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I peek my head inside the stables to see a long dark corridor. The whole place is made out of wood that looks old and worn by weather. I view the top of Logan's head peeking up from a stall. Hesitantly, I walk over with soft footsteps, curious as to what he is doing. A large black mare comes into sight at inside the stall. Logan has some kind of pitchfork thing as he clears up the straw that is used as bedding for the horses. I immediately assume that it his horse, since he was riding it the day before, and now it is the first horse he tends too.

His graceful and caring movements catch my eye. Logan's thick muscular arms are tense as he moves about the stall. He has a small shine of sweat covering his tanned face with his signature scowl. I notice how he swiftly and expertly cleans the stall thoroughly. Then I catch sight of the beautiful creature he's tending to. It is larger than the others in the stalls around. The horses pitch black, wiry hair, and large onyx circular eyes bury into me, just like Logan's.

Logan's muscled arm reaches over opening up the stable. I hear and feel the horse give a large breath out, almost seeming as dangerous and unpredictable as it's handler. Logan moves fluently and reaches his strong hand toward the creatures face. He gently strokes the large beast on its cheek, calming it. The horse quiets down as Logan silently leads it out to the pasture. I stand in awe watching the interaction between the two. It makes me speechless. It seems so primal; it's something I can't even explain.

I see Logan returning, and I move my eyes to the ground. I hear his deep, warm voice speak suddenly, "I'll take care of him. All the other horses need to be bathed once a week and groomed daily. Get the white one over there." He points to the other end of the stables.

He's obviously made it clear that the large black stallion was his, and I wasn't to bother it. He must have a good reason too, so I won't risk getting in trouble. That's just one less horse I'll have to care for.
I take slow steps towards the horse he directed me to start with. It seems to be the smaller white one that I rode on. I gently rake my hand over its nose before releasing it from the stall. I hear scraping against the wooden floor. As his large instrument works through the straw covering the floor, of the horse he just released into the pasture. I turn and see him unlatching the water and food bowls to be washed.
"These all need to be cleaned everyday and the horses get fed twice a day." Logan releases small amounts of information, without even looking up to see if I'm listening. He just keep working as I slowly bring the horse up to where he is. I glance up, and he gives me a small nod to release the horse. I quickly look away and let the animals out on the field of grass. Before I even turn around, I hear another direction barked at me. "Get the other four horses and release them into the pasture."
It doesn't take long and soon enough the two pinto and two gray horses are released. I take a moment to just watch them for a while. They are such large, beautiful creatures grazing on the land. I realize that they all are herded together, all but Logan's large black stallion. He's grazing on the furthest end of the pasture, alone. He seemed so much like Logan that way.
There is nothing but silence for a long while. I haven't heard any more orders from the mysterious man that bought me here. I decide to try and make some conversation with the man I will be living the rest of my life with. Might as well get to know him, and try to be friendly. I walk back inside the stables to see Logan has already cleaned out three stalls. Out of the six.
"He's a beautiful horse where did you get him?" I ask Logan while he's still picking up manure from the bedding with his pitchfork. He responds, "Bought him."

"Oh. Where at?"

"In Town." He replies shortly.

I shrink back a little. Obviously Logan doesn't want to have a conversation, so I just stop there. I move on to asking about the next task, but before words leave my mouth he hands me a shovel. "Start on the other stall. Only pick out the dirty spots. Take the bucket." He speaks without even glancing at me.
Cleaning the horses stalls isn't exactly easy. By the time I know it is around one o'clock. Logan and I have been working on the stalls for the whole morning.

It's late in the day now, and I have Logan's help, it's going to take me forever to do this all alone tomorrow. I dread coming out here alone. I just have a feeling I won't be able to get everything done. I wonder what the consequences are for finishing late. A sick feeling sinks into my stomach until I hear his voice that drags me out of my own thoughts. "Alright" Logan halts his actions as I look up with large brown soft eyes. " Around this time you get lunch started, take the food out to the men then come back and eat."

"Ok... Would you like something specific?" I ask meekly with my eyes down. I can't seem to be able to look up at him. There is a small fear inside me that I can't get to go away. It clings to me, and I can't shake it from my small body.
"No." is all he grunts before I'm turning to head back toward the house. I'm kind of glad he's sending me away. All morning with him was starting to put me on edge.

Logan stayed to finish up the barn by doing the rest of my work that I didn't quite finish.

This time for lunch I make some simple turkey sandwiches, and I go out to deliver the food to the men outside. No way out there so I assume they were out working. I set the food down on a table sitting between the bunks.

Back inside, I finish up Logan's sandwich and set it on the table. I sit down with mine waiting patiently for Logan to return before I begin to eat. My dark hair covers up my face.

Without warming Logan barges in. I jump a little out of my seat. He stands at the door and I flick my gaze up for a second. He looks at me stunned, sitting at the table with two uneaten sandwiches. I keep my gaze away from him as I feel him like a shadow stepping toward his chair. Logan simply pulls it out dragging the feet across the floor then sits his heavy frame down on the feeble chair.

