xp_logs | Yesterday afternoon: Sarah, Oscar, Nathan

Sarah goes out with Oscar to walk. They run into Nathan, who's a little loopy. They actually have a conversation without trying to kill each other, but maybe that's because of the narcolepsy.

He had gone up to the suite after the game of Go with Haroun, and Moira had still been sleeping. Not only that, but GW was snoring loudly in the guest room he'd been given, and Dom was... well, he didn't know where Dom was. Feeling rather forlorn, Nathan had looked around a little for Amanda or Angelo, who hadn't been to see him since Saturday - had they decided they didn't want to be around him after all? Couldn't blame them if they did - and failed to find either of them. Similarly, no other company had presented himself.

So he'd wandered back outside and found a tree to sit beneath. A very nice tree, actually. His vague unhappiness had translated into a sort of mild drowsiness, and he was staring very intently at the sparkle of the lake, just visible through the trees.

Most days Sarah would take Oscar out on his leash and unhook him once they were out in the yard, away from the house and the flowers and anything else Oscar might get into trouble in. Today was no different, with Oscar running around happily in circles in the grass. She followed him as he trotted further out into the yard, her slow pace leaving her completely unprepared to catch him when he barked a couple of times and ran off towards the trees and the lake. She called his name (along with a few other choice words) and when he didn't return, she finally jogged after him.

There was a puppy running at him. Nathan blinked, holding out his hands a bit defensively to keep himself from being puppy-tackled. Instead, the puppy proceeded to slobber all over his hands, and Nathan smiled a bit bemusedly down at him. "You must be Oscar," he said.

"Oscar!" Sarah called with a hint of exasperation in her voice. She sure hoped Nathan liked puppies. Coming up behind Oscar, she wrapped a hand around his collar and gently pulled him back. He could go back once she was sure she wasn't going to get bitched at for not keeping him on a leash. "Fucking hell," she muttered, looking back up at Nathan. "Sorry about that. I didn't know there was anybody out here."

"It's all right," Nathan said a bit dimly, smiling faintly at the puppy before he looked up at Sarah. "He's cute. Just being enthusiastic." She was peering at him, frowning a little. "I thought the tree was nice," he volunteered, thinking she might be wondering what he was doing out here. "So I'm sitting under it."

"It's a very nice tree.." she agreed, obviously confused. She was talking to Nathan and it didn't involve anybody trying to kill anybody else? She hated when signs of the apocalypse showed up on sunny days. It ruins the mood. She loosened her grip on Oscar's collar, and patted his head gently. "He gets excited when he sees new people. Especially when they're down on his level, and he's not just sniffing their shoes."

"Mmm," Nathan said, then smiled again at Oscar. "I smell of bird. That's probably what you were so excited about." He looked back up at Sarah, still smiling. "It's a nice day. You should let him run around. Maybe he'll find Dom. I don't know where she went."

"A new person, and a new smell. He must be in heaven." Sarah did finally let go of his collar, but continued scratching behind the puppy's ears. "I'll keep an eye out for her. Tell her you're looking for her."

"Thanks," Nathan said, leaning back against the tree trunk again. His eyes drifted across the lawn, aimlessly. "I'm not actually supposed to be outside, I think," he confessed to Sarah. "But I keep thinking the walls will change, and there aren't any walls out here."

"I won't tell," she shrugged, and then smiled conspiratorially. ...Smiled. Right. Maybe there was something in the water? "I think you may be here for good now. People here sound pretty determined to keep you."

"Mistra won't want me anymore," he confided, plucking at the grass. He wasn't really sure why he was telling Sarah all of this, but she was there, and listening, and there wasn't anyone else around, was there? "Everything's gone out of my head... that they put there, I mean. It's strange. I didn't remember what it was like..." His eyes went very distant again. "It feels... lighter."

There was a joke to be made there, about lighter heads, but to her credit Sarah didn't make it. Instead she just nodded, and watched Oscar go leaping after a butterfly, barking excitedly.

Nathan watched the puppy leaping at the butterfly, smiling again. "No shapeshifting walls, and butterflies," he said, almost happily, but still sighed. "I could get used to this..." He looked up at Sarah, the smile turning a bit loopy. "I'd probably fall over," he said abruptly.

"Huh?" She turned to face him, Oscar's leash swinging from her left hand. "What about you falling over?"

"If you jumped me in the hall. I'd fall over again." He sighed, closing his eyes. "It's like I went back in time six months. Only without the cardiac arrest and dying. Which I don't miss, but... I hate feeling so helpess."

"You'll get better." She understood the feeling, having just gotten well enough recently to start her workouts in the gym again. She grinned. "But I will keep that in mind, for later."

A smile tugged at his lips, though he didn't open his eyes. "You remind me of her," he murmured. "No wonder she likes you."

"Dom? I just make her feel old." A shrug, and then she dropped to a squat, Oscar licking at her fingers and nearly knocking her over.

