Galatea

Galatea Chapter Thirty Nine (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE (tm), Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta... *glomps * for coming back in one piece, lol... InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink and Dracena are squishy lovely bunnies for archving/hosting! ProPhile has smut on the brain. ;) (Check out his haiku if you don't believe me, lol) Morgan, whither art thou? *peers into the distance * Readers/Reviewers: And here we go, daily again, lol... *glomps * for reading! And reviewing, when you get the chance!



"Hey, Ro? You okay?" Even as the words left his mouth, he knew it was a stupid question, possibly the stupidest one he could have ever asked.
"Yes," she said flatly. "I'm fine."
The sky outside was dull pewter but there was no thunder or even a hint of rain in the air. Just dull, gray, oppressive clouds, covering the sky as far as his eyes could see. "Storm," he said quietly, "talk to me."
"I'd rather not." She pushed away from the balcony and, avoiding his gaze, headed towards her door.
Logan stifled a growl of frustration and grabbed her arm before she got very far. "Look, if this is about Evan..."
"You cannot understand what it means to lose family, Logan," she responded icily. "Let go of my arm."
"Ororo, talk to me."
"I said," her voice grew several shades colder, "let go of my arm." Her eyes grew white, subtle electricity crackling around her like a soft cloud.
Logan narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip. "No."
"Need I remind you that you have a metal skeleton?"
"And need I remind you that I don't scare easy?"
The thunder outside rumbled loudly, sounding as if it were directly outside her window, making the panes of glass all over the mansion shudder in their frames. Somewhere nearby, one of the younger students screamed in surprise. Storm's eyes grew whiter, if at all possible, and her voice came out as a harsh, clipped cadence. "Why did you tell Evan I wouldn't talk to him?"
Logan blinked and loosened his grip slightly. "Because you said, 'I just can't talk to him!' and refused to come out of your room for two days."
Her eyes lightened slightly and the rumbling faded to nothingness. "Evan has decided to live with the Morlocks," she said shortly. "He has opted to remain with them rather than return here." She closed her eyes for a moment and choked on a dry sob. "I would rather he stay with the Brotherhood than this...this...living death!"
Logan let go. "Ororo..." He tried to pull her into an embrace but she stood stiffly until he backed away. "The Morlocks aren't dead...they're just hiding. They can't blend in like most of us can... They're more..."
"Shut up," she bit out savagely. "I don't want to hear it. Evan is gone, Logan. He's gone!"
He stood still as she flung herself at him, beating his chest with her fists, sobbing against his neck. Logan could handle a lot of things in life, a lot of pain and death and worse, but for some reason, Storm crying nearly unmanned him then and there. "Ororo," he said hesitantly, "he left because he felt he failed us. Not because you failed him."
"But I did," she sighed. "I let him think...I never told him I loved him anyway, that it didn't matter..."
"He probably would have left anyway."
"But he might not have... he just didn't understand. He doesn't have to be perfect. I love him anyway."
Logan had nothing to say to that. He just let her cry. _If I ever see that jerk again, I'll kill him myself... _

"Wow, it's really pouring out there!"
Jono made a noncommittal gesture as he fiddled with the DVD player. *_ Okay, it's ready. _ *
"Can I ask you something?"
_*You're going to no matter what I say aren't you? * _
"Yeah, so shut up and listen." Paige shot him a cheeky grin as she flopped down on his ratty sofa. "God, how can you stand this dust?" she coughed.
_*All that build up for that? _ * he asked, sitting next to her rather more carefully.
"No, goof ball. That's not my question. I wanted to know what you would change about me if you could."
Jono froze. No good, he thought, can come of this. He wondered if he could convince her that he had lost his hearing the millisecond before she asked her question. _*You know, this movie is actually a remake of... _*
"Jono, answer me please." She looked at him steadily in the dark. "I know we've had...discussions...about us and what we are and aren't and all that and I still have no idea if you're my boyfriend or what, but..." She paused and raked her fingers through her already tousled hair. "Well, I guess all this crap going on makes me wonder...is it me?"
Jono hesitated to ask her to define "all this crap," so instead asked, _*Are you out of your bleedin' mind? _ *
"What?"
He wished he could breathe if only for the editorial effect of a well-timed heavy sigh. _* Sunshine, why do you think you'd need to change for me? _*
"I didn't say I thought I did. Just asked if you would...encourage...a change..." She shrugged, blushing furiously. "Forget I asked."
_* Did and done. _* He hit play on the remote control and leaned back to watch the movie. Beside him, Paige shifted restlessly. After ten minutes of it, he hit pause. _* Ask. _*
"Huh?"
Jono turned to face her and managed a glower with his eyes. _*You're acting...twitchy. What is it? _ *
"There ain't anything? I mean, not my hair? My accent? My...anything?"
_*If I didn't like you as you are, why would I be sitting in the basement and trying to watch truly terrible movie with you? _ *
"If it's terrible, why are we watching it?" she asked, smiling slightly.
_* I've found French movies keep Sam at bay. _* He hit play again without looking at her.
Paige scooted closer to him, wriggling so she rested in the crook of his arm, her cheek pressed against the side of his chest that was still relatively intact. "You know what I'd change about you?"
He closed his eyes, thinking of the myriad things wrong with him that were not amiss in normal males. _*Tell me _*
"Your taste in movies. This sucks."