| DISCLAIMER: This is an unauthorized 
                    work of fiction using characters that are (c) & TM by 
                    Marvel Comics Group. No profit is being made on this story, 
                    so I'll invoke The Marvel Readers' Bill of Rights (for the 
                    full text see Stan's Soapbox in some of the May 1998 
                    comics, e.g. Generation X #38):"8. The right to practice scripting and drawing our Marvel 
                    characters for your own pleasure and amusement."
 The story and the original characters (like Raven and Valerie's 
                    daughters Irene and Hope, see the list in the end notes) are 
                    (c) Tilman Stieve (Menshevik@aol.com). 
                    You can download this and copy it for your entertainment, 
                    but don't sell it for profit, or Marvel will set their lawyers 
                    on you. Please do not archive this on your website without 
                    informing me first.
 Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes belongs to the continuing 
                    series, the Tales of the Twilight Menshevik; it interconnects 
                    with a few other stories, but should be understandable on 
                    its own. It is set in an alternate future, about a year after 
                    the death of most of the X-Men. Other stories in this timeline, 
                    the Days of Future Twilight, include The 
                    Survivor Has a Different Kind of Scar and Pictures 
                    at an Exhibition.
 You can find the other Tales archived on "Fonts 
                    of Wisdom," "Down-Home Charm," "MissyRedX: 
                    The Average Website," and "Stacy's 
                    Fan-Fiction Page."
 
 Ergo Bibamus 3:Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes
 By Tilman Stieve, aka the Menshevik
"I knew Nurse Collins was you." "Did not." "Yes, I did!" "Liar." The black-haired woman gave him a superior kind of 
                    smile. "Give it a rest, Logan. Let's go in and get drunk." The two had reached their destination, a bar on the wrong 
                    side of the tracks of Annandale-on-Hudson called The Dead 
                    Man's Hand. The kind of place where Wolverine did not 
                    look out of place with his leather jacket, lumberjack shirt 
                    and the wide-brimmed hat with its maple-shaped feather array 
                    up front. Mystique had chosen her appearance accordingly and 
                    was in a faded denim jacket. She had her Raven Darkhölme face 
                    and looked as young as she had the first time she assumed 
                    it decades ago. Logan bought the first drinks and they sat down at a table 
                    in the darker corner of the room. "So, what brings you to Annandale?" "I wanted to see you," Raven replied. "I was in Salem Center. 
                    I had put it off too long. I had to look after ... her estate. 
                    I was told you were here and I thought I'd look in on you." Raven Darkhölme wanting to see him on the spur of the moment? 
                    Logan raised an eyebrow, but for the moment decided to let 
                    it pass. "Appreciate the thought, darlin'. You're not lookin' 
                    too shabby now." "You should have seen me a couple of months ago, my friend. 
                    My family could tell you stories... Maybe Irene already has." "Well, so far Reney's been very discreet," Logan replied. 
                    Irene Cooper, also known as Overdrive, was a new teammate 
                    of his in Factor X, the team formed from X-Factor and the 
                    handful of survivors of the X-Men after September 2nd, 2013. 
                    "At least when I was around, but then I'm not always there." "No, I gather you spend just about every free moment here," 
                    Mystique said quietly, "to be with Jean Grey. I just saw her 
                    at the hospital..." "I know, I was there, remember? I could smell who you were." "Only when I allowed you to." Mystique briefly smiled, but 
                    did not pick up his bait. "I was surprised how beautiful she 
                    looked in spite of everything. If you know how to look. Her 
                    physical wounds healed nicely... not that that makes it any 
                    easier for you ." Logan silently nodded. "Is that ... the state she's always in?" Raven looked into 
                    his eyes. "Pretty much so," was the morose reply. "She had what the 
                    doctors call her 'lucid episodes' more often until about two 
                    months ago, now she's like this nearly all of the time." She took his hand in hers. "I'm sorry," she finally said, 
                    but faltered trying to think of something appropriate to say. "Yep, that's always the problem, what can ya say in a situation 
                    like this. You never really got to know Jeannie that well, 
                    except in the narrow way that ya make a point of studyin' 
                    all your potential enemies an' allies." He put down his empty 
                    whiskey glass with a smile that began grim but softened into 
                    understanding. "So ya have to wonder if there's anything you 
                    can say that I won't take the wrong way 'cause I can't forget 
                    that I know her better than you do because I was closer to 
                    her. Reckon the same thing would have happened if I had tried 
                    to commiserate you just after Destiny died." "Well, you were a source of comfort then, if only for a night. 
