[Logan, Marie, & Nathan] What can I tell you?

[x-rogue.livejournal.com]

Marie and Logan discuss further the possible repercussions of what she'd planned and she learns about the real danger of having Manuel in her head. Nathan comes by to drop off Marie's gift and then departs. A few more apologies are made and the issue is resolved.


Marie was curled up in her chair, wrapped in one of Logan's flannel shirts, reading something on her laptop. She'd been almost silent all evening, speaking only when spoken to, but something from earlier in the day nagged at her and finally, she closed the computer and looked up.

"Logan?"

Logan had been reading the same page for ten minutes, but really he'd been watching Marie the whole time. "We" just didn't seem interesting, tonight. He started at the sound of her voice, blinking. "Yeah, baby?"

"What did you mean, that if I had Manny in my head, I'd kill you?"

He closed his book, putting it carefully on the table between them, and turned a bit to face her more fully. "I've only met the kid once," Logan started, and he was quiet for another long moment. "I gotta stay away from 'im." Again, silence. "There's...somethin' in me, always angry, always wantin' t'kill. It makes 'im angry, too, an' he can't control it. Th'longer I stood there, the more pissed off he got, and the more he wanted t'hurt me, I think, t'kill me." He met her eyes. "He can't kill me. You can."

Marie listened to what he had to say and then was silent a while, looking back at him while she turned it over in her head. She put her computer aside and left her chair, crawling into his lap and winding her fingers in his shirt. "...guess it's a good thing I talked to you first then," she said very softly, closing her eyes and pressing against him. The last thing she wanted in her head was something that might do him harm.

Logan wrapped his arms around her and held her close. His response didn't come in words, but in the way he stroked her hair and brushed his lips over the rim of her ear, the way he breathed in her scent and relaxed beneath her.

Marie closed her eyes and listened to his heart for a long time, letting his warmth dispel the chill that had crept over her with the understanding of the dynamic that having Manny in her might induce. There was nothing to do tonight, nowhere to go, and she was grateful for it and for the peace between them again that she so often took for granted.

-----

Nathan eyed the door to room 324 for a moment, thoughtfully. He wasn't sensing anything that made him thought he would be interrupting something, but perhaps it would be better to wait until she was back in her own suite?

He glanced down at the wrapped package he was carrying. It was hardly perishable, after all. Yet he had been intending to give it to her since Monday night... He raised a hand and knocked. "Marie?" he called hesitantly. "It's Nathan."

Logan looked up just a second before the knock. Nathan spoke, and he murmured, "We've got comp'ny, baby." Stroking her hair, he asked, "D'you wanna go talk to 'im?"

Marie nodded and she uncurled from Logan's lap and went to answer the door. "Hi there, come on in." She looked more tired than usual today, but she smiled up at Nathan warmly.

Nathan tilted his head as he looked down at her, trying not to frown. "I didn't mean to disturb you," he said quietly, stepping into the room. He saw Logan and nodded. "But like I said, I brought you something back from Lake George." He proffered the square package a bit sheepishly.

Logan nodded at Nathan, moving to stand a few steps behind Marie, out of the way, but hovering. He didn't seem uncomfortable with Nathan's presence, though, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth at the mention of a gift for Marie.

"You didn't have to do that." Marie took the package and offered Nathan a hug in return.

Nathan couldn't help flinching a little, but he managed to cover it as best he could and smiled down at her. "It's nothing too terribly exciting," he said wryly. "Just a spur of the moment thing." It was strange; he had never been an impulse buyer, but he had happened to glance in the window of that art shop, and before he knew it he was walking back out with a large bag and a very cheery saleswoman bidding him a good day.

Marie didn't miss the flinch and made the hug brief, stepping back within Logan's arm's reach then to open the gift. "Those are the best kind," she said, unwrapping it. "The ones that surprise the giver too." She gave Nathan a little smile from under her bangs. The gift, a print of a young woman all in green in a forest glade, made Marie's eyes light up immediately. "It's beautiful, Nathan. Thank you."

