My Feral Lolo

Standing behind the yellow line, and head kept on a swivel, Logan kept a firm, but gentle grip on Althea. With her left hand she held onto Logan’s arm and with the right she held her cane. She said, preening and proud as a peacock “ooooooh Beyong-Cheol is gonna be so fucking jealous when he see’s you. I can’t wait for you to meet him, Baby.”

He didn’t reply, Logan simply patted her hand and pulled her a little closer, making sure to keep her safe. His inner solider unable to relax for even a second outside the house. Logan had his pack, his mother, his alpha and pup, and he’d be damned if he allowed any harm come to them as a result of his own negligence. The smell was also an issue. It always was. It took immense self control not to puke on the spot from the sheer repulsive stench that seemed to hug every corner of the subway.

Logan was wearing a red and black plaid shirt with a black a-shirt underneath, and sleeves rolled up to the elbows, showing off his muscular arms, a pair of jeans, leather boots and noise canceling headphones. His communication cards were clipped onto his belt loop.

Althea was clad in a dark purple zip up hoody, comfy black pants, a fanny pack that was worn across her chest to deter theft, sunglasses and well worn sneakers. She had her all white mobility cane, black sunglasses and was wearing a combination of eccentric chunky rings and necklace. She loved chunky jewelry. She could feel its weight and she loved the way it felt on her skin and the ease of which she could ‘see’ it through touch. It also made her feel very, very fancy.

As they waited for the subway, making sure to keep behind the yellow line, Logan’s thoughts kept returning to yesterday night when he had found Laura’s letter in his notebook. At first he had felt angry that something he had considered private had been shared.

What right did Wade have sharing his private thoughts like that? Who the fuck did he think he was? Granted, he had known for a while now that Wade knew of the notebook. Wade’s scent was all over it should’ve fuckin’ moved the goddamn thing ages ago.

Then he read the note and his negative feelings turned to understanding. After giving himself some time to think, Logan had understood why Wade had done what he did, and he was pleased with the result, but he still remained rather furious at Wade regardless. It was a strange feeling to have and was far more complex than he wanted to deal with. So, he did what he always did when he felt this way: he pushed it deep down and ignored it.

Logan had always found the written word to be a far better way to convey his thoughts than spoken. Writing allowed him to stop and think about what he really wanted to say, unlike speaking where everything was too overwhelming and chaotic. The written word also allowed him to absorb the information he was given at his own pace and sort through his feelings.

Now that he knew what Laura wanted and needed, Logan was determined to get at least one thing from her list today and was going to make an honest effort and take his time. No more rushing back home, no more pussying out. He quit smoking for Althea and stopped binge drinking for Wade, he could do this for Laura. He could be brave.

An announcement rang out ’please stand behind the yellow line’. and several people took a step back, sans a few who were too focused on their phones, lost in their own world of work emails and TikTok reels.

The train’s doors opened and people ran out in droves, pushing into each other and biting out unkind words. Logan waited a few seconds before entering with Althea. It wasn’t super packed, but it was busy enough that most of the seats were taken. Logan lead her over to the seats near the door, and frowned when a teenaged boy - who was entirely too focused on his phone - looked up for a split second to acknowledge them and refused to move.

Logan bared his teeth and let out a low growl, causing the little brat to look up once more. The boy paled, he’d seen that look before, it was one that promised violence if he didn’t comply. Without so much of a peep, he shot up from the chair and ran to the back of the car, putting as much space between himself and Logan as possible.

“You see that shit? He fucking growled at me” the boy leaned over and ranted to the random woman, who was rolling her eyes and trying her very best to be mentally anywhere else but there.

“Fucking growled! Fuck, they’ll let anyone on the train” the woman beside him muttered “wow that’s crazy” in reply, the disgust for the little shit beside her evident as she squished herself closer to the window, trying to get a little bit more of that precious space between herself and the creep.

