Chapter Text
Chapter Fifteen
Morgana glanced down at the watch she generally always wore and realized it was already 4PM. She was surprised at this fact; it felt like forever but she wasn’t aware that all that took 3 hours. That was a pretty damn long for a medical exam. She wondered briefly how long her weird chat/nuzzling moment with Wolverine took…it felt like seconds but had it been longer?
She shook her head to dislodge those thoughts. Wolverine was following her a she navigated her way through the hallways, using memory alone to guide her way. She was doing pretty good for only having been down there twice but soon she was faltering in her steps and glancing around hallways, trying to figure out which generic silver hallway was the right one to take.
Annoyingly, Wolverine didn’t just take charge. Instead he watched her struggle with a tiny smile of amusement.
“You lost, kid?”
“Nope. Just taking my time, enjoying the beautiful scenery.”
“Bullshit. We’ve gone down this path 3 times already.”
“…I was testing you. To see if you were paying attention.”
“You’re lost.”
“I have been two here exactly twice, I’m doing pretty damn good for twice.”
“You are. You’re also lost.”
“Fine, claws for brains! Show me the way out, since you seem to know everything.” Morgana snapped more in embarrassment as she realized he was right and she had gone down this path 3 times already. Wolverine chuckled at her fiery spirit and brushed past her, taking the lead. He seemed born to take the lead and she was okay with this as she had always been content to follow. She hadn’t gotten a chance to just relax and follow someone else’s lead in her life….for the past few years, she had been on her own and she couldn’t really afford to trust anyone but herself. But now, she could trust him to push past her and take the lead and let her just relax, walk, and not have to worry. It was kind of nice.
It was also nice because Wolverine wasn’t asking questions. Morgana thought for sure the second she stepped out of the doctor’s office, he would be on her to answer who had hurt her and what had happened. But instead, he seemed to content to follow her, tease her, and take the lead. Not that she thought he wasn’t going to ask her eventually but for the moment he was content enough with the silence.
After a few minutes, they reached the wooden stairs that led up to the mansion. Morgana sighed a little in relief, glad to be getting out of the constant twisting and turning of metal hallways. She liked natural things and she definitely didn’t like feeling confined in any way.
“So…when is dinner in this joint?” Morgana asked awkwardly, as they stood in the wooden hallway to lead to the stairway. Wolverine closed the basement door behind him as he answered.
“5. You have 40 minutes.”
“I actually have 30 minutes…Rogue and everyone said they’d be coming to get me ten minutes before dinner.”
“You mean your friends?”
“I don’t have friends.”
“You do now.”
“You’re really annoying with all this, “oooh you have friends and belong and everything is great now” shit.”
“I didn’t say everything was great. It isn’t great. But it’s the kind of life you want to live, want to protect, fight for and die for. It doesn’t have to be a great life or a great home but it’s mine and it’s yours now too. And you do have friends, you just have to be willing to accept them, kitling.” Wolverine informed her calmly, his words hitting her hard. Wasn’t that the truth? Wasn’t that the truth she had always told and believed herself? That her life wasn’t easy, wasn’t good, wasn’t perfect, never would be…but it was hers. It was hers and hers alone and she would live her life to the best of her ability because it was the only life she had and it was the hand she had been dealt.
“What the hell does kitling even mean?” Morgana blurted instead.
“A kit would be a child. A kitling is younger than kit, not quite a kit yet.” Wolverine smirked at her as he witnessed Morgana stare and sputter, her eyes wide. She was a child? Oh hell no.
“I am not a child! I’m a grown woman!”
“No, you’re a kitling.”
“I’m 19, how the frick am I a kitling?”
“I’m over 100, you’re a kitling to me, darling.” Well, that shut Morgana up effectively. Suddenly she couldn’t remember what her next insult or defense was going to be. Instead, all she could do was stare and look him up and down, trying to see what part of him could possibly look over 100. But he didn’t, he just looked 40 or so at best…nothing about him looked ancient or gross.
Morgana wanted to ask how he felt being 100 and if he thought she would make it to be that old as well. But the words wouldn’t come, all she could do was stare. Wolverine reached out and lightly tapped her chin, making her realize her mouth was still hanging wide open.
“Yer always gonna be a kitling to me, jus accept it. Better get ready for dinner.” He informed her lightly and walked away, disappearing down the hall as she stood rooted to the spot and stared after him. She stood there for a few moments longer before shaking her head and deciding she had to get upstairs and spend a few quiet moments alone in her room. She needed a little sense of sanity and peace before she was forced to be around everyone for dinner. Not that she didn’t mind spending time with everyone and being social…she was growing increasingly fond of these other teenagers. But occasionally, she needed some time to herself to detox.
Morgana walked calmly up the stairs, no longer worried what she’d do if someone came out of the rooms or randomly appeared. It didn’t matter so much considering she had to learn to talk to and be around her new teachers. Ugh, high school all over again…she thought she was done with that.
