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One minute they were on Asteroid M and the next Storm, Morph, and Logan were in the middle of a forest by a lake, with no structures around. As confirmed by Storm once she came back down from the air.
Morph had got to work making a soft space for Logan to rest as he continued to heal. Storm, meanwhile got to work making a shelter for them to stay in until they could make a plan.
Once the shelter was made and Logan was safely positioned, there was nothing more Morph could do for him. Storm convinced Morph to come with her to find firewood for the night. Even if It did take a little arguing for them to finally agree to leave Logan’s side.
Storm patted Morph on the shoulder, “Our dear friend will be alright. He’s very strong, he’ll heal up in no time.”
Morph sighed, “I know I just.” They wrap one of their arms around their stomach, hugging themself, “I just don’t like seeing him hurt. I know he can take it, I just… he shouldn’t have to.”
The two were quiet as they walked around the forest picking up sticks along the way, Morph tried to break the silence with a joke, “You know, I could just shift into Pyro and then we wouldn’t have to worry about silly sticks? Who needs fire when you got a hot mess right here!?”
“You like him, don’t you?” Storm inquired. Morph turned, “Pyro? No? Why?” They laughed and kept walking.
From behind them, Ororo clarified, “I meant Logan, you like Logan?”Anxiety shot up Morph’s spine, but if Morph was anything: they were an actor.
Luckily Ororo was behind them giving them time to level their expression before she saw. They didn’t want to lie about this~ but maybe they could withhold some truth, “Yeah. Of course I do, he’s my best friend.”
Ororo caught up with them and gave them a skeptical look, “That is not what I meant, and you know it.”
Morph panicked. Usually, people, other than Logan, don’t follow up with the things they say, they have to think, and fast. “Oh! Oh! You mean like brothers! Except, not exactly because I’m not a guy, so siblings I suppose, and yes of course family because all X-men are a part of the-“
Ororo interrupted them, “You are rambling.” Morph looked away and continued walking with the goddess, as they walked they reached a small clearing in the trees, through it they could see across the pond where Logan was lying in camp.
Ororo stopped and looked out across the lake, “You love him.” Morph stopped walking, they turned around and Stormed up to her pointing their finger in her face.
“Listen, Lady. You may be a Goddess or whatever bu-“ Ororo didn’t seem to listen to Morph’s half-assed threats, “Why haven’t you told him?” She asked.
“Are you serious?” Morph laughed bitterly. Morph shifted into Logan, “I’m the Wolverine!” They flexed a bit while saying ‘Wolverine’ for dramatic emphasis. They then shifted into a random face decorated in a whole bunch of Wolverine merch: a cheap paper mask, a doll, even a Wolverine flag in one hand~ necklaces earrings and all that Garb. When they spoke they used a valley girl accent, “He’s like, the most famous X-Man everrrr! We all love the grumpy old man! Oooooh! Ahhhhh!”
Morph finally shifted back into themself, into the grey clay and goo that makes up their unshapeshifted form, “And I’m just Morph.” They turned and started walking again, grabbing more sticks for the fire.
“What is so wrong with being ‘Morph’” Storm asked. The shapeshifter gave a broken laugh, “Where do I even start, Storm? I’m just comic relief and I barely can do that right, I’m the weakest member of the team. And we all know you only keep me around because Logan begged you to let me stay and I’m funny on good days. Oh! And I’m fucked up because I was tortured by a damn Victorian man for 2 years and was mind controlled to severely hurt my friends. And now sometimes I can’t even look at the color red without having a panic attack. No one wants the mess I am!”
They took a breath, realized they had said a lot more than they meant to, and turned back around to get some of the weight off of them, “I’m quite happy just being friends with him, I like our friendship. besides, he’s in love with Jean.”
Storm walked with them, “But Jean is married.” Morph snorted, glad that was all her brain had focused on, “I know. I was there~ disguised as the priest. Logan wasn’t though… maybe he doesn’t know, do you think we should tell him?” Morph smirked at Storm so she knew it was a joke.
Storm put her hand on their shoulder, “You know, Logan has his own mental battles, we all do. I know what it is like to loathe oneself.” Morph turns to her, “Really, you?” Morph changed themself into Storm, using her big incredible presence to boom, “Queen of the Elements!” They Morphed back into themself, “Or whatever~ you have self-esteem issues?”
She smiled, “As a matter of fact, I do. When I left the team, as you did years ago, I battled with my self-worth. Who am I without my powers? And perhaps not knowing the answer made me unfit to have them in the first place. When I met Forge I was at a truly low point in my life, but talking with him… Finding out that we shared such shame in our heart, it allowed for empathy and love to blossom through forgiveness and understanding.” Ororo had teared up at but near the end, thinking about how dearly she missed Forge, “Perhaps, Morph, if you air your heart and your grievances with Logan the same Empathy and love may bloom between you two. Your pasts are more alike than you know.”
Morph took a deep breath taking in her words and vulnerability from the woman who they had always foolishly assumed was perfectly without hardship, “Maybe.” They were just about to reach camp when Ororo stopped their walking for the thousandth time and turned Morph toward her.
“One more thing”, she said. “What happened to you was not your fault. I see that it broke you and that you are still picking up the pieces. But you do not have to do it on your own, you have family here to help you and listen and you have Logan. Often it is easier to mend things when you have help. We do not keep you around because you make us laugh, or because Logan asked us to. We keep you around because you are a part of this family and we all care for you. The next time you have days where… what was it you said? ‘The color red gives you an anxiety attack?’ Just let us know and we will do our best to help, as a family.”
Morph dropped the sticks bundled in their arms and wrapped their arms around Storm, who laughed slightly “Oh my!” Before returning the hug. Morph took a deep breath, “Thanks, Ororo.” She smiled down at them, “My pleasure, friend.”
A gruff, grumpy voice let out a painful grown and then spoke, “Where the Hell are we? And why are ya’ huggin’ Morph?”
“LOGAN!”