winds of change ~ wolverine

fifteen

I watched with my arms crossed as Logan gracefully scaled the climbing walls without even breaking a sweat. I'd spent a while marveling at the sheer magnitude of his bare arms as they tensed to hold his bodyweight, but now I was giving more into jealousy than appreciation.

Instead of grabbing the next hold and continuing his way up the wall, Logan braced himself and leaped up, skipping at least three levels and grasping the highest hand hold to complete the wall before beginning the climb back down. A few feet off the ground, he pushed off and bent his knees as he landed on the mat, looking up with a smile. "This is fun," He said breathily. "we should come here every week."

I smiled at his enthusiasm when a girl walking past with her friend nodded, smiling suggestively. "Yes, please do." Her friend pushed her shoulder giggling as they turned the corner. I looked back at Logan and laughed at his expression.

"You're emasculating me and I'm not even a man." I said with a smile, handing him a water bottle and trying not to fixate on those godforsaken arms as he lifted one to take a drink. "You ready to go or do you want to give the women here more reason to hate their boyfriends?"

He smirked but shook his head, turning the question back on me. "You done already?"

I rolled my eyes, still wearing a smile. "Honey, I haven't been able to feel my arms for the last half hour, I've just been humoring you." We'd been in the climbing gym for two hours, not one, and it wasn't showing on him one bit. He walked out looking just as fresh as he looked going in. The same, unfortunately, could not be said for me.

"So," I started, as we walked off the tram to head back to the apartment. "how fared your first week of college?"

He blew out a tired breath. "Long. Don't know how you've survived doing this for four years."

I bared my teeth in an equally tired smile. "Five month long summer breaks might have something to do with it." Stretching out my aching shoulders, I sighed quietly as I started getting in my own head.

I could feel him watching me when he asked. "What are you thinking about?"

I pursed my lips examining my nails as I articulated my thoughts. "It's just... don't get me wrong, I agreed to join your," I glanced around the street, seeing that we weren't alone and lowered my voice a bit. "your team. And I don't regret it at all, not yet anyway." I smiled a bit, and put myself back on my train of thought. "It's just a shame that I wasted these years getting a degree I'll probably never get to use."

He tutted, taking the hand I was playing with in his own and prompting me to look up at him. "It wasn't a waste. College is never about the degree. It's about choosing the kind of person you're going to be for the rest of your life. As far as I can see, you've already done that."

I snorted a small laugh. "I'll be clutching my pearls and saying my last prayers the next time I have to go see a doctor if they thought college wasn't about their degree." He rolled his eyes and I piled on. "Might as well tour prisons instead of getting a lawyer too."

"Don't be a smartass, you know what I mean." He grumbled as he pulled open the door to the building and followed me in. 

I chuckled, putting a hand on his arm and looking up at him earnestly. "I do, and thank you." I pushed the elevator button and pondered dramatically. "I guess if any of the kids at the school are having computer problems I can be the IT guy."

He smiled warmly down at me as we entered the empty elevator. "Sure you can."

My head snapped to face him and I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "Why'd you say it like that?" 

Logan tilted his head. "What?"

"You don't think I could be an IT guy?"

He shrugged, smiling in a way that took the edge off any attitude I had before. "Well, you're not always the most patient." And the edge gallopingly returns.