*Three Months, Two Weeks Earlier*
Logan glared at Scott. “Get your mind out of the gutter, One-Eye,” he snarled. He was aware that the other occupants of the room were staring at the two men standing just inches from each other, animosity radiating from them in waves.
“I'm just asking you to keep a shirt on, Logan. That's it. For God's sake, this is a school!” Scott sneered. “Just because you have this perverted need to show off for every woman within a two-mile radius doesn't mean that you should ignore basic standards of decency when around hormonal teenage girls!”
“I don't give a damn about your standards. It's eighty fucking degrees out, and I was out for a run. Yeah, I'm gonna run in the minimum I can get away with by my own standards. So get the fuck over it, Scooter. Or is it that you don't like your girl looking at my chest? Afraid she's making comparisons, One-Eye?” Logan smirked, wondering how much more he could get out of the man with the stick up his ass.
“I trust Jean,” Scott said softly, taking a step closer. “I just don't trust you to keep your hands to yourself, Wolverine.” He shouldered past his rival and stalked off, completely ignoring the woman who was at the heart of their argument as she stood to one side, staring with the others.
Logan looked at Jean, his smirk widening. “What do ya say, Jeannie? Do you want me to keep my hands to myself?”
Jean looked at him coolly. “Logan, we need to talk,” she said seriously.
Logan sidled up to Jean, ignoring the others in the study. “Sweetheart, I had a lot more in mind than just talking,” he said, leaning in to whisper it in her ear to quietly for most of the other occupants to hear.
Jean blushed and gave him a stern look. “I think we'll talk,” she said, heading out the door.
Logan followed, caught her hand as she was about to step into the elevator.
“Jean, you and I could do so many more productive things than...talk. I know you like to be productive,” he told her, raising her hand to his lips.
Jerking away, Jean glared at him. “I don't think it's productive to hurt the man I love, Logan. And I do love Scott,” she told him.
“You may love him, or think you do, but I can tell that you want me. You reek of it, sweetheart,” Logan growled, leaning in close to her.
Jean shook her head. “I'm adult enough to see that what I want and what I need are two different things, Logan. I need love, not a hot night in a man's bed and then to be left alone. So please, just stop.” She quickly entered the elevator while he stood there staring, unable to comprehend that she was rejecting him. He knew, knew that she wanted him far more than she did Scott. So what was the problem? He raked his hand through his hair and turned to leave. That's when he saw her.
Rogue stared at him with the same disapproving expression Jean had just given him, her arms folded and lips tight. There was something else in her eyes, but he couldn't tell what. She shook her head when he started towards her and turned on her heel, heading towards the door leading to the terrace.
That was just fine. It looked like the two most important women in Logan's life thought he was being...what? Inconsiderate? How could it be inconsiderate to feel the way he did and want the same for the woman he felt that for? Callous? For what, ignoring Scott's “feelings”? There was no way the man felt the same way for Jean as he did, or she wouldn't be turning, albeit reluctantly, towards him. She'd be satisfied, happy. The important thing, in Logan's mind, was Jean's feelings, not Scott's. He didn't care what the other man went through as long as Jean was happy, and it just didn't seem like Scott was offering her the kind of happiness Logan knew he could give her.
Logan hit the control for the elevator and waited impatiently for it to come back up. It looked like he needed more than that run. He needed to pound something into tiny pieces, and he knew just where to go. Thank goodness for the Danger Room.
Rogue sat on a bench in the garden, knees drawn to her chest and arms wrapped around them. She told herself not to cry. It was bound to happen. She knew what the Logan in her head thought of Jean. Hell, she often found herself admiring the other woman's ass without realizing what she was doing at first, and if that wasn't embarrassing, she didn't know what was. Sure, the Logan in her head was also really protective of her, offered her good and practical advice sometimes, but he didn't think of her that way. She had a feeling she'd be doing a lot more self-gratification if he had. Her mirror never offered her the same tantalizing flashes of lust as Jean's body sometimes did, no matter how many times she tried to suppress the Logan in her head.
So she knew. There was no getting around Logan's attraction to Jean, no matter how intriguing Rogue herself found the man. He didn't look at her that way. After the initial mystery surrounding her acceptance at the School, no one, boy or man, had looked at her that way. Sometimes she wondered if she wasn't invisible.
