Summary: Marie persuades Logan to pose for her latest art project - naked!

Chapter One - The Fine Art of Persuasion

"So? Are you gonna do it?"

Marie feigned ignorance. "Do what?" she asked casually.

Jubilee rolled her eyes in exasperation. "You know exactly what I mean, Miss Rogue!"

A little smile played across Marie's lips but she continued to ignore her best friend teasingly, concentrating instead on her latest work, sweeping a delicate paintbrush expertly across the canvas.

"It'll work, trust me!" Jubilee promised, somewhat desperately now.

That bold statement did provoke Marie's attention, however, and she turned to glower at her friend. "You said that last time!" she pointed out heatedly, jabbing at the air with her paintbrush. "Now what were your exact words?" She pretended to ponder before leaning forward, platinum locks hanging down her face. "Oh yeah - 'wait until Logan's having one of his 2am broods in the kitchen and then go down there for a glass of milk wearing a sexy negligee and provocatively gaping bathrobe.' Give him an eyeful, you said."

Jubilee grinned. "And you did."

"Yeah...but I gave the Professor an eyeful in the process," Marie snapped, feeling her cheeks flame at the memory.

"Well, how were you to know that he was gonna come wheeling in from the laundry room in his PJ's?" Jubilee gaped at her in disbelief. "What the hell was he doing in there anyway?"

Marie shrugged. "Said something about looking for his lucky socks."

"Lucky socks? At two in the morning? You're kidding me, right?"

"That's what he said," Marie insisted, but her own scepticism was clearly visible on her face. "Although, I did notice him raise an eyebrow whilst he explained, as if he wasn't being entirely serious. Come to think of it, Logan raised one too."

"Perhaps it was some conspiracy." Jubilee snorted. "What is it with X-Men and raising eyebrows, anyway? I even notice Scott doing it beneath his visor."

Marie couldn't help but smile wistfully. "Logan looks the cutest when he does it though."

"And we return to the man in question," Jubilee huffed. "Are-you-gonna-do- it!" she repeated persistently. "The Proff made you resident art teacher for a reason - because you are one hell of an artist. One hell of an artist who needs projects to broaden her creative horizons and make her an inspiration to her students."

Marie watched her in amusement. "Yeah, I suppose that I can agree with," she accepted grudgingly.

"And what is one of the main things you see in art galleries? In paintings, photography, sculptures..."

"Enlighten me." Marie already knew the answer but she liked to watch Jubilee get all worked up. It could be most entertaining. Sometimes you could even make her spark unintentionally.

"Why, the human body of course. There's more naked flesh in an art gallery than a strip club and beach party combined."

"I think that's a slight exaggeration."

"Don't bet on it, chica." Her hands fell to her hips. "And who do we know who has the most amazing body ever to befall a man?"

Marie's eyes narrowed possessively. "Keep your lusty looks to yourself!" she warned jokingly, knowing full well who her friend meant.

"Logan!" Jubilee declared. "He has the best bod in the whole mansion. Pecs to die for, abs to cry for and a butt so hot that you'd probably go blind if you stared at it for too long!"

Marie laughed. "I get your point, Jubes."

"All I'm saying is...ask him to pose for you. What harm can it do to ask? The most he can say is no and then you just try some emotional blackmail."

"Like what?"

"That you'll ask Colossus instead." Her smile widened into a mischievous smirk. "Or worst - Scott!"

"Ooooh, he'd hate that!"

"That would work for sure. And there you'll be...all alone with Logan...all alone with a naked Logan...attentively observing a deliciously hot naked Logan...which is sure to get him as turned on as it inevitably will you...the rest I'll leave to your imagination."

Although it sounded all very appealing in theory, Marie seriously had her doubts. "But would he pose completely nude, d'ya think?"

"You could give him a subtle cloth or something to cover his bits, reassure him that the door is locked...which, in fact, will be a good thing under the circumstances."

Marie sighed warily. "I dunno, Jubes."

Jubilee shook her head sadly. "Rogue, sweetie. You've loved Logan for how long now - forever? Cried buckets of tears into my bosom every time he's gone off on one of those futile searches of his."

Marie grinned as she peered down at Jubilee's rather flat chest. "What bosom?"

"I shall ignore that cruel remark."

"And it wasn't buckets."

"Bowls then...now stop stalling."

Marie glanced across at her latest work distractedly. The almost finished painting of the Institute's sizable lake, with the forest surrounding it, was instantly calming and she could almost imagine her and Logan fishing at the end of the jetty. "With Logan it's...kinda complicated. I don't want to risk ruining what we have. Don't want to make him run again. I hate it when he leaves. And I worry every day that he's away."

Jubilee gestured animatedly with her arms, frustration sweeping across her face. "But he's back now. He's been back for longer than he ever has before. And I wonder why?" She pointed a finger, nail painted a garish yellow, at Marie. "The Rogue, of course. The sweet young girl he rescued and promised to take care of. Only it seems his idea of caring has changed - for the better. Logan has shown a decided interest in you ever since you turned eighteen but the stupid dope seems reluctant to make the first move! You'd think the fact that you can control your mutation would be an incentive, but no." She groaned. "Practically the whole mansion just wants you to put them out of their misery and just get it together already."

"They do?" Marie was taken aback by this revelation. Were she and Logan that transparent? How embarrassing.

"Let me put it this way, chica! We're very tempted to bundle you both into a bedroom and lock the door."

"That bad, huh?"

"That bad." Jubilee reached across to pat Marie's hand. "So for the sake of everyone's sanity, you must do it. Get him naked in your studio and jump him. Big time."

Marie chewed down thoughtfully upon her lip. "It might just be easier to tell him how I feel."

"How you feel?" Jubilee mocked. "This is Logan we're talking about! Man of kick-ass action - not sissy feelings! He'd run a mile the minute he caught that feelings look on your face!"

"Hey! He has feelings! We talk!" Marie protested.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jubilee gushed, plainly uninterested. "About the latest mission, or the last hockey game you watched."

Marie fumed. "Why does everyone assume that Logan is so...so...hard and unfeeling? It really annoys me! He can be very sweet sometimes."

"Yeah - right!"

"Yeah - right, Miss Jubilation Lee! And I'm gonna prove it to you!" She faltered and shrugged. "You just might have to wait a few years, that's all."

Jubilee frowned quizzically.

"I'm talking wedding vows, girl! The ultimate declaration of feelings a man could make!"

Jubilee smirked, unconvinced. "You get Logan into that position and I'll wear pink for the wedding!"

"Pink? You're saying that you would survive a whole day without wearing yellow?"

"'Any' colour you ask, babe."

They exchanged challenging grins but then Jubilee shrugged indifferently. "But hey - you won't even ask Logan to pose for you, so I can't see it ever happening."

Marie chewed on the end of her paintbrush. "Where's Logan right now?"

Jubilee's smile widened hopefully. "Last I knew, he was tinkering about with Scott's bike in the garage."

"Right. Hold this." Marie handed Jubilee her paintbrush and with a flick of her hair strode confidently out of the studio. She could sense her friend punching the air triumphantly.