                    I appreciated that." "Geez, ya hadda bring that up." Logan scratched his ear, 
                    slightly embarrassed about the reminder. "I had just lost 
                    Mariko, Jean wasn't going to happen, and then there you were 
                    in that grubby little bar. Sex seemed as good a way as any 
                    to ease the hurt..." "It was more than just that, my friend. There weren't many 
                    people with whom I could talk, and what you had been through 
                    was similar enough to what Irene and I had experienced." She 
                    tilted her head. "And it was too soon for both of us to start 
                    looking for a permanent partner." Logan looked slightly skeptic at Raven's analysis of his 
                    own mind two decades ago, but did not contradict her. "I mainly 
                    recall how lonely you appeared." "There is nothing that can make you feel more lonely than 
                    the death of a loved one -- I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said 
                    that, she may yet recover." "Ya think so? No, I guess ya don't, really. We've both seen 
                    too much of death, we know better. I try to cling to hope 
                    because, after all, this is Jean, but ... there are days when 
                    I just want her sufferings to end." "I used to believe miracles were the X-Men's stock in trade, 
                    Logan," Raven said with a bleak expression, "but that ended 
                    when I buried Kurt and Rogue." "I lost many friends on September 2nd, but few were closer 
                    than those two. Which was really strange, considerin' that 
                    Kurt had lived half a world away from me for twenty years. 
                    But every time we met, it was just as if we had just parted 
                    the day before." "I know," Raven said with a rueful smile, "you were one of 
                    those people around whom he was more relaxed than when he 
                    was around me." Logan raised an eyebrow. "But you must have seen him a lot 
                    more often than me." "Well, he came to visit his sisters, mostly. We managed to 
                    overcome what had happened in the past, smoothen over things, 
                    but there always was this element of awkwardness." "Ya mean he still resented you for abandonin' him as a kid?" "There also was the matter of my checkered past -- he sensed 
                    that my transformation from enemy to friend largely hinged 
                    on the state of relations between mutants and others. That 
                    had there been a dramatic deterioration I might easily have 
                    become a 'super-villain' again." "Even if it had meant leavin' Val and yer kids?" "Think I couldn't do it? I'd do it if I was convinced it 
                    was necessary, even if it broke my heart. However, it might 
                    not have to come to that. Val prefers to work within the system, 
                    but if the system broke down, I'm not sure she would not become 
                    a 'freedom-fighter' too. After all, this is part of this country's 
                    ideology since the founding fathers." "Yes, I remember." "Besides, it might not even be up to my choice. What if one 
                    of the crazies who tried to kill her over the years had succeeded...?" 
                    The expression that rushed over her features made it plain 
                    that this was no idle fear. For a moment Raven appeared vulnerable, 
                    but then she reverted to her normal manner. "But to return 
                    to Kurt, he was a very devout man who took his faith extremely 
                    serious. He tried to live by the tenets of his religion, and 
                    I think he honestly forgave me, or thought he did. No, the 
                    problem was mainly because of me, I think. There were always 
                    these moments when there was something that made me feel ... 
                    bad about what I had done to him. Even though I believe with 
                    my intellect that Irene had foreseen the reason why we couldn't 
                    raise him ourselves, why this was the only way to save him, 
                    my heart kept yearning that things had been different. And 
                    other things. And that behavior then made him feel uncomfortable 
                    when we two were alone." Mystique's shoulders shrugged. "Maybe 
                    I'll get the hang of this parenting thing in another decade 
                    or two." Logan's face echoed her self-ironic smile. "I know the feeling 
                    well, Rave, there were times when I didn't feel up to the 
                    job with some of my kids." He went over to the bar and returned 
                    with another glass. "So, you have a problem child too?" Mystique asked when he 
                    sat down again. "Well, things didn't always work out perfect with Amiko," 
                    he said, "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea t'leave her in 
                    Japan after Mariko was killed. I mean, Yukio did a great job 
                    raisin' her, but there were years when there simply were too 
                    many things going on for me to find the time to see her as 
                    often as I should have. I sometimes wondered if I should've 
                    put less of a premium on her bein' raised in her native culture 
                    and taken her across the Pacific..." "That would only have worked if you had stayed in Westchester 
                    instead of going with the Meddlers," Mystique replied. "All 
                    in all, from what little I've seen of her, I'd say she turned 
                    out all right." "Yes, I'm proud of her. But it wasn't always easy. Don't 
                    know how you managed to give Rogue what she needed when she 
                    lived with you and lead the Brotherhood at the same time. 
