Sample;
Who: takethegamble and marauding_miss
What: An evening in the kitchen, and some revelations later
Where: Brownstone, Boston, MA
When: Early morning hours, and then less early morning hours.
Open: No, log.
Rating: PG
REMY:
The kitchen was lit only by the light over the sink; Remy didn't need more to see by and the house was settling down for the evening so there was no reason to draw attention. Honestly, the Cajun was glad enough for the moment of quiet outside of the confines of his own four bedroom walls. Didn't have much to complain about when it came to the Hellions but living in a house with a double-handful of other people--now matter how swanky--was still living in a house with a double-handful of other people. A man had to have his moments.
Remy pushed the window behind the sink open and lit the cigarette hanging in the corner of his mouth with a touch. A small flare of pink light momentarily made the kitchen a little brighter. He was in jeans and socks and a black tank top; so damn glad to seen even the other side of sixty degrees, Remy had shoved all his sweats away into the dark places in his closet and had to hope that Mother Nature wasn't gonna make a fool of him. Hadn't yet, anyway--the breeze through the open window was beautiful, warm and smelling like green things opening up.
Leaning back against the counter and crossing his legs at the ankle, Remy smoked quietly and considered himself content.
ROGUE:
With the settling down for a night, everyone had a routine of some sort, and so did Rogue. She'd already showered, she had a tendency to do that before the rest of the team started wanting showers, even with the number of bathrooms available, there was always someone knocking on a door and waiting. In her green sweatpants and an oversized shirt, Rogue made her way from her room to the kitchen.
She needed a glass of water, Rogue prefered the bottles from the fridge than the filters on the faucets. Probably a waste, but she wasn't footing any bills. As she padded quietly into the kitchen she refrained from flicking on the light when she noticed the form of the Cajun by the sink. Smoking again.
"Them things are still gonna kill ya." With a smirk, she walked past him, grabbing a glass from the cupboard beside his head before getting a bottle from the fridge door.
REMY:
Remy knew just what his eyes could look like in the dark--and there was a something down deep that appreciated the hell out of Rogue never shying away from his gaze. Something that maybe he wouldn't even let himself consider owning up to yet. Ash was flicked into the sink.
"No doubt somet'in else will finish de job long before de cancer catches me up," he said with an edge of a sardonic smile. Remy didn't make it a point to be morbid, but hell if he wasn't going to be realistic. "Figure I might as well enjoy myself while I'm here." And speaking of.
Remy made an unobtrusive sweep of Rogue with his eyes while the girl was busy reaching into the fridge, then moved his gaze back to the island counter. The last few months had been decent ones. Not that Remy really ever bothered anymore with any emotions he'd consider 'attachments'... there was something about the Hellions that had gotten under his skin whether he cared to admit it or not. Maybe he wouldn't call them friends but he was definitely alright with having them as teammates--even that SHIELD agent.
And then there was Phe...
And Rogue.
At first he'd admit that Rogue had been a challenge. She'd been a sharp tongue to provoke and a pretty face to look at Remy didn't even know why he'd gone after her as hard as he had, considering that Bella hadn't even been all that long in the ground. But things had changed in the last three months. Those original feelings had mellowed out and something else had crept in to replace them. Something almost too close to trust for Remy to be wholly comfortable with.
So instead of dealing with that, he just kept flirting and smiling, just like he always had--but he knew that something had changed between them, starting with that riot and Dazzler's death. Things were different.
Things were different. And there was a little part of Remy that was tired of acting like they weren't.
ROGUE:
Change was something that Rogue found herself getting used to. Not that she liked it, or that she wanted it. She was just better at dealing with it. Additions, subtractions, changes to the team. She was used to them now. The inital loss of so many, Aurora leaving, Gambit and Pyro joining, then Dazz was gone and Allison and Manuel took their break. She was better at maintaining a level head with so much change.
Gambit was probably a reason she hadn't closed off again. He didn't really let her. The niggling, the flirting -which she was becoming worryingly attached to. It all forced her to stay out of that cell she made herself away from everyone. She wouldn't deny warming up to him, she had. It had taken a while but it happened.
"Yeah, a jealous ex?" Their easy teasing and the lightness of the flirting, she didn't mind it at all. And when he pushed, she pushed back. There was nothing constraining, and she almost let her guard down around him. Almost.
"If it ain't the smokes that get ya, it'll be some poor girls man, or y'r fool mouth." Recklessness, they all had a streak of it. Gambit possibly more than most. Definitely more than her. If it wasn't a last minute, and terribly graceful, move in the training sessions, if it wasn't a pretty girl getting flirted with in front of anyone and everyone, it was a sarcastic, witty, stupid retort at the worst place that could get that pretty face of his beaten beyond repair. "Y' gonna be dead b'fore y'r thirty, darlin', mark mah words."
REMY:
Remy laughed softly, smoke huffed up toward the ceiling. "I wouldn' be half as entertainin' as I am, chere, if I kept quiet. As for de girls, well..." His eyes slid to hers and Remy gave a short shrug and a winning smile. "Dere's only one girl I want. But she keeps tellin' me no and breaking my heart, so. Gotta do somet'in to patch dat ache."
It was part of the tease but the truth was... well, Remy didn't know what the truth was. And certainly he'd promised his undying love to enough women in his lifetime without meaning a damn bit of it but somewhere along the line with Rogue he was tricking himself into believing it was true.
He almost snorted. Not that he really thought Rogue was ever gonna let him in; girl had more problems than a long-tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs. That should have made it safe. But then she'd go and let her guard down for just a moment--a look she didn't think he'd see or an off-guard smile...
And then Remy wasn't sure where he stood anymore and had to start back from square one. It would have been funny if it wasn't him being the butt of the joke.
ROGUE:
Rogue closed the fridge, snapping the bottle cap off and pouring the water to her glass. "That there sounds like a smart girl." Which she was, that was something she'd been telling herself was her reasons. Her mother had always made sure she was well schooled, and it wasn't always in the way of the institutions around New York.
Rogue knew a heartbreaker when she saw one. And Gambit was the worst she'd seen.
Sipping from her glass, she watched him thoughtfully. He appeared more relaxed now, possibly a good sign. She knew he wasn't going to take off in the middle of the night, not now. "Y'r a smooth one, Ah'll give y' that." He was impossibly smooth, so much so that she found herself entertaining the ideas. Going through the 'what if' of the situation.
She'd thought she'd grown out of that a long time ago. And then the Cajun came along, with his sharp smile, glowing eyes and drawling accent. No, Rogue wasn't that smart a girl. She just had better armour.
REMY:
Remy grinned. "An' I don' even have to try," he said, expression just a shade away from wicked, "it's just good graces." Maybe it was the warm spring air, that smell of new possibilities, that was making Remy feel a bit stupid and bold. He'd never pushed Rogue, never taken more than she was willing to give. Remy could charm himself into any pair of pants he wanted, most of the time by those good graces alone, but he wasn't into taking what wasn't his--at least when it came to women. No meant no, even if the girl wasn't saying it out loud. He might have been raised a thief, but Remy LeBeau had his morals. Thing was, Rogue made him want to throw every last one of them out of the window sometimes.
She was an infuriating joy, hard-headed as hell, tough as nails. Always gave as good as she got and damn well didn't seem afraid of anything--except letting people in. Remy wasn't sure he deserved to be let in anyway, but she made him want to try. Funny how his day always managed to get a little bit better when he managed to make her laugh.
He never let himself think too deep into that one.
One last drag on the cigarette and it was tossed into the garbage disposal. Remy loved it when a girl dressed herself up, looked the part, played the part... but there was something about Rogue in her old sweatpants, her shirt hanging off her shoulder that made him feel vaguely crazy. With her hair down, damp, starting to wave around her shoulders--he itched to weave his fingers into it, feel it, smell it. Three months of noticing things like that and then settling, happily, for a movie night on the couch on separate cushions or a grabbed dinner in some Boston dive, across the table from each other. A man could only take so much.
Pushing off the counter, Remy straightened up and closed the distance between them a bit. "And you know dat I'm willin' to take anyt'in you want to give, chere."
ROGUE:
She knew that to get to the sink she'd need to go through him, past him. And when he started coming towards her, she fought those butterfly feelings in her stomach. "The only thing Ah'm gonna give ya is a sore jaw," she said it with as much bite as she could, it wasn't as much as she usually put into things, her lack of a bad mood making her sound more playful than warning. "Y' really oughta learn not t' take things from strange folks."
The time between him joining and now, all those weeks and nights and days, she didn't like to think she'd grown fond of him, fonder than she usually let herself get with anyone. She was close with the others, Allison and Brian, Manuel was the leader, she had enough respect for him to not question things. She liked him, but she wouldn't say they were friends.
Gambit, with him, she wanted to be friends, all the while trying to keep him at arms length, but worried that if she did he'd leave, or move on, or just stop trying. She wasn't trying to lead him on or anything like it, but she enjoyed the attentions far more than she ever thought she would or should. "What'cha hangin' around here for then?"
She meant the kitchen, meant to ask why he was loitering downstairs when it was just as easy to do whatever in the privacy of his own room. Watching him, mildly questioning, Rogue held the glass to the middle of her chest, as if it could be a barrier.
REMY:
He stopped, probably a little too close--Remy thought he allowed himself to do it because of the permeability of her response. He laughed and heard, more than consciously made the decision, how deep and slow the sound was. He didn't usually let himself go too far with Rogue, always held a little back. Should keep holding it back except...
Except he didn't really want to. And Remy wasn't rightly sure that Rogue wanted him to, either. Not really.
Papa had always said that he was a fool for women, and hadn't Remy proven that right time and time again.
Remy took another step forward; Rogue was going to have to start backing up if she didn't want him in her personal space. "You might be strange," he said with a quiet smile, "but you ain't no stranger, Rogue. And I'll take my chances wi't dat sore jaw if it's all de same to you. As for bein' here, well. Jus' needed a change of scenery, I guess." He shrugged and hooked his thumbs into his jean pockets.
ROGUE:
Back up she did, Rogue was constantly aware of her personal space; points of contact were possible threats at times. It wasn't always a concern around the team, most of them knew not to touch her, the newer members, like Gambit, she just hadn't let get that far. Save for the infection they all came down with in the not that distant past, Rogue hadn't offered opportunity for a barest touch. Having Brian there, in her head, for those breif hours was enough.
"Y' weren't never told 'bout girls that bite, were ya?" Even as she moved back, unconsciously trapping herself back against the fridge, Rogue kept the quip up. Even if she didn't get the tone behind it.
"C'mon now, Gambit. Y' know Ah could break y'r jaw with a slap," if she put enough effort into it the open handed slap could break his bones under the impact, "y' really wantin' to go through all that?" No one pushed buttons like he did, and she constantly had to tell herself that was why she put up with it, why she never followed through with just breaking his jaw.
She wasn't really very good at lying to herself.
REMY:
One hand came up, bracing him on the fridge over Rogue's shoulder, open space between their bodies at all points. Oh, he knew her that well. Remy smiled, his eyes crinkling up with the expression. "Thought you had it figured out by now," he said, "I like de girls dat bite. Keeps t'ings interesting."
