Disclaimer: Not my characters, just my imaginings.
"So, what are you drawing?" Jubilee's voice rang out from behind Marie causing her to deftly flip to a different page in her sketchbook. This page held her rendering of the mansion and she moved to continue adding the details of the landscape as though that was what she'd been working on all along.
"What are you two doing today?" she asked the pair.
Kitty answered for them, "We wanted to go shopping, but there's no one to take us and Ms. Munro won't let us take any of the cars on our own. She still hasn't quite forgotten that little incident with the parking attendant, his cart, and the Expedition."
"Don't forget the little old man and the lady with the poodle, Kit," Jubilee added.
Marie smirked. "Sorry, but I have plans today."
The two heaved almost identically dramatic sighs. "Everyone has plans. Ororo has some meeting with a new teacher, Hank is in the middle of another important research thingy, and now you, too."
Looking at the pair of sulky girls made her want to laugh out loud. "There are other drivers around that you could ask," she reminded gently.
"All of the guys are playing football out back and most of the girls are already out." One more melodramatic sigh before they concluded, "There's no one left to beg."
Spying a certain someone leaning against the gazebo, cigar in mouth and beer in hand, Marie countered, "Oh, I wouldn't say no one…" At their quizzical looks, she nodded towards him. "Have you checked with Logan?"
"Wolverine?!" Their shock was genuine and, in Rogue's opinion, hilarious. Kitty was frankly petrified of the man and Jubilee admired him so much, but was far more comfortable doing it from a distance since he was more than a tiny bit intimidating.
She shrugged nonchalantly at them. "Well, it was just a suggestion. I guess you'll simply have to find somethin' to do here then."
Marie couldn't help laughing as she watched them build up their courage to approach the daunting man who was so obviously enjoying his solitude. The exchange was animated and she watched on with glee. The idea of Logan taking two teenaged girls to the mall on a Saturday afternoon was just too funny. It didn't look like Jubilee was even pausing to breathe, she was rattling on so quickly. When the girls gestured in her direction, she practically dove behind the tree she was seated near. Peering around the trunk she yipped at the sight of Logan stalking purposefully towards her. The sketchbook slammed shut and her pencils were rammed into their box. She scampered to her feet and prepared to make a hasty, if sloppy escape.
"Don't even think about it, kid." His voice stopped her dead in her tracks. Slowly she pivoted to face him, sheepishly avoiding eye contact. He knew he had her when she didn't fight back about the nickname. "Let's go see Hank. Right now," he demanded.
That got her attention. She straightened to look at him in shock. "What?!"
"Obviously you are sick which is making you delirious or you've gone completely insane. Either way we need to get you checked out, so let's go." Her arm was grasped in his hand. It was too much. She crumpled to the ground, her laughter ringing across the grounds and echoing back from the stone walls.
He stood, arms crossed and legs spread, over her shaking his head in mock despair at her apparent mental instability. Somehow he managed to keep a straight face, but it was a challenge. Gasping for air, she managed to rise on her hands and knees. Jubilee and Kitty looked on with tentative smiles. They'd never really seen anyone act like this with Wolverine. Everyone recognized Marie's ability to treat him in ways no one else could get away with, but this was a first.
Finally she grinned unrepentantly up at him, mirthful tears streaming down her cheeks from her undignified position in the grass where she was still sprawled on all fours. Logan's face was almost completely inscrutable except for the betraying twinkle gleaming from his eyes. "I'll take you," he groused over his shoulder towards the eager teens.
"See! I told you," Marie asserted.
"As long as she comes with us," he finished.
"But I can't. I've got plans," she practically whined.
"Yeah?" he sounded cynical. "What plans?" Logan's demand resembled a drill sergeant more than anything.
"Girl stuff," she blurted, figuring he wouldn't want to delve too deeply into that. She shifted to sit on her rear and gave him a sulky look from her position near his feet. He only quirked up his brow in that way that had every female heart in view fluttering. Stop that! she yelled at herself. There will be no more fluttering, she mentally asserted as though that declaration would obliterate her physiologic responses to the one man who'd ever managed to stir her senses this way. Jerking her attention off the corded muscles in his arms and the tight abs they were cross above, she gave herself over to answering his unspoken question. "Well, Ah was gonna wax mah legs and then read a book. Later on there's a movie Ah was gonna watch." She winced when she heard her twang make itself heard. They both knew that was reserved for when she was tired or worked up... or guilty.
