"Mrmph," came softly across the room followed by an adorable, distinctly feminine growl. Even in his semi-slumberous state Logan's lips quirked up a bit at the sounds. Knowing his Marie was waking and would likely not be feeling great, he woke fully and sat up before rolling his shoulders and neck, the loud popping sounds filling the quiet. Even though it wouldn't last long, he really hated the discomfort that he always felt when first waking after sleeping somewhere uncomfortable.
After rubbing his eyes to help him become more alert, his gaze went directly to the petite but very womanly figure currently burying her face deeply into his pillows. He stood as she began to groan. "Ugh! Ah feel lahke a nasteh 'ol hairball the cat hacked up," she grumbled. He couldn't help laughing at the unusual, yet very descriptive image. Hearing him, she shot bolt upright only to immediately lean forward, her head in her hands and her lids slamming shut in denial of the bright light streaming through the window right into her face.
Logan moved to shut the drapes which dimmed the room enough for her to open her eyes to narrow slits. "What in tha world happened?"
He couldn't believe how tiny she looked all hunched over in the middle of his bed. "Take a minute, darlin', and tell me what you remember from last night."
She stayed still, but he knew she was doing what he'd asked. "Ah-," she slowly lifted her head and stared at him wide-eyed with wonder as realization began to filter through the haze in her mind. "Ah got control," she finally breathed out as she gazed up at him through the tangle of hair billowing around her shoulders and face.
Logan sat, one leg up on the bed, right in front of her. He reached out to stroke her hair back from the features he found more beautiful than any other, and cupped her soft, rosy, cheek in his broad palm. His thumb whispered over her cheekbone stroking it reverently. "Yeah, darlin', you sure did. I always knew you would one day."
She closed her eyes and leaned her face against his warm hand reveling in the feel of his bare flesh against hers. It had been so long! Looking up at him, she begged with her eyes for permission. In response he simply moved more fully onto the mattress, facing her squarely before resting his hands on her knees through the covers which left him open to her.
Barely breathing, Marie reached with tentative yet eager fingers and let them brush over his face one feature at a time with a butterfly-soft touch. They ran through his hair deeply enough, for the first time, to massage his scalp… a sensation that had him practically purring with pleasure. She even mapped out the shape of his ears. His nostrils flared, deeply drawing in her familiar and tempting scent, when her fingers traced his nose. One hand slowly made its way down the strong column of his neck while the fingertips of the other hand moved across his firm lips. Her breath caught when he instinctively kissed her slender, nimble digits.
Realizing what he'd just done, his head jerked back while his eyes darted over her looking for signs of her reaction to his unexpected move. I am such a screw-up! As he mentally castigated himself he continually studied her looking for any sign that he'd driven her away with his hasty, knee-jerk response to the feel of her gentle touch running over his skin. He couldn't believe how quickly he'd caved and crossed that invisible, unspoken of line that he'd drawn between them years ago.
Those incredible big brown eyes looked up at him with a completely unreadable expression. Without giving him any hint of what she was thinking, she leaned forward. He waited to see if she would hit him, cry, or run from the room. She floored him when she simply brushed the most innocent, sweet, pure kiss he could remember ever receiving across his mouth. Almost before he could respond it was over and he'd never missed anything, mourned anything the way he felt the loss of that barely-there touch.
Before she could bolt, as he feared, Logan asked her to more deeply examine her memories. "What else do you remember?" It was a leading question, but he felt like that was what she needed.
Her brow scrunched as she took a harder look in her mind. As the blush rose from her throat over her flawless cheeks and flooded her face he knew it was all coming back to her. Logan was certain it had all come flooding back when she flopped forward again so far that her face was pressed against her lap. Flexible little thing, he thought idly before her muffled groaning comments garnered his attention again. It was clear she was ranting now, but he felt the need to point out, "Marie, I can't understand a thing you're saying."
She huffed with self-loathing as she sat up to reply, "I can never show my face in these halls again, Logan!" The fact that her accent was fading fast demonstrated just how fast her racing thoughts had cleared away the mental cobwebs. "Did I really say and do all of that?"
One shoulder rose as he let her know, "Darlin', I have no idea what you think happened, so I can't really say. It wasn't all that bad, though. I don't think we have to ship you off to Antarctica or anything." He neglected to mention her stripping off her shirt and offering her practically bare torso up to almost every adult male in the mansion for a sample of her new control. It didn't happen often, but every once in a while Logan actually bothered to exercise some discretion. This seemed like a good time for it to him.
She desperately wanted to ask him if the images playing like a movie in her mind were accurate, but was far too embarrassed to actually say some of it aloud. Hanging her head a little to hide her flaming red cheeks, she finally took in her attire. Wide-eyed and mouth agape she looked back up at him. What on Earth did they do last night?!
It took only a second or two for him to read her shocked expression and know what she was thinking. "Rogue," he said hoping the use of a more neutral name for her would settle her down some, "I slept in the chair all night and that's it."
"But… but, then why…" she couldn't seem to form a complete sentence that wouldn't end in utter mortification.