He raised his other hand and rubbed his jaw thoughtful. She was a powerhouse, that was true. But aside from that first night Rogue had never laid a hand on him and if Remy had been a bettin' man he'd put all his money on the fact that she never would. "I might go t'rough a lot for you, chere." The smile had slipped off his face and Remy realized belatedly that he wasn't joking anymore. "If you'd be willin' to let me."
ROGUE:
The moment it sounded like he was serious, Rogue froze. She knew that he had issues, they all had some kind of issue. Gambit's was all about trust, and how he didn't have it for anyone. At all. Her hand lowered, the glass held by her side instead of in front of her, a gesture she wasn't sure he would read into, she wasn't even sure what it meant herself. "Don't need no one doin' nothing like that for me."
The things men claimed to be willing to do; take on the world, protect from harm, all those walk through fire declarations. Rogue didn't need anyone to do them for her, she didn't want anyone to. She could take the world herself, there was nothing that could hurt her, or nothing that she would admit to being able to hurt her.
She had the niggling feeling that he was getting dangerously close to that mark.
"Y' talkin' crazy again, y' fool."
REMY:
Remy smiled, but it wasn't anywhere near sharp and it wasn't long-lived. "Perhaps I am, true enough." But he didn't move away. She was close enough that he could smell the soap lingering on her skin. Remy wasn't sure he'd ever been this close to her before save once or twice brushed shoulders and that day when she'd patched up his cheek.
"Tell me to go away," Remy said softly. "Tell me to go away and saints, chere, I will. But I don't want to."
ROGUE:
Words caught in her throat, the warning that it was a bad idea, that he didn't know what he was getting into. Her heart thumped in her chest as a voice in her head -someone's voice- warned her. He was too close, it was all too close to something that it really shouldn't be.
But Rogue didn't really want him to leave anymore than he did. It had been a long time since she'd let herself get so close, not since Cody asked Marie to watch the stars that night on the swamp. "Cajun, y' gonna..." She wasn't sure what she wanted to say. Half of her wanted to tell the truth, but she couldn't stand to see him flinch away from those almost careful brushes of contact; always clothed, always controlled.
Shaking her head lightly, Rogue dropped her gaze, unable to keep eye contact.
REMY:
That certainly wasn't a no. Remy reached out, touching the ends of hair that spilled over her shoulder, wrapping the white pieces around a finger. "Dis be a good t'ing, I t'ink. Whatever we got here. I might be smooth but right now I got no reason to be o'herwise, oui? Maybe I'm just waitin' for somebody to be givin' me a reason." He studied the profile of her face by the light over the sink; it cast most of her features into shadow.
ROGUE:
As his fingers toyed with the end of her hair, Rogue looked up. It was a good thing, whatever it was. It was complicated though, and she knew it had to stay excatly the way it was. She liked the way he didn't avoid being near her, but he still respected her boundries. She should've known it would change.
Everything changed.
"Ah ain't wantin' t' hurt y', darlin'."
REMY:
Remy gave a small huff of breath that wasn't quite a laugh. He was drifting closer, leaning down just a little, just enough. He wanted to kiss her bad enough that it was an ache in his chest and further.
Wasn't often that Remy felt that hollow space inside of him; he was good at covering it up. Sometimes though, when she didn't mean to he was sure, Rogue made him remember it. He wanted her to let him have this because he wasn't sure that he could make himself take it. Didn't want to have to. "I've been hurt before, chere. Don't believe you could do anyt'ing even comin' close."
It was just a kiss, not the end of the world.
He could feel her breath against his lips.
ROGUE:
Part of her was screaming to run, the other telling her it couldn't hurt, just this once. Just this once maybe she could have something for herself. She knew better than that, yes. Knew that she couldn't and she really would just hurt him, worse than he thought she could. The utter invasion of her powers, she knew that would be worse than just breaking his jaw.
But she wanted it just as badly; the pounding of her heart, the nervous thrum of energy. She was rooted to the spot, by more than just his arm beside her shoulder.
All it took was the smallest shift of her head, tilting her face upwards. Her worried green eyes met his demon red/black and she didn't even flinch.
REMY:
It was the shift of her head, the way she held Remy's eyes. It was all he'd been waiting for.
Remy leaned into Rogue, catching her full lips against his and feeling the slight give under his mouth. She tasted like toothpaste; he almost smiled. His weight shifted and his hand fell away from her hair to rise and cup her stubborn jaw.
ROGUE:
She could count the years since she'd felt such contact, and it had been far too long. Abandon set in and Rogue let go of her caution and leaned up to him as he pressed his lips to hers.
There had been thoughts, she could admit it to herself, she'd thought of it. There were times she wished for the moments following the illness that rendered them powerless. As his hand cupped her jaw, her own hand moved to his waist, the glass forgotten and dropped to the ground with a dull thump and the water spilling over the kitchen floor.
For a few precious moments it was almost as if she'd been given a break, where she could just enjoy the touch, the kiss. Until she felt the prickling of her skin, under the skin, the tingle of her lips nothing to do with his. Her eyes opened in that instant and she panicked.
REMY:
That first press of mouths, the way Rogue's body rocked towards his, it was everything that Remy had been wondering about for months. That something between them that had spent months being played out in quips and teases and sharp words, it was all there and better, it was an honest-to-goddamned passion that Remy had spent the last three years of his life since Bella Donna forgetting such a thing even existed, had only ever felt in counterfeit between one set of sheets or another.
It felt a little like he'd been walking around half-awake since he left New Orleans and just now realized that he actually was alive after all. The curves of Rogue's soft face and warm mouth, the tilt of her chin and body...
It felt a little like sparks, but that was just cliched and stupid. Remy kissed her and thought, vaguely, how cliched it was to think he was a bit lightheaded, just the smallest bit dizzy. Probably just excited, maybe some blood rerouting--
By the time Rogue's mouth slackened against his Remy knew something wasn't right. What had started as lightheadedness had jumped right into a low sick pounding in his temples and it felt like someone was reaching into his chest, wrapping fingers around his nerves and just pulling, dragging all of them forward together. Remy gasped against Rogue's mouth, his muscles stiffening against the sensation. The hand on her face tightened unintentionally against her jaw, fingers on the fridge wrapping around the handle hard enough to turn a bloodless white.
ROGUE:
While she managed to pull her mouth from his, the grip on her jaw stopped him from being safe from her powers. "Gambit," her eyes were wide with worry, some of the green already seeping out a dull red glow as his powers started to mingle with the ones she already had. Her head was getting foggier and foggier and his grip just meant it would keep coming.
A hand on his wrist, jerking his hand down and away, Rogue skittered from against the fridge, moving around to the other side of the counter and watching him carefully.
She had to figure out how much damage she'd done, if he needed a medic, if she needed to shout one of the others. She was already berating herself, she didn't need Aurora or whoever to join in and make a fuss of the whole thing. "Remy?" She didn't understand yet what name slipped from her lips, she only knew it was applied to him. Her skin tingled worse, but she could tell it wasn't her powers, it was that wrong sense of not belonging that told her it was his. "Y' gotta tell me if y'r okay, sugah."
REMY:
Remy hardly realized that Rogue had moved; long seconds had passed since he'd almost entirely lost awareness of where he was and what he'd been doing. There was just that feeling like part of him was being torn away and he couldn't think past it, couldn't breathe past it, couldn't do anything but be absolutely terrified that he would never be the same again, that he was broken past any kind of fixing.
He hit the fridge when Rogue slipped away, mouth still open and gasping thinly against the cold door, and just that suddenly the sensation was gone. It was like something had snapped back into place in Remy's chest, his now empty bones reverberating with the force of it; he stumbled to the side and knocked the empty dish rack off the counter before he fell, hitting his knees without feeling the pain. Remy slumped against the counters, sucking in breath like he'd been drowning. He felt like he'd been drowning. He was clamy, sick, each part of him aching.
Remy didn't open his eyes when Rogue called after him, he could hardly hear her through the buzzing in his skull. His hands were shaking and he tried to curl them into fists to make them stop but couldn't. "H-hell of a kiss, chere," he managed through chattering teeth.
ROGUE:
She was close to hyperventilating from panic, unaware if she'd taken too much, if she'd hurt him like the others. Carol sounded at the back of her mind, laughing slightly as all of Gambit's thoughts and memories started to slot through her mind. "Ah'm sorry," she should've known better, she shouldn't have chanced things like that.
She took a few steps around the counters, dropping to her knees to try and keep an eye on him. "Y' okay, chere?" And she mentally flinched at her own statement. She could feel it all, parts of him starting to seep to her mannerisms. She didn't want him to know, she'd never wanted to have to worry about it. She peered at him. "Darlin' please?"
REMY:
Since he couldn't stop his hands from shaking, Remy tucked them across his chest, under his arms. He was hardly listening to her but her words got clearer as her voice got closer and more of his attention began to refocus from his self. It was the French that made him crack one eye, and then the other.
"Chere?" Remy asked, barking a laugh. "I t'ink you mean homme. Gonna get you a French-English dictonary soon as I can get off de floor." He slumped back from his side and knees to his ass, putting his head back and letting out a long, long breath. "Damn. Is dat what dey mean by hearin' bells?" He looked at Rogue through half-open eyes. Guess it all must have looked funny from her end too; she looked worried.
ROGUE:
The fact that he was able to talk was a good thing. At least she hoped it was a good thing. He didn't seem too out of it so she hoped she hadn't done lasting damage. "Ah'm sorry, Remy, Ah should've told ya."
She shouldn't have let him kiss her. She shouldn't have kissed him at all. Her powers, she'd lied about them, that much she'd have to conceed. In a sense at least. "Darlin', can y' stand? Or ya just wanna sit there a while?" He might be better off on the floor, less distance to fall.
She wanted to brush the hair from his face, wanted to help him. Her own fear stopped her.
REMY:
"T'inking dat standin' up ain't such a hot idea right now," he murmured, giving in and letting his eyes closed. Saints he felt terrible. Remy lifted a hand and ran it down his face before making himself open his eyes and look at Rogue. He didn't want to worry her. "What you sorry for anyway? For givin' me such a good kiss dat it knocked me on my ass?"
Yes, there was a part of him that was worried. Whatever had happened, it wasn't normal. But there was no need to panic about it, not in front of Rogue. Just wasn't in Remy's nature to make a big deal.
ROGUE:
She supposed this was supposed to be when she told him the truth, told him that she had poisonous touch. It was the reason for so many of her defensive traits, and she should've told him sooner. "Remy, Ah don't...It wasn't the kiss, darlin'." Flattering as it might be, she couldn't take that kind of credit.
Facts and places and little things about New Orleans assaulted her, memories of a smiling, fiesty blond woman that she suddenly felt a pang of loss towards, jeers and hatred and, Rogue closed her eyes, shaking her head to try and clear it all away.
Pushing herself to her feet, she stepped past him, picking up the fallen glass and quickly pouring more water into it, kneeling in front of him she carefully held out the glass. "Take a sip, c'mon. Y' gotta try and clear y'r head." Truthfully, she'd never really stuck around after draining someone, not when they were still conscious. She wasn't really sure what to do.