Logan helped Althea sit down and stood in front of her, his hand holding onto the handrail above. She pulled her cane closer, continuing to wax poetic about Beyong-Cheol and their trip to this grocery. With a small smile, Logan listened intently. He loved hearing her talk; he loved her enthusiasm. It reminded him of Wade when the latter would endlessly chatter about katanas, MLP;FIM, or the Golden Girls. It was nice.

A few seats down a grandmother tapped her grandson with the back of her hand and nodded in Althea and Logan’s direction “fuckin’ glued to your phone, why can’t you be more like him? Pays attention and listens, you could learn a thing or two!”

With a groan, the teen slumped over in his seat like a shrimp and placed his phone into his pocket.

As Logan listened to Althea talk, his mind wandered back to the first shopping trip he ever took in this world and how far he had come since then.

Logan stopped. He looked so small, scared and was hunched over as if he was afraid to take up too much space “Can’t…not allowed.”

Meek, submissive and quiet weren’t words Wade had ever expected to use when describing the Wolverine yet, as he watched Logan wring his hands anxiously and looked around as if he was expecting something terrible to happen, it’s all he could see “why not?”

“You’ll get kicked if you’re seen with me, bub. I’ll go sit over there” Logan pointed to a bench that was a respectable distance away from the store. It was easier to not give a shit when he had come to this world with the intention of sacrificing himself or leaving, but now that it was permeant; now that he had a home, he had to be careful. One wrong move and everything would come crashing down.

Logan was in Wade’s spare clothing: a Pinky Pie shirt that was being stretched to it’s limit over his muscled form, a green cardigan, slightly too short grey sweats and pink crocks.

“See, that’s not gonna work. I love you Peanut, but destroying my clothing does not fly, because I’m not made of money, even though I really wish I was” he leaned in close to Logan’s chest and pointed to the stretched out image of Pinky Pie “see? She’s screaming ‘heeeeelp meee Wade, I’m being destroyed by his sexy pecs!’” He looked up at Logan with pleading eyes “give her a break, Logan, get your own fucking clothes.”

The moment they stepped foot in the store, Logan’s words locked themselves away and he scanned the area for all the exits, so that he’d be able to make a quick getaway. Wade, who had given him a home. Wade, who had rescued him from his old world. Wade, who had stayed with him despite all of his flaws, he didn’t deserve what was to come. He deserved better.

Bad things happened to those who were kind to Logan. The kind humans who extended a helping hand also became person non grata by extension. Though they could earn back their place within the community, it was a long and arduous process that many didn’t want to deal with.

He learned to keep quiet, to keep himself small and invisible. The only reprieve were bars, and they only let him in to drink because the knew they could quickly recoup their losses. Logan made the perfect human punching bag. He never fought back, and couldn’t die, so men would come in droves to have a few, then would sober up by beating him until they grew tired and moved on. Then, eventually, the violence extended outside the bars as well.

This fucked up ritual was the only human interaction he got so, he began to crave it and it became a fucked up cycle of alcohol addiction and self punishment.

The noise and the lights were also quite overwhelming. Before the incident his hearing had somewhat adapted to the hustle and bustle of public places, but being isolated as long as he was had erased all of that progress.

“You’re a flannel guy for sure so…” blissfully unaware to his suffering, or uncaring, Wade took a few off the rack, all different colours, and placed them in Logan’s arms. Then he did the same with some jeans, tanks, and boots muttering something about ‘cowboy core’ as he did so.

Logan was too busy trying to figure out why the humans were ignoring him to focus on shopping. Were they planning something? Were they trying to make him lower his guard? Then a child began to cry and he flinched.

As they approached the changing rooms, Logan’s sharp gaze spotted a human and he went white as a sheet. His palms grew sweaty and his heart rate speed up. The human would see him and he and Wade would be completely fucked. He averted his gaze as he had learned to do and took a step back to put space between himself and Wade, hoping that they’d focus all of their violence on him instead of his new best friend.

