Disclaimer: Marvel characters are not mine.
Notes: Trying out a storytelling style in this chapter. Let me know how you like it, hate it, worship it, detest it with your very soul.
The sun broke over the horizon with a soft, amber glow that quickly grew into a bright, clear Spring day. The school was buzzing with activity. Students rushing to their first classes. Teachers finishing breakfast, gathering their lesson plans for another day. A maintenance crew working steadily on the frozen security gate from last night's incident. The only indication that this was not like every other school beginning a typical busy day.
Logan silently observed the daily rush from the staff's kitchen doorway. He had finished his shift on security detail an hour before and just wanted to wind down before heading to bed for a few hours' rest.
"Morning, Wolvie." Kitty was rushing and looking a bit bedraggled.
"Morning, KitKat." Logan instantly caught the unamused glare in her eye. "Whoa, sorry, Ms. Pryde. Rough night?"
She dropped books and papers in a haphazard pile onto the counter, swiped a mug from the drain board. As she poured cream into the cup, she raised the coffee pot to her nose. With a sniff and a sneer, she added several spoons of sugar as well.
"It's bad enough I was grading papers all night. Now I need to cover Hank's Quantum Theory class because of our 'guests'." She stirred the strong brew planted a quick peck on his cheek and rushed out the door. "I'll see you later, Wolvie."
Bobby and Pete were heading for the kitchen, obviously engrossed in conversation.
"...so he built a transformer out of a paperclip, a wad of chewing gum and then spliced the whole thing together with his bootlace." Bobby was gesticulating wildly, trying to drive his point home to an unimpressed Pete.
"But that is not physically possible. Chewing gum is not conductive..." The pair squeezed past Logan and into the kitchen. "Good morning, Logan."
"Pete. Bobby." he nodded in response. Bobby waved vaguely in Logan's direction, already rooting around in the fridge.
"You're just not getting the point, Pete. This is MacGuyver." He emerged from the fridge brandishing the last two cans of Mountain Dew he had hid in the back.
"Dat is the point. Television doesn't have a point." Pete argued. He poured himself a huge cup of coffee, then added milk and a scant few spoons of sugar. "...and this MacGuyver isn't even vaguely based in reality. Why would you teach children with such exaggerations and lies?" He took a big swig of coffee and swallowed noisily.
"It's not for children, it's for adults. Well, I mean, it's for adults, too. It's just pure, escapist fantasy. It was a great show." Bobby knocked back half of one soda while rooting in the cabinets for a pack of Twinkies. Damn you, Hank, it looked like he'd have to settle for Ho Ho's. The two wandered back out into the hallway, arguing as they went. "TV is all about kicking back, Pete. You're gonna watch it with me. It's just cool stuff. You'll see what I'm talking about..." They disappeared around the corner.
"I liked MacGuyver." Logan mumbled to himself.
Rogue, Rachel and Ororo headed for the kitchen talking quietly amongst themselves.
"...don't you worry that pretty little head of yours about it, Rach. Men, invariably, are not to be trusted. Believe you me, y'all betta off without him. It's a good thing you found out so early." Rogue counselled a down-in-the-dumps Marvel Girl.
"Good Morning, Logan" they chimed almost in unison.
"Sure is when three such beautiful ladies are happy to see me this early in the mornin'." Logan smiled in response. He felt he had to redeem the male half of the species from whatever had befallen Rachel somehow. Ororo shot him a grateful glance, fully reading his intention. Rogue was on a rant, and Ro wanted him to know his small gesture did not go unnoticed. She poured herself a small glass of pineapple juice. Rachel sniffed at the second pot of coffee suspiciously as two mugs floated down from the highest shelf courtesy of her telekinesis while Rogue rooted around in the fridge and triumphantly pulled out a carton of hazelnut flavored creamer from the bottom shelf.
Rogue filled a third of her cup with the creamer and topped it off with fresh coffee. Rachel poured the remaining coffee from the first pot into her cup, poured in a bit of creamer then finished it off with coffee from the second pot.
Rogue grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl and gave it a test squeeze. Dissatisfied, she dropped it and repeated the procedure until she found one satisfactory. "You know, Rach, a pretty lil' redhead like you won't have any trouble finding a great guy. Me n' you'll go lookin' this weekend." She tossed her orange in the air, catching it deftly, as the three wandered off, heading for Ororo's loft to continue their girl talk. Moments later, Remy dragged himself towards the kitchen.
"Mornin', Logan." he mumbled as he beelined for the coffee pot.
"Didn't sleep?"
It was obvious the Cajun was dog tired. Decked out in baggy sweats and a wife beater, the usually fashionable thief was beyond caring how he looked.
"Non. If I fell asleep, I'd never get up for dat 10:30 meetin' downstairs wit Cyke." Remy groped blindly on the top shelf for a mug. Finally finding one, he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat at the counter, sipping at the bitter, black brew. Logan joined him.
"Ya know, Gumbo, you don't have to go out every night. You'd look alot better if ya let yourself get some sleep once in awhile." Logan liked poking fun with Remy. It was meant as jest but underneath the jovial tone was actual concern for how the kid was treating himself lately.
"Time enough to sleep when I'm dead, Logan. Trust me, I know." Remy blankly stared into his mug then closed his eyes and took a long, noisy sip of the steaming liquid. Logan bristled at the morose response, but thought better of confronting him on it. Remy was just thinking out loud, something that he only seemed to do around him and Ro. He was actually glad the kid trusted him enough to let go like this. And lately, the kid was letting go around him quite a bit. Things with Rogue had deteriorated into a spiteful, vengeful thing, a sad spectre of the relationship they worked so hard and long to salvage. The constant sniping at each other evidenced that neither knew how to let go. How to finally admit that their love had died long ago and that they failed. Deep down, he knew that Remy just did not have the strength to win this fight. Not anymore.
Logan was about to launch into his best 'buck up it'll get better' speech when Gambit broke the silence.
" 'Sides, dere be way too many lovely ladies in need of my attention, non?" Remy's red/black eyes bounced from dull to glittering in a nanosecond with the thought. His trademark smirk played across his face as he sipped again at his coffee.
Good for you kid. Though this 'kid' was closer to thirty than to his teens, he had lived through more than most people could even imagine. Yet, even at his lowest, Remy always seemed to be fighting to stay in the game, to return to his former, carefree self. He had a bad of habit of using sex like most people used bandaids. But there were much worse ways to mend ones wounds, and the kid seemed pretty resistant to all the common diseases so Logan couldn't really see the harm in his all too frequent escapades.
" Why don't you save a few for the rest of us, huh, Gumbo?" Logan shot back with a grin. Remy was caught off guard and laughed, a wide smile crossing his lips.
"Don' you worry, mon ami. I find a special one, just for you." He grabbed his mug, again sipping, trying to force the caffeine into his veins a bit faster. He stood and headed for his room. " I need to make m'self more presentable for our guests, non." he said pulling at his shirt. As he left the room he paused, "T'anks, Logan."
"Anytime, kid."