Work Text:
If they were anyone else, the people living in the apartment next door would be bad neighbors. Hell, they would be classified as horrific neighbors. The three of them checked all the stereotypical behavior boxes: music being played too loud too late into the night, loud fights, holes in the adjoining wall (although this had only happened a couple of times,) the occasional person breaking in to try and kill them, pet that they’re not supposed to have … the list went on. Although this behavior did get on my nerves, I could never stay mad at Wade, Al, and (more recently) Logan for long. So the sound of Logan letting out a growl from behind the wall followed by the loud slam of the front door didn’t bother me so much as it made me curious. I got up and opened the front door to watch Logan storm down the stairs and attempted to see if he was carrying Wade’s dead body or a weapon of mass destruction. No sword or gun hung from his massive shoulders but I could tell he was mad by the audible slew of curses delivered under his breath. I heard my phone buzz back on the couch so I decided to mind my own business and duck back into my place. Multiple messages from Wade awaited me on my lock screen. So much for minding my own business. The texts said:
“Heyyy :3 quick favor to ask u 😛”
“Pls make sure logan doesnt kill anyone while i’m not there”
“the honeybadger is PISSED 😯”
“Do what u gotta do. If you gotta kill him or bang him whatever i dont care.”
“Ok love u byeee uwu”
I rolled my eyes and sighed as I raced to my window. I flung it open and searched the street for an enormous man with an even bigger temper. The slamming of our building door caught my attention as I spotted him walking out. “Logan!” I shouted.
“What?!” he yelled back with “murder” written on his scowling face. The intensity in his face and his voice honestly almost made me shy away but then I thought of whoever was intended on receiving the other end of Logan’s fury. “Whatcha doooin?” I tried to crack a smile and be silly despite the small bit of fear in my chest.
“Nothin’.” he huffed.
“Well Wade said you were going to kill someone … he said to keep an eye on you.”
“I don’t need a babysitter.” he gritted his teeth.
“No, I know! That’s not what I’m saying!” I yelled to him down below.
“So then keep your nose out of my shit!”
“Wooooow.” I said, feigning hurt. Logan looked down at the ground and kicked a pebble like a child who had just been caught in a lie. “Sorry,” he said.
“It’s okay. You need a ride, honeybadger?” The nickname carried over the sound of cars in the distance. Normally, when Wade called him that or anything similar, it ended with a shove that sent Wade face planting onto the floor. When I said it though, he either pretended like he didn’t hear it and looked away or sometimes he would just stare at me before he came up with something to say back. Today it was the second option.
“Gonna be an accomplice bub?”
“No, let me get my keys. Be down in a second!” I slammed my window shut and tried to ignore the blush that was rising in my cheeks. Fucking Canadian.
To my relief, Logan had not gone sprinting down the street to do whatever God knows what by the time I walked towards him out of our building. I unlocked the car and he watched me as I climbed in behind the wheel. “So.” I said raising an eyebrow at him (to which he did the same.) A small smirk landed across his face. “What's going on?” I said unable to contain my own smile. He let out a groan and leaned his head against the seat in frustration. “Wade thought it would be a good idea to let Mary-”
“The dog?”
“Mary Puppins.” The wolverine rolled his eyes.
“Ah.”
“Yeah. Well. Wade said it would be a good idea to let her socialize with other dogs – thinks she's getting lonely.”
“She loves you guys, she's not lonely.”
“I know, that's what I tried to tell him.” He pinched his temple like the thought of Wade was enough to give him a headache. “But the son of a bitch is so insecure he won't listen to anything I have to say. So she goes to this dog daycare today, of fucking course it's while Wade is gone, and I got a call saying that she's in trouble and not allowed to come back.”
“What?” Mary was the sweetest little dog. Sure, she shook like a leaf all of the time. Yes, she loved to sneeze on you and was always trying for a makeout session, but she didn't seem like she had a mean bone in her tiny and hairless dog body. Al liked the dog fine enough, Wade was practically her mother, but Logan had especially taken to the little puppy. He would end up letting his “too cool to give a fuck” facade slip and would coo over the little dog when Mary looked his way.
“Yeah I don't understand it either. And I told him that if she's a variant maybe she's born for blood.” Logan began to rev back up to his fury as he explained the situation.
“She's a deadpool? A dog merc?”
“I don't fucking know.” Logan said it with such weariness in his voice that it made me laugh.
“So we're going to pick up little Mary?”
“And break the person's nose that thinks she can't come back.”
“Alright then, let's go.” I started the car up and we were off. While we drove, I let my mind wander and per usual it ended up thinking about the man beside me. It was honestly very endearing how protective Logan was of this dog he didn't even want in the first place. I knew he was a secret softie since the moment I saw him; special gleam in his eye gave him away, a shy smile was the secret. Before he kissed me, and even still, I tried to convince myself that I wasn't seeing something that was indeed there. I thought I was seeing things when he would stand up taller when he saw me or how he would shrink down when I got close to him. I figured he was being a grumpier version of his normal attitude when you could hear him through the walls puncturing Wade's lungs after Wade had made a dirty joke towards me as I left their place. Turns out my instincts proved to be right the night when Wade stood us up for game night and Al kicked us out of their apartment. We ended up talking for hours and he ended up kissing me and well… now we were something. It had been a couple of days since that night and I was nervous and I had the suspicion that the great x-man was too.
I wondered if the way that the wolverine rode up to a conflict was the same way that Logan was preparing to enter the doggy daycare building. He got very quiet as he pointed out the building. I watched him warily out of the corner of my eye. He squared his jaw and I just stared as he cracked his neck and showed a bit of his teeth as he opened the car door. “Stay here.” he said and pointed a finger at me. Despite his terrifying demeanor, I didn't listen and got out of the car. He didn't say anything as I walked up beside him; he just threw me a glance and my eyes swore I saw a small smile. “Please don't get me thrown in jail.” I murmured as he opened the door for me. He gave my back a teasing shove as an answer to that comment.
