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xp_logs2006-05-04 03:30 am
x-traction.livejournal.com) wrote in xp_logs2006-05-04 03:30 am
Logan and Marie, the hour of the wolf
Logan and Marie meet unexpectedly in the gym when every sane person should be asleep. They explore the tension between them and a sparring match ensues; surprisingly, things seem better in the end.
Marie awoke with a start. She still had trouble sleeping sometimes. It was too...quiet. Looking at her clock, she groaned. No other sane person would be awake at this hour. Of course, she realized, that meant the gym would be empty. Rolling out of bed, she threw on her workout gear and slung her yoga mat over her back. She flew slowly to the gym, taking the time to begin her breathing exercises.
Logan went through two phases when he was stressed - either he'd want to sleep constantly, or he wouldn't sleep for days. He was currently in the latter phase of things, and working out his excess of energy down in the Gym. Since it was the hour of the wolf, or close enough to it, he was dressed just in a pair of Institute sweats. Right now it was cardio - more specifically, jumping rope. He was coming up fast on a thousand and he thought he'd do another thousand before going back to the heavy bag.
Opening the door to the gym, Marie heard a noise. Flying in to take a closer look, her eyes widened. Of course the only other person awake at this hour would be Logan. She considered leaving...she was fairly certain he hadn't sensed her yet. Sighing, she realized how childish that would be. And worse, it would start a precedent of avoidance...and while that might be what she wanted now, she hoped it wouldn't always be like that. "Hey" she said softly.
Logan didn't break the rhythm of his rope-work, to his credit. "Hey." he said, blinking away some sweat out of his eyes. "You're up late."
"Or early, depending on how y' look at it." Setting up her mat, she glanced over at him. "So are you."
"Don't need much sleep." he said, reiterating what they both already knew. She had, after all, _been_ him for a little while. "Little peace and quiet'd do us all a world of good."
Insert awkward silence here, she thought. Trying to come up with something else to say and failing, she instead opted to begin going through her asanas.
He remembered her near-maniacal devotion to meditation. Remembered it well, in that it usually came up at the damndest time. Usually when he ... nope. Don't go there, Logan. You're not taking advantage of a little girl you protected anymore. That part of your life is over and done with now. He finished out his thousand skips, but for some reason didn't start the second thousand like he was originally going to.
Instead, he walked over to where she sat in meditation and joined her, sitting in seiza and closing his eyes to focus just on his own breathing.
Though her eyes were closed, she was aware of Logan's movements. She used to look forward to working out with him every morning. He always pushed her to limits; even with meditation, he always seemed to have something to teach her.
Shifting positions, she covertly opened her eyes and looked at him. A wash of memories overcame her as she thought back on all the good times that had shared together. How could they have been so close only to feel so far away now?
Logan could smell everything about Marie. What she'd had for dinner, that her cycle was getting close, that she'd switched shampoos recently. She was intoxicating - but so were most poisons. If she hadn't been a student, a student _under his care_, he wouldn't have a problem. But she was - even after she was upjumped, they all knew what the real score was - and he'd taken advantage of her. Of her, and of her power. It made him sick now to think of it.
It wasn't as though she hadn't been warned. Marie was now lost in her thoughts and moved through her asanas without thinking about them. She had known it was dangerous to get involved with Logan. He was so much older...but it wasn't really the age, now was it? She had just always known that there were certain things she wouldn't be able to give him, not fully. Things he wanted...things he deserved. Damnit, things she deserved. As her focus on the here and now waned, she began floating while she completed her meditation routine.
Logan felt the gentle wash of displaced air, and without opening his eyes reached out a hand to snag her and pull her down to earth. Just as he'd done a hundred times before in Ottawa. "Yer floatin' again, Em." he said with an amused smile. "Let gravity do its job."
Jarred from her thoughts, Marie opened her eyes. "Whoops. Still happens sometimes." Concentrating, she lowered herself gently to the ground, trying to ignore the way Logan's touch made her feel. Why did she still have to care for him? It would be so much easier if she didn't, but she somehow doubted that would ever happen. She knew that one day everything would be ok between them, but she just wished she knew when that was going to be. Standing up, she looked around, trying to decide what to do next.
Logan opened his eyes and unfolded back to his feet easily. "You lookin' for a workout, kid?" he asked her like it was no big thing.
Caught of guard, Marie stammered "Y...y..yeah, Ah guess Ah am." She took a deep breath to regain her composure. "You up for the challenge?"
"Always." he said, and meant it. Besides, going a few rounds with Em might ... maybe ... curb his desire for an entirely different sort of physical activity. "Rules?"
