Yvette, Logan - Wednesday

[x-penance.livejournal.com]

In response to Ororo's post, Logan finds Yvette in the woods.



New York was undergoing a heat-wave of sorts, and Logan was outside despite the heat - or perhaps because of it - training. Right now, training consisted of a heavy piece of taped-up rebar roughly in the shape of a sword being used in strikes, blocks, and deflections. He was wearing a pair of baggy jean shorts, sunglasses, and a rag tied over his head to keep the sun off. He'd been at it for an hour or so, and finally even his muscles were starting to complain. He dropped out of his ready stance and jammed the rebar into the ground, then reflexively sniffed the air as he contemplated a bottle of water.

Better make that two - Yvette was close-by and judging by her scent she was definitely on the jagged side of things. A quick trip into the kitchen to snag two bottles of water and a towel and Logan walked back outside, towelling his face off and heading for Yvette's hidey-hole.

Her trail led him into the small clearing in the woods where she'd met Paige, back after her first awakening at the school. Instead of huddling under something, however, the small girl was sitting hunched on a fallen log, protective socks and gloves off, as was her wont when she was away from people. She didn't notice his approach, so wrapped up in her own thoughts was she. Long gouges marked the wood of the log where her feet gripped it.

Logan cleared his throat noisily and uncapped one of the water bottles to take a deep drink. Yvette, given her skin, had to be -roasting- in this heat. Whatever she was on about, a trip down to Medical for heat exhaustion was probably unnecessary. At least she'd picked a shady spot to curl up in. "Hey, kid." he said in a friendly voice. "Thirsty?"

She started a little, and glanced over her shoulder at him. Where her eyes would normally blaze brighter in greeting, there was only the briefest flicker. "Yes," she replied, the slight hoarseness of her voice attesting to that. "Thank you, Mr. Logan. Are you for to be looking for me? I am sorry, if I am causing the worry."

"Nah. Was just working out outside." he said, drinking deeply from his own water bottle. "Helluva heat wave we've been having." So much so that he's been out and about for much of the time, barely spending any time at all in the Mansion. With Gar and Marie off canoodling in the Land of Castro and an unwashed horde of trainees mucking about the Mansion was low on his list of places he wanted to spend any significant time.

Pulling on a glove, Yvette reached for the water bottle Logan held out to her. "But..." she began, confused. Didn't he know? "You are not hearing the news, Mr. Logan?"

"Haven't been near a radio in a few days." he admitted. "Why?"

How could he not know? "Attilan, it is being gone," she said, stumbling over her words as her throat tightened even while her eyes remained dry. "After the party, something, it is happening. And there is the aeroplane crash..." Words failed her entirely then, and she dropped her head, shaking it from side to side in a denial of what Miss Munroe had posted on the journals. "~Forge was on the island, when it disappeared,~" she continued at last in Serbian, the language she could communicate with him better in. "~They don't know what happened, but the whole island has vanished. And Crystal and Medusa, they are presumed dead in the plane crash.~"


Logan stopped to ponder that. Personally, he didn't really give a toss either way, but Yvette was so distraught she was making his nose bleed. "~People die.~" he said after a long moment. "~The island may be gone, your friends with it, but they will live on forever in your memory. Do you think you can remember them, the good that you saw in them?~" he explained. "~Perhaps even make yourself a memento, something that represents them to you.~"

Yvette's hands clenched, the plastic of the water bottle buckling and water spilling everywhere. "~They're dead!~" she exclaimed, hurling the bottle away in a most un-Yvette-like display of anger and frustration. "~My friend and her sister are dead, and you want me to make crafts?! I only just found out, I still can't believe it! I can't even cry!~" Wood splintered under her feet as her body shook with dry sobs.

Logan just stood by and watched her sob. Life was tough and, if she was lucky, she wouldn't have too many other people die out from under her. "They are." he agreed. He had no idea what to do with Yvette right about then. He couldn't empathize with her much - he loathed the Attilani and the Maker was just a guy he worked with. No real personal feeling there. Finally, he got inspired. "Cry for your friends." he told her, offering her a hug despite the razor-sharp nature of her hide right then. He wasn't wearing a shirt anyway and the shorts were old. No great loss.

She couldn't cry - when her powers were this out of control, they prevented her - but she still uncurled from her position and moved into the hug without hesitation. Gone was her normal caution, her consideration of other people; all she wanted was to feel some kind of comfort.

Logan endured her skin cutting into his in order for her to not-cry herself out. Hurt like the dickens but pain was something he was used to handling. To be on the safe side he made a mental resolution to stock up on protein at dinner. His body'd need it to replenish the stores after healing this much muscle damage.

Eventually the shaking of her body eased. "Thank you," she said in a tiny voice. "I am sorry, to be yelling. It is not being your fault." She eased herself away, internally wincing at the cuts she'd left on him from her face and hair.

Once the blades were taken away the wounds closed in fairly short order. A good thing he wasn't a bleeder or both of them would be quite crimson by now. "You needed it." he said simply. "If you were a little older I'd suggest we go out for shots, but instead how's a dip in the pool sound? Be refreshing on a scorcher like today." he suggested.

She watched his wounds heal, feeling a little pang of guilt. "That... would be good," she said at last. He wasn't wrong about it being hot, and she had trouble telling how overheated she was when she was as armoured up as she was.

Logan looked over at Yvette - body-stocking should tolerate getting wet without traumatizing her and/or giving the Mansion a show they really didn't need. "Come on, kid. Let's go see if the outside pool's nice and cool like I think it is." he said, giving no inkling of what he truly had in mind.

Yvette nodded, pausing only to pull on her socks and gloves. "It is being very hot, yes," she agreed, trotting along beside him.

As soon as they got close enough to the deep end of the pool, Logan grinned and dove into the water, folding himself in such a way as to guarantee as much pool water as possible would splash back onto Yvette. He surfaced and tread water hard as he looked at the now-soaked mutant.

"Feels better, doesn't it?" he said with a laugh.

Yvette had squealed as the water hit her and now she looked down at Logan with a increased spark in her eyes. "Yes, it does," she replied, carefully sliding herself into the shallow end. It was a small thing, not being too hot, but it did make her feel a little better.

Maybe eventually other things would too.