But to his surprise, the changing room lady simply looked him up and down, saw his averted gaze, mismatched clothing and anxious mannerisms and proceeded to address him as if he were a child “awwww are we getting some new clothes today? That’s so great.” She took the pile from him “did you pick these out all on your own? Good job."

Logan was like a plush that was one good pull from being unravelled; a shitty patchwork job the only thing keeping him from falling apart. In a rather unkind tone, Wade said none too kindly “he’s nonverbal and doesn’t like crowds. So, if you could hurry the fuck up and get us a changing room, that’d be great.”

In the privacy of the changing room Wade turned away to allow Logan some privacy and lowered his voice to an almost whisper as to be discreet “surprised you didn’t rip that bitches head off for speaking to you like that.”

Logan didn’t reply. He tried on the clothing as fast as he could and made sure to neatly fold it and set it off to the side with shaking hands when finished. Just because things were going well didn’t mean he could relax.

Wade was silent for a moment and watched Logan out of the corner of his eye. Anxiety and fear were rolling off of Logan in waves and Wade wracked his brain trying to think of what exactly had triggered this nervous breakdown. Was it the store? The people?

Who fucking knew? Wade sure as fuck didn’t. His new housemate was completely, and utterly incapable of properly communicating with anyone.

Unable to stand watching a proud, fearless man, act like a kicked dog, Wade pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. What Logan needed was direction and orders, like a soldier; someone to take control.

He said, in a slow, calm voice “here’s what’s gonna happen. We’re going to take these clothes to the checkout and buy them and then we are going to leave. You don’t have to say anything, just put your clothes back on, pick up the folded pile and follow me.”

Wade clipped the leash to Logan’s collar and tugged, taking up the mantle of handler. Logan was all too happy to follow.

Logan had come such a long way. He was no longer afraid to go into stores and was able to buy things for himself. However, for reasons he still didn’t quite understand, his voice always locked itself away the moment he stepped foot outside the apartment. The only exception to this was when he was around other mutants, S.H.I.E.L.D or the military. This worlds Beast said he had something called selective mutism that seemed to only be triggered around human civilians, sans Dopinder and Althea.

The noise canceling headphones and communication cards also helped in navigating through daily life. Logan had expected ridicule the moment he went outside with his assistive devices but had found that the civilians of this world were very accommodating and understanding. No one gave him shit, they simply just accepted it and it made Logan very relieved.

With Althea holding onto his arm, Logan helped her step off the train and up the stairs.

A part of Logan wished he could go back to the days where he could walk into an establishment and say and do whatever he wanted without a care in the world. No communication cards, no noise canceling headphones, just no fucks given.

But, deep down, if Logan were honest with himself, he knew that he had always struggled with noise and never liked crowded places, he just had to hide his pain and discomfort because he knew no one truly gave a shit.

The sun was bright and the air smelled a little cleaner than usual. Leaves danced on the wind and fell at their feet, the brilliant oranges and reds giving way with a satisfying crunch with each step.

Althea deliberately walked slower, forcing Logan to do the same. He had never actually took the time to explore New York in it’s entirety because, just like shopping, walking around the city was an overwhelming and miserable experience. Logan’s strategy always went like this: make a list, plan the route, get in, get shit, get out and back home as quickly as possible. But now that he was forced into a slower pace, Logan found himself pleasantly surprised.

This area of NY felt like another place entirely. The shops were smaller, much more welcoming and the civilians were quieter, much more dispersed and paid neither Althea or he any heed. It was nice.

Logan’s gaze was drawn to a quaint little store. In it’s large window there were medium sized plushies all lined up in a row. A koala, teddy, elephant, giraffe, and a fluffy bay coloured horse with white markings on it’s face and legs, It’s mane and tail was long and shaggy.

