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[Elena knows she should give Nate a call, tell Nate what Chloe's told her, but she's too nervous. Which is absolutely silly—she knows now, she finally can rest easy that her life here as an imPort isn't all that's left. But it's like her body hasn't gotten the message yet. She's tense, jittery, like she's waiting for an answer instead of having just received one.

So instead she makes some tea and sits with it at the kitchen table, sipping it and trying to settle herself. He'll be home soon, right? She can't quite remember what he was doing today.]

[ He'd taken an extra shift at the museum, never really minding whenever they asked it of him. A short one, four hours. It was just as Elena was sitting at the table with her tea that he was unlocking the front door and slipping inside. He'd had some time to think about the newfound information from Chloe, the good news, all of it. ]

Hey. You're home.

[ Going to the table he leaned down to kiss the side of her neck, adding another kiss to her cheek and one more to the corner of her mouth. ]

Tea..? You know it's five o'clock somewhere, right?

[Even though she's waiting for him, Elena ends up so lost on thought that she doesn't notice Nate's arrival until he's in front of her, deaf to the sound of his keys or his movements. She startles a little, then smiles at the excessive hello kisses.

Normally, she'd be more than willing to continue things in that vein, but her mind's still a little blown for that.]

It's calming. Helps settle me. [And there's no way she can hedge on this with small talk, so.] Nate, Chloe's been ported in.

Beer does just the same... [ Well, that was a topic changer. Chloe. Chloe was with them now. He'd gone the last four hours without thinking about it or her. Hell, he'd almost forgotten what she'd told him, and it had been such good news! Nate moves to the chair to her right and slides into it, hands on the table. ]

You talked to her?

[ Elena had to know... ]

Yeah. Yeah, we talked.

[She takes a shaky breath, and when she looks up at him, the corners of her eyes are sparkly. Odds are good she's as surprised as he is by that.]

Nate, I'm alive in her time. I don't die.

[ Hearing her say it has just as much of an impact on him as when he'd heard it from Chloe. He reaches over for her hand, gripping gently. ]

You made it.

[ Emotion weighs in those three words. ]

You make it, Elena.

I make it.

[She repeats the words, the ones that are still sinking in, and then she she moves toward him, arms going up and around his shoulders as she laughs.

She makes it.]

[ He laughs with her, the sound broken, overjoyed, muffled at her shoulder. Nate wraps his arms around her, squeezing. ]

You make it.

[ A kiss presses to the side of her head and he takes in the warmth of her against him, the scent of her shampoo. Having Chloe come in and give them that news, it was such a relief. A weight lifted. She'd cemented it for them that they had a future outside of this place. ]

Did she tell you anything else?

Edited 2018-10-23 17:04 (UTC)

[Elena beams into his neck, and if Nate can't see it, she thinks he can probably feel it, even without looking.

For so long now, she's lived with this weight on her shoulders—sometimes crushing, sometimes not so bad at all, but always there. She's not sure what to do now that it's gone. Elena can't recall the last time she felt so light.]

A...little, yeah.

[It's not a lie, but now that Nate's reminded her of what else Chloe said, she's not sure how much to tell him. How much did she want to know? How much did she even believe?]

No details, though. I was kind of overwhelmed, she was kind of surprised.

Edited 2018-10-23 17:09 (UTC)

We talked for a bit after she dropped the big news.

[ He pulls back enough to look at her. She had a pleasant flush to her cheeks, probably the same as he did, the happiness showing in them both. Nate wanted to talk to her about the other thing... How? How did he bring it up? The thought of it made him feel sheepish and awkward. He'd already dropped the 'L' word. Wasn't the 'M' word the next step? Were they ready for that? ]

It's crazy to think that she's from our future. Nuts, really.

You did?

[For a moment, she's surprised he hadn't said anything, but then the moment passes and she gets it. This is a lot, a lot a lot, and she wouldn't know how to broach the topic either, other than blurting it out. For all that they've dealt with the weirdness of this place for quite a while now, some things are not intuitive and probably never will be.]

Those are some words for it, yeah. Doesn't look like she's aged any. [So lucky.] What'd you two talk about?

Yeah. We did.

[ Another moment and Nate eases back, hands on the table. He uses his nail to pick at the edge of his cuticle. ]

Doesn't look like it. Her style's changed though. [ Comfortable, loose. He's still surprised at the lack of her crop tops. ] Huh? Oh uh. We talked about stuff.

[Yeah, she guesses it did. But then, Elena doesn't know how Chloe likes to dress when she's not gallivanting through a war-torn city.]

