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Title:
Not Your Usual
Author:
Terri
E-mail:
xgrrl26@yahoo.com
Rating:
R
Disclaimer:
I don't own any of these lovely mutants, but the plot bunnies in my possession
are free to a good home ;)
Archive:
WRFA, Mutual Admiration, Peep Hut - everyone else, please ask, and I'll say
yes ;)
Feedback:
Please? With a cherry on top? Good, bad, and ugly welcome.
Summary:
Everything is a little different than usual when Logan comes home.
Comments:
This is the product of a heapin' helpin' of Plot Bunny lovin'. Mel
tossed out Ernie (a very long-toothed plot bunny that demanded that Logan
ignore Jean and that immediately attached itself to my butt) and Caroline
tossed out a nice, sweet, eyelash-blinking bunny about Rogue making Logan
cry. They were each going to get their own story, honest. But
then I came home from work one day and heard a thumping bass sound coming
from my Bunny Holding Area (® me - they need someplace to themselves,
or they just end up annoying my cats). As I got closer, I realized
it was the pulsing, sensual sound of Barry White (oh, yeah.) More
than a little concerned now, I opened the door and took a peek inside.
Sure enough, there Ernie was, dressed in a silk smoking jacket and holding
a glass of wine, whispering something in Caroline's bunny's ear. Oh-oh,
I thought. This can't be good. Ernie's ears were nice and smoothed
back, and I noticed that Caroline's bunny had gotten into my makeup.
Caroline's bunny giggled at whatever Ernie was whispering, and I knew that
there was no stopping them now. I closed the door, tried to ignore
the wild bunny moans and screeches coming from the Holding Area all night,
and braced myself for whatever vicious little offspring might chomp on my
butt next. Plot bunny mating - it's never pretty. I've really
got to hide those Barry White CDs better. And the Marvin Gaye ones,
too. Anyhow, the result of Ernie's big night of lovin' is this little
ficlet ;) Also, the title for this one comes from my daily pilgrimages
to Dunkin' Donuts. I always get waited on by the same lady, and I usually
get coffee with cream and two maple donuts (yes, Rogue gets her love of maple
donuts in some fics from me, but really, how could anyone not love maple
donuts? I think it's a pretty universal characteristic..). But
the past few times I've been in, I've changed my order, getting something
a little different each time. Today, I went in and the lady said -
let me guess, you want not your usual again? That stuck with me, and
I thought it would make a good title for this little ficlet, given that things
here don't go the way they do in most fics or in most of my fics. Lastly
- yes, I can still write comments that are longer than the fic itself or
at least seem that way ;)
He came
back on an otherwise uneventful Friday. Jean was the first to notice
his presence. She'd suspected Logan would be returning soon - Rogue
had been over-the-top happy lately, smiling all the time, and even though
the girl never spoke about it, Jean suspected that Logan had been in contact
with her during the two months he'd been gone. So, when her usual telepathic
scan finally produced thoughts emanating from Logan, Jean rushed to the foyer
to intercept him.
He entered,
smelling like wind from the motorcycle ride, and smiling a little. Jean
slowly, seductively moved into his line of sight. That's when she got
the first inkling that perhaps her plans may not go as expected, that she
may not be able to trade Logan for Scott as smoothly as she'd hoped.
When she entered Logan's line of sight, he gave no reaction whatsoever.
It was as though she was invisible. Jean blinked once, then again.
She moved a little closer to him, still receiving no response. Finally,
she blocked his path to the stairway, halting him with a light touch to his
arm.
"Logan,
hello. It's good to see you." She gave him her best sexy smile,
certain that she would get a reaction now.
"Hey red."
He quirked a brief smile at her, but his eyes drifted over her shoulder,
to the stairs.
"I'm so
glad you're back, Logan." Jean made sure it came out in her best purr.
"Uh-huh.
Talk to ya later, huh?" Logan brushed past her, heading for the stairway.
Jean, not quite understanding his demeanor and more than a little miffed at
his seeming lack of interest, stayed his progress again with a hand to his
shoulder.
"I was hoping
we could talk now." Perhaps, Jean thought, it's best to just get to
the point. It's not like Logan's a complicated man. "Things between
Scott and I have changed a little. We've put off the wedding.
I've been waiting for you to come back. Logan, I - " Jean cut
herself off when she noticed Logan's eyes abruptly dart over her shoulder
and a warm smile form on his face.
The object
of his gaze was Rogue, standing at the top of the stairs, and mirroring back
much the same expression of affection. Almost unconsciously, Logan put
a hand to Jean's waist, scooting her out of his path. "Hey, kid."
His eyes never wavered from Rogue, and they both moved to meet in the middle
of the stairway.
