Logan, the X-Men, and just about everyone mentioned belong to Marvel. No money. Don't sue. Kai's mine. Don't use her without permission. Just take my word on this...it'd be a mistake. This'd take place after "Moments" and before "Ghosts." It's just a short K&L...this idea was sparked by something my buddy Kael said ages ago, and it's been stirring around in my head for a while. Remember "Sounding Board"? That's where we saw Kai & Logan settling a disagreement by venting to a neutral third party - namely Ororo. Well...what if 'Roro's busy? (In other words, I thought we needed a light- hearted story before diving into Remy's angst. ;-) Kaylee likes dedicating stories to people, so this one gets dedicated to another reader who's given me much needed encouragement more than once; Lee Donovan. Thanks a mil, Lee! Comments to Kaylee1109@aol.com. Feedback is a wonderful thing. Truly. Give me some. Now. Well, not _now_ now...read the story first, silly. ;-) Other stories in this series are archived at Tag Team on Fonts of Wisdom - http://home.att.net/~lubakmetyk/kailogan.htm Enjoy! "Kai & Logan: Working it Out" By Kaylee (Kaylee1109@aol.com) He checked the clock before he went upstairs, wanting to be sure he'd made it back in time for dinner. Jean had warned them all ahead of time that she was going all out tonight...creating a lush spread with a bit of exotic cuisine from five different countries, if he remembered right. It was going to be quite an event - a chance for the whole team to spend some time together without it being in the Danger Room or in the middle of a Situation. Logan mused absently. But his old friend from Alpha Flight didn't get down this way often - in fact, when he did it was as often for some misdirected conflict between their two teams as for a social visit - so he didn't begrudge them the time. That brought a grin that spread wider when he caught a whiff of the delicious aromas drifting out from the kitchen. He wasn't too late after all. The grin abruptly turned to a thoughtful frown. He paused outside the door to the room he used when he was at the mansion, yawning hugely. A sniff - enhanced senses were useful in determining what was for dinner. And speaking of Kai... He could smell faintly the unique herbal scent that marked her...could hear the slightly quicker than usual beating of her heart. he wondered with a hint of a leer pulling his lips. That leer already stretching into a knowing grin, he opened the door. And stared, grin faltering and brows bunching in confusion. Traditional Japanese women would greet their husbands at the door in _seiza,_ sitting back on their heels and bowing respectfully as their men entered the home. The practice had faded, of course, as Nippon met the modern ways of the West; but the older, more traditional families still practiced the custom. It was an ancient ritual of honor, still lingering in places after centuries of practice. Logan might have expected Mariko Yashida to greet him thus. Her family line dated back more years than most people could conceive of, and she had been a woman bound by honor and tradition. Had he entered a room and found her bowing in _seiza,_ he would have greeted her warmly and probably have taken her hand to aid her to her feet, touched by the gesture even as he told her that it was unnecessary, and knowing full well that she would meet him the same way the next night, and the next, and the next. Finding _Kai_ sitting in _seiza,_ however, was an entirely different thing. Another Japanese tradition - a man sitting in _seiza_ with his weapon of choice by his knees was, likely as not, challenging the one he greeted to a fight. And Kai sat there, hands resting on her thighs, auburn eyes dark and angry...with a short sword by her knees. He stared for a moment, mind racing. Then said, "It was just a few drinks!" Implacable gaze, stone face. "Choose your weapon." Logan considered carefully, still trying to figure out just what he hell he'd done. "Ya look beautiful tonight," he told her with a show of teeth meant to disarm. Her mouth quirked just the slightest bit, then she schooled the grin back behind her glare. "I _meant,_" she told him distinctly, "a _sword._" His arms spread wide in exasperated question. "Whaddid I do??" No compromise. "Your weapon," she repeated, voice clipped and short. "Now." He scowled, half-heartedly searching for a way out of this...but didn't search too hard. With an irritated curse he strode across the room to the weapons rack and snatched a katana he kept for the times he wanted to practice in a more traditional manner. Recently those times had come more often...in part because he'd been coming to realize that losing the adamantium made him more vulnerable, and in part because Kai insisted that he was her favorite sparring partner; particularly since Betsy wasn't around the mansion as much these days and Remy tended to avoid morning workouts when at all possible. When he turned back around he found that Kai had stood silently and was now facing him, short sword up in a ready guard and eyes dancing, that little smile trying to tug at her lips again. "All right," he said gruffly, fighting back his own smile. "Let's get to it." *** In the kitchen, Bobby Drake was busily adding the final touches to a truly magnificent ice-sculpture. Abstract art...sharp angles melding with smooth planes and the occasional rounding curve. the artist in question commented silently, admiring the result of almost an hour of intense creativity. Then, because he saw no reason to keep his appreciation silent, he spoke aloud. "Bobby m'man...you've truly outdone yourself." His gaze slid sideways to see if anyone was paying attention to his ever-so-subtle bid for praise. Jean and Ororo were standing together on the other side of the extravagantly prepared table, talking in low voices and taking no notice of him. Bishop sat silently in a chair, scrutinizing the ice- sculpture centerpiece, yet making no comment on it. Bobby smiled to himself. <...froze up his water glass.