Of course things could not stay that easy forever. A job and a good neighborhood were too good to be true.
When her everyday life changed, it was with the worst timing possible.
There were a number of things she had never told any of the x-geeks. Some things about her past, well, rather huge part of her past, the thing about her age and a story or two about her family.
Fact was that she had someone worth going back to, and after two months in Quebec she finally found the guts to search him out.
The internet really was one of the greatest inventions of mankind: Just google up a name and chances are you find way more then the relevant person wants a stranger to know. And before long Marie came up with a rather clear idea of where to find her cousin.
After that it was only a matter of bravery, mustering up the courage to call, ask how he was... all the things worth talking about. And one phone call later he was all but packing his bag and heading in her direction.
They came face to face almost too fast for either of them to believe that this was real. And it was a small shock for Marie to see him after such a long time. He was mid 30, had nurtured a small mustache and unlike many others it actually suited him. His hair was short and lightly tinged with gray, which obviously took a really patient hairdresser, because he wasn’t old enough for this to be natural. And the comfy clothes in brown and beige colors really looked good on him. At least he was still skinny like hell.
And while she still tried to close the gap in her mind between the person she had once known and the one standing before her, his jaw practically dropped as he realized that she almost hadn’t changed at all.
There was a moment of awkward silence, neither of them sure how to make the first step.
Then, out of the blue, he stepped forward to hug her like the long lost relative she was, and just like that, things turned right between them again.
And here they were, walking the city streets, talking about things past. Marie told about the school and about being a translator, he talked about being a handcrafter and all the little family stories that had happened in-between.
But the best about this, the absolutely and completely best was that Marie had finally someone she could touch without fear. Yes, she did know how to do that. But she couldn’t force it. It was all about trust. If she trusted someone enough without the shadow of a doubt, then her touch could not harm him. She knew Patrick practically since the day she was born. They had been living next to each other, and over that time he had taken as many of her beatings as she had taken of his.
Trust was easy on a base like that.
So she just enjoyed the little normality she got, hugging his arm, holding his hand, walking around or eating ice cream in a café near by.
Life was wonderful, and things could have continued that way just a little longer, if Logan had shown up two or three days later, if Patrick had not been there to open the door and wake up to the sight of claws first thing in the morning…
Woken by the havoc, Marie stumbled into the living room sleepily. It was kinda hard to mistake that spiky haircut for anyone else but Logan. He was currently trying to pummel her cousin into revealing whereabouts of Rogue. To Patrick’s credit, he had not said anything this far. Probably because he didn’t really know who Rogue was.
With an exaggerated sigh and remarkable sarcasm she cut into the scene before her. “Good morning Logan. How I missed waking to you mistreating the innocent. Well, obviously you are feeling fine, with a display of so much energy this early in the morning” And with narrowed eyes she added. “Get lost or retract your claws and have some coffee. I don’t care either way. But get your hands of Patrick before I make you.”
Her cousin looked flabbergasted. “You know that freak?”
“Watch it, bub.” Logan almost growled. And turning, “Who is this sorry excuse of skin?”
Ignoring Logan and smiling sweetly to Patrick, Marie answered, “We used to introduce him as our art teacher. As you can see his art is more… martial. Coffee? Or something stronger to go with this?”
He gave her a look that clearly suggested something stronger. Marie made her way to the kitchen and over her shoulder she asked, “Now Logan: coffee or out? It’d be kinda nice if you make up your mind before I brew the stuff.”
She heard the sound of his claws retreating and for the moment that had to be enough.
The two guys did what guys do best, just sit down in frosty silence, waiting for the other to respect their territory. Patrick stretched on the couch and Logan did his best to throw dark stares that would eventually mark him as Marie’s protector.
Marie knew that it would have been cute to watch, if her hands would not shake so badly. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She had planned to send a letter to Logan, telling him about all the needs for freedom a 16 year old could have, and to hand a more truthful letter to Patrick when the time to part and move on finally came.
Quebec was nothing but a nice holiday before she found a place to settle down for sure. She liked her translator job and intended to keep it, but as a mutant the safest thing she could do was to get lost in the wilderness, find a little cabin somewhere far from the civilization, making trips to the world every now and then. But she had not planned for that moment to come so soon.
She knew what would happen. Taking her time, she knew what she would have to face the moment she got out there again.
And things weren’t about to go smooth either.
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