"She's not all that much older than you, you know," Nathan said, opening his eyes and trying to focus on her. "Just a couple of years..." He rubbed at his bandaged wrist, frowning a bit. Madelyn had taken the bandages on his other wrist off, though the marks from the restraints were still there. The dressings were still on the burns, though. "You weren't at the art exhibit, were you?" he asked a bit more clearly, even though the thought was making him drowsy again.

"No. I don't get into stuff like that." Her second foster mother had been so disappointed, too. In the end, they all had. She considered this for a moment, and then shook her head, pulling a bone from her thigh and tossing it away to watch Oscar scramble after it.

He laughed a little, a tired sound without much humor to it. "Don't remember the art, myself..." Nathan closed his eyes for a moment, forcing the thought away, then opened them again and tried to focus on Sarah. "Is Shinobi really okay?" he asked a bit fuzzily. "I was sort of out of it when he came to see me..."

"He's fine. They took good care of him." She reassured him, almost quietly. When Oscar came back with the bone in his mouth, she pushed herself up again. "You want help getting back to the house? You look tired."

He used the tree to pull himself back to his feet. It was a good thing it was there. "I think... that would be good," he said dimly, his voice a litle unsteady. "It will be the house, right? We didn't..." He stopped, swallowed, shaking his head and smiling a bit weakly at her. "I'm not actually delusional. Really. I'm just not sure this is all real yet."

"I can pinch you, if it'll make you feel better." She winced for a moment, and the patches of bone on her shoulders and neck disappeared below the skin. "Come on Oscar, let's get Nate back in bed."

"He should meet Bella," Nathan said a bit vaguely as Sarah led him back towards the house. "She and Joyita got along all right. Although Bella's partial to Paul's cat."

"Bella and ...Delphine?" It took her a minute to remember the cat's name, but the thought was rather amusing. "Poor Oscar had to get adopted by the anti-social bitch in the basement. He doesn't really meet anybody down there." She kept an eye on the ground in front of her, in case Oscar got bored of walking beside her. It wouldn't do to have both of them fall this close to the door.

"I could bring her down," Nathan offered, wavering a little on his feet. "She's a big blue bird who swears in seven languages. You'd like her."

Sarah laughed, offering him an arm to steady himself. "I think I have to see that at least once."

"She kept Moira company this week." Nathan frowned a little, even as he took Sarah's arm. "That's the most frustrating thing," he said with a sigh. "Can't really help her, because every time I try and talk about what happened, I faceplant on the floor or something."

Sarah chewed idly on her lower lip, in an attempt not to snicker. It -was- kind of funny. Then she shrugged. "Well, the last time you were doing faceplants, she was pretty taken with you. I'd guess that hasn't changed." It was pretty easy to forgive somebody you loved. She knew, having been on the receiving end of that for a while now.

"And I won't be doing this for long. I hope." Nathan smiled very faintly, peering down at her. "Are you trying to cheer me up?"

She kept her gaze planted firmly ahead of them. Almost there. "I'm pretty lousy at it, huh?"

"No. Pretty good, actually." Nathan stopped suddenly, his grip on Sarah's arm enough to pull her to a stop as well. He peered down at her, his jaw tightening a little as he tried to think of what to say. "You..." He trailed off, then shook his head. "Ignore me," he said a bit defeatedly, starting back towards the house again. "I was about to say something stupid."

She continued silently for a second, finally adding dryly, "Yeah, we're real cheery. I must be the best cheerer-upper ever, or something." Oscar scrambled up the stairs beside her, sniffing at the bottom of the door.

Nathan hesitated as they reached the door, his free hand clenching at his side into a fist. The subsequent wave of drowsiness made him totter, and he let go of Sarah's arm, catching himself on the doorframe. Oscar barked at him, as if to say 'What do you think you're doing?' and Nathan shook his head almost violently. "What's the closest couch to the door?" he muttered, trying to straighten. "I don't think I'm making it upstairs."

"There's one in the rec room. It's not too bad, I slept on it the first couple of weeks I was here." She offered her help in steadying him again, navigating him towards the nearest couch. "Almost there."

Nathan sank down onto the couch, once they got there, with a sigh of relief he couldn't quite hold back. Oscar jumped up with him and proceeded to attempt to lick his face again, and Nathan laughed tiredly. "Okay, I don't need a bath, really..."

"I think he knows you're not feeling quite right. And puppy kisses are his solution to -everything-." She grinned, and patted the puppy on his side. "Come on pretty. Let's leave Nate alone so he can sleep."

"Thanks, Sarah," Nathan said quietly as she urged the puppy to get down off the couch. He smiled, watching Oscar dance around her legs. "For the hand... I appreciate it. Looks like someone still wants to go run."

Finally luring Oscar off of the couch was the easy part. Getting him to leave his new friend? Oh dear. Sarah tugged gently on Oscar's collar, "Come on Oscar, let's go back outside." He whined softly at Nathan, and Sarah finally managed to push him towards the door. She glanced back. "Don't mention it."