Running to Stand Still

Logan sat with his back to the wall as he watched the TV. Well, the TV was on and for all intents and purposes he was trying to watch it. It was just that the girl on his bed was extremely distracting, and the fact that she was distracting him from hockey was all the more surprising.

She was semi-oblivious to his attention as she intently studied her history book for the test she had the next day.

"Kat?"

"Hmm?" she replied, voice slightly muffled.

"What exactly are you studyin'?" He watched a guilty blush creep up her face.

She hesitantly lifted the magazine from the top of her history book. "Men's sexual fantasies, actually," she answered, her voice slightly choked. "Cosmo has some interesting articles."

Logan's laugh was growly as he came to sit next to her on the bed. "So, what are you supposed to be studyin'?"

Kat rolled her eyes. "The American Revolution from the angle of the British." She shrugged, stretching her arms over her head before getting up and walking over to the clear area by the window. She spread her legs and leaned down, palms touching the ground.

"What're you doin'?" Logan asked, watching her with curiosity and avid interest. God, she had long legs …

Kat winked at him upside-down through her legs before standing back up. "Stretching. I used to be a dancer, and I was thinking of maybe getting back into it and taking some lessons in NYC. Hank thought that it might be a good way to rehabilitate my knee."

"Really?" Logan scooted to the side of the bed to watch her more closely. "What kind of dancer were you?"

"Well," she said, raising up slightly on her bare feet, "I took ballet lessons from the time I was 5 until I was 15 or so. I was also in the improv class,re wre we could use any form of dance. For awhile I was in freestyle, kind of like the stuff you see when Janet Jackson performs on TV?" She did a sort of skipping/gliding move across the wooden floor that brought her in front of Logan.

"Logan?"

"Hmmm?"

Kat stopped and tapped her foot on the floor. "Why are you staring at my feet?"

His gaze slowly traveled up her body until it met her eyes. "I never understood the female desire to paint your toenails, but I like yours." The look in his eyes was warm and inviting, with just a hint of sexuality making them dance. "Kinda looks like the night sky, all dark blue with sparkling stars."

She reached out to touch his face, his sideburns rough against the smooth skin of her palm. "No one would ever think it to look at you," she said, her voice low and conveying the warmth she felt when she was near him.

"Think what?"

"That you've got a poetic soul." She smiled when he gave her a questioning look. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna tell anyone." She sat down next to him. "Your badass reputation isn't in any danger."

"Is that what you think I am?"

"What, a badass?" Kat turned her body to him, curling one leg up underneath her. "You want my honest opinion?" She took one of his hands in hers, just for the physical contact.

Logan nodded. "Honesty is the only thing I ever wanna hear from you, darlin'. Don't sugar-coat things for me."

Kat was silent for a moment, her fingers gently running over the grooves between his knuckles. It was a gesture she wasn’t even aware of. "The badass attitude, I think that's just a surface thing sometimes. You use it as a defense and there are times when it's just something you enjoy doing. There's more to you than being The Wolverine, you just don't display that side of you in public."

He watched the way she touched his hand, watched where she touched his hand. He realized another thing he liked about her: her ability to get close to him, physically and emotionally, and not be afraid of getting hurt. She trusted him, and on some level he knew that her trust was a rare commodity.

"There're other sides to you, like the one that watches me when you think I'm not looking, watches me just to make sure that I'm safe." She blushed slightly when she said that one. "And then there's the side of you that can be comfortable sitting in perfect silence with me, just enjoying the moment." She grinned suddenly. "And of course, there's the part of you that revels in the violence of hockey, and I gotta love a man who likes hockey for the violence."

He laughed huskily, reaching out to brush away a strand of hair that had fallen into her eyes. "Wanna know what I see in you?"

"Go ahead, darlin'," she said, using his term of endearment. She liked how it made his eyes darken when she said it.

"Well, at first glance you've got this quietness about you, a kind of grace that makes other girls jealous. It's almost like you move in a world of your own making, like nothing can get in and change you." He watched the way the lights and colors of the TV flickered over her face, creating hollows beneath her high cheekbones and highlighting her full lips.

"Under that, I see strength like a cloak you pull around yourself. And underneath it all is a woman that people rarely see, but the ones who do get to see her are changed forever by her beauty."

Kat felt tears stinging her eyes, first off because she'd never expected to hear Logan say something like that, and second off because knewknew that he truly saw her, even behind all the barriers she'd put up to protect herself. It made her a little frightened, but mostly comforted.

"Thank you, Logan."

"For what?"

She smiled a bit shakily. "For making me feel beautiful."

He gathered her into his arms and held her, scooting across the bed to rest against the pillows as they watched the TV together. Kat found herself yawning near the end of the game and looked at the clock; it was getting late and she had an early day tomorrow.

"I'm gonna get to bed, Logan. We still doing breakfast together?"

He watched her gather her book and magazine. "Sure thing, Kat." He followed her to the door and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

She smiled and touched his face. "I like talking to you, Logan." She turned to leave but stopped when he called her name.

"Kat, c'mere." He waited until she was in front of him again before reaching inside his shirt and drawing out the chain with his dogtags on it. "I want you to wear these, darlin'. Keep 'em warm for me."

Her face lit up as he slipped them over her head and lifted her hair over the chain. "I don't know what to say …"

"They look good hangin' there," he said, a smile curving his lips as he brushed his fingers lightly across her chest.

"I'll take care of them," she said softly. A little nervously, she leaned up to him and kissed him, sighing when he returned the kiss. They stood like that for a minute, his arm around her waist and her hand against his chest for balance.

She was the one to pull away first. "G'night, Logan."

"See you in the mornin', darlin'." He watched her walk down the hall, her tread a bit lighter. It made him smile.