Rogue was sitting at the kitchen table, staring glumly out the window, her chin propped up on her arm as she watched the orange clouds float by in the sunset.
Jean dropped down on the seat next to her.
"You look preoccupied, what's wrong?"
Rogue sighed.
"Nothing."
"I know you're lying," she nodded. "You can't lie to a telepath. What's on your mind?" Jean smiled.
Rogue considered her answer for a second.
"Wolverine revenge."
"Aaaah, I see. A worthwhile pursuit at any time."
She dropped 2 glasses and a new bottle of Jose Cuervos on the table in front of them and poured herself a drink.
"I thought you telepaths had ethics about looking into people's minds?" Rogue asked.
"We do. Doesn't mean we can't bend some rules for the sake of tequila though."
Rogue looked at her questioningly as Jean downed her drink, swallowing it all in one.
"To assist in formulating a plan," she said, by way of explanation.
Rogue shrugged and downed hers too while Jean continued talking.
"The capacity for evil is directly proportional to one's capacity for tequila slammers. And Logan doesn't count cause without that healing factor he'd be under the table quicker then Scott's grandmother. Pour me another."
Rogue poured them both a second shot.
"He's driving me crazy, Jean," Rogue sighed. "Everywhere I go he's there, making lame come-ons and drooling down my boobs. Every time I see him he tries another dumb plan to get me into bed. Honest to God, I feel like I'm living in a bad sit-com."
She sighed. "Worse thing is, he's making me want him too..."
Jean nodded in understanding.
"I feel your pain. We need a plan."
"We?"
"You want revenge don't you? Well everyone else wants entertainment. If you're going to live in a sit-com, at least make it one we can all enjoy."
Rogue grinned. "So what sit-com are we now?"
"Well if it was up to Scott we'd all love each other and have cute, little, comedic moments with a moral attached... We'd be like The Cosby Show."
She downed another slammer. "But I have a feeling Jubilee wouldn't take long to turn us into the mutant Bundys."
Rogue choked on her shot. "Yeah, three guesses as to who's the only man horny enough right now to be Bud..."
Jean grimaced. "Now there's an image I didn't need."
Rogue contemplated her glass.
"I need a way to drive him just as crazy as he's driving me. A little Wolvie torture, you know?"
Jean looked thoughtful. "Do we have any more of this anywhere?" she asked, gently shaking the tequila bottle.
"I think... some in the study somewhere, probably. Oh, and Remy should have another. Why?"
Jean continued to look thoughtful. "If you can get someplace alone with Logan for a while, I think I can help you. I discovered a neat trick a few years ago, a kind of 'power of suggestion' thing I can do to people. The professor doesn't like it because it kind of goes against that whole privacy ethic, but I think it might just work... plus Logan's being unbearable, so he's fair game all the while Charles is away."
A slow smile spread over Rogue's face. "Getting him alone is no problem. What does this have to do with the drink?"
"Not much, I just need to be quick-witted and that's a whole lot easier while I'm plastered."
Logan turned the TV on, settling back against the headboard while he waited for Rogue. Flipping through the channels he noted that she was late.
Flip, flip, flip...
News, home shopping network, some cheesy "erotic drama" on late night TV. Some woman being pawed on an office desk by a balding guy called Stan. He raised his eyebrow but it was low on both "erotic" and "drama" so he flipped onwards.
He turned off the TV as the door clicked, Rogue quietly letting herself in.
"Hey Darlin'."
"Hey. Sorry I'm late but Stanley from marketing was licking my breasts."
His head shot round to stare at her
"What?!"
"I said Scott was marking and wanted a rest. You know? Exam papers? We got chatting in the kitchen."
Logan faltered for a second. "Oh, uh... what... what did you want to talk to me about anyway?"
"Nothing in particular."
She fidgeted slightly. "I thought maybe you wanted to watch the game tonight? We haven't seen much of each other and I thought it would be nice."
He shook himself out of his daze.
"Sure thing... wanna' come sit up here with me?"
He patted the bed beside him and Rogue nodded and climbed on, ignoring the mildly lascivious look he gave her.
"I thought you might like to lather me in cream and lick it all off," she stated idly.
Logan stared at her.
She snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Logan, are you listening to me? I said you might want to turn on the TV before we miss the kick-off? Logan, is there something wrong with your hearing tonight?"
Logan mumbled something noncommittal and flipped the TV back on, keeping half an eye on the girl beside him. Cream? Where had that come from? Oh nuts, now he was stuck with the image. Rogue all wet and slathered with cool white, fluffy cream before him, little melting droplets trickling between her breasts, just waiting for him to...