REMY:
His gaze followed her, tired. Remy snorted when she held out the glass and didn't bother to even try to take it--there was no way that he was going to be able to hold it up. "'M not parched, Rogue. Just... je ne sais pas." He closed his eyes again. Remy was almost sure that he wouldn't be able to stand himself up just then. He was so tired. He was trying to think; what could make him feel this way? Mother Mary, did he have a stroke?
Remy laughed very quietly. Maybe Rogue was right--should have quit those smokes.
"How do you know it wasn't de kiss? Just cos your knees weren't shakin' like dat... " He smiled, tired and crooked. "Merde. Guess I'm not as good as I thought..."
ROGUE:
"Would y' stop yer yabbering an' listen," she managed to fight the shift in accent, managed to stop herself from slipping into bastardised French -well, she'd always wanted to learn a language. "Ah'm tellin' ya. It was me, mah powers. Y'r such an idiot." She was too worried to focus on his teasing, too concerned that she'd just scrambled his brains in a completely different manner than what she usually did. "Ah'm gonna help y' up, an' we're gonna get y' to y'r bed."
It had to be the best place for him, his bed. He could sleep, she'd talk to... She'd check on him in the morning and hopefully she could talk to him without his train of thought derailing both of them.
"C'mon, sugah," she made sure to pull her sleeves over her hands as she stepped to help him up. She had to be more cautious, she'd slipped up and she couldn't afford another one. "Work with me here."
REMY:
There was no fight from Remy--he wasn't one to worry about things like the delicacy of women and he knew anyway that Rogue was strong enough for the both of them. At least... that's what he would have been thinking if he wasn't busy enough being distracted by the whole, 'it was mah powers'. He let Rogue stand him up without a sound. Her powers? Remy worked to get his legs under him but it was her that did most of the work there. What did she mean, her powers?
"I'm not followin', chere," he said, most of the way to the kitchen door. "You got de strength, and flyin'..." Two and two just wouldn't make four, no matter how hard he tried. "Did you finally hit me on de head?"
ROGUE:
Trying to figure out a way to explain to him right now was just too difficult, she wasn't even sure if he'd remember it at all anyway. "Jus' go with me on this, Ah'll tell y' all 'bout it later." When she was sure he would at least understand her.
Moving them from the kitchen to the hall wasn't a problem, and Rogue took them along to his room with near effortless ease. It was part of the blessing of super strength. Of Carol's strength. Sighing, Rogue nudged open Gambit's door, pulling him when his feet faltered. "C'mon, Cajun, get y'rself t' bed an' maybe it'll make sense in the morning." When she explained it again.
"Y' not feelin' like y'r gonna hurl or nothing, right?" Maybe she should call Raven, find out his she knew what the effect of her draining usually did. She might need it when dealing with Gambit later.
REMY:
"Not yet," Remy murmured, sinking onto the bed. He closed his eyes and draped a heavy arm over his forehead. "Should I?" He didn't remember much of the walk up the stairs. His arm lifted up. "Didn't mean t'scare you, chere. I enjoyed de kiss, beaucoup." His arm lifted and brushed her cheek--the touch was there and gone as it fell. Hardly even a brush. "Didn't mean t'scare you," he repeated.
Saints. He was just so tired.
ROGUE:
She was slow in jerking back, his fingers scarcely touching her before she was out of the way. "Ah know, darlin' an' Ah didn't mean t' hurt ya." She really hadn't, and she hadn't meant to kiss him either, but he didn't need to know that now. "Y' can just sleep it up an' we'll talk t'morrow."
Lifting his legs, placing them under the covers and then pulling them over him, Rogue backed up slightly. "Y' sleep well, sugah." She got to the door of his room, glancing back over at him and wondering if sleep really would help him. "Je suis désolé, Remy."
With another sigh, she stepped out, closing the door behind her and resting back against it. God, she was so stupid, and she had one hell of a mess to sort out now.
REMY:
Remy still wasn't sure what Rogue was talking about, but the low aching throb in his bones precluded him worrying about it. He felt like... the only thing he could compare it to was three days without sleep. Or that point that comes after drinking too much and before passing out when you're too sober. Everything just felt heavy.
"Aucun besoin, mon chaton," he murmured, his eyes closing again. He was still confused but it would have to wait. Tomorrow. He'd get there tomorrow.
ROGUE:
Despite being tired, despite having been ready to sleep, Rogue found herself unable to switch off and find the quiet to sleep. Her mind was still slotting pieces away, sorting out yet more memories to lock away. Some of Brian's were still heavy on the top of her mind, but Remy's -and it felt odd to finally know his name, they were smothering everything else. Even Carol had gone quiet.
In the end, she'd ventured back to the kitchen, hardly noticing that she navigated the whole way in the dark. She'd discovered that Remy's eyes were light sensitive, the less light, the better. Standing in the kitchen, Rogue wasn't sure how long for, she replayed the whole incident in her mind. With a sigh, picking up the glass she'd used and then filled for Remy, Rogue moved towards the sink. It was lucky she'd placed the glass in the sink, as she stepped back, frowning at the light pink colour around the brim. "Aw, damn."
The glass exploded with a loud crack, and Rogue flinched from the flying pieces. She'd clean it up later. Carefully leaving the kitchen she spent a few minutes sitting in the rec room, about to watch the television for a while before she noticed she'd done it again; charging a pillow. By the time she gave up, leaving the room and venturing back to her own, Rogue had destroyed two pillows, the remote control and a vase from the table. Getting the hang of these kinetic powers, or staying away from everyone until the faded was first on her list of things to fight off her insomnia with.
By morning, her own room was littered with objects no longer in one piece, and Rogue was sitting on the ledge of her window, feet dangling out of the building. The powers, the memories, she should've never let him kiss her.
REMY:
The sun woke Remy. He squinted, moaned, and put his pillow over his head. For just a moment he thought that maybe he was hungover, despite not remembering drinking anything. He felt drained, heavy, and his head was pounding. Mon Dieu. Sticking a hand under the pillow, Remy rubbed his eyes before dragging himself up and stretching. Wasn't going to get back to sleep now anyway.
... And apparently he'd decided to sleep in his jeans. Which was a bit strange, but supported the drinking idea. He remembered--well. Remy rubbed his head. He remembered smoking in the kitchen. And Rogue.
He kissed her. He... he did kiss her. Remy couldn't help it, he grinned.
Grabbing a ponytail holder, his hair was pulled back in a messy tail as he headed toward the bathroom. He still felt tired but water on his face and neck helped and he brushed his teeth; it all made him feel a little more human. As he was doing that he was trying to remember the rest of the night. He had definitely kissed Rogue, remembered her body--
His chest tightened weirdly and Remy paused in mid-brush, staring down at the sink. Panic. He spit out the toothpaste and put a hand to his hammering chest. Quel était celui? Remy glanced up to the mirror and the toothbrush was dropped into the sink.
His eyes. His eyes were a very light hazel.
Remy hit the wall across from the mirror with his shoulder blades before turning and heading for the door, leaving the water on and the toothbrush where it had fallen. He headed right toward Rogue's room.
ROGUE:
Still in her clothes from the night before, Rogue leaned against her window frame. She was entertaining the thoughts of New Orleans, memories of a bright city, of a wild night life and wonderful Cajun cusine. She'd never tasted Cajun food once in her life, but she had vivid memories of favourite places. New Orleans was a place she'd like, she knew that much from it all.
There were things she didn't like, of course. She'd seen her eyes in a mirror, right before it had been shattered in her hand when memories assaulted her of that. There were always a few demons in people's minds, and Remy's seemed to like jumping out at her. It served her right, she knew, but it didn't make them easier to deal with. She'd already fallen in love with a beautiful blond woman and then mourned her, breaking down into sobs on the floor for a woman she didn't even know.
It was half of her reasoning for remaining in her room. Aurora wouldn't look for her, and if anyone really needed anything, they'd find her. She was worried about what she might do, how she might hurt someone. She was still charging objects without even thinking about it.
She hoped Remy slept all day.
REMY:
What in the hell had happened to him? Remy half-ran down the hall, down the stairs; he couldn't remember, just couldn't seem to piece anything together correctly. He'd kissed Rogue and then... something. Something that put him on the floor. He remembered Rogue asking if he was okay, getting him water--
Had she spoken French to him?
He slowed as he reached her door and took a deep breath, pushing falling strands of hair out of his face. Rubbing toothpaste out of the corners of his mouth. Remy wanted a mirror. Wanted to look again--maybe he was crazy. Maybe he was hungover, so much so that he'd just imagined it. He took another breath, covering his eyes with one hand and stacking the other on his hip. He was fine. This was a house full of mutants and since coming here he'd already gotten a strange flu that had taken his powers and been in a riot and hell, he watched Phe get crazier every day, didn't he?
There was an explanation. There was.
Remy reached for Rogue's door, knocking a few times.
ROGUE:
Her eyes opened and the memories stopped abruptly as she stared at the door, "Entré", her voice was hoarse and the word quiet. Which was just as well. Clearing her throat, she tried again, "C'mon in." She couldn't exactly keep them away. It might've been Aurora, or one of the others with news, maybe Allison and Manuel were back. Anything. She didn't come in from the window ledge though.
The air wasn't too cold, although she wasn't sure if it would matter at all. She still felt vaguely warmed. Turning to the side slightly, her hair mostly covering her face, she noticed Remy as the door opened and bit back a curse. She supposed it was too much to ask that he sleep all day, or stay away, or maybe not notice anything was different at all.
"What can Ah do f'r ya?" Maybe if she was rude enough, if she pushed him away enough, he'd leave. Maybe.
REMY:
That wasn't really any way to talk to a man you'd kissed the night before, but Remy wasn't sure that she wasn't feeling as off as he was this morning. He looked at her for a moment, silhouetted by the morning sun there in the window, hair in her face. She looked beautiful. What man wouldn't want to kiss that?
Stepping inside, he shut the door softly behind himself and rubbed a hand down over his face. Maybe he wouldn't bring up the kiss right off; he knew how touchy Rogue could be and feeling the way he was feeling, there was no reason to go on and add a punch in the nose out on top. If she wanted to skirt the issue... they could. For now.
"Jus' wonderin, how you feelin' dis morning' chere."
ROGUE:
Through her hair, with her head ducked slightly, she could see him perfectly. And she knew in an instant that his eyes, his eyes were wrong. Sighing, she turned her head back to the great outdoors, watching as Boston started to wake up. "Ah'm alright." She could be better, she could always be better. But she wasn't feeling just herself yet.
"How 'bout you? Get some sleep?" He'd been dead on his feet when she'd left him in his bed, she didn't check on anything before she'd scampered out of the room. But then, she wasn't really thinking clearly. He was tired, she put him to bed, that was all she really needed to do, wasn't it?
The fact that he'd ventured into her room, first thing in the morning, told her that he had something at least to say. Even if it was because he couldn't remember last night at all. She was kind of hoping for that.
REMY:
Looked like Gambit was getting the old cold shoulder. Well Rogue should know that he didn't push over so easily. "Oui, got some sleep. In my jeans." He wandered slowly across the room toward the window. "You happen t'know anyt'ing bout dat? Seems to me dat we spend some time in de kitchen together. I'd hate for dis to be de mornin' after and here I am forgettin' what a wonderful night I'd had wi't you."
