Logan carried James into the next store, Caleb followed along behind them. "I'm bored!" James announced dramatically, as he flopped over Logan's shoulder.
"Me too," Caleb whispered loudly to him.
Logan chuckled. "Don't let Rogue hear you say that," he warned. They were all at the mall, the wedding was only a few weeks away and they were getting the last of the details sorted, clothing. Final fittings for the dresses for the girls, who were all at the bridal shop now, and suits for the guys, which is where they were now.
"Why? It's true," James replied.
"Because you'll upset Rogue, she wants you to be happy and have fun, so be happy, and when we're done, I'll take you to the playground and you can have some fun," Logan answered, getting an excited 'yay!' in return.
"What about me?" Caleb asked cheekily.
"You're old enough to suck it up and deal," Logan replied with a grin, earning a chuckle from the boy as a sales assistant approached.
"How can I help you today?" she asked, the forced cheer in her voice something Logan had gotten used to hearing at the mall.
"I'm getting married in three weeks, need suits for me and these two, I'm useless with colours so my girl said 'not quite black' and gave me this to colour match," Logan answered, pulling the swatch of the dark green satin that was being used for the bridal party from his pocket.
"Alright," the sales woman replied enthusiastically, brightening up at the prospect for an actual sale. "Are you buying or renting?" she queried.
"May as well buy mine, I have a feeling I'm gonna get roped into wearing it fairly regularly, probably only rent the other two, this one will grow out of it far too quickly, won't you bean sprout?" James chuckled at the nickname. Regular good food had already seen him grow through two sizes of clothes since he had arrived only a few months earlier.
An hour later they had suits ordered. Logan's would be tailored for him, which had involved a rather awkward measuring session with a clearly gay tailor taking Logan's measurements while the sales woman hovered, just in view. Both apparently liked what they saw, which led to some good natured, cryptic, ribbing from Caleb as they went back to the bridal shop looking for the girls.
"Rogue you done?" Logan called into the back of the shop, where he could hear a lot of girly giggling coming from.
"You step foot back here Logan and I will flay you from neck to toes, starting at your balls!" Rogue snapped, sounding stressed, obviously she was enjoying this session a little less than everyone else.
"I'll take that as a 'no', don't worry darlin I won't peek, me and Caleb are taking James to the playground next door, you come meet us there when you're done," Logan replied, refraining from laughing lest Rogue be tempted to carry out her threat anyway.
"Okay, thanks Logan," she replied, relaxing just a touch. She wanted her dress to be a surprise so the first time he saw it was at the wedding, that tradition seemed stupid to him but she insisted that if he was going to make her get a dress that was just how it would be, so he would go along with it, regardless, she was going to be gorgeous.
A few minutes later James was finally released to run wild across the playground. At this time of the day, at this time of the week, it was pretty much abandoned so he had the whole thing to himself, which had its advantages. The little boy had proved to be lacking socialisation skills to deal with kids his own age, which had resulted in several kids running to their mommy's crying at the last playground they visited.
Caleb and Logan sat on a nearby bench, keeping an eye on the little boy as he explored the play equipment.
"Hey dad..." Caleb said, pausing where Logan thought the question he wanted to ask should have been.
"Yeah?" Logan prompted.
"I need to ask your advice, it's about sex, you up for that?" Caleb asked with a grin.
Logan groaned. "Please tell me you at least know what it is," he replied.
"Well yeah, duh, I'm apparently pretty good at it," Caleb replied with a smug grin and a shrug.
"What the fuck, you're sixteen, who the hell were you doing it with and how long have you been doing it?... does your mother know?" Logan asked incredulously.
"Since I was fourteen, and yeah, mom knows," the boy shifted uncomfortably as he blushed.
Logan chuckled. "That looks like a good story, go on," he encouraged.
