When Rogue had still not emerged from her den even deep into the late evening, Logan cursed himself a fool as he descended into the mansions lower levels to seek her out.
Two full days. And a half. That’s how long she’s been here, and yet you can’t let her go through the whole of day three without seeing her.
She hasn’t eaten. It’s not healthy. Besides, it’s quite a sight to see, especially if she’s still in that uniform.
She won’t be. It was all torn up; she’ll have changed out of it.
“Still a damned good view,” Logan muttered. He punched his code into the door lock. Rogue had told him, soon after being shown the place, that the lock would be the first thing she’d hack, in order to keep some of the more idealistic X-men out. He’d asked if he’d still be able to get in. She’d said yes, and sure enough, the door’s locks clicked and Logan pushed the door open. Then he froze in the doorway, his pupils dilating rapidly, and not just because it was darker in Rogue’s bunker than outside in the hall.
She was sitting cross-legged on the floor in nothing but a simple black bra and a simple, little, matching black thong that left little to the imagination––covering her sex successfully, but just barely––and Logan felt his blood rushing south and his brain slowing down.
She ain’t in that uniform, but it’s still definitely a fuckin’ great view, Logan thought, and his pseudo-conscience could not argue. Logan smirked a little at the thought that it was shocked speechless.
Rogue didn’t look up from the computer parts she was carefully manipulating. “Either leave or come in, and either way, shut the door so nobody else gets an eyeful, eh, Sugah?”
Logan stepped over the threshold and shut the door behind him, noting the insulation on the inner side of it, and over all the rest of the walls. “You’ve been busy.” He looked at her again, his eyes wandering over her pale bare skin with uncloaked admiration and no small bit of hunger. Her body was truly a work of art.
Rogue gave a nonverbal affirmative sound, still not looking at him.
“You’re also practically naked, Darlin’. Who else can still get in here?”
“Just Hank and Charles. Y’know. The guy who’s payin’ me and the guy who owns the place.” Finally she glanced up with a smirk. “And you: the guy who’d cut through the locks if Ah didn’t let him in. Incidentally, Ah’m only undressed this far to avoid havin’ static electricity fuck up the more sensitive parts Ah’m workin’ with. This wristband helps, too.” She lifted her left arm so he could see it.
Logan’s eyes fixed on the way her lifted arm affected how much of the tops of her breasts he could see. He realized his mouth was watering and swallowed quietly.
Rogue chuckled softly and glanced up again as her hands pushed together the two halves of a boxy-looking computer-like device. “See somethin’ ya like, Sugah?” She got to her feet and put the box on one of several big shelves with further mysterious pieces of computer equipment.
Logan bit back a growl when she turned away enough that he could see the firm, round, lovely shape of her ass, and those miles-long legs. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.” Then she returned to the pool of light in the middle of the floor and Logan’s brows furrowed as he finally noted the discolorations and traces of damage to her immaculate skin. “But damn, you weren’t kiddin’ about the bruises. Is your skin actually cracked right there?” He pointed at a spot on her side that appeared to be about the width of his hand.
“There’s some hairline crackin’ in some of the places that almost blistered, but that’ll peel off tomorrow like snakeskin and Ah’ll be good as new. The bruises might be gone in a few hours.” She shrugged, but the movement was still slightly stiff.
Logan felt uncomfortably sobered. “Sure I can’t lend you a hand with the healin’?”
Rogue looked up at him thoughtfully, curiously, almost in disbelief. Then she smiled a little and shook her head. “Sorry. Ah’m still just...not used to a lack of fear. Thanks for the offer, but Ah’m indestructible enough on my own. Ah’m just singed, really.”
Logan shook his head. “Singed. Right. That’s why you’re still stiff and why you’re still keepin’ your breathing so controlled. How’re your ribs?”
