It was after 7 when Cora really started to worry.

One part of her wondered if she had been ghosted, leaving her staring at the the thread on her hand daring it to change. Had she misread things? Had she messed up? Had the convention been too much? Or was someone else just more interesting... if his feelings changed, she knew the thread would too, but it was as solid red as ever.

Then she wondered if something happened. Sam wasn’t the most focused guy, but he wouldn’t just ask to meet her than never show up intentionally, right? Sure he was impulsive, a little sure of himself, but after Hawaii she thought things were different, like they were on the way somewhere. She thought she knew what that somewhere was. Had she been wrong?

Scout was the one who got the message in the end. He came to meet her at the climbing wall, and said Sam had an emergency and couldn’t make it, but someone had come to visit instead. Cora was confused, certainly, but her brain was already trying to take in the news. An emergency, and someone else had come? That was odd, even for Sam. Had Juniper come? Was he stuck on a mission? Hell if he was off with the princess, she would have a few words with him... angry words, actually.

Not that they were dating. Or were they? What were they? It kept coming back to that unspoken thing neither of them wanted to say, her least of all. There was no point stressing, Scout said someone would be here and she just needed to relax in the meantime. Climbing kept her busy, her muscles working so her brain couldn’t. She needed the distraction, and needed to stop wondering what if.

In the end, Cora was almost to the top of the climbing wall when someone pulled up beside her.

“Your focused today, Monkey,” a voice said. Cora had to muffle a scream, clutching the wall and looking over like she had seen a ghost. No way... Her palms were slick by the time she reached the ground, her knees raw from sliding down too fast. She was an impatient child waiting at the bottom until he was within reach and she could grab him in a hug.

”Dad! Your walking?!!! Your climbing!!!” she couldn’t breathe. It felt stupid but she was crying, and he was laughing and she was cussing Sam out for playing such a horrible, wonderful trick.

“Happy belated birthday.”

Yeah, her and Sam were somewhere. She had a few words for him later, but they would have to wait. It has been too many years since she climbed with her father and she intended to make the most of it.

---

Cora’s hands were raw by the time she left Anti-Gravity. She probably hugged her dad a dozen extra times before she finally went home, leaving him and Scout to catch up. Once she was there, she finally got a chance to call Sam and scold him for making her wait like that.

But, he never answered.

Cora texted, wondering if he really had gotten preoccupied with something and the surprise just happened to be at the same time. By the next day, it didn’t feel much like a mistake anymore. Cora finally glanced at the thread at that point, and noticed one side had changed.

Her heart sank. She shut her eyes and tried to block out the pain the sight caused her.

Little solid lines and translucent bits combined until they disappeared. Cora didn’t have to guess what had happened, she already had a good idea.

In the end, she decided this was something better done in person. Getting dressed, she took the bike and headed toward the mansion, following the thread that now left an uncomfortable queasiness in her gutt.

Hes not allowed to forget me... she told herself, and tried to stay calm. He... please, please don’t forget me.

It was a good thing they never really talked about what they were. If they had Sam was pretty sure he had messed up big time. He missed her birthday. Which in his opinion was rule number one when having a girlfriend. You don’t miss the special days, birthdays being high on that list. In fact, towards the top of that list. They were something though, he didn’t’ know what and was afraid to ask in fear he would scare her away so he decided to make up for missing her birthday by coming up with a gift he knew she wanted.

So Sam being Sam decided to go above and beyond a typical birthday gift and went through the long process of contacting Cora’s co-worker Scout, first he had to get the number from Juniper, he also had to inform her as to why he needed it. She of course approved, once that was out of the way he had to discuss with Scout what he wanted to do for Cora. After a long conversation and a couple uses of profanity (on both sides) he managed to get the number to Cora’s father.

That was where things were awkward, at first he had to explain who he was to Cora, a friend. Just a friend but they were close? He glossed over a bunch of the information but once that was out of the way he began the long planning process and logistics.

Doc was reluctantly on board, after Sam asked for his STD paperwork (which was clear) to get in with the princess Doc swore he was done helping Sam however when Sam explained the situation he was willing to help. While it was indeed to get closer to Cora, Doc thought it was very out of character for Sam and that meant that Doc was on board.

