Logan and Yvette - Welcome Back!

[x-wolverine.livejournal.com]

Logan's just looking for something to drink when the Apple Ninja ambushes him.



Logan, fresh from his meeting with Chuck, headed into the kitchen looking for something cold and wet to drink. That meeting wasn't fun but it was productive. Even if nothing had been decided quite yet. What he really wanted was a beer but that wasn't likely in the common kitchen. So maybe they'd have some root beer or something like that. At least it hadn't changed all that much - still cavernous, still something of a well-organized mess.

The back door opened as he entered, with a slight pause punctuated by the sound of someone scraping their feet on the doormat. The figure that entered hadn't changed overmuch - she was still small, her skin was still dark red, her hair still hanging in those stiff ringlets that signalled she was reasonbly emotionally calm - but when Yvette saw Logan standing there she did something extremely uncharacteristic for her. With a squeal of delight (echoed by the brilliant flash of blue light from her eyes) she raced across the kitchen and flung herself into his arms. "Mr. Logan! You came back!"

Logan grunted as Yvette threw herself into his arms. He caught her - of course - and the shredded clothes and minor puncture wounds were, in his estimation, more than worth it. "Hey, kid." he said with a surprised laugh. "Oof. Easy, kid." he said, hugging her tight and ignoring the hot lines of pain as her flesh dug into his painfully.

"I am missing you," she murmured, arms wrapped tightly around his neck - fortunately, those were still covered by her body suit. "But you are back, yes? And you are being better?" She seemed to remember her dignity then - she was sixteen, after all - and loosened her hold to let herself down.

Logan let her down and waited for his body to heal up the punctures and cuts. They weren't too bad and thanks to his tendency to not bleed he didn't have a mess on his hands to contend with. His shirt, however, had definitely seen better days. "Missed you too, kiddo." he said with another smile. "And yeah, I think so." he said regarding his mental health. "How have you been?" he asked.

"I have been, how you say? Up and down. There has been the good things and the bad things. But I am not hiding under the bed any more when there is bad, yes?" She reached out and fingered a tattered shred of his shirt. "Oops. I will be getting you the new shirt." Her tone was apologetic, but not as striken as she might have been once.

"It died for a good cause. Don't worry about it." he said with a smile, reaching over the ruffle her hair - and give himself another series of cuts for his troubles. "And I'm glad you're not hiding anymore." he told her sincerely. "Heard things have been exciting while I was away." he commented. To say the least. "Heard you got caught up in that New York mess."

It spoke volumes that Yvette didn't flinch away when Logan ruffled her hair. She nodded at his words. "Yes. We were on the new Mutants field trip and were being stuck. But we were able to keep everyone together and safe, even when the Famine person attacked us." Her eyes clouded a little at the memory. "We were dropping the billboard on her, but I do not know what happened to her."

Interesting. "Proud of you, kid. You and your buddies kept your heads and took care of business in a very hairy situation." he told her. "I'm sorry I wasn't here." he said with a helpless little shrug. Not that he was in any condition to help even if he had been around, but he still felt guilty for not being there anyway.

"But you are here now, yes?" she replied, with a smile. "And yes, the training, it is helping. It is... good, to be part of a group. Not so lonely. And there are many new students now, more my age."

Logan just nodded to that. He turned back to the fridge for a moment and pulled out a pair of apples. He tossed one to her, then eyed his speculatively. "Think the Apple Ninja can peel this for me?" he asked. "My claws are too big to get neat cuts." Yes, he'd heard about her tendency to feed people fruit.

She giggled. "People have been talking, yes?" she replied, setting her apple down to peel off her glove and take his. "I am helping in the kitchen many times, too, getting the practice. And when Kevin was here, I helped him with the sculpture." Her face fell a little. "There are many people who have been leaving, also. Kevin, he had to leave for his powers."

"Happens, kid. Not everyone gets a grip right away. Look at Marie. Been here for years, still working on hers." he said. There were times he was grateful that his power was unconscious and automatic. This was one of those times. "And yeah, people talk."

"It helps to be having the super-ears, yes?" she teased a little as she peeled. Apple peel unspooled in a long unbroken line to the floor and she handed a perfectly-peeled apple back to Logan. "I have been practicing with my powers. It is not so easy to turn them off, but they are much more useful than I was thinking." She paused a little, and then went on, almost shyly. "And when I am seventeen, I want to be joining the X-Men."

"Are you?" he said with a tolerably amused look. "And why would you want to do that? It's dangerous, kid." he told her. "Scary, too."

"Because I can help," Yvette replied, squaring her shoulders slightly and looking Logan in the eye. "My powers, they make me hard to be hurt, and I can use them to help other people. And I want to do this thing. I can do this thing."

He looked into her glowing eyes and then nodded. "Okay." he said. "Assuming I don't lose it again I should be around." he said with a small smile for her, then took a bite of his peeled apple. "Good job on the peel." he told her. "Very smooth."

"I have the good teacher," she replied with an answering smile.