Work Text:
Try
by angelofsnow
angelofsnow@livejournal.com
At times it seemed foolish to still think about Logan. It was over a year ago that she had met him and he had saved her life. He had left for a year to explore his past and she had moved on. She had adjusted to the interesting, often chaotic life at the mansion. She had made dear friends in Kitty Pryde and Jubilation Lee. She had begun dating Bobby Drake, one of the best looking boys at the school.
But Bobby was more of a best friend than a boyfriend. They hung out together, liked the same TV shows, played the same X-Box games. They couldn’t have much of a physical relationship thanks to her mutation. And any attempt to try usually ended with Bobby acting all noble and mentioning for the 18th time that he didn’t mind not being able to touch her. Rogue was frustrated by it. She wanted to at least try. There were ways they might be able to touch. But Bobby never wanted to take the step.
In some ways she was happy he didn’t. She cared for Bobby. He was her best friend. But she never felt for him the intense, foreign, and paralyzing feelings of lust Logan created in her. Whenever he was in the same room as Rogue, she couldn’t concentrate on anything but him. Her stomach fluttered when she saw him. Her heart quaked when he spoke.
It was damn foolish of her. Logan was a good-looking man, she’d grant him that. But it wasn’t like they had much in common. She was 18 and he was what? 200? He liked Maple Leaf hockey, Picante oscuro cigars, Scott’s motorcycle, and hard workouts in the Danger Room. He had a thing for Jean Grey. And most importantly he thought of her as ‘kid’.
Why did she do this to herself? Why did she, secretly in the deepest darkest places of her heart, still want him desperately? It was dumb, pointless. She refused to allow herself to be one of those obsessed teens who hopelessly annoyed their crush. No, she wouldn’t let herself bug Logan. She’d just hang out with Bobby whenever she got the urge to see Logan.
So Rogue tried to avoid Logan now that he was back at the mansion. It was easy enough. She had classes to attend, homework to do, and friends to hang out with. He was a loner who kept to himself most of the time anyway. Logan also spent a lot of time cornering Dr. Grey at moments when Scott was elsewhere. Between all that she hardly saw him. And when she did it became easier to pretend he was just her friend, nothing more.
She didn’t really want to cut Logan out of her life. But she could see it wasn’t healthy to spend her days fantasizing about him while she had a great boyfriend of her own. It was better this way. She had Bobby and Logan had Jean (sort of, not really). What did he think was going to happen there anyway? Did he really think Dr. Grey would leave Scott Summers? Oh, well. That was Logan’s business, not hers.
A month went by like this and their meetings were kept short and sweet. She was never alone with him, which was good because she kept her cool better when she knew she had an audience. At first Logan was pretty busy settling back into life at the mansion. He had several conversations with the Professor about his findings. He also had Scott’s bike to fix up from the wear and tear of the trip. And he had Dr. Grey to catch up with.
But it didn’t take Logan long to notice the way Marie was conspicuously absent from his life. Not so much that she avoided him, but that he had expected her to be eager to spend time with him. He had been looking forward to her company; sure that she would want to monopolize his time when he got back from his trip. Instead, she had hugged him and gone off holding hands with her boyfriend Popsicle. Odd, but he assumed she was just miffed at him for not writing or telling her when he would return.
As the month went by and he ran into Marie a few more times he became more concerned. She didn’t seem angry with him. Just not too happy to talk to him either. He wondered what had changed. She still wore his dog tag faithfully. Were teens supposed to be this fickle?
Finally he knocked on the door to her room one afternoon when she was struggling through her calculus homework. Her roommate Kitty was elsewhere, which is what he had hoped.
“Kid, ya busy?”
“Um, Ah am a bit. Ah’m just doing my homework.”
“Then you could use a break.”
“Ah got a lot to do Logan. Mr. Summers doesn’t cut us any slack.”
“One Eye?” Logan snorted. “Then you definitely need a break.” Rogue slammed her book shut.
“Alright, Logan. What do you need me for?” Rogue said.
“Jeez, kid. I just wanted to talk to ya. What’s gotten into you lately anyway?” Logan snapped at her.
“I’m busy, s’all. I got college applications comin’ up and I’m taking 2 AP courses with Ms. Monroe.”
“That it? You ain’t mad at me for being gone so long?” Logan asked with his head bowed. Rogue shook her head.
“Nope. Ah just got a lot on my plate now. It’s ma senior year.” Marie’s smile was just a little too bright and Logan noticed.
