The gentle warmth of the afternoon was slowly ebbing away to a cooler evening, the sun slowly sunk down amongst a backdrop of high buildings and clouds which were growing greyer by the minutes that passed. It was clear by the new onslaught of rushing people that work had finished and the absolute need to get home was obvious. It was interesting to people watch, to see everyone just hurrying about their business, as if not to caring about anything else but their soul mission to get home and as far away from their working place as possible.

Regardless of the meeting which was happening within their city tomorrow, this little area of Paris didn't seem to wholly care at all. That wasn't to say that they were oblivious to the magnitude of it, no one was in the dark over how important it was that the meeting went off without a hitch, papers were signed, agreements reached, and everyone left to return to their countries with a new sense of accomplishment in achieving what they had all set out to do.

However, that was in fact a troubling thought considering Bolivar Trask was present, so not only were there going to be peace agreements, but evident attempts at getting funding for the Sentinel Project that he was concocting. That room was going to be full of high-powered people within their governments and armies and such, then there was him, a clearly intelligent man with a plan and a want to have success. People like that were truly dangerous, because they'd do whatever they needed to get what they wanted; whether Trask truly wanted the extinction of mutants, that was unclear. But a machine that hunted them signalled that there was a truly nefarious reason behind it.

A lot more was going to happen tomorrow than just signing papers and important people having a meeting, that much was clear. As for right now though, adjusting further to the time change meant more wandering about, admittedly Logan was wondering when jet lag would actually kick in for Alethea, as if just to keep proving him wrong she just kept going. That wasn't to say he was feeling overly exhausted, but there was this lingering tiredness that was appearing within his mind; it wasn't like he needed to sleep, he just needed to stop.

It was more than clear though that Alethea wasn't stopping, her eyes widened behind her glasses as her head turned so suddenly towards him, Logan was surprised it didn't come popping off of her shoulders. "Thea...Thea!" He said her name slowly, his dark eyes widening as he watched the smile appear on her face as she started backing away from him. He exclaimed her name just as her form disappeared through a doorway, "Shit," Logan groaned and looked around himself before following quickly after her.

Honestly, he didn't know how long they'd been out and about, he vaguely remembered the route back to the hotel, and he had tried to guide her back that way subtly. Alethea just sent him blank looks, Logan got it, despite being told not to treat this as a holiday, she was wanting to make the most of being in a foreign country and see what was around. As she said, she wanted some good memories, in case things still went wrong, and Logan understood that, truly he did but at the same time walking into a pub where quiet music was coming from, he didn't see how this was going to end up being good.

In any experience, pubs, people, alcohol it wasn't a happy ending, Logan should know, he had spent a lot of time in many bars and pubs in his long life. Frowning and looking over the crowd of people, Logan's eyes finally found Alethea, he sighed heavily through his nose and walked forwards. He had to carefully push past people, trying to look nonchalant in his journey and not show he actually was really urgently wanting to get her away from the bar.

Don't get him wrong, he wouldn't say no to a drink, but that also probably wouldn't help either of them when jet lag did eventually hit. Logan frowned at the man beside Alethea, he seemed to be leaning too close for his liking, and the dark look Logan sent his way had him letting out an awkward noise and backing off and turning to his friend. Nodding and leaning in the space that just appeared, Logan looked seriously her way. "What are you doing?"

"Getting a drink?"

Logan tilted his head, his eyes growing hard. He didn't quite appreciate her smart-alec response, his eyes worked, he could clearly see what it was she was doing. Even Alethea looked back at him with a confused face, he was frowning deeply at her and she just looked away when the bartender appeared. Even with the slight language barrier it was easily conveyed what was wanted, and eventually having a beer held out to him, Logan took it with a slow shake of his head.

"What?" Alethea asked, she sounded as confused as she looked, he seemed more than happy or at least content earlier, now he just looked ticked. Not that that was a shock, his general aura was that and so was his face, but this was a bit much now.

"One. One and then we're gone." Logan said while pointing a finger her way, he had her grin his way, her bottle toasting at him and with a roll of his eyes and a shake of his head, Logan clinked his bottle against hers.

"Come on," Alethea patted him on the arm and just eventually held onto his jacket sleeve and tugged him through the small crowd; it seemed people who had clocked off from work were in here to have a relaxing one before going home, but likewise seems there was a band setting up others who were in the crowd were clearly here to see and listen to them.

Finding a table and sitting down, Alethea just sat and happily looked about, she was just happy to sit and people watch, hearing music even from outside as the band warmed up was a plus. What she didn't need when approaching the bar was some random man complimenting her hair, she had looked at him weirdly for that before Logan evidently scared him off with a look. Not that she blamed the man for making a getaway, she'd probably have done the same in his position.

Alethea may have been more ignorant on her surroundings, just finding something that interested her and off she went without any regard, but Logan sat looking about with a wary look. The risk with unknown parts was usually the people within them; in this case, they were in a different country, with different customs, with different people who may or may not brokenly share a language with them, add alcohol and a band into the mix and Logan couldn't help but feel like things weren't going to go well. Intuition, just call it that. Unfortunately, Alethea didn't seem up for leaving, so one drink was all he was promising her then he'd make her leave, even if he had to carry her out.

Alethea sighed and double took, "What the hell is wrong with your face?" She just came out with it, Logan was leaning against the table, bottle resting between his hands but his eyes were scouring around the place, his face absolutely void of any emotion other than looking annoyed or uncomfortable about being here. The drinks, much like the food earlier, were bought by the last remnants of Erik's money that he'd left at the school; he seemed happy earlier with Erik's secret funding, but now he just seemed irritated.

