Terri's Peep Hut ~~ Fiction Archive

Summary: Logan takes care of Rogue when she temporarily loses her sight, and they come to an agreement on a couple things.

Comments: This came from a plot bunny flung at me by Jen G. who asked for a story examining what Logan would do with a temporarily or permanently blind Rogue. I was in a foofy mood, so she didn't lose her sight permanently :) But it wasn't all that foofy a mood, because Jean takes a little bit of character punishment here-not a lot, but you knew I couldn't be totally nice to her, right?

"Logan, calm down." I've been saying that for the past, oh, hour or so, but does he listen? No. It's kind of like his hearing stops functioning when he's mad.

"'Cause you were *not* supposedta be goin' on missions or any shit. I thought we agreed that at least for the summer, you'd stay outta that shit. We agreed that you'd stay outta that shit until you and me talked."

"We did agree to that, but this wasn't a mission. I was just shopping with the girls when a fight broke out in the parking lot. It's not like I decided to go knock on the Brotherhood's front door. They're the ones who interrupted my shoe shopping." And I really probably should've bought those purple sandals. I don't care what Jubes said, I thought they were cool.

"I call it helping out Jean and Storm, who looked like they were in trouble." Six against two isn't exactly a fair fight. And one of them was blocking Jean's powers somehow. They needed help, and I *did* manage to put down four out of the six before that idiot with the blinding-flash-of-light powers, uh, blinded me.

"I don't give a shit if they're in trouble, dammit! I don't want you gettin' into trouble!" Even though I can't see him, I can tell he's got to have his nose all scrunched up and his arms folded across his chest. I remember what he looked like the last time I accidentally got into a fight, and I only got a few scratches and bruises from that one.

"Logan, Jean said she was pretty sure the blindness is only temporary. And my ribs are just bruised, not broken." I'm not freaking as much as I normally would be at going, you know, completely blind, because even if it's not just temporary, Logan can probably touch me and heal it. When he touched me the first time, old scars healed over and everything, so I'm pretty sure we can wait and see. It's going to suck to not be able to see for a while, though. Jean said maybe as much as a month. Ugh.

"No. I thought we agreed on that too-no touching unless it's life and death or there's no other way. The ribs will heal just fine, and if my sight doesn't look like it's coming back in the next couple weeks, then OK. But until then, no way. Hey-I rhymed!"

"Well, I'm back. Sorry about that. It was the CDC, I had to take the call." Aha-Jean's back. "Where were we? Oh, right. Logan-you're not going to touch her, that's what you decided?"

"Yes, well. Rogue, you'll have to ask one of the girls to move in with you for a while, to take care of you and help you out. I can ask them for you if you like."

"Uh" I hadn't really thought about that and, even though I love Kit-Kat and Jubes, I don't know if them taking care of me when I can't see is such a good idea. I mean, they're not exactly poster children for responsibility, plus there's my skin

"Logan, that's not really-Rogue will need help bathing and going to the bathroom and dressing and-well, she'll need help with everything. I'm sure she'd feel more comfortable with one of the girls."

"Actually, no, I wouldn't. I mean, I realize what's involved and I'd rather have Logan." Silence. Wonder what's going on. I bet Jean's looking at me weird or something.

"And surely you must know that Rogue wants you to care for her because, well-she has feelings for you, she has a little crush on you." What the hell? I can't believe she said that! Again! She keeps popping that into conversations with Logan every chance she gets, I swear.

"Hey! I'm blind, not deaf, people. And I'm sitting right here." You know, Logan's idea of letting Jean get herself out of trouble next time sounds really appealing right now.

"Jean, not that it's really any of your business, but would you court your crush by asking them to help you go to the bathroom on a daily basis? Think about it."

"Put yourself in my shoes and it's pretty obvious isn't it?" Silence. Apparently it's not obvious. Or Jean's still trying to hop into my shoes. Stay out of the purple sandals, woman, those are mine. Heh. "My skin."

"Yeah. Whoever it is going to have to help bathe me and dress me and everything. That's a lot of naked skin. And Logan's one of the few people I won't, you know, kill by touching. If there's an accident, at least he won't die. Plus, he's already in my head. A little bit more of him is a lot less of a problem than trying to accommodate another whole new person."

"It's settled." Logan, my hero. Rescuing me from the road, then Magneto, and now a really embarrassing conversation. Is there anything this man can't do? "Come on, I'll getcha upstairs."

It's not going to be that big of an adjustment, really. I mean, we practically live together anyway. We have rooms next door to each other and when I'm not over there, he's usually over here. And OK, we've never opened up the middle connecting door before, but-

"Uh, maybe we should figure out some stuff." I think he's more nervous about this than me. Well, he's a brave guy, but having to deal with lethal skin up close and personal has got to be a little unsettling.