                    But for Amiko... it wasn't just that she saw so little of 
                    me, Yukio was also kept away on missions for weeks at a time. 
                    So there were times when 'Miko felt very lonesome. And it 
                    didn't help when the other kids started arrivin' and needed 
                    attention. It made her feel a little insecure, bein' the only 
                    one who wasn't actually kin, and, as she already suspected, 
                    the only one who wasn't a mutant." "At least she didn't turn out like my Graydon." The joke 
                    was somewhat feeble. "No, her sense of honor prevented that from happenin'. Even 
                    when the Hand kidnapped her and tried to brainwash her against 
                    me." He leaned forward. "At least that episode finally got 
                    us to talk about those feelings she had kept to herself. Good 
                    thing too, I think she otherwise might have taken it harder 
                    when Yukio had Gen. Abigail had been pretty hard for her to 
                    digest -- she found it hard not to believe I'd be spending 
                    most of my free time with Iggy, just because she lived on 
                    the same continent as me." "And you only saw her very rarely before her tenth birthday. 
                    At least that's what Rogue told me..." "She got that right. Scott had accepted Abigail as his without 
                    reservation, given her his name, it would have been dishonorable 
                    not to give them a chance to really become father and daughter." "But it didn't come easy to you, did it, so Amiko's jealousy 
                    maybe was not entirely without foundation." "No, it wasn't easy, and I'm glad Iggy decided to let me 
                    become part of her life after she learned the truth and accepted 
                    it. But before that happened it was very hard to keep myself 
                    from tellin' her I was her dad. A lot as it was for you with 
                    Kurt before ya joined X-Factor." "Possibly. He asked me about our resemblance when we first 
                    met, as foes, and I told him to ask his foster mother. And 
                    then, when he came to see me in Washington, it evolved he 
                    had put off asking Margali about me for almost four years. 
                    Just as you... never mind. Had Kurt been so scared of the 
                    possibility that we might be related?" She scratched her chin 
                    lost in thought. "Maybe that's a reason why I found it so 
                    hard to become close to him, even after he finally did accept 
                    he was my son." She raised her glass, and together they toasted 
                    Kurt's memory. "But you were talking about Amiko." "Yes, she finally did realize that her fears about Abigail 
                    were unfounded. But Gennosuke was not just mine, but also 
                    Yukio's, so she might've felt betrayed by both her foster 
                    parents if we hadn't had our discussion before that." "And how are you and Amiko today?" "Pretty okay, really. She's leadin' her own life now, got 
                    started on her own family, has to learn herself now how to 
                    square a career and bein' a parent. She was here a month ago, 
                    when she traveled to Snow Valley to see Abigail and to bring 
                    Umeme there to enter the School." "Ah yes, Hope mentioned that Umeme moved into her dorm. She 
                    said it was so nice to have someone who's practically family 
                    living on the same corridor." Raven paused. "It really was 
                    such a disappointment for her when her sister Irene decided 
                    to join Factor X so soon after she arrived at the Academy." "A hard choice, that's for sure. Reney talks a bit how she 
                    would have preferred to devote more time to her studies, but, 
                    well, after Rogue and Kurt died she felt there was nothing 
                    else she could do." Wolverine reflected about Raven Darkhölme's 
                    and Val Cooper's elder daughter. "She reminded me of Rogue 
                    quite a bit at first. When Rogue started out with the X-Men 
                    she also was very serious about helping and kept a lot of 
                    her feelings to herself. And both overcompensated for their 
                    insecurities, actin' a lot more confident and cheery than 
                    they were." "At least you and your comrades made Irene more welcome than 
                    you did Rogue," Mystique could not help sniping. "And both Rogue and Reney proved their worth to the team 
                    several times over durin' their first few months," Logan continued 
                    unperturbed. "We were very proud of Rogue then, and we're 
                    proud of Reney now. But far as I can see, you're not exactly 
                    happy about the way things are, are you?" "No I'm not, but what could I do? Val and Havok screamed 