Logan's eyes snapped to look at her, "Someone's gotta stay alert."

"That's your alert face?" Alethea asked awkwardly, she pressed her lips into a thin line. She wasn't buying that, just purely because of how blank his expression was.

Logan leaned against the table, raising his eyebrows and looking at her blatantly he wasn't pleased with how her relaxed expression shifted to nothing, even behind her glasses he could see the colour darken to a deeper green. "Remember what I said earlier? We don't know if anyone from Trask's company is around, let alone where. And we're in a pub, surrounded by all these people. Think of what could happen if the worst happens. Let alone how we'd even get back to Charles and explain the situation." Logan had to say out of all worst-case scenarios to be in, this wasn't awful but it also wasn't ideal.

Did he think someone to do with Trask would be here? No, but then he also couldn't run that risk. Alcohol made people let go of any inhibitions, reflexes and common sense also went too, whether Alethea registered she'd chosen an awful place to come into or not, Logan didn't know, but he didn't want to be here longer than they needed to be.

Logan watched as she listened to his words, he could see that they had sunk in because of how she looked around at everyone, he could physically see the shift; it was like she had truly, for the first time, registered the people around them and even he heard her sharp intake of breath as she tensed in her seat. They didn't know anyone here, sure others present might be people on their holidays too, but also, how would they know? As welcoming and as indifferent as people had been to them appearing, it didn't mean a whole lot to Logan.

He was expecting a reply, but instead got nothing. Logan still understood the want for some good memories, recent ones, but not at the price of potential danger, to them or to innocent people around them. Alethea drunk from her bottle slowly and looked towards the band when they started playing, what seemed like a fun idea suddenly seemed quite tainted by Logan's little dose of reality. She knew they weren't on holiday, and she knew the others wouldn't be out like they were, but she couldn't stay stuck in her room until tomorrow, as selfish as that sounded, she just couldn't.

The music the band were playing just seemed way too happy considering the mood which had sunk over the pair, Alethea's fun had run out, and Logan was just here to make sure she didn't get into any trouble. She felt bad about that really, the dark-haired man across from her didn't even want to come out, he seemed content in the dingy hotel bar, he was literally just tagging along to make sure she didn't get lost or in trouble.

Hanging her head, Alethea shut her eyes, being curtained by her hair had Logan looking at her worriedly, he didn't think she'd suddenly gone to sleep or something because of how steady her heartbeat and breathing were; but he also didn't know what was the matter, she had been just looking and watching the band, he had no clue she was having some inner conflict over suddenly thinking she'd been incredibly selfish and unnecessarily reckless but hadn't just put herself in potential harm, but Logan too. How was that fair? It wasn't.

Sitting back up and shaking her hair over her shoulders, Alethea drunk from her beer and looked at Logan slowly. "I'm sorry," she apologised, Logan looked like he didn't quite understand why or what she was apologising over. "We've been out for longer than I think we need to be. Thank you for sticking with me though, Charles can rest happy knowing you've stopped me getting into any trouble." She joked, though it fell utterly flat purely because of the watery smile she sent his way. "You are right though. Of course you're right, we have come to Paris for a different reason and though I thank you for humouring me, maybe you are also right, we should go."

"I said we could stay for one," Logan replied slowly, he wasn't expecting a cut and run as soon as considering both had barely drunk their drinks. "I wasn't humouring you, Thea."

She scrunched her nose up and looked at him, "You were, just a little bit."

Logan raised an eyebrow and sighed, "Trust me when I say, you'd know if I were humouring you." Drinking from his bottle, he couldn't help but chuckle lowly, she'd know if he was humouring based on the severe level of sarcasm that would come from him. He never had been that way with her, here or in the future he came from. "Also, I'm not telling Charles about this. If he ever finds out, you're doing all the explaining." Logan said while nodding her way, hell no was he explaining any of this little venture, she could seeing as how it was all her idea.

She opened her mouth and frowned, only to snap her mouth shut and still be frowning at him. "You didn't exactly try and stop me leaving the hotel."

Logan scoffed, "Other than pick you up and keep you shut in your room, what exactly was I meant to do? Unless you wanted that?" He watched her roll her eyes and shoot him a look, "Yeah, figured not." Evidently being shut in and away didn't do any good for her.

"I think you carrying me might've caused a scene which is what we're currently trying to avoid making." Alethea stated, so far, they'd been good with just blending in with everyone else. Sure a few people here and there had eyed her hair up, but other than that they clearly thought it was a fashion statement. She could live with that, sure, it was a fashion statement she totally wanted purple hair and not her natural mousey brown hair.

She could vaguely remember her natural hair colour and eyes before her mutation kicked in and took them away from her. Mousey brown hair and blue-green eyes, maybe a few freckles on her cheeks here and there before purple started edging outwards and inwards across her nails and over her skin; a blurred smudged gradient line appearing just below her elbow where it met her skin. She remembered just about having gently sun kissed skin, then it was wiped to a pale opaque almost when her powers started to appear, why it drastically changed her appearance so much, she didn't know, but she could just remember what she looked like as a little girl.