> As Bishop raised said glass to his lips, he encountered a solid block of ice that caused the glass to tinkle warningly at the increased pressure. "Drake," the man said coldly, sending a glare his way. "Do not make me take action." "Wha-at?" Bobby asked innocently. Then smiled winningly and gestured to his sculpture, raising his voice just a little to reach the other lurkers at the ends of the room. "So how's it look?" "Like ice," the huge man answered unenthusiastically, but his droll response was overrun by an appreciative croon from Hank McCoy. "Superlative effort, my gallery-bound friend! Why, if you keep this up, we'll just be forced to let you chop off your ear, won't we?" "Thanks," Bobby managed before the others added in their opinions. "That is lovely, Robert." "Ah'm impressed!" "This is great, Bobby...I make the dinner, you make the decorations...we could be a catering team. Earn some money on the side..." "It _is_ quite beautiful...Warren, take a look at this." "Not too bad, pal!" "You know, if you'd put the same sort of effort into your training..." "Er, thanks Scott...but I'm just fishing for compliments tonight, not criticism." "Well in that case, it's--" He was cut off by a thundering crash from upstairs, followed by a shout. Bishop was on his feet in an instant, one hand snatching for the plasma rifle harnessed to his back, the other shoving the chair out of the way so it wouldn't entangle his legs. Scott held out a warning hand to hold the man in place. "Jean? Betsy?" "It's Logan and Kai," Betsy answered for both of them, even as Jean took the swifter route and informed him via their psionic link. "No attack." Bobby rolled his eyes. "_Again?_" A faint frown creased Ororo's smooth dark face. "Well it cannot be too serious...neither of them came to see me..." *** Remy Lebeau was just coming in from a rather early night on the town. The moment he walked in the door, his mutant awareness of kinetic fields warned him that now would be a _good_ time to hang back and see what was happening. To his intense amusement the first thing he saw was a laughing Kai vaulting over the railing on the main staircase to land ten feet below in a crouch, a short sword in her right hand, left hand extended in a beckoning motion to the man on the landing above. "C'mon!" she taunted, grinning broadly. "Show me whatcha got!" Out of the corner of his eye Remy saw X-Men spilling out from the kitchen, but the main of his attention was focused on the scene right before him. He leaned comfortably against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest to watch the show. With a blood-curdling yell Logan sprang over the railing, pushing himself off with a powerful thrust of his legs to make sure he landed somewhere _past_ the blade-wielding woman who waited. Muscle and sinew absorbed the impact of the landing easily, then he was launching forward with his own sword a diagonal slash across his body, arms ready to draw it forward and arcing down in a vicious sweep. "Are they trying to kill each other?" Warren asked after a moment, eyes wide. "No," Jean answered with a sigh. "They're just having a...discussion." "Shouldn't somebody _stop_ them?" "And have all that tension and energy at the dinner table? Uh uh. I don't think so. Safer to let them work it out this way." "But they're going to-- _The vase!_" Kai had lunged sideways to evade the swift attack. Her elbow brushed an antique vase older than all the people in the room combined, and it tottered unsteadily on its stand. Kai spun, tossing her short sword to her left hand, and snatched the falling antique before it hit the ground. Warren let out a long breath of relief when she gently replaced it, hardly slowing as she twisted and sprang to the left when Logan came in again. Logan had pretty much forgotten that Kai was supposed to be mad at him - as, apparently, she had also done. He was having a blast; chasing, being chased, and generally feeling like a kid at a playground. Neither of them had so much as scored on the other, but that didn't matter...blood was pumping, adrenaline was raging, and he was warring between laughing and growling. Kai grinned delightedly as she evaded the newest attack, managing in the effort to trip him up with a well-placed leg sweep. He twisted, ducked the diagonal strike that would have cleaved him open, and sent his own sword skittering across the ground as he went for an all out tackle after her legs. "Are you sure you want to let this go