Look, I'm sorry, this phone's just—driving me crazy.
[ His fingers aren't small and nimble, and this tech is thirty years behind. He kinda got used to. Better. Anyway, that's not the point. ]
I'm fine, I promise. I, uh [ Christ, how does he explain? He doesn't, in fact, wanna worry her, especially now that he's okay. Mostly. ] I got hit by something, I don't know. Felt like I was drowning in my own head. It was going around. You didn't feel anything?
Well, I didn't go running towards the meteor crash, if that's what you're asking.
[ She's been deliberately trying to stay out of the worst of... everything. But it's starting to become apparent that that's only going to work for so long. ]
Hit by something how?
[ Though drowning in his own head? That sounds weirdly familiar to her, and it doesn't take a lot for her to conjure up what that's like, considering it's how she feels every time she absorbs someone. ]
[ Not the meteor. She really escaped unscathed, huh? Honestly, not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. He ends up perching on where his bike's parked, tilted over, and maybe she can hear the wind over the phone through the long stretch of silence.
Part of him doesn't wanna say. It's not her problem. But she's not a kid anymore, is she? And they're talking for a reason instead of him pushing her away, instead of telling her that whatever happened, it wasn't a big deal. In the end, it comes out a little rough, a little blunt: ]
I hurt some people I didn't mean to. They're okay. Just hasn't happened in a while.
[ Maybe she remembers glimpsing some of that. Of what he can do when he isn't careful. It'd scared the shit out of him back then. ]
[ It’s not like she doesn’t know who Logan is, she’s seen him more than enough in practically feral mode. And more than that, she has a head full of memories that she hadn’t witnessed firsthand.
So she knows that if he’s saying he hurt some people he didn’t mean to, it’s possible he really hurt them, even if they’re somehow okay now.
[ He's fine. He's been by to see Charles, though he still hasn't talked to Scott or Laura, and a sinkhole kinda basically opened up beneath his fuckin' feet. But yeah, he's fine. ]
I'll tell you the rest another time, okay?
[ In person, when they next meet up, 'cause...this shit with Laura, it doesn't feel like something he can say over the phone. ]
[ She sounds a little hesitant to let him end the conversation, and that's progress, considering she's usually squirming like she just wants to get away from the risk of any sort of conversation. ]
I was just worried. Wanted to make sure it wasn't anything... [ Well, she can't really say awful. It still sounds awful. ]
[ It's a change that she's the one who texted him first, too. He doesn't know if it means he might start seein' her outside the times she lurks around his work, but he's kinda hoping so. He knows the others are worried about her, too, and—
Look, more than anybody else, he understands wanting to disappear. He also understands what happens when he does. When he's just...away for too long from people. ]
Yeah. Me, too. [ A beat. ] It was good to hear from you, Rogue.
[ He's not wrong. She's getting in her own way here. She's just afraid that if she lets down her guard, all the hurt and anger's going to unfurl in the most damaging way. ]
voice.
[ His fingers aren't small and nimble, and this tech is thirty years behind. He kinda got used to. Better. Anyway, that's not the point. ]
I'm fine, I promise. I, uh [ Christ, how does he explain? He doesn't, in fact, wanna worry her, especially now that he's okay. Mostly. ] I got hit by something, I don't know. Felt like I was drowning in my own head. It was going around. You didn't feel anything?
no subject
[ She's been deliberately trying to stay out of the worst of... everything. But it's starting to become apparent that that's only going to work for so long. ]
Hit by something how?
[ Though drowning in his own head? That sounds weirdly familiar to her, and it doesn't take a lot for her to conjure up what that's like, considering it's how she feels every time she absorbs someone. ]
no subject
[ Not the meteor. She really escaped unscathed, huh? Honestly, not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. He ends up perching on where his bike's parked, tilted over, and maybe she can hear the wind over the phone through the long stretch of silence.
Part of him doesn't wanna say. It's not her problem. But she's not a kid anymore, is she? And they're talking for a reason instead of him pushing her away, instead of telling her that whatever happened, it wasn't a big deal. In the end, it comes out a little rough, a little blunt: ]
I hurt some people I didn't mean to. They're okay. Just hasn't happened in a while.
[ Maybe she remembers glimpsing some of that. Of what he can do when he isn't careful. It'd scared the shit out of him back then. ]
no subject
[ It’s not like she doesn’t know who Logan is, she’s seen him more than enough in practically feral mode. And more than that, she has a head full of memories that she hadn’t witnessed firsthand.
So she knows that if he’s saying he hurt some people he didn’t mean to, it’s possible he really hurt them, even if they’re somehow okay now.
Instead what comes out is: ]
Are you okay?
[ It’s not judgmental. But it is concerned. ]
no subject
[ He's fine. He's been by to see Charles, though he still hasn't talked to Scott or Laura, and a sinkhole kinda basically opened up beneath his fuckin' feet. But yeah, he's fine. ]
I'll tell you the rest another time, okay?
[ In person, when they next meet up, 'cause...this shit with Laura, it doesn't feel like something he can say over the phone. ]
no subject
[ She sounds a little hesitant to let him end the conversation, and that's progress, considering she's usually squirming like she just wants to get away from the risk of any sort of conversation. ]
I was just worried. Wanted to make sure it wasn't anything... [ Well, she can't really say awful. It still sounds awful. ]
Just glad you seem to be alright.
no subject
Look, more than anybody else, he understands wanting to disappear. He also understands what happens when he does. When he's just...away for too long from people. ]
Yeah. Me, too. [ A beat. ] It was good to hear from you, Rogue.
no subject
Yeah. You too. I'll see you around, Logan.