The landlord opened the door for them. "This is it. Living room here, kitchenette right there, closet, bathroom," he pointed from the entryway, where he was standing. "Like I told the lady yesterday, the previous tenant nailed a blanket or somethin' over that beam to separate the bedroom space, so you're allowed to do that if you want."
Rogue turned her head to look eagerly at Logan, while the man stared impatiently at the both of them. It was probably Logan's stillness that made the man leave them alone to decide.
The landlord handed the key to Rogue. "I'll be downstairs. Just lock the door when you're done and we can go through the details if you want the place."
Rogue walked in, a satisfied smile on her face. She turned around with her arms in the air, and looked expectantly at him.
"So? What do you think?"
She must be fucking kidding, Logan thought, although she seemed to be pretty excited about the whole thing, which confused him, more than anything. He took a step in from the doorway and looked inside, trying to take it all in and make sense of what he was seeing. As if there was anything to take in. But still, Rogue looked as if she thought this was the perfect place.
He turned to look at her. "You're kidding, right?"
She looked offended. "No, Logan. This is perfect for you." She stretched her arm and pulled him completely inside the apartment. "You got everything you need here, except, you know, a large space, but don't tell me four years of living at the mansion has made you used to bigger rooms. Besides, it's not like have that much private space there, either."
Rogue walked around the apartment, keeping her big smile pasted on her face. With two long strides, she stepped into what could be considered the living room. "See this space, you could put a nice comfy sofa here, and over here," she said as she looked over what the landlord said could be the bedroom, "you could put your bed."
He started to think –to fear- she was actually serious about this. He gave her a disapproving stare, and she seemed to be amused by it.
"Of course, if you really, really want a larger couch instead of a sofa, you might want to consider trading your current bed for a twin size." His left eyebrow arched at that comment, almost by itself. "Or not," she added, a mocking tone in her voice.
She batted her eyelashes as she tried to convince him about the apartment, but he knew she was being disheartened by his annoyed expression.
"Look!" Her cheerful squeal nearly made him jump and he took a step back in surprise, almost crashing into the bathroom door. He straightened himself up, as he tried to pretend he wasn't startled. "You even have kitchen cabinets, and a little fridge, and something that looks like some sort of a--"
She moved closer to it, narrowing her eyes and stretching her neck to see it from every side, obviously trying to figure out what it was.
"It's a burner stove, darlin'."
"I knew that." She gave him that charming smile again. "See? You even have a stove." She extended her arm, and he thought she looked like one of those models in exposition shows.
"You make a terrible salesperson."
She let go a shy giggle. He was barely amused.
"All right, let's just go through this again. A studio apartment?" he said.
"I know it's kind of small," she tried to regain her cheerfulness, "but it's very popular among college kids."
"Do I look like a college kid?"
"Well, no... but come on. I saw the trailer," she said, and Logan knew she wasn't referring to its "coziness." "Don't tell me you already got used to the mansion and won't settle for anything smaller. And you know, this is a very decent place; you should've seen the other ones, they were hideous and nasty and--"
"I haven't gotten used to the mansion, Rogue. And you know what? That's not the point. It's not what we had agreed on. This isn't enough for--" He looked at her face, and saw just how lost she was on what he wanted to say. For a moment, he wondered if he ever did ask her what he thought he did the day before. "Hadn't we agreed on an apartment for both of us?"
"Oh, that's the best part. You know how you thought sharing an apartment would be cheaper? Well, I've searched and searched, and this place is a bargain. Even the two-bedroom apartments I found would be more expensive for each of us, and they weren't even close in quality of finishes and materials. And wait till you see the one I found for myself. It's very close from here, and it has this gorgeous tall window--"
"What the hell are you talkin' about? Do you even remember what I said about living together?"
"Yes, you said, `let's move in together and save some money'."
He grunted, annoyed by the tone she used. "You sound like Jubilee imitating me."
"Yeah, but I do you better, right?" She winked at him, and he just grunted. "Anyway, we're not exactly moving in together, but we are saving lots of money with the deals I got."
"Darlin', you focused on the wrong part."
Rogue narrowed her eyes. "You mean you're not really interested in saving money?"
"Was never the point."
"Then, why did you..."
"Think, darlin'. And I'm not talking about two-bedroom apartments, either."
He stared at her for a good part of a minute, waiting for her to get it already.
Rogue stared back at him for a moment. "Ahhh," she finally said, slowly nodding her head and narrowing her eyes and he knew she was pretending to know what he was talking about. He thought, with her history of sending him tacit suggestions and dropping hints, that his insinuation would be child's play for her.
Logan thought of just telling her, loud and clear, because her unawareness was getting tiresome, but her oblivious face was amusing the hell out of him. So he just gave her a crooked smile and slowly raised an eyebrow. He knew the effect this had on Rogue, and in no time, she was blushing.
He kept staring at her in that seducing kind of way, when her eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open. "Oh!" she said, as her eyes almost popped out. "Are you serious? Are you-- are you sure?"
"I'm pretty serious, darlin'. Wouldn't have asked you if I wasn't. And I'm sure, if you want." He stepped closer to her, as if they weren't already next to each other in that minuscule apartment, and grabbed her upper arms. "Besides, after all those years it took you to achieve some control of your skin, why would you ever want to waste more time and live by yourself?"
He caressed her arms carefully, just as he knew how. Although it had been months since Rogue had learned to control her skin, Logan knew the barest of touches was a sensation she still reveled in.
He enjoyed watching her expression turn from dumbfounded, to pondering, to quickly end up looking longing and enthusiastic. She didn't say anything for a short while, but her eyes told him she was already studying the pros and cons of living together. Her gleaming eyes told him the pros were winning.
Finally, she closed her mouth, and her lips turned into the biggest smile her face muscles could probably allow. "I'm... sure. Sure, I want," she said, unblinking.
"You sure?"
She still didn't blink. "Sure, I'm sure."
In all the years they'd known each other, he had never seen her as speechless as at that moment. Seeing her like this was a lot more amusing than how she was a moment before. "All right. So let's go see that one bedroom place you thought was too big for just one person."
"Sure. All right." She kept staring at him, and he could no longer hold a laugh.
"Okay. But let me talk to the landlord if you're still in this state." He took the keys from her hand, and put his other hand in her now empty one.
"Okay. Sure," she said, still smiling, staring and unblinking, as Logan pulled her out and closed the door.
~The End~
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
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Story Notes:
Many thanks to Cschoolgirl and Misskatherine for their comments and beta.