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“C’mon. You can do this.” Logan whispered under his breath to the reflection of himself in the water-spotted mirror of his bathroom. The bathroom was sparsely decorated, much like the rest of his apartment which he had acquired shortly after Wade had asked him to come home with him.
It wasn’t that Wade and Al’s apartment was too small or that Logan wanted more (in fact the apartment he had chosen was much smaller than Wade’s despite having been given more than enough money to survive on by the TVA) but rather that it made him too close to the merc for comfort.
Wade had delightfully informed him that due to the apartment’s cramped size he would have to share the sofa bed with him. Which at first sounded fine; he had shared many a bed with people before in hostels, barracks, etc.
This was different.
That first night, Wade had bound out of the bathroom in his My Melody pajamas, a plump unicorn plush tucked cutely under his arm.
“Are you ready for the most fun sleepover ever? I went out and got so many snacks. There’s mini Reese’s cups, Sour Patch Kids… I even found a box of Jujubes waaaay back in one of the cupboards that I THINK is from the 80’s but come on, they’ve got so much preservatives we’ll probably be fine… plus our teeth grow back if we break them anyway so—“
“I’d rather just get some sleep, Wade. We kind of had a long day remember?” Logan was wearing an oversized shirt that said “Obi-Wan ComeBoneMe” that he had graciously borrowed from the other man, as well as some heart patterned boxers.
“Yeah, ok. I am pretty tired.” Wade said, obviously not very tired, as he plopped down next to Logan.
Logan gave him a sort of half-smile.
“Goodnight, Wade.”
“Night, Peanut.”
Wade reached over and turned off the table lamp. Logan waited for the inevitable yapping to start… but it never came. Despite being seemingly full of energy mere minutes prior, Wade fell asleep quickly. He was drooling.
Sleep never came easy for Logan, however. He stared at the dark ceiling, his mind racing, going over every detail of the past few days, back to the day Wade found him, plastered in that bar, wishing he could die.
He thought of Scott, of Jean. The people he let down. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes and his breath quickened a bit. A familiar feeling.
As he gripped the sheets beneath him, waiting for the panic to set in, Wade moved in his sleep. His arm went over Logan and he cuddled his face into his neck. He was mumbling something about a taco truck.
Logan went stiff. His heart was racing, yet a strange calm washed over him, almost like an ecstasy. It was Wade’s scent. They had been close like this before, many times… but there had been too many distractions: blood, adrenaline, his own anger. Here in the quiet of the night, it was amplified.
Wade’s scent was uniquely his own. There were layers to it, like a designer perfume. The most prevalent smell, which is what most alphas would abhor, was death. A sickly sweet warning provided by the cancer that ravaged his body, the cancer that his healing factor kept at bay.
Logan, however, had a nose that was far more keen. And as he lie there, just slowly breathing in and out, the base layer became more prevalent. This was Wade’s original scent: his omega flavor.
It somewhat startled Logan that he hadn’t noticed this before. Wade was an omega. How could he have not sensed it? Of course no one else did either, it seemed… maybe it was the fact that his smell of decay was too strong for the average alpha to scent… maybe it was just that Wade’s power to annoy and piss people off was so distracting that even if someone did get a whiff they thought it couldn’t be true. But it was.
And it was intoxicating.
In the morning that followed, Logan awoke to Wade nudging his nose into Logan’s neck.
“Mornin,’” he said, his voice full of sleep, as he sat up and stretched. “Guess I really was too tired, I don’t even remember falling asleep. How’d you sleep, pumpkin?”
“….great,” Logan said, surprised by his answer. He really did sleep well.
Wade rambled on about breakfast and how he had to take Mary Puppins out for a walk, but the rest of the conversation sort of became noise to Logan. He was unable to process anything. All he could think was…
It was dangerous.
He was dangerous.
He was reminded of all the people he had loved in the past. How he always ended up (either physically or emotionally) hurting them.
And so that day, he had left.
It wasnt too hard to find an apartment. People in this world thought he was the other Logan- the brave, selfless Logan. So someone cut him a deal on a tiny apartment that was about a twenty minute walk from Wade’s.
At first he hadn’t thought to really buy any furniture. He thought that just sleeping on a mattress on the floor was enough. But when Wade had invited himself over the following day and said “damn bitch, you live like this?” He decided to get a couch.
Then a few days after that, Wade had showed up with a bunch of food. He tried to protest but the other man had already bodied himself through the door, Mary Puppins in tow.
They ate together on the couch and watched YouTube videos on Wade’s phone. He didn’t know what a “Minecraft Let’s Play” was but it didn’t really matter. The next day, he found a cheap dinner table with two chairs on Craigslist.
And so it continued. Wade would visit every day, with a big smile on his face and dinner in a bag. And every night he’d go home, but his scent lingered. Logan found that he would sleep on the couch instead of his floor mattress because it was where Wade had been sitting all night.
It was strange to not have night terrors.
It was even stranger that Wade, an omega, had been leaving his scent on everything and yet it hadn’t drove Logan crazy. The past had been so predictable: an omega would leave their scent as invitation for a rough night from a rough man. Most got more than they bargained for. None ever stayed.
