[ Charles, huh? Probably sound advice. He knows who Scott really blames, and it ain't her.
There's a delay between replies. He's told Karen. He's talked to Laura, kinda—a real conversation, after the shit blanketing the city seems to have calmed down.
He's been thinking about the X-Men, though. At the end of the day, that's her people as much as they're his. ]
[ It's enough of a delay that she thinks that's it, and maybe she'll run into him again somewhere. The invitation for coffee comes as a bit of a surprise. ]
Sure. Tomorrow? I'm driving in from out of the city and have a few errands to finish.
[ Same spot being the Big Top diner that Charles herded them into a couple months ago, that's now become their occasional space. He supposes they were bound to carve out a nook for themselves, whether that was in a mansion on a piece of land in Westchester or a half-decent diner in the middle of a hollowed-out planet.
When Storm shows up, Logan's already cornered a table by the window, morning sunlight streaming through the crooked blinds. He looks a hell of a lot better than when he took off, though it probably helps she didn't see him at his worst, either.
It helped, a bit. Talking to Charles. Helped that he spent...well, time might be a stretch, but it was more than what he'd had with Laura before.
[ The Big Top's been a semi-regular stop for Storm too, not that she meets anyone she knows here when real regularity. But the staff are friendly, and she's learned not to take that for granted. A couple of familiar-looking servers get smiles and brief hello's from Ororo before she takes a proper glance around to finally find him. She's not sure what to feel about him getting here ahead, or that he looks perfectly fine after these last few weeks... Relieved, maybe? ]
Hi. [ She lingers at the edge of things - his table, the words that she's still searching for - before she finally settles on something sincere. ] ... You look well, Logan. I'm glad.
[ She's mostly the same. Different clothes since she's picked up an odd job or two here and there to keep the days going. A bit windswept from coming from the outside. Some cuts and scratches over her fingers and up to the back of her hands, but they're healing, and nothing of real consequence. Overall, Storm's usual, general projection of "I'm okay" is there — but that’s always been something she had a hard time turning off.
She takes the seat across his after another pause, choosing one that'll give her a shorter route to the door. ]
[ He flashes a brief smile back—casual, a little noncommittal but undoubtedly warm. She sees more than she lets on, he knows, but maybe that's half the reason he doesn't feel compelled to explain himself. He's already explained himself to too many others as of late, and it leaves a sour taste in his mouth, a feeling like he shouldn't have to, like he's got eyes on him from folks where it's none of their business.
She's different. The X-Men have always been different; no matter how far he pulls away, he ends up back here, and right now, he's okay with that. ]
So do you. And yeah, actually. He's— [ A goddamn mess? Getting himself together? ] Finding his reasons.
[ To move on, to stop hiding in his misery. His conversation with Scott was...more than he's said to most people. In a way, it wasn't anything he expected to lay out on the table, but here they are.
Anyway, he's not gonna beat around the bush. ]
I wanted to tell you something. About the girl. Laura.
[ They spoke that once, that much he knows, at least, but. He isn't sure if they ever talked after. If she found Laura during...the whole thing. In the park. ]
[ Finding his reasons. She can't help it; for all her composure, the mention of Scott finding his reasons makes her eyes soften considerably. She'll never understand it, how they failed to do the same for him at home and how something had just worked for him here, but she's glad. All she wants is for him to be okay, no matter who or what he needed to find that with. She swallows past the relief and makes a promise to herself to try and talk to him again soon.
The mention of Laura is a little out-of-left-field, and abrupt enough to make her blink. ]
Laura. I've talked to her, she's... from the future too, yes? A future. [ It's a bit unclear, but she's getting the nuances. She smiles sheepishly. ] I told her once that she reminds me of some of our students at home. I'm not sure she appreciated that.
[ Hell, Logan will never know, either. Might be the lack of anybody trying to kill them. Might be that Scott had a chance here, to fall apart without getting destroyed by what was left of the woman he loved. Frankly, he's surprised anything he said to Scott registered.