Rogue poked him hard in the ribs with her finger.
"Logan?"
He grunted.
"I need to be tied to the bedpost and ravaged by you till I crumble."
Logan jumped and fixed her with a terrified face.
"What?"
"I need you to speak up Logan, I can't hear you if you mumble. Frankly I'm starting to wonder if you can hear me at all."
He stared at her blankly, lost for words.
She waved her hand in front of his face and pointed at the TV.
"Logan? Kickoff?"
They settled into uneasy silence as the game began, Logan cracking open a beer.
Tied to the bedpost? And with the cream...
He shifted positions on the bed, trying to ease a little of the build-up forming in his jeans.
Rogue tapped his arm.
"Pass the chips?"
Logan grunted, pausing to fish out and light a cigar, hoping the nicotine would calm him. "In a second."
"I want to screw you till you can't walk straight."
Logan dropped his beer, frothy liquid spilling all over this thighs. "What did you say?"
Rogue looked exasperated.
"I said screw it, I don't care if I put on more weight, will you just pass those damned chips? And you have beer in your lap."
She got no response, Logan seeming to have entered some form of catatonic trance, so she leaned over him to retrieve them herself.
Logan whimpered in a highly undignified way and Rogue put the newly acquired chips down, staring at him, puzzled.
"What's up? You're acting even freakier than usual, and that's saying something."
"Rogue, I think there's something very, very wrong with my head right now... I think maybe you'd better go."
"Aww, Logan, the game's only just started," she whined.
"Rogue, you wouldn't lie to me would you?"
She paused, thrown by the sudden change in topic.
"Why would I lie to you? I want to fuck you in positions you didn't even know I could bend."
Logan massaged his temples. "Could you repeat that, please?"
"I said I'd never lie to you, you're my best friend."
"Uh huh, that's what I thought you said..."
"Logan, are you alright?"
In the kitchen, Jean smirked.
Phase one of "Torture the Wolverine" completed.
Rogue was curled up peacefully on the couch, her nose buried in a book. Her Logan-torturing had gone so well the day before that she was congratulating herself with a quick jaunt through some of her favorite novels. She figured that keeping a low and innocent profile would be a good notion if she wanted to continue her siege on the Wolvermeister's sanity, and if that meant she got to get her nose in a good book so much the better. She'd read them all before so was pretty much skipping to the best bits.
OK, she'd admit it. The naughty bits.
It was about then that Logan wandered in, a videotape clutched in his hand.
He wedged it into the VCR behind her, rewinding it a few seconds before hitting pause.
"Can I show you something stupid?"
She twisted round in her chair. This was unusual, but no one ever had Logan listed high on their register of predictable people.
"'Something stupid' wouldn't be one of those nicknames a guy gives his... would it?"
He blinked at her.
"No."
"Good. But remember that. It's a good name for it."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Thank you for your overwhelming vote of confidence."
She just raised her eyebrow at him and he sighed.
"Get over here a second, OK?"
She groaned and stuffed a bookmark in her page, dragging herself over to the TV as he hit play.
It had just been getting to the juicy bit as well...
Some cheesy B-movie flickered to life on the screen, a guy in a green rubber suit chasing a women with startlingly pointy stiletto shoes and equally pointy breasts. She hammered at someone's front door, screaming blue murder in that way they did so well in those days, the man inside grudgingly hauling himself out of bed.
Logan flicked it off again and looked at her questioningly.
"You saw that, right?"
"Yeah..." she replied hesitantly.
"Can I ask a question? I mean, maybe it's a dumb question. There's a lot of stuff I don't remember, so maybe it was answered in the years I don't recall too clearly, but why does everyone in the movies wear a dressing gown?"
Rogue looked at him.
"I mean, doesn't anyone answer the door in their pajamas? In those vital seconds when the hysterical chick is battering the door down in panic, everyone instantly thinks 'My God, I must put on my dressing gown, it may be the etiquette police!'"
Rogue blinked and stared at him blankly.
"Logan... you're delusional. You're babbling like Conspiracy Theory Mel..."
"You mean you've never thought about it?"
"Honestly, no, and you mean to tell me you made me come all the way over here just to ask me this? I was trying to read."
"It was just idle curiosity. I've been catching up on all the classic movies I don't remember. Whatcha' readin'?"
She curled back up on the couch, opening her book again.
"Nothing important."
He peered over her shoulder, scanning the page briefly.
"You know that's not actually physically possible..." he mumbled, pointing to the page.
"Shuddup Logan, stop shattering my illusions."