Three days, it took a total of three days for Sam to plan all this out and get the ball rolling. The meeting between Cora’s father was of course awkward. He figured at some point she would have introduced them but that would have been months if not years off so when they met Sam did the one thing he thought appropriate and shook the man’s hand.

After that they discussed what was going to happen and when DocProf put his hands on her father the man’s legs started to twitch. It was clutch having someone who could heal almost any injury even ones that have been in place for years. Once Cora’s father could move his feet Doc had to explain that it would take some time till he’d get all his muscles back to what they were before. After that it was to set up the date with Cora and show up late. At least that was the plan till there was a fire in the city followed by a bank robbery that lead to a car chase that led to Sam fighting a small gang of thugs. The end of it battered him bruised, covered in soot and mentally exhausted.

So much so he was falling asleep on the car ride home from some officers who happened to help with the clean up. Yeah, he was too exhausted to ice slide home. He was more bummed he missed all the calls from Cora and while he wanted to call her back he could barely make it to his room. He’d heal, the ice armor and clones took most of the damage however he did take a few hits from a large chain on his back even with the ice he was going to be sore.


Sam’s phone rang and he slapped the thing off the nightstand trying to get it to shut off he grumbled tiredly then pushed himself up from the be his head splitting. Was he hung over? No that couldn’t be right it had been a almost a year of sobriety now he still had moments where he wished he had a drink but he had been pretty good about not drinking.

Sam reached over to grab his eye patch only to realize it was missing. Did he knock the thing over with his phone? No he usually pretty good about putting it within reach. The icemancer looked around then realized that his room was different. There were posters of music bands he had never heard of including a few rap groups. He didn’t listen to rap.

Cammie greeted him as usual and so did Bruno so he was in his room. Looking down at his hands he noticed soot everywhere on his person he was still wearing pants so that was good but what had he been doing?

It was then his stomach sank, he had time missing. It felt like he was hung over either he started drinking again or something even worse happened. He was controlled again. Hoping out of bed he made a straight shot to Gawain’s room. He’d have information and Sam needed all the information he could get. Someone needed to tell him he wasn't controlled again.

Cora had never been to the mansion, and showing up out of nowhere felt odd. Showing up and looking for Sam honestly felt even weirder. Clearly, his reputation was as solid as ever, because turning up and asking just got a few glances, a shrug, and she was pointed to the right room.

She could have followed the thread there, but that would have been more suspicious. She made sure the bike was secure where no kids could get it, keys put away, and fixed her jacket. Should she have worn something better? She didn't know. If she was right, it was like meeting Sam all over for the first time.

She felt much more impressive actually riding the bike than she did showing up in the leather jacket, trying not to feel upset.

It was something, but it's nothing now. Just, hold your promise. Get to know him. It's just another thread.

She could make people forget her, but why did this one matter? It wasn't just what he did for her dad, but those awful sorta great feelings things that seemed to get in the way. Walking to the door, she reached out, and forced herself to knock.

"Hey, Sam. Sorry for dropping in on you like this, but you weren't answering and...Okay, I'm really kinda hoping you at least remember me." She cussed under her breathe and pushed a hand through her hair. She heard Bruno whimper at the door trying to get closer. Thank goodness at least the dog would be around.

It was weird Sam never wanted to hug Becca before in fact for the longest time he got the impression that she didn’t like him but when he saw her he didn’t know why but had the biggest urge to scoop her up in a bear hug. Gawain on the other hand he wanted to deck but he didn’t. It was a relief to him when they both confirmed that he had not been controlled but rather de-aged. Great. His teenage years were nothing but sarcasm and hormones. To have to relive that there was no telling what he had done. Gawain however seemed happier than usual about the situation mentioning that he was in for a treat.

Part of his treat was a flash drive. Good ol’ paranoia. His younger self must have realized that he was on borrowed time and must have left a to finish list or what happened while you were gone list. Sam was afraid to see it. It was probably just a long list of female mansionites and he probably even ranked them. Great basically this thing in his hand was just asking to deleted and forgotten about. However, his younger self had seen his videos and files so it was only right that he look and see what his younger self had to say. Poor Gawain. Poor everyone who had to interact with him.

First time in days he felt the strong urge to pour himself a strong one and go back to bed.

