Night and Day: Sleepless in Saskatchewan
Chapter 1
by
Mo
Archiving and forwarding: Certainly, just ask. Alternate file formats are available upon request.
Sequel/Series: This is a 10-part story series. It's a sequel to the 15-part "Canadian Nights" series which is a sequel to the 10-part "We're Not What You Think" which is, in turn, a sequel to the 7-part "I Know What You Are".
Scenario: The Movie Universe. I have borrowed concepts and characters from assorted Marvel comic book titles as well but have not tried in any way to make the stories consistent with the comic books (as far as I can tell, Marvel has despaired of making the comic books consistent with each other). Similarly for the novelization of the movie and for other X-Men books. I've looked on all of those resources as fodder for ideas but have felt bound only to be consistent with what is presented in the movie and with the previous stories in this series. In addition to movie and comic book characters, I began the introduction of original characters in the previous series, "Canadian Nights". Characters first introduced there are explored further in this series. This series begins shortly after "Canadian Nights" ends and over a year after the movie ends.
Disclaimer: The X-Men and Alpha Flight belong to Marvel. The movie belongs to Fox. Belarus is an independent country and belongs to its citizens, mutant and otherwise. Bryn Mawr is a private women's college founded in 1885. It belongs to the women, mutant and otherwise, who have lived and learned there for the past 116 years. I do feel like Scott and Logan are a little bit mine since I've been borrowing them for so long.
Notes on literature in the stories: A separate literature guide will be posted after the stories themselves. It contains spoilers so should be read afterwards. Literature guides to the previous series are also posted on the dymphna.net site. Much thanks to Kate Bolin.
Notes on locations in the stories: Except in the first series, which all takes place at Xavier's school in Westchester, my characters move around a lot. All of the locations, save one, are genuine and described as realistically as I can manage. I have been to some, but not all of them. The one invented location is one I was stuck with by Marvel - there is no town in Westchester County called Salem Center, although there is a North Salem.
Acknowledgements: Much thanks to SW and LS, who beta read these stories. They provided many suggestions and corrections, improving them greatly.
I thought he'd call or email after a while. Sulk a little first, sure. He was entitled. Because I left him like that, without saying anything, and because of some of the stuff I'd done before. But I figured he'd get over it. He had the other times. I wasn't so worried.
I was busy, anyway. There's limits to what we can do outside once it turns cold, but there's lots of work to do in the house itself. Plus there was plenty of planning to do for when the ground thawed. And plenty of preparation. Working with Wendy and Arthur is good - they have the experience and the skills we need. And the mutant powers - she's telekinetic and he has superhuman strength. We're going to need both of those to do a major redesign and construction job with a skeleton crew. They're so damned opinionated, though. Her, especially. So we'd end up arguing assorted design and construction points for days on end. Usually ended up with a solution better than any of us started off with, though. Have to give them that.
Kind of an adjustment having the baby around. And is she ever around! She's always with them. I was surprised when they said they didn't want a separate room, or even separate bed, for April. Tried suggesting a few times that Wendy might want to take April somewhere else while we were meeting on design - figured I could avoid baby noise and Wendy's opinions at the same time. But that didn't go over too well. They just brought in a few toys and she would play on the floor. Climb up on Arthur to cuddle, on Wendy to cuddle or nurse. I thought babies graduated to bottles by that age, but what do I know? Seems they took her everywhere with them when they lived in Vermont, too. Most of why they had their own business, so they could keep the baby with them. Well, good thing they were all together and away from home when their house got firebombed, anyway.
Jean-Paul didn't seem too thrilled about the baby, either. Got it all wrong on why, though. I tried to tell him they were a package deal and April and the noise and diapers were the price we paid for getting Arthur and Wendy. He got all quiet for a while and then he told me that he didn't mind the noise or the smells. That he liked being around babies and children, usually, and he would adjust after a while. April just reminded him of his own little girl, who was the same age when she died. Didn't know he'd had a kid. Lots of questions to ask, but I didn't. He didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it.
So, anyway, I was keeping busy but I'd still think about him sometimes. Think it might be him when the phone rang, looked for an email from him. Nothing. Well, not nothing. There were emails, sent to all of us and from the cyclops@mutant.org address. Keeping us posted on what was going on in Westchester. Offering assistance of different kinds. Asking and answering questions. Yeah, Cyclops, Field leader of the X-Men was in evidence. In my inbox, in occasional phone calls to check on how we were doing. But no sign of Scott, my friend. My lover.