"Yes, probably before I get into bed tonight. I'm still dirty from the fight. Do you feel funny about doing that?"

"No, no, not really. But I dunno what you do in the shower." Excuse me? "I dunno-you got all kindsa bottles and shit in there. I have no clue what any of them're for."

"Oh! Um, well, I don't really remember exactly what I have in there, but I can probably identify them by smell." Oh-oh. I thought of another shower-related problem. "Logan-what about-my legs need to be shaved. I was planning on doing that tonight. You don't have to do that, uh, at least not right now, but eventually I'll start to look like bigfoot."

"I think that'll be OK. How much more complicated than shavin' my face can it be?" Oh, kemosabe, you have much to learn. "Just don't ever tell anybody that I did that. Ever." OK, that made me laugh a little.

"The goin' to the bathroom thing-I don't want you to feel weird about that or nothin', so you just lemme know when you gotta go."

"OK." Maybe if I reach my hand out a little in the general direction of his voice, he'll realize that I'm-there we go, he took my hand. "I do feel weird about that though. It's-it's very personal and-oh, crap."

"Oh." For some reason, even the most unphasable guys are phased by the whole menstruation thing. "Well, uh, that's not a problem. We can deal with that, no problem. Do you, uh, have some, um, feminine stuff for that or do you need-" That's just too sweet. I have to let him off the hook here.

"I have a bunch of stuff. Underneath the sink. I usually use tampons, but I'm thinking pads may be the way to go this month." Although there would be a certain amusement factor to the sight of Logan having to apply a tampon to me, I think we'd both like to miss out on that. Lord, couldn't I just happen to skip this month or something?

"Good." He sounds pretty relieved. "I think those're gonna be the trickiest. Everythin' else should be a piece of cake. Is there-is there anythin' else special that I should know about?"

"Not that I can think of right now. But I'm sure a hundred little things will come up. Logan-thanks for offering to do this. Really. It means a lot to me."

Well, we have survived the first shower. It took a very long time, but I am clean, my hair is shampooed and conditioned, and my legs are shaved, (OK, there were more than a few nicks. Logan found the knee and ankle areas tricky.) as are my armpits. There's nothing like shaving someone's armpits to bring the relationship to a whole new level, I'll tell you that. But now I'm clean, in my jammies, and in bed. It's all downhill from here. Uh-wait a second-he's getting into bed with me. That's weird.

"You're sleeping here tonight?" Because we usually only sleep together when one of us has a nightmare. Or when we both fall asleep watching post-hockey coverage.

"Are you covered?" Even with Logan, it's a little scary not to be able to see where there might be bare skin showing.

"Oh, OK then. Thanks." He's being really good about all this. He's pretty much thinking of everything and making it as easy as possible on me. You know, I really can't imagine having someone else take care of me like this. It would just be too weird if it wasn't Logan.

"Yeah, sorry." I can hear him stomping toward me. I wonder what pissed him off this time. Stolen beer? Swiped cigars?

"Nothin'. Nothin'. Just fuckin' Scooter ridin' my ass a little." Scott doesn't usually work out the same time as Logan. I wonder what the bone of contention this time is. Sure, it's all actually about Jean, but it takes on many interesting forms. Stealing bikes, for example. "Hey, Marie, you know I'm not-when we were in the shower last night you know I wasn't lookin' at ya or nothin'. You know I wouldn't do that, right?"

Ah. This time, it's the You're-taking-advantage-of-sweet-young-clueless-little-Rogue format. Which is still really all about Jean, if you think about it. Scott only pulls that crap with Logan. "No. I know you wouldn't do anything weird or-or lecherous. Although how you resist the sight of my naked body *is* a mystery.."

"Nobody had better ever look at your naked body, kid." Whoa. That was all growly. And I know he's usually overprotective when some boy comes sniffing around me, but that's a whole new level of crankiness.

"I mean it. I'm not lettin' Hank take care of ya. You and me agreed I'd do it, not him. I don't give a shit if he is a doctor and if that fur does protect him from your skin, I-"

"Hang on a second-Scott suggested that Hank take care of me?" Actually, he wouldn't be bad. He'd probably be my second choice after Logan. The fur does protect him and even if I caught a non-furry area, I wouldn't mind having him in my head. He seems like he'd be OK. Of course, that color blue fur-I'd have it for a while and I don't have a lot of clothes that go with blue.

"Yeah. Do you believe that shit? 'Hank's a doctor. He won't look at her body like that.' Like I'm gettin' off on seein' you naked!" Ouch. I know I'm not, you know, remotely model-like or anything, but I didn't think the thought of my naked body exciting someone would seem that outlandish to Logan. "Marie?"

