[ACTION]

[raced_god]

[IT'S SATURDAY. IT'S SUMMER. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and this dude is out on the quad. Like, right in the middle of the quad.]



[He is accompanied by a cooler of something that is definitely not soda and seems largely unresponsive to most things. Probably (definitely) he's thinking about how all y'all are nerds.]

Comments

[redshirted]

[ONE(1) IAN MALKOVICH is surveying the grounds of this fine academy of which he is now responsible for the maintenance of. Now, Ian is not exactly the most contemplative guy, but even he can appreciate a walk by himself every once in awhile. It's nice to stretch his legs and appreciate real gravity and sunlight and all the other things that go along with being on planet.

Apparently he's not the only one who enjoys the comforts of Earth living. That dude looks mighty familiar. Ian's gonna go stand directly in his sunlight and make things really weird really quick.]

Hey.

[raced_god]

[It takes Falcon a good long moment to realize that someone. SOMEONE. Is blocking his sun. This is an unforgivable offense and he's gonna give this Rudey McRuderson what for just as soon as he finishes this sip of beer.

He does not get to finish his sip of beer because he looks up over his little reflector board and sees that it's Ian Malkovich, and not a spooky ghost Ian Malkovich. The real one. Maybe. Who even knows.

Perhaps, in another world than this, Falcon would have said something coherent. Instead, he chokes on his beer and manages to almost spit it out all over himself. Almost. It's very graceful.]

[redshirted]

[Ian had thought maybe his vague memories of this place were totally imagined or a dream, but that's certainly a telling reaction. He can't help but smile at the startled reaction he causes.]

Woah. You alright there, bud?

[Ian helpfully offers a firm smack on Falcon's back to dislodge anything he may have been choking on, confirming that, yes, this Ian is very corporeal.]

[raced_god]

[GOD DAMN IT not a ghost. Falcon isn't a stranger to the dead not staying dead, but it's not necessarily something he wants to deal with today. It takes a few more seconds of coughing (and rolling his shoulders to sort of indicate that Ian should PROBABLY NOT TOUCH HIM EVER), but soon enough he's actually breathing again.]

Yeah. Yeah, I'm good.

[One more cough for good measure and he drags the back of his hand across his mouth.]

You're, uh. Not a ghost this time.

[redshirted]

[Ian laughs. He also takes the cue to not touch Falcon again, but still annoyingly invades his personal space by bracing the lawn chair with both hands and sort of leaning on it.]

Nah, my body came with this time.

[Because he still is sort of technically postmortem, and he supposes that does qualify him as a ghost in some regard but really that's all details he can't be too concerned about.]

[raced_god]

[There are a lot of things that Falcon can ask, ranging from "when did you end up at the school not a ghost", to "is your brother here god I hope your brother's not here". Instead, he opts to not say anything--at least not before he sits back in his chair, digs around the ice in the cooler for a moment, and holds a beer out to Ian.]

Do you want me to call...Samus...

[Samus will know what to do.]

[redshirted]

[Ian graciously takes that beer, moving out of Falcon's sun to unceremoniously plop himself on the ground. He takes a surprising amount of time to respond. His experiences since his last visit here has given him much needed clarity into the reactions of both Samus and his brother when he was in spooky ghost form. Truthfully, between the two of them, he'd much rather talk to his brother first if nothing else than he's more familiar than this Samus, light-years away from the teenager he used to tease. Ian knows she's more immediately available to explain things, but he still has to ask...]

Yeah, I mean if Adam's not around... He's not, is he?

[Super awkward, but at least Ian knows that as indicated by the hesitance in his voice and the way he rubs his neck when he asks. Ian was sharp enough to realize Falcon was not very keen on the older Malkovich's attitude.]

[raced_god]

If he is, I haven't seen him.

[His sentiment that he'd rather not have either Malkovich goes unsaid, but he supposes if they have to start returning from the dead, he'd rather have Ian.]

When did you get here?

