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This might seem out of the blue, but I figured it can't hurt to ask.

Has anyone ran into an island that grants wishes, pushes abilities, gives abilities, takes them, or regains or modifies memories? Anything that might nullify abilities even.

Seems like these islands can do a lot of anything, so it's got my curiosity is all.

[honestly, it's just the memories thing that he wants, but he figures the rest will get people talking.]

[Logan is out on deck of the Sun at night, smoking. He's got his journal balanced on a knee and writes once in a while. Pryde paces around the deck, limping but fine looking. Logan himself looks as if he woke up badly again and is out getting air.]

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[Rogue considered just waiting it out. Not bothering him or writing back, but. She can't exactly sleep well either. So, up on the deck she goes, wandering over. She doesn't sit by him.

Just wanders over to the railing near him and leans against it.]

Nullify abilities, huh? Wouldn' that be somethin'?

Not for me, sweetheart. [he said in a gruff tone, letting a long stream of smoke out] Just considering some things about someone else.

[He leaned there, staring at the deck and smoking, seeming to be cooling his jets is all.]

Wouldn' mind gettin' my hands on somethin' like that.

[Nullify powers. Take away the danger of her touch. Hands, lips, arms. Everything that would make her normal.]

Never know. Might be somethin' out there that can do it. Even temporarily. [he shrugged a shoulder and stared at the large wild cat sitting about four feet away and licking a wound.] There's some crazy stuff out there.

[Maybe Jean went out there looking for it. Or found it. Maybe...]

We're all lookin' for somethin'.

[Or someone.

They both know that feeling. Her, not specifically. But that feeling of being alone. And wanting to not be alone.]

I like it here.

I like it here as well. I can sometimes... relax. [he shrugged a shoulder to that. Relax, sometimes, when the dreams weren't effecting him. He'd let Faye go because of Jean, and that was his first mistake. That wasn't relaxing, at all.]

Sometimes it's as bad as back home.

An' sometimes there's things like that island.

[She doesn't like that. At all. Those memories... are shaky, at best. She'd rather forget all about that, but... It's pretty hard.]

I've been told, ya gotta take the bad with the good. Hard part is just finding more of the good, I guess.

[he moved to slide down the railing a bit more, sighing and closing his journal. he patted his leg for Pryde, who paused licking to stare at him. Then she came over, crawling into his lap. He started looking over the cut on her arm]

Ya mind having a house guest tonight, kiddo? [That was to Rogue, not the cat. This was some of the Bad tonight.]

Don' mind at all.

[She moves away from the railing and to sit down beside him. To reach out her gloved hand toward the lynx before petting her head carefully. Gently.

A wounded animal? Needs particular care. She knows that herself.]

...You doin' okay?

[the cat isn't too wounded, just a claw mark at her shoulder mostly. She's taking care of it on her own. She leans into the pets, clearly okay with the attention.]

Just'a bad night. She startled me and I got her. [he ran a knuckle under her chin carefully.] Could'a been worse.

[It's not easy to startle Logan, unless he's restless at night, and lately that had gotten worse]

Wouldn' mind the company, yeah.

[She tries to smile just a little. But she knows how serious it is. What that feeling's like. Something just under the surface, ready to come out.]

Glad it wasn'.

[In his case... just under the surface and ready to come out is literal. It's something he has to control daily.]

Thanks. I figure she'll need sleep and I... [he stopped. And he didn't think she was safe with him? Pretty much.]

Anyhow... I think I'll stay up and work as look out tonight.

[And it's not so far from literal for Rogue. It takes a little longer, but it's harder to pull her back from it. She knows that. Gave her Logan quite the beating when he tried...

...And then he didn't leave her side until she was back on her feet.]

Look... Y'need someone t'... t' talk to? I know I ain'... I'm a kid. [Not something she usually says, but. For him? She knows she is. She'll admit it.] But 'm here.

Gotta look out for each other.

[The cat moved now, from Logan to Rogue. She's too big to sit in laps properly now, but she still trys.]

[Logan, he lets his leg straighten out and leans back, looking over at her, a bit of a smile as she called herself kid.]

Kid, there ain't no one else on either of these tubs better to understand me then you. Don't worry much about it. It's just some... left over thing. From home. [There was a pause, before looking up at the sky again, head back]

I aint told you much about me, huh. You know I did exactly what you said you hope your Logan wont do. Took off.

[Rogue wishes she was surprised. She wants to be. But she's not. Besides, what he talked about? A school? Having to deal with them all day every day? And with... Scott and Jean being older? Probably able to handle the kids?

