Rogue made her way through the dark bar towards the familiar cage that sat at the back of the room. Dusty light spilt upon it’s centre, illuminating the criss-cross of wire that surrounded the circular cage. Spectators were already gathering to get the best seats, and Rogue settled herself on the front row, on the end. She was close to the entrance of the cage, and it wasn’t long before Logan came down the narrow aisle and stopped besides her. “I’m up first,” he told her as he shrugged off his jacket. “Put a bet on for you, just sign the slip.” He dropped a small piece of paper into her lap and she clutched it in a gloved palm.
“Want me to look after your stuff?” she asked, watching his leather jacket that was slung over his arm.
“Yeah, sure,” he muttered, dropping the jacket onto the bench besides her. He also unbuttoned his shirt, and Rogue felt compelled to take her eyes elsewhere even though it was nothing she hadn’t seen before. Her attention was snapped back upon him as she felt his shirt and vest top land on her lap. She peered up to see him stretching his naked upper body. The bare bulb lighting backed his form, silhouetting the front of his body mysteriously. “I’ll keep an eye on you, kid,” he assured as he made his way to the wire-mesh door of the cage. He stepped inside, continuing his warm-ups.
Rogue glanced down at the clothes she had been given, taking her time to neatly fold them up and place them on top of the leather jacket besides her. Gradually, her eyes returned back to Logan, and watched as he prowled around the cage throwing dark looks out at the gathering spectators. He was Wolverine now. Whilst alone and waiting, Rogue thoughts fell into contemplation as she watched him walk around. His half naked form caught her eye more often than it should have. She was viewing this man in a different way, she could realised that now. It had crept up upon her slowly and when she realised what was happening, she was too deep in her affection to back out. He was still Logan to her, most certainly, but Rogue felt so intimate with him, the things they knew and had experienced together. She had gotten closer to a man who appeared to be as untouchable as her but in a different sense, yet he took her in, and seemed to have been drawn in just as she had. It was a lot to think about, but it never came as a surprise to Rogue. However, she just wondered how he felt about her.
He liked her, definitely, for he had taken her under his wing. Though perhaps with pity, but out of that a friendship had blossomed mutually. But it seemed Rogue, unknowingly, had taken it further. And when considering that Logan may be still behind.. It frightened her. The future frightened her. She was just some kid to him.. surely he would never see her any other way..
Rogue was brought out of her thoughts as a bell rung across the bar, signalling the start of the fight. Logan clenched his fists as he stood ready, dark glare locked upon the burly man who was opposing him. His opponent made the first move, running towards Logan with a supposedly threatening yell. But Logan caught his run with a fist, slamming him still and swiftly throwing him against the cage wall. Rogue shrunk back as the man hit the cage directly in front of her. Logan was certainly brutal and she was thankful she was never on the receiving end of his feral nature. Before the man had time to set himself upright, Logan had grabbed him by the back of his clothes, spinning him round before launching a fist directly into his face. His opponent crumpled backwards with a strangled yell and hit the hard floor of the cage. He made no more movement as blood began trickling from his nose and mouth.
The man hadn’t even got a hit in, and Logan had finished the fight in two strikes. Rogue stared over at Logan who turned his glare upon her, waiting for his next opponent. His eyes were blazing with wild blood lust - Wolverine.
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“Easy night,” sighed Logan as he stretched his arms casually. They had just walked into their hotel room for the night after finding a decent place not too far on from Laughlin City. Rogue came in behind him, pulling the hood of the thick coat down from her head and shaking the snow off.
She glanced about their room as she answered, “You could have stayed longer, y’know.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t want you gettin’ bored,” he murmured, flashing her a wolfish grin. He had only put his vest top on since leaving the bar, and was now removing it as he made his way towards the bathroom. “I’m just gonna freshen up, kid. You can get into bed if you want.” With that he proceeded into the en-suite, shutting the door closed. Rogue only managed a small nod as he disappeared. She settled herself down on the edge of the bed, exhaling a sigh. Things were becoming harder..
She sat on the bed for a quite a while going over the numerous thoughts in her head which had been cropping up a lot more lately. She snapped out of her reverie, which had been comfortably backgrounded by the run of hot water rumbling through the pipes. She decided to go along with Logan’s suggestion and get herself into bed. She turned and began rummaging through her large kit bag to pull out her lilac nightdress. Setting it out on the bed, she pulled her coat off her shoulders, and then began to remove her the black jumper beneath. Depositing these items on the bed, she turned to her jeans, swiftly unzipping them and shimmying out of the fitting denim. She stepped out of the trousers as they hit the floor and too set them on the bed. Her hands swiftly slipped her bra straps off her shoulders and were then behind her back, just about to unhook the clasps when she realised the water had stopped running. Her head slowly raised to the door directly in front of her when she saw the handle turn and a damp Logan step out clad in naught but a towel.
