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no one's
nosy

( he briefly considered making up a student, but their school is so small, it'd be one of his more obvious lies.

it feels early to be exchanging phone passwords. that sort of thing ought to be done after the fourth date, or so he assumes. relationships don't exactly exist on strict timelines, and they're not even in a "relationship" anyway. not really. it's a matter of circumstance that left max with his phone and nathan with hers. and he'd snooped enough by reading her diary; he doesn't plan on reading more. )

ok mom
lol

( ...

maybe he'll check her playlists, but that's it. and only at stop signs. he's not going to pull over the car for the sake of digging for dirt, not when max is alone in hospital. priorities, or whatever.

he'll snoop on her phone later while she's asleep like a normal person.

once he arrives, it's easy enough to find his way up to where they have her housed for the time being. not serious enough to keep her here forever, but they still plan on waiting on the results of some tests before letting her go. )

Still good?

( he sets her bag on the bed beside her before dropping his own more carelessly in the seat set aside for visitors. ) They say what happened? Why, I mean?

Oh, thank gawd.

[Once ber bag is set down, she's immediately rifling through it, only stopping to sort of absent-mindedly hand Nathan his own phone back. She still has his jacket on and makes no move to give it back yet.]

Dehydration. Stress. That's all they've been able to figure out.

[Especially what with Max refusing any sort of brain scan. At least she allowed them to do blood tests, but so far those haven't shown anything out of the ordinary either.

She sighs as she sets her journal in her lap first, then carefully cradles her camera as she lifts it out of the bag... and watches a photo she hadn't taken fall down from it and onto her journal, face-down.

Curious, she picks it up to get a good look at it. It's the picture Nathan took in his truck.]

Edited (important detail) 2026-03-17 01:37 (UTC)

You really think it's the... other thing?

( the thing that may or may not exist, according to both her words, her demonstration, and her journal.

the photo is terrible, a nathan-shaped ball of light. his face is thoroughly blotted out by the flash, but his arms holding the camera are recognizable enough, along with his dashboard and the view from the driver's seat. he feels himself die as she inspects it. )

That's— it's stupid. Just wanted to see if your camera, you know, wasn't broken. You were all freaked out and shit. Throw it away.

( he makes a grab for it, red-faced. )

[She could almost laugh, the picture is vaguely hilarious. But his reasons...

She quickly holds the photo against the center of her chest with both hands so he can't grab it from her.]

No way! You used my expensive analog film, that means I get to keep what you took with it. Those are the rules.

[Her smile is wide, and she takes another glance at the photo with an unmasked, soft look.

It's a terrible picture. But so sweet of him to do. She needs this. A reminder, he cares about her feelings. She looks back at him and his adorably red face.]

Thank you for checking for me. And... yes. It's definitely the other thing. It's happened before under similar circumstances.

How expensive is expensive? I'll buy it off you.

( but, really, she can have it. she doesn't have to look so smitten by it, though. you can't even see his face — which is arguably his best feature. )

Never heard anything about you fainting around the school. ( he shoves his bag aside so he can sink into the chair. they've had a long night; max is hooked to an IV, and nathan is begining to think time travel might be real. it won't be long before he falls asleep. ) You sneaking off to pass out in secret, or what?

[She tucks the photo into her journal and shifts around some on the bed, turning her camera at an angle she can get both herself, in Nathan's jacket, and Nathan sprawled out in the visitor's chair, into the picture. (She's pretty sure. Can't know for certain until it's taken.) She snaps the photo before he can protest.]

Not at school. I was with Chloe.

( he'd assumed she was just getting comfortable, and then he's blinded with the flash. )

Seriously? God, you're obsessed. You're worse than Vic...

( ...when it comes to selfies, at least.

it doesn't escape him that she's been time travelling with chloe. maybe chloe should the one to be here with her, not him. )

[It's a good thing she's facing away from him when he complains, because it actually just amuses her and she can't stop the smile. Sometimes it is a little fun to poke the bear. At least when the bear is Nathan and apparently is at least a little bit soft for her.

She takes the photo that gets spit out and gently places her camera back in her bag, and her bag on the floor, before shifting around in bed again and laying down to face Nathan this time, leaving the Polaroid on top of the covers to develop.]

You'll get used to it. Are you even comfortable in that chair?

It's whatever. You comfortable in that bed? We could get you a bigger one, if you want.

( treating the hospital with hotel rules. this is fine. )

You're already paying for my stay. The bed is fine.

[Only maybe if it was a bit bigger she could convince Nathan to come lay down with her in it. She's had a lot of time to imagine what that would have been like, after he ran off that night and didn't stay to sleep in her bed like he'd acted like he'd wanted.]

...had to use your phone to call my parents and convince them I didn't need to come home. They might end up calling you later. I told them not to, but you helped me and they have your number, so it's kind of out of my hands now.

[Her speaking is getting steadily softer and slower, her own exhaustion catching up with her.]

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