"Didn't you learn all this stuff in school...? Surely they taught you better," He said, slumping down beside her.
"Y'know, in my entire time at school I had one hour of sex education and 27 weeks of trigonometry. I learned nothing about sex, but I can still calculate the exact angle of approach. Say, did you know your legs look lust like an isosceles triangle? Go on, do the rhombus just for me? Ooh, a dodecahedron, you pervy hunk!"
She faked a swoon across the couch arm.
"I can see it prepared you well," he grumbled.
She raised her brow, incredulity written over her face. "Yeah, like I'm gonna' go asking you for sex tips?"
"You know I've been a round a good while longer than you, kid. You could try paying attention now and then."
"And as the saying goes, Logan, my ass has been my ass for a very long time but I don't have to listen to anything it says."
He frowned.
"Look, sex ain't like you read in those stories. It's not nice, it's not pretty... it's grunting and sweating and messy, full o' groping and bodily fluids. No amount of romance can take away that fact. It's primal, it's down and dirty, it's real."
She looked at him seriously.
"You know, I think you're right. Cause a long time ago, the French had a euphemism for orgasm. They called it "le petit mort." The little death. And you know, it makes sense. You're giving up part of yourself. You're becoming primitive, letting go of civilisation for a split second. To truly enjoy sex, you need to be able to look death in the face... and smile."
He blinked at her.
"You see, I was trying to make a serious point. You... you're just being sarcastic."
She just laughed at him.
"And Logan, if you can spot where that quote came from I'll give you a blowjob right here on the couch," she spat between the hysterics.
Logan leaned in close, an intent look on his face.
"A little death," he whispered in her ear, his eyes darkening as the colour drained from her face.
He leaned back and laughed, the booming sound echoing loudly through the rec room.
Damn him, she mentally grumbled. He wants it, he'll get it.
The laughter automatically stopped as she planted her hand firmly on his groin, the warm, soft denim shifting slightly as he jumped.
"Go on then, Logan," she purred, kneading the handful of flesh she'd grabbed. "You won, get naked."
He swallowed slowly, moistening lips that were suddenly incredibly dry.
"Marie, I..."
"You what?"
The look on her face, with difficulty, remained deadly serious as a light sheen of sweat broke out across his forehead.
"I... We..."
"Chickening out already?"
She arched an eyebrow at him as she slipped off the couch, coming to rest on her knees before him, gently pushing his legs apart and slipping herself between them.
Too far, too fast, he realised. He'd persued her but there was a part of him that had only ever been half serious because he knew he'd never succeed.
He groaned, feeling that tight tingling in the back of his head that usually acted as a precursor for trouble.
Too freaking late for that one, he thought, but he WAS in time for his conscience to stick its ugly nose in his way.
Don't do it don't do it don't do it...
But, he figured, she was on her knees between his legs and to be honest there were very few other places he'd want her to be....
But don't do it don't do it don't do it, oh nuts, too late she did it...
She dropped to nuzzle against his groin, planting kisses along the warm cloth-covered flesh, a slightly strangled moan escaping him.
Her hands rubbed slowly up and down his thighs before settling over the top button on his jeans.
His eyes rolled back as nimble fingers popped the top button undone before she pulled back to look at him.
Her lip twitched, then she started laughing hysterically.
His stomach flipped in annoyance and he straightened up from the slumped position he'd been sliding into.
"What?"
The irritable tone in his voice just made her laugh even harder as she staggered to her feet.
"Oh my God, Logan, you should see the look on your face. I swear, any further and Scott'll be able to hear you singing down the hallway."
The hysterical laughter broke out again and he irritably stood up, watching her ungracefully slump her posterior down on the coffee table as he did his pants back up.
He stalked past and left the rec room, glaring at Rogue as he went by.
She bit her lip and smirked, trying to quell the giggling.
Well, there was the 'innocent' persona shot to hell...
"Oh, Logan, come back! I'm sorry!"
She chased after the tetchy Wolverine, overtaking so she could walk backwards down the hall in front of him.
"Logan, Logan, really, I'm sorry, but it was too funny to pass up, I'm sorry OK?"
She held her hands up in acquiescence, smiling slightly.
He cast her a withering glare and pushed past.
As he stalked by she squeezed his ass, getting a good handful of warmed denim and firm flesh, a wicked grin spreading over her face as he froze mid-step, a low growl forming in his throat.
"Oh by the way, sugar, if you're looking for your copy of 'Marry Me, Cowboy' Jubilee's borrowed it. It'll be back under your mattress by Monday."
