Logan and Ororo | Tuesday afternoon

[x-storm.livejournal.com]

Ororo seeks out Logan with a peace offering and tries to make amends. It goes all right, until the end when things blow up again.

It had been nearly a week since Ororo had even seen Logan; the man was doing an excellent job of avoiding her and most of the other residents of the mansion, it seemed. Although she suspected all he probably wanted was to be left alone, she knew from experience that avoidance didn't work. This was why she found herself heading down the hallway to his room one afternoon, a six-pack of beer in one hand and one of Scott's patented Bad Movies in the other. This one was something about ninjas, she thought. Or time travel.

Luckily for Ororo, Logan did happen to be in. He was just sitting in his room, staring at his blank walls in seiza, seeking stillness and nothingness and failing miserably. He smelled her and the beers long before she got to his door, and despite himself he grinned just a little.

"Logan?" she asked, knocking at his door with the hand that held the movie. "I understand if you do not want to talk, but I thought I would offer my company all the same. I do not come empty-handed, if that helps at all."

Logan opened his eyes and then looked at his door. "It's open." he said grudgingly. "I can promise you I won't pin you to the wall if you promise not to try to kill me." he said, voice flat.

Ah, this is going to be enjoyable. 'Ro nudged open the door, stepping inside. "You have my solemn promise I am just here to see you," she said, smiling slightly at him. "And that is all."

Logan shot Ororo a _look_ but then gestured to one of his bog-standard chairs. "At least you brought beer. You were always a smart one." he said with a snort of amusement.

She set the aforementioned six-pack down next to him before taking the chair, one leg curled underneath her as she settled down. “I have not noticed you in the kitchen for some time; I thought you may be running low.”

"Don't do much of my drinking here these days." he said with a wry look. "Cleaner out there." he said, nodding towards the Great Outdoors. "Refreshingly free of bullshit. So what brings you out this way, 'Ro? Got something for me?" He wanted to say more - was about to, really, but he forced himself to bite the words back.

Ororo gave a little shrug, looking chagrined. “It depends on who you ask. Ororo-the-headmistress or teamleader would most likely spout something about morale. But Ororo-the-friend… she just missed you,” she admitted quietly.

"Ororo-the-headmistress shitcanned me for self-defense. She can fuck off and die. But Ororo-who-was-my-friend - yeah, okay. She's still cool." he said. "What's on the tape?"

“Ninjas. Or samurais. And really bad dubbing, I am sure,” she said, holding it out for him to look at. “Perhaps even a decapitation or two.” She tried to relax, glad that Logan was being honest but civil enough. For Logan.

Logan quirked an eyebrow. He could recognize a peace offering when he saw it (sometimes) and this had all the classic earmarks. "Have to watch that outside." he said, motioning to his completely undecorated bog-standard room. "No TV, no VCR." But he did take the tape and look over the label. "Kids like this one." he said as the air currents in the room wafted a smell from the tape.

“It is a ‘classic’, I believe they call it. Which means it is most likely extremely cheesy. You do not have to watch it, I only thought…” Ororo trailed off and then shrugged again. This was harder to put into words than she had anticipated. “Well. I thought it might amuse you.”

Logan shrugged. "One way to find out." he said. "Bring the beer. Let's go watch this thing." he said, standing up and moving out of his room to go find a TV and VCR to watch the tape with.

They ended up trekking to the rec room to watch the tape – luckily it was a beautiful day outside and not many students were hanging around indoors. Those that were loitering in the rec room soon cleared out as Logan and Ororo entered. Maybe it was the look on Logan’s face that sent them scattering, or just the fact that the headmistress was carrying a six-pack of beer, but whatever the case, they were soon alone in the room.

“Well,” Ororo said, popping the tape into the VCR and hitting ‘play’, “let’s see how bad this truly is.”

"Never been much of one for TV." he said dubiously as the credits rolled. Once the first fight scene happened, with gushing bouts of very fake blood and people's limbs getting lopped off everywhere, Logan did a something almost unLogan-like.

He smiled.

Midway through a sip of her beer, Ororo glanced over just in time to see Logan crack a smile. The atmosphere in the room, which had been rather tense still, relaxed considerably, and she shifted to sit a little closer to him.

Logan shot her something of a warning look, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he took a swallow of his beer and watched the next comical mass slaying scene. "You were right." he said after he swallowed. "This is really bad."

“I am glad you think so,” she murmured. “I can leave you to watch it alone, if you like…”
"I'm still not happy with you, 'Ro." he told her softly. Then he laughed at the antics and goings-on of the film. "Blood spatter doesn't work that way." he told the television.

She waited until he had stopped laughing to speak. “I was hoping that you of all people would understand doing something because you want to, and doing something because you must. Every day I make decisions that affect my friends, but I cannot let that color my actions. I did what I had to do, Logan.”

