Month-and-month of missions kept Logan on his toes, and kept his skills sharp. Both plusses in his book, but if he were honest with himself he needed time away. Someplace he could pack up his bike and ride to disappear if he needed it, and he often did back at the mansion. He wasn’t the type to lay down roots, and yet somehow the X-men had managed to do just that with him. How they made him a family man he’ll never know, nor would he ever admit that he enjoyed it.
But here it was different. He couldn’t drive off for days, and instead had to settle for a cabin in the woods. At least it was secluded enough, and if offered him a chance to get to know his daughter more. He was glad that she accepted the invite to come out with him, and seeing her in this environment he saw it more clearly than ever that she was his. The way nature put her at ease, and the skill she showed while they hunted. He had to say he was a proud papa.
He finished setting up the campfire outside the cabin, and leaned against the door of the wooden house. He smiled as he watched Laura. “Want me to show you how to skin those rabbits we caught,” he asked.
"Yes," Laura said with a nod and looked up as he started to walk over. There was a lot that was the same about this Logan, but there were a lot of differences that Laura could see between him and her Logan, too. Her senses didn't pick up on anything too different, and he mostly smelled the same minus the constant stench of alcohol. He wasn't as gruff and ornery, though there was still some of that too. Not that she could talk since it was obvious that she came by those personality traits naturally. But he also wasn't dying.
It was the first time they'd really spent much time alone together, so Laura had been a little timid at first around him but soon acted like her normal self. The hunts and staying in the cabin made her feel comfortable and like herself. It was quiet and nice and not nearly as overstimulating as Atlantis City could be on most days.
As much as Laura had grown to love animals, she still didn't have any problem hunting them for the purpose of food. She had a tiny cow and a tiny bunny of her own, but this was completely different to her. "Do you like s'mores?" She asked him curiously.
“S’mores, eh?” Logan chuckled a bit under his breath. “Can’t say that I’ve ever met anyone that didn’t like s’mores.” He smiled at Laura, happy that she was growing more comfortable around him. He didn’t know it when he first arrived, but this was something he had been missing. He had wanted a family — stability — in some shape or form, and this place was giving it to him. He still wasn’t sure he deserved it at all, but he was going to enjoy it while he had it.
“Did you sneak s’more making supplies without me knowing it?” He asked with a laugh. “Let’s make them first, then I’ll show you how to skin.”
“Didn’t sneak them. You didn’t look,” she said with a half shrug but also half smugly. This Logan was a lot more perceptive than the one she knew from home. The one she knew was gruff and grumpy. Okay, so maybe was this one sometimes too. Hers was just gruffer and grumpier. Even still, she missed him.
As much as she wanted to eat s’mores first, she also was pretty interested in seeing him skin the rabbits. She was sure she could do it her own way, but it probably would make an extra big mess and wouldn’t be the right way. “We can do these first,” she said and nodded to the rabbits. “S’mores while they’re cooking.”
Despite what she’d promised herself when Logan first came back to Atlantis, Laura was getting attached to this version of her father all over again, and she found she was more comfortable being around him when it was only the two of them. He started the process of skinning and cleaning each of the rabbits, leaving behind the skins to make use of and keep later, too, and Laura sat attentive and learning what she could before trying it out for herself.