                    the team needed new recruits as soon as possible." Her fingers 
                    ran through her hair, disrupting its well-coifed order. "I 
                    had to help with the training, you know I wasn't fit for front-line 
                    at the time. Well, at least that's going to change. I'll be 
                    going on the active roster once I return to Washington." "So you'll be able to keep an eye on her," Logan quipped. "As if Irene would let me after a year on the team! She'll 
                    likely as not insist on us being on different squads. Another 
                    round?" She went over to the bar and bought another drink 
                    for each, a red-eye for Logan and a light beer for herself. "Strange, how I always seem to end up with someone from your 
                    family as a drinking buddy. First it was Kurt for a couple 
                    o' years, then Rogue, and now you." "Hope you're not set on corrupting Irene as well." Logan laughed. "Well, switchin' on that accelerated metabolism 
                    of hers oughta enable her to deal with the effects. But you 
                    know how it is. I'm here a lot, and Irene spends most of her 
                    time with the others. She's quite close now with Paige and 
                    our new guy from Denmark, Herluf. Far as her off-duty socializin' 
                    with Canadian colleagues goes, she's not like her elder siblings. 
                    Yet." Raven looked at him curiously: "Did ... Rogue go out with 
                    you a lot?" "We were drinkin' pals." He paused in reflection. "Well, 
                    ya know Mags wasn't one of nature's great mixers, preferred 
                    to stay at home or walk through the countryside when he had 
                    time on his hands. Rogue enjoyed goin' out and spendin' time 
                    with her friends. While we had the Meddlers, she'd go out 
                    dancin' and clubbin' with the younger ones, and to bars with 
                    me." "Alone?" "That's how it often worked out. Magneto tagged along a few 
                    times, Remy was there sometimes, a few of the others, but 
                    it was just Rogue and me often enough. There wasn't anyone 
                    in the Meddlers she'd known as long." "And what did you talk about?" "All sorts of stuff. Often she'd just take the opportunity 
                    to unburden herself about her leadership grief. Found it nice 
                    to have someone besides Magneto to talk about these matters. 
                    It had been a bit like that when I led the X-Men. I really 
                    could use her more optimistic and idealistic outlook as a 
                    corrective for mine back then, she probably felt she could 
                    use the same thing in reverse... But apart from that, we talked 
                    about anything that came to our minds. I remember gettin' 
                    her interested in hockey..." "And Magnus didn't mind you spending so much time with her?" "No, he could always join us when he wanted to, and Rogue 
                    spent a lot more time just with him... He was already old 
                    -- even though his body had been de-aged -- and set in his 
                    ways. There simply were times when he wanted to be alone. 
                    You know, he once said that he actually felt quite comfortable 
                    with her goin' out with her 'fatherly friend' Logan rather 
                    than her ex-beau Remy. Not entirely sure how serious he was 
                    about that. The Cajun was just a friend to her after she got 
                    back together with Magnus, his romance with her was way in 
                    the past." "And you and Rogue did not dwell much on the past, did you?" "You know me -- if ya don't ask, I won't tell. Not that I 
                    can even remember everything with all those implanted memories 
                    and the gaps left by post-hypnotic erasures." "Yes, you didn't seem to remember Destiny and me when we 
                    clashed in the Capitol the first time my Brotherhood went 
                    public." "Well, I couldn't shake a vague feeling of familiarity, but 
                    that's all there was." "And Rogue didn't talk much about her past?" "Only when it cropped up in a conversation, and that didn't 
                    happen often, 'cause nobody asked her about it exceptin' those 
                    parts that involved friends or enemies of the team. She didn't 
                    divulge too many embarrassin' details about you, at least 
                    not to me, but then she 'n' Mags never took me along to Mississippi. 
                    So there's no need to fret on my account, darlin'." Mystique smiled a thin-lipped smile. "No, she usually was very complimentary of you, how much 
                    better you 'n' Irene were than her biological ones. She liked 
                    to show her family snapshots and videos a lot whenever she 
                    got a new set." "What did she have to say about her biological parents?" "My, aren't we curious today." Logan was a little amused. 
