Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.

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Ororo didn't know how the walks had first started, whether it was their mutual need to escape the oft claustrophobic confines of the mansion, or whether they both just needed to find a little peace and quiet away from the noise of a school full of hormonal teenagers. However it had started, she was glad for Logan's company.

The back acres of the Estate were left untamed and untended, and as much as she loved tenderly nurturing every flower and plant of her garden, it was nice to see nature do as nature was want to do. Dressed alike in jeans and flannel shirts alike, albeit hers tied off to let the warmth of the Summer sun warm her belly, the day was one that carried an Autumn chill upon the breeze that brought with it visions of the forest painted in all the colours of Fall.

"Shh..." Urgent yet quietly, Logan held Ororo still with a hand that stopped her in her tracks.

Despite his gruff and brusk front, Logan hid behind that facade a gentleness that always surprised her, and this time was no exception. Searching the foliage for any sign of danger, the watery and dark eyes of a Doe stared back at her.

"Goddess..." came her own breathless gasp as she admired the docile beast.

And then it was gone in a skitterish dash to the safety of the dense brush and tangled trails that ran the length and breadth of the school. Wondering if she had scared off the welcome denizen of the forest as she laid a hand upon Logan's shoulder, to feel his muscles taut and tight beneath her touch, she realized she walked with a Wolf, or so the Doe likely saw Logan.

To hear his snort of breath and feel him coiled and tight in anticipation of the hunt, she dared sooth away the primal urges, taking another step closer until she swore she could feel a heat rise from his flesh. "Logan?"

His reply was an inarticulate grunt, a snort of breath hungry for a fresh scent, and as he turned on her, she found herself as prey before his hungry gaze. For as wild and untamed as the elements themselves might be, and for as wondrous as it was to soar aloft carried by the winds of the stormy clouds themselves, she was trapped in a gilded cage. Sing all she want, her wings were clipped.

"Logan...?"

Once more she called to him, her worry bringing with it a chill wind. Her words fell on deaf ears, even as her step fell backwards until a tree stopped her short. Closing any and all distance between them, Logan fell against that very same tree, taking up two branches in his grasp to trap her. Not for the first time she noticed again his broad and bared forearms from beneath the rolled sleeves of his shirt, and how she wondered what it would feel like to be taken into his muscled embrace...

"Ro?" As quiet as before, his voice told of a need.

Looking into his eyes, her own gaze fell away from his weighty one that threatened to drag her down into their deep and dark depths. Standing upon a cliff of her own indecision, his tender touch upon her cheek was a siren calling for her to jump into the dangerous breakers below. His hot breath at her neck was a torment too enticing to suffer in silence, parting her lips with a gasp...that was silenced with the welcome press of his lips at her own.

The teasing of his tongue as hit brushed her bottom lip coaxed her to throw all caution into the wind, to surrender to him. Grasping the fabric of his shirt beneath her white knuckled grip, she realized her own mistake and shoved him off of her, "You, you...!" ...stole my first kiss!

Where words failed her, the storm above answered. Lightning fell to shatter the tranquility of the forest, and in the shattering crash of thunder she stalked away, too ashamed of herself to even face him. Feeling tears roll down her cheeks even as the first spattering of rain fell, again she proved she could never let her emotions loose, her only comfort being that Logan was the man he was.

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Date night, at least for Jean and Scott anyway. And like all the nights before, Ororo found herself watching movies with Jubilee, a girl who herself had once been just another street urchin getting by through petty theft. At least until she'd been found and caught, only to be sent off to a group home, the same home Jean and herself had met the girl at.

"So that's why you got Thunderstruck on Logan's ass?! He kissed you?!"

"It was my first..." A secret she had only shared with Jean thus far, and one she suddenly regretted sharing again as Jubilation stared at her simply agog.

"So...was he any good? Hey! Don't look at me like that! Here I've been thinking he went and groped ya or something, which would totally be grounds to light his ass up. Grounds, get it? Like he was a lightning rod..."

"Jubilation?"

"Yes, 'Roro?"

"Please pick something to watch."

Giving the spirited girl a hug as she wandered through all of the movies and shows Netflix had to offer, Ororo lounged contentedly in the large papasan they shared together beneath a warm and cozy blanket.

"...'Roro?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for saying my name like it doesn't mean shut up..."

"Forever and always."

"Just don't think Ima gonna stop digging for details about how that kiss went down."

"Child?"

"See, that I can deal with as being you telling me to shut up. And FYI, get ready for some Once Upon a Time from right were we left off...cuz you know the Hankster's got dibs on binge watching Breaking Bad with me."

Feeling a smile tickle her own lips as young Jubilation grinned up at her, Ororo gave the girl a ruffle of her hair and a smack to her bottom to urge her to find something to watch. And for all she envied them their freedom to let loose their anger and joy with utter and complete abandon, she never thought she was alone in having to fear her own temper.

Henry had his own Mister Hyde, Jean her Phoenix that burned as bright and hot as the Sun itself, while Rogue of course feared and dread the briefest touch of her bared skin. Even Jubilation had been traumatized by the aftermath of what her own loosed power could do when she got mad and furious. But of them all, Logan had something in him that resonated with her, a wildness best left slumbering lest it be unleashed, "However will I apologize to him?"

"Uh, duh? He's Canadian, just buy him a case of his favourite beer."

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