Shaking her head, she looked back at Logan, his attention had slowly drifted away from her and to the band playing. Honestly, neither knew the song but those in the crowd who'd come to see them sung along happily, out of tune sure, but happily. Alethea didn't understand French all too well, she didn't know what the lyrics were but she was always of the understanding of not needing to really know what was said, because it was how the music made you feel; she guessed sure, understanding what was being sung could definitely help, but the rhythm is what was felt.

Logan shot a look her way when she jumped from her seat and clapped her gloved hands. "What are you doing?" He asked while he saw her slowly backing off and away from their table.

"One drink, I agree with that and then we're going, but if this is truly how the evening is ending, then I refuse to end it on not having a dance." Alethea held her hands up, she couldn't dance for anything, but she didn't care if she stood there flailing around looking like an idiot as long as she was having fun, she simply didn't care. This could be the ending of the evening she'd happily accept.

Logan went to reply, to shout over the music but he saw her grin and turn and disappear within the small crowd. He could've come out with any blunt grumble, but instead he just shook his head and left her to it. He believed her, they'd finish their drinks, she'd get a dance out of her system then they'd go. She sounded honest, so Logan believed her. He could just about see her with others dancing, honestly, they looked like they were all having fun and he'd feel just a little bad to pull her away now.

Looking at the half-finished bottle in his hands, he let out a sigh and looked around. Frowning and narrowing his eyes though, Logan looked at the man who was at the bar when he first walked in. Flicking his eyes from the man and to where he was looking, Logan tilted his head, he felt his neck make a satisfying click before he glanced back Alethea's way. Well, seemed like she had somehow got an admirer there, Logan didn't mind shooting that down, if needs be; the last thing they needed was someone trying to painfully flirt, actually he didn't need to see that, that wasn't to say that himself and Alethea were anything, but even he could admit something felt different between them.

He'd always have a sense of protectiveness where she was involved, that was just ingrained in him, he couldn't help it, Logan was both protective and incredibly loyal to those close to his heart. Hearing his name, he looked away from the bar to Alethea, he found himself slowly smiling. She seemed a little out of breath, her cheeks a little tinted from probably the heat in here and her dancing, "What's up? Had enough dancing yet?" He asked, leaning back in his chair and stretching his legs out. He got a laugh for his questions, Alethea shook her head and drunk some of her beer before nodding backwards and holding out a hand. "No. Definitely not." Logan frowned, no, he was not dancing.

Alethea pouted, "Oh come on! It wouldn't hurt you to have a little fun."

"I'm fine here," Logan shot down, frown and all on his face.

"Come on..."

"No," Logan waved her hand away when she gestured it more at him. He laughed though, she was persistent, he had to give her credit there. "Why?" He felt like he'd regret asking already while putting his beer back on the table and looking at her quizzically.

"Just because," Alethea's response had him letting out a short laugh and looking around before looking back at her, he was trying to think if that was actually the answer she was going with. By the cheeky look on her face, yes, it was.

"How'd you figure that one out?"

"You owe me?"

"I...what? How?" Logan actually found himself double taking and looking at her with more confusion now before she shrugged dramatically and laughed, she didn't know, she was clearly just winging this in hopes of persuading him. She was not succeeding; she could see that as Logan seemed very rooted to his seat. She knew her answer made very little sense but Alethea still looked hopeful, Logan shook his head and leaned an arm against the table, he was not moving, least of all to dance.

"Spoil sport," Alethea drunk some of her drink again and narrowed her eyes at him. Logan didn't appreciate that look, she eyed him up and down before humming and backing off. "I bet you're secretly a great dancer..." Logan didn't know how she figured that out as she backtracked again while looking at him, when she reached the fringes of the crowd, she turned and disappeared again.

With a disbelieving sound, Logan ran a hand through his hair and went to lift his bottle up only to pause and narrow his eyes. There was that man again, pausing in drinking, Logan's eyes watched him move towards the small dancing crowd, the out of tune singing didn't block out Logan's ability to clearly hear Alethea's heart hitch a beat, more than what it had been with her dancing. Slamming the bottle on the table with more force than he perhaps needed, Logan stood up and made his way forwards.

The dancing crowd parted awkwardly around him and those who moved out of his way, just moved aside to continue on. No one seemed to be paying much mind to the man holding onto the purple haired female's arm and whispering something to her. From the look on Alethea's face, Logan got the sense that it was nothing good. Even he could see her trying to tug her arm free, even her free hand was pushing against his arm, well that just about did it.

Reaching forwards, Logan's hand clamped down tightly on the man's, the visible wince and the audible pained noise which came from him was quite satisfying. He looked up at Logan, pained expression and all and all he received were dark eyes, a deep frown and Logan looking more than a little angry. Downright livid and aggravated was more like it, from the outset Logan hadn't liked the look this man kept sending Alethea's way; while looking about the pub Logan had caught him looking her way more than one time.

No, Logan was not jealous, envious or anything, Logan was pissed off that the man thought it was completely appropriate to just blatantly stare and invade someone's personal space. Intrusive and inappropriate was just the tip of the iceberg, him not letting Alethea's arm go just resulted in Logan's hand gripping around his fingers.

There was no audible crunch of bones, but Logan definitely felt something click under his hand. The man let out another pained noise and tilted his head, "What are doing playin' at?" His voice held a heavy accent, but he seemingly spoke enough English to ask Logan this question.

"I think the lady would like her arm back." Logan said nearly through gritted teeth, his hand was still clamped on.

"What's it to you?"

