Chapter Two - Convincing Logan...Marie peered around the garage door and sure enough Logan was working on Scott's bike, cosily nestled between the Porsche and the SUV, kneeling upon some tarpaulin and surrounded by a dizzying array of parts and tools. She smirked, noting that he was also in the most delectable of positions, that perfect ass of his poking provocatively into the air as he hunched down to tend to the back wheel.
She ran a tongue along the length of her plump bottom lip trying to visualise the same scene - minus the jeans - but quickly shook the image away, remembering Jubilee's warning:
"...and a butt so hot that you'd probably go blind if you stared at it for too long."
Sighing wistfully, she decided that going blind would be worth it if Logan's ass was burned into her memory for the rest of her days...
She remained lustily mesmerised a few moments longer.
"Ya gonna stand there staring at my ass all day or are ya gonna tell me what ya want?"
Marie felt the colour flood to her cheeks as Logan's unanticipated words forced her to take a tentative step into the garage. "Do you have eyes in the back of your head, or something?" she snapped defensively.
"Darlin', I can smell ya a mile off."
Her trainers squeaked upon the smooth concrete floor as she wandered across to him. "I smell that bad, huh?"
He turned with a grin. "If y'did, d'ya think I'd hang out with ya as much as I do?"
She smiled gently. "Point taken."
He frowned teasingly, wiping his oil stained hands on a rag as he stood up. "Now what'ya want? I'm kinda busy right now."
Marie slipped her hands to her hips giving him the critical eye. His t-shirt was covered in oil stains. "I had noticed. Didn't anyone ever tell you that white isn't a very practical colour for this kind of work?"
"Hey, I'm not wearing one of those pansy-ass overalls," he protested firmly. "Scooter looks one hell of a prick in 'em and that's warning enough for me."
"What's wrong with them?"
Logan glared across at the opposite wall where several overalls were hanging from pegs. "They're pink!"
Marie rolled her eyes. "They're salmon."
"Salmon's a fish, Marie. Not a colour."
"He's happy to wear flannel but refuses a perfectly sensible salmon overall," Marie despaired, amused.
Logan's frown deepened. "Was there a point to this visit or was it a let's-piss-off-the-Wolverine mission?" But his eyes twinkled mischievously reassuring Marie that he wasn't genuinely angry.
She took a deep breath. "There was actually."
"Shoot."
"It's kinda..." She turned away, idly observing the SUV's number plate, noticing, for the first time, the dominance of the letter X.
"Yeah?" he prompted. At her continuing silence he reached for her arm. "Hey? You OK?"
She quickly glanced back at him, flushing again. "Oh yeah - 'course. It's nothing like that."
He looked mildly perplexed. "Then spill the beans, kid."
"Well, you know the Professor made me resident art teacher."
"Yeah, 'bout time, in my opinion."
She smiled warmly, fondly recalling the first time she had revealed her artistic talents to Logan. It had just been a simple watercolour of the mansion but to say that he had been impressed would have been an understatement - he had practically made the entire school aware of the fact by the end of the day and the painting had hung in the foyer ever since.
Curious by his uncharacteristic passion for a simple picture she had done some probing, shocked but pleasantly surprised to learn that the rough and tough Wolverine had, in fact, a secret appreciation for art. Admittedly, mostly landscape - he hated a lot of the abstract works, amusing her no end with his ranting:
"For christ's sake - 'I' can paint a fuckin' red dot in the centre of a piece of paper!"
But paintings of mountains, forests, lakes - anything scenery - was a gem in his eyes and she attributed it to his love and need of the great outdoors. If it was a Canadian scene, all the better.
"Well," she continued hesitantly. "I feel I need to broaden my artistic horizons a bit, to become a better teacher...you know...projects and stuff."
"Right," he returned, his voice questioning as if expecting her to continue.
She felt the butterflies stir inside, realising that she just needed to blurt it out, get it over with. The longer she stalled the more risk there was of her backing out completely.
He continued to watch her, a little puzzled now.
"Will you pose nude for me?"
There! She had said it! Despite the fact that her heart was racing so fast she feared it was going to burst out of her chest at any minute.