Caleb rolled his eyes. "It was my best friends’ little sister, that's why we're not friends any more, I was fourteen she was thirteen, he found out, told his parents, who told mom, and the rest, as they say, is history. I don't know what they were so upset about though, she wasn't a virgin which means I wasn't the first one she'd done it with but I kept that secret for her."
"Thirteen!? Holy shit!" Logan replied with a chuckle, "She the only one?"
"No," Caleb replied, continuing at Logan's prompting look, "Probably six or seven, mostly cheerleaders."
"And when did you meet Flora around this high school orgy?" Logan queried.
"Flora only started at my school about a year ago, her parents moved because she was getting bullied at her last school, then kids found out about what she could do and started picking on her again... I was kind of one of the popular kids but didn't like being one, the 'popular' kids were real stuck up and rude so I would hang out with the less popular kids and make friends with them, I was one of the first people to make friends with Flora, then the rest of her 'friends' abandoned her when they found out she was a mutant..." Caleb answered.
"So, you and Flora haven't...?" Logan said, it wasn't exactly a question, he knew she hadn't, it was the why he was more curious about.
"No, don't get me wrong I'd like to but... at first it was because her parents were really strict, protective because of the other kids bullying her I guess, but now... I want to but I don't want to and it's confusing me. I figured you might be able to help me out here cause I know you and Rogue haven't done it but you look at her sometimes like you really, really want to," Caleb admitted, blushing a little at the fact he was talking about his dad and his stepmoms sex life.
"It took me a while to figure that out too," Logan admitted after pausing a moment in thought. "I would love to do it but at the same time I want- I want it to be something special. I've had a lot of women, a lot, not even going to try to put a number on it, it's always been a case of someone catches my eye and it's like a race to see how fast I can get in their pants but then that's it, once it's done I move on. Rogue is special, I don't want to move on from her, so when we do eventually do it, I want it to be something meaningful, something we can build off of."
"Does Rogue ever ask you to do it?" Caleb queried.
"She did, a few times, I just told her I was waiting for us to be ready, there's more to being ready than just being horny, she's stopped asking lately, though she still flirts like crazy so I know she'd be up for it if I engaged but we're getting comfortable, that lends its own intimacy to the relationship, " Logan told him.
"You're waiting for the wedding, aren't you?" Caleb said with a grin.
Logan nodded. "I want her to be mine in every way."
After a few minutes of thinking Caleb said, "So, you think I want to wait because I want to marry Flora?"
"I think you've bonded with Flora, love is, different, for ferals, we bond with our mates like... like geese, you pick one and you stick with it, sometimes even death isn't enough to break that, I've bonded with Rogue, you, I think, have bonded with Flora. From here you just have to be sure she feels the same way, she's not a feral, so she won't feel the bond the same way you do, and she's kind of more, mortal, than we are, so one day you're going to lose her. Can you live with all of that, or is it better for you break the bond now before it gets... confirmed, physically?" Logan explained, as best as he could articulate.
Caleb sat in silence for some time thinking, rethinking, he really did love Flora, the idea of being separated hurt so deep he couldn't tell where exactly the hurt came from. One day, when she died, he knew he was going to be destroyed but would it be worth it, to have her in the meantime.
Before Caleb could formulate his thoughts enough to speak Logan jumped to his feet, looking around calculatingly, as his nostrils twitched as he scented the air. 'Shit' was all he got out before a large black pick up swerved off the road and gunned its engine as it raced toward them. Logan made it several feet away from the bench, removing Caleb from the truck's line of fire, before it hit him, the impact leaving a larger than normal, roughly human shaped, crater in the front of the car.
Logan was thrown several feet, rolling as he hit the ground until he was on his feet, he was able to jump as the truck continued toward him, probably intending to run him over while he was on the ground. With claws out he slid through the windshield, embedding the blades in Sabretooth’s bulk, he went back out the windshield again when the other man hit the brakes. Not able to get to his feet again fast enough, Logan felt the truck go over him, thankfully it wasn't quite in the right place to mush his internal organs but he felt his spine crack as the vertebrae separated. Cursing colourfully as he lay motionless, he hoped the boys had the sense to run.
