Then the playoffs. Logan was obsessive about hockey and for once he had company in the tv room. And to Storm's chagrin, they were a rowdy bunch. Logan didn't like sharing his beer, and Storm didn't approve of underage drinking, but Logan soon found himself a bootlegger for the older students. By the end of the night there would be at least five to ten buzzed-up hockey fans to shoo to bed.
Storm was good at shooing the students but she couldn't shoo Logan. "I'll make sure he keeps it down." Rogue promised Storm one night.
"You will huh?" Logan said as she sat down next to him on the couch.
"Even if I have to take your speech."
"You can do that?" Logan looked at her.
"I could try." Was all she said and she fancied she saw him pale. Logan did manage to keep it down (ish) that night but then end of the game was too much and he started swearing loudly. "Logan, shut up."
"But did you see-?" He tried to explain but Rogue took matters into her own hands, literally. She grabbed his bare arm and yanked his essence. But she yanked just a little too hard and they ended up gasping side by side, Logan glaring at her.
"I'm sorry, I was trying something." She tried to explain.
"Did it work?" His tone was flat.
"Probably would work better if you hadn't been drinking. Sorry." He kept glaring at her. "Seriously."
"Well you might as well finish the job." Logan said, turning off the tv.
"Here?"
"Here." Logan settled himself into a reclining position so there was room for her to do the same on the opposite end of the couch. She took his right hand in her left, then did as she was bade. She tried to go slow but she was more than tipsy now and she took a little more than she could take. Logan caught her as she passed out, he was too drained to move her.
"Ahem." Storm was standing over them and Rogue tried to remember what happened. Why was she in the tv room? Why was the couch so hard and oddly lumpy under her? She moved and the couch groaned, no, wait, that was Logan, she was laying on Logan. She pried herself off and tried to stand, she failed. Storm handed them each a bottle of Powerade.
"Could you at least confine your debauchery to your own rooms?" The question was more of a statement and Rogue was embarrassed. She was a teacher there; she needed to set an example. Fortunately none of the students had found them. Rogue apologized for the both of them and assured Storm it wouldn't happen again.
She was able to keep that promise through the playoffs and through the summer. The school stayed open during the summer for the students who had nowhere else to go but the classes were scaled back so the pair were hardly missed when they overdid things. Rogue became more adept at focusing her powers. She was able to take enough alcohol from him to be oblivious when she slept and take enough of his power to keep him asleep through most anything.
Slowly Logan's torturous memories began to fade, they were no longer sharp knives stabbing him whenever they came near, now they were scars, fading but still pink; where a sharp blow would cause pain. When Logan went to the bars to fight Rogue worried about him but he ever seemed to lose control.
It was late August and Logan had left after dinner, Rogue wandered around for a couple hours before making a decision. She changed into a short jean skirt and a white tank top, she threw on her red heels and took a car from the garage. She thought about bringing Jubilee but she wasn't in the mood for her chatter, Rogue was on a mission.
She drove by several bars before parking in front of a typical dance club. She walked to the front of the line and the doorman let her in. She bought herself a couple shots then hit the dance floor. It was crowded but she felt his eyes on her immediately. She watched him from the corner of her eye as she danced, he finally approached her as she went to the bar for water with lemon.
"Hi." He said to her, she looked him over then finished her water and let him lead her back to the dance floor. They danced close, then intimately, grinding into each other, their hands going places barely decent for public witness. Eventually she needed more water and she sat on a bar stool to drink it. She was facing him and he stood between her knees.
She put her water down and kissed him, her tongue forcing its way into his mouth. He seems surprised but it takes him only a few moments to respond back. He grasps her knees and yanks her to the edge of the stool so their bodies have no air between them. "Can we go to your place?" She asks.
He agrees but she insists on driving her own car. She follows him to his place where she takes control. A few hours later her cellphone rings. She sighs when she hears who it is but agrees immediately to her request. He seems annoyed when she gets up to leave but she is clearly not moved.
Rogue swears as she walks to her car. Fifteen minutes later she's at a new bar, one that is distinctly different than the last one, but one that is familiar to her. She walks in to find him in a cage. It's the end of the night and his opponent has visible bruises and cuts but he looks the same as he did when he walked in.
Rogue took a moment to admire the cut of his half naked body, his skin taut over endless muscles developed from dragging his metal covered skeleton around. His eyes were what drew her though, they were clear and calculating, not animalistic the way they used to be when he fought.
Logan smelled her before he saw her, the warm summer air blew her scent towards him and he was disgusted by the accompanying one. He finished his last match without the usual showmanship. He grabbed his prize money, his cigar and his shirt before he approached her.
"Storm wants us back at the mansion."
"Does she now?" Logan said through clenched teeth, putting on his shirt.
"Hey I was busy too." Rogue said shortly, not in the mood.
"I can smell that." They glared at each other for a few minutes before deciding to fight elsewhere. Logan led the way on his 'bike and they were soon back at the mansion. They reported immediately to Storm who told them of their mission the next day, then she sent them to bed.
Logan followed Rogue to her room where she disappeared into the shower. Logan parked himself on her bed and waited. "Are you still here?" Rogue asked pointedly when she came out of the bathroom.
"What the hell have you been doing tonight?"
"I could ask you the same thing." Rogue brushed her hair in deliberately slow strokes to suppress the urge to throw the brush at him.
"I could smell him on you." Logan was growling.
"So?"
"So you shouldn't be cheapening yourself with cheap sex."
"Who says it was cheap?"
"O yeah? So this guy's your boyfriend now? What's his name?" Logan mocked her. He was standing now, his arms crossed.
"None of your business."
"O really?"
"Yeah really. Give me one good reason why you should care who I fuck." Rogue was standing toe to toe with him.
"Who you-? Since when do you talk like that?" Logan's voice was much higher than he had intended it to be.
"In case you hadn't noticed Logan, I'm a big girl now, I can do what, or who, ever I want to. I don't need your permission." Rogue's eyes were narrowed. "Besides, if Storm hadn't called you wouldn't have even noticed I was gone."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means Logan, that my business is my business."
"I'm your friend Rogue, your business is my business." His voice was soft and quiet and Rogue's anger stilled. "Why the language?"
"Why do you care about my language?" Rogue was truly perplexed.
"I- just because. You're a sweet girl. That's language for-"
"People like you?" Rogue interrupted him, amused at his statement.
"Well. Yeah."
"In case you forgot, we've been fairly intimate lately, I'm bound to pick up some bad habits." She explained. They were both quiet then, wondering if Rogue's occasional foray into extreme casual sex was also because it was something that Logan did, or would, do. Logan decided he'd rather not think about it anymore and his expression clearly said that.
Rogue normally wouldn't have let him off the hook so easily but she was tired and apparently had things to do tomorrow. She gave Logan the look he'd come to know as, Do you want me to? He'd not said no before and tonight was no exception. He didn't let her take too much so that she got ill or so he couldn't walk properly. As he was leaving Logan turned back to Rogue, "You were…you know, safe?"
"Get out!" Rogue threw a shoe at him as he closed the door.