It'd been a year, or just about that. He scrubbed rough hands over his face, as if he could just wipe the tired away. Shifting his pack on his shoulder, he opened the door of the mansion.
It was late, quiet, and dark, but all the same, he expected to see her, coming down the stairs, or out of the rec room. He expected her to still be the teen she was, and always seemed to be, in his mind.
But no one came. He wasn't surprised, but he was oddly disappointed. Part of him wanted to go to her room, to find her, to check on her, to make sure she was still safe. Most of him wanted a shower and a bed. He started for the stairs to his room, when he smelled someone familiar, and he turned. "'Ro?"
White hair flicked the air as she jerked her head up. "Logan." A soft, tired smile touched her lips. "We weren't expecting you back." Ever, or so soon vied for supremacy, but she voiced neither.
He nodded, hearing the words she didn't speak all the same. His head tilted as he realized the direction she'd come from. "Someone hurt?"
She waved it off. "Scott. He'll be fine."
There was a guarded note in her voice that piqued his interest. "What happened?"
Her weight shifted. It wasn't really any of his business, but she knew if she wanted to get to bed, it was easier just to answer. "He held on to Rogue a little too long."
He felt a flicker of anger dart through him. "Held on?"
She sighed. "He kissed her. Not that it's any of your business."
Kissed her? But ... "She's just a kid."
Ro laughed. "Logan, Rogue hasn't been a kid for a very long time." Leaving him to ponder that, she breezed past him on the stairs, heading for her own room.
** ** **
After the fact, she'd gone down to work out. It was the only thing, these days, that let her get her mind off things. "I didn't ask you to kiss me." Words were punctuated by blows and kicks to the punching bag. "Fearlessly stupid leader." She pummeled the heavy bag untitl she was covered in sweat, and tired.
As she leaned against the bag, she realized she wasn't alone, and she stilled. Slowly, dark eyes shifted toward the door, and a slow grin curved her lips. "Hey, Logan."
He nodded. Ororo had been right - she wasn't a kid. Why the hell hadn't he seen that before now? His eyes raked over her - from her streaked hair to her flushed face, to the skin exposed by her sports bra and workout shorts. "Hey, kid." He finally managed. It was habit, and he regretted saying it, especially given his current line of thought. "So when'd you and Scooter hook up?"
Christ. Leave it to him to have heard about that. She shrugged. "I don't know. Couple years ago, I guess."
He laughed. "Liar."
She grinned. "Yeah. I told him I wasn't interested. Repeatedly. Sometimes, I think his skull's thicker than yours."
With a nod, he moved deeper into the gym. "Don't I even get a welcome home hug?"
"Ugh. I'm all sweaty and half naked." She hadn't meant that in any sort of sexual context, but of course that was where her thoughts drifted.
"I'll be careful. I haven't showered yet either." He embraced her gently, careful he was covered where he touched her, and he smiled as he felt her arms around his shoulders. He held the embrace at least twice as long as a welcome-home hug called for, before he reluctantly drew away. "How've you been?"
"Can't complain. Well, okay, I can, but it won't change anything." She grinned despite herself. "You?"
He nodded. "Tired. Busy." A shrug. "Was going to go to bed, but thought I'd check on you first."
She smiled, somewhat sadly. "I'm fine, Logan."
"I see that." He nodded to her. "Don't stay up too late, kid."
"Yes, sir." A mocking salute before she turned back to the punching back, hammering it a little more as she listened to him leave. Kid? Kid?! He was lucky she hadn't clocked him.
God, the man needed a clue.
Maybe, she should give him one.
** ** **
"I don't know. I don't know if it'll work." Rogue was standing in front of Jubilee's closet, rifling through her clothes while her friend was sprawled out on the bed.
"It will. You might need to club him over the head a few times, but this'll help. Try the black one."
"The one that doesn't even cover your ass?"
"That'd be the one." Jubilee grinned, and snapped her gum a few times. "Kitty's coming up for the summer."
"Is she? Good. Piotr too?"
"S'far as I know." Snap, snap. "Bet they get a room together."
"They're adults. You should find a room with someone."
"I have a room with someone, thank you very much. Her name's Rogue, and she steals my clothes."
"Steal, borrow, same thing." She grinned, pulling out a red tank top. "Does this go with it?"
"It's black. Everything goes with black." She eyed Rogue. "You gonna wear gloves?"
"I don't want to kill him."
"Might be the only way to get your point across." They both laughed.
** ** **
He was on his way to the kitchen when he passed her in the hall. He had to do a doubletake - that couldn't be Rogue, could it? Dressed like that? He'd kept walking, and neatly collided with the wall, attention diverted as it was.
He heard her laugh as she rounded a corner.
Kitchen quest abandoned, he turned and roamed after her. "Rogue?"
"Yeah, sugar?" She leaned against the wall, smiling to him as he rounded the corner.
He gestured to her attire, but found he was at a loss for words. She looked good. Really good. "Uh." He coughed to clear his throat. "You look good."
"Aw, you came all the way over here just to tell me that? How sweet of you." She smiled, turning her back to him as she started down the hall, aware of how her ass looked in the sorry excuse for a skirt she was wearing.
He stared, then started after her again. There were no words, this time. He grabbed her shoulder, fingers on the fabric of the shirt (what little of it there was) and he pressed her back against the wall. For a second, two, he gazed into her eyes before his lips claimed hers, hot and hungry, tongue thrusting demandingly at her mouth until her lips parted.
She gasped, startled, gloved hands lifting to his shoulders, his shirt bunched in her fist as she pressed against him, eyes closed, her mouth opening for him until she felt the pull of her mutation, and she pushed at his chest.
He backed off, breathless, heart racing. "You still have some of those body suits?" He nuzzled her neck through her hair, his breath hot against her throat.
"Yeah, sugar. A whole drawer full of 'em."
"Go put one on." He bit her earlobe, tasting hair, before he pulled back. His hand slid down her back, cupping her ass through her skirt. "Hurry."
Logan pulled away from her, to let her escape, before he went back to his room, to find gloves of his own, and ... condoms. He had to have some, somewhere.
They were right. She wasn't a kid anymore.