This is a oneshot drabble thing that I wrote earlier this year based on a post I made ( lochcamaen . tumblr post /86058315682/ soooooo-i-was-doing-some-design-work-for). I only posted it to tumblr, and since writing the first chapter to We Might Be Strangers, I've been convinced to post this here.
So enjoy!
When they had been sent out to track down a HYDRA signal, the weather forecast had been appealing: Strong cold breeze, cloudless sky and a high sun. Rogue had liked the sound of it and hadn't given a second thought to it. She just wanted to go out, put her new powers to use and get 's psyche to shut up for once.
Of course, someone up there hated her and arranged for a huge snowstorm once the Blackbird had landed. Now she was freezing cold and barely keeping up with the rest of the team. Logan and Piotr occasionally glanced back at her, but she just ignored them. Attention was the last thing the summer loving Southern girl needed right now.
"Chère, y' okay there?" Oh great. Great. Great! Perfect even. Frigging perfect!
"Ah'm fine, Gambit. Fantastic!" Rogue crossed her arms and tried to pick up her pace, put some space between her and the Swamp Rat, but her legs refused to co-operate with her. Damn blood vessel unions or whatever. She stopped in her tracks when she felt his hand on her shoulder.
"Y' freezin' up, chère. Dat don't sound 'fine' to me." Rogue shrugged him off and kept walking as fast as she could. Pity wasn't something she needed either.
"Wait, wait!"
"What, Swamp Ra-" A sudden weight and warmth on her shoulders cut Rogue off in her snapping. Hands were gripping her shoulders again, rubbing them slowly.
"Dat feel better, chère?" Rogue slowly slipped her arms into the coat and glanced up at the bare-armed Cajun. It was taking all her will-power not to lean into his touch, even more so with a certain psyche screaming at her to let go and give up control of her mind. She pushed the shrill voice back into its place, pulling herself back into reality.
"What 'bout you? Ain'tcha cold?" Avoiding the question, as she usually did with him. Remy loved to get the upper hand over her when he could, and knowing how good the slight massage felt would send him into straight up 'smug mode'. She hated the feeling of losing, so she'd keep winning against him for as long as she could.
Rogue gradually hugged the coat closer to her body, taking in all the heat and aroma of bonfire smoke to warm her insides. Gambit took his hands away – hopefully not noticing the slouch of her shoulders as he did, though he probably had – and he shrugged.
"Don' have ta worry about dat. I can keep a charge goin' through my body to keep warm."
"...Thanks, Remy." Rogue looked away from him, but could still feel his smirk on her. She'd allow him the illusion of victory for now; the real prize was for herself only.
"It's no trouble, chère."
With blood flowing through her veins again and heating up her cheeks, Rogue began to pick up her pace and joined the tail end of the group. Remy stayed beside her for the rest of the mission, leaving Rogue to imagine whether his concern for her was plain annoying or strangely endearing.
0XX0
Three weeks later...
After a whole night of struggling to sleep against the shrieks and tussling of Carol Danvers in her head, Rogue opted out of another HYDRA mission and stayed at the mansion instead. She didn't mind it too much; her copy of A Feast for Crows had arrived yesterday and she had been dying to read it before any of the 'resident nerds' got their grubby hands on it and spoiled the whole thing for her. Curled up on the couch opposite the calm fireplace, the Southerner felt right at home and at full peace.
"Chère, can I have my coat back?"
Rogue let out the loudest groan she could muster and buried her face into the cover of her book, paying no heed to the voices in her head that suddenly erupted. Her peace, ruined!
"Is dat a no den?" Remy launched himself over the couch and landed in near-perfect position next to her. Rogue flopped her head back against the couch, trying her best to glare death at him. So far, he wasn't dropping to the floor. Oh goodie.
"It's a no, Swamp Rat." Rogue answered plainly through gritted teeth. Carol was practically pounding at her, making the back of her skull burn with an ache. Rogue had forgotten about the coat actually, taking to wearing it nearly everywhere and only taking it off when she had to shower or sleep. She wasn't sure why it felt so comfortable, so natural, to wear it but it just did and she liked it that way.
"Alright." Remy stood up from the couch as Rogue settled herself back down to relax. He spun on his heel to face her again as he shoved his gloved hands into his jean pockets, barely holding back his infamous smirk. "Y' stay comfy in it while I go make a pot o' gumbo for lunch."
Rogue perked her head up at him. "Y'know how to make gumbo?"
"Course I do, chère. Wouldn' be Cajun if I didn't."
"How big's the pot?"
"Biggest I could find in dis house."
"Pretty damn big," Rogue smiled a bit and put her book down. "Ya might need an extra pair of hands for that."
"Y' t'ink so, chère?" His smirk came out fully, dimmed only by the light from the fire. Rogue let herself smirk back as she stood up to face him, gently nudging him and putting her hands in her own pockets.
"C'mon, it's obvious ya lonely, Rems."
"Y' must be lonely too if y' don't even wait a breath 'fore joinin' in." Rogue scoffed and quickly walked away, hiding her widening smile behind her hair. Remy chuckled and kept up with her to grip her shoulders again. The smell of bonfires and smokey beef filled her senses again, forcing her to release a soft laugh.
"Rem, why the hell do ya smell like a barn party?"
"'Barn party'? Mon dieu chère, y' insult my honour." He chuckled again, rubbing her shoulders slowly just like he had the first time. Rogue smiled and slouched back into his grip, forcing him to push her forward down the corridor and try not to step on the end of his precious coat (and she knew just how much; Kitty wouldn't stop telling the tale of how he nearly blew her face off when she tried to get it in the laundry basket).
"It still stinks, honour or not."
"Y' never been 'round New Orleans on Christmas Eve, chère?"
"Can't say Ah was let outside the house before Ah came ta Bayville. What'd ya do on tha merry Eve then?"
"Well... it actually starts 'round T'anksgivin' time. Familles an' streets get t'gether an' build a wood base along da levee of the river," He tightened his grip on her and pulled her up straight, moving in closer to speak in a hushed tone. "Soon enough, it's all finished up and if de night's dry, we light it up on the Eve an' watch it burn all night long. It's quite beau when y' up close to da flame."
"Hmm, actually sounds nice, Rem." Rogue stole a glance up at him as their pace slowed a touch, and he kept her upright with his tight grip. "You can take meh sometime after Mardi Gras."
"It's a date den, chère." Remy came to a sudden stop and pulled Rogue back with him, wrapping his arms over her's before lifting her up off her feet. "But first, gotta make it to our date."
"REMY!" Rogue shrieked and struggled in his grasp, trying to slip out without using her new-found superstrength; she wanted to escape and run the hell away from him, not break his arms. She kicked her legs out at his shins, but he must've been wearing guards or something since her hits did nothing to stop him in his tracks. "Ah swear Ah will break ya neck!"
"So y' say." Remy kept his arms stiff and picked up his pace, turning his strut into a light jog, only smiling when they passed Kitty and Illyana further down the corridor. The two girls stared at the couple with wide eyes, watching them disappear around a corner moments later.
"Katya...?"
"Don't bother asking, Ana." Kitty waved a hand and sighed heavily. "Those two need their own damn room, honestly."
"I will take your word for it. They seem..strange...?"
"You don't know half of it!"
FYI, for those wondering: it was heavily implied in the series finale for X-Men Evolution that Rogue would absorb Carol Danver's psyche in the future, so I included it into this fic.