Who: Storm, Wolverine When: Saturday, October 11th, 2008 (after dusk) Where: Xavier's; the labyrinth What: Adjusting. Status: complete Rating: PG-13 / R
At Xavier's, no place gave Ororo more comfort than the well-manicured, yet rustic maze of hedges that sprawled across the landscape on the far side of the estate. Right now, she needed comfort. She didn't want to hide, necessarily (and she frequented it often enough for others to know to check for her there), but the solitude, quiet and connection she felt there with nature usually helped to ground her.
At the present, Storm felt like a mistake of nature. Her hormones and urges were off the charts, peaking, then crashing so she felt like an empty shell of a woman. It was going to drive her to madness. She had spent the entire previous day speaking with Diamond and allowing the woman to work on her mind. Ororo had great control; but even the wisest and most powerful mutants would have had difficulties overcoming and containing the raw energy that seemed to be boosting her (and her colleagues') mutation. Once highly in tune with nature and her surroundings, she now felt like a wounded predator... thirsting for the taste of blood and a mate, feeling as though her desires could never be quenched. Then again, it was hard to be satisfied when your body and mind were in disagreement. Not to mention her moods had been fluctuating so that she had gotten on her own nerves. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like for others. Thus, the isolation. Storm hadn't even begun to consider her students, their lives and studies, and the effect her condition would have on the school. There hadn't been time for all that. She just knew that if she didn't grasp the reigns, there was a chance she might get away from herself.
Logan knew where to find her; he knew where she would be. Even if the Weather Witch's movement hadn't been so predictable, she wouldn't have been difficult to track down... Ororo's fragrance had always been easy to pick out from a crowd, but now it was even more recognizable. But the once-pleasant aroma of life that Storm exuded was replaced with a much different scent. Something that resembled the smell of a Darkseeker, something much closer to death. The smell was a pungent, awful odor. It was a sick joke that someone so beautiful was forced emit it.
He didn't blame Storm for any of it. The mood swings, the odd behavior, or the scent. How could he? It wasn't her fault the virus had once again mutated or that she had been infected. But, he also couldn't ignore that this was not the woman he fell in love with. She had been changed, unnaturally and unfairly. But even though it made him uncomfortable to be around her and unbearable to watch a woman such as her fall from grace, he would try his best to help her.
"I knew you'd be here." Logan said from a few feet behind Ororo. "Feeling any better?"
"I smelled you coming." Yes. Ororo had smelled Logan approaching. Quite the switch. "It is better out here," she admitted, finally. "But you already know that." They were both the 'outdoorsy' types. She smirked at that and turned around to face Wolverine. A sense of unease was coming off of him. Part of her wanted to kick his shin for seeming uncomfortable. The rest of her wanted to throw her head back in a laugh of feminine triumph. Was the little rodent scared? Poor little badger. Her blue eyes closed when she realized where her train of thought was headed. Blink.
Her right hip jutted out and she stood so her arms were hanging slightly behind her, resting against the sides of her buttocks. She lowered her chin and looked up at Logan through her white eyelashes. "I am sorry I made you worry." There. Maybe that would get her back on track...
She turned to face him and the hairs on Logan's neck stood stiff. The animal in him screamed at him to turn and run from this monster. But he was no longer just an animal, he had evolved past that. Right? He locked eyes with Ororo and was disappointed further. He had never seen her blue eyes look so menacing, so full of malice. Logan wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her, all the while yelling 'Who are you and what have you done with Ororo Munroe?' Unfortunately, this was Ororo Munroe.
Her posture changed and Logan wasn't sure what to make of it. "When I'm worried about you Ro, I just watch the weather." Logan said with a small smirk.
All of Logan's scents and sounds were magnified to Storm's ears, and through that, she felt as though she could read him much more clearly. He was still being squirmy. She had wandered off more than once since coming to consciousness. She knew Logan better than to expect him to fuss over her. But standing before her now he gave the impression that he was fulfilling a duty rather than ensuring the wellbeing of a lover. "What do you watch when you are not worried about me?" Jean? Emma? ... Rogue? A white eyebrow quirked upward and she took a few steps forward, hips swaying. Her hand reached out and with extra sensitive skin, she touched the stubble along his jaw. She wanted to curl her fingers into claws and rip at his face with her nails. He was making her crazy. Her nipples went hard under her camisole and sweater. 'Look at him', she thought, 'smirking like a smug baboon'. God, he was so cocky. Cock. Her free, right hand went to his crotch and squeezed through his jeans.
His expression changed quickly from smug to concerned to surprised. Before he could answer her question and catch on to what she was implying, her hand was on his jeans. "Ro?" He said with some confusion in his voice. His hands did in fact go to her shoulders, but he didn't dare shake the woman. Sudden movements were not going to be an option with the unstable woman before him. He searched his thoughts for the best course of action. This is the kind of behavior they had been warned about. His hand moved to hers and he gently pulled it away from his crotch. "I don't look at anything that compares." Logan's tone changed to a more confident one as he answered her question. "Let's get you inside."
Storm was outside because she wanted to be. She didn't need some goat herder stalking after her each time she needed some fresh air. It was bad enough that she couldn't come and go as she'd like during the day. Now he wanted to keep her locked up at night, too? It was too overwhelming. The pale moonlight quickly disappeared and was replaced by a shadow of cloud. For miles around, the dense fog blotted the light out of the sky and within the labyrinth, darkness fell. Ororo's eyes snapped shut again, this time to push back tears. She wanted to be normal, god damn it. She wanted to be warm. "When I am alone, there is no one to harm." Logan could go inside. She wanted the shadowy walls of her maze.