Chapter Twenty-Seven: All About That
":She's too young for him." Logan grimaced.
Rogue was shocked. "She's practically mah age Logan."
He looked at her and blinked three times before returning his eyes to the trail. "And I'm way too old for you.." He conceded.
"Ah heard the Professor say you could be up to a hundred years old Logan. One Hundred. Right now!" She shook her head. "No one in mah family lives much past their sixties."
He turned to her, shocked. Sixties?
"So who are you supposed to date if you're a hundred?" She asked. "Or me, are you off limits because Ah wont live as long?"
"Marie." He wasn't sure what to say.
"We can't let things like that matter." She smiled at him. "Not and make a stab at a real life." She saw him reluctantly relax in the saddle.
"Why don't you like her, for real?" Marie cocked her hat to block the sun and allow her to look slyly at Logan. She was pressing one eye closed against the sun.
He pursed his lips in to a small, slight smile.
"Not gonna say?" Marie asked. "For me?"
"I can't say if I don't know." He shrugged. "It could be a lot of things."
"She muscled in on your adventure."
"Yeah." He looked up to the horizon and took a look around, just to stay aware. "But she had to come. I get it." He swallowed and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
"And she knows just how to get under your skin, because she knew another Wolverine."
"You noticed that?" he stopped his horse.
Rogue pulled back to join him. "No. She told me."
"Hunh." He looked deep in thought. Right, she called him 'Wolvie'. . .
He motioned gently and the horses began meandering forward again.
"I don't think that's it."
Marie suddenly giggled. She looked at Logan, who was looking at her, and she turned away,. Unable to stop herself from giggling further. She pressed the back of her gloved fingers to her mouth, in a fist, but couldn't stop.
"What?" He implored, he had seen her like this before.
She waved a hand and kept her lips pressed tight.
"Marie?" He began sideling his horse up to hers and she began pulling away.
"Damn it." He said softly, under his breath.
She wiped each eye with a soft cloth from in her vest. "I'm sorry." She smiled. "Girl talk last night, before you got back."
"What did you talk about?" He was more afraid of the answer than he was of Sabertooth.
She began to giggle again.
"Oh, for Pete's sake." He looked back to the horizon. After a moment he spoke.
"I think," He said after a while "I remember her." He looked at Rogue. "From when I was blind."
"You do?" Marie looked.
"Yeah. She used to come to visit me, I think she felt bad for me." He shrugged. "But it was a bad move. She wasn't who I was looking for." He looked back at Rogue. "But I think she and I used to talk."
"Different worlds Logan." She looked at him. "But we know all about that." He eyes fell to her saddle. "Don't we?"
He swallowed and looked up and away. "I guess we do."
"Ah don't want to think about it." She said, still not looking up. "I want to count my blessings and keep mah fingers crossed." She looked up and looked him in the face. "But" She seemed pained for a moment. "There might come a day when we can't ignore the fact that we are not the same people we were when we got married."
She looked sheepish. "You know what I mean."
"Yeah." He felt a tear run down his face. It surprised him. "I know what you mean. And I don't want to talk about it either."
"But," She pressed. "If we have to, ever?" She needed to be clear.
He looked her in the face and took a deep breath. "I'm strong enough to let you go." He told her. "Just not quite strong enough to lose you." He took a quick and shallow breath. "If we need to talk about it, we can."
She sidled her horse up to his and took his hand. "We we're talking about sex." She said with a guilty grin.
"We were?" He asked.
"The girl talk silly, last night." She hugged his arm quickly and sympathetically. "She asked what you were like."
He looked almost horrified. "What did you say?"
"Ah told her she could watch some time."
She watched him try to form words before she burst out laughing, lightly 'spurred' her horse and began to dash away.
Wolverine stood up, fully, hanging in the stirrups. He watched her tearing off across the desert. She didn't really say that, did she?
"I love you." He whispered, surprising himself, before turning to his horse. "Sorry boy." He said. "I know I'm heavy, but we've got to catch her."
And his horse looked at him as though he'd lost his mind before giving it his all.
