The mansion at night was near enough the only time he ever liked the place. No noise, no crowds, no rush of students screaming at each other, sneakily using whatever powers they had on hand the second the teachers weren’t watching.
He rarely saw life so late at night here. A few times he had ran into the new mutant, Kurt, or was it Nightcrawler, he wasn’t sure. That one gave him an unusual feeling of wariness, reminded him too much of Mystique. But the guy was nice enough, hard to be nasty to without good reason, so he didn’t bother him as long as it went both ways.
His rough bare feet slapped down onto a hard wooden floor hallway that would eventually lead him to the kitchen in passing the rec room first. Every night that he had taken this route to the kitchen without fail was the same kid, in the rec room, flicking through the television channels with literally a blink of the eyes. It was one of the few sights of late that still made him smile.
The poorly lit hallway cast long enigmatic shadows of him, passing them across the wall to mimic his every move. His shadow reached the rec room long before his body did and instantly alerted her to his presence.
Her deep blue eyes stayed fixed on the television screen, watching closely what was in front of her as she sat next to the child who changed the channel on her command.
Slapping footsteps echoed in her ears before the shadow that had danced on the wall in front of her came to a stop.
“Hey kid.”
“Hey.”
The little boy nodded but stayed transfixed to the screen. Logan’s eyes came to rest on her.
“Hey.”
She nodded but no more. He lent in to see what had her so intent in watching the television. The sight was ironic in itself alone.
“So, you’re watchin’ the weather channel.”
He allowed himself a small, slightly amused smile.
“It would appear so.” Her voice was near toneless, giving away nothing of her mood or state of mind.
“Why?”
There was a short silence before her blue eyes slid off the screen and her face turned to confront him.
“Because I like to make a mockery of their stupid satellite forecasts on a force they could never hope to understand, let alone think they can predict.”
Logan stared. “Fair enough.”
He could almost swear to it that he saw something of a daring glint in her ever-calm blue eyes before they turned away from him. Either it had something to do with the weather reporter cheerily determining sun for the next few days or simply it was he. He lent heavily on guessing the latter.
His only condolence for this was that she wasn’t on the roof. At the same time though her being down here meant she was again starving her body of any real rest.
“Goin’ to the kitchen for a drink, want anything?”
Again he was made to stand in silence for a few seconds. Then both suddenly and surprisingly she got up.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll join you.”
He raised a dark eyebrow to portray his surprise but shrugged casually.
“Sure, if you want ma company for the night.”
She gave the boy a small nod and he blinked, changing the channel to a nature show about rats.
Logan stared queerly at the screen for a few seconds before turning to walk out the door with Ororo, watching her closely as she went. Her simple white silk robe rippled as she walked, hugging her tall elegant figure neatly and also complimenting her short silver streaked white hair. She turned when he did not come behind.
“Are you coming or are you going to stare all night?”
He snapped back to his senses and as he did he could honestly say he saw that daring glint in both eyes as well as a small flicker of a smile.
He grunted then moved on with her to tread the short distance to the kitchen.
It was as dim in here as it was out in the corridor but neither made an attempt to switch on another light.
He went to reach for the cupboard where he hid his beers then stopped, not quiet sure what she would say, or more worryingly do, if she saw him with a six pack.
He turned to see her staring at him, with a can of beer in her hand.
“Where’d you get that?”
She smiled teasingly looking down at the can in interest then at him.
“When will you stop believing that you and only you can sneak up on people perfectly without the body in question noticing? I have on more than a few occasions watched you sneak in beer to the school Logan. I have watched from yards away as you do so.”
With one slim finger she took the pull ring in her grip and tugged, letting the can fizz before she took a drink from it.
He watched all of this questionably, not bothering to hide the surprise from his face and eyes.
“What?”
He shook his head. “Nothin’. Just wonderin’ how I didn’t even smell you when you were pulling your stealth thing on me.”
The small smile on her face turned as daring as the glint in her eyes. She took another drink before giving him an explanation of sorts.
“A thief always knows where to place herself to make sure she is as invisible as is humanly possible. You are no exception when hiding from, just more of a…challenge.”
He wasn’t sure whether to laugh or take that seriously.
“A thief?”
She nodded. “A thief.”
“Okay… A thief who likes to steal a Canadian man’s beer? Your bold as well, I’ll give you that.”
She stared down at the hole on top of the can as if growing bored with the conversation and finding the brown liquid inside much more amusing.
“I would steal the visor from Scott’s face if I fancied a little humour. I felt maybe a can or two of your beer was in order for myself.”
Logan raised an eyebrow, again. “Anything else I should know?”
She shook her head. “I’m not really in the mood for sharing my life stories right now. A thief is all you need to know for the moment.”
Finally after giving her another unsure glance he reached for a beer himself that was stored in one of the higher cupboards near the back corner.
