A small break

[logan]

In the Med-lab Logan had gathered up the rest of the painkiller and placed it on a seat just inside the door. He was careful to avoid the attention of Rayen and her brother, as she was clearly intent upon her work with him. As he left, he'd gone across the hall to check in on Storm, Bobby, and some blond kid. They were all completely out. Nightcrawler was nearby, attending to them, and he and Logan passed a dark glance between one another. 'Ro looked bad. Bobby looked bad. The other guy... well, he looked like he'd only fainted.

Baltimore had been a shitfest, that was sure. Four X-Men were dropped. Four. They'd not suffered so badly in the past few years – certainly not since Logan had joined them.

Then Logan realized he probably smelt as bad as the fiasco itself, and took a few moments head upstairs and hop a quick shower and change. Fortunately his room had a small walk-in, and he watched as red swirled into the drain – the washaway of the bloody carnage. It was the blood of countless murdered in the streets... and re-murdered by him.

In jeans and a new white tank top, Logan left his room and headed down the hall.

[conduit]

Rayen headed back down the hallway towards her room, rubbing a towel through her wet hair. It made her think of a few nights back when she'd run into Bobby.

Bobby.

Rayen frowned. She'd been so focused on Bandero....

Turning around, she saw Logan headed across the landing. "Logan!" She called, half jogging towards him in a new pair of jeans and a black tanktop.

Her face reflected more curiosity than concern. It had just dawned on her she hadn't seen him at all after they first got to NovaTeX.

"Hey... Logan. Where's Bobby?"

[logan]

Logan regarded her with solemn eyes. “He's knocked out. Unsure what happened, but I was going to go down and head out. Storm, Iceman and some other guy are in the med-bay, across the hall from your brother.”

Rayen had had better days, he was sure. He seemed to recall a sort of camaraderie shared between she and Bobby, and wasn't sure if there was more there or not... if there was one thing that shit tended to do, it was pile up. Would this girl ever get a break?

[conduit]

Her eyebrows raised. It wasn't that she knew Bobby that well... but then, she didn't know anyone here that well. Two of them, out? Three? Storm too?

"oh..." It was just a whisper. Finally, she started to look a little overwhelmed.

The tears fell before she could press her fingertips to her eyes. With a rigid, cruel amount of self control, she sucked in a breath, wiped her face, and nodded.

"Okay. Okay." Unable to say more, she turned and headed for her room.

[logan]

Logan was in front of her with two long strides.

“Hey, hey.” He said, putting hands on her shoulders. “You're not alone here”

He didn't give her much opportunity to resist.

“I think we should step out for a bit, get some fresh air... besides, I need a cigar. And a beer.”

[conduit]

At first, she looked a little confused. He seemed so gruff and distant at first. But he seemed to really care what she'd been going through in the last few days. Why her?

Wiping her eyes again, she nodded. "I need a cigarette like you would not believe." Laughing softly, she nodded again. "Just let me grab some shoes."

Darting up the hallway, she yanked on her boots and pulled her hair back in a ponytail. It took her a second to realize she was checking her face in the mirror, and she smirked at herself.

It was just a beer.

Stepping out again, she offered an apologetic, if somber expression. "Sorry about that. I don't generally burst into tears like that, really."

[logan]

“It's not a general day,” He said, walking with her towards the elevator. He ran a hand through his thick hair. “Definitely an exceptional day.”

They stopped to get his jacket from his room, and once procured, he padded around it's pockets looking for a cigar. In the elevator, he had one out and was examining it for damage.

“Whattya think of this Bishop character?” He asked, conversationally. There were a hundred other questions on his mind, but some were just too close to home on the trauma of the day. Others made him wonder just why the hell he was thinking of them in this situation. Oh yeah, not a general day.

[conduit]

Rayen turns her pack of cigarettes in her hand over and over.

"Bishop? He seems okay. A little... hardcore, maybe," she smirked. "I realized when he showed that I know virtually nothing about my brother. I noticed you seemed to accept his presence, so I figured it was okay. I don't know a lot about this mutant thing."

Great Ray. Show him just how brainless you are. 'I need a man to tell me how to act!' You're retarded.

She sighed a bit, looked askance at him as they stepped out onto the side yard. She lit a cigarette and looked up at the dark sky.

"He seems to really care about Bandero. That wins points in my book."

[logan]

Logan nodded, puffing on the cigar. Finally. “Wouldn'ta pictured Forge as the military type... especially the marines.” He shrugged. “Though I guess if a hardcase like Bishop respects him he must've done a decent job. In Baltimore it looked like he'd seen action before, so I suppose I shoulda figured.”

Cigar in mouth, he looked at her. It was probably not the time to ask the details of her separation from her brother – no sense trudging up the past for the sake of conversation.

He was already walking across the yard, no doubt with her behind, when he said: “There's a little bar near here. Let's go get some beers, I've got the communicator in case anything changes. We'll take my bike.”

[conduit]

He had a motorcycle? Hot. Rayen smiled, feeling herself relax more and more by the second.

"GOD... that sounds great Logan. I could really use some relaxation." She looked around her. "You know, this place is really outstanding. Did I hear someone recently died that owned this place?"

