Ororo began the lesson by pointing out what controls were what, and explaining what they were to do. They were each to take off, make at least one slow circle, and then land again. Rogue went first. She had already done this at Alkali Lake, and knowing that both Logan and Kurt were there she felt much safer. She made one lazy circle, and set down again relatively smoothly.
Kurt did even better. Having a natural understanding of gravity from his days as a tumbler, combined with his inborn sense of how 3-dimensional travel worked because of his teleportation, Kurt managed two circles and a very smooth landing.
"Wow, Kurt, that was great for a first time," Ororo raved.
"Not bad, Blue," Logan commented as he eased himself into the pilot's chair. "Let's see if I can top it."
Logan took off much too fast, and his passengers were sure that his circle nearly broke the sound barrier. Then he saw a button that looked like the turbo-toggle on Scott's bike. "What's this do?" he asked, pressing it.
"No, Logan, that's –" Ororo started to shout. Rogue screamed and drowned her out, while Kurt started to pray fervently.
The plane spiralled rapidly toward the ground. Just before it crashed, Kurt grabbed Rogue's hand in his, wrapped his prehensile tail around Ororo's wrist, and they disappeared in a puff of sulphurous smoke.
Logan, left alone in the simulator, was jolted sharply in his seat when the "plane" crashed. Coughing, he unbuckled his seat belt and made his way towards the exit. Once outside, his missing companions rejoined him.
Logan was grinning. "Well, that wasn't so bad!"
"Logan, you crashed the plane!" Storm was seething. "If this had been real, we would all probably be dead by now!"
Logan, amused, took out a cigar and jammed it into his mouth. "Nah. You lot would be fine with the blue elf here, and I'd probably be walking away just like now." He struck a match and began to light up.
Rogue narrowed her eyes at the small flame, and the match flared up and burned his fingers. He swore and dropped it, then when he looked up accusingly at her, she growled. "If you ever do that again, I swear I willkeep my hands onyou all the way down so that I'm the one walking away!"
Logan couldn't help himself. He winked at her and murmured salaciously, "Darlin', if you're puttin' your hands on me all the way down, it'd be worth it."
Kurt's tail twitched in amusement. Rogue just growled again and stomped away.
"Class dismissed!" Ororo called after her, with another glare at Logan. He grinned. Kurt grinned back before trotting off after Storm.
Logan, left alone with the smoking simulator, shrugged. "Well, I thought it was fun," he said aloud to the empty air. He waited until the smoke cleared out of the simulator, and then went back in.
Xavier watched him from the control room as he executed a perfect, if speedy takeoff, several tight circles with perfect control, and as smooth a landing as Storm had ever done. His brow furrowed. Wolverine was certainly unpredictable – and for a telepath to think that, it meant something. Xavier let his mind touch Logan's for just the briefest of moments, and was surprised at the sense of shock he felt. It was Logan's sense of shock at himself. His foremost thought was, "Whoa. Didn't know I knew how to do that!" This time he went ahead and lit his cigar as he swaggered down the ramp.
The grin never left his face as he left to find Rogue for dinner. She seemed to have forgiven him, but was still playfully giving him a hard time about it. He teased back and the incident was forgotten as they arranged for him to start her combat training the next morning.
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