Like her, he's just relieved Scott seems...better. 'Cause however he feels about him, Logan wants the team intact. Y'know, he wants his people together, and that includes Scott, stick up his ass and all.
His lips quirk. ] Think she just needed a moment. [ He gets it. He wasn't jumping to join up with anybody at the start. He grows quiet again, setting his mug down. ]
She said Alkali made her. Implanted women with mutant genes so they'd have mutant kids. And uh— [ Shit. ] Laura got mine.
[ So. There it is. A girl he didn't ask for, but after these past couple of weeks, he can't say he doesn't want her. It was simpler, to think that. Tell himself it was never gonna work out, that something like her and him, God, he was only gonna ruin the fuck out of it so why bother? Why put either of them through the kinda bullshit that was gonna only end in pain?
It's not like that anymore. Now he's caught somewhere in between—now he finds himself wondering if he can, if he could be more than the asshole who managed to keep her from dying before dying himself. Some part of him's been inching a closer to the idea that it might turn out okay. And that by itself feels dangerous. Feels like he's courting fucking disaster. ]
[ Pardon her for a moment as the first part registers before the second one does. Ororo's control only goes so far, and while she manages to keep her voice at a speaking volume, something in her blood makes the sky rumble unpleasantly. ]
Alkali was implanting women with genes? [ For or against their will? She could take a guess, but she really didn't want to. That was a dangerous train of thought and led to other questions: like why would such a project be conceived of in the first place.
She wishes she'd asked for some coffee sooner, so her hands had something to clench around. Right now, all they clench into are fists on her lap. They unclench in just a moment as she shakes her head to clear her thoughts. ]
Sorry, but - that's... Why would they do such a thing? And Laura... [ Ororo's voice trails off, trying to recall what Laura has told her. ]
She mentioned knowing of me, but that she'd met you already. [ Which is a funny way of referring to someone who may or may not be more than just a genetic donor. ]
It must've been a shock to hear. Are... things alright with you two?
[ Logan's expression flickers. ] You know why. Stryker started something. They wanted to finish it.
[ Yeah. She can take a guess. None of those women survived. And if it was built on the bones of what that bastard left behind, then it isn't hard to put two and two together. It isn't hard to guess why they used his DNA. He was their first, right? Their special little animal that could survive anything and tear through anyone.
It's her claws. It's her claws that bother him, that he can't stop thinking about, because they're exactly like his. Sharp, gleaming adamantium, not the natural bone she would've been born with. ]
She did. Apparently, I helped her escape. Then after... [ Fuck it, he's had enough dancing around this shit after Scott. ] After, I died. Must've fucked up my healing factor.
[ It's happened before. Between the cure and the collars and everything, losing their powers was as much an axe over their heads as anything else for a mutant. He's obviously not that torn up about the concept of him biting it in another future. Y'know, he saved some kids and keeled over, that doesn't seem so bad a way to go. It wasn't learning about his death that set him off.
But he isn't dead here. ]
Hell if I know. Maybe. [ He helped her find some shoes? Does that count for anything? ] She's a good kid. I wanna see her stick around. [ With the X-Men, he means. The other mutants. ] I just— [ He's gotta wonder if he's a walking reminder of all the shit she went through. ] I don't know if I'm a reason for her not to.
[ Oh. It's still hard - she doesn't know how anyone does it, living with knowing someone, even their own self, has died in some other timeline. Logan seems fine with it in a way that seems to completely contrast Scott's reaction, but she figures that's just another way that they differ. Whatever the case, she reaches out to touch his arm briefly, looking at him with concern. Is it worse that he doesn't seem concerned? She'll feel it for him. ]
Maybe she will, maybe she won't. It'll depend on what she wants, but... she said she'd heard of us. I imagine that's a reason for her to try to stay. [ Especially since hearing of them through comic books had seemed to be... a good thing? It seemed like a good thing to her, a good memory.
Her hand draws away, back to herself. ]
Is there something about you that would make her prefer to keep away?
