Marie walked down the hall, sucking the skin between her left thumb and her forefinger.
It was too early for anyone else to be around and for once she hoped that included Logan.
She went to the kitchen, claimed her prize and a spoon and went to a place she knew for sure to be empty: one of the class rooms. The one where she was first taught at Xavier’s, to be precise.
She actually liked the room. But beyond anything else she wanted the piece, the quiet, the knowledge that no one would catch her doing this.
Cross-legged she sat down on one of the tables, a pack of vanilla chocolate chip ice cream in front of her.
She eyed her hand again before opening the packing.
The first spoon full of cold cream melted in her mouth and for a moment she mind wandered back to things past.
She absently rubbed her wounded hand with the back of the slightly ice cream covered spoon when there was a sound.
Marie tensed. Someone was standing in the door. Damn. “Sorry, closed party.”
She turned her head slightly to see Logan entering the room anyway. That much for privacy.
He walked over, casually, sniffing the air. “You alright kid?”
“Yeah, just cut my hand. Nothing big.”
“Sure you are alright? Eating ice-cream, hidden like a thief, especially eating ice cream you quite clearly emphasized you don’t like at all just the other day...”
It still irritated him. Their little game was playing out so nicely but just the day before she had left him standing like an idiot with ice cream in hand. And she obviously was not to glad he was here now, either.
When he had caught her fresh scent in the halls he had just wanted to ask her if she would want to come along to the city. Get away from here, ride the bike, eat a bite, he needed to order a few things for his trailer and knew someone who would do so under the counter. She could go shopping. Even if he never said it out loud, he liked taking her with him. These trips were usually fun.
With a fluid movement she stood up, closing the ice cream box.
As she turned to leave Logan grabbed her wrist.
"What is it, kid?" Her behavior started to worry him.
Rouge looked at his hand. He had grabbed the sleeve of her shirt just above her bare hand. Hands...
There was a small smile on her face. "Did I ever tell you I play the piano?" He looked confused. "Obviously not. When I was younger I had a tendency to hurt my hands. I think it was my way of trying to get around the Piano lessons. And Mom always had some Vanilla Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. It was something that made me feel home."
"Sounds like a nice memory." Logan tried to search her face.
"It was, till I put the first person into a coma. No obvious wounds, no ice cream." There was a moment of silence before Rouge continued. Logan could practically see how she dragged herself out of it. "Maybe it's for the best anyway. Mom always said that it was disgusting that I used the spoon to cool my hand, no matter how thoroughly she made me wash my hands before. And then she would laugh and talk about that stupid photo they supposedly made when I was 5 and smeared my entire face with that stuff."
Logan tried to envision that. An ice cream smeared Marie. And as her knight in shining armor he surely would help her to get rid of it... slowly... He stared at her face as his mind wandered off and somewhere in his foggy mind he realized that she was staring at his hand. The hand that still held her wrist. A smile crept into his face that was purely the Wolverine as he raised her hand toward his face. Sure enough there was ice cream on it. Grinning he slowly raised Maries hand further and slowly licked it off, only pulling away when he felt her mutation starting.
While examining his work he wondered “How did you cut yourself in the first place?”
Marie grinned shyly. “I wanted to hang a posters on the wall. Would you believe me that it happened while I was cutting some duct tape?”
Logan raised a skeptical eye brow. “What kind of poster, Marie? Your Canada Map? You know it will never stay on the wall if you use duck tape.”
“Yeah, but not like the Professor will be jumping with joy if the students start to hammer nails into his precious mansion.”
Fetching the ice cream Logan put an arm around her shoulder as they walked back to the kitchen. “You know: I was going to the city. How about you come along? I think I saw a hardware store somewhere. I am sure I can come up with something to fix that.” Marie grinned, absently licking on her left hand with a mushy feeling inside. She liked the sound of this. Her hand started to tickle and as she looked down on it the wound had already healed. Usually she would scowl at him for trying, and for succeeding no less, but just for now she decided to go with it. The day actually promised to be good. And Logan did not even notice the short frown on her face, his mind already wandering back to that image she had put into his head only a few moments ago, and a collection of others he didn't mind either.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
This is #3 in the Ice Cream Round Robin. The same Mutants. A different Ice Cream. And oh my god... did I really come up with a back-story for Rouge?
Oh, and since we started with September and Cassandra Lee: Skybluerae will be next
Oh, and since we started with September and Cassandra Lee: Skybluerae will be next