Stuff, huh? [She smiles.] It must be strange for her. Both of us, a blast from her past.

Stuff and...things? [ He would smile back but gives a low chuckle instead. ] We aren't that much of a blast from her past. We're still the same, even if we...

[ ...get married. ]

[She looks at him a little closer then. Had Chloe told him, too? Should she tell him?]

Even if we...?

Even if you uh maybe thought it was a good idea to...marry...me...?

[ Nate makes a face at the 'm' word. He's had a LOT of time to think about that. Although he might look like he's frowning at the idea of marriage, it's not something that's bad. It's just saying it out loud and how she would react. ]

[Is it possible to tense up and settle down with relief at the same time? Somehow, Elena feels like she's managed it.]

She told you too, huh? That was kind of a shocker.

[ So, phew, that wasn't half as bad as he was expecting. His little chuckle is mostly nerves. ]

Y-yeah... A shocker. Kind of.

[ Not the finger involving shocker, either. ]

[Elena can hear the nervousness in his voice, and isn't certain what to make of it. She's not judging--thinking about it makes her nervous too, because wow. Big wow.

But...]

Good shocker, or—bad shocker?

I... don't really know. [ Asshole. ] I-I mean it's just big news, Elena. Like, big.

[ His arms spread out. ]

I guess I'm still trying to process it?

Edited (icon wtf) 2018-11-16 01:45 (UTC)

Yeah. Me, too. It's okay, Nate.

[She reaches out to take one of his hands in hers, squeezing gently.]

I don't think there's a particular way anyone is expected to react. It's usually something people decide themselves, not hear about secondhand. [She laughs a little.] It's not something I ever thought would happen, so I'm double-thrown myself.

[ Always count on her to take him down a notch. She always did have an uncanny way of reading his tells and knowing just what to do in a situation such as this where the panic threatening to break out of him was waiting under the surface of it all. His hand squeezes. It squeezes and it doesn’t release; his blood pumping hard enough that it resonates through his fingers grasping hers.

Deep breath, just relax. Nate knows how well he’s doing with the whole commitment thing so far, he’s doing so damn well that he hasn’t bolted on her and doesn’t intend to. Ever, hopefully.

His voice is small, hesitant, like this is a whole new ocean for them to drown together in. Maybe. ] Do...you..? Is it ah, is it something you...want? With me?

[ Nathan Drake cringes, mostly at himself. He sounds so stupid, he’s so unsure. What if she rejected him? Rejection he can take from just about anyone save for one person: her. One of the reasons for why he’d turned the other way when things had gotten so serious the first time around. ]

You make that sound like a proposal.

[She laughs a little, lightly, breathily. Another time, and she might have made a joke about tiny handcuffs and how they don't suit a thief. But she can see, plainly, that he's pushing back any impulse he might have to run away from this. He's opening himself up.

The least she can do it open herself up as well.]

I want a future with you, Nate. Whether or not we make it legal, I don't want anyone else.

Do I? [ Look, no, his voice did not hitch in pitch. ~~Yes it did, a little.~~

He can breathe a little easier then, her words reaching him. ]

Oh. That's— that's good. Really good. I guess it's good to know you get that future now, back home.

[Yes it did, and she can hear it, but she can also see him settle. But it's okay.

Besides. She was freaked out too.]

The future is what we make for ourselves, Nate. Don't get me wrong, I'm so relieved that I have time to make any kind of future has me so relieved I could cry. But I can't just what Chloe told us for granted. How can I, after living here in uncertainty for so long?

I know.

[ Neither of them should take this for granted. He wouldn't. ]

[Carefully, she takes his face in her hand and gives him a short, soft kiss, because what they have here is real too, whatever they might or might not have back home.]

I love you.

Love you more.

[ His smile is a gentle one as he reaches to brush some of her hair off her brow, adding another kiss to her one. This is definitely real, real and scary, and it’s probably scary because his feelings for her and how she makes his heart trip in his chest are the realest thing he’s felt in forever. ]

[So. Nate's spontaneously reverted to significantly younger than she's used to. That's a thing. It's not nearly as disturbing as the fact that she never, ever heard of Sam before. It doesn't point to anything good. And it's not something she can talk about with him until—please, let 'until' be the right word—he goes back to normal.

Sipping her extra-early morning coffee, Elena loses herself in thought for a while before standing and going to check on Nate. Maybe today will be the day. There's nothing wrong with his younger self, but she misses the Nate she knows.]

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A THREAD OLD AS BALLS, PART 1

SMELLY BALLS, PART 1

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tiny text fail /clutches chest

patpat

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A THREAD OLD AS BALLS, PART 2