Upon closer inspection Logan also spotted soft blankets, soaps, what looked like some kind of moisturizer and other small luxury’s. A blanket for Althea, moisturizer for Wade….it wasn’t just Laura he’d be shopping for, but his entire pack. Challenge fucking accepted. No matter how overstimulated he became or how awful the visit went, he was going to get those gifts.

“Gorani Market is the name of the grocery we’re lookin’ for.” Althea said kindly, snapping him out of his mental reverie and focused back on her. They walked for a few more minutes until the store came into view. Logan gave her hand a small pat to signal that they’d arrived.

It was a small family owned grocery. It was in a really weird spot that was out of the way but not too much so that it was a total inconvenience. There was a small chalk sign off to the left that had the name of the store, Gorani market, written in bubbly pink lettering. The deals of the week hand written in Korean then English. A super cute water deer drawing decorated the bottom. He sniffed the air and was taken aback by the overabundant smell of fresh produce, meats and fermented foods. It smelled wonderful.

Maybe this wont be fucking awful thought Logan.

Immediately upon entering, they were greeted by an older Korean man who slowly walked toward them on forearm crutches, his voice impressively loud “Althea! You came. I was worried you would not find your way.”

Althea laughed “Hard to get lost when your voice is so damn loud!” Logan recognized that laugh as the one his late wife Mariko used to make around him before they married. Althea was smitten!

“Beyong-Cheol, this is Logan. Logan, this is Beyong-Cheol.” Althea gestured with her hand in what she assumed was Cheol’s direction. Logan gave a stiff nod but avoided eye contact, choosing to focus on the floor instead.

Beyong-Cheol was 80 years old, three weeks younger than Althea and her number one bingo buddy. He had short white hair, a bald spot on the back of his head and was clean shaven. He wore slacks, a baggy green sweater with a dress shirt underneath, brown loafers, and forearm crutches. Life had not been easy for Beyong-Cheol. Due to the Korean War, malnutrition was all too common, thus leading him to be born with a rather severe case of rickets. He did eventually get better, but his legs remained bowed and the joints painful.

After joining disabled senior’s bingo nights a month and a half ago, he and Althea became fast friends. They bickered and bragged about their kids, desperately trying to one up the other. Both parties were convinced their kids were the best and refused to hear otherwise. They were constantly at each others throats, but would quickly shut down anyone who attacked the other.

His daughter, 30 year old Yu-Jin, was the unofficial new owner of the store, and the apple of her dads eye. She had long black hair pulled back into a ponytail, long legs, prominent fang like snaggleteeth that protruded from her upper lip and long eyelashes. She was dressed in black leggings and a long baggy pink sweater with a picture of Neo from Kakao on the front. Yu-Jin was the best loss prevention in NY and wore a well used pair of nike sneakers, which she used to chase down thieves without remorse.

Logan sniffed the air once more. Amongst all the smells was a scent that was not quite human; a smell that no perfume could replicate. It was the unmistakable scent of a feral mutant and it was coming from her. She smelled like grass and flowers. Discreetly, he quickly looked her over before avoiding eye contact once more.

Beyong-Cheol positioned his left crutch as to not get in the way and slightly shifted his weight to his left crutch before holding his hand out for Logan to shake. He looked the latter up and down, taking in his appearance, lack of eye contact and assistive devices. Logan returned the handshake with a very controlled one, then quickly let go. He didn’t want to accidentally break the mans hand.

Getting Althea’s blood pressure under control was Logan’s biggest priority when it came to planning out what foods to buy and what recipes to make. Miso, kimchi, edamame, tofu, fish and seaweed were the the best foods for doing just that. Logan gave another sniff and turned his head left and right, using smell to locate which isles they were in and their general condition.

Yu-Jin observed his strange behaviour with a curious eye. She was going to keep an eye on him.

“It is nice to meet you, Logan. Althea tells me you are different, like my daughter.” Logan tilted his head to the side like a dog, unsure of what he ment. Was he referring to her mutation, or something else entirely?

Sensing his confusion, Althea clarified “mutation.”

