The Roof, Late Friday Afternoon

[whenshewasnice]

It was a nice day to be up on the roof. Warm but still not too hot for Natalie's taste. There was nothing weird going on in town, either, from what she could see. It looked almost normal, from up here

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[catchmeifyoucan]

Day five of exploring, and Frank had yet to visit the roof. This was being rectified.

"Hi," he said, stepping out onto the roof and shutting the door behind him. "We're... allowed up here, right?"

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie glanced back over her shoulder, flicking ash off the end of her cigarette. "To the best of my knowledge," she said. "Though I hear it's not as popular as it used to be."

There was no smokers' club. That suited her fine.

[catchmeifyoucan]

"Cool," Frank said, relieved. "'Cause I wanted to see what the view's like from up here, and it's better to do that without getting detention." He set off in the direction of the ledge, surveyed the view, and nodded. "Yep. Definitely better than New Rochelle."

[whenshewasnice]

"And where is that, then?" Natalie wondered, idly watching him. It wasn't entirely genuine curiosity, but sometimes she was still inclined to play nice.

[catchmeifyoucan]

"New York. It's where I'm from," Frank explained. "I'm pretty sure it still exists..."

[whenshewasnice]

"Still?" Natalie asked, though she thought she knew what the reason behind that was. Lots of time-didplaced people around. "New York does, at least."

[catchmeifyoucan]

"Yeah, I met some people from there," he confirmed. By way of explanation, he added, "I'm from 1959, so it's sometimes hard to tell what people aren't familiar with and what just isn't around anymore. Where are you from?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Montreal," she shared. After a drag off her cigarette, she added, "Some time in the latest decade."

Canon was so vague about time.

[catchmeifyoucan]

"Oh, cool!" Frank said enthusiastically. "So you speak French, right?"

Someone had grown up with a mother who was a native French speaker and loved showing it off. Shut up.

[whenshewasnice]

Oh hey, this same question twice in one week.

//Fluently,// she replied. In French. Not really caring at that particular moment whether he knew the language or was just under the impression that a person from Montreal automatically knew French. //I'm Anglo, but a functional bilingual.//

And had an accent that betrayed her origin, yes. It was most likely not like his mother's.

[catchmeifyoucan]

//Me too!// Frank exclaimed. //Speaking French, I mean. My mom's from France.//

Look, back home this made people think he was really really cool.

[whenshewasnice]

Yeah, it was less so with Natalie. But mildness was her game, anyway. It would've have taken a little more than that to get any kind of a strong reaction out of her.

Though she did raise a slightly amused eyebrow at the enthusiasm. //Really. How cool for you.//

[catchmeifyoucan]

"I know, right?" Back to English, apparently. "You too!" He offered her a hand, then fumbled and switched it to account for her cigarette. "I'm Frank, by the way."

[whenshewasnice]

"Natalie," she replied as she took his hand, briefly. "Hi."

A woman of so many words, our Natalie.

[catchmeifyoucan]

That was okay; Frank had more than enough words for the two of them.

"So how long have you been coming here, Natalie?" Frank asked. "I'm really really new, so I don't know everyone yet. Or most people." He blushed, then admitted, "I mostly know six people."

[whenshewasnice]

"I came here at the start of the fall term. So, a full school year." And yet she kenw... about six people. That was fine with her, though. "I don't know everyone, either."

Oh, understatement.