on?" Warren asked Scott quietly, wincing as the twosome nearly slammed into the staircase railing. No answer. Warren looked a little more closely at his longtime friend. "Scott?" "Base of the skull, Kai," Scott was murmuring under his breath, hands clenching and unclenching in his eagerness to join in. "Go for the knockout..." Logan's tackle had managed to catch one leg and send her sprawling down, causing her to lose her grip on the short sword in the process. As he gathered knees beneath himself to shove forward, her free leg shot out, foot sweeping perilously close to his hastily ducked head. He jerked on the ankle he had trapped to upset her leverage, but that still flailing leg snapped back up, knee touching her chest, before slamming down to meet the junction of his shoulder. Logan reeled back with a particularly vile curse, clutching the arm. Kai shoved to her feet, panting with exertion, and dove in again. Warren turned away from Scott, sending a thought trail along the psionic link towards his lover instead. *Betsy...you're sane. Don't you think this's gone far enough? I mean, they're going to start causing damage soon...* *Wha...? Oh, yes dear...I'm sure this will be over-- Shuto block? For _that_ strike?? Are you _insane,_ Logan?!* The open-hand shuto block was a ruse, and he used it to get a hold on her wrist and swiftly trap her right arm in a painful and - theoretically - immobilizing arm bar. She hissed something that would've made a sailor blush and ignored the pain as she gave him a short left jab to the gut, putting her hips into the motion along with her considerable strength. Air whooshed out of him, but he still didn't release the arm as he half-doubled over, and he managed to hook his right leg around hers and sweep her feet out from under her, taking her to the ground and maintaining the arm bar on the way. One of her knees lodged between them, shoving him out...but she couldn't get room to kick or get any real force behind a knee strike. "I...win..." Logan panted, grunting as she pushed as hard as she could with the leg between them. "Say...uncle..." Kai'd been wriggling, and he'd shoved the trapped arm down in response...freeing her other shoulder from the too-confining floor. She bared teeth in a half-smile, half-snarl. "In your...dreams. I'm still...mad at you!" Then she put every ounce of strength into a ridge hand to the base of his neck. The attack was blunted by her position and the fact that she had to go off pure muscle strength and wasn't able to put her body behind it...but Kai was a strong woman. Logan lurched forward with a shout. She tore her arm free of his loosened hold and squirmed out from beneath him, suddenly deciding to get this running battle actually running again. She gained feet and sprinted for the kitchen door, teammates scattering to allow her passage. "Whoa!" Bobby shouted, jumping between Kai and the table, holding hands up in a desperate warding gesture and causing her to skid to a halt. "Hold it right--" Logan was up, going after her, springing forward with his arms outspread to take her down. Remy, thus far silent, decided that it was finally time to cast his card into play. "Mind y' back, chere!" Kai cocked her head...made out the blur of attacking Canadian in her peripheral vision...ducked and spun out in instinctive reaction, hands snatching an extended arm and using the leverage to wrench him over her back, flipping through the air... And down directly onto the sharp points of the really lovely abstract ice sculpture...butt first. "My. Sculp. Ture," Bobby said in a broken, robotic voice over the sound of Logan's pained howl. Ice had shattered every which way, spraying across the room in a glittering shower of crystal shards. The carefully prepared meal was ruined - Logan's left foot was in the pot roast and his right was in the gravy...the rest of the food was somewhere beneath broken sculpture and writhing X-Man. Kai, gasping for breath, heard the sharp inhalations behind her. She turned and brushed sweat-soaked russet hair that was escaping from its braid back behind her ear. "What?" "My. Sculp. Ture." Jean's green eyes were wide, too startled thus far for anger. "My...dinner..." Kai frowned and shook her head as Logan - who only kept from whimpering by sheer force of pride - crawled off the table and tried to stand straight. "What?" she asked again. "Bobby can whip up those sculptures easy as breathing...and Jean...well, I thought you _liked_ to cook!" Logan limped over beside her slowly. "Wrong thing...t' say, darlin'." She whirled and waved a finger at his face. "Don't call me that! I'm still mad at you!" "My. _Sculpture._" "My...dinner..." "Quit wavin' that finger, Kai! Ow, my achin' a--" "You _broke_ my _masterpiece!_ Shattered it! Destroyed it!" "I _slaved_ over that dinner! Food from five countries! _Five!_" "Hah! Dat's de way t' show him, Kai! I'm proud a y', chere!" "D'ya think the cookies Ah made were on th' table?" "This distraction was foolhardy. We could have been breached while caught up in this ridiculous fight." "I wouldn't say 'ridiculous,' my somber compatriot...in fact, it truly brought back the old desire to enthusiastically pummel one's enemies - or friends - about the head and shoulders!" "An _hour_ to get all the angles and curves just right!" "Three hours in the kitchen, sweating over a hot stove!" "Logan, that last attack left you wide open. Maybe we should run a Danger Room scenario based off that move..." "I still say the shuto block was a mistake." "I _tried_ to tell you people...I _said_ they were going to break something..." "By the Goddess, I have had _enough!