"It's everything to me, bub." Tilting his head, Logan felt something click under his hand again as he gripped on and pulled the man's hand free from around Alethea's arm. He would be inclined to ask how much this man valued his hand, but before he could Logan saw his eyes dart to where his hand had been holding.

"What is wrong with your arm?" In his clear rush to grab onto Alethea before she realised what was happening, he'd clearly caught her in mid-motion and her jacket and shirt sleeve had rolled up and he'd wrapped his hand around purple skin, which he was just realising was not a similar hue to his skin or those around him.

Logan gritted his teeth, the muscle in his jaw tensing and him looking like almost breaking the man's hand was the least he deserved, Alethea frowned at him and replied sharply before Logan even could. "What's wrong with your face?" Was her rather childish reply while yanking her arm truly free, Logan's hand tightened one last time on the hand in his grasp before pushing the man away and putting his hand on Alethea's shoulder and nudging her forwards. It was time to go.

The cold air that greeted them had Alethea shuddering and Logan looking around the street with a level of angry scepticism before he turned and nodding her way, Alethea trotted to his side and the pair walked along the street. She wrapped her jacket around herself, now the evening was drawing more in it was getting cooler, Logan walked silently beside her and she remained silent, he was evidently thinking over all of this, his expression was thoughtful even if his eyes still looked angry.

"I'm sorry," Alethea stopped walking and apologised, so all of this was one dramatic thing after another, she accepted that. But she also accepted no one could control another's actions, she thought that man would've just left her alone, clearly, she was wrong.

Logan looked up at the sky for inspiration before turning and looking to where she still stood. He couldn't think of anything to say, a hollow and dry chuckle came from him before looking at her fully, there wasn't much space between them but it almost seemed like a growing abyss. "Maybe I should've tried harder to stop you going out." He waved a hand to the pub, it was a small distance away, that man nor his friend had appeared to look for them, but Logan would rather them have kept walking and not stopped to have this chat now. "We're lucky that man clearly has more sense than I think we can give him credit for to not come after us. But that doesn't mean he won't tell others what happened, do I think he'd make a report? No, who to? Nothing happened. But talk spreads. We're not exactly inconspicuous, are we?" Logan asked, watching Alethea shift her weight and look at him simply, she had distinguishing features that no other had, and his tall frame and general disposition was a stand out too.

"I said I'm sorry." Alethea frowned, she could only apologise for actions which were her own, and she was adult enough to own up to what she did wrong. Dragging this little moment out longer than it needed to, was clearly wrong, and she owned up to that readily enough.

"Let's just go, before he does find the balls to come after us." Logan just left it as that and turned and started walking off, he wasn't remotely worried about the man or his friend if he did. But he stopped again though when he realised, she wasn't following. "Thea, come on," she was just standing there with her hands in her pockets looking unhappily at him. Logan looked around and was glad actually by now there weren't many on the streets, that would just add to the urgency to get back to the hotel before someone really did report anything.

After a few more silent moments, Alethea started walking forwards, her expression very stormy as she passed him with a sidelong look. Logan got it, she really didn't like being lectured, but what would anyone else do when in this situation? He was sure Charles would've come out with something similar, or worse. "Thank you for the help, sorry again for causing problems and dragging out exploring more than I should've. Considering the past few years of our lives have been bad in different ways, I just wanted you to have a good time too, just in case. It's fine, we'll just get through tomorrow and hopefully all will be good."

Logan just looked down at the shorter female as she said this, her tone was so empty sounding, like she was just going through the motions, even if she did mean what she said, Alethea's blankness was worrying and concerning to him. He had quickly figured that she was more than happy for his company, because she liked spending time with him but also, Logan wasn't a total fool; she was trying to overcompensate and hope this could class as a recent good memory for him too in case things still went wrong.

Neither of them suspected being out this long, nor some random man being a bit too personal. Logan shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm not blaming you for anything that's happened." He could realise how it would come across that he was, he really wasn't though. All he got was a hum as Alethea's pace seemed quicker than what it had been all day, Logan's long legs easily kept pace with her, but it was clear she was wanting off the streets, or rather away from him.

"Thank you again, for the save. Have fun explaining where you've been to Erik, because no doubt he'd comment. I'd offer you the chair and footstool in my room to sleep on, but I don't think that's wise." Alethea said slowly and still rather hollow sounding when the hotel slowly came into sight, to be honest she would be more surprised if Logan went to his shared room, he'd probably loiter in the small seated area of the foyer.

"Thea-"

"Try and get some sleep, Logan. Tomorrow is probably going to be a busy one," Alethea just cut him off simply, she turned in the foyer and just smiled his way. Even Logan could see that was just present to try and show all was fine, when her hollow tone and dark eyes just signalled, she still believed she was at blame for almost getting into a bar fight. She clearly also thought that the attempt of enjoying just one day was a failure, Logan went to say something and watched her turn without a second glance and walk to the elevator, she leaned in the corner and shut her eyes as the door shut after she pushed her floors button.

He stood there in the quiet reception area; the receptionists were just busying about while Logan stood there staring at the elevator. He had really annoyed her, and maybe even upset her a little. Logan stepped forwards and made his way to the elevator too. He wasn't exactly known for holding back from a situation, sometimes his stubborn ways could make moments worse, he didn't know where she was within the hotel, he saw what level she was on but the rest, he was purely relying on his senses to find her; as unnerving as that could come across, it was the only way he knew how.

