Unattractive

Rogue was cursed, truly and forever cursed. She was untouchable, but the loneliness she could deal with; if only she had loneliness. In a weirdly ironic twist of fate, everyone seemed to want her; the girl with the poison skin. The ultimate in wanting what you can't have. If only she could show all of them what it was like to want the Rogue, the dangers of it, but that would be impossible, so she would do the next best thing.

Rogue stood in front of the bathroom mirror, gathered her hair loosely in her hand, and hacked away mercilessly. When she was done, she took the razor to it, mangling it beyond repair. Going to her closet, she pulled out her clothes, a knee-length long-sleeved thick turtle-neck sweater and a pair of baggy overalls. She rolled a pair of knee-high socks on, and slid on her boots that came just as far. Her thick wool gloves came to her upper arms, and she threw on a scarf, both over and under her shirt. To finish off the effect, she added a large toque that covered most of her head, and large sunglasses.

When everyone saw her, you could have heard a pin drop in the room, Bobby walked over to her and pulled her aside. "Rogue, what are you doing?", he asked, looking around nervously. Rogue just shrugged and attempted to loop her thick arm through his. Bobby pulled away repulsed, and made some excuse to leave. Rogue smiled bitterly; exactly how she wanted it.

The style continued for days, weeks, months. She was actually happy when Bobby turned to Kitty, and she was left entirely alone. Who would want you when you looked like this, and that's exactly how she wanted it.

She ritualistically shredded and burned anything that showed the least bit of skin, tempted with the least bit of desire. She kept cutting her hair in that careless manner. Long hair was a sign of beauty, so hers would remain short. Tan skin was seen as desirable, so she would remain pale. She even thought if she could put on a few pounds; anything to keep them away, keep them safe.

Rogue crept down to the kitchen for a snack, she had missed dinner in an attempt to avoid everyone. She rummaged through the fridge for leftovers and sat down. Logan stepped out of the shadows, announcing his presence. "Haven't seen you around much, kid", Rogue mentally checked over her appearance. Long athlete's socks, long, mismatched top and bottom, thick ratty old slippers; she smiled; perfect.

Rogue shrugged and started on her food. "So what's with the new style"?

For some reason, Rogue decided to be honest, she didn't know why. "By making myself as unattractive as possible, people won't want to be around me, which is for the best, it keeps them safe".

Logan nodded. You look like an Eskimo", Rogue looked at him over the top her eyes and smiled. He murmured something softly in Inuit, "Inekonartok Arnaq"; beautiful woman.

Rogue thought it sounded beautiful. "Inekonartok Arnaq", she said.

"Inekonartok Arnaq", Logan repeated, smiling.

"What's it mean'?

"Beautiful woman".

Rogue blushed, "it sounds beautiful".

"Not as beautiful as you".

Rogue's blush deepened.

Her fashion statement continued, and ot seemed that everyone was getting the point, and every time she saw Logan, he'd whisper "Inekonartok Arnaq". This seemed to work wonders on Rogue's self-esteem. That, and the fact that everyone finally seemed to be getting it.

She had forgotten to keep cutting her hair, and soon it was back to it's original length, which she just continued to hide under a hat. Soon, she left the hat in her room, then came the overalls and big sweaters. One afternoon she asked Logan to go shopping with her, and he did a good job at picking out items that allowed her to feel beautiful, without feeling exposed or tempting. She even started wearing make-up again.

Even after her re-emergence into her old self, Rogue found that people were still keeping their distance, and it still didn't bother her Bobby was with Kitty.

Logan and Rogue lay on the lawn enjoying ice cream, when Rogue suddenly spoke, "thank you".

"For what"?

Rogue shrugged, "for being Logan".

Logan smiled, and Rogue whispered something into his ear, that brought Logan as close to tears as he would ever get.

"Aŋun kapvik" ; beautiful wolverine.