Chapter 26: (News) Flash in the Bedroom
Logan left and made his way quickly up to Rogue's room. He rapped lightly at the door. He heard her sleepy question and grimaced; he'd awakened her. "It's me," he said in response.
"Oh! Come on in," she said. He heard the quiet click of her switching on her bedside lamp, and he pushed the door open.
Rogue lay there bathed in soft light, wearing her green satin nightgown.
Logan swallowed.
"Hi," she greeted.
"Hey. Sorry I woke you. How's your head after Xavier spent the day in it?"
"Never better. He fixed everything, and better yet, he taught me how to do it myself next time."
Logan nodded, relieved. He'd been really worried. "And Pyro?"
"Pyro is safely contained, but I'll still be able to access his powers if I need to, without him taking over. Magneto, too."
"So… you miss me up there yet?" he teased, one eyebrow raised.
Rogue shrugged. "A little. Xavier says we're always so careless, though, that I'll probably get you back at some point."
Logan chuckled. Xavier was probably right.
"So what's up? Where ya been, anyway?" She patted the bed and he sank down on the edge of it.
"Been with Hank all day. Got something I gotta show ya, all right?"
She nodded. With a smirk of anticipation over her reaction to hearing about the serum, he pulled his shirt off over his head.
Rogue raised her eyebrows at the sight of his bare chest. "Oh…kay. It's, um, very nice," she told him with a grin.
"What? Oh!" Logan's cheeks burned. "No, not—I mean, I wanted to show you my back, that's all." He turned away so she could see his aching shoulder.
In the dim light, she couldn't see the bruising, though, and she tried to stifle her giggles as she said, "The back is nice too, Logan. Not that Ah mind, but why the strip-tease?"
He growled and reached past her to turn her bedside lamp up two clicks brighter. "Look at my shoulder."
"Yes, the shoulders are quite decent too. What—oh, mah God, what happened to you?"
"Hank slapped me on the back. Guy that big ought to be more careful around us little fellows," he smirked.
Rogue's jaw dropped. "Why aren't you healin'?" she demanded.
Logan's smirk broadened into a grin. "'Cause today was the first day of my new career as a lab rat. Don't worry—it's not like my old career as a lab rat. Hank's made a serum that suppresses mutations for twenty-four hours."
Rogue blinked. "Uh…Ah'm sorry, but it sounded like you said Hank's serum suppresses mutations?"
He nodded, fiddling with his shirt. "For anyone whose mutation is focused inward, that is. Seems there's a difference in the kind of X-chromosome is involved. So around here, that'd be you, me, and the elf."
"The…? Oh, Kurt. Right. So how soon can Ah try it?" Rogue threw back the covers and sat up, evidently ready to run down there that instant.
He chuckled. "Relax, darlin'. Maybe tomorrow night, if my own mutation comes back and I have no ill effects, he'll let you try it. I asked him."
With the covers thrown back and Rogue's green nightgown riding up towards the tops of her thighs, Logan suddenly felt uncomfortably warm. He cleared his throat. "Uh, Rogue honey, you mind…?" he gestured sheepishly at the blankets.
"What? Oh!" She pulled the covers back up, flushing. "Sorry." She chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment and then blurted out, "So are you afraid of my skin? Or you just don't like the view?"
"Believe me, that ain't it," he replied. "Even with my mutation suppressed, I have never been afraid of your skin. And the scenery's real nice; it's just that I haven't paid admission to see it yet." Embarrassed, he didn't meet her eyes.
Rogue grinned. "Pretty scenic from my point of view, too," she pointed out, glancing at his chest. She reached up under the sheet and took his hand. "Logan, are you tryin' to tell me that underneath all that bristly bad-assedness, you're actually a gentleman?"
He shrugged, the tips of his ears going pink. He squeezed her sheet-wrapped hand, and then released it. "You're the one who had me in your head for the last year. You oughtta know better'n me."
"Yeah," Rogue said, thinking of those two amazing kisses they'd shared inside her mind. "About that…"
He shifted his weight on the bed. "Aw, listen," he began. "All that stuff you heard in there… well, you don't have to worry none about that. I won't bother you or nothin'."
"Is that what you want?" she asked.
He shrugged, still toying with the shirt.
She was quiet, waiting. She knew not to rush him. This stuff didn't come easy for a man who had been so defensive for so long about absolutely everything.
"What I want, I ain't gonna get, and that's prob'ly the way it should be." He fiddled with the shirt some more, while Rogue waited.
"I mean, so what if I got 'feelings' for you?" he sneered at the word. "It don't mean nothin' in the grand scheme of things. You and I are friends and we like it that way, so anything else I got goin' on between my ears is my problem. I don't intend to make it yours as well."
"Okay, so what am I supposed to do about my feelings for you?" Rogue asked, point-blank. He had this all figured out, did he? Well, she might have a surprise or two for him.
He swivelled his head up to look at her and frowned. "What?"
Rogue sat up again, careful to keep covered by the sheet. All her bare skin was making her nervous being so close to all of his bare skin—and him with no healing mutation!
"Logan, you're my best friend. You've saved my life again and again. I know you better than I know anyone else in this world, and you mean more to me than anyone else either. I know I've got nothing to offer you. Ah cain't touch you, and Hank's serum might not work on me. I don't know. But whatever 'feelings' you have for me, well… Ah've got 'em for you, too."
He stared at her. "Are you kidding me?"
She rolled her eyes. "What, you think I go around kissing every guy in my head? No, I'm not kidding, Wolvie."
He grinned suddenly at the nickname, now that he knew that's what she'd called him that in her mind for the last year. "We were kind of a pain in there together, weren't we?" he said, speaking of the two different parts of himself. He reached out and briefly touched a lock of her hair.
"Yeah, you were," she smiled back as she leaned into the touch. "Wolvie, want to do me a favour?"
"Yeah, what?"
Heart pounding, she dropped her gaze and asked, "If Hank's serum does work on me… will you kiss me again?"
Logan covered his hand with his shirt and reached down to cup Rogue's chin. He lifted her face to look into her eyes. "The serum lasts for twenty-four hours, Hank says," he reminded her.
She nodded, eyes wide. "Ah know."
"Don't schedule anything else," he told her.
Her mouth fell open in shock. "Wha…?"
"I want to take my time about it," he said with a wink. He stood up, stretched, and pulled his shirt back on.
"I gotta go, darlin'. I'm getting entirely too many ideas for a guy with no healing mutation." He bent down and pressed a kiss through her hair. "G'night."
"'Night, Logan." Rogue beamed at him and blew him a kiss.
A/N: So what do y'all think? Too snuggly, not snuggly enough, or just right? I've got the next few chapters written already, but I'm going to tweak them a little more before uploading. R&R, if you please; I enjoy the encouragement.