_" A wind sprang up, controlled with amazing dexterity in the confines of the mansion. X-Men were shoved back against the wall - gently - as Ororo reached a hurricane's hand to tear Logan and Kai from their positions and hurl them through the open door. She soared after, ignoring the outraged shouts from those who would've preferred dealing with the two culprits personally. "'Ro, what're ya--" "You two have gone _too far_ this time!" "It was _his_ fault!" "Yeah, an' I'll bet that fuckin' chicken soup was _poison,_ wasn't it?" "It _was!_" "I _said_..." and the words were emphasized by a rolling boom of thunder... "_Enough!_" With the fantastic speed of one of nature's fiercest storms they were torn across the sky, carried over the vast acres of the estate on the raging wind. At very nearly the edge of the grounds Ororo abruptly dropped them both none-too-gently to the earth, hovering above them with her white hair tossed in a furious nimbus about her head. Her voice was ice and lava. "Perhaps by the time you two have made your way back to the mansion the others will no longer be prepared to _kill_ you." Cobalt eyes snapped, echoing the flashes of lightning in the angry sky. "I would suggest that you take your time." With that she shot up again into the air and flew off...leaving a respectable thunderstorm - complete with drenching downpour - to remind them of her mood. "Well," Kai said after a peal of thunder tapered off. "See what you've done?" He turned and gave her his second best glare. "Would ya mind tellin' me what the fuck had ya mad enough for this tonight?" "Hah!" she said scornfully, starting towards the mansion at a jog. "You know what you did." "If I _knew_..." He sprang into a ground-eating lope and caught up with her. "...then I wouldn't be so damn confused right now, would I?" Her jog stretched into a distance-covering run. "Pretend all you want. That's fine. When you're ready to admit it, then we'll talk." "Admit _what?_" Logan ducked a low-hanging branch, not breaking his stride in the least. "All I knew was that I came back from visitin' with a bud t' find you ready to take my head off!" Kai jumped a log in stride with a little grunt of effort. "How was that, anyway? You have a good time?" "What're you doin' changin' the subject, now??" "_What?_ I'm just trying to make this run a little less tedious, that's all..." "Nuh uh...I recognize that tactic." Hands caught at a limb and swung him neatly over a deadfall. "That's what ya pull when you know you're wrong about somethin'." "I'm never wrong." She sprang lightly up to the top of an out of place boulder, looking momentarily to see if she could catch a glimpse of their destination, then pushed off and caught back up with him. "Just 'cause I can't remember why I'm mad doesn't mean I don't have a perfectly good reason." "You _can't remember??_" "Well...there're always so many reasons to be mad at you..." "Ya just about broke my goddamn butt over somethin' you _can't remember?!_" "It'll come to me!" "I oughtta--" He was interrupted by a brilliant flash of lightning from above that was quickly chased by a rumbling crash of thunder. The rain pounded down harder, the sky roiling above them. Logan's run faltered, his eyes turned upwards, blinking against the pouring rain, to catch the turmoil so near. He always _had_ loved thunderstorms. Kai went on a few more strides before realizing he'd stopped. She halted, one foot up on a log, and turned back to look at him, then noticed the direction of his gaze an followed it. Another finger of lightning painted the sky yellow-white and illuminated the racing clouds. A familiar thudding started in her chest. "Tell me somethin'," Logan murmured after a moment, voice eerily disembodied through the whisper-hiss of the downpour. "What?" "Why're we headin' back to the mansion when we're just gonna hafta deal with a bunch o' pissed-off teammates?" Eyes locked on the tumultuous sky, she started to smile. "I have no idea." The torrential rain cleansed sweat and grime from their bodies. He closed his eyes briefly to revel in the sensation, then opened them and turned to gaze in her direction. "What say we stay out here instead?" Kai twisted on the log to fully face him, fists planted on her hips. "Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" He crossed to her and stopped just beside the log, arms linking over his chest loosely. "'Pends on how well ya think you know me." "Oh, I'm figuring you out slowly." Her knees flexed slightly, eyes starting that particular dance again. Rain plastered auburn hair to her face and neck. Logan saw the ready tension in her shoulders, neck, thighs. Teasingly, she reached her hands out to hold his arms in place over his chest, then bent forward, holding his eyes with her own as she lightly pressed lips against his. He leaned in closer to deepen the kiss... And she pushed him back