The only noise in the room was the hockey game that was on the television. The living room was practically empty, and despite the fact that it was a Friday night and the children were on spring break, no one dared enter the room. Hockey night though, no matter what, meant that Logan had the biggest television available, and since most of the children didn’t practically like spending time with him, they left the room alone. Rogue was with him though, had joined him in his hockey nights since they started a week after Jean’s death.

After about two months of their hockey nights, while Ororo was looking for a relatively quiet place to herself, did Logan call her into the room. She’s been pacing about the institute for a week in hopes to find a corner where she could remain undisturbed. Logan of course had notice, had heard the light thread of her feet as she paced the noisy halls, and listened to her sighs of frustrations, and he couldn’t ignore the patience of her voice when she spoke to her students. She was always patient, no matter how tired she was.

So he called her in as he passed the door, and ignored the curious look Rogue gave him. He glanced at her, offered her a smile, and brought his beer to his lips. She huffed, and leaned back up against him, pulling the light blanket around it. It wasn’t cold, but Logan’s learn that Marie preferred the blanket. He chalked it up as a comfort habit. Since he took up a majority of the couch with Rogue lying across the rest, Ororo took the recliner closest to the window.

The hockey game continued, and Ororo stayed silent as her eyes focused on her lesson plan. Logan would often comment about a play, and Rogue who only understood the game because of Logan, followed along silently. It grew late, and after pressed a tired kiss against his stubble cheek, Rogue headed up for bed.

Commercial eventually came, and Logan turned his attention to the weather witch. He’s felt her eyes on him for the past thirty minutes, and after quirking a curious eyebrow at her, did Ororo finally speak.

“Tell me something no one else knows.”

He blinked, because that wasn’t what he was expecting, and he wasn’t sure how to answer that exactly. He hadn’t really spoken to Ororo on an one-on-one bases. Most of his interactions had been with either Jean or Rogue, and Chuck. Granted, since Jean’s death, they’ve spoken more, but it was never on a deeply personal level.

But still, she never gave him a reason to not trust her.

Just like she never gave him a reason to trust her.

For whatever reason, Logan decided to trust her. After all, it wasn’t like she was asking for an earth shattering secret. Ororo just wanted to know something that no one else knew. And he could give her that, couldn’t he?

“I was never in love with Jean.” He wasn’t sure why that was the secret he had decided to tell her, but in the end, Logan didn’t care. He had grown to care for Jean, and perhaps he had loved in the way that Ororo loved Scott? He hadn’t dwelled on his feelings long enough to figure out exactly how he felt for Jean, but he knew that he didn’t love her.

Logan tore his eyes away from Ororo, and stared at the carpet, eyebrows drawn together. “She had reminded me of someone. I just… I can’t remember who.”

He was a thousand miles away, and Ororo watched him as he looked back onto his forgotten past. After a few quiet seconds, his dark eyes found hers once more. She hadn’t expected him to open up like that, hadn’t thought he would let her into a glimpse of his forgotten past. She offered him a tentative smile, because she wanted him to know that she wasn’t about to go shouting it from the roof tops, that his secret would be save with her.

But he had played a long, and told her a secret, so now it was her turn. “When the professor brought me here, I had a crush on Scott. He was completely smitten with Jean, so I let that go.”

His loud laughter filled the average sized room, and the kids that were talking past the entrance peeked inside before scattering. Ororo wasn’t sure if she’s ever heard Logan laugh that loudly, and neither have the students, which might have been why the few students that were awake scattered. She reached for a throw pillow, and tossed it directly at Logan’s head. He deflected it of course, and despite her embarrassment at being laughed at, she grinned, because it was so good to hear Logan laugh. He looked so much younger

“I was young and foolish. You cannot blame a girl for being intrigued by an American man.”

“Yeah, I can.”

He handed expected to hear that from Ororo, but if he thought about it, he couldn’t say he was completely surprised. She had made a point, she had been new to America, and Scott may have been attractive to her. He was foreign, and new in a way that Ororo was attractive. Ororo was prettier than Scott though, but he wasn’t about to point that out.

She had a pretty smile, her eyes scrunched up and her teeth showed. It lit up her entire face. Logan wondered why he hadn’t really spoken to her before. It was surprisingly easy. The game ended without his knowledge, and he watched Ororo stand up.

“Runnin’ away?”

She glanced at him, pausing on her way out of the room to stand next to the couch he sat on. “No. Only going to bed. It is my turn to make breakfast tomorrow. Have a goodnight Logan.”

