seattle ; sunday ft

[necroslacker]

Haley had been trying to organize a 'Welcome to Spring!' party for a few weeks now. When Sam had told her she just wanted a convenient reason to throw a party, she hadn't denied it but she'd still said she was going to use his house. And Sam, being the oh so dutiful brother, had let her. The party was tonight and Haley had commandeered James,

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[whenshewasnice]

If Nathan had actually talked to Peter more in the last couple of weeks, he might've known this was a bad idea. But, he hadn't. There'd been a lot of semi-mutual avoidance going on. Not a lot of chitchat about the particulars of Natalie's life beyond work. So, if this went badly? It was clearly going to be all Peter's fault.

Or something. It wasn't like Nathan didn't have second thoughts when he got to Sam's house and stopped at the edge of the lawn. He could see the decorating going on and instantly felt wary. He'd been at this house a lot, not even too long ago, but he already felt like he was intruding somehow.

Turning back and going away suddenly seemed like a very real option.

[necroslacker]

It was Haley who came upon the unfamiliar face but Haley being Haley didn't care about that.

"Hiya," she said, carrying a tablecloth under one arm. "You a friend of Sam's I haven't met?"

Well, he did have those friends from the school he'd gone to and all. She knew she didn't know everyone.

[whenshewasnice]

Oh, Haley.

For a second, Nathan wasn't really sure what to say. She was used to weird things by now, he knew, but this was a little... out there, even for Seattle.

"Yeah," he settled on, with a very brief flicker of a lopsided smile, there one second then gone the next. "In a manner of speaking."

[necroslacker]

"He's over on the half pipe if you wanna go say hi," Haley told him and then pressed the tablecloth into his hands. "And when you're done, you can help get the backyard ready."

Haley cared not about the weird stuff. She wanted her party.

[whenshewasnice]

"... Okay."

At least he didn't drop the tablecloth or anything dumb like that.

"What's the occasion?"

[necroslacker]

"End of winter, beginning of spring," Haley told him, giving his shoulder a light shove towards the half pipe. "Perfect reason for a celebration."

Haley glanced away at something and frowned. "Ramon, stop eating the food!"

And then she was off on a mission to stop Ramon from eating everything before the party started.

[whenshewasnice]

This was all just really familiar and really strange at the same time. And Nathan wasn't even going to acknowledge the fact that that shove was about the first bit of non-handshake physical human contact he'd received since this whole ordeal began.

He shook his head before making his way towards the half pipe, tablecloth still in his hands.

[necroslacker]

Taco noticed the arrival before Sam did. He stood up and half crawled off of Sam's lap to give the newcomer a look. He hadn't met Natalie so Nathan's scent wasn't going to be familiar.

When Sam noticed what Taco was doing, he peered down. "Hey," he said, nodding. "Here for the party?"

Maybe he was Frank's friend? Or Ramon?

[whenshewasnice]

"Part of the decorating committee," Nathan replied wryly, raising the tablecloth a bit as if to explain that. (He had a much bigger thing to explain, but that was a hard thing to lead with. So he didn't.) He nodded at he chupacabra. "Hey, Taco."

[necroslacker]

Sam raised an eyebrow at that but didn't say anything. Taco stayed where he was though he was trying to move his little body closer without fully coming off of Sam's lap.

"You're a friend of Haley's?" he asked since he'd made a mention of decorations and all.

[whenshewasnice]

"No, I think she just needs more slave labour."

As seemed to be Haley's way in making a party happen. The tablecloth got folded over his arm as he hesitated for a second. "I'm a friend of yours, actually," he said after that second had passed. "You know Natalie, right?"

[necroslacker]

"...yeah," he said slowly, trying to figure out where this was going before Nathan actually told him. "You could say that."

[whenshewasnice]

Nathan hated this part. Having to introduce himself to his friends.

He tapped a few fingertips against the center of his chest as a way of indicating himself. "Nathan," he said. "Nathan Adams, specifically. It's a Fandom thing. Multiverse slotted me into the wrong universe."

[necroslacker]

"...huh." Well, that was a surprise and he didn't really know how to process it. "And that means Natalie is probably in your universe?"

[whenshewasnice]

He shrugged a shoulder.

"I really don't know."

That came out very mild. It wasn't so much that he didn't care, but... Well. Maybe he didn't. He just wanted things back to normal.

[necroslacker]

Sam scratched his cheek and was quiet for a moment.

"So, guess that means you know me?" And Sam didn't remember him which was strange.