He stepped up behind Rogue but didn't touch. Not yet. It didn't have anything to do with the fact that there was a totally unnecessary flutter of panic trying to quicken his heartbeat again. Remy was just giving her some space.
ROGUE:
Flashes of pale, perfect skin shot through her head, breathy sighs and a rush of lust. She had to swallow past the lump, had to lick her lips and force herself to breath. "There ain't never been no mornin' after, Cajun." She wasn't turning to face him, but she could feel him behind her, drawing closer and closer.
"Y' fell asleep, sugah, didn't realise y' ain't got no stamina." It was only a matter of time, that much was clear to her. And with the way the scenes were playing out in her head, Rogue wouldn't really mind it so much if the whole moment collapsed on itself. It was a cruel, cruel practice.
She'd already loved and lost his wife, she didn't need to...
"Oh, mah gawd." The fact that she now knew exactly what it was like to fuck Ms. Frost, Rogue was sure she could've lived forever without knowing.
REMY:
What could he say to that? Remy frowned. Had she just admitted that she was a virgin? Rogue? Maybe he was just making that up, drawing his own conclusions. He moved to the side, trying to get her to look at him.
"Don' be so mean to a man," he said with half a smile, trying to provoke the same in her. A laugh, even just a crack of lips. He didn't like the vibe he was gettin' from Rogue, all closed off and shut down when he'd worked too damn hard over the last few months trying to get her to poke her head out of her shell.
His eyebrows went up with her exclamation and Remy leaned a little bit into the window. "Chere? Êtes-vous bien? Mostly he talked snippets of French around her simply to tease, but the question of whether she was alright simply slipped out without thought, probably because he was tired. He didn't think it needed translating, so he didn't bother.
ROGUE:
Shaking her head, Rogue didn't even think on the French words, "Je ne suis pas si bon." Drawing her knees up, she wrapped her arms around them, dropping her head to rest there, hair cascading around her face. She didn't need these memories, at all. She was worried about him, more so than ever, knowing all that she knew.
"Ah'm sorry, sugah, Ah'm not great company just now." She really wasn't, then again, a lot of the time she was bristly just because. The fact that he didn't seem to remember, or understand, much of what had happened last night just made her feel worse. And skirting around the issue wasn't really going to help.
Maybe, if she avoided it long enough, Manuel could tell Remy everything and she wouldn't need to. Or Allison, she might be better suited to it all. Hell, give Ophelia a note, she'd make it into a song and then that would be that. She couldn't even chuckle or smile or raise her damn fool head because he'd know. Or he might flat out freak out and fall out of her window.
She wasn't really liking her options.
REMY:
The French, the easy French off Rogue's tongue shocked Remy to silence for a moment or two, let her say the rest. Not that her telling him she was bad company was going to stop him from a sit down. Girl should know him better than that. Remy sat on the sill next to her, facing the opposite way, making sure to leave an inch or two between their shoulders even if it meant having to be uncomfortable.
"You wanna tell me jus' what I did?" Remy asked after a minute of silence between them.
ROGUE:
"You kissed me."
It was meant to come out as an accusation, instead it was a whisper, her voice almost completely missing her thick accent. He wasn't to know that everything came back to that, him kissing her, her allowing it -because she should've, could've pushed him away, left and shot him down again. She'd done it before, and not just to Remy.
With a heavy sigh, she turned her head, resting her cheek on her knees and pulling her hair over the side of her head. She blinked slightly against the sunlight, but her sight was fine. "Ah tried t' tell y' not to, but..." But she didn't have the self control to stop him and he didn't know any better.
REMY:
All Rogue's words got were a chuckle from Remy. He kissed her? That was what all of this attitude was about, that she was owning up to remembering a kiss? "Chere,, was just a little kiss. Dere's no need to be gettin' all... Mon Dieu."
Remy stood up straight as he saw her eyes, red on black. His eyes. And her speaking French? None of it was making sense. Remy pushed fingers into his eyes (normal eyes) before he kneeled up on the window frame, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. "What's goin' on?"
ROGUE:
She'd expected it, but it still almost hurt. Shutting her eyes, she didn't realise he was reaching out until his hand touched her should, and then she couldn't help but flinch away. The movement caused her to slide off the sill, floating in the air outside her room. It wasn't the first time she was grateful for the obscured view around the Brownstone.
"Ah've been tryin' t' tell ya, but y' just didn't catch them hints." Because coming out and saying it was just worse. "Ah can't touch no one without hurtin' 'em." And by that, she meant stealling from them. She sighed slightly, moving up to the sill again, standing on the ledge before crouching down. For some reason, she knew that if she flipped back, she could land on her feet without using her flight.
"It'll fade for me in a while, an' then it'll come back t' you, but," but she knew so much now, all those memories floating around. She knew secrets that no one else did, she knew things he'd probably forgotten, or wished he had. "Ah steal other folks powers, that's mah power."
REMY:
Remy's hand almost followed her as Rogue slid forward, but his fingers stopped short of grabbing her as she floated. He hadn't gotten used to that. His hand dropped.
He watched her and she stepped back onto the sill, following those dark eyes as Rogue crouched in front of him. Saints it was strange. Remy blinked. "Wait. Dat's your power? You like... a leech?" But the strength, and the flight... Straightening up a little, Remy patted down his pockets before pulling his ponytail holder out of his hair.
It warmed under his fingers... and then nothing. "Oh, chere," he moaned, sinking back down into a seat on the sill. Remy didn't really care about missing his powers for a bit, or his eyes. She couldn't touch anyone.
ROGUE:
Her eyes were downcast at the comparison, but she didn't object to it. For the most part, it was spot on. Running her hands through her hair, willful that she wouldn't blow that up like so much else, she sighed. It shouldn't really have taken her this long to tell him, or this incident to tell him. But it didn't seem he was taking it too hard.
"It's like, everything y' are just flows int' me, an' Ah ain't got no way t' stop it." Raven had told her that control would come with maturity, she'd stopped believing Raven when Carol had happened. And it seemed more and more likely that she wouldn't ever really have enough control to touch.
"Y' ain't mad?" She gave him a sidelong look, especially since he was sitting beside her. She hadn't expected that.
REMY:
"Not sure what I am," Remy murmured, leaning back against the frame after retying his hair into a tail. He looked at her for a long moment, at those eyes he'd only ever seen in a mirror before. "Can't light a spark but dat's not really a bother unless Empath wants us all in the trainin' room tonight, oui?" Because she said it would come back and really, Remy knew it wasn't gone. He could feel it they way he couldn't feel it when he'd had the flu.
What Remy was thinking about was how standoffish Rogue always was. How thick her walls were. Now he knew why, though he couldn't say that it made much more sense than it did before. Taking other people's powers wasn't a reason to shut yourself off, even if the touch did sting a bit. "But why you know French now? Don't make much sense, dat."
ROGUE:
"Ah reckon, cause of the..." she shook her head, "Y'll be gettin' y'r powers back in a day or so, bit by bit." Her grasp on his powers would fade about as fast as his returned. That much she was aware of. She'd done tests on herself, to see how long she got, it wasn't very long at all really. Her power kicked in after the initial contact, it just took a moment to notice. But, the length of time she'd been in contact with Remy, she counted about a day and half's worth of power transfer.
"The French, that's well, that's the other part o' mah powers." The fact that nothing in his head was safe at all. "It ain't just about me takin' what y' can do. Ah get a little bit of you as well." Usually, this was the stumbling block, what she took. She still wasn't sure how Brian felt about her having stolen that from him. She couldn't rightly gauge Gambit's reaction.
"Ah know stuff that you know," she wasn't sure how to explain it, so she just gave a small smile, "Remy."
REMY:
At first it didn't click. A little bit of him? The French?
It was his name that made him understand. The little smile that had been on his lips, a half smile just to make her feel more comfortable because she had seemed to need it--that disappeared. Ah know stuff that you know.
Remy's head gave a half-abortive shake. Privacy was his second-nature, keeping himself close within semi-permeable walls that were skilled at bringing things in without ever letting anything out. His past, his entire life in New Orleans... it was behind him. Sinister. He'd wanted to keep all of it behind him.
Ah know stuff that you know.
"Like what stuff?" he asked, returning a harder gaze to those stolen eyes.
ROGUE:
She'd known he was private, he'd never given out more than he had to and she could understand the need to keep things to yourself. She did it too. The change in him was noticable without being able to know that though, and Rogue turned her gaze to her floor. "Ah know 'bout Belladonna, an' y'r family." She tried to shrug her shoulder, but felt that not telling him everything might damage things worse.
"An' what happened with Julien," the names flowed as if she'd met them herself, as if she'd been there. "What happened with the Mauraders, an' that y' got recruited the night y' went t' y'r wife's grave." She also knew exactly what had happened that night, but she wasn't about to go into detail about that at all.
She felt bad just having it all there. It wasn't anything she should've known, not if he didn't want to tell her, and she doubted he'd ever thought about telling anyone anything. "Ah'm sorry it's just...it's just what happens."
REMY:
Each name was like a physical blow. Julien. Papa and Henri. The Mauraders. And Bella, oh Bella.
Remy looked out the window without seeing anything of the city skyline. How much was too much? Anything. He felt like he'd been invaded, like he'd had things stolen from him and it only hurt worse that he was a thief, he should have known somehow, shouldn't have been so stupid, Rogue was just a woman. Just a woman. And he'd let his defenses down, wanted to make Rogue more than a conquest...
Stupid. He'd had one true love. Looking for that again, that was folly. And he'd paid the price now.
"Je ne devrais pas vous avoir embrassé. Mais vous ne devriez pas avoir m'avez laissé." The words were quiet, and rough, and Remy didn't look at her as he stood. "Au revior, Rogue." He headed toward the door. He needed time.
ROGUE:
The words felt worse than if he'd hit her. She knew she shouldn't have let him, known it even as she let him. Forcing herself to keep it together, biting back any kind of plea to get him to at least look at her, Rogue took a breath, and then another. "Mah name's Marie."
She wondered if he'd even care, or if it was really goodbye and he was walking away. She knew he had aversions to staying in the first place, she had sort of hoped that had changed. But she might've just ruined it all by taking what she never should've wanted. People seemed to think that she should be able to stop that at least. But starve a girl for something long enough, and she'll just want it all the more badly.
There was nothing she'd say to try and make him stay, to try and explain anything. Letting him walk away from her might be the only thing that stopped him walking away completely.
REMY:
Remy stopped a few feet away when she gave her name. He couldn't help but smiling though Rogue wouldn't see it, the expression painful. Fingers came up and carded through his hair, pushing strands away from his face that just fell right back. Marie.
Her name was Marie.
For a glance, Remy looked over his shoulder. Then he turned and walked back, leaning down until their faces were too close to look at each other. "Jus' gimme some time, chere. I'm used to bein' de best t'ief around."
In the end, what was, was. He could only deal with it by going forward. Remy brushed his mouth across hers with only a ghost of touch, breath instead of contact. "Chere. Marie."
