Real Life, Or Just Fantasy? (Sashabean)

[Jesse Adams]

Jesse still couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. He kept checking his phone just to make sure he wasn't making it up. He'd also pinched himself a few times just to make sure he wasn't trapped in an unusually good dream.

He'd also entertained the idea that somehow his father had gotten hold of Sasha's phone, and that this was a sketchy set up. But after a tentative reply, coupled with the way Sasha replied to that... he still had his back up a little, but he was slowly letting himself believe it was really happening.

Sasha was really coming to Hammel.

Just to be on the safe side, he pinched himself again as he headed down to the office.

He knew he'd look difference since the last time they'd seen each other. His hair was longer, and less... bleached than it had been since he'd left home. He had several more piercings - most notably his lip and eyebrow. He was taller... he'd filled out more. Granted, he'd been sixteen and still had the wiry build of a runner. He still ran now, but he also looked... more adult.

Well, of course he did. He was going to be twenty two in a matter of weeks. God, he was never going to graduate. But with Clement around, and Sasha now... he wasn't in as big a hurry to leave.

Once he made it into the office, he pinged a quick text to Clement to let him know what he was up to and what he'd be busy with for the next while. Now he just had to wait.

Waiting had never come naturally to him, and especially with his nerves a little on edge just in case it was his father making good on the threat he'd uttered just a few years ago about coming to get him himself if he didn't graduate soon... he couldn't sit still. He tried, but he ended up pacing in an antsy way. The receptionist gave him a look now and again, but he ignored her. He'd stop as soon as Sasha arrived.

... Or he'd be bolting down the hall as fast as he could if Michael showed up instead.

But he was hoping for the former.

[Sasha Adams]

Sasha knew that her suitcase was probably a little childish -- it was purple with tiny yellow and white flowers, and a very large Tinkerbell laying across the middle. But she couldn't care less; she loved Tinkerbell, and anyway, she was so excited to see her brother. 

Not so excited that she hadn't asked the recruiter to make a stop along the way -- she had wanted to cut off all her hair into something much more practical. While at the hair salon she had texted Jesse to let him know she was on her way. 

And now she was here! She took a deep breath as the recruiter escorted her to the office, assuring them that she could find her way now; she had her big brother to help her get sorted out, after all. 

And...was that him? With all the piercings and the height and....? 

"Jess?"

[Jesse Adams]

Jesse kept pacing, going between looking at his phone, looking at the clock, and avoiding the looks he kept getting. Several students came in and out of the office, but none were the one he was looking for. Of course, Sasha was going to be a little more grown up too. She'd been so young when he'd left...

If she was even coming. He kept going to back to that possibility. It honestly made his heart beat a little faster and harder, like he'd just come back from a run, but it didn't feel as good. He didn't like feeling so anxious.

When he heard his name, he turned on his heel and stared in surprise. This little pixie... he breathed out a heavy sigh of sheer relief and crossed the room to pull her into a hard hug. "Jesus, Sash. You're here. You're actually here." He wasn't inclined to let her go anytime soon, but due to the fact that she probably liked to breathe, he let her go after a moment. He wasn't about to admit to his fears about their father coming instead and using Sasha to get to him. He'd always tried to be the strong one around her, even when he was nursing bruises.

"... What'd you do to your hair?" Ever since she was tiny she'd always had insanely long hair. Granted, he'd done the same thing, just the opposite way. His was long enough to put into a short ponytail now. Clement had been bugging him about it, but he didn't really care, especially now. Because Sasha was here. And safe.

[Sasha Adams]

"Mmmph!" She agreed into Jess's stomach as he pulled her into a hug. When he let go she took a deep gasp and then looked up....and up....and up. "I'm actually here. Happy New Year, right?" 

She touched the back of her newly shorn locks anxiously at his comment. "Do you not like it? She asked uncertainly. She was still getting used to it herself, since she had only cut it a few hours ago. She still wanted to run her hand through her hair, only to find emptiness where her long dark tresses should have been. "I cut it off on the way in. The recruiter said it was okay since I had some allowance money saved up..." 

And probably had some prior warning about the family situation, since Jesse had been at Hammel for years now. They had probably understood the symbolism behind her act. 