Marie glanced around the gym, debating what to decide on. Looking down at her hands, she noted that they had clenched. "Lets keep it simple. You and me, hand to hand combat. Just watch the claws." She eyed his hands, remembering the first time she had seen his claws pop out. 'Does that hurt?' What a silly question to have asked. "Safety words, just in case," she added, knowing that he would never use one.
"Fine." he said, nodding in remembrance. "Your usual word?" he asked as he rolled his neck to the cascade of metallic popping noises. Precautions were good. Precautions kept things safe.
Nodding, she placed her feet shoulder width apart. Looking down at herself, she noticed that her skin wasn't completely covered in several areas. Well, she hadn't expected to run into anyone. At least she had her gloves on. "Watch the skin." she warned. She knew he knew. Knew what would happen right now, if she started absorbing someone and wasn't ready for it...but she still felt the need to say it, hear it herself. Bringing her arms up, she waited for Logan to make the first move.
Logan nodded. He'd already made a note of her uncovered areas and resolved to stay far, far away from those. He feinted with his right hand then rocketed a punch to her jaw with his left. She was quick, but she'd been spending a lot of time with that hippie Twoyoungmen and not keeping up on her hand-to-hand.
Damn that smarted. She was careful not to let it show on her face. At least he wasn't going soft on her...she couldn't stand it when people took it easy on her. Pushing off the ground, she flipped over him, using her momentum to propel her right leg soundly into his back. No time to think, just act and react...that’s what Logan always said.
Logan twisted to blunt most of Marie's kick, and then it was _on_. Full-bore sparring, each of them giving and getting hits that would pulp most normal folks. He amused himself by treating her head like a bag on a spring - punch it, let it spring back into place, then do it again. And again. She still had it, and it made him absurdly proud of her that she'd kept it after all this time.
Her hair had begun coming out of the ponytail she had secured it in this morning. Blowing a white wisp of hair out of her face, she continued to defend herself. And not just defend...she was landing a good amount of punches and kicks herself. Of course, she didn't have that nice healing factor kicking in to help her out. How far she'd come from that first day she had met Logan...she would've cried at the thought of something like this. She was so much stronger now...and not just physically. Now if she could just get a chance to use her full strength, she might earn a short respite to catch her breath. She saw an opening and went for it, punching as hard as she could and hoping it would send Logan flying ten or twenty feet.
Logan indeed went flying just as Marie had intended. But he was back on his feet in a flash and charging back into the fray as fast as he could possibly move. He wasn't as fast as she was, nor as durable, nor could he fly. But he was a devious sonofabitch with a whole lot of hurtin' under the hood. She was breathing heavy? Fine by him. He opened up with a hard shot to her solar plexus, then switched tactics entirely, looking to entwine his unbreakable bones around her and force her down to the ground and bent into directions her joints didn't want to bend in.
She hadn't realized how much she had missed sparring with Logan. She didn't feel like this when she fought with anyone else...it was invigorating. Of course, she needed to figure out a way to breathe with him holding her like that. She needed to get him off her before he managed to wrap himself completely around her. I wonder if...not finishing the thought, she launched upwards and began smashing Logan into the ceiling. She couldn't believe how light Logan felt...flying while he was attached didn't feel much different than flying with a heavy winter coat on.
Logan tightened the hold, then shifted to add a strangle to it as well. Her windpipe, like the rest of her, was superstrong but he wasn't exactly a cupcake either. Getting bashed against the ceiling was really, really starting to get old, plus it hurt. A lot. A good sort of pain, but still.
After hitting him against the ceiling a few more time, Rogue realized she needed to switch tactics. She needed him off of her before he completely cut off her oxygen supply. Changing strategies, she begin to spin in the air while landing as many punches and kicks as she could.
He limpeted as tightly as he could against her body, grateful that his bare upper body was against her fully-clothed upper body. So long as he didn't graze her arms, they'd both be fine. He tightened the choke and closed his eyes, trying not to throw up.
The feel of Logan close against her startled her and she tensed momentarily. They said fighting was like dancing...it was also like something much more intimate. Snapping her mind back into focus on the task at hand, Marie began an internal chant to motivate herself. She could do this. While rotating, she began doing figure eights in the air.
Logan leaned in close to Marie's ear, then blew air across it. "Quite a ride, darlin'." he told her, then surged with all his strength, putting everything he had straight across her windpipe. It was now or nothing time.
She would not let him do this. She was winning this battle. She pried his arms off of her throat and took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the much needed oxygen. "Not so fast, sugah."
Damn. She broke his hold. Superstrength, he decided, really sucked sometimes. So he flipped up and over her, using his arm - and his now-shredded arm tendons - as a lever to throw her across the room with.
