Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.
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Lost to the music, her heart beating to the pounding bass that called to something deep and primal within her, Jubilee danced with none and everyone at once. A flash of feathers was an invitation to touch them, held in a huntresses eyes to feel as helpless as any fieldmouse against a hungry hawk. Her own curious touch was returned just as gently by fingers that ran through her sweat drenched hair, as thumbs softly brushed her ears in a longing for something lost.
"You're gorgeous!" Jubilee cried, admiring the plumage in the place of hair that would leave a stylist envious and frustrated to ever try to imitate.
"And you're adorable!"
"Aw, can't I be sexy instead?!" Jubilee cried with a playful pout.
Answered with a flirtatious kiss that grew bolder from every ticklish touch of their roaming hands, panting as they parted, their laughter spoke the embarrassment they felt after getting caught up in the moment.
"What can you do?" Her huntress asked.
Smiling, Jubilee threw her hands up with the crowd, setting off a peppering of pafs. Her huntress stared at them entranced, the sparkling streamers and brilliant starbursts dancing in her avian eyes. Emboldened, Jubilee let go of her inhibitions and vied to be heard over the music, to be seen against the pulsing of the industrial lights that scattered their shadows. Others joined in her lightshow, rousing a thunderous, earthshaking cheer.
The crush of bodies drew her away, awash in a tide she didn't want to fight as she waved to her huntress in parting. There was always someone else waiting to dance with her, another of her tribe ready to celebrate everything that made them just who and what they were, mutants. Unable to keep track of her every partner, the music was ceaseless as one song embraced the next as intimately as any lover. Dancing her way to the edges, she tumbled out on shaky legs and welcomed the cool air that washed over her sweat wet skin.
As alone as Jubilee felt after being caught up in the warmth of so many bodies, her heart ached at the sight of Bishop standing off at the car looking so stoic. Wandering off, as she fell away from the dance floor she found enough perspective to search for Clarice and James, whooping in joy as she saw them at last, snapping a picture of Clarice riding atop of James's shoulders as a memento.
"Why so serious?" Jubilee asked as she reached their car, taking Bishop into a hug he didn't return.
Wracked by a sudden shiver, her now cold sweat had her squirming against the feel of a cold drop running down her back. Sighing as she felt her sympathy was unwanted, Jubilee rolled away to lean against the car with him instead.
"This is wrong." Bishop said softly, stripping out of his greatcoat to offer it to her.
"Mixed signals, you talking chivalry ain't dead, cause like...thanks. Or you mean us getting our freak on like we don't care who's watching?"
"Everything."
Feeling like a kid wearing her father's jacket, Jubilee breathed deep and enjoyed the scent that was wholly new to her, smiling as she noticed a hint of aftershave that smelt nice.
"Trust me dude, ya don't gotta tell me there's a shit tonne wrong with the world, but everything? Fuck no. Just look out there, I mean how cute are Clarice and James together?"
Growing up with Scott and Logan as the men in her life, Jubilee was used to both grumpy and pissed off, right along with a side order of stoic to boot. Spotting the telltale twitch of his jaw, she scooted a little closer to Bishop and reached for his hand. It took a couple tries with how hidden hers were by the cuff of his greatcoat, but he didn't shy away from her touch as she found him. And just like Logan and Scott, hers felt small in his hand, felt safe for how softly he held hers despite every rough callus.
"So, you crushing on Clarice? I mean, believe it or not, I do know a thing or two about unrequited love."
"I'm happy for her."
"And James?" Jubilee hazarded a guess, shivering as she felt a thumb brush against the back of her hand that left her confused for she thought of how Logan always did that when he tried to console her from one sadness or another.
"And James."
Forgetting her own conflicted feelings, or maybe just because of them, Jubilee fell against Bishop for another hug. As fast as her heart ran, feeling more embarrassed than she did after sharing a kiss with her huntress, to feel Bishop return the hug this time eased away the ache in her throat that made it impossible to breathe.
"One drink."
"One drink?" Jubilee asked, utterly confused and feeling like he could have been speaking a different language.
"I still have to get you all home safe."
Blinking away tears that made her feel foolish with how loud she was laughing, Jubilee let herself be led away to the few people tending bar from the trunks of their cars. Splitting a six pack, one drink led to two for Bishop while she finished off the rest.