And, as far as rebellions went, this was relatively harmless. 

"What'd you do to yours?"

[Jesse Adams]

If Jesse had his way, he would never let go of Sasha again. Just being able to pull her into his arms again made him feel better than he'd felt since he'd left home. Here, he could keep her safe. "Yeah, you are." He reached up to rake his fingers through his hair, hooking it behind his ear the way he always did when he was anxious. Hopefully that feeling would leave soon enough.

The look on her face made him backpedal, and fast. He'd never liked disappointing her, even a little. "No! I do like it. It's just... different." No more weird ballet buns for her then, apparently. Maybe it was something their mother had liked - keeping her hair long so she could do things with it. Who knew, really. "It looks good, Sash. Promise."

He could understand the reason why, though. His own nods to rebellion had come in minor forms like his hair and his piercings all the way up to... extreme forms. Forms he'd never tell Sasha, because he couldn't bear for her to know about that time of his life. He wanted to stay the protective big brother, the reliable one. Not the crazy one. ... But rumors had a way of swirling and resurfacing at Hammel. He didn't know what he'd do if any of them found their way to her.

"What, you don't like it?" He mirrored her question right back to her, though his expression was far more playful and far less nervous.

[Sasha Adams]

Sasha stood on tiptoes so that she could be (almost) nose to nose with her older brother. 

"It doesn't matter what I think! What does Clement think?" 

She was only just now realizing just what coming to Hammel meant; she would get to meet all the people her brother had told her about! The people who were the most important to him. Which...mostly seemed to be Clement, but that was fine. She had trouble getting close to other people, herself. 

"I need to check in with the front desk so I can get my room assignment and classes," She told him, "You'll help me find my way around, right? And you'll introduce me to Clement?" 

[Jesse Adams]

Jesse smirked as she rose up on her toes. Clearly she was still as good as ever at ballet if she could pull that move off. But the smirk dropped in an uncertain way at her question. He'd never actually asked Clement, and he'd never said anything about it...

"Uh." Only Sasha could knock him speechless like that. "... I don't know. I've never asked him." Was he supposed to have? God, just when he thought he had relationships figured out...

At least she was content enough to move on. He nodded. "Yeah, I'll show you around. And you can meet Clement." As long as his boyfriend was okay with it. "And Ty, too." He could only imagine her reaction to his rabbit.

[Sasha Adams]

Sasha nearly skipped over to the front desk; fortunately recruiters always had their files done before they went to pick up the kids, and so her room and class schedule were already in order. 

"Mmmm. You didn't even ask me about my flight," She nudged Jesse with her hip and raised an eyebrow. Maybe the hair cut had distracted him; for all that she'd told him in the years of separation, she hadn't mentioned this. Well, she had only just done it, and she hadn't thought to tell him while texting that she was coming. 

[Jesse Adams]

Jesse had to smile as he watched her skip around by the counter. He waited for her to gather her things, swiping her Tinkerbell case as she talked to the receptionist. Thankfully, it didn't take long before she was back to him.

Where had this sass come from? A miniature nod to rebellion, maybe? Part of it made him want to smirk about it, but yet another part worried that he was losing the adorable little girl she had been since she was born. Well, they'd both grown up. Hopefully, they hadn't grown apart.

"Fine, fine. You win. How was your flight?" He was avoiding the more obvious questions about home, mostly because as much as he didn't want to talk about it, he suspected that she was even less inclined. Her emails had always said that their father all but ignored her, but he'd always had his vague suspicions. That could be saved for another day, though. Or decade. Unless she needed to talk.

[Sasha Adams]

"It was so high!" Sasha explained, eyes wide from the memory. "I wish I'd gotten a window seat." 

Instead she'd been stuck in the middle of the plane next to her recruiter, which had been disappointing. Not that the recruiter hadn't been nice (how many other adults would have stopped by the hair salon for their fourteen year old charge?) but she had so wanted to look out the window; seeing the world she inhabited from a birds eye, tiny and far below her, was the best way to view it. 

"But the security was a little annoying. Do you think randomly searching people is really that helpful?" 