“She is animal person, too.” Beyong-Cheol then added, hoping it’d help.

“I know it wasn’t my secret to tell, but I promise you Logan, he’s safe” Logan was proud to be a mutant, but back in his world being a mutant men’t being born with a target on one’s back. The best way to survive was to keep one’s head down and pray that Chuck found them before the mutant hunters did. But in the end it didn’t fucking matter. It never did.

She held out her hand for him to take. He placed his left hand in hers and she squeezed. it was something she did that helped ground him by redirecting the storm in his mind to something else. In this case it was her touch, but he could also temper the storm by creating lists inside his head and repeating them.

Logan bit back a sigh, unclipped his cards and guided her hands to the card that read: angry. He was upset that she had told his secret, and needed his space to calm down. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath in then out and repeated the ingredients in his head to help calm the storm miso, kimchi, edamame, tofu, fish, seaweed. Miso, kimchi, edamame, tofu, fish, seaweed..

“I’m sorry. Why don’t you go on ahead? I’ll stay back and talk with Beyong-Cheol, how’s that sound?” She soothed, acknowledging his need for space. Logan let out a grunt, picked up two shopping baskets and walked away.

“I’m sorry, he get’s…” She wanted to make a good impression, but this wan’t going at all how she wanted it to “overwhelmed in public places. But he’s a gentleman, I promise.”

“Is no problem. We have lots of, uh, um - “ he paused and thought hard for a moment. What was that word in English again? Beyong-Cheol turned to his daughter and asked”자폐인을 영어로 뭐라고 부르나요?” she replied “Autistic.”

“Right. We have many autistic customer. Is no problem” Althea didn’t have the heart to correct him. “You follow me, we sit behind the counter.”

His forearm crutches and her cane tip tap tapped on the floor in unison like a song “Your son is very beautiful, but not as beautiful as my daughter.”

She replied with a laugh, following close behind “you blind too? Fucking tragic.”

Beyong-Cheol helped her behind the counter and down onto a chair that he had set up in advance for her visit. “Not blind, just stating fact.”

Logan weaved through the isles with terrifying proficiency. A package of garaetteok was placed into the basket, alongside green onions, leeks, zucchinis, onions, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, anchovies, kelp, scallions, eggs and gochujang.

Logan knew that his status as a mutant wasn’t exactly a secret, but in his civilian attire he managed to look different enough that most humans simply paid him no mind. To them, he was just a yoked dude who looked kinda like the wolverine and that was what he preferred. He knew that Althea ment well, just like Wade, but it wasn’t her secret to tell.

The storm in his mind quieted a little as he placed miso, edamame, tofu, fish, and seaweed into the basket. Logan walked a little to the left, placed the baskets down, rubbed the sore joints in his hands, and sniffed at the various jars of kimchi. He added the low sodium Kimchi into the cart and looked down at what he’d already amassed. Logan did some quick mental math and realized, that even with the added cost of a monthly MetroCard, the prices were low enough that they’d be saving money over time.

Though the longer trip ment that it would potentially be less accessible for Althea and Wade’s already short attention span and general dislike of food shopping would mean that a longer trip would result in Wade simply refusing to go. He made a mental note to run this by them later.

Yu-jin watched him from afar. She greatly disliked conflict, but when it came to the store and her family, all bets were off. She knew right away that he wasn’t the shoplifting type, the body language was all wrong, but he was still acting very strangely, almost like an exposed nerve. He also smelled. Did this man not bathe?

Meanwhile, Althea and Beyong-Cheol continued their back and forth.

“My boy is a gentleman. He cooks, keeps the house clean and takes me to all my appointments without being asked.” Althea said, leaning back in the chair and as smug as could be.

“Impressive, but not as much as my daughter. She run store, catch shop lifter, and is a brilliant artist. She draw water deer on the sign outside” Now it was his turn to be smug.