Well that was unexpected. While she had better control over flying ability, it was still harder for her to regain control when an outside force imposed a direction on her. Concentrating on slowing her rate of speed, she shifted her legs to kick off the wall behind her and flip to a resting state in the air. Watching Logan get re-accustomed to the laws of gravity, she couldn't help letting a smile escape as she wondered if he would land on his feet like a cat...and knowing how much he would hate the comparison.
Logan landed almost perfectly, with only a slight stumble to betray him. He held his one arm up while his body reknitted the tendons and got things back into the fat-and-happy range of operations. "Not bad, kid." he said with a grudging respect. "Had enough?"
"Why? Have you?" Stifling a yawn, she hoped he would say yes. She didn't want to be the first to back down...but she was starting to feel tired.
Logan grinned. "You know me, I'm just getting warmed up." he said, not entirely truthfully. Truth be told, parts of his still hurt a little and hadn't healed completely from her attacks. "But some rack time'd be nice."
Slowly lowering herself, she landed softly and began stretching her muscles. She would hate to be more sore than absolutely necessary from this fight.
Logan didn't usually need to stretch down, but he did it anyway tonight. He hadn't been pushed like that since he'd returned to the States, and it was _glorious_. He felt better than he had in weeks. "You OK?" he asked as they both stretched. In the past, in the times Logan tried very hard not to think about too much, this was usually the time they'd go tumble madly into bed together. But that was _not happening_. Not tonight, not tomorrow, not ever again.
"Yeah...Ah just haven't had a workout like that since..." trailing off, she didn't finish the sentence, knowing he would be able to. "It felt good." She watched Logan stretch, admiring the way his muscles looked. He did always look damn fine without a shirt on. Mentally shaking a finger at herself, she looked away. "Anytime you want a sparring partner, y' just have to ask."
Logan nodded, not exactly trusting his voice right then. "Think I'll head up, take a shower, then catch some Zs." He wrinkled his nose in what Marie had long-ago come to realize as Logan-ese for "We stink."
She nodded at him, turning to go. Another change from the past...separate rooms and separate showers. But at least now she felt like she would be able to sleep. She glanced over her shoulder to get one more glimpse at him before leaving. Again, the nagging thought...when would things be right between them? At least now it seemed closer, tangible as opposed to a far off dream.
Logan let her go first out the door - firstly, because it was the polite thing to do, and secondly because he couldn't resist an opportunity to check her out one more time before he hit his bunk.
Marie awoke with a start. She still had trouble sleeping sometimes. It was too...quiet. Looking at her clock, she groaned. No other sane person would be awake at this hour. Of course, she realized, that meant the gym would be empty. Rolling out of bed, she threw on her workout gear and slung her yoga mat over her back. She flew slowly to the gym, taking the time to begin her breathing exercises.
Logan went through two phases when he was stressed - either he'd want to sleep constantly, or he wouldn't sleep for days. He was currently in the latter phase of things, and working out his excess of energy down in the Gym. Since it was the hour of the wolf, or close enough to it, he was dressed just in a pair of Institute sweats. Right now it was cardio - more specifically, jumping rope. He was coming up fast on a thousand and he thought he'd do another thousand before going back to the heavy bag.
Opening the door to the gym, Marie heard a noise. Flying in to take a closer look, her eyes widened. Of course the only other person awake at this hour would be Logan. She considered leaving...she was fairly certain he hadn't sensed her yet. Sighing, she realized how childish that would be. And worse, it would start a precedent of avoidance...and while that might be what she wanted now, she hoped it wouldn't always be like that. "Hey" she said softly.
Logan didn't break the rhythm of his rope-work, to his credit. "Hey." he said, blinking away some sweat out of his eyes. "You're up late."
"Or early, depending on how y' look at it." Setting up her mat, she glanced over at him. "So are you."
"Don't need much sleep." he said, reiterating what they both already knew. She had, after all, _been_ him for a little while. "Little peace and quiet'd do us all a world of good."
Insert awkward silence here, she thought. Trying to come up with something else to say and failing, she instead opted to begin going through her asanas.
He remembered her near-maniacal devotion to meditation. Remembered it well, in that it usually came up at the damndest time. Usually when he ... nope. Don't go there, Logan. You're not taking advantage of a little girl you protected anymore. That part of your life is over and done with now. He finished out his thousand skips, but for some reason didn't start the second thousand like he was originally going to.
Instead, he walked over to where she sat in meditation and joined her, sitting in seiza and closing his eyes to focus just on his own breathing.