She slapped his butt hard and ran for it in the opposite direction.
LOGAN'S JOURNAL
Oh, she's driving me crazy... and I mean that in a very real and psychological sense. That and the heat... it's not doing good stuff to me. And Scott, by God, you'd better have fixed that air conditioning soon.
She's an evil girl and she's started torturing me, did you know that?
Christ in crotchless panties...
OK, I'm going to hell just for the metaphors now, but I'm having a really bad day.
I'm just sitting there, minding my own business, tinkering with the Harley, having a few cans and listening to the radio in the garage when all of a sudden she walks in.
She walks in and she sits on me. Yeah, you read that right. Legs spread out on either side of my hips, pressing herself into me.
She sits right on my crotch and gives me this wicked little smile.
Oh I'm a sucker for that smile and I'm a sucker for the way she's so hot against my body and I'm a sucker for the "come fuck me" boots she's wearing and I'm a sucker the for fact that she's wearing very little BUT the "come fuck me" boots...
(Where did she get those from anyway...?)
But, oh she's there and she's all soft and pliant, and she's so willing. Rubbing against me and kissing me and telling me how much she wants this, and then she's nuzzling me, her soft lips speckling over my jaw and she shifts against my body and her knee's suddenly rubbing in a really tender spot. I don't even stop to think what she's doing there because she's making my blood boil, her fingers running down to take the place of her knee.
(And oh, that felt good)
She doesn't give me the chance to speak before we're rolled over on the floor, and I'm looking down at her and she's shedding more clothes with every passing second, fumbling with straps and buttons in her need for me to touch her.
Then we're getting down to the good stuff and her breasts are so smooth and soft, just like I knew they would be, and her nipples are firm and pink against my fingers. They seem to be just perfect in my hands while I'm touching her and stroking her, and she drags me up and kisses me so hard I can barely breathe, moaning and gasping under my touch and begging me for more and pleading for me to take her and then I wake up...
God, fucking, damn it, didn't you just see that one coming?
I'm asleep on the garage floor, under the Harley, hard as a rock and rubbing myself in my sleep.
And how do I know this?
Because I wake up with her standing above me, trying to hide a smirk while my arm carries on with a life of its own.
Yeah, real subtle, Logan.
She just stares at me, then stares at the empty cans lying around on the floor and just smirks.
"Well at least it makes a change from getting drunk and photocopying your genitals..." she muses.
I blink at her, still asleep and kinda' dazed, because in my head her body was just getting down to doing something deeply interesting.
"I've never done that." I say, trying to hide that deeply ungracious hard-on, which I really should stop playing with because it's only making it worse...
"No," she taps her chin thoughtfully. "It was last thanksgiving. You were too drunk to remember. Just ask Jubilee though, I think she still has a copy of your buttocks somewhere. I think Ro confiscated the crotch shots so goodness knows what happened to them."
I remember Thanksgiving... or more accurately I DON'T remember it, because I had a 3 for 1 Star Wars drinking game challenge with that damned Cajun. I think it was about my ninth pint of Jack Daniels and halfway through "Empire Strikes Back" that things start to get a little hazy...
I can see her smirk start to spread as, what I can only imagine is a look of complete horror, spreads over my face.
"I... I don't remember that... Does... does everyone know about this...?"
She pursed her lips in thought, every second she spends contemplating seems like an hour I get to spend squirming uncomfortably for an answer I'm not sure I want to hear.
"I don't know, I think Jean took them down from the notice board before too many people got an eyeful."
I think instinct's kicked in because I'm standing now, clutching at her shirt collar and staring at her as I notice for the first time the bottom is falling out of my nicely constructed reputation.
"The notice board??!"
She grins even wider as the last of the colour drains from my cheeks.
"Well don't look at me, you're the one who pinned them up there."
She shrugs noncommittally at me.
"I...?"
"Never mind, Logan honey," she says, patting me on the shoulder. "It wasn't exactly memorable. If you're going to start photocopying bits of yourself you might want to find areas that are more impressive to look at."
I think I lost all feeling in my fingers.
She extricated herself from my stupefied clutches and sauntered away down the hall, ass wiggling in a way I KNOW she's doing deliberately.
Phase two of "Torture the Wolverine" completed.
"Thanks for you help getting him all flustered there, Jean."
"You told him about the photocopier as well, didn't you?"
"Yup."
"Rogue, I'm ASAHMED of you!"
"Jean?"
"You know damned well I was saving that story to use on Scott."
It was late in the day and the rec room was empty except for Rogue, almost everyone else escaping to the patio and lawns outside the house.
