Marie was beautiful when she slept. Logan knew that she had been waiting for him to fall asleep before she did, so Logan had feigned sleep. He was too scared to go to sleep. He was terrified that he would have another nightmare and didn’t want that. Not while Marie was sleeping right next to him. Logan didn’t want to hurt her, so he decided that he’d just stay awake the entire night in order to protect Marie from his nightmares.
When he was sure that Marie was sound asleep, Logan slid silently from the bed. He wasn’t tired and didn’t want to drift off in case he ended up having another nightmare. Logan had been lucky last time. He could have easily stabbed Marie through the chest without being aware of it until it was too late. Since Marie was so adamant about the fact that she didn’t care about his claws, Logan knew that he’d have to take it upon himself to keep her safe.
Taking on final look at Marie’s slumbering form, Logan padded silently towards the stairs. There was still a bit of a fire going, giving Logan the light he needed to see his way down the steps. Logan was no longer stumbling, but still kept a firm grip on the rail to ensure that he didn’t fall. He didn’t want to wake Marie up.
Logan was greeted by Boris at the bottom of the stairs. Absently patting the slobbering dog on the head, Logan made his way to the living room. The fire was calling to him and all that Logan wanted to do was lie down in front of it and spend the rest of the night there.
So he did just that.
There was a large fur blanket on the floor in front of the fireplace, already warmed by the heat from the fire. Pulling off his sweat shirt, Logan stretched out in front of the fire, the black, low riding sweat pants the only thing left covering him. He wasn’t cold, though. The fire and the fur blanket were keeping him plenty warm.
Logan was just getting comfortable when Boris plopped his head down on Logan’s stomach. Grinning at the large, furry head resting on his stomach, Logan lifted one hand from behind his head and began scratching Boris behind his ears.
Now that he knew that he wouldn’t be a danger to Marie, Logan was able to relax. He knew that Boris would be able to sense trouble long before his claws actually extended and get out of the way in time.
Despite the relaxing setting and the late night solitude, Logan was anything but relaxed. His mind was too busy for that. Logan was desperate to figure out the things he had forgotten. Figure out how he had ended up with nine inch metal claws that protruded from his knuckles.
Thinking that perhaps somehow the claws themselves would give him a clue as to where they had come from, Logan held his left hand in front of his face and extended the claws. Logan stared at them in awe, rotating his hand back and forth in order to get a better view of them. One thing he decided for certain was that they hurt a great deal when they came out. There was no blood, though, which confused Logan. Retracting them again, Logan was amazed to see the three wounds heal almost instantly. Logan didn’t need a memory to tell him that was not normal.
Curious, Logan extended them once again then glanced over at Boris who’s eyes were trained on the claws as well. “What do you make of it, Boris? Do you think I came with them ready made?”
Boris sneezed, shaking his head in the process.
“I didn’t think so either,” Logan agreed, turning his attention back to the claws. “The question is, where did they come from? I know that it has something to do with that damned nightmare. You got any suggestions, Boris...? Well neither do I. That’s the problem.”
With a shrug, Logan pulled the claws back in and lowered his hand onto his stomach. He’d figure it out in the morning. A part of Logan was actually hoping that he had the nightmare again so that he could get more clues as to the origins of his claws.
“So is this a private conversation or can anyone join in?” Marie’s voice called from the stairway.
Both Logan and Boris turned towards the stairway, albeit Logan with a much more sheepish look on his face.
“Sorry, Marie. I though that you were asleep,” Logan mumbled, disturbing Boris by sitting up.
“Ah was,” Marie assured him, a grin on her face. She walked over to where Logan was and sat down next to him on the fur blanket. “But see, yer like this huge human furnace. Ya go away, so does most o’ the heat in the bed. It kinda woke me up.”
Logan glanced down at his lap, absently scratching Boris’s ears. “I just.... I just didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Logan, how on earth could ya possibly hurt me?” Marie asked, running a hand up and down his arm in a soothing manner.
Without a word, Logan held out his left hand and extended the claws once again. “If I have another nightmare, these things could very well come flying out again. I refuse to put you in danger because of these things.”
Marie reached out and took Logan’s left hand in both her own. Despite his protests, Marie pulled his hand towards her so that it was resting on her lap. “Ah’m not scared o’ yer claws, Logan. Not one bit.”