[ Okay, so he could've cushioned that news a bit more, but—listen, he's fine. It's not like Scott where a stray bullet could take him out any minute. He's gotta lose his regeneration first, and right now, it's working good. Grew back a whole eye a couple of weeks ago and everything.
But her hand on his arm gives him a little pause. He almost says I'm okay. Then she asks him that, and it sidelines him in a way he wasn't expecting. Laid out plain how she did, it just—
Any answer he's got feels fucking impossible to put into words. Because to him, it's so goddamn obvious. When he thinks of himself in her shoes, he wouldn't want to be around him. He wouldn't want some guy he never knew longer than three days poking around in his life, reminding him of everything about what he went through and became that's wrong. ]
[ She meets his gaze steadily, a touch of wryness in her smile. She had a lot of thoughts about Logan, about what he did or didn't do, or how he responds in high stress situations. But he was someone who was fiercely protective, too. Well — protective over most people who've earned it. It seems that Laura has already earned it. ]
Maybe she isn't looking for cuddly. [ She points out, looking to the counter so she can finally ask for some coffee. Maybe a bagel, too, she's starting to get hungry. ]
She knows you already - maybe she wants you to stay around, but has trouble saying so. Perhaps she gets that from... [ her... father? ] Perhaps it is hereditary.
She's got a way of pinning him down, don't she? He rolls his eyes lightly—a touch exasperated, but not really.
Logan follows her up, leaning against the fingerprint-covered display case full of mismatched bagels and pastries. He's silent while she orders, takes a doughnut for himself. Not 'til they've settled back down does he pick up the conversation again.
He takes a bite, brushes the sticky glaze on his fingers off on his jeans. ]
Let's hope that's all she got from me. [ Karen asked if he wanted to get to know Laura, and he'd said he did. That much still stands. He just. It feels strange. Feels like nothing he ever thought he'd find himself dealing with—the sort of idea he'd given up on ages ago, if he'd ever granted it much room to take hold to begin with.
He pauses. ] It wasn't just my genes. Her claws, they're bonded with adamantium, too.
[ Just not through her entire skeleton. Right? If she'd had the metal bonded since she was ten—or younger—it can't have been. Adamantium's not exactly known for being flexible. She wouldn't have been able to grow. ]
[ Oh, she catches the roll of his eyes. She quirks a brow at him for it, but purses her lips against the smart comment, but not the smile, that the action pulls from her as she goes ahead and gets some breakfast for herself - a whole wheat bagel, cheese on the side. A mug of dark coffee and too much sugar. She keeps the bagel in a paper sleeve for later, but wraps her hands around the mug to keep her hands warm and from reaching out to him again when the rest of his Laura Report continues.
Because that's a little what it sounds like, a report. She was there when Jean first reported her findings to them, showed them Logan's x-rays on that first night she and Scott brought him back to the mansion. The adamantium was bonded to his whole skeleton. Was it the same for her? ]
Just the claws? [ She looks at the backs of his hands, then outside as she tries to picture them sliding out of Laura's own knuckles. ] Even if it's just the claws, I can't imagine what that must have been like. She's... so young.
You said she said they'd made her. I'm sure she'll want to talk to someone about that. Perhaps... you're the closest she can think of who would understand it.
[ A report is easier. Saying, they coated her claws in adamantium is easier than They did to her what they did to me, and I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do when there's nobody left to kill over it, and it was always too fucking late for me to protect those kids.
But maybe she can read between the lines in the way he watches her, then lets out a breath. ]
Yeah. I don't know about that. [ Laura's not much of a talker. Another thing that's hereditary, it seems. There's a reason he told Storm, though, why he plans on telling the X-Men, and it's 'cause he just. Look, he did spend a little time with her, and she's not some secret he wants to hide. He doesn't know what the hell he's meant to do with her, but she exists. She's one of them.
He shakes his head. ] Anyway. Wasn't what I thought was gonna be waiting for me, that's for damn sure.
You say that like you know what is going to be waiting for you. [ Or, well, maybe he sort of does. He knows what's waiting for her - she just hasn't asked for much of the details. What this future of war and fighting was going to be like, what else he knew about her.