[redshirted]

[Ian can't hide the fact that he's a little bit disappointed at that fact (though he does try to mask the small frown with a swig of the beer). He shrugs again, partly to try and convince Falcon that it doesn't matter that Adam isn't here yet and partly to try and convince himself that not all hope is lost. For all they both know, Adam could have also just arrived and is already pouring over a new desk and new faculty paperwork, right? Right.]

Uh, not to long ago. I met the headmaster-- [Ian thumbs back at a building where he came from.] --Which was, uh, interesting.

[raced_god]

[Don't mind Falcon, just sending a little text message to Samus and then placing his phone aside.]

He's literally a hand, yeah.

[And it's kind of sad that Master Hand isn't the weirdest thing at the school, but he's pretty sure Ian knows that already.]

It's best not to think about it.

[redshirted]

[Ian very conveniently does not see Falcon text Samus which is good because he's not entirely sure what to say to her now that she is Very Much An Adult and not the same stubborn teenager he used to try and flirt with try and pal around with.

But he is content to not really think about that for very long. He tries to initiate some friendlier conversation with Falcon.]

Well, he gave me a job. Just doing maintenance around the school.

[It's no SPACE SHIP ENGINEERING but that can be a hobby for now. What this does mean is that Ian is going to stick around for at least awhile. This is probably Falcon's best day ever.]

[raced_god]

Handyman. Nice.

[He can get right to work fixing collapsed walls.]

This place is pretty primitive, though. If you haven't figured that out already.

[redshirted]

I've noticed. The cars have wheels!

[raced_god]

[Falcon freezes for a hot minute, like he's trying very hard not to look excited. Ian just said the magic words.

But no. He has to play it cool, so he leans back into his lawn chair.]

My car does not have wheels.

[redshirted]

[Ian has ZERO QUALMS about looking enthusiastic at the reveal of this piece of knowledge. He immediately perks up more, shifting to actually face Falcon. As a teenage boy who literally spends 98% of his time thinking about engines and drive units and things that go fast in space he is probably at least somewhat interested in hover cars (That's not to say he doesn't have an appreciation for classic vehicles, but come on. Wheels are so impractical!).

And at least if he was gonna die and then be transported through time and space to a place where he had absolutely no chance of being with Samus Aran, at least her boyfriend didn't drive a car with wheels.]

I had my eye on this fixer-upper hover car for once I got stationed somewhere more permanent. I started buying parts for it and everything...

[The excitement in his voice is borderline contagious.]

Well, until I ran out of room in my storage locker. Space is sort of at a premium on the Stations.

[raced_god]

[LITTLE DOES IAN KNOW that these are all of the magic words. Cars are, quite literally, Falcon's life. He doesn't quite betray as much emotion as Ian does, because that's just how he rolls, but he's very clearly more invested in the conversation than he was just a few moments ago.

Given the chance to brag about and/or show off his car, Falcon will always, always take it.

HE HAD NO IDEA IAN LIKED CARS]

Really? Custom?

[redshirted]

[All the magic words. Ian is really too busy nerding out over cars to really notice Falcon being more invested in this conversation, but the fact that this is a good thing that he's not being outright rude or antagonistic to him registers on some level. Especially considering they'll probably be seeing a lot more of each other...]

Of course, no other way to do it.

[There were many a late night when there was perhaps inappropriate use of Galactic Federation tools and equipment to do some unauthorized personal improvements on the aforementioned car parts...]

What do you drive?

[icequeen_aran]

[As soon as she got the text she's on her bike and roaring through the forest towards the academy. In very short time Samus glides to a stop in the quad itself (screw the rules) on another semi-relevant conversation piece--her long term favorite pet project since crash landing here so many years ago. While it does have wheels and while Samus does occasionally use them for the simple thrill of it, she is also very much on on team "primitive 20th century tech is suffering" and the bike is hovering and maybe is bedazzled with glowing lights on the bottom (no small thanks to Falcon).

She sort of just fixes the boys with a good long back and forth stare. Ian is definitely here. He isn't incorporeal. He's alive. She liked to think Halloween had prepared her well enough for this possibility--or more like she had long since become so jaded through all of Smash Academy's Smash Academyness that this didn't come as some incomprehensible surprise.

