Logan had been acting more defiant than usual. Even the Professor had picked up on it, and asked Scott to reign him in. But he had to be gentle, as to not make him more volatile, or worse, go rogue.
He walked back into the mansion from outside, searching for Logan. His motorcycle was still in the garage, so he knew he hadn’t left. He went up to the man’s room, knocking on the door heavily.
“Piss off.” A rough voice growled from inside, uncaring of who was on the other side. Scott rolled his eyes, trying the door. Locked. Great, now he would have to either convince Logan to open up or break the door down.
“You know I’ll break the door down. Now, open up before we have another repair bill.” Scott said, moving back from the locked door and crossing his arms. Fuck being gentle, he would be fine. He heard excessive grumbling from the other side, but the door was opened.
His eyes widened when he saw Logan’s state, his hair messy and covering his eyes. He had beer stains on his white tank top and a low-cut pair of jeans. His eyes narrowed, silently appraising the mutant in front of him.
“You gonna talk?” Scott asked, his voice harsher than it needed to be. Logan growled, but stepped back to let Scott in. Scott walked inside his room, looking down at Logan.
“What, did you finally get worried about me?” Logan muttered, not meeting Scott’s eyes. He could tell by the look in his leader’s face that he was in trouble. But he was still planning on fighting, he knew he was stronger than Scott. Well, physically, at least.
“Professor knows you’re being a bitch. Told me to come reign you in.” Logan scoffed, crossing his arms. If this led to a fight, Scott would lose. Logan had his healing factor, but sometimes it didn’t work that fast.
“Gonna put me down?” He didn’t mean to, but his voice cracked at the last word. He had thought about it, wondered what would happen if the team got tired of him and actually did it. It would be hard to beat his healing factor, but his stint in the hospital proved it wasn’t impossible to overwhelm him with injuries. Especially self-inflicted ones.
Scott titled his head, wondering if Logan thought they would actually do it. He knew the X-men didn’t kill unless they had to, and Logan wasn’t at that level of risk. Yet, at least.
Logan went over to his bed, curling up and ignoring Scott. The younger man sighed, sitting on the bed beside him. Leaning his body back against the headboard, they sat in tense silence before Logan broke it.
“Have you ever had a panic attack?” Scott was slightly surprised at the vulnerability in his voice, but responded anyway. “I used to, when I was younger. But I can manage them now.” Logan scoffed, muttering out a sarcastic reply. “That’s all you ever do, take control of everything.”
“Do you have them?” Scott asked, not expecting an answer. Logan was never the vulnerable type, all rough edges and claws out. Always on the defense, even if it was just them.
“Yeah. They fucking suck.” He had rolled over on the bed to face Scott, but wasn’t sitting up. He fell quiet, looking like he was contemplating asking a question. Scott studied him for a moment before speaking up.
“I know I’m not the best at this, but do you want a hug?” Logan let out a disbelieving scoff before a smile grew on his face. “You sure you want a 300 pound experiment laying on you, Slim? Probably break a few bones.”
Scott nodded, but a small smile appeared on his face too. Logan was normally never concerned about their comfort, and if he was, he didn’t show it. Logan hesitated, but climbed into Scott’s arms, settling down with a huff.
Scott hummed a soft tune, trying to calm down Logan. He wouldn’t admit it, but he could feel how tense the older man’s body was. Logan slowly started to relax, but grumbled something under his breath about how he didn’t need to be treated like a baby.
“So, is this your grand plan for reigning me in?” Logan smirked, feeling much better than earlier. Scott rolled his eyes, but pulled Logan in closer. He practically melted into the younger man’s body, and Scott swore he heard him purring.
“You need a new outfit. You reek of beer.” Logan grumbled again, but begrudgingly got up to go get new clothes. He pulled his stained tank top off, tossing it in a laundry hamper nearby. Scott let out a low whistle at the sight of Logan’s chest, causing Logan to shoot him a glare.
“If you think I’m so hot, why don’t you let me see what you’re packing?” He muttered sarcastically, not expecting Scott to do anything. What he definitely didn’t expect was Scott pulling his own layered shirt off. He blushed awkwardly, covering his face with his hands before catching the oversized shirt Scott tossed to him. Even though Scott still had a t-shirt on, it was embarrassing seeing him give up his shirt.
It was a black t-shirt with long white sleeves and something in red ink on the front. Reading it, he realized it was the word for ‘sunlight’ in Japanese. “You read Japanese?” Logan asked. He knew how to read Japanese, but he didn’t know Scott could.
“I know a few words from missions.” He shrugged, laying back on the bed. Logan climbed back in the bed, now with Scott’s shirt hanging off him. It was actually pretty warm, and it smelled like Scott. Like cinnamon and some expensive cologne.
He didn’t realize he had buried his nose into the fabric until he heard Scott chuckle. He growled protectively, not backing off. “It’s mine, fuck off.” Scott just smirked in response, knowing it was still his. But judging by how much Logan was digging into it, seeing his claws sneak out, he probably wasn’t getting it back anytime soon.
“Feeling better?” Scott asked, a smile on his face. Logan rolled his eyes, but begrudgingly answered. “Yeah, but don’t expect this to last.”
Scott shrugged, knowing it was true. Logan wouldn’t act this soft again, even if he wanted to. Too many years of being defensive had left their mark on the mutant. Then again, he wasn’t about to force him to change his ways. That wouldn’t help anyone.
Logan crawled back into Scott’s arms, muttering something about needing extra warmth. Scott just hummed, wrapping his arms around the man. He didn’t mind holding him. They normally were at each other's throats, all claws and biting words, most of the time ending up with bruises.
But this time felt special, like they could be more than two mutants who went against each other, in the Danger Room or outside it.
He shook the thoughts out of his head, ignoring them. It wouldn’t work out, they were too different in perspectives. But, he was happy to enjoy the moment.
Trying to get up, he realized Logan had fallen asleep on his lap. He smiled, settling back down so he wouldn’t disturb him. This was the first time he had seen him asleep without nightmares. He laid back, eventually falling asleep too.
His last thought was of what they could’ve been, if they didn’t hate each other.