It occurred to her that might be a sensitive subject, but there seemed no safe place to tread these days.

[logan]

He took a moment to respond, but only a brief one. He'd spent the past six months working it all out in his head, and in his heart. Jean, mainly, but to a lesser degree Chuck and Cyke.

“Yeah. The guy it's named after, Chuck Xavier. Good guy, Charlie, very good guy... helped out a lot of muties.” He didn't mention he was one of them. “Last year, he died close to M-day. Killed by the Dark Phoenix, who was also someone from here, a teacher... Bad times.”

Oddly the wound didn't hit him like a sledge to the chest. It was hard, but not hard enough to make his voice crack or make him want to cry or anything. It was just hard.

“Guy named Cyclops died too. It's his bike. He was husband a' Phoenix – or Jean Grey, her real name. I always stole the damn bike anyway, figured' I might as well keep it.” He paused, looked around and smiled. “Yeah. This place has a lot of history – little of it bad. Mostly it's a great place to be... it's home.” The word sounded strange coming from him, as if it weren't one normally part of his language.

They were walking up the bike as he finished. It looked slightly straggled, like it'd been ridden for longer than it was intended without proper cosmetic care, but otherwise was a really nice bike.

[conduit]

Rayen watched him, a little disturbed, a little fascinated. It had just hit her that THIS was really the place where the X-Men came from. And that all of that was very, very real.

"Jesus Logan. I'm sorry." She winced. "That has to be hard. I'mnot sure..." she took a deep breath, thinking of Bandero. "Is that what it's always like here? Am I always going to have to worry about my brother? Or... anyone else?"

She blushed, then cursed under her breath.

[logan]

Logan swung a foot over the bike, and kicked it to a start. After a moment of rumbling and revving, he looked back over his shoulder. She seemed to be second guessing herself.

“When we scrap, it can get dangerous.. though Baltimore was about the worst I've seen. Even in Alcatraz there wasn't so much carnage. Most of the time we just teach in the school, but we do face a battle from time to time.” He took put the cigar back in his mouth, and revved the engine again.

In a way it was hard for Logan to relate to mortality with others. He was virtually impervious to death, and healed from wounds far too quickly. He did his best to try and empathize, though, as loss was definitely painful for him. Already the thought of Rayen getting hurt or killed stung him... but she was a big girl, and tough.

“Hop on.”

[conduit]

Rayen slung a leg over the bike a little awkwardly, not having ever ridden one before. But it wasn't rocket science, so when she slipped her arms around his torso and held his hips with her knees, she wasn't too surprised by how nice it felt.

He smelled nice. Good god, did she have to be thinking this way with her brother laid up and mangled?

As the bike made its way onto the road, she rested her face against his back, not only because it was comfortable, but because the contact was nice and she was going to indulge herself while she had the chance.

She thought of the way Logan described losing the other X-Men. He was a strong person, but she could still hear the stutter in his voice. She hoped she'd never have to be that strong.

The wind pulled her long hair away from her face and as they rounded a corner, she felt a little off balance and held on tighter.

God but he did smell nice.

[logan]

The bar was only a couple miles up the street, and for this reason, was quite accustomed to mutant visitors. Logan had taken a drink with 'Ro a few times here, and often just come by himself. He knew the bartender, Al, and the two had a decent relationship after an incident that saw Wolverine as a make-shift bouncer, tossing a coupla drunks with bad attitudes to the curb.

A he pulled the bike in, killing the engine, he couldn't help but feel regret as Rayen stepped off. How long had it been since he'd been close to someone like that? Months? No, years. Well, there was that time with the Phoenix in the lab... but that ended so badly he didn't quite count it. He could still feel the tingle of her arms twined around him.

The neon lighting displayed the place as “The Watering Hole.” It was a small bar, by most accounts, but was cozy and served decent food on occasion.

Logan stepped off the bike and walked with Rayen towards the door, even more quiet than usual. It's not that he was moody or sad, but more curious about the swell of feelings that happened to be hitting him about that time.

Still, when he held the door open for her, he managed to talk again. “X-folks tend to hang out here, but rarely... 'cept for me, because I'm not really at home unless there's a jukebox, smoke in the air, and beer... and Chuck always told me I couldn't bring that stuff into the Mansion, even in the Rec-room.”

[conduit]

Rayen smiled, and let herself forget about everything outside the bar. "Makes sense. Having gotten the evil eye a few times already, Imight have to spend some more time down here myself."

Sitting at a table and ordering a beer, she sat back, sighing. She rubbed her face. "So... my brother. He's being a bit of a dick, isn't he." She grinned.

[logan]

Logan chuckled, slouching in his chair. “Yeah, I think I bring that out in people.”

He stared a bit off, thinking on something that he didn't say, and grinned a bit. “I guess he's really just looking out for you. You're his little sister, and he doesn't want you to get hurt.”

A couple bottles were sat down on the table, and Logan popped the top of his with a partially extended claw. No one in the bar seemed to care.

[conduit]

Rayen took a slow drink of her beer, sighing and running a hand along the back of her neck.

"So tell me about you, Logan," she set the bottle down and light another cigarette, looking at him as she leaned back in her chair.

"What's your story?"