“Well, if that’s it I’ll leave you be. Good luck with your math Marie.” Logan started to leave, but turned back around to face her. “If you ever have some free time or want to talk…”
He left and Rogue was beside herself. Why was this so hard? Why couldn’t she just be friends with him? Why did her heart have to jump into her throat when he talked to her? Ugh. She didn’t finish another integral that night.
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Later that week, Friday to be specific, found Rogue alone. Kitty and Jubilee had gone off to see a romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lopez. They invited Rogue but she had declined. She had too much of Logan and Magneto in her head to sit through anything that feminine. Besides the last thing Rogue needed right now was to see J. Lo.’s character get the man of her dreams while the man of her dreams was… She stopped that thought. That line of thinking led no where good.
Bobby had chilled with John most of the night. She respected their need to have a boys’ night and hung out on her computer instead. She adored Phantom of the Opera and Smallville and read fanfic about both. It was a relaxing way to spend her evening. However, she had trouble sleeping that night.
She tossed and turned for several hours. Maybe she was just restless. They only had a light workout in the Danger Room earlier that day. Rogue probably had a lot of left over energy. Once she realized she wasn’t going to drift off to sleep any time soon, she had begrudgingly got up from bed.
In her long white night gown, she padded to the kitchen as silently as possible, not wanting to disturb her roommate Kitty or any of the other sleeping mutants. She could get a drink in the kitchen, and then maybe watch a few of the late-night infomercials on TV in the common room. But when she got to the kitchen it wasn’t empty.
“Hello Marie.” Logan said before she even set foot in the room. He had smelled her coming down the hall.
Logan was dressed in his customary blue Levi jeans and white wife beater. He had been drinking a LaBatt Blue beer bottle he smuggled into the mansion under Storm’s nose. An open copy of Easyriders magazine sat in front of him. He had been perusing it, wondering if he should get a motorcycle of his own. He could use his winnings from his cage fights he had won on his trip.
“Ah just came down to get a drink of water, s’all.” She told him, moving to the sink.
“I’ll get it for you.” Logan pushed off of his stool and did so. “What are you doing wide awake at this hour? It’s…” He looked at the clock. “Almost three.”
“Ah couldn’t sleep.” She admitted.
“Fair enough.” His brown eyes gazed down at her and Rogue gulped nervously. “Here ya go.” He handed her the water.
“Thanks Logan, Ah-” He interrupted her.
“Why don’t you sit down and talk a bit?” Rogue was horribly aware of her beating heart as he spoke to her. She couldn’t resist him.
“It’s late.”
“You’re already up. Can’t hurt.” He motioned towards the kitchen island that had stools set up around it. She slowly pulled one out and sat down. Logan returned to his stool across from her and closed the magazine.
“Everything goin’ good with your classes?” He probed.
“Well enough.” When he didn’t speak she realized she would have to continue. “Ah sent in my applications to several colleges, but Ah don’t expect much. Most don’t accept mutants with dangerous mutations. The Professor says I might be able to take online classes or go part time. But there’s no way they’ll let me live on campus.” The mood in the room turned notably sour.
“So what? Don’t let it bother you, Marie. I know Chuck won’t tell ya this. But, college ain’t all its cracked up to be. You can learn all the book stuff in the world and not know jack about living.” Logan’s hand reached out and stroked hers through the material of her sleep gloves. “I know you’ll do alright. You got street smarts.” Rogue’s heart melted.
“Thanks Logan. That means a lot.”
A moment passed and still he held on to her gloved hand stroking it idly. Finally the silence became awkward and he remembered himself. His hand pulled away and he looked away across the kitchen. Logan seemed embarrassed. He broke the silence first.
“How’s everything going with that boyfriend of yours? He seems a bit… cold.” Logan tried to put it as politely as possible, which for him was difficult.
“Bobby’s all right, Ah guess.” When Rogue heard how unenthusiastic her answer had been she hurried to correct herself. “He’s like my best friend. We have a lot in common and we get on alright.”
“You get on?” Logan said, his voice held a gruff edge and from the way his shoulders leaned forward Rogue got the distinct impression he was angry about something.
“Well, yeah. Ah mean we hang out and stuff. But obviously we can’t…”
Logan breathed in a sigh but his posture still seemed taunt like a coiled spring.
“But you want to.”
Rogue’s breath caught in her throat.
“Ah- um.” She didn’t know how to answer him. “It’s hard, Logan. Ah really want to try to kiss and stuff, but he’s always so hesitant. He never even wants to try. It’s like he’s dating me just to have a friend. Ah mean what does he see in me, knowing Ah can never touch him?”
“Maybe he sees what I do.” Logan’s eyes were dark and intense as they stared at Rogue. She was held immobile by his words. Several seconds went by. Rogue tried to think of some way to take his words as not meaning what she hoped they did.