"Nothing, really. What were you saying about Scott?" Reminding him he's pissed at Scott should make him forget all about it.

"That he's an asshole. What's wrong?" Dammit, I hate it when that doesn't work. Now he's going to hang on to it like a pit bull until he gets an answer. I swear, sometimes he positively obsesses when he thinks there's something wrong with me.

"No!" Sure he'd be my second choice, but he's a really distant second. "No-I was just-I took something you said the wrong way, that's all."

"You said, and I quote-'Like I'm gettin' off on seein' you naked!'" I do a really good imitation of him when I put my mind to it. "You just said it like-who would ever get excited by seeing me naked?"

"Lotsa people would get excited by seein' you naked. Why do ya think all those little assholes are always tryin' to get with you? They're tryin' to get a look atcha naked."

"You're not-I don't think about ya like that. You're not like one of them women dancin' in a cage or standin' on a street corner or somethin'. I would never think about ya like that, Marie, I wouldn't."

"Oh." Well, there you go. No naughty naked Marie for Logan. Hmm. Can't say I'm entirely surprised. I mean, look at the competition around here. I'm OK, but by comparison, I'm, like, the Janet Reno of the x-mansion.

"What?" He sounds really exasperated. I've got to buck up and be cheery, or I'm just going to hear more promises that he will never, ever find me attractive.

"Jesus Christ, Marie, would you fuckin' tell me what's wrong? I said somethin' else that rubbed ya the wrong way, didn't I?" Did I say pit bull? I meant-well, I probably meant wolverine.

"You implied it. When you said you don't look at me that way." Which is guy-code for 'We're always going to be just friends, ugly-pants.'

"That's not what I implied. You inferred that, but I didn't imply it." He picked that up from me-I said it to him in an argument once, and now he uses it back at people. So weird how that stuck with him.

"That I don't think you're slutty. Or some kinda, I dunno-thing. Not somethin' just to be looked at and played with, like a toy. That's what I was implyin'."

"You gotta get rid of this thing you got about not bein' pretty or somethin'. You always think that, and it's just the opposite. You're the prettiest girl around."

"Oh, come on, be honest. Look-look at me like you're seeing me for the first time, not like I'm Marie, She Who Must Be Protected From All Bad Things. I'm just average. I'm OK, but I'm not anything special. Jean, Storm-they're beautiful. Me? I'm OK." It's not really like I think I'm *ugly*, honestly. I know I'm OK-looking. But that's it.

"I mean it. Not somethin' special? What is that bullshit? I've seen you walk into a room fulla people and seen every head turn to you-even with Jean and Storm and whoever in the room. It's not all about just plain looks-which you got in spades anyway-it's about how you let show what's on the inside. People fuckin' flock to you 'cause of that. I've had to threaten almost every goddamn man from fifteen to fifty in this mansion at one time or another to stay the hell away from you. I wish you'd stop thinkin' that crap."

"Shit, pick one. The graduation party they threw for you kids. The fund raiser two months ago-you came down the stairs in that green dress and I thought I was gonna hafta start choppin' up half the men who contributed. Even when you came outside to watch the touch football game. How do ya think I managed to tackle Hank so good? He took his eyes offa me and was lookin' at you. Everybody does it. And I can live with that. But none of 'em are ever gonna get their grubby little paws on ya."

This is entirely new information. I never noticed that these things happened. How did I miss that? But-Houston, we have a problem. "Well, OK. But if nobody gets to ever, you know, be with me, what fun is that for me? I mean, I appreciate your looking out for me and all, but eventually, I'm going to want to be with someone. Eventually, or, you know-now. Soon." Look, I know I'm only eighteen, but the hormones have definitely kicked in and if I don't get a little action soon, it won't be pretty. The cucumbers in the fridge are starting to tempt me.

"No, I guess not. But-but I guess I'd like to know what my options are, who might, you know, be thinking about having their paws on me."

"Hmph." The blindness thing is really putting me at a disadvantage here. I wish I could see his expression. "I always thought you might be thinkin' 'bout me."

Oh. My. God. You could just about knock me over with a feather right now. He wants me to want him? He's-he was *expecting* that? "Well, I, uh, you never made a move or anything. You know-I mean, Jean's accidentally let it slip, oh, about a dozen times-that I've always thought of you that way. But you never acted like that would be something you'd like."

"You mean savin' your life and stickin' by ya like glue didn't give ya any idea? Comin' back from Canada after six weeks and movin' in right next to ya wasn't a sign? I even gave you the tags!"