"Hey," she
answered back softly, her smile spreading wider. "You're back."
"Yeah," Logan
agreed as they met in the middle of the stairway. Logan gently took
one of her bare hands in one of his gloved ones. Rogue tilted her head
to one side, the devotion she held for him plainly visible across her features.
They stood like that, silently, just watching one another, for several long
minutes. Jean watched the proceedings with some distress. Wasn't
she the one Logan was supposed to be unable to take his eyes off of?
Wasn't she the one that had Logan's heart? She huffed, and when that
didn't draw the notice of either person on the stairs, she stomped back to
her lab.
Logan's thumb
moved back and forth across Marie's palm and they seemed to be communicating
in their own silent language. They hadn't been simply staring at one
another - Logan's eyes traveled over Marie's features and hers did the same.
Marie's smile changed in response to Logan's expressions and those changed
in turn. Finally, Logan spoke. "I missed ya, kid."
"I missed
you too." With those words, Marie closed the distance between them and
stepped into his open arms. Logan held her to him, running his hands
over her back and rubbing his face against her hair. Marie noticed
him breathing in deeply, and she knew he was taking in her scent. She
fixed her hands along his sides, caressing him gently while he completed
his sensory canvas of her. When Logan was finished, he held
her at the waist and parted from her a little.
"How're you
doin', beautiful?" That got a blush and a smile from Marie, and she
ducked her head for a moment before meeting Logan's eyes and answering.
"Good.
Even better now that you're here."
"Got somethin'
for ya." Logan wound one of his hands behind him and pulled something
from his back pocket. It was a pale cream scarf, one he'd snatched
from Marie's room before he left. It had her scent, and he found himself
holding the scarf to his face and breathing her in almost every day.
Marie had noticed the scarf's absence, but had never commented on it to Logan.
Now, Logan tenderly placed the scarf around her neck and tied it in a loose
knot. "Took a little reminder with me. Hope ya didn't miss it
too much."
"Not at
all." Marie swayed into him for another embrace. "I have your
tags. They're on my dresser if you want them back," she murmured against
his chest.
"Yeah."
Logan was nuzzling her neck, protected by her hair and the scarf. The
soft, almost translucent material now smelled as much of him as it did her,
and both of their scents combined with the real-live-Marie scent drew him
to her like a magnet. After a few minutes of running his hands all
over Marie and nibbling and licking at her through her hair, Logan realized
that they were still standing on the stairway, in the very public foyer.
He'd talked to Marie a little about what they were going to do when he returned,
but he wasn't sure that making out on the stairs would be the best way of
communicating the state of their relationship to the X-men. He also
wasn't quite sure exactly how Marie wanted to proceed with things.
"You wanna go somewhere and talk?"
She smiled
her now-familiar warm, soft smile, but her eyes held a glint of mischievousness
this time. "No. I want to go somewhere and not talk." She
winked at his slightly confused look, and led him up the stairs by his hand.
Logan and
Marie lay on the sloping rooftop, not far from her open bedroom window.
Marie had brought out her down comforter to wrap them both up in, to blunt
the crisp April night air while they lay together and looked up at the stars.
True to her word, Marie didn't talk much. She lay close to Logan, alternately
face-down, cuddled to his chest, face-up, with her head resting back against
his shoulder, and snuggled in tightly to his side. Their hands never
stopped moving over one another's bodies, and Marie's changes in position
were mostly to accommodate Logan's roaming caresses. They simply enjoyed
being close, being able to feel one another's warmth, being together.
Logan did
need to talk with Marie about some things, though. He'd called her
almost every week that he'd been gone, occasionally sending postcards, notes,
and presents along the way. They'd said their first I-love-yous over
the phone, and they'd decided that they'd both be staying at the mansion,
for a while at least, after Logan returned. Logan assumed they'd be
living together - Marie had mentioned that she had her own room several times
- and he assumed that they'd become lovers in short order. The specifics,
the details, Marie's thoughts and feelings about all of this - he still needed
to talk with her about those. In typical Logan style, he decided to
be direct.
"Kid, you
wanna talk now?"
"Sure."
Her accented voice poured out like warm honey, causing Logan to squeeze her
to him a little more tightly.
"Now that
you got your own room, I was thinkin' I'd just live there too, right?"
She nodded against his chest and he felt small hands begin to stroke his side
and stomach. "Whatcha thinkin' 'bout us?"
"I love
you." Marie said it easily and often, and Logan never tired of hearing
it. "I want to live with you, be with you all the time. That's
what I'm thinking about us."
"I missed
ya." He rolled her over so the she was lying completely on top of him
and rearranged the blankets. "I think that's a good plan, havin' ya
with me all the time." He gently lifted her chin so that she'd look
at his face while he said the next part. "Marie, I wanna be your lover."
