The X-Project

Jamie and Illyana watch Star Wars on Wednesday night and discuss amusing childhood memories.

The credits rolled, and the closing music played; Illyana Rasputin was leaning forward, sporting a half-bemused, half-amused expression. "So -- that was the way to avoid certain death at the hands of a planet-destroying space station?" she asked, glancing over at her compansion and gesturing vaguely at the screen.

Jamie grinned. "Yep. You blow it up. But you lose style points if you don't turn off your targeting computer."

"Of course," she said dryly, smiling. "It wouldn't be heroic otherwise."

"Darn right." Jamie stretched. "I still say he got lucky, though. Force or no Force, that kid was whiny."

Illyana laughed, shifting back to face Jamie instead of the television. "I noticed. Competence, not always a saving grace." She made a face. "At least he had the good sense to blow important space stations up in his spare time, I suppose."

"This is true. And he gets less whiny in the other two movies. Well, the third one, anyway. So what'd you think overall?"

Illyana looked thoughtful. "I thought it was interesting -- entertaining, certainly. That Han Solo fellow was quite amusing." She paused, grinned for a moment. "The fighting was good. I liked their -- the swords, made of light, I think."

"Lightsabers are the coolest things ever." Jamie nodded. "The fight scenes are better in the new ones, I have to say--about the only things that are, but . . ." He snickered. "Not hard to top a sixty-year-old fighting a guy in a stiff rubber costume. I always crack up when Obi-Wan does that arthritic spin in place."

"Lightsabers, right. They were the best part." She grinned to herself a bit, and added dryly, "The elderly usually do find better ways to fight than that. At least, if they want to live to be even older."

"Which, if you think about it, he didn't right then, so good point. Pretty cool for an old guy, anyway, creaky or not." He grinned suddenly. "So, Leia: Han or Luke? Kitty had it easy, anyway, she didn't have to choose between the heroic farmboy and the lovable rogue."

"There being an extreme shortage of the lovable rogues here, of course," Illyana said, mildly teasing. "But -- I choose Luke, because although he's quite the whinger, at least he's a bit dependable. Won't go sodding off in his spaceship with the money, even if he does come back for the heroic bits later on."

"Got our share of farmboys, too, around here. Well, me, Sam, and Piotr, anyway." He raised an eyebrow challengingly. "Wanna see if your theory holds up? Two movies yet."

"Piotr's less a farmboy than I am now," she laughed. She grinned at him. "You're on."

Jamie snorted as he ejected the tape. "Good point. We may have to revoke his credentials. It's the suits, I think. S'why I don't wear 'em. Stick a guy in a tailored suit for too long, and weird things start to happen."

"The suits, yes, and also realising that there are far more habitable places than rural Siberia," she said wryly. "Although, as professions go, he wasn't unsuited for farming. Saved me from tractors and things when I was little -- an obvious first step into wearing leather and battling evil, I think."

"Heh. Kansas at least _has_ summer, yeah . . . needed to be saved from tractors a lot, then, did you?"

"I had this habit of playing dolls in front of them when they were moving. It was my mother's favourite story -- how clumsy Piotr wrecked the family tractor saving my life. She told it about thirty million times."

"Probably trying to embarrass you out of the whole 'play dolls in front of dangerous farm equipment' phase." He grinned. "My mom's favorite story about when I was little is, I think the one about how she took her eyes off me for one minute in my brand new church clothes and I managed to get my hands on a full bottle of lotion." He paused theatrically. "Well, it started full, anyway."

She laughed quietly. "I take it your church clothes took quite a beating?" she asked.

Jamie nodded, still grinning. "But I had really soft skin." He popped the next tape in and hit Play.