He followed the smell of eggs, bacon, sausage and coffee out of his bedroom, down the long hall and down the staircase. The main floor was loud, filled with students laughing and chatting and Logan cringed. He should have stayed in his room and waited it out, but Ororo had said she was making breakfast, and she made the best eggs. Kitty ran through him, before spinning around and apologized and he reasoned that he’d make her pay later in the danger room. Being phased through will always be an uncomfortable experience. Of course, he liked Kitty well enough, she was an excellent student, so he probably wouldn’t work her too hard during practice, but for the meantime, it was a nice thought.

He stepped into the kitchen to find Ororo still over the stove, and he was just now able to pick up the send of pancakes. Rogue, Kitty, Jubilation, Bobby and Piotr were already at the table, and from the noise he figured that the other children had taken their plates to the other dinning room. The other dinning room was large, but the younger kids preferred it over this one. They weren’t under the watchful eye of a professor. With another quick glance he decided that Chuck was probably in his office.

The room didn’t quiet down as he entered, most like due to the fact that the older children were used to him. They trained with him after all. The kids, because that’s what he still considered Rogue and her friends to be, greeted him, and he growled at the nickname Jubilee had come up for him. Wolvie. He was going to have her run an extra mile later. Regardless though, he grunted a morning in reply and moved towards the counter, where he reached for a mug and poured himself a mug of coffee.

Ororo turned her head to catch his eye and flashed him a smile in greeting. The weather witch continued making pancakes as Logan grabbed his mug of hot coffee and took a seat at the table with the kids. They spoke around him, and Logan was perfectly fine with that as he reached for the morning paper and started reading it. A couple moments later, Ororo sat down beside him, sneaking a plate in front of him filled with eggs, bacon and a couple of pancakes. He lowered the paper and peered curiously at Storm.

“I thought you might be hungry,” she explained with a mega-watt smile.

“Ororo’s the biggest motherhen ya’ll ever met, Wolvie,” Jubilee quipped from across the table before she shoveled a spoonful of scrambled eggs into her mouth.

Kitty nodded her head in agreement before she offered Ororo one of her bigger smiles. “She’s been taking care of me since I came here. She’d like a second mother.”

Ororo flashed the same wide smile she had offered Logan towards her students. Ororo was never a fan of compliments. Most of these children didn’t have a mother, Bobby’s mother had turned her back on him not to recently. The weather witch herself didn’t grow up with a mother, do she did her best to be there for her students.

Ororo went to change the subject, and asked her students what they were planning on doing for the rest of the day, and they all shared a passing look between them. The all shrugged and in perfect unison, said ‘nothing’. Automatically curious, because her students save for Rogue and Jubilee, weren’t the best of liars. So she hummed, and after finishing a bite of her pancake, she focused on Kitty.

"Kitten, what are you doing today?"

"Nothing Ororo. We’re just hanging out. Doing girl stuff," the tiny brunette answered quickly.

"And it’s tiahme we sta’t that now," Rogue added. “Gotta lot a’ movies to watch."

Ororo noticed that her southern accent thickened when she was lying, but didn’t have a chance to say anything. Kitty grabbed Rogues shoulder and Jubilee’s arm before she phased through the chairs and down the floor, dragging both girls with her. Bobby and Piotr looked shared an uncomfortable look.

"What the hell is going on?" Logan demanded beside her. It was one thing to see Kitty and Jubilee act strange, but it was something completely different when Rogue joined in.
Ororo ignores Logan, instead she glanced at the pile of dishes before looking back at Bobby and Piotr. “Who’s turn was it to do the dishes?"

"It’s prank week, Ororo, could you cover us?" Bobby asked. Which meant that it wasn’t their turn, and they didn’t want to do it for someone else.

"Go and protect yourself."

She hadn’t even finished speaking before they were both up and leaving the kitchen.

"The hell is prank week?" Logan asked her, looking surprisingly curiously. Ororo wouldn’t be ashamed to admit that she was delight to find out she can make him react with something other than anger. Mister Cranky Pants wasn’t so Cranky. Oh goddess, Jubilations nicknames were really catching on.

"Years ago, the students here used to disrupt the school with their pranks, so it was decided to give them a week during school break where the senior class are allowed to pull these pranks on each other. For waiting all year, prank week is punishment free. It’s Jubilations favorite week right next to the week after Christmas where everything is on sale."

"Ya unleashed hell, Ororo." Logan said as he stood up and moved his plate to the sink before moving to leave the kitchen.

"Oh no, Logan! You’re helping me!" She called after him.

He paused in the door way and gave her a curious look. The children got off the hook just like that, and she was attempting to snag him in their place? Was she nuts? He could understand washing his own dishes, but he had things to do. Danger Room sessions to plan, sulking to do, kids to scare, a motorcycle to work on. “No.”

“Why?”

“I don’t do domestic chores.”