I really, *really* wish I could see the look on his face right now. "But you never-you know-kissed me or anything. You never gave me the 'hey baby' look. You never tried anything at all. How was I supposed to know? I thought you were just-I thought that's just how you were with someone you promised to protect, with someone you felt responsible for, with someone who was a close friend."

"I didn't wanna do nothin' like that 'cause I didn't want you to think I was some asshole who was just hangin' around tryin' to get somethin' offa you. I was waiting for you to do somethin'. Every time Jeannie's said somethin' about you likin' me, you never denied it."

"And you never said anything when she said those things. Nothing at all. Can you see how that would fail to clue me in?"

"I never said not to like me or nothin'. I never said 'let's be friends' or 'stop thinkin' about me like that.' What the hell was I gonna say, Marie? Yeah, that's great that you like me, 'cause I'm plannin' on keepin' you in my life forever? That woulda scared the livin' shit outta you."

"No. No, it really wouldn't have. It would've made me feel better, more secure." Pretty much how I feel right now. All of a sudden, it's like I feel completely settled inside.

"I didn't know that." Oh, my. He's touching my hair but in a totally different way than ever before. Sensually. Oh, my.

"So you're thinkin' maybe it's me that you got in mind?" Hands-hands moving to my face and another hand at my waist. I don't know if it's not being able to see that makes it feel so much more intense or what, but, *God,* it feels so good.

"It's definitely you. If-if you have me in mind too." There's still some lingering concerns about Jean in my head, and God knows he's never been a monk, but if he wants me, I don't think he'd screw around. I just don't think he'd hurt me like that.

"I do, kid. I do." That's a kiss-a kiss on top of my head. That's so sweet. "And hey-we're gonna just-now that we agreed on this, we're just gonna take our time. I don't wanna go too fast." Oh, Logan, if you only knew some of the things I've imagined. "And you're still gettin' better here. We can just go at our own pace. Nothin's-nothin's gonna change too fast or right away. It'll be slow and easy. You know, since we're agreed, right?"

That's always been a big thing with him in our relationship. When we agree on something, it's like this sacred, unbreakable promise. It's like whatever we've both agreed to just becomes a fact of life. Have I ever mentioned how much I love how that works?

"Just stay still, Rogue." Jean's still a little peeved that she didn't get her way on the whole Logan taking care of me thing. Oh well, as soon as somebody else pisses her off, she'll forget all about it. "There. Now, slowly, *very* slowly, open your eyes."

OK. Deep breath. Slow eye-opening commencing. Oooh. I can see something, that's for sure. The room's pretty dark so that my eyes didn't get overwhelmed by the light at first, but I can make out fuzzy shapes.

"Can you see how many fingers I'm holding up, Rogue?" I know which finger I'd like to hold up for you, Jean. Oh, I should stop that. It's mean.

"Very good. Let me take a look." She's not using the bright light thingie to look at my eyes, so I wonder what she can possibly see. "Pupils look normal." Oh. That. I guess she did make it through some graduate education after all. I should really try to think less snide thoughts about her. "Let's see how your eyes adjust over the next day or so, but I think you'll be fine." And she actually sounds happy for me saying that. Or is it happy that she's pulled off another little medical miracle? Stop it, Rogue. Put a damper on the snideness.

"Whew. Thanks, Jeannie. I can't-I can't thank ya enough." That's it-that's the source of my snark. I'm jealous. But hey-no reason to be. Logan's my guy. We agreed. And he's putting an arm around me right now, not her. He's only thanking her because she helped me.

"You're both quite welcome. Come down and see me again tomorrow afternoon, all right? I've got a phone call with the AMA now-see you later." Well, isn't that special that she-geez, cutting the snark reflex is going to be harder than I thought.

"Hey, kid. Nice to see those eyes again." Aw. So sweet. "I bet you missed lookin' at me, huh?" And yet so smug. "Ooof!" The elbow-to-the-ribs reflex is hard to suppress too. "Hey! Is that any way to treat the guy who took care of ya all this time?"

"No. This would be the way to treat you." Just a little kiss on the sideburns. We've agreed that kissing is green-lighted in any area that we feel like. I'm enjoying the hell out of that rule.

"Sure." Sounds perfect. "And I bet you won't even have to help me take a shower tonight." I can tease a little too, big guy.

"Oh, I wouldn't count on that. You never know. Wouldn't wanna take any chances." You know, I bet even if he does wind up in the shower with me tonight, he won't really try anything. He's been pretty restrained so far. And I'll admit, I kind of like knowing he won't try anything major. I like knowing that he'll just be nice and gentle and sweet. Not because I don't want to do stuff with him-I do-but because I know he wouldn't be like that with anyone else. And the other stuff will come, in time. After all, that's what we agreed on.