Logan wondered what had possessed him to volunteer to hide the eggs for Chuck's annual Easter blow out. Each kid at the school had a chance to dye six eggs, which translated to a helluva lotta eggs for him to hide. To add to the fun of it, Scooter had given him a little speech before he took off with baskets of eggs: "Remember, Logan, they're kids. Not foxes. You're not hiding the eggs like we'll need them for winter scavenging."
He'd managed to say the kids needed survival training before Jeannie got in the way of a real fight by agreeing that, yeah, the kids did need to know something about that and she'd talk to Chuck about assigning Logan some classes to teach. So now, in addition to the martial arts classes he was giving the kids, he was gonna be teaching survival courses. After, of course, he finished hiding these stupid eggs.
Which, at the rate he was going, was gonna take the rest of the night. Logan growled under his breath. Soon as he got done here, he was heading into town. He needed a drink in the worst way and a root beer float wasn't gonna cut it.
"Still hidin' eggs, Logan?" Rogue's voice floated across the darkening lawn from the back steps of the mansion.
"The kids need a challenge," he said, managing not to snarl at her the way he had at Cyclops. "If it's too easy, it ain't fun."
"You want some help?"
He hid an egg in the crook of a tree and turned, taking in her jeans, long-sleeved shirt and gloves rather than whatever she usually wore on Saturday nights. "Thought you were goin' into town." Typical Saturday night for the older kids; they'd usually see a movie or wander around the malls.
Rogue shrugged. "Nothing at the theater I wanna see."
"Your call," Logan said and she bounced to her feet and across the lawn to join him. Something crinkled as she walked and he motioned at her pocket. "What's that?"
Pulling something out, she said, "Jubilee got 'em for me and Kitty. They're Peeps. Marshmallow candy." Opening the wrapper, Rogue offered the candy to Logan. "Wanna try one?"
His nose twitched at the sweet smell rising from the little box. "I dunno, kid. Are they supposed to be that blue?"
"Jubes kept the yellow ones for herself and Kitty wanted pink." She tore a piece of candy away from the rest, holding it out. "C'mon, they're good."
Surprising her, Logan bit into the thing. It was overwhelmingly sweet, coated with sugar and faintly perfumed with Rogue's scent. A few grains of sugar clung to the weave of her glove and he had a sudden desire to lick her fingers clean. She flushed and lowered her head, fumbling with another of the candies as Logan studied her thoughtfully. "Here," he said, pulling the candy apart and wagging one of the pieces at her.
"Logan," she said, half-laughing, her color deepening.
"What?" He cocked his head. "You don't want it?"
Her shoulders rising and falling in defeat, she glanced around as if worried that they were being watched and said, "Be careful."
"Never anything but." Scowling, he said, "You can stop gigglin' any time."
"I'm sorry, Logan," Rogue said, not looking it, "it's just the idea of you bein' careful." She barely managed to get the sentence out before she started laughing again.
It was a real challenge to get the Peep into her mouth while she was moving around but Logan was up to it. He cut her off in mid-laugh.
Rogue coughed, spitting the candy into her hand. "That wasn't nice," she said, her accent deepening with her ire.
"You started it."
One of her eyebrows quirked upward. "Scott's right. You are two."
"I'm a helluva lot older than two, darlin,'" Logan said, leaning in close to whisper, "I know what to do with girls."
Rogue didn't pull back, much to his delight. Her breath touched his mouth, only a faint tremor in her voice. "Yeah? What?"
Logan showed her the remaining Peep, offering it to Rogue and pulling it away at the last second.
"Tease," she said, her eyes narrowing.
"You want it?" Logan asked, "Come and get it." He bit down on the candy, daring her to take it from him with a wink.
She suddenly captured his face in her hands, holding him steady as she moved in. Tilting his head the way she wanted it, she took a bite of the Peep, her teeth slicing through the marshmallow a scant breath away from his mouth. As if suddenly realizing how close they were to touching, Rogue leaned back abruptly. Logan caught her hands before she could pull them away. He chewed slowly, wishing Rogue would look at him rather than the ground. At least she stopped trying to tug her hands free after just one futile attempt. He pulled them down gently, keeping hold of both of them in one of his own hands and traced the line of her chin on the air.
Rogue jerked her head up at that near touch. "You gotta be careful, Logan," she said, her eyes wide and shining.
"Told ya already, darlin'. I guess you didn't hear me." He squeezed her hands then let her go, deliberately changing the tone of his voice as he said, "Y'know, I was gonna go into town myself, once I finish with these eggs. Wanna come with me?"
"With you?"
"Yeah."
"Alone?"
"Well, I don't think we can fit Scooter on the bike but if you want a chaperone." Logan shrugged.
Spine stiffening, Rogue fixed him with her dark gaze. "Do we need a chaperone?"
Giving her a slow once-over, Logan said, "I dunno, darlin'. That's probably up to you."
Her growing smile matched his. "I guess we'd better finish hidin' these eggs, then."
He growled. "I think I've hidden enough damn eggs."
"Logan," Rogue said, her hands on her hips. "You can't disappoint the kids." She eyed the basket. "We can hide the rest of 'em on the way to the garage."
"I like the way you think," Logan said, grabbing the basket and following behind her.
"Let you in on a secret, sugar," she said over her shoulder. "It gets better."
"I can hardly wait."
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
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Story Notes:
*gasp* You mean you don't know what Marshmallow Peeps are? You don't know what you're missing. But here's a link so you can at least check 'em out, 'kay? http://www.marshmallowpeeps.com/