How could they all crack on with tomorrow, when there was clearly going to be an awkward atmosphere between them when everything had been fine before? Logan also felt bad that her dwelling over this evening or whole day would put her in a bad mood and unable to focus for tomorrow. In fact, he just felt bad in general that she was taking soul responsibility for how this evening turned out.

He didn't mean to sound like he blamed her, of course he didn't, he was just venting. Maybe jet lag had finally kicked in for him and what little alcohol he had just didn't mix well and she was the nearest target to him. He didn't mean to just sound as blunt and irritated as he no doubt did, or look about the same, no wonder the woman didn't want to stick around for much longer, his peeved disposition had her walking as quickly as possibly back to the hotel, let alone to her room.

Imagine the look on her face though when there was a knock on her hotel door and Logan was just leaning his shoulder against the doorframe looking at her simply. The short time that she'd been in her room, she'd heeled off her shoes, making the height difference almost laughable now, and she'd thrown her jacket and shirt somewhere, her wrist length gloves also were off, revealing the purplish skin the man in the pub so rightly wanted to point out.

Her arms crossed against the white vest she wore underneath her shirt, her expression of surprise and shock replaced by something more neutral, indifferent even. Well, it was clear she wasn't expecting him to crop back up, but Logan sometimes was awful with catching social cues and hints. Inhaling slowly, he pushed away from the doorframe and smiled awkwardly, he actually hadn't figured out what he was going to say, in truth he was surprised she opened the door at all.

"You're not room service," Alethea said with a raised eyebrow, she even stuck her head out and looked around the corridor, as if expecting to see the porter walking this way. No one was out in the corridor, other than Logan.

"You ordered room service?" He couldn't help but sound a little incredulous. With what money was she paying this with? Actually, he ran a hand down his face and sighed again, no, he didn't want to know. He actually felt here the less he knew the better. "Can I come in?"

Alethea looked at him with a frown before rolling her eyes, her glasses were off too which meant he could see her natural purple eyes and the myriads of nebulae like hues, he liked her eyes, they were always so captivating. She nodded back in the room and gestured around, he could stand, sit, pace, she at this point didn't mind which, she was more interested in what he wanted to say.

Logan shut the door behind himself and turned to look at her, she was sitting cross legged in the middle of the bed staring at him unblinkingly. So, he sort of caught the hint Hank was throwing when he said she went blank, clearly that extended more to just when she was fighting. When annoyed it was clear she just zoned out. Holding up his hands, Logan stepped forwards, her head tilted then, so she wasn't totally lost in her own thoughts then.

"I didn't want to leave this evening with you thinking it went to shit, because of anything you did." Logan started off slowly, watching her just look up at him as he moved near, eventually he went on his haunches and looked upwards at her. He thought if he sat in the chair, she wouldn't turn to look at him, and he wasn't a total idiot, he wasn't sitting on the bed with her when she was clearly ticked.

Logan nodded gently along with his words and had her just looking down at him, listening away. She remained silent, and silence and Logan wasn't always a good thing so he stayed crouched, looking around the room and then back at her. He felt more awkward than he did moments ago leaning against the door. Inhaling slowly, he rubbed his hands together as they rested between his knees and eventually, he just pinched the bridge of his nose and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, she still remained silent and looking down at him with her head slightly tilted.

Alethea's eyes flicked away from him when there was a knock on the door, uncrossing her legs and moving around him, she opened the door and greeted the person on the side happily and quickly and before Logan could properly turn to look her way, the door was shut. She hadn't quickly put her shirt back on, or gloves or even her glasses. The person on the other side probably didn't have enough time to process her appearance before the door was shut again.

With a sigh, Alethea turned and held a tray in front of her, looking down at the plate and then at him, she smiled slowly. "Apology pizza?"

Raising an eyebrow, Logan tilted his head and slowly nodded. It did smell good, he still didn't know how she was paying for it, but to be honest, right now he didn't even care if it was still Erik's money, that pizza smelled good. "Is that what it is, huh?"

Alethea smiled and shrugged slowly, "Dinner is what I think it's actually called." She admitted, her smile turning into a wry grin when he chuckled slightly over her words and ran a hand down his face, sighing heavily and looking sidelong at her, Alethea just smiled still; she had to admit, he suddenly looked quite tired. Like everything had just hit him all at once, he just looked done, his eyes looked tired, and to be honest, Alethea was surprised he was still functioning.

Trotting back to the bed with food seemed to make her happy. She climbed onto the bed and shuffled about to get comfortable. Turning and pushing the pillows against the headboard, she seemingly was so solely interested in the food that Logan just stood there looking about confused before getting a blatant look sent up at him. "Well, are you going to sit down and eat, or are you gonna just stand there?" Alethea asked, holding a slice of pizza and blowing on it, she was hungry and she knew full well she was about to burn her tongue, but it would be so worth it to shut her stomach up from growling.

Turning and holding his hands up, Logan exhaled and moved around the bed. He shrugged his leather jacket off in passing and slowly did much the same as her, padded out the headboard and stretched his legs out, hers were tucked up and crossed again. "So..." Logan started and trailed off, his tone was uncertain as he looked her way slowly, she sat with her nose scrunched and eyes squeezed shut, the slice of pizza in her hand was slowly put down and looked at like it was evil incarnate.

Someone had clearly just burnt themselves, regardless of trying to cool it down. With watery eyes, Alethea waved a hand in front of her face, the tears accumulating in her eyes she hoped would disappear along with cool her down. "You suck at apologising, by the way." She said, her voice tense and a little hoarse, clearly still recovering from burning her mouth.