“Aww, good for her. She sounds like such a great girl. But not as great as my boy! Logan was in the military and now he works for S.H.I.E.L.D” She heard Beyong-Cheol sigh and say “yes, yes, you told me this already, many, many times.”

Althea tapped the floor with her cane “And I’ll say it again as many times as I damn well please!”

There were bags of rice piled high on the floor. Sweet rice, long grain, medium grain and ah, there it was, short grain. That was what he needed. He picked up two very large bags and balanced them on his right shoulder. Then he just stood there as if in a trance, completely oblivious to the looks Yu-Jin was giving him by her hiding place near the end of the isle.

His strength is in his arms instead of his legs. Interesting. she thought to herself. Yu-Jin had always been fast and had abnormal leg strength. The mutant specialist in Busan had explained to Yu-Jin and her father that wild mutants always possessed four main things: An enhanced sense of smell, enhanced hearing (though the sensitivity of said hearing differed greatly depending on the sub species), enhanced strength either in the upper body or lower body and a physical trait of their sub species. For Yu-Jin, her prominent fang like snaggle teeth were a very typical trait of water deer subspecies.

This was her first time being around another wild mutant and she found her mind filled with all sorts of questions she was dying to ask. What sub species was he? What were wild mutants called in the west? What was his diet like? Was he a vegetarian like her?

Althea’s blood pressure wasn’t the only issue. Both she and Wade had bad food habits. Althea tended to douse everything in salt, which contributed to her high blood pressure and Wade’s diet was abhorrent. Wade had gotten too damn comfortable with having a healing factor and used it as an excuse to eat whatever he damn well pleased. It was driving him up the goddamn wall.

He needed to make healthy dishes that were low in sodium but didn’t taste like it. Logan glanced at his baskets and let out a grunt. He could hide vegetables in meat paddies and sauces - cut em up small so Wade wouldn’t notice. The low sodium fermented kimchi and chill paste would help with the excess sodium issue. God, pups the both of them.

Logan shook his head and picked the baskets up, they made a strange whining sound due to being made to carry well beyond their limits. Logan was very close to hitting his social limit for the day and decided it was best to leave as he still needed what little energy he had left for the other store he’d passed on the way here.

As he walked toward the checkout, he had noticed a few isles ago that he was being followed, but he allowed it just to see how long she was going to keep at it. She wasn’t too bad, but by god she was very, very loud.

“My boy is wicked strong, he can lift anything” Said Althea, she gestured to what she thought was the direction of the rice but ended up gesturing to the vegetables instead “those bags of rice? He can carry five like they weigh nothing.”

“200 geun of rice on shoulder, 10 li like Xi Jinping” Beyong-Cheol chortled, slapping the counter several times as he did so.

His mirth was short-lived as Logan placed 2 big bags of rice down on the counter as if they weighed nothing, and then picked up his baskets that were so overloaded with weight that they looked very close to breaking.

“You were saying?” Althea’s smug reply rubbed salt onto the wound and Beyong-Cheol chose to wisely stay silent. She was gonna lord this over him for a long time.

With his help, she took her place by Logan’s side. She could feel the negative energy coming off of him in waves and felt terrible for the part she played in making this experience a negative one. She was so proud that he was holding it together and gave his arm a quick rub and a pat to help keep him grounded.

Yu-Jin took her place beside her dad and began to bag the food. Logan slowly placed things onto the counter, grouping the frozen with the frozen, veggies with the veggies, etc, to give her time to properly get everything organized and bagged. After all nothing good ever came from rushing the bagger.

Neither Beyong-Cheol or Yu-Jin had ever seen their baskets in such a state. They didn’t even know it was possible for them to look so abused. Logan said to her in Korean as she glared at him 'you are fast, but very loud. Are your shoes made of cement?'

She snapped back 'inconsiderate beast! You damaged our baskets!'

'Oh..Sorry.'