The second time Remy walked to the door he didn't stop or look back.
What: An evening in the kitchen, and some revelations later
Where: Brownstone, Boston, MA
When: Early morning hours, and then less early morning hours.
Open: No, log.
Rating: PG
REMY:
The kitchen was lit only by the light over the sink; Remy didn't need more to see by and the house was settling down for the evening so there was no reason to draw attention. Honestly, the Cajun was glad enough for the moment of quiet outside of the confines of his own four bedroom walls. Didn't have much to complain about when it came to the Hellions but living in a house with a double-handful of other people--now matter how swanky--was still living in a house with a double-handful of other people. A man had to have his moments.
Remy pushed the window behind the sink open and lit the cigarette hanging in the corner of his mouth with a touch. A small flare of pink light momentarily made the kitchen a little brighter. He was in jeans and socks and a black tank top; so damn glad to seen even the other side of sixty degrees, Remy had shoved all his sweats away into the dark places in his closet and had to hope that Mother Nature wasn't gonna make a fool of him. Hadn't yet, anyway--the breeze through the open window was beautiful, warm and smelling like green things opening up.
Leaning back against the counter and crossing his legs at the ankle, Remy smoked quietly and considered himself content.
ROGUE:
With the settling down for a night, everyone had a routine of some sort, and so did Rogue. She'd already showered, she had a tendency to do that before the rest of the team started wanting showers, even with the number of bathrooms available, there was always someone knocking on a door and waiting. In her green sweatpants and an oversized shirt, Rogue made her way from her room to the kitchen.
She needed a glass of water, Rogue prefered the bottles from the fridge than the filters on the faucets. Probably a waste, but she wasn't footing any bills. As she padded quietly into the kitchen she refrained from flicking on the light when she noticed the form of the Cajun by the sink. Smoking again.
"Them things are still gonna kill ya." With a smirk, she walked past him, grabbing a glass from the cupboard beside his head before getting a bottle from the fridge door.
REMY:
Remy knew just what his eyes could look like in the dark--and there was a something down deep that appreciated the hell out of Rogue never shying away from his gaze. Something that maybe he wouldn't even let himself consider owning up to yet. Ash was flicked into the sink.
"No doubt somet'in else will finish de job long before de cancer catches me up," he said with an edge of a sardonic smile. Remy didn't make it a point to be morbid, but hell if he wasn't going to be realistic. "Figure I might as well enjoy myself while I'm here." And speaking of.
Remy made an unobtrusive sweep of Rogue with his eyes while the girl was busy reaching into the fridge, then moved his gaze back to the island counter. The last few months had been decent ones. Not that Remy really ever bothered anymore with any emotions he'd consider 'attachments'... there was something about the Hellions that had gotten under his skin whether he cared to admit it or not. Maybe he wouldn't call them friends but he was definitely alright with having them as teammates--even that SHIELD agent.
And then there was Phe...
And Rogue.
At first he'd admit that Rogue had been a challenge. She'd been a sharp tongue to provoke and a pretty face to look at Remy didn't even know why he'd gone after her as hard as he had, considering that Bella hadn't even been all that long in the ground. But things had changed in the last three months. Those original feelings had mellowed out and something else had crept in to replace them. Something almost too close to trust for Remy to be wholly comfortable with.
So instead of dealing with that, he just kept flirting and smiling, just like he always had--but he knew that something had changed between them, starting with that riot and Dazzler's death. Things were different.
Things were different. And there was a little part of Remy that was tired of acting like they weren't.
ROGUE:
Change was something that Rogue found herself getting used to. Not that she liked it, or that she wanted it. She was just better at dealing with it. Additions, subtractions, changes to the team. She was used to them now. The inital loss of so many, Aurora leaving, Gambit and Pyro joining, then Dazz was gone and Allison and Manuel took their break. She was better at maintaining a level head with so much change.
Gambit was probably a reason she hadn't closed off again. He didn't really let her. The niggling, the flirting -which she was becoming worryingly attached to. It all forced her to stay out of that cell she made herself away from everyone. She wouldn't deny warming up to him, she had. It had taken a while but it happened.
"Yeah, a jealous ex?" Their easy teasing and the lightness of the flirting, she didn't mind it at all. And when he pushed, she pushed back. There was nothing constraining, and she almost let her guard down around him. Almost.
"If it ain't the smokes that get ya, it'll be some poor girls man, or y'r fool mouth." Recklessness, they all had a streak of it. Gambit possibly more than most. Definitely more than her. If it wasn't a last minute, and terribly graceful, move in the training sessions, if it wasn't a pretty girl getting flirted with in front of anyone and everyone, it was a sarcastic, witty, stupid retort at the worst place that could get that pretty face of his beaten beyond repair. "Y' gonna be dead b'fore y'r thirty, darlin', mark mah words."
REMY:
Remy laughed softly, smoke huffed up toward the ceiling. "I wouldn' be half as entertainin' as I am, chere, if I kept quiet. As for de girls, well..." His eyes slid to hers and Remy gave a short shrug and a winning smile. "Dere's only one girl I want. But she keeps tellin' me no and breaking my heart, so. Gotta do somet'in to patch dat ache."
It was part of the tease but the truth was... well, Remy didn't know what the truth was. And certainly he'd promised his undying love to enough women in his lifetime without meaning a damn bit of it but somewhere along the line with Rogue he was tricking himself into believing it was true.
He almost snorted. Not that he really thought Rogue was ever gonna let him in; girl had more problems than a long-tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs. That should have made it safe. But then she'd go and let her guard down for just a moment--a look she didn't think he'd see or an off-guard smile...
And then Remy wasn't sure where he stood anymore and had to start back from square one. It would have been funny if it wasn't him being the butt of the joke.
ROGUE:
Rogue closed the fridge, snapping the bottle cap off and pouring the water to her glass. "That there sounds like a smart girl." Which she was, that was something she'd been telling herself was her reasons. Her mother had always made sure she was well schooled, and it wasn't always in the way of the institutions around New York.
Rogue knew a heartbreaker when she saw one. And Gambit was the worst she'd seen.
Sipping from her glass, she watched him thoughtfully. He appeared more relaxed now, possibly a good sign. She knew he wasn't going to take off in the middle of the night, not now. "Y'r a smooth one, Ah'll give y' that." He was impossibly smooth, so much so that she found herself entertaining the ideas. Going through the 'what if' of the situation.
She'd thought she'd grown out of that a long time ago. And then the Cajun came along, with his sharp smile, glowing eyes and drawling accent. No, Rogue wasn't that smart a girl. She just had better armour.
REMY:
Remy grinned. "An' I don' even have to try," he said, expression just a shade away from wicked, "it's just good graces." Maybe it was the warm spring air, that smell of new possibilities, that was making Remy feel a bit stupid and bold. He'd never pushed Rogue, never taken more than she was willing to give. Remy could charm himself into any pair of pants he wanted, most of the time by those good graces alone, but he wasn't into taking what wasn't his--at least when it came to women. No meant no, even if the girl wasn't saying it out loud. He might have been raised a thief, but Remy LeBeau had his morals. Thing was, Rogue made him want to throw every last one of them out of the window sometimes.
She was an infuriating joy, hard-headed as hell, tough as nails. Always gave as good as she got and damn well didn't seem afraid of anything--except letting people in. Remy wasn't sure he deserved to be let in anyway, but she made him want to try. Funny how his day always managed to get a little bit better when he managed to make her laugh.
He never let himself think too deep into that one.
One last drag on the cigarette and it was tossed into the garbage disposal. Remy loved it when a girl dressed herself up, looked the part, played the part... but there was something about Rogue in her old sweatpants, her shirt hanging off her shoulder that made him feel vaguely crazy. With her hair down, damp, starting to wave around her shoulders--he itched to weave his fingers into it, feel it, smell it. Three months of noticing things like that and then settling, happily, for a movie night on the couch on separate cushions or a grabbed dinner in some Boston dive, across the table from each other. A man could only take so much.
Pushing off the counter, Remy straightened up and closed the distance between them a bit. "And you know dat I'm willin' to take anyt'in you want to give, chere."
ROGUE:
She knew that to get to the sink she'd need to go through him, past him. And when he started coming towards her, she fought those butterfly feelings in her stomach. "The only thing Ah'm gonna give ya is a sore jaw," she said it with as much bite as she could, it wasn't as much as she usually put into things, her lack of a bad mood making her sound more playful than warning. "Y' really oughta learn not t' take things from strange folks."
The time between him joining and now, all those weeks and nights and days, she didn't like to think she'd grown fond of him, fonder than she usually let herself get with anyone. She was close with the others, Allison and Brian, Manuel was the leader, she had enough respect for him to not question things. She liked him, but she wouldn't say they were friends.
Gambit, with him, she wanted to be friends, all the while trying to keep him at arms length, but worried that if she did he'd leave, or move on, or just stop trying. She wasn't trying to lead him on or anything like it, but she enjoyed the attentions far more than she ever thought she would or should. "What'cha hangin' around here for then?"
She meant the kitchen, meant to ask why he was loitering downstairs when it was just as easy to do whatever in the privacy of his own room. Watching him, mildly questioning, Rogue held the glass to the middle of her chest, as if it could be a barrier.
REMY:
He stopped, probably a little too close--Remy thought he allowed himself to do it because of the permeability of her response. He laughed and heard, more than consciously made the decision, how deep and slow the sound was. He didn't usually let himself go too far with Rogue, always held a little back. Should keep holding it back except...
Except he didn't really want to. And Remy wasn't rightly sure that Rogue wanted him to, either. Not really.
Papa had always said that he was a fool for women, and hadn't Remy proven that right time and time again.
Remy took another step forward; Rogue was going to have to start backing up if she didn't want him in her personal space. "You might be strange," he said with a quiet smile, "but you ain't no stranger, Rogue. And I'll take my chances wi't dat sore jaw if it's all de same to you. As for bein' here, well. Jus' needed a change of scenery, I guess." He shrugged and hooked his thumbs into his jean pockets.
ROGUE:
Back up she did, Rogue was constantly aware of her personal space; points of contact were possible threats at times. It wasn't always a concern around the team, most of them knew not to touch her, the newer members, like Gambit, she just hadn't let get that far. Save for the infection they all came down with in the not that distant past, Rogue hadn't offered opportunity for a barest touch. Having Brian there, in her head, for those breif hours was enough.
"Y' weren't never told 'bout girls that bite, were ya?" Even as she moved back, unconsciously trapping herself back against the fridge, Rogue kept the quip up. Even if she didn't get the tone behind it.
"C'mon now, Gambit. Y' know Ah could break y'r jaw with a slap," if she put enough effort into it the open handed slap could break his bones under the impact, "y' really wantin' to go through all that?" No one pushed buttons like he did, and she constantly had to tell herself that was why she put up with it, why she never followed through with just breaking his jaw.
She wasn't really very good at lying to herself.
REMY:
One hand came up, bracing him on the fridge over Rogue's shoulder, open space between their bodies at all points. Oh, he knew her that well. Remy smiled, his eyes crinkling up with the expression. "Thought you had it figured out by now," he said, "I like de girls dat bite. Keeps t'ings interesting."