"Yeah, it's never been a strong suit of mine." Logan admitted, saying sorry wasn't hard, he just wasn't very good at it.

Alethea scratched a hand through her hair and leaned her elbows against her knees, looking over her shoulder at him she nodded his way, Logan looked away from the large windows, she hadn't drawn the curtains yet so the cityscape beyond was still easily seen. "I don't blame you for being pissed off. In truth, I will admit perhaps going to that pub was a mistake. I don't know about you, but I feel shattered. Having a beer probably wasn't wise. Being around drunk people, also not wise; especially when you're not people friendly." She said seriously, nodding now and then in thought as she mused over her words before joking at the end.

Logan at least tried to look offended but it didn't work, he just shot her a look before reaching for a slice of pizza. He could see why she was eagerly trying to eat it; it did taste good but also much like her, this hunger had just come over him suddenly. Unlike her, he wasn't just going to risk burning his mouth to satisfy it. Alethea just smiled, she was glad that he was able to take some joking at his expense and didn't get offended, she didn't mean it, nor did she wholly blame him for not being people friendly; people could be extremely annoying.

"Hey," Logan stopped staring at the switched off television, he could only imagine any news would be talking about the meeting that was going to happen tomorrow. Hearing Alethea's quiet voice had his eyes slowly flicking her way. "Did you break that guy's hand?" She asked curiously, she had heard the noise that came from him the moment Logan's hand clamped tightly on him; it was hard not to feel the grip in some way either, seems both were holding onto her arm.

With a one-sided shrug, Logan actually found himself thinking about it. He definitely felt something click, but he didn't think he had broken anything. Fractured? Possibly. Leaning his head against the pillow behind him, he waved a hand in the air, the so-so motion had her letting out an incredulous laugh and pausing getting another pizza slice. They probably shouldn't find it amusing, someone got hurt, even if Logan could say the man had it coming.

"I actually thought you had broken his hand." Alethea admitted, the pain on the man's face was truly something but then coupled with Logan's face which was a hard mask of anger, it was easy to see why she thought he had broken something. He had looked so absolutely done with the man and what he was doing.

"Probably should've," Logan mused sounding more like he was talking to himself than answering her. Alethea looked his way with a small frown on her face, blinking slowly and tilting his head against the pillow, Logan had to admit it felt rather comforting and he would be lying if he sat here and said sleep wasn't slowly starting to niggle at the fringes of his mind. "It might've taught him a lesson." He continued on to say when she was just sitting and looking at him.

Narrowing her eyes, Alethea nodded slowly and took a bite out of her slice. "I think what you did was enough." Nudging her arm against his had Logan looking at her interestedly, even more so because of the sly smile creeping onto her face. "Fights find you, huh?" She tilted her head and looked at him pointedly.

Logan found himself frowning, "This time it was because of you." He smirked and pointed a finger her way, prying himself from the comforts of the pillows he grabbed another slice.

"Always come to the rescue of damsels in distress, Logan?"

"Something tells me, you are more than capable of defending yourself." He quipped back around the pizza while fidgeting and crossing his legs at the ankles. True though, her defence could've been more damaging than what he did.

"It's always comforting to know someone's got your back," Alethea said with a casual shrug, she tucked her hair behind her ears and mulled over her thoughts while eating. "Did I get you in trouble, in your time?" She leaned back and stretched her legs out too, sitting much like him with her ankles crossed.

Logan raised his eyebrows and thought over that question, it wasn't a hard one to answer. He was more caught off guard that she had seemingly addressed the two versions of herself as a singular. When that happened, he wasn't too sure but he wasn't going to comment. "No." Simple and easy answer, Alethea looked at him surely, Logan just rolled his eyes, "Yeah, okay, it was all me." He held a hand up in defence.

She laughed, "Well, it's certainly big of you to be honest about that." Somehow, she just didn't know why, but yes, she could imagine any fights would usually result with him being in the centre of them. Not saying that she guessed he started fights purposely, but he seemed so quick to rush to help if someone was in trouble, she could easily imagine him doing that to others that he didn't know. Logan had this moral compass that just clearly didn't appreciate people getting pushed around, or bullied.

"Hey, I've been nothing but honest since coming here." Logan had to state blatantly. He hadn't lied to any of them, he did appreciate that they had all been clear and transparent back. He couldn't imagine any of them lying, other than Erik.

Alethea hummed at that, turning and leaning her shoulder into the pillows, she crossed her arms and tucked her legs up against herself. Logan just turned his head and watched her, his eyes did look at her confused, this seemed like a shift, she changed positions to bombard him with some other topic. He didn't know why, just call it a sense. "Did you enjoy today?"

"Where's this coming from?" Logan wasn't sure why she was asking, but from the look he understood quickly enough. "Yeah, I did. You?" From the way she looked at him and then nod, Logan got the sense she believed him, he didn't think she was a walking lie detector, but Charles had stated she could see things from a different perspective than others. Alethea was clearly just very good at reading people.

"Yeah, yeah it was fun. I know I treated it like a holiday, but give me credit, I haven't been on holiday in forever." She laughed and shook her head, she turned and crossed her legs again, returning to her original sitting position and took to eating again.

"You know what, I couldn't have figured that out." Logan's tone was full of sarcasm as she turned slowly and narrowed her eyes at him. With the absolute level of excitement at just getting out of the school, yes, it quickly dawned on Logan that taking her anywhere would be treated as a holiday. She really had been shut in for years, and he did feel bad about that, but he could vaguely remember this time, mutants and humans, it was still an unknown and rocky path.