Before he knew it, months had passed. His apartment was still barebones by most people’s standards but he had the essentials. Mostly thanks to Laura.
“Thanks again for helping me figure this thing out,” he said, tossing his smartphone on the table. It was a Saturday, which was usually the day they spent time together.
“Well you did say the phones in your universe were different.” Laura said, after swallowing a mouthful of Corn Flakes.
“Yeah they were like little bricks and the screens were like green and black. But you couldn’t break em if you tried.”
“So when are you gonna tell him?” She said with her mouth full.
“Tell who what?” Logan’s brow furrowed as he emerged from the fridge with a cold beer.
“Wade.” Chew chew .
“Okay. And what am I telling him?” He asked before cracking the can open and throwing it back.
“That you want him to be your mate.” Chew .
Logan inhaled, choking on liquid. He doubled over, sputtering.
“Cmon,” Laura said. “Don’t lie to me. I can smell it on you. I can smell him everywhere. Scent doesn’t lie.”
And so here he was. It had been about two weeks since she had brought it up and it took him three days to accept it. Three days of Wade coming over and Logan finally noticing how his heart swelled whenever he looked at him, how he felt less annoyed by his constant jokes, how his flirting made a heat rise up in his chest.
The rest of the time was him building up the courage to confess.
“God.” Logan looked down at his left hand which was balled into a fist, a long ball chain hanging down from it. Slowly his fist opened and he stared at the metallic tags that bore his name.
“Cmon. You’re not a teenager. This ain’t prom. Just do it.” he started to walk towards the door, but stopped, feeling a wave of nausea. I can’t. He won’t want you. He flirts with everyone. It doesn’t mean anything.
Just as he started to turn around, a voice came from the other side of the door.
“Wolvy? Did you fall in or something?” There was a knock. “I didn’t bring my water wings I don’t know if I’ll be able to fish you —“
Logan opened the door.
“—out. Oh good you’re ok.” There was Wade, grinning at him like an idiot. A stupid, adorable, lovable moron. Logan suppressed the urge to hug him to his chest.
“Sorry.” He said, pushing past the other, as if he were going to the dinner table. It was covered with white Chinese food boxes. “Don’t you think you went a little overboard? There’s enough here for ten people.”
“Yeah sorry. But the lady that runs that place threatened to poison me if I didn’t get one of everything cuz her restaurant is close to going bankrupt and she had this huge knife—“
Logan had stepped up to Wade and covered his mouth with a hand.
Only moments ago, he had thought “it’s now or never” but now that Wade was shut up the silence felt smothering. Logan lowered his hand.
“I…. Uh….” God his throat was dry. Why was it so hot in there?
Wade looked bewildered, his beautiful mouth slightly agape, and Logan couldn’t help but think about how kissable his lips were.
“So I uh… been thinking…” he started, cursing himself for rambling. Shouldn’t this be romantic? Why was he so shit with words when it mattered?
“That uh… maybe you could wear these.” He held up his hand, palm up, almost showcasing the tags. “For me.”
Wade’s eyes had been glued to Logan’s face as he talked. He slowly lowered them, until they rested on the glinting metal.
“…..your…. Those are your tags.” He said, his voice uncharacteristically small.
“Yeah.”
“But that would…. mean…”
“Yeah.”
Logan couldn’t tell what sort of expression Wade had on. He was staring blankly at the tags, before he looked up and locked eyes with him.
“That’s not funny.” Wade said, his eyes glassy, as though he were holding back tears.
“What- what do you mean funny? I’m being serious.” Logan said.
“Right. Mr Most-Handsome-Man-in-the-Universe, courting Pizza the Hutt.”
Logan didn’t know that reference. “Huh??”
“Hello??” Wade waved his hand over his own face. “Freddy Krueger’s Ball Sack? The Mince Meat Special? Arby’s Beef and Cheddar?!” A small tear has snuck its way down his face.
Logan couldn’t believe it. He had been so obsessed with the thought that Wade would reject him for being, well, the worst Wolverine, he didn’t plan for this scenario.
“You’re not ugly.” He stated, factually. It was starting to make him mad, the way Wade was talking about himself.
“Okay, now I know you’re going senile. We’re gonna have to get you some glasses grandpa, because I literally make babies cry. I am so ugly that—“
“Shut up.” Logan growled, before taking a step forward and pressing his lips to Wade’s. When Wade didn’t kiss back, he pulled away.
Had he made a mistake? Of course he had. Why would Wade want a failure like him? He couldn’t even get his feelings across right.
“You….” Wade said, blinking dumbly. “You kissed me.”
Logan felt shame. He swallowed, ready to apologize.
“You’re… serious? You want me?” Wade asked, his voice small again.
Logan couldn’t find his voice. He just nodded once.
A grin slowly spread across Wade’s face. He leaned forward, bowing his head. Logan almost forgot to breathe as he shakily unclasped the ball chain and placed it around Wade’s neck, securing it behind him.
When Logan let go, Wade stood up straight, Logan’s dog tags around his neck.
“Well? How do I look?” Wade asked, his grin never faltering.
“Beautiful.” Logan answered. And he was. Beautiful. His.
“Oooh does this mean we’re gonna bump uglies now?!”
His beautiful idiot.