Chapter 6: Mutualism
As Rogue entered the dining room with a smothered yawn, the look of death she shot at Logan and Jean made even the Wolverine wince if only on the inside. After all, he could not let the whole school see a newcomer, and a small grumpy girl one at that, to have such ability. Logan glanced sideways at Jean and smirked to himself – he had noticed Rogue responding to the same distant sounds that he had, which meant that her hearing was just as accurate and sensitive as his. So, in accordance to his own first night ‘welcome’ from Jean and Scott, he had kept Jean awake most of the night in his favourite way, in honour of Rogue’s arrival. And now, after a semi-sleepless night, she could look forward to a day of being introduced to almost every damn person here, with kids coming up to her (most of them being dared by their friends) to ask about her mutation and the crazy stories and rumours that surrounded her. Logan had guessed from their faces that those stories had spread like wild fire through the dormitories, with speculation adding to them like Chinese whispers.
To no one’s surprise, Rogue took an empty table, sitting so she could keep an eye on the door and windows. For the next twenty minutes she simply sipped at the giant mug of coffee she had grabbed and slowly inspected the room and its inhabitants. Exactly what you would expect a boarding school dining room to look like (albeit with the extra smells of singed hair and that cold smell peculiar to ice, along with strange noises and people walking through walls). Why on earth had she agreed to come down here? A building full of noisy children and nosy adults (who could be irritatingly noisy when they chose to be; leaving hairy, growly people completely unnamed), clearly with some kind of plan in mind but pretending to be innocent and helpful. Well, she would simply stay as long as it suited her and then get the hell out the minute they started ‘recruiting’ her.
Draining the last of the admittedly excellent coffee, Rogue ignored the fact the Wolverine’s eyes followed her every movement. She forced herself to dismiss the curious sense of familiarity she felt for the silent man still watching her. That was dangerous territory for all involved, especially if Carol managed to fight her way to the surface again. At that point, Professor Xavier appeared by her side, his wheelchair almost silent on the smooth, wooden floor.
“Ah Rogue, good morning! I trust you slept well in your new room?”
Without waiting for a reply, he carried on, pretending not to notice the dark look Rogue was shooting at Logan.
“I was hoping to introduce you to some of the members of our team and show you around the more interesting areas of the building, would you care to follow me?”
A grunt of agreement as Rogue stood up and moved to stand next to the professor’s chair, again belying a grace that did not fit the rest of her behaviour. Clearly, thought Logan (who was really not watching her that much), there was another layer beneath the ‘hard ass, butch, I- can- take- care -of -myself –and- knock -you –down- anytime’ shell that Rogue had spent so long growing around herself.
“Look, professor…”
Professor Xavier cut her off with a smile
“Please Rogue, we’re living under the same roof now, I would like us to become friends – you can call me Charles.”
“Fine. Charles…I’m really not in the mood for a meet ’n’ greet right now. But I would appreciate it if you could show me a room with a punch bag in so I can release some…tension...and then maybe play ‘new recruit’ afterwards.”
The professor, who had certainly noticed the looks between Logan and Rogue over breakfast, forced himself not to smile too much and nodded.
“Of course, I understand completely – moving to a new home and having to make new friends can certainly be stressful. Allow me to escort you to the training room, and then perhaps chat over a cup of tea in my office afterwards?”
Rogue raised an eyebrow at Charles – that innocent comment about making new friends had sounded suspiciously like a crack at her expense.
“Right. Sounds great.”
As the pair left the dining hall, Logan turned to Jean who had been having an animated discussion on Rogue’s possible future as an X-woman with Ororo, and put a hand on her thigh to catch her attention.
“I’m outta here – gotta work off some steam before the kids stampede the halls and invade my garage. Remind me again - why did I agree to teach mechanics here?”
Jean gave him a wide smile and patted his arm
“Because you love children and want them to be safe in their vehicles and teach them everything you know about engines. Isn’t that right?”
Logan huffed out a laugh and pushed his chair back, gulping the last of his black coffee.
“Yeah, of course, how could I forget…see ya darlin’.”
As he hurried out of the dining hall, trying to work out a way of watching Rogue train without her knowing, he ignored the little voice at the back of his head telling him he was being an ass. No sane man would sneak down to the training rooms to spy on some possibly-evil super-mutant. But then again, who had ever accused him of being completely sane?
Rogue and Charles were stood in the doorway of the training room, Rogue leaning against the door post as gave the room a cursory glance.
“Well Rogue, I leave you here – feel free to use this room whenever you like in the future. I will see you in my office when you’re done.”
The professor gave her a brief smile then turned and wheeled away. Rogue turned to scan the room – all the usual gym equipment up here at the front, although devoid of any users at the moment. Behind the machines at the far end of the room held the items more to Rogue’s interest – two punching bags, some sparring gear and some free weights. A glance to the ceiling made Rogue’s lips twitch into a tiny smile – the bags weren’t on the usual hooks but instead had been chained to a reinforced ceiling panel. Mutant-friendly training equipment. Whilst the room was empty, Rogue felt comfortable enough to remove all her extra layers on top; sweater, scarf and ever-present gloves, so she was left in tank top and sweat pants. A few quick stretches and she attacked the bag with a fevered flurry of uncontrolled kicks and punches.
The Wolverine watched from the small, dark security room a few doors down from the gym, on the pretense, should anyone ask, that he was checking the mansion for any security risks. As he stared at the black and white monitor, Rogue continued to kick, punch, spin, leap and generally beat the crap out of the two punch bags, using them both to simulate a double attack. And seeing her dressed in comparatively little made his head go very quiet and focus on watching that lithe body whirl between punch bags.
Jesus, now he was waxing poetic over her? Logan shook his head and leaned over to switch the screen off, leaving the room to find something that would take his mind off the maddeningly annoying, intriguingly familiar, young woman.
Two hours later, Rogue leaned her forehead against the tiled wall of the shower; her palms pressed to the wall above her head, and let the scalding water pound her shoulders to ease the ache from her intense workout. She just hadn’t been able to relax, not able to shake off the feeling she was being watched – perhaps it was merely the normal wariness she felt at being amongst such strange, happy and relaxed people. In the current political climate, that simply wasn’t possible for her any more.
She sighed and rolled her shoulders, turning the water off – she couldn’t put off this meeting with Xavier forever; might as well get it over and done with. Ten minutes later Rogue was making her way back down to the main levels as she twisted her wet hair into a knot, ignoring the quiet scuffles as students tried to get out of her way. Clearly being here even for a short while had affected her – usually she liked to growl quietly and menacingly at people who showed such obvious fear, just to keep up her reputation. Enjoying the looks on their faces didn’t come into it at all of course…
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry for the long gap between updates - I seem to have lost my beta! So if you know anyone who likes to beta-read, let me know :). This is a tiny bit shorter than previous chapter, but the next part is already finished. Thankyou for all your reviews, I really appreciate them and try to take in any constructive critisism :).