                    "Nothing much really. I remember that her birth-mother had 
                    to raise her by herself, 'cause daddy skeedaddled before she 
                    was born, probably when he heard Mommy was pregnant. Rogue 
                    mentioned her mother's name once and that she had died, but 
                    it really didn't seem that interestin', so we soon switched 
                    the subject. No wait, she accidentally touched me, I passed 
                    out, and then we changed the subject." "Did she say she knew who her father was?" "Can't say, I never asked her. Is it important? You don't 
                    plan on huntin' him down to tell him he doesn't deserve to 
                    live when his daughter died a hero, that sorta thing?" "How do you know I haven't done that yet?" Mystique smirked, 
                    then swallowed. "No, I already knew who fathered her. And 
                    as it happens he was with her when she died." "Waitaminnit, ya don't mean to say that Magneto..." "Don't be disgusting, Logan." "But I told you a year ago that Magnus was the only one there 
                    when she died. I carried her to his side because she wanted 
                    ... to be with ... him." He fell silent under her gaze. "Oh." Mystique nodded significantly. "I see what you're drivin' at. So give: Why'd ya think I'm 
                    her father?" "Some years back, Rogue and I were vacationing together in 
                    her childhood home in Caldecott County, and some old acquaintances 
                    told us that her mother had just died. Since no one was there 
                    to claim her belongings, Rogue flew out to Memphis to visit 
                    her grave and pick them up, but I don't know how much time 
                    she took to look at them. She put them into storage in Washington, 
                    a collection of boxes in our loft." "And you had a close look at the stuff." "Yes, I've always been a nosy parker. It helps in a profession 
                    where information can mean the difference between life and 
                    death. Be that as it may, there were a lot of old letters, 
                    official papers, photographs, all in huge disorderly piles. 
                    Well, in the documents relating to Rogue's birth, the name 
                    given for the father is one Barry Boysen, whereabouts unknown." Logan just looked blankly. "I see that name does not ring a bell, but since you also 
                    didn't remember the name of Rogue's mother that's no surprise. 
                    It must have been an alias you used during a period that was 
                    later mindwiped and replaced with false memories. Anyway, 
                    I'm pretty sure Boysen was you, not just because of the berry 
                    connection, but also because of these." She fanned out three faded color photographs on the table 
                    before him. He picked them up. The first one showed a man 
                    and a woman with their arms around each other's shoulder: 
                    A fetching young brunette in a tight knotted shirt and cut-off 
                    denim pants smiled into the camera standing next to himself. 
                    He was pretty sure it was him in the Molson T-shirt, even 
                    if the man in the photograph had shaved off his sideburns. 
                    He flipped the picture over to read "Barry + me in Natchez, 
                    1973," written with a blue biro. The other two pictures were 
                    variations on the theme, one of just 'Barry', and the last 
                    one another shot of the smiling couple, taken at a different 
                    location. The woman's face seemed vaguely familiar to Logan, 
                    but was it because of a genuine buried memory or a slight 
                    resemblance to someone else he had met during his long life? 
                    He breathed deeply and waited for Mystique to finish her account. "She hired a detective to find you, but I don't have to remind 
                    you that if you don't want to be found even a better investigator 
                    than the country-fried private eye she could afford won't 
                    be able to find you. His report and notes were among Rogue's 
                    mother's papers. I read it, and I'd say it's possible that 
                    you walked out of her life before she found out that she was 
                    pregnant. Apparently you had just appeared in Caldecott from 
                    nowhere, and after a few months you just vanished again. 'Barry 
                    Boysen' took a job at a car repair shop near the local military 
                    base, so I'd hazard a guess that you were on one of your secret 
                    service missions and left after you had done your job. Of 
                    course we can't entirely exclude the possibility that she 
                    had not been completely honest with her shamus, that there 
                    was another man..." "Paranoia comes with the territory in our old professions," 
                    Logan admitted. "But on the other hand, had you been found, what would have 
                    been easier than to take a blood test? I'm inclined to believe 
                    you're Rogue's father, and I suspect so did she. It probably 
                    was no accident that she touched you after she dropped her 
                    mother's name into the conversation." "If that's really what you can see in the papers and photographs, 
                    I shouldn't be surprised. She had a way of testin' if I really 
                    couldn't remember her birth-mom, and so of course she used 
                    it. Assumin' that she actually went through those papers before 
                    depositin' at your place. She might not have done." "True, I'm walking on unsure ground here. Can't you remember 
                    anything she said to you that could be taken as an indication 
                    of what she thought?" "Well, she was quite close to Abigail, but that doesn't mean 
                    that she thought Iggy was her half-sister. She was a kind 
                    of aunt to so many of her teammates' kids. She liked bein' 
                    with kids, maybe because she couldn't have any of her own." "Was there anything she said before she... passed away?" Logan thought long and hard. "Well, ya know she caught the 
                    full force of King Apocalypse's blast. He then took off to 
                    face Excalibur, who were just arrivin'. I went to her and 
                    tried to help her recover with my healing factor, like I'd 
                    done before, but the psi part of the blast had neutralized 
                    her absorption. Rogue took it pretty bravely -- there were 
                    some tears, but her first reaction was 'So I'm really gonna 
                    die this time.' Just like that, very matter-of-fact. And then 
                    ... well ... she told me to say good-bye to you from her and... 