She tossed him the dish towel and moved to stand in front of the sink. “Do not look at this as a domestic chore. Look at this as you helping,” she stated as she started the water and will the tap warmed up, Ororo moved around the kitchen to collect the plates to move them towards the sink. The younger kids, they had their own chore lists, and their own dish room to clean them in, so Ororo wasn’t worried about those. She just needed to do the staff’s dishes.

Begrudgingly, Logan moved back into the kitchen and took his place next to Ororo, and as she washed the dishes, he dried them and piled then on the counter to put them away later. Working besides Ororo was easy, and he didn’t feel pressured to fill the silence with meaningless words. The worked like that for a couple minutes before his head jerked up and he turned his attention towards the entrance as Scott stepped in.

“Ororo, would you be able to take care of the food order for me?” He asked, looking malnourished and exhausted.

“Of course. Should I put aside a plate of dinner for you?” Ororo asked, turning her body to face her oldest friend. Concern wrinkled the corners of her eyes, and Logan noted the way her voice changed, lowered with affection rather than concern when she spoke to Scott.

“No. I don’t know when I’ll be back, thank you though.”

And with that, Scott was gone and Ororo started washing the dishes again. Logan reached to turn the tap off and turned dark eyes on her. She met his stare with a cool gaze, eyebrow raised in curiosity.

“Why do ya let me get away with doin’ nothing?” He asked, and he found himself generally curious. He had already been able to witness Ororo’s mother henning those around her, but Scott? He needed to movie on.

“Because he mourns. After loving someone for so long, it takes a while to get over that, Logan. Jean and Scott, you did not see them as I saw them. With the mental link, they were one person. Scott, in a sense, is also dead.”

Logan grunted, because he could understand loving someone, but he wasn’t sure if that was worth it. He wasn’t even sure if he had experienced that kind of love. “Ever been in love like that?” The words tumbled out of his mouth without him even noticing, and he caught the surprised look at moved across Ororo’s open features. He was sure he looked just as surprised.

“Once, I thought I was. I do not think many experience that kind of love,” Ororo answered him after a moment. She seemed to have needed a couple seconds to decide on her answer, but she wasn’t lying. For her, it was always a matter of wording.

“Y’all find that kinda love. Yer too sexy not ta.” Again, the words just seemed to fall out of his mouth. But Ororo didn’t look angry, instead, she flashed him a smile, and turned on the faucet to start the dishes again.

“Have you ever been in love?”

“Once, but she died a long, long time ago.”

And again, they lapsed into a calm silence as Ororo washed the dishes and Logan dried them. After answering, Logan traveled back into a time he could barely remember. But the small of jasmine and lilies were strong in his memory, and so were gentle hands and quiet whispers. Ororo having sensed that Logan was back in his past let him to his thoughts as they worked together. When the dishes were done, after the both put them away, they went their separate ways without saying a thing.

He hadn’t realized he was seeking her out until he spotted a pair of sandals outside of the greenhouse. He wasn’t even sure what he was doing, if he was being completely honest with himself. Talking with her was easy, she never once pressured him. Ororo only expected him to be honest, and for each secret she shared, he should share his own. They were conditions that he could live with. His guard was down when he was around her, and though he didn’t exactly like that, he couldn’t stop himself from talking to her. She radiated strength and a gentle calm, but underneath that, there was something more, something he couldn’t exactly put his finger on, and it was that something that prevented him from staying away.

So, he stuffed his hands into his pockets, and made his way closer to the greenhouse. He wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing out here. The wind nipped at his skin, and he pulled his leather jacket tighter around his broad frame. Snow crunched under his boots, and he wondered what could exactly grow in the winter.

And what the hell was she doing with her shoes off?

He reached up to remove his cigar from the breast pocket of his flannel, but that better of it. She’d probably make him put it out; so instead, Logan moved his hand back into the pocket and stepped into the greenhouse. With dark eyes, he watched her dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a pink colored t-shirt. Ororo was standing over a wooden table with her back facing him, and he couldn’t exactly see what she was doing. The room reeked of soil, the sweet scent of her flowers, and the unique scent of rain that he’s come to recognize as her.

“Logan,” her voice broke through the silence, and Ororo turned to look at him from over her shoulder. She had always been able to sense him, to just know when his eyes were on her. The weather witch couldn’t explain it, she didn’t have the words to explain it, but somehow she always knew when he was there. She smiled at him now, and was thrilled to see that he quirked the corners of his own mouth in return at her. “Hello.”

“’Roro,” he greeted her, and stepped further into the room. He observed her dirt covered feet and hands, and didn’t comment on the smudge she had on her right cheek bone. With silent steps, he moved different sized pots, and bags of soil and fertilizers to stand on the other side of the table. He was still getting used to her ability to be able to sense him. It was strange, really, because no one has been so aware of his presence like she was. At first, Logan hasn’t noticed it, hadn’t noticed her slight shift in stance so that her body faced his, or either inched closer or further away from him. He didn’t start noticing until before the mess with Stryker and Jean’s death. No, Logan hasn’t noticed until he came back from his trip.