I saw a glimpse of him once, though. I woke up thinking about him, late at night. Later where he was but I thought I'd try calling. He answered all business but when he heard it was me he got kind of soft-like and concerned there, for a minute. "Are you okay, Logan?" he asked, in the old Scott voice. "The nightmares aren't back, are they?" Maybe I should have lied and said they were, just to hear him sound like he cared a little longer. But I didn't.
"No, Scott. No nightmares. Just thinking, wondering if you ever figured out how to do a blow job over the phone. And you know how you get a question in your head sometimes in the middle of the night? And you just can't sleep until it's answered? So, I figured I'd call and ask. If you're not sure if you can do it, you could try it out on me and I'll tell you how it goes."
He didn't say anything for a long time. Then he just said, "I don't think that's a good idea." I heard another voice behind him somewhere and then his voice, answering, muffled, "No, it's okay. I don't have to go anywhere. It's someone from the Saskatchewan project. I'll be done soon."
Well, if you want someone with heightened senses not to hear you, you should learn to use a mute button and not a hand on the receiver. Told him so. "I'm sorry, Logan," he said, and he sounded like he meant it. "I don't see well in the dark - couldn't find the mute button." And then "Just a minute." Must have gone into the bathroom. Running the water in the sink so he wouldn't be overheard.
"Logan, I don't think that phone sex is a good idea. Good for either of us. It would just feel like something's there that isn't any more, you know?"
"I guess I was thinking - hoping - that there still was something there. I'm still hot for you, Scott. I still think about you."
"I still think about you, too, Logan, but I really think it's better for both of us if we try not to think about each other. I'm not mad at you, really. Hey, I know what happened was at least as much my fault. Probably more. I was way out of line with what I said about you and Oliver. I know you wouldn't compromise your principles. I wasn't thinking of him as the kid he is, just a guy you were keeping there when I was going home. I should have known you wouldn't have lost sight of who and what he is."
"It's okay, Scott. I understand. I just kind of sprung it on you that he was staying. You weren't thinking clearly."
"That's not all there is to it, though. The whole thing wouldn't have happened if I'd been honest with Oliver, honest with the team here. I'm trying to repair some of the damage I've done, Logan. I've got a lot of work to do, and you helped me get started on it. So, thanks."
"Well, if you want to show your gratitude, phone sex is a nice way to say thanks, you know."
"No, Logan. Look, it was probably a mistake what we did last time you were here. I don't know - it might have been okay to have a last time to remember. I do know that I just can't take it any more. I can't be just one of a bunch of nobodies. I can't be the guy you fuck on your last night here who just wakes up to find you gone. Not any more."
"I'm sorry, Scott. Can't you forgive me? I forgave you."
"I do forgive you, really I do. I'm not mad any more - I meant it when I said it. But it still hurts. I just can't leave myself open like that, again. I loved you a lot, Logan. Loved you a long time. And I know I was too concerned about people finding out about me, that sometimes that got in the way of being honest about us. But just between you and me I was very honest, you know I was. Honest and open and easy to hurt. There was so much that was good in what we had. I hope to get to a point where I can look back on that fondly, without it hurting. But I'm not there yet. I'm not anywhere near there. Sex with you - real or phone - would just make it harder and longer getting there."
"Who's waiting for you, Scott? Who's in your bed?"
"Don't take this the wrong way - I don't mean to offend - but that really isn't any of your business. Not any more. Logan, it's a hard adjustment for me. Maybe for you, too. You were my lover; you were my best friend. And now you're my colleague and that's all it is. It's going to take me time to get comfortable with that. I don't want to confuse things, confuse myself by talking to you about things like that. I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry. I was just curious. Same as with the blow job phone thing. Sorry. I guess I shouldn't bother you with my curiosity in the middle of the night. It used to be okay to call without a good reason. I can understand that it isn't now, but I didn't think. Like you said, it's an adjustment."
So we said goodbye. I jerked off thinking about that last time with him. "Fingers clutching," just like that poem. Feeling his whole body under me, his head turned to the side, my tongue in his ear. Pushing hard inside his ass, listening to him panting and moaning his need for me. His love for me.
Wondered what he was doing now, if he was talking to that guy there like he used to talk to me. Doing with him what he used to do with me. I knew what he meant about getting hurt. When you really love somebody he can hurt you ways you never dreamed of.
After a while I figured there wasn't much point trying to get back to sleep. I got up and got to work.
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