Though her eyes were closed, she was aware of Logan's movements. She used to look forward to working out with him every morning. He always pushed her to limits; even with meditation, he always seemed to have something to teach her.
Shifting positions, she covertly opened her eyes and looked at him. A wash of memories overcame her as she thought back on all the good times that had shared together. How could they have been so close only to feel so far away now?
Logan could smell everything about Marie. What she'd had for dinner, that her cycle was getting close, that she'd switched shampoos recently. She was intoxicating - but so were most poisons. If she hadn't been a student, a student _under his care_, he wouldn't have a problem. But she was - even after she was upjumped, they all knew what the real score was - and he'd taken advantage of her. Of her, and of her power. It made him sick now to think of it.
It wasn't as though she hadn't been warned. Marie was now lost in her thoughts and moved through her asanas without thinking about them. She had known it was dangerous to get involved with Logan. He was so much older...but it wasn't really the age, now was it? She had just always known that there were certain things she wouldn't be able to give him, not fully. Things he wanted...things he deserved. Damnit, things she deserved. As her focus on the here and now waned, she began floating while she completed her meditation routine.
Logan felt the gentle wash of displaced air, and without opening his eyes reached out a hand to snag her and pull her down to earth. Just as he'd done a hundred times before in Ottawa. "Yer floatin' again, Em." he said with an amused smile. "Let gravity do its job."
Jarred from her thoughts, Marie opened her eyes. "Whoops. Still happens sometimes." Concentrating, she lowered herself gently to the ground, trying to ignore the way Logan's touch made her feel. Why did she still have to care for him? It would be so much easier if she didn't, but she somehow doubted that would ever happen. She knew that one day everything would be ok between them, but she just wished she knew when that was going to be. Standing up, she looked around, trying to decide what to do next.
Logan opened his eyes and unfolded back to his feet easily. "You lookin' for a workout, kid?" he asked her like it was no big thing.
Caught of guard, Marie stammered "Y...y..yeah, Ah guess Ah am." She took a deep breath to regain her composure. "You up for the challenge?"
"Always." he said, and meant it. Besides, going a few rounds with Em might ... maybe ... curb his desire for an entirely different sort of physical activity. "Rules?"
Marie glanced around the gym, debating what to decide on. Looking down at her hands, she noted that they had clenched. "Lets keep it simple. You and me, hand to hand combat. Just watch the claws." She eyed his hands, remembering the first time she had seen his claws pop out. 'Does that hurt?' What a silly question to have asked. "Safety words, just in case," she added, knowing that he would never use one.
"Fine." he said, nodding in remembrance. "Your usual word?" he asked as he rolled his neck to the cascade of metallic popping noises. Precautions were good. Precautions kept things safe.
Nodding, she placed her feet shoulder width apart. Looking down at herself, she noticed that her skin wasn't completely covered in several areas. Well, she hadn't expected to run into anyone. At least she had her gloves on. "Watch the skin." she warned. She knew he knew. Knew what would happen right now, if she started absorbing someone and wasn't ready for it...but she still felt the need to say it, hear it herself. Bringing her arms up, she waited for Logan to make the first move.
Logan nodded. He'd already made a note of her uncovered areas and resolved to stay far, far away from those. He feinted with his right hand then rocketed a punch to her jaw with his left. She was quick, but she'd been spending a lot of time with that hippie Twoyoungmen and not keeping up on her hand-to-hand.
Damn that smarted. She was careful not to let it show on her face. At least he wasn't going soft on her...she couldn't stand it when people took it easy on her. Pushing off the ground, she flipped over him, using her momentum to propel her right leg soundly into his back. No time to think, just act and react...that’s what Logan always said.
Logan twisted to blunt most of Marie's kick, and then it was _on_. Full-bore sparring, each of them giving and getting hits that would pulp most normal folks. He amused himself by treating her head like a bag on a spring - punch it, let it spring back into place, then do it again. And again. She still had it, and it made him absurdly proud of her that she'd kept it after all this time.
Her hair had begun coming out of the ponytail she had secured it in this morning. Blowing a white wisp of hair out of her face, she continued to defend herself. And not just defend...she was landing a good amount of punches and kicks herself. Of course, she didn't have that nice healing factor kicking in to help her out. How far she'd come from that first day she had met Logan...she would've cried at the thought of something like this. She was so much stronger now...and not just physically. Now if she could just get a chance to use her full strength, she might earn a short respite to catch her breath. She saw an opening and went for it, punching as hard as she could and hoping it would send Logan flying ten or twenty feet.
