Chapter Two
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After that, every chance she got, every free morning or afternoon, she went out walking in the forest that surrounded the little town. In the great outdoors, she practiced hard on her meditation. She'd spent a year under Xavier's tutelage, training her mind to control her unruly mutation. It hadn't been completely successful; she had to concentrate hard if she wanted any kind of control, and she could only turn it off for minutes at a time, but she had hopes that - with practice - it would get easier. She was hoping that at some point it would become second nature, and she would be able to switch her skin on and off at will.
At first, she hurried back to the bar at sunset, afraid of night in the forest, but after a while her curiosity grew too great. On her next full day off she bought herself a compass and a pen torch and stayed out after darkness fell, revelling in the sound and feel and smell of the night-time woods, and the absolute freedom of knowing that no one in the world knew where she was. She was away from civilisation, although near enough to her little section of it that the dangers were less. She watched a lynx stalk speedily past her, throwing her a short, mistrustful glance. Then she came across a rocky outcrop in a clearing that looked out over a lonely valley, where she watched the moon rise and the stars wheel overhead until she was dizzy. The magnificence and wildness of it all seemed to seep into her head, until she could barely remember her own name. She came back to the bar with twigs in her hair and a faraway look in her eyes. After that, she stayed out late every chance she got.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She went into the bar early on her next day off to steal some nuts. Her control was getting better, and she was hoping, if she washed the salt off, she might be able to attract a small animal of some kind, perhaps a squirrel, to see if she could touch it without harming it. She peered over the bar, and grabbed one of the snack containers. As she turned back around, a movement at the corner of her eye startled her, and she spun around. There, calmly leaning his elbows on the bar and sipping a shot of whiskey, was a man who hadn't been there a second ago. The bottle sat beside him, and he looked for all the world as if he'd been there the whole time.
"What're you doing here?" she asked, more surprised than nervous: there was plenty of help within earshot; she just had to yell. The man glanced at her, then back to the shot in his hand. He didn't answer. "The bar ain't open yet." No response, not even a flicker of interest. "I could call security if you'd like?"
At that, he glanced at her again. "Don't."
She waited for an explanation, but none was forthcoming. "You want to gimme a reason?" With no good basis, she was unafraid of him. He was rough-looking, but sketchily handsome, the roughness lending honesty to his good looks. He hadn't spoken threateningly - more resignedly. He shrugged, and put down his glass, pouring another measure into it. "Isn't it a bit early for that?"
In reply, he tipped a long finger at the box in her hands. "Hungry?"
"What? Oh..." She put the nuts down, feeling wrong-footed. "I just wanted a handful. I was gonna try to catch a squirrel."
At that he looked her straight in the eye for the first time. His eyes were clear hazel, and slightly amused. "Really?"
"Yes." He wasn't the only one who could be brusque and uninformative. "Who are you?"
He downed the shot, not taking his eyes from her. "Logan. Who're you?"
"Marie. I work here."
"Me too."
"Oh." She felt a little embarrassed at having jumped to conclusions. "Sorry. I thought you were..."
"A whiskey thief? Stealing it shot by shot?" He looked amused. "Patrice knows I'm here," he explained briefly. "Why d'you wanna catch a squirrel?"
"Well, I don't really want to catch one. I just wanted to see if one would come near me." Lame, Marie told herself, but she couldn't tell him she wanted to see if her skin would drain it of life. That was a bit of a conversation-stopper.
"Fair enough. Is what do you do here? Bring in game for the kitchens?" He was teasing her.
"No," she replied crossly. "I wash dishes, if you must know. Today's my day off." It was on the tip of her tongue to ask what exactly he did there, but she was beginning to understand that one just didn't ask such questions in the Princess Bar - not if you wanted a straight answer. He didn't look like a bartender, he certainly didn't look like admin staff, and she knew he didn't work in the kitchens - maybe he was one of the suppliers? Somehow, that didn't seem to fit, either.
"You chase squirrels on your days off, huh?" He looked her up and down, and she bristled under the scrutiny. "You're very unusual, you know."
That touched a raw nerve in Marie. "I am not!"
He smiled openly, then. "Okay. My mistake. You're totally ordinary."
Disarmed by the unexpected charm of his crooked smile, she grinned back at him. Good heavens, I'm flirting with him, she realised in surprise. "Uh, I better go." She took a handful of the nuts from the container, and put it back behind the bar.
He watched her slip away, the smile still on his lips. When she got to the door to the kitchens, he called out: "Give the squirrels my regards." She laughed, and made her escape.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