He raised his other hand and rubbed his jaw thoughtful. She was a powerhouse, that was true. But aside from that first night Rogue had never laid a hand on him and if Remy had been a bettin' man he'd put all his money on the fact that she never would. "I might go t'rough a lot for you, chere." The smile had slipped off his face and Remy realized belatedly that he wasn't joking anymore. "If you'd be willin' to let me."
ROGUE:
The moment it sounded like he was serious, Rogue froze. She knew that he had issues, they all had some kind of issue. Gambit's was all about trust, and how he didn't have it for anyone. At all. Her hand lowered, the glass held by her side instead of in front of her, a gesture she wasn't sure he would read into, she wasn't even sure what it meant herself. "Don't need no one doin' nothing like that for me."
The things men claimed to be willing to do; take on the world, protect from harm, all those walk through fire declarations. Rogue didn't need anyone to do them for her, she didn't want anyone to. She could take the world herself, there was nothing that could hurt her, or nothing that she would admit to being able to hurt her.
She had the niggling feeling that he was getting dangerously close to that mark.
"Y' talkin' crazy again, y' fool."
REMY:
Remy smiled, but it wasn't anywhere near sharp and it wasn't long-lived. "Perhaps I am, true enough." But he didn't move away. She was close enough that he could smell the soap lingering on her skin. Remy wasn't sure he'd ever been this close to her before save once or twice brushed shoulders and that day when she'd patched up his cheek.
"Tell me to go away," Remy said softly. "Tell me to go away and saints, chere, I will. But I don't want to."
ROGUE:
Words caught in her throat, the warning that it was a bad idea, that he didn't know what he was getting into. Her heart thumped in her chest as a voice in her head -someone's voice- warned her. He was too close, it was all too close to something that it really shouldn't be.
But Rogue didn't really want him to leave anymore than he did. It had been a long time since she'd let herself get so close, not since Cody asked Marie to watch the stars that night on the swamp. "Cajun, y' gonna..." She wasn't sure what she wanted to say. Half of her wanted to tell the truth, but she couldn't stand to see him flinch away from those almost careful brushes of contact; always clothed, always controlled.
Shaking her head lightly, Rogue dropped her gaze, unable to keep eye contact.
REMY:
That certainly wasn't a no. Remy reached out, touching the ends of hair that spilled over her shoulder, wrapping the white pieces around a finger. "Dis be a good t'ing, I t'ink. Whatever we got here. I might be smooth but right now I got no reason to be o'herwise, oui? Maybe I'm just waitin' for somebody to be givin' me a reason." He studied the profile of her face by the light over the sink; it cast most of her features into shadow.
ROGUE:
As his fingers toyed with the end of her hair, Rogue looked up. It was a good thing, whatever it was. It was complicated though, and she knew it had to stay excatly the way it was. She liked the way he didn't avoid being near her, but he still respected her boundries. She should've known it would change.
Everything changed.
"Ah ain't wantin' t' hurt y', darlin'."
REMY:
Remy gave a small huff of breath that wasn't quite a laugh. He was drifting closer, leaning down just a little, just enough. He wanted to kiss her bad enough that it was an ache in his chest and further.
Wasn't often that Remy felt that hollow space inside of him; he was good at covering it up. Sometimes though, when she didn't mean to he was sure, Rogue made him remember it. He wanted her to let him have this because he wasn't sure that he could make himself take it. Didn't want to have to. "I've been hurt before, chere. Don't believe you could do anyt'ing even comin' close."
It was just a kiss, not the end of the world.
He could feel her breath against his lips.
ROGUE:
Part of her was screaming to run, the other telling her it couldn't hurt, just this once. Just this once maybe she could have something for herself. She knew better than that, yes. Knew that she couldn't and she really would just hurt him, worse than he thought she could. The utter invasion of her powers, she knew that would be worse than just breaking his jaw.
But she wanted it just as badly; the pounding of her heart, the nervous thrum of energy. She was rooted to the spot, by more than just his arm beside her shoulder.
All it took was the smallest shift of her head, tilting her face upwards. Her worried green eyes met his demon red/black and she didn't even flinch.
REMY:
It was the shift of her head, the way she held Remy's eyes. It was all he'd been waiting for.
Remy leaned into Rogue, catching her full lips against his and feeling the slight give under his mouth. She tasted like toothpaste; he almost smiled. His weight shifted and his hand fell away from her hair to rise and cup her stubborn jaw.
ROGUE:
She could count the years since she'd felt such contact, and it had been far too long. Abandon set in and Rogue let go of her caution and leaned up to him as he pressed his lips to hers.
There had been thoughts, she could admit it to herself, she'd thought of it. There were times she wished for the moments following the illness that rendered them powerless. As his hand cupped her jaw, her own hand moved to his waist, the glass forgotten and dropped to the ground with a dull thump and the water spilling over the kitchen floor.
For a few precious moments it was almost as if she'd been given a break, where she could just enjoy the touch, the kiss. Until she felt the prickling of her skin, under the skin, the tingle of her lips nothing to do with his. Her eyes opened in that instant and she panicked.
REMY:
That first press of mouths, the way Rogue's body rocked towards his, it was everything that Remy had been wondering about for months. That something between them that had spent months being played out in quips and teases and sharp words, it was all there and better, it was an honest-to-goddamned passion that Remy had spent the last three years of his life since Bella Donna forgetting such a thing even existed, had only ever felt in counterfeit between one set of sheets or another.
It felt a little like he'd been walking around half-awake since he left New Orleans and just now realized that he actually was alive after all. The curves of Rogue's soft face and warm mouth, the tilt of her chin and body...
It felt a little like sparks, but that was just cliched and stupid. Remy kissed her and thought, vaguely, how cliched it was to think he was a bit lightheaded, just the smallest bit dizzy. Probably just excited, maybe some blood rerouting--
By the time Rogue's mouth slackened against his Remy knew something wasn't right. What had started as lightheadedness had jumped right into a low sick pounding in his temples and it felt like someone was reaching into his chest, wrapping fingers around his nerves and just pulling, dragging all of them forward together. Remy gasped against Rogue's mouth, his muscles stiffening against the sensation. The hand on her face tightened unintentionally against her jaw, fingers on the fridge wrapping around the handle hard enough to turn a bloodless white.
ROGUE:
While she managed to pull her mouth from his, the grip on her jaw stopped him from being safe from her powers. "Gambit," her eyes were wide with worry, some of the green already seeping out a dull red glow as his powers started to mingle with the ones she already had. Her head was getting foggier and foggier and his grip just meant it would keep coming.
A hand on his wrist, jerking his hand down and away, Rogue skittered from against the fridge, moving around to the other side of the counter and watching him carefully.
She had to figure out how much damage she'd done, if he needed a medic, if she needed to shout one of the others. She was already berating herself, she didn't need Aurora or whoever to join in and make a fuss of the whole thing. "Remy?" She didn't understand yet what name slipped from her lips, she only knew it was applied to him. Her skin tingled worse, but she could tell it wasn't her powers, it was that wrong sense of not belonging that told her it was his. "Y' gotta tell me if y'r okay, sugah."
REMY:
Remy hardly realized that Rogue had moved; long seconds had passed since he'd almost entirely lost awareness of where he was and what he'd been doing. There was just that feeling like part of him was being torn away and he couldn't think past it, couldn't breathe past it, couldn't do anything but be absolutely terrified that he would never be the same again, that he was broken past any kind of fixing.
He hit the fridge when Rogue slipped away, mouth still open and gasping thinly against the cold door, and just that suddenly the sensation was gone. It was like something had snapped back into place in Remy's chest, his now empty bones reverberating with the force of it; he stumbled to the side and knocked the empty dish rack off the counter before he fell, hitting his knees without feeling the pain. Remy slumped against the counters, sucking in breath like he'd been drowning. He felt like he'd been drowning. He was clamy, sick, each part of him aching.
Remy didn't open his eyes when Rogue called after him, he could hardly hear her through the buzzing in his skull. His hands were shaking and he tried to curl them into fists to make them stop but couldn't. "H-hell of a kiss, chere," he managed through chattering teeth.
ROGUE:
She was close to hyperventilating from panic, unaware if she'd taken too much, if she'd hurt him like the others. Carol sounded at the back of her mind, laughing slightly as all of Gambit's thoughts and memories started to slot through her mind. "Ah'm sorry," she should've known better, she shouldn't have chanced things like that.
She took a few steps around the counters, dropping to her knees to try and keep an eye on him. "Y' okay, chere?" And she mentally flinched at her own statement. She could feel it all, parts of him starting to seep to her mannerisms. She didn't want him to know, she'd never wanted to have to worry about it. She peered at him. "Darlin' please?"
REMY:
Since he couldn't stop his hands from shaking, Remy tucked them across his chest, under his arms. He was hardly listening to her but her words got clearer as her voice got closer and more of his attention began to refocus from his self. It was the French that made him crack one eye, and then the other.
"Chere?" Remy asked, barking a laugh. "I t'ink you mean homme. Gonna get you a French-English dictonary soon as I can get off de floor." He slumped back from his side and knees to his ass, putting his head back and letting out a long, long breath. "Damn. Is dat what dey mean by hearin' bells?" He looked at Rogue through half-open eyes. Guess it all must have looked funny from her end too; she looked worried.
ROGUE:
The fact that he was able to talk was a good thing. At least she hoped it was a good thing. He didn't seem too out of it so she hoped she hadn't done lasting damage. "Ah'm sorry, Remy, Ah should've told ya."
She shouldn't have let him kiss her. She shouldn't have kissed him at all. Her powers, she'd lied about them, that much she'd have to conceed. In a sense at least. "Darlin', can y' stand? Or ya just wanna sit there a while?" He might be better off on the floor, less distance to fall.
She wanted to brush the hair from his face, wanted to help him. Her own fear stopped her.
REMY:
"T'inking dat standin' up ain't such a hot idea right now," he murmured, giving in and letting his eyes closed. Saints he felt terrible. Remy lifted a hand and ran it down his face before making himself open his eyes and look at Rogue. He didn't want to worry her. "What you sorry for anyway? For givin' me such a good kiss dat it knocked me on my ass?"
Yes, there was a part of him that was worried. Whatever had happened, it wasn't normal. But there was no need to panic about it, not in front of Rogue. Just wasn't in Remy's nature to make a big deal.
ROGUE:
She supposed this was supposed to be when she told him the truth, told him that she had poisonous touch. It was the reason for so many of her defensive traits, and she should've told him sooner. "Remy, Ah don't...It wasn't the kiss, darlin'." Flattering as it might be, she couldn't take that kind of credit.
Facts and places and little things about New Orleans assaulted her, memories of a smiling, fiesty blond woman that she suddenly felt a pang of loss towards, jeers and hatred and, Rogue closed her eyes, shaking her head to try and clear it all away.
Pushing herself to her feet, she stepped past him, picking up the fallen glass and quickly pouring more water into it, kneeling in front of him she carefully held out the glass. "Take a sip, c'mon. Y' gotta try and clear y'r head." Truthfully, she'd never really stuck around after draining someone, not when they were still conscious. She wasn't really sure what to do.