She figured Logan was still in his room examining his mental health, and she allowed that thought to bring a smile to her lips.
Getting him steamed up in a myriad of ways had been good, but the innuendo-ahoy conversation of the first had been classic. He'd never quite seemed to recover from that one.
She giggled again as she remembered the look on his face every time she spoke. She had no clue what words Jean had been putting into his head, but they'd had the desired effect and that was all that really mattered.
The air clung heavily to everything in the room, weighed down with the oppressive intensity of the heat.
She stared idly at the fan, letting the soft billowing air pas over her hot skin, choosing to stay inside for some reason this evening, needing the peace that would not be afforded outdoors.
Nina Simone was in the CD player again and she half mused that it was really her who'd started all this.
She gently wiped at the moisture that had gathered on her forehead.
The air conditioning was apparently working, but working in the wrong direction. Hot air billowed through the mansion while Scott battled with his wrenches in the basement.
It had to be something to do with the heat, but the music fit perfectly to her mood, filling her with that desire to be absorbed into the song. She was singing before she even realised that she knew the words, feeling that mellow pull only afforded when the music captured you fully.
~I put a spell on you... because you're mine... you're mine!~
Her voice was good enough for some living room karaoke and she closed her eyes, being drawn into the tune, not realising that she'd gained an audience, the figure in the doorway shrouded in dark shadows.
~I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you anyhow...~
Her heart seemed to beat harder in her chest because she loved this song, oblivious to the eyes burning into her skin, being swept away totally with the tune and the heat, not caring any more. The figure watched her body, watched her being caught up in the moment, watched her gently flowing with the tune.
~And I don't care, if you don't want me, I'm yours right now...~
She didn't know what those words did to him as he watched, her lips curling perfectly around the lyrics, swaying gently to the music once more and he wondered what the hell it was about this damned CD that did such things to him.
~Oh did ya hear me? I put a spell on you...~
Damn morals. He'd spent hours wondering about his mental health, and then it had hit him. Evil witch was torturing him. He knew he wasn't crazy and he'd figure out how she did it eventually, but he knew it was her. There were too many coincidences all pointing in the direction of the Rogue.
He watched her run her hands unwittingly over her body. God if it wasn't for those morals he'd torture her back in the best way possible...
Her hands snaked through her hair, her voice sweet and clear as she arched her back.
Morals? Did he say morals...?
Fuck it.
He grabbed her and shoved her against the wall, bodies flush as he kissed her thoroughly, her lips falling open as he took in every inch of her mouth with the warm expanse of his tongue. He elicited a constant stream of soft moans as her hands grasped desperately at his shoulders.
She gasped as he pulled back, eyes heavy with desire and the taste of him still lingering strongly in her mouth as she slapped him hard round the face.
"OW!"
"How DARE you?!" she screamed, righteous indignation taking her side momentarily before she roughly grabbed his sideburns and dragged his lips back to hers. Mouths merged intensely in a hungry, passionate battle as she fought for possession of his tongue, moaning against his lips before oxygen deprivation forced them to come up for air.
Gasping heavily she slapped him again.
"What was THAT for?" he panted, rubbing his cheek.
"For this," she replied as she thrust her tongue in his mouth, their bodies topping to the ground in a flurry of tangled limbs, Logan flat on his back with Rogue sprawled on top of him.
Groping, frantic hands were everywhere, clawing at clothing and feeling desperately at heated flesh.
He freed her from her shirt as she started attacking his pants, yanking hard on the buckle that fastened his belt before he pulled her up his body.
She slapped him again.
"Stop DOING that!!" he wailed.
"Get a hold of yourself, Logan..." she panted, rubbing the flats of her hands over his chest.
"Then stop HITTING me!"
"I can't!"
"Why not?"
She slapped him again.
"I don't know!"
She was virtually humming with tension and anxiety and excitement all bundled into one as she attacked his lips again, mouths battling possessively as his eyes rolled back into his head, grunting as she shifted her weight, straddling his hips.
"You're pure torture, woman," he mumbled before he was cut off, her hands roaming in a frenzy over his chest, causing him to moan as she caressed his stomach, tongue flicking out to dart into his belly button.
"Oh, God," he gasped as she squirmed on top of him, the frenzy not abating even slightly as he rolled them over, trapping her beneath him, her chest heaving as she battled to pull air into her humming body.
His hands were on her now, kneading at her flesh, filling his palm with the lace and cream white skin of her breast.
She wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him down close to her, bodies fused despite the clothing as she thrust herself against him.