"Do you go on holiday? In your time?" Alethea saw fit to ask, he took the piss here, she could throw it back at him easily enough.

"I don't have that luxury."

"Before it went to shit." Alethea rolled her eyes and looked at him like he said something truly stupid. He did, in a way. She wasn't on about the time he left behind, but a time before it truly went bad.

"No," Logan shook his head, tilting it though he ended up nodding and looking at her honestly. "Travelling about for missions though, we did a lot of that." Alethea let out a curious noise at that and nodded, she couldn't imagine where he went to or what was the reason, but the thought was exciting enough. "No times could we do anything like this though. Tight time frame, routine..."

"Oh, you sound pissed."

Logan frowned, he'd never bad mouth the dead unless they clearly screwed him, but Scott was such a damn stickler for rules and times that it was painful. Having to listen to him lay out plans for a mission and those plans to be a fraction of a second time wise, it was enough to make Logan shudder. Actually, he just did, having Alethea look at him worriedly. "I just don't always see the point of plans, if the resolution is easy to get at by another means."

"You mean charge head on, slashing and stabbing?" Alethea chuckled and wasn't surprised to see him slowly nod. "Logan, sometimes fighting isn't always the way to get to an outcome. It isn't always a means to an end; I have zero doubt, you are a more than capable fighter, but I am also rather sure there's a brain in that head of yours that has sense to think and see alternative routes, that don't always result in you having to throw yourself headfirst into danger." Alethea said while even reaching up and tapping a finger gently against his temple. She fidgeted and grumbled under her breath, Logan just raised an eyebrow and got the feeling he'd offended her somehow. "Only because you can heal fast, doesn't mean you should always charge headfirst into danger." Alethea blew out a sigh and chewed the pizza with a low hum, she sounded like she was grumbling again.

Sitting forwards, Logan rested his hands in his lap and turned to look at her. "Worried about me getting hurt, huh?"

"You're an idiot, truly." Alethea despaired and rolled her eyes while looking at him simply. "Of course, I am. You seem to have little regard about danger, least of all when it is aimed at you, because you heal and you bounce back. When you become self-reliant on something that's always there, it'll hit you like a tonne of bricks if it ever goes. And I fear if that day ever comes, you will be seriously harmed. As I said, only because you do heal and bounce back, doesn't mean you shouldn't use your brain. You do have one, right? Maybe I'm wrong."

Logan let out a dry laugh, "Funny." Alethea just narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms again, Logan ran a hand through his hair and scratched the back of his neck, looking awkwardly back at her, Logan couldn't help but feel like she hit a nail on the head somewhere. "You know, there was a time where I left the school. A lot happened; some good friends died. I left, to cope in my own way, despite you trying otherwise...hindsight you were hurting more than I ever could, and I still left. I wound up in Japan, an old friend I saved turned out to be someone he wasn't and tried to steal what was mine." Logan said slowly, that was a memory he hadn't dwelt on for ages; Jean killing Scott, and then having to kill Jean really screwed him up and over, she was his friend and he was the only one who could get close enough to stop her destroying everything.

Alethea looked at him curiously, Logan smiled a little painfully. She had lost good friends too, and he still left to go dwell in his own misery and self-destructive ways. He didn't want to go to Japan, not really, but Yukio was definitely persistent; it wasn't like it got much better, also he was not going to mention Mariko because...well, reasons. It wasn't like he hadn't told Alethea he sort of slept with the younger woman when over there and, Logan shook his head, yes, she had been angry even if she was relieved, he was in one piece. But there was a definite void between them after that, took a lot of grovelling, a lot of grovelling. In truth, Logan wasn't one hundred percent sure they were even back together or to what they were before he went to Japan when life as they knew it all went to pot and the Sentinels started hunting and killing.

"He almost killed me, just to have my healing." Logan said, so she had a point, always relying on the obvious didn't always work out for the best for him, because that's what he did here. Run almost headfirst into issues and look where that got him.

Alethea looked up at the ceiling thinking over what he said. "How does someone steal another's power?"

"Did you honestly want the gory details?" Logan's mouth went downwards, trust her to pick on this part first. He just narrowed his eyes when she nodded. Logan then had the fun, not, of recounting Yashida cutting his claws off and drilling into the marrow. "Yeah, that's the face I was expecting." Logan pointed a finger at her when she looked like she was going to be sick.

"Christ, Logan. Sorry but that is gross."

"Thanks, really cheering me up."

"You're the one going down memory lane here." Alethea said innocently enough, she hadn't asked for some old forgotten memories of his. Although it helped her get an even better judgement of him as a person. He seemed regretful about something during this trip to Japan, but she wasn't going to push him for details because she got the sense he wouldn't say.

Logan looked at her before rolling his eyes to the window, "You really do worry about me, even here." He slowly blinked and glanced back at her, Logan found himself frowning, Alethea had little hamster cheeks full of pizza, she at least looked around with wide eyes full of guilt for clearly hoping to inhale this slice before he looked back her way wanting to talk.

Swallowing quickly, Alethea looked at him a little confused. "Why wouldn't I worry?" She had said it, he gave little regards to himself and just charged headfirst at things, that was worrying, of course she worried and didn't want to see him seriously hurt. If that were even possible for him to get seriously hurt. She didn't even know it was possible for someone to steal another's powers, but clearly it had happened to Logan, the mental scarring of that still lurked, she could see it. So, it happened once, what was to say it wouldn't and couldn't again? Hence why she was concerned.