Second time in days he wanted an even bigger drink was when he watched a few of the entries. Most of them were touched on how his older self (current Sam) was nothing he set out to be in life. He was ashamed of him blah, blah, blah. Sam skipped a few seconds and when he did his younger self held up a finger. There was mention of young Eve; apparently they went to New Zealand together to rescue Po. **** He’d have to deal with that situation later. He was more worried about Eve now than himself for some reason.

There was also talk of a few women to try and avoid one woman however stood out but not because he was supposed to avoid her but because his younger self wanted him to find her and meet her. Date if even possible. That was odd for him to have his younger self, try to set him up. This Cora must have been special, it wasn’t like his younger self to try and get a girlfriend far from it. This whole situation was weird.

After watching a few of the entries Cora’s name popped up more and more among other names of people his younger self didn’t care for and people he should try and get to know better. He called Becca, ‘Mama Becca’…. This was weird. After the most recent entry about Cora’s birthday surprise he shook his head and buried his face in his hands trying to wipe everything away.

There was a knock on the door, before that Bruno leapt out of bed and ran to it. It was odd Bruno was ever that excited he was trying to run through the door. Normally he was just excited but after he started to whine and scratch at it he heard a female voice.

>>>> "Hey, Sam. Sorry for dropping in on you like this, but you weren't answering and...Okay, I'm really kind of hoping you at least remember me."

Sam didn’t but he didn’t voice that, instead he sighed heavily. Ice grew thicker on his bad eye if this was Cora she never seen him like this with one eye. Older and with some facial hair more than he probably would have grown when he was ‘de-aged’ he wasn’t the same person he was when they met. Why was he nervous? He was still shirtless soot covering sections of his body. A few bruises were still visible among his normal scar coated skin.

Slowly he opened the door and not sure what to expect. He definitely didn’t expect a leather jacket or a hairstyle like that she looked more punk/biker than anything else. Did his younger self join a biker gang? Younger Sam did mention that he went out of his way to live a better life than his older self. Clearly they were close his stomach dropped when his eye met hers. She was worried about him and he didn’t know her.

His arms started to reach out before he realized what he was doing only to stop short as Bruno rushed in practically pushing him out of the way to greet her. The dog started to dance around her and try to lick her face. Bruno certainly remembered her. In fact Sam didn’t recall the dog every greeting anyone like this before even past girlfriends only got a few licks nothing like this. Clearly everyone in the Johnson household was smitten with her.

Sam’s stomach churned and he just stared at her for the first time taking in everything. Again all he wanted to do was pull her into a hug, maybe even kiss her but he couldn’t remember her so he did what he normally did in those situations. Made a joke, ”You must be Cora… ice to meet you. Come on in…. It seems my younger self didn’t like the décor of the room.”

Stepping away from the door he rushed over to his bed to find his phone. He hoped this was Cora and if it was she must have called him a few times. While he wouldn’t remember his phone would have.

The door opened and Cora was rushed by the giant dog. Having the distraction was good, it kept her heart from twisting when Sam looked at her. Damn. She wanted to feel angry, or hurt, or something. The joke hit harder. She wanted to laugh and feel miserable at the same time. He's there, somewhere. You just have to meet him again.

This was why she didn't do feelings. This was why she never wanted a relationship. This was punishment for every thread she cut and every time she tried to make something better. This was how it felt to be forgotten.

She gave the dog a hug and accepted the licks, then followed the older version of Sam into the room.

The decor made her smile as much as it made old Sam grimace. She put her hands in her pocket, or tried to, Bruno claimed one to continue the ear scratches when she came to a stop. "Yeah, frankly he had a lot of complaints about you, not gonna lie. I....honestly, I don't even know what I'm doing at this point." She came to a stop, watching him. He looked like the action figure they bought at comicon, but maybe a little scruffier today. He must have been busy the night before being heroic, based on the soot. Then there was the eye that was different. It was odd seeing someone familiar and the same at once. This must be how his friends felt when he became Rime.

"I, well, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Your thread changed, and I tried checking on you after you helped my dad....I mean, thank you." A few cuss words managed to slip in and Bruno bopped her hand for encouragement. "I really suck at these things, you know? Do you have questions? Should I leave and come back?" She was waiting for some type of direction. It was not like her to flounder this bad, but, feelings.