He reciprocated, his hips pushing hers back to the ground while his fingers pulled down the black lace bra, exposing a flushed pink nipple just over the top of the fabric.
She gasped, feeling the fire spread through her body as he toyed with the receptive bud, fingertips playing over the surface. He felt it harden under his touch as he freed the other from under the hot lace, taking it in his mouth as she bucked her hips up into his bulk.
He pressed her hard into the ground, feeling her grind against him, unable to stop the need to grind himself back down as she shook with desire beneath him, whimpering his name as he grazed his teeth along the nipple in his mouth.
She barely heard as the front door slammed open, the students pouring back inside and up to their rooms. Didn't care because they were too far away, didn't notice because, fuck, she was dry humping Logan on the rec room floor and he was whispering to her how much he wanted her to come for him, how much he wanted her, how good she tasted...
She barely heard him moaning her name, thrusting his hips hard between her legs, the denim of her jeans too painfully tight, the hardness of his body too perfectly good against her.
And then he was biting and licking her neck, his hands on her breasts, thumbs gently squeezing those painfully sensitive nipples, hips pounding into hers creating that white heat in the pit of her stomach that seemed to flow suddenly through every vein in her body...
Arching her head back, mouth shaped in a silent scream, orgasm hit her, flashing through every nerve with white arcs of pleasure.
Her body slumped pathetically onto the floor as she fought for breath and she glanced at the man above her, the hardness pressing between her legs still apparent.
Realisation's a bitch, she suddenly thought.
No kidding, she mentally added, eyes growing huge as the situation suddenly dawned in that full-colour, IMAX kind of way...
"Oh Shit!" she exclaimed, sitting bolt upright.
Logan buried his head in her neck, kissing up the side of her jaw, making thinking all that much trickier as she struggled against the warm glow threatening to make her lie back and demand a repeat performance.
"Please Rogue, I want you so bad..." he muttered into her neck, his arms curling round her body, the hard bulge in his jeans both painful and painfully obvious as he gathered her into his lap, automatically dropping his head down to suckle one of those glorious, sweet breasts.
She whined and tried to pull herself together, somehow managing to disentangle herself and stand on wobbly legs, pulling her bra back into place as he grimaced, the swelling in his jeans making thinking a lot harder then it should have been, no pun intended.
"What... what did we do here Logan...?" she whispered, her voice husky with adrenaline, her heart still pounding as she saw the look he gave her. So dark and wanting, every part of her screaming to run back to him and finish what they started.
God, he looked so good like that, shirt rumpled and half off, jeans half open, body glistening in the heat.
Damn those jeans... just that little bit further and she knew she'd never be able to escape.
"Rogue...?"
His voice was husky with desire and she felt her resolve start to crumble.
"Logan... I have to... uh... go now..."
And boy, could that girl run.
"JUUUUUUUBES!" Rogue wailed, bursting into the room.
"Jesus, babe, what's wrong?" said her friend, concern etched on her face at her Marie's rumpled and flushed appearance..
"I think... I think I just had sex with Logan."
Jubilee snorted cola onto the floor, choking as she did so.
"Whu... you WHAT? HOW?!" she screamed.
Rogue just chewed her lip. "Just now... in the rec room... on the floor... I think I just had sex with him."
Jubilee's eyes got really wide. "You THINK you had sex with him? You mean you don't KNOW?"
"Well, we both kinda' still had all our clothes on, so it was more humping than sex, but I still kinda'... uh... Jubes, you're not making this any easier, will you close your mouth?"
"Rogue, Rogue, Rogue, what did you DO? You were supposed to torment him, not screw him!"
"I KNOW!" she wailed. "What am I gonna' do?"
"I dunno... ignore him?"
"Is that too cruel? I mean, I kinda' just already ran and he... uh... wasn't exactly... uh... finished..." she stumbled pathetically over her words, watching Jubilee's eyes get far too big for her head.
"You mean you... then he, but you and... not he but just you...? So he..." Jubilee trailed off into a fit of laughter.
"Jubes, this isn't funny!"
"Oh yes it is, babe. I said torment, not torture. You are one cruel woman!"
"Oh God, I don't think I'm ever going to live through this..."
Jubilee smirked. "Babe, I'm so proud of you! Of course, you've now unwittingly declared all out sex war on the Wolverine, but truly, there are worse things in life."
"This is all too complicated. I think I'm just gonna' curl up in a heap and try to forget any of this ever actually happened..."
"Babe, you challenged the famed wooing powers of the Wolverine, he's gonna' get you good. I suggest total avoidance and watch your back cause there's gonna' be revenge in the offing, you mark my words."