The look on his face was priceless and she almost wished she had a camera on her to capture it. "You serious?" he blurted, seeming too stunned to even add a curse this time.
"Very."
"In front of a whole class of mutant kids?!"
"On no - just in front of me," she quickly reassured, although she was quite amused by the idea. Scott would've paid good money to witness such an event.
As he physically relaxed, the relief sweeping his countenance was so intense that it looked comical. "Just you?" he clarified, just in case he had heard her wrong.
She nodded.
He ran an oily hand through his hair but it only served to exaggerate it's dishevelled state. "Completely...naked?" he toyed and Marie was sure she detected a hint of nervousness in his tone.
She shrugged, no longer feeling nervous now that the subject was out in the open. "You can cover your...er... bits with something...if you prefer."
"Gee, thanks," he spat sarcastically.
Marie sighed, purposely over emphasising it for effect. "But if you really don't want to do it I can always ask Colossus." She decided it was time she played her trump card. "Or...Scott."
Logan's gaze instantly pricked up to hers.
"Although," she added, shamelessly enjoying every bit of his torture. "I personally believe that you have the most paintable body out of the three of you. Colossus is a bit too much brawn, Scott's a little too lean...but you're..." she shrugged again, trying to act as casual as possible. "...just about right."
Now it was just down to giving him that doe-eyed look that seemed to win him over every time. Oooh, she was sooooo good!
"Just us?" he repeated again, voice kinda pitiful now, and she almost felt sorry for him.
"Just us," she confirmed, trying to keep the impatience from her tone. "Studio door tightly locked."
Logan in worried mode became Logan in contemplative mode. He looked cute when he pondered, she decided, and always in the past, whenever she was tempted to ask him what are you thinking? she never did because he looked too endearing to disturb.
"And what about the end project?" he finally blurted. "I don't wanna end up hanging in the rec room for everyone to gawp at."
It was her turn to mull things over. "Because it's just a practice piece I'd be happy to destroy it afterwards." She wasn't entirely enamoured of the idea, always preferring to keep her work, but if it got her and Logan together it would be a small sacrifice to make.
"You'd do that?" Logan seemed genuinely touched by her offer.
She nodded, although suddenly had another idea. "Or I could always add clothes later."
"Couldn't you just paint me with clothes on in the first place?" he suggested hopefully.
"I need skin, Logan: muscles, shadows, contours, and all that jazz."
The groove between his unruly brows deepened into a scowl again. "I still don't wanna be hanging anywhere in the mansion - clothes or not."
Marie felt a cunning grin tug at her lips. "Not even my room?"
Their eyes met and his own mouth twitched into a smile. He folded his arms, cocking his head expectantly. "Now why'd you want my ugly ole mug hanging up on ya wall?"
"Aw, I dunno. If ever you pissed me off I could use it for target practice."
"OK."
"OK?"
"I'll do it."
Marie's less than charitable smirk made way for a wide unadulterated smile. "You will? Really?"
"Just tell me when."
Her mind whirled for a time. She honestly hadn't expected him to say yes. "Er...tomorrow afternoon, 2pm?"
"I'll be there."
"Great." She suddenly felt giddy. And more than a little scared. She was going to see Logan naked! Her heart gained momentum again as she hoped she was also going to 'feel' him naked.
"Two requests though," Logan insisted determinedly.
She nodded fleetingly. "One?"
"I don't want a word of this said to anyone. And that includes that yellow obsessed friend of yours!"
"Not a word to anyone - got it!" She could always tell Jubilee that he had refused. Her excited eyes flitted over his face in anticipation. "And two?"
"I'll need to smoke. I can't sit there doin' nothin' for hours on end."
Marie burst out laughing. "Sure. Just you mind where the hot ash falls!"
The entertaining expression on his face told her that he hadn't thought of that little hazard. "Ashtray," he announced, almost smugly.
"Huh?"
"To cover my bits, darlin'."
This time they both burst out laughing and Marie found herself overwhelmed by such a rare event. Of simply being there with Logan, just goofing around and forgetting the expectations of their complicated X-Men world for a few precious moments.
As their chuckles receded, she sighed gently, watching him with a tenderness that reflected back from his own eyes.
If nothing else, tomorrow afternoon was gonna be fun, she concluded happily.