After arriving at the convention the first thing Cora did was drag Sam to the dealer's hall. This was where half the fun was, in her mind. Booths and displays of nerdy wares stretched in all directions, and the aisles were already packed with costumed fans. 

"I love your costume! Can I get a photo?" Some brave teenager asked. Cora smirked at Sam before agreeing, striking a pose with her fake gun until the camera clicked. The kid ran over to look at the picture, momentarily commenting on how cold it was. Cora had felt it too. Actually, she was getting used to the nice icy breeze that seemed to linger near her. Sam was playing Todoroki well in that manner.

"Are you going to do that every time?" She chuckled, amused by his behavior. Hawaii had been nice, although it certainly but the awkward wedge between that feelings/not feelings territory they seemed to run around. Dragging him to comicon was it's own little test. Not that she was testing anything. But the desperate attempts to mask what she was sensing was jealousy did boost her ego. 

It was weird wearing makeup when he didn’t have to. It was also weird he found himself at a comic-con he never got to read comics as a kid and he just now was trying to make up for lost time by binging the ‘cult-classics’ he had no idea when he was going to turn to anime. However, enjoyed spending time with Cora something he verbalized when he agreed let her do the makeup. His wig was also a weird feeling on his head.

Luckily he didn’t know anyone here except for Cora so maybe it wasn’t that bad. Could have been better too. Her suit was very eye catching not just for him but it seemed a bunch of other men and women were drooling when she passed by. That might have had something to do his mutation trying to keep people away.

Sadly for Sam it didn’t work that well. He shifted and folded his arms and raised an eyebrow as a kid asked for a photo with his… friend. She liked him he liked her. He shook his head and tried to stop thinking about their relationship or lack of and he threw on a smile when she posed for the photo.

”Do what?” Sam feigned ignorance as he moved in his costume. It also felt weird wearing it. All Sam wanted to do was scratch where the makeup was. It itched. ”Oh you mean stay in character?” he smirked and let off a little mist on the opposite side of his makeup. Sam also might have done some research of his character. The guy could use ice and fire. Essentially a mutant, something Sam could do it also helped his character didn’t like using his fire powers meaning he was good to show off if people kept asking for a photo with his... with Cora.

”Smells like Body Oder…” Sam said smirking. ”I’m helping everyone here.” he smirked as he pulled out his phone and leaned into Cora. ”Come on, I want a photo with you in case you get sick of me.”

Once he took the photo he looked around his eyes locking on Cora’s suit till he realized he too was about to start drooling. ”Doubt I’ll get a photo later with you. Seem to be popular.” the air still cold around them while some ice climbed up his ice side.

Sam was fidgeting a little with the makeup on. Cora knew it must have been hard not to scratch or mess with the wig, especially since he didn’t typically wear costumes. Well, not costumes like this. His x gear didn’t count and she didn’t let him dress up as himself for comicon. This the anime character. She grinned again as he commented on staying in character, watching the ice crawl up one arm and draw attention. A few girls commented on how accurate it was and started closer, but seemed to debate whether or not they wanted to actually ask for a photo. They did and Cora watched, a smug look still on her face.

Then he snapped a photo with her. Cora smiles in this one and then gave one more more goofy face. ”Send me that one. And of course I’m popular. It’s the leather.” She winked. She was having fun watching the indecision in his expression.

She felt someone staring and looked over, a rather unpleasant looking gentleman gawking at her. She casually located the thread somewhere near her elbow and snipped it off with her right hand. The man looked suddenly lost and she steered CS away. ”I can handle too much popularity in my own way. Let’s look at the tshirts! Maybe they have some X-men themed ones,” she pulled him to a booth and lifted a woman’s cut T.

”Look! I can be an X too. That could be my uniform. Very casual.”

The icemancer reluctantly posed with the young women. Folding his arms he posed not exactly sure if he got the stance down or his arm placement, however he forced a smile and looked back to Cora when the photo was taken.

”Will do.” he agreed. Before looking at her costume again, ”You do look good in leather.” it would make sense for people to drool. He was finding it hard to do the same meanwhile he was in gym shorts and blue T-shirt.

Sam smirked when she snipped something off her elbow. A twinge of fear appeared for himself when she did this but when she kept talking to him he realized it was another poor guy to forget her. ”I mean, that’s one way. I like my method more.” he said sending a little chill towards her. He gave her a wink and followed her to the shirts.

