winds of change ~ wolverine

twenty two

LOGAN'S POV

She laughed heartily, clutching her stomach as she bent at the hip a bit. "Logan, you say the strangest shit sometimes!"

I couldn't help but smile at her attitude, gesturing for her to approach with a beckon of my fingers. "I'm serious, you know."

Bailey sighed out the remainder of her laugh. "No you're not. I'm not going to fight you."

I scoffed. "Don't be stubborn. You need this."

She smiled. "Oh I do, do I? And you know what I need how, exactly?"

Watching her with a little gleam in my eye, I took a step to stand at the edge mat. "I pay attention..." I stepped off the small height to stand in front of her. Coming to a kneel at her feet, I took her shoes off for her. She watched me back with almost dazed looking eyes, slightly parted lips, and I realized this view of her from below was phenomenal. My mind started wandering to dangerous territory and I slowly stood back up, towering over her once again. "Also, you woke up this morning and immediately burst into tears, so..."

Bailey immediately pushed at my chest, covering her face in embarrassment as she laughed. "Oh god... It sounds really bad when you put it like that." Then she pulled her hands away and looked up at me with a smile. "But I've got my shit together again now, so this really isn't necessary."

I shook my head. "You don't have your shit together, you just bottled everything up again. It's not the same thing." 

She parted her lips to retort, but a second passed where nothing came out so she sighed and ran a hand over her face tiredly. "If I fight you, will you stop psychoanalyzing me?"

I smirked, guiding her up to the mat with a hand at her back. "I'll consider it, so long as you don't hold back."

She took up a position across from me, stretching out her shoulders. "Prepare to eat shit, honey."

Quicker than I expected, Bailey darted forward to throw a heavy punch. I swatted her hand aside at the last second, smiling as I started enjoying myself. She threw a series of lightning fast jabs at my torso. I let a few of them land to get her more motivated, having to hide my smile because they felt like taps and I knew she wasn't throwing power into them. "You're fast." I remarked as I continued to defend with ease.

"I used to box." She panted back with a white grin.

Throwing her off her rhythm, I blocked one hit and threw one at her shoulder. Bailey squealed in surprise as she threw her entire body into the evade, completely losing her balance for a moment before correcting herself.

Laughing, she quickly returned to her position. "We're playing like that, are we?"

I beckoned her forward with a flick of my fingers. "Come on, princess. You promised me shit for lunch."

With an exhilarated smile, Bailey launched herself into the air, feeding her short flight with eyewatering bursts of air. Then I felt her legs wrap like a boa constrictor around my neck and she flung her weight back. Swinging upside down and suspended only by the suffocating grip of her legs, Bailey threw her fists into the back of my knees. 

All of that in the span of a second, the pull of her body backwards threw me to the ground where her legs tightened impossibly further around my neck and her arms held my legs together. "I keep my promises." She panted with an audible grin. "Do you yield?"

I smiled, letting her hold me down for a moment. "Not quite." I said, gripping her legs easily in my wide hands and using my enhanced strength to pull them apart, freeing me from her constraint. I could feel her muscles tensing considerably under my hands, Bailey grunting as she put up a valiant effort against me.

Once my upper body was loose, I sat up, relishing the look on her face as I peeled her off my legs as well. "You're such a little cheater!" She breathed as she watched me pull her off and stand her up all with one arm. When we were both standing, I let go and she stumbled back a few steps with an incredulous smile.

"You're the one that kicked my knees out." I countered, getting low again, the two of us circling each other while I waited for her to get her breath back.

Bailey rolled her eyes. "I'd hardly call that cheating."

I grinned coyly, teasing her with a faux hit to her left side that she dodged with narrowed eyes. "If your opponent fights dirty, you just have to go dirtier." 

She matched my smile and came at me with renewed vigor. I let her take out her energy on me, throwing back a small hit here and there to keep her moving and focused. She was inexperienced, but Bailey made up for it with impressive speed and enthusiasm.

We traded hits for what felt like just minutes when an echoing clap broke us out of combat an hour later. "If you two are done pounding, dinner's on the table in fifteen minutes!"

Bailey laughed quietly as she panted. "Pounding? Really?" Jumping off the raised mat, she jogged over to Storm, enveloping her in a tight hug. "Missed you." I heard her muffled voice as I approached from behind.

Storm giggled as she hugged her back. "I missed you too, girl." They pulled away and Storm looked us both up and down. "Why don't the two of you go take a shower before food."

"You tryna' say we stink?" Bailey teased with a raised brow.

"I am saying you stink, now get." Storm herded her toward the exit, giving Bailey a quick kiss on the cheek and whispering something in her ear that made her laugh breathily with a glance in my direction before rounding the corner and disappearing down the hall. Storm turned to me with a smile when Bailey was out of sight. "I thought I wouldn't have to see your face for another week. What are you two doing back so early?"

I shrugged. "It's just for the day. We both needed a break."

"Clearly not from each other." Ororo smiled suggestively.

For once, I didn't bother shrugging her off. "We've grown on each other, what can I say."

Storm paused, looking me up and down with a scandalized expression. "You dirty dog, have you two...?"

I rolled my eyes so hard they should have fallen out. "I'm not having this conversation with you." Walking past her, I headed for the door, turning the lights off on my way out. 

Staying right at my heels, Storm hummed inquisitively. "No, you know what, I don't think you did, you seem far too... frustrated." She smirked, pushing me teasingly. "But you do want to, don't you."

I practically slammed the button for the elevator, not meeting her eyes. "If you want me not frustrated, Ororo, all you have to do is shut the hell up."

Storm laughed aloud, throwing her hands up in surrender. "Alright, no need to get so defensive." She sighed happily and said after a moment, "I'm just saying, if you want to make a move, I'd make it before she comes here, is all."

I pursed my lips at her insistence, but subtly looked at her relaxed position out of the corner of my eye. "Why's that?" I asked shortly, hating to indulge her, but curious all the same.

She smiled at my prompting, but kept her gaze forward as the doors opened. "Moving here's gonna be the start of a lot of change in her life, why add another thing to the pile? I'd tell her now, or wait till she gets settled." Stepping out, Ororo turned on her heel and smiled even wider. "But that's just how I'd do it. I know you're no fan of waiting."

My halfhearted glare followed her for a moment as she turned and strutted contentedly down the hallway toward the kitchen. I stepped out of the elevator and headed in the opposite direction to the dorms to take a shower, thinking harder than I expected I would on Storm's advice.