“Mr. Logan, when you said it was going to rain for most of the weekend, did you know it was going to be this bad?”

He cringed inwardly at the formality that was constantly tacked onto his name with this kid, but he tolerated it because it was her. She was quiet and polite, had probably been brought up that way and couldn’t bring herself to do any different.

“Different types of rain, Miss Pryde. Shoulda been prepared for all of ‘em.”

They’d been sitting cross-legged in their respective tents for the better part of the afternoon, huddled around their zip-up entrances, watching in amazement as their teacher sat, seemingly unfazed by the heavy drops of water and the chilling breeze that blowing against his back. The fire that the students had built was now nothing but a puddle of only slightly-charred wood and ash, yet, somehow, the cigar in the Wolverine’s mouth still held the telltale orange glow that it was lit.

“I don’t think a monsoon was in her definition of rain, Logan,” Bobbly pointed out as he leaned forward to peer up to the sky through the screened window.

Smiling around his stogie, Logan pushed himself to his feet and brushed off the seat of his pants. “This ain’t a monsoon, kid,” was all he said before he disappeared from their lines of vision.

“Give it another ten minutes or so,” they heard him call before his all-but-silent footsteps disappeared, they assumed, into the forest.

Sure enough, nine minutes later according to John’s watch, the rains let up and they all emerged from their tents with stiff legs and even stiffer backs.

“Your boyfriend’s a wacko, chica,” Jubilee muttered as she stretched her arms up over her head.

Rolling her eyes, Rogue picked up a long stick that had blown into the camp circle and began to poke at the remnants of their fire pit. “He’s not a wacko, Jubilee – and he’s certainly not my boyfriend,” she countered, voice thick with her Southern accent.

“Whatever you say, but I know that we can all personally thank you for dropping this little ‘bundle of joy’ on our doorstep.”

“Aww, knock it off, Jubilee,” Kitty cut in, putting an arm on Rogue’s shoulder as she came up to join the two of them. “I for one am glad she brought Logan here. This sure beats sitting in a Calculus classroom.”

“You know what else beats sitting in a Calculus classroom?” John mused. “Eating. I’m starved.”

“You can all eat as soon as you get a fire going.”

Each of the students spun around on their heels to find their teacher coming up through the bushes at the far end of their campsite. How had he heard John? And how could they have not heard him moving through all that brush?

“Is anybody else a fan of this ‘learn as you go’ technique he’s pushing?” Bobby muttered to no one in particular.

“How’re we supposed to get a fire going when everything’s wet?” Jubilee posed while gesturing to the soaked earth around them.

“Something you should’ve thought of beforehand. You knew about the rain ahead of time.”

Dropping the four gutted rabbits he had in hand next to the stones around the fire ring, Logan shrugged and went over to his back-pack. He’d placed it behind a tree with a relatively large trunk and low branches and it hadn’t gotten a drop of water on it. His sleeping bag was still wrapped up, dry as a bone inside and he went to unroll it.

“You’ll figure something out if you’re hungry enough,” was the only advice he gave before settling in on top of the worn blanket and pulling the crumpled cowboy hat down over his eyes.

Puzzled, each of the teenagers moved about, combing through the underbrush in search of some semi-dry pine needles, branches – anything they could get their hands on that would be suitable enough for a fire.

Rogue, on the other hand, set to work unlatching the tethers on the four corners of her tent. Kitty noticed her out of the corner of her eye and caught on to the idea quickly. She dropped her pinecones and twigs and did the same to her and Jubilee’s lodging. Before long, all of the tents had been lifted and scavenged under for the dry debris.

From under the brim of his hat, Logan watched the students pile of kindling mount and forgot to worry about hiding his smile.

***

“Uh…I’ve got a high metabolism. I’m sure I’ll be all right, dude.”

Logan frowned as he shoved the plate of rabbit meat toward the young Asian girl for a second time. “Gotta have somethin’ in your stomach to metabolize, dude. Eat it or starve – I don’t care which.”

Reluctantly, she took the plate, eyeing the meat once more before she began to carefully pick at it. The rest of the students dug in ravenously, their energy supply nearly depleted after the three-hour trek to the campsite and the ordeal of the entire afternoon.

After they were finished, a small trash bag was passed around to put the paper waste in.

“Make sure you clean everything up – and I mean everything,” Logan advised on the way down to the small stream that ran behind the camp. “I’m guessing not many of you would appreciate a visit from the Big Black Hungry tonight.”

“Big Black Hungry?”

“Bears, Jubilee,” Bobbly supplied, picking up a tiny shard of bone that had slipped from his plate.

“Bears?”

“Relax, my friend. Logan would not let such creatures get close enough to hurt us, yes?”

While they all appreciated Piotr’s supreme confidence in the capabilities of their teacher, some of them still had questions regarding how far his definition of ‘safety’ extended in regards to people without the benefit of superhuman healing.

Jubilee returned the positive thought with an exaggerated sigh and twirled back to the rest of her friends. “And how many more weeks do we have in this class?”

John rolled his eyes as he tossed the last of his meal into the fire that was still burning strong. “It’s a quarter-long, Jubilee – a while.”

“Oh, gawd,” she feigned. “Why can’t we hit up a mall or something? There’s definitely a technique to living in that environment.”

“Actually, Urban Survival is during week eight,” Kitty pitched in, hoping to ease her city-dwelling friend’s mind as much as she could. “Look on the bright side, though – at least out here you don’t have to worry about survival and getting phone numbers.”

***

“That was smart thinking with tents for the fire. I was wondering how long it would take for someone to pick up on that.”

Marie blushed as she dipped her plate into the small stream once more. She hadn’t even heard her teacher come up behind her, but then again, she supposed, she should be getting used to that. “I went camping all the time back home. One o’ those tricks that Daddy taught me.”

“Well, it’s good you used your head. Things like that’ll come in handy if you’re ever put into this situation for real.”

She smiled up at him through the cascade of hair that had fallen down around her face. In the short time that she’d known him, she had already figured out that compliments that direct were few and far between. “Thanks, Logan.”

From the look on his face, Marie thought he was going to say something else, but he was interrupted by a harsh squeal from back at the campsite. They would’ve been worried if they hadn’t already heard it half a dozen times one day into the camping excursion.

“Are these things supposed to put out those juices?”

Logan sighed and gave her a quick wink before heading back up the sloped bank to the site while Marie bit her lip to keep from laughing. It was definitely going to be an interesting weekend - and a long one…if she was lucky.