                    let's see... 'You're always there for me, aren't you, Logan? 
                    Pity it don't help today. But I'm glad you're here and that 
                    we became and remained friends. Proves everyone deserves a 
                    new chance.' And then she had me carry her to Magneto's side. 
                    Not long after that she died, about two minutes before he 
                    did. Now up until today I'd thought she had been referrin' 
                    to herself and maybe Magnus when she said that about people 
                    deservin' new chances, but it was really ancient history, 
                    to bring that up at that point..." He fell silent, somewhat 
                    confused. "It could be taken either way," Raven mused with a note of 
                    disappointment in her voice. "Not unambiguous enough to be 
                    certain." "My guts tell me she knew about what was in the papers. I 
                    know she did not like her biological mother, but why bother 
                    pickin' up her things in the first place? And you, didja know 
                    about this long?" "Years, I'm afraid. But, well, I was saving the information 
                    for an occasion when it might be handy to tell what I knew 
                    as a distraction on you or Rogue, and that occasion never 
                    came. Although I wasn't actually sure if she hadn't told you 
                    all about it. Maybe you two had already taken a genetic test 
                    in secret. I guess you still could do that, there should be 
                    samples left from her autopsy." "And you know where every single one of them is located, 
                    eh? Includin' any that might have mysteriously 'disappeared'." 
                    Logan reflected for a while. "Nah, I don't think I'd want 
                    that. Rogue knew I was her pop, but she didn't want me to 
                    know. Wonder if she told Magnus..." "It would certainly put a whole different complexion on that 
                    'fatherly friend' remark you mentioned." "Yeah. if you don't mind, I'll leave thing things as they 
                    are. Rogue seems to have preferred it that way -- she could've 
                    told me before she died, but apparently she wanted me to remember 
                    her as my friend, not my long-lost daughter. The important 
                    question is not if I really am her father or not, but if she 
                    thought I was." "And that depends at least to some extent on what you and 
                    I want to believe about her." "Yeah. It's hard enough to be sure she looked at everything 
                    you found in all that stuff and drew the same conclusions 
                    as you, and even acceptin' that, there's plenty of possible 
                    explanations why she'd keep it to herself. She might not have 
                    wanted me to beat myself up over something I couldn't remember, 
                    or maybe she didn't want to upset her authority as team leader 
                    with me, or she didn't want you to become upset over how close 
                    she and I were... Were you, when ya found out?" Raven cast down her eyes. "A ... smidgen. But I thought that 
                    if she continued to be your friend, I would have to respect 
                    her decision to let bygones be bygones. I knew how she'd react 
                    if I had tried to tell her how to treat you. She was her own 
                    woman, and I did not see any sign that made me think she was 
                    letting her emotions, strong as they could be, cloud her thinking. 
                    I alluded to her biological parents on an occasion or two, 
                    but she just said that chapter of her life was closed. Later 
                    she told us we could burn her mother's stuff if we needed 
                    the space, and I later told her and Valerie that I had done 
                    exactly that... I guess I could have told you that she was 
                    your daughter at the funeral, but you know what I was like 
                    then. It was hard enough to share my grief with Valerie and 
                    the girls..." She looked up and into his eyes again. "But 
                    I'm better now, and so I was in a more receptive frame of 
                    mind when Val suggested I should finally tell you before I 
                    came here." Logan noticed that Raven did not exactly apologize for her 
                    behavior, but that would have been very incongruous for her. 
