Room 409, Sunday Afternoon

[lovechildblair]

Blair was supposed to be packing.

He was mostly just staring at his backpack and sighing.

[ooc: Door is open. Post is open. Slowplay is love as I'm going to see Flicka with ten 3rd graders]

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[callmenaomi]

Probably best not to ask where Naomi had been the night before -or with whom- but she was up and packed and as was typical with Naomi, she was ready to move on.

Carpet bag over her shoulder, she breezed on into the room with a bright smile on her face. Already gone was the tension born of why she was withdrawing Blair from Fandom, leaving behind only the normal Naomi happiness about moving on and seeing something new.

"Sweetie! Are you packed and ready then, darling?"

[lovechildblair]

Blair sighed and shook his head, looking up from the still empty backpack. "No, Mom. Not really."

[callmenaomi]

Naomi's smile dimmed a little, then she set down the carpet bag and headed towards what she thought was Blair's dresser...hopefully it wasn't Broots.

"Well, I'm sure it won't take us a second if we work together! Let's just get you pulled together."

[lovechildblair]

"You won't find anything in there." Blair shook his head. "I hid all of my stuff before you came so it wouldn't look like I was attached."

[callmenaomi]

Naomi turned and looked at her son for a long minute before setting her hands on her hips and asking him, in a slightly bemused tone.

"Blair... why would you do something like that?"

[lovechildblair]

Blair felt all of ten years old sitting on the floor, so he stood and bounced nervously. "Because I was afraid if you saw that I was attached, that I was happy...you'd make me leave."

"Like when I started naming the sheep when I was six or when the neighbors invited me to join their Awana club when I was nine or when Uncle John wanted to buy tickets for us to go to that football game two months in advance. Whenever I start to like a place, start to find a home, you make me move."

[callmenaomi]

"Sweetie..." Naomi began, reaching to fuss at the cuff of her sleeve a bit.

"You're at a very wonderful time in your life. You should be spreading your wings, seeing all that this world has to offer. I don't want to see you tie yourself down into a structured system that The System's society dictates is the path you should walk."

[lovechildblair]

"I did that for a long time, Naomi. I traveled and spread my wings and saw the world. I'll probably keep doing that for a long time." Blair paced, waving his hands a little. "But when I came here I did stuff I've never done before, learned things that I couldn't have learned anywhere else. I've learned how to be a friend and a big brother and a boyfriend and a leader and a figther and a student and a roommate."

"Sure, it's weird. My big brother is a vampire. My girlfriend is from another planet. My best friend is a demon. Sometimes people get hurt, sometimes I get hurt. Sometimes it's strange and scary and I don't know what to do. But I stay. I have people I can depend on here, people who depend on me. This is...it's..." Blair knew that this was one of the things that Naomi wouldn't like, but he took a deep breath and went for it anyway. "It's home."

[callmenaomi]

It was hard for Naomi to stand there and hear those things. Particularly the part about her son being a fighter, but her brain quickly quirked it around to think of it as Blair being a fighter for what he believed in.

Now, the idea of home was a little harder to swallow...

"You...you really mean all that, don't you, sweetie?" She said quietly. "This is where your heart is, for right now?"

[lovechildblair]

If River was around, she think that Blair was running some sort of filmstrip in his head. Faces of everyone he met at Fandom, all the things he had done and seen, every lesson learned, flashed through his head. Looking up at Naomi, he nodded seriously.

[callmenaomi]

Naomi fluttered, then she turned and paced a bit, never one to be still for long.

Blair had never...said no before. She said go and they went, without so much as a peep from her son but this time, he was saying no. He was making an independent decision with a well thought out argument for his position and, wasn't that what she had always wanted for him?

To be independent? In mind, spirit and body?

Turning back towards him, Naomi did not look happy but she did look resigned.

"If you break one more limb..." She began, which basically mean... Blair could stay.

[lovechildblair]

Blair blinked in shock and then gave several enthusiastic bounces. "Yes!"

Rushing forward, he gave Naomi an almost bone crushing hug.

[callmenaomi]

Naomi flailed a little but was quick to embrace her son in return.

"Now...be safe, wear layers you don't want to catch a cold this season, do you have your vitamins?" Naomi began to run down the list as she gave him another squeeze and stepped back, her bright, cheerful demeanor already coming back into place.

Detatch with love, thy name is Naomi Sandburg.

[lovechildblair]

Blair rolled his eyes at both the long list and the detaching. It was almost as if he could see Naomi fixing her gaze on whatever came next. It was exasperating and endearing and he smiled.

"I love you a lot, Mom. You know that, right?"

[callmenaomi]

Already at the door, carpet bag slung up over her shoulder, Naomi spun around and beamed at her son.

"Of course." She said, brandy colored eyes twinkling. "I love you, Blair. Stay happy."

Because, despite the completely muddle of her brain, that was all she truly wanted for her child.

"I'll write with the address of the commune down in Florida!" She promised, though where she would be by the time the letter reached Blair... anybodies guess!

[lovechildblair]

"You too, Naomi." Blair gave her a wave, not counting on the address at all.

He waited all of about 30 seconds before giving a war whoop in celebration. "I'm staying!"