A/N: Hello! I'm going to make a short note apologizing for being MIA for so long. I actually took on yet another job, so I ended up working 80 hours in a week. That caused exhaustion and health problems and you name it. But I've since quit, I saved enough to buy a car(my reason for getting the job), and I'm back better than ever! I can't wait to share more with you guys. Thank you for all the love and the comments. 3
Logan sighed as he held the door open for her, hoping that no one would recognize him, as this was one of the dives that he would frequent years ago. He knew that hoping was useless, though. If his temper and mouth didn't make him memorable, his ability to drink anyone under the table did. He was a proper legend.
"Tell me why we're here again?" He looked around to see if there was anyone he knew. So far there wasn't.
"I just wanted to play a game of pool."
"Pool? At a seedy bar? What's your angle, darlin'?"
She looked at him. "There is no 'angle', Logan. I would just like to enjoy some time with you. Maybe I can finally see if you are as good as you say you are." She smiled, winked, then walked towards the pool tables. He followed.
'She must've been thinking about doing this for a while,' he thought. And to prove him right, out of her small crossover bag, she pulled out tons of quarters. He watched silently and began to forget where he was exactly, as she bent over to put four coins into the slots and pushed in, releasing the numbered balls. He walked over to grab two pool sticks and some chalk. On his way over he noticed that Ororo was garnering attention from the bar. He let a low growl simmer in his chest before continuing on. He realized that he shouldn't have been worried about being recognized when he was someone as striking as her. And in this environment especially, she was a diamond in the rough. He decided that he would have a hard time keeping himself, and others, in line tonight.
"Logan," Ororo said with teasing voice. "Logan we must not procrastinate as I would like to see you face when I beat you! Now, 'ladies first', yes?" She motioned for Logan to break the pyramid of colored and numbered balls on the table. He must have been preoccupied with the unwarranted attention that she had been given to noticed her order and arrange the balls in the triangle.
Trying to get it out of his mind, he smirked. "You've got quite a mouth on you, don't you? I didn't realize that you could talk smack like that, 'Ro. I have a feeling you'll be too full for dinner tonight after I make you eat those words." He smirked again when he heard her let out a laugh. It was music to his ears. Logan bent down and took his shot, a bit relieved when a striped #15 went into the pocket. "Looks like I got stripes," he said. He circled half way around the table to where the cue ball was, took his shot, and missed. Losing the battle, but not the war, he sauntered over to her, and stopped almost too close. She smelled like over-confidence, and he wanted to throw her off a bit. He very obviously looked down at her lips and then back up at her eyes. "Your turn."
She knew exactly what he was up to, and became frustrated that it was working. The look that he gave her made her all too warm, and she became slightly aroused. She hoped that he didn't smell the scent, and she really hope he didn't notice the overhead fans ease back into life. She barely needed to concentrate though, before bending down and taking her own shot. She ended up sinking two solids. She looked over her shoulder and back at him. "You should make yourself comfortable against that wall. This may take a minute." She walked around the table to eye out her options.
He watched her walk away, admiring the way her body moved. He was glad that she was enjoying herself, because he was having a hard time doing so. There was too much going on in this hole. The smells and the sounds were putting him on edge. He tried to block it out, but some of the things that they said about her were unforgivable. And more than a few of them smelled like they were too interested in the captivating woman he was with. He let them alone for now, looked at Ororo to make sure she was still occupied, and headed to the bar. He was going to need a drink. He leaned against an uncrowded part of the bar table until the bar tender was free to take his order of "two pitchers of your cheapest beer and a glass of your most expensive red wine."
"You know our most expensive wine is a ten dollar bottle, right?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah that's perfect," he said uninterested in the details. She had to know what she was getting coming here.
"Please, leave me alone, I am with someone and I am busy." He heard her as clear as day. The bartender came over with his drinks. He chugged one pitcher, grabbed the other and the glass of Merlot, and turned around, heading to set the drinks down on the stand sat against the wall in front of the pool table. When he was on edge like this, he always made a point to take things a bit slower and think things through, or else he would snap, and a lot of people would end up injured. Or worse.
Ororo was proud of herself. She had made taunts and promises, and she was coming through with them. She was able to sink 6 solids in a row, and was down to her final solid colored ball. Those years of playing in Egypt really paid off. As she was taking her shot, she was startled by a man's voice who was not her Logan.
