“Logan!” Fairly young man, dressed to plain clothes opened the door of a small cabin Logan had lead them to. Both Logan and young man were smiling widely, grinning from ear to ear, hugging and patting each other’s backs. Suddenly younger man stopped.
“Who’s this?” He asked, pointing at Marie who stood little further.
“A friend. I just came to pick up my things. You still have those, right?”
“Logan!” Young man admonished him gently, took a step towards Marie and bowed lightly.
“It’s a pleasure to meet, my lady. My name is De Santos. Claude De Santos.” Marie smiled and curtsied.
“It’s a pleasure likewise, sir. You may call me Rogue.” She could hear Logan’s exasperated sigh, and when she raised her head she saw him standing behind Claude, hands crossed over his chest and rolling his eyes.
“Claude. My equipment. Now. I’m feeling impatient today…”
“… And of course he fell straight in! Took days to get rid of that stench!” Claude had been a hunter, and he had occasionally worked with Logan, and was now entertaining Marie with stories about those days.
“Can we stop mocking me, and concentrate on something more important?” Logan asked from the corner where he sat, checking his weapons and sulking.
“And what on earth could possibly be more important?” Claude asked, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.
“We need a place to stay for a while,” Logan started. Claude nodded.
“Done. I still have that old barn. Little dusty, but it has four walls and roof that doesn’t leak.”
“Rogue will start training. When I’m away hunting, I need you to continue to train with her.”
“Done.”
“I can’t pay you.”
“Don’t insult me. I couldn’t even accept any money from you,” Claude huffed.
“And she needs her own set of weaponry. Guns, knives, swords… Everything,” Logan continued. Claude scratched his shaved chin, letting his gaze rake over Marie.
“I’ll see what I can do. But it’ll have to wait until we see what she’s capable of…”
She found herself admiring Claude with completely different way than Logan. Logan was big, almost clumsy looking compared to his lean, blond-haired friend. Logan’s hazel eyes looked like a single glimpse from them could scorch a person alive. Claude had pair of calming, friendly twinkling blue eyes. Logan carried around worn and weathered feeling, but Claude was like spring, vibrant and alive, bubbling excess energy.
“It’s so hard to imagine your friendship…” She blurted and blushed furiously. She hadn’t meant to say it out loud. Logan frowned. Even Claude got serious look on his face.
“Maybe we should go and see your lodgings now?” He said standing up.
When Claude had said barn, Marie had expected some kind of small hut, but it was quite spacious building behind his cabin. Large open space in the bottom, stairs leading to the upper level to a loft that had been arranged to a small space to live in, complete with a bed, closets, and a desk with comfortable looking chair sitting in front of it. Sunlight streamed in through a small window.
“Everything should be as you last left it. I haven’t used this ever since. I just come here every now and then to check the roof…” She heard Claude explaining when she gathered the bedclothes to a bundle.
“I’ll take these outside to air out a bit…” She said and made a hasty retreat. She had a feeling that men wanted to talk freely about something, and that her presence wasn’t wanted during that conversation.
Once outside she realized something. There was only one bed. Wide and spacious, but only one. And the loft she was supposedly sharing with Logan wasn’t much anything else than a large, open space on top of another large, open space. She couldn’t deny that she was interested in the man, but somehow it felt a bit rushed to be moving in with him, sharing the space almost as if they were man and a wife. Maybe she had misunderstood this somehow. Maybe only Logan was going to move in here. Or maybe Logan was going to stay with Claude, and the loft was meant for her? She left the bedclothes hanging to the soft breeze, and returned to the barn.
Logan was sitting on the stairs that lead to the loft. Claude was pacing on the ground in front of him nervously. Suddenly he spun around and pointed at Marie.
“Does she know?” He asked with a tight voice.
“Claude…” Logan stood up and took a step towards his friend who backed away from him.
“Does she know?”
“Yes. She knows.”
“What am I supposed to know?” Marie asked puzzled.
“Wolverine. I told Claude what he will be taking in,” Logan said, his gaze never leaving Claude’s slumped form.
“Is it true? That you speak with… With that animal?” Claude asked from her, voice trembling with nausea.
“Yes. I speak with Wolverine when it feels like talking. It doesn’t wish to harm me. It just wants to exist.”
“I can’t believe this… Logan, what has gotten in to you?” Claude groaned, grasping the taller man from the lapels of his jacket.
“Wolf got in to me. I don’t like it, it doesn’t like me, but as long as we both play by the rules, there should be no problems.”
“I do not wish to hear about this anymore. I’ll go and let you two settle in. We’ll discuss about this on supper…” Claude hissed and walked out on stiff legs, head held high.
“That went well…” Logan whispered and slumped back on the stairs, raking a hand through his thick mane of hair, rubbing the back of his head.
“But… wasn’t he supposed to be your friend?” Marie asked and sat next to him.
“More like a brother. You wouldn’t believe if I told you even half of the things we have done together…”
“I’m sure that when he has had time to think about it, he’ll understand.”
“How the hell can you be so trusting and positive? After everything what has been done to you? After how those people treated you?” Logan asked. Marie shrugged.
“It is useless to carry your troubles and worries with you all the time. Better let go of them. New ones will gather upon you sooner or later anyway.”
“That’s not very comforting thought,” Logan sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly. Events of the past night and day were finally taking their toll on him.
“Could you bring back those sheets and quilts? I need to get some sleep…”
“Uhh… Logan?”
“Yeah?” He was stripping off his clothes while Marie was making the bed.
“Where am I going to sleep?”
“Huh?”
“There’s only one bed…”
“It’s big enough for two…” Logan murmured, now completely naked and crawled under the blankets, curling to his side. He was asleep before his head touched the pillow.
“Well, I’m glad that you’re not shy…” Marie muttered, picking up clothes he had discarded on the floor and folding them neatly on top of the chair. Logan was snoring softly.
“And what am I supposed to do now?” She was tired, for that she was ready to admit, but it somehow felt wrong to sleep in the middle of the day. Especially when sleeping meant crawling between same sheets with Logan.
“He’s just tired. Surely he understands when he wakes up that this kind of arrangement isn’t proper…”
“Stop that fussing and fretting and come to sleep. We’ll start training tonight, and you need to rest…” Logan murmured without opening his eyes. His hand shot out from under the blankets and long fingers curled around her wrist.
“Logan!” Marie lost her balance and fell beside him on the bed when he tugged slightly.
“This isn’t… You can’t… We can’t…”
“I’m not going to lie to you. I want to have you as a man would have his wife. But now is not the time for that. Now it’s time to rest. Sleep.”
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000