"That's what I figured." He held a hand down to help her rise. "You've all got ten minutes to be at the garage or the deal's off." Jubilee and Kitty squealed and took off at a dead run to change clothes.
"Now, Logan…"
"You can wax your legs in my room while we watch your movie and eat pizza tonight. If you plan to read your book, best bring it along to read while we visit every obnoxious girly store this town has to offer." Before she could counter that comment, he glanced at his wrist. Looking at her from under his lids, he reminded her, "Only seven minutes left, darlin'." Some sound distinctly resembling 'eep' popped from her before she took off running, as well. Logan only smirked and wondered what sappy chick flick he'd just promised to suffer through this evening. He shook his head in mock despair wondering how he got himself into these situations. Deep down he admitted it was worth it, for her.
Looking at the ground, he saw her art supplies where they'd fallen during her laughing fit. He stooped to gather them up for her and noticed the sketchbook had fallen open. He idly flipped through the pages while ambling in the general direction of the garage. Coming upon the drawing she'd hidden from view earlier, he paused. He didn't know what to make of it. It was a very detailed picture of him. Objectively he decided it was good. All of the drawings in the book were. She was talented, he knew. But this one had a certain indefinable something that made it stand out. The attention to detail apparent in every pencil stroke, the erasure marks left as she strove to exactly duplicate the slant of his jaw line spoke of a determination, a striving for perfection that wasn't there in her other works.
With a grumble he admitted he couldn't figure it out, but sensed she wouldn't want him to see it. He shut the book and continued on to meet the waiting trio in the garage. Throughout their browsing, trying on countless clothes, and watching them admire shoes from one end of the mall to the other he kept his cool. Marie even finally gave in to her friends' urgings and shopped a bit, too. He'd sat on almost every bench and chair the shopping center had available, but took to wandering in for a glance when Marie was trying things on.
When she'd admired a new pair of earrings, he waited for them to move to the shop next door before going in to purchase them for her along with the matching necklace. After three hours, he'd put his foot down and demanded they leave before he started slashing annoying salespeople attacking him with perfume bottles and some pansy who tried to sell him a stupid remote controlled helicopter from his wimpy little stand in the middle of the walkway. Did he really look like a guy who would even think for two seconds about buying a toy like that? Moron.
Knowing with one look at his stoic mask that he was beyond done, Marie agreed that she was done. Kitty declared she was starving and Jubilee finally accepted defeat. Logan even consented to driving through a fast food place and paid for some food for everyone before turning towards home. When he looked over at her, Marie gave him a smile. Jubes and Kitty were rummaging through their many purchases and chattering away, so she spoke softly knowing they couldn't hear. "Thanks, Logan. This was all really nice of you."
He grunted and acted like it was nothing, but she knew how he'd hated it and loved him all the more for putting up with it all. That night as they sat in his room, she turned to the station showing the movie she'd planned to watch. Logan had braced himself for the emasculation that had started earlier to continue only to release a thankful sigh when the credits started rolling for Independence Day. This he could deal with. "Is this okay?" she wanted to know.
"Yeah, darlin'. It's fine." She grinned before scooting along the bed to sit beside him and squirming beside him until she'd found just the right position to settle into. He'd watched her wax her legs while they waited for the pizza and decided he was thankful he didn't have to do that crap. It looked like it hurt a lot.
Half way through the movie she was snugly fitted against him. "You sure are comfy, Logan." He chuckled a bit. "What?" she demanded in a soft voice.
"I been called a lot of things, but I think that's a new one. I wouldn't think this metal skeleton of mine would be very comfortable to lean on." He settled his arm more firmly around her shoulders and upper arm. "Comfy, eh?" He couldn't prevent his smirk.
"Hm," she mumbled. "Well, it's true. Maybe you just never snuggled enough for anyone to tell."
They went back to quietly watching, but his mind wasn't on the alien invasion. He realized she was right. Even though everyone thought of him as the experienced, cynical one in their rather odd pair, he knew there were a lot of things that she was his first for… at least the first as far as he could remember. She was his first 'snuggle', his first best friend, his first real female friend actually, his first ward, and his first commitment. The biggest thing was that she was the first person he'd ever cared more about than himself…