a little bit of context/filler chapter
To be completely honest, Iris had in fact seen a Logan each time she fell asleep ever since she was eighteen, maybe a bit younger. It was a good thing that she only dreamwalked into hers that were her age, because the amount of times she had seen that man naked without even meeting him in real life was a bit concerning.
It had grown gradually, obviously. The first Logan she ever saw was in a museum, in a universe where mutants didn't exist. It was a small kid called James Howlett, painted in quite a depressive picture. The second, however, was in a bar and he had tried to flirt with her, but the version of her in that universe wasn't having any of it.
Iris realized that most of the universes where they were teammates, it ended up in an annoying slowburn. She was usually a bit shy, he usually teased her about that, then they'd kiss, and then they'd fuck. And fuck, was sex with Logan good.
He'd always be in love with Jean first, though. When the version of her in those realities had feelings for Logan before he had feelings for her, yeah, that shit stung.
But it was reassuring, somehow, knowing that in every universe she was able to find him. There were some obstacles in the way, of course. Some Jeans, some Peters, a few Ororos too, maybe a Kurt here and there, but they always ended up together.
By the time she was 20, she was excited. She had fallen in love over and over, and over again with the same person and she wanted hers, she wanted to feel what it was like.
Time passed and a few flings came across her way. She knew Logan wouldn't mind, he never did. Besides, he had a century of experience before she even existed, so why should she care?
Then Mark came along and the thought of Logan wasn't appealing anymore, no. She didn't remember any Marks in her dreams either, so for a long while she thought it was her equivalent for a Logan and she let herself fall in love for the very first time.
He was stubborn, and rough and charming in every way that Logan was. He made her come out of her shell, helped her leave her family, gave her a life of their own. It was a long relationship, five years. They got engaged even. And yes, the dreams had started to become a bit annoying, and hearing his girlfriend moan and whimper another man's name could make anyone mad, but she thought that after five years of heaven, Mark would never raise his hand at her.
Yet he did, and then came two other years of complete isolation.
When Iris moved into the apartment that, conveniently, was located above Wade's, she didn't really think she was ready for any kind of relationship, and Mark definitely wasn't ready for her to have one either. She was escaping him, she was frightened, she had no life and no friends.
And yes, Mark was an asshole. And yes, we should hate him, but at least his pitiful excuse of an existence served for Iris to meet Wade.
Mark was a very confrontational person, she wondered after their relationship if her fascination for Logan made her blind to all the red flags that were right there the whole time, or if she was truly that dumb; but she knew she hoped that he got into a fight with Wade, a fight that would give him no option but to finish Mark's life.
So yeah, she asked him to scare him off, but she hoped he'd kill him.
What came out of that was a beautiful, wholesome friendship. She'd been there when he was scared of reaching out for Vanessa, and she was there when they were finally a thing again. She even remembered how Vanessa was wary of her at first, scared that Wade and her were a thing.
And that would never happen.
She had pegged him only five times, and they'd shotgunned like... What? Two times?
He asked! What were friends for?
Anyways, Wade was her first friend since first year of college. She'd never met another mutant before and, even if Wade wasn't exactly mutant born, he understood what it was like to be different. He protected her, he helped her protect herself and he was funny.
So, despite having a though childhood and a tormented love life, she felt grateful of being in the life of someone like Wade. She'd be at any party he wanted her to be. Celebrate his birthday all over again? Fuck it, let's celebrate it twice a month.
That night, right after handling the 30 hormonal teenagers that conformed her class, she went back home and dressed up for the occasion. Iris was thirty-four years old and for the first time she was feeling fulfilled. She was a bit tipsy, talking to Vanessa as she rested over the table and her friend smiled sweetly, telling her something about the guy she was seeing.
It sucked that she was happy with someone that wasn't Wade, but she loved seeing her friend happy nonetheless.
Then Vanessa asked about her day and she recalled the stupid child that chose to use her class as an intervention to confess his undying love for another student. It was cute, but seeing him get rejected still made her let out an incredulous laugh that could play off as cruel.
And her reaction to the story made her laugh harder.
Then the melody of her favorite song started playing, and she swayed in place as Vanessa recalled the memory of the last time someone did something as cringe as that for her. Of course it had to be Wade. Iris closed her eyes, laughing and the door swung open, and she turned around to greet the birthday boy.
"Wade! I thought for a second there that you weren't going to make it! This is actually my outfit for your funeral!"
It was.
"It's the most hideous thing I've seen in my life and yet you managed to pull it off!" She took it as a compliment, closing her eyes with a toothy grin appreciatively, "I came back and I brought you a gift."
She took a look beside him and oh shit.
OH SHIT.
Was that a Logan?