Touch Football mega thread

[nola_eleanor]

There was a field not too far from Phoenix Effect that was too small for all the various sports leagues in the city to have snapped up for weekend practices or games, but big enough for the fairly flexible game of touch football, so that's where they played. People came and went for most of the afternoon, though the game itself only lasted an hour and change. Almost everyone played, but there were several people watching, choosing to cheer or heckle or talk amongst themselves as it suited them.

When everyone got together enough to actually start the game, they divided into two teams, with Matteo as the referee. Zach's team was made up of Hazel, Max, Hanne, Nori, Nick, Alex, and Oliver; Kyle had Elspeth, Joel, Carrie, Caleb, Irene, Sam, and Elena on his team. It wasn't a blowout, but Zach's team won by a few touchdowns and were crowned the victors. Despite a couple minor accidents, everyone came out of it in one piece. More or less.

Comments

[nola_cyclops]

And Sam thought nothing about today would be more exciting than efficient scheduling (that was not a joke). But Oliver hadn't needed to elbow Sam (ow) -- Sam was seeing what Oliver was seeing, and also not in the least worried about being called Sam and Scott interchangeably. And how could he not be called Scott when he was looking across a field at Hank McCoy?

Now that Sam knew what he knew about himself and his life as Scott, it all seemed so obvious. Of course Zach was Hank; of course Hank was Zach. He grinned and turned to Oliver. "Yes, I see Beast too."

God, who knew how many of them were here!

And if he could be anyone, Sam was so glad Zach was Hank. He and Hank had butted heads a hundred times, and both of them had their share of being right or wrong in their disagreements -- Sam knew he, at least, had come to take Hank's words as a conscience barometer and a reminder of the impact of his actions.

But the most important thing was that Hank was family. They had known each other since they were kids; the younger, more fun Scott had made good friends with Hank and it was the kind of bond that had stuck; in times of crisis, Sam trusted Hank with his life.

"I can't believe he's here." Thousands of memories crashed over Sam anew.

[nola_quicksilver]

"When are you going to tell him?" As far as Oliver was concerned, it wasn't a question that Sam, Beast's friend in their previous life as well as this one, needed to be the one to break the news. And there was no way he already knew, right? Not while looking that stupidly lighthearted.

[nola_cyclops]

“The Scott part of me says right now, and also instead of this game let’s interview every single person here,” Sam said wryly, “But look how happy he is. Maybe it can wait until later today.”

He looked over at Zach again, studying him.

[nola_quicksilver]

Oliver, meanwhile, was studying Sam. "And maybe you could use a break and have a little fun too," he suggested quietly.

[nola_cyclops]

“Maybe I should just observe, in case we were brought here or compelled here to be set up,” Sam replied thoughtfully, even though he knew this kind of hyper-vigilance might not be reasonable here.

[nola_quicksilver]

"Katie'll be here too," Oliver reminded him, taking his hand. "Between the three of us, I think you could let your guard down long enough to catch a ball hurtling at your face."

[nola_cyclops]

Oliver was probably right. Sam leaned briefly into his side as a gesture of appreciation. “Luckily, I have excellent reflexes.”

[nola_quicksilver]

"Not better than mine," Oliver replied, but he was grinning.

[nola_cyclops]

They hadn’t been this competitive before they knew they were Scott and Pietro, right? But Sam liked it; he smiled and shook his head, clearly disagreeing, and happy about the challenge. “Sure, Oliver, if you say so.”

[nola_quicksilver]

"Can you stop me from doing this?" Oliver darted in to steal a quick kiss.

[nola_cyclops]

“I could have if I wanted to,” Sam retorted after the fact, but he was grinning — surprised by the gesture and touched by it. He didn’t even look around to see if anyone was watching them,

[nola_quicksilver]

"A likely story," Oliver said dismissively, but he grinned back and bumped Sam's shoulder with his own. "Good luck out there today. You'll need it."

[nola_cyclops]

“I’ll miss you when I’ve destroyed you,” Sam replied mildly, and managed not to verbalize how ‘Charles-to-Magneto’ that sentiment was upon brief reflection.

[nola_quicksilver]

"That kind of delusion makes a lot more sense when you've got laser eyes backing you up."

[nola_cyclops]

“They’re not lasers,” Sam immediately replied, and yes, he was hearing himself. “They’re optic blasts of concussive force.”

[nola_quicksilver]

His word choice had absolutely been intentional, and continued to be. "My laser-eyed love," he said fondly, enjoying getting Sam—well, Scott, really—riled up.

[nola_cyclops]

“If only one of your personalities was funny,” Sam deadpanned, but actually he was... kind of delighted? that Oliver knew how to tease him in, as it were, two different languages.

[nola_quicksilver]

"Why am I so attracted to you right now?" Oliver asked, voicing a similar thought. The line between Scott and Sam was beyond blurred, and things about Scott he'd found mockable at best and aggravating at worst were starting to feel more appealing.

[nola_cyclops]

“I keep thinking the same thing,” Sam said with a grin. “Stop making me re-think Pietro Maximoff.” But he touched the side of Oliver’s face... almost flirtatiously? as he said so.

[nola_quicksilver]

Oliver's smile grew. He loved a flirtatious Sam, playing along. "Think of the trouble we could've gotten into together," he murmured. "The fun kind."

[nola_cyclops]

“Uniting the two houses of mutant rights,” Sam said wryly. “Sitting around while I created offensive strategies all night every night..”

[nola_quicksilver]

"I meant the sex, but this does sound more accurate."

[nola_cyclops]

“Oh, the sex would be there,” Sam told Oliver. “Just after the strategy. Unless you were especially persuasive.”

[nola_quicksilver]

"Oh yeah? Because something tells me I'd be having some sudden headaches after all that strategizing." Oliver was totally lying. He was easy for Sam. Well, in general.

[nola_cyclops]

“As Scott I had a headache every minute of the day I wasn’t letting out my blasts and I still had sex,” Sam pointed out, reasonable as ever.