thought occurred to her.

"Please tell me the door is closed."

[pursuedthestars]

Jim glanced over at his open door.

"Oops."

Thankfully, it was early.

[whenshewasnice]

"Ugh." Natalie rolled off him to tug a blanket around herself. "Dammit, Jim."

But said mildly.