"Who does he think he is?" Jean surmised aloud, putting away the last of the groceries, hiding the chocolate away behind the flour so it would still be there in the coming hours. Logan rolled his eyes.
"He's a man, Jean. Besides, what does his personal life have to do with his being President?"
"He lied," Scott said, coming up behind Jean and putting his arms around her waist. "Besides, what man would do that to his wife?" Jean smiled as Scott leaned in and kissed her cheek. Jubilee rolled her eyes.
"Don't give me that, Cyclops. I bet you're the only faithful man ever born. Some sort of defect on your Y chromosome." Her comment was met with two pairs of male eyes, and she immediately quieted. "Sorry," she grinned nervously, forgetting that she wasn't just with Rogue and Kitty. Rogue laughed.
"Nah, Jubilee, don't apologize. Don't let 'em intimidate ya." She grinned smugly as she caught Logan's sideways glance. She was the only one who saw the almost ethereal answering smirk.
They all looked back to the television as President Clinton began yet another tirade on how he misled the public on his relationship with Monica Lewinski.
It was then that Logan looked over at Rogue again and knit a brow. She was wearing a blue dress, much like the offending one that Monica had shown to the public. Over the past few years, the tension between them had grown almost unbearable, and even though he often dreamed about touching her, his mind never really got to the point of trying to figure out how to do it without physically touching her. Each knew, somewhat at least, how the other one felt. But in order to spare her any level of further lamentation over what she could not or would not have, he never spoke of it.
But this time, his mind seemed to spark with an idea. As he watched the President of the United States continue to rant on about the same subject with the same patronizing words, what had been deemed a scandal by honest, home-loving male politicians -- he nearly laughed at the oxymoron -- began to play over and over in his head. Suddenly, his mouth curled in a smirk and he looked back over toward Marie. He noticed how the blue dress brought out the hidden intensity in her brown eyes, and when she turned her head as she felt his eyes on her, the smirk was all the more apparent.
What? her look silently said to him. He shook his head and barely waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.
Finally, Storm shut off the television. "I am dreadfully sorry, but I could not take that any longer," she said with the familiar deep inflection. "I never fancied politics enough to deal with their crafters. If you'll excuse me, I believe it's time for bed. Jubilee, I suggest you come along."
Jubilee practically whined. "Storm! I'm not--" Storm's sharp look cut her off and she cleared her throat. "Night!" she said pleasantly as she hurried upstairs.
Jean chuckled, amused, as she looked at Scott. "I think we'd better be off to bed as well." Jean believed the look they exchanged was veiled, but Rogue and Wolverine knew exactly what was to be going on this evening between the two newlyweds. As they departed for their room upstairs, not holding hands only because the staircase wasn't wide enough, Logan glanced back to Rogue to be met again with her quizzical gaze.
"What IS it, Logan?" She almost sounded agitated, beginning to dislike her intense curiousity.
Without a word, he got up from his chair and sat so close to her that their adjacent legs were touching. The sudden quiet made his breathing easy to hear and that was the one thing that gave away his--
Excitement? Rogue thought. What the hell has he got to be excited about? Must've been all the innuendos thrown-- Her thoughts stopped as she realized she had been looking at her lap. She looked back up at Logan and her brows narrowed disapprovingly.
"Ya know you're not s'posed ta be smokin' in here, Logan. Settin' a bad example for anybody who might come through lookin' for a late night snack or..." She let her voice trail off when she saw the spark of mischief in his eyes. She shook her head, looking frustrated. "Logan, what the hell are you--"
Silence immediately enveloped the room when her brain made the connection. Her eyes widened as his smirk did the same.
"Logan!" Her voice was a loud whisper, as the air had escaped her mouth before she could put much force behind it. "You're not thinking...?"
"No, darlin', haven't really been thinkin' for the past couple of minutes," he replied huskily, the smirk fading. He threaded his empty hand through her hair as he watched her eyes grow darker. He leaned in close to her and whispered into her ear as he trailed the cigar from her knee to her thigh. "I think we should be gettin' to bed, too..."
The next day found that the clouds had taken a vacation, and in their absence the garden was used for breakfast instead of the dining hall. Jean and Scott were practically joined at the hip as he followed her like a lapdog to and from the kitchen. Storm was quizzing Jubilee on her upcoming American History exam, and Logan and Rogue were doing the best they could to keep from looking at one another.
"The Indian Removal Act!" Jubilee exclaimed, looking very proud of herself.
"Commendable work, Jubilee," Storm smiled. "I see you have been studying."
As Jean and Scott set the last of the food on the makeshift table, Jubilee looked over to Wolverine and grinned. "You gonna eat?" Her glance traveled to his lap. "Or are you gonna smoke?"
Rogue's voice nearly came out as a gruff hiss when she put her hand over her mouth to quell the incoming giggles. Everyone proceeded to regard her oddly, brows titled in every which way. She cleared her throat. "What?" She managed to regain her composure as she sifted through the fruit bowl for an apple. She coughed to hide a small laugh and she stuffed the apple into her mouth.
Everyone was so intent on looking at Rogue that one of Logan's rare grins went unnoticed.
At the end of the meal (and, incidentally, when Scott shut up about how wonderful the breakfast was), everyone had gathered close to one another to discuss the events from the night before.
"Hey, he won't be the first president to go through the impeachment process!" Jubilee nodded. "There was that guy who did...um, the dude after Lincoln 'cause he wouldn't pass any of the southern reconstruction bills and plans and...never mind, I'll just shut up," she looked in the direction of a small ant making away with a piece of biscuit. Storm chuckled good-naturedly.
"Well, at least you can guarantee an..." Storm's voice trailed off as she sniffed the air. She looked around immediately to Wolverine's back. "Logan! You know I do not like--" when he turned, confusion swept across her face. Suddenly, she turned back around when she heard Jubilee's exclaimation.
"ROGUE! Since WHEN do you smoke cigars?!"
*~FiN~*
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