REMY:
His gaze followed her, tired. Remy snorted when she held out the glass and didn't bother to even try to take it--there was no way that he was going to be able to hold it up. "'M not parched, Rogue. Just... je ne sais pas." He closed his eyes again. Remy was almost sure that he wouldn't be able to stand himself up just then. He was so tired. He was trying to think; what could make him feel this way? Mother Mary, did he have a stroke?
Remy laughed very quietly. Maybe Rogue was right--should have quit those smokes.
"How do you know it wasn't de kiss? Just cos your knees weren't shakin' like dat... " He smiled, tired and crooked. "Merde. Guess I'm not as good as I thought..."
ROGUE:
"Would y' stop yer yabbering an' listen," she managed to fight the shift in accent, managed to stop herself from slipping into bastardised French -well, she'd always wanted to learn a language. "Ah'm tellin' ya. It was me, mah powers. Y'r such an idiot." She was too worried to focus on his teasing, too concerned that she'd just scrambled his brains in a completely different manner than what she usually did. "Ah'm gonna help y' up, an' we're gonna get y' to y'r bed."
It had to be the best place for him, his bed. He could sleep, she'd talk to... She'd check on him in the morning and hopefully she could talk to him without his train of thought derailing both of them.
"C'mon, sugah," she made sure to pull her sleeves over her hands as she stepped to help him up. She had to be more cautious, she'd slipped up and she couldn't afford another one. "Work with me here."
REMY:
There was no fight from Remy--he wasn't one to worry about things like the delicacy of women and he knew anyway that Rogue was strong enough for the both of them. At least... that's what he would have been thinking if he wasn't busy enough being distracted by the whole, 'it was mah powers'. He let Rogue stand him up without a sound. Her powers? Remy worked to get his legs under him but it was her that did most of the work there. What did she mean, her powers?
"I'm not followin', chere," he said, most of the way to the kitchen door. "You got de strength, and flyin'..." Two and two just wouldn't make four, no matter how hard he tried. "Did you finally hit me on de head?"
ROGUE:
Trying to figure out a way to explain to him right now was just too difficult, she wasn't even sure if he'd remember it at all anyway. "Jus' go with me on this, Ah'll tell y' all 'bout it later." When she was sure he would at least understand her.
Moving them from the kitchen to the hall wasn't a problem, and Rogue took them along to his room with near effortless ease. It was part of the blessing of super strength. Of Carol's strength. Sighing, Rogue nudged open Gambit's door, pulling him when his feet faltered. "C'mon, Cajun, get y'rself t' bed an' maybe it'll make sense in the morning." When she explained it again.
"Y' not feelin' like y'r gonna hurl or nothing, right?" Maybe she should call Raven, find out his she knew what the effect of her draining usually did. She might need it when dealing with Gambit later.
REMY:
"Not yet," Remy murmured, sinking onto the bed. He closed his eyes and draped a heavy arm over his forehead. "Should I?" He didn't remember much of the walk up the stairs. His arm lifted up. "Didn't mean t'scare you, chere. I enjoyed de kiss, beaucoup." His arm lifted and brushed her cheek--the touch was there and gone as it fell. Hardly even a brush. "Didn't mean t'scare you," he repeated.
Saints. He was just so tired.
ROGUE:
She was slow in jerking back, his fingers scarcely touching her before she was out of the way. "Ah know, darlin' an' Ah didn't mean t' hurt ya." She really hadn't, and she hadn't meant to kiss him either, but he didn't need to know that now. "Y' can just sleep it up an' we'll talk t'morrow."
Lifting his legs, placing them under the covers and then pulling them over him, Rogue backed up slightly. "Y' sleep well, sugah." She got to the door of his room, glancing back over at him and wondering if sleep really would help him. "Je suis désolé, Remy."
With another sigh, she stepped out, closing the door behind her and resting back against it. God, she was so stupid, and she had one hell of a mess to sort out now.
REMY:
Remy still wasn't sure what Rogue was talking about, but the low aching throb in his bones precluded him worrying about it. He felt like... the only thing he could compare it to was three days without sleep. Or that point that comes after drinking too much and before passing out when you're too sober. Everything just felt heavy.
"Aucun besoin, mon chaton," he murmured, his eyes closing again. He was still confused but it would have to wait. Tomorrow. He'd get there tomorrow.
ROGUE:
Despite being tired, despite having been ready to sleep, Rogue found herself unable to switch off and find the quiet to sleep. Her mind was still slotting pieces away, sorting out yet more memories to lock away. Some of Brian's were still heavy on the top of her mind, but Remy's -and it felt odd to finally know his name, they were smothering everything else. Even Carol had gone quiet.
In the end, she'd ventured back to the kitchen, hardly noticing that she navigated the whole way in the dark. She'd discovered that Remy's eyes were light sensitive, the less light, the better. Standing in the kitchen, Rogue wasn't sure how long for, she replayed the whole incident in her mind. With a sigh, picking up the glass she'd used and then filled for Remy, Rogue moved towards the sink. It was lucky she'd placed the glass in the sink, as she stepped back, frowning at the light pink colour around the brim. "Aw, damn."
The glass exploded with a loud crack, and Rogue flinched from the flying pieces. She'd clean it up later. Carefully leaving the kitchen she spent a few minutes sitting in the rec room, about to watch the television for a while before she noticed she'd done it again; charging a pillow. By the time she gave up, leaving the room and venturing back to her own, Rogue had destroyed two pillows, the remote control and a vase from the table. Getting the hang of these kinetic powers, or staying away from everyone until the faded was first on her list of things to fight off her insomnia with.
By morning, her own room was littered with objects no longer in one piece, and Rogue was sitting on the ledge of her window, feet dangling out of the building. The powers, the memories, she should've never let him kiss her.
REMY:
The sun woke Remy. He squinted, moaned, and put his pillow over his head. For just a moment he thought that maybe he was hungover, despite not remembering drinking anything. He felt drained, heavy, and his head was pounding. Mon Dieu. Sticking a hand under the pillow, Remy rubbed his eyes before dragging himself up and stretching. Wasn't going to get back to sleep now anyway.
... And apparently he'd decided to sleep in his jeans. Which was a bit strange, but supported the drinking idea. He remembered--well. Remy rubbed his head. He remembered smoking in the kitchen. And Rogue.
He kissed her. He... he did kiss her. Remy couldn't help it, he grinned.
Grabbing a ponytail holder, his hair was pulled back in a messy tail as he headed toward the bathroom. He still felt tired but water on his face and neck helped and he brushed his teeth; it all made him feel a little more human. As he was doing that he was trying to remember the rest of the night. He had definitely kissed Rogue, remembered her body--
His chest tightened weirdly and Remy paused in mid-brush, staring down at the sink. Panic. He spit out the toothpaste and put a hand to his hammering chest. Quel était celui? Remy glanced up to the mirror and the toothbrush was dropped into the sink.
His eyes. His eyes were a very light hazel.
Remy hit the wall across from the mirror with his shoulder blades before turning and heading for the door, leaving the water on and the toothbrush where it had fallen. He headed right toward Rogue's room.
ROGUE:
Still in her clothes from the night before, Rogue leaned against her window frame. She was entertaining the thoughts of New Orleans, memories of a bright city, of a wild night life and wonderful Cajun cusine. She'd never tasted Cajun food once in her life, but she had vivid memories of favourite places. New Orleans was a place she'd like, she knew that much from it all.
There were things she didn't like, of course. She'd seen her eyes in a mirror, right before it had been shattered in her hand when memories assaulted her of that. There were always a few demons in people's minds, and Remy's seemed to like jumping out at her. It served her right, she knew, but it didn't make them easier to deal with. She'd already fallen in love with a beautiful blond woman and then mourned her, breaking down into sobs on the floor for a woman she didn't even know.
It was half of her reasoning for remaining in her room. Aurora wouldn't look for her, and if anyone really needed anything, they'd find her. She was worried about what she might do, how she might hurt someone. She was still charging objects without even thinking about it.
She hoped Remy slept all day.
REMY:
What in the hell had happened to him? Remy half-ran down the hall, down the stairs; he couldn't remember, just couldn't seem to piece anything together correctly. He'd kissed Rogue and then... something. Something that put him on the floor. He remembered Rogue asking if he was okay, getting him water--
Had she spoken French to him?
He slowed as he reached her door and took a deep breath, pushing falling strands of hair out of his face. Rubbing toothpaste out of the corners of his mouth. Remy wanted a mirror. Wanted to look again--maybe he was crazy. Maybe he was hungover, so much so that he'd just imagined it. He took another breath, covering his eyes with one hand and stacking the other on his hip. He was fine. This was a house full of mutants and since coming here he'd already gotten a strange flu that had taken his powers and been in a riot and hell, he watched Phe get crazier every day, didn't he?
There was an explanation. There was.
Remy reached for Rogue's door, knocking a few times.
ROGUE:
Her eyes opened and the memories stopped abruptly as she stared at the door, "Entré", her voice was hoarse and the word quiet. Which was just as well. Clearing her throat, she tried again, "C'mon in." She couldn't exactly keep them away. It might've been Aurora, or one of the others with news, maybe Allison and Manuel were back. Anything. She didn't come in from the window ledge though.
The air wasn't too cold, although she wasn't sure if it would matter at all. She still felt vaguely warmed. Turning to the side slightly, her hair mostly covering her face, she noticed Remy as the door opened and bit back a curse. She supposed it was too much to ask that he sleep all day, or stay away, or maybe not notice anything was different at all.
"What can Ah do f'r ya?" Maybe if she was rude enough, if she pushed him away enough, he'd leave. Maybe.
REMY:
That wasn't really any way to talk to a man you'd kissed the night before, but Remy wasn't sure that she wasn't feeling as off as he was this morning. He looked at her for a moment, silhouetted by the morning sun there in the window, hair in her face. She looked beautiful. What man wouldn't want to kiss that?
Stepping inside, he shut the door softly behind himself and rubbed a hand down over his face. Maybe he wouldn't bring up the kiss right off; he knew how touchy Rogue could be and feeling the way he was feeling, there was no reason to go on and add a punch in the nose out on top. If she wanted to skirt the issue... they could. For now.
"Jus' wonderin, how you feelin' dis morning' chere."
ROGUE:
Through her hair, with her head ducked slightly, she could see him perfectly. And she knew in an instant that his eyes, his eyes were wrong. Sighing, she turned her head back to the great outdoors, watching as Boston started to wake up. "Ah'm alright." She could be better, she could always be better. But she wasn't feeling just herself yet.
"How 'bout you? Get some sleep?" He'd been dead on his feet when she'd left him in his bed, she didn't check on anything before she'd scampered out of the room. But then, she wasn't really thinking clearly. He was tired, she put him to bed, that was all she really needed to do, wasn't it?
The fact that he'd ventured into her room, first thing in the morning, told her that he had something at least to say. Even if it was because he couldn't remember last night at all. She was kind of hoping for that.
REMY:
Looked like Gambit was getting the old cold shoulder. Well Rogue should know that he didn't push over so easily. "Oui, got some sleep. In my jeans." He wandered slowly across the room toward the window. "You happen t'know anyt'ing bout dat? Seems to me dat we spend some time in de kitchen together. I'd hate for dis to be de mornin' after and here I am forgettin' what a wonderful night I'd had wi't you."
