”Oh? You make it more risky?” Sam grinned, ”Sounds fun.” he sat across from her then his eye shifted to where he figured her bedroom was. His eye shifted back hoping he wasn’t making it too obvious.

”Well, we both got stuff to do tomorrow but I can always call in sick if need be. Monopoly is such a long game. Very time consuming but as long as I get the top hat I’m in.”

”So…” he cleared his throat, ”Where do you have the games at?” he asked hoping it would be somewhere comfortable. Those games were long.

Cora found it hard to remain serious as Sam glanced toward her room. She stood and started walking that way. "I mean, all the best games take awhile. You can call in ahead of time if you're worried," she smirked. When he was following, she finally stopped playing and caught him in a kiss. They were in the hallway just near enough to see the bed.

"What if there isn't a top hat involved? Does that mean we have to play something else?" Okay, maybe there was one or two jokes left...

Mentally yelling at himself he followed her, he gaze clearly lingered longer than it should and if she was reading her mind. Even Sam had limits, he had been patient and made sure to give her some time and if it wasn’t for them being at her place she might have gotten more. He didn’t want things in the relationship to sour so he didn’t try pressing the subject at all and give her as much time as she needed.

”Maybe I should.” he agreed before he could say anything else. Their lips locked, he almost wasn’t ready for it so he caught himself on the hallway wall before leaning into the kiss more.

”I guess I could be the thimble, but I won’t be able to make jokes about pulling a rabbit out of it. End of the day all I got is jokes.” he said with a little chuckle before leaning back into the kiss. His hands reached down and he lifted Cora and in a few quick steps they were in the bedroom. His heart rate sped up more when he lowered her onto the bed.

”You sure about this?” he asked preparing to shoot himself in the foot, ”Jokes aside I don’t want to rush anything…” he knew she was afraid of being used by his younger self. Sam hoped the fear wasn’t there now that he was a decade older.

Cora did not resist being carried this time. Pulling into the kiss, she paused only when he pulled away. It was actually a little strange seeing Sam nervous, but she reached up and ran a hand through his hair, laughing at the rabbit joke. "I'm sure you could find a joke even without the top hat. I can't say I've ever seen you jokeless," she mused.

Then she took the chance to kiss his neck, murmuring against his skin, "We have been through a whole round of first dates, twice. I think we have taken it slow enough."

She pulled him closer to make her point. He would just have to take the hint from there. If not, she could find some game pieces, although chances would be they would not be playing by the usual rules.

FTB

”Just wanted to make sure.” he said trying not to laugh taking the hint.

--

”Alright…. Sam said finally as he stared at the ceiling his arm wrapped around Cora. The blanket covered her more than him, he wasn’t despite the temperature in the air. ”Keep in mind…” he said trying not to laugh at the joke, ”Bout a decade in the works.” he said trying not to laugh kissing her hand as he guided it around.

”Really glad you fended me off when I was younger...”

Cora tried not to laugh at the joke, but what started as a tickle in her throat turned into a cross between a snort and a giggle and she covered her mouth with a hand. She should have rolled her eyes to discourage him from horrible comments in the future, but she couldn’t. Maybe she enjoyed his sense of humor in a strange way.

”I feel like Rime is secretly offended by that joke,” she mused and kissed his cheek with a smirk. Then she raised an eyebrow, unable to resist teasing. ”Now I’m curious what you would’ve done if I had t fended you off. Does it count as insulting to compare bed skills with two different versions of yourself? I think he would be annoyed anyway. You did age well.” she smiled.

It felt weird knowing that she was talking about himself but not him self? He wasn’t exactly sure what to say so he did what he normally did. He chuckled and joked,
”No, he’s cool with it.” he chuckled a little more and squeezed her in a one armed hug.

”I’d like to think I’ve only improved on his skills. Unless he did some research. Not sure how that would work…” he trailed off wondering what his younger self got into and immediately pushing the thought. He had someone more important to focus on.

”Like a fine… cheese? Wine? Which one do you like more?” he asked with another laugh. ”Either way I’m glad you approve.” his next thoughts escaped before he could stop them, ”He’s still me though.” it was meant to convince himself more than anything.

