Hi, everyone out there in computer land! Hope all my American readers had a lovely Fourth of July, I know I did! But I got mosquito-bit to hell and back, so that's been annoying all day. Anyway, here's the 11th chapter, I hope you enjoy Marie's and Jubilee's shopping excursion. Please, leave me a review to let me know what you're thinking, if you're liking it, if there's something you'd like to see.
:D Enjoy!
Marie spent the time she'd planned on having a Danger Room session with Logan talking to Jubilee. She told her uncharacteristically silent friend the story of the morning, only leaving out the conversation she'd had with the Wolverine. Anyone but Jubilee, she'd never had told about the bite mark. She's sure as hell never tell anyone but Jubes anything about how she came on a scream at the smallest slice over the mark. But Jubilee was her old roommate and knew all Marie's little quirks. Unfortunately for both of them, Jubilee had walked in on Marie exploring those little…quirks by herself a number of times over their roommate years, but Jubilee had never judged the untouchable girl.
The upshot of those youthful uncomfortable moments was that they were now very comfortable with each other's preferences. Marie knew that Jubilee would never condemn her for her affection for leather belts or Logan's claws; Jubilee was safe to use as a sounding board. And Marie needed all the help she could get.
What in sweet hell had happened out there? The Wolverine chasing her, catching her, that was brand new but she could accept that, probably better than Logan could since she didn't fear his feral side. But the marking… And it was no ordinary bite mark, that had been made abundantly clear. It didn't heal, which was unprecedented. But the reaction to being touched... That was something she'd never experienced, never even heard of. From Logan's reaction he'd never seen anything like it either.
After Marie told her about the out-of-the-blue orgasm, Jubilee let out a low whistle and sat back, quietly pondering what she'd been told as Marie showered off the dirt and forest debris. "So, did Wolvie cum?"
Dripping water and shampoo, Marie stuck her head around the shower curtain to stare at her friend. "Really? That's what you want to know first?"
"I like to know these things! Plus, if you made Wolvie cum in his pants, I'd have to give you major props, since I've never managed that with Remy… Been close though…"
Marie glared at her. "Ew, I don't need the details like you do. But no, he didn't."
"Oh. Too bad."
Marie sighed and stepped back under the spray. "I think I need some lunch and retail therapy after this morning." She finished her shower quickly as Jubilee squealed and dashed off to her room for her purse and, presumably, her shopping shoes.
Marie and Jubilee spent an hour at the mall, and then went for a girly lunch that Jubilee demanded, using the reasoning that she had not gotten a mid-morning orgasm, so she got to pick the restaurant. Marie had hushed her and allowed herself to be dragged into the cute little tearoom. Not her style, she thought with a glance around the rosy and cheerful room, but not that bad really. The excellent burger she'd unexpectedly found on the menu certainly made up for the overly-pink décor.
As she ate, Marie soaked up Jubilee's chatter. It was usually this way for them, Jubilee sparkling like the fireworks she made, Marie content to listen quietly for the most part. She was the only one who could pull Marie out of her own mind when she needed it. The food, the company, the femaleness of the restaurant, it all soothed her and she didn't even bitch when, after lunch, Jubilee dragged her into that dreaded hell of a lingerie store, Victoria's Secret. As she glared at her friend, the yellow-shoed girl danced around the store, finding unbelievable undergarments for Marie.
Some of them made her laugh, like the little French-maid-inspired number that she flatly refused to try on. Others, like the green satin corset-style piece piqued her interest enough to try it on. Much to her chagrin, she was weak enough to let Jubilee bully her into buying it. "Don't you want to have something that'll make Wolvie sit up and wag when you finally let him get in your pants?"
She got a dirty look from Marie for that, but since it was a good enough excuse, she purchased it. Jubilee was so happy that she'd gotten her to buy anything in the hated store that she barely even bitched when Marie detoured into a leatherworker's shop. "I've been wanting something to hold some of my knives," Marie explained as she started searching thought the boot sheathes. Jubilee just sighed and wandered off. A few minutes later, Jubilee got her attention by waving what appeared to be a handful of leather straps in front of her face.
"What's that?" Marie asked, somewhat scandalized by the S&M-esque look of the straps. In her mind, the Rogue sat up, interested.
"This, Roguey, is a leather shoulder harness with gun holsters or knife sheathes!" She had a wicked glint in her eyes that made Marie narrow her own eyes.
"Huh…" Marie mused, taking the leather from the grinning girl. Examined it with a knowledge gained from Logan and his affinity for finely wrought leather. Approved heartily of the unique style, the delicate tooling and, sturdy stitching. Studied the front closure, the crossed straps in back that would allow good range of motion. Turning to a mirror, she handed Jubilee her shopping bag and swung the harness over her shoulders. She hitched the leather in place, enjoying the smooth glide. No pinching, no tight stretch, even when she hooked it closed over her chest, just a soft shush of well-oiled leather. Ohh, very nice, she thought, as she admired the comfortable fit.
From behind her, Jubilee hummed happily. Marie looked over her shoulder at her grinning friend. "What?"
"Roguey, you have to get this. Wolvie's tongue is going to fall out of his head when he sees that."
Green eyes rolled. "Not everything I buy is to get Logan going, Jubes."