”I can just snag a bunch at the mansion if that is what you want.” the icemancer joked, ”Didn’t know you wanted to be an X-woman.” he grinned looking over the shirts some looked familiar like they had been copied from a few of the uniforms he had seen in the changing rooms. He stopped when he spotted one similar to his and stared at it. ”Should I be getting royalties for this?” the shirt had his two blue ice swords of his patch. It wasn’t Rime’s costume, but rather Cold Steel’s. Sam stared at it for a moment then put it back grinning.

”I think I’d like the costume you are wearing better. Not practical to move fast in but it looks great on you.” he debated making another more inappropriate joke but seeing as they had only kissed and this was their first outing since Hawaii he kept his mouth shut.

It was hard not to enjoy the compliments. While she loved the genuine fan excitement that came from wearing her costume, there was the added benefit of making Sam drool a little. After Hawaii they had continued to dance in the casual territory between...well, just between. There was attachment there. Despite all efforts to avoid it, there was a literal string that kept tangling the two of them together and it was hard to ignore. Sometimes, having the visual reminder was a bit much. Other times, it was...nice.

She focused on the shirts, noticing the one he picked up. He set it down and she snatched it, smirking. "If I bought this would that count as having matching outfits or something corny? And I don't think I'm really hero material, but I can still be a fan of the actual X's." she commented thoughtfully.

"Although frequent jet stealing may put you on the shit list for awhile," she laughed again. She looked at the other shirts and then spotted another booth with seat-belt buckle belts. "Come on! This one next."

She snatched his hand without thinking about it and dragged him across the crowd. At the booth she forced herself to let go and held up one with the X symbol on it. "Heck I hope you guys get royalties on all of this. And I'm glad you like the costume. Here I was thinking I was being too conservative." She winked, and gestured to a group of girl's who were cosplaying various video game characters. Each one seemed to be toeing the line on bare minimum clothing. Okay, she stared for a moment longer at the last one who was flaunting an unbelievably short skirt. Then she brought her attention back to Sam.

”Most heroes never think they are. Something corny?” Sam asked with a smirk, ”No, people might think were dating then.” he tried not to laugh but stared at Cora trying to gauge her reaction. While he normally had an aversion to any form of commitment he enjoyed seeing her reaction.

”What are they gonna do kick me off the team? Who they gonna have piolit the jet, Eve?” Sam laughed and thought they’d probably have mirror piolit till Eve was older enough. Heck he taught her, she could probably out fly him now. Apparently that’s what all his students did. ”I’m not to worried about the shit list. I’ll just do something more heroic than everyone else.” he joked and felt his hand pull him with her.

Sam kept his mouth shut again for the few seconds she held his hand. When she let go he snapped back to reality, ”I’ll let you know how it goes when I see the check.” he said catching her gaze and tracked it to a group of women who Sam immediately felt uncomfortable looking at them with Cora around. ”Some could say it is.”

His gaze snapped back to her making sure he was not looking anywhere else. He sensed a trap, ”Your costume is way better.” he said laughing as one of the girls complained about it suddenly being too cold. Sam grinned and added to Cora, ”Weird I thought it was getting colder too.”

His thermal sense was a bit more active than usual and with him already focused around them Cora’s body had a small underlying glow. Sam closed his eyes and gave his head a little shake before opening his eyes again. Back to normal vision wise.
”So what games are those costumes from? Or is it a show. Keep in mind I misplaced a decade.”

Sam threw out the dating comment, and it was her turn to sidestep it. She considered to herself, as if weighing whether or not she should go back and buy it, "I guess they would think that. But would they be right?" As unaffected as she tried to be, her face felt a little warmer. She hoped no color actually showed on her skin, which would be a dead giveaway she was still trying to avoid the topic.

The belts! Back to the belts. She picked a new one with a little group of three triangles from a popular video game. While her attention was there she noticed the chill and stuck her tongue out at him. "You keep dropping the temperature like this even the leather won't keep me warm. And no Bruno to help!"

He asked about the costumes and she looked over, taking another glance. "I think one of them is from the same anime yours is... that other is from a video game. Oh, and that one is from a movie-" she started listing names of the different fandoms, stepping closer to point them out to him. It was fun.

"I'm not as nerdy as a lot of people. I spend too much time climbing and working to get into a lot of the shows. But I still appreciate a good Sci-Fi from time to time. I'm sure if we tried catching you up on pop culture we would have to catch me up at the same time."