She smiled
at that and her eyes sparkled with happiness. Logan couldn't suppress
a smile in return. "I want that too, so much. But can we - can
we go a little slow? I just want to be sure to really get to experience
everything with you, every little bit of being together. I've - I've
only ever kissed a boy once, you know, and I guess, if it's OK with you,
I'd like to go a little slow."
Logan's nose
crinkled at that. It wasn't an unexpected answer, but he wanted Marie,
badly and now. She was his, and he wanted to make that complete.
She must've been sensing what he was feeling because, when he didn't respond,
she added, "I'm all yours, Logan, no one else's. I'm yours, body and
soul. If you need to - "
"No," he
interrupted, suddenly feeling ashamed of his thoughts. "No. I
wanna take it slow too. I wanna show you how good it can be.
I wanna make you happy, Marie."
"You do.
You always do." She lay her head back down on his chest, and they both
fell asleep under the stars.
The X-men
accepted their relationship without much fuss. Logan was so thrown by
it that he even questioned the Professor on it, thinking that the telepath
might have something up his sleeve. Charles assured him that no, he
wasn't planning to interfere in their relationship and explained that it
had been his experience that doing so only created more problems than it
solved. Logan and Marie, once over the initial surprise, were grateful
for the overall support and acceptance they received. The lone exception
to that aura of support was Jean.
She was
plainly miffed that Logan was no longer interested in her, and, for some reason,
was not at all subtle about it. A few days after his return, in fact,
right after he and Marie had told the Professor they'd be living together,
Jean cornered Logan in the kitchen. Knowing that Rogue was on her way
down, Jean practically threw herself at Logan, actually backing him into
a corner by the time Rogue had arrived.
Jean had
thought that Rogue would react badly, and Logan would see just how immature
and jealous the girl could be. She suspected that Rogue had some insecurities,
and that perhaps Logan should see those in the cold, harsh light of day.
Why wouldn't he prefer a confident, secure woman over a petty, overly-delicate
child?
But Rogue,
upon finding Jean bodily pressing herself against Logan then feigning surprise
and distress at being caught doing so, didn't respond quite as Jean had predicted.
She gave a sad smile, yes, but it was mostly directed at Jean. It was
compassionate, almost sympathetic. Logan quickly pushed Jean away with
both hands, and Jean improvised another tactic - straightening her clothing
and hair, in order to give the impression that Logan had been making her
disheveled. This too, met only with a subdued, sympathetic smile from
Rogue.
Jean did
manage to produce a reaction in Logan, but again, it wasn't the desired one.
He crossed the kitchen to hug Rogue and kissed her on the head. He whispered
something to her that Jean couldn't hear and Rogue nodded, almost imperceptibly.
Logan whispered again, and Rogue shushed him with two gloved fingers laid
across his lips. She bent to kiss his collarbone, then his heart, over
his shirt, and then gave one final glance to Jean and went back the way she'd
come. Jean was debating over whether to use her gift to try to read
some of Logan's surface thoughts when he turned to face her.
Anger was
plainly evident on his features. His eyes were cold and his body was
tense - he held no trace whatsoever of the warmth he'd shown toward Rogue
only moments before. Jean wondered how his emotions could change that
quickly and was confused at why he might be angry with her. Wasn't
Rogue the one who should be in the doghouse with Logan for doubting his feelings?
"Stop it,
Jeannie." Logan's voice was cold, but even. "I'm with Marie now.
Cope."
"Logan,
I - I don't know what - "
"Yeah, ya
do. You know what I get like when I think that girl's hurtin'.
If you're the one makin' her hurt, I'm gonna hurt ya back." There was
plain menace in his voice and expression now, and Jean was suddenly frightened.
Cold pricks of fear traveled up her spine and the hair on the back of her
neck stood up. Logan gave her one final glare, and then left, presumably
to find Rogue.
Jean sat
in a chair at the kitchen table, numb for a while. When she regained
her bearings, she found that she'd been crying. She looked back on
her attitudes, thoughts, and actions, and chastised herself for them.
How did things go this far, she thought, how did I become a person who does
those things? She wiped at her eyes, and then went upstairs to find
Scott.
Scott walked
pensively through the mansion halls a few days later. He knew that his
relationship with Jean had been rocky for a while, even before Logan first
came to the school. She loved him, he knew, but he always had the feeling
that somehow, he just wasn't enough for her, that she just couldn't let herself
get really close to him. When she came to him a few nights ago and openly
confessed her attraction to Logan and her attempts to act on that attraction,
then tearfully asked him to forgive her, he felt a glimmer of hope for the
first time in a long time. He felt like they finally had a chance at
communication, at a real relationship. It was something Scott thought
Jean had always been afraid of - the initial onset of her gift forced
constant communication and intimacy on her, with friends, strangers, family.