"I know why you did it." he growled in response, then returned his attentions to the beer and the very bad movie on the television. "You couldn't find a way to save face, could you?" he muttered to no one in particular.

“Is that what you think that was?” Ororo asked, trying not to let him rile her. “Any member of the staff who behaved as you did would’ve faced the same repercussions. It was only saving face in the sense that if I did not do it, you would have been getting preferential treatment.”

"Bullshit." he said without any real heat.

“No, Logan,” she said calmly. “It is not. I am not lying to you. It was not an easy thing to do, and I do not want you to think I was happy about it. But I will stand by it, because that is my job.” Even if it costs me a friendship. I want a new job.
"Oh." he said. "You're not happy about it. That just makes _everything_ better." he said, then sighed. "Forget it, 'Ro. Wrong place, wrong time." He turned back to the movie, tried to get back into it, to enjoy the comedic ultraviolence.

With a sigh Ororo settled back on the couch, barely watching the movie. She hadn’t been naïve enough to think he would just forgive her on the spot, but he didn’t even seem to be listening to what she said. It was frustrating and ultimately a bit disheartening; she tried not to let it show.

He sat there, sipping his beer, not even trying to pay attention to the movie, and smelled Ororo's frustration. He could practically -taste- it. And it saddened him that _he couldn't get through to her_. To make her understand what she'd done to him. What she'd taken from him far beyond just the job.

She'd taken his _meaning_. His pride of purpose. He could take those kids and _teach them something_. Make them more than what they were. Make them _better_. And now he couldn't, because a spoiled little rich girl got on his last nerve and he'd had the audacity to call her on her bullshit. When she attacked him, he'd defended himself.
Nonviolently.

And he couldn't explain it to her. Make her see it, see how she'd cut out a major chunk of why he was still here. Now all he had to tie himself to this place, to the team, was a slender little Mississippi river rat with deep issues.

It was her call to make and she made it. He was just going to have to live with it.

Somehow.

The movie rolled on, getting progressively more inane and bloody as it went. Ororo finished her beer but didn’t have much stomach for another, so she let them sit. Thankfully it was a short movie, and she sat up as soon as the Japanese credits began. “Well. I suppose I will be going back to work,” she announced.

"You should do that." Logan agreed, snagging another beer from the six Ororo had brought with her. "Since you don't trust me with the kids I think I'll just head down to Harry's." he mused out loud. "Maybe go for a bike ride after. Should be back in time for dinner."

Ororo stopped in her tracks, turning slowly to face Logan once again. This is not the time for an argument, she cautioned herself. “You can blame me if you like, Logan,” she said calmly. “It will not be the first time I have been made to feel guilty over doing my job. But I did come here today to try and begin mending things between us.”

Logan thought that over for a moment. "In order to mend things between us I'd have to know that you regret what you did. Or that you even _knew_ what you'd done." he said, then got to his feet. "I don't piss on what you do with your life. Headmistress, X-Man, whatever. Doesn't matter. So why'd you do it to me?" he asked her.

“Because you left me no choice,” she stated, shaking her head. “Can’t you see that, Logan? It was not just the incident in the gym… both Crystal and Medusa reported that you were rude to them in and outside of class, saying things which no teacher should ever say to a student, no matter how ‘stuck up’ they are. I know what I did, Logan, and I did not like doing it, but I will stand by my decision. There is nothing else I can do.”

"There's always a choice." he said sadly. "If we were harder on these kids, maybe we'd have less chaos and mayhem around here." he snapped, then sighed. "And discipline is something teachers don't say to students now? Is that how things are here?"

“Telling a student she has a ‘stick up her ass’ does not fall into the range of discipline, Logan. It falls into the range of inappropriate comments that would get you fired, and worse, at any other school. Perhaps you ought to think about that before you accuse me of unfair behavior.”

Logan, never having attended school to his memory, shrugged that one off. "No wonder the world's going to Hell." he grumbled. "Look, 'Ro. I appreciate the beer and the effort. It's just gonna take time."

Nodding, Ororo crossed her arms over her chest. "Very well. I suppose we will just have to wait and see what happens, then." Wonderful. Now my job is really starting to interfere with my personal life. I wonder if that is healthy. "I would like to talk to you anytime, Logan. Whenever you like."

Logan nodded to that. "Good. And someday, I will." he promised. "For right now, I gotta figure out what the hell I'm gonna do around here." he said.

"Watch more ninja movies. Scott has plenty," she said with a small smile.

"Watch more ninja movies." he said flatly. "Right." And then he climbed to his feet, put the beer down, and left Ororo there in the lounge by herself.

Way to go, Munroe, Ororo thought, watching Logan stalk from the room. Surpressing a groan, she picked up the bottles, popped the VHS from the player, and after giving Logan plenty of time to go wherever he was going, headed for her office. She made a mental note to talk to Marie; obviously talking to Logan wasn't going to work at this point in time. I really hate my job.