When she woke up it was already dark. They had slept through the day. Yet she felt exhausted. She snuggled deeper in to the warmth and squeezed her eyes shut, grasping the solid bulk in front of her, plastering herself against it.
“Watch it, kid. Naked in here…” She heard Logan rumbling and her eyes flew open. There appeared to be very bare back, mere inches from her face. She could feel very bare buttocks against her crotch. There was a raspy blanket under her palms, and underneath it she could feel Logan’s chest rising and lowering as he breathed.
“Sorry…” She whispered, letting go of him and rolling on her back.
“You hungry?” Logan’s thick voice pierced the darkness.
“Extremely.”
“And I’m fucking starving. You wouldn’t happen to have any more money?” Logan asked. She shook her head, then added quick ‘no’. Logan turned on his back as well, letting out a miserable sigh.
“No rest for the wicked… I guess it’s time to get in to the cage again.”
She could hear him shifting, then soft click of a light switch, and the lamp on the bedside table flooded the room with golden glow. Logan sat up, reaching for his jeans he had discarded to a heap with the rest of his clothes earlier that day. Picked them up and grimaced.
“Jesus… I probably don’t even have to fight. They’ll fucking pay me if I leave and take this stink away with me…”
“I have a quarter. If there’s a Laundromat we can get our clothes clean before we do anything else,” she said.
“There’s always a Laundromat. But what are we going to wear while we get our stuff clean?” Logan asked. She fiddled with her nightgown.
“I guess this will do for me. And you… A towel?” She suggested.
“That might work. Get up, we better get going.”
She sat up, then promptly fell down on her back again, small black dots dancing in her field of vision wildly. Logan was there, his wide palm spread over her stomach, his worried gaze scanning her.
“Are you alright, kid?” She could have sworn that she saw him taking in her scent, but that was probably a hallucination. Hopefully so.
“Fine… Just hungry…”
“Are you sure? You’re not diabetic or anything?” Logan asked, leaning closer, and now she was sure of it. He was sniffling her like a dog; all the while his hand kept rubbing her stomach soothingly.
“Diabetic? No! It just has been quite a while since I last ate anything. Goddamned, Logan, let go of me!”
Later, when they were waiting at the Laundromat for their clothes, she couldn’t comprehend for the life of her what had prompted her to drive Logan away from her. Wasn’t that what she had wanted ever since she had manifested? Somebody to touch her without fear or revulsion? Logan had given her that, and what she had done? All but chewn his head off.
She paced in front of the drier, then turned to look at Logan who was sitting on a plastic chair in the corner, pretending to read a magazine that seemed to be ready to fall apart in his hands at any given second.
“I’m sorry.” Logan shrugged for her words, then turned to look at her.
“Stop being so goddamned sorry all the time, kid.”
“But I am. I shouldn’t have shouted at you like that.”
“You had every right to shout at me. You told me, back at the cabin… You told me that you don’t like to be touched.”
“That’s… That’s not entirely true. I... I like being touched, but… I’m afraid of it…”
“Save that bullshit to your shrink. I have no reason or right start pawing at you like I did. Won’t happen again,” Logan said, turning his attention back to the tattered magazine. End of discussion?
She swallowed and gathered all her courage, then cleared her throat, drawing his attention back to her.
“I kind of like it when you touch me. You’re the first one in years touching me without being afraid. And I was… I was thinking… You can touch me. That is of course if… If you still want to,” she declared, feeling the stark crimson flushing over her cheeks. Suddenly her throat felt very dry. And Logan just stared at her.
“So… Now where are all those handy bad guys who usually barge in when I’m about to make a complete fool out of myself?” She whispered meekly, staring at her toes, then nearly screamed out loud when soft ping echoing from behind her told them that the drier was done.
Logan didn’t say a word, just brushed past her and started pulling their clothes out. She caught her shirt, then jeans that he threw to her. Socks went flying past her, as well as her bra and underpants, and her second shirt.
“Hey!” She shrieked. Logan glanced at her, then started yanking clothes on rather hastily, hissing when still hot buttons of his jeans pressed against his skin. He seemed to be as embarrassed about her confession as she was. Flustered. And when he was done he gave her the keys to their room and told her to go back there, he’d be back as soon as he was finished in the cage.
She tried her best to entertain herself, but there were only so many ice hockey matches a girl could stand, so she turned off the TV, turning her gaze up to the ceiling. She wasn’t sure of what to think about Logan’s reaction. Was he worried? Afraid? Or… Repulsed? Now that she thought about it, her sudden confession had been rather blunt.
“When the hell do I learn to keep my big mouth shut?” She huffed. She could only hope Logan would really come back for her and not dump her ass here. What reason he really had to drag her along anyway? Hadn’t he been just the middleman, hired to take her to Magneto?
“Oh, shush… You’re only going to start panicking if you keep thinking things like that,” she scolded herself, then sat up from the bed. Nice hot bath would probably take her mind off from these things. Long and relaxing soak had been her favorite way to spend time back at Xavier’s. And since there was such a conveniently placed bathtub right there, in the bathroom…
Half an hour later she was lying in the tub, her head resting against the brim, her eyes closed. She had even bubbles, due to the miniature bottle of shampoo she had found from under the sink. She was still hungry, but feeling already better. She could already see the humorous side of the earlier events.
“I bet nobody has seen Wolverine flustered before…” She giggled.
“I could think up few guys. But that was long ago.”
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