The next day found Xavier's school to be proceeding as usual, with classes taking place and students moving from hall to hall, chattering and socializing, just like any other place of learning. However, this particular school had, among its own peculiarities, a grumpy Wolverine who was stalking out of the kitchen and wishing he'd either had breakfast earlier or later. After a night's sleep with just one general nightmare, Logan had gotten up that morning and taken the longest shower of his life. He'd been too weary the night before to clean up, barely taking the time to shed his bloody clothes and fall into bed, and so had busied himself in throwing away the ruined garments and washing up properly. He'd felt so much better that it seemed a good idea to grab a bite to eat, and that's where the trouble began. Jean was following him quickly, her low heels clicking on the kitchen floor before she hit the plush rug just outside.

"Logan, please, I don't want to do anything invasive. Okay? Just an overall examination, I promise." Apparently, the redhead seemed to believe he should go down to the med lab and let her run some tests. The feral snorted.

"I think I've had enough poking and prodding to last me for a while, Jeannie," he retorted, although without too much real heat behind the words. He could tell she was sincere in her intention to help, but she knew how he felt about being down there… "I'm fine." His voice held a finality, but the doctor wasn't about to give up. As she followed him down the hall toward the rec room, she pulled a new voice into the conversation by grabbing Storm's arm as the other woman passed by. Having been on her way to the greenhouse, the weather manipulator was startled to be essentially ambushed, looking between a determined Jean and a scowling Logan.

"Storm, tell Logan that he needs to let me give him an examination, just to make sure he's perfectly all right." Ororo understood then why the feral was acting that way, and hid a smile. His dislike of anything medically-oriented was famous, and completely understandable, but in this case…

"Logan, maybe you should just humor Jean. She only has your best interests at heart." Hazel eyes softened a bit, but Logan still looked irritable.

"I know, but I don't need it. Do I look like I need to be examined?" Storm couldn't resist.

"Only your head." Her attitude was so casual that it took him a second to process the actual meaning of what she had said.

"Hey! Well… besides that!" he sputtered, trying to regain his scowl, but there was a smile sneaking around the corners of his mouth. Jean managed to hide her amusement; after all, she was trying to persuade him to do something, and it would be counterproductive to make him annoyed with her. Ororo chuckled softly, then composed herself and lightly took his wrist in her hand, dark eyes gazing up at him.

"Really, Logan, please do what Jean asks. We'd all feel better to know that you truly are all right." He looked to be teetering on the edge of decision, finally sighing heavily as if extremely put out.

"Fine. But I expect compensation for inconvenience and mental anguish." Jean took that as her victory, ignoring the other woman's soft laugh at his martyrdom, and lost no time in grabbing the wrist Storm had been holding.

"We'll come up with something," the redhead promised, beginning to pull him along. Logan shot Storm a startled look that made her laugh again, but allowed himself to be led away, keeping in his mind a vision of the sparkling humor in her eyes.

x_X_x

"Satisfied now?" Logan asked with a smirk as he reached for his long-sleeved denim shirt where it lay on a counter, right next to the exam table he'd been sitting on for almost thirty minutes. Thankfully it really had been just an examination, where she'd checked his basic vitals and compared them to the charts in his file. Very meticulously. But it was usually a little cool down in the med lab, and he only had his jeans and wife beater on, making him pull on the overshirt gladly. His boot soles thumped the floor when he got to his feet, glad to have that over. Jean's face was a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

"I wasn't doing this for my own entertainment, you know." She gave the most elegant eye roll he had ever seen. Didn't even know that was possible. "Yes, your fever was gone by the time we got you back to the mansion, and I know you had healed, but I just wanted to make sure you were fully okay. You went through a lot in a short time. I figured a check-up couldn't hurt." Logan couldn't help the first thought that came to mind at her statement, and grinned at the telepath, one eyebrow arched.

"Oh, so you wanted to check me out, huh?" he teased, beginning to roll up the denim sleeves a few times. Jean laughed lightly, shaking her head.

"Logan, we both know that I'm not the one you want to do that." He sobered immediately, caught in mid-motion before he came back to himself and finished turning up the right-hand cuff.

"Not sure if anything would ever come from it," he admitted while keeping his gaze turned down to the floor, and Jean was startled at the pained honesty in the words. She remembered Logan's impulsive confession of sorts in the basement to Ororo, the two words 'you're home' hitting the weather witch hard, but maybe Logan hadn't been able to see, or smell, her reaction from behind the wall of pain and anger he'd been going through.

"It might, if you'll just talk with her," Jean said mildly while tidying things up. She hoped she wasn't coming across as pushy, but with some observation and time, she'd come to realize how easily Logan could put himself down or believe the worst of himself. It would be a shame if something potentially good wasn't given a chance because it wasn't thought possible, whatever the imagined reason. Jean had been there, had actually seen Storm surprised by their resident feral's words before that initial startlement turned to some genuine interest, complete with heated cheeks. Not to mention the telepathic doctor was a secret romantic, in spite of the cool exterior she liked to cultivate, and the matchup of feral and weather goddess could have easily come from a fairy tale. She finished putting away her tools of the trade and leaned against the counter, ankles crossed and arms folded under her chest. Logan gave her a quick side glance and shrugged. He had nothing left to fiddle with after finishing his sleeves, and appeared lost as to what to do with his hands. There was a look of discomfort on his face that she would never have associated with the feral's usual bravado.

"Is what it is," he commented, voice a little rough. Jean sighed softly.

"Logan, the best advice I can give you is to not try and second-guess Ororo. And please, don't sell yourself short, either. I know you've made a lot of progress since you first came here, but sometimes you revert to old habits." She leaned forward and took his left hand in hers, patting it gently while smiling up at him. "Don't discard the idea so readily. You might be surprised if you try to have a little faith." They were both so caught up in the moment that not even Logan realized Scott had entered the med lab, and the team's leader stopped short, eyebrows raising at their joined hands and nearness to one another. He was supposed to be helping Jean correlate and organize some data and files, but it looked like she'd been caught up in another project.

"Am I interrupting something…?" he asked, going in further. Their position did look compromising, to say the least, but he trusted his fiancée, and strange as it was, he didn't see Logan as a threat anymore. Jean gave him a big smile and turned away from Wolverine, who took the opportunity to make an exit. The telepath could feel the embarrassment coming off of him and hid a laugh. The poor man was experiencing so many new situations in the place he called home. He'd obviously changed a great deal, because the feral they first met would have probably strutted and smirked instead of feeling true concern over giving Scott a reason to doubt his fiancée. He also would never have let himself be that vulnerable to her in the first place.

"Just having a little heart to heart." She gave Scott a sweet kiss in greeting before giving him a mental promise to explain further later on. First, they had work to do.