She reached the top of the stairs and entered her room, sighing as the door shut. Finally she had a few moments of peace…really, only a few minutes. After glancing down at her wristwatch, she realized it was already 4:40 and she had about ten minutes before someone showed up to walk her down to dinner. Or were they ALL supposed to show up at her room for dinner? She couldn’t remember but she knew someone would be by ten minutes before to walk with her. She really didn’t need anyone to walk with her considering she now could figure out where the dining room was and probably even maneuver the hallways of the basement by herself by now. But then again, it was a simple, kind gesture and it was nice walking with someone rather than walking alone.
Morgana walked over to her bed and collapsed backwards. She wasn’t tired in the sense she felt like sleeping but she definitely had very little energy at this point. The physical wasn’t too bad, thankfully Hank didn’t need to look at any intimate parts other than looking at her upper breast to check on a mole. But he didn’t see anything and Wolverine wasn’t looking towards her during that moment thankfully. He didn’t touch her anywhere that made her uncomfortable and it didn’t take much effort; even getting her shot wasn’t that bad. All in all, the physical part was stressful but relatively uneventful.
Then he had to ask her questions. She understood it was necessary to get the information so they could have records of her powers and knowledge about her during the school year. But she hated thinking of her past and answering questions about herself; she hated them just in general. But the fact Wolverine heard everything made things ten thousand times worse.
Morgana didn’t know how to feel about Wolverine. He was the reason she came to the mansion in the first place, the reason she was staying, and he was the first and only person she had ever met that might live the same length of time as her if not outlive her. Maybe her mutant powers would randomly quit working one day but it didn’t seem likely. But she had a feeling that even if she could age or die or be killed at some point, Wolverine couldn’t. He was too strong and powerful, part man and part wild animal.
And he seemed to like her in some capacity or another. He seemed to always be there, either when she needed him or just in general. Always watching her or following her, today being the most odd of it all. He followed her into her physical and even refused to leave when she was changing…that wasn’t normal, was it? Judging by Hank’s reaction, it wasn’t typical for him to remain in the room when girls he barely knew changed.
Maybe he just liked young girls? Nope, nope, she didn’t believe that for a second. He didn’t act pervy towards her and he didn’t even look at her during the changing. He had looked at her at the end when they talked but it didn’t feel like he was lusting after her. He just felt and sounded so angry and upset, so hell bent on making her see she somehow mattered as he growled, snarled, and rubbed against her soothingly.
He truly was something straight from fiction or the wilderness. He growled and snarled when angry, he always liked to take the lead, and he nuzzled her neck to calm her down. What’s funny was that it actually worked despite the fact she hadn’t ever been touched by a guy like…well, like that or positively or ever, take your pick.
Something about him was fascinating and she was drawn to him. And considering she was stuck with just him for the rest of her life – when Rogue and Bobby and all them were dead, she would be this age and Wolverine would be his age – she guessed she better be able to get along with him.
So far, Morgana got along with him better than most any of the teachers but she didn’t know what it would be like when class started. Not that she even wanted to think about class. She had hated highschool, the little of it she had been forced to attend before leaving and starting her journey by herself. She had never been social or popular. At the age of 14 it wasn’t cool to be as sarcastic as she was and she couldn’t sass the teachers without getting in trouble and that just lead her being labeled a “bad kid” but she wasn’t pretty enough to be considered a cool “bad kid”. So instead, she was the nerdy, bad kid that everyone tended to avoid.
Morgana ate her meals alone in the corner of the cafeteria most of the time and generally only had one or two friends during her entire time there. And they didn’t really last, the pressure of being picked on for being her friend was too much for them and eventually they either stopped being friends with her or she stopped it herself so they wouldn’t be bullied more. Kids were fucked up and cruel.
But this was a new time in her life. She was 19, more capable, didn’t really care about bullies…and she couldn’t die and healed instantly. Plus she seemed to be well liked enough by the small group of students she had met so far. She didn’t think that was going to extend to the entire student body but she only needed a handful of friends to make it through the school year alive. Plus the teachers shouldn’t be THAT bad.
Except for Cyclops, being in his class was going to suck. But Storm and Hank seemed nice enough and she was certain they both were teaching. She had a feeling all the X-Men were teachers…though she didn’t know if the team she had currently met was the entire team or not. Jean wasn’t too awful, Professor X’s class would probably be boring, and Wolverine? Well, she didn’t know exactly how she would survive his class. She was putting money on him teaching something about powers or physical fitness or something like that. Which was going to suck and he would probably try and kill them all…but maybe since he seemed kinda fond of her, he’d go easy on her.
Somehow, she doubted it.
Morgana was about to ponder on another aspect of the day when a loud poofing noise and the feeling of someone landing on top of her took her completely out of her thoughts.