Cora could see the struggle between concern and humor on Sam’s expression. They were getting better working through the ‘you dated the younger me’ weirdness, but maybe it was too fresh for so many jokes. She wasn’t great at people skills, and her dating skills? Even worse. Half the time she felt like she was just blindly stumbling through this and hoping she didn’t scare him off.

Well, they made it this far. Although wasn’t getting someone to the bedroom the easy part? Had she messed that up too? She forced the thoughts away and stuck her tongue out when he asked the question.

”If both you’s are you then how could I like one more? Although, I guess I kinda....I mean, at least now I’m not just watching you run around with everyone else. Not that I was jealous,” she defended. There was a little color to her face that told otherwise. She wasn’t sure how this landed on fluffy bedroom talk. She usually avoided that. But, she avoided a lot before Sam. Maybe it wasn’t so bad, the fluff....

Sam’s chest started to move as he laughed. His one hand stoked her arm under the blanket. ”The blush says otherwise.” his thermal vision picking up more than his site could. He stopped staring at the ceiling and kissed her head again. Seeing the bit of color with his eyes. ”Thermal vision sees more than my eye does.”

”Not sure you should have a favorite, then again. Maybe you just wanted me to grow up a bit…” he paused after a moment, ”It’s me right?” he said trying not to be to worried about it, if she like his younger self was the favorite he’d have some bad news for her.

”I’m sorry younger me made you jealous. If you liked him you should have told him. I know he liked you. Then again this conversation could have been way worse.” he said with a laugh again glad it wasn’t. He didn’t want to think about taking that away from his younger self. Would she be interested in him now if that was the case? Thoughts better unknown.

”Not sure I want to make you jealous anyways cause I like you.” he said making sure he said it. ”Girlfriend.” he brought his other hand over and gave her a little nudge.

Ratted out by thermal vision. Cora wanted to be sour about it, but hearing him laugh made it hard to feel irritated. That and the kiss. She was much too easily appeased right now. She could get back at him later if she needed to. Or wanted to. For now she rolled so she could make a face at him.

"Yes it's you, but don't make me regret picking! After all, none of this would have happened if a much braver version of you hadn't followed me on a motorcycle," she reminded. She smiled and then kissed his cheek. Then she considered his comment. You should have told him...

"I mean, I sort of did...at comicon. Maybe I never said it outright, but I mean, the threads sort of...give things away..." she let her powers show the linking thread between them, a dark red color that ran from one of their hands to the other. She wondered how it felt having a string you could see and not touch all the time. At least for Cora, she could feel it. It made it a little bit harder to escape.

Then he said the girlfriend word and her powers clicked off. She made a face at him, like a kid being told about cooties. "It just sounds so frilly...I don't know how you roped me into a relationship anyway!" she remarked, running a hand through her hair and making the mohawk stick up in the front again.

Braver wasn’t the word he would have used to describe his younger self. However he didn’t voice his thoughts. He just gave her a smirk and then mimicked the face she was giving him.

Dark red, his eye lingered on it for a second. He moved the hand accordingly and then linked his hand in hers. This time he did say it, ”Braver might not be the best word to describe him. Younger me probably didn’t want to scare you off. I’m not as worried.” he laughed, ”Think I’m doing just fine.”

Sam turned on his side and pushed himself up on his elbow. ”I mean, I don’t have to say it. Just not sure how to introduce you to people.” he leaned in closer to her, ”Hey, this is Cora.” he smirked, ”No one would know we are dating.” he kissed her again.

Cora was distracted by hands, and the general close feelings there were now. The color of threads, this general feeling of falling and being attached to someone and being both terrified and mesmerized by it. He was afraid of scaring her off? Maybe it was possible. Maybe she was easily frightened by the ideas of relationships. The possibilities of being the one to hurt another person. The idea of having control in someone’s life, or not control, impact... threads... the endless strings that she ran from, trying to escape people, things that attached. Things that hurt. People who could vanish as easily as her powers made memories leave.