Rogue snorted. “My ribs are fine. The singed skin across my shoulder blades doesn’t like to stretch,” she corrected, as she finished packing up her tools and set them on a nearby table as she got to her feet again. Much to Logan’s disappointment, she pulled on a pair of shorts. At least they didn’t reach past her knees and left most of those legs of hers exposed. She shivered when she realized Logan had taken the opportunity to move closer, so that his fingers gently brushed the damaged flesh she’d just mentioned.
“And this’ll be fine tomorrow?” Logan asked, his fingertips ghosting across her shoulder blades and then down to her mid-back. The damaged skin was just slightly darker than the rest, and had faintly red, tiny webs of cracks across its surface.
“If Ah sleep. Without sleep it’ll take two days. No promises on that; it depends on how ‘into it’ Ah get tonight,” she said, gesturing to the assorted machines and monitors she had been setting up over the last twenty-four hours, trying not to think about how suggestive her words sounded now that she’d just said them.
Logan was taking in her scent, relieved beyond words that she did not actually smell as singed as she looked. “I could make it my mission to distract you,” he offered, as much playfully as seriously, because she smelled good, and she also smelled a little interested, which was something new.
Rogue bit her lip for a moment, but finally rejected her inexplicable nervousness and smirked a little as she countered, “You’re already pretty distractin’, Sugah.” Her fingers brushed his hand, which had unconsciously settled at her hip. In her mind, she heard: Alea iacta est. For anyone else, it would just be flirting; for Rogue, it was crossing the Rubicon.
Logan hesitated, trying to figure out quite when his hand had gotten there, but he easily bantered back, “You were the one sittin’ around mostly naked, and you still don’t have a shirt on––not that I’m complaining.”
“And you’re shirtless and fresh from the shower if Ah’m not mistaken. Danger room?”
“No, I just usually make my rounds through the sub-basements without a shirt or shoes on, because these labs and basements have such a casual atmosphere,” Logan mocked.
Rogue turned to face him, feeling a flutter of uneasiness again when she realized just how close he was, and how intense the look in his eyes was. She knew he could hear it faintly when she swallowed, trying to clear the sudden lump in her throat that formed as she looked him up and down. “Ah’m not complainin’ either.” She smirked a little.
Logan raised an eyebrow in surprise, but held himself in check, because what he wanted to do was wrap an arm around her waist, but he could see the faint discoloration of damaged skin across a variety of the places he wanted to explore through touch. “I’ll keep that in mind, darlin’.”
Rogue nodded, turning away just a little as she picked up her cotton tank top and started to pull it back on. She chuckled softly at the disappointment on Logan’s face. “Did ya come here strictly for the banter, or was there more?” she teased.
“Have you taken any breaks at all?” he asked idly, still watching with evident regret and mourning as she tugged down the hem of her shirt, covering her stomach.
She shook her head. “That word ain’t in my vocabulary, Sugah.”
“It is now. C’mon. It’s practically time for dinner.”
“Is it?” Rogue took Logan’s arm and looked at his watch. “Oh. Ah guess it is. Hm. Time flies when you’re sittin’ naked around a bunch of computer parts.”
That mental image momentarily distracted Logan, enough that he blinked in surprise when he realized she was heading for the door, and he had to take a couple of surreptitiously quick strides to catch up. “I’ll have to come around more often. Remind ya to take breaks, naked or otherwise.”
She gave him a slightly wicked smile. “Maybe Ah’ll let ya.”
Logan’s eyes fixed on the roll of her hips as she walked through the door, and he watched for a moment before following. This girl was gonna kill him, of that he was certain. but he was also pretty sure that there weren’t many better ways to die.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I must give credits to a little webcomic called "khaos" (google it if you like; it's a marginally good amateur comic, even if its updates are often scarce) for inspiring me to have Rogue sitting mostly naked around a bunch of complicated computer equipment. The comic does not relate to X-men in the slightest, but there was an interesting (not to mention lovely and slightly maniacal) character named Kelly who habitually puts together custom computers...whilst naked––as a cheap way lower the amount of static electricity in her working environment. It struck me as something that a Hacker!Rogue would probably do.