Continuity: Follows "Tangled up in Blue."
Rating: PG-13 for language. m/m gooshyness, etc. Nothing explicit. (duh, they're halfway around the world from each other...and no, I'm not tackling phone sex...)
Notes: The title comes from a piece by Jack Kerouac. "Don't use the telephone, people are never ready to answer it. Use poetry."
Thanks: To Ella and Chyld, my magnificent beta-testers. Wreaths of praise for both of them.
Logan looked up from his lounging spot on the couch and stared at
Jubilee. Hard. Finally, he spoke, graveled voice incredulous. "I
might be gettin' senile, kid, but could you remind me the last time I
let you open my mail? And will you stop doing that? Yer gonna break
something."
Jubilee gave him an affronted look and stopped balancing the package
on her head. "Well, 'scuse me for asking. Jeez, you don't have much
of a sense of humor these days."
With an offended little sniff, she handed him the package. As he
started to open it, she perched herself on the arm of the couch,
waiting expectantly.
A dark eyebrow arched at her. She blinked. "What?"
"Do ya mind, Jubilee?"
Throwing up her hands in frustration, she got up and stomped off,
pouting. "Fine, Mister Secretive. Next time I'll just open it
without asking."
Logan turned to make sure she was gone, then finished opening the
package. The faint scent on it made him smile slightly, though he
also looked nervous. Pulling out a well-wrapped rectangular object,
he discarded the box.
A rustle of bubble wrap and paper later, he found himself staring at
a framed picture. He was silent for only a moment before he started
laughing.
"Cool. Who's Errol Flynn?" a feminine voice came from just over his
shoulder.
Not bothering to look back at Jubilee, Logan just laughed harder.
-----
*ring*
*ring* *ring*
Jubilee snagged the portable phone off the wall as she walked out of
the kitchen. Snapping her gum audibly, she answered, "'lo?"
A momentary pause, then. "This is Jubes ... Hey, Kurt ... Um, yeah,
he's here. He's watchin the game, though ... Okay, wait a sec."
Pacing down the hallway, the girl turned into the rec room. Logan
lay sprawled on the couch, beer in one hand, remote in the other.
On the screen, Notre Dame suddenly fumbled the ball. Logan shot to
an upright position, cursing loudly. "What the hell kind of play was
that? What d'you assholes think yer doin?" Then, he swiveled to
glare at Jubilee. "What?"
"Phone," she said simply, knowing better than to mess with him while
a game was on.
He turned back to the screen. "Tell 'em to call back."
She shrugged, juggled the phone back to her mouth. "Kurt, you still
there? ... Yeah, he said to call...Whoah!"
She jerked back, startled, as a large hand snatched the phone from
her. She stared at Logan in disbelief. "Um, Wolvie? Like, didn't
you want him to call back?"
"Changed my mind," the short man growled, shooing her off with no
pretense of nice-ness.
When she was gone, he lifted the phone, still keeping an eye on the
game. "Hey, Kurt. You still there? ... Somethin' up? ... *snort*
... ... Sorry, the game's on ... Yeah, I'm listenin' ... ... Huh?
Well, fuck, how do you expect me to concentrate while the game's on!
... Fine ... No sweat ... Good luck ... ..." He paused for a long
time, then finally managed a soft. "Bye."
Logan hung up, dropping the portable lightly to the couch next to
him. He stared at the phone blankly for a long few moments, not
registering the touchdown the other team had just scored. Instead,
he leaned back into the couch and closed his eyes.
"Fuck."
Kurt practically slammed the phone into the wall as he hung up.
Angry tears welled in his eyes.
**Stupid, stupid, stupid** he mentally berated himself. **Wagner,
you are an idiot! How could you even think to say that? What did
you think he'd say?**
Adopting a deeper voice, the blue-furred mutant mimicked, "Sure,
Kurt, I love you too. Fuck the game, when are you comin' back?"