And then there was Sam, who proved memories were replaceable. Feelings went deeper, stuck longer. She gave him a hard time for his amnesia, but maybe it had been the real proof for her that being with someone couldn’t just be erased when you felt like it. She tightened her grip, then considered the word. Girlfriend...

”Well I’m sure if these sleepovers continue, eventually someone will agree we are dating...or maybe just Bruno....” she rolled over and returned to kissing him. It was date night, after all. She wasn’t lying when she said she hadn’t wanted him too worn out to start with....

Sometime later, or sometime early, however you looked at it, Cora woke to a feeling of...off. Not from her, Sam. While she had fallen asleep next to steady breathing, what she woke to was different. She had flashes of memories, stories he had told her, and frowned, trying not to move too much until she could register his behavior. She let her powers reach out, watching the various colored threads and noting the dark ones. She wished she could do more than see them, wondering if one of those threads was causing the disrupted sleep....

It turned out to be a great night. However his sleep didn’t reflect his current mood. The icemancer shifted uncomfortably in his sleep as he tried to turn away from everything that haunted him.

A flash of light, a ringing sensation in his ears as an explosion went off next to him. He was being shot at. He ran full charge covered in ice his hands in front of him eliminating the strike team that rose up to meet him and his own team. There was someone next to him someone he couldn’t make out the face. He didn’t trust them though that was all that mattered. He stared at a wall of ice faces howling out in pain frozen in time.

Sam turned and there was his family, the not real one. Even in his dreams he had to remind himself they were real. He shut his eyes and opened them. Three corpses recently covered in intense burns where his not real family stood seconds ago. The body of his daughter reached out for him and he turned his back. Not real.

The frozen elemental held his hands up over his face and when he removed them he saw his first handler ready to strike at him again for not obeying orders. His hands reached up and he blinked again staring at the frozen statue of the man that would never exist again, he was six now. He was sad and scared.

Another flash and he was back in Romania being strapped down to the operating chair, his neck tingled from the shock collar as he tried once more to break the bonds that held him in place. He struggled and felt the knife dig into his eye. He let out a howl.

Sam’s good eye snapped open and he stared at the ceiling ready to fight full of adrenaline. He was safe, next to someone he cared about. Sam hoped he didn’t wake her. He wanted drink. Badly. It helped him not remember any of this. Not remind him of what he was. He was just tired of it all. Sam raised his hand and ran it through his hair and let out a slight sigh. He had to catch his breath. It was still late or early now. How long were they asleep? When did they go to sleep?

Cora didn’t feel like a sentimental person most of the time. As long as it took her to even admit they were dating, it was pretty evident she hated saying what she felt. But, she wasn’t the sort of person to pretend to sleep when she knew he was upset. The only thread that stayed active was the dark red one as she reached over and caught his hand with hers. She shifted so she could lean on her shoulder and try to see his face.

”Would it help....if I made them go away? Not permanently... just enough, enough for you to sleep.”

She risked the suggestion, knowing the itch to help him would not go away on its own. Maybe that was why her powers keep feeding into the one string she let herself see. This is real... she wanted to say. But her mouth wouldn’t move. She did not feel useful in this situation. Hell, the anxiety of seeing him upset made her want to run and find something to drink. Neither of them needed that.

His hand was caught and he had to remind himself of where he was. His eye snapped to his hand then followed the arm back to Cora and he forced a smile. ”That bad?” he asked knowing he was the reason she was awake now. He didn’t’ remember everything but the smell of the corpses still lingered in his nostrils.

The thought had crossed his mind before make him forget them. Not just his family but also everyone. Issue with that was not everyone he had encountered in his nightmares were gone. Some of them were still very much alive even though he had attempted to change that several times. It was also the reason he was so focused on heroics, make up for everything he had done in the past now that he had a choice. A way to tip the scales and create some kind of balance.

”Too scared to find out…” he said finally. ”I don’t know if I should forget. If it’s right. I did a lot of stuff. Stuff that shouldn’t be forgotten.” he said eyeing the red string that connected them. Sam didn’t say anything for a few moments trying to find the words he felt. ‘I killed those people. They are dead because of me. They shouldn’t be forgotten.’

”How long would it last?” he asked finally.