No. What surprised her was that the two boys appeared to be getting along. Maybe they were talking about cars.]

...Ian.

[Hi. Ian. Hello. You're not dead.]

[redshirted]

[There Ian was. Very not dead and talking about cars.

Of course as interesting as he finds cars Samus is moderately more important than cars at least for right now, so Ian is alright with pausing that conversation. He looks over his shoulder. His grin is already pretty large from the conversation, and it actually falls slightly when he sees her. She was real. She was really real and very much old an adult and somewhere deep down that's very strange and kind of disappointing for the young Malkovich.

But he does his best not to dwell because this is just as strange if not stranger for her so he's quick to get up, offer one of his biggest smiles and then give her a giant BEAR HUG.]

Hey!

[raced_god]

[They were totally talking about cars--in fact, Falcon is about to invite Ian over to see the Blue Falcon, but then Samus shows up and Ian is hugging her. It seems almost unnatural, but he supposes he's going to feel awkward about a lot of things, very soon.]

We were just, uh. Talking cars.

[They sure were.]

[icequeen_aran]

[It is definitely very strange for her on multiple levels. Looking at Ian was almost looking into a time capsule, no less chipper and warm as he was the day he...

It probably wouldn't come as a surprise to the younger Malkovich that she stiffens and doesn't return the hug immediately. She was much older now, many years jaded and further hardened compared to her Federation days. Maybe not so much terribly older looking physically--she might consider her Chozo DNA both a blessing and a curse in that regard--but her experiences have worn on her without a doubt. The skin around her eyes was a little sharper and more chiseled, the bags under her eyes threatened to get a little darker each passing year, and nicks, cuts, and scars peppered her body that individually weren't worth a mention (sans perhaps one or two Smash Academy acquired ones) but still added to the collective whole.

Standing flush with him feels all at once like such a stark contrast, yet it also doesn't. He was the same old Ian, and now she knew she had a unique opportunity to appreciate him in a new light.]

Oh, is that all?

[Carefully she gives him a strong shoulder pat, probably the closest thing she'd come to a hug, before she separates herself from him and gets a good look. It's hard not to at least smirk. He was always contagious like that.]

I guess I should leave you two alone then.

[redshirted]

[No, he's not surprised at all at the stiffening. Not even years could change Samus Aran that much. He squeezes her shoulder as they separate, his next question chasing the storm cloud of heavy conversation hanging over them far away.]

No, that's a pretty nice set up you've got there.

[He doesn't really want Samus to go, which is maybe selfish, but she's the only familiar thing in this new stage of life (if he could call it life?). There are also a lot of Big Things he needs to ask but this is not really the time or place to do so. He is pretty happy to leave that alone for now and talk cars.]

[icequeen_aran]

[They can talk cars. They can talk about whatever he likes, because Samus is fully aware she has a special and rare opportunity to do so now. She'd be a fool to not take advantage of it, knowing he could disappear again the next day. Such was the nature of this place. For that same reason she couldn't bring herself to get too optimistic or attached to the idea, but she could live in the here and now, especially for Ian who was an expert at that already.]

It's a pet project. [She vaguely gestures to the bike.] A little more practical than my ship for local navigation. I take it you don't have anything of your own here, do you?

[raced_god]

[Falcon almost busts in with how he helped, but stops himself before he can open his mouth. This is a very important reunion--if anything, he should be the one offering to leave. Instead, he sort of thumbs in the direction of the school.]

You can use the autoshop, if you want.

[Look. Look at him trying to be nice, Samus.]

[redshirted]

[Ian's eyebrows go up. It's not hard to tell how nice Falcon is being compared to their last encounter, but it's overshadowed by cars yessss cars so Ian figures maybe he was just having a bad day on Halloween or something.]

Yeah! Guess I can finally start working on something now that I've got time.

[And not, you know, actively enlisted in the military. What a weird concept. Guess this is the "stationed somewhere more permanent" he always kind of wanted?]