Logan indeed went flying just as Marie had intended. But he was back on his feet in a flash and charging back into the fray as fast as he could possibly move. He wasn't as fast as she was, nor as durable, nor could he fly. But he was a devious sonofabitch with a whole lot of hurtin' under the hood. She was breathing heavy? Fine by him. He opened up with a hard shot to her solar plexus, then switched tactics entirely, looking to entwine his unbreakable bones around her and force her down to the ground and bent into directions her joints didn't want to bend in.
She hadn't realized how much she had missed sparring with Logan. She didn't feel like this when she fought with anyone else...it was invigorating. Of course, she needed to figure out a way to breathe with him holding her like that. She needed to get him off her before he managed to wrap himself completely around her. I wonder if...not finishing the thought, she launched upwards and began smashing Logan into the ceiling. She couldn't believe how light Logan felt...flying while he was attached didn't feel much different than flying with a heavy winter coat on.
Logan tightened the hold, then shifted to add a strangle to it as well. Her windpipe, like the rest of her, was superstrong but he wasn't exactly a cupcake either. Getting bashed against the ceiling was really, really starting to get old, plus it hurt. A lot. A good sort of pain, but still.
After hitting him against the ceiling a few more time, Rogue realized she needed to switch tactics. She needed him off of her before he completely cut off her oxygen supply. Changing strategies, she begin to spin in the air while landing as many punches and kicks as she could.
He limpeted as tightly as he could against her body, grateful that his bare upper body was against her fully-clothed upper body. So long as he didn't graze her arms, they'd both be fine. He tightened the choke and closed his eyes, trying not to throw up.
The feel of Logan close against her startled her and she tensed momentarily. They said fighting was like dancing...it was also like something much more intimate. Snapping her mind back into focus on the task at hand, Marie began an internal chant to motivate herself. She could do this. While rotating, she began doing figure eights in the air.
Logan leaned in close to Marie's ear, then blew air across it. "Quite a ride, darlin'." he told her, then surged with all his strength, putting everything he had straight across her windpipe. It was now or nothing time.
She would not let him do this. She was winning this battle. She pried his arms off of her throat and took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the much needed oxygen. "Not so fast, sugah."
Damn. She broke his hold. Superstrength, he decided, really sucked sometimes. So he flipped up and over her, using his arm - and his now-shredded arm tendons - as a lever to throw her across the room with.
Well that was unexpected. While she had better control over flying ability, it was still harder for her to regain control when an outside force imposed a direction on her. Concentrating on slowing her rate of speed, she shifted her legs to kick off the wall behind her and flip to a resting state in the air. Watching Logan get re-accustomed to the laws of gravity, she couldn't help letting a smile escape as she wondered if he would land on his feet like a cat...and knowing how much he would hate the comparison.
Logan landed almost perfectly, with only a slight stumble to betray him. He held his one arm up while his body reknitted the tendons and got things back into the fat-and-happy range of operations. "Not bad, kid." he said with a grudging respect. "Had enough?"
"Why? Have you?" Stifling a yawn, she hoped he would say yes. She didn't want to be the first to back down...but she was starting to feel tired.
Logan grinned. "You know me, I'm just getting warmed up." he said, not entirely truthfully. Truth be told, parts of his still hurt a little and hadn't healed completely from her attacks. "But some rack time'd be nice."
Slowly lowering herself, she landed softly and began stretching her muscles. She would hate to be more sore than absolutely necessary from this fight.
Logan didn't usually need to stretch down, but he did it anyway tonight. He hadn't been pushed like that since he'd returned to the States, and it was _glorious_. He felt better than he had in weeks. "You OK?" he asked as they both stretched. In the past, in the times Logan tried very hard not to think about too much, this was usually the time they'd go tumble madly into bed together. But that was _not happening_. Not tonight, not tomorrow, not ever again.
"Yeah...Ah just haven't had a workout like that since..." trailing off, she didn't finish the sentence, knowing he would be able to. "It felt good." She watched Logan stretch, admiring the way his muscles looked. He did always look damn fine without a shirt on. Mentally shaking a finger at herself, she looked away. "Anytime you want a sparring partner, y' just have to ask."
Logan nodded, not exactly trusting his voice right then. "Think I'll head up, take a shower, then catch some Zs." He wrinkled his nose in what Marie had long-ago come to realize as Logan-ese for "We stink."
She nodded at him, turning to go. Another change from the past...separate rooms and separate showers. But at least now she felt like she would be able to sleep. She glanced over her shoulder to get one more glimpse at him before leaving. Again, the nagging thought...when would things be right between them? At least now it seemed closer, tangible as opposed to a far off dream.
Logan let her go first out the door - firstly, because it was the polite thing to do, and secondly because he couldn't resist an opportunity to check her out one more time before he hit his bunk.