It was about two hours drive out to The trails start. Cora took her bike, and the weather had made even that part enjoyable. She greeted one of the attendants as she found a place to park, the girl an old employee from back at Anti-Gravity, and the real reason Cora knew this location. She had brought a backpack, the whisky bottle tucked inside. No one would bother here about it so long as nothing was left behind.

If it had been colder the ice caves would have been the final destination, but there were still lots of gully’s and good scenic stops to look at. She checked her phone, noting the time. It would be interesting to see how Sam handled this idea of going out for a drink.

”I know man. Almost there.” Sam said looking into the rearview mirror of his older truck. Bruno whined again sticking his head out one of the windows in the back seat before climbing towards the front and putting his paw Sam’s arm as he drove. ”I thought we discussed this, I don’t know what Old Sam let’s you do but no distracting the driver.” Sam said again forming an ice ball and handing it over to his large Saint Bernard.

Bruno took the ball and whined and stared out the window drooling as he held onto the ball. Until it turned to water and pooled out onto the seat. Sam rolled his eyes and threw the vehicle in park till he found the parking location. Cora’s bike was already there.

Opening the door Bruno hopped out with his harness pack and his leash and he ran around the truck a few times before finding a good location to relieve himself. ”Boy. Keep it close.” Bruno grabbed his leash and stuck close to Sam until he grabbed the leash. Bruno wasn’t a runner so he didn’t have to worry about that but if there was any other dogs in the area Sam didn’t feel like the headache.

When the icemancer and Bruno got close enough to spot Cora he yelled, ”Yo!” Bruno followed his call off with a bark still holding his leash in his mouth even though Sam was holding onto it.

Cora heard Sam’s call and turned, unable to stop a grin when she spotted the large dog. When he was close enough, she smirked and offered a hand for the dog to sniff. ”I see you brought a wingman! Sorry Sam, but I think he’s cuter than you!” she found her offered palm rewarded with a lick, and grinned as she gave the large dog pets.

”I bet he’s better trained than you too! He is even obeying trail rules, got his own leash.” she motioned for Sam to follow, taking lead toward the trail they would take.

”Enjoy the drive up? Haven’t come out here in awhile, looks like we picked a good day. They are staying open later because of the later sunset. Will be nice view for our drink.” she smirked.

The icemancer laughed, ”Not the first time I heard that I’m sure.” Sam said deflecting the jab to his older self. Bruno did what he normally did when meeting a new friend and graced Cora with a palm lick followed up by dancing around her enjoying being out on a trail. ”But you think I’m cute though?” Sam asked grinning mocking a shocked face.

Sam laughed again, ”Ha ha.” Bruno nudged his hand then ran towards Cora and then back to Sam sniffing anything that seemed interesting. ”Who do you think trained him?” he smirked. It was older Sam but Cora didn’t need to know that.

”Drive was good, Bruno wasn’t feeling the bike.” Sam laughed knowing full well he wouldn’t sit still for one of those cabs you can attach to the bike. No Bruno had a short attention span and a need to move just like Sam. ”Ohh you hear that bud? A drink and a romantic sunset setting.” Sam smirked, ”Didn’t take you for a romantic.” Sam said following Cora. Bruno let out a loud bark when he heard ‘bud’.

”What about you how was the ride?” he asked having a feeling the answer would be cold due to the weather and the snow on the ground.

Cora was ready for his retort, and deflected it easily, "I said he was cuter, it's possible for a kitten to be cuter than a rock, doesn't mean the rock is cute." She winked, letting his ego absorb that. He knew he was attractive, just like she knew she was. Sometimes the banter was half the fun.

"If he starts carrying back girl's phone numbers, I'll be more apt to believe you had a hand in his training. Right now he only has the leash, so it's up for debate." They wound toward the start of an incline. It would be easy for the first part, gradual resistance that both of them could handle. No rock climbing today. If they drank too much of the alcohol she didn't want a path that would be too horrible to navigate back down.

"A bottle of whisky, a cold rock and a dog. If that's romantic then I guess I'm Jane Austin." Cora smirked back.

Cora adjusted her jacket, but was still smiling. "Actually the ride wasn't bad. I know how to dress for a long ride, although I'm sure you handle the cold much better than I do. It's relaxing getting out of the city though. No cars to avoid and red lights to run."

Sam smiled more as he followed Cora and Bruno his small field back adjusted slightly on his back as he tightened it. ”Well, maybe the rock is just having an off day.”