It took a second for him to find a phone but while he did he could feel Cora walk into the room, her body language and the way she was talking made it clear she wasn’t sure why she was there just that she needed to be. Sam felt the same way. He wasn’t sure why she was there either but he was glad. Having her near made him feel… more at ease. Something he hadn’t felt in a long time like he wasn’t alone.

”Ah found it.” Sam said unlocking his phone not sure exactly what to say in the situation. He wanted… no he felt he needed to be up front with her and tell her everything. The same way he felt he needed to hug Becca, the same way he felt he needed to hug and kiss Cora. ”I could have been anything and I wouldn’t measure up to what I er… he wanted me to be.” Sam said flatly. While he was home and the people in the mansion and the team were his family he understood why Young Sam… Rime felt out of place. He had said it a dozen times in all the video recordings he didn’t want to be forgotten. He didn’t want to fill in a role that was already there he wanted his own.

”I had to deal with a lot more s*** than he had to deal with and while I might not have handled it the best way I could I’m learning.” he scrolled through the missed calls and saw Cora’s name… a lot. Then he looked at his background and smirked.

”I don’t want you going anywhere, I need you.” Sam said flatly. ”I got a lot of information to sift through and I think the best one to help me with that is my… Rime’s girlfriend.” he felt a little more relaxed saying that than he probably should have. The butterflies in his stomach settled after he had to correct himself. The feelings were there but Cora was his younger self’s girlfriend not his. Even if he wanted that to be the case.

”Lot of photos on here.” he said scrolling through the photos. He then snapped his fingers, ”And you are welcome.” Sam said recalling the most recent entry where his younger self talked about getting Doc involved to heal Cora’s dad. ”I take it, that was a good birthday gift? I… he wasn’t sure how’d you react.” he said walking over to his closet to find a shirt only to catch a red patch on his shoulder. It was a tattoo of a heart with the words Rime in it. ”Yer shitting, what a **** Did you know I got a tattoo?” Sam said poking his head back out of the closet.

This was more awkward than Cora ever expected it would be. But she made a promise, well, she made a choice back then and she would stick to it. She looked at her hand while he was talking and the threads that were there. She fiddled with them and considered what was being said. "Hey, I'm not saying I'm on his side about all it. I don't know what happened in the ten years between Rime and you now, but...I mean, I guess I'm just here to get to know who you are now."

She let go of the threads and Bruno nuzzled her. Then her brain got tangled on the girlfriend word and that too her a second for recovery. "Oh, I mean, I guess at the end maybe? We went to comicon, but before that you mostly, uh, how can I say it? I found myself on a jet with you and a princess who apparently made you their concubine." She laughed. Making fun of the situation helped it not feel as painful. Damn Rime, and the thread, and damn her from moving it where it couldn't be touched. She wanted to forget, and run from things like it was easiest. This was hard. She was not a fan of it.

"The photos are probably my fault. Sort of insurance I didn't just have him forget about me. Jokes on me I guess? You're the one who forgot."

She focused on what happened with her dad. That made her smile again. "It was an amazing surprise. I haven't climbed with my dad in years. He's a great guy, he really deserved to have another shot at life."

The room was feeling warm but she kept the jacket on. He already seemed a little taken aback by the hair, no telling if he would abandon all pleasantries with the tattoos. Especially by the way he reacted to the one Rime got for him. Cora couldn't help it. She laughed. "No, I didn't know. But I have seen worse hangover tattoos. At least it's not Maya's name." she snorted.

The older icemancer smirked to himself when she said she wanted to get to know him. Not because she promised anyone but because she wanted to. His stomach churned less then it was a few minutes ago. He was more worried she’d never want to see him again which when he thought about it made him really depressed. He wanted her around felt like he needed her around. She it seemed was a safe place in the land of confusion that was his life.

Rime, his younger self went into some detail about Cora’s abilities she had the ability to see connections and when she felt strongly about someone she could see it with some kind of string. Rime wasn’t too clear on the details but that was probably why she called so much when he got older. Did the strings change? Was that what made her worry so much?

”You guess?” Sam said smirking as he walked out of the closet and sat on the bed scooping up his cat trying to fill his hands so it wasn’t clear he was nervous about the situation. It was the first time he had been nervous in years which was a good thing, feeling anything other than drunk or sad was a good thing.