When she sidestepped the question Sam just raised an eyebrow. ”Whose to say.” his powers made Cora’s face glow again in his normal vision. That was enough for Sam for now. The topic got her flustered meaning she was capable of seeing them that way. He didn’t push it further.

The belts were a good distraction it seemed. Resisting the urge to go for his wallet any time she picked something up he distracted him self by looking at the belts. Sam knew he wasn’t capable of pulling any of them off. Normally he just stuck to black of brown. It was easier for him to match things. ”No Bruno but I’m here.” Sam smirked, his ice arm fading back to his normal arm. ”Then again, I guess I could drop the character.” the cold faded a bit but he wasn’t trying to get Cora’s attention with it. Just keep others away.

His gaze shifted from the belts, to Cora’s costume back to the scantly cladded women she was explaining. ”Right but they don’t wear clothes in the shows?” he asked, ”I mean, easier to move around in less clothing but you got no protection from anything.” Sam shrugged then looked back to Cora again making sure his eyes only lingered on her.

”It’s a date.” Sam said nodding his head, ”You, Bruno and me in the man cave.” his grin was that more of a troublemakers hoping to see some heat rise to Cora’s face again. ”Who knows maybe Cammie will join us.” he smirked at the thought of getting his cat to willingly leave the room. ”Fur blankets as far as the couch stretches.”

Looking over to one of the booths he caught some homemade weapons made of steel. None of which were sharpened, that much was clear and it made more sense to him not to have actual weapons in a crowded place but then again with enough force the giant Styrofoam hammer could be used effectively.

His training and curiosity took over and he found himself walking away from Cora, his eyes looked them over and he shook his head slightly. Some of them were practical others no so much. A seven-foot blade stood out. ”Take it all of those are from animes or games?” he asked looking over at some of the firearms that seemed way to bulky to effectively carry around.

Cora smiled as the ice dropped, looking at him in a somewhat amused way. "I'm not sure you're quite as warm as Bruno, but you'll work," she decided. She leaned so she could nudge him with her shoulder, standing just a little closer as the cold let up. "But the ice did help the costume so it's not all bad."

She considered his question and grinned a little, "There is a running joke that the less clothing a character wears in anime the less likely they are to get injured. A lot of shows are getting better at making realistic outfits lately, but its not perfect. Old habits die hard I guess."

His next comment made her fumble the belt, and the blush was more evident. She quickly looked way, coughing and scanning a couple wallets for a distraction. "Man cave, huh? Isn't the whole point of a man cave being that girl's aren't allowed?" She managed to joke despite her temporary fumble. She Did grin a little at the thought of all the animal cuddles. "You keep tempting me with your pets. It's like you know I have a weakness for them."

Then moved to the weapons and Cora walked up behind him, grinning at the giant swords. "Lots of video games. Oh, that one is from an anime," she pointed to a giant scythe, and then looked at more of the fake swords. "Bigger the better in the make believe world. But I'm sure it wouldn't be quite as impressive to try chasing down a bad guy with a giant hammer now." She mused.

”So kick the ice back up?” he smirked when she nudged him. Sam might have leaned a little closer to her after that just to make it clear she wasn’t easily approachable. He stopped grinning when he realized he was being out of character if he didn’t have the ice on maybe people wouldn’t notice who he was.

The icemancer raised an eyebrow looking at Cora as she explained that less clothes meant less injuries. Sam only had to fight naked twice less clothes did not mean less injuries, you just had to decide where you were okay with taking damage. Usually it meant one hand was protecting low while the other was protecting high. ”Only true in anime’s I guess.” he smirked, not going into much detail after that.

Sam’s gaze shifted from her blushed face to the belt fumbling and he tried not to smile, ”it was originally supposed to be a home away from home, Old me needed a man cave, guess he had more problems with woman than I do. I’d rather be around them than hide away from them.” he shrugged. Juniper could show up whenever she wanted and so could Maya so the idea of an actual man cave was no longer possible. Sides it meant possible alone time with Cora and any chance he had for that he was in. ”How else am I supposed to get you to hang out with me?” Sam asked grinning knowing he didn’t have to offer them up to get her to hang with him.

His gaze shifted between all the weapons, his mind already getting the basic design for his ice constructs at a later date. While none of them looked practical and they were probably impossible to swing in the real world if he made it out of ice he might have a shot at using one or two of them. More for intimidation than anything else. Then again an ice clone would have no problem wielding a giant hammer. His touched the hammer handle and eyed feeling the heft of the thing as he lifted it. ”Must be for a giant game of wack-a-mole.” Sam set it down then nodded his head to the owner of the booth who made them.