Scott knew that she would have to face that fear, and trust him enough to
try having that kind of intimacy with him, if their relationship was ever
going to really work. He loved Jean, and he was willing to wait, willing
to let her go at her own pace, especially now that she seemed to be making
some solid progress in that direction.
As he passed
by Rogue's room, he heard loud, gruff laughter through the thick oak door
- Logan's laughter, he realized. Rogue was laughing a little too, and
occasionally squealing in delight. They weren't sex sounds, Scott realized.
The two must be playing together, perhaps wrestling or tickling one another.
Scott knew that those kind of activities were something Rogue loved.
She craved touch and contact. Scott listened a little more closely
and was able to make out come conversation through the laughter.
"Stop."
That was Logan, and he didn't sound very convincing.
"Heh.
No." That was Rogue, and she sounded pretty determined. "No way.
You like it."
"I'm gonna
bust a gut here in a minute." Logan's words were followed by more deep,
hearty laughter.
"You'll
heal," Rogue teased.
"Stop it!"
Logan laughed more and Scott heard the bed squeak. He wasn't sure what
these two did in bed - in fact, he was fairly sure that he *didn't* want to
know, that was their business - but they'd already broken two bed frames since
Logan came back. Sure, he had a heavy metal skeleton, but still.
"Hey!"
Scott heard
Rogue dissolve into laughter. "I can't help it if you're ticklish."
"I ain't
ticklish." Logan was still laughing through the words.
"You are
too - look at you, you've got tears in your eyes from laughing so hard!"
Now that's something I'd pay to see, Scott thought.
"You do
too," Logan argued back as his laughter subsided. "I bet I know where
you'd like to get tickled." His voice had turned husky, and Scott realized
that this was the point at which he should step away and continue his walk.
He lingered a moment to hear a little more of Rogue's laughter, then proceeded
down the hall.
"Whoa."
Marie lay in her bed, in Logan's arms, as they both rested after their first
time together. Up to this point, Logan had been completely attentive
and always very gentle with her, but tonight, he was as animal as she'd ever
seen him.
"Yeah.
I, uh, sorry 'bout that. Got a little carried away there." He
was holding her close, and she knew that he felt badly about how he'd been.
He'd started apologizing almost immediately. Marie had told him it
was fine, and that she loved him.
"It was
intense, you know? I could really, really feel how much you wanted
me."
"I do.
I really do. But I, uh, got a little too wild there, especially at the
end. Sorry." Logan began caressing her hair, trying to show her
some gentleness again. He'd wanted to make her first time special,
and all about her, but it had ended up being all about him. He hated
that he hadn't had more control, and he was afraid of what Marie was thinking
now.
"It's really
OK." The truth was that Marie was bruised in some spots, and would be
sore for a while. She was a little disappointed - she'd envisioned
it a little differently, and it hadn't been like other intimate things they'd
done together before - but she was glad they'd been together and she was pretty
sure Logan would be a little less wild the next time. It's really partly
my fault, she thought, for making him wait so long for this.
"I love
you. I know that it kinda maybe didn't feel like that, but I swear,
Marie, it's love that I have in me for you."
"I know."
She raised her head to look at him. "Me too." She drew her eyebrows
together and pursed her lips a little. "You know what? I really
feel like I'm all yours now. I'm kind of getting why you wanted to
do this right away."
"I just
- I dunno." Logan frowned. "I love you." He figured that
he couldn't go too far wrong telling her that as much as possible, and he
couldn't find the words to explain how he felt about it.
"I know,"
she repeated. "And I love you too, very much."
"I'll be
better next time." Sincere hazel eyes met Marie's brown ones, and she
thought that Logan was probably more vulnerable to her now than he'd ever
been. Ironic, she thought, the virgin is usually the one feeling that
way. "I will, I really will." Marie's eyes softened at that and
she laid a quick kiss on his sideburn.
"There's
going to be lots and lots of times. We'll get to do it all kinds of
ways." She grinned and wiggled her eyebrows as she said it, and Logan
let out a relieved sigh. She still wants to do it with me, he thought.
Whew. "Can we - can we sleep a little, and then maybe in the morning.."
"Sounds good
to me, darlin'." Logan drew her head down to his chest and wrapped his
arms around her. As he drifted into sleep, he thought that for once,
life had cut him a break. For once, everything was going smoothly and
was as it should be. For once, things were not going as usual.
He hugged an already-slumbering Marie one last time, then followed her into
sleep.
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