It feels strange to ask about, so she isn't asking. And she thinks: isn't it healthier to treat the future as they should? As something malleable and uncertain? ]
Whatever the case, she is here now. And she's told you. I suppose the question is simply... what will you do with knowing? [ She stirs a couple teaspoons of sugar into her coffee as she talks, anticipating the extra sugar rush it'll give her to get her through the rest of the morning. ]
If you're worried about how she'll get along around here, well... I quite like her already, and I hope to see her more often. She's been offering to come drive me out into the Fringes.
[ It's hard to put into words. It's that he went back in time, yeah, but it's also that there's been a pattern to his life. There's shit that usually happens to him—an endless river of blood dogging his heels—and then there's shit that just doesn't ever feel like it could, like it should, and finding out he's got a fucking kid falls under the second umbrella.
Probably isn't healthy, no. But it is predictable. Was.
He drains the rest of his coffee. ]
You should take her. She could use someone like you.
[ If he's dodging Storm's question, it's not an accident. He means it, though. Wasn't for no reason that Charles left her in charge. Whatever he feels about his place in Laura's life, he knows the X-Men will be good for her, in the same way they've been good for him. ]
[ She rolls her eyes, smiling a little that the reaction he has is... quite predicactable actually. But maybe she's just reading it differently. Because of course she would take her; that didn't change that she wanted Logan. ]
Maybe. I don't know what I could offer her other than a name behind a comic book character that you haven't already.
[ But he's finishing up, and she still has her bagel. She waves him off and takes her phone out to scroll through some messages. ]
In any case - sure. I'll text if anything comes up. It's getting to be really unpredictable out there.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[ i.e. "No." ]
I've been advised not to worry overmuch.
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There's a delay between replies. He's told Karen. He's talked to Laura, kinda—a real conversation, after the shit blanketing the city seems to have calmed down.
He's been thinking about the X-Men, though. At the end of the day, that's her people as much as they're his. ]
Got a spare morning a coffee?
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Sure. Tomorrow? I'm driving in from out of the city and have a few errands to finish.
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[ Same spot being the Big Top diner that Charles herded them into a couple months ago, that's now become their occasional space. He supposes they were bound to carve out a nook for themselves, whether that was in a mansion on a piece of land in Westchester or a half-decent diner in the middle of a hollowed-out planet.
When Storm shows up, Logan's already cornered a table by the window, morning sunlight streaming through the crooked blinds. He looks a hell of a lot better than when he took off, though it probably helps she didn't see him at his worst, either.
It helped, a bit. Talking to Charles. Helped that he spent...well, time might be a stretch, but it was more than what he'd had with Laura before.
He greets Storm with a lift of his coffee mug. ]
Hey.
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Hi. [ She lingers at the edge of things - his table, the words that she's still searching for - before she finally settles on something sincere. ] ... You look well, Logan. I'm glad.
[ She's mostly the same. Different clothes since she's picked up an odd job or two here and there to keep the days going. A bit windswept from coming from the outside. Some cuts and scratches over her fingers and up to the back of her hands, but they're healing, and nothing of real consequence. Overall, Storm's usual, general projection of "I'm okay" is there — but that’s always been something she had a hard time turning off.
She takes the seat across his after another pause, choosing one that'll give her a shorter route to the door. ]
Have you two spoken since?
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She's different. The X-Men have always been different; no matter how far he pulls away, he ends up back here, and right now, he's okay with that. ]
So do you. And yeah, actually. He's— [ A goddamn mess? Getting himself together? ] Finding his reasons.
[ To move on, to stop hiding in his misery. His conversation with Scott was...more than he's said to most people. In a way, it wasn't anything he expected to lay out on the table, but here they are.
Anyway, he's not gonna beat around the bush. ]
I wanted to tell you something. About the girl. Laura.
