On the second day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me
Two dancing lovebirds
And a Wolverine in a pear tree.

Jean was frustrated. It was bad enough that she had primal feelings for Logan and would sate it easily enough if she gave into her demonic powers. What was rational was staying within the relative protection of Scott. That had been her saving grace. It was a safety net that held her in check and allowed her to continue her duties as she pleased.

On the same note, she too had to watch out for Logan. Sure, it was easy to be civil to him and walk away at the first opportunity, especially when they were in a group. When they were alone though, it was a different story. Case in point was the night that the Professor decided to have the mansion decorated for the holidays. After Thanksgiving, the students had been begging to put up something more than the usual tree. The Professor discussed it with the other teachers and soon obliged their wishes.

All the adults were ringed in to help too. Logan was no exception. Jean watched as he awkwardly roamed the living room area, attempting in every way to find his niche or get the hell away as fast as he could (it was a toss-up between the two emotions for him). It was quite comical to see him draped in so much holiday cheer when he held none himself.

As she draped the fireplace with some garland with Scott, Jean thought about the feral mutant. She felt sorry for Logan. All those years he spent on the run, drinking and without memories caused him to become a man unattached to such trivial things such as Christmas. Getting into the spirit of the season was not something he could just easily slip into. However, Jean could easily imagine him as a few traditional characters from literature and even smiled to picture Logan as visiting ghosts of the past, present and future.

"Hey, did you hear what I said?" Scott nudged Jean from her reverie.

"Huh?" She woke up from her musings. Logan's Christmas would have to wait. "No. No, I didn't. What did you say?"

Scott repeated his request of twisting different colors around the main line to make a plait over the traditional landing spot for Santa Claus. Jean obliged, calling Storm and Rogue over for some assistance. Before long, a gold, green and red braid graced the bricked structure. The four congratulated themselves on a job well done before drifting away to another corner. Jean remained behind.

Soon and much too late, she realized that she and Logan were alone in the living room. The deserted hallway indicated no anchor either. She searched high and low for Scott and did not find him. She would have to deal with Logan on her own.

"Hey, hey, what's this?" Logan accidentally ran into some mistletoe. He was annoyed to have the greenery in his face.

Jean came up to him pushed it away. "It's mistletoe, Logan."

He scowled. He knew what the kids were up to.

This is too close. Jean took a deep breath.

"This shit still a tradition?" Logan inquired harshly.

"Amongst the older students, I would safely assume," Jean replied slowly. She took a step back without it seeming so awkward, grabbing a box of tinsel and inanely trying to open it. "Why don't we move it to a more private area?"

"I think it's fine right here."

"Well, I don't, Logan. This is a common area. The younger students do not need to see the older ones making excuses to act inappropriately."

"Don't you think we are too?"

The brazen comment made Jean freeze. She was seeing this exchange now as a dance. This was now her move. They were only two lovebirds who would never have a true relationship. Their mutual attraction was purely physical and full of lust. There was nothing between them except distractions and heartbreak. Jean was sure about it.

"I gotta go, Logan," Jean finally said. She abruptly dropped the tinsel on the table and headed to the hallway. "Finish in here and come to the kitchen."

"Oh, what you baking in there?" Logan taunted. He was obviously disappointed by this narrow escape and hoped to provoke Jean into an improper conversation.

"Nothing yet." Jean turned around and winked at him. She continued her trek backwards to the stairwell. "Maybe next time, Storm and I will make some cookies. I might need you to help too."

Logan scowled as her figure disappeared around the corner. So close. Damn her!