“Can I help you?” the employee asked us as we walked toward the counter. “Hi, we're here for pickup? Mary?” I smiled and tried to be extra approachable to make up for the tall, brooding man behind me. The employee’s face fell as he realized who we were here for. “Oh. So you're Mary's people.”
“Yeah, haha.” I nervously laughed. Logan grumbled behind me.
“Did you receive our message about her not being welcome back?”
“Yeah we did bub but we wanted to come and see if you really meant it.” Logan snarled.
“Logan-”
“Did ya mean it?” he sent a deathly warning glare toward the poor 5’8 man who was wearing a blue polo covered in dog hair.
“Sir. Your dog attacked two other dogs.”
“Oh.” was all I could muster. Logan didn't seem as phased, he seemed more puzzled.
“Well was she provoked?”
“That doesn't matter-”
“‘Course it does!” his voice was working itself up to a roar.
“Logan!” I hissed, embarrassed of him for the first time. He scoffed at my attempt to scold him.
“Listen bub, she's gonna defend herself.” his voice had calmed down a little bit.
“I suggest you either put her through some behavioral training before something has to happen.” The man said as he turned away to go get Mary.
“Is he threatening me?!” Logan said while looking at me for an answer.
“No- I- I think he's saying that if Mary could be put down if she keeps being aggressive-”
“What?!” he actually growled and bared his teeth like a cat who was ready to enter an alley fight. I laid my hand on his arm in an attempt to soften him.
“Just-” I started to say before I stopped as Mary came prancing around the corner, happy as can be. She scurried over to our feet and Logan immidatley swept her up in his massive arms. I noticed how we both studied Mary for any marks or signs of injury but there was nothing. “Logan do you want to go take her outside?” I said, running my hand up and down his arm. He grunted in reply and stormed out, the pup hanging lazily from his arms. “How much do I owe you?” I reached for my wallet in my back pocket.
He rang up a receipt while I wrote a check. I kept nervously babbling on in an attempt to explain how Mary had never showed any sign of aggression before, that maybe she was provoked and she was defending herself. I was in the middle of a sentence, handing him the check, when he said “I can see where she gets it from.”
“I'm sorry?” I couldn't place his tone or what he meant. I mean, I thought I knew what he meant but surely I was mistaken. The employee looked out the window. I followed his gaze and found he was staring at Logan.
“What're you saying?”
“An animal fostering another animal. I mean what did you think-”
“Are you serious?” I was honestly struck partially speechless by his statement. “You don't know him. Don't act like you know him. Listen, if you had to go through half the shit he has then you could talk. But you never will so don't fucking speak about him.” I said. I noticed there was anger dripping from my voice but I didn't care. I shoved my wallet in my backpocket and pushed open the door. Logan stared at me as I huffed and opened the car door. He continued to look as he got into the car wordlessly, Mary still in arms, and I could tell he was looking at my red face. I started up the car and rolled down the window as we got going in an effort to cool down.. He was probably smirking, he probably found it funny that I got mad. How dare he? I thought he was going to rip the guy's head off. He can't tease me for being mad.
“What?” I asked sharply.
“Nothin’” he said. It drove me insane how he acted like nothing had just happened. He acts like embarrassing me is funny when in reality I stuck my neck out for him. He interrupted my angry thought tirade by saying: “I heard what you said back there.”
“What?” I looked over to see if he was joking but his face was serious, an eyebrow was raised as he scratched Mary behind the ears but he wasn't bluffing. He met my gaze and tapped his ear. My face became even more red as I focused my eyes on the road. For someone with heightened hearing, he doesn't bring it up much. “Sorry, I just couldn't let him say that-”
“It's okay.” he said. “Thank you. You don't need to… be my knight or hero or-”
“I wasn't trying to be. I just care about you.” That statement hung in the air like stiff clothes on a line. Thank God I could just look at the road and not at him. “And I'm not going to let someone speak bad about the people I care about.” He didn't say anything, he just put his hand on my arm like I did for him.
And then we were back in the apartment parking lot. I put the car in park and looked over to see Mary but I found Logan leaning in to kiss me.
I let him.
The kiss was soft and tender in a way that was foreign. Our first kiss was hungry and he acted very confident, but now he seemed almost shy. I brought my hand up to his face and satisfied my craving of running the pads of fingers across his coarse sideburns. I could feel his brow crease and I attempted to pull him closer in an attempt to soothe him of whatever was troubling him but the center console interrupted us. He let out a small grunt it rutted into his ribcage and I let go in suprise. “Oh- Sorry.” I said, my face still flushed. “Its ok.” He grinned sheepishly. “Hey, sorry about back there. I'm just… defensive I guess.”
“Really?” I said sarcastically.
“Yeah, well. And sorry for being kind of an ass. I should've just said ‘thank you’ and left it at that. I'm just- I think I'm used to being on my own.” He had a small smile on his face that was different from the flirty smirk or frown that often adorned his face.
“Well, is not ‘being on your own’ anymore okay?” To be honest, I had this fear that I would wake up one morning and Logan would be gone. But the way he replied with a simple “yeah” eased my anxieties. “You're not what ignorant people say you are. Ask me, ask Wade, ask Laura, ask any of your friends and they'll agree.” I wish I could write that out and tape it to his mirror or something so he could get that in his head. “Thank you.” he whispered and leaned in to kiss me again. He ignored DogPool scratching up his arm, attempting to climb up his shoulder. “You're welcome honeybadger.” I managed to get out between kisses. He chuckled.
“Mmm don't call me that.” And I could feel him smile.