“That an’ you like beer.”
This time she laughed.
“Actually, no I don’t.”
She poured the rest of the can’s contents down the sink then watched with unblinking eyes as he frowned at her in growing annoyance.
“Now you’re just pissin’.”
“Perhaps.”
Moodily he took his beer, opened it and downed it in one, reaching moodily for another after he had done all that. He didn’t like people messing with him, no matter the joke or taunt.
This only satisfied her.
“What you playin’ at tonight then ‘Ro? It’s a dangerous game whatever it is.”
Her grin turned somewhat darker. Ever since the death of Jean, of her closest friend, she had changed. She had a tendency to throw caution to the wind and hold herself and her emotions much less tightly. Basically, she hardly cared much anymore for herself or pretty much anyone else around her. At that moment in time it suited her fine.
But it was worrying Scott and Charles. It was annoying Logan.
He wanted to help; he wanted to get to know her a little more, maybe be somewhat of a friend to her. But if she played about like this he would either be giving up soon or loosing his temper with her. The thing about that was it seemed to be what she wanted.
He drank half his other beer, watching her carefully, studying her face as she stood choosing her next words carefully.
“I don’t play games very often Logan. And what could you do to stop me even if I was to wined you up, punch me again?”
His eyes locked onto the still dark bruise that ran across her cheek and jaw line.
Scott had not been happy about that. Logan was beginning to see that Scott acted as some sort of an older over-protective brother to Storm. But maybe that was because he would not be able to stand the loss of someone so close to him again.
Putting down his beer on one of the reflective steel kitchen units he slowly walked over to her, growling.
“I wanna help, I wanna to be the good guy here Ororo, but there’s only so far one man’s patience can go. An’ mines just about reached the end of the line. You hear that?”
His response was a pair of narrowed white eyes.
“I hear fine Logan, but do you?”
She had stumped him. Then her head fell and her eyes lay on the ground at her feet as she uttered a miserable sigh.
“I’m hurting and I’m confused. I want to be left alone but at the same time I can’t stand the solitude. I want so desperately to sleep but the nightmares wont let me. I want to run but my mind is rooted to staying here. I want Jean back but she’s dead and I’m being told to move on from all angles when I’m not ready yet. Do you hear?”
Logan said nothing because shame had hit him. He knew near to nothing about this woman but thought he knew what was best for her. That last comment was aimed at him, that much he did know.
After a few minutes he moved forward, closer to her. One rough hand came to rest on her chin, tipping her head back up slowly and gently.
Her eyes were no longer white but blue and tear filled.
When both pairs met something passed through the gaze, what Logan could only think to be an understanding of sorts.
“Ah here ye ‘Ro.”
Neither thought about what they did next, it just happened.
He leant into her soft lips and embraced her cold slim body and she didn’t fight him off, just merged in with him. Her hands ran through his thick messy black hair and his crossed her back.
The kiss grew in passion as both sought a love denied to them for so long.
Then as his hands began to move down lower she pulled away sharply, taking a few steps back from him. Her face was ridden with guilt.
“No, no this is wrong. Not now, not when you… No, I can’t.”
She turned swiftly on her heals and he grabbed her forearm.
“Ororo, don’t.”
She shook him off reluctantly.
“Goodnight Logan.”
“Ororo—“
But she was gone, her long white robe whipping around the corner of the door as she left him standing in devastation.
Angrily he picked up the half empty beer can and crushed it in his hand, letting the newly formed sharp edges dig greedily into the palm of his hand. He watched with grim satisfaction as blood ran free, dripping onto his feet, then narrowed his eyes as the wounds healed themselves seconds after he unclenched his fist. With a mass of strength he threw the can at a wall, letting it fall into the sink below then watching as the beer passed away to follow down the pipes with the liquids Ororo had poured.
With it went his devastation to be replaced by a deep sense of self-loathing and hurt.
Minutes later Scott came in to be confronted by the sight of Logan standing over the sink, his back to the door.
He had smelt him coming in but never bothered to turn round and face him.
Scott had seen Ororo racing down the hallway, near to tears as she ran into the lounge and threw herself onto a plush red sofa finally allowing herself to cry into the arm of the chair.
Instead of going to her side though Scott had went to hunt down Logan.
There was an abrupt tapping on Logan’s shoulder and he turned to be dealt a fairly hefty punch across his jaw. Scott’s face was that of pure livid hatred.
“If you ever hurt her again, if you ever touch her, even lay a finger on her, then so help me I will kill you!”
Logan turned back slowly to face Scott, a low menacing growl filling the kitchen air.
He looked to be on the verge of throwing six adamantium claws in his face but through a heavy amount of strained self-control he didn’t. The growl only faded as he pushed past Scott out of the kitchen, saying nothing in response.
One thing Logan did know now, Scott meant every word of that threat.