"Excuse me, beautiful, but I couldn't help to notice that you play some pretty good pool there." He said this while winking at her.
"Thank you," was all she said, annoyed that he made her miss her shot. She tried to figure out why he was talking to her. She looked at Logan, who had his back turned to them at the bar. All that she knew was that she needed him to leave before the Wolverine came back, for all of their sakes. She knew how possessive his nature could be, but she never experienced it herself. She did not want to experience it today. "I play pretty great pool, but I appreciate your compliment anyway."
He half chuckled, as if not even hearing her speak and said, "So what's you name, gorgeous? And while you're telling me your name, tell me if you're ready to be with a real man. You certainly look ready." He eyed her up and down while licking his lips, making her feel more uncomfortable than if she were standing in front of everyone suited up in her X-Men gear.
She leaned in towards him focused and serious. Speaking in a low voice and praying that Logan wouldn't hear she said, "For your own health I want to make this clear. You need to walk away while you can easily do so. You seem like a man who..." She tried to think of a way to describe him without offending him. "...who likes to walk. I don't want any trouble."At this point she put her pool stick down to take a defensive stance. He started to seem predatory.
"Now look here," he said as he grabbed her hand. She snatched it away. She ended up putting the final nail in his coffin by saying, "Please, leave me alone, I am with someone and I am busy." After realizing how loud she said it, she looked over to see Logan coming back this way, a pitcher and a glass in his hands, sporting a look that she's seen only when trying to keep his more primitive side at bay. She didn't doubt for a second that he knew everything that had just gone on.
The man stared at her for a minute, before she saw the anger rise up to his eyes. "Do you know who I am you disrespectful bi-."
She had no idea when or how it happened, but what she saw was a livid Wolverine who had the man choked up against a wall, seething. "Well, tell her, who are you?"
He looked up at him, astonished that this was happening, and looked across at Ororo. She just looked at him and shrugged. She tried to warn him. He felt a tighter grip on his neck, causing him to panic. Just as his eyes were rolling to the back of his head and getting ready to pass out, through gritted teeth Logan said, "I'm going to let go. You're going to apologize to this woman, and then you're going to grab your lowlife friends and scram." He let go of the man and pushed him roughly towards the white-haired goddess.
Still breathing deeply he said, "Ma'am, I am so terribly sorry that you're such a cunt." He sprinted and his friends followed. Ororo's eyes widened. She had been called worse throughout her years, but she feared for the effect that it would have on Logan. She figured it out when already he was no where to be found and there were screams in the alley behind the parking lot. She looked over at the glass of wine on the stand, wondering where her evening went, and wanting to have that entire glass. She ran out through the parking lot and into the alley. Three men were lying on the ground, bruised and moaning. Two were running down the alley when she saw Logan lift up a motorcycle, getting ready to throw it at them.
"Logan, sweetheart, you need to calm down, please. Breathe. Think for a moment. Have patience. I am with you." She let a cool, calm breeze overtake him before he finally dropped the bike. He smelled her in that breeze, and heard her voice, stopping him from his rage. "That's better. Here, I brought this out for you." She handed him his pitcher of beer. As he grunted and drowned himself in it to have something else to focus on, she watched as the two men continued running down the alleyway. She hoped they learned a lesson. She looked at him for a moment. "Logan, were you honestly going to throw your OWN motorcycle at those men?" She blinked at him, not knowing what answer to expect.
"They deserved it. And don't tell me I'm overreacting. I could kill them for ruining your night." He looked on at the three men who heard that and scrambled away through the alley with the other two.
"Oh darlin'," she said, mimicking him, "This entire day has been interesting, and wonderful. Thank you for defending my honor. I will say that I am quite ready to head home, though. Thank goodness we have a vehicle to ride back." She hoped her tone would come across light and teasing, so that they could have what was left of an enjoyable night.
She said something else about being hungry or eating her words but he didn't say anything. He made the engine purr, hopped onto his motorcycle, tensed, and she followed suit. He didn't relax until she tightened her hold around his waist and rested her head against his back. He hoped that she didn't hear him sigh in relief. He was going to have to think of a way to make this day up to her.