”You should see him at the dog park.” Sam said enjoying the view and the fresh air free from the smog of the city. Sam took in a deep breath and let it out. Apparently he was moving too slow for them, Bruno circled back around and whined at Sam before he started to follow Cora again.

”Jane Austen.” Sam thought on her name for a second going through the filing cabinet that was his mind. ”Female English novelist.” he recalled one of her books was turned into a movie. He neither read the book nor seen the movie. He paused for a second thinking more on it. He wished his old training included more information than just a conversation starter for targets.

”Sounds like my idea of a good time.” Sam finally agreed. ”See you can be romantic.” Sam said with a smirk as he pushed himself up the hill.

”It is and I do.” Sam said showing off his bare arms. He wasn’t worried about Bruno being cold with all his fur and it wasn’t like they were planning on turning this hike into an overnight trip. ”If you get too cold Bruno is good at cuddling.” Sam said followed up with a small bark from the dog upon hearing his name.

The trail wove higher. With any luck, they should reach a good spot to sit within a half-hour. That left enough time to sit and chill before it got too dark. She hadn't exactly planned to reach their stop at sunset, but it actually seemed possible. Choosing a later time had been more for avoiding other hikers. She really wasn't a romantic; she gave that thinking up long ago. But happy accidents, and whatnot.

"I'd love to see this guy at a dog park. Always wanted a dog. Looked into getting one a few times, but they would have to be a pretty active breed to come out with me." She had seen other people take their smaller dogs in a backpack for their adventures, but Cora couldn't see herself with something that little. Bruno was a treat.

Speaking of Bruno...She grinned down at the dog and reached down to pet him again. "Does that mean I have to pretend to be cold just to get cuddles from you, handsome man?" The dog's tail wagged, and she gushed at her four-legged hiking partner for a few more moments before continuing forward.

"How long have you had him?" She asked conversationally.

”Pretend nothing.” Sam said exhaling a bit of cold her way. ”I might get jealous though.” Sam teased with a smirk, ”He doubles as a pillow.”

The icemancer was glad he brought Bruno. Yes, he had used Bruno to pick up women before, but more importantly he wanted to see what Bruno thought of the woman. She seemed fun, very attractive and sassy. All of his favorite qualities but he had to be sure she passed the Bruno test. Bruno seemed to pass her with flying colors. Maybe he should start having his cat check people out for him.

”Five years?” Sam said thinking about it, he only had a few weeks with him technically but Bruno treated him like the old Sam all the same. ”Not sure, I read that I found him in a litter with other breeds abandoned in the woods some where. They were all puppies. Bruno was the one that stuck with me.” Sam said not really thinking much on the words he used. He wasn’t there all the information he had about Bruno and his cat Cammie was from the files his older self left.

”A few of the others I found are still at the mansion. Play time outside is a blast. They think I’m the coolest toy/treat dispenser ever.” Sam said smirking at his own lame pun.

Cora felt the sudden cold breeze, and shivered against her will, trying to pull her jacket tighter. She shot Sam a look, but the annoyance was fake and more amused then anything. "You didn't strike me as the jealous type. After all, your thread count in the lust category is pretty dang high." That was a bit fun to throw out there. She had explained a number of thread colors, but never directly gave him which emotion coral was.

After giving the dog one more hug, she kept hiking further up the trail listening to him talk. She listened to his comment about reading things, and paused. "Speaking of threads, did you like, get amnesia or something? I'm not usually one to jump into personal matters, but you have these threads that just sort of, fade. And you mentioned reading about where you found Bruno... I'm not detective, but that would make sort of sense to me?" She hitched her backpack higher, and climbed over a larger step in the trail.

"A mansion sounds eventful. Oh, are you out at that Xavier's sister school or something? Heck, I forgot what it's called these days. We always just called it Mutant Manor at the gym. Heck I bet Bruno get's a lot more attention if you are." She had mixed feelings about kids just from working at Anti-Gravity. Some of them were adorable, and she almost felt like she would enjoy having one of her own someday. Then along would come the worlds most horrible brat and she would regret ever considering a family.

Plus, kids meant relationships. And relationships meant broken threads. Broken families. Broken lives. She disliked that more than anything.

The icemancer coughed, ”You can see that?!?” Sam quickly asked then cleared his throat and didn’t say anything else about it. ”Look at that sky.” great topic change.

Sam regretted not thinking about his use of words. The de-age was on par with his history before the mansion. Not a good conversation topic if you are trying to get close to someone. Then again his older version probably would have come up with another segway and it seems Cora was a good detective so he decided to give her the truth.