“Hey, chica, what's wrong?”
Rogue looked up to see Jubilee standing next to her. She hadn't even noticed her friend approaching. She watched her sit next to her, and saw her placing a bare hand on her gloved one as if she were experiencing it from the outside.
“Ah just...Ah was thinking, you know, how Ah'm eighteen and yet not a single guy around here cares. Ah don't get the kind of looks you and Kitty and the others get. Ah'm just...all stifled and covered up all the time,” Rogue said with a sigh.
Jubilee's eyes actually gleamed at that. “You know, chica, I've tried to convince you that there are improvements which could be made to your wardrobe, but you've always resisted. If you want, I'm still willing to help you out with that.”
Rogue looked at her and gave a small smile. “You know, that might just help. Ah wasn't sure it was necessary before, but two years...well, it's a long time to be alone, you know?” Of course, Rogue didn't tell her friend that the reason she wanted to change had to do with Logan. She knew Jubilee's opinion on the matter. According to her, the man should be skinned alive for not even calling to say hi while he was gone or bothering to send a postcard or letter. No email, either. Yeah, whenever Rogue brought up the subject of Logan, Jubilee took great delight in referring to him in terms that Rogue knew her mama would probably have fainted to hear. Jubilee had been less than happy when Rogue was hanging out with Logan over the past two weeks, often shaking her head if she passed by them.
Jubilee was nodding enthusiastically. “Are you free now, Roguey? We could go to the mall.”
“Ah have a session with the Professor in a few minutes, but after that Ah'm free. Can you wait an hour or two?” Rogue asked, straightening on the bench and pushing her hair behind one ear.
Jubilee grinned. “For you, chica, anything.”
Rogue went to her control session with Professor Xavier feeling a renewed determination to master her skin. After almost an hour of intense meditation and telepathic scans, the Professor felt confident enough to allow Rogue to touch his bare hand with hers. The contact lasted for ten whole seconds before Rogue started to feel the pull, and even then she was able to rein it in, stopping the pull for a whole minute longer before she felt unable to hold it and drew her hand away. The Professor was very pleased with her, but Rogue made him promise not to say anything to anyone else. Yes, a minute of contact was improvement, one she had been steadily building up to for the past six months since her hormone levels had begun to balance in post-puberty, according to the specialist the Professor had consulted with, one Dr. Henry McCoy. However, it wasn't a prolonged period of contact, and that's what Rogue was after. She tried to keep her reasons firmly locked away where the Professor couldn't hear them, but she had no idea if she succeeded.
Jubilee was waiting for her outside of the Professor's office. She was kidnapped for the remainder of the afternoon by Jubilee and Kitty, both of whom were constantly throwing clothes at her with comments like “You'll practically be able to see your skin through this shirt, so make sure you wear this cami—look, it's got lace around the neckline!” or “Those jeans are so tight no one could miss that fine ass of yours, chica. Do a little twirl for us now!” It was so much exhilarating fun that Rogue wondered why she had dismissed the idea when Jubilee first mentioned it years ago, preferring instead to order online. Bah! No more of that for her!
Rogue also made a daring decision while they were out. She kept seeing her long hair, how it covered up so many of the cute tops she was purchasing. After another desperate attempt to restrain the heavy mass so that she could see how the top she was trying on fit, she told her friends that she was going to get it cut. This led to Jubilee and Kitty throwing all of their choices at the nearest cashier, along with a credit card, then Jubilee whisking her out the door in one direction and Kitty going in the other to drop their purchases off at the car. For two hours Rogue was pampered at the mall's salon. At the end of that time, her hair was short and she had been given very thorough lessons on how to improve her current make-up regimen, which was minimal at best. Looking at herself in the mirror, Rogue acknowledged the definite improvement and hugged her friends for the impromptu make-over. She couldn't wait to see reactions once she got back to the School, especially one reaction in particular.
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000
Author's Chapter Notes:
Rogue gets a makeover in an attempt to please Logan.
Chapter End Notes:
And yes, I stopped here on purpose. You love me, you know you do, so don't hurt me, okay? I promise more to come, maybe even tonight, so stay tuned.