There was one thing Logan hadn’t thought about before he headed out on his quest for a willing woman. It wasn’t even 11am yet and none of the bars were open. So unless he wanted to try to pick up a woman in the mall, he had no idea where else to find one. Given his luck today, he mused darkly, if he cruised the mall all he’d probably find would be mothers and teenage twits skipping school.
Damn Marie and her absolute cluelessness. He frowned. Was that even a word? Fuck it all, it was now, he decided.
Glowering, he sped up on a straight stretch of road, accelerating past the exit for the mall. He’d head up to the camp grounds, he thought, and take a swim in the lake. The park rangers didn’t seem to care if there was the occasional skinny-dipper during the off season.
* * *
Rogue frowned as she considered Logan’s request. Truth be told, she was feeling kind of guilty for pretending to be such an idiot, but she had learned a long time ago that acting oblivious was the best way to dissuade a man.
Oh, she hadn’t completely lied to Logan. None of the temporary residents in her head had ever shared anything of a sexual nature with her, but that didn’t mean she had no idea how difficult it was for men to hold back. She was well aware that Logan…well, she couldn’t think of any other way to put it, but she was well aware that he liked to cat around more than was healthy for most men. She wouldn’t quite put him in the man-whore category, but she figured he was darn close.
And she knew all about blue-balls. Well, no she didn’t. But she knew what it meant and what caused it.
Rogue sighed. If she were to be completely honest with herself, kissing Logan had been nice, and when he went after her neck…well that had been a little better than nice. But she hadn’t lied about the lack of butterflies. There had been the beginnings of a curious warmth low in her stomach, but then Jacie had interrupted before she could find out what it might lead to.
She sighed again and reached for her phone. If she was going to keep her promise to Logan and try to get used to the idea of them together sexually, she was going to need to ask for help from the most oversexed female she knew. Jubilee.
She picked up after three rings. “Hey, chica!” Jubilee practically cheered into the phone. Rogue allowed a faint smile to cross her lips. She knew that she and Jubilee weren’t as close as they once were, but she appreciated the effort the other woman made. They had grown apart after Rogue and Bobby split; it had just been too awkward since Jubilee, Bobby, and Kitty had been friends long before Rogue had come to Xavier’s.
“Hey, Jubes. Got a question for ya.”
“Shoot.” Rogue heard the snapping of gum through the phone.
“How do you get yourself interested in a guy? You know, somebody you think would be good husband material but you’ve never really thought about having sex with.”
“Close your eyes and pretend he’s somebody else,” Jubilee answered quickly, an almost tangible shrug in her voice.
Rogue blinked. She supposed she could try that, but she had a feeling Logan would be furious if he found out. How would he know, though? “Okay,” she said, “any other ideas?”
“Hey, listen, chica. Is this just hypothetical, or is there really a guy? Anybody I know? And what happened to Andy?”
“We broke up. And do you need to know who it is in order to give me advice?” Rogue didn’t know why she was hedging. She was just vaguely uncomfortable with the topic – there was nothing she could specifically point to as the source of her anxiety.
“It would help, yeah,” Jubilee said.
“Okay,” Rogue said slowly. “It’s Logan.”
First it was “Holy shit!” And then a much softer, “Ohhhh.” There was a slight shudder in Jubilee’s voice. “Girl, you shouldn’t need any help with that one.”
Rogue frowned. “Why not?”
Jubilee cursed colorfully. “Why not? Damn, are you blind?”
Rogue was suddenly, inexplicably angry. “I guess I am!” she snapped. “Because I don’t understand this awe and confusion you and Logan seem to experience whenever I say that, no, I’ve never been particularly attracted to him!”
“Whoa, slow down, chica.” Jubilee’s voice was soothing, placating. “Are you saying that you actually told Logan that you’re not attracted to him?”
Rogue hesitated over her answer. A hint of something barely there in Jubilee’s voice was telling her that the response was more important than she realized. Taking a deep breath, Rogue said slowly and calmly, “Yes, I did.”
Jubilee groaned. “Then you’re dumber than a drunken skunk.”
Jubilee’s tone was grim and matter of fact. Nonetheless, Rogue couldn’t help but wonder if she was also getting in a dig about her hair; she had never tried to get rid of the white stripes, which surprised the people who thought she was trying to shed anything that made her a mutant. Rogue had always just shrugged it off, thinking that surely they would understand some day that a life spent unable to touch or be touched would have ended up killing her. Emotionally if not physically at least. Frowning at the thought, she considered that maybe people looked at her reluctance to engage in physical relationships as proof that the lack of touch when she was still a mutant hadn’t actually bothered her.
“You still there?”
Rogue started. “Huh? Yeah. Yeah, I’m still here. Why is it so bad that I told him the truth, Jubes?”
Jubilee snorted. “Because now he’s going to be thinking that it isn’t enough for him to treat you like he would any other woman. He’s probably going to try changing his behavior or something, and what you’re going to end up with won’t really be him.”
“I never wanted him to change,” Rogue admitted in a small voice.
“Well, you gotta tell him that.”
“I will. But in the meantime, how do I make myself attracted to him?”
Jubilee snorted yet again. “Attraction isn’t something you can force. And who knows why the hell you wouldn’t be attracted to Logan. Don’t you remember that time – it was before Alcatraz – when a bunch of us girls headed down to the gym to work off that after dinner cheesecake? And we get there, and there’s Logan shirtless, wearing just sweatpants?”
Rogue frowned. “Kinda. You all were acting funny and Logan kind of just smirked at you and left.”
There was a heavy sigh from the other end of the phone. “Yeah. You’ve never really thought about how beautiful he is, have you? You just traipsed right over to him and said hello while the rest of us were reduced to drooling little puddles in the doorway. That’s why he was laughing.”
“Oh,” Rogue said in surprise. And said again, “Oh,” this time with a tone of sudden understanding.
“Yeah,” Jubilee sighed.
“Jubilee,” she began. When there was no response, Rogue rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to snap her fingers into the phone. “Jubilee!” she said louder, more insistently.
“What?” The other woman’s voice was irritated.
“So what do I do?”
“Go and get yourself a bunch of Cosmos.”
Rogue frowned. “How will drinking help?”
“Not the drink, you dolt, the magazine!”
“Why do I need magazines?” Rogue was beginning to wonder if she had asked the wrong person for advice.
“Because Cosmo has all those nifty little sex quizzes. Just take a bunch of the quizzes and decide how to answer the questions based on how things would be between you and Logan.”
“But I don’t know how things would be,” Rogue argued.
“You know, I never thought you were stupid, Rogue,” Jubilee said, a hint of genuine anger in her voice. “This is a surefire way to get you thinking about Logan and sex.”
“Oh.” Rogue cringed. She was starting to think that one little word was all she could say lately.
“So,” Jubilee’s voice was light once again. “You going out to get those magazines?”
Rogue felt firm determination settling into her stomach. “Yeah,” she said, “I’m goin’ right now.”
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000
Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry - was out of town for a few days. Heading out again shortly. Will update as soon as I get the next chapter written.