Their eyes met and froze still. “L-Logan..” said Rogue as casually as she could.
“Marie..” he replied, in the same uncertain air. “I’ll just - er..” He gestured behind him at the bathroom and began backing into it slowly. However, his eyes appeared to have been unable to stay on hers much longer, perhaps out of embarrassment, but his averting methods weren’t all that successful for they travelled gradually down her body. Rogue felt herself furiously blushing and her hands attempted to cover up her under-wear clad form. Logan appeared to realise what he was doing for he almost threw himself backwards and slammed the door shut. Rogue stood there, hopelessly glancing around the room. Her arms belatedly fell as she sighed wearily. It wasn’t the end of the world, she reasoned, neither of them needed to react that badly.
She walked towards the bathroom door, still onlyin herbra and pants. She meekly rapped on the door. He didn’t answer, so she turned the handle and pushed the door open a little. He was stood at the sink, his large hands gripping the white porcelain sink so tightly his hands were blanching to match. Rogue’s eyes scanned his form slowly, before they fell to the floor in shame. “Logan..” she said quietly. As she raised her eyes, she noticed him watching her out of the corner of his eye. “Logan, it’s alright,” she assured.
“No, it’s not,” he replied, an answer she found surprising. He’d only walked in on her in her underwear; it wasn’t like she had been completely naked.
“Why?” she asked as she edged closer to him, coming up by his side.
As she came closer, his eyes quickly looked down into the sink, as though fearing where they may trail next. “It doesn’t matter..”
“No, Logan,” persisted Rogue, raising a hand to lightly touch him on the upper arm. Just as her fingers brushed his damp skin, he shrugged her way, looking uncomfortable.
“Don’t,” he said bluntly.
Rogue stared at him in concern, “Why are you being like this? You were fine when we came in.”
“No, I wasn’t,” he muttered as he pushed by her, hurriedly exiting the bathroom and moving over to the bed where his rucksack was. He began rummaging through it as a distraction. Undeterred, Rogue followed him out, striding up to him till she reached his side.
“Explain,” she demanded with her hands settling on her hips. He didn’t look at her, or give her an answer. “Logan!” she snapped briskly, her heated tone causing him to peer up at her like a badly behaved schoolboy. “What is it?” He gestured hopelessly at her, and Rogue didn’t think this was an adequate response. “Logan..” she said again, this time sounding defeated.
“I’m sorry, Marie,” he whispered quietly as he gave up looking through his bag and straightened. “This shouldn’t have happened..” He wasn’t looking her in the eye, but at the nearby framed painting on the wall.
Rogue raised her hands, firmly taking her cheeks in her palms and directing his head towards her. His eyes reluctantly flickered upon her and looked disheartened by her persistence. “Logan, please don’t be like this. What’s wrong?”
“I can’t,” he said weakly. Rogue had never seen Logan look so lost, and it frightened her. His hands rose, about to take her upper arms when he appeared to think better of it and let them fall. “You’re just a kid,” he whispered, mainly to himself, now pulling out of her grip.
Rogue stared at him as he stood with his back to her. He was leaning against the wall, his head in a hand as he sighed softly. Slowly, Rogue stepped closer to him, a hand extended and rested on his shoulder, progressively slipping over the toned muscle. She stepped around his side till she was in front of him, staring up at him with her gentle doe eyes. Logan couldn’t help but he drawn to them, her demure manner seemed almost coy at times. She said nothing as she allowed her hand to trail down his arm, then passing to his hips. He gazed down at her without words, just staring intently into her face.
“I can’t,” he repeated in a soft voice, lower this time. But her free hand took his other hip, and with that, pulled herself in closer. He swallowed gently, releasing a breath he didn’t realise he had been holding. “Marie, please, don’t tempt me..” he warned her quietly.
She stared up at him, her dark eyes sparkling with challenge. “What if I want to..” she whispered quietly.
He shook his head gently, “Marie, don’t,” he said softly, however a hand rose to gently cup her cheek. “Don’t..”
But her eyes lulled shut as she continued against his wishes, pushing herself upward as she strived to meet his lips in a kiss she had been longing for. But before she knew it, his warm hold had abandoned her. Her eyes flew open to see him walking towards the bathroom where he grabbed his clothes. He glanced back at her before he shook his head gently and walked out of the door.
Rogue stared at him as he left their room, suddenly feeling cold and alone. She made a weak sob as her hands came to her face, tears spilling from her eyes. She weakly stumbled back against the wall, sliding down it to reach the carpet. She cried into her hands as she scolded herself for her foolish attempts, her stupid crush that had led her to take a huge risk. Tangled up in her naïve admiration for Logan, she had lost her common sense, and here she wallowed in the pain of her unsuccessful endeavour..
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