She'd be even more ready to leave herself than she is.]

Not too surprised. Still figure he's gonna one of these days.

[And there's a bit of fear in her voice. She tries, really, to keep it under wraps. But it's there. Because if she loses Logan, she loses the one person who understands her.

Who she can talk to.]

Y'know... More than anythin'...? Kinda jealous. That you can do it. Jus' pack up an' go like that.

[He shook his head a bit.] I would of kept her around, if she stayed. You two though, you're pretty different. hate ta say it, but you've got a different brand of bravery then her. Stronger. Still... I woulda kept her, if she wanted me to.

And by the sounds of it? You're closer to yours. If I were him, and I might not be but I am. I wouldn't say no forever to ya coming with.

[He rubbed his hand over his face though. Pondering. He doesn't talk to people. Not really. Thatch, for a bit. Ace once in a while, but otherwise... no one. He doesn't talk. He'd tell Jean everything though.]

But I mean... I lost it. With everyone dead, the school out, people leaving... with... [killing Jean...--he sighed] With everythin' that happened, I split. For... years before anyone found me.

[a pause, before saying, carefully] I'm actually tryin' hard right now not to... do that again.

[Stronger.

What was the point of strength? She'd learned that from Scott. To help the people you care about. To protect your friends.

So, calmly, she takes off one of her gloves and puts her hand out in front of her. Not offering it to him, but... holding it there.]

You told me... 'bout the Phoenix.

I've seen it.

Not... not like what you were talkin' about. But the start.

Jean... her powers went haywire. Totally out of control. Scott... thought he could talk her back t' sense, but she... was outta his reach. Least like that.

Siphon a bit off, though. Clear her mind.

Then she could hear him.

[And she'd had all those thoughts in her head. Been talked to, for a moment, like she was Jean. By Scott. Had Jean in her. Talking through her. And when she'd come back to herself, it was with the knowledge, deep down, that she'd never be good enough for him.

He'd never want her. Which, for a seventeen-year-old girl who barely felt like she belonged anywhere, had been a blow.]

Heard it said that... pain shared is pain halved. Don' quite believe it, but I know sometimes... Y' need t' get it a little less in your head. Draw it out.

Dunno what's in your head. Ain' ever touched Logan before.

But you want it? You need it?

[It probably sounds insane to him. Or just stupid. A kid talking about something she doesn't know anything about. But this is what she can do. This is what she can offer.

She tries very hard to hide the quiver in her voice, the one that hints at the tears in her eyes, hidden by the night. Too many memories, too many fears, too many insecurities.]

I can take it.

[Honestly... the offer proved his point of her being different. Being stronger. Braver too. He let her talk, explaining. He knew what it meant to her, in terms of powers. Knew she's take on a few more of his charming personalities, like they had said before. Memories too though... she doesn't deserve those.]

[He looked at her bare hand, giving her a sad smile. He could tell that it scared her. He needed to handle this properly. It wasn't fair to her to give her any of that. It also wasn't fair to her to brush it off either.]

I believe you can take it, Rogue. [Rogue, not Kid.] I'm... just not sure I can take it.

[he tried to find the right words, talking... carefully.] Pain shared is pain halved, yes. But most people share it differently. You wanna talk? Then... we can talk. But you don't... Kid, I got so many damn memories I can't even remember, and more then enough I can and wish I couldn't.

You want pain? Ask me about Jean. [and he meant it. If she wanted to know more, he'd tell her.]

People like us end up alone, don't we?

[She clenched her hand tight then, as if just to have something to do, put the glove back on. Tightened it too much, undid the strap, and fixed it again.

She wanted to scream.

But. Like at the Institute. If she did? People would come running. She'd learned when she had Mystique's nightmares. If she let it show, they noticed. They crowded around, tried to make it better.

But none of them could.

So, it was better to hide it. Lock it away, deep inside.]

Tell me.

[The words are almost uncertain. Because this isn't what she and Logan do. They don't talk.

If anything, that's why they get along. Because they don't talk.

But maybe... just maybe... in this weird place... on a bad night... they both need something different.]

[SOrry kiddo. The offer meant a hell of a lot actually, but he just can't... DO that to her.]

[He watched her fiddle with the glove, hand tight and all. He reached out to take the gloved hand, and trapped it between both his hands, warm.]

I mean it. It means... more then I can explain. And some day you're going to get more then you bargained for. But unless you're dying and need to heal, you don't want my emotions or memories.

[he pat her hand and let it go, most unwilling to feel her flinch when he says it. Can he say it?]

