Chapter Twenty-Seven

It was 10am the next morning before anyone at 'The Vagabond' began to stir. Dick was the first awake, which was a surprise to him. Typically he stayed out late partying and woke up after noon. A time that was, to him, perfect for surfing.

Having checked the kitchen and found that there was no coffee made, Dick then checked the garage to make sure Logan had actually come home the night before after dropping Veronica back off at her dad's place. When he saw the sleek convertible, he frowned and went padding back up the stairs.

Pounding on Logan's door before swinging it open, Dick yelled derisively, "Dude! What happened? Did Ronnie keep you up all night talking and shit?"

The sleeping pair in the room beyond had been happily entangled in each other's arms. The sound of Dick's bellowing brought them both crashing out of their slumber. Veronica tried to extricate herself from Logan's limbs but Logan held her tightly to himself with one arm while propping himself up with the other. "Go away, Dick," he ordered with a groan.

Coming up short, Dick chortled with laughter and held a hand up in front of his face with fingers spread wide, "Whoa! My eyes! I think I'm gonna go blind!" Then as he peeked around his hand, he gave an approving nod, clearly impressed with what he'd seen and said, "Ronnie, when the hell did you outgrow an A cup?!"

Veronica tried desperately to scramble away so she could find some new torture mechanism for the ever indelicate Dick Casablancas but again, Logan held her exactly where she was. He reached behind himself to grab his pillow and threw it at Dick, saying clearly, "Not cool! What did I tell you about coming in my room without knocking?!"

"You said not to do it," Dick answered matter-of-factly, "But dude, I did knock! You just didn't answer."

"Let me at him, Logan!" Veronica hissed through clenched teeth.

Calmly, Logan replied, "You're a little naked, Sugarpuss. Don't think you want to give Dick any more fodder for the fire."

Settling down but still grumbling menacingly, Veronica threw Dick a withering look when he started to laugh at Logan's words. He stopped and held up his hands, backing his way toward the door. "I'll just be downstairs waiting for you guys. Want coffee? I'll make coffee."

As soon as he'd retreated through the door and closed it behind himself, Veronica buried her face in Logan's chest and murmured in a muffled voice, "I'm never gonna live this down, am I?"

"Nope," he chuckled, holding her close with one arm around her shoulders and the other hand on the back of her head. "Don't worry, though. Give it 10, 15 years maybe and he might either lose his eyesight or forget."

Veronica pulled back and punched him in the shoulder just as he expected her to. She blushed crimson while he grinned wickedly, kissing the tip of her nose lightly before saying casually, "You should thank Dick, really. He just helped us manage to avoid the awkward morning after issues."

Glaring at him, Veronica asked impishly, "Are you sure we would have had any? Maybe we would have still been relishing the afterglow and gone another round."

His brows raised as the corners of his mouth turned upward, letting her know that he obviously liked that idea. Before he could act on it, she rolled away from him and off the bed, walking toward her pile of clothing as she said haughtily, "Nope. Sorry, Buddy. You only get one chance at the morning after weirdness versus afterglow. You missed your chance."

He groaned in dismay but rose from the bed to follow her. Catching her up in his arms as she bent to grab her shirt, he spun her around and kissed her. Dizzy and breathless, Veronica shook her head and said, "I hope we never get tired of this." He gave her a questioning look which brought her out of her reverie and caused her to say smartly, "I mean, at least if we run out of things to talk about, we'll always have sex."

Logan had been wondering how she was handling her confession from the night before and now he had his answer. It was one of her most basic survival instincts and he recognized it for what it was because it had always been one of his as well. When all else fails and things get too real, crack a joke and hope nobody realizes how much you really care.

"Hey," Logan said softly, cupping her face in his hands as he tried to make her look at him. "No backing out now, ok? You run, I run. We run together or not at all. Got it?"

She searched his eyes, her own liquid pools of vulnerability, and finally nodded slowly before affirming, "Got it."

"Alright, now let's get downstairs before Dick burns the coffee or eats all the cereal," Logan said lightly, knowing he was leaving her to wonder if he was joking or not.

Ten minutes later, they were dressed and found themselves around the breakfast bar where Dick had been waiting, absorbed in a comic strip from the newspaper and a cartoon on the tv.

Rolling her eyes, Veronica said spitefully, "Typical Dick. Doing anything to amuse yourself."

"Hey!" Dick said, raising his eyes from the paper, "You better reign it in, Ronnie. I got dirt on you now, remember?"

"Yeah, I know," she said scornfully, "I'd burn your eyes out myself if I didn't think that might burn the last images you've seen into your pea-sized brain forever. That is definitely NOT something I could live with!"

"Ohhh, naked Ronnie etched into the retinas," Dick said with a wide grin and easy nod as if it were the best idea ever.

"Don't," Logan warned, pouring two cups of coffee, making one exactly the way he liked his and one the way he remembered Veronica always took hers. Passing her the cup, he sat down beside her before changing the subject to something a little more relevant, "Hey man, Veronica's dad called last night. I guess someone is saying that you and Carrie still had a thing."

"What?!" Dick exclaimed, clearly outraged, "Dude! You know I wouldn't do that to you."

"I know," Logan assured him before asking, "Is there anyone you can think of that would want us to be on the outs?"

Dick frowned and Veronica looked at Logan curiously. "I must really be rusty," she murmured to herself, "to not think of that angle myself..."

"No, Dude," Dick finally said, "Can you think of anyone?"

"I was thinking maybe an investor," Logan said thoughtfully, "Someone who has a hand dipped in both the Club and Casa coffers?"

"Maybe," Dick nodded slowly, "But Dude, you know I don't do the books. That's your thing. Aren't you handling the Casa's finances, too?"

"Mostly," Logan agreed, "But I've had help." He turned to Veronica, who'd been silent through the whole exchange and said, "I want to pass something by your dad and Mac. You ready to go?"

Veronica nodded and rose, saying acerbically, "Later, Dick."

Smirking and clearly remembering their encounter that morning, Dick snickered childishly and said, "Later, Ronnie."