Those hopes were dashed when Sabretooth walked up to him, truck abandoned in the middle of the grassy play area. Obviously, it wasn't the guys planned getaway vehicle, the radiator was cracked and leaking, the windscreen gone, and two tires blown. Sabretooth kicked him over, dislodging one vertebra further while the other slid back into place, Caleb was engaged with another mutant across the field, Logan didn't recognize him but he could tell Caleb was struggling.
As Sabretooth stood over him gloating Logan saw James running across the field towards them, double shit.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Sabretooth paused, as he caught sight of the child approaching. As he moved to intercept the boy Logan shifted, pinning the bigger man's foot to the ground with a set of claws through his ankle. Logan couldn't move his legs yet but the feeling was beginning to come back.
"James, go find mama," he yelled to the little boy, the mall was only about two hundred feet away, and James would be able to sniff Marie out, it was safer for him than being here by a long shot. The boy stopped, frozen on the spot. "Go, now, run and don't look back," Logan repeated, "Find mama, she'll know what to do."
James finally ran in the direction of the mall just as Sabretooth managed to twist around far enough to wrap one clawed hand around Logan's wrist and rip the metal claws out of his ankle.
"Hmm, interesting development," Sabretooth commented, as he sat, waiting for his ankle to heal. His behaviour was confusing, if the guy wanted to take Logan out, what exactly was he waiting for, every second he waited Logan got more feeling back in his legs, he could even move one foot now, in fact, he thought he could move the whole leg but he wasn't ready to risk giving that away just yet.
In the distance Caleb went down again, thrown several feet before catching himself in a roll. "Kid's not bad, you been training him?" Sabretooth asked, as if they were having a friendly chat.
"Fuck you," Logan growled, as he felt his other leg twitch as the feeling flooded back fully.
"Nah, I don't swing that way," the bigger man chuckled. "So, where's the girl?" he asked.
"I don't know who you're talking about," Logan replied, keeping a close eye on Caleb, the guy he was fighting could obviously beat him but instead was just playing with him, like he was just trying to keep him busy so he didn't come to Logan's aid.
"Sure you do, pretty little thing, long dark hair, ended up with a pair of kinky looking stripes, big tits, tiny waist, firm ass," he stopped with a chuckle when Logan growled, "Yeah, you know who I'm talking about."
"What do you want with her?" Logan asked, mimicking Sabretooth’s tone, he needed information right now more than he needed to fight, especially if the Brotherhood had new plans involving Marie.
"No, I ask the questions around here," Sabretooth replied, as he pulled himself to his feet.
Quick as a flash Logan rolled the opposite way, launching himself to his feet he made it halfway to Caleb before he heard Sabretooth’s enraged roar as he launched himself at him. Logan spun mid-air, burying his claws in the other mutants’ neck as he felt them collide, they were both thrown to the ground hard. Rolling the body off of him Logan continued in Caleb's direction, the mutant fighting Caleb saw him approaching and ran before he got close enough to catch him.
Picking Caleb up off the ground Logan checked him over. "You okay?" he asked.
"Nothing some time and a healing factor won't fix," Caleb replied with a shrug, wincing as he did so. "How is it you got hit by a car and you're already up and about seeming no worse for wear?" the boy asked with a chuckle, as he dusted himself off.
"Got hit by a car, thrown through the windshield, then run over," Logan clarified, "The healing gets faster as it gets more practice, mine has had a lot of practice," he added.
Turning back to where he had left Sabretooth, Logan swore again, he was gone. "He's after Rogue, we have to find them quickly," Logan instructed.
"Where's James?" Caleb asked worriedly, looking around.
"I told him to run and find Rogue, the lesser of two evils in this situation, I just hope he managed to find her," Logan filled him in, as they started at a dead run for the mall.