ROUGE'S JOURNAL
I AM IN HELL.
Day one of operation "Avoid Logan"
Didn't manage to avoid Logan. He keeps looking at me weird and it's freaking me out. I mean, I know it's mostly my own fault cause I shouldn't have screwed him in the first place, but you'd have thought that he'd take my hints and leave well alone... right?
Right?
Hell no.
I swear, he looks like he wants to literally eat me whole. It's that same look Jubilee gives one of those expensive cheesecakes the professor gets for special occasions.
ROGUE'S JOURNAL
Day two of operation "Avoid Logan"
Didn't manage to avoid Logan.
Again with the Jubilee cheesecake thing, but I'm getting better at the avoidance. Almost didn't trip over myself when he walked by all sweaty-looking and with this adorable little smudge of grease on his cheek from trying to help Scott fix the air conditioning... of course it's still broken but they did really try...
Maybe all that time spent in the basement with the wrenches is why I almost managed to avoid him today?
ROGUE'S JOURNAL
Day three of operation "Avoid Logan"
MANAGED TO AVOID LOGAN!
Of course staying in my room all day and sending out Jubilee for supplies maybe isn't the best way of spending the rest of my life, but it'll have to do till he figures out that I don't want to have sex with him.
I really, really don't. Definitely.
Totally.
100%
Who the hell am I kidding?
"Ro, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?" Jean hovered uncertainly in the doorway, a pile of books in her arms.
The weather goddess smiled as she looked up from her pot of petunias.
"Certainly, how can I help?"
"I was wondering... I know you don't have a problem with nudity so I was kind of thinking that, if you were free, would you mind sitting as a model for art class this evening?"
Ro's face fell.
"Oh, Jean, I am sorry, but the professor has asked me to accompany him to a concert tonight. Is there no one else you can ask?"
Jean looked downcast. "Not really. I can't think of anyone who would be comfortable enough to be naked around so many students. It's an ego thing with the guys and everyone else seems to have other plans. It doesn't matter, I'll cancel it until we can find someone. I've got classes all day and I don't have time to go hunting down models as well."
"Oh Jean, I am sorry. I know the students were looking forward to working on the figure."
"It's not just that, Ro, it's an important part of the course. We did have a professional model coming in, but she contracted the flu and I can't really expect her to sit around naked while she should be in bed."
"I'll tell you what," Ororo said, "I can't model for you tonight, but I will find someone who can do it for you. I promise. It's the least I can do."
"Really?" Jean smiled. "That would be fantastic. I'd be really grateful."
"It's no problem, Jean. I'm sure I can dig someone up. Now, it's almost time for class, just leave it to me."
Jean glanced at her watch. "You're right, I've got to run, but thanks again, and I'll see you at lunch?"
"Certainly."
Ororo smiled as Jean scurried away to teach her class. She had no clue who she was going to get to volunteer, but it had to be more interesting than pruning the roses yet again, didn't it?
"I know it's part of that whole professional artist vibe Jean, but really, can't we sit down for this?" groused Jubilee from behind her easel.
"Nope, not today Jubilee. Today I get to torture you all by making you stand around while you draw."
"Quit whining Jubes, it's not that hard," muttered Rogue from beside her, taping her paper to the drawing board.
Jubilee grunted. "Why are you even here anyway, babe? I'm only here cause I'm supposed to be observing the lesson."
Rogue shrugged. "It's an escape from the terrors of Logan. He's still acting freaky. Plus, I like drawing, what do you want me to say?"
"That you're a masochist?"
"Shuddup, Jubes," she said as she flicked a charcoal stick at her friend's head.
"Hey! Watch it with the black stuff. Girl in yellow standing here!"
"I give you 20 minutes before you get a charcoal-coloured hand print on your shirt," muttered Jean.
"I heard that!"
"The whole school heard it, don't sound so pleased with yourself," muttered Logan, appearing at Rogue's shoulder.
"Hey Logan," grinned Kitty, gravitating towards him from out of nowhere.
"Logan?" Marie looked puzzled and just slightly displeased. "What're you doing here?"
"Not a lot. Watching you tape a piece of paper to a slab of MDF by the looks of it," he grunted, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his sweat pants.
Jubilee rolled her eyes and Rogue just glanced at him.
Ignoring him hadn't worked. He was still weird. Then again, as Jubes pointed out, he'd been weird to begin with. He seemed to really be trying though, she had to give him that much, but it was difficult. What she really needed was some time away from him for a bit and this was half the reason for joining the art class. Apparently she wasn't even going to be allowed that mercy cause here he was again... lurking at her.
