2012-08-12 Uncle Sam and the Snowflake

It's a gorgeous day with just the hint of heaviness in the air that means it could storm later. The perfectly-groomed grounds of Xavier's are still, like a photograph. The kids are all busy elsewhere so Sam gets the whole basketball court to himself. That means no one yelling, pulling hair, grabbing his ankles, or running with their shoes untied. He's left his shirt and book on the grass and grabbed a ball that someone forgot to put away.
Thump, thump, thump, layup. Grab, bounce, spin, and off to the other end of the court. It's like meditating, only faster, with a lot of baskets and the occasional rebound. Sam could do this for hours but he's sure someone's going to want attention before he even breaks a sweat--and that's how he likes it.
The flash of light of Illyana's stepping disk sort of blends into the brightness of the day as the blonde teleports in perched on the backboard. She's wearing a cutoff black shirt with Lily Cheney's name scrawled across it. The sleeves have been cut off as well. Worn bluejeans that have frayed to holes in parts and heavy boots that buckle up to her knees with silver skulls that march down the sides. A pair of sunglasses hide her eyes but not the smirk as he turns to shoot the ball and the blonde is there to catch it. She holds it up, a brow arching. "If it isn't Uncle Sam." The smirk broadens, giving a hint of teeth in a feral sort of grin. "Now I feel like you should be wearing a star-spangled top hat."
Bounce. The ball smacks into Sam's hands one last time and he turns to see who's talking. He's a little out of breath and flushed, but that's what he gets for running around the basketball court in jeans and sneakers instead of putting on shorts--even if the jeans are worn thin in places. 
"Afraid I left the top hat in the closet with my American flag cape," Sam says with a grin. "Captain America's folks get cranky about me flying around like that. You picked us up the other night, right? You here to see someone?" He's used to running into people he doesn't recognize on the grounds. All part of the price of going home for five years.
Illyana tilts her head in a short nod. "Yeah, my brother asked me to pick you wild boys up. Have to admit. I wasn't expecting to see you, Samy." She tilts her head forward a bit, one hand coming up so she can slide the shades down a bit to look over them, giving him a casual once-over. "And all grown up." Look who's talking. Yeah, she figures Sam probably doesn't recognize her. That just makes it more fun.
Sam gives her an odd look. He's not surprised she knows his name--the place is crawling with telepaths and people smart enough to read the teaching roster--but the nicknames are something folks don't do much unless they know a person. He holds the ball against his hip with one hand as he comes over slowly, sizing her up with a purely clinical eye. 
"Do I know you? Because there's only so many times I've been drunk in this city and never enough to forget I'd met you." He frowns darkly then. "And I don't -recall- takin' a blow to the head, either."
As he comes over she pushes herself up, the toe of one boot where the hoop meets the backboard as she stands up and steps off. "Yes and no, I suppose. Catch!" She says as she drops down towards the ground, arms up as she falls.
"Whoa there!" Sam drops the ball so he can catch Illyana in his arms. "You make a habit of trustin' strangers like that, young lady?" he asks, once he's got hold of her. He looks mildly amused. "What if I missed?"
Illyana hooks an arm around Sam's shoulder as he catches her, looking at his face. Taking in the change of features even as her own eyes are hidden behind the shades. When she was small and just came to the mansion, Sam and Doug and the others were the only 'kids' there. The closest to her age and the ones that got stuck babysitting her when the X-Men had missions. Her lips quirk a bit into another smirk. "You've never dropped me, Sammy. I don't expect you to start now." She chuckles then. "You still don't recognize me, do you?"
She does remind Sam of someone, it's disconcerting. His brain is doing its best crazed squirrel impression, racing around his skull in search of where he put the memory that matches this face. He sets the girl down carefully and, since she's so intent on him recognizing her, he reaches to lift her sunglasses so he can better study her features. 
"You're makin' me feel awful rude here, not remembering meeting someone like you," he adds with an apologetic smile. "Because it sure feels like I should."
Illyana's chin lifts a bit as he reaches out, letting him lift away the sunglasses. Though that's not likely to help. The hard, cold blue there is eerie. Windows to a soul that's filled with darkness and nothing like the bright, happy blue of the child she was when he knew her. There's a sense of something almost malevloent about her that lurks behind those eyes for those sensitive enough to feel it. That touch of evil. "Well. I guess I'll have to re-introduce myself then." She holds out her hand to him, those blue eyes fixed on him for his reaction. "Illyana Rasputin. Piotr's little sister." She quirks a brow at him, the smirk back on her lips. "No hot cocoa for me?"
Sam hesitates a moment and then his face lights up as he takes Illyana's hand. "Well, I'll be, so it is. Look at you. I always knew you'd turn out to be a real beauty and here you are." He uses his grip on her hand to pull her in so he can cup her cheek and kiss her forehead. "What have you been up to, Snowflake, that you went and growed up so fast? You get tired of waitin' for the big kids to let you play?"
It says something that in their world someone can put on ten years and it gets accepted so easily. As he kisses her forehead she returns it with a hug. Sam's one of those Happy Memories from her childhood. The question has her stepping back and the smirk she gives isn't quite so teasing or mocking. "A bit after you left... Well, one of the X-Men's enemies got ahold of me and where he took me, time runs different. By the time I got out, a lot of time had passed for me. Not so much for all of you."