Yu-Jin could tell it was a genuine apology, her people reading skills were second to none. It was clear that it was nothing more than a mistake. She understood how that felt. She had once kicked a massive hole in the wall as a kid while playing indoor soccer with a soft toy ball. The enhanced strength in her legs turned the toy into a weapon of mass destruction.

The landlord lost his shit, her dad chewed her out and she learned to be more careful. It seemed that this strange man needed to learn to be more careful too.

She was also rather taken with Logan. He was the only customer to ever hear her coming and she found that to be very intriguing. What a challenge it was going to be to try and track this man without him noticing.

The very idea made her giddy. God, she couldn’t wait for him to come back soon.

Astonished, Althea clapped her hands together and cried out “Baby, you spoke!”

Logan was still a little upset with her, but the joy in her voice was so infectious that he couldn’t help the small smile that made it’s way across his face. He took her right hand in his and gave it a brief squeeze just like the one she gave him to help calm him.

“Total is $100.00, cash or cred-“ Yu-Jin whispered something to her father in Korean and he backed up a little. She tacked on an additional $75.00 for the baskets Logan damaged, then allowed her father to resume the transaction.

“Um, $175.00, cash or credit?” Beyong-Cheol got his second surprise of the day as Logan pulled out a dark green credit card with the S.H.I.E.L.D emblem embossed in the far right corner and tapped the amount. Althea hadn’t been lying. Her boy really did work for S.H.I.E.L.D.

Coloured in relation to what job they preformed, each independent contractor who worked with S.H.I.E.L.D was given a bank account and card with S.H.I.E.L.D’s personal bank. As the amount paid different from month to month and could vary in currency type, the bank provided excellent service, had the best currency conversion rates in the world and security that was second to none. Each colour of card worked as a quick identifier. Trackers, like Logan, were given a dark green.

Fury had contacted him not too long after he quit his job as a bouncer. They needed help tracking down a missing special agent and only had a single piece of torn fabric of which to work with. Due to his expert tracking ability and super smell, Logan was their first and last choice.

He didn’t know how Fury got his number, but he had, had the feeling that they’d been keeping track of him for quite some time.

The only organization that Logan hated more than the Avengers was S.H.I.E.L.D. In his opinion they were both hypocritical cunts, but S.H.I.E.L.D ranked just a little higher on his shit list due to the power they wielded and their absolute unwillingness to do anything beneficial with it. The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D just sat their with their thumbs up their asses as the X-men were slaughtered, as mutants were hunted, as he was treated like a monster. As far as he was concerned they could both choke.

Fury offered him $10,000. Logan told him to fuck off.

He increased the offer to $20,000. Logan replied “kiss my ass.”

Then he offered $50,000 and Logan got very, very quiet. That was more than a years worth of wages. Combined with the $3000 he got monthly from the TVA, he, Wade and Althea would want for nothing ever again.

Work was sporadic, maybe once or twice a month, never more than that. A minimum of $50,000 for regular cases and $100,000 for VIP. Fury had agreed quickly, almost a little too quickly. But Logan didn’t care. The money would guarantee that his pack would be fed and happy, and if he had to help out some cunts to maintain his packs security then so be it. Pride be damned.

Logan took all the grocery bags on one arm, and then balanced the two big rice bags on his shoulder. He wanted for Althea to say her goodbyes, each additional second feeling like torture.

After what felt like an eternity she finally grabbed onto his arm and together they left. One outside Althea said “When Beyong_Cheol told me about his feral daughter, the way he spoke of her was just the sweetest thing. He really loves her just like I love you, Logan.” She took his hand and squeezed “I’m sorry, baby. I really am. I promise, it won’t happen again.”

Logan let out a soft coo in reply, and Althea knew that she had been forgiven.

———-

This was going to be harder than he thought.

Logan’s brain and nervous system was screaming at him to hurry home and isolate in a dark, quiet room; to surround himself with the safe scents of his pack. But he made a promise to himself and he intended to keep it.