”I’m all about the more practical.” Sam said turning to Cora noticing a giant costume behind her in the shape of a triangle or a pyramid. The costume stood over nine feet and came to a point at the top. It looked uncomfortable to walk around in. ”Gonna guess that one is from a video game.” he said not understanding how it would be easy to move around in.

”What’s next? I’m out of my element.” he said grinning.

He commented that it only worked in animes. Cora grinned and gave him a devious smile. ” Are you saying I shouldn’t battle my next enemy in a bikini to try it out? Bummer, I guess I will have to save that for the next time if we go to the beach.”

The comment that old CS had more issues with women made Cora pause. He wandered into territory that could hit a nerve if she wasn’t careful, but she couldn’t pass it up. ” So even if you Re-age I have to compete with other women for your attention? Or are all of these the ones you pissed off before?”

Falling for someone who was a known skirt-chaser did have its risks. Right now it was the faint twinge of jealousy that came from hearing about how he liked women, curiosity driving her to probe, ” Do I want to know just how many women you have taken back to your man cave? Starting to make the invite sound less exclusive.” She tapped her fingers against her chin acting thoughtful. Then she leaned close to his ear just to watch him freeze in place. ”Tempting me to up my game. Or make you do it.”

What next? She glanced around and saw a booth with collectibles. She reclaimed his non-icy hand to pull that way. ”Let’s see how embarrassed you need to be. I hear you X’s have action figures. Maybe we will fine a Cold Steel one.”

They came next to the booth and this one was larger, big enough to walk into. She took one side of the table and laughed, snatching up a doll and holding it so he could see. ”See! X-men! Anyone you know?” She asked. This one had a lot of little accessories, and the name Shard on the top of the box. 

The thought of Cora fighting someone in a bikini caused the ice mancer to grin, he only did it till he realized he was doing it. His grin faded and he shrugged his shoulders, ”I mean, you could. Defiantly be a show. Or we can always spar on a beach if you’d like.” Sam teased putting his hands up in a guard.

Sam’s hands dropped when she asked about his older self. His jaw clenched when he thought it over. The idea of Cora and his older self didn’t sit well with him. Almost like he was just a placeholder till the old Sam came back. He knew that was what some people wanted but he’d try to not let it bother him. Despite how he was feeling he smiled like he normally did when he had a hard time expressing how he was feeling. ”Most likely pissed off.” he said shrugging. ”I haven’t had anyone come looking for the older Sam though so I doubt there is much competition.”

Before he could come up with a response she was leaning into his ear his mouth dropped open in response and no words came out. A little blood rushed to his ears and he just grinned. When she pulled away he was tempted to answer her truthfully digging his own grave. He didn’t, ”I mean, I have more exclusive places but we’d need the jet for it.” Sam said thinking about his older version’s ice fortress in the artic. It was way further and way colder if that was what she meant by exclusive.

”I feel liked that is a loaded question.” he said finally, ”Though you got nothing to worry about.” he said smirking, ”Only got eyes for you.” he said truthfully imagining this would cause some more fluster for Cora. ”Though we can always kick up the game.” he teased back. His jaw now where it was supposed to be.

His hand was grabbed and he returned the squeeze when she pulled him to another booth this one said X-Men. He reluctantly went in just because it meant holding her hand a little longer when they were in the shop his hand was no longer attached to hers. ”Why would I need to be embarrassed? Does he come with a keg or whiskey bottle?” Sam joked. He wasn’t sure if she knew about his older self’s alcohol problem but he didn’t’ elaborate on the comment. ”And it’s rime now. Cold Steel was soooo last year.” he said grinning.

His eyes locked on the Shin action figure, the name read shard. The face was pretty realistic. ”Yep. That’s shin.” he said confidently. ”Met him in the danger room recently. Funny guy.” he said looking through the lot of them and then seeing a plastic version of his older self. This one had an eye patch. The other eye just stared at him. His gaze shifted immediately to the others. Mirror and Becca stood out next then there was Serena. All of the code names on the boxes made him shake his head. ”Quite a few of them.” he said smirking trying not to look at his older version’s plastic form.

Cora laughed at the idea of sparing on the beach. She flexed a muscle and winked at him, ”I could spar you but not sure you’d win without powers. I wouldn’t want to damage you,” she taunted.