”Kinda. Lost a decade. I guess I’m one of a few that got hit with some kind of chemical or something.” Sam said, ”Everyone else remembers me. Just glad the best boi did as well.” hearing his alias Bruno ran towards Sam and he pet his dog. ”I think him and the cat are the only reason I’m still at Mutant manor.” Sam said agreeing that mutant manor sounded cooler.

”Enough kids there to play with him when I’m in the city trying to chase down mysterious women on motorcycles.” Sam said walking next to her now. ”Yeah, apparently I was a teacher there and on the X-team.” he bragged not knowing if that was common knowledge outside of the school or not. ”What do you mean by fade?” Sam asked bringing the conversation back to his threads while making sure not to talk about the lust ones she can apparently see.

Cora was far more amused with his reaction than she probably should have been. There was something about being able to make the ice mutant loose his cool for a moment, and having the upper hand with her powers wasn't something she would have on very many occasions. She enjoyed it. He could cough all he wanted, she had already seen the worst of what there was.

Or, she thought she had seen the worst. Lost a decade. That would definitely explain the threads. She considered what she had seen, and decided she was spotting the threads to people he used to have relationships with. Not remembering them had in it's own way severed the relationship. But having it only one way meant it wasn't truly 'cut'.

"That sounds like a trip. I haven't met anyone that's happened to, but I feel like one of my staff has? You work around mutants long enough, you hear a lot of the drama that goes around." She watched the excited dog, and her smile softened. "Heck, I would hang around a Mutant Manor to see Bruno too. He's a good boy." Tail wag. Of course Bruno knew he was.

"Do you know what you taught? Clearly something more respectable than ice puns and pick-up lines. Hmm... gym? Self-defense? Can't see you as a math teacher, sorry," she taunted.

He asked about his threads again and Cora reached over, carefully selecting one of the faded threads. This one actually was two threads wound together, which was unique by itself. Letting her energy connect it, he could see the almost transparent thread, and another normal red string tied around it. "So, see that almost invisible one? That's what I mean. I'm guessing that's someone you knew when you were older you. The string around it probably means you still have a relationship with that person, but it's different. Separate. You also have these ones..." She selected a different thread, just a normal pink one that was almost gone. "No other strings hanging around. I would assume it was someone you knew before, but haven't interacted with since you forgot them. Threads are...complicated." She let go. They all vanished again for him.

"People are a mess. What's that quote? 'Oh what a tangled web we weave'. I can tease you because I can see your threads and you can't see mine. Pretty sure everyone is their own version of a mess in the long run." She shrugged.

”Something like that, not the worst thing that happened to me.” Sam said with a shrug leaving it at that. He didn’t want to unload his life on Cora that wasn’t why they were there. They were there to have a good time and a drink and that’s what he intended to do. ”Open invitation to come visit him then. Who knows you might come say ‘hey’ to me.” he smirked.

”Self-defense. I was also one of the greeters. They haven’t found a replacement yet for the greeting part yet.” Sam threw up his fingers, ”I’m on sabbatical supposedly till I either grow up or” Sam shrugged. Wasn’t like he wanted Old Sam’s life any ways. Would be like wearing a pair of gloves that belong to someone else, uncomfortable and he was pretty sure his older version knew that. Why he had given young Sam options.

”That was a safe guess though. I mean you could have guessed language as well.” Sam said switching from Russian to Spanish to Japanese back to English. All he said in each was “Hello” it wasn’t a reflection on what he knew in each though. Spanish was the only one he could speak fluently. The others he just knew a few words to get by like ‘shoot him or kill’ those he had a knack for hearing.

The icemancer watched as his thread became visible again. Sam shifted uncomfortably trying to notice any more or feel any of them on him. He didn’t in fact he only saw it when Cora pointed them out. Feeling a bit uneasy that she was going tug the thread he reached up and scratched the back of his head.

”Kinda depressing.” Sam said at first, ”I mean, seeing relationships fade like that. I kinda feel bad for all those people.” Sam said feeling the conversation was getting heavy. ”I mean, not having me in their life. Hopefully no one misses me too much.” he smirked.

”Messes can be cleaned though.” he said with a shrug speaking from experience. His old life and his current one both of which had a long messy history.

Cora tilted her head at the invitation, pretending to look surprised. "Invitation to see Sam in his official work environment. Brave soul. I could go parading all your threads around and...wait, pretty sure if they work with you they would know what they're in for anyway." She jabbed.