with a hearty laugh and sprang from the log, racing off into the storm and night shadowed woods. Logan watched her vanish, feeling that aching push of adrenaline flood into his muscles. Teeth flashed in a grin. He shook soaked black hair from his eyes and made himself wait the count of one, two, five racing heartbeats...then launched into motion like a cat uncoiling from a crouch into an attack. Kai wove a twining path through the trees, heart rumbling an echo to every crack of thunder. she thought absently, more of her attention focused on keeping her senses peeled for her pursuer. The woods enfolded her like the arms of an old friend and cloaked her in darkness. Not that it mattered: He could see in the dark as well as - perhaps better than - she. But none of that was at the forefront of her mind. It was a heady realization that she could still take such pleasure in the heavy green scents and rain-rustled sounds. Logan was more at home racing through a forest than he could ever be within walls, she knew. It wasn't quite the same for her. His was an animal's appreciation...a gut deep connection that was sometimes covered by humanity, but never replaced by it. A natural predator that kept the edge even when walking city streets. The wilds that these grounds were a pale echo of were _home_ to him. Kai's was a human's appreciation, coupled with the gift of enhanced senses that allowed her one step closer to that wildness than most people could ever hope to get. Whatever long ago lost history was hers, she was _born_ completely human. Lived that way for who knew how many years before the symbiont bonded to her, taking her a half-beat out of synch with the rest of humanity. The wilderness was a second home to her, not a first. Though since hooking up with Logan, she'd come to understand it in ways she'd never have guessed before. So while the deepest associations in Logan's mind painted a picture of mated wolves running wild through the trees, the images that sprang to Kai's mind were closer to people living in synthesis with the earth; wild and untamed, yet human. It was a small, fundamental difference; one that let them meet and overlap, yet keep their own minds, as well. She let her attention get lost on wandering thoughts, so was more than a little startled when the dark form dropped from a tree not five feet in front of her. She skidded to a halt, swearing, and started to turn to run again... The solid weight hit her and bore her down. She managed to turn before she hit so that she was facing him, but he still had her pinned when they met the earth. Her right hand darted for his throat, closing over it; though not with any force - just implicit warning. His left hand spread over the side of her ribcage, reminding her silently that _he_ had _claws_...and so delivering his own silent declaration of victory. She glared, panting for breath. "Bet I could...rip your throat out...before you got me." "Kinda doubt it," he answered with a leer. "Admit it. I won." "You did _not!_" "Did so." Ignoring the fingers still resting on his throat, he leaned in to brush lips over her forehead. "Ya know it's true." "Is not." She fought to keep the retort in her voice, but was suddenly finding it hard to focus on belligerence. The spreading leaves of the oak they'd landed beneath cut the rain to a few fat, heavy drops that slithered through the shelter to splat with weighty softness against them. Thunder was fading, lighting reduced to the occasional flash that turned the sky day-white for only a heartbeat. The masculine scent was reaching into her, touching on the inevitable reaction. His eyes danced with that inner fire she knew so well. They burned into hers as he slowly caressed a rough-silk kiss on her lips, then nibbled over to an earlobe. "Is so," he breathed into her ear, warm air sending a chilling hot-cold tingle through her. She hated to be pinned. He knew it, so made no effort to keep her down as she sat up and slid the hand on his throat around his neck to pull him close. "Cocky bastard," she managed. "What if someone comes looking for us?" He gave an amused snort. "'Ro knows better'n to let 'em." One of his callused hands rose between them to hook a finger through the silver chain around her neck and pull the heart- shaped locket forward. He smiled at it. She half-scowled and cut off any words he might've said by moving in for a deep kiss. His hands freed to slide around her, caressing through rain-soaked clothing. "Y'know," she commented idly as she broke the kiss and went to work on the buttons on his flannel shirt. "I still might remember why I was mad at you." A low sound; half-chuckle, half-growl. "Lookin' forward to it." And then there were no words at all. --end-- Notes from Kaylee: D'ya kinda get the impression Kai just wanted an excuse to play-fight? :::shakes head and sighs::: That gal... Cool thing...there's some nifty art by the multi- talented Pam Nunnally now on the Tag Team page. Drop by to check out two portraits; one of Kai and one of Logan. No, I'm not printing the addy here again...scroll up to the top, you lazy person you. ;-) Pam's also got some gorgeous work on Lori's page, as well as having her own page to showcase her stuff. E-mail me for the addy if you want it.