He stepped up behind Rogue but didn't touch. Not yet. It didn't have anything to do with the fact that there was a totally unnecessary flutter of panic trying to quicken his heartbeat again. Remy was just giving her some space.
ROGUE:
Flashes of pale, perfect skin shot through her head, breathy sighs and a rush of lust. She had to swallow past the lump, had to lick her lips and force herself to breath. "There ain't never been no mornin' after, Cajun." She wasn't turning to face him, but she could feel him behind her, drawing closer and closer.
"Y' fell asleep, sugah, didn't realise y' ain't got no stamina." It was only a matter of time, that much was clear to her. And with the way the scenes were playing out in her head, Rogue wouldn't really mind it so much if the whole moment collapsed on itself. It was a cruel, cruel practice.
She'd already loved and lost his wife, she didn't need to...
"Oh, mah gawd." The fact that she now knew exactly what it was like to fuck Ms. Frost, Rogue was sure she could've lived forever without knowing.
REMY:
What could he say to that? Remy frowned. Had she just admitted that she was a virgin? Rogue? Maybe he was just making that up, drawing his own conclusions. He moved to the side, trying to get her to look at him.
"Don' be so mean to a man," he said with half a smile, trying to provoke the same in her. A laugh, even just a crack of lips. He didn't like the vibe he was gettin' from Rogue, all closed off and shut down when he'd worked too damn hard over the last few months trying to get her to poke her head out of her shell.
His eyebrows went up with her exclamation and Remy leaned a little bit into the window. "Chere? Êtes-vous bien? Mostly he talked snippets of French around her simply to tease, but the question of whether she was alright simply slipped out without thought, probably because he was tired. He didn't think it needed translating, so he didn't bother.
ROGUE:
Shaking her head, Rogue didn't even think on the French words, "Je ne suis pas si bon." Drawing her knees up, she wrapped her arms around them, dropping her head to rest there, hair cascading around her face. She didn't need these memories, at all. She was worried about him, more so than ever, knowing all that she knew.
"Ah'm sorry, sugah, Ah'm not great company just now." She really wasn't, then again, a lot of the time she was bristly just because. The fact that he didn't seem to remember, or understand, much of what had happened last night just made her feel worse. And skirting around the issue wasn't really going to help.
Maybe, if she avoided it long enough, Manuel could tell Remy everything and she wouldn't need to. Or Allison, she might be better suited to it all. Hell, give Ophelia a note, she'd make it into a song and then that would be that. She couldn't even chuckle or smile or raise her damn fool head because he'd know. Or he might flat out freak out and fall out of her window.
She wasn't really liking her options.
REMY:
The French, the easy French off Rogue's tongue shocked Remy to silence for a moment or two, let her say the rest. Not that her telling him she was bad company was going to stop him from a sit down. Girl should know him better than that. Remy sat on the sill next to her, facing the opposite way, making sure to leave an inch or two between their shoulders even if it meant having to be uncomfortable.
"You wanna tell me jus' what I did?" Remy asked after a minute of silence between them.
ROGUE:
"You kissed me."
It was meant to come out as an accusation, instead it was a whisper, her voice almost completely missing her thick accent. He wasn't to know that everything came back to that, him kissing her, her allowing it -because she should've, could've pushed him away, left and shot him down again. She'd done it before, and not just to Remy.
With a heavy sigh, she turned her head, resting her cheek on her knees and pulling her hair over the side of her head. She blinked slightly against the sunlight, but her sight was fine. "Ah tried t' tell y' not to, but..." But she didn't have the self control to stop him and he didn't know any better.
REMY:
All Rogue's words got were a chuckle from Remy. He kissed her? That was what all of this attitude was about, that she was owning up to remembering a kiss? "Chere,, was just a little kiss. Dere's no need to be gettin' all... Mon Dieu."
Remy stood up straight as he saw her eyes, red on black. His eyes. And her speaking French? None of it was making sense. Remy pushed fingers into his eyes (normal eyes) before he kneeled up on the window frame, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. "What's goin' on?"
ROGUE:
She'd expected it, but it still almost hurt. Shutting her eyes, she didn't realise he was reaching out until his hand touched her should, and then she couldn't help but flinch away. The movement caused her to slide off the sill, floating in the air outside her room. It wasn't the first time she was grateful for the obscured view around the Brownstone.
"Ah've been tryin' t' tell ya, but y' just didn't catch them hints." Because coming out and saying it was just worse. "Ah can't touch no one without hurtin' 'em." And by that, she meant stealling from them. She sighed slightly, moving up to the sill again, standing on the ledge before crouching down. For some reason, she knew that if she flipped back, she could land on her feet without using her flight.
"It'll fade for me in a while, an' then it'll come back t' you, but," but she knew so much now, all those memories floating around. She knew secrets that no one else did, she knew things he'd probably forgotten, or wished he had. "Ah steal other folks powers, that's mah power."
REMY:
Remy's hand almost followed her as Rogue slid forward, but his fingers stopped short of grabbing her as she floated. He hadn't gotten used to that. His hand dropped.
He watched her and she stepped back onto the sill, following those dark eyes as Rogue crouched in front of him. Saints it was strange. Remy blinked. "Wait. Dat's your power? You like... a leech?" But the strength, and the flight... Straightening up a little, Remy patted down his pockets before pulling his ponytail holder out of his hair.
It warmed under his fingers... and then nothing. "Oh, chere," he moaned, sinking back down into a seat on the sill. Remy didn't really care about missing his powers for a bit, or his eyes. She couldn't touch anyone.
ROGUE:
Her eyes were downcast at the comparison, but she didn't object to it. For the most part, it was spot on. Running her hands through her hair, willful that she wouldn't blow that up like so much else, she sighed. It shouldn't really have taken her this long to tell him, or this incident to tell him. But it didn't seem he was taking it too hard.
"It's like, everything y' are just flows int' me, an' Ah ain't got no way t' stop it." Raven had told her that control would come with maturity, she'd stopped believing Raven when Carol had happened. And it seemed more and more likely that she wouldn't ever really have enough control to touch.
"Y' ain't mad?" She gave him a sidelong look, especially since he was sitting beside her. She hadn't expected that.
REMY:
"Not sure what I am," Remy murmured, leaning back against the frame after retying his hair into a tail. He looked at her for a long moment, at those eyes he'd only ever seen in a mirror before. "Can't light a spark but dat's not really a bother unless Empath wants us all in the trainin' room tonight, oui?" Because she said it would come back and really, Remy knew it wasn't gone. He could feel it they way he couldn't feel it when he'd had the flu.
What Remy was thinking about was how standoffish Rogue always was. How thick her walls were. Now he knew why, though he couldn't say that it made much more sense than it did before. Taking other people's powers wasn't a reason to shut yourself off, even if the touch did sting a bit. "But why you know French now? Don't make much sense, dat."
ROGUE:
"Ah reckon, cause of the..." she shook her head, "Y'll be gettin' y'r powers back in a day or so, bit by bit." Her grasp on his powers would fade about as fast as his returned. That much she was aware of. She'd done tests on herself, to see how long she got, it wasn't very long at all really. Her power kicked in after the initial contact, it just took a moment to notice. But, the length of time she'd been in contact with Remy, she counted about a day and half's worth of power transfer.
"The French, that's well, that's the other part o' mah powers." The fact that nothing in his head was safe at all. "It ain't just about me takin' what y' can do. Ah get a little bit of you as well." Usually, this was the stumbling block, what she took. She still wasn't sure how Brian felt about her having stolen that from him. She couldn't rightly gauge Gambit's reaction.
"Ah know stuff that you know," she wasn't sure how to explain it, so she just gave a small smile, "Remy."
REMY:
At first it didn't click. A little bit of him? The French?
It was his name that made him understand. The little smile that had been on his lips, a half smile just to make her feel more comfortable because she had seemed to need it--that disappeared. Ah know stuff that you know.
Remy's head gave a half-abortive shake. Privacy was his second-nature, keeping himself close within semi-permeable walls that were skilled at bringing things in without ever letting anything out. His past, his entire life in New Orleans... it was behind him. Sinister. He'd wanted to keep all of it behind him.
Ah know stuff that you know.
"Like what stuff?" he asked, returning a harder gaze to those stolen eyes.
ROGUE:
She'd known he was private, he'd never given out more than he had to and she could understand the need to keep things to yourself. She did it too. The change in him was noticable without being able to know that though, and Rogue turned her gaze to her floor. "Ah know 'bout Belladonna, an' y'r family." She tried to shrug her shoulder, but felt that not telling him everything might damage things worse.
"An' what happened with Julien," the names flowed as if she'd met them herself, as if she'd been there. "What happened with the Mauraders, an' that y' got recruited the night y' went t' y'r wife's grave." She also knew exactly what had happened that night, but she wasn't about to go into detail about that at all.
She felt bad just having it all there. It wasn't anything she should've known, not if he didn't want to tell her, and she doubted he'd ever thought about telling anyone anything. "Ah'm sorry it's just...it's just what happens."
REMY:
Each name was like a physical blow. Julien. Papa and Henri. The Mauraders. And Bella, oh Bella.
Remy looked out the window without seeing anything of the city skyline. How much was too much? Anything. He felt like he'd been invaded, like he'd had things stolen from him and it only hurt worse that he was a thief, he should have known somehow, shouldn't have been so stupid, Rogue was just a woman. Just a woman. And he'd let his defenses down, wanted to make Rogue more than a conquest...
Stupid. He'd had one true love. Looking for that again, that was folly. And he'd paid the price now.
"Je ne devrais pas vous avoir embrassé. Mais vous ne devriez pas avoir m'avez laissé." The words were quiet, and rough, and Remy didn't look at her as he stood. "Au revior, Rogue." He headed toward the door. He needed time.
ROGUE:
The words felt worse than if he'd hit her. She knew she shouldn't have let him, known it even as she let him. Forcing herself to keep it together, biting back any kind of plea to get him to at least look at her, Rogue took a breath, and then another. "Mah name's Marie."
She wondered if he'd even care, or if it was really goodbye and he was walking away. She knew he had aversions to staying in the first place, she had sort of hoped that had changed. But she might've just ruined it all by taking what she never should've wanted. People seemed to think that she should be able to stop that at least. But starve a girl for something long enough, and she'll just want it all the more badly.
There was nothing she'd say to try and make him stay, to try and explain anything. Letting him walk away from her might be the only thing that stopped him walking away completely.
REMY:
Remy stopped a few feet away when she gave her name. He couldn't help but smiling though Rogue wouldn't see it, the expression painful. Fingers came up and carded through his hair, pushing strands away from his face that just fell right back. Marie.
Her name was Marie.
For a glance, Remy looked over his shoulder. Then he turned and walked back, leaning down until their faces were too close to look at each other. "Jus' gimme some time, chere. I'm used to bein' de best t'ief around."
In the end, what was, was. He could only deal with it by going forward. Remy brushed his mouth across hers with only a ghost of touch, breath instead of contact. "Chere. Marie."
The second time Remy walked to the door he didn't stop or look back.