Southern Comfort ------
The tangy smell of bourbon hit Marie's nose as she shut the door behind her. Logan's room usually smelled of Molson and cigars, not the straight liquor that filled the tall round bottle, red ochre and shining next to the table lamp near the window. She knew that label from back home in Mississippi when her daddy used to have a glass on Sundays.
Southern Comfort.
Ironic that she found it there in a place she remembered only for pain, and here where she felt safer than anywhere she could imagine.
Logan, oblivious to the inner-workings of his lover's mind, kept his eyes trained on the television and the hockey game therein. The Maple Leafs were playing, and the game was just getting into some of the rougher hits. He didn't want to miss a shot, and looking at Marie would mean missing a whole lot of them.
"Hey Darlin'," he said, sending a grin in her general direction.
Kicking her shoes off as she made her way to the bed, Rogue fought the temptation to unplug the television on her way. The box did nothing but take away her man when she was in the mood for a little affection. But turning off the tube was a bad idea when hockey was on. It was a good way to start a fight.
Plopping down on the mattress took Logan's attention away from the game for a millisecond as he gave her a disapproving look for jolting his vision on the screen. She shrugged her shoulders and leaned back against the headboard, hoping that a commercial break would intrude upon the game.
Ten minutes later Marie got her wish.
"Whatcha drinkin' that stuff for?" she asked, pointing to the bottle of Southern Comfort.
"Looked good," Logan replied as he reached over to grab it. "Want a sip?"
Her mouth turned down into a frown as she accepted the bottle into her hands. She unscrewed the cap and took a whiff of the sharp, bourbon smell. It was intoxicatingly sweet, and she was reminded again of her father.
"Daddy used ta drink this stuff," she said, running her finger over the ridges of the bottle. "A glass a day kept the doctor away. That's what he always used ta say."
"You're rhyming."
"Sorry."
There was a sad smile on her face as she ran her fingertips over the bumps and letters imprinted on the sides and top and bottom of the glass. She had always seen the bottle but never had the chance to touch it. Just like so many other things, it was forbidden.
"Don't think too hard," Logan joked.
"I think all'a y'all got horrible tastes in liquor. If you're gonna drink something, make it something worth drinking." She handed him the bottle.
Logan watched as she crawled off the bed and stumbled her way over to the miniature refrigerator by the television. She pulled out a Molson and popped the cap with the bottle opener she always kept tucked in her back pocket. It was a trait of his that never went away.
"This is worth drinking," she affirmed before taking a long swig.
"Now don't savor it or anything," Logan said sarcastically, watching her down the bottle and go for one of the two others tucked away in the fridge. "There's plenty more in there."
After setting the second bottle on the counter, Marie swaggered over to the bed, stopping beside Logan. She leaned down close and touched a gloved finger to his chin, tilting his face up to within an inch of hers. They stared at each other with heated gazes, the tension in the room rising. Logan felt hot all of a sudden, as if the temperature had risen ten degrees in the span of seconds.
"Logan?"
The breathy whisper touched Logan's lips and his tongue darted out to taste the essence. He could almost taste the emotion.
"Yeah?"
"There's no southern comfort that's better than the kind I can give ya."
A wicked grin came across her face, and Logan soon followed after with a smirk of his own.
"That's for damn sure."
------
a/n: Southern Comfort is the best alcohol drink in the world. Best mixed with Mountain Dew, but I can take it straight if the need for bourbon is great enough. The drink just kinda seemed in place with Marie and her history.
This one definitely goes out to MissLadyVenus for the non-too-subtle hints at another LM fic. Hope you all enjoyed.
It's a fanfiction sin to read without reviewing.