"But you do love them right, Clarice and James? I'm not crazy in thinking that am I?"
"I'm happy for them." Bishop confessed.
Curled in his lap enjoying the feel of his slow stroking of her sides, Jubilee couldn't help but think the world didn't seem so wrong in his eyes as it had before. As tempted as she was to ask about it, men like him needed their secrets and would only share them when they were good and ready.
"One dance?" Jubilee asked, biting her lip against her hope he would say yes.
Suffering his stern, steely gaze, Jubilee had the decency to blush knowing she had pushed her luck far enough for one night.
"Had to try."
If not tonight, then maybe the next time. Digging for her phone, Jubilee found another memento to remember the moment by, held in his arms as she smiled enough for the both of them. Grumpy she knew after all, well enough to see past a stony facade that guarded the warmth that lay beneath, a warmth she felt in his every soft touch.
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Safe beneath his jacket, Marie wandered the streets of Salem held closely by Logan, just two more lovers out to enjoy the night. They had their admirers in the old couples who looked on them knowingly, likely remembering what love was like when it was still sometimes terrifying for how hotly it burned, a marvellous madness that replaced reason with the wiles of the heart.
"Where do we go from here?" How quiet her own voice was surprised her, realizing how long she had been trying to ask that very question only to stumble with false starts that become a nervous giggle or laugh.
"Well, first I'll treat ya to a cup of coffee for the walk back."
They had left the car behind at the restaurant, stepping out just for a moment so Logan could enjoy a cigar. Wandering off to for a little bit of window shopping of a boutique herself, he joined her to drape his jacket over her huddled shoulders. One store window led to another and soon they were walking down the street enjoying the sights.
"After that?" Marie asked.
What would they do once they returned home? Go their separate ways as they had always done before? Would she linger at her door in invitation, entice him with her eyes to lead him in? Would he let her go at all, leading her instead to his room?
"I'll leave that up to you."
Reason gave way to rage, why would it have to be her to make that choice?! It wasn't fair to make her choose for them, not with everything that kept them apart! A shiver wracked her, filled with a loathing of her greedy skin. She couldn't even hold his hand for this walk like she wanted, to feel every rough ridge of his skin against hers, to enjoy the warmth that rose a sweat between them.
Standing alone in the street, Marie hadn't even realized she had stopped until she heard his quiet, heavy step. His finger guided her eyes up to his, her heartbeat counting out the seconds to that dread moment, waiting for his wince of pain only to have him step back from the edge instead.
"I'm sorry." Logan whispered, his eyes full of a regret that didn't belong in them.
Try as she might, she couldn't keep her promise to Jean, ending the evening in the tears she had been on the very verge of crying before. Only now they hurt, they stung from her grief that she couldn't let be, what would be. All she wanted to do was let Logan have her however he would, knowing in her heart he would never hurt her, couldn't ever after realizing their love in their quiet confession before they took to the dance floor.
"I think I could use that coffee now." Marie sputtered, taking a deep breath as she tried to calm herself.
He looked on the verge of saying something, whatever it was he bit it back and smiled at her as he always did to make her feel better. A look, a touch, a smarmy remark was all it ever took him before, back when they had only been friends. Tonight his smile had a sadness in it that stung to see.
"I'm sorry..." Marie croaked in a hoarse echo of his earlier apology.
Again he stopped, holding her there in the street as if it were deserted for how he looked at her, as if she were the only one in his lonely world.
"Just say yes and we'll see what happens. No regrets, no apologies, no hurt feelings if all we manage is a goodnight kiss. Just...say yes."
Words failed her as she covered her mouth, giving her answer with a nod and not even caring that she was crying again because they were tears that knew no sadness. It was a chance at something more even if all it ended in was a kiss. Because that kiss would be a promise of another night, a night where they could be together as they wished. And like any Fairy Godmother, Marie trusted Jean to work a bit of magic that would let her have the happy ending she deserved.
Wandering off together for a cup of coffee that would lead to a drive home, the clock hadn't struck midnight yet so they could take the back roads back with just the radio to keep them company. There was always a chance an old country classic would come on, fit for a slow dance that would remind them their first.
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