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 raised an eyebrow at him, amused.

"So if I was just agreeable and pliable all the time, would you still have had as much sex with me, and enjoyed it as much too? Never mind all the other stuff."

[pursuedthestars]

"Depends on the quality of the sex," he said, arguing just to argue now.

[whenshewasnice]

"Physically the same but without the emotional and psychological give and take that goes with it between us."

Surely he'd expected her to define the quality of the sex for him.

[pursuedthestars]

"I might have kept it up for a little while," Jim told her, shrugging. "Probably not as long, though."

[whenshewasnice]

"Thus validating my point." So she was going to look a little bit smug now. "You like that I have my own opinions. It keeps you interested and on your toes."

[pursuedthestars]

"And whoever will I turn to you when you leave?" Jim asked, shaking his head sadly.

[whenshewasnice]

"Not my problem," she informed him lightly. "Also not something I care to think or talk about."

[pursuedthestars]

"Wow," Jim said, raising an eyebrow. "I meant for comfort, not to immediately jump into bed with. Calm down."

Not that she'd gotten worked up but the words told him she felt fairly strongly about things.

[whenshewasnice]

"I'm perfectly calm," Natalie said, because she was. "And you're jumping to conclusions."

[pursuedthestars]

"I don't think I am," he told her, shrugging. "I was just joking around and got cut off at the knees. I mean, it's fine, but you know. It wasn't jumping to anything."

[whenshewasnice]

"Yes, it was," she replied, pulling her hand out from under his shirt so she could push her bangs out of her eyes. "But it doesn't matter."

[pursuedthestars]

"I disagree but fine, we can agree to disagree on this one," Jim told her, shrugging.

[whenshewasnice]

"Things you assume don't make a great basis for disagreement."

She'd meant to not say anything more on the subject, but then that came out anyway.

A pause later and she just shook her head at herself, looking down and away from his face.

[pursuedthestars]

"Natalie, don't tell me what I can and can't do," Jim told her, frowning. "You got pissed off when you thought I tried it with you so don't try it with me. I disagree with what you said and I'm trying to leave it at that. So, can we leave it at that?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Fine."

She still wasn't looking at him, though. But when it came to her? At least she hadn't immediately rolled off of him, even though the other side of the coin of being opinionated and having thoughts of her own was that could be fickle and moody.

(And easily hurt.)

[pursuedthestars]

Jim just sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. Well, this had turned out fantastic. He shook his head again and just stayed where he was.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie tugged absently on the edge of the blanket.

The silence stretched on as she wondered whether she wanted to still salvage things, or just pick herself up and go.

[pursuedthestars]

And Jim wasn't sure what her choice was going to be. He hadn't moved since her single word statement and he didn't know what he could say to make anything better since she'd wanted the last word on the subject and his disagreement with that had caused the whole thing.

He was suddenly tired.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie had that effect on people. She wished she didn't, sometimes. For such a smart girl she could feel so unbearably stupid sometimes.

She glanced up at his face, finally.

[pursuedthestars]

Jim was rubbing his eyes when she looked up at him, trying to see if he was actually tired or if his eyes were just stinging for some other reason.

[whenshewasnice]

Yeah, Natalie was wondering about something like that too.

She brought her hand up to his face again. This time, it was just to brush her thumb against his jaw. Her touch was light, like she didn't want to startle him.

[pursuedthestars]

She didn't startle him but he was surprised. He brought his hand away from his face and glanced down at her, question in his eyes.

[whenshewasnice]

She didn't have an answer. But her fingertips moved over his cheek and she didn't break eye contact once she had it.

[pursuedthestars]

And if he was honest, he'd been expecting her to get up and start to leave. So, he was still curious as to what she was thinking but he stayed quiet and didn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

[whenshewasnice]

Somewhere in the future, Wallace was convinced Jim had just agreed with him about Natalie being horse-faced.

But that wasn't really relevant to anything currently.

She was thinking she only had a week left and she didn't want to waste that on fighting or unnecessary awkward. And that was why she was brushing her thumb over his lips again, watching it move along the curve like she was memorizing it.