"Rogue’s birthday is comin’ up. I have no idea what ta get her," he said after a moment. After watching her move plants from one pot into a larger one, he wordlessly started helping her.

"Ah yes. Jubilation and Kitty have been planning it for month. According to Jubilee, the eighteenth birthday is just as important as the twenty-first," Ororo said and reached across the table to help Logan steady a plant as he added some more soil. “I have a feeling that you could give Rogue a shoelace and as long as there went some thought behind it, she would be happy."

Logan grunted, because that honestly wasn’t helpful. He couldn’t remember the last time he bought someone a gift, and since it was Marie it’s that much harder. “Ya ain’t helpin’, ‘Ro."

"I know," she caught his eye and grinned cheekily at him before continuing her work. “I suggest you spend some time with her, take her to dinner or a movie. Nothing too extravagant, she won’t appreciate it unless you are also enjoying yourself. If you would like to buy her something, get her something that you would thing she would like, or something that you want her to have."

With that in mind for Logan, the two fell into a moment of silence. He thought of the options he had for Marie’s birthday as they took care of the plants. Within twenty minutes, they were finished, and Ororo moved the potted plants to the ground before sitting up on the table. Logan stood for a second, because he should leave, should figure out what to do with Marie, but instead he sat on the table next to Storm. She only lifted a curious eyebrow at him but looked pleasantly surprised regardless.

"Tell me about the guy ya thought ya loved."

Ororo was surprised, because Logan usually didn’t pry into her personal life. But with the way their conversations have been lately, she shouldn’t be that surprised. But he sounded genuine, as if he was actually curious. Ororo would answer him, honestly of course, because that was her silent bargain. As long as Logan let her in, told her about his life, she will always do the same. Sometimes it takes years to build trust, but Ororo was willing to trust Logan with her life within a day. The stories, the secrets, it was just to reaffirm that trust, to put a sort of friendship with that trust.

"His name was T’Challa-"

"As in the Black Panther?"

"Yes."

He whistled, and shook his head, the look of impressed disbelief clear as day on his face. “Jesus."
She gave him a sharp look, the same one she gave her students when they interrupted her. He flashed her a wolfish grin, and Ororo continued.

"He saved my life. I was being haunted for my abilities. They wanted to control me in order to, essentially, control the world. I was hit with a tranquilizer, and he - he saved me from being captured. I was brought back to my teacher, and the rest of the orphans, and T’Challa stayed. We fell in love, quickly and completely. T’Challa and I left, he had to continue his walkabout, and invited me with him. I was still being haunted though, and eventually, they caught up with me. It was an awful mess, but T’Challa and I got out of it. I continued to travel with him, and I fell more and more in love. In the five years that we traveled together, I met so many wonderful people, saw so many glorious places. I learned a lot." She paused her, coming back from her past. At some point, she had looked away at Logan. Her eyes had focused on some sunflowers in the corner while her mind brought her back to her childhood. Now, she was looking at Logan now though, and she didn’t hide the pain she felt. It’s been over ten years, but it still hurts. “All good things end. I was a distraction, and I kept him away from his duties as a king, so we ended things."

There was a moment of silence, and Logan wrapped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer. The gesture surprised her, but it was a comfort nonetheless. Ororo rested her head on his shoulder, and blue eyes returned to the sunflowers.

"The man is a fuckin’ idiot," Logan grumbled from above her, and she grinned, because it wasn’t the first time she’s heard someone call T’Challa an idiot.

"He was a good man."

"Ain’t a smart man if he let ya go."

"Can you say that you would have done differently if you had a country to rule?"

"I woulda married ya. If ya can deal with my shit fer five years, I’m not lettin’ ya go." Logan answered easily as if of was the most obvious solution in the world, and it was for him. He didn’t get along with many people, couldn’t stand a majority of the people he knew. The kids are fine, he liked Marie and her friends, Ororo was beginning to turn into a friend, and he doesn’t use that term loosely. The professor was decent, Scott was meh. Anyone outside of these walls though, he can’t stand.

But to travel and spend five years with just one person, that is commitment. He didn’t know Ororo well, but she took care of everyone around her, she was honest, and from what he could gather, incredibly loyal. She was also sexy as hell, so anyone that gave her up because she was a distraction was a fucking idiot.
She twisted from under his arm, and Logan suddenly felt her lips brush against his cheek. Even under his stubble, he could tell she had soft lips. She murmured a quiet thank you. He tightened his arm around her shoulder. “Yer welcome."