[ They spoke that once, that much he knows, at least, but. He isn't sure if they ever talked after. If she found Laura during...the whole thing. In the park. ]
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The mention of Laura is a little out-of-left-field, and abrupt enough to make her blink. ]
Laura. I've talked to her, she's... from the future too, yes? A future. [ It's a bit unclear, but she's getting the nuances. She smiles sheepishly. ] I told her once that she reminds me of some of our students at home. I'm not sure she appreciated that.
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Like her, he's just relieved Scott seems...better. 'Cause however he feels about him, Logan wants the team intact. Y'know, he wants his people together, and that includes Scott, stick up his ass and all.
His lips quirk. ] Think she just needed a moment. [ He gets it. He wasn't jumping to join up with anybody at the start. He grows quiet again, setting his mug down. ]
She said Alkali made her. Implanted women with mutant genes so they'd have mutant kids. And uh— [ Shit. ] Laura got mine.
[ So. There it is. A girl he didn't ask for, but after these past couple of weeks, he can't say he doesn't want her. It was simpler, to think that. Tell himself it was never gonna work out, that something like her and him, God, he was only gonna ruin the fuck out of it so why bother? Why put either of them through the kinda bullshit that was gonna only end in pain?
It's not like that anymore. Now he's caught somewhere in between—now he finds himself wondering if he can, if he could be more than the asshole who managed to keep her from dying before dying himself. Some part of him's been inching a closer to the idea that it might turn out okay. And that by itself feels dangerous. Feels like he's courting fucking disaster. ]
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Alkali was implanting women with genes? [ For or against their will? She could take a guess, but she really didn't want to. That was a dangerous train of thought and led to other questions: like why would such a project be conceived of in the first place.
She wishes she'd asked for some coffee sooner, so her hands had something to clench around. Right now, all they clench into are fists on her lap. They unclench in just a moment as she shakes her head to clear her thoughts. ]
Sorry, but - that's... Why would they do such a thing? And Laura... [ Ororo's voice trails off, trying to recall what Laura has told her. ]
She mentioned knowing of me, but that she'd met you already. [ Which is a funny way of referring to someone who may or may not be more than just a genetic donor. ]
It must've been a shock to hear. Are... things alright with you two?
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[ Yeah. She can take a guess. None of those women survived. And if it was built on the bones of what that bastard left behind, then it isn't hard to put two and two together. It isn't hard to guess why they used his DNA. He was their first, right? Their special little animal that could survive anything and tear through anyone.
It's her claws. It's her claws that bother him, that he can't stop thinking about, because they're exactly like his. Sharp, gleaming adamantium, not the natural bone she would've been born with. ]
She did. Apparently, I helped her escape. Then after... [ Fuck it, he's had enough dancing around this shit after Scott. ] After, I died. Must've fucked up my healing factor.
[ It's happened before. Between the cure and the collars and everything, losing their powers was as much an axe over their heads as anything else for a mutant. He's obviously not that torn up about the concept of him biting it in another future. Y'know, he saved some kids and keeled over, that doesn't seem so bad a way to go. It wasn't learning about his death that set him off.
But he isn't dead here. ]
Hell if I know. Maybe. [ He helped her find some shoes? Does that count for anything? ] She's a good kid. I wanna see her stick around. [ With the X-Men, he means. The other mutants. ] I just— [ He's gotta wonder if he's a walking reminder of all the shit she went through. ] I don't know if I'm a reason for her not to.
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Maybe she will, maybe she won't. It'll depend on what she wants, but... she said she'd heard of us. I imagine that's a reason for her to try to stay. [ Especially since hearing of them through comic books had seemed to be... a good thing? It seemed like a good thing to her, a good memory.
Her hand draws away, back to herself. ]
Is there something about you that would make her prefer to keep away?
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But her hand on his arm gives him a little pause. He almost says I'm okay. Then she asks him that, and it sidelines him in a way he wasn't expecting. Laid out plain how she did, it just—
Any answer he's got feels fucking impossible to put into words. Because to him, it's so goddamn obvious. When he thinks of himself in her shoes, he wouldn't want to be around him. He wouldn't want some guy he never knew longer than three days poking around in his life, reminding him of everything about what he went through and became that's wrong. ]
I ain't exactly cuddly, Storm.