My stomach lets out a large growl and my cheeks flush red. I glance up to see his reaction. Logan gives me a funny look, one that I haven't seen yet other than his stoic pissed off face. One of his eyebrows is arched high. "What you donʼt like the sandwich that you made?" Logan asks sarcastically.
"No, it's just..."

"Just what, kid?" He cuts me off. His tone doesn't sound mad but it's not happy either. It just seems gruff like the man he is. I wonder why he's asking. Its like he think this is a trick. I lower my head more into submission and gingerly speak, "It's rude for me to eat before you." I don't hear anything for a second before I hear a loud annoyed huff. "Before me?" Logan questions.

"Well you are the owner of the house and…" I begin to explain before I'm cut off.
"Look Rogue," is all I hear before he's quiet again. His rules, I remember, I need to look up at him. Taking a shaky breath, I lift my head and meet his eyes. Soon after he continues with an approving look. "I don't give a shit about any of that." He takes another pause, as he thinks about what to say. I noticed he gives the hair on his cheek a small scratch before he continues, "To be clear, you are not my slave, you're just mine. I'll treat you fairly. I won't be cruel. All you have to do is your share of the work because I don't have time to do everything. All that crap you have been through forget about it. Speak your mind, say whatever the fuck you want to say, eat when you want, let me know if you need help with something, and don't be scared about being punished. I'll only do that if you leave the property or try to escape." His nose twitches in almost disgust, "You have this stench of fear coming off you, and I can hardly stand it." I wait a moment before thinking of a response. His voice was softer, as if trying not to intimidate me as much, but it held a tinge of annoyance. It didn't matter. The man's attitude was still scary. So were his looks and everything else. It's jut so hard to believe him to even trust him.

I finally find the courage deep inside me to ask an important question. "What about my mutation?" I ask weakly, "What if you touch me or something and I can't control it?"
"What about it? I'll know whether it's an accident or not, so don't worry about it. That doesn't concern me."
His reaction not my mutation is one I don't understand. He doesn't even care. "I could kill you." I state seriously.

"No, you couldn't. Now shut up and eat, kid." He says in an irritated tone.
I stop talking because Logan was pretty clear on that. He seems to be getting overly annoyed. My eyes dart to the table as I stare holes through it. He doesn't fear my skin. He is crazy! One accidental touch and I would drain the life out of him... unless he is different too... maybe he is a mutant? That possibly never crossed my mind until this moment. Could it really be true? I think about asking him throughout eating lunch, but I don't. He seems a little angered and I find it best to leave him alone when he's in that state of mind.

I feel a little more at ease with him and wonder if his gruff demeanor is just a show. He acts much more, caring, kind, fare and protective, and then he lets off.
I hear him finish up. As he is about to stand, I whisper something that I have kept to myself my whole life as a slave. "Marie."
I glance up, catching Logan's attention. "My name's Marie." I manage to say again. I haven't heard that name in so long it almost feels weird saying it. Logan's face soften for a moment and then snaps back to his unemotional tough guy look.

" Clean the house, do the dishes and dust everything. Do the same with the men quarters outside. After that, go back out to the stables and put feed in all the stalls. I'll meet you there." He says turning to leave with a slam of the door. Something inside me allows me to speak up "Where are you going?" As if I have the right to know, but I want to know what he is going to do.
"Going to get dinner" He says in his deep voice. "I don't really know what that means, but with a shut of the door, he's gone.

Our whole conversation was different from others. This one was more insightful. I shake my head as I push back a strand of hair behind my ear and begin cleaning.

First by washing the dishes Logan and I created throughout the day. I clean and dry them putting them back up in the cub bards. I pass by cleaning the counters and dusting the kitchen. I head toward his living area that I haven't see him even glance at. There is an old weathered bookshelf that contains tons of books that looked as if they where never opened. They looked neatly placed inside the shelf and dusty. I bring my duster over the spines as I wonder if he likes to read. Probably not if there's so much dust, I think to myself.

I'm caught up in the books. As I clean, I look at all the covers. Each book looks so foreign to me as I was never taught to read. There is a large pile sitting on the floor and I go to reorganize the stack. I move on cleaning the outer fireplace knowing that it will soon be in use. I fluff the pillows the lone couch as I eye the creepy bear furs lying as carpet. He probably paid a lot for those. I don't bother with the furs and I head down the hall to clean the bathroom.

While at work, I wonder if Logan wanted me to clean his room. Well, he did say the whole house. I hesitate at his door and just stand there for a moment, staring into my new Masters room. This would never have been allowed if I were just a common slave. Stepping in, I see several open bottles laying everywhere and clothes thrown about his floor. I picked up one of the bottles and sniff the contents. A strong smell left from the tiny bit of liquid held inside almost burns my nose. I shrug and put all the bottles in the trash. He is kind of a slob as I go about and pick up his dirty garments and put them in a pile for me to wash. I head back in making his bed. Not too soon after I'm heading out to the guys barracks hoping they aren't as messy as Logan.

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