"Aw, sweetheart. I was hoping you just kinda stubborn-ed reality into growing you up faster, because from you, I'd believe it." Sam's delight at seeing her is tempered by understanding the possibilities behind her explanation. He taps her nose lightly with a finger, looking solemn as he studies her face all over again. "You ever want to tell me about it all, you tell me. Otherwise... just tell me how you are now. You doin' okay? Got a big enough stick to keep all your admirers in their place?"
Illyana quirks a brow upwards as Sam taps her nose, but suffers the familiarity with something that's more smile than smirk. "I'm alright. Decided to try out the school thing, so I start classes full-time in Fall at NYU. I uh," She chuckles then, perhaps a bit self-consciously. "I joined the Titans. Piotr wanted me to give it a chance." She admits. Not that he'd know that it's a bit out of character for her to be all hero-y. "So what brings you back to Xavier's huh?"
"I finished all the chores Ma had for me, pretty much," Sam says as he goes over to collect a faded blue cotton button-down shirt, tugging it on but not bothering to button it up, then picks up the chunky book he'd been reading. "Paid off the medical bills from Pa being sick, put a new roof on the house, all that. She sent me back up this way, didn't want me to get swallowed up by the country, I suppose. This is about the only other place I've been, so here I am for the moment. University -and- the Titans, guess you'll be busy."
"Not like I sleep much." Illyana says dryly, staying in-step with him. "We'll see how it goes. I can always bail if I get tired of it." Big life-choices for most, but she talks of them flippantly with a shrug of her shoulder. "Gonna be an X-Man?" She doesn't stop by the school a lot, and it isn't one of the things she and Piotr tend to talk about when they get together. "I mean, you missed graduation." She teases with a *tsk*. "I meant to drop by sooner when I found out you were back, but..." Clearly she's been busy.
"I'm sure you'll do great at anything you want to do, Illyana. And, yeah, if you don't like it, don't waste yourself on something. You just have to try to know." Sam gives her a smile. "I'm back on the team--I'm here, after all. I can be useful once in a while, not like when I was younger and best I could hope for was to go in the right direction and not hurt anyone on the way." Sam's tone is wry and amused at past-Sam's complete inability to do more than wreck innocent objects.
"But I loved watching you smash things!" Illyana says, teasing but entirely honest. She moves in suddenly then to try to hug Sam again tightly around his middle. Having been a big brother to so many, of course he was well-suited to be her babysitter when she needed one. "I'm glad you're back. I didn't understand when I was younger..." She steps back and her smile is sad. "Loosing Doug then you and Warlock..." Doug probably never realized how much he was the heart of the younger students. A shake of her head then, as if to clear away bad memories. "But. I know you're all country-boy but clearly my brother is corrupting you, taking you out to nightclubs and all. You get any phone numbers that night?" There's a glint in her eyes as she asks that, since she knows very well what type of club they went to.
"I'm sorry I left. I missed all of y'all. I'm happy to see you again, Snowflake." Sam kisses the top of her head as he slides an arm around her shoulders and hugs her back. "Your brother can take me anywhere he likes, I'll go anywhere as long as my friends are up for it, doesn't matter who's there or why. No corrupting necessary. And, yes, I did get some numbers offered to me. No, I haven't called any of them. Why do you ask?"
Illyana's arm settles comfortably around Sam's waist. She's used to being around tall guys, though Sam's a lot leaner than her brother. "It's just a funny picture in my head. You're all blushing as guys hit on you." Be it because he's a simple country boy or they were guys, she could see blushing either way. "Of course, that gives me carte blanche to drag you off clubbing with me some night. Can you dance, Samy?"
"Better than I used to fly, that's for sure. I will come out with you any time you like. And who says I blush?" Sam laughs at her and steers her toward the cafeteria doors. "Can't keep people from thinking what they think, doing what they do. It's no skin off my nose if someone gets it in their head they're interested in me. I just smile and say 'thanks kindly' and move on. Doesn't bother me any. I only blush when I do somethin' worth it."
"Well damn, that means I'll have to work harder to get you to squirm." Illyana teases, letting him lead the way. It's a Sunday in summer, about as quiet as Xavier's gets, so Illyana doesn't need to deal with the students that tend to scoot away, uncomfortable in her presence. "So you're teaching too, right?" Since most, if not all of the X-Men do.
"Flying--how's that for some irony?" Sam laughs and gives her a little hug. Even if he had an inkling about what she's been going through, he'd hug her anyway. Maybe twice as much. "And whatever they need me to go in terms of Phys Ed and coaching baseball. Y'know, it's a little warm for hot chocolate, but I could whip you up a milkshake if you wanted. Whipped cream and a cherry on top."
Illyana looks up at Sam and makes her eyes all wide and as innocent as she can manage. "You're the very best uncle *ever* Samy." She can't manage to keep that expression long though, soon having to duck her head to smother snickers that just *might* verge into giggles. "Sounds great. Then you can tell me how your family is doing. I bet you have pictures, too." Because Sam's steady love of his family is like a warm blanket to wrap yourself in on a cold night. Even if it's not your family, his love is that strong and bright.
"Pictures? I have -video-. Technology has arrived even in the backwoods of Kentucky." Sam holds the door open for Illyana and shoos her into the cafeteria ahead of him.
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