"Now that we've ascertained you're going to survive we should probably introduce ourselves, my name's Logan," he said, as he sat down on the mattress beside her.
"Marie," the girl replied, after swallowing her first sip of coffee.
"Pretty name, and which southern US state are you from?" he asked.
"Guess the accent gives that one away," Marie replied with another smile, "Mississippi."
"Wow, that is a long way, you hitchhike the whole way?" Logan asked, impressed with her determination to get this far.
"I bussed as far as I could, managed to get to Kansas City that way, been hitchhiking the rest of the way. I was hoping to get to Alaska before winter set in but I'm kind of running behind schedule," Marie replied, between sips of her hot drink.
"And what's in Alaska?" Logan asked curiously. He noted Marie pause and picked up anxiety creeping into her scent. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, kid."
"No, it's okay, I had initially planned to go to Alaska after I finished high school but... when my parents kicked me out, I figured why the heck not go for it now, you know." He caught the overly cheery grin she threw in with her statement.
"Why did your parents kick you out Marie?" he asked gently, brow furrowed in concern.
Marie sighed and stood up, shrugging off the blanket as she did. "Apparently I'm uh, 'demon spawn', I believe the phrase was," she answered angrily, "I wasn't kidding before when I said I could drop you, I don't know what it is but my skin can - I don't know what exactly but it knocks people out, and I can see their memories, and, I get another little voice in my head that screams obscenities at me... I'll understand if you want me to go," she finished softly.
Picking the blanket back up, he wrapped it around her shoulders again before moving her back to sit on the bed. "I don't want you going anywhere kid. What your parents did was a shitty thing, it's not your fault you're different, we all have our quirks, some weirder than others, hell I'm hardly one to complain about people’s differences," he assured her.
After a moments silence, in which she studied him intently, she finally spoke, "You're one too, aren't you?"
With a grin Logan nodded. "Unlike you though I'm an extra fucked up version."
"I haven't met anyone else who's - different, before, what can you do?" she asked, almost looking excited.
"I heal, and have better than average senses--" he started.
"Like, seeing in the dark?" Marie interrupted to ask.
"Yeah, yeah I can see in the dark, I can smell good enough to tell people apart by their scent, and I hear things most people can't, that sort of thing," Logan clarified.
"That doesn't sound very fucked up, what else?" Marie asked.
"Promise you won't scream?" Logan asked, looking at her seriously, trying not to cringe when, with barely a pause, Marie nodded. Moving his right hand away from her, he let his claws slide out into view - true to her word she didn't scream.
"They're... they're metal?" Marie looked surprised as she reached out to touch the back of one of the claws, running her finger over where it emerged from his hand. "How, how did you get metal... claws?"
"That's the fucked-up part kid, I always had claws but someone, government, military, something, decided to improve me, covered all my bones, not just the claws, in metal... I don't remember much about what happened but on the plus side, it makes me really hard to kill," he shrugged, as he snapped the claws away and moved to stand up.
Marie caught hold of his hand as he stood, inspecting his knuckles, she lightly ran her finger over the now flawless skin that was in their place. "Does it hurt... all the time, or just when they come out?" she asked softly.
"Usually only hurts when they're out, once it's healed it stops hurting," Logan answered honestly. "What about you, does your power hurt you?"
"It used to," Marie answered, "I thought I was going insane after the first few times, I had all these voices in my head that just wouldn't shut up, I had a constant headache. The actual power activating part just feels like a weird sort of suction. When I realised the voices were the people I'd touched, and then figured out how to push them out of the way, I figured out how to turn my skin 'off'. It doesn't hurt so much anymore, now that I know when it's going to turn on I can prepare I guess, the last guy I touched I didn't even see any of his thoughts, I just sucked him straight into the void... that's what I call the part of my mind where the voices live," she grinned and shrugged, knowing she sounded like a nutcase but that couldn't really be helped.
"Well that's good, good that you can control it now," Logan answered. "Is that why you were heading for Alaska when you left?"
Marie blushed. "I had to keep all my skin covered and with it being so hot down south people look at you funny when you walk around wearing gloves all day, I figured no one would look at me funny in Alaska, for most of the year at least."
"Smart thinking, why did you continue on once you got control?" he asked curiously.
Marie shrugged. “Seemed kind of defeatist to give up before I reached my initial destination."
Logan chuckled at her answer. "Fair enough, so were you going to Alaska for any reason other than the temperature?"
"It was supposed to be an adventure when I first planned out the trip, see the country and go to the most 'exotic' place I could think of, and by ‘exotic’ I meant ‘the literal opposite of where I grew up’," Marie replied honestly. "What about you?" she asked suddenly, "What are you doing out here?"
"I spend most of the year travelling around, for money, then come winter I hole up in my cabin until the roads are passable again."
"Sounds like fun," Marie replied, "What do you do for 'money'?"
"Uh, that's actually why I'm here tonight," Logan answered, "I uh, fight."
Marie looked confused. "Like, boxing?" she asked.
"A little bloodier," Logan confessed, "There's a fight here tonight, which I'd better head in for soon, get my name on the list," he watched as Marie nodded, and started to unwrap herself from the blanket again, looking like she was going to get ready to leave. "Why don't you stay here, I'll be moving on when I'm done, sometime in the early morning - depends how many people are drunk enough to want to get their asses kicked. I can give you a ride to the next town, or however far you want to tag along with me for?"
"Uh, I- I don't know," Marie stammered, not quite sure what to take from his offer. He had been nothing but honest with her since he had first spoken to her, and her gut was still telling her to trust him. She was also really, really tired, and as lumpy as the mattress she was sitting on was, it would be a welcome change to sleeping upright with one eye open.
"You're not going to get another ride tonight, not the one you’re after at least, and you look tired, better for you to sleep than sit around in a shitty bar, don't you think?" Logan added, he sounded like he really did want her to stay.
"Okay," Marie replied, "That sounds like a plan."
Logan nodded, looking satisfied, happy even. "Alright then, if it gets cold, there's more blankets in that cupboard there, and there's another heater in here, plugs in there. Make yourself at home but keep the door locked and try to keep quiet, don't want to draw attention to yourself alone out here. I'll probably be done by about three, I'll wake you before we hit the road. That okay?"
Marie nodded, then suddenly remembered she was currently wearing Logan's jacket, quickly shrugging it off she held it out to him. "You'll need this."
"I'll see you later then, lock the door behind me." And with that, Marie found herself alone in the small camper, suddenly not feeling the least bit tired even in the cosy warmth. Looking around her for the first time she suddenly noted the untidy interior, obviously Logan didn't entertain often, she thought in amusement. Well, he did say make herself at home, she reasoned, as she set about tidying up the space as best as she could. She put away the little heat packs, and other first aid supplies Logan had pulled out of the cupboard, she briefly wondered why he even had most of this stuff - he said he healed after all.
She tidied up the 'kitchen', and rinsed the two coffee mugs, leaving them to dry in the small sink, then she sorted through the clothes scattered around the floor into a 'looks clean' and a 'not really clean' pile. Searching through the cupboards she found a pile of clean clothes in a duffel bag, similar to her own, and a second bag that appeared to be full of dirty laundry. Topping up the dirty laundry bag, she made a third pile of clothes in the cupboard for the things she wasn't sure about.
Once all that was done, she decided the camper was tidy enough for her liking. Pulling out a couple more blankets, she piled everything onto the narrow bed, then curled up, still dressed, in the pile of blankets, and finally slept.
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