“That’s nice Logan, but it doesn’t change how frustrating it is to never be able to touch ma boyfriend. Ah just wish he’d at least try to kiss me.” Rogue said in a rush.
Don’t do it, Logan. Don’t do it. He told himself. But he couldn’t fight it.
“I’ll try.” Logan’s deep voice pronounced. Rogue’s heart literally stopped beating.
He leaned across the countertop and pressed his lips to hers, unconcerned about her mutation. His lips were soft but persistent, begging her to accept him. She was so startled she hardly moved at first before she remembered to kiss him back. He leaned farther across the table and deepened the kiss, his tongue slipping between her lips as the pull of her deadly mutation began. His tongue caressed hers as he struggled to fight the effects of her mutation. His lips gently nibbled hers and his tongue stroked hers lovingly before he was forced to pull away, dizzy and breathless. He took several deep breaths to recover.
Across from him Rogue was taking deep breaths to recover and it had nothing to do with her mutation. She couldn’t believe it. Logan had kissed her!
When his healing powers had caught up, Logan pushed off the stool and swaggered around the kitchen island. His eyes were full of determination and he moved quickly. He ripped the kitchen drawers open looking for something. Drawer and drawer he came up short.
“Dammit, where do they keep the cellophane?” He opened another drawer and stopped when he had found what he was looking for. He ripped a very large sheet out from the roll and with a skinkt one of his claws shot out to cut it.
He took the cellophane back over to Marie and set it on the countertop of the island. She looked at him wide-eyed and still breathless from disbelief. As though she weighed nothing, he reached under her arms, lifted her up and set her down on the countertop.
“I’m sick of pretending I don’t feel something for you Marie. And I’m sick of seeing you suffer because of your mutation.”
Rogue was still too stunned to say anything. Logan took the cellophane and tried to arrange the sheet correctly. When he had, he kissed her again, this time the thin clingy material blocking her mutation. His lips roved over hers; tenderly, softly, then with increasing ardor. She responded as though in a dream. She scarcely believed this was really happening, let alone how wonderful his lips felt on hers, even through the cellophane.
Logan kissed her passionately as he grew more used to the restriction of the cellophane and breathing through his nose. Despite that, he tried to make it as pleasurable for Marie as possible. Running his tongue over her lips, dipping his tongue into her mouth, to swirl around hers. His arms wrapped around her, careful to only touch her on her white silk nightgown. He ran his hands up and down her back.
Rogue wrapped her arms around him. Her gloved fingers stroked his back. She felt like her dreams were coming true. She did something she had longed to do for over a year. She ran her fingers along his sculpted arms, feeling the troughs and valleys of his biceps. His power and strength excited her and she kissed him as though she wanted to devour him. Her lips suckled his bottom one, pulling it and massaging it through the cellophane.
Logan pressed his body closer to Rogue, feeling her soft round unbound breasts quiver against his chest. He could not help himself, and as he kissed her, his hands moved from her back to feel the weighty, pillow soft protrusions. His rough calloused hands glided over the white silk – Logan!
Logan! Stop this instant. It was the Professor’s voice in his head and he didn’t sound happy. Logan jerked away from Rogue and the cellophane fell from between them. Marie looked away guiltily. She too had heard the Professor’s telepathic voice.
You will both see me in my office first thing tomorrow.
Logan threw the cellophane away, his head bowed like a puppy with its tail between its legs. Rogue tided up the kitchen, desperate to leave without having to look into Logan’s eyes and acknowledge their ill-fated tryst. She tried and failed to scurry from the room, when Logan’s hand caught her wrist.
“I- I’m sorry Marie. I never meant to…”
“No, it…” God, she wanted to tell him, right here and now what he meant to her. What their kiss had meant to her. “Logan, Ah… Thank you. Thank you for having the courage to try.”
Logan’s chocolate brown eyes searched her green ones for a second. What was he looking for? Did he suspect just how much the kiss meant to her? Could he know how huge a crush she had on him and how it had quadrupled in size in the last five minutes? Could he feel the same way about her?
She didn’t wait around to find out. She left him to head off to bed. There would be enough explaining to do in the morning. And maybe she’d learn why Logan had kissed her. But for now she knew she would sleep soundly and dream the best of dreams.
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Notes: Another one of my stories where Jubilee plays an extremely minor role. I think she was in the movie somewhere, as an extra. And she lives on in my stories as an extra too.
I hope you liked this story; it’s my first true Rogan. Tell me what you think of it and if I should try to write more of this pairing.