A/N: Forgive me if the fluff factor turns out to be too high...I couldn't resist writing Logan's softer side. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I know I enjoyed writing it :-)
Also - my updates might seem really fast, but I have the rest of the chapters basically finished, and I can't wait to start on my next idea! It came to me at about 1'oclock in the morning, which is, of course, the best time for brainstorming :D
"Respectable"
Rogue couldn't stop touching Logan. It was seriously as though some sort of dam had been broken. Every chance she got to clasp his hand or wrap her fingers around his arm, she would. Sometimes, if he let her, she would trace the veins that ran up and down his arm with a finger.
She couldn't get over the concept of someone else's skin. His was warm, soft in some places, rough in others, and the most amazing thing? She could his heartbeat. She could literally feel the blood pumping through his veins just underneath the surface, and there wasn't a single time she touched him that it failed to amaze her.
The two of them had a comfortable rhythm to the way their days went. Rogue was happy with her teaching position. Her class was American History, with an emphasis on Mutant History. She loved it all, including all of her students. Younger mutants she'd previously felt somewhat estranged from, she now felt a connection with.
Logan taught shop; it was endlessly amusing to Rogue that somehow he'd managed to find an actual job where he could spend all day tinkering with his motorcycles. He would just roll his eyes good-naturedly whenever she teased him about it.
They would eat together at every meal, Logan still being the only other person at the mansion Rogue was completely comfortable around. A loner himself, he admitted to her that she was one of the only people who didn't make him want to scream, tear his hair out, and simultaneously sink his claws into something. She took that as a compliment.
Sufficed to say, teenagers with attitude problems were not Logan's favorite people in the world. Children, he was fine with. She actually thought it was adorable whenever he spoke with or helped the younger mutants. A different side of him would shine through, one a little less terse and a little bit softer than the persona he showed the rest of the world.
Sometimes, she caught him staring at her, his eyes darkened by something that she wasn't sure she was quite prepared to identify. Her hair seemed to be a favorite plaything of his. Often when they sat with one another, he would mess with it, winding a strand around a finger, or simply twisting pieces of her white streak together.
They were rather like an old married couple, she supposed, and Rogue realized she had never been happier than at this point.
Logan absently scanned an article about motorcycle maintenance, his hand stroking Marie's hair almost of its own accord. They were in the common room and she was curled up against his side, head on his shoulder as she read a novel.
He breathed her in, laying a cheek against her hair, smiling slightly. She still smelled like roses, only without that horrid pang of misery she used to carry around with her. He supposed he could say he was happy, which was a hell of lot different than how he would have ever described his outlook on life at any other time before now.
It was Marie. She'd changed, for the better. Quicker to smile and easily able to laugh now, she brightened his entire day from the time they ate breakfast together to the time they said goodnight at the top of the stairs. He didn't really even mind that their relationship continued to be completely platonic; of course, aside from all the touchy-feely stuff, but it's not like he was complaining.
Okay, so naturally, there was that part of him, that very male part, that would have done anything to be with her in that way, but she meant so much more to him than just great sex. Oh, he knew that sex with her would be fantastic; it would be physically impossible for it to be otherwise, he was so attracted to her.
But for now, he was completely content to be her best friend. She needed a best friend, someone to be there for her no matter what happened.
The afternoon sunlight coming in through the first-floor windows was making him rather sleepy when all of a sudden he felt something wrap around his leg. His jump of surprise jolted Marie off his shoulder, and she gave him an annoyed look, resettling herself.
"Sorry," he said as he reached down. He had a feeling he knew what was happening. Sure enough, a little giggle came from the patch of thin air down by his knee, until he felt around and grabbed the little body with his large hands.
A small child with brown ringlets materialized in his hands, a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.
"Hello, Hadley," Logan cocked an eyebrow. "You felt like sneaking up on me again?"
Perhaps the most adorable five-year-old he had ever met (not that Logan had met a whole lot of five-year-olds over the years, but still), Hadley's current favorite game was to turn invisible and sneak up on him. She got a serious kick out it, and was nearly always rewarded by Logan with some sort of treat; this was partially because he was amazed she had such concrete control over her powers at such a young age.
She also sort of made him melt; she was that cute. He couldn't help it. What could he say? He was a sucker for big brown eyes.
Hadley nodded enthusiastically, sticking her thumb in her mouth
Hoisting her into his lap, Logan said "Very funny. You got me again."
Settling her little body against his chest, she demanded, "What do I get this time?"
Marie tsked. "Manners," she murmured, repositioning her head against his shoulder and going back to her book.
"Sorry," Hadley promptly said. "I mean, what do I get this time, please?"
Logan laughed outright at that.
"C'mon, squirt, let's see what we can find in the kitchen." Squeezing Marie's hand, he smiled at her as he stood, hefting Hadley into his arms. "We'll be back in a bit."
She smiled warmly up at him, nodding and looking back at her book. Logan felt a sort of tug in his chest when she looked at him like that.
Marie watched as Logan loped away into the hall, carrying the giggling child in his arms. Hadley wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her little head on his shoulder as they went, and her heart practically melted.
Things felt…different with Logan now. She loved that he respected every single boundary, spoken or unspoken, that she'd put into place, between the two of them, but at the same time, she felt her heart skip a little whenever he gave her that smile that belonged only to her.
He never looked at anyone else the way he looked at her.
She remembered back before everything had happened, when he was still in love, or should she say, lust, with Jean Grey, and when she was still with Bobby, how she had had such a crush on Logan.
But with the Cure, and that final, horrific battle, and then Logan leaving, it had faded, until she'd really only seen him as more of a big brother type of guy.
If Rogue were being perfectly honest with herself, she'd say that old crush was back in full force.
There were moments, when she touched him, even casually, when a warm flush would spread over her skin. She'd panicked on the inside at first, thinking it was her mutation re-manifesting itself, but when it kept happening, she realized that it her body reacting to his.
Because, come on, the man was majorly fine.
Not only that, but he'd begun to get along well with the others in the mansion, and he doted on her. There wasn't a single time when, if she needed something, he was right there to help.
Rogue bit her lip, her gaze wandering over to the view from the large picture window. It was a beautiful day outside, the cool-ish spring weather having finally surrendered to full-blown summer.
It seemed to reflect her feelings perfectly. Abandoning the comfortable couch, she walked down the main hall to the kitchen; through the doorway, she saw Hadley perched on the counter, throwing a grape at Logan's head. The girl was laughing uproariously, kicking her feet in delight. He retaliated by tickling her stomach with his long fingers, until Hadley shrieked.
Rogue leaned her head against the doorframe; the thought coming to her that Logan would someday make a fantastic father. She sighed.
Logan scooped up Hadley into his arms, the girl clearly starting to droop from tiredness. Seeing her, he smiled and put a finger to his lips.
"I'm gonna take her upstairs," he said quietly. "Wait for me? We can go for a walk outside while the sun's still shining."
Rogue just nodded, that funny seizing feeling happening again in her chest as her eyes followed Logan up the stairs.
Okay, so maybe it could be categorized at a little bit more than a crush…
reviews? anyone? anyone?