Cora saw him bristle slightly at the mention of her meeting his older self. He perked up some when she whispered to him, but it was still on her mind as they looked at the action figures. She sighed, taking a more serious expression as she picked up the Cold Steel doll. ”Addressing the elephant in the room. Instead of seeing someone liking an older you as an insult, why not look at the positive side? You still look hot in ten years, so your current friends aren’t shallow enough to only want to be around you because of age. Okay the eye patch is kinda pirate like, but assuming there was a reason? I would be kinda flattered knowing people cared about me regardless of what happened or who I decided I wanted to be. It’s not comparing, in my case... just... admitting your you no matter which direction you go.”


She put it down and gave a shake of her head, ”Even if the unfortunate happened and you went back I wouldn’t let him be the guy you’re embarrassed of. I would drag him to hikes and remind him the things that make it fun being around you. It’s messy and unfair and... I’m sorry.”

Sam frowned when she picked up his action figure. His mutation spoke more for him on the situation than he wanted to. The area around them got colder before he realized what he was doing. His nostrils flared and then he waited till she was done talking. He didn’t like thinking about this topic let alone talking about it. It acknowledged that he could re age at anytime, possibly forget everything and everything he had learned in his short time after the age displacement. Even if he had photos he didn’t want to forget everyone.

Maybe it was easier if he didn’t interact with people, maybe he was better off not interacting with anyone who didn’t know his older self. His depressing thoughts were starting to become apparent on his face. He kept staring at the action figure she had in her hand. Sam then pointed to the Mirror and Serena action figures. ”They like to remind me that my future self is a better person. I don’t know if they do that as an insult but seeing the lives he. I affected and have no memory of. It’s hard not to feel like I missed out on a lot.”

He didn’t like that he was expressing his feelings in fact it was obvious from the way he was squirming and fidgeting with his fingers in each hand. ”I’m always going to be good looking.” he said trying to force a smile. That wasn’t the issue, his older self’s mentality was. The way he drank the fact he tried to kill himself. Sam’s nostrils flared again the cold around them coming back. He focused again controlling his mutation in the form of his arm icing back up.

”I didn’t like what I saw.” he finally admitted, ”Older me was just… a mess.” he summed up. He didn’t want to go into details why he was a mess. Older Sam gave him reasons but it was like his older self just gave up something he never wanted to do. He wanted to live, make his life better than what it was during his time in T.A.T. though without explaining everything to Cora he doubted she’d understand. One thing he wanted to do was not chase her away in his mind telling her everything was the best way to do that.

”You got nothing to be sorry for. Not like you de-aged me right?” Sam said trying to smile. He rolled his eyes and grabbed the action figure box of himself and then went to pay for it. ”A gift.” he said trying to smirk knowing that this was going to be a reminder whenever he went over to her place. ”So you can keep in mind how hot I get if you ever get bored of me.”

”I am worried about forgetting you though.” he said not sure what his older version would think of Cora. Sure he knew he’d think she was hot but there was more to Cora than just that. ”Also he isn’t me though. I haven’t gone trough anything that made him the way he was.” he gestured to her, ”Wouldn’t have met you.” he then gestured to everything else, ”Can tell you I defiantly wouldn’t be here.” he shrugged, ”I mean, it’s good to know you still find me attractive in my old age.” he tried to make a joke to lighten the mood.

Cora could tell the conversation hit a nerve by the way the air got colder. She almost regretted bringing it up, but felt like it needed to happen. If not now, then when? She pushed a hand through her hair and sighed. ”I don’t know, I just hate the idea that i wouldn’t hang out with you anymore if you weren’t young Sam. Yeah, maybe you sucked before, but couldn’t you change again?”

She looked at the figurine and tried to smile with him, but it was not easy to think about. He mentioned forgetting her and her jaw clenched, gaze growing intense for a moment before she caught herself. She looked down at her hand where the strings were and seemed to consider one for a moment before deciding. ”You aren’t allowed to forget me.” She activated her powers without thinking about it, and the dark string was visible before she could stop it. But it had changed hands. This time, it was on her right hand. The one that used to be Cora had moved.

She made the string vanish before he could look closely, and also before she could scare him off. It was a game of chicken between the two of them, but, the meaning needed to be there. ”I don’t plan on forgetting either.”

She accepted the gift and tries to find something less serious to focus on. She pointed to the other figurines. ”We could always prank your teammates. Hide dolls of them around the mansion like that silly Christmas Elf thing. Have Mirror hanging off a ceiling fan, someone throwing up marshmallows.” she tried to destruct.