”I know myself, I know my younger self even more, even if Rime went out of his way to not do what I would expect him to. You must have been someone special to get him from skirt chasing.” Sam pet Cammie behind the ears and then offered Cora his unlocked phone. ”Got hundreds of photos on there and most of them are of you and even if they aren’t I got a feeling they were for you.” he said thinking about it. Sam had a hard time looking at her directly like she’d vanish if he stared too long. So he looked down to his cat as Bruno continued to hover around Cora.

”Concubine?” Sam cringed at the word. ”**** of course I was… he was.” he was the same person as Rime at least he felt he was he had to make sure not to insult him in front of Cora. ”Just means I got some people to avoid.” he smirked at the idea of him stealing the jet twice. It sounded like him.

”Wouldn’t put it past me though, with how everyone compared Rime to me I probably would have done the same thing. Surprised though, hated needles ever since the first tattoo.” he said reaching over touching where his number was. ”Apparently he wasn’t a fan of Maya.”

Sam smirk faded as he started touching on more feelings something he found himself not able to stop as the words formed, ”I might have forgotten some things but… the feelings are still there.” he said not sure how to exactly describe it. ”Like looking at you. I might not remember but I really want this to stay.” he said pointing between the two of them being way more forward than he wanted to. ”You still have the string right?” Sam asked having to turn his head so his blind eye could see the hand where the thread was. ”Rime wouldn’t shut up about you.”

You guess? Cora made a face and rolled her eyes. "I'm not so good with the words, if you want someone to have a clear concise feelings conversation with, definitely not me. My whole strategy in life was stay the f*** away from feelings. And I mean, you kinda screwed that up, and here we are. Like 50 first dates, this is nice to meet you round 2?" She took her jacket off finally, wishing she had worn something with sleeves. If he hated tattoos, she wasn't sure how he would feel about hers. Although there was the Shakespeare quote Rime had once pointed out. Some of that must be in there, they just needed to connect again.

Someone special... Cora snorted a laugh without meaning to. "I feel like that'll be more a disappointment to you than anything. 'Special' is not what I would pick to describe me. But I'll still have to drag you out sometime. Hike, rock climb. I own a climbing gym, but now that dad is okay I don't know if he will hang around there more? More fun outdoors anyway. Bruno can come along then." The dog thumped his tail in agreement.

Then Sam commented on that dreaded 'f' word. Feelings... Her heart did a twist when he mentioned not everything was gone. She looked down at her hand, and let the thread become visible. She held it up so he could see. "It's there, just, I think it's reflecting the general confusion that is pretty frickin heavy in this room. When people deage I usually see this sort of 'split' on the thread. Rime's side sort of vanished, but the other part is there..."

She forced a laugh when he mentioned Rime wouldn't shut up, and put her hand down. "Probably wouldn't shut up because he never got to sleep with me. That...felt like it would have been a good way to lose his interest."

She picked at the thread a little, and then looked up at him. She forced herself to look him in the eye despite the emotions that were making a mess of things. "I liked having you around. And honestly, I'd still like to have you around. There are things that make both of you different, but there is still a hell of a lot in there that you share and that's the part I stuck around for."

The icemancer had known Shin for a few years so he had the pop culture on bad movies and anime. Meaning he got the reference. ”Fifty first or not, this isn’t a regular occurrence for me. So hopefully this is the only time we have to re-meet.” Sam said with a smirk. Letting Cammie go the cat slunk back over to where she was curled up before and resumed her post.

Sam’s eye shifted from the thread she had for them. It was still the important color on the important hand. The sight of it made Sam feel a little better about the whole situation. Even if she had feelings for Rime and the fact that she was still here made it feel like he still had a shot with her.

Eyeing the tattoos when she removed the jacket he studied them for a moment before raising his eyebrow over his good eye. She had a lot, which wasn’t a problem for Sam it was more the needles leading to the tattoos that made him uneasy. Being marked and tested on when you were a kid was a good way to establish an unhealthy feeling towards them. He didn’t like feeling like a test subject.

”Drag doesn’t sound like the right word. I’m pretty sure if you told me you wanted to go anywhere I’d say ‘okay’.” he smirked, ”Bruno I’m sure would appreciate it.” he said smirking a bit more than he had in a long time. The idea of doing anything with Cora brought a smile to his face. Even better she already enjoyed being outdoors. Rock climbing wasn’t normally his go to but he was sure her company would make it all the more enjoyable.