“You should be, though,” Logan insisted. “I could have killed you with them this afternoon.”
“Could have, bein’ the operative word,” Marie told him, her fingers tracing the contours of his knuckles, deftly avoid the blades. “Just because ya have those things in yer hands doesn’t mean ya have to sleep down here. Ah’m not lettin’ ya sleep down here anyway. It gets too cold when the fire goes out. So yer goin’ upstairs with me an’ we’re gettin’ back inta bed. Understood?”
“But I--”
Marie shook her head, pressing her fingers to Logan’s lips. “No buts, Logan. Yer comin’ upstairs with me an’ we’re going ta bed. End o’ discussion.”
Helpless to do otherwise, Logan nodded his head. Retracting his claws, Logan faced Marie, biting nervously at his bottom lip. “I don’t get much of a say in this, do I?”
“No ya don’t. So save good night t’ Boris an’ follow me,” Marie said, patting Logan on the thigh and jumping to her feet.
Logan shrugged at Boris who tilted his head as though to shrug back.
“All right ya two knuckleheads, that’s enough,” Marie said with a roll of her eyes.
Logan allowed Marie to lead him towards the stairs. A part of Logan told him that he should be putting up a fight, but he just couldn’t muster it. It was so much easier just to follow Marie. Plus it just felt right.
Still, Logan put up a token fight when they reached the bottom of the stairs. “Wouldn’t it be better if I just slept down here on the couch or something? I’ve got Boris to keep me company plus then we don’t have to worry about what might happen if I have another nightmare.”
Marie gently cupped both of his cheeks in her hands, her thumbs lightly rubbing over his cheekbones. “Yer not gonna sleep down here, Logan. Ah know that yer worried ‘bout those claws o’ yers, but ya don’t hafta be. Ah’m not, an’ Ah’m the one that has ta worry ‘bout getting them stuck in me. Ah trust ya, Logan.”
Logan was floored to hear that. He had almost stabbed Marie once and she still trusted him. Trusted him enough to sleep in the same bed with him. Then his thought process got ahold of it and made the situation worse. Logan’s mind pulled up vile images of Marie lying in a pool of blood, three bloody gouges in her chest.
Shaking his head, Logan pressed the heels of his palms against his closed eyes, trying to block out the images. He made some pathetic whimpering sound and Marie wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his head down onto her shoulder.
“It’s all right, Logan. Ah get that yer freaked out ‘bout yer claws. Ah really do. Who wouldn’t be in yer place,” Marie whispered in his ear. “But that just means that ya gotta trust me, Logan. Trust me ta keep mahself safe. Do you think ya can do that?”
Logan nodded his head against her shoulder, bringing his arms down so that they were now wrapped around her waist.
“That’s good, sugah. ‘Cause ya can trust me. So we’re gonna go upstairs now and go t’ bed. An’ nothing bad is gonna happen,” Marie said softly, her breath warm against his skin.
Logan pulled back then and offered her a trembling smile. “You won’t let me hurt you?”
“Ah won’t let ya hurt me.”
Logan nodded jerkily, signaling his surrender. Marie grinned broadly and pressed a kiss to his cheek before grabbing hold of one of his hands and pulling him up the stairs behind her. Even if he had wanted to, Logan knew that he wouldn’t get another chance to argue his point.
“It’s real simple how we do this,” Marie said when they reached her bedroom. “All ya hafta do is lie down so that yer facing the front o’ the house.”
Logan did as she instructed, getting himself situated on the bed. Even though he would have been perfectly content in front of the fire, the bed was infinitely more comfortable. When he found a comfortable position and was no longer squirming around, Marie slid into the bed behind him, molding herself to his back.
“See, Logan. Even if yer claws do come out, they’re not gonna hurt me,” Marie said as she draped and arm across his middle. “At worse ya’ll punch a couple holes in the mattress. No bit loss there.”
Logan felt Marie press a kiss to the back of his throat and let out a contented sigh. “Thank you, Marie,” he murmured, lacing his fingers through her which were pressed against his stomach.
The entire cottage was silent for several minutes until Marie spoke again.
“Logan, does it hurt when they come out?” Marie asked him, her voice barely above a whisper.
Logan glanced down at his hand which was still linked with Marie’s. “Every time.”