Natalie didn't say anything, but he could still hear her move, so the footsteps crossing the room to her keyboard were probably answer enough.

No, she hadn't left.

Natalie smiled to herself and took a seat by the keyboard, flexing her fingers.

She pressed a few seemingly random keys, just to warm up.

Natalie wasn't really looking his way. She looked focused, and her eyes were on her hands which were plucking at a melody, now.

It was slower and, frankly, eerier than the original (not to mention being adapted for the keyboard alone) but maybe he'd recognize it all the same.

Natalie would've liked to point out the cons (aside from that obvious one) were only going to start surfacing from here on out, because that was how it went. But she was busy with other things.

Like singing. This seemed to be one of those songs that seemed to go fairly well with her tendency to sound a little detached, but still a little dark. "Riders on the storm," she began, and her voice wasn't loud, but it was clear. "Riders on the storm; into this house we're born, into this world we're thrown; like a dog without a bone, an actor out alone; riders on the storm..."

He really should have been recording this somehow. It'd be valuable one day.

Natalie didn't notice. There was a certain amount of pretending she was alone that went into doing this. Natalie couldn't really be called shy by anyone's standards, but there was something that was... private, about this. A certain vulnerability that came with paying attention to the words you were singing.

"There's a killer on the road, his brain is squirming like a toad; take a long holiday, let your children play." Like right here: it was a chilling part. Natalie paid attention to things like that. Words were important. "If you give this man a ride, sweet family will die; killer on the road."

Her fingers danced slowly on the keys, and every bit betrayed that she'd played around with this song, not just over those few days in Montreal, but also afterwards. She'd put some thought into making it work. Making it her own.

And here were some more of those important words. Her voice got just subtly softer. God forbid she ever be too obvious about anything. "Girl you've got to love your man, girl you've got to love your man, take him by the hand, make him understand." See, there was no point in being too obviously vulnerable over words like that. That just took away from anything. "The world on you depends, our life will never end; got to love your man."

She was an indie queen in the making. The price for that would be high, but the status also wasn't going to fall into her lap by accident. The talent was already there, even if the audience was small, and she didn't dream of a much bigger one.

"Riders on the storm," she continued, because returning to the beginning was a good way to end things. "Riders on the storm; into this house we're born, into this world we're thrown; like a dog without a bone, an actor out alone, riders on the storm."

She let the melody slowly fade away, note by note. Eventually it left them in silence.

Natalie looked down at her hands, now in her lap, and hid a small smile.

"Thanks."

She glanced over at him, then got up to come over, reaching out for his hand.

Without saying a word. Her voice had been heard plenty just now.

Natalie let him do all of that. She was actually quite happy to be cuddled, tucked close like she was.

As for his words, she closed her eyes and sighed. "So I've heard."

"Roomie," Natalie repeated, quietly. "This is going to be weird for a while."

"Like Fandom," Natalie murmured in agreement. "And it's not like we hate each other's guts. Benefit of choosing your own roommate."

For the sake of the cuddliness of this moment, Natalie wasn't going to say anything about their possible and probable sleeping issues.

She just wrinkled her nose under the kiss. "It doesn't exactly make me sad, either."

"Yeah." She was warm, she was comfortable, she had a boyfriend who was now also her roommate, and she was pleased with her skills as a musician. Yeah, she was happy. "I am."