The actual randomness of TSA searches was, of course, up for debate. Either way it didn't seem especially useful for preventing terrorism. 

She clicked her tongue against her teeth as she looked at her room assignment. "So I'm looking for room 402?"

[Jesse Adams]

Sasha's enthusiasm was contagious. Jesse couldn't help the grin that broke out as she described her flight. "One day I'll take you flying, then. And wrestle anyone that tries taking the window." That, he could promise her. And hopefully keep it.

Security brought a small frown to his face, though. Giving her a helpless shrug, he shook his head. "They're doing what they can, I guess." To think, he was once one of the people they would have been an alert for. That was behind him, though. He was trying hard to straighten out, even if he didn't entirely want to let go of all of his ties to that period in his life. It had given him a real sense of freedom, as well as love, no matter how much Dr. Neville tried to steer him out of that line of thinking.

But that was one line of thinking that Sasha would never, ever be privy to. Sure, rumors still occasionally swirled around the halls, but hopefully Sasha would have the sense to ignore them.

"402?" That was... the girls' floor. "I can't actually go on your floor, but I can bring your stuff most of the way for you?" Then they really had to spend some time together. Maybe he'd drag her out for dinner, or show her around. Maybe he'd eventually take her down to the pet store if she wanted a pet too. They'd never had any growing up, but he'd found having first Gambit, and then Tyrone was yet another small nod to rebellion, as well as helpful when it came to feeling down.

[Sasha Adams]

Sasha was too busy looking at her slip of paper to notice Jess's reaction to the idea of security; but even if she had noticed she would have written it off. After all, nobody liked being stopped by the TSA. Their random stops were one of those things that brought disparate groups of people together in shared irritation. 

Her shoulders drooped at his remark about the dorms. 

"You can't?" 

That was a disappointment; she had hoped to have a little help with her luggage. Not because she'd brought a lot, and nor was it too heavy for her, but she'd been the one carrying it for this whole trip! (Well, except for the large amount of time it was in the airplanes luggage area). 

"That's not fair! Does that mean I won't get to see you?" 

She had come all this way hoping to spend more time with her brother and now she felt that opportunity slipping away. 

[Jesse Adams]

Oh, the look on Sasha's face wasn't one Jesse liked to see, ever. He hated disappointing her, even over the smallest things. And this was probably not a small thing. He wanted to spend more time with her too, but with their parents putting her up in the girls dorms... well, he felt safer with her there than in the coed dorms. "No, but we'll figure something out, okay? We can plan movie nights in the student lounge and hang out on the weekends, I promise." He'd... just have to figure out something with Clement. Yes, he needed to spend time with his sister, but he also wanted to spend time with his boyfriend. Well, maybe he could coordinate the two. Sometimes.

"We'll see each other," he promised. "All the time." That, he could make sure of. "If you want, maybe we'll go into town tonight. You, me, and... if you wanted to meet Clement...?" He'd leave that up to her.

[Sasha Adams]

"Why wouldn't I want to meet Clement? Please please pleaaaaaaaaaaase invite him, please please pleaaaaase!"

If he was important to Jess then he was important to Sasha; she was sure that anyone her big brother liked was worth getting to know. She was unaware of the social circle he had kept years ago, or perhaps she might have thought otherwise.

"What sorts of things are there to do in town?"

[Jesse Adams]

Jesse had to chuckle at her enthusiasm. "Okay, okay!" He held up his hands in mock surrender. "You'll meet him, I promise." He could only hope that Clement was half as enthusiastic as his sister. "We'll figure out where to eat later. Once you're settled in." And once he could locate his boyfriend.

"Uhhh." Considering that he had spent a lot of his time at Hammel in one form of probation or another, he probably wasn't the best person to ask. But he had to try. "It's not like L.A.," he started, running his fingers through his hair as he tried to think. "It's a lot smaller. But I guess Burlington's not that far away... it's a little bigger." Except that wasn't really an answer. "There's a little mall you can go to. And next time I need to go to the pet store you could come with me." Which reminded him. He'd probably have to bring Tyrone to her so she could see him. "We can look around town after dinner, if you want." Then she could see the town for herself.