"So," he continued, hoping the break the silence. "Seen your life model yet?"
Rogue shook her head. "No, we're still waiting for her to make an appearance, and you'd better get out of here unless you intend on doing some drawing. They don't like it when strange guys sit around ogling them."
He nodded contemplatively.
Jean interrupted them, clapping her hands to gain the students' attention. She looked pointedly in Logan's direction.
"Logan, if you don't mind, I'm ready to start class."
"Told ya'," whispered Rogue.
Logan nodded at the doctor. "Sure thing, Red." He turned and gave Marie a conspiratorial pat on the shoulder. "I'm outta here. I'll catch up with you after class though, OK?"
"Yeah, ok," she sighed "I'll see you at dinner."
Looks like Logan avoidance was out the window for another day.
"He doesn't seem too freaky," pondered Jubilee as he sloped away. "I mean, after the rec room incident he hasn't done anything at all. Maybe avoiding him worked?"
"No... First off I didn't manage to avoid him and second, he just looks like he wants to swallow me whole every time he sees me," mused Rogue. "Nothing weird in that at all."
"Oh give him a little credit," said Kitty. "So he's still a drool-factory, but at least he's been mostly leaving you alone. Today is the first time he's actually spoken to you in almost a week. Maybe you hurt his feelings a bit ignoring him so much?"
Rogue frowned. "Maybe, please God, he's got over this and we can all get back to normal...?"
On the other side of the room, Logan squeezed out from behind the forest of easels, peeled off his shirt, slid his sweat pants down over his hips and, gloriously naked, sauntered into the center of the room.
"So, Red. Where'd you want me?"
"I can't believe you did that to me! And I thought we had an understanding!" wailed Rogue as the last of the students dispersed, the female contingent leaving a trail of slobber as they crept after Logan.
For her part, Jean thought she handled it pretty well.
Well, so maybe clutching her sides in hysterics wasn't exactly handling the situation well, but it was as good as it was gonna' get.
"Oh, Rogue, I'm sorry, honestly, I had no idea what was happening till he turned up. Ro said she'd find us a model, but I really didn't expect HIM..."
She collapsed into another fit of laughter and Rogue just stood and stewed.
"Seriously, I'm gonna kill him..."
"Oh, wow... I mean, really, oh wow."
Jubilee steered a semi-catatonic Kitty along the hallway, turning to the seething Rogue as they walked.
"I mean... just WOW! I take it all back. Hell, even I'D hump him if I'd known this earlier. There should be a law... Logan must me naked at all times, cause... wow."
"I get the point, Jubes, and watch out for that table you nearly steered Kitty right into it!"
On her part Kitty squeaked slightly, the glazed expression on her face testament enough to the fact that she hadn't noticed phasing through the large antique in the slightest.
Rogue rolled her eyes.
"I'm gonna' kill him."
"If you do, can we have the bits afterwards? Maybe we can patch him back up... or at least preserve him for posterity?"
"You can have him. I don't want him."
"Seriously, I never thought I'd enjoy life drawing that much. I mean the body and the muscles and the... thing and... the other thing.
"He has more than one thing. Now that's a talent," sighed Kitty.
"Kit, that's freaky," Jubilee frowned.
She carefully navigated her friend through the school, leaving a trail of charcoal dust and black handprints through the corridors. Her yellow shirt, however, had miraculously remained perfectly clean.
"I tell you, that scene almost made it worth standing up for 3 hours."
Bobby joined them, coming out of the elevator.
"What did?"
"Logan got naked for the sake of art."
"He always walks around without a shirt on, what's new in that?"
"No, I mean naked... nakie, nekkid, flapping in the breeze, birthday suit fresh from the cleaners."
She took a deep breath, conjuring the image in her mind's eye.
"And my God, that man is talented... If you see Rogue walking funny, now we'll all know why."
"Jubes!"
"What? All I'm saying is that he's armed, babe, and you already KNOW he knows how to use it."
"I'm not sure I want to be here for this," mused Bobby.
"Come on, Bob! Man's perspective!" cried Jubilee.
"I think..." Bobby chose his words carefully, "That if he knew what you were talking about, he'd run like hell."
"Really?" grinned Jubilee, evil flashing in her eyes. "How so?"
"Sex is very stressful for men," he considered. "You judge us on style, sensitivity... stamina! We're just happy if you let us cop a feel..."
"I'd be happy if I could get a feel..." sighed Kitty, wistfully.
"I think naked Logan fried a synapse or four," said Jubilee, patting the top of Kitty's head.