"But it's such a delicious little side benefit! Besides, that thing is hot!" Marie just shook her head, but she hid a grin as she peeled it off. Jubilee started to pout when she took it off, but her expression brightened again when Marie added it to the two boot sheathes she'd already picked out. Marie laughed at the comical change of expressions and tossed Jubilee the two gun holsters. "You found it, you go get me the knife sheathes, I'll meet you at the counter."
As she walked to the counter, she could hear Jubilee chattering happily as she looked for the proper sheathes.
At the counter, the young, pimple-faced clerk rang her up. She could feel his eyes on her. Used to being scrutinized for being a mutant, she looked up to meet his gaze firmly with her cool, Rogue stare. To her surprise, it wasn't anger or fear in his eyes but an wide-eyed kind of admiration. When she met his eyes, he smiled a little and said, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to stare…you just look so like someone I've seen on tv."
She arched an eyebrow and drawled, "Really? Odd."
The young man flushed and started to stutter, when Jubilee bounced up to drop the sheathes on the counter beside Marie's other selections. Seeing the clerk's red face, she chirped, "Roguey, what did you do to him?" with a little smirk.
At the mention of her name, the man twitched a little, but now he only had eyes for the little Asian firecracker. Jubilee sparkled and glittered in her yellow coat and the poor man didn't stand a chance. He managed to ring up Marie's items, take her money, and make change, all without once taking his eyes from the smiling girl. Marie just shook her head and shooed Jubilee out the door, leaving him gaping behind them. "Face forward, Jubes, he's already drooling, don't leave him with too many more images!"
Cheerful laughter rolled out of the bubbly girl. "Roguey, you always leave them wanting more!"
They'd been shopping for several hours now and Marie was too exhausted to argue that point, so she just murmured, "Mhmm, tell me more, o wise one," and steered her out to the car while Jubilee expounded on the merits of flirtation.
The girls drove back to the mansion and changed, Jubilee barging into Marie's room to "help" her choose an outfit. On the drive back, she's told Jubes about her plan of using alcohol to calm Logan down enough so they could have a, hopefully, reasonable discussion. The plan had been met with determined agreement, but Jubilee insisted that Marie change into something that would "make Wolvie sit up and beg." While it wasn't the image that Marie would have thought of, she appreciated the sentiment; she also admitted that she probably needed Jubes' input, as her experience of actively seducing men was, well, exactly nil.
So it was that Marie stood before her closet in bemusement for the second time in so many days. This time, however, she was watching her best friend digging through the clothes with a ferocity of attention that was usually reserved for five-star generals forming battle plans. Or maybe a master painter working a canvas. Marie did feel like a little bit of both as Jubilee yanked clothes out and held them up, only to ruthlessly discard them.
Just as Marie's nerves were starting to fray, and really, she'd held on longer than normal already, Jubilee spoke over her shoulder, "Ok, chica, I've narrowed it down. Go do your makeup and hair, I'll have it done when you come back."
Primping never took long for Marie. She was more simple than Jubilee, just a little eye makeup to darken them and a little lip gloss, but even then she rarely bothered to do it. Logan always laughed at her when she came out of a Danger Room session with "raccoon eyes." As she examined her reflection critically, she hoped that this time Logan appreciated the trouble she was going through. Finished, she walked back out to the main room to find Jubilee's butt in the air as she apparently excavated the floor of Marie's closet.
"Jubes, sugar, what in the hell are you looking for?"
"I got one black boot and one brown one, chica. Why are they both lefts? It's not right, there are no rights! Where are their rights?"
Marie stared at her, wondering if Jubes had finally descended into a clothing-induced mania. Then she remembered she'd taken the black right-foot one in to be repaired, since Logan had firmly instilled the appreciation of a solid pair of boots in her, and kicked the brown on off under the bed in her hurry to shower the night before. To keep Jubes from freaking out any more than she already was, Marie snagged the missing brown boot and tapped her on the shoulder with it.
Dark curls bounced as Jubilee whipped around and snatched the boot. "Ok, so we're going with the brown. That means the light jeans with the blown out knee, that cream tank top, Logan's green and tan plaid shirt. And of course, the new harness and the bomber jacket you got for Christmas two years ago, the one the color of milk chocolate."
Marie gaped at Jubilee. "Do you memorize every article I own?"
"Not just yours, chica! Everyone's!" She laid a dramatic hand over her heart. "It's both a gift and a curse."
"Jubes, sometimes I think that your fireworks aren't your mutation, just a trick you play on all of us and your real mutation is this bizarre ability to recall every scrap of fabric you've ever seen in your whole life."
"You might not be too wrong on that, chica, but that just means I'm all the more qualified to help you. So, when we get to the bar, you buy my first round when Logan can't think what to say."
As she tugged on the clothes Jubilee'd specified, Marie just chuckled. "Deal."
So for the next chapter, Marie and Jubilee will head off to a local bar to meet up with there feral teammates. Anyone have any suggestions on what happens? Also, yes, the leather harness thing certainly sounds bdsm-y but I was looking up knife sheaths and I saw one that went over the back with a razorback style and just HAD to incorporate it somehow. It just struck me as so badass. And in my world, at lease, Rogue is much more into the hands-on, close contact style of fighting afforded by knives, considering her mutation requires skin to skin contact.