Logan took a deep breath and entered the store. A bell rang out as soon as the door opened, signalling his arrival. He fought to keep from flinching from the loud sound and had to fight the overwhelming urge to turn the sound function off on his headphones completely. But he couldn’t do that. If he couldn’t hear, he’d be putting himself and Althea in danger. He needed to hear her and the world around him at all times until they returned home.

Althea was stunned “you want to keep shopping?” She sounded a bit concerned when she asked “are you sure?”

He held out the communication card that said yes.

“Alright, then. Lead the way.”

The shop smelled like a warm summers day and patchouli. The shop keeper, a middle aged woman with kind eyes and thick red hair, greeted them “welcome. Do you need help finding anything?”

Logan shook his head no and lead Althea through the small store. The scent of patchouli was almost offensive to his sensitive nose, and he couldn’t help but wonder to himself why the shop keeper felt it necessary to flood the store with it. When humans did things he didn’t understand he simply would say to himself ‘must be a human thing’ and tried not to think too hard about it.

He found the horse. It felt very soft and was a fairly good size, not too big and not too small.

Even though she knew he wouldn’t answer, Althea couldn’t help but ask “what are you looking for?” He passed her the plush horse and she felt it’s features with practiced hands, going over every inch of it just like she did Logan’s face on the first day they had met.

“Oh, Logan, it feels wonderful. Laura is going to love it” that praise made Logan feel proud as a peacock. He let her hold onto it as he wanted to get her scent as well as Wade’s scent all over it. They were a pack, and there was nothing more relaxing than having the scent of your pack with you as you drifted off to sleep.

The blanket was a pastel purple and made of cashmere, it was also very big. Althea was old, it was an uncomfortable fact that Logan had to come to terms with. She got cold easily, she moved a little slower sometimes and she needed help with the stairs. He hoped that this blanket would at least help keep her warm and comfortable while she lounged in her favourite recliner.

As for Wade, Logan opened the body butter tester and was pleased to find that it was very thick and didn’t leave a disgusting greasy residue behind. Wade’s skin required daily moisturisation, from his head to his toes, due to the thick scarring that covered his body which was a bit of a chore in and of itself and it was also very expensive. Logan grabbed three containers of the lavender scented butters and carried them and the blanket to the checkout.

“I’m gonna guess that the rest of whatever it is you’ve got in your hands is a secret?” Right in one. Logan often found himself amazed by her wisdom and intuition. Despite being blind she just had this uncanny ability to read him and Wade like a book. It was incredible.

He responded with a grunt and placed the items down, he avoided eye contact and rubbed his hands together as he tended to do when he was out in public and stressed.

Thankfully the shop keeper wasn’t an idiot. She scanned the items without saying a word and placed them into a bag. In a clear voice she said, gesturing to the terminal “that will be $2,500.45. You can swipe or insert.”

As he typed in his pin, Althea did a double take “what the hell are you buying, Logan?”

Logan hadn’t even looked at the prices. When they had first passed by the store, the word that had come to mind was ‘high-end’. It was why it had caught his eye in the first place. Logan never liked spending money on himself, but when it came to his pack they deserved nothing less than the best.

He held out the card that said happy and slipped the bag onto his already filled arm. The shop keeper found the entire situation strange, but chose to keep silent.

“Happy? What the fuck does that mean?” Her boy was as tight as a bowstring, and the furthest thing from happy right now. For the entire trip home, Althea had wracked her brain trying to decipher what Logan had been trying to hint at.

It wasn’t until they returned home, and the groceries had been put away, that she had fnally understood.

Logan approached her as she lounged in her recliner and covered her with something very soft and very big. She ran her hands over the material and said in awe “oh, baby, you didn’t” she knew exactly what this was. Cashmere. Something she had always dreamed of having but could never afford.

She pulled him close and enveloped him in a big hug “thank you, baby” then rested her head on his shoulder and whispered to god “lord, I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but thank you so much for giving me my boys.”