                    "So, are there any other people you and Val are goin' to take 
                    into your confidence?" "No, that will be up to you." "Well, I'll think everything over, but I think I'll prefer 
                    to keep this between the three of us. But thanks for tellin' 
                    me. Guess it shows you never can tell even about people you 
                    think you know." Wolverine did not make it clear to Mystique if he was referring 
                    to her or to Rogue. They got up from their seats and started 
                    to leave. "No, it was good to talk with you Logan, thanks for listening. 
                    And what I said about our little one-night stand: I meant 
                    it. It wasn't love for either of us, but at least it was the 
                    next best thing." Raven put her arm around his shoulder. "If 
                    there's anything Val and I can do to help... no, silly for 
                    me to bring it up with you. Not that long ago I needed help 
                    myself. At least I'll be able to ease your workload on the 
                    team now. So if you want to take over the training side of 
                    things for a while and relocate that to Westchester, so you 
                    can be at Jean's side more quickly when ... there's an emergency, 
                    just say the word." "I have a feeling it won't be much longer," Logan replied 
                    gloomily. "Maybe I'll just take an extended leave." "That should be doable," Raven agreed. "Are you all right?" "Raven, I'm waitin' for a woman to die who I love more than 
                    my life," Logan said somewhat gruffly, "you tell me a dead 
                    friend of mine is actually my dead daughter, but I guess what 
                    I really find scary is how friendly you've been to me today. 
                    Am I really in that bad a shape? That was a rhetorical question, 
                    by the way." Mystique smiled faintly. "If you think it helps, I can go 
                    back to cold and distant. No, you need some time away from 
                    me to sort yourself out, I'll take my leave. You know how 
                    to contact me, but maybe one day I'll just be with you before 
                    you know it..." "Ha! That'll be the day." He slapped her upper arm with his 
                    fist, and then she was gone in the crowd of shoppers. Slowly Logan walked back to the hospital. He went to the 
                    room where Jean Grey-Summers lay and sat down by her bedside. 
                    He looked at her. She still was in coma, her skin had an unhealthy 
                    pallor. As Mystique had remarked, there was beauty to see 
                    for those who knew how to look. Normally it took the eye of 
                    someone who loved the person in question, but having loved 
                    and lost herself, she could empathize with his love for Jean.  Logan did not pick up the book that he had left on the bedside 
                    table when he went to the bar, but began to speak to the unconscious 
                    woman in a voice not much above a whisper. "Jeannie, you won't 
                    believe what Mystique just told me..."   Fin 
 Notes:This is the third of a trilogy of stories where Logan goes 
                    to eateries or drinking establishments with ladies of his 
                    acquaintance. 'Ergo bibamus' is Latin for 'so let's drink', 
                    but Bibamus is also the French nickname for the mascot of 
                    the Michelin tyre company, which publishes the most well-known 
                    guide to gourmet restaurants.
 Chronology:Should you keep track of the Twilight Menshevik timeline, 
                    Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes is set in 2014, roughly 
                    a year after The Day the X-Men Died (September 2, 2013). The 
                    story belongs to the alternate timeline Days of Future 
                    Twilight, which includes The Survivor 
                    Has a Different Kind of Scar and a number of other 
                    stories. The surprise revelation in this particular story 
                    has been on my mind for close on ten years, it's up to you 
                    to decide if it was a good idea or not to finally go with 
                    it.
 Copyright Note:The characters are (c) & TM by Marvel Comics with 
                    the exception of Barry Boysen, Nurse Collins, Hope Cooper, 
                    Irene Cooper (Overdrive), Gennosuke (Logan and Yukio's son), 
                    Herluf (the Danish member of Factor X), The Meddlers, Umeme 
                    Munroe, and Abigail Summers, who are mine.
 This story was first published in Tales 
                    of the Twilight Menshevik: The Second Collection, which 
                    was produced for the 150th mailing of the MZS-APA in December 
                    2000. The MZS-APA has a website at http://users.ev1.net/~skullduggery/  
       
 
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