Nathan decided he was glad he hadn't waited. "I bought another print by the same artist to give to Amanda," he said. "One for Moira, too. But that one reminded me of you." He stared down at the print for a moment, contemplatively. "I'm almost sure there's supposed to be some symbolism at work there. Can't seem to read the artist's mind, though." The humor in what he'd just said struck him, and he couldn't help a grin.

Marie laughed at that and shook her head. "That was /awful/, Nathan," she chided gently. "It's a sad position to be in, to be grateful that a man's making such silly jokes. But, I am."

"My sense of humor seems to have made a sudden reappearance this weekend," Nathan quipped. "I've actually kind of missed it." He stared down at her, the grin softening into a warm smile. "Thank you," he said simply.

"You're welcome, Nathan, really," Marie said sincerely. "It's so good to see both of you happy. About time. And things will keep getting better. I told you when you came here, we'd manage to work around whatever you could throw at us. I think it's going pretty well." Her smile was verging on impish in spite of her tiredness.

Logan shoved his hands in his pockets and forced a grin. "She's always right about things like that," he offered, an attempt at friendliness, or what passed for friendliness, from him.

"I've gotten that impression, yeah," Nathan said with a laugh, and then focused again on Marie. "No visions since Thursday," he said, trying to cling to the bantering tone with only moderate success. "I've been feeling downright sane, the last few days."

"I'm glad you've gotten to enjoy it then. Get used to it, Nathan, because it'll keep happening. You're stuck now," she said wryly. "You've gone and made people like you. Any time you want to get away again, let me know. I'm getting good at planning these things."

Logan gave her an indecipherable look, but stayed silent, this time.

Nathan looked from him to Marie, not sure about the impressions he was getting. Neither of them were particularly easy to read. "I'll keep it in mind," he said lightly.

"Thanks again." He gave them both a lopsided grin. "I should go find something productive to do with the rest of the day and leave you both to whatever you were doing."

"Thanks again yourself, Nathan." Marie reached out to touch Logan's arm gently before moving to open the door and see Nathan out. "It's a beautiful picture."

"You're welcome," he said, smiling at her and then nodding once more at Logan as he left.

-----

Logan watched the door close, then reached out for Marie, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Nice gift."

"Yes, she's pretty." Marie looked down at the picture in her hands. "I'll have to put her up where she can keep an eye on things. I wonder what she reminds him of, whether it's something now or then." She set the picture carefully on the desk and then smiled up at Logan, reaching up to touch his face lightly.

"Y'look tired, baby," he said, turning his face into her hand and pressing a kiss to her palm.

"Hard day," she said with a shrug. "For both of us." She brushed a kiss across his lips.

He tugged on a stray lock of her hair. "I'll do better, next time," he promised.

"Me too." Marie took hold of his shirt collar with both hands and pulled him close. "We're learning. We've got time to get it right."

"Lots of time," Logan said, remembering her theory that she'd live as long as he did, provided he continued to let her borrow his power occasionally. He nuzzled into her hair, breathing deeply.

Marie kissed under his ear then moved down to kiss lightly over the tight muscles in the side of his neck. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Me, too," he murmured quietly. "Me, too." Her scent was soothing and, slowly, he became less tense.

"Come to bed." It wasn't quite a request and not quite an order either.

Logan raised his head to look down at her. He kissed her forehead, just above her eyebrow, and nodded. "Okay."

Marie led him to the bed and pulled back the covers, then pushed him down and straddled his hips as she had been that morning. Looking down at him, she reached up and pulled the clips from her hair, letting what hadn't yet escaped fall down around her face. "Tell me what you need?"

"You." There was nothing in the world so simple and honest as his answer, and the look on his face when he gave it. He needed her. Not to take care of him, but to love him and want him and need him. He needed her to touch him and be touched by him. And he needed her to be strong and to be weak and to know him well enough to know when he needed to be strong or to be weak. But he didn't need her to take care of him, and so he reached up and slid his hand down her body, disposing of that idea as quickly as possible.

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Title and tags from "Famous Blue Raincoat" by Leonard Cohen