whenshewasnice | Montreal, Canada, Sunday Morning

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Montreal, Canada, Sunday Morning

Far away from Fandom, Natalie had been spending the weekend at home: if her parents couldn't come to her, she went to them. They'd been pretty busy, but a little facetime was still better than nothing, and the Adamses were a solitary bunch to begin with.

Today, though, no one had any work obligations to see to, and that meant this was the obvious choice for the day on which Natalie's parents were meeting her boyfriend. Natalie had given him detailed portal instructions, and she was standing outside her house, waiting.

It seemed like a good idea to grab a few minutes alone with him before subjecting him to her parents' scrutiny.

[ooc: NFB, and for that guy.]

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"You too," Sam said, shaking her father's hand now. Once that was down, he stepped back and tried to stand up straight. No slouching allowed. "I'm glad I was able to stop by this weekend. It's rainy in Seattle."

Natalie tried not to look too amused at his lack of slouching. "As it usually is," she chimed in. Her parents did not look surprised by this.

Her father nodded back towards the table, where some pastries and cookied and things had been laid out. They'd thought this meeting would go less awkwardly if people's hands had something to do.

(And by that they meant Sam's hands. Natalie's parents weren't nervous.)

"Would you like some coffee, Sam?"

"Uh, sure." He wasn't a huge coffee drinker but he felt kind of weird saying no to anything right now. He figured he could get some coffee down without making a face.

"Yeah, that'd be nice," he added. "I didn't have time to grab anything before my trip. Kinda dumb on my part."

"Well, we're prepared," Dominic replied, gesturing towards the table. "Grab a seat."

As Abigail moved to take a seat, Natalie gave Sam a small nudge towards the table too. "You can sit next to me."

And let the parents sit on the other side.

"Okay," Sam said, stumbling slightly when he got nudged but covering it smoothly. He took a seat at the table and put his hands on the table.

And then he put them in his lap. And then he put one on the table. He was a mess.

He so, so was. Natalie was really considering holding his hand under the table as she sat down next to him. She didn't, though. He'd just dump coffee in his lap.

While her father got the coffee pot, her mother fixed Sam with a look of mild interest. "So, Natalie tells us you graduated," she remarked. "What is it that you're doing now?"

"...hanging out," Sam said and immediately regretted that. "I mean, I did graduate. Second time's a charm, right?"

Yikes.

"Anyway, I've pretty much been settling back into Seattle since I graduated. I've been spending time with my mom and sister and my friends."

And raising the dead every so often.

Abigail did not look particularly amused by the first thing he'd blurted out. Or the second. The rest seemed okay. "And is that all?" she wondered. "Have you thought about college?"

"Abby, don't intimidate the poor guy," Natalie's father said, pouring coffee into their cups.

"Not everyone is that academically minded, Mom," Natalie added, mildly.

Everything was so mild in this house.

"I've thought about it," he confirmed, tapping his fingers against his knee just so he had something to focus on. "I don't know if it's really for me."

That was honest, at least. "I'm not...really great at academics."

"Hmm."

Sam, you knew that really mild 'hmm' sound that still managed to sound like judgment, right? Well here was where Natalie got that from.

The coffee all poured – Natalie was already reaching for her cup – Dominic took his seat at the table as well. "Not everyone is," he said. "Have you thought about other options? Natalie said you worked somewhere on the island."

"Oh, I did," Sam said, nodding. He knew he was being judged and he wasn't sure if saying where he worked would really improve that. "I worked at a skate shop. It's kind of a hobby of mine, skateboarding. So, I thought working somewhere like that would be nice."

Well, Dominic wasn't judging him all that much (at least too obviously), though Natalie's mother was kind of a different story. "Good to have hobbies," he said. "They can grow into profitable careers."

"Or just be a dead end," Abigail said. Non-commitally.

Natalie held back an eyeroll and said, "Mom, please."

"I, uh, wasn't planning on doing that for the rest of my life," Sam said, twitching his fingers even faster against his knee and thigh now. "I don't really need the money."

He regretted saying that now because he felt it made him look lazy.

Okay, that was it. Natalie very discretely (not that that would fool her parents and she knew it) reached out to take his hand under the table and give his fingers a little squeeze.

"He inherited an estate," she said, by way of explanation.

Her mother quirked an eyebrow.

His fingers didn't settle immediately. He was still trying to move them around even in her grip but he did eventually stop trying to fidget with his fingers.

"Uh, yeah. Someone I knew passed away and left me an estate and a lot of money," he continued. "It was...unexpected. And not really something an eighteen year old is ready to deal with."

Natalie brushed her thumb against the back of his hand, back and forth, in an effort to soothe. It was the least she could do.

"Of course not," her father agreed. "Do you have anyone to help you with that?"

"Two friends of mine are living with me," he said, trying to settle himself down. "One of them's actually helpful."

Sorry, Ramon.

"But, my mom helps too when she can. And I'm hoping it's not a dead end since it's a nice house and all."

And he had to be tortured to get it.

"Still sounds like quite the responsibility," Natalie's father said, in what may actually may have been a compliment.

Natalie's mother was still looking on with an unreadable expression. "So you're living in Seattle now, then? That's quite a long way from Fandom, isn't it?"

Natalie herself used her free hand to take a sip of coffee.

"Yeah. I've been building up a lot of frequent flyer miles," Sam said, chuckling quietly. "And putting a lot of minutes on my phone."

Sam reached for his cup of coffee but didn't try to drink it just yet. He wanted to make sure he wouldn't drop it.

"I make the best of the distance."

"He does," Natalie nodded. "It... works."

Her mother just barely raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. And her father gave them a flicker of a smile. That, too, probably seemed familiar. "Well, that's good to hear. Long distance relationships can be hard."

"I've dealt with harder things," Sam responded, giving Natalie a little smile. "If you wanna do something, you make it work."

And he did believe that.

Natalie gave him a very small smile back. And a little squeeze on his hand.

"Cookies?" asked her mother, nudging the plate with said small treats towards their side of the table.

"Thank you," Sam replied, taking a cookie and taking a few bites of said cookie. That, thankfully, meant he wasn't going to be able to talk for a few seconds which meant he wouldn't blurt anything out for a short time.

Natalie's father, at least, seemed to want to give him a moment to breathe, because he directed his attention more towards his daughter for the moment. "Nat, did you decide about fall break yet?"

Natalie shrugged a shoulder. "I think I'm going to wait and see where the school intends to take us, first." She glanced over at Sam. "Or I might go to Seattle. Haven't decided yet."

Sam made sure he'd finished chewing and swallowing before he said, "You're always welcome to come to Seattle. I don't know when fall break is but you know my schedule's almost always wide open."

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