The attempt at mimicking Logan sounded rather comical with his
Germanic accent, but Kurt didn't so much as crack a smile. Instead,
he ran a shaky hand though his hair, and murmured. "Not even a week
and I've already screwed it up."
The sound of footsteps made him jerk and he swirled to see Pete
Wisdom leaning in the doorway. "What? Yer life? Don't pay it any
mind, bloke, I do the same thing every day."
Yellow eyes narrowed to dangerous slits and Kurt stalked past him,
snarling. "Fuck off, Wisdom."
By the time he got to his room, however, the rage had faded. With a
muffled sigh, he dropped to the bed, resisting the temptation to sob
into the pillow like a child.
Roughly thirty minutes later, a knock came at the door. Kurt didn't
bother to sit up. "Ja?"
"It's Kitty. I've got Logan on the phone. He wants to talk to you."
At that, Kurt bolted upright. Trying to keep his voice from cracking
high, he called out. "Ah, come in."
The door opened and Kitty walked in, handing the phone over to him.
She gave him a searching look and stood there for a moment.
At Kurt's questioning look, she smiled slightly. "Don't let Pete get
to you," she offered simply before leaving.
The door clicked and Kurt took a breath, raising the phone to his
ear. "Hello?"
"I'm sorry. I'm a bastard."
Kurt blinked at the suddenness of the statement. "I never said…"
"I'm apologizing darlin'. Just take it at that."
"Nein, Logan. I should be the one to apologize. I never should have
said..."
"You said it."
"Ja, I know I said it, but I shouldn't..."
"You said it so don't take it back!"
"Will you stop interrupting me!"
"..."
"Ach, sorry. I didn't mean to yell."
"S'okay. What did ya want to say?"
"Just that I didn't mean to say it. I'm not...taking it back; I'm
just not sure it should be out there. It's so soon."
"..."
"Logan? Aren't you going to say anything?"
"Can't think of much to say, babe. You said what you said and I was
an ass and didn't appreciate it."
"..."
"Cat got yer tongue?"
"Actually, I think a wolverine did…"
"*snort* ... Cute, Kurt, real cute. Now, I ain't gonna sit here and
say it right back, y'know."
"I didn't ask you to."
"Good. As long as we've got that straight. And do me a favor, huh?"
"Ja?"
"Next time yer gonna say 'I love you', don't use the telephone."
"..."
"Okay?"
"Ja. Okay."
"You got anything else you wanna say?"
"I'm going to tell Kitty tomorrow."
"Yeah, you mentioned that earlier. Good luck."
"..."
"You know I don't like the phone much, darlin'. Besides, Jubilee's
outside my room whinin that she needs to call Paige. We done?"
"Ja...liebschen. That's all I had to say."
"Okay. Good luck tomorrow."
"Danke."
"Bye."
"Goodbye."
*click*
-----
"So, who's Errol Flynn? He's kinda cute."
Logan managed to stop laughing long enough to reply. "Old actor.
You wouldn't have seen anything he's in."
"Hey, I might have! I'm cultured. Is he from, like, the sixties or
something?"
"Try the forties and the fifties, as well as a few films in the
thirties."
"Eeeew! That's too old!"
"I told ya you wouldn't know him."
"Yeah, well, he's still cute."
"Yeah, he is."
Jubilee blinked at that, staring hard at her friend. "Wolvie?"
"Hmm?"
"If, like, he was in the forties and fifties, why did you just get a
picture of him signed 'Love, Errol Flynn.'"
At that, Logan shrugged, unable to hide the smile that crossed his
face. "Let's just say I've got a friend who knows I'm a fan."
Jubilee looked at him speculatively, then nodded. "Cool," she said
simply, her stamp of approval.
"Yeah," Logan agreed. "Real cool."
"Yo, Wolvie! Ya got a package! Can I open it?"
Two days earlier
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Today
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[[Taming the Shy Horses]]
[[Tangled Up in Blue]]
[[For Your Honor]]
[[Don't Use the Telephone]]