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Maybe she isn't looking for cuddly. [ She points out, looking to the counter so she can finally ask for some coffee. Maybe a bagel, too, she's starting to get hungry. ]
She knows you already - maybe she wants you to stay around, but has trouble saying so. Perhaps she gets that from... [ her... father? ] Perhaps it is hereditary.
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She's got a way of pinning him down, don't she? He rolls his eyes lightly—a touch exasperated, but not really.
Logan follows her up, leaning against the fingerprint-covered display case full of mismatched bagels and pastries. He's silent while she orders, takes a doughnut for himself. Not 'til they've settled back down does he pick up the conversation again.
He takes a bite, brushes the sticky glaze on his fingers off on his jeans. ]
Let's hope that's all she got from me. [ Karen asked if he wanted to get to know Laura, and he'd said he did. That much still stands. He just. It feels strange. Feels like nothing he ever thought he'd find himself dealing with—the sort of idea he'd given up on ages ago, if he'd ever granted it much room to take hold to begin with.
He pauses. ] It wasn't just my genes. Her claws, they're bonded with adamantium, too.
[ Just not through her entire skeleton. Right? If she'd had the metal bonded since she was ten—or younger—it can't have been. Adamantium's not exactly known for being flexible. She wouldn't have been able to grow. ]
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Because that's a little what it sounds like, a report. She was there when Jean first reported her findings to them, showed them Logan's x-rays on that first night she and Scott brought him back to the mansion. The adamantium was bonded to his whole skeleton. Was it the same for her? ]
Just the claws? [ She looks at the backs of his hands, then outside as she tries to picture them sliding out of Laura's own knuckles. ] Even if it's just the claws, I can't imagine what that must have been like. She's... so young.
You said she said they'd made her. I'm sure she'll want to talk to someone about that. Perhaps... you're the closest she can think of who would understand it.
no subject
But maybe she can read between the lines in the way he watches her, then lets out a breath. ]
Yeah. I don't know about that. [ Laura's not much of a talker. Another thing that's hereditary, it seems. There's a reason he told Storm, though, why he plans on telling the X-Men, and it's 'cause he just. Look, he did spend a little time with her, and she's not some secret he wants to hide. He doesn't know what the hell he's meant to do with her, but she exists. She's one of them.
He shakes his head. ] Anyway. Wasn't what I thought was gonna be waiting for me, that's for damn sure.
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It feels strange to ask about, so she isn't asking. And she thinks: isn't it healthier to treat the future as they should? As something malleable and uncertain? ]
Whatever the case, she is here now. And she's told you. I suppose the question is simply... what will you do with knowing? [ She stirs a couple teaspoons of sugar into her coffee as she talks, anticipating the extra sugar rush it'll give her to get her through the rest of the morning. ]
If you're worried about how she'll get along around here, well... I quite like her already, and I hope to see her more often. She's been offering to come drive me out into the Fringes.
🎀 wrap soon?
[ It's hard to put into words. It's that he went back in time, yeah, but it's also that there's been a pattern to his life. There's shit that usually happens to him—an endless river of blood dogging his heels—and then there's shit that just doesn't ever feel like it could, like it should, and finding out he's got a fucking kid falls under the second umbrella.
Probably isn't healthy, no. But it is predictable. Was.
He drains the rest of his coffee. ]
You should take her. She could use someone like you.
[ If he's dodging Storm's question, it's not an accident. He means it, though. Wasn't for no reason that Charles left her in charge. Whatever he feels about his place in Laura's life, he knows the X-Men will be good for her, in the same way they've been good for him. ]
wrapping! 🎀
Maybe. I don't know what I could offer her other than a name behind a comic book character that you haven't already.
[ But he's finishing up, and she still has her bagel. She waves him off and takes her phone out to scroll through some messages. ]
In any case - sure. I'll text if anything comes up. It's getting to be really unpredictable out there.