Crap! Well, so much for not telling her about the whole shirtless thing. "Look, kid, you already had your shirt off long before I brought you upstairs. The jeans were uncomfortable for you. That's it. No big deal." When did he start being deceptive with her? About five minutes ago, that's when. Of course it was a big deal to him. He'd dreamt of having her awaken in his bed for so long now he wasn't even sure when it had started. Granted, he'd always figured he'd be holding her when she woke, never really figured in the whole hung over thing, and had always been fairly sure it wouldn't happen without a ring on her finger first, but yeah… this was close enough to be a big deal to him.
"So I-," she started only to stop uncertainly. He could see her mind racing away. "I," she began again, "I really did drink all of that… and we really danced?" Logan only nodded. He wouldn't outright lie to her; that was something he wasn't willing to start doing. She was going to have come out with it, though, if she really wanted him to confirm everything. "And I," here she gulped nervously and started staring over his shoulder, no longer able to look him in the eye while she asked, "I took off my shirt?"
Logan rubbed the back of his neck nervously before grunting, "Yeah."
"So then did I," she huffed an edgy breath, "um, ask y'all to uh, touch me?"
"Look, darlin', none of what happened is as big as you're making it out to be in your mind. You were excited and you girls just got carried away. That's it. Believe me; we all understand how long you've worked towards this. You have waited so long that it's hardly surprising you went a little overboard on the celebrating thing."
She wanted to just crawl under the covers and never come out again. How was she going to face everyone? Dear Lord! Even the Professor had been there and seen her! It all got a bit fuzzy after his arrival. Who knew what else she'd done? Deciding to follow through on what she wanted most, she laid down, curled into a ball, and pulled the covers over her head completely concealing herself from view.
Logan wanted to laugh at her childishness, but knew she really was sincerely upset. He shook one of her little feet. "Come on, kid; come out of there." His voice was gruff, but somehow he still managed to seem like he was gently coaxing her to do his will.
Knowing she was acting immature she folded down the covers with her arms, ensuring all but her face was still concealed from view. "I just really can't believe I was that stupid." Her eyes tilted up at the ceiling as she forced herself to be the mature adult she'd come to be known as before looking back to his reassuring bulk. "Logan, what happened after Xavier came in? I really don't remember much after his arrival." When he would have answered, she interjected, "And you'd better tell me the truth and not leave anything out. I'd rather hear it from you than from John or Bobby when they decide to start teasing me."
He sketched out the basics of what had transpired, even managing to draw out a few laughs from her along the way. "Then I brought you in here since no one should have to endure what was happening in your bathroom. You slept in the bed while I slept in the chair. That's it."
She glanced to where her jeans lay neatly folded across the room. "I managed that while so wasted I couldn't even walk by myself?"
"You needed some help. They were bothering you. I helped you get 'em off and you went on to sleep, okay?" Rogue started to sit up, but it was a little awkward as she worked to keep the sheet around herself. He wordlessly rose and crossed to the dresser. The next thing she knew one of his shirts was hitting her in the face. She smiled and tugged it on while he stood with his back turned.
"Okay," she said, letting him know it was okay to turn back around. When he did, the smile that he'd never realized she wore only with him was lighting her face. "You know, Logan, you are a really sweet guy. I couldn't ask for a better best friend."
He desperately wanted to crack some joke about her getting ready to start singing or something as he usually would, but the serious glint in her eyes made him deny the impulse. 'Best friend', huh? Well, wasn't that just great. This sucked, but he figured it was better than nothing. It was impossible to resist the picture she made anyway. That shirt never looked so good before. "Well, sweet's a new one. I've never been accused of that before." He came to give her hair that familiar tug. "You won't hear this again, probably ever… but, I'm pretty glad to have you for a best friend, too, darlin'."
Not letting him see how deflated she felt, she forced herself to smile up at him. Oh what I wouldn't give to be more than just a friend! she thought as she rose to use his bathroom, padding across the floor on bare feet while his shirt draped down to her knees letting her feel modest enough.
xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx
Two doors down Jean finished rinsing her face with the bracingly cold water that was washing away the ravages of the night before. She wasn't on guard as much as usual as a result of her own hangover and couldn't help 'hearing' both Logan's and Rogue's thoughts. She shook her head as she hung the hand towel back on the rack. "What is it, honey?" Scott wanted to know, dropping a kiss on her shoulder.
"I just can't help wondering exactly what it will take for those two to realize they both feel the same way. Honestly, I sometimes just want to go knock some sense into their heads."
Her husband chuckled while wrapping his arms around her from behind and drawing her up against him. Looking at their reflection he smiled. "Logan will snap one of these days. I'm actually kind of glad they've taken so long to get on with it. Had they figured it out back in the beginning I would have had a really hard time with it. The way they've been avoiding it all this time has given me the chance to come to grips with the two of them. Watching them all this time, though, has become almost painful. Now I'm just glad to see some light at the end of the tunnel."
They both laughed before sharing a deep kiss and heading down for some much-needed coffee.