He flipped between a few languages, and Cora laughed. "Hey I picked up a few words in Spanish in California. Although 'get the hell outta my way' probably isn't the best thing to teach kids." She decided.

They had finally reached a stopping point when the topic hit the depressing note. She could practically feel his discomfort. Letting go of all the threads, she flipped her backpack off and sighed. "You asked. Threads are not a pleasant subject. It's a walking reminder of how shitty people can be. Paint me a cynic, but you see enough people walking with one arm around their girlfriend and another leading to someone else, you learn to block it out."

It was time to avoid the drag that had come up. She pulled out the whisky bottle, an expensive Irish she had been given for Christmas and hadn't taken a chance to drink yet. Now seemed appropriate. She pulled out glasses and handed one to him before zipping the bag back up and slinging it over one shoulder. "Get all serious like that on me again, may have to drink this on my own just to drown out all the feelings." she gave a mock shudder, then cracked open the bottle. She winked and took a swing straight from it before pouring some into her own glass and handing the rest back to him. Then she walked to the edge of the landing, and sat down, feet dangling out into the air.

They were sitting on a ledge that sat high above the trees. You could see in all directions, the first fire-colored red of sunset starting to tint the sky behind them. Drinking again, Cora leaned back on one hand, letting the alcohol warm on it's way down. It didn't take much to bottle down emotions for her. Sometimes she felt like she was cutting her own threads, escaping reality with the numbness.

"Hey, no whisky for you," she grinned and lifted her cup away from Bruno as he moved to take a sniff.

Sam smirked more and shook his head, ”Safe bet.” agreeing. It’s true most of the staff new his habits and the students. It didn’t help he was a decade younger hitting on every woman in the mansion now. If he ever did reage he was sure his older self would want to kick his ***.

Sam sat down and accepted the glass blowing on his causing some frost to form. He mearly tapped Cora’s glass with his finger.”You’re a cynic.” Sam said calling her what she told him to paint her he made a brushing motion towards her. ”You also said ‘can’. Meaning you still got hope.” Sam said with a smirk.

”Thank you.” he said as she poured some whiskey into her glass after she took a pull of it. Taking the bottle he poured a bit and sniffed the whiskey for a second and then raised his now filled glass to her. ”Not saying you’re wrong about it all nor do I want you to hog that bottle, smells great by the way.” Sam said remembering his older self but quickly blocked that out.

”I’m just saying not everyone is always shitty right?” he shrugged, ”aaaand some times there are people with threads that just stick to the person around their arm right?” he asked curiously he had seen some of these relationships and heard about a few more from his older self. Apparently Raina and Luke were a prime example of this and from what he had seen recently Becca and Mirror, not like he’d tell them that.

”He has his own beer.” Sam said getting distracted and turning to Bruno’s bag and pulling a collapsible water dish and a bottle of ‘Dog Brew: for dogs’ it was a dog friendly non-alcoholic beverage that seemed to have been used as a treat before. Taking a sip of his drink then setting it down he cracked the drink for Bruno and pored it. The dog sat between them a foot or so back.

”This the spot?” he asked looking out over the woods onto the horizon that was starting to tint orange. ”If so spot on. Gonna have a hard time finding a better place for our next drink.” Sam said sipping his glass again. ”Great stuff too.”

Cora made a face. "Fine, you caught me. Cynic, yes, but there are people out there who genuinely seem to have found that person. It...It wouldn't be so bad to come across something genuine." She took another swing and leaned back on one hand, considering it. "Wouldn't have considered you to be an optimist though. Men who chase women on motorcycles don't usually strike me as the settling down variety." She mused. She watched as he gave Bruno his own drink, and grinned.

"Now that's a spoiled dog. I approve." She could get used to having a dog around. Her loft certainly felt quiet with just herself there. Probably why she spent so much time moving from one adventure to the next.

"It's not the hardest hike, but it's out of the city, clean air, quiet. I have a friend in the area who won't come hunt me down if I'm out here a little past closing. I mean, you can drink at a bar, but would you get the same view?" She shut her eyes and grinned, breathing in the smell of trees. Nope, a bar wouldn't compare.

"And I'm sure I can find another fun spot to visit. Most people visit New York for the city, but you get into the wilderness, the ocean, there are plenty of other things to find. Take a trail that way a bit--" She pointed with her free hand to the right of where they were sitting. "There's a hell of a waterfall. And you haven't even seen the ice caves. I mean, when's the last time you went to an ice cave you didn't create yourself?" She asked with a grin.