Logan found himself slowly smiling and leaning back against his hands, "Somethings just don't change, that's all."

Alethea scoffed, "I think you need someone worrying about your welfare, Logan. Or else what is to stop you running headfirst into every bad situation claws first? I'm not saying you don't have a limit, but if you ever got lost, well, everyone needs someone to stop them crossing that line. That's all I'm saying."

He thought over that for a few moments before reaching forwards, she had eaten her half of the pizza and he took to quietly finishing off his remaining slices. She didn't seem to mind being in silence, once he was done, she picked up the tray and moved to the door. Opening and sliding it out, she shut the door and double took when he was just looking at her with this far off expression. It wasn't like he didn't do it often, but there was something different about it this time.

"You'll be that someone for me, sweetheart?" Logan asked slowly, his voice low and thoughtful sounding as he watched her walk back over and end up kneeling on the bed in the place she just left and she faced him.

Alethea sighed heavily and crossed her arms, "Fights find you first, darling. We've established that, I've already said that I'll try and find you sooner in the future than what I did in the time you left. I think if you were lost, you'd be dangerous, if it meant protecting you from yourself and others, then yeah."

Logan's expression just went so unbelievably distant then, his dark eyes looking over her honest expression as she tilted her head, she looked a little confused; Logan wasn't wholly sure Alethea understood the gravity of her words, this wasn't the first time that she had come out with something so brutally honest and that she clearly totally believed in that it just threw him through a loop, caused him to go off kilter as he was struck by her. Just her, how she was, how easy it was to see the woman he had known in there, she was still her, no matter the time or the distance, or whatever; she was her. Her inability to just not always care and give a shit about him and how he was, was just constantly switched on, clearly.

She had said it was comforting to think that in the future there was him and there was her, that neither had walked an easy path in life, that was for sure from what Alethea had told Logan about her past, and what snippets he had given and the future he came from; yes, she understood he had had it hard. But though she had seen this distance in his eyes, that there was something in being near each other, spending time together, to just help heal each other with whatever pained them.

She was his someone, his anchor, and no matter the past or future that was clearly never going to change, her coming out with all she had just simply proved that point to him. Logan slowly shook his head and pushed away from his hands, he had been sitting in that position for so long his arms were going numb, a nerve was starting to twitch and Alethea looked concerned when his eyes looked at her sadly.

"Sorry," Logan said quietly, Alethea went to ask him what he was apologising for this time, as far as she could see he hadn't said anything bad, but before she could even comprehend what to say, the words went out of her head. Logan's hands tucked her hair over her ears before cupping her face and closing the distance between them, he may have pulled her to him a little which resulted in her having to brace herself suddenly, her hands landing against his chest and her fingers twisting in the material of his shirt as he tilted his head slightly and deepened the kiss they were caught in.

It was strange how somethings just didn't change, Logan felt her almost sink into him, which caused him to smirk and remove one of his hands from her cheek to find one of hers and rest over it, her palm was pressing against his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart. Face it, he was clearly and evidently still very able to make her both breathless and apparently boneless when kissing her, somethings truly didn't change.

His fingers threaded into the hair at the nape of her neck and soon enough he felt her fingers trail over his jaw before they stopped over his lips as she pulled back slightly. "Don't look at me like that, I need to breathe." Alethea laughed; he had a slight frown on his face as his eyes narrowed at her. She was caught completely off guard here, not thinking he was going to kiss her and she was well aware to how red her usually pale cheeks were as she felt his fingers play with her hair. She couldn't lie, his hand was relaxing to her.

His hand moved though, if only to press her fingers more to his lips before pulling them gently away and enveloping her hand in his. Their other hands still stayed over his heart, his thumb stroking over the back of her hand as he looked away from their entwined hands. "Did I just take your breath away?" Logan could've said anything, but he just had to come out with some sarcastic quip and he got a sudden hit to the chest for that, her hand slipped away from his then and he was missing the contact and pressure.

"Why did you do that?" Alethea asked quietly, she watched as he looked thoughtful, even leaning away from her and causing more space to appear between them. Don't get her wrong, she was definitely not complaining no matter how impromptu that was, but even still...it came from nowhere, or rather was she just being oblivious?

Having her face cupped again, Alethea blinked and came out of her thoughts and looked at Logan, he seemed to be thinking of a reply, not just coming out with the first thing that came to mind. Alethea felt herself slowly smiling, was he just taking onboard what she said about using his brain and not just going headfirst into something, though he sort of went headfirst into kissing her, didn't mean he had to further just blurt the first thing which came to him to answer her.

Tilting her head down slightly and kissing her on the forehead, Logan leaned back after lingering for a few moments, he felt her hands reach up and hold onto his wrists gently, her fingers even stretching over the backs of his hands; Alethea looked patient enough before Logan just shook his head, shrugging he just came out with it, "Because you are my someone too." He watched as a slow smile appeared on her face, it worked both ways; but it was clear Alethea just wasn't expecting that as an answer, Logan would say maybe for once he had made her speechless, which caused him to smirk, that really was a first.

—

(A/N: I am retconning X3 in parts, just cos, that's it, just cos. It's clear in parts it prob still happened, alongside the Sentinel issue or something, but literally, I know X-Men love a messy timeline, but give my brain a break.)