Okay. He hadn't been expecting that. Though, he supposed, in Natalie's defense she hadn't been expected to be woken up by violent shaking. They were even. Except he couldn't speak for a minute. The wind had been knocked out of him.
Instead, he just nodded, trying to regain his breath as Natalie wrapped her arms around him. "I'm -- back," he managed to strangle out before coughing. His own arms snaked around her and he breathed (as best as he could) in her scent. It was nice to be home. "I've been, you know. Around."