[Jean, she visits. She talks. She says things that hurt. He isnt sure if it's her or his mind. When she was here the talking stopped, kind of. When she left it started again. Maybe he was mental...]

I... killed Jean.

It was my fault. I... killed her and couldn't handle that. I ran off to Canada for years to hide. I'm not as strong as most people think I am.

[talking. It's not something they do. Hell, it's not something HE does with ANYONE. But maybe it feels like a trade, for not taking her offer.]

[He expects her to take off though. It's a horrible confession]

[Somehow, when he takes her hand, that's almost enough to let the tears loose. Rogue doesn't know whether she wants to wrench her hand away or cling to him so tight it hurts them both.

Or at least hurts her hand.

But he lets go, and she doesn't try to keep the touch. It's too alien, too foreign. She doesn't know how to chase after it.

The offer doesn't matter much when he starts talking. Talking about Jean. About killing Jean.

But the Phoenix.

The Professor's warning. That dear friends would become dangerous enemies.

Her breathing changes. Shudders in her lungs. A scream suppressed. Because it isn't fair. Miss Perfect. Jean doesn't deserve to die, no. But the pain that would cause. That it obviously did cause. None of them deserved that pain. She can't imagine how Scott handled that. She wants to just scream. About all of it. About every single detail.

And, in a weird way, she wants to be mad at Jean.

Not at Logan. Because Logan... She knows Logan. He took her on because no one else could have withstood the beating. If he killed Jean, it was because he had to. She believes that. She needs to believe that. And she knows, from when she touched her Jean, that it wasn't Jean's fault. But she has to blame someone. The anger and pain has to go somewhere.

It's a horrible response to a horrible confession.]

Are too.

[The words are barely even whispered. They come out strained, rough. Dragged out.]

Strong.

No one else coulda done it.

[And if he did it, it had to be done.]

[No one else could have done it.]

[True. She asked him to do it. Begged him to. He loved her so damn much and yet he was begged to kill her.]

[and it had to be done. She killed so many with just a flick of a wrist.]

[Thank god Scott wasn't around to see that.]

She wouldn'ta let anyone else do it anyhow.

[his head tilted back, knees bent again and arms resting off them. Story time, kiddo]

Told you Scott was dead, right? The Phoenix took him. Took the Professor. Magneto brought the Phoenix in to fight for him, to fight his war. It was a hard war too. That backfired on him. The Phoenix did what she wanted, and she killed many.

[he closed his eyes, but still spoke] There was no one else who could handle her. I got in close and... she begged me to do it. So I did. And that was that. Thought she was gone.

So... I took off. Ran away. I know that much now. I just... ran away. I don't know what happened to those who were still okay. I just took off and that was it. Now? [he tapped his head twice with his index finger]

She's up here.

[Scott was dead. The Professor was dead.

Because of Jean.

Because of Magneto.

Rogue can feel it happening. The wind picking up, fluttering the sails, pulling the lines tight and flicking them, sending their tension humming in the air. She knows, in a way, that she's doing it. That every emotion is flaring up, and the powers she's borrowed are coming with that.

But she can't let it.

She tries to coach herself. A deep breath. Focus. Push it back. Fight it. Don't let them push you around, Rogue.

She breathes out, and the wind seems to ebb back to where it was.]

Had her in my head. Not... not that bad. But when...

When I saw the start of the Phoenix. Beggin' t' be stopped.

Scott talked her down.

[But only because some of that darkness and some of that power had been pulled out of her. Next time, they might not be so lucky.

Wouldn't, if what Logan said came to pass.]

She...

Y' did what y' had to.

[Funny how often that phrase crops up in her life.]

Don' blame you. In that case. For leavin'.

I'd've done it.

[They were alike in so many ways. She'd said that before. They were the ones who did what the others couldn't.

And maybe it's being a teenage girl. Or maybe it's because of what passed between she and Gambit. Or maybe it's everything all at once.

But the words still come out.]

I'd kill anyone who hurt Scott.

Doesn't sound like anything I've heard of, yet, but I ran into somebody during the battle last week who'd been cursed into being a girl, so...there's that.

Yer in a mood.

[Logan probably heard the splash as Namur hopped out of the sea to cling to the side of the ship while he dripped a little. He only really launched himself over the rails when he wanted to land in a pile of people to scare the shit out of them.]

Tryin' t' stink shit up with that cigar but I still taste it, y' know. That, an' I saw the journal. Wanna try yer hand at bein' somethin' y' ain't, or what?

Edited 2014-10-25 18:59 (UTC)

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