They didn’t sleep together… Sam started to laugh and fell backwards onto his bed the laughter coming deep from his stomach till he finally managed to catch his breath. It wasn’t funny that she didn’t’ sleep with him it was more funny she knew who she was dealing with. That was on surefire way to keep his attention. Any version of Sam enjoyed a chase she seemed to have understood him. ”Seems you already know me pretty well then.” he tried to laugh more but was then aware of the situation again.

His eye met hers when she spoke; everything she said made him more and more at ease. He was glad she was willing to give it a try in fact he was more relieved than he wanted to admit but he felt like he needed to be more open with her. About everything. If his younger self was able to get someone like her interested in him then he need to be more open as well in hopes he could keep her around.

”I don’t know how much Rime told you about me… us. But for you I’ll be an open book.” he said flatly. Again Sam for the most part kept to himself, didn’t talk about anything especially feelings but if that’s what he needed to do to keep Cora around then that was something he was willing to change. ”So… what do we do next?” Sam asked wondering how to proceed. Normally he was used to calling the shots but seeing as it was Cora he felt it was better for her to take the lead. It’s what Rime would have done and other than the tattoo he seemed to have things figured out. More so than Sam did.

He got the reference, which was nice. The ten year age up at least brought some pop culture to light. "Hey at least there are pictures, right? If you had to read all of this in a journal there would just be some horrible stick figures and a lot of profanity. I was raised by a guy, never did the 'dear diary' phase," she mused.

Cora felt her face warm when he said she wouldn't have to drag him somewhere. She looked away feeling a little embarrassed and rubbing the back of her neck. "I mean, we'll have to make some adjustments on fun things to do. You don't drink, and after my last trip with a bottle of whisky I'm taking a little break myself. There are still the ice caves I wanted to show you."

The mention of not sleeping together made him laugh, and that sounded nice. She wanted to make him laugh more. He was older, and his voice was a little gruffer than Rime, and maybe it was the added scruff and age that made her want to see him smile like that. Sort of like chipping away at an iceberg, as cheesy as that sounded. She did know him. Or, the past him. There were just areas in the middle to fill in.

She looked back with a look that said something between 'opps' and 'I'm sorry'. "We talked, a lot. Went up to Sam's Point once and he gave me a bit of a rundown on...things. I'm not one to pry unless there are things you want to talk about, though. That's a good way to push someone away, and I...I kinda like having you around."

Then, next? What to do next? Cora walked over and sat next to him, and Bruno flopped his head into her lap. He whined, nudged Sam, nudged her. She laughed and scratched his ears. "I guess we call this first date round two? Or do I have to have you chase me on my bike first for that? All the plans we made feel a little goofy now looking back. I would feel odd sparing you on the first re-meeting." she winked.

Sam smirked, ”More of a video journal. Still a lot of profanity.” mostly hand gesture and suggestions on where he could put things if he didn’t get his act together.

It was also a comfort knowing that Cora was willing to change the plans her and Rime had to accommodate him, also more of a comfort that she knew at least something about him. Even if it was that he didn’t drink anymore. In his opinion that was a pretty big thing for him. Sam was curious if Rime had any thoughts on the last time Cora drank maybe he mentioned what happened to get her to stop. On second thought some things are better left alone she didn’t go into more detail on it so she probably didn’t want to talk about it. He respected that and didn’t’ ask further.

”Well it was his as much as my life.” Sam said shrugging, ”and I like you being around. So if you have questions ask, you got more information than most people do in years knowing me. Something I’m trying to work on and I never ‘want’ to talk about it I found it is more of a ‘need’ to talk about it.”

Bruno whined for more attention and Sam gave it to him offering more scratches as Cora sat next to him. If he was one to blush now would be the time however his stomach just twisted in a knot. He wanted to lean over and hold her be closer than they were however he didn’t act on it. They might have been his feelings but he felt like Rime’s feelings were still there.

”I can chase you on the bike.” Sam offered, if that was how they met the first time he smirked a little. Typically wasn’t something he did but it seemed Rime was good at trying to do things he normally wouldn’t like get a girlfriend when he first came to the mansion. ”You’d think that be weird but that might be one of the best date ideas I’ve heard of in years.” Sam stood and offered a hand to pull Cora up. ”You got any plans now that you know I’m alive?” Sam asked grinning.

