Later that evening, Rogue was secreted away in her room, with just a good book and a pint of ice-cream for company. Unfortunately, Jubilee had decided to spend the day shopping at the mall, and without the chance to gloat ever so slightly over her victory, feelings of apprehension and nerves had been building up inside Rogue until she had felt like she might explode.
Despite the continued ridiculous heat, she had spent the day locked up in her room, under the pretence of ‘doing homework’. Although in actual fact, she had spent several highly useful hours over-analysing every second of the combat session.
Not that it had gotten her anywhere. She couldn’t make head or tail of Logan’s strange behaviour. Seriously, what was wrong with that man? Half the time she was ‘kid’, half the time she was the ‘best friend’, but earlier, had she not kneed him where the sun don’t shine, she could have sworn he was going to kiss her. She wished he’d make up his mind exactly which she was going to be, because really, she had never been much of an actress, and all this role-swapping was really quite tiresome.
None of this had been helped by the fact that, when she eventually ventured out of her room to find food, at around six-ish, she had had the misfortune to bump into him in the kitchens. She had expected him to be furious/glaring/ready to gut her, but instead he had moved aside to let her pass, smiled politely, and said ‘goodnight’.
Two things were strange about this. Firstly, Logan did not do ‘gentlemanly’. Grumpy and hostile was his default setting, and she highly suspected his sense of social etiquette might have been surgically removed at birth.
And secondly…Logan was no more familiar with the concept of going to sleep at dusk than he was with the concept of manners. Neither ever occurred to him. So what was he doing politely bidding her goodnight at six in the evening?
In fact, really, did anyone go to bed that early once they had passed their seventh birthday? She didn’t think so. It was really most strange, and the oddity of the situation was doing wonders for the fast multiplying flock of butterflies in her stomach.
~~~~
Four hours later, Rogue decided she might as well give up on her book. Well, in actual fact she decided to call it a day when she awoke with a start to find her cheek glued to the page with drool, and, after a quick glance in the mirror, realised she had black ink imprinted over a large portion of the left side of her face. Just great.
She showered, for the second time that day, and allowed the hot water to wash away the remaining aches of the Danger Room session. Of course, she slipped on the floor getting out of the shower, but luckily missed cracking her head on the wash basin by about an inch.
Sadly, when she checked in the mirror, hot water and soap didn’t appear to be doing anything about the ink. Apparently that stuff had staying power. Kind of like Logan. Although, she really didn’t need to be thinking about his ‘staying power’ right now. Not when she was a third ‘best friend’, a third ‘kid’ and a third ‘that bitch who tried to castrate me’.
God, shuddup up brain.
Ambling back into her bedroom wrapped in a towel, with another one swirled around her hair; she pulled on her oldest, comfiest pyjamas, and collapsed onto the bed with a magazine.
Seconds later she was springing into the air with a shriek of fright as her door slammed wide open to reveal a dressing-gown clad Jubilee. Who shrieked at her in return, somewhat resembling a banshee that had fought an epic battle with a box of felt tips (her dressing gown, although not yellow, was formed of masses of multicoloured squiggles in various eye-aching shades and was probably illegal in 26 states), before slamming the door, and eyeing Rogue with the practiced gaze of the long-suffering best friend.
‘Jesus, Jubes! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?’
Rogue hissed, trying to keep her voice down out of respect for the multiple people who were probably asleep; although this might have been somewhat in vain, in the aftermath of the shrieking/slamming.
Jubilee didn’t even look put out.
‘You shrieked at me first. I was only responding. Anyway, I got your note…wassup?’
Rogue glared at her, remaining silent.
‘Come on, Roguey, I can tell summat’s wrong. You’ve got that pinched nose look think you do.’
Rogue heroically resisted the urge to look in the mirror to check.
‘No I DO NOT.’
Jubilee stuck her tongue out, bouncing down onto the bed, and curling up in the corner.
‘If you say so. Come on, spill! Piotr told me that you and Logan fought in the Danger Room, and he’s been in a foul mood all afternoon.’
‘What?! A foul mood, why?’ Rogue was vaguely aware she sounded slightly desperate, but her brain was repeating the same mantra on loop and there was no space left for voice control around the ‘OhGodDon’tLetHimBeReallyMadAtMeOhGodDon’tLetHimBeReallyMadAtMeOhGod….’
Jubilee however, was either completely oblivious to Rogue’s inner turmoil, or she was torturing her on purpose, simply shrugged and replied,
‘Well, you know what Wolvie can be like. He’s had a scowl black as Sabretooth’s heart on his face all afternoon, but whether that’s to do with you, or whether it’s because he’s been trailing fairy dust…’
It was quite a compliment to that statement that it actually manage to distract Rogue at all, but she blinked in shock, assaulted with pictures of a sparkling Logan, that were, quite frankly, rather bizarre.
‘What?!’ She sputtered again.
Jubilee grinned.
‘The little kid that came with Magneto’s ex-henchmen. Let’s just say she’s wielding her potential ability to destroy the world like a girl after my own heart. Appears she’s taken summat of a shine to Wolvie.’
‘Oh.’
There were so many potential issues and questions relating to that statement, but right now Rogue didn’t have the mental strength to summon any of them. Jubilee apparently saw no such qualms when it came to Logan having a seven year old stalker, because she merely resumed bouncing excitedly and impatiently demanding information.
‘Come on, Roguey, don’t change the subject chica! I want to know what happened with you and your wolf man!’
‘He’s not ‘my’ wolf man.’
‘TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!’
The sudden blast sent Rogue reeling back with a wince, and she glared at her best friend, before vehemently spitting,
‘I tried to castrate him.’
Wow. Someone call the record books. Jubilee appeared to have been stunned into silence. Rogue decided that she had better explain.
‘We were fighting, and it was fine, and then he started playing dirty, no, no, not playing dirty, fighting dirty, like dirty tricks and stuff, and he pinned me, and I said to let me up, and he said ‘make me’ and I got mad because he was being such a jackass, so I kind of wriggled against him a bit and he went all funny and I swear on the Professor’s bald head he was going to kiss me, but then I kneed him in the groin, and he was like groaning, and gasping, and I didn’t know what to do so I ran away, and I’ve been avoiding him since thennnnnnnnnnnnn.’
Rogue finished that sentence on a wailing note of despair. Jubilee appeared not to be reacting at first, and Rogue wondered whether she was in shock. Perhaps a slap might rouse her? Banish that thought.
Suddenly, Jubilee broke off from staring at her as though she had sprouted antennae, and leant forward slightly, wrinkling her nose, as she studied Rogue’s face.
‘Roguey? Why do you have the words Chapter 13 printed on the side of your nose?’
Rogue had honestly never wanted to kill her more.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Chapter 12 :):)
Many thanks to rogue91, Turante, and watermelonvine for the reviews!! You guys make my day.
Many thanks to rogue91, Turante, and watermelonvine for the reviews!! You guys make my day.