Chapter 3: Richard Who?
It was nearly noon and Marie had been waiting for the ‘While You Were Out’ crew to arrive all day. Her bffs were also MIA, even though they'd told her they'd come a-callin' by ten or eleven the latest. Glancing at the clock above the stove, Marie stopped her pacing and flopped down onto her ratty old sofa with a humph.
Suddenly, a sharp knock--or more like a heavy thump--at her door interrupted her thoughts. Launching herself out of her seat, Marie yipped with joy, clapping her hands happily as she made her way to the door. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest as she smoothed her hair down and prepared to open the door. "Whooo is iiiit?" she sing-songed, already grinning as she thought about how surprised Logan was going to be when he returned home.
"A wild grizzly bear who wants to eat your food!"
"And use your bathroom! Open up, chica!"
Laughing, Marie unlocked the door and yanked it open. "Chicaaas, how's it hangin'?"
Two very cold-looking girls rushed past her into the cabin, stomping their feet and shaking themselves to get rid of all the snow.
"Hey! Watch the snow, guys!"
A cheekily grinning Jubilee tugged off her boots, threw off her jacket and then paused dramatically, turning to face Marie with a perfectly arched eyebrow raised in challenge. Then all at once, she dropped the facade and grabbed Marie up in a huge bear hug, planting a wet one smack dab on her cheek: "Hey, no worries, chica! Your house's getting a make-over anyways."
Marie just laughed, then laughed all the harder when Kitty threw herself into the mix and toppled the group right over. Marie lay sprawled out on her back, tears leaking from her eyes as she howled with laughter: "Hahaha! Awww guys! Ah missed y'all so much!"
From where she'd landed on top of Marie, Jubilee was wiping her own tears from her eyes as she playfully manhandled Marie, "Wassa matter, Roguey? Wolfman not into the arctic lovin'?"
Kitty snorted as she elbowed her way towards them and collapsed at Marie's side, clutching her stomach to stop the pain, which only increased when Marie smacked Jubilee's arm to get her to stop groping her. "Oooow...you guys...stop making me laaaugh," she wailed between gasps for air, her giggles already bubbling up again.
The three lay there for a while, just catching their breaths when, suddenly, the door bell rang.
"Oh my gawd, guys, that's them!" Marie screeched, pushing Jubilee away from her now, "Jubes, get offa me! Hurry, before they leave and Ah get stuck with this dang sofa for the resta mah lahf!"
The doorbell rang again and all three girls squealed with excitement as they scrambled to their feet and rushed for the door, fixing their hair and adjusting their clothing along the way.
Jubilee popped a wad of watermelon bubble gum into her mouth just as Marie yanked the door open, almost pulling it off its hinges.
"Hi, I'm Richard Thompson!"
All three girls visibly deflated and moved to look beyond the man standing on the doorstep. Seeing the 'While You Were Out Van' and a girl with a guy with a camera standing beside 'Richard,' their looks of disappointment changed to confusion as they turned their attention back to the man standing in front of them.
Jubilee eyed the guy in front of them, sizing him up from head to toe as she snapped her bubble gum, blew another bubble, then popped it loudly in his face. "Where's the other guy?" she asked, taking in his close-cropped blond hair and goatee, which didn't...at all...seem to match his personality.
Richard looked slightly confused. "I'm sorry?"
"Evan Farmer..." Jubilee hinted, snapping her bubblegum again, "you know the cutie...no offense, dude."
Richard blushed and smiled gratefully when Kitty elbowed Jubilee in the side and it appeard she'd shut up for the moment. "Uh, no, none taken... Evan's actually on a...vacation of sorts. Me and my crew are filling in."
"Oh, well that sounds nahce. And it's very nahce to meet you, Richard. Please, come in. Mah name's Rogue," Marie smiled, extending her hand to shake before moving aside to let Richard and the camera man in.
A younger woman peeked her head out from behind the two men and smiled as they all walked inside the house, "Hi there! I'm Grace-Ann and I'm the designer!"
Marie smiled and shook her hand as well, motioning to Kitty and Jubilee and introducting them in turn.
"Great, let's get started. There's just a few legalities for you to sign off on--in case of accidental damage to your property or some such. Oh and our crew has set up a small heated shelter outside. Hope you don't mind...um, yes, sign right here. Alright then, let's get started. Bill, turn on the camera, Gracie, back outside. From the top ladies and gentleman!"
-x-
Homework
"Oh my gaaawd, this totally blows. I can't believe they left us to do all this work by ourselves," Kitty moaned, paintbrush in hand. The room was slowly transforming before their very eyes and crazy amount of homework or no, Marie was beyond elated.
"It's not so bad. Ah mean, it's a lot of work, yeah, but can ya believe they wanted to do like practically the whole house? Ah know it ain't exactly big or anythang, but still..."
Kitty grinned, "It's pretty cool, huh? I don't remember ever seeing an episode where they did someone's whole house. Well...they're not really doing it all. More like sprucing it up... I guess they felt bad for you. Small house, dire straits...not a fashionable shop in sight..."
Marie rolled her eyes, "Tell me about it. But either way, lucky us, huh! Oh, and ya know Ah really appreciate you girls helpin' me out lahk this, too. Ah just know Logan'll love it as much as Ah do," Marie murmured, hanging a cream-coloured drape from above the window in their all-purpose living area.
"Aww, Roguey, you're making me blush," Jubilee teased, as she pushed the now-dry bookshelf into place against a sage green wall. "And you're right. I do think Wolvie's gonna like it. I mean, green, brown, white, it's allll natural. Should make him feel right at home. Ow!" Jubilee laughed and rubbed her arm, throwing a mock-glare in Marie's direction. "Watch it, babe! I was just sayin' is all... And anyways, if anything's gonna make him feel like an animal, it's that new bedroom of yours. Woooee! That Grace-Ann looks tame on the outside, but she got somethin' else entirely funkay goin' on on the inside, you know what I'm sayin'?"
Kitty just nodded her agreement and continued painting the coffee table the rich chocolate colour they'd picked out. "I gotta agree with Jubes. Logan won't know what hit him. I just hope those claws don't accidentally come out when you guys are...ya know?"
Marie just laughed and shook her head, "I'm kinda more worried about the other thing..."
Walking over to the kitchen table, Jubilee grabbed a few cold eggrolls, tossing one to Kitty, and bringing the other two over to Marie. Plopping down on the floor next to her, Jubilee offered her friend one before biting into her own, "Eh, don't worry about it. In fact, how much you wanna bet he already knows? Hm?" Jubilee grinned, tapping her eggroll against her nose in a knowing gesture, before popping the rest of it into her mouth.
"Weeeird. I hadn't even thought of that..." Marie murmured, her own eggroll still untouched between her fingers as she sat lost in thought for a moment. What if he already knows...
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000