Video journal. Cora laughed at the image of a younger CS yelling at his older counterpart. She once against imagined what younger Cora would have to say to the her now. Would there be advice? She looked over at Sam. She was pretty content with the spot she was, not much she would change.

She could feel the curiosity even if he didn't say anything. She threw him a line and offered the answer rather than letting him wonder. "If we're doing the open book thing, I had this X and I had to help rescue her. Did the whole heroic thing, ended up getting a left hook to the face by the new SO. And it felt like a good time to drink my troubles away. You had to come stop me from trying to use real scissors on non-tangible threads." She held up a hand again and made an assortment of random threads show up. These were mostly various pink ones. She let them vanish again. "I wanted to forget someone I couldn't. I'll be the first to admit that wasn't the best reason to drink, so, I'm behaving."

She leaned back on her hands and looked at the ceiling. It was weird saying what happened remembering he had been there. Or, what she remembered about it. All she knew was the fancy bruise on her face hadn't been half as painful as the hangover.

I can chase you on the bike.

The offer brought her back and she looked over, smirking. When he helped her up, she laughed. "Should I go easy on you? Or did you pick up more talent on a motorcycle than your younger years? And no...My plans only involved you." Hell that sounded cheesy. She put her jacket on and then made her way outside. Her bike was parked where she left it, and while a few kids had snooped it looked like no one was brave enough to mess with it. She scooped up the helmet and got on, then waited for Sam. She glanced at her hand when she did, the red stronger than it had been when she woke up. It was different, but there. That was sort of a the comfort she needed.

When she heard Sam approaching she snapped the visor down and took off. There would be some dirt trails, a few good turns, but the end idea was the top of a hill nearby that wouldn't be too long of a drive. Enough to lose him if he couldn't keep up. Just enough of a challenge to make it fun.

Sam would have to get the name of the person that decked Cora. Then again he’d be surprised if she didn’t handle it already. ”Next date, I’m gonna teach you how to avoid a hook.” he smirked a little not thrilled someone hit her. ”Nothing wrong with behaving.” he agreed.

”Was never too good at riding when I was younger. He at least had his full vision. I got to get creative with the mirrors.” Sam said as he smirked making a joke at his own expense. He waved on his blind side then looked the other way. ”And aren’t I a lucky one.” he said with a small laugh. Sam didn’t have a chance to explain he’d be taking the window out. With him already being seen in the halls people would have known he re-aged and there were a lot of people he was trying to avoid. A lot.

When he managed to double back to the garage he found another truck where his old car used to be and in his bike parking spot he found another bike he was familiar with. The keys were there though. Sam smirked and decided he’d have to check his accounts to see what his younger self bought other than tattoos and vehicles. He also made a mental note to check the rest of his body for any other tattoos. Just so he wouldn’t be surprised later.

Aviators and ice helmet on. The helmet of ice also made it easier to add a mirror if he needed to see his blind spot more than just turning his head a ton. Not the first time he had to ride with a big blind side.

When he approached on his newer bike he wasn’t surprised she took off in fact he had a feeling when he said chase she took it literal. She did and in turn so did he. Sam followed Cora from a safe distance more so to understand his new bike and check to see if a lot had changed in his surroundings. They hadn’t for the most part which led him to speed up to her when he was satisfied with tailing.

When he caught up to her he smirked at her, ”I said chase, never intended to catch you.”

Cora rolled her eyes at the comment about the punch. "Oh, I can handle a punch. It was sort of, I don't know, owed? I wasn't the best ex, I deserved the hit. I've had a few fights in my days." she wondered if she would have to get back into the whole 'growing up in California' bit again. Sort of like telling the same story twice and getting two different answers.

The thought was on her mind until they reached the top of the hill. It was a decent view, and the drive had been fun. She took off her helmet and leaned against it, laughing at his comment when he came up. "I don't get caught unless I want to, so I guess it's a good thing you weren't trying." She noted the differences in the ice and the powers. He had better use of his abilities than before.

"I didn't pack any hiking gear today so I guess we have to just settle for the view." She looked out at the trees, and was glad the weather was nice. She leaned against her helmet a little and glanced back his way. "I know you said you're an open book, but it goes both ways in this. Do you have any questions for me, I guess?"